Light-Cone Effect of Radiation Fields in Cosmological Radiative Transfer Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, Kyungjin

2015-02-01

We present a novel method to implement time-delayed propagation of radiation fields in cosmo-logical radiative transfer simulations. Time-delayed propagation of radiation fields requires construction of retarded-time fields by tracking the location and lifetime of radiation sources along the corresponding light-cones. Cosmological radiative transfer simulations have, until now, ignored this "light-cone effect" or implemented ray-tracing methods that are computationally demanding. We show that radiative trans-fer calculation of the time-delayed fields can be easily achieved in numerical simulations when periodic boundary conditions are used, by calculating the time-discretized retarded-time Green's function using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method and convolving it with the source distribution. We also present a direct application of this method to the long-range radiation field of Lyman-Werner band photons, which is important in the high-redshift astrophysics with first stars.

Green operators for low regularity spacetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez Sanchez, Yafet; Vickers, James

2018-02-01

In this paper we define and construct advanced and retarded Green operators for the wave operator on spacetimes with low regularity. In order to do so we require that the spacetime satisfies the condition of generalised hyperbolicity which is equivalent to well-posedness of the classical inhomogeneous problem with zero initial data where weak solutions are properly supported. Moreover, we provide an explicit formula for the kernel of the Green operators in terms of an arbitrary eigenbasis of H 1 and a suitable Green matrix that solves a system of second order ODEs.

Elastic scattering of X-rays and gamma rays by 2S electrons in ions and neutral atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costescu, A.; Spânulescu, S.; Stoica, C.

2012-08-01

The nonrelativistic limit of Rayleigh scattering amplitude on 2s electrons of neutral and partially ionized atoms is obtained by making use of the Green Function method. The result takes into consideration the retardation, relativistic kinematics and screening effects. The spurious singularities introduced by the retardation in a nonrelativistic approach are cancelled by the relativistic kinematics. For neutral and partially ionized atoms, a screening model is considered with an effective charge obtained by fitting the Hartree-Fock charge distribution with pure Coulombian wave functions corresponding to a central potential of a nucleus with Zeff as the atomic number. The total cross section of the photoeffect on the 2s electrons is also calculated from the imaginary part of the forward scattering amplitude by means of the optical theorem. The numerical results obtained are in a good agreement (10%) with the ones obtained by Kissell for the Rayleigh amplitude and by Scofield for the Photoeffect total cross section on the 2s electrons, for atoms with atomic number 18 ≤ Z ≤ 92 and photon energies ω≤αZm. (α=1/137,... is the fine structure constant, m is the electron mass).

Fire-Retardant, Self-Extinguishing Inorganic/Polymer Composite Memory Foams.

PubMed

Chatterjee, Soumyajyoti; Shanmuganathan, Kadhiravan; Kumaraswamy, Guruswamy

2017-12-27

Polymeric foams used in furniture and automotive and aircraft seating applications rely on the incorporation of environmentally hazardous fire-retardant additives to meet fire safety norms. This has occasioned significant interest in novel approaches to the elimination of fire-retardant additives. Foams based on polymer nanocomposites or based on fire-retardant coatings show compromised mechanical performance and require additional processing steps. Here, we demonstrate a one-step preparation of a fire-retardant ice-templated inorganic/polymer hybrid that does not incorporate fire-retardant additives. The hybrid foams exhibit excellent mechanical properties. They are elastic to large compressional strain, despite the high inorganic content. They also exhibit tunable mechanical recovery, including viscoelastic "memory". These hybrid foams are prepared using ice-templating that relies on a green solvent, water, as a porogen. Because these foams are predominantly comprised of inorganic components, they exhibit exceptional fire retardance in torch burn tests and are self-extinguishing. After being subjected to a flame, the foam retains its porous structure and does not drip or collapse. In micro-combustion calorimetry, the hybrid foams show a peak heat release rate that is only 25% that of a commercial fire-retardant polyurethanes. Finally, we demonstrate that we can use ice-templating to prepare hybrid foams with different inorganic colloids, including cheap commercial materials. We also demonstrate that ice-templating is amenable to scale up, without loss of mechanical performance or fire-retardant properties.

Hilbert transform evaluation for electron-phonon self-energies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bevilacqua, Giuseppe; Menichetti, Guido; Pastori Parravicini, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

The electron tunneling current through nanostructures is considered in the presence of the electron-phonon interactions. In the Keldysh nonequilibrium formalism, the lesser, greater, advanced and retarded self-energies components are expressed by means of appropriate Langreth rules. We discuss the key role played by the entailed Hilbert transforms, and provide an analytic way for their evaluation. Particular attention is given to the current-conserving lowest-order-expansion for the treament of the electron-phonon interaction; by means of an appropriate elaboration of the analytic properties and pole structure of the Green's functions and of the Fermi functions, we arrive at a surprising simple, elegant, fully analytic and easy-to-use expression of the Hilbert transforms and involved integrals in the energy domain.

The generation of gravitational waves. I - Weak-field sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thorne, K. S.; Kovacs, S. J.

1975-01-01

This paper derives and summarizes a 'plug-in-and-grind' formalism for calculating the gravitational waves emitted by any system with weak internal gravitational fields. If the internal fields have negligible influence on the system's motions, the formalism reduces to standard 'linearized theory'. Independent of the effects of gravity on the motions, the formalism reduces to the standard 'quadrupole-moment formalism' if the motions are slow and internal stresses are weak. In the general case, the formalism expresses the radiation in terms of a retarded Green's function for slightly curved spacetime and breaks the Green's function integral into five easily understood pieces: direct radiation, produced directly by the motions of the source; whump radiation, produced by the 'gravitational stresses' of the source; transition radiation, produced by a time-changing time delay ('Shapiro effect') in the propagation of the nonradiative 1/r field of the source; focusing radiation, produced when one portion of the source focuses, in a time-dependent way, the nonradiative field of another portion of the source; and tail radiation, produced by 'back-scatter' of the nonradiative field in regions of focusing.

The generation of gravitational waves. 1. Weak-field sources: A plug-in-and-grind formalism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thorne, K. S.; Kovacs, S. J.

1974-01-01

A plug-in-and-grind formalism is derived for calculating the gravitational waves emitted by any system with weak internal gravitational fields. If the internal fields have negligible influence on the system's motions, then the formalism reduces to standard linearized theory. Whether or not gravity affects the motions, if the motions are slow and internal stresses are weak, then the new formalism reduces to the standard quadrupole-moment formalism. In the general case the new formalism expresses the radiation in terms of a retarded Green's function for slightly curved spacetime, and then breaks the Green's-function integral into five easily understood pieces: direct radiation, produced directly by the motions of the sources; whump radiation, produced by the the gravitational stresses of the source; transition radiation, produced by a time-changing time delay (Shapiro effect) in the propagation of the nonradiative, 1/r field of the source; focussing radiation produced when one portion of the source focusses, in a time-dependent way, the nonradiative field of another portion of the source, and tail radiation, produced by backscatter of the nonradiative field in regions of focussing.

A Model for Multiple Competency Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gargiulo, Richard M.; Swartz, Stanley L.

1977-01-01

Project Merge is an undergraduate, preservice education program at Bowling Green University providing training and experience leading to dual or triple certification in elementary education plus educable mental retardation and/or learning disabilities behavior disorders. (MB)

The Right Brain: Surviving Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science News, 1977

1977-01-01

Describes two studies of brain hemisphere development which indicate children retarded in the functions of one hemisphere may not be retarded in the functions of the second hemisphere. Suggests that the left hemisphere functions may inhibit some right hemisphere functions. (SL)

Correlation functions of warped CFT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Wei; Xu, Jianfei

2018-04-01

Warped conformal field theory (WCFT) is a two dimensional quantum field theory whose local symmetry algebra consists of a Virasoro algebra and a U(1) Kac-Moody algebra. In this paper, we study correlation functions for primary operators in WCFT. Similar to conformal symmetry, warped conformal symmetry is very constraining. The form of the two and three point functions are determined by the global warped conformal symmetry while the four point functions can be determined up to an arbitrary function of the cross ratio. The warped conformal bootstrap equation are constructed by formulating the notion of crossing symmetry. In the large central charge limit, four point functions can be decomposed into global warped conformal blocks, which can be solved exactly. Furthermore, we revisit the scattering problem in warped AdS spacetime (WAdS), and give a prescription on how to match the bulk result to a WCFT retarded Green's function. Our result is consistent with the conjectured holographic dualities between WCFT and WAdS.

Innovative technologies for anti-flammable cotton fabrics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Due to its environmentally friendly properties, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. In this presentation, innovative approaches for preparation of flame retardant fabrics were obtained by utilizing supercr...

On the entanglement entropy of quantum fields in causal sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belenchia, Alessio; Benincasa, Dionigi M. T.; Letizia, Marco; Liberati, Stefano

2018-04-01

In order to understand the detailed mechanism by which a fundamental discreteness can provide a finite entanglement entropy, we consider the entanglement entropy of two classes of free massless scalar fields on causal sets that are well approximated by causal diamonds in Minkowski spacetime of dimensions 2, 3 and 4. The first class is defined from discretised versions of the continuum retarded Green functions, while the second uses the causal set’s retarded nonlocal d’Alembertians parametrised by a length scale l k . In both cases we provide numerical evidence that the area law is recovered when the double-cutoff prescription proposed in Sorkin and Yazdi (2016 Entanglement entropy in causal set theory (arXiv:1611.10281)) is imposed. We discuss in detail the need for this double cutoff by studying the effect of two cutoffs on the quantum field and, in particular, on the entanglement entropy, in isolation. In so doing, we get a novel interpretation for why these two cutoff are necessary, and the different roles they play in making the entanglement entropy on causal sets finite.

Kondo peak splitting and Kondo dip in single molecular magnet junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Pengbin; Shi, Yunlong; Sun, Zhu; Nie, Yi-Hang; Luo, Hong-Gang

2016-01-01

Many factors containing bias, spin-orbit coupling, magnetic fields applied, and so on can strongly influence the Kondo effect, and one of the consequences is Kondo peak splitting (KPS). It is natural that KPS should also appear when another spin degree of freedom is involved. In this work we study the KPS effects of single molecular magnets (SMM) coupled with two metallic leads in low-temperature regime. It is found that the Kondo transport properties are strongly influenced by the exchange coupling and anisotropy of the magnetic core. By employing Green's function method in Hubbard operator representation, we give an analytical expression for local retarded Green's function of SMM and discussed its low-temperature transport properties. We find that the anisotropy term behaves as a magnetic field and the splitting behavior of exchange coupling is quite similar to the spin-orbit coupling. These splitting behaviors are explained by introducing inter-level or intra-level transitions, which account for the seven-peak splitting structure. Moreover, we find a Kondo dip at Fermi level under proper parameters. These Kondo peak splitting behaviors in SMM deepen our understanding to Kondo physics and should be observed in the future experiments.

Bosonic Loop Diagrams as Perturbative Solutions of the Classical Field Equations in ϕ4-Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finster, Felix; Tolksdorf, Jürgen

2012-05-01

Solutions of the classical ϕ4-theory in Minkowski space-time are analyzed in a perturbation expansion in the nonlinearity. Using the language of Feynman diagrams, the solution of the Cauchy problem is expressed in terms of tree diagrams which involve the retarded Green's function and have one outgoing leg. In order to obtain general tree diagrams, we set up a "classical measurement process" in which a virtual observer of a scattering experiment modifies the field and detects suitable energy differences. By adding a classical stochastic background field, we even obtain all loop diagrams. The expansions are compared with the standard Feynman diagrams of the corresponding quantum field theory.

Gravitational wave memory in an expanding universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tolish, Alexander; Wald, Robert

2016-03-01

We investigate the gravitational wave memory effect in an expanding FLRW spacetime. We find that if the gravitational field is decomposed into gauge-invariant scalar, vector, and tensor modes after the fashion of Bardeen, only the tensor mode gives rise to memory, and this memory can be calculated using the retarded Green's function associated with the tensor wave equation. If locally similar radiation source events occur on flat and FLRW backgrounds, we find that the resulting memories will differ only by a redshift factor, and we explore whether or not this factor depends on the expansion history of the FLRW universe. We compare our results to related work by Bieri, Garfinkle, and Yau.

Develop of innovative technologies for flame resistant cotton fabrics at USDA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) high pressure and microwave reactor are considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. In this presentation, innovative approaches for preparation of flame retardant fabrics were obtained by utilizing supercritical carb...

Development of innovative technologies for flame resistant cotton fabrics at USDA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) high pressure and microwave reactor are considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. In this presentation, innovative approaches for preparation of flame retardant fabrics were obtained by utilizing supercritical carbo...

Toxicity of fire retardant chemicals to aquatic organisms: Progress report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hamilton, Steven J.; McDonald, Susan F.; Gaikowski, Mark P.; Buhl, Kevin J.; Ramsey, G.S.

1996-01-01

Fire retardants and suppressants used extensively in North America are often applied in environmentally sensitive areas that may contain endangered, threatened, or economically important plant and animal species. We conducted laboratory acute toxicity tests in both hard and soft waters with five commonly used fire control chemicals (Fire Trol LCG-R, Fire-Trol GTS-R, Phos-Chek D-75-F, Phos-Chek WD-881, and Silv-Ex). Organisms used in the tests included two fish (rainbow trout and fathead minnow), two aquatic invertebrates (Daphnia magna and Hyalella azteca), and a green algae (Selenastrum capricornutum). In general, the green algae was substantially more sensitive to the three non-foam fire chemicals than the animals, the Daphnia were the most sensitive test organism in exposures with foams. The two foams (Silv-Ex and Phos-Chek WD-881) had similar toxicity and were more toxic than the three non-foams. Water quality did not seem to modify the toxicity of the five fire chemicals in a consistent manner.

Numerical time-domain electromagnetics based on finite-difference and convolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yuanqu

Time-domain methods posses a number of advantages over their frequency-domain counterparts for the solution of wideband, nonlinear, and time varying electromagnetic scattering and radiation phenomenon. Time domain integral equation (TDIE)-based methods, which incorporate the beneficial properties of integral equation method, are thus well suited for solving broadband scattering problems for homogeneous scatterers. Widespread adoption of TDIE solvers has been retarded relative to other techniques by their inefficiency, inaccuracy and instability. Moreover, two-dimensional (2D) problems are especially problematic, because 2D Green's functions have infinite temporal support, exacerbating these difficulties. This thesis proposes a finite difference delay modeling (FDDM) scheme for the solution of the integral equations of 2D transient electromagnetic scattering problems. The method discretizes the integral equations temporally using first- and second-order finite differences to map Laplace-domain equations into the Z domain before transforming to the discrete time domain. The resulting procedure is unconditionally stable because of the nature of the Laplace- to Z-domain mapping. The first FDDM method developed in this thesis uses second-order Lagrange basis functions with Galerkin's method for spatial discretization. The second application of the FDDM method discretizes the space using a locally-corrected Nystrom method, which accelerates the precomputation phase and achieves high order accuracy. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is applied to accelerate the marching-on-time process in both methods. While FDDM methods demonstrate impressive accuracy and stability in solving wideband scattering problems for homogeneous scatterers, they still have limitations in analyzing interactions between several inhomogenous scatterers. Therefore, this thesis devises a multi-region finite-difference time-domain (MR-FDTD) scheme based on domain-optimal Green's functions for solving sparsely-populated problems. The scheme uses a discrete Green's function (DGF) on the FDTD lattice to truncate the local subregions, and thus reduces reflection error on the local boundary. A continuous Green's function (CGF) is implemented to pass the influence of external fields into each FDTD region which mitigates the numerical dispersion and anisotropy of standard FDTD. Numerical results will illustrate the accuracy and stability of the proposed techniques.

Promising flame retardant textile in supercritical carbon dioxide

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Since carbon dioxide is non-toxic, non-flammable and cost-effective, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is widely used in textile dyeing applications. Due to its environmentally benign character, scCO2 is considered in green chemistry as a substitute for organic solvents in chemical reactions. O...

Stokes polarimetry using analysis of the nonlinear voltage-retardance relationship for liquid-crystal variable retarders

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

López-Téllez, J. M., E-mail: jmlopez@comunidad.unam.mx; Bruce, N. C.

2014-03-15

We present a method for using liquid-crystal variable retarders (LCVR’s) with continually varying voltage to measure the Stokes vector of a light beam. The LCVR's are usually employed with fixed retardance values due to the nonlinear voltage-retardance behavior that they show. The nonlinear voltage-retardance relationship is first measured and then a linear fit of the known retardance terms to the detected signal is performed. We use known waveplates (half-wave and quarter-wave) as devices to provide controlled polarization states to the Stokes polarimeter and we use the measured Stokes parameters as functions of the orientation of the axes of the waveplatesmore » as an indication of the quality of the polarimeter. Results are compared to a Fourier analysis method that does not take into account the nonlinear voltage-retardance relationship and also to a Fourier analysis method that uses experimental voltage values to give a linear retardance function with time. Also, we present results of simulations for comparison.« less

Influence of phonon-phonon coupling on superconducting state in honeycomb-type crystal lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drzazga, E. A.; Szczȩśniak, R.; Domagalska, I. A.

2018-01-01

We have taken into account the superconducting state inducing in the crystal lattice of the honeycomb-type. In the framework of the Eliashberg theory, we have determined the thermodynamic properties of the system. The phonon spectral function, which is the input parameter in the Eliashberg equations, has been calculated by using the thermodynamic Green functions. We have considered the model of the coupled Einstein oscillators with frequency ω0 = 100 meV. We have shown that the increasing inter-phonon coupling constant (f) causes the rapid growth of the critical temperature ([TC]max = 36.2 K) just below the maximum value of f equal to 0.25ω0. Simultaneously, the order parameter and the thermodynamic critical field take the values increasingly distant from the predictions of the BCS theory, which results from the strong-coupling and the retardation effects.

Description of Hydration Water in Protein (Green Fluorescent Protein) Solution

DOE PAGES

Perticaroli, Stefania; Ehlers, Georg; Stanley, Christopher B.; ...

2016-10-26

The structurally and dynamically perturbed hydration shells that surround proteins and biomolecules have a substantial influence upon their function and stability. This makes the extent and degree of water perturbation of practical interest for general biological study and industrial formulation. Here, we present an experimental description of the dynamical perturbation of hydration water around green fluorescent protein in solution. Less than two shells (~5.5 Å) were perturbed, with dynamics a factor of 2–10 times slower than bulk water, depending on their distance from the protein surface and the probe length of the measurement. Furthermore, this dependence on probe length demonstratesmore » that hydration water undergoes subdiffusive motions (τ ∝ q –2.5 for the first hydration shell, τ ∝ q –2.3 for perturbed water in the second shell), an important difference with neat water, which demonstrates diffusive behavior (τ ∝ q –2). Our results help clarify the seemingly conflicting range of values reported for hydration water retardation as a logical consequence of the different length scales probed by the analytical techniques used.« less

A complex guided spectral transform Lanczos method for studying quantum resonance states

DOE PAGES

Yu, Hua-Gen

2014-12-28

A complex guided spectral transform Lanczos (cGSTL) algorithm is proposed to compute both bound and resonance states including energies, widths and wavefunctions. The algorithm comprises of two layers of complex-symmetric Lanczos iterations. A short inner layer iteration produces a set of complex formally orthogonal Lanczos (cFOL) polynomials. They are used to span the guided spectral transform function determined by a retarded Green operator. An outer layer iteration is then carried out with the transform function to compute the eigen-pairs of the system. The guided spectral transform function is designed to have the same wavefunctions as the eigenstates of the originalmore » Hamiltonian in the spectral range of interest. Therefore the energies and/or widths of bound or resonance states can be easily computed with their wavefunctions or by using a root-searching method from the guided spectral transform surface. The new cGSTL algorithm is applied to bound and resonance states of HO₂, and compared to previous calculations.« less

Allocation of Attention and Effect of Practice on Persons with and without Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oka, Kohei; Miura, Toshiaki

2008-01-01

Persons with mild and moderate mental retardation and CA-matched persons without mental retardation performed a dual-task, "pencil-and-paper task" (Baddeley, Della Sala, Gray, Papagno, & Spinnler (1997). Testing central executive functioning with a pencil-and-paper test. In Rabbit (Ed.), Methodology of Frontal and Executive Function (pp. 61-80).…

PERSPECTIVES IN MENTAL RETARDATION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

JORDAN, THOMAS E.

THIRTY-THREE ARTICLES ILLUSTRATE THE EDITOR'S FORMULATION OF ISSUES CONCERNING THE PROBLEM OF MENTAL RETARDATION--(1) THE TRIPARTITE (ONTOLOGICAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND EDOLOGICAL) NATURE OF RETARDATION, (2) THE NECESSITY TO MOVE BEYOND A SINGLE DISCIPLINE IN DEALING WITH RETARDATION, (3) THE NUMBER OF AGENCIES NOW INVOLVED IN STUDY AND CARE, AND (4)…

Phytotoxic grass residues reduce germination and initial root growth of ponderosa pine

Treesearch

W. J. Rietveld

1975-01-01

Extracts of green foliage of Arizona fescue and mountain muhly significantly reduced germination of ponderosa pine seeds, and retarded speed of elongation and mean radicle length. Three possible routes of release of the inhibitor were investigated: (1) leaching from live foliage, (2) root exudation, and (3) overwinter leaching from dead residues. The principal route...

Boosted Schwarzschild metrics from a Kerr–Schild perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mädler, Thomas; Winicour, Jeffrey

2018-02-01

The Kerr–Schild version of the Schwarzschild metric contains a Minkowski background which provides a definition of a boosted black hole. There are two Kerr–Schild versions corresponding to ingoing or outgoing principle null directions. We show that the two corresponding Minkowski backgrounds and their associated boosts have an unexpected difference. We analyze this difference and discuss the implications in the nonlinear regime for the gravitational memory effect resulting from the ejection of massive particles from an isolated system. We show that the nonlinear effect agrees with the linearized result based upon the retarded Green function only if the velocity of the ejected particle corresponds to a boost symmetry of the ingoing Minkowski background. A boost with respect to the outgoing Minkowski background is inconsistent with the absence of ingoing radiation from past null infinity.

Towards a National Mental Retardation Manpower Model for Canada.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linton, Thomas E.

The stated need for developing a national mental retardation manpower model for Canada is not the manpower shortages in mental retardation, but the unsound conceptual and functional approaches to the socialization and education of the mentally retarded. The report is divided into the four major areas investigated by a task force. First, the…

Mental Retardation: The Search for Cures. Research Monograph Number 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menolascino, Frank J.; Neman, Ronald

The booklet describes the Association for Retarded Citizens' (ARC's) goal of coordinating efforts to seek a cure for mental retardation. Cures are defined as any intervention that would significantly increase intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior beyond the upper level of retardation. It is explained that because of the variety of causes…

Highly Transparent and Self-Extinguishing Nanofibrillated Cellulose-Monolayer Clay Nanoplatelet Hybrid Films.

PubMed

Ming, Siyi; Chen, Gang; He, Jiahao; Kuang, Yudi; Liu, Yu; Tao, Ruiqiang; Ning, Honglong; Zhu, Penghui; Liu, Yingyao; Fang, Zhiqiang

2017-08-29

A viable solution toward "green" optoelectronics is rooted in our ability to fabricate optoelectronics on transparent nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) film substrates. However, the flammability of transparent NFC film poses a severe fire hazard in optoelectronic devices. Despite many efforts toward enhancing the fire-retardant features of transparent NFC film, making NFC film fire-retardant while maintaining its high transparency (≥90%) remains an ambitious objective. Herein, we combine NFC with NFC-dispersed monolayer clay nanoplatelets as a fire retardant to prepare highly transparent NFC-monolayer clay nanoplatelet hybrid films with a superb self-extinguishing behavior. Homogeneous and stable monolayer clay nanoplatelet dispersion was initially obtained by using NFC as a green dispersing agent with the assistance of ultrasonication and then used to blend with NFC to prepare highly transparent and self-extinguishing hybrid films by a water evaporation-induced self-assembly process. As the content of monolayer clay nanoplatelets increased from 5 wt % to 50 wt %, the obtained hybrid films presented enhanced self-extinguishing behavior (limiting oxygen index sharply increased from 21% to 96.5%) while retaining a ∼90% transparency at 600 nm. More significantly, the underlying mechanisms for the high transparency and excellent self-extinguishing behavior of these hybrid films with a clay nanoplatelet content of over 30 wt % were unveiled by a series of characterizations such as SEM, XRD, TGA, and limiting oxygen index tester. This work offers an alternative environmentally friendly, self-extinguishing, and highly transparent substrate to next-generation optoelectronics, and is aimed at providing a viable solution to environmental concerns that are caused by ever-increasing electronic waste.

Graphical method to design multilayer phase retarders.

PubMed

Apfel, J H

1981-03-15

When multilayer reflectors are used at nonnormal incidence, the two planes of polarization generally have different phase shifts. This difference, known as phase retardance, depends on the multilayer design, the incidence angle, and the wavelength. Heretofore, the design of reflectors with specific phase retardance has been carried out by computer optimization except for the case of a single layer on a metal substrate. A graph of phase retardance D vs the average phase shift A as a function of layer thickness provides a means for visualization that is useful in reflector designs. A D-A graph predicts the phase properties of a reflector as a function of the index and thickness of an added layer. Graphs of phase retardance vs average phase for two different materials can be superposed to predict the composite performance of a multilayer reflector. This graphical technique is employed to design and analyze reflectors with specified phase retardance.

Flammability and thermal properties studies of nonwoven flax reinforced acrylic based polyester composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasyid, M. F. Ahmad; Salim, M. S.; Akil, H. M.; Ishak, Z. A. Mohd.

2017-12-01

In the pursuit of green and more sustainable product, natural fibre reinforced composites originating from renewable resources has gained interest in recent years. These natural fibres exhibit good mechanical properties, low production costs, and good environmental properties. However, one of the disadvantages of natural fibre reinforced composites is their high flammability that limits their application in many fields. Within this research, the effect of sodium silicate on the flammability and thermal properties of flax reinforced acrylic based polyester composites has been investigated. Sodium silicate is applied as binder and flame retardant system in impregnation process of the natural flax fiber mats. The addition of sodium silicate significantly improved the flame retardant efficiency but reduced the degree of crosslinking of the composites.

Poloidal and toroidal plasmons and fields of multilayer nanorings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garapati, K. V.; Salhi, M.; Kouchekian, S.; Siopsis, G.; Passian, A.

2017-04-01

Composite and janus type metallodielectric nanoparticles are increasingly considered as a means to control the spatial and temporal behavior of electromagnetic fields in diverse applications such as coupling to quantum emitters, achieving invisibility cloaks, and obtaining quantum correlations between qubits. We investigate the surface modes of a toroidal nanostructure and obtain the canonical plasmon dispersion relations and resonance modes for arbitrarily layered nanorings. Unlike particle plasmon eigenmodes in other geometries, the amplitudes of the eigenmodes of tori exhibit a distinct forward and backward coupling. We present the plasmon dispersion relations for several relevant toroidal configurations in the quasistatic limit and obtain the dominant retarded dispersion relations of a single ring for comparison, discuss mode complementarity and hybridization, and introduce two new types of toroidal particles in the form of janus nanorings. The resonance frequencies for the first few dominant modes of a ring composed of plasmon supporting materials such as gold, silver, and aluminum are provided and compared to those for a silicon ring. A generalized Green's function is obtained for multilayer tori allowing for calculation of the scattering response to interacting fields. Employing the Green's function, the scalar electric potential distribution corresponding to individual poloidal and toroidal modes in response to an arbitrarily polarized external field and the field of electrons is obtained. The results are applied to obtain the local density of states and decay rate of a dipole near the center of the torus.

Functionalized ionic liquids and their applications

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

Hariprakasha, Humcha Krishnamurthy; Rangan, Krishnaswamy Kasthuri; Sudarshan, Tirumalai Srinivas

2018-01-16

Disclosure of functionalized ionic liquids. Use of disclosed ionic liquids as solvent for carbon dioxide. Use of disclosed ionic liquids as flame retardant. Use of disclosed ionic liquids for coating fabric to obtain flame retardant fabric.

Factors Affecting Selectivity of Brilliant Green-Phenol Red Agar for Salmonellae

PubMed Central

Moats, W. A.; Kinner, J. A.

1974-01-01

Commercial brilliant green (BG)-sulfa agar was found to be nonselective toward a test series of Enterobacteriaceae. Various formulations of BG were prepared by using Trypticase soy agar (BBL) as a base. Results were more reproducible when BG dye was added after sterilization than before. Sulfonamides improved selectivity as compared with brilliant green alone. Sulfanilamide (SN) was slightly more selective for salmonellae than other sulfonamides tested. Bile salts and sodium dodecyl sulfate markedly reduced the toxicity of BG to all the test bacteria. Enterobacter strains were most difficult to inhibit. A combination of 5 mg of BG and 1 g of SN/liter prevented growth of Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli and retarded growth of Enterobacter strains. The BG-SN agars were superior in selectivity to a series of commercial agars tested, and numbers of salmonellae recovered on BG-SN agar and Trypticase soy agar (BBL) were the same. Brilliant green agars with various degrees of selectivity are described. PMID:4589120

An efficient algorithm for the retarded time equation for noise from rotating sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loiodice, S.; Drikakis, D.; Kokkalis, A.

2018-01-01

This study concerns modelling of noise emanating from rotating sources such as helicopter rotors. We present an accurate and efficient algorithm for the solution of the retarded time equation, which can be used both in subsonic and supersonic flow regimes. A novel approach for the search of the roots of the retarded time function was developed based on considerations of the kinematics of rotating sources and of the bifurcation analysis of the retarded time function. It is shown that the proposed algorithm is faster than the classical Newton and Brent methods, especially in the presence of sources rotating supersonically.

[The birth of clinical psychology in the scientific work of Lightner Witmer].

PubMed

Morabito, Carmela

2006-01-01

The paper deals with the beginning of Clinical Psychology in the first years of XX century, when a central role was played by the theoretical and practical approach on mental retardation and behavioural disorders of L. Witmer. The author describes the cultural formation of Witmer, between Structural Psychology and Functionalism, and the special attention he devoted to the management and education of children affected by mental retardation and behavioural problems. ... Any child, the functions of whose brain are not developed up to the normal limit for his age, is suffering from retardation ... Retardation must be defined in terms of individual capacity for physical and mental development....

Separation Potential of Educable Retarded and Intellectually Normal Boys as a Function of Motor Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dobbins, D. Alan; Rarick, G. Lawrence

1976-01-01

While overwhelming evidence exists suggesting substantial differences between the motor skills of educably retarded and intellectually normal children, data from this study warn against the universal generalization of depressed motor performance to all educable retardates. (MB)

Restoration of the covariant gauge α in the initial field of gravity in de Sitter spacetime

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

Cheong, Lee Yen; Yan, Chew Xiao

2014-03-05

The gravitational field generated by a mass term and the initial surface through covariant retarded Green's function for linearized gravity in de Sitter spacetime was studied recently [4, 5] with the covariant gauges set to β = 2/3 and α = 5/3. In this paper we extend the work to restore the gauge parameter α in the field coming from the initial data using the method of shifting the parameter. The α terms in the initial field cancels exactly with the one coming from the source term. Consequently, the correct field configuration, with two equal mass points moving in itsmore » geodesic, one located at the North pole and another one located at the South pole, is reproduced in the whole manifold of de Sitter spacetime.« less

Reduced Cortical Thickness in Mental Retardation

PubMed Central

Wang, Chao; Wang, Jiaojian; Zhang, Yun; Yu, Chunshui; Jiang, Tianzi

2011-01-01

Mental retardation is a developmental disorder associated with impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors. Many studies have addressed white matter abnormalities in patients with mental retardation, while the changes of the cerebral cortex have been studied to a lesser extent. Quantitative analysis of cortical integrity using cortical thickness measurement may provide new insights into the gray matter pathology. In this study, cortical thickness was compared between 13 patients with mental retardation and 26 demographically matched healthy controls. We found that patients with mental retardation had significantly reduced cortical thickness in multiple brain regions compared with healthy controls. These regions include the bilateral lingual gyrus, the bilateral fusiform gyrus, the bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, the bilateral temporal pole, the left inferior temporal gyrus, the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the right precentral gyrus. The observed cortical thickness reductions might be the anatomical substrates for the impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors in patients with mental retardation. Cortical thickness measurement might provide a sensitive prospective surrogate marker for clinical trials of neuroprotective medications. PMID:22216343

Psychomotor retardation in depression: Biological underpinnings, measurement, and treatment

PubMed Central

Buyukdura, Jeylan S.; McClintock, Shawn M.; Croarkin, Paul E.

2013-01-01

Psychomotor retardation is a long established component of depression that can have significant clinical and therapeutic implications for treatment. Due to its negative impact on overall function in depressed patients, we review its biological correlates, optimal methods of measurement, and relevance in the context of therapeutic interventions. The aim of the paper is to provide a synthesis of the literature on psychomotor retardation in depression with the goal of enhanced awareness for clinicians and researchers. Increased knowledge and understanding of psychomotor retardation in major depressive disorder may lead to further research and better informed diagnosis in regards to psychomotor retardation. Manifestations of psychomotor retardation include slowed speech, decreased movement, and impaired cognitive function. It is common in patients with melancholic depression and those with psychotic features. Biological correlates may include abnormalities in the basal ganglia and dopaminergic pathways. Neurophysiologic tools such as neuroimaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation may play a role in the study of this symptom in the future. At present, there are three objective scales to evaluate psychomotor retardation severity. Studies examining the impact of psychomotor retardation on clinical outcome have found differential results. However, available evidence suggests that depressed patients with psychomotor retardation may respond well to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Current literature regarding antidepressants is inconclusive, though tricyclic antidepressants may be considered for treatment of patients with psychomotor retardation. Future work examining this objective aspect of major depressive disorder (MDD) is essential. This could further elucidate the biological underpinnings of depression and optimize its treatment. PMID:21044654

Cognitive, Behavioral, and Adaptive Functioning in Fragile X and Non-Fragile X Retarded Men.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dykens, Elisabeth; And Others

1988-01-01

Evaluation of the cognitive, behavioral, and adaptive functioning of 12 retarded men with fragile X syndrome indicated that fragile X men were largely indistinguishable from comparison groups. They were, however, significantly more likely to have achieved levels of adaptive functioning commensurate with their intellectual abilities. (Author/DB)

Problems of Psychology of Mentally Retarded Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Inst. of Defectology.

Presented are 18 papers on problems in the psychology of mentally retarded children. Seven of the papers are in English, two in French, and nine in Russian. The English papers are concerned with the following topics: peculiarities of psychic functions in oligophrenic (retarded) children with pronounced underdevelopment of frontal lobes of cerebral…

The Role of Cognition and Adaptive Behavior in Employment of People with Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Chwen-Yng; Lin, Yueh-Hsien; Wu, Yuh-Yih; Chen, Ching-Chiang

2008-01-01

Few studies have specifically investigated the cognitive correlates of employment for persons with mental retardation. To evaluate the relationship of cognitive and adaptive functioning to work status, 56 competitively employed and 55 unemployed individuals with mental retardation underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological and adaptive…

Depression and the Onset of Dementia in Adults with Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burt, Diana Byrd; And Others

1992-01-01

Comparison of 61 adults with Down's syndrome and 43 adults with mental retardation resulting from other causes found that 8 Down's syndrome adults had both depression and declines in functioning, whereas no adults in the other group showed functional declines. Greater severity of depression was related to poor functioning in adults with Down's…

Curriculum Guide: Educable Mentally Retarded, Junior High School Program; Little Rock Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arkansas State Dept. of Education, Little Rock. Special Education Section.

To help prepare the junior high student for personal and social adjustment, units and activities are geared to provide functional learning experiences in situations that will benefit the educable mentally retarded in his daily life. Units covered in grades 7, 8, and 9 include social studies, functional English, functional mathematics, functional…

Studies on Synthesis of Electrochemically Exfoliated Functionalized Graphene and Polylactic Acid/Ferric Phytate Functionalized Graphene Nanocomposites as New Fire Hazard Suppression Materials.

PubMed

Feng, Xiaming; Wang, Xin; Cai, Wei; Qiu, Shuilai; Hu, Yuan; Liew, Kim Meow

2016-09-28

Practical application of functionalized graphene in polymeric nanocomposites is hampered by the lack of cost-effective and eco-friendly methods for its production. Here, we reported a facile and green electrochemical approach for preparing ferric phytate functionalized graphene (f-GNS) by simultaneously utilizing biobased phytic acid as electrolyte and modifier for the first time. Due to the presence of phytic acid, electrochemical exfoliation leads to low oxidized graphene sheets (a C/O ratio of 14.8) that are tens of micrometers large. Successful functionalization of graphene was confirmed by the appearance of phosphorus and iron peaks in the X-ray photoelectron spectrum. Further, high-performance polylactic acid/f-GNS nanocomposites are readily fabricated by a convenient masterbatch strategy. Notably, inclusion of well-dispersed f-GNS resulted in dramatic suppression on fire hazards of polylactic acid in terms of reduced peak heat-release rate (decreased by 40%), low CO yield, and formation of a high graphitized protective char layer. Moreover, obviously improvements in crystallization rate and thermal conductivities of polylactic acid nanocomposites were observed, highlighting its promising potential in practical application. This novel strategy toward the simultaneous exfoliation and functionalization for graphene demonstrates a simple yet very effective approach for fabricating graphene-based flame retardants.

Adolescent Depression: Relationships of Self-Report to Intellectual and Adaptive Functioning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manikam, Ramasamy; And Others

1995-01-01

Self-report measures of depression, general psychopathology, and social skills were administered to 100 adolescents ranging from moderate mental retardation to above normal intelligence. Adolescents with mental retardation reported more depression and general psychopathology symptoms. Adaptive behavior functioned as a moderator variable, mediating…

Total phenolics and antioxidant activities of fenugreek, green tea, black tea, grape seed, ginger, rosemary, gotu kola, and ginkgo extracts, vitamin E, and tert-butylhydroquinone.

PubMed

Rababah, Taha M; Hettiarachchy, Navam S; Horax, Ronny

2004-08-11

The total phenolics and antioxidant activities of fenugreek, green tea, black tea, grape seed, ginger, rosemary, gotu kola, and ginkgo extracts, vitamin E, and tert-butylhydroquinone, were determined. Grape seed and green tea were analyzed for their phenolic constituents using high-performance liquid chromatography. The total phenolics of the plant extracts, determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method, ranged from 24.8 to 92.5 mg of chlorogenic acid equivalent/g dry material. The antioxidant activities of methanolic extracts determined by conjugated diene measurement of methyl linoleate were 3.4-86.3%. The antioxidant activity of the extracts using chicken fat by an oxidative stability instrument (4.6-10.2 h of induction time) followed a similar trend in antioxidant activity as determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Seven phenolics in grape seed and green tea extracts were identified that ranged from 15.38 to 1158.49 and 18.3 to 1087.02 mg/100 g of extract, respectively. Plant extracts such as green tea and grape seed extracts can be used to retard lipid oxidation in a variety of food products.

Of Atkins and men: deviations from clinical definitions of mental retardation in death penalty cases.

PubMed

Blume, John H; Johnson, Sheri Lynn; Seeds, Christopher

2009-01-01

Under Atkins v. Virginia, the Eighth Amendment exempts from execution individuals who meet the clinical definitions of mental retardation set forth by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the American Psychiatric Association. Both define mental retardation as significantly subaverage intellectual functioning accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning, originating before the age of 18. Since Atkins, most jurisdictions have adopted definitions of mental retardation that conform to those definitions. But some states, looking often to stereotypes of persons with mental retardation, apply exclusion criteria that deviate from and are more restrictive than the accepted scientific and clinical definitions. These state deviations have the effect of excluding from Atkins's reach some individuals who plainly fall within the class it protects. This article focuses on the cases of Roger Cherry, Jeffrey Williams, Michael Stallings, and others, who represent an ever-growing number of individuals inappropriately excluded from Atkins. Left unaddressed, the state deviations discussed herein permit what Atkins does not: the death-sentencing and execution of some capital defendants who have mental retardation.

[Review on application of plant growth retardants in medicinal plants cultivation].

PubMed

Zhai, Yu-Yao; Guo, Bao-Lin; Cheng, Ming

2013-09-01

Plant growth retardants are widely used in cultivation of medicinal plant, but there is still lack of scientific guidance. In order to guide the use of plant growth retardants in medicinal plant cultivation efficiently and reasonably, this paper reviewed the mechanism, function characteristic, plant and soil residue of plant growth retardants, such as chlorocholine chloride, mepiquat chloride, paclobutrazol, unicnazle and succinic acid, and summarized the application of plant growth retardants in medicinal plants cultivation in recent years, with focus on the effect of growth and yield of the officinal organs and secondary metabolites.

Cumulant Green's function calculations of plasmon satellites in bulk sodium: Influence of screening and the crystal environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jianqiang Sky; Gatti, Matteo; Kas, J. J.; Rehr, J. J.; Reining, Lucia

2018-01-01

We present ab initio calculations of the photoemission spectra of bulk sodium using different flavors of the cumulant expansion approximation for the Green's function. In particular, we study the dispersion and intensity of the plasmon satellites. We show that the satellite spectrum is much more sensitive to many details than the quasiparticle spectrum, which suggests that the experimental investigation of satellites could yield additional information beyond the usual studies of the band structure. In particular, a comparison to the homogeneous electron gas shows that the satellites are influenced by the crystal environment, although the crystal potential in sodium is weak. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the lattice constant is reflected in the position of the satellites. Details of the screening also play an important role; in particular, the contribution of transitions from 2 s and 2 p semicore levels influences the satellites, but not the quasiparticle. Moreover, inclusion of contributions to the screening beyond the random-phase approximation has an effect on the satellites. Finally, we elucidate the importance of the coupling of electrons and holes by comparing the results of the time-ordered and the retarded cumulant expansion approximations. Again, we find small but noticeable differences. Since all the small effects add up, our most advanced calculation yields a satellite position which is improved with respect to previous calculations by almost 1 eV. This stresses the fact that the calculation of satellites is much more delicate than the calculation of a quasiparticle band structure.

Poloidal and toroidal plasmons and fields of multilayer nanorings

DOE PAGES

Garapati, K. V.; Salhi, M.; Kouchekian, S.; ...

2017-04-17

Composite and janus type metallodielectric nanoparticles are increasingly considered as a means to control the spatial and temporal behavior of electromagnetic fields in diverse applications such as coupling to quantum emitters, achieving invisibility cloaks, and obtaining quantum correlations between qubits. We investigate the surface modes of a toroidal nanostructure and obtain the canonical plasmon dispersion relations and resonance modes for arbitrarily layered nanorings. Unlike particle plasmon eigenmodes in other geometries, the amplitudes of the eigenmodes of tori exhibit a distinct forward and backward coupling. We present the plasmon dispersion relations for several relevant toroidal configurations in the quasistatic limit andmore » obtain the dominant retarded dispersion relations of a single ring for comparison, discuss mode complementarity and hybridization, and introduce two new types of toroidal particles in the form of janus nanorings. The resonance frequencies for the first few dominant modes of a ring composed of plasmon supporting materials such as gold, silver, and aluminum are provided and compared to those for a silicon ring. A generalized Green's function is obtained for multilayer tori allowing for calculation of the scattering response to interacting fields. Employing the Green's function, the scalar electric potential distribution corresponding to individual poloidal and toroidal modes in response to an arbitrarily polarized external field and the field of electrons is obtained. The results are applied to obtain the local density of states and decay rate of a dipole near the center of the torus.« less

Predicting Adaptive Functioning of Mentally Retarded Persons in Community Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hull, John T.; Thompson, Joy C.

1980-01-01

The impact of a variety of individual, residential, and community variables on adaptive functioning of 369 retarded persons (18 to 73 years old) was examined using a multiple regression analysis. Individual characteristics (especially IQ) accounted for 21 percent of the variance, while environmental variables, primarily those related to…

Functional lipids based on [12]aneN3 and naphthalimide as efficient non-viral gene vectors.

PubMed

Gao, Yong-Guang; Alam, Uzair; Tang, Quan; Shi, You-Di; Zhang, Ying; Wang, Ruibing; Lu, Zhong-Lin

2016-07-14

Small organic non-viral gene vectors with the structural combinations of (aliphatic chain)-naphthalimide-[12]aneN3 (11a, b) and naphthalimide-(aliphatic chain)-[12]aneN3 (12a-c) were synthesized and fully characterized. Agarose gel electrophoresis experiments indicated that the first type of compounds, 11a and 11b, could completely retard DNA at the concentration of 5 μM in the presence of DOPE. Within the second type of compounds, 12c with the decane chain showed a complete retardation of DNA at the concentration of 20 μM, whereas 12a and 12b with the ethyl and hexyl chains could not retard DNA effectively. Dynamic light scattering measurements indicated that compounds 11a, 11b and 12b, 12c condensed DNA into nanoparticles with the size in the range of 60-160 nm. Due to the strong fluorescence of 11a and 11b, the distribution of lipids/DNA complexes and the process of DNA release from the lipids were clearly observed via cellular uptake experiments. On the other hand, the non-fluorescent 12a-c enabled the EB exclusion assay to afford the binding constants of 4.88 × 10(6) M(-1) (12a), 4.18 × 10(6) M(-1) (12b) and 3.39 × 10(6) M(-1) (12c), respectively. The MTT assay revealed that both types of compounds have low cytotoxicity. Non-fluorescent 12c was successfully applied in the eGFP expression experiments in A549 cells and showed stronger green fluorescence emission than that of lipofectamine 2000. Quantitative transfection experiments through the luciferase assay further revealed that compounds 11a, 11b and 12c can act as non-viral gene vectors in different cell lines. Among them, 12c gave the highest transfection efficiency in HeLa cells, which was about 2 times that offered by lipofectamine 2000. This work clearly demonstrated that the right combination of different functional units and long aliphatic linkers will likely promote gene delivery and transfection efficiency.

A Morpholino Strategy to Assess TSC Gene Function in Zebrafish

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

ABSTRACT Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder associated with severe neurological symptoms including mental retardation, autism ...ABSTRACT Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder associated with severe neurological symptoms including mental retardation, autism ...devastating autosomal dominant disease that results in severe neurological symptoms including mental retardation, autism , and seizures (DiMario, 2004

Sexual Attitudes and Knowledge of High-Functioning Adolescents and Adults with Autism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ousley, Opal Y.; Mesibov, Gary B.

1991-01-01

Interviews with 21 high-functioning adults with autism and 20 mildly to moderately mentally retarded adults without autism indicated that the mentally retarded group had more sexual experiences, with no intergroup differences in sexual knowledge or interest. Intelligence quotient was positively correlated with knowledge scores and males had…

Hispanic Caregivers of Adults with Mental Retardation: Importance of Family Functioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magana, Sandra; Schwartz, Seth J.; Rubert, Mark P.; Szapocznik, Jose

2006-01-01

Our aim in this study was to validate a stress-process model for Hispanic caregivers of adults with mental retardation that incorporates family functioning. The model postulates that maladaptive adult behaviors are related to poorer family relationships and higher levels of family burden, which in turn is related to caregiver psychological…

Novel Indocyanine Green-Phytate Colloid Technique for Sentinel Node Detection in Head and Neck: Mouse Study.

PubMed

Araki, Koji; Mizokami, Daisuke; Tomifuji, Masayuki; Yamashita, Taku; Ohnuki, Kazunobu; Umeda, Izumi O; Fujii, Hirofumi; Kosuda, Shigeru; Shiotani, Akihiro

2014-08-01

Sentinel node navigation surgery using real-time, near-infrared imaging with indocyanine green is becoming popular by allowing head and neck surgeons to avoid unnecessary neck dissection. The major drawback of this method is its quick migration through the lymphatics, limiting the diagnostic time window and undesirable detection of downstream nodes. We resolved this problem by mixing indocyanine green (ICG) with phytate colloid to retard its migration and demonstrated its feasibility in a nude mouse study. Experimental prospective animal study. Animal laboratory. Indocyanine green at 3 concentrations was tested to determine the optimal concentration for sentinel lymph node detection in a mouse model. Effect of indocyanine green with phytate colloid mixture solutions was also analyzed. Indocyanine green or mixture solution at different mixing ratios were injected into the tongue of nude mice and near-infrared fluorescence images were captured sequentially for up to 48 hours. The brightness of fluorescence in the sentinel lymph node and lymph nodes further downstream were assessed. Indocyanine green concentration >50 μg/mL did not improve sentinel lymph node detection. The addition of phytate colloid to indocyanine green extended the period when sentinel lymph node was detectable. Second echelon lymph nodes were not imaged in mice injected with the mixture, while these were visualized in mice injected with indocyanine green alone. This novel technique of ICG-phytate colloid mixture allows prolonged diagnostic time window, prevention of downstream subsequent nodes detection, and improved accuracy for the detection of true sentinel lymph nodes. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2014.

Flame Retardancy of Chemically Modified Lignin as Functional Additive to Epoxy Nanocomposites

Treesearch

John A. Howarter; Gamini P. Mendis; Alex N. Bruce; Jeffrey P. Youngblood; Mark A. Dietenberger; Laura Hasburgh

2015-01-01

Epoxy printed circuit boards are used in a variety of electronics applications as rigid, thermally stable substrates. Due to the propensity of components on the boards, such as batteries and interconnects, to fail and ignite the epoxy, flame retardant additives are required to minimize fire risk. Currently, industry uses brominated flame retardants, such as TBBPA, to...

Factors affecting social integration of noninstitutionalized mentally retarded adults.

PubMed

Reiter, S; Levi, A M

1980-07-01

The social integration of noninstitutionalized moderately and mildly mentally retarded young adults was investigated. A group of moderately and mildly retarded adults (study group) was compared with a group of borderline retarded (control group) adults on employability, behavior at work, social integration and social skills, personality, and self-concept. Findings indicated that the study group was less well integrated at work and in society than was the control group and showed lack of social skills. The retarded adults who had nonretarded friends showed better social-educational skills than did the other subjects. Findings suggest that even retarded individuals who grow up in the community need help in order to become socially independent. The existence of a special social club for retarded adults was found to fulfill the functions of a sheltered framework. Participants in the club showed more positive self-concepts; however, the club did not seem to prepare them for social integration in the general community.

The responses of autistic children to the distress of others.

PubMed

Bacon, A L; Fein, D; Morris, R; Waterhouse, L; Allen, D

1998-04-01

The behavior of preschool children from five groups (developmental language disordered, high-functioning autistic, low-functioning autistic, mentally retarded, and normally developing) were coded in three situations: presentation of a nonsocial orienting stimulus (an unfamiliar noise) and two social situations involving simulated distress on the part of an adult with whom they were playing. Cognitive level was correlated with level of responsiveness to stimuli only for the two retarded groups (mentally retarded and low-functioning autistic). Girls showed more prosocial behavior than boys in both social situations, independent of diagnosis. The language-disordered children showed only mild and subtle social deficits. The low-functioning autistic children showed pronounced deficits in responding in all situations. The mentally retarded and high-functioning autistic children showed good awareness of all situations, but were moderately impaired in their ability to respond prosocially; they rarely initiated prosocial behavior, but did respond to specific prompts. The behavioral feature that marked both autistic groups, in contrast to all other groups, was a lack of social referencing; they did not tend to look toward an adult in the presence of an ambiguous and unfamiliar stimulus. Results are discussed in terms of variability between and among high- and low-functioning autistic children, and implications for the core deficits in autism.

Work function measurements by the field emission retarding potential method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swanson, L. W.; Strayer, R. W.; Mackie, W. A.

1971-01-01

Using the field emission retarding potential method true work functions have been measured for the following monocrystalline substrates: W(110), W(111), W(100), Nb(100), Ni(100), Cu(100), Ir(110) and Ir(111). The electron elastic and inelastic reflection coefficients from several of these surfaces have also been examined near zero primary beam energy.

The Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein, FMRP, Recognizes G-Quartets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darnell, Jennifer C.; Warren, Stephen T.; Darnell, Robert B.

2004-01-01

Fragile X mental retardation is a disease caused by the loss of function of a single RNA-binding protein, FMRP. Identifying the RNA targets recognized by FMRP is likely to reveal much about its functions in controlling some aspects of memory and behavior. Recent evidence suggests that one of the predominant RNA motifs recognized by the FMRP…

Tremor Frequency Profile as a Function of Level of Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sprague, Robert L.; Deutsch, Katherine M.; Newell, Karl M.

2007-01-01

The characteristic slowness of movement initiation and execution in adult individuals with mental retardation may be driven by the slower frequency profile of the dynamics of the system. To investigate this hypothesis, we examined the resting and postural finger tremor frequency profile (single and dual limb) of adults as a function of level of…

Motor Components in the Choice Reaction Time of Mildly Retarded Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewer, N.

1978-01-01

The contributions of specific motor-coordination disabilities and general slowness of motor function to the choice reaction times (RTs) of 22 mildly retarded adults were examined in two experiments. (Author)

Activational Peaking in Educable and Trainable Mentally Retarded Persons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gargiulo, Richard M.; Uno, Tad

1977-01-01

A study involving 10 educable and 10 trainable mentally retarded adolescents indicated that levels of intellectual functioning influenced patterns of autonomic activation as measured by magnitude of the galvanic skin response. (CL)

Fragile X Mental Retardation Syndrome: Structure of the KH1-KH2 Domains of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein

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

Valverde,R.; Poznyakova, I.; Kajander, T.

Fragile X syndrome is the most common form of inherited mental retardation in humans, with an estimated prevalence of about 1 in 4000 males. Although several observations indicate that the absence of functional Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP) is the underlying basis of Fragile X syndrome, the structure and function of FMRP are currently unknown. Here, we present an X-ray crystal structure of the tandem KH domains of human FMRP, which reveals the relative orientation of the KH1 and KH2 domains and the location of residue Ile304, whose mutation to Asn is associated with a particularly severe incidence ofmore » Fragile X syndrome. We show that the Ile304Asn mutation both perturbs the structure and destabilizes the protein.« less

Effects of green tea and bisphosphonate association on dental socket repair of rats.

PubMed

Mada, Edson Yoshihiro; Santos, Alana Claro Cunha; Fonseca, Angelica Cristina; Biguetti, Claudia Cristina; Neves, Fernando Tozze Alves; Saraiva, Patrícia Pinto; Matsumoto, Mariza Akemi

2017-03-01

To evaluate the effects of green tea intake and zoledronic acid intravenous therapy on teeth socket repair. Sixty male albinus Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: C-Control, intravenous (IV) 0.9% saline solution (SS), GT-1% green tea in drinking water and IV SS, BP-IV zoledronic acid (BP), and BP+GT-IV BP and 1% green tea. 0.035mg/kg of BP was administered every two weeks. After ten weeks, right upper molars were extracted and the green tea started to be offered for GT and BP+GT. After 7, 14, and 28days the animals were euthanized. Histopathology analysis revealed lack of socket repair in BP and BP+GT groups, which presented significant increased number of polimorphonuclear leukocytes at day 28, in comparison with C (p<0.05). No significant differences were detected between C and the experimental groups at the same period (p<0.05) when considering mononuclear leukocytes. Immunolabeling revealed that the association of BP and GT caused a slight disturbance in OPG/RANKL system and retarded Runx-2 labeling. Although strong TRAP labeling was observed, most of the positive cells in BP and BP+GT groups were not located on bone surface. Socket healing of rats treated with BP and regular drinking green tea presented no relevant differences in comparison to those treated with BP alone. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of microRNA Pathway in Mental Retardation

PubMed Central

Qurashi, Abrar; Chang, Shuang; Jin, Peng

2007-01-01

Deficits in cognitive functions lead to mental retardation (MR). Understanding the genetic basis of inherited MR has provided insights into the pathogenesis of MR. Fragile X syndrome is one of the most common forms of inherited MR, caused by the loss of functional Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, single-stranded RNAs between 18 and 25 nucleotides in length, which have been implicated in diversified biological pathways. Recent studies have linked the miRNA pathway to fragile X syndrome. Here we review the role of the miRNA pathway in fragile X syndrome and discuss its implication in MR in general. PMID:17982588

Prolonged exposure of cortical neurons to oligomeric amyloid-β impairs NMDA receptor function via NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS production: protective effect of green tea (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate

PubMed Central

He, Yan; Cui, Jiankun; Lee, James C-M; Ding, Shinghua; Chalimoniuk, Malgorzata; Simonyi, Agnes; Sun, Albert Y; Gu, Zezong; Weisman∥, Gary A; Gibson Wood, W; Sun, Grace Y

2011-01-01

Excessive production of Aβ (amyloid β-peptide) has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD (Alzheimer's disease). Although not yet well understood, aggregation of Aβ is known to cause toxicity to neurons. Our recent study demonstrated the ability for oligomeric Aβ to stimulate the production of ROS (reactive oxygen species) in neurons through an NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate)-dependent pathway. However, whether prolonged exposure of neurons to aggregated Aβ is associated with impairment of NMDA receptor function has not been extensively investigated. In the present study, we show that prolonged exposure of primary cortical neurons to Aβ oligomers caused mitochondrial dysfunction, an attenuation of NMDA receptor-mediated Ca2+ influx and inhibition of NMDA-induced AA (arachidonic acid) release. Mitochondrial dysfunction and the decrease in NMDA receptor activity due to oligomeric Aβ are associated with an increase in ROS production. Gp91ds-tat, a specific peptide inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, and Mn(III)-tetrakis(4-benzoic acid)-porphyrin chloride, an ROS scavenger, effectively abrogated Aβ-induced ROS production. Furthermore, Aβ-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, impairment of NMDA Ca2+ influx and ROS production were prevented by pre-treatment of neurons with EGCG [(−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate], a major polyphenolic component of green tea. Taken together, these results support a role for NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS production in the cytotoxic effects of Aβ, and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of EGCG and other dietary polyphenols in delaying onset or retarding the progression of AD. PMID:21434871

Pioneer Venus Orbiter planar retarding potential analyzer plasma experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knudsen, W. C.; Bakke, J.; Spenner, K.; Novak, V.

1980-01-01

The retarding potential analyzer (RPA) on the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Mission measures most of the thermal plasma parameters within and near the Venusian ionosphere. Parameters include total ion concentration, concentrations of the more abundant ions, ion temperatures, ion drift velocity, electron temperature, and low-energy (0-50 eV) electron distribution function. Several functions not previously used in RPA's were developed and incorporated into this instrument to accomplish these measurements on a spinning spacecraft with a small bit rate. The more significant functions include automatic electrometer ranging with background current compensation; digital, quadratic retarding potential step generation for the ion and low-energy electron scans; a current sampling interval of 2 ms throughout all scans; digital logic inflection point detection and data selection; and automatic ram direction detection.

Flame-retardant-wrapped polyphosphazene nanotubes: A novel strategy for enhancing the flame retardancy and smoke toxicity suppression of epoxy resins.

PubMed

Qiu, Shuilai; Wang, Xin; Yu, Bin; Feng, Xiaming; Mu, Xiaowei; Yuen, Richard K K; Hu, Yuan

2017-03-05

The structure of polyphosphazene nanotubes (PZS) is similar to that of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) before modification. For applications of CNTs in polymer composites, surface wrapping is an economically attractive route to achieve functionalized nanotubes. Based on this idea, functionalized polyphosphazene nanotubes (FR@PZS) wrapped with a cross-linked DOPO-based flame retardant (FR) were synthesized via one-step strategy and well characterized. Then, the obtained FR@PZS was introduced into epoxy resin (EP) to investigate flame retardancy and smoke toxicity suppression performance. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that FR@PZS significantly enhanced the thermal stability of EP composites. Cone calorimeter results revealed that incorporation of FR@PZS obviously improved flame retardant performance of EP, for example, 46.0% decrease in peak heat release rate and 27.1% reduction in total heat release were observed in the case of epoxy composite with 3wt% FR@PZS. The evolution of toxic CO and other volatile products from the EP decomposition was significantly suppressed after the introduction of FR@PZS, Therefore, the smoke toxicity associates with burning EP was reduced. The presence of both PZS and a DOPO-based flame retardant was probably responsible for this substantial diminishment of fire hazard. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Drosophila homolog of Down's syndrome critical region 1 gene regulates learning: Implications for mental retardation

PubMed Central

Chang, Karen T.; Shi, Yi-Jun; Min, Kyung-Tai

2003-01-01

Mental retardation is the most common phenotypic abnormality seen in Down's syndrome (DS) patients, yet the underlying mechanism remains mysterious. DS critical region 1 (DSCR1), located on chromosome 21, is overexpressed in the brain of DS fetus and encodes an inhibitor of calcineurin, but its physiological significance is unknown. To study its functional importance and role in mental retardation in DS, we generated Drosophila mutants of nebula, an ortholog of human DSCR1. Here, we report that both nebula loss-of-function and overexpression mutants exhibit severe learning defects that are attributed by biochemical perturbations rather than maldevelopment of the brain. These results, combined with our data showing that the same biochemical signaling pathway is altered in human DS fetal brain tissue overexpressing DSCR1, suggest that alteration of DSCR1 expression could contribute to mental retardation in DS. PMID:14668437

Retarding potential analyzer for the Pioneer-Venus Orbiter Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knudsen, W. C.; Bakke, J.; Spenner, K.; Novak, V.

1979-01-01

The retarding potential analyzer on the Pioneer-Venus Orbiter Mission has been designed to measure most of the thermal plasma parameters within and near the Venusian ionosphere. Parameters include total ion concentration, concentrations of the more abundant ions, ion temperatures, ion drift velocity, electron temperature, and low-energy (0-50 eV) electron distribution function. To accomplish these measurements on a spinning vehicle with a small telemetry bit rate, several functions, including decision functions not previously used in RPA's, have been developed and incorporated into this instrument. The more significant functions include automatic electrometer ranging with background current compensation; digital, quadratic retarding potential step generation for the ion and low-energy electron scans; a current sampling interval of 2 ms throughout all scans; digital logic inflection point detection and data selection; and automatic ram direction detection. Extensive numerical simulation and plasma chamber tests have been conducted to verify adequacy of the design for the Pioneer Mission.

Monte-Carlo-based phase retardation estimator for polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Lian; Makita, Shuichi; Yamanari, Masahiro; Lim, Yiheng; Yasuno, Yoshiaki

2011-08-01

A Monte-Carlo-based phase retardation estimator is developed to correct the systematic error in phase retardation measurement by polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT). Recent research has revealed that the phase retardation measured by PS-OCT has a distribution that is neither symmetric nor centered at the true value. Hence, a standard mean estimator gives us erroneous estimations of phase retardation, and it degrades the performance of PS-OCT for quantitative assessment. In this paper, the noise property in phase retardation is investigated in detail by Monte-Carlo simulation and experiments. A distribution transform function is designed to eliminate the systematic error by using the result of the Monte-Carlo simulation. This distribution transformation is followed by a mean estimator. This process provides a significantly better estimation of phase retardation than a standard mean estimator. This method is validated both by numerical simulations and experiments. The application of this method to in vitro and in vivo biological samples is also demonstrated.

Modelling the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh green coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) water.

PubMed

Walter, Eduardo H M; Kabuki, Dirce Y; Esper, Luciana M R; Sant'Ana, Anderson S; Kuaye, Arnaldo Y

2009-09-01

The behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes in the fresh coconut water stored at 4 degrees C, 10 degrees C and 35 degrees C was studied. The coconut water was aseptically extracted from green coconuts (Cocos nucifera L.) and samples were inoculated in triplicate with a mixture of 5 strains of L. monocytogenes with a mean population of approximately 3 log(10) CFU/mL. The kinetic parameters of the bacteria were estimated from the Baranyi model, and compared with predictions of the Pathogen Modelling Program so as to predict its behaviour in the beverage. The results demonstrated that fresh green coconut water was a beverage propitious for the survival and growth of L. monocytogenes and that refrigeration at 10 degrees C or 4 degrees C retarded, but did not inhibit, growth of this bacterium. Temperature abuse at 35 degrees C considerably reduced the lagtimes. The study shows that L. monocytogenes growth in fresh green coconut water is controlled for several days by storage at low temperature, mainly at 4 degrees C. Thus, for risk population this product should only be drunk directly from the coconut or despite the sensorial alterations should be consumed pasteurized.

Neural Compensations After Lesion of the Cerebral Cortex

PubMed Central

Kolb, Bryan; Brown, Russell; Witt-Lajeunesse, Alane; Gibb, Robbin

2001-01-01

Functional improvement after cortical injury can be stimulated by various factors including experience, psychomotor stimulants, gonadal hormones, and neurotrophic factors. The, timing of the administration of these factors may be critical, however. For example, factors such as gonadal hormones, nerve growth factor, or psychomotor stimulants may act to either enhance or retard recovery, depending upon the timing of administration. Nicotine, for instance, stimulates recovery if given after an injury but is without neuroprotective effect and may actually retard recovery if it is given only preinjury. A related timing problem concerns the interaction of different treatments. For example, behavioral therapies may act, in part, via their action in stimulating the endogenous production of trophic factors. Thus, combining behavioral therapies with pharmacological administration of compounds to increase the availability of trophic factors enhances functional outcome. Finally, anatomical evidence suggests that the mechanism of action of many treatments is through changes in dendritic arborization, which presumably reflects changes in synaptic organization. Factors that enhance dendritic change stimulate functional compensation, whereas factors that retard or block dendritic change block or retard compensation. PMID:11530881

The DoD Civilian Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-21

as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome , emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities. b. Major Life Activities. Functions...mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome , emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities

Work function measurements by the field emission retarding potential method.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strayer, R. W.; Mackie, W.; Swanson, L. W.

1973-01-01

Description of the theoretical foundation of the field electron retarding potential method, and review of its experimental application to the measurement of single crystal face work functions. The results obtained from several substrates are discussed. An interesting and useful fallout from the experimental approach described is the ability to accurately measure the elastic and inelastic reflection coefficient for impinging electrons to near zero-volt energy.

Use of Crystalline Boron as a Burn Rate Retardant Toward the Development of Green-Colored Handheld Signal Formulations

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

This article was downloaded by: [US Ardec Technical Research Centre] On: 08 July 2011 , At: 11:46 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered...Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey Available online: 08 Jul 2011 To cite this article: Jesse J. Sabatini, Jay C. Poret & Russell N. Broad ( 2011 ): Use of...penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 13 SEP 2011

In situ characterization of green rust in the presence of arsenate and phosphate in simulated oxidized and reduced environments.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Root, R. A.; O'Day, P. A.

2008-12-01

Nano- to micron-scale particles of mixed-valent iron hydroxide, specifically green rust (GR [FeII6- x(OH)y FeIIIx(OH)12-y]x+[Anionx- + H2O]x-), have been identified and studied as corrosion products of steel, and recently rediscovered in hydromorphic soils and sediments. Green rusts are intermediate phases produced by biotic and abiotic reductive dissolution of ferric oxyhydroxides, or by oxidation of dissolved ferrous iron. Adsorbed oxyanions can stabilize GR phases and inhibit the formation of thermodynamically favored iron phases such as magnetite or lepidocrocite in subsurface environments. This study used synchrotron XRD to characterize iron (hydr)oxide minerals precipitated from solution and subsequent aging products under different environmental conditions of pH and Eh. Here we show the in situ abiotic development of green rust and its stabilization by the addition of adsorbed oxyanions or alternatively, subsequent rapid transformation to magnetite or lepidocrocite in the absence of added anions. A closed batch reactor with an in-line capillary was used to expose the reaction products to continuous synchrotron radiation. Laue patterns were collected at time intervals of 3-5 minutes and used to detect the formation of crystalline iron (hydr)oxide minerals that precipitate as a function time and chemical perturbations to the system, i.e. changing the pH, redox potential, ratio of Fe2+ to OH- , and addition of an oxyanion, arsenate or phosphate. The reactions were monitored by observing the development of diagnostic green rust XRD d-spacing peak at 10.9 Å (300), the 3.29 Å (210) d- spacing for lepidocrocite, and the 2.53 Å (100) d-spacing for magnetite, with continuous in-line measurement of pH and ORP. We found that green rust was stabilized by the adsorption of arsenate and phosphate. In the presence of arsenate or phosphate at pH =7, green rust transformed to lepidocrocite after several hours when anoxic controls were removed. When pH and Eh were constant, GR did not transform to magnetite or lepidocrocite. However, without arsenate or phosphate, the transformation occurred in less than 1 hour. At pH > 7.5, green rust transformed to magnetite within 1 hour. In the presence of phosphate or arsenate, the transformation was retarded and took up to 8 hours. The rates of transformation and meta- stability of iron (hydr)oxide phases in natural redoximorphic sediments play important roles in the cycling of contaminants and nutrients.

Using stimulus shaping and fading to establish stimulus control in normal and retarded children.

PubMed

Smeets, P M; Lancioni, G E; Hoogeveen, F R

1984-09-01

The present study was an effort to investigate whether, in addition to his IQ level, the child's ability to identify all relevant stimulus components would affect the frequency of overselective responding. Children of different IQ levels (i.e. normal, educably retarded, and trainable retarded children) participated. Subjects were trained to learn the meanings of four sets of fictitious words, i.e. two sets containing words printed in Roman letters (Roman words), and two sets containing words printed in Hebrew letters (Hebrew words). All subjects could identify the words of each set. The normal and educably retarded subjects could read aloud the Roman words, whereas the trainable retarded subjects could not. None of the subjects could read the Hebrew words. Two training procedures were used, one requiring transfer of stimulus control (fading), and one which did not (stimulus shaping). The results indicated that, firstly, the discrimination learning of the normal and educably retarded subjects covaried with the IQ level and their ability to read the words. The learning rate was not affected by the training procedures. Secondly, the trainable retarded subjects learned much better through stimulus shaping than through fading. Their acquisition rates were slow and not affected by the types of letters. Thirdly, the training procedures had no effect on the breadth of stimulus control. Instead, it covaried as a function of the IQ level (all groups) and of the child's ability to read the words (normal and educably retarded subjects). Fourthly, the training procedures had, however, considerable effect on which letters controlled the discriminations. When overselective selective responding was evident, the letters that had been associated with the prompts were more often functional than the other letters, but only for the words trained through stimulus shaping.

Growth, Hypothalamic Function, and Brain Ventricle Size in Mentally Retarded Subjects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leisti, S.; Iianainen, M.

1978-01-01

To determine whether moderate enlargement of the third brain ventricle or the temporal horns of the lateral ventricles was associated with hypothalamic dysfunction, 15 mentally retarded Ss (ages 12-25 years) with such characteristics were studies. (DLS)

Phase retardation vs. pretilt angle in liquid crystal cells with homogeneous and inhomogeneous LC director configuration.

PubMed

Belyaev, Victor; Solomatin, Alexey; Chausov, Denis

2013-02-25

Phase retardation of both extraordinary and ordinary polarized rays passing through a liquid crystal (LC) cell with homogeneous and inhomogeneous LC director distribution is calculated as a function of the LC pretilt angle θ₀ on the cell substrates in the range 0 ≤ θ₀ ≤ 90°. The LC pretilt on both substrates can have the same or opposite direction, thereby forming homogeneous, splay, or bend director configurations. At the same pretilt angle value, the largest phase retardation ΔΦ is observed in splay LC cells, whereas the smallest phase retardation is observed in bend cells. For the θ₀ values close to 0, 45°, and 90°, analytical approximations are derived, showing that phase retardation depends on LC birefringence variation.

Synergetic Improvement in Thermal Conductivity and Flame Retardancy of Epoxy/Silver Nanowires Composites by Incorporating "Branch-Like" Flame-Retardant Functionalized Graphene.

PubMed

Feng, Yuezhan; Li, Xiongwei; Zhao, Xiaoyu; Ye, Yunsheng; Zhou, Xingping; Liu, Hu; Liu, Chuntai; Xie, Xiaolin

2018-06-27

The significant fire hazards on the polymer-based thermal interface materials (TIM) used in electronic devices are but often neglected. Also, high filler loading with the incident deterioration of mechanical, thermal, and processing properties limits the further application of the traditional polymer-based TIMs. In this work, a ternary TIMs with epoxy resin (EP) matrix, silver nanowires (AgNWs), and a small amount of flame-retardant functionalized graphene (GP-DOPO) were proposed to address the above questions. Briefly, a facile "branch-like" strategy with a polymer as the backbone and flame-retardant molecule as the branch was first used to functionalize reduced graphene oxide (RGO) toward increasing the flame-retardant grafting ratio and RGO's compatibility in matrix, and the resulted GP-DOPO was then in situ introduced into the EP/AgNW composites. As expected, the incorporation of GP-DOPO (2 wt %) can increase the thermal conductivity to 1.413 W/(m K) at a very low AgNW loading (4 vol %), which is 545 and 56% increments compared to pure EP and EP/AgNW, respectively. The prominent improvement in thermal conductivity was put down to the synergetic effect of AgNW and GP-DOPO, i.e., the improving dispersion and bridging effect for AgNWs by adding GP-DOPO. Moreover, the high flame-retardant grafting amount and the excellent compatibility of GP-DOPO resulted in a strong catalytic charring effect on EP matrix, which further formed a robust protective char layer by combining the AgNW and graphene network. Therefore, the flame retardancy of EP/AgNW was significantly improved by introducing GP-DOPO, i.e., the peak heat release rate, total heat release and total smoke production reduced by 27.0, 32.4, and 30.9% reduction compared to EP/AgNW, respectively.

Rorschach cognitive developmental indices of mentally retarded persons: a comparison with scores on Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children-revised.

PubMed

Di Nuovo, S F; Colucci, G; Pellicciotta, A; Buono, S

1997-08-01

In a sample of 55 mentally retarded subjects (M age = 14 yr., 1 mo.) the relations between some perceptual and cognitive Rorschach indices, including the Becker's Genetic Level Score, and Wechsler Scale scores were studied. The mean Developmental Score did not increase across ages and was higher for girls than for boys, while Verbal and Performance IQs were lower for girls. The correlations confirm the hypothesis that for mentally retarded persons WISC-R scaled scores and Rorschach cognitive indices are different measures of intellective functioning. The findings are discussed with reference to the assessment and rehabilitation of retarded subjects.

Remedying Social Skills Deficits in a Chronic Schizophrenic-Retarded Person.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Henry J.; Martin, Rose

1983-01-01

An adult chronic schizophrenic, residual type, with an additional diagnosis of mild-moderate retardation, received social skills training (SST). Videotaped role-play assessments showed change occurred following SST, while a multiple-baseline design demonstrated functional control over the behaviors. (Author/CL)

Damping of quasiparticles in a Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an optical cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kónya, G.; Szirmai, G.; Domokos, P.

2014-07-01

We present a general theory for calculating the damping rate of elementary density-wave excitations in a Bose-Einstein condensate strongly coupled to a single radiation field mode of an optical cavity. Thereby we give a detailed derivation of the huge resonant enhancement in the Beliaev damping of a density-wave mode, predicted recently by Kónya et al. [Phys. Rev. A 89, 051601(R) (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevA.89.051601]. The given density-wave mode constitutes the polaritonlike soft mode of the self-organization phase transition. The resonant enhancement takes place, in both the normal and the ordered phases, outside the critical region. We show that the large damping rate is accompanied by a significant frequency shift of this polariton mode. Going beyond the Born-Markov approximation and determining the poles of the retarded Green's function of the polariton, we reveal a strong coupling between the polariton and a collective mode in the phonon bath formed by the other density-wave modes.

Relaxation of nonequilibrium populations after a pump: the breaking of Mathiessen's rule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freericks, J. K.; Abdurazakov, O.; Kemper, A. F.

2017-05-01

From the early days of many-body physics, it was realized that the self-energy governs the relaxation or lifetime of the retarded Green's function. So it seems reasonable to directly extend those results into the nonequilibrium domain. But experiments and calculations of the response of quantum materials to a pump show that the relationship between the relaxation and the self-energy only holds in special cases. Experimentally, the decay time for a population to relax back to equilibrium and the linewidth measured in a linear-response angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy differ by large amounts. Theoretically, aside from the weak-coupling regime where the relationship holds, one also finds deviations and additionally one sees violations of Mathiessen's rule. In this work, we examine whether looking at an effective transport relaxation time helps to analyze the decay times of excited populations as they relax back to equilibrium. We conclude that it may do a little better, but it has a fitting parameter for the overall scale which must be determined.

Functional improvement and social participation through sports activity for children with mental retardation: a field study from a developing nation.

PubMed

Ghosh, Dipanwita; Datta, Tarit K

2012-09-01

While the positive effect of sports and exercise on physical and psychological well being is well documented within the general population, the effects of sports on the functional ability of a child with mental retardation are limited. To determine if sports activities have been detrimental in improving functional ability in sample of children with mental retardation based in Kolkata, a metropolis in India. Field level study. Six sports associations registered under the Sports Authority of India for training children with mental retardation were shortlisted on the basis of four criteria. From the register, every third name (gender irrespective) belonging to the second (12-15 years) and third (15-21 years) subclasses (out of the four categories laid down in the Special Olympics participation rules) against a constraint of at least two years active attendance in the sports facility for the child was selected. A sample of 31 children was drawn and the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) 12-item version was administered to the caregiver-teacher-coach team of the sample. Relative changes in scores between the point when the survey was conducted and the point when the child joined the sports facility was used as the dependent variable for regression analysis. The number of years in active sports, in school age of the respondent and base score of the children when they joined school were the independent variables. For seven of the WHODAS 2.0 12-item attributes, the number of years in sports activities was found to have a statistically significant effect (p < 0.01) on the functional well being of children with mild to moderate mental retardation. The number of years in school was also another statistically significant factor (p < 0.01) responsible for this improvement. The children, however, perceived of being not welcome in community activities, but participated in activities meant exclusively for them. This small study showed that the proposition that number of years in sports activities was a significant factor responsible for improving the functioning of children with mild to moderate mental retardation.

Selenite-Releasing Bone Mineral Nanoparticles Retard Bone Tumor Growth and Improve Healthy Tissue Functions In Vivo.

PubMed

Wang, Yanhua; Hao, Hang; Liu, Haoming; Wang, Yifan; Li, Yan; Yang, Gaojie; Ma, Jun; Mao, Chuanbin; Zhang, Shengmin

2015-08-26

Selenite-doped bone mineral nanoparticles can retard the growth of osteosarcoma in a nude mice model, through sustained release of selenite ions. The selenite ions released from the nanoparticles through a degradation-mediated fashion inhibit tumor metastasis. Blood routine analysis indicates that selenite ions can also improve the functions of liver, kidney, and heart. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Balthazar Scales of Adaptive Behavior. Measures of Program Development for the Severely and Profoundly Mentally Retarded. Section 1. Skills of Functional Independence. Part Three: Program Scoring Form.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balthazar, Earl E.

The scoring form for functional independence skills for the mentally retarded includes a section for recording subjects' demographic characteristics as well as tests used, date administered, and raw score. Other sections provide for a brief description of the program being used, an item scoring sheet for the Eating Scales (dependent feeding,…

The mGluR theory of fragile X mental retardation.

PubMed

Bear, Mark F; Huber, Kimberly M; Warren, Stephen T

2004-07-01

Many of the diverse functional consequences of activating group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors require translation of pre-existing mRNA near synapses. One of these consequences is long-term depression (LTD) of transmission at hippocampal synapses. Loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), the defect responsible for fragile X syndrome in humans, increases LTD in mouse hippocampus. This finding is consistent with the growing evidence that FMRP normally functions as a repressor of translation of specific mRNAs. Here we present a theory that can account for diverse neurological and psychiatric aspects of fragile X syndrome, based on the assumption that many of the protein-synthesis-dependent functions of metabotropic receptors are exaggerated in fragile X syndrome. The theory suggests new directions for basic research as well as novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of humans with fragile X, the most frequent inherited cause of mental retardation and an identified cause of autism.

[Impairment of executive function in elderly patients with major unipolar depression: influence of psychomotor retardation].

PubMed

Baudic, Sophie; Benisty, Sarah; Dalla Barba, Gianfrano; Traykov, Latchezar

2007-03-01

The results from several studies assessing the executive function in depressed patients compared to control subjects varied from significant impairment to normal performance. To assess the executive impairment in elderly patients with major unipolar depression and to evaluate the influence of psychomotor retardation and severity of depression in the executive deficits, the performance of 15 elderly patients with unipolar depression was compared to that of 15 elderly control subjects on executive tasks. The severity of depression was evaluated by the Montgomery and Asberg depressive scale and that of psychomotor retardation by the Widlöcher's scale. In depressed patients, deficits were found on tasks assessing cognitive flexibility (Modified card sorting test (MCST) and Trail making test B), planification and elaboration of strategies (cognitive estimates), motor initiation (graphic sequences), categorisation and hypothesis making (MCST) and interference resistance (Stroop test). However, depressed patients performed normally on the Hayling test assessing the inhibition processes. Intensity of psychomotor retardation was not correlated to the performance of executive tasks. Conversely, severity of depression was related to the scores of MCST (number of errors and perseverations), Stroop and Hayling tests (time taken to complete the end of the sentence). Unipolar depressed patients showed deficits in most tasks assessing executive function. However, inhibition processes appeared to be intact in depressed patients although their implementation was difficult. The severity of depression but not that of psychomotor retardation was associated with executive deficits.

Epilepsy and Mental Retardation: An Overview.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coulter, David L.

1993-01-01

The comprehensive management of epilepsy in people with mental retardation requires consideration of four aspects of care: diagnosis and classification, anticonvulsant drug treatment, safety and protection from injury, and psychosocial functioning. This paper outlines what is known and unknown in these four areas and introduces articles in this…

Visual evoked potentials of mildly mentally retarded and control children.

PubMed

Gasser, T; Pietz, J; Schellberg, D; Köhler, W

1988-10-01

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded from 25 10- to 13-year-old mildly mentally retarded children and compared with those from 31 control children of the same age-range. Correlations of VEPs with age were weak, but a relationship between VEPs and IQ was demonstrated for the control group. The retarded group had significantly longer latencies and higher amplitude peaks than the control group, with the differences occurring primarily over non-specific cortex and for secondary components. Analysis also showed that the retarded group were neurophysiologically heterogeneous. Since the same children had been analyzed earlier by quantitative EEG methods, comparisons are made with respect to these two methods of investigating brain function.

Project Job: Vocational Training Program for Mentally Retarded Adults.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 1983

1983-01-01

A vocational training program for trainable mentally retarded youth and adults provided instruction on functional skills, travel training, and independent living skills in addition to supervised performance in part time jobs in the community. The program expanded into small business subsidiaries for boat cleaning and detailing and marine serving.…

READINESS AND READING FOR THE RETARDED CHILD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BERNSTEIN, BEBE

THIS TEACHER'S BOOK AND MANUAL, DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY TWO WORKBOOKS, PRESENTS A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO READINESS AND READING FOR YOUNG EDUCABLE RETARDED CHILDREN. THE WORKBOOKS THEMSELVES OFFER PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AT THE READINESS LEVEL AND SEQUENTIAL ACTIVITIES AND MATERIALS FOR THOSE AT THE BEGINNING READING STAGE. THE TEACHER'S…

Total Habilitation as a Major Goal of Intervention in Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drash, Philip W.; And Others

1987-01-01

Intervention advances in mental retardation have enabled some individuals to function as independent, nonretarded persons. Establishing total habilitation (a term needed to describe this outcome) as a major goal of intervention will promote research and the development of an intervention continuum that includes prevention, total habilitation, and…

A Clinical Application of Applied Humanism for Young Adults with Severe and Profound Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzelli, AnnaMaria; Polirstok, Susan Rovet; Dana, Lawrence; Buono, Serafina; Mongelli, Vita; Trubia, Grazia; Ayala, Giovanni

2000-01-01

Describes an intensive habilitation program in Sicily for young adults with severe and profound retardation. Participants in the program showed significant improvement in functional skills and an accompanying reduction in maladaptive and stereotypic behaviors, without complex behavior plans; punishing contingencies; or high dose neuroleptic,…

A Mental Retardation-linked Nonsense Mutation in Cereblon Is Rescued by Proteasome Inhibition*

PubMed Central

Xu, Guoqiang; Jiang, Xiaogang; Jaffrey, Samie R.

2013-01-01

A nonsense mutation in cereblon (CRBN) causes autosomal recessive nonsyndromic mental retardation. Cereblon is a substrate receptor for the Cullin-RING E3 ligase complex and couples the ubiquitin ligase to specific ubiquitination targets. The CRBN nonsense mutation (R419X) results in a protein lacking 24 amino acids at its C terminus. Although this mutation has been linked to mild mental retardation, the mechanism by which the mutation affects CRBN function is unknown. Here, we used biochemical and mass spectrometric approaches to explore the function of this mutant. We show that the protein retains its ability to assemble into a Cullin-RING E3 ligase complex and catalyzes the ubiquitination of CRBN-target proteins. However, we find that this mutant exhibits markedly increased levels of autoubiquitination and is more readily degraded by the proteasome than the wild type protein. We also show that the level of the mutant protein can be restored by a treatment of cells with a clinically utilized proteasome inhibitor, suggesting that this agent may be useful for the treatment of mental retardation associated with the CRBN R419X mutation. These data demonstrate that enhanced autoubiquitination and degradation account for the defect in CRBN activity that leads to mental retardation. PMID:23983124

Development of flame retardant cotton fabric based on ionic liquids via sol-gel technique.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bentis, A.; Boukhriss, A.; Boyer, D.; Gmouh, S.

2017-10-01

In this study, flame retardant cotton fabrics were developed by the sol-gel method, in order to enhance their flame retardant proprieties. For this aim, seven sols were prepared using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and different ionic liquids (ILs) consist on pyridinium and Methylimidazolium cations with different anions such as: PF6-, CH3COO-, and Br-. Those sols were applied separately to the cotton fabrics by a pad-dry-cure process. The flame retardant properties of functionalized cotton fabrics before and after washing were determined by the vertical flame tests according to ISO6940:2004(F) standard. The effects of anions have been thoroughly investigated, aiming at the optimization of the targeted properties. Thermogravimetric and mechanical according to NF EN ISO 13934-1:2013standard, analyses have been also investigated. The results showed that flame retardancy, thermal stability and mechanical properties of treated fabrics were enhanced by using ionic liquids.

Different sensitivities to oxygen between two strains of the photosynthetic green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium vibrioforme NCIB 8327 with bacteriochlorophyll c and d.

PubMed

Harada, Jiro; Saga, Yoshitaka; Oh-oka, Hirozo; Tamiaki, Hitoshi

2005-11-01

Two sub-strains of the anoxygenic photosynthetic green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium vibrioforme NCIB 8327 were derived from the same clone and could be discriminated only by their possession of either bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c or d as the major pigment in the peripheral light-harvesting antenna system, chlorosome (Saga Y et al. (2003) Anal Sci 19: 1575-1579). In the presence of a proper amount of oxygen in the initial culture medium, the BChl d strain showed longer retardation on its growth initiation than the BChl c strain, indicating that the latter was advantageous for survival under aerobic light conditions which produced reactive oxygen species in vivo. The result would be ascribable to the difference of the midpoint potentials between two kinds of chlorosomes formed by self-aggregates of BChl c and d as measured by their fluorescence quenching.

A retarding ion mass spectrometer for the Dynamics Explorer-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, W.

1985-01-01

The Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer (RIMS) for Dynamics Explorer-1 is an instrument designed to measure the details of the thermal plasma distribution. It combines the ion temperature determining capability of the retarding potential analyzer with the compositional capabilities of the mass spectrometer and adds multiple sensor heads to sample all directions relative to the spacecraft ram direction. This manual provides a functional description of the RIMS, the instrument calibration, and a description of the commands which can be stored in the instrument logic to control its operation.

A de novo 11q23 deletion in a patient presenting with severe ophthalmologic findings, psychomotor retardation and facial dysmorphism.

PubMed

Şimşek-Kiper, Pelin Özlem; Bayram, Yavuz; Ütine, Gülen Eda; Alanay, Yasemin; Boduroğlu, Koray

2014-01-01

Distal 11q deletion, previously known as Jacobsen syndrome, is caused by segmental aneusomy for the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 11. Typical clinical features include facial dysmorphism, mild-to-moderate psychomotor retardation, trigonocephaly, cardiac defects, and thrombocytopenia. There is a significant variability in the range of clinical features. We report herein a five-year-old girl with severe ophthalmological findings, facial dysmorphism, and psychomotor retardation with normal platelet function, in whom a de novo 11q23 deletion was detected, suggesting that distal 11q monosomy should be kept in mind in patients presenting with dysmorphic facial features and psychomotor retardation even in the absence of hematological findings.

Assessment of penile vibratory stimulation as a management strategy in men with secondary retarded orgasm.

PubMed

Nelson, Christian J; Ahmed, Absaar; Valenzuela, Rolando; Parker, Marilyn; Mulhall, John P

2007-03-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of penile vibratory stimulation for the management of retarded orgasm. Retarded orgasm, a condition characterized by difficulty achieving orgasm and ejaculation, is one of the most recalcitrant of the male sexual dysfunctions. Currently, no evidence-based treatments have been proven to ameliorate this condition. Men who had a complete inability to achieve an orgasm during sexual relations in the previous 3 months were instructed in the use of penile vibratory stimulation. The men's responses were measured by self-report of orgasm function and using the orgasm and satisfaction domains of the International Index of Erectile Function. The responses were assessed at baseline (admission into the study) and at 3 and 6 months. A total of 36 men met the inclusion criteria, and 72% reported the restoration of orgasm. These responders reported that orgasm during sexual relations occurred 62% of the time. A statistically and clinically significant increase occurred in the orgasm and satisfaction domains of the International Index of Erectile Function between the baseline visit and the 3-month follow-up visit. These gains were sustained at 6 months. Penile vibratory stimulation is an effective treatment for retarded orgasm. Penile vibratory stimulation should be integrated into current cognitive-behavioral sex therapy techniques to achieve maximal effectiveness and satisfaction.

Differential Analysis of Selected Prompts and Neurological Variables in Motor Assessment of Moderately Mentally Retarded Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ilmer, Steven; Drews, Judith

1980-01-01

The relative effectiveness of multisensory-, physical-, modeling-, and verbal-prompting assessment strategies upon the gross motor performance of 40 moderately retarded children (ages 5 to 15 years) was investigated, taking into account the impact of the Ss' levels of reflexive maturation and orthopedic functioning. (Author/DLS)

Spontaneous Eye-Blinking and Stereotyped Behavior in Older Persons with Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roebel, Amanda M.; MacLean, William E., Jr.

2007-01-01

Previous research indicates that abnormal stereotyped movements are associated with central dopamine dysfunction and that eye-blink rate is a noninvasive, in vivo measure of dopamine function. We measured the spontaneous eye-blinking and stereotyped behavior of older adults with severe/profound mental retardation living in a state mental…

Treatment Effects of Methylphenidate on Cognitive Functioning in Children with Mental Retardation and ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearson, Deborah A.; Santos, Cynthia W.; Casat, Charles D.; Lane, David M.; Jerger, Susan W.; Roache, John D.; Loveland, Katherine A.; Lachar, David; Faria, Laura P.; Payne, Christa D.; Cleveland, Lynne A.

2004-01-01

Objective: Cognitive effects of stimulant medication were investigated in children with mental retardation (MR) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: Performance on tasks tapping sustained attention, visual and auditory selective attention, inhibition, and immediate memory was assessed for 24 children (mean age 10.9 years)…

Peer-Directed Communicative Interactions of Augmented Language Learners with Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romski, Mary Ann; And Others

1994-01-01

Evaluation of naturally occurring peer-directed communicative interactions of 13 youth with moderate to severe mental retardation and little or no functional speech, who used the System for Augmenting Language as their primary means of communication, found that the system was an integral component of successful and effective conversations and…

Training a Mentally Retarded Woman to Work Competitively: Effect of Graphic Feedback and a Changing Criterion Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Paula; And Others

1983-01-01

An on-the-job coach provided graphic feedback on the food service performance of a moderately retarded young woman. Her performance improved to a production range acceptable for competive employment. Feedback from co-workers revealed, however, that she was still not functioning adequately. (CL)

Beta Adrenergic Blocking Medications for Aggressive or Self-Injurious Mentally Retarded Persons.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruedrich, Stephen L.; And Others

1990-01-01

Literature is reviewed and a case report is presented concerning blockers of the beta-adrenergic function of the sympathetic nervous system, postulated to have efficacy in treatment of aggressive or self-injurious syndromes in persons with mental retardation. Concerns are raised regarding endorsement of beta-blocking medications before they have…

Nutrient fluxes and stoichiometry in a large impounded river-bay system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klump, J. V.; Waples, J. T.; Able, L. M.; Anderson, P. D.; Weckerly, K.; Szmania, D. C.

2003-04-01

Reservoir-induced aging of continental runoff has been shown to an anthropogenically induced global phenomenon with estimates that the mean age of river water reaching the coastal ocean has likely tripled historically. This aging is hypothesized to have a significant biogeochemical impact on land-margin systems by altering flow regimes, net water balances and residence times, reaeration of surface waters, carbon cycling processes, and sediment storage and transport. The Fox-Wolf watershed system contains more than 20 reservoirs, impoundments and lakes on the main stems of the two principal rivers that feed Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Consequently, this hydrologic system can be conceived as functioning as a series of linked biogeochemical reactors which retard flow, retain particles, significantly attenuate the flux of materials into sequential downstream "pools", and both process and repackage nutrients via tightly coupled benthic-pelagic biotic interactions. This successional transformation process results in a poorly understood delivery of nutrients, soils and contaminants from upstream sources to downstream receptors in Green Bay and ultimately -- Lake Michigan. Nutrient reprocessing (defined as the sum of all processes affecting nutrients, i.e. fixation, remineralization, repackaging, sedimentation, etc.) within each pool is hypothesized to be primarily a function of: (1) particle-solute and hydraulic residence times, (2) the quality and quantity of inputs, and (3) the food web structure. Overlaid on these dynamics are very strong seasonal forcing factors, including annual temperature cycles that induce order of magnitude variations in temperature dependent reaction rates, and winter ice cover on the upper pool lakes, reservoirs and Green Bay, that halts run off from the land and reduces within-basin mixing. These short term and seasonal loading dynamics result in considerable temporal stochasticity in the capacity of the biotic component of the ecosystem to assimilate, transform, and attenuate the flux of materials through the land margin system. We report here preliminary results on the nature of elemental riverine fluxes (e.g. carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, silica), the shift in their composition and stoichiometry as these materials move downstream, and on the role of impoundments as nutrient traps.

Mild cognitive impairment in early life and mental health problems in adulthood.

PubMed

Chen, Chuan-Yu; Lawlor, John P; Duggan, Anne K; Hardy, Janet B; Eaton, William W

2006-10-01

We assessed the extent to which borderline mental retardation and mental retardation at preschool ages are related to emotional and behavioral problems in young adulthood. We also explored early risk factors for having mental health problems as a young adult that might be related to preschool differences in cognitive ability. We used data from a cohort of births studied in the Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study and followed up in the Pathways to Adulthood Study. Preschool cognitive functioning was assessed at 4 years of age. Individual characteristics, psychosocial factors, and mental problems were prospectively evaluated from birth through young adulthood. Children with subaverage cognitive abilities were more likely to develop mental health problems than their counterparts with IQs above 80. Inadequate family interactions were shown to increase 2- to 4-fold the risk of emotional or behavioral problems among children with borderline mental retardation. Subaverage cognitive functioning in early life increases later risk of mental health problems. Future research may help to delineate possible impediments faced at different developmental stages and guide changes in supportive services to better address the needs of children with borderline mental retardation.

Identification and Recall of Structurally Important Units in Prose by Mentally Retarded Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luftig, Richard L.; Johnson, Ronald E.

The study investigated the ability of 80 mildly mentally retarded students (19 to 17 years old) to make accurate judgments of textual idea importance and to differentially and spontaneously remember important rather than unimportant ideas. Ss were assigned to one of six conditions which differed as a function of whether importance judgments were…

MID-LIFE ATTAINMENT OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED, A LONGITUDINAL STUDY.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BALLER, WARREN R.; AND OTHERS

THIS STUDY LOCATED MENTALLY RETARDED, SLOW LEARNING, AND NORMAL SUBJECTS WHO HAD BEEN EVALUATED DURING THE 1930'S. THEIR PRESENT STATUS AND FUNCTIONING WERE REPORTED AND THE STUDY SEARCHED FOR REASONS FOR THE SUBJECTS' DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LIFE ADJUSTMENT. OVER 400 OF THE ORIGINAL SUBJECTS WERE LOCATED. THEY WERE IN THEIR MIDDLE FIFTIES AT THE TIME…

Incidence and Prevalence of Dementia in Elderly Adults with Mental Retardation without Down Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zigman, Warren B.; Schupf, Nicole; Devenny, Darlynne A.; Miezejeski, Charles; Ryan, Robert; Urv, Tiina K.; Schubert, Romaine; Silverman, Wayne

2004-01-01

Rates of dementia in adults with mental retardation without Down syndrome were equivalent to or lower than would be expected compared to general population rates, whereas prevalence rates of other chronic health concerns varied as a function of condition. Given that individual differences in vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease have been…

Slogans and Euphemisms: The Functions of Semantics in Mental Health and Mental Retardation Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bachrach, Leona L.

The paper examines the way in which semantics relates to policies of deinstitutionalization of persons with mental illness and mental retardation. Different understandings of common terms in the field are illustrated and it is suggested that the government plays many games, both number games and word games, in dealing with homeless people, migrant…

Treatment of Chronic Breath-Holding in an Adult with Severe Mental Retardation: A Clinical Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Derek D.; Martens, Brian K.

2008-01-01

We describe a clinical case study surrounding the behavioral assessment and operant treatment of, an adult with severe mental retardation who engaged in chronic breath-holding. In this clinical case, previous neurological and medical testing had ruled out biological bases for the individual's breath-holding. A functional behavioral assessment…

Acceleration of Object Permanence with Severely and Profoundly Retarded Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn, James V.

Examined was the effectiveness of training four severely and profoundly retarded children (3-6 years old) to improve their level of functioning on a measure of object permanence and to demonstrate generalization to other areas of sensorimotor intelligence. Ss were given a pretest and posttest on the I. Uzgiris and J. Hunt instrument which consists…

The Use of Genomic Microarrays to Study Chromosomal Abnormalities in Mental Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mao, Rong; Pevsner, Jonathan

2005-01-01

Mental retardation affects 2 to 3% of the US population. It is defined by broad criteria, including significantly subaverage intelligence, onset by age 18, and impaired function in a group of adaptive skills. A myriad of genetic and environmental causes have been described, but for approximately half of individuals diagnosed with mental…

Relationship of Piaget's sensorimotor period to language acquisition of profoundly retarded children.

PubMed

Kahn, J V

1975-05-01

The relationship of Stage 6 of Piaget's sensorimotor period and the acquisition of meaningful expressive language was investigated. The sample consisted of eight profoundly retarded children who exhibited some meaningful expressive language and eight profoundly retarded children who exhibited none. Chronological ages of the children ranged from 47 to 98 months. A strong relationship was found between meaningful expressive language and Stage 6 functioning as tested by the Uzgiris and Hunt (Note 1) instrument. The findings were discussed in terms of supporting Piaget's theory that cognitive structures exist which are prerequisites for the development of language.

Receptoral and postreceptoral visual processes in recovery from chromatic adaptation.

PubMed Central

Jameson, D; Hurvich, L M; Varner, F D

1979-01-01

The time course of recovery from chromatic adaptation in human vision was tracked by determining the wavelength of light that appears uniquely yellow (neither red nor green) both before and after exposure to yellowish green and yellowish red adapting lights. Recovery is complete within 5 min after steady light exposure. After exposure to the alternating repeated sequence 10-sec light/10-sec dark, the initial magnitude of the aftereffect is reduced but recovery is retarded. The results are interpreted in terms of two processes located at different levels in the hierarchical organization of the visual system. One is a change in the balance of cone receptor sensitivities; the second is a shift in the equilibrium baseline between opposite-signed responses of the red/green channel at the opponent-process neural level. The baseline-shift mechanism is effective in the condition in which repeated input signals originating at the receptors are of sufficient strength to activate the system effectively. Hence, this process is revealed in the alternating adaptation condition when the receptors undergo partial recovery after each light exposure, but receptor adaptation during continued steady light exposure effectively protects the subsequent neural systems from continued strong activation. PMID:288087

Spectral properties of four-time fermionic Green's functions

DOE PAGES

Shvaika, A. M.

2016-09-01

The spectral relations for the four-time fermionic Green's functions are derived in the most general case. The terms which correspond to the zero-frequency anomalies, known before only for the bosonic Green's functions, are separated and their connection with the second cumulants of the Boltzmann distribution function is elucidated. Furthermore, the high-frequency expansions of the four-time fermionic Green's functions are provided for different directions in the frequency space.

Spectral properties of four-time fermionic Green's functions

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

Shvaika, A. M.

The spectral relations for the four-time fermionic Green's functions are derived in the most general case. The terms which correspond to the zero-frequency anomalies, known before only for the bosonic Green's functions, are separated and their connection with the second cumulants of the Boltzmann distribution function is elucidated. Furthermore, the high-frequency expansions of the four-time fermionic Green's functions are provided for different directions in the frequency space.

Dual number algebra method for Green's function derivatives in 3D magneto-electro-elasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dziatkiewicz, Grzegorz

2018-01-01

The Green functions are the basic elements of the boundary element method. To obtain the boundary integral formulation the Green function and its derivative should be known for the considered differential operator. Today the interesting group of materials are electronic composites. The special case of the electronic composite is the magnetoelectroelastic continuum. The mentioned continuum is a model of the piezoelectric-piezomagnetic composites. The anisotropy of their physical properties makes the problem of Green's function determination very difficult. For that reason Green's functions for the magnetoelectroelastic continuum are not known in the closed form and numerical methods should be applied to determine such Green's functions. These means that the problem of the accurate and simply determination of Green's function derivatives is even harder. Therefore in the present work the dual number algebra method is applied to calculate numerically the derivatives of 3D Green's functions for the magnetoelectroelastic materials. The introduced method is independent on the step size and it can be treated as a special case of the automatic differentiation method. Therefore, the dual number algebra method can be applied as a tool for checking the accuracy of the well-known finite difference schemes.

Surface Green's function of a piezoelectric half-space.

PubMed

Laude, Vincent; Jerez-Hanckes, Carlos F; Ballandras, Sylvain

2006-02-01

The computation of the two-dimensional harmonic spatial-domain Green's function at the surface of a piezoelectric half-space is discussed. Starting from the known form of the Green's function expressed in the spectral domain, the singular contributions are isolated and treated separately. It is found that the surface acoustic wave contributions (i.e., poles in the spectral Green's function) give rise to an anisotropic generalization of the Hankel function H0(2), the spatial Green's function for the scalar two-dimensional wave equation. The asymptotic behavior at infinity and at the origin (for the electrostatic contribution) also are explicitly treated. The remaining nonsingular part of the spectral Green's function is obtained numerically by a combination of fast Fourier transform and quadrature. Illustrations are given in the case of a substrate of Y-cut lithium niobate.

Ramipril retards development of aortic valve stenosis in a rabbit model: mechanistic considerations.

PubMed

Ngo, Doan Tm; Stafford, Irene; Sverdlov, Aaron L; Qi, Weier; Wuttke, Ronald D; Zhang, Yuan; Kelly, Darren J; Weedon, Helen; Smith, Malcolm D; Kennedy, Jennifer A; Horowitz, John D

2011-02-01

Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is associated with significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. To date, no therapeutic modality has been shown to be effective in retarding AVS progression. We evaluated the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition with ramipril on disease progression in a recently developed rabbit model of AVS. The effects of 8 weeks of treatment with either vitamin D₂ at 25,000 IU for 4 days a week alone or in combination with ramipril (0.5 mg·kg⁻¹) on aortic valve structure and function were examined in New Zealand white rabbits. Echocardiographic aortic valve backscatter (AV(BS)) and aortic valve:outflow tract flow velocity ratio were utilized to quantify changes in valve structure and function. Treatment with ramipril significantly reduced AV(BS) and improved aortic valve :outflow tract flow velocity ratio. The intravalvular content of the pro-oxidant thioredoxin-interacting protein was decreased significantly with ramipril treatment. Endothelial function, as measured by asymmetric dimethylarginine concentrations and vascular responses to ACh, was improved significantly with ramipril treatment. Ramipril retards the development of AVS, reduces valvular thioredoxin-interacting protein accumulation and limits endothelial dysfunction in this animal model. These findings provide important insights into the mechanisms of AVS development and an impetus for future human studies of AVS retardation using an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

A case of functional growth hormone deficiency and early growth retardation in a child with IFT172 mutations.

PubMed

Lucas-Herald, Angela K; Kinning, Esther; Iida, Aritoshi; Wang, Zheng; Miyake, Noriko; Ikegawa, Shiro; McNeilly, Jane; Ahmed, S Faisal

2015-04-01

Ciliopathies are a group of rare conditions that present through a wide range of manifestations. Given the relative common occurrence of defects of the GH/IGF-I axis in children with short stature and growth retardation, the association between ciliopathies and these defects needs further attention. Our patient is a boy who was born at term and noted to have early growth retardation and weight gain within the first 18 months of life. Biochemical tests demonstrated low IGF-I but a normal peak GH on stimulation and an adequate increase in IGF-I on administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). A magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed pituitary hypoplasia and an ectopic posterior pituitary. His growth responded well to rhGH therapy. Subsequently he also developed a retinopathy of his rods and cones, metaphyseal dysplasia, and hypertension with renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy. Whole-exome sequencing demonstrated compound heterozygous mutations of IFT172, thus consistent with a ciliopathy. This is the first reported case of a child with a mutation in IFT172 who presented with growth retardation in early childhood and was initially managed as a case of functional GH deficiency that responded to rhGH therapy. This case highlights the importance of ciliary function in pituitary development and the link between early onset growth failure and ciliopathies.

Assessment of Penile Vibratory Stimulation as a Management Strategy in Men with Secondary Retarded Orgasm

PubMed Central

Nelson, Christian J.; Ahmed, Absaar; Valenzuela, Rolando; Parker, Marilyn; Mulhall, John P.

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of penile vibratory stimulation for the management of retarded orgasm. Retarded orgasm, a condition characterized by difficulty achieving orgasm and ejaculation, is one of the most recalcitrant of the male sexual dysfunctions. Currently, no evidence-based treatments have been proven to ameliorate this condition. METHODS Men who had a complete inability to achieve an orgasm during sexual relations in the previous 3 months were instructed in the use of penile vibratory stimulation. The men’s responses were measured by self-report of orgasm function and using the orgasm and satisfaction domains of the International Index of Erectile Function. The responses were assessed at baseline (admission into the study) and at 3 and 6 months. RESULTS A total of 36 men met the inclusion criteria, and 72% reported the restoration of orgasm. These responders reported that orgasm during sexual relations occurred 62% of the time. A statistically and clinically significant increase occurred in the orgasm and satisfaction domains of the International Index of Erectile Function between the baseline visit and the 3-month follow-up visit. These gains were sustained at 6 months. CONCLUSIONS Penile vibratory stimulation is an effective treatment for retarded orgasm. Penile vibratory stimulation should be integrated into current cognitive-behavioral sex therapy techniques to achieve maximal effectiveness and satisfaction. PMID:17382163

Polarization modeling and predictions for DKIST part 2: application of the Berreman calculus to spectral polarization fringes of beamsplitters and crystal retarders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrington, David M.; Snik, Frans; Keller, Christoph U.; Sueoka, Stacey R.; van Harten, Gerard

2017-10-01

We outline polarization fringe predictions derived from an application of the Berreman calculus for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) retarder optics. The DKIST retarder baseline design used six crystals, single-layer antireflection coatings, thick cover windows, and oil between all optical interfaces. This tool estimates polarization fringes and optic Mueller matrices as functions of all optical design choices. The amplitude and period of polarized fringes under design changes, manufacturing errors, tolerances, and several physical factors can now be estimated. This tool compares well with observations of fringes for data collected with the spectropolarimeter for infrared and optical regions at the Dunn Solar Telescope using bicrystalline achromatic retarders as well as laboratory tests. With this tool, we show impacts of design decisions on polarization fringes as impacted by antireflection coatings, oil refractive indices, cover window presence, and part thicknesses. This tool helped DKIST decide to remove retarder cover windows and also recommends reconsideration of coating strategies for DKIST. We anticipate this tool to be essential in designing future retarders for mitigation of polarization and intensity fringe errors in other high spectral resolution astronomical systems.

Variational Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculation of the Breit interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldman, S. P.

1988-04-01

The calculation of the retarded version of the Breit interaction in the context of the VDHF method is discussed. With the use of Slater-type basis functions, all the terms involved can be calculated in closed form. The results are expressed as an expansion in powers of one-electron energy differences and linear combinations of hypergeometric functions. Convergence is fast and high accuracy is obtained with a small number of terms in the expansion even for high values of the nuclear charge. An added advantage is that the lowest order cancellations occurring in the retardation terms are accounted for exactly a priori. A comparison of the number of terms in the total expansion needed for an accuracy of 12 significant digits in the total energy, as well as a comparison of the results with an without retardation and in the local potential approximation, are presented for the carbon isoelectronic sequence.

The amino-terminal structure of human fragile X mental retardation protein obtained using precipitant-immobilized imprinted polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yufeng; Chen, Zhenhang; Fu, Yanjun; He, Qingzhong; Jiang, Lun; Zheng, Jiangge; Gao, Yina; Mei, Pinchao; Chen, Zhongzhou; Ren, Xueqin

2015-03-01

Flexibility is an intrinsic property of proteins and essential for their biological functions. However, because of structural flexibility, obtaining high-quality crystals of proteins with heterogeneous conformations remain challenging. Here, we show a novel approach to immobilize traditional precipitants onto molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) to facilitate protein crystallization, especially for flexible proteins. By applying this method, high-quality crystals of the flexible N-terminus of human fragile X mental retardation protein are obtained, whose absence causes the most common inherited mental retardation. A novel KH domain and an intermolecular disulfide bond are discovered, and several types of dimers are found in solution, thus providing insights into the function of this protein. Furthermore, the precipitant-immobilized MIPs (piMIPs) successfully facilitate flexible protein crystal formation for five model proteins with increased diffraction resolution. This highlights the potential of piMIPs for the crystallization of flexible proteins.

Wrist disarticulation of a deformed hand: appropriate prosthesis and the habilitation of a severely retarded young man.

PubMed

Stimson, C; Morrison, H; Wakefield, W; Kiss, T; Lehneis, H R; Simons, A; Sverdlik, S S; Rotondo, M J

1984-05-01

A 24-year-old man, who was late attaining developmental milestones and tested in the severely mentally retarded range, had incurred third- and fourth-degree burns at 2.5 years that resulted in a deformed, anesthetic, and useless distal left upper limb. Following wrist disarticulation, he was fitted with a cosmetic prosthesis that he accepted enthusiastically. It permitted him to use his left upper limb as an effective assister. Attempts to wear and use a functional prosthesis were not successful because the bulbous stump was covered with abnormal skin that ulcerated whenever he wore the prosthesis. At present, he resides at home with his mother and has all self-care skills. He attends a day treatment program and helps his mother with household chores as well as neighborhood errands. The prognosis for continued functional improvement is good, even though he remains severely mentally retarded.

Edible coatings influence fruit ripening, quality, and aroma biosynthesis in mango fruit.

PubMed

Dang, Khuyen T H; Singh, Zora; Swinny, Ewald E

2008-02-27

The effects of different edible coatings on mango fruit ripening and ripe fruit quality parameters including color, firmness, soluble solids concentrations, total acidity, ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, fatty acids, and aroma volatiles were investigated. Hard mature green mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Kensigton Pride) fruits were coated with aqueous mango carnauba (1:1 v/v), Semperfresh (0.6%), Aloe vera gel (1:1, v/v), or A. vera gel (100%). Untreated fruit served as the control. Following the coating, fruits were allowed to dry at room temperature and packed in soft-board trays to ripen at 21+/-1 degrees C and 55.2+/-11.1% relative humidity until the eating soft stage. Mango carnauba was effective in retarding fruit ripening, retaining fruit firmness, and improving fruit quality attributes including levels of fatty acids and aroma volatiles. Semperfresh and A. vera gel (1:1 or 100%) slightly delayed fruit ripening but reduced fruit aroma volatile development. A. vera gel coating did not exceed the commercial mango carnauba and Semperfresh in retarding fruit ripening and improving aroma volatile biosynthesis.

State of Ohio Curriculum Guide for Moderately Mentally Retarded Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mays, Maxine.

Provided is a curriculum guide based on the lifelong learning needs of moderately retarded persons. Behavioral objectives are identified at each of six levels of functioning which approximate the mental age levels of 1.5, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, 8.0, and 8.0 + (adult) years. Sections cover the following persisting life problem areas: (1) developing the…

Tic-Tac-Toe Performance as a Function of Maturational Level of Retarded Adolescents and Nonretarded Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spitz, Herman H.; Winters, Emilia A.

1977-01-01

Available from: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut Street, Norwood, New Jersey 07648. Two groups (36 Ss) of educable and trainable mentally retarded adolescents in an institution were compared with two groups (38 Ss) of nonretarded children (ages 8-9 years old) on a modified tic-tac-toe game for foresight in logical problem solving. (MH)

Functional Concepts in Mental Retardation: Finding the Natural Essence of an Artificial Category

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenspan, Stephen

2006-01-01

Although there have always been people considered to have mental retardation (MR), the category has proven surprisingly difficult to define adequately. This is because it includes a subcategory of mild MR whose members are part of a larger population of marginally competent people, some of whom may be considered to have other forms of disability…

Commentary on Simon and Lichten's "Defining Mental Retardation: A Matter of Life and Death"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellini, James

2007-01-01

This article presents the author's comments on Simon and Lichten's "Defining Mental Retardation: A Matter of Life and Death." Lichten and Simon (2007) argued for the use of a Total Quotient (TQ) that combines existing IQ and adaptive functioning scores into a single index. They proposed that the TQ index will improve the accuracy of mental…

Effects of Contingent Music on Retarded Childrens' Performance on Addition Problems. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotter, Vance W.; Spradlin, Joseph E.

In the first of three studies, A Nonverbal Technique for Studying Music Preference, a free operant technique was used for determining the type of music most preferred, and therefore most likely to function as a reinforcer, for 66 retarded children (ages 9-20, IQ range 34-69). In the second study, Effects of Noncontingent Music on Addition…

Mild Cognitive Impairment in Early Life and Mental Health Problems in Adulthood

PubMed Central

Chen, Chuan-Yu; Lawlor, John P.; Duggan, Anne K.; Hardy, Janet B.; Eaton, William W.

2006-01-01

Objectives. We assessed the extent to which borderline mental retardation and mental retardation at preschool ages are related to emotional and behavioral problems in young adulthood. We also explored early risk factors for having mental health problems as a young adult that might be related to preschool differences in cognitive ability. Methods. We used data from a cohort of births studied in the Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study and followed up in the Pathways to Adulthood Study. Preschool cognitive functioning was assessed at 4 years of age. Individual characteristics, psychosocial factors, and mental problems were prospectively evaluated from birth through young adulthood. Results. Children with subaverage cognitive abilities were more likely to develop mental health problems than their counterparts with IQs above 80. Inadequate family interactions were shown to increase 2- to 4-fold the risk of emotional or behavioral problems among children with borderline mental retardation. Conclusions. Subaverage cognitive functioning in early life increases later risk of mental health problems. Future research may help to delineate possible impediments faced at different developmental stages and guide changes in supportive services to better address the needs of children with borderline mental retardation. PMID:17008572

A single-sided homogeneous Green's function representation for holographic imaging, inverse scattering, time-reversal acoustics and interferometric Green's function retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wapenaar, Kees; Thorbecke, Jan; van der Neut, Joost

2016-04-01

Green's theorem plays a fundamental role in a diverse range of wavefield imaging applications, such as holographic imaging, inverse scattering, time-reversal acoustics and interferometric Green's function retrieval. In many of those applications, the homogeneous Green's function (i.e. the Green's function of the wave equation without a singularity on the right-hand side) is represented by a closed boundary integral. In practical applications, sources and/or receivers are usually present only on an open surface, which implies that a significant part of the closed boundary integral is by necessity ignored. Here we derive a homogeneous Green's function representation for the common situation that sources and/or receivers are present on an open surface only. We modify the integrand in such a way that it vanishes on the part of the boundary where no sources and receivers are present. As a consequence, the remaining integral along the open surface is an accurate single-sided representation of the homogeneous Green's function. This single-sided representation accounts for all orders of multiple scattering. The new representation significantly improves the aforementioned wavefield imaging applications, particularly in situations where the first-order scattering approximation breaks down.

Three-point Green functions in the odd sector of QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadavý, T.; Kampf, K.; Novotný, J.

2016-11-01

A review of familiar results of the three-point Green functions of currents in the odd-intrinsic parity sector of QCD is presented. Such Green functions include very well-known examples of VVP, VAS or AAP correlators. We also shortly present some of the new results for VVA and AAA Green functions with a discussion of their high-energy behaviour and its relation to the QCD condensates.

Characterization of tea polyphenols as potential environment-friendly fire retardants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Fengqi; Zhai, Chunjie; Wang, Haihui; Tao, Junjun

2018-02-01

In this work we investigated the oxidation properties of tea polyphenols and their potential as the fire retardants. Two types of tea polyphenols were adopted, which were extracted from red tea and green tea leaves, respectively. Their macroscopic performance during pyrolysis and oxidation at elevated temperatures were examined by using a heating furnace. Mass change, heat evolution and gas products of tea polyphenols during heating in air were also monitored by using a thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA) integrated with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) in conjunction with online Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and mass spectroscopy (MS). A tea polyphenol sample first becomes a brown semi-fluid after heating, and gradually turns into highly-porous black chars with significantly expanded volume. By raising the temperature to ∼550 °C at a rate of 10 °C/min, the mass of a sample reduces by nearly 70% to form a large quantity of inert gases that are mainly composed of H2O and CO2. It was found that the aerial oxidation products of tea polyphenols in the solid phase possess good heat insulation property; meanwhile, the substantial release of a lot of water and its evaporation during oxidation of tea polyphenols removes a large amount of heat from a sample located in a heating environment. The heat insulation of tea polyphenols may withstand up to 550 °C. The present work confirms tea polyphenols as potential superior and environment-friendly fire retardants.

Perceptions of a Person with Mental Retardation as a Function of Participation in Integrated versus Segregated Recreation/Sport Activities: An Experimental Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellow, J. Thomas; Frey, Georgia C.; Sandt, Dawn Rosser

2007-01-01

This study is a conceptual replication of previous work by Storey, Stern, & Parker (1990) that examined the influence of participation in integrated vs. segregated recreation/sports activities on evaluations of a person with mental retardation by persons without a disability. The Storey et al., (1990) study observed that people with mental…

The Function of Schools for the Mentally Retarded in a Labour Market Perspective. Project Number 6371.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenqvist, Jerry; Vallberg, Ann-Christine

1989-01-01

The newsletter issue presents the results of a project that examined: (1) teaching at the senior level of schools for the mentally retarded in Sweden; (2) teachers' and supervisors' views of the pupils; and (3) the reality of the open labor market. The project analyzed mechanisms in and outside teaching that prevent or impede access to the labor…

High temperature ablative foam

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Matthew T. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

An ablative foam composition is formed of approximately 150 to 250 parts by weight polymeric isocyanate having an isocyanate functionality of 2.6 to 3.2; approximately 15 to 30 parts by weight reactive flame retardant having a hydroxyl number range from 200-260; approximately 10 to 40 parts by weight non-reactive flame retardant; approximately 10 to 40 parts by weight nonhydrolyzable silicone copolymer having a hydroxyl number range from 75-205; and approximately 3 to 16 parts by weight amine initiated polyether resin having an isocyanate functionality greater than or equal to 3.0 and a hydroxyl number range from 400-800.

Arch fingerprints, hypotonia, and areflexia associated with X linked mental retardation.

PubMed Central

Stevenson, R E; Häne, B; Arena, J F; May, M; Lawrence, L; Lubs, H A; Schwartz, C E

1997-01-01

A syndrome with distinctive facies, poor muscle tone, absent deep tendon reflexes, tapered fingers, excessive fingerprint arches, genu valgum and mild-moderate mental retardation has occurred in four males in two generations of a white family of European ancestry. The facies are characterised by square configuration, tented upper lip, and thickening of the helices, upper eyelids, and alae nasi. At birth and at maturity, growth (head circumference, height, weight) of affected males is comparable to or greater than unaffected male sibs. Moderate impairment of cognitive function was documented (IQ scores between 40-51). Carriers show no heterozygote manifestations. This X linked condition appears to be different from other syndromes with mental retardation, although there are certain similarities with the alpha thalassaemia-mental retardation syndrome (ATR-X). Linkage analysis found tight linkage to DXS1166 and DXS995 in Xq13 and Xq21 respectively. Images PMID:9192265

Arch fingerprints, hypotonia, and areflexia associated with X linked mental retardation.

PubMed

Stevenson, R E; Häne, B; Arena, J F; May, M; Lawrence, L; Lubs, H A; Schwartz, C E

1997-06-01

A syndrome with distinctive facies, poor muscle tone, absent deep tendon reflexes, tapered fingers, excessive fingerprint arches, genu valgum and mild-moderate mental retardation has occurred in four males in two generations of a white family of European ancestry. The facies are characterised by square configuration, tented upper lip, and thickening of the helices, upper eyelids, and alae nasi. At birth and at maturity, growth (head circumference, height, weight) of affected males is comparable to or greater than unaffected male sibs. Moderate impairment of cognitive function was documented (IQ scores between 40-51). Carriers show no heterozygote manifestations. This X linked condition appears to be different from other syndromes with mental retardation, although there are certain similarities with the alpha thalassaemia-mental retardation syndrome (ATR-X). Linkage analysis found tight linkage to DXS1166 and DXS995 in Xq13 and Xq21 respectively.

Construction of flame retardant nanocoating on ramie fabric via layer-by-layer assembly of carbon nanotube and ammonium polyphosphate.

PubMed

Zhang, Tao; Yan, Hongqiang; Peng, Mao; Wang, Lili; Ding, Hongliang; Fang, Zhengping

2013-04-07

A new flame retardant nanocoating has been constructed by the alternate adsorption of polyelectrolyte amino-functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT-NH2) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) onto flexible and porous ramie fabric. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that the adsorbed carbon nanotube coating is a randomly oriented and overlapped network structure, which is a promising candidate for flame retardancy applications. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis confirm that the APP is successfully incorporated into the multilayers sequentially. Assessment of the thermal and flammability properties for the pristine and nanocoated ramie fabrics shows that the thermal stability, flame retardancy and residual char are enhanced as the concentration of MWNT-NH2 suspension and number of deposition cycles increases. The enhancements are mostly attributed to the barrier effect of intumescent network structure, which is composed of MWNT-NH2 and the absorbed APP.

Functional Use Change in Green Spaces: A Case Study of Kirklareli Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sat Gungor, Beyza; Culha Ozanguc, Kadiriye

2017-10-01

Green spaces which are one of the most important public spaces in urban design have an important role on qualified daily urban life. People escape from intense work pressure and traffic jam of metropoles to those urban green areas to take a breath even they cover a small size. In time, people’s expectations from green spaces as functional and quantitative needs are changing. This change occurs due to increasing population and as the character of the urban life. This study examines the functional use and quantitative change of urban green spaces of Kırklareli Province from past to present. Kırklareli is a border city to Bulgaria which is located in north-west part of Turkey and this gives a transitional and a multicultural character to the city. The population is about 67360. In the course of time; green space needs have increased by the increasing population. In addition to this, green spaces’ functional use change has been identified. According to the results of the study; from the aspect of the green space standards, Kırklareli found above standards with 17.5 m2 per capita, but on the other hand, sport and playground areas found insufficient. The Oldest and the newest city plans of Kırklareli (1940s and 2012s cadastral plans) have been compared and site surveys implemented as the methodology. In site survey, current green spaces’ functional uses as sport or playground are observed and determined and also current quantitative measure of the green spaces are verified. Urban green spaces in Kırklareli Province evaluated through considering world’s most populated urban green space standards and Turkey’s standards. This study utilizes to compose a substructure of the urban green space. Determined deficiencies and inadequacies of green spaces and functional needs in this study, can guide to further studies and implementations of Kırklareli Municipality.

Green tea consumption and the risk of incident functional disability in elderly Japanese: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study.

PubMed

Tomata, Yasutake; Kakizaki, Masako; Nakaya, Naoki; Tsuboya, Toru; Sone, Toshimasa; Kuriyama, Shinichi; Hozawa, Atsushi; Tsuji, Ichiro

2012-03-01

Previous studies have reported that green tea consumption is associated with a lower risk of diseases that cause functional disability, such as stroke, cognitive impairment, and osteoporosis. Although it is expected that green tea consumption would lower the risk of incident functional disability, this has never been investigated directly. The objective was to determine the association between green tea consumption and incident functional disability in elderly individuals. We conducted a prospective cohort study in 13,988 Japanese individuals aged ≥65 y. Information on daily green tea consumption and other lifestyle factors was collected via questionnaire in 2006. Data on functional disability were retrieved from the public Long-term Care Insurance database, in which subjects were followed up for 3 y. We used Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to investigate the association between green tea consumption and functional disability. The 3-y incidence of functional disability was 9.4% (1316 cases). The multiple-adjusted HR (95% CI) of incident functional disability was 0.90 (0.77, 1.06) among respondents who consumed 1-2 cups green tea/d, 0.75 (0.64, 0.88) for those who consumed 3-4 cups/d, and 0.67 (0.57, 0.79) for those who consumed ≥5 cups/d in comparison with those who consumed <1 cup/d (P-trend < 0.001). Green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident functional disability, even after adjustment for possible confounding factors.

OPE of Green functions in the odd sector of QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadavý, T.; Kampf, K.; Novotný, J.

2017-03-01

A review of familiar results of the three-point Green functions of currents in the odd-intrinsic parity sector of QCD is presented. Such Green functions include very well-known examples of VVP, VAS or AAP correlators. We also present new results for VVA and AAA Green functions that have not yet been studied extensively in the literature before, more importantly with a phenomenological study and a discussion of the highenergy behaviour and its relation to the QCD condensates.

Mapping Self-Reports of Working Memory Deficits to Executive Dysfunction in Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 ("FMR1") Gene Premutation Carriers Asymptomatic for FXTAS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kogan, Cary S.; Cornish, Kim M.

2010-01-01

Fragile X Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by the silencing of a single gene on the X chromosome, the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 ("FMR1") gene. In recent years, the premutation ("carrier") status has received considerable attention and there is now an emerging consensus that despite intellectual functioning being within…

Att Tolka Barns Signaler: Gravt utvecklingsstorda flerhandikappade barns lek och kommunikation (To Interpret Childrens' Signals: Play and Communication in Profoundly Mentally Retarded and Multiply Handicapped Children).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brodin, Jane

Written in Swedish with an English-language summary, this report describes a study which examined the interaction between mothers or caregivers and their children with profound mental retardation and multiple disabilities, particularly looking at the function of play in communicative interaction. The six children all had five or six handicaps in…

Strategy for introduction of rainwater management facility considering rainfall event applied on new apartment complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KIM, H.; Lee, D. K.; Yoo, S.

2014-12-01

As regional torrential rains become frequent due to climate change, urban flooding happens very often. That is why it is necessary to prepare for integrated measures against a wide range of rainfall. This study proposes introduction of effective rainwater management facilities to maximize the rainwater runoff reductions and recover natural water circulation for unpredictable extreme rainfall in apartment complex scale. The study site is new apartment complex in Hanam located in east of Seoul, Korea. It has an area of 7.28ha and is analysed using the EPA-SWMM and STORM model. First, it is analyzed that green infrastructure(GI) had efficiency of flood reduction at the various rainfall events and soil characteristics, and then the most effective value of variables are derived. In case of rainfall event, Last 10 years data of 15 minutes were used for analysis. A comparison between A(686mm rainfall during 22days) and B(661mm/4days) knew that soil infiltration of A is 17.08% and B is 5.48% of the rainfall. Reduction of runoff after introduction of the GI of A is 24.76% and B is 6.56%. These results mean that GI is effective to small rainfall intensity, and artificial rainwater retarding reservoir is needed at extreme rainfall. Second, set of target year is conducted for the recovery of hydrological cycle at the predevelopment. And an amount of infiltration, evaporation, surface runoff of the target year and now is analysed on the basis of land coverage, and an arrangement of LID facilities. Third, rainwater management scenarios are established and simulated by the SWMM-LID. Rainwater management facilities include GI(green roof, porous pavement, vegetative swale, ecological pond, and raingarden), and artificial rainwater. Design scenarios are categorized five type: 1)no GI, 2)conventional GI design(current design), 3)intensive GI design, 4)GI design+rainwater retarding reservoir 5)maximized rainwater retarding reservoir. Intensive GI design is to have attribute value to obtain the maximum efficiency for each GI facility with in-depth experts interviews. Climate change scenario is also used to set the capacity of the rainwater management facilities considering the extreme precipitation. These all scenarios are not only simulated for calculating the hydrological balance but analysed the cost for each scenarios effect.

Independent role for presynaptic FMRP revealed by an FMR1 missense mutation associated with intellectual disability and seizures

PubMed Central

Myrick, Leila K.; Deng, Pan-Yue; Hashimoto, Hideharu; Oh, Young Mi; Cho, Yongcheol; Poidevin, Mickael J.; Suhl, Joshua A.; Visootsak, Jeannie; Cavalli, Valeria; Jin, Peng; Cheng, Xiaodong; Warren, Stephen T.; Klyachko, Vitaly A.

2015-01-01

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) results in intellectual disability (ID) most often caused by silencing of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. The resulting absence of fragile X mental retardation protein 1 (FMRP) leads to both pre- and postsynaptic defects, yet whether the pre- and postsynaptic functions of FMRP are independent and have distinct roles in FXS neuropathology remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate an independent presynaptic function for FMRP through the study of an ID patient with an FMR1 missense mutation. This mutation, c.413G > A (R138Q), preserves FMRP’s canonical functions in RNA binding and translational regulation, which are traditionally associated with postsynaptic compartments. However, neuronally driven expression of the mutant FMRP is unable to rescue structural defects at the neuromuscular junction in fragile x mental retardation 1 (dfmr1)-deficient Drosophila, suggesting a presynaptic-specific impairment. Furthermore, mutant FMRP loses the ability to rescue presynaptic action potential (AP) broadening in Fmr1 KO mice. The R138Q mutation also disrupts FMRP’s interaction with the large-conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK) channels that modulate AP width. These results reveal a presynaptic- and translation-independent function of FMRP that is linked to a specific subset of FXS phenotypes. PMID:25561520

Mussel-inspired functionalization of electrochemically exfoliated graphene: Based on self-polymerization of dopamine and its suppression effect on the fire hazards and smoke toxicity of thermoplastic polyurethane.

PubMed

Cai, Wei; Wang, Junling; Pan, Ying; Guo, Wenwen; Mu, Xiaowei; Feng, Xiaming; Yuan, Bihe; Wang, Xin; Hu, Yuan

2018-06-15

The suppression effect of graphene in the fire hazards and smoke toxicity of polymer composites has been seriously limited by both mass production and weak interfacial interaction. Though the electrochemical preparation provides an available approach for mass production, exfoliated graphene could not strongly bond with polar polymer chains. Herein, mussel-inspired functionalization of electrochemically exfoliated graphene was successfully processed and added into polar thermoplastic polyurethane matrix (TPU). As confirmed by SEM patterns of fracture surface, functionalized graphene possessing abundant hydroxyl could constitute a forceful chains interaction with TPU. By the incorporation of 2.0 wt % f-GNS, peak heat release rate (pHRR), total heat release (THR), specific extinction area (SEA), as well as smoke produce rate (SPR) of TPU composites were approximately decreased by 59.4%, 27.1%, 31.9%, and 26.7%, respectively. A probable mechanism of fire retardant was hypothesized: well-dispersed f-GNS constituted tortuous path and hindered the exchange process of degradation product with barrier function. Large quantities of degradation product gathered round f-GNS and reacted with flame retardant to produce the cross-linked and high-degree graphited residual char. The simple functionalization for electrochemically exfoliated graphene impels the application of graphene in the fields of flame retardant composites. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quasiparticles and phonon satellites in spectral functions of semiconductors and insulators: Cumulants applied to the full first-principles theory and the Fröhlich polaron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nery, Jean Paul; Allen, Philip B.; Antonius, Gabriel; Reining, Lucia; Miglio, Anna; Gonze, Xavier

2018-03-01

The electron-phonon interaction causes thermal and zero-point motion shifts of electron quasiparticle (QP) energies ɛk(T ) . Other consequences of interactions, visible in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments, are broadening of QP peaks and appearance of sidebands, contained in the electron spectral function A (k ,ω ) =-ℑ m GR(k ,ω ) /π , where GR is the retarded Green's function. Electronic structure codes (e.g., using density-functional theory) are now available that compute the shifts and start to address broadening and sidebands. Here we consider MgO and LiF, and determine their nonadiabatic Migdal self-energy. The spectral function obtained from the Dyson equation makes errors in the weight and energy of the QP peak and the position and weight of the phonon-induced sidebands. Only one phonon satellite appears, with an unphysically large energy difference (larger than the highest phonon energy) with respect to the QP peak. By contrast, the spectral function from a cumulant treatment of the same self-energy is physically better, giving a quite accurate QP energy and several satellites approximately spaced by the LO phonon energy. In particular, the positions of the QP peak and first satellite agree closely with those found for the Fröhlich Hamiltonian by Mishchenko et al. [Phys. Rev. B 62, 6317 (2000), 10.1103/PhysRevB.62.6317] using diagrammatic Monte Carlo. We provide a detailed comparison between the first-principles MgO and LiF results and those of the Fröhlich Hamiltonian. Such an analysis applies widely to materials with infrared(IR)-active phonons.

Ground state of excitonic molecules by the Green's-function Monte Carlo method

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

Lee, M.A.; Vashishta, P.; Kalia, R.K.

1983-12-26

The ground-state energy of excitonic molecules is evaluated as a function of the ratio of electron and hole masses, sigma, with use of the Green's-function Monte Carlo method. For all sigma, the Green's-function Monte Carlo energies are significantly lower than the variational estimates and in favorable agreement with experiments. In excitonic rydbergs, the binding energy of the positronium molecule (sigma = 1) is predicted to be -0.06 and for sigma<<1, the Green's-function Monte Carlo energies agree with the ''exact'' limiting behavior, E = -2.346+0.764sigma.

Map-based cloning and characterization of the novel yellow-green leaf gene ys83 in rice (Oryza sativa).

PubMed

Ma, Xiaozhi; Sun, Xiaoqiu; Li, Chunmei; Huan, Rui; Sun, Changhui; Wang, Yang; Xiao, Fuliang; Wang, Qian; Chen, Purui; Ma, Furong; Zhang, Kuan; Wang, Pingrong; Deng, Xiaojian

2017-02-01

Leaf-color mutants have been extensively studied in rice, and many corresponding genes have been identified up to now. However, leaf-color mutation mechanisms are diverse and still need further research through identification of novel genes. In the present paper, we isolated a leaf-color mutant, ys83, in rice (Oryza sativa). The mutant displayed a yellow-green leaf phenotype at seedling stage, and then slowly turned into light-green leaf from late tillering stage. In its yellow leaves, photosynthetic pigment contents significantly decreased and the chloroplast development was retarded. The mutant phenotype was controlled by a recessive mutation in a nuclear gene on the short arm of rice chromosome 2. Map-based cloning and sequencing analysis suggested that the candidate gene was YS83 (LOC_Os02g05890) encoding a protein containing 165 amino acid residues. Gene YS83 was expressed in a wide range of tissues, and its encoded protein was targeted to the chloroplast. In the mutant, a T-to-A substitution occurred in coding sequence of gene YS83, which caused a premature translation of its encoded product. By introduction of the wild-type gene, the ys83 mutant recovered to normal green-leaf phenotype. Taken together, we successfully identified a novel yellow-green leaf gene YS83. In addition, number of productive panicles per plant and number of spikelets per panicle only reduced by 6.7% and 7.6%, respectively, meanwhile its seed setting rate and 1000-grain weight (seed size) were not significantly affected in the mutant, so leaf-color mutant gene ys83 could be used as a trait marker gene in commercial hybrid rice production. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Green tea consumption and the risk of incident functional disability in elderly Japanese: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study123

PubMed Central

Kakizaki, Masako; Nakaya, Naoki; Tsuboya, Toru; Sone, Toshimasa; Kuriyama, Shinichi; Hozawa, Atsushi; Tsuji, Ichiro

2012-01-01

Background: Previous studies have reported that green tea consumption is associated with a lower risk of diseases that cause functional disability, such as stroke, cognitive impairment, and osteoporosis. Although it is expected that green tea consumption would lower the risk of incident functional disability, this has never been investigated directly. Objective: The objective was to determine the association between green tea consumption and incident functional disability in elderly individuals. Design: We conducted a prospective cohort study in 13,988 Japanese individuals aged ≥65 y. Information on daily green tea consumption and other lifestyle factors was collected via questionnaire in 2006. Data on functional disability were retrieved from the public Long-term Care Insurance database, in which subjects were followed up for 3 y. We used Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to investigate the association between green tea consumption and functional disability. Results: The 3-y incidence of functional disability was 9.4% (1316 cases). The multiple-adjusted HR (95% CI) of incident functional disability was 0.90 (0.77, 1.06) among respondents who consumed 1–2 cups green tea/d, 0.75 (0.64, 0.88) for those who consumed 3–4 cups/d, and 0.67 (0.57, 0.79) for those who consumed ≥5 cups/d in comparison with those who consumed <1 cup/d (P-trend < 0.001). Conclusion: Green tea consumption is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident functional disability, even after adjustment for possible confounding factors. PMID:22277550

The effects of the Green House nursing home model on ADL function trajectory: A retrospective longitudinal study.

PubMed

Yoon, Ju Young; Brown, Roger L; Bowers, Barbara J; Sharkey, Siobhan S; Horn, Susan D

2016-01-01

Growing attention in the past few decades has focused on improving care quality and quality of life for nursing home residents. Many traditional nursing homes have attempted to transform themselves to become more homelike emphasizing individualized care. This trend is referred to as nursing home culture change in the U.S. A promising culture change nursing home model, the Green House nursing home model, has shown positive psychological outcomes. However, little is known about whether the Green House nursing home model has positive effects on physical function compared to traditional nursing homes. To examine the longitudinal effects of the Green House nursing home model by comparing change patterns of activities of daily living function over time between Green House home residents and traditional nursing home residents. A retrospective longitudinal study. Four Green House organizations (nine Green House units and four traditional units). A total of 242 residents (93 Green House residents and 149 traditional home residents) who had stayed in the nursing home at least 6 months from admission. The outcome was activities of daily living function, and the main independent variable was the facility type in which the resident stayed: a Green House or traditional unit. Age, gender, comorbidity score, cognitive function, and depressive symptoms at baseline were controlled. All of these measures were from a minimum dataset. Growth curve modeling and growth mixture modeling were employed in this study for longitudinal analyses. The mean activities of daily living function showed deterioration over time, and the rates of deterioration between Green House and traditional home residents were not different over time. Four different activities of daily living function trajectories were identified for 18 months, but there was no statistical difference in the likelihood of being in one of the four trajectory classes between the two groups. Although Green House nursing homes are considered to represent an innovative model changing the nursing home environment into more person-centered, this study did not demonstrate significant differences in activities of daily living function changes for residents in the Green House nursing homes compared to traditional nursing homes. Given that the Green House model continues to evolve as it is being implemented and variations within and across Green House homes are identified, large-scale longitudinal studies are needed to provide further relevant information on the effects of the Green House model. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neuropsychological functioning of siblings of children with autism, siblings of children with developmental language delay, and siblings of children with mental retardation of unknown genetic etiology.

PubMed

Pilowsky, Tammy; Yirmiya, Nurit; Gross-Tsur, Varda; Shalev, Ruth S

2007-03-01

Neuropsychological functioning of 30 siblings of children with autism (AU-S), 28 siblings of children with mental retardation of (MR-S), and 30 siblings of children with developmental language delay (DLD-S) was compared. Two siblings, both AU-S, received diagnoses of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). More siblings with cognitive disabilities were found in DLD-S than in AU-S. However, these differences disappeared after excluding diagnosed siblings or after accounting for family membership. In sum, despite the elevated incidence of PDD among AU-S, the neuropsychological functioning of the remaining siblings did not convey specific characteristics related to the genetic risk associated with autism, in contrast to the cognitive functioning of the DLD-S, which did reflect a genetic risk.

Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes with Phosphorus- and Nitrogen-Containing Agents: Effective Reinforcer for Thermal, Mechanical, and Flame-Retardant Properties of Polystyrene Nanocomposites.

PubMed

Xing, Weiyi; Yang, Wei; Yang, Wenjie; Hu, Qihang; Si, Jingyu; Lu, Hongdian; Yang, Benhong; Song, Lei; Hu, Yuan; Yuen, Richard K K

2016-10-05

Aminated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (A-MWCNT) were reacted with diphenylphosphinic chloride (DPP-Cl) to prepare the functionalized MWCNT (DPPA-MWCNT). A-MWCNT and DPPA-MWCNT were respectively mixed with polystyrene (PS) to obtain composites through the melt compounding method. SEM observations demonstrated that the DPPA-MWCNT nanofillers were more uniformly distributed within the PS matrix than A-MWCNT. PS/DPPA-MWCNT showed improved thermal stability, glass transition temperature, and tensile strength in comparison with PS/A-MWCNT, resulting from good dispersion and interfacial interactions between DPPA-MWCNT and PS matrix. The incorporation of DPPA-MWCNT to PS significantly reduced peak heat release rate, smoke production rate, and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide release in cone calorimeter tests. The enhanced fire-retardant properties should be ascribed to the barrier effect of carbon nanotubes, which could provide enough time for DPPA-MWCNT and its functionalized groups to trap the degrading polymer radicals to catalyze char formation. The char layer served as an efficient insulating barrier to reduce the exposure of polymer matrix to an external heat source as well as retarding the flammable gases from feeding the flame.

Numerical simulation of electromagnetic waves in Schwarzschild space-time by finite difference time domain method and Green function method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Shouqing; La, Dongsheng; Ma, Xuelian

2018-04-01

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm and Green function algorithm are implemented into the numerical simulation of electromagnetic waves in Schwarzschild space-time. FDTD method in curved space-time is developed by filling the flat space-time with an equivalent medium. Green function in curved space-time is obtained by solving transport equations. Simulation results validate both the FDTD code and Green function code. The methods developed in this paper offer a tool to solve electromagnetic scattering problems.

The Role of Stakeholders Related to the Management of Ecological Function of Urban Green Open Space. Case Study: City of Depok, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangopa Malik, Andy Anton

2017-12-01

Urban green open space is one of the assets that provide substantial benefits to the urban community. One important function of urban green open space is a function of ecology. This study will provide initial explanation on the various studies related to the ecological function of urban green open space. The study of urban space management approach related to ecological function will explain the extent of the role of stakeholders in the urban areas that will further strengthen the importance of the existence of green open space, especially in city of Depok. With so many problems related to the supply and use of green open space in the city of Depok. This approach was originally applied by the private sector and many applications made a great contribution, so it began to be used by the government in managing public assets there. This study will use descriptive method, at the beginning of the study will explain the existence of the reality of urban green open space as part of the urban space by viewing it from theoretical overview of space, function and role of the various problems that occur in it. The results of this study indicate there are six problems in the management of green open spaces in city of Depok. Using the stages in asset management will provide space for participation of existing stakeholders in the management of green open spaces in city of Depok.

Empirical Green's functions from small earthquakes: A waveform study of locally recorded aftershocks of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake

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

Hutchings, L.; Wu, F.

1990-02-10

Seismograms from 52 aftershocks of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake recorded at 25 stations distributed across the San Fernando Valley are examined to identify empirical Green's functions, and characterize the dependence of their waveforms on moment, focal mechanism, source and recording site spatial variations, recording site geology, and recorded frequency band. Recording distances ranged from 3.0 to 33.0 km, hypocentral separations ranged from 0.22 to 28.4 km, and recording site separations ranged from 0.185 to 24.2 km. The recording site geologies are diorite gneiss, marine and nonmarine sediments, and alluvium of varying thicknesses. Waveforms of events with moment below aboutmore » 1.5 {times} 10{sup 21} dyn cm are independent of the source-time function and are termed empirical Green's functions. Waveforms recorded at a particular station from events located within 1.0 to 3.0 km of each other, depending upon site geology, with very similar focal mechanism solutions are nearly identical for frequencies up to 10 Hz. There is no correlation to waveforms between recording sites at least 1.2 km apart, and waveforms are clearly distinctive for two sites 0.185 km apart. The geologic conditions of the recording site dominate the character of empirical Green's functions. Even for source separations of up to 20.0 km, the empirical Green's functions at a particular site are consistent in frequency content, amplification, and energy distribution. Therefore, it is shown that empirical Green's functions can be used to obtain site response functions. The observations of empirical Green's functions are used as a basis for developing the theory for using empirical Green's functions in deconvolution for source pulses and synthesis of seismograms of larger earthquakes.« less

A new numerical algorithm for the analytic continuation of Green`s functions

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

Natoli, V.D.; Cohen, M.H.; Fornberg, B.

1996-06-01

The need to calculate the spectral properties of a Hermitian operation H frequently arises in the technical sciences. A common approach to its solution involves the construction of the Green`s function operator G(z) = [z - H]{sup -1} in the complex z plane. For example, the energy spectrum and other physical properties of condensed matter systems can often be elegantly and naturally expressed in terms of the Kohn-Sham Green`s functions. However, the nonanalyticity of resolvents on the real axis makes them difficult to compute and manipulate. The Herglotz property of a Green`s function allows one to calculate it along anmore » arc with a small but finite imaginary part, i.e., G(x + iy), and then to continue it to the real axis to determine quantities of physical interest. In the past, finite-difference techniques have been used for this continuation. We present here a fundamentally new algorithm based on the fast Fourier transform which is both simpler and more effective. 14 refs., 9 figs.« less

Retardation of quality changes in camel meat sausages by phenolic compounds and phenolic extracts.

PubMed

Maqsood, Sajid; Manheem, Kusaimah; Abushelaibi, Aisha; Kadim, Isam Tawfik

2016-11-01

Impact of tannic acid (TA), date seed extract (DSE), catechin (CT) and green tea extract (GTE) on lipid oxidation, microbial load and textural properties of camel meat sausages during 12 days of refrigerated storage was investigated. TA and CT showed higher activities in all antioxidative assays compared to DSE and GTE. Lipid oxidation and microbial growth was higher for control sausages when compared to other samples. TA and CT at a level of 200 mg/kg were more effective in retarding lipid oxidation and lowering microbial count (P < 0.05). Sausages treated with TA and DSE were found to have higher hardness, gumminess and chewiness values compared to other treatments (P < 0.05). Addition of different phenolic compounds or extract did not influence the sensory color of sausages. Furthermore, sensory quality was also found to be superior in TA and CT treated sausages. Therefore, pure phenolic compounds (TA and CT) proved to be more effective in retaining microbial and sensorial qualities of camel meat sausages compared to phenolic extracts (GTE and DSE) over 12 days of storage at 4°C. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Habitat connectivity and local conditions shape taxonomic and functional diversity of arthropods on green roofs.

PubMed

Braaker, Sonja; Obrist, Martin Karl; Ghazoul, Jaboury; Moretti, Marco

2017-05-01

Increasing development of urban environments creates high pressure on green spaces with potential negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. There is growing evidence that green roofs - rooftops covered with vegetation - can contribute mitigate the loss of urban green spaces by providing new habitats for numerous arthropod species. Whether green roofs can contribute to enhance taxonomic and functional diversity and increase connectivity across urbanized areas remains, however, largely unknown. Furthermore, only limited information is available on how environmental conditions shape green roof arthropod communities. We investigated the community composition of arthropods (Apidae, Curculionidae, Araneae and Carabidae) on 40 green roofs and 40 green sites at ground level in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. We assessed how the site's environmental variables (such as area, height, vegetation, substrate and connectivity among sites) affect species richness and functional diversity using generalized linear models. We used an extension of co-inertia analysis (RLQ) and fourth-corner analysis to highlight the mechanism underlying community assemblages across taxonomic groups on green roof and ground communities. Species richness was higher at ground-level sites, while no difference in functional diversity was found between green roofs and ground sites. Green roof arthropod diversity increased with higher connectivity and plant species richness, irrespective of substrate depth, height and area of green roofs. The species trait analysis reviewed the mechanisms related to the environmental predictors that shape the species assemblages of the different taxa at ground and roof sites. Our study shows the important contribution of green roofs in maintaining high functional diversity of arthropod communities across different taxonomic groups, despite their lower species richness compared with ground sites. Species communities on green roofs revealed to be characterized by specific trait assemblages. The study also provides details on the environmental conditions that influence arthropod diversity and gives new perspectives on how the design of green roofs can be improved to increase their ecological value. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of integrating green roofs in planning policies which aim to enhance urban habitat connectivity. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

Green tea (Camellia sinensis) catechins and vascular function.

PubMed

Moore, Rosalind J; Jackson, Kim G; Minihane, Anne M

2009-12-01

The health benefits of green tea (Camellia sinensis) catechins are becoming increasingly recognised. Amongst the proposed benefits are the maintenance of endothelial function and vascular homeostasis and an associated reduction in atherogenesis and CVD risk. The mounting evidence for the influential effect of green tea catechins on vascular function from epidemiological, human intervention and animal studies is subject to review together with exploration of the potential mechanistic pathways involved. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, one of the most abundant and widely studied catechin found in green tea, will be prominent in the present review. Since there is a substantial inconsistency in the published data with regards to the impact of green tea catechins on vascular function, evaluation and interpretation of the inter- and intra-study variability is included. In conclusion, a positive effect of green tea catechins on vascular function is becoming apparent. Further studies in animal and cell models using physiological concentrations of catechins and their metabolites are warranted in order to gain some insight into the physiology and molecular basis of the observed beneficial effects.

Functional Analysis and Reduction of Inappropriate Spitting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Stacy L.; Wheeler, John J.

2007-01-01

Functional analysis was used to determine the possible function of inappropriate spitting behavior of an adult woman who had been diagnosed with profound mental retardation. Results of an initial descriptive assessment indicated a possible attention function and led to an attention-based intervention, which was deemed ineffective at reducing the…

Analytic and numeric Green's functions for a two-dimensional electron gas in an orthogonal magnetic field

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

Cresti, Alessandro; Grosso, Giuseppe; Parravicini, Giuseppe Pastori

2006-05-15

We have derived closed analytic expressions for the Green's function of an electron in a two-dimensional electron gas threaded by a uniform perpendicular magnetic field, also in the presence of a uniform electric field and of a parabolic spatial confinement. A workable and powerful numerical procedure for the calculation of the Green's functions for a large infinitely extended quantum wire is considered exploiting a lattice model for the wire, the tight-binding representation for the corresponding matrix Green's function, and the Peierls phase factor in the Hamiltonian hopping matrix element to account for the magnetic field. The numerical evaluation of themore » Green's function has been performed by means of the decimation-renormalization method, and quite satisfactorily compared with the analytic results worked out in this paper. As an example of the versatility of the numerical and analytic tools here presented, the peculiar semilocal character of the magnetic Green's function is studied in detail because of its basic importance in determining magneto-transport properties in mesoscopic systems.« less

LSMS

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

Eisenbach, Markus; Li, Ying Wai; Liu, Xianglin

2017-12-01

LSMS is a first principles, Density Functional theory based, electronic structure code targeted mainly at materials applications. LSMS calculates the local spin density approximation to the diagonal part of the electron Green's function. The electron/spin density and energy are easily determined once the Green's function is known. Linear scaling with system size is achieved in the LSMS by using several unique properties of the real space multiple scattering approach to the Green's function.

Brominated flame retardant: environmental and exposed individuals' health impact.

PubMed

Dufour, Patrice; Charlier, Corinne

2017-04-01

Since Antiquity, men have used chemicals to protect their goods against fire. Effective and easy to use, brominated flame retardants are used since decades massively in plastic industry. Such like other organohalogenated compounds, brominated flame retardants are very persistent in the environment and able to accumulate along the food chain. Many authors highlight their presence in the environment, in many animal species and in the human serum. Worryingly, man is exposed as soon as the pregnancy and then by the breastfeeding. This exposition may have consequence on our health. Many studies (in vitro, in vivo or epidemiologic) highlight brominated flame retardant negative effects on the endocrine system, mainly on the thyroid function but also on the reproduction, the neurodevelopment in the children and on the metabolism with increasing diabetes risk. If authorities and some big enterprises are aware about the problematic, new studies are needed to confirm previous results, elucidate endocrine disrupting mechanisms and highlight hypothetical synergies with other pollutants such like PCBs.

Recent progress of obliquely deposited thin films for industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Motofumi; Itoh, Tadayoshi; Taga, Yasunori

1999-06-01

More than 10 years ago, birefringent films of metal oxides were formed by oblique vapor deposition and investigated with a view of their application to optical retardation plates. The retardation function of the films was explained in terms of the birefringence caused by the characteristic anisotropic nanostructure inside the films. These films are now classified in the genre of the so-called sculptured thin films. However, the birefringent films thus prepared are not yet industrialized even now due to the crucial lack of the durability and the yield of products. In this review paper, we describe the present status of application process of the retardation films to the information systems such as compact disc and digital versatile disc devices with a special emphasis on the uniformity of retardation properties in a large area and the stability of the optical properties of the obliquely deposited thin films. Finally, further challenges for wide application of the obliquely deposited thin films are also discussed.

Maximum entropy formalism for the analytic continuation of matrix-valued Green's functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraberger, Gernot J.; Triebl, Robert; Zingl, Manuel; Aichhorn, Markus

2017-10-01

We present a generalization of the maximum entropy method to the analytic continuation of matrix-valued Green's functions. To treat off-diagonal elements correctly based on Bayesian probability theory, the entropy term has to be extended for spectral functions that are possibly negative in some frequency ranges. In that way, all matrix elements of the Green's function matrix can be analytically continued; we introduce a computationally cheap element-wise method for this purpose. However, this method cannot ensure important constraints on the mathematical properties of the resulting spectral functions, namely positive semidefiniteness and Hermiticity. To improve on this, we present a full matrix formalism, where all matrix elements are treated simultaneously. We show the capabilities of these methods using insulating and metallic dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) Green's functions as test cases. Finally, we apply the methods to realistic material calculations for LaTiO3, where off-diagonal matrix elements in the Green's function appear due to the distorted crystal structure.

On singular and highly oscillatory properties of the Green function for ship motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiao-Bo; Xiong Wu, Guo

2001-10-01

The Green function used for analysing ship motions in waves is the velocity potential due to a point source pulsating and advancing at a uniform forward speed. The behaviour of this function is investigated, in particular for the case when the source is located at or close to the free surface. In the far field, the Green function is represented by a single integral along one closed dispersion curve and two open dispersion curves. The single integral along the open dispersion curves is analysed based on the asymptotic expansion of a complex error function. The singular and highly oscillatory behaviour of the Green function is captured, which shows that the Green function oscillates with indefinitely increasing amplitude and indefinitely decreasing wavelength, when a field point approaches the track of the source point at the free surface. This sheds some light on the nature of the difficulties in the numerical methods used for predicting the motion of a ship advancing in waves.

Combining Density Functional Theory and Green's Function Theory: Range-Separated, Nonlocal, Dynamic, and Orbital-Dependent Hybrid Functional.

PubMed

Kananenka, Alexei A; Zgid, Dominika

2017-11-14

We present a rigorous framework which combines single-particle Green's function theory with density functional theory based on a separation of electron-electron interactions into short- and long-range components. Short-range contribution to the total energy and exchange-correlation potential is provided by a density functional approximation, while the long-range contribution is calculated using an explicit many-body Green's function method. Such a hybrid results in a nonlocal, dynamic, and orbital-dependent exchange-correlation functional of a single-particle Green's function. In particular, we present a range-separated hybrid functional called srSVWN5-lrGF2 which combines the local-density approximation and the second-order Green's function theory. We illustrate that similarly to density functional approximations, the new functional is weakly basis-set dependent. Furthermore, it offers an improved description of the short-range dynamic correlation. The many-body contribution to the functional mitigates the many-electron self-interaction error present in many density functional approximations and provides a better description of molecular properties. Additionally, we illustrate that the new functional can be used to scale down the self-energy and, therefore, introduce an additional sparsity to the self-energy matrix that in the future can be exploited in calculations for large molecules or periodic systems.

The Role of TSC1 in the Formation and Maintenance of Excitatory Synapses

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

often presents with mental retardation, epilepsy and autism . The etiology of these neurological symptoms is unclear and the function of the TSC pathway in...mental retardation and autism . Biochemical and genetic analyses in mammalian systems and Drosophila melanogaster have revealed that TSC1 and TSC2...hippocampal mGluR -dependent long-term depression. Science 288, 1254–1257 (2000). 18. Uhlmann, E.J. et al. Astrocyte-specific TSC1 conditional

Effect of desvenlafaxine 50 mg and 100 mg on energy and lassitude in patients with major depressive disorder: A pooled analysis.

PubMed

Lam, Raymond W; Wajsbrot, Dalia B; Meier, Ellen; Pappadopulos, Elizabeth; Mackell, Joan A; Boucher, Matthieu

2017-09-01

Nine randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of major depressive disorder were pooled to evaluate the effects of desvenlafaxine 50- and 100-mg/d on energy and lassitude in adults with major depressive disorder ( n=4279). Changes from baseline to endpoint in 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D 17 ) Work and Activities, Retardation, and Somatic Symptoms General items, HAM-D 17 psychomotor retardation factor, and Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale Lassitude item were analyzed with a mixed model for repeated measures analysis of variance. Associations between residual energy measures and functional impairment, based on the Sheehan Disability Scale, were modeled using stepwise multiple linear regression. Improvement from baseline was significantly greater for both desvenlafaxine doses versus placebo on all energy symptom outcomes at week 8 (all p⩽0.005). Both early improvement in HAM-D 17 psychomotor retardation at week 2 and residual energy symptoms at week 8 were associated with Sheehan Disability Scale total score at week 8 (all p⩽0.001). Among Sheehan Disability Scale remitters and responders, the HAM-D 17 psychomotor retardation score at week 8 was significantly lower with desvenlafaxine (both doses) than placebo. Desvenlafaxine 50 and 100 mg/d significantly improved energy and lassitude symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder. Both early improvement in energy and fewer residual energy symptoms were associated with functional improvement.

Improved surface-wave retrieval from ambient seismic noise by multi-dimensional deconvolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wapenaar, Kees; Ruigrok, Elmer; van der Neut, Joost; Draganov, Deyan

2011-01-01

The methodology of surface-wave retrieval from ambient seismic noise by crosscorrelation relies on the assumption that the noise field is equipartitioned. Deviations from equipartitioning degrade the accuracy of the retrieved surface-wave Green's function. A point-spread function, derived from the same ambient noise field, quantifies the smearing in space and time of the virtual source of the Green's function. By multidimensionally deconvolving the retrieved Green's function by the point-spread function, the virtual source becomes better focussed in space and time and hence the accuracy of the retrieved surface-wave Green's function may improve significantly. We illustrate this at the hand of a numerical example and discuss the advantages and limitations of this new methodology.

The GreenCut: re-evaluation of physiological role of previously studied proteins and potential novel protein functions.

PubMed

Heinnickel, Mark L; Grossman, Arthur R

2013-10-01

Based on comparative genomics, a list of proteins present in the green algal, flowering and nonflowering plant lineages, but not detected in nonphotosynthetic organisms, was assembled (Merchant et al., Science 318:245-250, 2007; Karpowicz et al., J Biol Chem 286:21427-21439, 2011). This protein grouping, previously designated the GreenCut, was established using stringent comparative genomic criteria; they are those Chlamydomonas reinhardtii proteins with orthologs in Arabidopsis thaliana, Physcomitrella patens, Oryza sativa, Populus tricocarpa and at least one of the three Ostreococcus species with fully sequenced genomes, but not in bacteria, yeast, fungi or mammals. Many GreenCut proteins are also present in red algae and diatoms and a subset of 189 have been identified as encoded on nearly all cyanobacterial genomes. Of the current GreenCut proteins (597 in total), approximately half have been studied previously. The functions or activities of a number of these proteins have been deduced from phenotypic analyses of mutants (defective for genes encoding specific GreenCut proteins) of A. thaliana, and in many cases the assigned functions do not exist in C. reinhardtii. Therefore, precise physiological functions of several previously studied GreenCut proteins are still not clear. The GreenCut also contains a number of proteins with certain conserved domains. Three of the most highly conserved domains are the FK506 binding, cyclophilin and PAP fibrillin domains; most members of these gene families are not well characterized. In general, our analysis of the GreenCut indicates that many processes critical to green lineage organisms remain unstudied or poorly characterized. We have begun to examine the functions of some GreenCut proteins in detail. For example, our work on the CPLD38 protein has demonstrated that it has an essential role in photosynthetic function and the stability of the cytochrome b 6 f complex.

Multifarious Functions of the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein.

PubMed

Davis, Jenna K; Broadie, Kendal

2017-10-01

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), a heritable intellectual and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), results from the loss of Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). This neurodevelopmental disease state exhibits neural circuit hyperconnectivity and hyperexcitability. Canonically, FMRP functions as an mRNA-binding translation suppressor, but recent findings have enormously expanded its proposed roles. Although connections between burgeoning FMRP functions remain unknown, recent advances have extended understanding of its involvement in RNA, channel, and protein binding that modulate calcium signaling, activity-dependent critical period development, and the excitation-inhibition (E/I) neural circuitry balance. In this review, we contextualize 3 years of FXS model research. Future directions extrapolated from recent advances focus on discovering links between FMRP roles to determine whether FMRP has a multitude of unrelated functions or whether combinatorial mechanisms can explain its multifaceted existence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unified double- and single-sided homogeneous Green's function representations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wapenaar, Kees; van der Neut, Joost; Slob, Evert

2016-06-01

In wave theory, the homogeneous Green's function consists of the impulse response to a point source, minus its time-reversal. It can be represented by a closed boundary integral. In many practical situations, the closed boundary integral needs to be approximated by an open boundary integral because the medium of interest is often accessible from one side only. The inherent approximations are acceptable as long as the effects of multiple scattering are negligible. However, in case of strongly inhomogeneous media, the effects of multiple scattering can be severe. We derive double- and single-sided homogeneous Green's function representations. The single-sided representation applies to situations where the medium can be accessed from one side only. It correctly handles multiple scattering. It employs a focusing function instead of the backward propagating Green's function in the classical (double-sided) representation. When reflection measurements are available at the accessible boundary of the medium, the focusing function can be retrieved from these measurements. Throughout the paper, we use a unified notation which applies to acoustic, quantum-mechanical, electromagnetic and elastodynamic waves. We foresee many interesting applications of the unified single-sided homogeneous Green's function representation in holographic imaging and inverse scattering, time-reversed wave field propagation and interferometric Green's function retrieval.

Halogenated flame retardants in the Great Lakes environment.

PubMed

Venier, Marta; Salamova, Amina; Hites, Ronald A

2015-07-21

Flame retardants are widely used industrial chemicals that are added to polymers, such as polyurethane foam, to prevent them from rapidly burning if exposed to a small flame or a smoldering cigarette. Flame retardants, especially brominated flame retardants, are added to many polymeric products at percent levels and are present in most upholstered furniture and mattresses. Most of these chemicals are so-called "additive" flame retardants and are not chemically bound to the polymer; thus, they migrate from the polymeric materials into the environment and into people. As a result, some of these chemicals have become widespread pollutants, which is a concern given their possible adverse health effects. Perhaps because of their environmental ubiquity, the most heavily used group of brominated flame retardants, the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), was withdrawn from production and use during the 2004-2013 period. This led to an increasing demand for other flame retardants, including other brominated aromatics and organophosphate esters. Although little is known about the use or production volumes of these newer flame retardants, it is evident that some of these chemicals are also becoming pervasive in the environment and in humans. In this Account, we describe our research on the occurrence of halogenated and organophosphate flame retardants in the environment, with a specific focus on the Great Lakes region. This Account starts with a short introduction to the first generation of brominated flame retardants, the polybrominated biphenyls, and then presents our measurements of their replacement, the PBDEs. We summarize our data on PBDE levels in babies, bald eagles, and in air. Once these compounds came off the market, we began to measure several of the newer flame retardants in air collected on the shores of the Great Lakes once every 12 days. These new measurements focus on a tetrabrominated benzoate, a tetrabrominated phthalate, a hexabrominated diphenoxyethane, several brominated benzenes, and a highly chlorinated norbornene compound called Dechlorane Plus. Most recently, we have begun measuring the atmospheric concentrations of several organophosphate esters, which are an increasing part of the flame retardant market. The interesting feature of this story is how one compound or set of compounds has followed another out of and into the marketplace even though none of them have been officially regulated. This replacement of one commercial product by another with similar functions shows that the chemical industry does respond to scientific environmental measurements and to the resulting bad publicity. This is a good thing. The problem is that often the replacement chemicals also become environmentally ubiquitous.

Nonequilibrium Green's function theory for nonadiabatic effects in quantum electron transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kershaw, Vincent F.; Kosov, Daniel S.

2017-12-01

We develop nonequilibrium Green's function-based transport theory, which includes effects of nonadiabatic nuclear motion in the calculation of the electric current in molecular junctions. Our approach is based on the separation of slow and fast time scales in the equations of motion for Green's functions by means of the Wigner representation. Time derivatives with respect to central time serve as a small parameter in the perturbative expansion enabling the computation of nonadiabatic corrections to molecular Green's functions. Consequently, we produce a series of analytic expressions for non-adiabatic electronic Green's functions (up to the second order in the central time derivatives), which depend not solely on the instantaneous molecular geometry but likewise on nuclear velocities and accelerations. An extended formula for electric current is derived which accounts for the non-adiabatic corrections. This theory is concisely illustrated by the calculations on a model molecular junction.

Nonequilibrium Green's function theory for nonadiabatic effects in quantum electron transport.

PubMed

Kershaw, Vincent F; Kosov, Daniel S

2017-12-14

We develop nonequilibrium Green's function-based transport theory, which includes effects of nonadiabatic nuclear motion in the calculation of the electric current in molecular junctions. Our approach is based on the separation of slow and fast time scales in the equations of motion for Green's functions by means of the Wigner representation. Time derivatives with respect to central time serve as a small parameter in the perturbative expansion enabling the computation of nonadiabatic corrections to molecular Green's functions. Consequently, we produce a series of analytic expressions for non-adiabatic electronic Green's functions (up to the second order in the central time derivatives), which depend not solely on the instantaneous molecular geometry but likewise on nuclear velocities and accelerations. An extended formula for electric current is derived which accounts for the non-adiabatic corrections. This theory is concisely illustrated by the calculations on a model molecular junction.

The Euclidean scalar Green function in the five-dimensional Kaluza-Klein magnetic monopole space-time

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

Bezerra de Mello, E.R.

2006-01-15

In this paper we present, in a integral form, the Euclidean Green function associated with a massless scalar field in the five-dimensional Kaluza-Klein magnetic monopole superposed to a global monopole, admitting a nontrivial coupling between the field with the geometry. This Green function is expressed as the sum of two contributions: the first one related with uncharged component of the field, is similar to the Green function associated with a scalar field in a four-dimensional global monopole space-time. The second contains the information of all the other components. Using this Green function it is possible to study the vacuum polarizationmore » effects on this space-time. Explicitly we calculate the renormalized vacuum expectation value <{phi}{sup *}(x){phi}(x)>{sub Ren}, which by its turn is also expressed as the sum of two contributions.« less

Use of Analog Functional Analysis in Assessing the Function of Mealtime Behavior Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girolami, Peter A.; Scotti, Joseph R.

2001-01-01

This study applied the methodology of an analog experimental (functional) analysis of behavior to the specific interaction between parents and three children with mental retardation exhibiting food refusal and related mealtime problems. Analog results were highly consistent with other forms of functional assessment data, including interviews,…

Green's function methods in heavy ion shielding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, John W.; Costen, Robert C.; Shinn, Judy L.; Badavi, Francis F.

1993-01-01

An analytic solution to the heavy ion transport in terms of Green's function is used to generate a highly efficient computer code for space applications. The efficiency of the computer code is accomplished by a nonperturbative technique extending Green's function over the solution domain. The computer code can also be applied to accelerator boundary conditions to allow code validation in laboratory experiments.

Improved method to fully compensate the spatial phase nonuniformity of LCoS devices with a Fizeau interferometer.

PubMed

Lu, Qiang; Sheng, Lei; Zeng, Fei; Gao, Shijie; Qiao, Yanfeng

2016-10-01

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) devices usually show spatial phase nonuniformity (SPNU) in applications of phase modulation, which comprises the phase retardance nonuniformity (PRNU) as a function of the applied voltage and inherent wavefront distortion (WFD) introduced by the device itself. We propose a multipoint calibration method utilizing a Fizeau interferometer to compensate SPNU of the device. Calibration of PRNU is realized by defining a grid of 3×6 cells onto the aperture and then calculating phase retardance of each cell versus a gradient gray pattern. With designing an adjusted gray pattern calculated by the calibrated multipoint phase retardance function, compensation of inherent WFD is achieved. The peak-to-valley (PV) value of the residual WFD compensated by the multipoint calibration method is significantly reduced from 2.5λ to 0.140λ, while the PV value of the residual WFD after global calibration is reduced to 0.364λ. Experimental results of the generated finite-energy 2D Airy beams in Fourier space demonstrate the effectiveness of this multipoint calibration method.

NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES IN HIPPOCAMPUS AS A FUNCTION OF DEVELOPMENTAL HYPOTHYROIDISM.

EPA Science Inventory

Thyroid hormones are essential for maturation and function of the mammalian central nervous system. Severe congenital hypothyroidism results in irreversible structural damage and mental retardation in children. Although a variety of environmental contaminants have been demonstrat...

Retroreflective Phase Retardation Prisms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-06-01

resonant cavity of a 1.064 Mm laser. This report shows that it is possible to coat the reflecting surfaces of a porro prism so that incident plane...with controlled phase retardation can be made by coating each reflecting surface of a porro prism with a single dielectric film. The amount of phase...of angle of incidence (n, < n2) S. Phase change on reflection as a function of angle of incidence (n" n ) [RL-0202-’R 6. Porro prism 7. Phase change

The Kenny-Caffey syndrome: growth retardation and hypocalcemia in a young boy.

PubMed

Lee, W K; Vargas, A; Barnes, J; Root, A W

1983-04-01

A 2-year-old black boy with the Kenny-Caffey syndrome was first evaluated because of growth retardation and hypocalcemia. Hypothalamic-pituitary function was normal. Basal serum somatomedin C levels were normal for age, but did not increase during short-term administration of human growth hormone. Serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone levels remained inappropriately low during spontaneous and induced hypocalcemia, indicating that hypocalcemia was the consequence of hypoparathyroidism. The manifestations of 15 patients with this syndrome are tabulated.

Abnormal cerebellar development and ataxia in CARP VIII morphant zebrafish.

PubMed

Aspatwar, Ashok; Tolvanen, Martti E E; Jokitalo, Eija; Parikka, Mataleena; Ortutay, Csaba; Harjula, Sanna-Kaisa E; Rämet, Mika; Vihinen, Mauno; Parkkila, Seppo

2013-02-01

Congenital ataxia and mental retardation are mainly caused by variations in the genes that affect brain development. Recent reports have shown that mutations in the CA8 gene are associated with mental retardation and ataxia in humans and ataxia in mice. The gene product, carbonic anhydrase-related protein VIII (CARP VIII), is predominantly present in cerebellar Purkinje cells, where it interacts with the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 1, a calcium channel. In this study, we investigated the effects of the loss of function of CARP VIII during embryonic development in zebrafish using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides against the CA8 gene. Knockdown of CA8 in zebrafish larvae resulted in a curved body axis, pericardial edema and abnormal movement patterns. Histologic examination revealed gross morphologic defects in the cerebellar region and in the muscle. Electron microscopy studies showed increased neuronal cell death in developing larvae injected with CA8 antisense morpholinos. These data suggest a pivotal role for CARP VIII during embryonic development. Furthermore, suppression of CA8 expression leads to defects in motor and coordination functions, mimicking the ataxic human phenotype. This work reveals an evolutionarily conserved function of CARP VIII in brain development and introduces a novel zebrafish model in which to investigate the mechanisms of CARP VIII-related ataxia and mental retardation in humans.

CDK10 Mutations in Humans and Mice Cause Severe Growth Retardation, Spine Malformations, and Developmental Delays.

PubMed

Windpassinger, Christian; Piard, Juliette; Bonnard, Carine; Alfadhel, Majid; Lim, Shuhui; Bisteau, Xavier; Blouin, Stéphane; Ali, Nur'Ain B; Ng, Alvin Yu Jin; Lu, Hao; Tohari, Sumanty; Talib, S Zakiah A; van Hul, Noémi; Caldez, Matias J; Van Maldergem, Lionel; Yigit, Gökhan; Kayserili, Hülya; Youssef, Sameh A; Coppola, Vincenzo; de Bruin, Alain; Tessarollo, Lino; Choi, Hyungwon; Rupp, Verena; Roetzer, Katharina; Roschger, Paul; Klaushofer, Klaus; Altmüller, Janine; Roy, Sudipto; Venkatesh, Byrappa; Ganger, Rudolf; Grill, Franz; Ben Chehida, Farid; Wollnik, Bernd; Altunoglu, Umut; Al Kaissi, Ali; Reversade, Bruno; Kaldis, Philipp

2017-09-07

In five separate families, we identified nine individuals affected by a previously unidentified syndrome characterized by growth retardation, spine malformation, facial dysmorphisms, and developmental delays. Using homozygosity mapping, array CGH, and exome sequencing, we uncovered bi-allelic loss-of-function CDK10 mutations segregating with this disease. CDK10 is a protein kinase that partners with cyclin M to phosphorylate substrates such as ETS2 and PKN2 in order to modulate cellular growth. To validate and model the pathogenicity of these CDK10 germline mutations, we generated conditional-knockout mice. Homozygous Cdk10-knockout mice died postnatally with severe growth retardation, skeletal defects, and kidney and lung abnormalities, symptoms that partly resemble the disease's effect in humans. Fibroblasts derived from affected individuals and Cdk10-knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) proliferated normally; however, Cdk10-knockout MEFs developed longer cilia. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of mutant and wild-type mouse organs revealed lipid metabolic changes consistent with growth impairment and altered ciliogenesis in the absence of CDK10. Our results document the CDK10 loss-of-function phenotype and point to a function for CDK10 in transducing signals received at the primary cilia to sustain embryonic and postnatal development. Copyright © 2017 American Society of Human Genetics. All rights reserved.

Cross-sectional study of social behaviors in preschool children and exposure to flame retardants.

PubMed

Lipscomb, Shannon T; McClelland, Megan M; MacDonald, Megan; Cardenas, Andres; Anderson, Kim A; Kile, Molly L

2017-03-09

Children are exposed to flame retardants from the built environment. Brominated diphenyl ethers (BDE) and organophosphate-based flame retardants (OPFRs) are associated with poorer neurocognitive functioning in children. Less is known, however, about the association between these classes of compounds and children's emotional and social behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine if flame retardant exposure was associated with measurable differences in social behaviors among children ages 3-5 years. We examined teacher-rated social behaviors measured using the Social Skills Improvement Rating Scale (SSIS) and personal exposure to flame retardants in children aged 3-5 years who attended preschool (n = 72). Silicone passive samplers worn for 7 days were used to assess personal exposure to 41 compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometer. These concentrations were then summed into total BDE and total OPFR exposure prior to natural log transformation. Separate generalized additive models were used to evaluate the relationship between seven subscales of the SSIS and lnΣBDE or lnΣOPFR adjusting for other age, sex, adverse social experiences, and family context. All children were exposed to a mixture of flame retardant compounds. We observed a dose dependent relationship between lnΣOPFR and two subscales where children with higher exposures were rated by their preschool teachers as having less responsible behavior (p = 0.07) and more externalizing behavior problems (p = 0.03). Additionally, children with higher lnΣBDE exposure were rated by teachers as less assertive (p = 0.007). We observed a cross-sectional association between children's exposure to flame retardant compounds and teacher-rated social behaviors among preschool-aged children. Children with higher flame retardant exposures exhibited poorer social skills in three domains that play an important role in a child's ability to succeed academically and socially.

Dual function microscope for quantitative DIC and birefringence imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chengshuai; Zhu, Yizheng

2016-03-01

A spectral multiplexing interferometry (SXI) method is presented for integrated birefringence and phase gradient measurement on label-free biological specimens. With SXI, the retardation and orientation of sample birefringence are simultaneously encoded onto two separate spectral carrier waves, generated by a crystal retarder oriented at a specific angle. Thus sufficient information for birefringence determination can be obtained from a single interference spectrum, eliminating the need for multiple acquisitions with mechanical rotation or electrical modulation. In addition, with the insertion of a Nomarski prism, the setup can then acquire quantitative differential interference contrast images. Red blood cells infected by malaria parasites are imaged for birefringence retardation as well as phase gradient. The results demonstrate that the SXI approach can achieve both quantitative phase imaging and birefringence imaging with a single, high-sensitivity system.

Mapping the meanings of novel visual symbols by youth with moderate or severe mental retardation.

PubMed

Romski, M A; Sevcik, R A; Robinson, B F; Mervis, C B; Bertrand, J

1996-01-01

The word-learning ability of 12 school-age subjects with moderate or severe mental retardation was assessed. Subjects had little or no functional speech and used the System for Augmenting Language with visual-graphic symbols for communication. Their ability to fast map novel symbols revealed whether they possessed the novel name-nameless category (N3C) lexical operating principle. On first exposure, 7 subjects were able to map symbol meanings for novel objects. Follow-up assessments indicated that mappers retained comprehension of some of the novel words for up to delays of 15 days and generalized their knowledge to production. Ability to fast map reliably was related to symbol achievement status. Implications for understanding vocabulary acquisition by youth with mental retardation were discussed.

Functional Analysis and Intervention for Breath Holding.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kern, Lee; And Others

1995-01-01

A functional analysis of breath-holding episodes in a 7-year-old girl with severe mental retardation and Cornelia-de-Lange syndrome indicated that breath holding served an operant function, primarily to gain access to attention. Use of extinction, scheduled attention, and a picture card communication system decreased breath holding. (Author/SW)

A necessary and sufficient condition for well-posedness of initial value problems of retarded functional differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishiguchi, Junya

2017-09-01

We introduce the retarded functional differential equations (RFDEs) with general delay structure to treat various delay differential equations (DDEs) in a unified way and to clarify the delay structure in those dynamics. We are interested in the question as to which space of histories is suitable for the dynamics of each DDE, and investigate the well-posedness of the initial value problems (IVPs) of the RFDEs. A main theorem is that the IVP is well-posed for any ;admissible; history functional if and only if the semigroup determined by the trivial RFDE x ˙ = 0 is continuous. We clarify the meaning of the Hale-Kato axiom (Hale & Kato [12]) by applying this result to RFDEs with infinite delay. We also apply the result to DDEs with unbounded time- and state-dependent delays.

Relativistic central-field Green's functions for the RATIP package

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koval, Peter; Fritzsche, Stephan

2005-11-01

From perturbation theory, Green's functions are known for providing a simple and convenient access to the (complete) spectrum of atoms and ions. Having these functions available, they may help carry out perturbation expansions to any order beyond the first one. For most realistic potentials, however, the Green's functions need to be calculated numerically since an analytic form is known only for free electrons or for their motion in a pure Coulomb field. Therefore, in order to facilitate the use of Green's functions also for atoms and ions other than the hydrogen-like ions, here we provide an extension to the RATIP program which supports the computation of relativistic (one-electron) Green's functions in an—arbitrarily given—central-field potential V(r). Different computational modes have been implemented to define these effective potentials and to generate the radial Green's functions for all bound-state energies E<0. In addition, care has been taken to provide a user-friendly component of the RATIP package by utilizing features of the Fortran 90/95 standard such as data structures, allocatable arrays, or a module-oriented design. Program summaryTitle of program:XGREENS Catalogue number: ADWM Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADWM Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions:None Computer for which the new version has been tested: PC Pentium II, III, IV, Athlon Installations: University of Kassel (Germany) Operating systems: SuSE Linux 8.2, SuSE Linux 9.0 Program language used in the new version: ANSI standard Fortran 90/95 Memory required to execute with typical data: On a standard grid (400 nodes), one central-field Green's function requires about 50 kBytes in RAM while approximately 3 MBytes are needed if saved as two-dimensional array on some external disc space No. of bits in a word: Real variables of double- and quad-precision are used Peripheral used: Disk for input/output CPU time required to execute test data: 2 min on a 450 MHz Pentium III processor No. of lines in distributed program, including test data etc.: 82 042 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data etc.: 814 096 Distribution format: tar.gz Nature of the physical problem: In atomic perturbation theory, Green's functions may help carry out the summation over the complete spectrum of atom and ions, including the (summation over the) bound states as well as an integration over the continuum [R.A. Swainson, G.W.F. Drake, J. Phys. A 24 (1991) 95]. Analytically, however, these functions are known only for free electrons ( V(r)≡0) and for electrons in a pure Coulomb field ( V(r)=-Z/r). For all other choices of the potential, in contrast, the Green's functions must be determined numerically. Method of solution: Relativistic Green's functions are generated for an arbitrary central-field potential V(r)=-Z(r)/r by using a piecewise linear approximation of the effective nuclear charge function Z(r) on some grid r(i=1,…,N): Z(r)=Z0i+Z1ir. Then, following McGuire's algorithm [E.J. McGuire, Phys. Rev. A 23 (1981) 186], the radial Green's functions are constructed from the (two) linear-independent solutions of the homogeneous equation [P. Morse, H. Feshbach, Methods of Theoretical Physics, McGraw-Hill, New York 1953 (Part 1, p. 825)]. In the computation of these radial functions, the Kummer and Tricomi functions [J. Spanier, B. Keith, An Atlas of Functions, Springer, New York, 1987] are used extensively. Restrictions onto the complexity of the problem: The main restrictions of the program concern the shape of the effective nuclear charge Z(r)=-rV(r), i.e. the choice of the potential, and the allowed energies. Apart from obeying the proper boundary conditions for a point-like nucleus, namely, Z(r→0)=Z>0 and Z(r→∞)=Z-N⩾0, the first derivative of the charge function Z(r) must be smaller than the (absolute value of the) energy of the Green's function, {∂Z(r)}/{∂r}<|E|. Unusual features of the program:XGREENS has been designed as a part of the RATIP package [S. Fritzsche, J. Elec. Spec. Rel. Phen. 114-116 (2001) 1155] for the calculation of relativistic atomic transition and ionization properties. In a short dialog at the beginning of the execution, the user can specify the choice of the potential as well as the energies and the symmetries of the radial Green's functions to be calculated. Apart from central-field Green's functions, of course, the Coulomb Green's function [P. Koval, S. Fritzsche, Comput. Phys. Comm. 152 (2003) 191] can also be computed by selecting a constant nuclear charge Z(r)=Z. In order to test the generated Green's functions, moreover, we compare the two lowest bound-state orbitals which are calculated from the Green's functions with those as generated separately for the given potential. Like the other components of the RATIP package, XGREENS makes careful use of the Fortran 90/95 standard.

Project Employability: Employability Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrell, Lewis P.; Talarico, Robert L.

The fourth of six products from Project Employability (Ohio) outlines instructional goals and objectives designed to improve employment skills of high functioning trainable and low functioning educable mentally retarded high school students. The employability philosophy incorporates statements regarding career exploration, practice as a means to…

ShiftNMFk 1.2

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

Alexandrov, Boian S.; Vesselinov, Velimir V.; Stanev, Valentin

The ShiftNMFk1.2 code, or as we call it, GreenNMFk, represents a hybrid algorithm combining unsupervised adaptive machine learning and Green's function inverse method. GreenNMFk allows an efficient and high performance de-mixing and feature extraction of a multitude of nonnegative signals that change their shape propagating through the medium. The signals are mixed and recorded by a network of uncorrelated sensors. The code couples Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and inverse-analysis Green's functions method. GreenNMF synergistically performs decomposition of the recorded mixtures, finds the number of the unknown sources and uses the Green's function of the governing partial differential equation to identifymore » the unknown sources and their charecteristics. GreenNMF can be applied directly to any problem controlled by a known partial-differential parabolic equation where mixtures of an unknown number of sources are measured at multiple locations. Full GreenNMFk method is a subject LANL U.S. Patent application S133364.000 August, 2017. The ShiftNMFk 1.2 version here is a toy version of this method that can work with a limited number of unknown sources (4 or less).« less

Spectral Characteristics of Wake Vortex Sound During Roll-Up

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Booth, Earl R., Jr. (Technical Monitor); Zhang, Yan; Wang, Frank Y.; Hardin, Jay C.

2003-01-01

This report presents an analysis of the sound spectra generated by a trailing aircraft vortex during its rolling-up process. The study demonstrates that a rolling-up vortex could produce low frequency (less than 100 Hz) sound with very high intensity (60 dB above threshold of human hearing) at a distance of 200 ft from the vortex core. The spectrum then drops o rapidly thereafter. A rigorous analytical approach has been adopted in this report to derive the spectrum of vortex sound. First, the sound pressure was solved from an alternative treatment of the Lighthill s acoustic analogy approach [1]. After the application of Green s function for free space, a tensor analysis was applied to permit the removal of the source term singularity of the wave equation in the far field. Consequently, the sound pressure is expressed in terms of the retarded time that indicates the time history and spacial distribution of the sound source. The Fourier transformation is then applied to the sound pressure to compute its spectrum. As a result, the Fourier transformation greatly simplifies the expression of the vortex sound pressure involving the retarded time, so that the numerical computation is applicable with ease for axisymmetric line vortices during the rolling-up process. The vortex model assumes that the vortex circulation is proportional to the time and the core radius is a constant. In addition, the velocity profile is assumed to be self-similar along the aircraft flight path, so that a benchmark vortex velocity profile can be devised to obtain a closed form solution, which is then used to validate the numerical calculations for other more realistic vortex profiles for which no closed form solutions are available. The study suggests that acoustic sensors operating at low frequency band could be profitably deployed for detecting the vortex sound during the rolling-up process.

Use of Green's functions in the numerical solution of two-point boundary value problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gallaher, L. J.; Perlin, I. E.

1974-01-01

This study investigates the use of Green's functions in the numerical solution of the two-point boundary value problem. The first part deals with the role of the Green's function in solving both linear and nonlinear second order ordinary differential equations with boundary conditions and systems of such equations. The second part describes procedures for numerical construction of Green's functions and considers briefly the conditions for their existence. Finally, there is a description of some numerical experiments using nonlinear problems for which the known existence, uniqueness or convergence theorems do not apply. Examples here include some problems in finding rendezvous orbits of the restricted three body system.

Analysis of Discontinuities in a Rectangular Waveguide Using Dyadic Green's Function Approach in Conjunction with Method of Moments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deshpande, M. D.

1997-01-01

The dyadic Green's function for an electric current source placed in a rectangular waveguide is derived using a magnetic vector potential approach. A complete solution for the electric and magnetic fields including the source location is obtained by simple differentiation of the vector potential around the source location. The simple differentiation approach which gives electric and magnetic fields identical to an earlier derivation is overlooked by the earlier workers in the derivation of the dyadic Green's function particularly around the source location. Numerical results obtained using the Green's function approach are compared with the results obtained using the Finite Element Method (FEM).

On singular cases in the design derivative of Green's functional

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reiss, Robert

1987-01-01

The author's prior development of a general abstract representation for the design sensitivities of Green's functional for linear structural systems is extended to the case where the structural stiffness vanishes at an internal location. This situation often occurs in the optimal design of structures. Most optimality criteria require that optimally designed beams be statically determinate. For clamped-pinned beams, for example, this is possible only if the flexural stiffness vanishes at some intermediate location. The Green's function for such structures depends upon the stiffness and the location where it vanishes. A precise representation for Green's function's sensitivity to the location of vanishing stiffness is presented for beams and axisymmetric plates.

Halogenated flame retardants: do the fire safety benefits justify the risks?

PubMed

Shaw, Susan D; Blum, Arlene; Weber, Roland; Kannan, Kurunthachalam; Rich, David; Lucas, Donald; Koshland, Catherine P; Dobraca, Dina; Hanson, Sarah; Birnbaum, Linda S

2010-01-01

Since the 1970s, an increasing number of regulations have expanded the use of brominated and chlorinated flame retardants. Many of these chemicals are now recognized as global contaminants and are associated with adverse health effects in animals and humans, including endocrine and thyroid disruption, immunotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, cancer, and adverse effects on fetal and child development and neurologic function. Some flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been banned or voluntarily phased out by manufacturers because of their environmental persistence and toxicity, only to be replaced by other organohalogens of unknown toxicity. Despite restrictions on further production in some countries, consumer products previously treated with banned retardants are still in use and continue to release toxic chemicals into the environment, and the worldwide use of organohalogen retardants continues to increase. This paper examines major uses and known toxic effects of commonly-used organohalogen flame retardants, replacements for those that have been phased out, their combustion by-products, and their effectiveness at reducing fire hazard. Policy and other solutions to maintain fire safety while reducing toxicity are suggested. The major conclusions are: (1) Flammability regulations can cause greater adverse environmental and health impacts than fire safety benefits. (2) The current options for end-of-life disposal of products treated with organohalogens retardants are problematic. (3) Life-cycle analyses evaluating benefits and risks should consider the health and environmental effects of the chemicals, as well as their fire safety impacts. (4) Most fire deaths and most fire injuries result from inhaling carbon monoxide, irritant gases, and soot. The incorporation of organohalogens can increase the yield of these toxic by-products during combustion. (5) Fire-safe cigarettes, fire-safe candles, child-resistant lighters, sprinklers, and smoke detectors can prevent fires without the potential adverse effects of flame retardant chemicals. (6) Alternatives to organohalogen flame retardant chemicals include using less flammable materials, design changes, and safer chemicals. To date, before evaluating their health and environmental impacts, many flame retardant chemicals have been produced and used, resulting in high levels of human exposure. As a growing literature continues to find adverse impacts from such chemicals, a more systematic approach to their regulation is needed. Before implementing new flammability standards, decision-makers should evaluate the potential fire safety benefit versus the health and environmental impacts of the chemicals, materials, or technologies likely to be used to meet the standard. Reducing the use of toxic or untested flame retardant chemicals in consumer products can protect human and animal health and the global environment without compromising fire safety.

Control of functional differential equations to target sets in function space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banks, H. T.; Kent, G. A.

1971-01-01

Optimal control of systems governed by functional differential equations of retarded and neutral type is considered. Problems with function space initial and terminal manifolds are investigated. Existence of optimal controls, regularity, and bang-bang properties are discussed. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived, and several solved examples which illustrate the theory are presented.

Irreducible Green's functions method for a quantum dot coupled to metallic and superconducting leads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Górski, Grzegorz; Kucab, Krzysztof

2017-05-01

Using irreducible Green's functions (IGF) method we analyse the Coulomb interaction dependence of the spectral functions and the transport properties of a quantum dot coupled to isotropic superconductor and metallic leads (SC-QD-N). The irreducible Green's functions method is the modification of classical equation of motion technique. The IGF scheme is based on differentiation of double-time Green's functions, both over the primary and secondary times. The IGF method allows to obtain the spectral functions for equilibrium and non-equilibrium impurity Anderson model used for SC-QD-N system. By the numerical computations, we show the change of spectral and the anomalous densities under the influence of the Coulomb interactions. The observed sign change of the anomalous spectral density can be used as the criterion of the SC singlet-Kondo singlet transition.

Coherency of seismic noise, Green functions and site effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prieto, G. A.; Beroza, G. C.

2007-12-01

The newly rediscovered methodology of cross correlating seismic noise (or seismic coda) to retrieve the Green function takes advantage of the coherency of the signals across a set of stations. Only coherent signals are expected to emerge after stacking over a long enough time. Cross-correlation has a significant disadvantage for this purpose, in that the Green function recovered is convolved with the source-time function of the noise source. For seismic waves, this can mean that the microseism peak dominates the signal. We show how the use of the transfer function between sensors provides a better resolved Green function (after inverse Fourier transform), because the deconvolution process removes the effect of the noise source-time function. In addition, we compute the coherence of the seismic noise as a function of frequency and distance, providing information about the effective frequency band over which Green function retrieval is possible. The coherence may also be used in resolution analysis for time reversal as a constraint on the de-coherence length (the distance between sensors over which the signals become uncorrelated). We use the information from the transfer function and the coherence to examine wave propagation effects (attenuation and site effects) for closely spaced stations compared to a reference station.

Retarded protein folding of deficient human α1-antitrypsin D256V and L41P variants

PubMed Central

Jung, Chan-Hun; Na, Yu-Ran; Im, Hana

2004-01-01

α1-Antitrypsin is the most abundant protease inhibitor in plasma and is the archetype of the serine protease inhibitor superfamily. Genetic variants of human α1-antitrypsin are associated with early-onset emphysema and liver cirrhosis. However, the detailed molecular mechanism for the pathogenicity of most variant α1-antitrypsin molecules is not known. Here we examined the structural basis of a dozen deficient α1-antitrypsin variants. Unlike most α1-antitrypsin variants, which were unstable, D256V and L41P variants exhibited extremely retarded protein folding as compared with the wild-type molecule. Once folded, however, the stability and inhibitory activity of these variant proteins were comparable to those of the wild-type molecule. Retarded protein folding may promote protein aggregation by allowing the accumulation of aggregation-prone folding intermediates. Repeated observations of retarded protein folding indicate that it is an important mechanism causing α1-antitrypsin deficiency by variant molecules, which have to fold into the metastable native form to be functional. PMID:14767073

Alpha Thalassemia/Mental Retardation Syndrome X-linked Gene Product ATRX Is Required for Proper Replication Restart and Cellular Resistance to Replication Stress*

PubMed Central

Leung, Justin Wai-Chung; Ghosal, Gargi; Wang, Wenqi; Shen, Xi; Wang, Jiadong; Li, Lei; Chen, Junjie

2013-01-01

Alpha thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X-linked (ATRX) is a member of the SWI/SNF protein family of DNA-dependent ATPases. It functions as a chromatin remodeler and is classified as an SNF2-like helicase. Here, we showed somatic knock-out of ATRX displayed perturbed S-phase progression as well as hypersensitivity to replication stress. ATRX is recruited to sites of DNA damage, required for efficient checkpoint activation and faithful replication restart. In addition, we identified ATRX as a binding partner of MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 (MRN) complex. Together, these results suggest a non-canonical function of ATRX in guarding genomic stability. PMID:23329831

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

Vargas, Asticio; Center for Optics and Photonics, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 4016, Concepción; Mar Sánchez-López, María del

Multiple-beam Fabry-Perot (FP) interferences occur in liquid crystal retarders (LCR) devoid of an antireflective coating. In this work, a highly accurate method to obtain the spectral retardance of such devices is presented. On the basis of a simple model of the LCR that includes FP effects and by using a voltage transfer function, we show how the FP features in the transmission spectrum can be used to accurately retrieve the ordinary and extraordinary spectral phase delays, and the voltage dependence of the latter. As a consequence, the modulation characteristics of the device are fully determined with high accuracy by meansmore » of a few off-state physical parameters which are wavelength-dependent, and a single voltage transfer function that is valid within the spectral range of characterization.« less

Pinch technique and the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binosi, Daniele; Papavassiliou, Joannis

2002-07-01

In this paper we take the first step towards a nondiagrammatic formulation of the pinch technique. In particular we proceed into a systematic identification of the parts of the one-loop and two-loop Feynman diagrams that are exchanged during the pinching process in terms of unphysical ghost Green's functions; the latter appear in the standard Slavnov-Taylor identity satisfied by the tree-level and one-loop three-gluon vertex. This identification allows for the consistent generalization of the intrinsic pinch technique to two loops, through the collective treatment of entire sets of diagrams, instead of the laborious algebraic manipulation of individual graphs, and sets up the stage for the generalization of the method to all orders. We show that the task of comparing the effective Green's functions obtained by the pinch technique with those computed in the background field method Feynman gauge is significantly facilitated when employing the powerful quantization framework of Batalin and Vilkovisky. This formalism allows for the derivation of a set of useful nonlinear identities, which express the background field method Green's functions in terms of the conventional (quantum) ones and auxiliary Green's functions involving the background source and the gluonic antifield; these latter Green's functions are subsequently related by means of a Schwinger-Dyson type of equation to the ghost Green's functions appearing in the aforementioned Slavnov-Taylor identity.

A single-sided representation for the homogeneous Green's function of a unified scalar wave equation.

PubMed

Wapenaar, Kees

2017-06-01

A unified scalar wave equation is formulated, which covers three-dimensional (3D) acoustic waves, 2D horizontally-polarised shear waves, 2D transverse-electric EM waves, 2D transverse-magnetic EM waves, 3D quantum-mechanical waves and 2D flexural waves. The homogeneous Green's function of this wave equation is a combination of the causal Green's function and its time-reversal, such that their singularities at the source position cancel each other. A classical representation expresses this homogeneous Green's function as a closed boundary integral. This representation finds applications in holographic imaging, time-reversed wave propagation and Green's function retrieval by cross correlation. The main drawback of the classical representation in those applications is that it requires access to a closed boundary around the medium of interest, whereas in many practical situations the medium can be accessed from one side only. Therefore, a single-sided representation is derived for the homogeneous Green's function of the unified scalar wave equation. Like the classical representation, this single-sided representation fully accounts for multiple scattering. The single-sided representation has the same applications as the classical representation, but unlike the classical representation it is applicable in situations where the medium of interest is accessible from one side only.

Overcomplete compact representation of two-particle Green's functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinaoka, Hiroshi; Otsuki, Junya; Haule, Kristjan; Wallerberger, Markus; Gull, Emanuel; Yoshimi, Kazuyoshi; Ohzeki, Masayuki

2018-05-01

Two-particle Green's functions and the vertex functions play a critical role in theoretical frameworks for describing strongly correlated electron systems. However, numerical calculations at the two-particle level often suffer from large computation time and massive memory consumption. We derive a general expansion formula for the two-particle Green's functions in terms of an overcomplete representation based on the recently proposed "intermediate representation" basis. The expansion formula is obtained by decomposing the spectral representation of the two-particle Green's function. We demonstrate that the expansion coefficients decay exponentially, while all high-frequency and long-tail structures in the Matsubara-frequency domain are retained. This representation therefore enables efficient treatment of two-particle quantities and opens a route to the application of modern many-body theories to realistic strongly correlated electron systems.

Band-limited Green's Functions for Quantitative Evaluation of Acoustic Emission Using the Finite Element Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leser, William P.; Yuan, Fuh-Gwo; Leser, William P.

2013-01-01

A method of numerically estimating dynamic Green's functions using the finite element method is proposed. These Green's functions are accurate in a limited frequency range dependent on the mesh size used to generate them. This range can often match or exceed the frequency sensitivity of the traditional acoustic emission sensors. An algorithm is also developed to characterize an acoustic emission source by obtaining information about its strength and temporal dependence. This information can then be used to reproduce the source in a finite element model for further analysis. Numerical examples are presented that demonstrate the ability of the band-limited Green's functions approach to determine the moment tensor coefficients of several reference signals to within seven percent, as well as accurately reproduce the source-time function.

Efficient Approaches for Evaluating the Planar Microstrip Green's Function and its Applications to the Analysis of Microstrip Antennas.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkeshli, Sina

A relatively simple and efficient closed form asymptotic representation of the microstrip dyadic surface Green's function is developed. The large parameter in this asymptotic development is proportional to the lateral separation between the source and field points along the planar microstrip configuration. Surprisingly, this asymptotic solution remains accurate even for very small (almost two tenths of a wavelength) lateral separation of the source and field points. The present asymptotic Green's function will thus allow a very efficient calculation of the currents excited on microstrip antenna patches/feed lines and monolithic millimeter and microwave integrated circuit (MIMIC) elements based on a moment method (MM) solution of an integral equation for these currents. The kernal of the latter integral equation is the present asymptotic form of the microstrip Green's function. It is noted that the conventional Sommerfeld integral representation of the microstrip surface Green's function is very poorly convergent when used in this MM formulation. In addition, an efficient exact steepest descent path integral form employing a radially propagating representation of the microstrip dyadic Green's function is also derived which exhibits a relatively faster convergence when compared to the conventional Sommerfeld integral representation. The same steepest descent form could also be obtained by deforming the integration contour of the conventional Sommerfeld representation; however, the radially propagating integral representation exhibits better convergence properties for laterally separated source and field points even before the steepest descent path of integration is used. Numerical results based on the efficient closed form asymptotic solution for the microstrip surface Green's function developed in this work are presented for the mutual coupling between a pair of dipoles on a single layer grounded dielectric slab. The accuracy of the latter calculations is confirmed by comparison with results based on an exact integral representation for that Green's function.

A real-time moment-tensor inversion system (GRiD-MT-3D) using 3-D Green's functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagao, A.; Furumura, T.; Tsuruoka, H.

2016-12-01

We developed a real-time moment-tensor inversion system using 3-D Green's functions (GRiD-MT-3D) by improving the current system (GRiD-MT; Tsuruoka et al., 2009), which uses 1-D Green's functions for longer periods than 20 s. Our moment-tensor inversion is applied to the real-time monitoring of earthquakes occurring beneath Kanto basin area. The basin, which is constituted of thick sediment layers, lies on the complex subduction of the Philippine-Sea Plate and the Pacific Plate that can significantly affect the seismic wave propagation. We compute 3-D Green's functions using finite-difference-method (FDM) simulations considering a 3-D velocity model, which is based on the Japan Integrated Velocity Structure Model (Koketsu et al., 2012), that includes crust, mantle, and subducting plates. The 3-D FDM simulations are computed over a volume of 468 km by 432 km by 120 km in the EW, NS, and depth directions, respectively, that is discretized into 0.25 km grids. Considering that the minimum S wave velocity of the sedimentary layer is 0.5 km/s, simulations can compute seismograms up to 0.5 Hz. We calculate Green's functions between 24,700 sources, which are distributed every 0.1° in the horizontal direction and every 9 km in depth direction, and 13 F-net stations. To compute this large number of Green's functions, we used the EIC parallel computer of ERI. The reciprocity theory, which switches the source and station positions, is used to reduce total computation costs. It took 156 hours to compute all the Green's functions. Results show that at long-periods (T>15 s), only small differences are observed between the 3-D and 1-D Green's functions as indicated by high correlation coefficients of 0.9 between the waveforms. However, at shorter periods (T<10 s), the differences become larger and the correlation coefficients drop to 0.5. The effect of the 3-D heterogeneous structure especially affects the Green's functions for the ray paths that across complex geological structures, such as the sedimentary basin or the subducting plates. After incorporation of the 3-D Green's functions in the GRiD-MT-3D system, we compare the results to the former GRiD-MT system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new system in terms of variance reduction and accuracy of the moment-tensor estimation for much smaller events than the current one.

A Screening Questionnaire for Asperger Syndrome and Other High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders in School Age Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehlers, Stephan; Gillberg, Christopher; Wing, Lorna

1999-01-01

Presents data on the High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, a 27-item checklist for completion by lay informants when assessing symptoms characteristic of Asperger syndrome and other high-functioning autism spectrum disorders in children and adolescents with normal intelligence or mild mental retardation. Reliability and…

34 CFR 668.231 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... intellectual disability means a student— (1) With mental retardation or a cognitive impairment characterized by significant limitations in— (i) Intellectual and cognitive functioning; and (ii) Adaptive behavior as...

34 CFR 668.231 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... intellectual disability means a student— (1) With mental retardation or a cognitive impairment characterized by significant limitations in— (i) Intellectual and cognitive functioning; and (ii) Adaptive behavior as...

34 CFR 668.231 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... intellectual disability means a student— (1) With mental retardation or a cognitive impairment characterized by significant limitations in— (i) Intellectual and cognitive functioning; and (ii) Adaptive behavior as...

Increased nutritional quality of plants for long-duration spaceflight missions through choice of plant variety and manipulation of growth conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohu, Christopher M.; Lombardi, Elizabeth; Adams, William W.; Demmig-Adams, Barbara

2014-02-01

Low levels of radiation during spaceflight increase the incidence of eye damage and consumption of certain carotenoids (especially zeaxanthin), via a whole-food-based diet (rather than from supplements), is recommended to protect human vision against radiation damage. Availability of fresh leafy produce has, furthermore, been identified as desirable for morale during long spaceflight missions. We report that only trace amounts of zeaxanthin are retained post-harvest in leaves grown under conditions conducive to rapid plant growth. We show that growth of plants under cool temperatures and very high light can trigger a greater retention of zeaxanthin, while, however, simultaneously retarding plant growth. We here introduce a novel growth condition—low growth light supplemented with several short daily light pulses of higher intensity—that also triggers zeaxanthin retention, but without causing any growth retardation. Moreover, two plant varieties with different hardiness exhibited a different propensity for zeaxanthin retention. These findings demonstrate that growth light environment and plant variety can be exploited to simultaneously optimize nutritional quality (with respect to zeaxanthin and two other carotenoids important for human vision, lutein and β-carotene) as well as biomass production of leafy greens suitable as bioregenerative systems for long-duration manned spaceflight missions.

Indocyanine green. Its use as an early indicator of hepatic dysfunction following injury in man.

PubMed

Gottlieb, M E; Stratton, H H; Newell, J C; Shah, D M

1984-03-01

To evaluate hepatic function, the kinetics of indocyanine green clearance were studied in seven injured patients with hepatic venous catheters. Indocyanine green clearance after a bolus injection of 20 mg was relatively monoexponential on the first day after injury. Following this, a second slower compartment of indocyanine green clearance was uniformly evident, becoming most prominent around the fourth day after injury. Indocyanine green clearance again became more uniform as recovery continued. Fractional indocyanine green extraction ten minutes after injection decreased from 0.9 on the first day after injury to 0.2 three days later, and then returned to 0.7 on the seventh day after injury. These decreases in indocyanine green clearance preceded an increase in total serum bilirubin concentration to a mean value of 1.9 mg/dL. Indocyanine green clearance was thus found to be an early and sensitive indicator of impaired hepatic function.

24 CFR 8.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... such as income as well as other explicit or implicit requirements inherent in the nature of the program... retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction and alcoholism. (b) Major life activities means functions such... with handicaps who, with reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in...

24 CFR 8.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... such as income as well as other explicit or implicit requirements inherent in the nature of the program... retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction and alcoholism. (b) Major life activities means functions such... with handicaps who, with reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in...

Eco-friendly functionalized superhydrophobic recycled paper with enhanced flame-retardancy.

PubMed

Si, Yifan; Guo, Zhiguang

2016-09-01

Recycled paper with superhydrophobicity and flame-retardancy has been demonstrated here due to the synergistic action of dopamine-silica trimethylsilyl modified gel powder and stearic acid modified Mg(OH)2. This multifunctional recycled paper displays great self-cleaning and anti-fouling ability and can be used for oil-water separation. Surprisingly, the absorbed organic can be reused as fuel via simple combustion method for multiple cycles. This work will not only expand the usable range of paper but also ease the energy and environment crisis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Syndromes and disorders associated with mental retardation.

PubMed

Greydanus, Donald E; Pratt, Helen D

2005-10-01

This article reviews selective comments on the concept of Mental Retardation (MR) in adolescents. Issues covered include the definition, prevalence, and differential diagnosis of MR. Some of the syndromes and disorders associated with MR in the adolescents are also considered with emphasis on the behavioral concerns that may be present in this age group. Finally, concepts of management by the clinician are reviewed. It is recommended that health care professionals caring for adolescents with MR should help these youths maximize their potential as human beings, helping them achieve meaningful functioning in adulthood.

Associations of Cognitive Function Scores with Carbon Dioxide, Ventilation, and Volatile Organic Compound Exposures in Office Workers: A Controlled Exposure Study of Green and Conventional Office Environments.

PubMed

Allen, Joseph G; MacNaughton, Piers; Satish, Usha; Santanam, Suresh; Vallarino, Jose; Spengler, John D

2016-06-01

The indoor built environment plays a critical role in our overall well-being because of both the amount of time we spend indoors (~90%) and the ability of buildings to positively or negatively influence our health. The advent of sustainable design or green building strategies reinvigorated questions regarding the specific factors in buildings that lead to optimized conditions for health and productivity. We simulated indoor environmental quality (IEQ) conditions in "Green" and "Conventional" buildings and evaluated the impacts on an objective measure of human performance: higher-order cognitive function. Twenty-four participants spent 6 full work days (0900-1700 hours) in an environmentally controlled office space, blinded to test conditions. On different days, they were exposed to IEQ conditions representative of Conventional [high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)] and Green (low concentrations of VOCs) office buildings in the United States. Additional conditions simulated a Green building with a high outdoor air ventilation rate (labeled Green+) and artificially elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels independent of ventilation. On average, cognitive scores were 61% higher on the Green building day and 101% higher on the two Green+ building days than on the Conventional building day (p < 0.0001). VOCs and CO2 were independently associated with cognitive scores. Cognitive function scores were significantly better under Green+ building conditions than in the Conventional building conditions for all nine functional domains. These findings have wide-ranging implications because this study was designed to reflect conditions that are commonly encountered every day in many indoor environments. Allen JG, MacNaughton P, Satish U, Santanam S, Vallarino J, Spengler JD. 2016. Associations of cognitive function scores with carbon dioxide, ventilation, and volatile organic compound exposures in office workers: a controlled exposure study of green and conventional office environments. Environ Health Perspect 124:805-812; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510037.

Continuous relaxation and retardation spectrum method for viscoelastic characterization of asphalt concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharjee, Sudip; Swamy, Aravind Krishna; Daniel, Jo S.

2012-08-01

This paper presents a simple and practical approach to obtain the continuous relaxation and retardation spectra of asphalt concrete directly from the complex (dynamic) modulus test data. The spectra thus obtained are continuous functions of relaxation and retardation time. The major advantage of this method is that the continuous form is directly obtained from the master curves which are readily available from the standard characterization tests of linearly viscoelastic behavior of asphalt concrete. The continuous spectrum method offers efficient alternative to the numerical computation of discrete spectra and can be easily used for modeling viscoelastic behavior. In this research, asphalt concrete specimens have been tested for linearly viscoelastic characterization. The linearly viscoelastic test data have been used to develop storage modulus and storage compliance master curves. The continuous spectra are obtained from the fitted sigmoid function of the master curves via the inverse integral transform. The continuous spectra are shown to be the limiting case of the discrete distributions. The continuous spectra and the time-domain viscoelastic functions (relaxation modulus and creep compliance) computed from the spectra matched very well with the approximate solutions. It is observed that the shape of the spectra is dependent on the master curve parameters. The continuous spectra thus obtained can easily be implemented in material mix design process. Prony-series coefficients can be easily obtained from the continuous spectra and used in numerical analysis such as finite element analysis.

Clinical proof-of-concept trial to assess the therapeutic effect of sirolimus in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: SUISSE ADPKD study

PubMed Central

Serra, Andreas L; Kistler, Andreas D; Poster, Diane; Struker, Marian; Wüthrich, Rudolf P; Weishaupt, Dominik; Tschirch, Frank

2007-01-01

Background Currently there is no effective treatment available to retard cyst growth and to prevent the progression to end-stage renal failure in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Evidence has recently been obtained from animal experiments that activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in cyst growth and renal volume expansion, and that the inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin (sirolimus) markedly slows cyst development and renal functional deterioration. Based on these promising results in animals we have designed and initiated the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of sirolimus to retard disease progression in ADPKD. Method/design This single center, randomised controlled, open label trial assesses the therapeutic effect, safety and tolerability of the mTOR inhibitor sirolimus (Rapamune®) in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and preserved renal function. The primary outcome will be the inhibition of kidney volume growth measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetry. Secondary outcome parameters will be preservation of renal function, safety and tolerability of sirolimus. Discussion The results from this proof-of-concept RCT will for the first time show whether treatment with sirolimus effectively retards cyst growth in patients with ADPKD. Trial registration NCT00346918 PMID:17868472

Understanding mental retardation in Down's syndrome using trisomy 16 mouse models.

PubMed

Galdzicki, Z; Siarey, R J

2003-06-01

Mental retardation in Down's syndrome, human trisomy 21, is characterized by developmental delays, language and memory deficits and other cognitive abnormalities. Neurophysiological and functional information is needed to understand the mechanisms of mental retardation in Down's syndrome. The trisomy mouse models provide windows into the molecular and developmental effects associated with abnormal chromosome numbers. The distal segment of mouse chromosome 16 is homologous to nearly the entire long arm of human chromosome 21. Therefore, mice with full or segmental trisomy 16 (Ts65Dn) are considered reliable animal models of Down's syndrome. Ts65Dn mice demonstrate impaired learning in spatial tests and abnormalities in hippocampal synaptic plasticity. We hypothesize that the physiological impairments in the Ts65Dn mouse hippocampus can model the suboptimal brain function occuring at various levels of Down's syndrome brain hierarchy, starting at a single neuron, and then affecting simple and complex neuronal networks. Once these elements create the gross brain structure, their dysfunctional activity cannot be overcome by extensive plasticity and redundancy, and therefore, at the end of the maturation period the mind inside this brain remains deficient and delayed in its capabilities. The complicated interactions that govern this aberrant developmental process cannot be rescued through existing compensatory mechanisms. In summary, overexpression of genes from chromosome 21 shifts biological homeostasis in the Down's syndrome brain to a new less functional state.

Direct SQP-methods for solving optimal control problems with delays

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

Goellmann, L.; Bueskens, C.; Maurer, H.

The maximum principle for optimal control problems with delays leads to a boundary value problem (BVP) which is retarded in the state and advanced in the costate function. Based on shooting techniques, solution methods for this type of BVP have been proposed. In recent years, direct optimization methods have been favored for solving control problems without delays. Direct methods approximate the control and the state over a fixed mesh and solve the resulting NLP-problem with SQP-methods. These methods dispense with the costate function and have shown to be robust and efficient. In this paper, we propose a direct SQP-method formore » retarded control problems. In contrast to conventional direct methods, only the control variable is approximated by e.g. spline-functions. The state is computed via a high order Runge-Kutta type algorithm and does not enter explicitly the NLP-problem through an equation. This approach reduces the number of optimization variables considerably and is implementable even on a PC. Our method is illustrated by the numerical solution of retarded control problems with constraints. In particular, we consider the control of a continuous stirred tank reactor which has been solved by dynamic programming. This example illustrates the robustness and efficiency of the proposed method. Open questions concerning sufficient conditions and convergence of discretized NLP-problems are discussed.« less

Elementary Introduction to the Green's Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitten, R. C.; McCormick, P. T.

1975-01-01

Presents a technique, using the method of variation of parameters for solving differential equations, for introducing Green's function early in an undergraduate curriculum. Presents various examples. (Author/MLH)

Disruption of the rice nitrate transporter OsNPF2.2 hinders root-to-shoot nitrate transport and vascular development

PubMed Central

Li, Yuge; Ouyang, Jie; Wang, Ya-Yun; Hu, Rui; Xia, Kuaifei; Duan, Jun; Wang, Yaqin; Tsay, Yi-Fang; Zhang, Mingyong

2015-01-01

Plants have evolved to express some members of the nitrate transporter 1/peptide transporter family (NPF) to uptake and transport nitrate. However, little is known of the physiological and functional roles of this family in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Here, we characterized the vascular specific transporter OsNPF2.2. Functional analysis using cDNA-injected Xenopus laevis oocytes revealed that OsNPF2.2 is a low-affinity, pH-dependent nitrate transporter. Use of a green fluorescent protein tagged OsNPF2.2 showed that the transporter is located in the plasma membrane in the rice protoplast. Expression analysis showed that OsNPF2.2 is nitrate inducible and is mainly expressed in parenchyma cells around the xylem. Disruption of OsNPF2.2 increased nitrate concentration in the shoot xylem exudate when nitrate was supplied after a deprivation period; this result suggests that OsNPF2.2 may participate in unloading nitrate from the xylem. Under steady-state nitrate supply, the osnpf2.2 mutants maintained high levels of nitrate in the roots and low shoot:root nitrate ratios; this observation suggests that OsNPF2.2 is involved in root-to-shoot nitrate transport. Mutation of OsNPF2.2 also caused abnormal vasculature and retarded plant growth and development. Our findings demonstrate that OsNPF2.2 can unload nitrate from the xylem to affect the root-to-shoot nitrate transport and plant development. PMID:25923512

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

Balasubramanian, Sivaprakasam; Eckert, Richard L., E-mail: reckert@umaryland.edu

We have proposed that it is important to examine the impact of chemopreventive agents on the function of normal human epidermal keratinocytes since these cells comprise the barrier that protects the body from a range of environmental insults. In this context, it is widely appreciated that cancer may be retarded by consumption or topical application of naturally occurring food-derived chemopreventive agents. Our studies show that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a green tea-derived polyphenol, acts to enhance the differentiation of normal human keratinocytes as evidenced by its ability to increase involucrin (hINV), transglutaminase type 1 (TG1) and caspase-14 gene expression. EGCG also stimulatesmore » keratinocyte morphological differentiation. These actions of EGCG are mediated via activation of a nPKC, Ras, MEKK1, MEK3, p38{delta}-ERK1/2 signaling cascade which leads to increased activator protein 1 (AP1) and CAATT enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) transcription factor expression, increased binding of these factors to DNA, and increased gene transcription. In contrast, apigenin, a dietary flavonoid derived from plants and vegetables, and curcumin, an agent derived from turmeric, inhibit differentiation by suppressing MAPK signal transduction and reducing API transcription factor level. Curcumin also acts to enhance apoptosis, although EGCG and apigenin do not stimulate apoptosis. In addition, all of these agents inhibit keratinocyte proliferation. These findings indicate that each of these diet-derived chemopreventive agents has a profound impact on normal human keratinocyte function and that they operate via distinct and sometimes opposing mechanisms. However, all are expected to act as chemopreventive agents.« less

Effects of volcanic tremor on noise-based measurements of temporal velocity changes at Hawaiian volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballmer, S.; Wolfe, C. J.; Okubo, P.; Haney, M. M.; Thurber, C. H.

2011-12-01

Green's functions calculated with ambient seismic noise may aid in volcano research and monitoring. The continuous character of ambient seismic noise and hence of the reconstructed Green's functions has enabled measurements of short-term (~days) temporal perturbations in seismic velocities. Very small but clear velocity decreases prior to some volcanic eruptions have been documented and motivate our present study. We apply this method to Hawaiian volcanoes using data from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) seismic network. In order to obtain geologically relevant and reliable results, stable Green's functions need to be recovered from the ambient noise. Station timing problems, changes in noise source directivity, as well as changes in the source's spectral content are known biases that critically affect the Green's functions' stability and hence need to be considered. Here we show that volcanic tremor is a potential additional bias. During the time period of our study (2007-present), we find that volcanic tremor is a common feature in the HVO seismic data. Pu'u O'o tremor is continuously present before a dike intrusion into Kilauea's east rift zone in June 2007 and Halema'uma'u tremor occurs before and during resumed Kilauea summit activity from early 2008 and onward. For the frequency band considered (0.1-0.9 Hz), we find that these active tremor sources can drastically modify the recovered Green's functions for station pairs on the entire island at higher (> 0.5 Hz) frequencies, although the effect of tremor appears diminished at lower frequencies. In this presentation, we perform measurements of temporal velocity changes using ambient noise Green's functions and explore how volcanic tremor affects the results. Careful quality assessment of reconstructed Green's functions appears to be essential for the desired high precision measurements.

Frequency-domain Green's functions for radar waves in heterogeneous 2.5D media

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellefsen, K.J.; Croize, D.; Mazzella, A.T.; McKenna, J.R.

2009-01-01

Green's functions for radar waves propagating in heterogeneous 2.5D media might be calculated in the frequency domain using a hybrid method. The model is defined in the Cartesian coordinate system, and its electromagnetic properties might vary in the x- and z-directions, but not in the y-direction. Wave propagation in the x- and z-directions is simulated with the finite-difference method, and wave propagation in the y-direction is simulated with an analytic function. The absorbing boundaries on the finite-difference grid are perfectly matched layers that have been modified to make them compatible with the hybrid method. The accuracy of these numerical Greens functions is assessed by comparing them with independently calculated Green's functions. For a homogeneous model, the magnitude errors range from -4.16% through 0.44%, and the phase errors range from -0.06% through 4.86%. For a layered model, the magnitude errors range from -2.60% through 2.06%, and the phase errors range from -0.49% through 2.73%. These numerical Green's functions might be used for forward modeling and full waveform inversion. ?? 2009 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved.

The Powdering Process with a Set of Ceramic Mills for Green Tea Promoted Catechin Extraction and the ROS Inhibition Effect.

PubMed

Fujioka, Kouki; Iwamoto, Takeo; Shima, Hidekazu; Tomaru, Keiko; Saito, Hideki; Ohtsuka, Masaki; Yoshidome, Akihiro; Kawamura, Yuri; Manome, Yoshinobu

2016-04-11

For serving green tea, there are two prominent methods: steeping the leaf or the powdered leaf (matcha style) in hot water. The purpose of the present study was to reveal chemical and functional differences before and after the powdering process of green tea leaf, since powdered green tea may contribute to expanding the functionality because of the different ingesting style. In this study, we revealed that the powdering process with a ceramic mill and stirring in hot water increased the average extracted concentration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) by more than three times compared with that in leaf tea using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses. Moreover, powdered green tea has a higher inhibition effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in vitro compared with the same amount of leaf tea. Our data suggest that powdered green tea might have a different function from leaf tea due to the higher catechin contents and particles.

Brazilian Green Propolis Improves Antioxidant Function in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

PubMed

Zhao, Liting; Pu, Lingling; Wei, Jingyu; Li, Jinghua; Wu, Jianquan; Xin, Zhonghao; Gao, Weina; Guo, Changjiang

2016-05-13

Propolis contains a variety of bioactive components and possesses many biological properties. This study was designed to evaluate potential effects of Brazilian green propolis on glucose metabolism and antioxidant function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In the 18-week randomized controlled study, enrolled patients with T2DM were randomly assigned to Brazilian green propolis group (900 mg/day) (n = 32) and control group (n = 33). At the end of the study, no significant difference was found in serum glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, insulin, aldose reductase or adiponectin between the two groups. However, serum GSH and total polyphenols were significantly increased, and serum carbonyls and lactate dehydrogenase activity were significantly reduced in the Brazilian green propolis group. Serum TNF-α was significantly decreased, whereas serum IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly increased in the Brazilian green propolis group. It is concluded that Brazilian green propolis is effective in improving antioxidant function in T2DM patients.

Efficiency optimization of a fast Poisson solver in beam dynamics simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Dawei; Pöplau, Gisela; van Rienen, Ursula

2016-01-01

Calculating the solution of Poisson's equation relating to space charge force is still the major time consumption in beam dynamics simulations and calls for further improvement. In this paper, we summarize a classical fast Poisson solver in beam dynamics simulations: the integrated Green's function method. We introduce three optimization steps of the classical Poisson solver routine: using the reduced integrated Green's function instead of the integrated Green's function; using the discrete cosine transform instead of discrete Fourier transform for the Green's function; using a novel fast convolution routine instead of an explicitly zero-padded convolution. The new Poisson solver routine preserves the advantages of fast computation and high accuracy. This provides a fast routine for high performance calculation of the space charge effect in accelerators.

Ocean acoustic interferometry.

PubMed

Brooks, Laura A; Gerstoft, Peter

2007-06-01

Ocean acoustic interferometry refers to an approach whereby signals recorded from a line of sources are used to infer the Green's function between two receivers. An approximation of the time domain Green's function is obtained by summing, over all source positions (stacking), the cross-correlations between the receivers. Within this paper a stationary phase argument is used to describe the relationship between the stacked cross-correlations from a line of vertical sources, located in the same vertical plane as two receivers, and the Green's function between the receivers. Theory and simulations demonstrate the approach and are in agreement with those of a modal based approach presented by others. Results indicate that the stacked cross-correlations can be directly related to the shaded Green's function, so long as the modal continuum of any sediment layers is negligible.

Piecewise linear approximation for hereditary control problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Propst, Georg

1987-01-01

Finite dimensional approximations are presented for linear retarded functional differential equations by use of discontinuous piecewise linear functions. The approximation scheme is applied to optimal control problems when a quadratic cost integral has to be minimized subject to the controlled retarded system. It is shown that the approximate optimal feedback operators converge to the true ones both in case the cost integral ranges over a finite time interval as well as in the case it ranges over an infinite time interval. The arguments in the latter case rely on the fact that the piecewise linear approximations to stable systems are stable in a uniform sense. This feature is established using a vector-component stability criterion in the state space R(n) x L(2) and the favorable eigenvalue behavior of the piecewise linear approximations.

Temporal evolution of the Green's function reconstruction in the seismic coda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clerc, V.; Roux, P.; Campillo, M.

2013-12-01

In presence of multiple scattering, the wavefield evolves towards an equipartitioned state, equivalent to ambient noise. CAMPILLO and PAUL (2003) reconstructed the surface wave part of the Green's function between three pairs of stations in Mexico. The data indicate that the time asymmetry between causal and acausal part of the Green's function is less pronounced when the correlation is performed in the later windows of the coda. These results on the correlation of diffuse waves provide another perspective on the reconstruction of Green function which is independent of the source distribution and which suggests that if the time of observation is long enough, a single source could be sufficient. The paper by ROUX et al. (2005) provides a theoretical frame for the reconstruction of the Green's function in a homogeneous middle. In a multiple scattering medium with a single source, scatterers behave as secondary sources according to the Huygens principle. Coda waves are relevant to multiple scattering, a regime which can be approximated by diffusion for long lapse times. We express the temporal evolution of the correlation function between two receivers as a function of the secondary sources. We are able to predict the effect of the persistence of the net flux of energy observed by CAMPILLO and PAUL (2003) in numerical simulations. This method is also effective in order to retrieve the scattering mean free path. We perform a partial reconstruction of the Green's function in a strongly scattering medium in numerical simulations. The prediction of the flux asymmetry allows defining the parts of the coda providing the same information as ambient noise cross correlation.

Finite Temperature Densities via the S-Function Method with Application to Electron Screening in Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watrous, Mitchell James

1997-12-01

A new approach to the Green's-function method for the calculation of equilibrium densities within the finite temperature, Kohn-Sham formulation of density functional theory is presented, which extends the method to all temperatures. The contour of integration in the complex energy plane is chosen such that the density is given by a sum of Green's function differences evaluated at the Matsubara frequencies, rather than by the calculation and summation of Kohn-Sham single-particle wave functions. The Green's functions are written in terms of their spectral representation and are calculated as the solutions of their defining differential equations. These differential equations are boundary value problems as opposed to the standard eigenvalue problems. For large values of the complex energy, the differential equations are further simplified from second to first-order by writing the Green's functions in terms of logarithmic derivatives. An asymptotic expression for the Green's functions is derived, which allows the sum over Matsubara poles to be approximated. The method is applied to the screening of nuclei by electrons in finite temperature plasmas. To demonstrate the method's utility, and to illustrate its advantages, the results of previous wave function type calculations for protons and neon nuclei are reproduced. The method is also used to formulate a new screening model for fusion reactions in the solar core, and the predicted reaction rate enhancements factors are compared with existing models.

Neurobehavioral function and low-level exposure to brominated flame retardants in adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Kiciński, Michał; Viaene, Mineke K; Den Hond, Elly; Schoeters, Greet; Covaci, Adrian; Dirtu, Alin C; Nelen, Vera; Bruckers, Liesbeth; Croes, Kim; Sioen, Isabelle; Baeyens, Willy; Van Larebeke, Nicolas; Nawrot, Tim S

2012-11-14

Animal and in vitro studies demonstrated a neurotoxic potential of brominated flame retardants, a group of chemicals used in many household and commercial products to prevent fire. Although the first reports of detrimental neurobehavioral effects in rodents appeared more than ten years ago, human data are sparse. As a part of a biomonitoring program for environmental health surveillance in Flanders, Belgium, we assessed the neurobehavioral function with the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES-3), and collected blood samples in a group of high school students. Cross-sectional data on 515 adolescents (13.6-17 years of age) was available for the analysis. Multiple regression models accounting for potential confounders were used to investigate the associations between biomarkers of internal exposure to brominated flame retardants [serum levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners 47, 99, 100, 153, 209, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA)] and cognitive performance. In addition, we investigated the association between brominated flame retardants and serum levels of FT3, FT4, and TSH. A two-fold increase of the sum of serum PBDE's was associated with a decrease of the number of taps with the preferred-hand in the Finger Tapping test by 5.31 (95% CI: 0.56 to 10.05, p = 0.029). The effects of the individual PBDE congeners on the motor speed were consistent. Serum levels above the level of quantification were associated with an average decrease of FT3 level by 0.18 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.03 to 0.34, p = 0.020) for PBDE-99 and by 0.15 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.004 to 0.29, p = 0.045) for PBDE-100, compared with concentrations below the level of quantification. PBDE-47 level above the level of quantification was associated with an average increase of TSH levels by 10.1% (95% CI: 0.8% to 20.2%, p = 0.033), compared with concentrations below the level of quantification. We did not observe effects of PBDE's on neurobehavioral domains other than the motor function. HBCD and TBBPA did not show consistent associations with performance in the neurobehavioral tests. This study is one of few studies and so far the largest one investigating the neurobehavioral effects of brominated flame retardants in humans. Consistently with experimental animal data, PBDE exposure was associated with changes in the motor function and the serum levels of the thyroid hormones.

Neurobehavioral function and low-level exposure to brominated flame retardants in adolescents: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Animal and in vitro studies demonstrated a neurotoxic potential of brominated flame retardants, a group of chemicals used in many household and commercial products to prevent fire. Although the first reports of detrimental neurobehavioral effects in rodents appeared more than ten years ago, human data are sparse. Methods As a part of a biomonitoring program for environmental health surveillance in Flanders, Belgium, we assessed the neurobehavioral function with the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES-3), and collected blood samples in a group of high school students. Cross-sectional data on 515 adolescents (13.6-17 years of age) was available for the analysis. Multiple regression models accounting for potential confounders were used to investigate the associations between biomarkers of internal exposure to brominated flame retardants [serum levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners 47, 99, 100, 153, 209, hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA)] and cognitive performance. In addition, we investigated the association between brominated flame retardants and serum levels of FT3, FT4, and TSH. Results A two-fold increase of the sum of serum PBDE’s was associated with a decrease of the number of taps with the preferred-hand in the Finger Tapping test by 5.31 (95% CI: 0.56 to 10.05, p = 0.029). The effects of the individual PBDE congeners on the motor speed were consistent. Serum levels above the level of quantification were associated with an average decrease of FT3 level by 0.18 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.03 to 0.34, p = 0.020) for PBDE-99 and by 0.15 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.004 to 0.29, p = 0.045) for PBDE-100, compared with concentrations below the level of quantification. PBDE-47 level above the level of quantification was associated with an average increase of TSH levels by 10.1% (95% CI: 0.8% to 20.2%, p = 0.033), compared with concentrations below the level of quantification. We did not observe effects of PBDE’s on neurobehavioral domains other than the motor function. HBCD and TBBPA did not show consistent associations with performance in the neurobehavioral tests. Conclusions This study is one of few studies and so far the largest one investigating the neurobehavioral effects of brominated flame retardants in humans. Consistently with experimental animal data, PBDE exposure was associated with changes in the motor function and the serum levels of the thyroid hormones. PMID:23151181

Who is an expert? Competency evaluations in mental retardation and borderline intelligence.

PubMed

Siegert, Mark; Weiss, Kenneth J

2007-01-01

Evaluations of competency to stand trial (CST) in defendants with mental retardation or borderline intellectual functioning can be difficult when deficits are masked by the type of adaptations seen in many with developmental disabilities. Accordingly, many evaluators have used validated test instruments, such as the CAST*MR (Competence Assessment to Stand Trial for Defendants with Mental Retardation) and tests measuring receptive and expressive language, to augment the clinical interview. The authors present a New Jersey case illustrating the need for clinicians to have adequate experience and training in some of the less known psychometric tests before presenting evidence in court. At the CST hearing, the judge disregarded the testimony of several psychologists while accepting that of a less experienced state's expert, we believe, to find the defendant competent. The finding was reversed on appeal. We encourage forensic professionals to be aware of the various instruments and minimum standards when employing specialized testing.

Poor preoperative nutritional status is an important predictor of the retardation of rehabilitation after cardiac surgery in elderly cardiac patients.

PubMed

Ogawa, Masato; Izawa, Kazuhiro P; Satomi-Kobayashi, Seimi; Kitamura, Aki; Ono, Rei; Sakai, Yoshitada; Okita, Yutaka

2017-04-01

Preoperative nutritional status and physical function are important predictors of mortality and morbidity after cardiac surgery. However, the influence of nutritional status before cardiac surgery on physical function and the progress of postoperative rehabilitation requires clarification. To determine the effect of preoperative nutritional status on preoperative physical function and progress of rehabilitation after elective cardiac surgery. We enrolled 131 elderly patients with mean age of 73.7 ± 5.8 years undergoing cardiac surgery. We divided them into two groups by nutritional status as measured by the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI): high GNRI group (GNRI ≥ 92, n = 106) and low GNRI group (GNRI < 92, n = 25). Physical function was estimated by handgrip strength, knee extensor muscle strength (KEMS), the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Progress of postoperative rehabilitation was evaluated by the number of days to independent walking after surgery, length of stay in the ICU, and length of hospital stay. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, preoperative handgrip strength (P = 0.034), KEMS (P = 0.009), SPPB (P < 0.0001), and 6MWT (P = 0.012) were all significantly better in the high GNRI group. Multiple regression analysis revealed that a low GNRI was an independent predictor of the retardation of postoperative rehabilitation. Preoperative nutritional status as assessed by the GNRI could reflect perioperative physical function. Preoperative poor nutritional status may be an independent predictor of the retardation of postoperative rehabilitation in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery.

Application of microencapsulation for the safe delivery of green tea polyphenols in food systems: Review and recent advances.

PubMed

Massounga Bora, Awa Fanny; Ma, Shaojie; Li, Xiaodong; Liu, Lu

2018-03-01

Green tea has been associated with the prevention and reduction of a wide range of severe health conditions such as cancer, immune, and cardiovascular diseases. The health benefits associated with green tea consumption have been predominantly attributed to green tea polyphenols. The functional properties of green tea polyphenols are mainly anti-oxidative, antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, anti-microbial, etc. These excellent properties have recently gained considerable attention in the food industry. However, their application is limited by their sensitivity to factors like temperature, light, pH, oxygen, etc. More, studies have reported the occurrence of unpleasant taste and color transfer during food processing. Lastly, the production of functional food requires to maintain the stability, bioactivity, and bioavailability of the active compounds. To tackle these obstacles, technological approaches like microencapsulation have been developed and applied for the formulation of green tea-enriched food products. The present review discusses the novelty in microencapsulation techniques for the safe delivery of green tea polyphenols in food matrices. After a literature on the green tea polyphenols composition, and their health attributes, the encapsulation methods and the coating materials are presented. The application of green tea encapsulates in food matrices as well as their effect on food functional and sensory properties are also discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MtMAPKK4 is an essential gene for growth and reproduction of Medicago truncatula.

PubMed

Chen, Tao; Zhou, Bo; Duan, Liujian; Zhu, Hui; Zhang, Zhongming

2017-04-01

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are universal signaling modules in eukaryotes, including yeasts, animals and plants. They are involved in responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses, hormones, cell division and developmental processes. A MAPK cascade is composed of three functionally tiered protein kinases, namely MAPK, MAPK kinases (MAPKKs) and MAPK kinase kinases (MAPKKKs). These kinases have been intensively studied for their roles in developmental and physiological processes in various organisms. In this study, a Medicago truncatula MtMAPKK4 mutant with the tobacco retrotransposon Tnt1 insertion was identified using reverse genetics methods. No homozygous progeny could be produced by self-pollination of mapkk4/+ heterozygotes for 5 generations. Heterozygous mapkk4/+ mutant plants exhibited growth retardation, chlorosis symptoms and significantly reduced numbers of infection threads and nodules. The interaction between MtMAPKK4 and MtMAPK3/6 occurred both in yeast and in planta. Green fluorescent protein-tagged MtMAPKK4, MtMAPK3 and MtMAPK6 were all localized to membranes, cytoplasm and nuclei. Expression of MtMAPKK4, MtMAPK3 and MtMAPK6 was detected in various tissues of M. truncatula plants at the nodule maturation stage. Transcript levels of these genes were decreased in roots at the early symbiotic stage. © 2016 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

Brassinosteroid insensitive 1-associated kinase 1 (OsI-BAK1) is associated with grain filling and leaf development in rice.

PubMed

Khew, Choy-Yuen; Teo, Chin-Jit; Chan, Wai-Sun; Wong, Hann-Ling; Namasivayam, Parameswari; Ho, Chai-Ling

2015-06-15

Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1 (BRI1)-Associated Kinase I (BAK1) has been reported to interact with BRI1 for brassinosteroid (BR) perception and signal transduction that regulate plant growth and development. The aim of this study is to investigate the functions of a rice OsBAK1 homologue, designated as OsI-BAK1, which is highly expressed after heading. Silencing of OsI-BAK1 in rice plants produced a high number of undeveloped green and unfilled grains compared to the untransformed plants. Histological analyses demonstrated that embryos were either absent or retarded in their development in these unfilled rice grains of OsI-BAK1 RNAi plants. Down regulation of OsI-BAK1 caused a reduction in cell number and enlargement in leaf bulliform cells. Furthermore, transgenic rice plants overexpressing OsI-BAK1 were demonstrated to have corrugated and twisted leaves probably due to increased cell number that caused abnormal bulliform cell structure which were enlarged and plugged deep into leaf epidermis. The current findings suggest that OsI-BAK1 may play an important role in the developmental processes of rice grain filling and leaf cell including the bulliform cells. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Elucidation of Factors Effecting Enzymatic Saccharification using Transgenic Hardwoods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Min, Douyong

Three groups of transgenic wood samples were used as starting materials to elucidate the recalcitrance of enzymatic saccharification with/without pretreatments. The first group of transgenic wood samples is low lignin P. trichocarpa. The second group is low xylan P. trichocarpa. The third one is 12 hybrid poplars which have different levels of S/V ratio and lignin content. Four pretreatments were carried out in this research including dilute sulfuric acid, green liquor, auto hydrolysis and ozone delignification. The behavior among pretreatments as a function of removal of lignin appears to be different. Lignin is the major factor of recalcitrance of the lignocellulosic material to ethanol conversion process. Xylan also plays key role in this process. In addition, the crude milled wood lignin was isolated from these three groups of transgenic samples. Lignin carbohydrate complexes was characterized by 1H-13C HMQC and 13C NMR. Thus the effect of LCCs on enzymatic saccharification was elucidated. High S/V ratio propels the lignin removal during pretreatments however; high S/V ratio retards the enzymatic saccharification on the lignocellulosic material without pretreatments. The level of LCCs linkages accounts for additional recalcitrance of the lignocellulosic material to ethanol conversion process. The amount of LCCs linkages is affected by xylan content, lignin content and S/V ratio.

Rayleigh scattering of x-ray and γ-ray by 1s and 2s electrons in ions and neutral atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costescu, A.; Karim, K.; Moldovan, M.; Spanulescu, S.; Stoica, C.

2011-02-01

Using the Coulomb-Green function method and considering the nonrelativistic limit for the two-photon S-matrix element, the right nonrelativistic 2s Rayleigh scattering amplitudes are obtained. Our result takes into account all multipoles, retardation and relativistic kinematics contributions, and the old dipole approximation result of Costescu [1] is retrieved as a limit case. The total photoeffect cross-section which is related to the imaginary part of the Rayleigh forward scattering amplitude through the optical theorem is also obtained. Our Coulombian formulae are used in the more realistic case of elastic scattering of photons by bound 1s and 2s electrons in ions and neutral atoms. Screening effects are considered in the independent particle approximation through the Hartree-Fock method. The effective charge Zeff is obtained by fitting the Hartree-Fock charge distribution by a Coulombian one. Good agreement (within 10%) is found when comparing the numerical predictions given by our nonrelativistic formulae with the full relativistic numerical results of Kissel [2] in the case of elastic scattering of photons by 1s and 2s electrons and Scofield [3] in the case of K-shell and 2s subshell photoionization for neutral atoms with 18 <= Z <= 92 and photon energies ω <= αZm.

Possible Content Areas for Implementation of the Basic Life Functions Instructional Program Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin State Dept. of Public Instruction, Madison. Div. for Handicapped Children.

Identified are curricular items intended to develop skills pertinent to the 12 broad instructional objectives of the Basic Life Functions Instructional Program Model, a program for trainable mentally retarded children. The 12 instructional objectives are: communicating ideas, self-understanding, interacting with others, traveling, adapting to and…

The Effectiveness of the "Picture Exchange Communication System" with Nonspeaking Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoner, Julia B.; Beck, Ann R.; Bock, Stacey Jones; Hickey, Katherine; Kosuwan, Kullaya; Thompson, James R.

2006-01-01

"Picture Exchange Communication System" (PECS) training was implemented with 5 nonspeaking adults with mental retardation who were not currently using any type of functional communication system. A modified ABAB, single-subject design was used to assess the effectiveness of PECS in enhancing the functional communication skills of these…

Analysis of the neuroligin 4Y gene in patients with autism.

PubMed

Yan, Jin; Feng, Jinong; Schroer, Richard; Li, Wenyan; Skinner, Cindy; Schwartz, Charles E; Cook, Edwin H; Sommer, Steve S

2008-08-01

Frameshift and missense mutations in the X-linked neuroligin 4 (NLGN4, MIM# 300427) and neuroligin 3 (NLGN3, MIM# 300336) genes have been identified in patients with autism, Asperger syndrome and mental retardation. We hypothesize that sequence variants in NLGN4Y are associated with autism or mental retardation. The coding sequences and splice junctions of the NLGN4Y gene were analyzed in 335 male samples (290 with autism and 45 with mental retardation). A total of 1.1 Mb of genomic DNA was sequenced. One missense variant, p.I679V, was identified in a patient with autism, as well as his father with learning disabilities. The I679 residue is highly conserved in three members of the neuroligin family. The absence of p.I679V in 2986 control Y chromosomes and the high similarity of NLGN4 and NLGN4Y are consistent with the hypothesis that p.I679V contributes to the etiology of autism. The presence of only one structural variant in our population of 335 males with autism/mental retardation, the unavailability of significant family cosegregation and an absence of functional assays are, however, important limitations of this study.

Tartaric Acid as a Non-toxic and Environmentally-Friendly Anti-scaling Material for Using in Cooling Water Systems: Electrochemical and Surface Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asghari, Elnaz; Gholizadeh-Khajeh, Maryam; Ashassi-Sorkhabi, Habib

2016-10-01

Because of the major limitations in drinking water resources, the industries need to use unprocessed water sources for their cooling systems; these water resources contain major amount of hardening cations. So, mineral scales are formed in cooling water systems during the time and cause major problems. The use of green anti-scaling materials such as carboxylic acids is considered due to their low risks of environmental pollution. In the present work, the scale inhibition performance of tartaric acid as a green organic material was evaluated. Chemical screening tests, cathodic and anodic voltammetry measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive x-ray and x-ray diffraction, were used for the evaluation of the scale inhibition performance. The results showed that tartaric acid can prevent calcium carbonate precipitation significantly. The hard water solution with 2.0 mM of tartaric acid indicated the highest scale inhibition efficiency (ca. 68%). The voltammetry, EIS and FESEM results verified that tartaric acid can form smooth and homogeneous film on steel surface through formation of Fe(III)-tartrate complexes and retard the local precipitation of calcium carbonate deposits.

Improved compaction of ZnO nano-powder triggered by the presence of acetate and its effect on sintering.

PubMed

Dargatz, Benjamin; Gonzalez-Julian, Jesus; Guillon, Olivier

2015-04-01

The retention of nanocrystallinity in dense ceramic materials is still a challenge, even with the application of external pressure during sintering. The compaction behavior of high purity and acetate enriched zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-powders was investigated. It was found that acetate in combination with water plays a key role during the compaction into green bodies at moderate temperatures. Application of constant pressure resulted in a homogeneous green body with superior packing density (86% of theoretical value) at moderate temperature (85 °C) in the presence of water. In contrast, no improvement in density could be achieved if pure ZnO powder was used. This compaction behavior offers superior packing of the particles, resulting in a high relative density of the consolidated compact with negligible coarsening. Dissolution accompanying creep diffusion based matter transport is suggested to strongly support reorientation of ZnO particles towards densities beyond the theoretical limit for packing of ideal monosized spheres. Finally, the sintering trajectory reveals that grain growth is retarded compared to conventional processing up to 90% of theoretical density. Moreover, nearly no radial shrinkage was observed after sinter-forging for bodies performed with this advanced processing method.

Improved compaction of ZnO nano-powder triggered by the presence of acetate and its effect on sintering

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Julian, Jesus; Guillon, Olivier

2015-01-01

The retention of nanocrystallinity in dense ceramic materials is still a challenge, even with the application of external pressure during sintering. The compaction behavior of high purity and acetate enriched zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-powders was investigated. It was found that acetate in combination with water plays a key role during the compaction into green bodies at moderate temperatures. Application of constant pressure resulted in a homogeneous green body with superior packing density (86% of theoretical value) at moderate temperature (85 °C) in the presence of water. In contrast, no improvement in density could be achieved if pure ZnO powder was used. This compaction behavior offers superior packing of the particles, resulting in a high relative density of the consolidated compact with negligible coarsening. Dissolution accompanying creep diffusion based matter transport is suggested to strongly support reorientation of ZnO particles towards densities beyond the theoretical limit for packing of ideal monosized spheres. Finally, the sintering trajectory reveals that grain growth is retarded compared to conventional processing up to 90% of theoretical density. Moreover, nearly no radial shrinkage was observed after sinter-forging for bodies performed with this advanced processing method. PMID:27877777

Neighbourhood green space, physical function and participation in physical activities among elderly men: the Caerphilly Prospective study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The built environment in which older people live plays an important role in promoting or inhibiting physical activity. Most work on this complex relationship between physical activity and the environment has excluded people with reduced physical function or ignored the difference between groups with different levels of physical function. This study aims to explore the role of neighbourhood green space in determining levels of participation in physical activity among elderly men with different levels of lower extremity physical function. Method Using data collected from the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS) and green space data collected from high resolution Landmap true colour aerial photography, we first investigated the effect of the quantity of neighbourhood green space and the variation in neighbourhood vegetation on participation in physical activity for 1,010 men aged 66 and over in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, UK. Second, we explored whether neighbourhood green space affects groups with different levels of lower extremity physical function in different ways. Results Increasing percentage of green space within a 400 meters radius buffer around the home was significantly associated with more participation in physical activity after adjusting for lower extremity physical function, psychological distress, general health, car ownership, age group, marital status, social class, education level and other environmental factors (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.05, 1.41). A statistically significant interaction between the variation in neighbourhood vegetation and lower extremity physical function was observed (OR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.12, 3.28). Conclusion Elderly men living in neighbourhoods with more green space have higher levels of participation in regular physical activity. The association between variation in neighbourhood vegetation and regular physical activity varied according to lower extremity physical function. Subjects reporting poor lower extremity physical function living in neighbourhoods with more homogeneous vegetation (i.e. low variation) were more likely to participate in regular physical activity than those living in neighbourhoods with less homogeneous vegetation (i.e. high variation). Good lower extremity physical function reduced the adverse effect of high variation vegetation on participation in regular physical activity. This provides a basis for the future development of novel interventions that aim to increase levels of physical activity in later life, and has implications for planning policy to design, preserve, facilitate and encourage the use of green space near home. PMID:24646136

Neighbourhood green space, physical function and participation in physical activities among elderly men: the Caerphilly Prospective study.

PubMed

Gong, Yi; Gallacher, John; Palmer, Stephen; Fone, David

2014-03-19

The built environment in which older people live plays an important role in promoting or inhibiting physical activity. Most work on this complex relationship between physical activity and the environment has excluded people with reduced physical function or ignored the difference between groups with different levels of physical function. This study aims to explore the role of neighbourhood green space in determining levels of participation in physical activity among elderly men with different levels of lower extremity physical function. Using data collected from the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS) and green space data collected from high resolution Landmap true colour aerial photography, we first investigated the effect of the quantity of neighbourhood green space and the variation in neighbourhood vegetation on participation in physical activity for 1,010 men aged 66 and over in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, UK. Second, we explored whether neighbourhood green space affects groups with different levels of lower extremity physical function in different ways. Increasing percentage of green space within a 400 meters radius buffer around the home was significantly associated with more participation in physical activity after adjusting for lower extremity physical function, psychological distress, general health, car ownership, age group, marital status, social class, education level and other environmental factors (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.05, 1.41). A statistically significant interaction between the variation in neighbourhood vegetation and lower extremity physical function was observed (OR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.12, 3.28). Elderly men living in neighbourhoods with more green space have higher levels of participation in regular physical activity. The association between variation in neighbourhood vegetation and regular physical activity varied according to lower extremity physical function. Subjects reporting poor lower extremity physical function living in neighbourhoods with more homogeneous vegetation (i.e. low variation) were more likely to participate in regular physical activity than those living in neighbourhoods with less homogeneous vegetation (i.e. high variation). Good lower extremity physical function reduced the adverse effect of high variation vegetation on participation in regular physical activity. This provides a basis for the future development of novel interventions that aim to increase levels of physical activity in later life, and has implications for planning policy to design, preserve, facilitate and encourage the use of green space near home.

Green's Functions in Space and Time.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowe, E. G. Peter

1979-01-01

Gives a sketch of some topics in distribution theory that is technically simple, yet provides techniques for handling the partial differential equations satisfied by the most important Green's functions in physics. (Author/GA)

Evaluating green infrastructure in urban environments using a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach.

PubMed

Pinho, Pedro; Correia, Otília; Lecoq, Miguel; Munzi, Silvana; Vasconcelos, Sasha; Gonçalves, Paula; Rebelo, Rui; Antunes, Cristina; Silva, Patrícia; Freitas, Catarina; Lopes, Nuno; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Branquinho, Cristina

2016-05-01

Forested areas within cities host a large number of species, responsible for many ecosystem services in urban areas. The biodiversity in these areas is influenced by human disturbances such as atmospheric pollution and urban heat island effect. To ameliorate the effects of these factors, an increase in urban green areas is often considered sufficient. However, this approach assumes that all types of green cover have the same importance for species. Our aim was to show that not all forested green areas are equal in importance for species, but that based on a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach it is possible to value green infrastructure in urban environments. After evaluating the diversity of lichens, butterflies and other-arthropods, birds and mammals in 31 Mediterranean urban forests in south-west Europe (Almada, Portugal), bird and lichen functional groups responsive to urbanization were found. A community shift (tolerant species replacing sensitive ones) along the urbanization gradient was found, and this must be considered when using these groups as indicators of the effect of urbanization. Bird and lichen functional groups were then analyzed together with the characteristics of the forests and their surroundings. Our results showed that, contrary to previous assumptions, vegetation density and more importantly the amount of urban areas around the forest (matrix), are more important for biodiversity than forest quantity alone. This indicated that not all types of forested green areas have the same importance for biodiversity. An index of forest functional diversity was then calculated for all sampled forests of the area. This could help decision-makers to improve the management of urban green infrastructures with the goal of increasing functionality and ultimately ecosystem services in urban areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological connectivity networks in rapidly expanding cities.

PubMed

Nor, Amal Najihah M; Corstanje, Ron; Harris, Jim A; Grafius, Darren R; Siriwardena, Gavin M

2017-06-01

Urban expansion increases fragmentation of the landscape. In effect, fragmentation decreases connectivity, causes green space loss and impacts upon the ecology and function of green space. Restoration of the functionality of green space often requires restoring the ecological connectivity of this green space within the city matrix. However, identifying ecological corridors that integrate different structural and functional connectivity of green space remains vague. Assessing connectivity for developing an ecological network by using efficient models is essential to improve these networks under rapid urban expansion. This paper presents a novel methodological approach to assess and model connectivity for the Eurasian tree sparrow ( Passer montanus ) and Yellow-vented bulbul ( Pycnonotus goiavier ) in three cities (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia and Metro Manila, Philippines). The approach identifies potential priority corridors for ecological connectivity networks. The study combined circuit models, connectivity analysis and least-cost models to identify potential corridors by integrating structure and function of green space patches to provide reliable ecological connectivity network models in the cities. Relevant parameters such as landscape resistance and green space structure (vegetation density, patch size and patch distance) were derived from an expert and literature-based approach based on the preference of bird behaviour. The integrated models allowed the assessment of connectivity for both species using different measures of green space structure revealing the potential corridors and least-cost pathways for both bird species at the patch sites. The implementation of improvements to the identified corridors could increase the connectivity of green space. This study provides examples of how combining models can contribute to the improvement of ecological networks in rapidly expanding cities and demonstrates the usefulness of such models for biodiversity conservation and urban planning.

Green light for liver function monitoring using indocyanine green? An overview of current clinical applications.

PubMed

Vos, J J; Wietasch, J K G; Absalom, A R; Hendriks, H G D; Scheeren, T W L

2014-12-01

The dye indocyanine green is familiar to anaesthetists, and has been studied for more than half a century for cardiovascular and hepatic function monitoring. It is still, however, not yet in routine clinical use in anaesthesia and critical care, at least in Europe. This review is intended to provide a critical analysis of the available evidence concerning the indications for clinical measurement of indocyanine green elimination as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in two areas: its role in peri-operative liver function monitoring during major hepatic resection and liver transplantation; and its role in critically ill patients on the intensive care unit, where it is used for prediction of mortality, and for assessment of the severity of acute liver failure or that of intra-abdominal hypertension. Although numerous studies have demonstrated that indocyanine green elimination measurements in these patient populations can provide diagnostic or prognostic information to the clinician, 'hard' evidence - i.e. high-quality prospective randomised controlled trials - is lacking, and therefore it is not yet time to give a green light for use of indocyanine green in routine clinical practice. © 2014 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Towards anti-causal Green's function for three-dimensional sub-diffraction focusing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Guancong; Fan, Xiying; Ma, Fuyin; de Rosny, Julien; Sheng, Ping; Fink, Mathias

2018-06-01

In causal physics, the causal Green's function describes the radiation of a point source. Its counterpart, the anti-causal Green's function, depicts a spherically converging wave. However, in free space, any converging wave must be followed by a diverging one. Their interference gives rise to the diffraction limit that constrains the smallest possible dimension of a wave's focal spot in free space, which is half the wavelength. Here, we show with three-dimensional acoustic experiments that we can realize a stand-alone anti-causal Green's function in a large portion of space up to a subwavelength distance from the focus point by introducing a near-perfect absorber for spherical waves at the focus. We build this subwavelength absorber based on membrane-type acoustic metamaterial, and experimentally demonstrate focusing of spherical waves beyond the diffraction limit.

The Prediction of Broadband Shock-Associated Noise Including Propagation Effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Steven; Morris, Philip J.

2011-01-01

An acoustic analogy is developed based on the Euler equations for broadband shock- associated noise (BBSAN) that directly incorporates the vector Green's function of the linearized Euler equations and a steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solution (SRANS) as the mean flow. The vector Green's function allows the BBSAN propagation through the jet shear layer to be determined. The large-scale coherent turbulence is modeled by two-point second order velocity cross-correlations. Turbulent length and time scales are related to the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation. An adjoint vector Green's function solver is implemented to determine the vector Green's function based on a locally parallel mean flow at streamwise locations of the SRANS solution. However, the developed acoustic analogy could easily be based on any adjoint vector Green's function solver, such as one that makes no assumptions about the mean flow. The newly developed acoustic analogy can be simplified to one that uses the Green's function associated with the Helmholtz equation, which is consistent with the formulation of Morris and Miller (AIAAJ 2010). A large number of predictions are generated using three different nozzles over a wide range of fully expanded Mach numbers and jet stagnation temperatures. These predictions are compared with experimental data from multiple jet noise labs. In addition, two models for the so-called 'fine-scale' mixing noise are included in the comparisons. Improved BBSAN predictions are obtained relative to other models that do not include the propagation effects, especially in the upstream direction of the jet.

OPTIMIZING POTENTIAL GREEN REPLACEMENT CHEMICALS – BALANCING FUNCTION AND RISK

EPA Science Inventory

An important focus of green chemistry is the design of new chemicals that are inherently less toxic than the ones they might replace, but still retain required functional properties. A variety of methods exist to measure or model both functional and toxicity surrogates that could...

Preparation of zinc hydroxystannate-decorated graphene oxide nanohybrids and their synergistic reinforcement on reducing fire hazards of flexible poly (vinyl chloride)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Tingting; Chen, Laicheng; Li, Zhiwei; Yu, Laigui; Wu, Zhishen; Zhang, Zhijun

2016-04-01

A novel flame retardant, zinc hydroxystannate-decorated graphene oxide (ZHS/GO) nanohybrid, was successfully prepared and well characterized. Herein, the ZHS nanoparticles could not only enhance the flame retardancy of GO with the synergistic flame-retardant effect of ZHS but also prevent the restack of GO to improve the mechanical properties of poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix. The structure characterization showed ZHS nanoparticles were bonded onto the surface of GO nanosheets and the ZHS nanoparticles were well distributed on the surface of GO. Subsequently, resulting ZHS/GO was introduced into flexible PVC and fire hazards and mechanical properties of PVC nanocomposites were investigated. Compared to neat PVC, thermogravimetric analysis exhibited that the addition of ZHS/GO into PVC matrix led to an improvement of the charring amount and thermal stability of char residue. Moreover, the incorporation of 5 wt.% ZHS/GO imparted excellent flame retardancy to flexible PVC, as shown by increased limiting oxygen index, reduced peak heat release rate, and total heat release tested by an oxygen index meter and a cone calorimeter, respectively. In addition, the addition of ZHS/GO nanohybrids decreased the smoke products and increased the tensile strength of PVC. Above-excellent flame-retardant properties are generally attributed to the synergistic effect of GO and ZHS, containing good dispersion of ZHS/GO in PVC matrix, the physical barrier of GO, and the catalytic char function of ZHS.

Diagrammatic expansion for positive spectral functions beyond GW: Application to vertex corrections in the electron gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefanucci, G.; Pavlyukh, Y.; Uimonen, A.-M.; van Leeuwen, R.

2014-09-01

We present a diagrammatic approach to construct self-energy approximations within many-body perturbation theory with positive spectral properties. The method cures the problem of negative spectral functions which arises from a straightforward inclusion of vertex diagrams beyond the GW approximation. Our approach consists of a two-step procedure: We first express the approximate many-body self-energy as a product of half-diagrams and then identify the minimal number of half-diagrams to add in order to form a perfect square. The resulting self-energy is an unconventional sum of self-energy diagrams in which the internal lines of half a diagram are time-ordered Green's functions, whereas those of the other half are anti-time-ordered Green's functions, and the lines joining the two halves are either lesser or greater Green's functions. The theory is developed using noninteracting Green's functions and subsequently extended to self-consistent Green's functions. Issues related to the conserving properties of diagrammatic approximations with positive spectral functions are also addressed. As a major application of the formalism we derive the minimal set of additional diagrams to make positive the spectral function of the GW approximation with lowest-order vertex corrections and screened interactions. The method is then applied to vertex corrections in the three-dimensional homogeneous electron gas by using a combination of analytical frequency integrations and numerical Monte Carlo momentum integrations to evaluate the diagrams.

Modeling of Turbulence Generated Noise in Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khavaran, Abbas; Bridges, James

2004-01-01

A numerically calculated Green's function is used to predict jet noise spectrum and its far-field directivity. A linearized form of Lilley's equation governs the non-causal Green s function of interest, with the non-linear terms on the right hand side identified as the source. In this paper, contributions from the so-called self- and shear-noise source terms will be discussed. A Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solution yields the required mean flow as well as time- and length scales of a noise-generating turbulent eddy. A non-compact source, with exponential temporal and spatial functions, is used to describe the turbulence velocity correlation tensors. It is shown that while an exact non-causal Green's function accurately predicts the observed shift in the location of the spectrum peak with angle as well as the angularity of sound at moderate Mach numbers, at high subsonic and supersonic acoustic Mach numbers the polar directivity of radiated sound is not entirely captured by this Green's function. Results presented for Mach 0.5 and 0.9 isothermal jets, as well as a Mach 0.8 hot jet conclude that near the peak radiation angle a different source/Green's function convolution integral may be required in order to capture the peak observed directivity of jet noise.

Quadratic forms involving Green's and Robin functions

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

Dubinin, Vladimir N

2009-10-31

General inequalities for quadratic forms with coefficients depending on the values of Green's and Robin functions are obtained. These inequalities cover also the reduced moduli of strips and half-strips. Some applications of the results obtained to extremal partitioning problems and related questions of geometric function theory are discussed. Bibliography: 29 titles.

Public health implications of components of plastics manufacture. Flame retardants.

PubMed Central

Pearce, E M; Liepins, R

1975-01-01

The four processes involved in the flammability of materials are described and related to the various flame retardance mechanisms that may operate. Following this the four practical approaches used in improving flame retardance of materials are described. Each approach is illustrated with a number of typical examples of flame retardants or synthetic procedures used. This overview of flammability, flame retardance, and flame retardants used is followed by a more detailed examination of most of the plastics manufactured in the United States during 1973, their consumption patterns, and the primary types of flame retardants used in the flame retardance of the most used plastics. The main types of flame retardants are illustrated with a number of typical commercial examples. Statistical data on flame retardant market size, flame retardant growth in plastics, and price ranges of common flame retardants are presented. Images FIGURE 1. FIGURE 2. FIGURE 3. FIGURE 4. PMID:1175568

Green's function of radial inhomogeneous spheres excited by internal sources.

PubMed

Zouros, Grigorios P; Kokkorakis, Gerassimos C

2011-01-01

Green's function in the interior of penetrable bodies with inhomogeneous compressibility by sources placed inside them is evaluated through a Schwinger-Lippmann volume integral equation. In the case of a radial inhomogeneous sphere, the radial part of the unknown Green's function can be expanded in a double Dini's series, which allows analytical evaluation of the involved cumbersome integrals. The simple case treated here can be extended to more difficult situations involving inhomogeneous density as well as to the corresponding electromagnetic or elastic problem. Finally, numerical results are given for various inhomogeneous compressibility distributions.

Semantic Considerations in the Treatment of Echolalia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garber, Norman B.; David, Leigh E.

1975-01-01

Two mentally retarded preschool children, both of whom echoed all forms of yes-no questions, were subjected to different treatment procedures varied according to the semantic function of the antecedent verbal stimulus. (Author)

Digging the New York City Skyline: Soil Fungal Communities in Green Roofs and City Parks

PubMed Central

McGuire, Krista L.; Payne, Sara G.; Palmer, Matthew I.; Gillikin, Caitlyn M.; Keefe, Dominique; Kim, Su Jin; Gedallovich, Seren M.; Discenza, Julia; Rangamannar, Ramya; Koshner, Jennifer A.; Massmann, Audrey L.; Orazi, Giulia; Essene, Adam; Leff, Jonathan W.; Fierer, Noah

2013-01-01

In urban environments, green roofs provide a number of benefits, including decreased urban heat island effects and reduced energy costs for buildings. However, little research has been done on the non-plant biota associated with green roofs, which likely affect their functionality. For the current study, we evaluated whether or not green roofs planted with two native plant communities in New York City functioned as habitats for soil fungal communities, and compared fungal communities in green roof growing media to soil microbial composition in five city parks, including Central Park and the High Line. Ten replicate roofs were sampled one year after planting; three of these roofs were more intensively sampled and compared to nearby city parks. Using Illumina sequencing of the fungal ITS region we found that green roofs supported a diverse fungal community, with numerous taxa belonging to fungal groups capable of surviving in disturbed and polluted habitats. Across roofs, there was significant biogeographical clustering of fungal communities, indicating that community assembly of roof microbes across the greater New York City area is locally variable. Green roof fungal communities were compositionally distinct from city parks and only 54% of the green roof taxa were also found in the park soils. Phospholipid fatty acid analysis revealed that park soils had greater microbial biomass and higher bacterial to fungal ratios than green roof substrates. City park soils were also more enriched with heavy metals, had lower pH, and lower quantities of total bases (Ca, K, and Mg) compared to green roof substrates. While fungal communities were compositionally distinct across green roofs, they did not differentiate by plant community. Together, these results suggest that fungi living in the growing medium of green roofs may be an underestimated component of these biotic systems functioning to support some of the valued ecological services of green roofs. PMID:23469260

Digging the New York City Skyline: soil fungal communities in green roofs and city parks.

PubMed

McGuire, Krista L; Payne, Sara G; Palmer, Matthew I; Gillikin, Caitlyn M; Keefe, Dominique; Kim, Su Jin; Gedallovich, Seren M; Discenza, Julia; Rangamannar, Ramya; Koshner, Jennifer A; Massmann, Audrey L; Orazi, Giulia; Essene, Adam; Leff, Jonathan W; Fierer, Noah

2013-01-01

In urban environments, green roofs provide a number of benefits, including decreased urban heat island effects and reduced energy costs for buildings. However, little research has been done on the non-plant biota associated with green roofs, which likely affect their functionality. For the current study, we evaluated whether or not green roofs planted with two native plant communities in New York City functioned as habitats for soil fungal communities, and compared fungal communities in green roof growing media to soil microbial composition in five city parks, including Central Park and the High Line. Ten replicate roofs were sampled one year after planting; three of these roofs were more intensively sampled and compared to nearby city parks. Using Illumina sequencing of the fungal ITS region we found that green roofs supported a diverse fungal community, with numerous taxa belonging to fungal groups capable of surviving in disturbed and polluted habitats. Across roofs, there was significant biogeographical clustering of fungal communities, indicating that community assembly of roof microbes across the greater New York City area is locally variable. Green roof fungal communities were compositionally distinct from city parks and only 54% of the green roof taxa were also found in the park soils. Phospholipid fatty acid analysis revealed that park soils had greater microbial biomass and higher bacterial to fungal ratios than green roof substrates. City park soils were also more enriched with heavy metals, had lower pH, and lower quantities of total bases (Ca, K, and Mg) compared to green roof substrates. While fungal communities were compositionally distinct across green roofs, they did not differentiate by plant community. Together, these results suggest that fungi living in the growing medium of green roofs may be an underestimated component of these biotic systems functioning to support some of the valued ecological services of green roofs.

Autism spectrum and attention-deficit disorders in girls. Some neuropsychological aspects.

PubMed

Nydén, A; Hjelmquist, E; Gillberg, C

2000-09-01

This study compared the neuropsychological test profiles of non-mentally retarded girls and boys consecutively referred to a neuropsychiatric clinic and those of contrast cases of girls from mainstream classrooms of one Göteborg school district. To avoid overreliance on the male prototype with regard to diagnostic criteria the clinical group comprised a mixed sample of girls and boys without diagnostic subgrouping. Clinic girls had a lower IQ than comparison girls. Girls were more impaired than the boys with respect to executive functions and scored less well on theory of mind tasks. Previous studies have shown girls with autism and mental retardation to be more severely affected than boys both with regard to level of intellectual functioning and overall measures of brain dysfunction. The present study indicates that clinic girls with a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders at higher levels of intellectual functioning (some of which met diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder) may also be more severely affected than boys with corresponding types of "surface" problems.

Relative Concentration of He+ in the Inner Magnetosphere as Observed by the DE 1 Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Craven, P. D.; Gallagher, D. L.; Comfort, R. H.

1997-01-01

With Observations from the retarding ion mass spectrometer on the Dynamics Explorer I from 1981 through 1984, we examine the He(+) to H(+) density ratios as a function of altitude, latitude, season, local time, geomagnetic and solar activity. We find that the ratios are primarily a function of geocentric distance and the solar EUV input. The ratio of the densities, when plotted as a function of geocentric distance, decrease by an order of magnitude from 1 to 4.5 R(sub E). After the He(+) to H(+) density ratios are adjusted for the dependence on radial distance, they decrease nonlinearly by a factor of 5 as the solar EUV proxy varies from about 250 to about 70. When the mean variations with both these parameters are removed, the ratios appear to have no dependence on geomagnetic activity and weak dependence on local time or season, geomagnetic latitude, and L shell.

A Research Trilogy: American and Mexican Vision Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinds, Lillian R.

1983-01-01

Describes three studies relating to visual functioning. Finds that reading retardation is the result of a clustering of factors, of multiple causation. Discusses the need to determine whether or not a student has the necessary lateral and other functional vision skills to maintain sufficient body energy for the demands of the reading task. (MG)

Form versus Function: Neurodevelopmental Treatment in Relation to an Over Twenty-One Deinstitutionalized Population.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Alan

A neurodevelopmental treatment approach provides severely physically/profoundly retarded adults (over 21-years-old) with opportunities for learning functional abilities that may lead to placement in group homes. The adults, who have recently been deinstitutionalized, are worked with, in terms of postural reflexes and passive and active movement,…

Cognitive and adaptive behavior profiles in Smith-Magenis syndrome.

PubMed

Madduri, Niru; Peters, Sarika U; Voigt, Robert G; Llorente, Antolin M; Lupski, James R; Potocki, Lorraine

2006-06-01

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation syndrome associated with an interstitial deletion of chromosome 17 band p11.2. The incidence of this microdeletion syndrome is estimated to be 1 in 25,000 individuals. Persons with SMS have a distinctive neurobehavioral phenotype that is characterized by aggressive and self-injurious behaviors and significant sleep disturbances. From December 1990 through September 1999, 58 persons with SMS were enrolled in a 5-day multidisciplinary clinical protocol. Developmental assessments consisting of cognitive level and adaptive behavior were completed in 57 persons. Most patients functioned in the mild-to-moderate range of mental retardation. In addition, we report that patients with SMS have low adaptive functioning with relative strengths in socialization and relative weakness in daily living skills. These data were analyzed in light of the molecular extent of the microdeletion within 17p11.2. We found that the level of cognitive and adaptive functioning does depend on deletion size, and that a small percentage of SMS patients have cognitive function in the borderline range.

Green's functions for analysis of dynamic response of wheel/rail to vertical excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazilu, Traian

2007-09-01

An analytical model to simulate wheel/rail interaction using the Green's functions method is proposed in this paper. The model consists of a moving wheel on a discretely supported rail. Particularly for this model of rail, the bending and the longitudinal displacement are coupled due to the rail pad and a complex model of the rail pad is adopted. An efficient method for solving a time-domain analysis for wheel/rail interaction is presented. The method is based on the properties of the rail's Green functions and starting to these functions, a track's Green matrix is assembled for the numerical simulations of wheel/rail response due to three kinds of vertical excitations: the steady-state interaction, the rail corrugation and the wheel flat. The study points to influence of the worn rail—rigid contact—on variation in the wheel/rail contact force. The concept of pinned-pinned inhibitive rail pad is also presented.

The impact of the catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype on vascular function and blood pressure after acute green tea ingestion.

PubMed

Miller, Rosalind J; Jackson, Kim G; Dadd, Tony; Mayes, Andrew E; Brown, A Louise; Lovegrove, Julie A; Minihane, Anne M

2012-06-01

Evidence for the benefits of green tea catechins on vascular function is inconsistent, with genotype potentially contributing to the heterogeneity in response. Here, the impact of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype on vascular function and blood pressure (BP) after green tea extract ingestion are reported. Fifty subjects (n = 25 of the proposed low-activity [AA] and of the high-activity [GG] COMT rs4680 genotype), completed a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. Peripheral arterial tonometry, digital volume pulse (DVP), and BP were assessed at baseline and 90 min after 1.06 g of green tea extract or placebo. A 5.5 h and subsequent 18.5 h urine collection was performed to assess green tea catechin excretion. A genotype × treatment interaction was observed for DVP reflection index (p = 0.014), with green tea extract in the AA COMT group attenuating the increase observed with placebo. A tendency for a greater increase in diastolic BP was evident at 90 min after the green tea extract compared to placebo (p = 0.07). A genotypic effect was observed for urinary methylated epigallocatechin during the first 5.5 h, with the GG COMT group demonstrating a greater concentration (p = 0.049). Differences in small vessel tone according to COMT genotype were evident after acute green tea extract. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nonlinear response from transport theory and quantum field theory at finite temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrington, M. E.; Defu, Hou; Kobes, R.

2001-07-01

We study the nonlinear response in weakly coupled hot φ4 theory. We obtain an expression for a quadratic shear viscous response coefficient using two different formalisms: transport theory and response theory. The transport theory calculation is done by assuming a local equilibrium form for the distribution function and expanding in the gradient of the local four dimensional velocity field. By performing a Chapman-Enskog expansion on the Boltzmann equation we obtain a hierarchy of equations for the coefficients of the expanded distribution function. To do the response theory calculation we use Zubarev's techniques in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics to derive a generalized Kubo formula. Using this formula allows us to obtain the quadratic shear viscous response from the three-point retarded Green function of the viscous shear stress tensor. We use the closed time path formalism of real time finite temperature field theory to show that this three-point function can be calculated by writing it as an integral equation involving a four-point vertex. This four-point vertex can in turn be obtained from an integral equation which represents the resummation of an infinite series of ladder and extended-ladder diagrams. The connection between transport theory and response theory is made when we show that the integral equation for this four-point vertex has exactly the same form as the equation obtained from the Boltzmann equation for the coefficient of the quadratic term of the gradient expansion of the distribution function. We conclude that calculating the quadratic shear viscous response using transport theory and keeping terms that are quadratic in the gradient of the velocity field in the Chapman-Enskog expansion of the Boltzmann equation is equivalent to calculating the quadratic shear viscous response from response theory using the next-to-linear response Kubo formula, with a vertex given by an infinite resummation of ladder and extended-ladder diagrams.

Plant species and functional group combinations affect green roof ecosystem functions.

PubMed

Lundholm, Jeremy; Macivor, J Scott; Macdougall, Zachary; Ranalli, Melissa

2010-03-12

Green roofs perform ecosystem services such as summer roof temperature reduction and stormwater capture that directly contribute to lower building energy use and potential economic savings. These services are in turn related to ecosystem functions performed by the vegetation layer such as radiation reflection and transpiration, but little work has examined the role of plant species composition and diversity in improving these functions. We used a replicated modular extensive (shallow growing- medium) green roof system planted with monocultures or mixtures containing one, three or five life-forms, to quantify two ecosystem services: summer roof cooling and water capture. We also measured the related ecosystem properties/processes of albedo, evapotranspiration, and the mean and temporal variability of aboveground biomass over four months. Mixtures containing three or five life-form groups, simultaneously optimized several green roof ecosystem functions, outperforming monocultures and single life-form groups, but there was much variation in performance depending on which life-forms were present in the three life-form mixtures. Some mixtures outperformed the best monocultures for water capture, evapotranspiration, and an index combining both water capture and temperature reductions. Combinations of tall forbs, grasses and succulents simultaneously optimized a range of ecosystem performance measures, thus the main benefit of including all three groups was not to maximize any single process but to perform a variety of functions well. Ecosystem services from green roofs can be improved by planting certain life-form groups in combination, directly contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The strong performance by certain mixtures of life-forms, especially tall forbs, grasses and succulents, warrants further investigation into niche complementarity or facilitation as mechanisms governing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in green roof ecosystems.

Generalized nonequilibrium vertex correction method in coherent medium theory for quantum transport simulation of disordered nanoelectronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Jiawei; Ke, Youqi

2016-07-01

Electron transport properties of nanoelectronics can be significantly influenced by the inevitable and randomly distributed impurities/defects. For theoretical simulation of disordered nanoscale electronics, one is interested in both the configurationally averaged transport property and its statistical fluctuation that tells device-to-device variability induced by disorder. However, due to the lack of an effective method to do disorder averaging under the nonequilibrium condition, the important effects of disorders on electron transport remain largely unexplored or poorly understood. In this work, we report a general formalism of Green's function based nonequilibrium effective medium theory to calculate the disordered nanoelectronics. In this method, based on a generalized coherent potential approximation for the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green's function, we developed a generalized nonequilibrium vertex correction method to calculate the average of a two-Keldysh-Green's-function correlator. We obtain nine nonequilibrium vertex correction terms, as a complete family, to express the average of any two-Green's-function correlator and find they can be solved by a set of linear equations. As an important result, the averaged nonequilibrium density matrix, averaged current, disorder-induced current fluctuation, and averaged shot noise, which involve different two-Green's-function correlators, can all be derived and computed in an effective and unified way. To test the general applicability of this method, we applied it to compute the transmission coefficient and its fluctuation with a square-lattice tight-binding model and compared with the exact results and other previously proposed approximations. Our results show very good agreement with the exact results for a wide range of disorder concentrations and energies. In addition, to incorporate with density functional theory to realize first-principles quantum transport simulation, we have also derived a general form of conditionally averaged nonequilibrium Green's function for multicomponent disorders.

Plant Species and Functional Group Combinations Affect Green Roof Ecosystem Functions

PubMed Central

Lundholm, Jeremy; MacIvor, J. Scott; MacDougall, Zachary; Ranalli, Melissa

2010-01-01

Background Green roofs perform ecosystem services such as summer roof temperature reduction and stormwater capture that directly contribute to lower building energy use and potential economic savings. These services are in turn related to ecosystem functions performed by the vegetation layer such as radiation reflection and transpiration, but little work has examined the role of plant species composition and diversity in improving these functions. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a replicated modular extensive (shallow growing- medium) green roof system planted with monocultures or mixtures containing one, three or five life-forms, to quantify two ecosystem services: summer roof cooling and water capture. We also measured the related ecosystem properties/processes of albedo, evapotranspiration, and the mean and temporal variability of aboveground biomass over four months. Mixtures containing three or five life-form groups, simultaneously optimized several green roof ecosystem functions, outperforming monocultures and single life-form groups, but there was much variation in performance depending on which life-forms were present in the three life-form mixtures. Some mixtures outperformed the best monocultures for water capture, evapotranspiration, and an index combining both water capture and temperature reductions. Combinations of tall forbs, grasses and succulents simultaneously optimized a range of ecosystem performance measures, thus the main benefit of including all three groups was not to maximize any single process but to perform a variety of functions well. Conclusions/Significance Ecosystem services from green roofs can be improved by planting certain life-form groups in combination, directly contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The strong performance by certain mixtures of life-forms, especially tall forbs, grasses and succulents, warrants further investigation into niche complementarity or facilitation as mechanisms governing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in green roof ecosystems. PMID:20300196

At the Intersection of Urbanization, Water, and Food Security: Determination of Select Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Mussels and Oysters from Hong Kong.

PubMed

Burket, S Rebekah; Sapozhnikova, Yelena; Zheng, J S; Chung, Shan Shan; Brooks, Bryan W

2018-05-23

Aquaculture, which is growing 3-5 times faster than terrestrial agriculture, will play an important role to meet future global food production needs. However, over 80% of global sewage production is returned to the environment untreated or poorly treated. In developing nations, these nontraditional waters of diverse quality are being recycled for aquaculture, yet chemical residues are differentially studied. Here, we examined pharmaceuticals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and flame retardants in marine bivalves using isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and low-pressure gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LP GC-MS/MS). Green-lipped mussels from the field and oysters from aquaculture net pens, which are harvested as food products, were collected adjacent to point source municipal wastewater and landfill leachate effluent discharges, respectively, in Hong Kong, the fourth most densely populated country in the world. Multiple classes of pharmaceutical, pesticides, PAHs, and phosphorus-based flame retardants were detected at low μg/kg levels. Acceptable servings per week indicated minimal risk for a number of chemicals; however, such calculations could not be performed for other contaminants of emerging concern. Future efforts are needed to better understand contaminant influences on marine bivalve populations and aquaculture product safety, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions of developing countries with limited wastewater infrastructure.

Fragile X mental retardation protein has a unique, evolutionarily conserved neuronal function not shared with FXR1P or FXR2P

PubMed Central

Coffee, R. Lane; Tessier, Charles R.; Woodruff, Elvin A.; Broadie, Kendal

2010-01-01

SUMMARY Fragile X syndrome (FXS), resulting solely from the loss of function of the human fragile X mental retardation 1 (hFMR1) gene, is the most common heritable cause of mental retardation and autism disorders, with syndromic defects also in non-neuronal tissues. In addition, the human genome encodes two closely related hFMR1 paralogs: hFXR1 and hFXR2. The Drosophila genome, by contrast, encodes a single dFMR1 gene with close sequence homology to all three human genes. Drosophila that lack the dFMR1 gene (dfmr1 null mutants) recapitulate FXS-associated molecular, cellular and behavioral phenotypes, suggesting that FMR1 function has been conserved, albeit with specific functions possibly sub-served by the expanded human gene family. To test evolutionary conservation, we used tissue-targeted transgenic expression of all three human genes in the Drosophila disease model to investigate function at (1) molecular, (2) neuronal and (3) non-neuronal levels. In neurons, dfmr1 null mutants exhibit elevated protein levels that alter the central brain and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) synaptic architecture, including an increase in synapse area, branching and bouton numbers. Importantly, hFMR1 can, comparably to dFMR1, fully rescue both the molecular and cellular defects in neurons, whereas hFXR1 and hFXR2 provide absolutely no rescue. For non-neuronal requirements, we assayed male fecundity and testes function. dfmr1 null mutants are effectively sterile owing to disruption of the 9+2 microtubule organization in the sperm tail. Importantly, all three human genes fully and equally rescue mutant fecundity and spermatogenesis defects. These results indicate that FMR1 gene function is evolutionarily conserved in neural mechanisms and cannot be compensated by either FXR1 or FXR2, but that all three proteins can substitute for each other in non-neuronal requirements. We conclude that FMR1 has a neural-specific function that is distinct from its paralogs, and that the unique FMR1 function is responsible for regulating neuronal protein expression and synaptic connectivity. PMID:20442204

Automatic numerical evaluation of vacancy-mediated transport for arbitrary crystals: Onsager coefficients in the dilute limit using a Green function approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinkle, Dallas R.

2017-10-01

A general solution for vacancy-mediated diffusion in the dilute-vacancy/dilute-solute limit for arbitrary crystal structures is derived from the master equation. A general numerical approach to the vacancy lattice Green function reduces to the sum of a few analytic functions and numerical integration of a smooth function over the Brillouin zone for arbitrary crystals. The Dyson equation solves for the Green function in the presence of a solute with arbitrary but finite interaction range to compute the transport coefficients accurately, efficiently and automatically, including cases with very large differences in solute-vacancy exchange rates. The methodology takes advantage of the space group symmetry of a crystal to reduce the complexity of the matrix inversion in the Dyson equation. An open-source implementation of the algorithm is available, and numerical results are presented for the convergence of the integration error of the bare vacancy Green function, and tracer correlation factors for a variety of crystals including wurtzite (hexagonal diamond) and garnet.

The Green's functions for peridynamic non-local diffusion.

PubMed

Wang, L J; Xu, J F; Wang, J X

2016-09-01

In this work, we develop the Green's function method for the solution of the peridynamic non-local diffusion model in which the spatial gradient of the generalized potential in the classical theory is replaced by an integral of a generalized response function in a horizon. We first show that the general solutions of the peridynamic non-local diffusion model can be expressed as functionals of the corresponding Green's functions for point sources, along with volume constraints for non-local diffusion. Then, we obtain the Green's functions by the Fourier transform method for unsteady and steady diffusions in infinite domains. We also demonstrate that the peridynamic non-local solutions converge to the classical differential solutions when the non-local length approaches zero. Finally, the peridynamic analytical solutions are applied to an infinite plate heated by a Gauss source, and the predicted variations of temperature are compared with the classical local solutions. The peridynamic non-local diffusion model predicts a lower rate of variation of the field quantities than that of the classical theory, which is consistent with experimental observations. The developed method is applicable to general diffusion-type problems.

Diffuse Waves and Energy Densities Near Boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez-Sesma, F. J.; Rodriguez-Castellanos, A.; Campillo, M.; Perton, M.; Luzon, F.; Perez-Ruiz, J. A.

2007-12-01

Green function can be retrieved from averaging cross correlations of motions within a diffuse field. In fact, it has been shown that for an elastic inhomogeneous, anisotropic medium under equipartitioned, isotropic illumination, the average cross correlations are proportional to the imaginary part of Green function. For instance coda waves are due to multiple scattering and their intensities follow diffusive regimes. Coda waves and the noise sample the medium and effectively carry information along their paths. In this work we explore the consequences of assuming both source and receiver at the same point. From the observable side, the autocorrelation is proportional to the energy density at a given point. On the other hand, the imaginary part of the Green function at the source itself is finite because the singularity of Green function is restricted to the real part. The energy density at a point is proportional with the trace of the imaginary part of Green function tensor at the source itself. The Green function availability may allow establishing the theoretical energy density of a seismic diffuse field generated by a background equipartitioned excitation. We study an elastic layer with free surface and overlaying a half space and compute the imaginary part of the Green function for various depths. We show that the resulting spectrum is indeed closely related to the layer dynamic response and the corresponding resonant frequencies are revealed. One implication of present findings lies in the fact that spatial variations may be useful in detecting the presence of a target by its signature in the distribution of diffuse energy. These results may be useful in assessing the seismic response of a given site if strong ground motions are scarce. It suffices having a reasonable illumination from micro earthquakes and noise. We consider that the imaginary part of Green function at the source is a spectral signature of the site. The relative importance of the peaks of this energy spectrum, ruling out non linear effects, may influence the seismic response for future earthquakes. Partial supports from DGAPA-UNAM, Project IN114706, Mexico; from Proyect MCyT CGL2005-05500-C02/BTE, Spain; from project DyETI of INSU-CNRS, France, and from the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo are greatly appreciated.

Functional Characterization of Epitheaflagallin 3-O-Gallate Generated in Laccase-Treated Green Tea Extracts in the Presence of Gallic Acid.

PubMed

Itoh, Nobuya; Kurokawa, Junji; Isogai, Yasuhiro; Ogasawara, Masaru; Matsunaga, Takayuki; Okubo, Tsutomu; Katsube, Yuji

2017-12-06

Epitheaflagallin (ETFG) and epitheaflagallin 3-O-gallate (ETFGg) are minor polyphenols in black tea extract that are enzymatically synthesized from epigallocatechin (EGC) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), respectively, in green tea extract via laccase oxidation in the presence of gallic acid. The constituents of laccase-treated green tea extract in the presence of gallic acid are thus quite different from those of nonlaccase-treated green tea extract: EGC and EGCg are present in lower concentrations, and ETFG and ETFGg are present in higher concentrations. Additionally, laccase-treated green tea extract contains further polymerized catechin derivatives, comparable with naturally fermented teas such as oolong tea and black tea. We found that ETFGg and laccase-treated green tea extracts exhibit versatile physiological functions in vivo and in vitro, including antioxidative activity, pancreatic lipase inhibition, Streptococcus sorbinus glycosyltransferase inhibition, and an inhibiting effect on the activity of matrix metalloprotease-1 and -3 and their synthesis by human gingival fibroblasts. We confirmed that these inhibitory effects of ETFGg in vitro match well with the results obtained by docking simulations of the compounds with their target enzymes or noncatalytic protein. Thus, ETFGg and laccase-treated green tea extracts containing ETFGg are promising functional food materials with potential antiobesity and antiperiodontal disease activities.

Novel green tissue-specific synthetic promoters and cis-regulatory elements in rice.

PubMed

Wang, Rui; Zhu, Menglin; Ye, Rongjian; Liu, Zuoxiong; Zhou, Fei; Chen, Hao; Lin, Yongjun

2015-12-11

As an important part of synthetic biology, synthetic promoter has gradually become a hotspot in current biology. The purposes of the present study were to synthesize green tissue-specific promoters and to discover green tissue-specific cis-elements. We first assembled several regulatory sequences related to tissue-specific expression in different combinations, aiming to obtain novel green tissue-specific synthetic promoters. GUS assays of the transgenic plants indicated 5 synthetic promoters showed green tissue-specific expression patterns and different expression efficiencies in various tissues. Subsequently, we scanned and counted the cis-elements in different tissue-specific promoters based on the plant cis-elements database PLACE and the rice cDNA microarray database CREP for green tissue-specific cis-element discovery, resulting in 10 potential cis-elements. The flanking sequence of one potential core element (GEAT) was predicted by bioinformatics. Then, the combination of GEAT and its flanking sequence was functionally identified with synthetic promoter. GUS assays of the transgenic plants proved its green tissue-specificity. Furthermore, the function of GEAT flanking sequence was analyzed in detail with site-directed mutagenesis. Our study provides an example for the synthesis of rice tissue-specific promoters and develops a feasible method for screening and functional identification of tissue-specific cis-elements with their flanking sequences at the genome-wide level in rice.

Brominated Flame Retardants, Tetrabromobisphenol A and Hexabromocyclododecane, Activate Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) in Human Natural Killer Cells

PubMed Central

Cato, Anita; Celada, Lindsay; Kibakaya, Esther Caroline; Simmons, Nadia; Whalen, Margaret M.

2014-01-01

NK cells provide a vital surveillance against virally infected cells, tumor cells, and antibody-coated cells through the release of cytolytic mediators and gamma interferon (IFN-γ). Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a brominated flame retardant used primarily in expanded (EPS) and extruded (XPS) polystyrene foams for thermal insulation in the building and construction industry. Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is used both as a reactive and an additive flame retardant in a variety of materials. HBCD and TBBPA contaminate the environment and are found in human blood samples. In previous studies, we have shown that other environmental contaminants, such as the dibutyltin (DBT) and tributyltin (TBT), decrease NK lytic function by activating mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in the NK cells. HBCD and TBBPA also interfere with NK cell(s) lytic function. The current study evaluates whether HBCD and/or TBBPA have the capacity to activate MAPKs and MAPK kinases (MAP2Ks). The effects of concentrations of HBCD and TBBPA that inhibited lytic function on the phosphorylation state and total levels of the MAPKs (p44/42, p38, and JNK) and the phosphorylation and total levels of the MAP2Ks (MEK1/2 and MKK3/6) were examined. Results indicate that exposure of human NK cells to 10-0.5 µM HBCD or TBBPA activate MAPKs and MAP2Ks. This HBCD and TBBPA-induced activation of MAPKs may leave them unavailable for activation by virally infected or tumor target cells and thus contributes to the observed decreases in lytic function seen in NK cells exposed to HBCD and TBBPA. PMID:25341744

Brominated flame retardants, tetrabromobisphenol A and hexabromocyclododecane, activate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in human natural killer cells.

PubMed

Cato, Anita; Celada, Lindsay; Kibakaya, Esther Caroline; Simmons, Nadia; Whalen, Margaret M

2014-12-01

Natural killer (NK) cells provide a vital surveillance against virally infected cells, tumor cells, and antibody-coated cells through the release of cytolytic mediators and gamma interferon (IFN-γ). Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a brominated flame retardant used primarily in expanded (EPS) and extruded (XPS) polystyrene foams for thermal insulation in the building and construction industry. Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is used both as a reactive and an additive flame retardant in a variety of materials. HBCD and TBBPA contaminate the environment and are found in human blood samples. In previous studies, we have shown that other environmental contaminants, such as the dibutyltin (DBT) and tributyltin (TBT), decrease NK lytic function by activating mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in the NK cells. HBCD and TBBPA also interfere with NK cell(s) lytic function. The current study evaluates whether HBCD and/or TBBPA have the capacity to activate MAPKs and MAPK kinases (MAP2Ks). The effects of concentrations of HBCD and TBBPA that inhibited lytic function on the phosphorylation state and total levels of the MAPKs (p44/42, p38, and JNK) and the phosphorylation and total levels of the MAP2Ks (MEK1/2 and MKK3/6) were examined. Results indicate that exposure of human NK cells to 10-0.5 μM HBCD or TBBPA activate MAPKs and MAP2Ks. This HBCD and TBBPA-induced activation of MAPKs may leave them unavailable for activation by virally infected or tumor target cells and thus contributes to the observed decreases in lytic function seen in NK cells exposed to HBCD and TBBPA.

Performance of dryland and wetland plant species on extensive green roofs.

PubMed

MacIvor, J Scott; Ranalli, Melissa A; Lundholm, Jeremy T

2011-04-01

Green roofs are constructed ecosystems where plants perform valuable services, ameliorating the urban environment through roof temperature reductions and stormwater interception. Plant species differ in functional characteristics that alter ecosystem properties. Plant performance research on extensive green roofs has so far indicated that species adapted to dry conditions perform optimally. However, in moist, humid climates, species typical of wetter soils might have advantages over dryland species. In this study, survival, growth and the performance of thermal and stormwater capture functions of three pairs of dryland and wetland plant species were quantified using an extensive modular green roof system. Seedlings of all six species were germinated in a greenhouse and planted into green roof modules with 6 cm of growing medium. There were 34 treatments consisting of each species in monoculture and all combinations of wet- and dryland species in a randomized block design. Performance measures were survival, vegetation cover and roof surface temperature recorded for each module over two growing seasons, water loss (an estimate of evapotranspiration) in 2007, and albedo and water capture in 2008. Over two seasons, dryland plants performed better than wetland plants, and increasing the number of dryland species in mixtures tended to improve functioning, although there was no clear effect of species or habitat group diversity. All species had survival rates >75 % after the first winter; however, dryland species had much greater cover, an important indicator of green roof performance. Sibbaldiopsis tridentata was the top performing species in monoculture, and was included in the best treatments. Although dryland species outperformed wetland species, planting extensive green roofs with both groups decreased performance only slightly, while increasing diversity and possibly habitat value. This study provides further evidence that plant composition and diversity can influence green roof functions.

The function of green belt Jatibarang as quality control for the environment of Semarang city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murtini, Titien Woro; Harani, Arnis Rochma; Ernadia, Loretta

2017-06-01

The quality of the healthy environment in a neighborhood city is decreasing in number. According to the government regulation, Act No. 26 of 2007, a city should have 20% of green areas from the total area of the city. Now, Semarang only has 7.5% of green areas from the total city area. One of the efforts made by the Government of Semarang is the establishment of a greenbelt in Jatibarang area. It consists of several parts, namely, the reservoirs in the green belt area and also the plant zone in other sectors. The reservoir has a function as the controller of water resources sustainability where the crops serve as the balance for the combination. Thus, it is interesting to study how the interplay of these two functions in a green belt area. The primary data used in this study was obtained from the locus of research by direct observation, interview, and physical data collection. Based on the data collection, data was then processed and analyzed in accordance with the indicators that had been compiled based on theories of reservoirs, green belts, and the quality of the urban environment. Government regulations regarding with the greenbelt and tanks were also used as references in the discussion. The research found out that the presence of the reservoir and the plants in the green belt of Jatibarang can improve the function of the green belt optimally which is a real influence for the improvement of the environment quality, especially water. The Greenbelt was divided into four zones, namely the Arboretum, Argo - Forestry, Ecotourism, Buffer - Zone also made the region became a beautiful greenbelt that brought a positive influence to environmental quality.

Performance of dryland and wetland plant species on extensive green roofs

PubMed Central

MacIvor, J. Scott; Ranalli, Melissa A.; Lundholm, Jeremy T.

2011-01-01

Background and Aims Green roofs are constructed ecosystems where plants perform valuable services, ameliorating the urban environment through roof temperature reductions and stormwater interception. Plant species differ in functional characteristics that alter ecosystem properties. Plant performance research on extensive green roofs has so far indicated that species adapted to dry conditions perform optimally. However, in moist, humid climates, species typical of wetter soils might have advantages over dryland species. In this study, survival, growth and the performance of thermal and stormwater capture functions of three pairs of dryland and wetland plant species were quantified using an extensive modular green roof system. Methods Seedlings of all six species were germinated in a greenhouse and planted into green roof modules with 6 cm of growing medium. There were 34 treatments consisting of each species in monoculture and all combinations of wet- and dryland species in a randomized block design. Performance measures were survival, vegetation cover and roof surface temperature recorded for each module over two growing seasons, water loss (an estimate of evapotranspiration) in 2007, and albedo and water capture in 2008. Key Results Over two seasons, dryland plants performed better than wetland plants, and increasing the number of dryland species in mixtures tended to improve functioning, although there was no clear effect of species or habitat group diversity. All species had survival rates >75 % after the first winter; however, dryland species had much greater cover, an important indicator of green roof performance. Sibbaldiopsis tridentata was the top performing species in monoculture, and was included in the best treatments. Conclusions Although dryland species outperformed wetland species, planting extensive green roofs with both groups decreased performance only slightly, while increasing diversity and possibly habitat value. This study provides further evidence that plant composition and diversity can influence green roof functions. PMID:21292676

Integrated Multiscale Modeling of Molecular Computing Devices

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

Gregory Beylkin

2012-03-23

Significant advances were made on all objectives of the research program. We have developed fast multiresolution methods for performing electronic structure calculations with emphasis on constructing efficient representations of functions and operators. We extended our approach to problems of scattering in solids, i.e. constructing fast algorithms for computing above the Fermi energy level. Part of the work was done in collaboration with Robert Harrison and George Fann at ORNL. Specific results (in part supported by this grant) are listed here and are described in greater detail. (1) We have implemented a fast algorithm to apply the Green's function for themore » free space (oscillatory) Helmholtz kernel. The algorithm maintains its speed and accuracy when the kernel is applied to functions with singularities. (2) We have developed a fast algorithm for applying periodic and quasi-periodic, oscillatory Green's functions and those with boundary conditions on simple domains. Importantly, the algorithm maintains its speed and accuracy when applied to functions with singularities. (3) We have developed a fast algorithm for obtaining and applying multiresolution representations of periodic and quasi-periodic Green's functions and Green's functions with boundary conditions on simple domains. (4) We have implemented modifications to improve the speed of adaptive multiresolution algorithms for applying operators which are represented via a Gaussian expansion. (5) We have constructed new nearly optimal quadratures for the sphere that are invariant under the icosahedral rotation group. (6) We obtained new results on approximation of functions by exponential sums and/or rational functions, one of the key methods that allows us to construct separated representations for Green's functions. (7) We developed a new fast and accurate reduction algorithm for obtaining optimal approximation of functions by exponential sums and/or their rational representations.« less

Mental Retardation; Its Social Context and Social Consequences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farber, Bernard

Concerned with mental retardation as a social product, the following topics are discussed: mental retardation as a social phenomenon, the concept of the retarded as surplus population, labeling and incompetence in relation to life chances, mental retardation as deviance and as incompetence, and findings on the prevalence of retardation in the…

Preparation and characterizations of flame retardant polyamide 66 fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y. Y.; Liu, K.; Xiao, R.

2017-06-01

The polyamide 66 (PA66) is one of the most important thermoplastic materials, but it has the drawback of flammability. So the flame retardant PA66 was prepared by condensation polymerization using nylon salt and DOPO-based flame retardant in this paper. Then the flame retardant PA66 fiber was manufactured via melt spinning. The properties of flame retardant PA66 and flame retardant PA66 fiber were investigated by relative viscosity, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), tensile test, vertical burning test (UL94) and limiting oxygen index (LOI) test. Although the loading of the DOPO-based flame retardant decreased the molecular weight, the melting temperature, the crystallinity and the mechanical properties of flame retardant PA66, the flame retardancy properties improved. The flame retardant PA66 loaded with 5.5 wt% of DOPO-based flame retardant can achieve a UL94 V-0 rating with a LOI value of 32.9%. The tenacity at break decreased from 4.51 cN·dtex-1 for PA66 fiber to 2.82 cN·dtex-1 for flame retardant PA66 fiber which still satisfied the requirements for fabrics. The flame retardant PA66 fiber expanded the application of PA66 materials which had a broad developing prospect.

Retardation of Protein Dynamics by Trehalose in Dehydrated Systems of Photosynthetic Reaction Centers. Insights from Electron Transfer and Thermal Denaturation Kinetics.

PubMed

Malferrari, Marco; Francia, Francesco; Venturoli, Giovanni

2015-10-29

Conformational protein dynamics is known to be hampered in amorphous matrixes upon dehydration, both in the absence and in the presence of glass forming disaccharides, like trehalose, resulting in enhanced protein thermal stability. To shed light on such matrix effects, we have compared the retardation of protein dynamics in photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers (RC) dehydrated at controlled relative humidity in the absence (RC films) or in the presence of trehalose (RC-trehalose glasses). Small scale RC dynamics, associated with the relaxation from the dark-adapted to the light-adapted conformation, have been probed up to the second time scale by analyzing the kinetics of electron transfer from the photoreduced quinone acceptor (QA(-)) to the photoxidized primary donor (P(+)) as a function of the duration of photoexcitation from 7 ns (laser pulse) to 20 s. A more severe inhibition of dynamics is found in RC-trehalose glasses than in RC films: only in the latter system does a complete relaxation to the light-adapted conformation occur even at extreme dehydration, although strongly retarded. To gain insight into the large scale RC dynamics up to the time scale of days, the kinetics of thermal denaturation have been studied at 44 °C by spectral analysis of the Qx and Qy bands of the RC bacteriochlorin cofactors, as a function of the sugar/protein molar ratio, m, varied between 0 and 10(4). Upon increasing m, denaturation is slowed progressively, and above m ∼ 500 the RC is stable at least for several days. The stronger retardation of RC relaxation and dynamics induced by trehalose is discussed in the light of a recent molecular dynamics simulation study performed in matrixes of the model protein lysozyme with and without trehalose. We suggest that the efficiency of trehalose in retarding RC dynamics and preventing thermal denaturation stems mainly from its propensity to form and stabilize extended networks of hydrogen bonds involving sugar, residual water, and surface residues of the RC complex and from its ability of reducing the free volume fraction of protein alone matrixes.

A Green's function formulation for a nonlinear potential flow solution applicable to transonic flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, A. J.; Fox, C. H., Jr.

1977-01-01

Routine determination of inviscid subsonic flow fields about wing-body-tail configurations employing a Green's function approach for numerical solution of the perturbation velocity potential equation is successfully extended into the high subsonic subcritical flow regime and into the shock-free supersonic flow regime. A modified Green's function formulation, valid throughout a range of Mach numbers including transonic, that takes an explicit accounting of the intrinsic nonlinearity in the parent governing partial differential equations is developed. Some considerations pertinent to flow field predictions in the transonic flow regime are discussed.

The acoustic Green's function for swirling flow with variable entropy in a lined duct

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathews, J. R.; Peake, N.

2018-04-01

This paper extends previous work by the authors (Journal of Sound and Vibration, 395:294-316,2017) on the acoustic field inside an annular duct with acoustic lining carrying mean axial and swirling flow so as to allow for non-uniform mean entropy, as would be found for instance in the turbine stage of an aeroengine. The main aim of this paper is to understand the effect of a non-uniform entropy on both the eigenmodes of the flow and the Green's function, which will allow noise prediction once we have identified acoustic sources. We first derive a new acoustic analogy in isentropic swirling flow, which allows us to derive the equation the tailored Green's function satisfies. The eigenmodes are split into two distinct families, acoustic and hydrodynamic modes, and are computed using different analytical methods; in the limit of high reduced frequency using the WKB method for the acoustic modes; and by considering a Frobenius expansion for the hydrodynamic modes. These are then compared with numerical results, with excellent agreement for all eigenmodes. The Green's function is also calculating analytically using the realistic limit of high reduced frequency, again with excellent agreement compared to numerical calculations. We see that for both the eigenmodes and Green's function the effect of non-uniform mean entropy is significant.

Prediction of Broadband Shock-Associated Noise Including Propagation Effects Originating NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Steven; Morris, Philip J.

2012-01-01

An acoustic analogy is developed based on the Euler equations for broadband shock-associated noise (BBSAN) that directly incorporates the vector Green s function of the linearized Euler equations and a steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solution (SRANS) to describe the mean flow. The vector Green s function allows the BBSAN propagation through the jet shear layer to be determined. The large-scale coherent turbulence is modeled by two-point second order velocity cross-correlations. Turbulent length and time scales are related to the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate. An adjoint vector Green s function solver is implemented to determine the vector Green s function based on a locally parallel mean flow at different streamwise locations. The newly developed acoustic analogy can be simplified to one that uses the Green s function associated with the Helmholtz equation, which is consistent with a previous formulation by the authors. A large number of predictions are generated using three different nozzles over a wide range of fully-expanded jet Mach numbers and jet stagnation temperatures. These predictions are compared with experimental data from multiple jet noise experimental facilities. In addition, two models for the so-called fine-scale mixing noise are included in the comparisons. Improved BBSAN predictions are obtained relative to other models that do not include propagation effects.

Green's function of multi-layered poroelastic half-space for models of ground vibration due to railway traffic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Futong; Tao, Xiaxin; Xie, Lili; Raj, Siddharthan

2017-04-01

This study proposes a Green's function, an essential representation of water-saturated ground under moving excitation, to simulate ground borne vibration from trains. First, general solutions to the governing equations of poroelastic medium are derived by means of integral transform. Secondly, the transmission and reflection matrix approach is used to formulate the relationship between displacement and stress of the stratified ground, which results in the matrix of the Green's function. Then the Green's function is combined into a train-track-ground model, and is verified by typical examples and a field test. Additional simulations show that the computed ground vibration attenuates faster in the immediate vicinity of the track than in the surrounding area. The wavelength of wheel-rail unevenness has a notable effect on computed displacement and pore pressure. The variation of vibration intensity with the depth of ground is significantly influenced by the layering of the strata soil. When the train speed is equal to the velocity of the Rayleigh wave, the Mach cone appears in the simulated wave field. The proposed Green's function is an appropriate representation for a layered ground with shallow ground water table, and will be helpful to understand the dynamic responses of the ground to complicated moving excitation.

Identifying effective factors on consumers' choice behavior toward green products: the case of Tehran, the capital of Iran.

PubMed

Rahnama, Hassan; Rajabpour, Shayan

2017-01-01

The environment is increasingly turning to a vital and very important issue for all people. By increasing environmental concerns as well as legislating and regulating rules on the protection of the environment and the emergence of green consumers, implementing green marketing approach for organizations seems to be more crucial and essential. As a result, the need for ecological products and green business activities compels companies to combine environmental issues with marketing strategies. The first step in the success of companies and organizations is to identify consumers and their consumption behaviors correctly and accurately. So, the purpose of this study is to identify effective factors for the choice of consumers of green products. We used consumption values (functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, epistemic value, and environmental value) as the effective factor for choosing green products. The original place of this research was in Tehran, capital city of Iran, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world due to environmental issues. The results from the survey questionnaires are analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results indicated that functional value-price, functional value-quality, social value, epistemic value, and environmental value had significantly positive effects on the choice of green products; also, conditional value and emotional value had no influence on it. It was concluded that the main influential factors for consumers' choice behavior regarding green products included environmental value and epistemic value. This study emphasized the proper pricing of green products by producers and sellers.

Neurobehavioral assessment of children and adolescents attending a developmental disabilities clinic.

PubMed

Brasić, James Robert; Barnett, Jacqueline Y; Kowalik, S; Tsaltas, Margaret Owen; Ahmad, Raheela

2004-12-01

Although the risk of the eventual development of tardive dyskinesia and other persistent adverse effects of neuroleptics is high, among adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, neuroleptics may ameliorate dyskinesias, aggression, and inattention. The effects of traditional neuroleptics on a comparable population of children and adolescents with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities are unknown. The objective of this study was to develop an assessment battery to describe the effects of traditional neuroleptics on the behavior and movements of a small sample of children and adolescents with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. 13 children and adolescents aged 6 to 16 years attending a developmental disabilities clinic were evaluated utilizing a Movement Assessment Battery to measure behavior and motions. Five subjects took traditional neuroleptic medications. Trained raters can reliably assess the movements and behaviors of children and adolescents with multiple handicaps. Children and adolescents with developmental disabilities may be vulnerable to experience functional impairment and akathisia, tics, and other dyskinesias when administered traditional neuroleptic medications.

Low-smoke, halogenfree ship-offshore/onshore cables with improved flame retardance and fire resistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedersen, J. R.; Holte, T. A.; Johansen, E.

Cables with improved fire resistance and flame retardance have been developed. They will continue to function at least 3 hours even at temperatures up to 1000 C and do not propagate fire when tested according to IEC 332 part 3 1982, category A. Made with halogenfree materials they give off no corrosive gases and very little visible smoke in cases of fire. Cables are made for power, signal and instrument installations in hospitals, high rise buildings, railroad cars, subways, on board ship, oil rigs and oil production platforms. The offshore cables are specially constructed to withstand the rugged climatic conditions in the North Sea area.

Opto-current-clamp actuation of cortical neurons using a strategically designed channelrhodopsin.

PubMed

Wen, Lei; Wang, Hongxia; Tanimoto, Saki; Egawa, Ryo; Matsuzaka, Yoshiya; Mushiake, Hajime; Ishizuka, Toru; Yawo, Hiromu

2010-09-23

Optogenetic manipulation of a neuronal network enables one to reveal how high-order functions emerge in the central nervous system. One of the Chlamydomonas rhodopsins, channelrhodopsin-1 (ChR1), has several advantages over channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in terms of the photocurrent kinetics. Improved temporal resolution would be expected by the optogenetics using the ChR1 variants with enhanced photocurrents. The photocurrent retardation of ChR1 was overcome by exchanging the sixth helix domain with its counterpart in ChR2 producing Channelrhodopsin-green receiver (ChRGR) with further reform of the molecule. When the ChRGR photocurrent was measured from the expressing HEK293 cells under whole-cell patch clamp, it was preferentially activated by green light and has fast kinetics with minimal desensitization. With its kinetic advantages the use of ChRGR would enable one to inject a current into a neuron by the time course as predicted by the intensity of the shedding light (opto-current clamp). The ChRGR was also expressed in the motor cortical neurons of a mouse using Sindbis pseudovirion vectors. When an oscillatory LED light signal was applied sweeping through frequencies, it robustly evoked action potentials synchronized to the oscillatory light at 5-10 Hz in layer 5 pyramidal cells in the cortical slice. The ChRGR-expressing neurons were also driven in vivo with monitoring local field potentials (LFPs) and the time-frequency energy distribution of the light-evoked response was investigated using wavelet analysis. The oscillatory light enhanced both the in-phase and out-phase responses of LFP at the preferential frequencies of 5-10 Hz. The spread of activity was evidenced by the fact that there were many c-Fos-immunoreactive neurons that were negative for ChRGR in a region of the motor cortex. The opto-current-clamp study suggests that the depolarization of a small number of neurons wakes up the motor cortical network over some critical point to the activated state.

Editor’s Highlight: Comparative Toxicity of Organophosphate Flame Retardants and Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers to Caenorhabditis elegans

PubMed Central

Behl, Mamta; Rice, Julie R.; Smith, Marjo V.; Co, Caroll A.; Bridge, Matthew F.; Hsieh, Jui-Hua; Freedman, Jonathan H.; Boyd, Windy A.

2016-01-01

With the phasing-out of the polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants due to concerns regarding their potential developmental toxicity, the use of replacement compounds such as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) has increased. Limited toxicity data are currently available to estimate the potential adverse health effects of the OPFRs. The toxicological effects of 4 brominated flame retardants, including 3 PBDEs and 3,3',5,5'-tetrabromobisphenol A, were compared with 6 aromatic OPFRs and 2 aliphatic OPFRs. The effects of these chemicals were determined using 3 biological endpoints in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (feeding, larval development, and reproduction). Because C. elegans development was previously reported to be sensitive to mitochondrial function, results were compared with those from an in vitro mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (MMP) assay. Overall 11 of the 12 flame retardants were active in 1 or more C. elegans biological endpoints, with only tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate inactive across all endpoints including the in vitro MMP assay. For 2 of the C. elegans endpoints, at least 1 OPFR had similar toxicity to the PBDEs: triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) inhibited larval development at levels comparable to the 3 PBDEs; whereas TPHP and isopropylated phenol phosphate (IPP) affected C. elegans reproduction at levels similar to the PBDE commercial mixture, DE-71. The PBDEs reduced C. elegans feeding at lower concentrations than any OPFR. In addition, 9 of the 11 chemicals that inhibited C. elegans larval development also caused significant mitochondrial toxicity. These results suggest that some of the replacement aromatic OPFRs may have levels of toxicity comparable to PBDEs. PMID:27566445

Impact of intrauterine growth retardation and body proportionality on fetal and neonatal outcome.

PubMed

Kramer, M S; Olivier, M; McLean, F H; Willis, D M; Usher, R H

1990-11-01

Previous prognostic studies of infants with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) have not adequately considered the heterogeneity of IUGR in terms of cause, severity, and body proportionality and have been prone to misclassification of IUGR because of errors in estimation of gestational age. Based on a cohort of 8719 infants with early-ultrasound-validated gestational ages and indexes of body proportionality standardized for birth weight, the consequences of severity and cause-specific IUGR and proportionality for fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality were assessed. With progressive severity of IUGR, there were significant (all P less than .001) linear trends for increasing risks of stillbirth, fetal distress (abnormal electronic fetal heart tracings)O during parturition, neonatal hypoglycemia (minimum plasma glucose less than 40 mg/dL), hypocalcemia (minimum Ca less than 7 mg/dL), polycythemia (maximum capillary hemoglobin greater than or equal to 21 g/dL), severe depression at birth (manual ventilation greater than 3 minutes), 1-minute and 5-minute Apgar scores less than or equal to 6, 1-minute Apgar score less than or equal to 3, and in-hospital death. These trends persisted for the more common outcomes even after restriction to term (37 to 42 weeks) births. There was no convincing evidence that outcome among infants with a given degree of growth retardation varied as a function of cause of that growth retardation. Among infants with IUGR, increased length-for-weight had significant crude associations with hypoglycemia and polycythemia, but these associations disappeared after adjustment for severity of growth retardation and gestational age.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Language development in preschool children born after asymmetrical intrauterine growth retardation.

PubMed

Simić Klarić, Andrea; Kolundžić, Zdravko; Galić, Slavka; Mejaški Bošnjak, Vlatka

2012-03-01

After intrauterine growth retardation, many minor neurodevelopmental disorders may occur, especially in the motor skills domain, language and speech development, and cognitive functions. The assessment of language development and impact of postnatal head growth in preschool children born with asymmetrical intrauterine growth retardation. Examinees were born at term with birth weight below the 10th percentile for gestational age, parity and gender. Mean age at the time of study was six years and four months. The control group was matched according to chronological and gestational age, gender and maternal education with mean age six years and five months. There were 50 children with intrauterine growth retardation and 50 controls, 28 girls and 22 boys in each group. For the assessment of language development Reynell Developmental Language Scale, the Naming test and Mottier test were performed. There were statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in language comprehension, total expressive language (vocabulary, structure, content), naming skills and non-words repetition. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between relative growth of the head [(Actual head circumference - head circumference at birth)/(Body weight - birth weight)] and language outcome. Children with neonatal complications had lower results (p < 0.05) in language comprehension and total expressive language. Intrauterine growth retardation has a negative impact on language development which is evident in preschool years. Slow postnatal head growth is correlated with poorer language outcome. Neonatal complications were negatively correlated with language comprehension and total expressive language. Copyright © 2011 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green tea effects on cognition, mood and human brain function: A systematic review.

PubMed

Mancini, Edele; Beglinger, Christoph; Drewe, Jürgen; Zanchi, Davide; Lang, Undine E; Borgwardt, Stefan

2017-10-15

Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is a beverage consumed for thousands of years. Numerous claims about the benefits of its consumption were stated and investigated. As green tea is experiencing a surge in popularity in Western culture and as millions of people all over the world drink it every day, it is relevant to understand its effects on the human brain. To assess the current state of knowledge in the literature regarding the effects of green tea or green tea extracts, l-theanine and epigallocatechin gallate both components of green tea-on general neuropsychology, on the sub-category cognition and on brain functions in humans. We systematically searched on PubMed database and selected studies by predefined eligibility criteria. We then assessed their quality and extracted data. We structured our effort according to the PRISMA statement. We reviewed and assessed 21 studies, 4 of which were randomised controlled trials, 12 cross-over studies (both assessed with an adapted version of the DELPHI-list), 4 were cross-sectional studies and one was a cohort study (both assessed with an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa assessment scale). The average study quality as appraised by means of the DELPHI-list was good (8.06/9); the studies evaluated with the Newcastle-Ottawa-scale were also good (6.7/9). The reviewed studies presented evidence that green tea influences psychopathological symptoms (e.g. reduction of anxiety), cognition (e.g. benefits in memory and attention) and brain function (e.g. activation of working memory seen in functional MRI). The effects of green tea cannot be attributed to a single constituent of the beverage. This is exemplified in the finding that beneficial green tea effects on cognition are observed under the combined influence of both caffeine and l-theanine, whereas separate administration of either substance was found to have a lesser impact. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Brief Report: Treatment of Echolalia in a Girl with Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome: Functional Assessment of Minimizing Chances To Provoke Echolalia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Bo In

1998-01-01

Discusses the successful treatment of echolalia in a 15-year-old girl with Rubinstein-Tabyi syndrome, a congenital anomaly characterized by mental and growth retardation. Intervention included a functional assessment of varied echolalic conditions, provision of a therapeutic environment that minimized echolalic responses, and reinforcement of…

Numerical solutions of a control problem governed by functional differential equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banks, H. T.; Thrift, P. R.; Burns, J. A.; Cliff, E. M.

1978-01-01

A numerical procedure is proposed for solving optimal control problems governed by linear retarded functional differential equations. The procedure is based on the idea of 'averaging approximations', due to Banks and Burns (1975). For illustration, numerical results generated on an IBM 370/158 computer, which demonstrate the rapid convergence of the method are presented.

The Research on the Impact of Green Beans Sports Drinks on Relieving Fatigue in Sports Training.

PubMed

Qi, Li; Ying, Liu

2015-01-01

For researching the function of relieving fatigue of green beans sports drinks, this paper selected 60 mice as subjects. They were randomly divided into four groups (low dose group, middle dose group, high dose group and physiological saline group). Each time they were respectively feed 10g 20g/L, 40g/L, 80 g/L green beans sports drinks and 15ml/(kg.d) physiological saline. The experiment lasted for a month. We recorded weight of mice, swimming time and blood urea nitrogen indicators. The results show that green beans sports drinks can significantly prolong swimming time of mice (p <0.05). For serum urea the results show no effect. So green beans sports drinks have a certain function of relieving physical fatigue.

Cues-pause-point language training: teaching echolalics functional use of their verbal labeling repertoires.

PubMed Central

McMorrow, M J; Foxx, R M; Faw, G D; Bittle, R G

1987-01-01

We evaluated the direct and generalized effects of cues-pause-point language training procedures on immediate echolalia and correct responding in two severely retarded females. Two experiments were conducted with each subject in which the overall goal was to encourage them to remain quiet before, during, and briefly after the presentation of questions and then to verbalize on the basis of environmental cues whose labels represented the correct responses. Multiple baseline designs across question/response pairs (Experiment I) or question/response pairs and settings (Experiment II) demonstrated that echolalia was rapidly replaced by correct responding on the trained stimuli. More importantly, there were clear improvements in subjects' responding to untrained stimuli. Results demonstrated that the cues-pause-point procedures can be effective in teaching severely retarded or echolalic individuals functional use of their verbal labeling repertoires. PMID:3583962

Planar ion trap (retarding potential analyzer) experiment for atmosphere explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanson, W. B.; Sanatani, S.; Lippincott, C. R.; Zuccaro, D. R.

1982-01-01

The retarding potential analyzer and drift meter were carried aboard all three Atmosphere Explorer spacecraft. These instruments measure the total thermal ion concentration and temperature, the bulk thermal ion velocity vector and some limited properties of the relative abundance of H(+), He(+), O(+) and molecular ions. These instruments functioned with no internal failures on all the spacecraft. On AE-E there existed some evidence for external surface contamination that damaged the integrity of the RPA sweep grids. This led to some difficulties in data reduction and interpretation that did not prove to be a disastrous problem. The AE-D spacecraft functioned for only a few months before it re-entered. During this time the satellite suffered from a nutation about the spin axis of about + or - 2 deg. This 2 deg modulation was superimposed upon the ion drift meter horizontal ion arrival angle output requiring the employment of filtering techniques to retrieve the real data.

Calibrating the ECCO ocean general circulation model using Green's functions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menemenlis, D.; Fu, L. L.; Lee, T.; Fukumori, I.

2002-01-01

Green's functions provide a simple, yet effective, method to test and calibrate General-Circulation-Model(GCM) parameterizations, to study and quantify model and data errors, to correct model biases and trends, and to blend estimates from different solutions and data products.

Time-dependent inversions of slow slip at the Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand, using numerical Green's functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, C. A.; Wallace, L. M.; Bartlow, N. M.

2017-12-01

Slow slip events (SSEs) have been observed throughout the world, and the existence of these events has fundamentally altered our understanding of the possible ranges of slip behavior at subduction plate boundaries. In New Zealand, SSEs occur along the Hikurangi Margin, with shallower events in the north and deeper events to the south. In a recent study, Williams and Wallace (2015) found that static SSE inversions that consider elastic property variations provided significantly different results than those based on an elastic half-space. For deeper events, the heterogeneous models predicted smaller amounts of slip, while for shallower events the heterogeneous model predicted larger amounts of slip. In this study, we extend our initial work to examine the temporal variations in slip. We generate Green's functions using the PyLith finite element code (Aagaard et al., 2013) to allow consideration of elastic property variations provided by the New Zealand-wide seismic velocity model (Eberhart-Phillips et al., 2010). These Green's functions are then integrated to provide Green's functions compatible with the Network Inversion Filter (NIF, Segall and Matthews,1997; McGuire and Segall, 2003; Miyazaki et al.,2006). We examine 12 SSEs occurring along the Hikurangi Margin during 2010 and 2011, and compare the results using heterogeneous Green's functions with those of Bartlow et al. (2014), who examined the same set of SSEs with the NIF using a uniform elastic half-space model. The use of heterogeneous Green's functions should provide a more accurate picture of the slip distribution and evolution of the SSEs. This will aid in understanding the correlations between SSEs and seismicity and/or tremor and the role of SSEs in the accommodation of plate motion budgets in New Zealand.

Development of SYBR Green and TaqMan quantitative real-time PCR assays for hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) infecting Penaeus monodon in India.

PubMed

Yadav, Reena; Paria, Anutosh; Mankame, Smruti; Makesh, M; Chaudhari, Aparna; Rajendran, K V

2015-12-01

Hepatopancreatic parvovirus (HPV) infects Penaeus monodon and causes mortality in the larval stages. Further, it has been implicated in the growth retardation in cultured P. monodon. Though different geographical isolates of HPV show large sequence variations, a sensitive PCR assay specific to Indian isolate has not yet been reported. Here, we developed a sensitive SYBR Green-based and TaqMan real-time PCR for the detection and quantification of the virus. A 441-bp PCR amplicon was cloned in pTZ57 R/T vector and the plasmid copy number was estimated. A 10-fold serial dilution of the plasmid DNA from 1 × 10(9) copies to 1 copy was prepared and used as the standard. The primers were tested initially using the standard on a conventional PCR format to determine the linearity of detection. The standards were further tested on real-time PCR format using SYBR Green and TaqMan chemistry and standard curves were generated based on the Ct values from three well replicates for each dilution. The assays were found to be sensitive, specific and reproducible with a wide dynamic range (1 × 10(9) to 10 copies) with coefficient of regression (R(2)) > 0.99, calculated average slope -3.196 for SYBR Green assay whereas, for TaqMan assay it was >0.99 and -3.367, respectively. The intra- and inter-assay variance of the Ct values ranged from 0.26% to 0.94% and 0.12% to 0.81%, respectively, for SYBR Green assay, and the inter-assay variance of the Ct values for TaqMan assay ranged from 0.07% to 1.93%. The specificity of the assays was proved by testing other DNA viruses of shrimp such as WSSV, IHHNV and MBV. Standardized assays were further tested to detect and quantify HPV in the post-larvae of P. monodon. The result was further compared with conventional PCR to test the reproducibility of the test. The assay was also used to screen Litopeneaus vannamei, Macrobrachium rosenbergii and Scylla serrata for HPV. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning curves and perioperative outcomes after endoscopic enucleation of the prostate: a comparison between GreenLight 532-nm and holmium lasers.

PubMed

Peyronnet, Benoit; Robert, Grégoire; Comat, Vincent; Rouprêt, Morgan; Gomez-Sancha, Fernando; Cornu, Jean-Nicolas; Misrai, Vincent

2017-06-01

To compare the learning curves, perioperative and early functional outcomes after HoLEP and GreenLEP. Data from the first 100 consecutive cases treated by GreenLEP and HoLEP by two surgeons were prospectively collected from dedicated databases and analysed retrospectively. En-bloc GreenLEP and two-lobar HoLEP enucleations were conducted using the GreenLight HPS™ 2090 laser and Lumenis™ holmium laser. Patients' characteristics, perioperative outcomes and functional outcomes after 1, 3 and 6 months were compared between groups. Total energy delivered and operative times were significantly shorter for GreenLEP (58 vs. 110 kJ, p < 0.0001; 60 vs. 90 min, p < 0.0001). Operative time reached a plateau after 30 procedures in each group. Length of catheterization and hospital stay were significantly shorter in the HoLEP group (2 vs. 1 day, p < 0.0001; 2 vs. 1 day, p < 0.0001). Postoperative complications were comparable between GreenLEP and HoLEP (19 vs. 25 %; p = 0.13). There was a greater increase of Q max at 3 months and a greater IPSS decrease at 1 month for GreenLEP, whereas decreases in IPSS and IPSS-Q8 at 6 months were greater for HoLEP. Transient stress urinary incontinence was comparable between both groups (6 vs. 9 % at 3 months; p = 0.42). Pentafecta was achieved in four consecutive patients after the 18th and the 40th procedure in the GreenLEP and HoLEP group, respectively. Learning curves ranged from 14 to 30 cases for GreenLEP and 22 to 40 cases for HoLEP. Learning curves of GreenLEP and HoLEP provided roughly similar peri-operative and short-term functional outcomes.

Post WISC-R and TOVA improvement with QEEG guided neurofeedback training in mentally retarded: a clinical case series of behavioral problems.

PubMed

Surmeli, Tanju; Ertem, Ayben

2010-01-01

According to the DSM-IV, Mental Retardation is significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning in at least two of the following skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health and safety. In pilot work, we have seen positive clinical effects of Neurofeedback (NF) applied to children with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and other forms of mental retardation. Given that many clinicians use NF in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Generalized Learning Disability cases, we studied the outcomes of a clinical case series using Quantitative EEG (QEEG) guided NF in the treatment of mental retardation. All 23 subjects received NF training. The QEEG data for most subjects had increased theta, alpha, and coherence abnormalities. A few showed increased delta over the cortex. Some of the subjects were very poor in reading and some had illegible handwriting, and most subjects had academic failures, impulsive behavior, and very poor attention, concentration, memory problems, and social skills. This case series shows the impact of QEEG-guided NF training on these clients' clinical outcomes. Fourteen out of 23 subjects formerly took medications without any improvement. Twenty-three subjects ranging from 7-16 years old attending private learning centers were previously diagnosed with mental retardation (severity of degree: from moderate to mild) at various university hospitals. Evaluation measures included QEEG analysis, WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) IQ test, TOVA (Test of Variables of Attention) test, and DPC-P (Developmental Behaviour Checklist) were filled out by the parents. NF trainings were performed by Lexicor Biolex software. NX-Link was the commercial software reference database used to target the treatment protocols, along with the clinical judgment of the first author. QEEG signals were sampled at 128 samples per second per channel and electrodes were placed according to the International 10-20 system. Between 80 and 160 NF training sessions were completed, depending on the case. None of the subjects received any special education during NF treatment. Two subjects with the etiology of epilepsy were taking medication, and the other 21 subjects were medication-free at the baseline. Twenty-two out of 23 patients who received NF training showed clinical improvement according to the DPC-P with QEEG reports. Nineteen out of 23 patients showed significant improvement on the WISC-R, and the TOVA. For the WISC-R test, 2 showed decline on total IQ due to the decline on some of the subtests, 2 showed no improvement on total IQ although improvement was seen on some of the subtests, however even these cases showed improvement on QEEG and DPC-P. This study provides the first evidence for positive effects of NF treatment in mental retardation. The results of this study encourage further research.

Dynamics of active sites in biological macromolecules using a Green-function approach: An application to heme vibrational dynamics in myoglobin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rai, Brajesh; Prohofsky, Earl

2003-03-01

Dynamics of functionally active regions of biological macromolecules can be studied using a Green-function technique. This approach uses the fact that in most cases one has a good set of force constants for active sites, and rather poorly defined force field parameters for other regions of the macromolecule. The Green-function method is applied to study the iron vibrational modes of the heme active site in myoglobin. In this approach, the heme active site is viewed as a system interacting with surrounding globin, which acts as an excitation bath. The normal modes of heme and globin are separately calculated using the best available force fields for the two entities. The iron vibrational spectrum of myoglobin is then obtained using the solutions of the heme and globin, and by considering physically meaningful interactions between the two units. The refinement of the Green-function calculations to the experimental data from an x-ray synchrotron-based Nuclear Resonance Vibrational Spectroscopy provides important insights into the character of iron normal modes of myoglobin.

Regulation of tight junction assembly and epithelial morphogenesis by the heat shock protein Apg-2

PubMed Central

Aijaz, Saima; Sanchez-Heras, Elena; Balda, Maria S; Matter, Karl

2007-01-01

Background Tight junctions are required for epithelial barrier formation and participate in the regulation of signalling mechanisms that control proliferation and differentiation. ZO-1 is a tight junction-associated adaptor protein that regulates gene expression, junction assembly and epithelial morphogenesis. We have previously demonstrated that the heat shock protein Apg-2 binds ZO-1 and thereby regulates its role in cell proliferation. Here, we addressed the question whether Apg-2 is also important for junction formation and epithelial morphogenesis. Results We demonstrate that depletion of Apg-2 by RNAi in MDCK cells did not prevent formation of functional tight junctions. Similar to ZO-1, however, reduced expression of Apg-2 retarded de novo junction assembly if analysed in a Ca-switch model. Formation of functional junctions, as monitored by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance, and recruitment of tight and adherens junction markers were retarded. If cultured in three dimensional extracellular matrix gels, Apg-2 depleted cells, as previously shown for ZO-1 depleted cells, did not form hollow polarised cysts but poorly organised, irregular structures. Conclusion Our data indicate that Apg-2 regulates junction assembly and is required for normal epithelial morphogenesis in a three-dimensional culture system, suggesting that Apg-2 is an important regulator of epithelial differentiation. As the observed phenotypes are similar to those previously described for ZO-1 depleted cells and depletion of Apg-2 retards junctional recruitment of ZO-1, regulation of ZO-1 is likely to be an important functional role for Apg-2 during epithelial differentiation. PMID:18028534

Regulation of tight junction assembly and epithelial morphogenesis by the heat shock protein Apg-2.

PubMed

Aijaz, Saima; Sanchez-Heras, Elena; Balda, Maria S; Matter, Karl

2007-11-20

Tight junctions are required for epithelial barrier formation and participate in the regulation of signalling mechanisms that control proliferation and differentiation. ZO-1 is a tight junction-associated adaptor protein that regulates gene expression, junction assembly and epithelial morphogenesis. We have previously demonstrated that the heat shock protein Apg-2 binds ZO-1 and thereby regulates its role in cell proliferation. Here, we addressed the question whether Apg-2 is also important for junction formation and epithelial morphogenesis. We demonstrate that depletion of Apg-2 by RNAi in MDCK cells did not prevent formation of functional tight junctions. Similar to ZO-1, however, reduced expression of Apg-2 retarded de novo junction assembly if analysed in a Ca-switch model. Formation of functional junctions, as monitored by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance, and recruitment of tight and adherens junction markers were retarded. If cultured in three dimensional extracellular matrix gels, Apg-2 depleted cells, as previously shown for ZO-1 depleted cells, did not form hollow polarised cysts but poorly organised, irregular structures. Our data indicate that Apg-2 regulates junction assembly and is required for normal epithelial morphogenesis in a three-dimensional culture system, suggesting that Apg-2 is an important regulator of epithelial differentiation. As the observed phenotypes are similar to those previously described for ZO-1 depleted cells and depletion of Apg-2 retards junctional recruitment of ZO-1, regulation of ZO-1 is likely to be an important functional role for Apg-2 during epithelial differentiation.

DIA1R is an X-linked gene related to Deleted In Autism-1.

PubMed

Aziz, Azhari; Harrop, Sean P; Bishop, Naomi E

2011-01-17

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDS) are frequently occurring disorders diagnosed by deficits in three core functional areas: social skills, communication, and behaviours and/or interests. Mental retardation frequently accompanies the most severe forms of ASDs, while overall ASDs are more commonly diagnosed in males. Most ASDs have a genetic origin and one gene recently implicated in the etiology of autism is the Deleted-In-Autism-1 (DIA1) gene. Using a bioinformatics-based approach, we have identified a human gene closely related to DIA1, we term DIA1R (DIA1-Related). While DIA1 is autosomal (chromosome 3, position 3q24), DIA1R localizes to the X chromosome at position Xp11.3 and is known to escape X-inactivation. The gene products are of similar size, with DIA1 encoding 430, and DIA1R 433, residues. At the amino acid level, DIA1 and DIA1R are 62% similar overall (28% identical), and both encode signal peptides for targeting to the secretory pathway. Both genes are ubiquitously expressed, including in fetal and adult brain tissue. Examination of published literature revealed point mutations in DIA1R are associated with X-linked mental retardation (XLMR) and DIA1R deletion is associated with syndromes with ASD-like traits and/or XLMR. Together, these results support a model where the DIA1 and DIA1R gene products regulate molecular traffic through the cellular secretory pathway or affect the function of secreted factors, and functional deficits cause disorders with ASD-like symptoms and/or mental retardation.

Superalgebraically convergent smoothly windowed lattice sums for doubly periodic Green functions in three-dimensional space

PubMed Central

Bruno, Oscar P.; Turc, Catalin; Venakides, Stephanos

2016-01-01

This work, part I in a two-part series, presents: (i) a simple and highly efficient algorithm for evaluation of quasi-periodic Green functions, as well as (ii) an associated boundary-integral equation method for the numerical solution of problems of scattering of waves by doubly periodic arrays of scatterers in three-dimensional space. Except for certain ‘Wood frequencies’ at which the quasi-periodic Green function ceases to exist, the proposed approach, which is based on smooth windowing functions, gives rise to tapered lattice sums which converge superalgebraically fast to the Green function—that is, faster than any power of the number of terms used. This is in sharp contrast to the extremely slow convergence exhibited by the lattice sums in the absence of smooth windowing. (The Wood-frequency problem is treated in part II.) This paper establishes rigorously the superalgebraic convergence of the windowed lattice sums. A variety of numerical results demonstrate the practical efficiency of the proposed approach. PMID:27493573

Green's function and image system for the Laplace operator in the prolate spheroidal geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Changfeng; Deng, Shaozhong

2017-01-01

In the present paper, electrostatic image theory is studied for Green's function for the Laplace operator in the case where the fundamental domain is either the exterior or the interior of a prolate spheroid. In either case, an image system is developed to consist of a point image inside the complement of the fundamental domain and an additional symmetric continuous surface image over a confocal prolate spheroid outside the fundamental domain, although the process of calculating such an image system is easier for the exterior than for the interior Green's function. The total charge of the surface image is zero and its centroid is at the origin of the prolate spheroid. In addition, if the source is on the focal axis outside the prolate spheroid, then the image system of the exterior Green's function consists of a point image on the focal axis and a line image on the line segment between the two focal points.

Communication: The description of strong correlation within self-consistent Green's function second-order perturbation theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, Jordan J.; Zgid, Dominika

2014-06-01

We report an implementation of self-consistent Green's function many-body theory within a second-order approximation (GF2) for application with molecular systems. This is done by iterative solution of the Dyson equation expressed in matrix form in an atomic orbital basis, where the Green's function and self-energy are built on the imaginary frequency and imaginary time domain, respectively, and fast Fourier transform is used to efficiently transform these quantities as needed. We apply this method to several archetypical examples of strong correlation, such as a H32 finite lattice that displays a highly multireference electronic ground state even at equilibrium lattice spacing. In all cases, GF2 gives a physically meaningful description of the metal to insulator transition in these systems, without resorting to spin-symmetry breaking. Our results show that self-consistent Green's function many-body theory offers a viable route to describing strong correlations while remaining within a computationally tractable single-particle formalism.

Establishing green roof infrastructure through environmental policy instruments.

PubMed

Carter, Timothy; Fowler, Laurie

2008-07-01

Traditional construction practices provide little opportunity for environmental remediation to occur in urban areas. As concerns for environmental improvement in urban areas become more prevalent, innovative practices which create ecosystem services and ecologically functional land cover in cities will be in higher demand. Green roofs are a prime example of one of these practices. The past decade has seen the North American green roof industry rapidly expand through international green roof conferences, demonstration sites, case studies, and scientific research. This study evaluates existing international and North American green roof policies at the federal, municipal, and community levels. Green roof policies fall into a number of general categories, including direct and indirect regulation, direct and indirect financial incentives, and funding of demonstration or research projects. Advantages and disadvantages of each category are discussed. Salient features and a list of prompting standards common to successfully implemented green roof strategies are then distilled from these existing policies. By combining these features with data collected from an experimental green roof site in Athens, Georgia, the planning and regulatory framework for widespread green roof infrastructure can be developed. The authors propose policy instruments be multi-faceted and spatially focused, and also propose the following recommendations: (1) Identification of green roof overlay zones with specifications for green roofs built in these zones. This spatial analysis is important for prioritizing areas of the jurisdiction where green roofs will most efficiently function; (2) Offer financial incentives in the form of density credits and stormwater utility fee credits to help overcome the barriers to entry of the new technology; (3) Construct demonstration projects and institutionalize a commitment greening roofs on publicly-owned buildings as an effective way of establishing an educated roofing industry and experienced installers for future green roof construction.

Establishing Green Roof Infrastructure Through Environmental Policy Instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, Timothy; Fowler, Laurie

2008-07-01

Traditional construction practices provide little opportunity for environmental remediation to occur in urban areas. As concerns for environmental improvement in urban areas become more prevalent, innovative practices which create ecosystem services and ecologically functional land cover in cities will be in higher demand. Green roofs are a prime example of one of these practices. The past decade has seen the North American green roof industry rapidly expand through international green roof conferences, demonstration sites, case studies, and scientific research. This study evaluates existing international and North American green roof policies at the federal, municipal, and community levels. Green roof policies fall into a number of general categories, including direct and indirect regulation, direct and indirect financial incentives, and funding of demonstration or research projects. Advantages and disadvantages of each category are discussed. Salient features and a list of prompting standards common to successfully implemented green roof strategies are then distilled from these existing policies. By combining these features with data collected from an experimental green roof site in Athens, Georgia, the planning and regulatory framework for widespread green roof infrastructure can be developed. The authors propose policy instruments be multi-faceted and spatially focused, and also propose the following recommendations: (1) Identification of green roof overlay zones with specifications for green roofs built in these zones. This spatial analysis is important for prioritizing areas of the jurisdiction where green roofs will most efficiently function; (2) Offer financial incentives in the form of density credits and stormwater utility fee credits to help overcome the barriers to entry of the new technology; (3) Construct demonstration projects and institutionalize a commitment greening roofs on publicly-owned buildings as an effective way of establishing an educated roofing industry and experienced installers for future green roof construction.

Effects of green tea tannin on cisplatin-induced nephropathy in LLC-PK1 cells and rats.

PubMed

Yokozawa, T; Nakagawa, T; Lee, K I; Cho, E J; Terasawa, K; Takeuchi, S

1999-11-01

A study was conducted to clarify whether green tea tannin ameliorated cisplatin-induced renal injury in terms of lactate dehydrogenase and malondialdehyde leakage from a renal epithelial cell line, swine-derived LLC-PK1 cells in culture. Green tea tannin was shown to suppress the cytotoxicity of cisplatin, the suppressive effect increasing with the dose of green tea tannin. The effect of cisplatin was then investigated in rats given green tea tannin for 40 days before cisplatin administration and in control rats given no green tea tannin. In control rats, blood, urinary and renal parameters and the activities of antioxidative enzymes in renal tissue deviated from the normal range, indicating dysfunction of the kidneys. In contrast, rats given green tea tannin showed decreased blood levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine, and decreased urinary levels of protein and glucose, reflecting less damage to the kidney. In this group, the activity of catalase in the renal tissue was increased, while the level of malondialdehyde was decreased, suggesting the involvement of radicals in the normalizing of kidney function. Based on the evidence available it appeared that green tea tannin eliminated oxidative stress and was beneficial to renal function.

Models of Mental Functioning

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-05-14

Mental Retardation. Detterman, D. K. (in press). Common challenges in understanding human and artificial intelligence. [Review of Creative Intelligences...Limited. Sternberg, R. J., & Detterman, D. K. (1988). Oue es la inteligencia ? Enfoque actual de su naturaleza y definicion. Translation of What is

Mental Retardation. Fact Sheet = El Retraso Mental. Hojas Informativas Sobre Discapacidades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities, Washington, DC.

This fact sheet on mental retardation is written in both English and Spanish. It begins with a vignette of a 15-year-old boy with mental retardation. Mental retardation is briefly explained as are some causes of mental retardation. It notes that a diagnosis of mental retardation looks at two things: first, the ability of a person's brain to learn,…

Simulations of Coulomb systems confined by polarizable surfaces using periodic Green functions.

PubMed

Dos Santos, Alexandre P; Girotto, Matheus; Levin, Yan

2017-11-14

We present an efficient approach for simulating Coulomb systems confined by planar polarizable surfaces. The method is based on the solution of the Poisson equation using periodic Green functions. It is shown that the electrostatic energy arising from the surface polarization can be decoupled from the energy due to the direct Coulomb interaction between the ions. This allows us to combine an efficient Ewald summation method, or any other fast method for summing over the replicas, with the polarization contribution calculated using Green function techniques. We apply the method to calculate density profiles of ions confined between the charged dielectric and metal surfaces.

Combinations of laxatives and green banana biomass on the treatment of functional constipation in children and adolescents: a randomized study.

PubMed

Cassettari, Vanessa Mello Granado; Machado, Nilton Carlos; Lourenção, Pedro Luiz Toledo de Arruda; Carvalho, Marry Assis; Ortolan, Erika Veruska Paiva

2018-01-05

Evaluate the effect of combinations of green banana biomass and laxatives in children and adolescents with chronic constipation. This was a randomized study of 80 children and adolescents with functional constipation according to the Rome IV Criteria, who were divided into five groups: (1) green banana biomass alone; (2) green banana biomass plus PEG 3350 with electrolytes; (3) green banana biomass plus sodium picosulfate; (4) PEG 3350 with electrolytes alone; and (5) sodium picosulfate alone. Primary outcome measure was the reduction of the proportion of patients with Bristol Stool Form Scale ratings 1 or 2. Secondary outcome measures were: increase of the proportion of >3 bowel movements/week and reduction of the proportion of fecal incontinence, straining on defecation, painful defecation, blood in stool, abdominal pain, and decreased laxative doses. On consumption of green banana biomass alone, a statistically significant reduction was observed in the proportion of children with Bristol Stool Form Scale rating 1 or 2, straining on defecation, painful defecation, and abdominal pain. Conversely, no reduction was observed in fecal incontinence episodes/week, blood in stool, and no increase was observed in the proportion of children with >3 bowel movements/week. The percentage of children who required decreased laxative dose was high when green banana biomass was associated with sodium picosulfate (87%), and PEG 3350 with electrolytes (63%). Green banana biomass alone and associated with laxatives was well tolerated, and no adverse effects were reported. Green banana biomass is advantageous as an adjunct therapy on functional constipation, mainly for reducing doses of laxatives. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Persistent organic pollutants in fat of three species of Pacific pelagic longline caught sea turtles: Accumulation in relation to ingested plastic marine debris

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clukey, Katharine; Lepczyk, Christopher A.; Balazs, George H.; Work, Thierry M.; Li, Qing X.; Bachman, Melanie J.; Lynch, Jennifer M.

2017-01-01

In addition to eating contaminated prey, sea turtles may be exposed to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from ingesting plastic debris that has absorbed these chemicals. Given the limited knowledge about POPs in pelagic sea turtles and how plastic ingestion influences POP exposure, our objectives were to: 1) provide baseline contaminant levels of three species of pelagic Pacific sea turtles; and 2) assess trends of contaminant levels in relation to species, sex, length, body condition and capture location. In addition, we hypothesized that if ingesting plastic is a significant source of POP exposure, then the amount of ingested plastic may be correlated to POP concentrations accumulated in fat. To address our objectives we compared POP concentrations in fat samples to previously described amounts of ingested plastic from the same turtles. Fat samples from 25 Pacific pelagic sea turtles [2 loggerhead (Caretta caretta), 6 green (Chelonia mydas) and 17 olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) turtles] were analyzed for 81 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 20 organochlorine pesticides, and 35 brominated flame-retardants. The olive ridley and loggerhead turtles had higher ΣDDTs (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and metabolites) than ΣPCBs, at a ratio similar to biota measured in the South China Sea and southern California. Green turtles had a ratio close to 1:1. These pelagic turtles had lower POP levels than previously reported in nearshore turtles. POP concentrations were unrelated to the amounts of ingested plastic in olive ridleys, suggesting that their exposure to POPs is mainly through prey. In green turtles, concentrations of ΣPCBs were positively correlated with the number of plastic pieces ingested, but these findings were confounded by covariance with body condition index (BCI). Green turtles with a higher BCI had eaten more plastic and also had higher POPs. Taken together, our findings suggest that sea turtles accumulate most POPs through their prey rather than marine debris.

Prediction of Turbulence-Generated Noise in Unheated Jets. Part 1; JeNo Technical Manual (Version 1.0)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khavaran, Abbas; Bridges, James; Georgiadis, Nicholas

2005-01-01

The model-based approach, used by the JeNo code to predict jet noise spectral directivity, is described. A linearized form of Lilley's equation governs the non-causal Green s function of interest, with the non-linear terms on the right hand side identified as the source. A Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution yields the required mean flow for the solution of the propagation Green s function in a locally parallel flow. The RANS solution also produces time- and length-scales needed to model the non-compact source, the turbulent velocity correlation tensor, with exponential temporal and spatial functions. It is shown that while an exact non-causal Green s function accurately predicts the observed shift in the location of the spectrum peak with angle as well as the angularity of sound at low to moderate Mach numbers, the polar directivity of radiated sound is not entirely captured by this Green s function at high subsonic and supersonic acoustic Mach numbers. Results presented for unheated jets in the Mach number range of 0.51 to 1.8 suggest that near the peak radiation angle of high-speed jets, a different source/Green s function convolution integral may be required in order to capture the peak observed directivity of jet noise. A sample Mach 0.90 heated jet is also discussed that highlights the requirements for a comprehensive jet noise prediction model.

Ethoxy (pentafluoro) cyclotriphosphazene (PFPN) as a multi-functional flame retardant electrolyte additive for lithium-ion batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xi; Li, Weikang; Chen, Lai; Lu, Yun; Su, Yuefeng; Bao, Liying; Wang, Jing; Chen, Renjie; Chen, Shi; Wu, Feng

2018-02-01

With the wide application of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), safety performance is an important constraint on the commercialization of large-scale, high-capacity LIBs. The main reason for the safety problem is that the electrolyte of LiBs is highly flammable, especially under high temperature and high voltage. It is an effective method to improve the safety of cells by mixing flame retardant with conventional electrolyte comprising of LiPF6 and carbonates. Herein, ethoxy (pentafluoro) cyclotriphosphazene (PFPN) is studied as a high efficiency flame retardant. Adding 5 vol% of PFPN results in a non-flammable electrolyte with self-extinguishing time (SET) of 12.38 s g-1 and critical oxygen index (COI) of 22.9, without compromising the capacity of cathode material. The initial discharge capacity of the LiCoO2 electrode with 5% PFPN is 150.7 mAh g-1, with a capacity retention of 99.14% after 30 cycles at 0.1 C. The results show that 5 vol% is the best adding amount of PFPN for electrolyte, which can modify the solid electrolyte interface (SEI). Moreover, PFPN reduces charge transfer resistance of the cells, resulting decreased electrode polarization and enhanced electrochemistry performances at low temperature. These results have confirmed that PFPN has the potential to be a multi-function additive for commercial LIBs production.

Chemistry and toxicity of flame retardants for plastics.

PubMed Central

Liepins, R; Pearce, E M

1976-01-01

An overview of commercially used flame retardants is give. The most used flame retardants are illustrated and the seven major markets, which use 96% of all flame-retarded polymers, are described. Annual flame retardant growth rate for each major market is also projected. Toxicity data are reviewed on only those compositions that are considered commercially significant today. This includes 18 compounds or families of compounds and four inherently flame-retarded polymers. Toxicological studies of flame retardants for most synthetic materials are of recent origin and only a few of the compounds have been evaluated in any great detail. Considerable toxicological problems may exist in the manufacturing of some flame retardants, their by-products, and possible decomposition products. PMID:1026419

Step-by-Step Simulation of Radiation Chemistry Using Green Functions for Diffusion-Influenced Reactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Plante, Ianik; Cucinotta, Francis A.

2011-01-01

Radiolytic species are formed approximately 1 ps after the passage of ionizing radiation through matter. After their formation, they diffuse and chemically react with other radiolytic species and neighboring biological molecules, leading to various oxidative damage. Therefore, the simulation of radiation chemistry is of considerable importance to understand how radiolytic species damage biological molecules [1]. The step-by-step simulation of chemical reactions is difficult, because the radiolytic species are distributed non-homogeneously in the medium. Consequently, computational approaches based on Green functions for diffusion-influenced reactions should be used [2]. Recently, Green functions for more complex type of reactions have been published [3-4]. We have developed exact random variate generators of these Green functions [5], which will allow us to use them in radiation chemistry codes. Moreover, simulating chemistry using the Green functions is which is computationally very demanding, because the probabilities of reactions between each pair of particles should be evaluated at each timestep [2]. This kind of problem is well adapted for General Purpose Graphic Processing Units (GPGPU), which can handle a large number of similar calculations simultaneously. These new developments will allow us to include more complex reactions in chemistry codes, and to improve the calculation time. This code should be of importance to link radiation track structure simulations and DNA damage models.

Numerical evaluation of longitudinal motions of Wigley hulls advancing in waves by using Bessho form translating-pulsating source Green'S function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Wenbin; Dong, Wencai

2016-06-01

In the framework of 3D potential flow theory, Bessho form translating-pulsating source Green's function in frequency domain is chosen as the integral kernel in this study and hybrid source-and-dipole distribution model of the boundary element method is applied to directly solve the velocity potential for advancing ship in regular waves. Numerical characteristics of the Green function show that the contribution of local-flow components to velocity potential is concentrated at the nearby source point area and the wave component dominates the magnitude of velocity potential in the far field. Two kinds of mathematical models, with or without local-flow components taken into account, are adopted to numerically calculate the longitudinal motions of Wigley hulls, which demonstrates the applicability of translating-pulsating source Green's function method for various ship forms. In addition, the mesh analysis of discrete surface is carried out from the perspective of ship-form characteristics. The study shows that the longitudinal motion results by the simplified model are somewhat greater than the experimental data in the resonant zone, and the model can be used as an effective tool to predict ship seakeeping properties. However, translating-pulsating source Green function method is only appropriate for the qualitative analysis of motion response in waves if the ship geometrical shape fails to satisfy the slender-body assumption.

Multifunctionality is affected by interactions between green roof plant species, substrate depth, and substrate type.

PubMed

Dusza, Yann; Barot, Sébastien; Kraepiel, Yvan; Lata, Jean-Christophe; Abbadie, Luc; Raynaud, Xavier

2017-04-01

Green roofs provide ecosystem services through evapotranspiration and nutrient cycling that depend, among others, on plant species, substrate type, and substrate depth. However, no study has assessed thoroughly how interactions between these factors alter ecosystem functions and multifunctionality of green roofs. We simulated some green roof conditions in a pot experiment. We planted 20 plant species from 10 genera and five families (Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae, Crassulaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae) on two substrate types (natural vs. artificial) and two substrate depths (10 cm vs. 30 cm). As indicators of major ecosystem functions, we measured aboveground and belowground biomasses, foliar nitrogen and carbon content, foliar transpiration, substrate water retention, and dissolved organic carbon and nitrates in leachates. Interactions between substrate type and depth strongly affected ecosystem functions. Biomass production was increased in the artificial substrate and deeper substrates, as was water retention in most cases. In contrast, dissolved organic carbon leaching was higher in the artificial substrates. Except for the Fabaceae species, nitrate leaching was reduced in deep, natural soils. The highest transpiration rates were associated with natural soils. All functions were modulated by plant families or species. Plant effects differed according to the observed function and the type and depth of the substrate. Fabaceae species grown on natural soils had the most noticeable patterns, allowing high biomass production and high water retention but also high nitrate leaching from deep pots. No single combination of factors enhanced simultaneously all studied ecosystem functions, highlighting that soil-plant interactions induce trade-offs between ecosystem functions. Substrate type and depth interactions are major drivers for green roof multifunctionality.

Surface water retardation around single-chain polymeric nanoparticles: critical for catalytic function?

PubMed

Stals, Patrick J M; Cheng, Chi-Yuan; van Beek, Lotte; Wauters, Annelies C; Palmans, Anja R A; Han, Songi; Meijer, E W

2016-03-01

A library of water-soluble dynamic single-chain polymeric nanoparticles (SCPN) was prepared using a controlled radical polymerisation technique followed by the introduction of functional groups, including probes at targeted positions. The combined tools of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and Overhauser dynamic nuclear polarization (ODNP) reveal that these SCPNs have structural and surface hydration properties resembling that of enzymes.

The Effect of a Mentally Retarded Child on Family Functioning in a Third World Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leary, P. M.; Verth, Fiona

1995-01-01

Examined the functioning--under conditions of extreme Third World poverty--of 22 families in which there was a child with severe mental handicap. Found that despite a very restricted cash income, the family units endured, and 79% of the marriages were stable. Results highlight the need for a more informed and sympathetic attitude toward mental…

BMS in cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kehagias, A.; Riotto, A.

2016-05-01

Symmetries play an interesting role in cosmology. They are useful in characterizing the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and lead to consistency relations involving the soft limit of the statistical correlators of large-scale structure dark matter and galaxies overdensities. On the other hand, in observational cosmology the carriers of the information about these large-scale statistical distributions are light rays traveling on null geodesics. Motivated by this simple consideration, we study the structure of null infinity and the associated BMS symmetry in a cosmological setting. For decelerating Friedmann-Robertson-Walker backgrounds, for which future null infinity exists, we find that the BMS transformations which leaves the asymptotic metric invariant to leading order. Contrary to the asymptotic flat case, the BMS transformations in cosmology generate Goldstone modes corresponding to scalar, vector and tensor degrees of freedom which may exist at null infinity and perturb the asymptotic data. Therefore, BMS transformations generate physically inequivalent vacua as they populate the universe at null infinity with these physical degrees of freedom. We also discuss the gravitational memory effect when cosmological expansion is taken into account. In this case, there are extra contribution to the gravitational memory due to the tail of the retarded Green functions which are supported not only on the light-cone, but also in its interior. The gravitational memory effect can be understood also from an asymptotic point of view as a transition among cosmological BMS-related vacua.

BMS in cosmology

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

Kehagias, A.; Riotto, A.; Center for Astroparticle Physics

Symmetries play an interesting role in cosmology. They are useful in characterizing the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and lead to consistency relations involving the soft limit of the statistical correlators of large-scale structure dark matter and galaxies overdensities. On the other hand, in observational cosmology the carriers of the information about these large-scale statistical distributions are light rays traveling on null geodesics. Motivated by this simple consideration, we study the structure of null infinity and the associated BMS symmetry in a cosmological setting. For decelerating Friedmann-Robertson-Walker backgrounds, for which future null infinity exists, we find that the BMS transformationsmore » which leaves the asymptotic metric invariant to leading order. Contrary to the asymptotic flat case, the BMS transformations in cosmology generate Goldstone modes corresponding to scalar, vector and tensor degrees of freedom which may exist at null infinity and perturb the asymptotic data. Therefore, BMS transformations generate physically inequivalent vacua as they populate the universe at null infinity with these physical degrees of freedom. We also discuss the gravitational memory effect when cosmological expansion is taken into account. In this case, there are extra contribution to the gravitational memory due to the tail of the retarded Green functions which are supported not only on the light-cone, but also in its interior. The gravitational memory effect can be understood also from an asymptotic point of view as a transition among cosmological BMS-related vacua.« less

Determination of the Contact Angle Based on the Casimir Effect

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mazuruk, K.; Volz, M. P.

2015-01-01

In several crystal growth processed based on capillarity, a melt comes into contact with a crucible wall at an angle defined as the contact angle. For molten metals and semiconductors, this contact angle is dependent upon both the crucible and melt material and typical values fall in the range 80-170deg. However, on a microscopic scale, there does not exist a precise and sharp contact angle but rather the melt and solid surfaces merge smoothly and continuously over a distance of up to several micrometers. Accurate modeling requires a more advanced treatment of this interaction. The interaction between the melt and solid surfaces can be calculated by considering two forces: a short-range repulsive force and a longer range (up to a few micrometers) Casimir force. The Casimir force between the two bodies of complex geometry is calculated using a retarded temperature Green's function (Matsubara type) for the photon in the medium. The governing equations are cast in the form of a set of boundary integral equations which are then solved numerically for the case of molten Ge on SiO2. The shape of the molten surface approaching the flat solid body is determined, and the contact angle is defined as the angle between the two surfaces at the microscopically asymptotic distance of 1-2 micrometers. The formulation of this model and the results of the numerical calculations will be presented and discussed.

Bio-functionalized silver nanoparticles for selective colorimetric sensing of toxic metal ions and antimicrobial studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinod Kumar, V.; Anbarasan, S.; Christena, Lawrence Rene; SaiSubramanian, Nagarajan; Philip Anthony, Savarimuthu

2014-08-01

Hibiscus Sabdariffa (Gongura) plant extracts (leaves (HL) and stem (HS) were used for the first time in the green synthesis of bio-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The bio-functionality of AgNPs has been successfully utilized for selective colorimetric sensing of potentially health and environmentally hazardous Hg2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ metal ions at ppm level in aqueous solution. Importantly, clearly distinguishable colour for all three metal ions was observed. The influence of extract preparation condition and pH were also explored on the formation of AgNPs. Both selectivity and sensitivity differed for AgNPs synthesized from different parts of the plant. Direct correlation between the stability of green synthesized AgNPs at different pH and its antibacterial effects has been established. The selective colorimetric sensing of toxic metal ions and antimicrobial effect of green synthesized AgNPs demonstrated the multifunctional applications of green nanotechnology.

A preliminary comparison of speech recognition functionality in dental practice management systems.

PubMed

Irwin, Jeannie Y; Schleyer, Titus

2008-11-06

In this study, we examined speech recognition functionality in four leading dental practice management systems. Twenty dental students used voice to chart a simulated patient with 18 findings in each system. Results show it can take over a minute to chart one finding and that users frequently have to repeat commands. Limited functionality, poor usability and a high error rate appear to retard adoption of speech recognition in dentistry.

Construction Performance Optimization toward Green Building Premium Cost Based on Greenship Rating Tools Assessment with Value Engineering Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latief, Yusuf; Berawi, Mohammed Ali; Basten, Van; Riswanto; Budiman, Rachmat

2017-07-01

Green building concept becomes important in current building life cycle to mitigate environment issues. The purpose of this paper is to optimize building construction performance towards green building premium cost, achieving green building rating tools with optimizing life cycle cost. Therefore, this study helps building stakeholder determining building fixture to achieve green building certification target. Empirically the paper collects data of green building in the Indonesian construction industry such as green building fixture, initial cost, operational and maintenance cost, and certification score achievement. After that, using value engineering method optimized green building fixture based on building function and cost aspects. Findings indicate that construction performance optimization affected green building achievement with increasing energy and water efficiency factors and life cycle cost effectively especially chosen green building fixture.

24 CFR 8.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... a primary recipient as a condition of eligibility for Federal financial assistance. An application... a primary purpose. Historic properties means those properties that are listed or are eligible for... retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction and alcoholism. (b) Major life activities means functions such...

24 CFR 8.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... a primary recipient as a condition of eligibility for Federal financial assistance. An application... a primary purpose. Historic properties means those properties that are listed or are eligible for... retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction and alcoholism. (b) Major life activities means functions such...

Protection of brain and pancreas from high-fat diet: effects of catechin and caffeine.

PubMed

Unno, Keiko; Yamamoto, Hiroyuki; Maeda, Ken-Ichi; Takabayashi, Fumiyo; Yoshida, Hirotoshi; Kikunaga, Naomi; Takamori, Nina; Asahina, Shunsuke; Iguchi, Kazuaki; Sayama, Kazutoshi; Hoshino, Minoru

2009-02-16

To investigate the effect of a high-fat diet on brain and pancreas functions, we used SAMP10 mice that have characteristics of brain atrophy and cognitive dysfunction with aging. Simultaneously, we investigated the effect of green tea catechin consumption on high-fat diet feeding, because green tea catechin has been reported to improve brain atrophy, brain dysfunction and obesity. The body weight of mice fed a high-fat diet from 2 to 12 months was higher than that of the control, although the calorie intake was not. The high-fat diet also increased insulin secretion; however, the hypersecretion of insulin and obesity were suppressed when mice were fed a high-fat diet with green tea catechin and caffeine. Furthermore, brain atrophy was suppressed and the working memory, tested using Y-maze, improved in mice fed a high-fat diet containing green tea catechin and caffeine. The secretion of insulin might affect both obesity and brain function. A strong correlation was found between working memory and insulin release in mice fed a high-fat diet with green tea catechin and/or caffeine. The results indicate the protective effect of green tea catechin and caffeine on the functions of brain and pancreas in mice fed a high-fat diet.

Fire-Retardant, Decorative Inks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kourtides, D.; Nir, Z.; Mikroyannidis, J.

1987-01-01

Effectiveness of fire-retardant additives evaluated. Fire retardance of decorative acrylic printing inks for aircraft interiors enhanced by certain commercial and experimental fire-retardant additives, according to study.

Sexual behaviors in retarded children and adolescents.

PubMed

Simonds, J F

1980-12-01

Literature reports on the sexual behaviors of mildly retarded adolescents are reviewed. Retarded adolescents often participate in masturbation and homosexual exploratory behavior. The retarded adolescent's heterosexual interests are of great concern to parents. The retarded adolescent is vulnerable to suggestibility, poor judgment and a failure to foresee the consequences of his actions. Parents are usually acutely distressed by the retarded youth's sexual behaviors, and they may develop an attitude that these behaviors are "bad." There is a need to provide appropriate sex education for retardates and to counsel their families about the management of sexual behaviors which occur during the adolescent years.

[A review of green roof performance towards management of roof runoff].

PubMed

Chen, Xiao-ping; Huang, Pei; Zhou, Zhi-xiang; Gao, Chi

2015-08-01

Green roof has a significant influence on reducing runoff volume, delaying runoff-yielding time, reducing the peak flow and improving runoff quality. This paper addressed the related research around the world and concluded from several aspects, i.e., the definition of green roof of different types, the mechanism how green roof manages runoff quantity and quality, the ability how green roof controls roof runoff, and the influence factors of green roof toward runoff quantity and quality. Afterwards, there was a need for more future work on research of green roof toward roof runoff, i.e., vegetation selection of green roof, efficient construction model selection of green roof, the regulating characteristics of green roof on roof runoff, the value assessment of green roof on roof runoff, analysis of source-sink function of green roof on the water pollutants of roof runoff and the research on the mitigation measures of roof runoff pollution. This paper provided a guideline to develop green roofs aiming to regulating roof runoff.

Immunomodulating effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate from green tea: mechanisms and applications

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Consuming green tea or its active ingredient, epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG), has been shown consistently to benefit the healthy functioning of several body systems. In the immune system specifically, accumulating evidence has revealed an immunomodulating effect of green tea/EGCG. Several types ...

Fueling and Stabilizing a Biomolecular Motor-Powered Biosensor for Remote Detection Scenarios

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-01

streptavidin, cyclodextrin host - guest 0 , malachite green - aptamer", DNA - DNA12, and antibody - antigen . Using functionalized microtubules gliding on...3), 646-648 (2005). 11 Hirabayashi, M. et al. Malachite green-conjugated microtubules as mobile bioprobes selective for malachite green aptamers with

The problems of formation and conservation of the green frame (green carcass) of the satellite city (on the example of Zelenodolsk)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakirova, J.; Khusnutdinova, S.

2018-01-01

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of formation and conservation of the green frame (green carcass) of a satellite city of a monocentric city agglomeration. Nowadays the green spaces fulfill not only ecological, but also social and economic functions. This is especially important for mono-industrial and satellite cities. Zelenodolsk is satellite city of Kazan agglomeration. This city has significant natural, geographical, industrial aspects. The article shows the possibilities of forming the green frame of the city and its socio-economic use.

Placement from community-based mental retardation programs: how well do clients do?

PubMed

Schalock, R L; Harper, R S

1978-11-01

Mentally retarded clients (N = 131) placed during a 2-year period from either an independent living or competitive employment training program were evaluated as to placement success. Thirteen percent returned to the training program. Successful independent living placement was related to intelligence and demonstrated skills in symbolic operations, personal maintenance, clothing care and use, socially appropriate behavior, and functional academics. Successful employment was related to sensorimotor, visual-auditory processing, language, and symbolic-operations skills. Major reasons for returning from a job to the competitive employment training program included inappropriate behavior or need for more training; returning from community living placement was related to money management, apartment cleanliness, social behavior, and meal preparation.

Effects of poverty on cognitive function: a hidden neurologic epidemic.

PubMed

Bergen, Donna C

2008-08-05

Mental retardation is one of the most prevalent neurologic disorders globally. Surveys in high-income countries show 3 to 5 per 1,000 with severe intellectual disability, i.e., IQ below 55. Estimates from developing countries, however, have found prevalence rates from 5 to as much as 22 per 1,000. Protein-energy malnutrition, dietary micronutrient deficiencies, environmental toxins, and lack of early sensory stimulation or the ability to profit from it may contribute to neurodevelopmental disabilities. Tropical diseases such as parasitosis with resultant anemia, malaria, and other infections are major contributory causes. Reduction of poverty and its effects would reduce the present and future burden of mental retardation and cognitive dysfunction, especially in developing countries.

Williams-Beuren syndrome associated with single kidney and nephrocalcinosis: a case report.

PubMed

Abidi, Kamel; Jellouli, Manel; Ben Rabeh, Rania; Hammi, Yousra; Gargah, Tahar

2015-01-01

Williams-Beuren syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by congenital heart defects, abnormal facial features, mental retardation with specific cognitive and behavioral profile, growth hormone deficiency, renal and skeletal anomalies, inguinal hernia, infantile hypercalcaemia. We report a case with Williams-Beuren syndrome associated with a single kidney and nephrocalcinosis complicated by hypercalcaemia. A male infant, aged 20 months presented growth retardation associated with a psychomotor impairment, dysmorphic features and nephrocalcinosis. He had also hypercalciuria and hypercalcemia. Echocardiography was normal. DMSA renal scintigraphy showed a single functioning kidney. The FISH generated one ELN signal in 20 metaphases read and found the presence of ELN deletion, with compatible Williams-Beuren syndrome.

Modelling and measurement of crack closure and crack growth following overloads and underloads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dexter, R. J.; Hudak, S. J.; Davidson, D. L.

1989-01-01

Ignoring crack growth retardation following overloads can result in overly conservative life predictions in structures subjected to variable amplitude fatigue loading. Crack closure is believed to contribute to the crack growth retardation, although the specific closure mechanism is dabatable. The delay period and corresponding crack growth rate transients following overload and overload/underload cycles were systematically measured as a function of load ratio and overload magnitude. These responses are correlated in terms of the local 'driving force' for crack growth, i.e. the effective stress intensity factor range. Experimental results are compared with the predictions of a Dugdale-type (1960) crack closure model, and improvements in the model are suggested.

Stuttering—The Effect of Treatment with D-Amphetamine and a Tranquilizing Agent, Trifluoperazine; A Preliminary Report on an Uncontrolled Study

PubMed Central

Fish, Charles H.; Bowling, Evelyn

1965-01-01

In an institution for the mentally retarded, an uncontrolled study was made on the effects of d-amphetamine, d-amphetamine followed by trifluoperazine, and of combined d-amphetamine and trifluoperazine on stuttering. Of 28 patients to whom d-amphetamine was given, 14 showed improvement after one month's treatment. Eight more showed improvement when trifluoperazine was given for one month to those who did not improve on d-amphetamine. In many cases, improvement was sustained at least six months after treatment was discontinued. Treatment with d-amphetamine was apparently more effective in patients with functional than with organic retardation. PMID:5836893

[Comorbidity in autism spectrum disorders - II. Genetic syndromes and neurological problems].

PubMed

Noterdaeme, Michele A; Hutzelmeyer-Nickels, Anna

2010-07-01

Children with a pervasive developmental disorder show in addition to core symptoms a variety of genetic syndromes as well as neurological problems, which are relevant for the treatment and the course of the disorder. The objective of our study is to analyse the nature and the frequency of these co-morbid somatic disorders in relation to the level of intellectual functioning of the patients. The sample consists of 601 patients with a pervasive developmental disorder diagnosed at the Department of Developmental Disorders at the Heckscher-Klinikum between 1997 and 2007. In addition to genetic syndromes, we also recorded a variety of neurological disorders. 373 of the patients (62%) had at least one additional diagnosis and 121 (20%) had at least two additional diagnoses on Axis IV of the multi-axial classification scheme. Genetic syndromes were found in 6% of the patients (N = 37). Movement disorders (N = 214; 35.6%) and epilepsy (N = 98; 16.3%) were the most frequent neurological disorders. Children with mental retardation showed significantly more somatic diagnoses than children without mental retardation. Children with pervasive developmental disorders show a wide variety of co-morbid somatic problems, which are relevant for the treatment and the course of the disorder. Children with autism and mental retardation show more co-morbid conditions and are more impaired in their psychosocial adaptation than children with autism without mental retardation.

Acute toxicity of fire-retardant and foam-suppressant chemicals to yalella azteca (Saussure)

USGS Publications Warehouse

McDonald, Susan F.; Hamilton, Steven J.; Buhl, Kevin J.; Heisinger, James F.

1997-01-01

Acute toxicity tests were conducted with Hyalella azteca Saussure (an amphipod) exposed in soft and hard waters to three fire retardants (Fire-Trol GTS-R, Fire-Trol LCG-R, and Phos-Chek D75-F) and two foam suppressants (Phos-Chek WD-881 and Silv-Ex). The chemicals were slightly to moderately toxic to amphipods. The most toxic chemical to amphipods in soft and hard water was Phos-Chek WD-881 (96-h mean lethal concentration [LC50] equal to 10 mg/L and 22 mg/L, respectively), and the least toxic chemical to amphipods in soft water was Fire-Trol GTS-R (96-h LC50 equal to 127 mg/L) and in hard water was Fire-Trol LCG-R (96-h LC50 equal to 535 mg/L). Concentrations of ammonia in tests with the three fire retardants and both water types were greater than reported LC50 values and probably were the major toxic component. Estimated un-ionized ammonia concentrations near the LC50 were frequently less than the reported LC50 ammonia concentrations for amphipods. The three fire retardants were more toxic in soft water than in hard water even though ammonia and un-ionized ammonia concentrations were higher in hard water tests than in soft water tests. The accidental entry of fire-fighting chemicals into aquatic environments could adversely affect aquatic invertebrates, thereby disrupting ecosystem function.

Structural and functional perspectives on classification and seriation in psychotic and normal children.

PubMed

Breslow, L; Cowan, P A

1984-02-01

This study describes a strategy for examining cognitive functioning in psychotic and normal children without the usual confounding effects of marked differences in cognitive structure that occur when children of the same age are compared. Participants were 14 psychotic children, 12 males and 2 females, mean age 9-2, matched with normal children at preoperational and concrete operational stage levels on a set of Piagetian classification tasks. The mean age of the normal children was 6-4, replicating the usually found developmental delay in psychotic samples. Participants were then compared on both structural level and functional abilities on a set of tasks involving seriation of sticks; the higher-level children were also administered a seriation drawing task. Analysis of children's processes of seriating and seriation drawings indicated that over and above the structural retardation, psychotic children at all levels showed functional deficits, especially in the use of anticipatory imagery. The implications for general developmental theory are that progress in structural development is not sufficient for imaginal development, and that structural development of logical concepts is relatively independent of the development of imagery. It was suggested that "thought disorder" may not be a disordered structure of thinking or a retardation in psychotic populations but rather a mismatch between higher-level logical structures and lower-level functions.

Self-force calculations with matched expansions and quasinormal mode sums

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

Casals, Marc; Dolan, Sam; Ottewill, Adrian C.

2009-06-15

Accurate modeling of gravitational wave emission by extreme-mass ratio inspirals is essential for their detection by the LISA mission. A leading perturbative approach involves the calculation of the self-force acting upon the smaller orbital body. In this work, we present the first application of the Poisson-Wiseman-Anderson method of 'matched expansions' to compute the self-force acting on a point particle moving in a curved spacetime. The method employs two expansions for the Green function, which are, respectively, valid in the 'quasilocal' and 'distant past' regimes, and which may be matched together within the normal neighborhood. We perform our calculation in amore » static region of the spherically symmetric Nariai spacetime (dS{sub 2}xS{sup 2}), in which scalar-field perturbations are governed by a radial equation with a Poeschl-Teller potential (frequently used as an approximation to the Schwarzschild radial potential) whose solutions are known in closed form. The key new ingredients in our study are (i) very high order quasilocal expansions and (ii) expansion of the distant past Green function in quasinormal modes. In combination, these tools enable a detailed study of the properties of the scalar-field Green function. We demonstrate that the Green function is singular whenever x and x{sup '} are connected by a null geodesic, and apply asymptotic methods to determine the structure of the Green function near the null wave front. We show that the singular part of the Green function undergoes a transition each time the null wave front passes through a caustic point, following a repeating fourfold sequence {delta}({sigma}), 1/{pi}{sigma}, -{delta}({sigma}), -1/{pi}{sigma}, etc., where {sigma} is Synge's world function. The matched-expansion method provides insight into the nonlocal properties of the self-force. We show that the self-force generated by the segment of the worldline lying outside the normal neighborhood is not negligible. We apply the matched-expansion method to compute the scalar self-force acting on a static particle on the Nariai spacetime, and validate against an alternative method, obtaining agreement to six decimal places. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for wave propagation and self-force calculations. On black hole spacetimes, any expansion of the Green function in quasinormal modes must be augmented by a branch-cut integral. Nevertheless, we expect the Green function in Schwarzschild spacetime to inherit certain key features, such as a fourfold singular structure manifesting itself through the asymptotic behavior of quasinormal modes. In this way, the Nariai spacetime provides a fertile testing ground for developing insight into the nonlocal part of the self-force on black hole spacetimes.« less

Dyadic Green function for the electromagnetic field in mutilayered isotropic media - An operator approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sphicopoulos, T.; Teodoridis, V.; Gardiol, F. E.

1985-08-01

The dyadic Green functions of electric and magnetic type for multilayered isotropic media are discussed, and a tractable form is obtained by an operator method, which does not involve infinite sums of Hansen functions. The formulation considers a TE-TM decomposition and the use of propagation matrices. Special attention is given to the application of these functions to the analysis of problems in the field of nondestructive measurement of materials.

Realidades Acerca de la Deficiencia Mental = Facts about Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas State Dept. of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Austin.

This document consists of two booklets, one in Spanish and one in English, both covering the same text: the characteristics of mentally retarded individuals, the prevalence of mentally retarded persons in Texas, causes of mental retardation, prevention possibilities, and services available to mentally retarded persons in Texas. A distinction is…

Hansels and Gretels: Studies of Children in Institutions for the Mentally Retarded.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braginsky, Dorothea D.; Braginsky, Benjamin M.

Data from research with mildly mentally retarded children conducted in state training schools contradicts prevalent conceptions and theories of mental retardation and supports a new way of conceptualizing retardation, in which retardates are not seen as qualitatively different from others nor as defective or less than human organisms. Investigated…

The Hydrologic Implications Of Unique Urban Soil Horizon Sequencing On The Functions Of Passive Green Infrastructure

EPA Science Inventory

Green infrastructure represents a broad set of site- to landscape-scale practices that can be flexibly implemented to increase sewershed retention capacity, and can thereby improve on the management of water quantity and quality. Although much green infrastructure presents as for...

Green synthesis of nanomaterials and sustainable applications of nano-catalysts

EPA Science Inventory

Green synthesis efforts involving the use of vitamins B1, B2, C, and tea and wine polyphenols which function both as reducing and capping agents will be presented which enables extremely simple, one-pot, green synthetic methods to nanomaterials in water.1a Shape-controlled synth...

Differential Tissue-specific and Pathway-specific Anti-obesity Effects of Green Tea and Taeumjowitang, a Traditional Korean Medicine, in Mice.

PubMed

Kim, Junil; Park, Sujin; An, Haein; Choi, Ji-Young; Choi, Myung-Sook; Choi, Sang-Woon; Kim, Seong-Jin

2017-09-01

Traditional medicines have been leveraged for the treatment and prevention of obesity, one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the effects of traditional medicine on obesity are not yet fully understood. We produced the transcriptomes of epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), liver, muscle, and hypothalamus harvested from mice fed a normal diet, high-fat-diet alone, high-fat-diet together with green tea, or a high-fat-diet together with Taeumjowitang, a traditional Korean medicine. We found tissue-specific gene expression patterns as follows: (i) the eWAT transcriptome was more significantly altered by Taeumjowitang than by green tea, (ii) the liver transcriptome was similarly altered by Taeumjowitang and green tea, and (iii) both the muscle and hypothalamus transcriptomes were more significantly altered by green tea than Taeumjowitang. We then applied integrated network analyses, which revealed that functional networks associated with lymphocyte activation were more effectively regulated by Taeumjowitang than by green tea in the eWAT. In contrast, green tea was a more effective regulator of functional networks associated with glucose metabolic processes in the eWAT. Taeumjowitang and green tea have a differential tissue-specific and pathway-specific therapeutic effect on obesity.

Differential Tissue-specific and Pathway-specific Anti-obesity Effects of Green Tea and Taeumjowitang, a Traditional Korean Medicine, in Mice

PubMed Central

Kim, Junil; Park, Sujin; An, Haein; Choi, Ji-Young; Choi, Myung-Sook; Choi, Sang-Woon; Kim, Seong-Jin

2017-01-01

Background Traditional medicines have been leveraged for the treatment and prevention of obesity, one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the effects of traditional medicine on obesity are not yet fully understood. Methods We produced the transcriptomes of epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), liver, muscle, and hypothalamus harvested from mice fed a normal diet, high-fat-diet alone, high-fat-diet together with green tea, or a high-fat-diet together with Taeumjowitang, a traditional Korean medicine. Results We found tissue-specific gene expression patterns as follows: (i) the eWAT transcriptome was more significantly altered by Taeumjowitang than by green tea, (ii) the liver transcriptome was similarly altered by Taeumjowitang and green tea, and (iii) both the muscle and hypothalamus transcriptomes were more significantly altered by green tea than Taeumjowitang. We then applied integrated network analyses, which revealed that functional networks associated with lymphocyte activation were more effectively regulated by Taeumjowitang than by green tea in the eWAT. In contrast, green tea was a more effective regulator of functional networks associated with glucose metabolic processes in the eWAT. Conclusions Taeumjowitang and green tea have a differential tissue-specific and pathway-specific therapeutic effect on obesity. PMID:29018779

Understanding the retention and fate prediction of copper ions in single and competitive system in two soils: An experimental and numerical investigation.

PubMed

Buragohain, Poly; Garg, Ankit; Feng, Song; Lin, Peng; Sreedeep, S

2018-09-01

The concept of sponge city has become very popular with major thrust on design of waste containment systems such as biofilter and green roofs. Factors that may influence pollutant ions retention in these systems will be soil type and also their interactions. The study investigated single and competitive interaction of copper in two soils and its influence on the fate prediction. Freundlich and Langmuir nonlinear isotherms were selected to quantify the retention results. Series of numerical simulations were conducted to model 1 D advection-dispersion transport for the two soils and analyse the role of isotherms. The results indicated that contaminant fate prediction of copper-soil interaction based on the two non-linear isotherms was different for both single and that in competition. Retardation factor obtained from Freundlich (R F ) isotherm predicts more than Langmuir (R La ). This observation is more explicit at the higher range of equilibrium concentration. Fate prediction based on retardation value obtained from retention isotherms exhibited some anomalous trends contradicting the experimental findings due to inherent assumptions in governing equations. The necessity to have an approximate assessment of contaminant concentration in the field to effectively use contaminant retention results for accurate fate prediction is highlighted here. The study is important for modellers in design or analysis of biolfilter system (sponge city), where multiple ions tend to exist in waste water. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modification of mutagenesis initiated by ultraviolet light through posttreatment of bacteria with basic dyes

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

Witkin, E M

1961-12-01

Post treatment with basic dyes, in concentrations that retard cell division, was found to influence the tnduction of mutations to prototrophy by UV light in a tyrosine-requirtng strain of E.Coli. Pyronin, which is unique among the dyes in tts selective affinity for RNA, was found to duplicate the effects of chloramphenicol or amino acfd deprtvatfon in causfng the rapid and irreversible loss of potential prototrophs (mutation frequency decline, or MFD). Acriflavtne, methyl green. crystal violet, methylene blue, and toluidine blue, all of which are known to combine with DNA, delay or retard the occurrence of MFD under conditions of aminomore » acid deprivation. When acriflavine is removed from its combination with cellular components by the addition of an excess of sodium deoxyrtbonucleate, MFD begins promptly. The same basic dyes that delay MFD were also found to interfere with the fixation of mutations (MF) in an amino acid- enriched medium, and to cause marked enhancement of the mutagenic potency of low doses of UV light. While showing no independent mutagenic activity for unirradiated bacteria, all the dyes except pyronin increased the yield of induced mutations signtficantly when added to the enriched medium upon which trradiated bacteria were incubated.These results were interpreted as evidence that UV light initiates mutagenesis by producing unstable changas directly in genic DNA. MFD is interpreted as a repair process, blocked by the machinery of RNA and protein synthesis and by the presence of certain basic dyes.« less

Non-flammable elastomeric fiber from a fluorinated elastomer and containing an halogenated flame retardant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howarth, J. T.; Sheth, S. G.; Sidman, K. R.; Massucco, A. A. (Inventor)

1976-01-01

Flame retardant elastomeric compositions are described comprised of either spandex type polyurethane having incorporated into the polymer chain halogen containing polyols, conventional spandex type polyurethanes in physical admixture with flame retardant additives, or fluoroelastomeric resins in physical admixture with flame retardant additives. Methods are described for preparing fibers of the flame retardant elastomeric materials and articles of manufacture comprised of the flame retardant clastomeric materials and non elastic materials such as polybenzimidazoles, fiberglass, nylons, etc.

How To Evaluate and Select Assistive Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arc, Arlington, TX.

This information digest discusses assistive technology for children and adults with mental retardation and other disabilities. Assistive technology is used to compensate for functional limitations and to enhance and increase learning, independence, mobility, communication, environmental control, and choice. Factors to consider when evaluating…

High resolution energy analyzer for broad ion beam characterization

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

Kanarov, V.; Hayes, A.; Yevtukhov, R.

2008-09-15

Characterization of the ion energy distribution function (IEDF) of low energy high current density ion beams by conventional retarding field and deflection type energy analyzers is limited due to finite ion beam emittance and beam space charge spreading inside the analyzer. These deficiencies are, to a large extent, overcome with the recent development of the variable-focusing retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA), which has a cylindrical focusing electrode preceding the planar retarding grid. The principal concept of this analyzer is conversion of a divergent charged particle beam into a quasiparallel beam before analyzing it by the planar retarding field. This allowsmore » analysis of the beam particle total kinetic energy distribution with greatly improved energy resolution. Whereas this concept was first applied to analyze 5-10 keV pulsed electron beams, the present authors have adapted it to analyze the energy distribution of a low energy ({<=}1 KeV) broad ion beam. In this paper we describe the RFEA design, which was modified from the original, mainly as required by the specifics of broad ion beam energy analysis, and the device experimental characterization and modeling results. Among the modifications, an orifice electrode placed in front of the RFEA provides better spatial resolution of the broad ion beam ion optics emission region and reduces the beam plasma density in the vicinity of analyzer entry. An electron repeller grid placed in front of the RFEA collector was found critical for suppressing secondary electrons, both those incoming to the collector and those released from its surface, and improved energy spectrum measurement repeatability and accuracy. The use of finer mesh single- and double-grid retarding structures reduces the retarding grid lens effect and improves the analyzer energy resolution and accuracy of the measured spectrum mean energy. However, additional analyzer component and configuration improvements did not further change the analyzed IEDF shape or mean energy value. This led us to conclude that the optimized analyzer construction provides an energy resolution considerably narrower than the investigated ion beam energy spectrum full width at half maximum, and the derived energy spectrum is an objective and accurate representation of the analyzed broad ion beam energy distribution characteristics. A quantitative study of the focusing voltage and retarding grid field effects based on the experimental data and modeling results have supported this conclusion.« less

Phase pupil functions for focal-depth enhancement derived from a Wigner distribution function.

PubMed

Zalvidea, D; Sicre, E E

1998-06-10

A method for obtaining phase-retardation functions, which give rise to an increase of the image focal depth, is proposed. To this end, the Wigner distribution function corresponding to a specific aperture that has an associated small depth of focus in image space is conveniently sheared in the phase-space domain to generate a new Wigner distribution function. From this new function a more uniform on-axis image irradiance can be accomplished. This approach is illustrated by comparison of the imaging performance of both the derived phase function and a previously reported logarithmic phase distribution.

Solution of the radiative transfer equation for Rayleigh scattering using the infinite medium Green's function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biçer, M.; Kaşkaş, A.

2018-03-01

The infinite medium Green's function is used to solve the half-space albedo, slab albedo and Milne problems for the unpolarized Rayleigh scattering case; these problems are the most classical problems of radiative transfer theory. The numerical results are obtained and are compared with previous ones.

Green's function solution to radiative heat transfer between longitudinal gray fins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frankel, J. I.; Silvestri, J. J.

1991-01-01

A demonstration is presented of the applicability and versatility of a pure integral formulation for radiative-conductive heat-transfer problems. Preliminary results have been obtained which indicate that this formulation allows an accurate, fast, and stable computation procedure to be implemented. Attention is given to the accessory problem defining Green's function.

Indirect boundary element method to simulate elastic wave propagation in piecewise irregular and flat regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perton, Mathieu; Contreras-Zazueta, Marcial A.; Sánchez-Sesma, Francisco J.

2016-06-01

A new implementation of indirect boundary element method allows simulating the elastic wave propagation in complex configurations made of embedded regions that are homogeneous with irregular boundaries or flat layers. In an older implementation, each layer of a flat layered region would have been treated as a separated homogeneous region without taking into account the flat boundary information. For both types of regions, the scattered field results from fictitious sources positioned along their boundaries. For the homogeneous regions, the fictitious sources emit as in a full-space and the wave field is given by analytical Green's functions. For flat layered regions, fictitious sources emit as in an unbounded flat layered region and the wave field is given by Green's functions obtained from the discrete wavenumber (DWN) method. The new implementation allows then reducing the length of the discretized boundaries but DWN Green's functions require much more computation time than the full-space Green's functions. Several optimization steps are then implemented and commented. Validations are presented for 2-D and 3-D problems. Higher efficiency is achieved in 3-D.

Ambient Seismic Noise Monitoring of Time-lapse Velocity Changes During CO2 Injection at Otway, South Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saygin, E.; Lumley, D. E.

2017-12-01

We use continuous seismic data recorded with an array of 909 buried geophones at Otway, South Australia, to investigate the potential of using ambient seismic noise for time-lapse monitoring of the subsurface. The array was installed prior to a 15,000 ton CO2 injection in 2016-17, in order to detect and monitor the evolution of the injected CO2 plume, and any associated microseismic activity. Continuously recorded data from the vertical components of the geophone array were cross-correlated to retrieve the inter-station Green's functions. The dense collection of Green's functions contains diving body waves and surface Rayleigh waves. Green's Functions were then compared with each other at different time frames including the pre-injection period to track subtle changes in the travel times due to the CO2 injection. Our results show a clear change in the velocities of Green's functions at the start of injection for both body waves and surface waves for wave paths traversing the injection area, whereas the observed changes are much smaller for areas which are far from the injection well.

On the Cubic Lattice Green Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joyce, G. S.

1994-05-01

Wheatstone Physics Laboratory, King's College, University of London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, U.K. It is proved that K (k+) = [(4-eta )1/2 - (1 - eta )1/2]K(k-), where eta is a complex variable which lies in a certain region R2 of the eta plane, and K (k±) are complete elliptic integrals of the first kind with moduli k± which are given by k±2equiv k±2(eta ) = 1/2 ± 1/4eta (4 - eta )1/2 - 1/4(2-eta )(1-eta )1/2. This basic result is then used to express the face-centred cubic and simple cubic lattice Green functions at the origin in terms of the square of a complete elliptic integral of the first kind. Several new identities involving the Heun function F(a, b; α , β , γ , δ ; eta ) are also derived. Next it is shown that the three cubic lattice Green functions all have parametric representations which involve the Green function for the two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. Finally, the results are applied to a variety of problems in lattice statistics. In particular, a new simplified formula for the generating function of staircase polygons on a four-dimensional hypercubic lattice is derived.

On Green's function retrieval by iterative substitution of the coupled Marchenko equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Neut, Joost; Vasconcelos, Ivan; Wapenaar, Kees

2015-11-01

Iterative substitution of the coupled Marchenko equations is a novel methodology to retrieve the Green's functions from a source or receiver array at an acquisition surface to an arbitrary location in an acoustic medium. The methodology requires as input the single-sided reflection response at the acquisition surface and an initial focusing function, being the time-reversed direct wavefield from the acquisition surface to a specified location in the subsurface. We express the iterative scheme that is applied by this methodology explicitly as the successive actions of various linear operators, acting on an initial focusing function. These operators involve multidimensional crosscorrelations with the reflection data and truncations in time. We offer physical interpretations of the multidimensional crosscorrelations by subtracting traveltimes along common ray paths at the stationary points of the underlying integrals. This provides a clear understanding of how individual events are retrieved by the scheme. Our interpretation also exposes some of the scheme's limitations in terms of what can be retrieved in case of a finite recording aperture. Green's function retrieval is only successful if the relevant stationary points are sampled. As a consequence, internal multiples can only be retrieved at a subsurface location with a particular ray parameter if this location is illuminated by the direct wavefield with this specific ray parameter. Several assumptions are required to solve the Marchenko equations. We show that these assumptions are not always satisfied in arbitrary heterogeneous media, which can result in incomplete Green's function retrieval and the emergence of artefacts. Despite these limitations, accurate Green's functions can often be retrieved by the iterative scheme, which is highly relevant for seismic imaging and inversion of internal multiple reflections.

Fragile X mental retardation protein controls synaptic vesicle exocytosis by modulating N-type calcium channel density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferron, Laurent; Nieto-Rostro, Manuela; Cassidy, John S.; Dolphin, Annette C.

2014-04-01

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common heritable form of mental retardation, is characterized by synaptic dysfunction. Synaptic transmission depends critically on presynaptic calcium entry via voltage-gated calcium (CaV) channels. Here we show that the functional expression of neuronal N-type CaV channels (CaV2.2) is regulated by fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). We find that FMRP knockdown in dorsal root ganglion neurons increases CaV channel density in somata and in presynaptic terminals. We then show that FMRP controls CaV2.2 surface expression by targeting the channels to the proteasome for degradation. The interaction between FMRP and CaV2.2 occurs between the carboxy-terminal domain of FMRP and domains of CaV2.2 known to interact with the neurotransmitter release machinery. Finally, we show that FMRP controls synaptic exocytosis via CaV2.2 channels. Our data indicate that FMRP is a potent regulator of presynaptic activity, and its loss is likely to contribute to synaptic dysfunction in FXS.

Drosophila Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein Developmentally Regulates Activity-Dependent Axon Pruning

PubMed Central

Tessier, Charles R.; Broadie, Kendal

2014-01-01

Summary Fragile X Syndrome (FraX) is a broad-spectrum neurological disorder with symptoms ranging from hyperexcitability to mental retardation and autism. Loss of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (fmr1) gene product, the mRNA-binding translational regulator FMRP, causes structural over-elaboration of dendritic and axonal processes as well as functional alterations in synaptic plasticity at maturity. It is unclear, however, whether FraX is primarily a disease of development, a disease of plasticity or both; a distinction vital for engineering intervention strategies. To address this critical issue, we have used the Drosophila FraX model to investigate the developmental roles of Drosophila FMRP (dFMRP). dFMRP expression and regulation of chickadee/profilin coincides with a transient window of late brain development. During this time, dFMRP is positively regulated by sensory input activity, and required to limit axon growth and for efficient activity-dependent pruning of axon branches in the Mushroom Body learning/memory center. These results demonstrate that dFMRP has a primary role in activity-dependent neural circuit refinement in late brain development. PMID:18321984

A novel mutation in PGAP2 gene causes developmental delay, intellectual disability, epilepsy and microcephaly in consanguineous Saudi family.

PubMed

Naseer, Muhammad Imran; Rasool, Mahmood; Jan, Mohammed M; Chaudhary, Adeel G; Pushparaj, Peter Natesan; Abuzenadah, Adel M; Al-Qahtani, Mohammad H

2016-12-15

PGAP2 (Post-GPI Attachment to Proteins 2) gene is involved in lipid remodeling steps of Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor maturation. At the surface of the cell this gene is required for proper expression of GPI-anchored proteins. Hyperphosphatasia with mental retardation syndrome-3 is an autosomal recessive disorder usually characterized by severe mental retardation. Mutations in the PGAP2 gene cause hyperphosphatasia mental retardation syndrome-3. We have identified a large consanguineous family from Saudi origin segregating developmental delay, intellectual disability, epilepsy and microcephaly. Whole exome sequencing with 100× coverage was performed on two affected siblings of the family. Data analysis in the patient revealed a novel missense mutation c.191C>T in PGAP2 gene resulting in Alanine to Valine substitution (Ala64Val). The mutation was reconfirmed and validated by subsequent Sanger sequencing method. The mutation was ruled out in 100 unrelated healthy controls. We suggest that this pathogenic mutation disrupts the proper function of the gene proteins resulting in the disease state. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dyskinesias subside off all medication in a boy with autistic disorder and severe mental retardation.

PubMed

Brasić, J R; Barnett, J Y; Aisemberg, P; Ahn, S C; Nadrich, R H; Kaplan, D; Ahmad, R; Mendonça, M de F

1997-12-01

A boy with autistic disorder and severe mental retardation developed severe dyskinesias, including objective akathisia (probable) and tics, a month after discontinuation of at least two years of treatment with drugs block dopamine receptors. These dyskinesias greatly subsided during a 17-wk. open-label nonblind clinical trial of clomipramine, and returned transiently when the parents abruptly discontinued clomipramine. However, the dyskinesias gradually subsided during two and a half years of follow-up with the boy being off all medication. A few stereotypies remain. We believe this suggests the hypothesis that movement disorders, such as withdrawal and tardive akathisia and tics, occurring in boys with autistic disorder treated with dopamine receptor-blocking drugs may subside months or years after discontinuation of the agents and that clomipramine may facilitate this process. We also hypothesize that some boys with autistic disorder and mental retardation exhibit fewer movement disorders, fewer psychiatric symptoms, and better over-all functioning after they have received no dopamine receptor-blocking drugs for several months, and this improvement continues years after the medication has ceased.

Further support for using the dementia rating scale in the assessment of neuro-cognitive functions of individuals with mental retardation.

PubMed

McDaniel, W F; McLaughlin, T

2000-02-01

The utility of the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) when administered to individuals with mental retardation (MR) was examined. Our sample was comprised of individuals residing in an intermediate care facility in the southeastern United States, included individuals diagnosed with mild, moderate, or severe MR, and consisted of both Caucasians (50%) and individuals of African-American descent (50%). Descriptive statistics for the DRS Total Score and five subtests (e. g., Attention, Initiation/Perseveration, Construction, Conceptualization, and Memory) obtained from our sample of individuals with mild MR compared favorably with previously published values. The group with mild MR performed significantly better than the group with moderate MR on the Total Score and all subtests except Construction, and the group with moderate MR performed significantly better than individuals with severe MR on all measures. These results show that the DRS can provide information about the cognitive strengths and weaknesses of individuals with mental retardation, and they show that the DRS can be administered to a wide range of individuals diagnosed with MR.

Mutations in the gene encoding the Sigma 2 subunit of the adaptor protein 1 complex, AP1S2, cause X-linked mental retardation.

PubMed

Tarpey, Patrick S; Stevens, Claire; Teague, Jon; Edkins, Sarah; O'Meara, Sarah; Avis, Tim; Barthorpe, Syd; Buck, Gemma; Butler, Adam; Cole, Jennifer; Dicks, Ed; Gray, Kristian; Halliday, Kelly; Harrison, Rachel; Hills, Katy; Hinton, Jonathon; Jones, David; Menzies, Andrew; Mironenko, Tatiana; Perry, Janet; Raine, Keiran; Richardson, David; Shepherd, Rebecca; Small, Alexandra; Tofts, Calli; Varian, Jennifer; West, Sofie; Widaa, Sara; Yates, Andy; Catford, Rachael; Butler, Julia; Mallya, Uma; Moon, Jenny; Luo, Ying; Dorkins, Huw; Thompson, Deborah; Easton, Douglas F; Wooster, Richard; Bobrow, Martin; Carpenter, Nancy; Simensen, Richard J; Schwartz, Charles E; Stevenson, Roger E; Turner, Gillian; Partington, Michael; Gecz, Jozef; Stratton, Michael R; Futreal, P Andrew; Raymond, F Lucy

2006-12-01

In a systematic sequencing screen of the coding exons of the X chromosome in 250 families with X-linked mental retardation (XLMR), we identified two nonsense mutations and one consensus splice-site mutation in the AP1S2 gene on Xp22 in three families. Affected individuals in these families showed mild-to-profound mental retardation. Other features included hypotonia early in life and delay in walking. AP1S2 encodes an adaptin protein that constitutes part of the adaptor protein complex found at the cytoplasmic face of coated vesicles located at the Golgi complex. The complex mediates the recruitment of clathrin to the vesicle membrane. Aberrant endocytic processing through disruption of adaptor protein complexes is likely to result from the AP1S2 mutations identified in the three XLMR-affected families, and such defects may plausibly cause abnormal synaptic development and function. AP1S2 is the first reported XLMR gene that encodes a protein directly involved in the assembly of endocytic vesicles.

Investigation of the Effects of an Aquatics Program on the Psycho-Motor Function of Trainable Mentally Retarded Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, James F.; Throop, Robert K.

To determine the effects of an aquatics program on the psycho-motor functions and body image of trainable mentally handicapped children, 60 children under 16 years of age were selected, and 39 children instructed three days per week over a period of one year. Results did not support the hypothesis that subjects in instructional aquatic classes…

AUTISTIC FEATURES IN CHILDREN WITH MENTAL RETARDATION

PubMed Central

Kar, Nilamadhab; Khanna, Rakesh; Kar, Gopal Chandra

1997-01-01

Most of the autistic disorder patients are also mentally retarded and many mentally retarded persons exhibit autistic symptoms. By using a standard instrument (Ritvo-Freeman Real Life Rating Scale) the autistic features of the mentally retarded children were studied. The study also examined the influence of age, sex and level of mental retardation on the occurrence of autistic symptoms. Children who came for consultation to child psychiatric unit were compared with those at a school for children with mental retardation receiving stimulation. Male children from child psychiatric unit had significantly higher scores than those from the school. Social and language impairment could be reliably identified and grouped. It was possible to diagnose the syndrome of autism in children with mental retardation in a significant number (9.6%)as compared to that was possible only clinically (1.9%). More number of children with severe/ profound mental retardation could be diagnosed as autistic. The autistic syndrome in children with mental retardation can be picked up more effectively by the use of structured instrument. PMID:21584097

Flammability and Photo-Stability of Selected Polymer Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lo, Jeelin

1981-01-01

A systematic approach to the improvement of the flammability of epoxy resins, bisphenol-A polycarbonate poly(butylene terephthalate), and Nylon 6.6 by introducing halogens and loop functionality into the flame retardants is described. The phthalides (the loop functionality containing molecules) include 3,3-bis(4-bromophenyl)-phthalide, 3,3-bis(4-chlorophenyl)phthalide, and phenolphthalein. The phthalide containing epoxy resins are synthesized and characterized in comparison with the bisphenol-A epoxy resins in terms of flammability in the copolymer systems. The resins include diglycidyl ethers of phenolphthalein, bisphenol-A. tetrabromobisphenol-A, and tetraoromophenolphthalein. The vaporization of the phthalide additive in the polymers is observed in Thermal Gravimetric Analysis. The flame retardancy is primarily due to the presence of halogens. In the poly(butylene terephthalate) system, the cleavage of the C(sub aromatic) -B bond of the flame retardant additive enhances the crosslinking react ions between the aromatic rings resulting in an increase of char formation. In the epoxy resin systems, loop functionality contributes to char formation to a larger extent. The interaction between the epoxy resin and poly-(butylene terephthalate) follows the mechanism of insertion of the oxirane ring into the ester bond. This mechanism is studied by FT-IR. The investigation of the thermal properties of the char-forming phenol-formaldehyde resins is conducted to provide information for the systematic design of high temperature flame-resistant phenolics. NMR and FT-IR are used to characterize the oligomeric resins and the cured resins. The curing agents used in the study include formaldehyde, s-trioxane and terephthaloyl chloride. The brominated phenolic resins are found to have higher oxygen indices with lower char yields.

Passive detection and localization of fatigue cracking in aluminum plates using Green's function reconstruction from ambient noise.

PubMed

Yang, Yang; Xiao, Li; Qu, Wenzhong; Lu, Ye

2017-11-01

Recent theoretical and experimental studies have demonstrated that a local Green's function can be retrieved from the cross-correlation of ambient noise field. This technique can be used to detect fatigue cracking in metallic structures, owing to the fact that the presence of crack can lead to a change in Green's function. This paper presents a method of structural fatigue cracking characterization method by measuring Green's function reconstruction from noise excitation and verifies the feasibility of crack detection in poor noise source distribution. Fatigue cracks usually generate nonlinear effects, in which different wave amplitudes and frequency compositions can cause different nonlinear responses. This study also undertakes analysis of the capacity of the proposed approach to identify fatigue cracking under different noise amplitudes and frequency ranges. Experimental investigations of an aluminum plate are conducted to assess the cross-correlations of received noise between sensor pairs and finally to detect the introduced fatigue crack. A damage index is proposed according to the variation between cross-correlations obtained from the pristine crack closed state and the crack opening-closure state when sufficient noise amplitude is used to generate nonlinearity. A probability distribution map of damage is calculated based on damage indices. The fatigue crack introduced in the aluminum plate is successfully identified and oriented, verifying that a fatigue crack can be detected by reconstructing Green's functions from an imperfect diffuse field in which ambient noise sources exist locally. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Prediction of Jet Noise Ground Effects Using an Acoustic Analogy and a Tailored Green's Function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Steven A. E.

2013-01-01

An assessment of an acoustic analogy for the mixing noise component of jet noise in the presence of an infinite surface is presented. The reflection of jet noise by the ground changes the distribution of acoustic energy and is characterized by constructive and destructive interference patterns. The equivalent sources are modeled based on the two-point cross- correlation of the turbulent velocity fluctuations and a steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution. Propagation effects, due to reflection by the surface and refaction by the jet shear layer, are taken into account by calculating the vector Green's function of the linearized Euler equations (LEE). The vector Green's function of the LEE is written in relation to Lilley's equation; that is, approximated with matched asymptotic solutions and the Green's function of the convective Helmholtz equation. The Green's function of the convective Helmholtz equation for an infinite flat plane with impedance is the Weyl-van der Pol equation. Predictions are compared with an unheated Mach 0.95 jet produced by a nozzle with an exit diameter of 0.3302 meters. Microphones are placed at various heights and distances from the nozzle exit in the peak jet noise direction above an acoustically hard and an asphalt surface. The predictions are shown to accurately capture jet noise ground effects that are characterized by constructive and destructive interference patterns in the mid- and far-field and capture overall trends in the near-field.

Mitigating and adapting to climate change: multi-functional and multi-scale assessment of green urban infrastructure.

PubMed

Demuzere, M; Orru, K; Heidrich, O; Olazabal, E; Geneletti, D; Orru, H; Bhave, A G; Mittal, N; Feliu, E; Faehnle, M

2014-12-15

In order to develop climate resilient urban areas and reduce emissions, several opportunities exist starting from conscious planning and design of green (and blue) spaces in these landscapes. Green urban infrastructure has been regarded as beneficial, e.g. by balancing water flows, providing thermal comfort. This article explores the existing evidence on the contribution of green spaces to climate change mitigation and adaptation services. We suggest a framework of ecosystem services for systematizing the evidence on the provision of bio-physical benefits (e.g. CO2 sequestration) as well as social and psychological benefits (e.g. improved health) that enable coping with (adaptation) or reducing the adverse effects (mitigation) of climate change. The multi-functional and multi-scale nature of green urban infrastructure complicates the categorization of services and benefits, since in reality the interactions between various benefits are manifold and appear on different scales. We will show the relevance of the benefits from green urban infrastructures on three spatial scales (i.e. city, neighborhood and site specific scales). We will further report on co-benefits and trade-offs between the various services indicating that a benefit could in turn be detrimental in relation to other functions. The manuscript identifies avenues for further research on the role of green urban infrastructure, in different types of cities, climates and social contexts. Our systematic understanding of the bio-physical and social processes defining various services allows targeting stressors that may hamper the provision of green urban infrastructure services in individual behavior as well as in wider planning and environmental management in urban areas. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near-infrared lymphatic imaging demonstrates the dynamics of lymph flow and lymphangiogenesis during the acute versus chronic phases of arthritis in mice.

PubMed

Zhou, Quan; Wood, Ronald; Schwarz, Edward M; Wang, Yong-Jun; Xing, Lianping

2010-07-01

To develop an in vivo imaging method to assess lymphatic draining function in the K/BxN mouse model of inflammatory arthritis. Indocyanine green, a near-infrared fluorescent dye, was injected intradermally into the footpads of wild-type mice, mouse limbs were illuminated with an 806-nm near-infrared laser, and the movement of indocyanine green from the injection site to the draining popliteal lymph node (LN) was recorded with a CCD camera. Indocyanine green near-infrared images were analyzed to obtain 5 measures of lymphatic function across time. Images of K/BxN arthritic mice and control nonarthritic littermates were obtained at 1 month of age, when acute joint inflammation commenced, and again at 3 months of age, when joint inflammation became chronic. Lymphangiogenesis in popliteal LNs was assessed by immunochemistry. Indocyanine green and its transport within lymphatic vessels were readily visualized, and quantitative measures were derived. During the acute phase of arthritis, the lymphatic vessels were dilated, with increased indocyanine green signal intensity and lymphatic pulses, and popliteal LNs became fluorescent quickly. During the chronic phase, new lymphatic vessels were present near the foot. However, the appearance of indocyanine green in lymphatic vessels was delayed. The size and area of popliteal LN lymphatic sinuses progressively increased in the K/BxN mice. Our findings indicate that indocyanine green near-infrared lymphatic imaging is a valuable method for assessing the lymphatic draining function in mice with inflammatory arthritis. Indocyanine green-near-infrared imaging of K/BxN mice identified 2 distinct lymphatic phenotypes during the acute and chronic phase of inflammation. This technique can be used to assess new therapies for lymphatic disorders.

Accurate and quantitative polarization-sensitive OCT by unbiased birefringence estimator with noise-stochastic correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasaragod, Deepa; Sugiyama, Satoshi; Ikuno, Yasushi; Alonso-Caneiro, David; Yamanari, Masahiro; Fukuda, Shinichi; Oshika, Tetsuro; Hong, Young-Joo; Li, En; Makita, Shuichi; Miura, Masahiro; Yasuno, Yoshiaki

2016-03-01

Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a functional extension of OCT that contrasts the polarization properties of tissues. It has been applied to ophthalmology, cardiology, etc. Proper quantitative imaging is required for a widespread clinical utility. However, the conventional method of averaging to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the contrast of the phase retardation (or birefringence) images introduce a noise bias offset from the true value. This bias reduces the effectiveness of birefringence contrast for a quantitative study. Although coherent averaging of Jones matrix tomography has been widely utilized and has improved the image quality, the fundamental limitation of nonlinear dependency of phase retardation and birefringence to the SNR was not overcome. So the birefringence obtained by PS-OCT was still not accurate for a quantitative imaging. The nonlinear effect of SNR to phase retardation and birefringence measurement was previously formulated in detail for a Jones matrix OCT (JM-OCT) [1]. Based on this, we had developed a maximum a-posteriori (MAP) estimator and quantitative birefringence imaging was demonstrated [2]. However, this first version of estimator had a theoretical shortcoming. It did not take into account the stochastic nature of SNR of OCT signal. In this paper, we present an improved version of the MAP estimator which takes into account the stochastic property of SNR. This estimator uses a probability distribution function (PDF) of true local retardation, which is proportional to birefringence, under a specific set of measurements of the birefringence and SNR. The PDF was pre-computed by a Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation based on the mathematical model of JM-OCT before the measurement. A comparison between this new MAP estimator, our previous MAP estimator [2], and the standard mean estimator is presented. The comparisons are performed both by numerical simulation and in vivo measurements of anterior and posterior eye segment as well as in skin imaging. The new estimator shows superior performance and also shows clearer image contrast.

Quantum field theory in the presence of a medium: Green's function expansions

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

Kheirandish, Fardin; Salimi, Shahriar

2011-12-15

Starting from a Lagrangian and using functional-integration techniques, series expansions of Green's function of a real scalar field and electromagnetic field, in the presence of a medium, are obtained. The parameter of expansion in these series is the susceptibility function of the medium. Relativistic and nonrelativistic Langevin-type equations are derived. Series expansions for Lifshitz energy in finite temperature and for an arbitrary matter distribution are derived. Covariant formulations for both scalar and electromagnetic fields are introduced. Two illustrative examples are given.

Proving relations between modular graph functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basu, Anirban

2016-12-01

We consider modular graph functions that arise in the low energy expansion of the four graviton amplitude in type II string theory. The vertices of these graphs are the positions of insertions of vertex operators on the toroidal worldsheet, while the links are the scalar Green functions connecting the vertices. Graphs with four and five links satisfy several non-trivial relations, which have been proved recently. We prove these relations by using elementary properties of Green functions and the details of the graphs. We also prove a relation between modular graph functions with six links.

Ambient Noise Interferometry and Surface Wave Array Tomography: Promises and Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Hilst, R. D.; Yao, H.; de Hoop, M. V.; Campman, X.; Solna, K.

2008-12-01

In the late 1990ies most seismologists would have frowned at the possibility of doing high-resolution surface wave tomography with noise instead of with signal associated with ballistic source-receiver propagation. Some may still do, but surface wave tomography with Green's functions estimated through ambient noise interferometry ('sourceless tomography') has transformed from a curiosity into one of the (almost) standard tools for analysis of data from dense seismograph arrays. Indeed, spectacular applications of ambient noise surface wave tomography have recently been published. For example, application to data from arrays in SE Tibet revealed structures in the crust beneath the Tibetan plateau that could not be resolved by traditional tomography (Yao et al., GJI, 2006, 2008). While the approach is conceptually simple, in application the proverbial devil is in the detail. Full reconstruction of the Green's function requires that the wavefields used are diffusive and that ambient noise energy is evenly distributed in the spatial dimensions of interest. In the field, these conditions are not usually met, and (frequency dependent) non-uniformity of the noise sources may lead to incomplete reconstruction of the Green's function. Furthermore, ambient noise distributions can be time-dependent, and seasonal variations have been documented. Naive use of empirical Green's functions may produce (unknown) bias in the tomographic models. The degrading effect on EGFs of the directionality of noise distribution forms particular challenges for applications beyond isotropic surface wave inversions, such as inversions for (azimuthal) anisotropy and attempts to use higher modes (or body waves). Incomplete Green's function reconstruction can (probably) not be prevented, but it may be possible to reduce the problem and - at least - understand the degree of incomplete reconstruction and prevent it from degrading the tomographic model. We will present examples of Rayleigh wave inversions and discuss strategies to mitigate effects of incomplete Green's function reconstruction on tomographic images.

Analysis and attenuation of artifacts caused by spatially and temporally correlated noise sources in Green's function estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, E. R.; Dou, S.; Lindsey, N.; Chang, J. P.; Biondi, B. C.; Ajo Franklin, J. B.; Wagner, A. M.; Bjella, K.; Daley, T. M.; Freifeld, B. M.; Robertson, M.; Ulrich, C.; Williams, E. F.

2016-12-01

Localized strong sources of noise in an array have been shown to cause artifacts in Green's function estimates obtained via cross-correlation. Their effect is often reduced through the use of cross-coherence. Beyond independent localized sources, temporally or spatially correlated sources of noise frequently occur in practice but violate basic assumptions of much of the theory behind ambient noise Green's function retrieval. These correlated noise sources can occur in urban environments due to transportation infrastructure, or in areas around industrial operations like pumps running at CO2 sequestration sites or oil and gas drilling sites. Better understanding of these artifacts should help us develop and justify methods for their automatic removal from Green's function estimates. We derive expected artifacts in cross-correlations from several distributions of correlated noise sources including point sources that are exact time-lagged repeats of each other and Gaussian-distributed in space and time with covariance that exponentially decays. Assuming the noise distribution stays stationary over time, the artifacts become more coherent as more ambient noise is included in the Green's function estimates. We support our results with simple computational models. We observed these artifacts in Green's function estimates from a 2015 ambient noise study in Fairbanks, AK where a trenched distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) array was deployed to collect ambient noise alongside a road with the goal of developing a permafrost thaw monitoring system. We found that joints in the road repeatedly being hit by cars travelling at roughly the speed limit led to artifacts similar to those expected when several points are time-lagged copies of each other. We also show test results of attenuating the effects of these sources during time-lapse monitoring of an active thaw test in the same location with noise detected by a 2D trenched DAS array.

Flame retardant spandex type polyurethanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howarth, J. T.; Sheth, S.; Sidman, K. R.; Massucco, A. A. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

Flame retardant elastomeric compositions were developed, comprised of: (1) spandex type polyurethane having incorporated into the polymer chain, halogen containing polyols; (2) conventional spandex type polyurethanes in physical admixture flame retardant additives; and (3) fluoroelastomeric resins in physical admixture with flame retardant additives. Methods of preparing fibers of the flame retardant elastomeric materials are presented and articles of manufacture comprised of the elastomeric materials are mentioned.

UNDERNUTRITION IN EARLY LIFE DOES NOT IMPAIR LEARNING IN YOUNG OR AGING RATS.

EPA Science Inventory

Prenatal undernutrition is associated with increased incidence of obesity, heart disease, diabetes. Effects of pre- and post-natal undernutrition on nervous system function in middle-aged and aging male SD rats were examined. Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) was induced by ...

[Long-term clinical course of sequelae in patients with neonatal anoxic encephalopathy resulting in profound mental retardation and motor disturbance].

PubMed

Ishizaki, A; Kubota, M; Fueki, N; Shinozaki, M; Kurata, K; Takei, M; Sakamoto, K

1993-01-01

A long-term observation has been made in 58 patients (30 males and 28 females) with severe sequelae of neonatal anoxic encephalopathy. They aged from 8 months to 65 years. All of them had motor disturbances and profound mental retardation. Motor function was improved in 4 patients with aging. In contrast, motor activity deteriorated in 11 cases, of which 4 showed a mental regression. Among them, patients who had originally better motor ability than sitting were likely to deteriorate by uncontrollable epilepsy and/or excessive administration of anticonvulsants. Regression of the patients with worse motor ability like bedridden appeared to attributable hypertonia of muscles and bodily deformation. Fifteen cases showed an exacerbation of general condition which originated predominantly to respiratory distress. Twelve patients died including 6 exacerbated cases. Exacerbation or death may have occurred frequently in specific periods of infancy, adolescence and youth with the patients who showed very low motor function such as bedridden and no locomotion.

Non-Debye relaxation and resonance phenomena in dielectric spectra of CaCu3Ti4O12 family functional ceramic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turik, A. V.; Bogatin, A. S.

2015-01-01

Experimental data on dielectric spectra of calcium copper titanate, CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) family functional ceramics have been studied and analyzed. It is shown that there are both non-Debye relaxation and resonance regions in their spectra. An occurrence of a retardation of complex permittivity and a relaxation of electric modulus is established. An average relaxation frequency of the electric modulus is considerably (in some cases several orders of magnitude) larger than the retardation frequency of the permittivity. A parallel connection of the capacity and complex conductivity is used to model and interpret experimental data on a negative permittivity in the infralow frequency range. Computer simulation enables us to reveal that the hopping conductivity, characteristic for disordered heterogeneous systems, is to be taken into account to describe adequately experimental data on passing the real part of the capacity (or permittivity) through zero. We have found a critical frequency at which the parallel resonance would take place.

Small indels induced by CRISPR/Cas9 in the 5' region of microRNA lead to its depletion and Drosha processing retardance.

PubMed

Jiang, Qian; Meng, Xing; Meng, Lingwei; Chang, Nannan; Xiong, Jingwei; Cao, Huiqing; Liang, Zicai

2014-01-01

MicroRNA knockout by genome editing technologies is promising. In order to extend the application of the technology and to investigate the function of a specific miRNA, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to deplete human miR-93 from a cluster by targeting its 5' region in HeLa cells. Various small indels were induced in the targeted region containing the Drosha processing site and seed sequences. Interestingly, we found that even a single nucleotide deletion led to complete knockout of the target miRNA with high specificity. Functional knockout was confirmed by phenotype analysis. Furthermore, de novo microRNAs were not found by RNA-seq. Nevertheless, expression of the pri-microRNAs was increased. When combined with structural analysis, the data indicated that biogenesis was impaired. Altogether, we showed that small indels in the 5' region of a microRNA result in sequence depletion as well as Drosha processing retard.

Erythorbyl laurate as a potential food additive with multi-functionalities: Interfacial characteristics and antioxidant activity.

PubMed

Park, Kyung-Min; Lee, Min Joo; Jo, Su-Kyung; Choi, Seung Jun; Lee, JaeHwan; Chang, Pahn-Shick

2017-01-15

The interfacial characteristics and antioxidant activities of erythorbyl laurate were investigated to provide information on practical applications as a multi-functional food additive. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of erythorbyl laurate was 0.101mM and its foam stability was three times (half-life 24.33±0.94h) higher than that of Tween 20 (8.00±1.63h). In free radical scavenging assay, the negligible decrease in EC50 of erythorbyl laurate compared to erythorbic acid manifested that C-5 selective esterification of erythorbic acid with an acyl group (lauric acid) did not reduce the inherent antioxidant activity of the donor (erythorbic acid). Erythorbyl laurate formed lipid peroxides slower (i.e. retarded oxidation) in an emulsion system than did erythorbic acid. The localization of erythorbyl laurate as an emulsifier allowed the antioxidant molecules to be concentrated at the oil-water interface where oxidation is prevalent, which led to more effective retardation of lipid oxidation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Short- and long-term memory are modulated by multiple isoforms of the fragile X mental retardation protein.

PubMed

Banerjee, Paromita; Schoenfeld, Brian P; Bell, Aaron J; Choi, Catherine H; Bradley, Michael P; Hinchey, Paul; Kollaros, Maria; Park, Jae H; McBride, Sean M J; Dockendorff, Thomas C

2010-05-12

The diversity of protein isoforms arising from alternative splicing is thought to modulate fine-tuning of synaptic plasticity. Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), a neuronal RNA binding protein, exists in isoforms as a result of alternative splicing, but the contribution of these isoforms to neural plasticity are not well understood. We show that two isoforms of Drosophila melanogaster FMRP (dFMR1) have differential roles in mediating neural development and behavior functions conferred by the dfmr1 gene. These isoforms differ in the presence of a protein interaction module that is related to prion domains and is functionally conserved between FMRPs. Expression of both isoforms is necessary for optimal performance in tests of short- and long-term memory of courtship training. The presence or absence of the protein interaction domain may govern the types of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes dFMR1 assembles into, with different RNPs regulating gene expression in a manner necessary for establishing distinct phases of memory formation.

Green fluorescent protein nanopolygons as monodisperse supramolecular assemblies of functional proteins with defined valency

PubMed Central

Kim, Young Eun; Kim, Yu-na; Kim, Jung A.; Kim, Ho Min; Jung, Yongwon

2015-01-01

Supramolecular protein assemblies offer novel nanoscale architectures with molecular precision and unparalleled functional diversity. A key challenge, however, is to create precise nano-assemblies of functional proteins with both defined structures and a controlled number of protein-building blocks. Here we report a series of supramolecular green fluorescent protein oligomers that are assembled in precise polygonal geometries and prepared in a monodisperse population. Green fluorescent protein is engineered to be self-assembled in cells into oligomeric assemblies that are natively separated in a single-protein resolution by surface charge manipulation, affording monodisperse protein (nano)polygons from dimer to decamer. Several functional proteins are multivalently displayed on the oligomers with controlled orientations. Spatial arrangements of protein oligomers and displayed functional proteins are directly visualized by a transmission electron microscope. By employing our functional protein assemblies, we provide experimental insight into multivalent protein–protein interactions and tools to manipulate receptor clustering on live cell surfaces. PMID:25972078

Moral reasoning of Piagetian-matched retarded and nonretarded children and adolescents.

PubMed

Kahn, J V

1983-09-01

The moral reasoning of four IQ/etiology groups was investigated: 19 organically abnormal moderately retarded, 19 organically abnormal mildly retarded, 19 mildly retarded due to psychosocial disadvantage, and 19 nonretarded individuals. In each group 12 Ss were preoperational and seven concrete operational. Moral reasoning was assessed by an instrument using moral dilemmas based on Kohlberg's procedures. The Slosson Intelligence Test was used to determine the IQs and mental ages of each S. Piagetian stage was determined with the standard conservation of number tasks. The findings indicated no overall significant differences between the mildly retarded and the nonretarded Ss or between the mildly retarded and the moderately retarded Ss, but differences were found between the moderately retarded and the nonretarded Ss. A significant interaction was found between the two independent variables, IQ/etiology and cognitive level. The results were discussed as supporting Zigler's development position and as damaging to Kohlberg's position.

Dyslipidemia is not associated with cardiovascular disease risk in an animal model of mild chronic suboptimal nutrition.

PubMed

Lifshitz, Fima; Pintos, Patricia M; Lezón, Christian E; Macri, Elisa V; Friedman, Silvia M; Boyer, Patricia M

2012-01-01

Previous studies performed in an experimental model of nutritional growth retardation (NGR) have observed metabolic adaptation. We hypothesized that changes in lipid-lipoprotein profile, glucose, and insulin levels occur, whereas overall body growth is reduced.The aim of this study was to assess serum lipid-lipoprotein profile, hepatogram, insulinemia and glycemia, and CVD risk markers in rats fed a suboptimal diet. Weanling male rats were assigned either to control (C) or NGR group. In this 4-week study, C rats were fed ad libitum a standard diet, and NGR rats received 80% of the amount of food consumed by C. Zoometric parameters, body fat content, serum lipid-lipoprotein profile, hepatogram, insulinemia, and glycemia were determined, and the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk markers homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance and homeostasis model assessment and β-cell function were calculated. Suboptimal food intake induced a significant decrease in body weight and length, which were accompanied by a reduction of 50% in body fat mass. Serum lipoproteins were significantly higher in NGR rats, with the exception of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which remained unchanged. Nutritional growth retardation rats had decreased triglycerides compared with C rats. No significant differences were detected in liver function parameters. The CVD risk markers homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-insulin resistance and homeostasis model assessment and β-cell function were significantly lower in NGR rats. Mild chronic suboptimal nutrition in weanling male rats led to growth retardation and changes in the lipid-lipoprotein profile, glucose, and insulin levels while preserving the integrity of liver function. These data suggest a metabolic adaptation during suboptimal food intake, which ensures substrates flux to tissues that require constant energy-in detriment to body growth. The CVD risk markers suggested that mild chronic food restriction of approximately 20% could provide protection against this degenerative disease. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Energy Consumption Evaluation of United States Navy Leed Certified Building For Fiscal Year 2009

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

administration functions, classroom training, laboratory functions, personnel detention, and a fully functioning dog kennel on the exterior of the...Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The goal of this effort is in...and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The goal of this effort is in compliance with

Study on the Index System of Green Ecological Building and Its Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ying

2017-12-01

Based on the concept of sustainable development, green and ecology has become a hot topic in the development and research of many industries. It is not only a new culture, but also that art, technology, material and so on will change under the guidance of this kind of thought. Architecture is the main body of the city, and it also is the necessary component of the human survival and social developments, the basic function of the building is to provide people with living space. With the development of society, the architectural function is constantly enriched, the structure tends to be complicated, but the influence of its own problems is also expanding. The development of the construction industry requires a lot of resources, and in the process of using its function and it needs other energy to provide its due support, because in the past we only consider the building function, ignoring the energy and information consumption. Considering the current social development, we have to take the energy and resource issues into account, based on this condition, the green eco-building concept and technical standards is producing, and it changed people’s views on social development. Green eco-buildings also need to have indicators as a reference, while providing guidance of architectural design and construction. This paper gives a brief exposition of the research system of green ecological architecture and its evaluation.

Effects of a new GUP-B fire retardant on mechanical properties of Korean pine when exposed to elevated temperature

Treesearch

Qingwen Wang; Weihong Wang; Jerrold E. Winandy

2005-01-01

The bending properties of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) treated with a newly formulated guanylurea phosphate (GUP) fire retardant were evaluated. The chemical processing method used to formulate this fire retardant(called FRW) results in an organic phosphate fire-retardant system with less acidic pH and fewer impurities. The fire-retardant chemical studied consisted...

Overexpression of a natural chloroplast-encoded antisense RNA in tobacco destabilizes 5S rRNA and retards plant growth.

PubMed

Hotto, Amber M; Huston, Zoe E; Stern, David B

2010-09-29

The roles of non-coding RNAs in regulating gene expression have been extensively studied in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, however few reports exist as to their roles in organellar gene regulation. Evidence for accumulation of natural antisense RNAs (asRNAs) in chloroplasts comes from the expressed sequence tag database and cDNA libraries, while functional data have been largely obtained from artificial asRNAs. In this study, we used Nicotiana tabacum to investigate the effect on sense strand transcripts of overexpressing a natural chloroplast asRNA, AS5, which is complementary to the region which encodes the 5S rRNA and tRNAArg. AS5-overexpressing (AS5ox) plants obtained by chloroplast transformation exhibited slower growth and slightly pale green leaves. Analysis of AS5 transcripts revealed four distinct species in wild-type (WT) and AS5ox plants, and additional AS5ox-specific products. Of the corresponding sense strand transcripts, tRNAArg overaccumulated several-fold in transgenic plants whereas 5S rRNA was unaffected. However, run-on transcription showed that the 5S-trnR region was transcribed four-fold more in the AS5ox plants compared to WT, indicating that overexpression of AS5 was associated with decreased stability of 5S rRNA. In addition, polysome analysis of the transformants showed less 5S rRNA and rbcL mRNA associated with ribosomes. Our results suggest that AS5 can modulate 5S rRNA levels, giving it the potential to affect Chloroplast translation and plant growth. More globally, overexpression of asRNAs via chloroplast transformation may be a useful strategy for defining their functions.

Bio-functionalized silver nanoparticles for selective colorimetric sensing of toxic metal ions and antimicrobial studies.

PubMed

Vinod Kumar, V; Anbarasan, S; Christena, Lawrence Rene; SaiSubramanian, Nagarajan; Philip Anthony, Savarimuthu

2014-08-14

Hibiscus Sabdariffa (Gongura) plant extracts (leaves (HL) and stem (HS)) were used for the first time in the green synthesis of bio-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The bio-functionality of AgNPs has been successfully utilized for selective colorimetric sensing of potentially health and environmentally hazardous Hg(2+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) metal ions at ppm level in aqueous solution. Importantly, clearly distinguishable colour for all three metal ions was observed. The influence of extract preparation condition and pH were also explored on the formation of AgNPs. Both selectivity and sensitivity differed for AgNPs synthesized from different parts of the plant. Direct correlation between the stability of green synthesized AgNPs at different pH and its antibacterial effects has been established. The selective colorimetric sensing of toxic metal ions and antimicrobial effect of green synthesized AgNPs demonstrated the multifunctional applications of green nanotechnology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Secondary Plastids of Euglenids and Chlorarachniophytes Function with a Mix of Genes of Red and Green Algal Ancestry.

PubMed

Ponce-Toledo, Rafael I; Moreira, David; López-García, Purificación; Deschamps, Philippe

2018-06-19

Endosymbiosis has been common all along eukaryotic evolution, providing opportunities for genomic and organellar innovation. Plastids are a prominent example. After the primary endosymbiosis of the cyanobacterial plastid ancestor, photosynthesis spread in many eukaryotic lineages via secondary endosymbioses involving red or green algal endosymbionts and diverse heterotrophic hosts. However, the number of secondary endosymbioses and how they occurred remain poorly understood. In particular, contrasting patterns of endosymbiotic gene transfer (EGT) have been detected and subjected to various interpretations. In this context, accurate detection of EGTs is essential to avoid wrong evolutionary conclusions. We have assembled a strictly selected set of markers that provides robust phylogenomic evidence suggesting that nuclear genes involved in the function and maintenance of green secondary plastids in chlorarachniophytes and euglenids have unexpected mixed red and green algal origins. This mixed ancestry contrasts with the clear red algal origin of most nuclear genes carrying similar functions in secondary algae with red plastids.

Plant functional traits predict green roof ecosystem services.

PubMed

Lundholm, Jeremy; Tran, Stephanie; Gebert, Luke

2015-02-17

Plants make important contributions to the services provided by engineered ecosystems such as green roofs. Ecologists use plant species traits as generic predictors of geographical distribution, interactions with other species, and ecosystem functioning, but this approach has been little used to optimize engineered ecosystems. Four plant species traits (height, individual leaf area, specific leaf area, and leaf dry matter content) were evaluated as predictors of ecosystem properties and services in a modular green roof system planted with 21 species. Six indicators of ecosystem services, incorporating thermal, hydrological, water quality, and carbon sequestration functions, were predicted by the four plant traits directly or indirectly via their effects on aggregate ecosystem properties, including canopy density and albedo. Species average height and specific leaf area were the most useful traits, predicting several services via effects on canopy density or growth rate. This study demonstrates that easily measured plant traits can be used to select species to optimize green roof performance across multiple key services.

From Green to Blue: Site-Directed Mutagenesis of the Green Fluorescent Protein to Teach Protein Structure-Function Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giron, Maria D.; Salto, Rafael

2011-01-01

Structure-function relationship studies in proteins are essential in modern Cell Biology. Laboratory exercises that allow students to familiarize themselves with basic mutagenesis techniques are essential in all Genetic Engineering courses to teach the relevance of protein structure. We have implemented a laboratory course based on the…

Acousto-Optic Beam Sampler, Part 2. Green’s Function Solution to Acousto-Optic Interaction Problem.

DTIC Science & Technology

This part of the ’ Acousto - Optic Beam Sampler,’ series lays down the formalism behind the Green’s function integral approach to solving the acousto ... optic scattering problem. The advantage of this formulation which is applicable to gases is shown through developing the solution to the scattering

Green function of the double-fractional Fokker-Planck equation: path integral and stochastic differential equations.

PubMed

Kleinert, H; Zatloukal, V

2013-11-01

The statistics of rare events, the so-called black-swan events, is governed by non-Gaussian distributions with heavy power-like tails. We calculate the Green functions of the associated Fokker-Planck equations and solve the related stochastic differential equations. We also discuss the subject in the framework of path integration.

Non-linear vacuum polarization in strong fields

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

Gyulassy, M.

1981-07-01

The Wichmann-Kroll formalism for calculating the vacuum polarization density to first order in ..cap alpha.. but to all orders in Z..cap alpha.. is derived. The most essential quantity is shown to be the electrons Green's function in these calculations. The method of constructing that Green's function in the field of finite radius nuclei is then presented.

Enzymatic properties and localization of motopsin (PRSS12), a protease whose absence causes mental retardation.

PubMed

Mitsui, Shinichi; Yamaguchi, Nozomi; Osako, Yoji; Yuri, Kazunari

2007-03-09

Motopsin (PRSS12) is a mosaic protease expressed in the central nervous system. Truncation of the human motopsin gene causes nonsyndromic mental retardation. Understanding the enzymatic properties and localization of motopsin protein in the central nervous system will help identify the molecular mechanism by which the loss of motopsin function causes mental retardation. Recombinant motopsin showed amidolytic activity against the synthetic substrate benzyloxycarbonyl-l-phenylalanyl-l-arginine 4-methyl-coumaryl-7-amide. Motopsin activated the single-chain tissue plasminogen activator precursor and exhibited gelatinolytic activity. This enzymatic activity was inhibited by typical serine protease inhibitors such as aprotinin, leupeptin, and (4-amidinophenyl) methanesulfonyl fluoride. Immunocytochemistry using anti-motopsin IgG revealed that both human and mouse motopsin proteins were distributed in discrete puncta along the dendrites and soma as well as axons in cultured hippocampal neurons. In the limbic system, including the cingulate and hippocampal pyramidal neurons and piriform cortex, high level of motopsin protein was expressed at postnatal day 10, but a very low level at 10-week-old mice. Motopsin and tissue plasminogen activator were co-expressed in the cingulate pyramidal neurons at postnatal day 10 and were distributed along dendrites of cultured pyramidal neurons. In cranial nuclei, a moderate level of motopsin protein was detected independently on the developmental stage. Our results suggest that motopsin has multiple functions, such as axon outgrowth, arranging perineuronal environment, and maintaining neuronal plasticity, partly in coordination with other proteases including tissue plasminogen activator.

Efficient Green's Function Reaction Dynamics (GFRD) simulations for diffusion-limited, reversible reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashardanesh, Zahedeh; Lötstedt, Per

2018-03-01

In diffusion controlled reversible bimolecular reactions in three dimensions, a dissociation step is typically followed by multiple, rapid re-association steps slowing down the simulations of such systems. In order to improve the efficiency, we first derive an exact Green's function describing the rate at which an isolated pair of particles undergoing reversible bimolecular reactions and unimolecular decay separates beyond an arbitrarily chosen distance. Then the Green's function is used in an algorithm for particle-based stochastic reaction-diffusion simulations for prediction of the dynamics of biochemical networks. The accuracy and efficiency of the algorithm are evaluated using a reversible reaction and a push-pull chemical network. The computational work is independent of the rates of the re-associations.

Water hammer prediction and control: the Green's function method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Li-Jun; Mao, Feng; Wu, Jie-Zhi

2012-04-01

By Green's function method we show that the water hammer (WH) can be analytically predicted for both laminar and turbulent flows (for the latter, with an eddy viscosity depending solely on the space coordinates), and thus its hazardous effect can be rationally controlled and minimized. To this end, we generalize a laminar water hammer equation of Wang et al. (J. Hydrodynamics, B2, 51, 1995) to include arbitrary initial condition and variable viscosity, and obtain its solution by Green's function method. The predicted characteristic WH behaviors by the solutions are in excellent agreement with both direct numerical simulation of the original governing equations and, by adjusting the eddy viscosity coefficient, experimentally measured turbulent flow data. Optimal WH control principle is thereby constructed and demonstrated.

ECT IN MENTALLY RETARDED SUBJECTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS

PubMed Central

Chopra, V.K; Sinha, V.K.

2002-01-01

The mentally retarded subjects show a much higher prevalence of full range of psychiatric disorders than the non-retarded population. Whereas the role of psychotropic drugs in such patients is well discussed, the reports on the use of ECT are scarce. Many psychiatrists dealing with the mentally retarded psychiatric patients are reluctant to consider ECT due to lack of adequate experience. We report five mentally retarded patients with different psychiatric disorders who were successfully treated with ECT after failing adequate trials of pharmacotherapy. No disproportionately higher adverse events on account of mental retardation were observed. ECT need to be favorably considered in mentally retarded persons with psychiatric morbidity especially when treatment with psychotropic drugs either fail or is intolerable. PMID:21206883

Fire-retardant decorative inks for aircraft interiors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kourtides, D. A.; Nir, Z.; Mikroyannidis, J. A.

1985-01-01

Commercial and experimental fire retardants were screened as potential fire retardants for acrylic printing inks used on aircraft interior sandwich panels. The fire retardants are selected according to their physical properties and their thermostabilities. A criterion for selecting a more stable fire retardant is established. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are used to determine thermostabilities. Results show that the fire retardant formulations are more thermally stable than the acrylic ink control. It is determined that an ink formulation containing a brominated phenol and carboxy-terminated butadiene acrylonitrile which has been modified with a brominated polymeric additive (BPA), yields the highest limiting oxygen index (LOI) of all the compounds tested. All of the fire-retardant formulations have a higher oxygen index than the baseline acrylic ink.

Influence of a constant and variable magnetic field on the coagulation of human blood in vitro and in vivo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Degen, I. L.; Plaksenko, V. Y.

1974-01-01

The influence of constant and varying magnetic fields on the coagulation of the blood was studied in experiments performed in vitro and vivo. In the in vitro tests it was found that a constant magnetic field with a strength of 100 or 200 oersteds influences the coagulation of the blood, retarding it in some cases and speeding up the coagulation time in others. In the in vivo studies, both retarding and accelerating effects were likewise observed with respect to the coagulation of the blood, but the nature of the change was a function of the background. A normalizing effect of the magnetic field on the coagulation of the blood was observed.

Green materials for sustainable development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purwasasmita, B. S.

2017-03-01

Sustainable development is an integrity of multidiscipline concept combining ecological, social and economic aspects to construct a liveable human living system. The sustainable development can be support through the development of green materials. Green materials offers a unique characteristic and properties including abundant in nature, less toxic, economically affordable and versatility in term of physical and chemical properties. Green materials can be applied for a numerous field in science and technology applications including for energy, building, construction and infrastructures, materials science and engineering applications and pollution management and technology. For instance, green materials can be developed as a source for energy production. Green materials including biomass-based source can be developed as a source for biodiesel and bioethanol production. Biomass-based materials also can be transformed into advanced functionalized materials for advanced bio-applications such as the transformation of chitin into chitosan which further used for biomedicine, biomaterials and tissue engineering applications. Recently, cellulose-based material and lignocellulose-based materials as a source for the developing functional materials attracted the potential prospect for biomaterials, reinforcing materials and nanotechnology. Furthermore, the development of pigment materials has gaining interest by using the green materials as a source due to their unique properties. Eventually, Indonesia as a large country with a large biodiversity can enhance the development of green material to strengthen our nation competitiveness and develop the materials technology for the future.

Beam steering for virtual/augmented reality displays with a cycloidal diffractive waveplate.

PubMed

Chen, Haiwei; Weng, Yishi; Xu, Daming; Tabiryan, Nelson V; Wu, Shin-Tson

2016-04-04

We proposed a switchable beam steering device with cycloidal diffractive waveplate (CDW) for eye tracking in a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) display system. Such a CDW diffracts the incident circularly polarized light to the first order with over 95% efficiency. To convert the input linearly polarized light to right-handed or left-handed circular polarization, we developed a broadband polarization switch consisting of a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell and an achromatic quarter-wave retardation film. By cascading 2-3 CDWs together, multiple diffraction angles can be achieved. To suppress the color dispersion, we proposed two approaches to obtain the same diffraction angle for red, green, and blue LEDs-based full color displays. Our device exhibits several advantages, such as high diffraction efficiency, fast response time, low power consumption, and low cost. It holds promise for the emerging VR/AR displays.

Procyanidins (Condensed Tannins) in Green Cell Suspension Cultures of Douglas Fir Compared with Those in Strawberry and Avocado Leaves by Means of C18-Reversed-phase Chromatography 1

PubMed Central

Stafford, Helen A.; Lester, Hope H.

1980-01-01

The procyanidins (the most common type of proanthocyanidin or condensed tannin) from cell suspension cultures derived from cotyledons of Douglas Fir have been compared with those isolated from leaves of strawberry and avocado. Seventy per cent methanol (v/v) extracts from 100 milligrams fresh weight samples were analyzed by a combination of C18-reversed-phase columns with high-performance liquid chromatography, and normal phase paper chromatography. (−)-Epicatechin and its oligomers were generally retarded longer on C18 columns than the corresponding units made of (+)-catechin when eluted with solvents made up of 5% acetic acid alone or mixed with methanol up to 15% (v/v). Douglas fir preparations contained the most complex set of procyanidins and consisted of oligomers of catechin and epicatechin, whereas strawberry and avocado contained mainly (+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin derivatives, respectively. PMID:16661581

Mildly Retarded Adults: Their Attitudes Toward Retardation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gan, Jennifer; And Others

1977-01-01

Responses to a 40-item questionnaire distributed to 50 mildly mentally retarded (MR) adults indicate that the majority possess accurate information about MR, hold realistic attitudes toward their own needs and abilities, and advocate community integration of the retarded. (Author/JG)

An Evaluation of Overload Retardation Behavior and Overload Retardation Models of Ti-6Al-4V Sheet Titanium Alloy,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-11-17

Oat"UaL msue.(rm ~10"ee 66147 effe% nowe. 1.12a, **04 VON"* a Poest 46"a of04 ~ ah es ie [Z-3)~ totego~is f ht * g IM M..s~U~ -• - - -- L.. s. K varying...time course.* That £ 5 , the method of combining and considering the overload retardation models on the basis of the successive accumlation method in...Hysteresis stage of overload retardation (B); 3) Maximum retardation point of overload (C); 4) weakened stage of overload retardation’CD); 5 ) Basic

Ecohydrology frameworks for green infrastructure design and ecosystem service provision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavao-Zuckerman, M.; Knerl, A.; Barron-Gafford, G.

2014-12-01

Urbanization is a dominant form of landscape change that affects the structure and function of ecosystems and alters control points in biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles. Green infrastructure (GI) has been proposed as a solution to many urban environmental challenges and may be a way to manage biogeochemical control points. Despite this promise, there has been relatively limited empirical focus to evaluate the efficacy of GI, relationships between design and function, and the ability of GI to provide ecosystem services in cities. This work has been driven by goals of adapting GI approaches to dryland cities and to harvest rain and storm water for providing ecosystem services related to storm water management and urban heat island mitigation, as well as other co-benefits. We will present a modification of ecohydrologic theory for guiding the design and function of green infrastructure for dryland systems that highlights how GI functions in context of Trigger - Transfer - Reserve - Pulse (TTRP) dynamic framework. Here we also apply this TTRP framework to observations of established street-scape green infrastructure in Tucson, AZ, and an experimental installation of green infrastructure basins on the campus of Biosphere 2 (Oracle, AZ) where we have been measuring plant performance and soil biogeochemical functions. We found variable sensitivity of microbial activity, soil respiration, N-mineralization, photosynthesis and respiration that was mediated both by elements of basin design (soil texture and composition, choice of surface mulches) and antecedent precipitation inputs and soil moisture conditions. The adapted TTRP framework and field studies suggest that there are strong connections between design and function that have implications for stormwater management and ecosystem service provision in dryland cities.

Modeling Fragile X Syndrome in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Drozd, Małgorzata; Bardoni, Barbara; Capovilla, Maria

2018-01-01

Intellectual disability (ID) and autism are hallmarks of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), a hereditary neurodevelopmental disorder. The gene responsible for FXS is Fragile X Mental Retardation gene 1 (FMR1) encoding the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein involved in RNA metabolism and modulating the expression level of many targets. Most cases of FXS are caused by silencing of FMR1 due to CGG expansions in the 5′-UTR of the gene. Humans also carry the FXR1 and FXR2 paralogs of FMR1 while flies have only one FMR1 gene, here called dFMR1, sharing the same level of sequence homology with all three human genes, but functionally most similar to FMR1. This enables a much easier approach for FMR1 genetic studies. Drosophila has been widely used to investigate FMR1 functions at genetic, cellular, and molecular levels since dFMR1 mutants have many phenotypes in common with the wide spectrum of FMR1 functions that underlay the disease. In this review, we present very recent Drosophila studies investigating FMRP functions at genetic, cellular, molecular, and electrophysiological levels in addition to research on pharmacological treatments in the fly model. These studies have the potential to aid the discovery of pharmacological therapies for FXS. PMID:29713264

Golf Ball Roll Distance: A Field Exercise to Explore Management Factors Affecting Putting Green Speed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bigelow, Cale A.; Walker, Kristina S.

2007-01-01

Putting greens are the most important golf course use area and regularly draw comments regarding their appearance and playing condition. This field laboratory exercise taught students how to properly measure putting green speed, an important functional characteristic, using a Stimpmeter device that measures golf ball roll distance (BRD).…

Sex Differences in Reading: A Biological Explanation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aliotti, Nicholas C.

Although sex differences in reading and related language functions have frequently been reported for both average and retarded readers, the explanations thus far proposed (maturation rate, sex-role development, textbook content, "female bias," and psycho-social factors) do not satisfactorily account for these differences. One hypothesis that might…

Psychological Assessment of Adolescents and Adults with Autism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perez, Juan; del Sol Fortea Sevilla, Maria

1993-01-01

This study compared scores of 17 children with autism and mental retardation on the Psychoeducational Profile with scores on the Adolescent and Adult Psychoeducational Profile 5 years later. Eye-hand coordination predicted scores in vocational skills, independent functioning, and vocational behavior; imitation predicted interpersonal behavior;…

ER stress-induced protein, VIGG, disturbs plant cation homeostasis, which is correlated with growth retardation and robustness to ER stress

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

Katoh, Hironori; Fujita, Keiko; Takuhara, Yuki

2011-02-18

Highlights: {yields} VIGG is an ER stress-induced protein in plant. {yields} We examine the characteristics of VIGG-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants. {yields} VIGG-overexpressing plants reveal growth retardation and robustness to ER stress. {yields} VIGG disturbs cation homeostasis in plant. -- Abstract: VIGG is a putative endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident protein induced by virus infection and ER stress, and is correlated with fruit quality in grapevine. The present study was undertaken to determine the biological function of VIGG in grapevine. Experiments using fluorescent protein-VIGG fusion protein demonstrated that VIGG is localized in ER and the ER targeting sequence is in the N-terminus. Themore » overexpression of VIGG in Arabidopsis plant led to growth retardation. The rosette leaves of VIGG-overexpressing plants were smaller than those of the control plants and rolled at 42 days after seeding. VIGG-overexpressing plants revealed robustness to ER stress as well as the low expression of ER stress marker proteins, such as the luminal binding proteins. These characteristics of VIGG-overexpressing plants were supported by a microarray experiment that demonstrated the disruption of genes related to ER stress response and flowering, as well as cation mobility, in the plants. Finally, cation homeostasis in the plants was disturbed by the overexpression of VIGG. Taken together, these results suggest that VIGG may disturb cation homeostasis in plant, which is correlated with the robustness to ER stress and growth retardation.« less

Nocturnal growth hormone and gonadotrophin secretion in growth retarded children with Crohn's disease.

PubMed Central

Farthing, M J; Campbell, C A; Walker-Smith, J; Edwards, C R; Rees, L H; Dawson, A M

1981-01-01

Although impaired growth hormone secretion in response to pharmacological stimuli occurs in some growth retarded children with Crohn's disease, its relationship to past and future th is uncertain. We have therefore determined the growth hormone and gonadotrophin response to the physiological stimulus of sleep by continuous venous sampling in five severely gonadotrophin profiles, the mean plasma hormone concentrations during the first five hours of sleep were determined. In three of the five patients, five hour mean growth hormone levels were reduced (3.8, 5.0, and 8.5 mU/l) compared with levels reported previously in normal short children (10-43 mU/l), although the pulsatile pattern of growth hormone secretion was preserved in all. Nocturnal growth hormone secretion was unrelated to the growth velocities of these children during both pre- and post-treatment assessment periods but a significant correlation was found between growth hormone concentration and a disease activity score (r = 0.79, P less than 0.05), suggesting that growth hormone release by the pituitary was influenced by the severity of the disease. Nocturnal growth hormone secretion was also correlated with gonadotrophin secretion (luteinising hormones, r = 0.99, and follicle stimulating hormone, r = 0.96; p less than 0.01) indicating more extensive hypothalamic-pituitary disturbance. These findings suggest that hypothalamic-pituitary function is depressed in growth retarded children with Crohn's disease, but that abnormalities of growth hormone secretion are unlikely to be directly involved in the growth retardation seen in this condition. PMID:7308847

Protein-tRNA Agarose Gel Retardation Assays for the Analysis of the N 6-threonylcarbamoyladenosine TcdA Function.

PubMed

Fernández, Francisco J; Gómez, Sara; Navas-Yuste, Sergio; López-Estepa, Miguel; Vega, M Cristina

2017-06-21

We demonstrate methods for the expression and purification of tRNA(UUU) in Escherichia coli and the analysis by gel retardation assays of the binding of tRNA(UUU) to TcdA, an N 6 -threonylcarbamoyladenosine (t 6 A) dehydratase, which cyclizes the threonylcarbamoyl side chain attached to A37 in the anticodon stem loop (ASL) of tRNAs to cyclic t 6 A (ct 6 A). Transcription of the synthetic gene encoding tRNA(UUU) is induced in E. coli with 1 mM isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) and the cells containing tRNA are harvested 24 h post-induction. The RNA fraction is purified using the acid phenol extraction method. Pure tRNA is obtained by a gel filtration chromatography that efficiently separates the small-sized tRNA molecules from larger intact or fragmented nucleic acids. To analyze TcdA binding to tRNA(UUU), TcdA is mixed with tRNA(UUU) and separated on a native agarose gel at 4 °C. The free tRNA(UUU) migrates faster, while the TcdA-tRNA(UUU) complexes undergo a mobility retardation that can be observed upon staining of the gel. We demonstrate that TcdA is a tRNA(UUU)-binding enzyme. This gel retardation assay can be used to study TcdA mutants and the effects of additives and other proteins on binding.

The Impact of Working in a Green Certified Building on Cognitive Function and Health.

PubMed

MacNaughton, Piers; Satish, Usha; Laurent, Jose Guillermo Cedeno; Flanigan, Skye; Vallarino, Jose; Coull, Brent; Spengler, John D; Allen, Joseph G

2017-03-01

Thirty years of public health research have demonstrated that improved indoor environmental quality is associated with better health outcomes. Recent research has demonstrated an impact of the indoor environment on cognitive function. We recruited 109 participants from 10 high-performing buildings (i.e. buildings surpassing the ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010 ventilation requirement and with low total volatile organic compound concentrations) in five U.S. cities. In each city, buildings were matched by week of assessment, tenant, type of worker and work functions. A key distinction between the matched buildings was whether they had achieved green certification. Workers were administered a cognitive function test of higher order decision-making performance twice during the same week while indoor environmental quality parameters were monitored. Workers in green certified buildings scored 26.4% (95% CI: [12.8%, 39.7%]) higher on cognitive function tests, controlling for annual earnings, job category and level of schooling, and had 30% fewer sick building symptoms than those in non-certified buildings. These outcomes may be partially explained by IEQ factors, including thermal conditions and lighting, but the findings suggest that the benefits of green certification standards go beyond measureable IEQ factors. We describe a holistic "buildingomics" approach for examining the complexity of factors in a building that influence human health.

The Impact of Working in a Green Certified Building on Cognitive Function and Health

PubMed Central

MacNaughton, Piers; Satish, Usha; Laurent, Jose Guillermo Cedeno; Flanigan, Skye; Vallarino, Jose; Coull, Brent; Spengler, John D.; Allen, Joseph G.

2017-01-01

Thirty years of public health research have demonstrated that improved indoor environmental quality is associated with better health outcomes. Recent research has demonstrated an impact of the indoor environment on cognitive function. We recruited 109 participants from 10 high-performing buildings (i.e. buildings surpassing the ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010 ventilation requirement and with low total volatile organic compound concentrations) in five U.S. cities. In each city, buildings were matched by week of assessment, tenant, type of worker and work functions. A key distinction between the matched buildings was whether they had achieved green certification. Workers were administered a cognitive function test of higher order decision-making performance twice during the same week while indoor environmental quality parameters were monitored. Workers in green certified buildings scored 26.4% (95% CI: [12.8%, 39.7%]) higher on cognitive function tests, controlling for annual earnings, job category and level of schooling, and had 30% fewer sick building symptoms than those in non-certified buildings. These outcomes may be partially explained by IEQ factors, including thermal conditions and lighting, but the findings suggest that the benefits of green certification standards go beyond measureable IEQ factors. We describe a holistic “buildingomics” approach for examining the complexity of factors in a building that influence human health. PMID:28785124

Influence of the noise sources motion on the estimated Green's functions from ambient noise cross-correlations.

PubMed

Sabra, Karim G

2010-06-01

It has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that an estimate of the Green's function between two receivers can be obtained by cross-correlating acoustic (or elastic) ambient noise recorded at these two receivers. Coherent wavefronts emerge from the noise cross-correlation time function due to the accumulated contributions over time from noise sources whose propagation path pass through both receivers. Previous theoretical studies of the performance of this passive imaging technique have assumed that no relative motion between noise sources and receivers occurs. In this article, the influence of noise sources motion (e.g., aircraft or ship) on this passive imaging technique was investigated theoretically in free space, using a stationary phase approximation, for stationary receivers. The theoretical results were extended to more complex environments, in the high-frequency regime, using first-order expansions of the Green's function. Although sources motion typically degrades the performance of wideband coherent processing schemes, such as time-delay beamforming, it was found that the Green's function estimated from ambient noise cross-correlations are not expected to be significantly affected by the Doppler effect, even for supersonic sources. Numerical Monte-Carlo simulations were conducted to confirm these theoretical predictions for both cases of subsonic and supersonic moving sources.

A Comparison of Simple Methods to Incorporate Material Temperature Dependency in the Green's Function Method for Estimating Transient Thermal Stresses in Thick-Walled Power Plant Components.

PubMed

Rouse, James; Hyde, Christopher

2016-01-06

The threat of thermal fatigue is an increasing concern for thermal power plant operators due to the increasing tendency to adopt "two-shifting" operating procedures. Thermal plants are likely to remain part of the energy portfolio for the foreseeable future and are under societal pressures to generate in a highly flexible and efficient manner. The Green's function method offers a flexible approach to determine reference elastic solutions for transient thermal stress problems. In order to simplify integration, it is often assumed that Green's functions (derived from finite element unit temperature step solutions) are temperature independent (this is not the case due to the temperature dependency of material parameters). The present work offers a simple method to approximate a material's temperature dependency using multiple reference unit solutions and an interpolation procedure. Thermal stress histories are predicted and compared for realistic temperature cycles using distinct techniques. The proposed interpolation method generally performs as well as (if not better) than the optimum single Green's function or the previously-suggested weighting function technique (particularly for large temperature increments). Coefficients of determination are typically above 0 . 96 , and peak stress differences between true and predicted datasets are always less than 10 MPa.

Spatiotemporal variation characteristics of green space ecosystem service value at urban fringes: A case study on Ganjingzi District in Dalian, China.

PubMed

Yang, Jun; Guan, Yingying; Xia, Jianhong Cecilia; Jin, Cui; Li, Xueming

2018-10-15

In this study, a green space classification system for urban fringes was established based on multisource land use data from Ganjingzi District, China (2000-2015). The purpose of this study was to explore the spatiotemporal variation of green space landscapes and ecosystem service values (ESV). During 2006-2015, as urbanization advanced rapidly, the green space area decreased significantly (359.57 to 213.46 km 2 ), the ESV decreased from 397.42 to 124.93 million yuan, and the dynamic degrees of ESV variation were always <0. The green space large plaque index and class area both declined and the number of plaques and plaque density increased, indicating green space landscape fragmentation. The dynamic degrees of ESV variation in western and northern regions (with relatively intensive green space distributions) were higher than in the east. The ESV for closed forestland and sparse woodland had the highest functional values of ecological regulation and support, whereas dry land and irrigated cropland provided the highest functional values of production supply. The findings of this study are expected to provide support for better construction practices in Dalian and for the improvement of the ecological environment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Van Hiele geometry thinking levels of mild mental retardation students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shomad, Z. A.; Kusmayadi, T. A.; Riyadi

2017-12-01

This research is to investigate the level of mild mental retardation geometry students thinking. This research focuses on the geometry thinking level based on Van Hiele theory. This study uses qualitative methods with case study strategy. Data obtained from observation and tests result. The subjects are 12 mental retardation students. The result show that ability of mild mental retardation students with each other is different but have same level of level thinking geometry. The geometry thinking level of mental retardation students was identified in level 1 of the Van Hiele theory. Based on the level thinking geometry of mental retardation students simplify geometry thinking teachers in selecting appropriate learning methods, choose the materials in accordance with ability, and can modify the material following the geometry thinking level of mental retardation students.

Chronological age and performance of persons with mental retardation on verbal subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised, French Version.

PubMed

Facon, B; Facon-Bollengier, T

1999-12-01

The Influence of chronological age on verbal intelligence of persons with metal retardation was studied using the French version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised. Participants were 1,101 children and adolescents divided into two groups according to the severity of metal retardation. The first group included 551 participants with moderate mental retardation, the second 550 participants with mild mental retardation. Analyses indicated a significant association between chronological age and raw scores on the four Verbal Comprehension subtests, even with performance on Perceptual Organization and Freedom from Distractibility subtests held constant. This finding suggests the relationship between chronological age and verbal intelligence is valid for persons with moderate mental retardation as well as for those with mild metal retardation.

Diagrammatic expansion for positive density-response spectra: Application to the electron gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uimonen, A.-M.; Stefanucci, G.; Pavlyukh, Y.; van Leeuwen, R.

2015-03-01

In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. B 90, 115134 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevB.90.115134] we put forward a diagrammatic expansion for the self-energy which guarantees the positivity of the spectral function. In this work we extend the theory to the density-response function. We write the generic diagram for the density-response spectrum as the sum of "partitions." In a partition the original diagram is evaluated using time-ordered Green's functions on the left half of the diagram, antitime-ordered Green's functions on the right half of the diagram, and lesser or greater Green's function gluing the two halves. As there exists more than one way to cut a diagram in two halves, to every diagram corresponds more than one partition. We recognize that the most convenient diagrammatic objects for constructing a theory of positive spectra are the half-diagrams. Diagrammatic approximations obtained by summing the squares of half-diagrams do indeed correspond to a combination of partitions which, by construction, yield a positive spectrum. We develop the theory using bare Green's functions and subsequently extend it to dressed Green's functions. We further prove a connection between the positivity of the spectral function and the analytic properties of the polarizability. The general theory is illustrated with several examples and then applied to solve the long-standing problem of including vertex corrections without altering the positivity of the spectrum. In fact already the first-order vertex diagram, relevant to the study of gradient expansion, Friedel oscillations, etc., leads to spectra which are negative in certain frequency domain. We find that the simplest approximation to cure this deficiency is given by the sum of the zeroth-order bubble diagram, the first-order vertex diagram, and a partition of the second-order ladder diagram. We evaluate this approximation in the three-dimensional homogeneous electron gas and show the positivity of the spectrum for all frequencies and densities.

Green Infrastructure Research at EPA's Edison Environmental Center

EPA Science Inventory

The presentation outline includes: (1) Green infrastructure research objectives (2) Introduction to ongoing research projects - Aspects of design, construction, and maintenence that affect function - Real-world applications of GI research

Investigation of porous silicon nanopowders functionalized by antibiotic Kanamycin, fluorophore Indocyanine Green

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bespalova, K.; Somov, P. A.; Spivak, Yu M.

2017-11-01

Porous silicon nanopowders for target drug delivery were obtained by electrochemical anodic etching in a hydrofluoric acid solution using the monocrystalline silicon n-type conductivity. Porous silicon powders were obtained by sonification of porous silicon layers. The powders were functionalized by antibiotic Kanamycin and fluorophore Indocyanine Green by the passive adsorption method. The peculiarities of absorption spectra in 190-600 nm region were revealed for functionalized porous silicon powders dispersions in water.

Green's formula and variational principles for cosmic-ray transport with application to rotating and shearing flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webb, G. M.; Jokipii, J. R.; Morfill, G. E.

1994-01-01

Green's theorem and Green's formula for the diffusive cosmic-ray transport equation in relativistic flows are derived. Green's formula gives the solution of the transport equation in terms of the Green's function of the adjoint transport equation, and in terms of distributed sources throughout the region R of interest, plus terms involving the particle intensity and streaming on the boundary. The adjoint transport equation describes the time-reversed particle transport. An Euler-Lagrange variational principle is then obtained for both the mean scattering frame distribution function f, and its adjoint f(dagger). Variations of the variational functional with respect to f(dagger) yield the transport equation, whereas variations of f yield the adjoint transport equation. The variational principle, when combined with Noether's theorem, yields the conservation law associated with Green's theorem. An investigation of the transport equation for steady, azimuthal, rotating flows suggests the introduction of a new independent variable H to replace the comoving frame momentum variable p'. For the case of rigid rotating flows, H is conserved and is shown to be analogous to the Hamiltonian for a bead on a rigidly rotating wire. The variable H corresponds to a balance between the centrifugal force and the particle inertia in the rotating frame. The physical interpretation of H includes a discussion of nonrelativistic and special relativistic rotating flows as well as the cases of aziuthal, differentially rotating flows about Schwarzs-child and Kerr black holes. Green's formula is then applied to the problem of the acceleration of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays by galactic rotation. The model for galactic rotation assumes an angular velocity law Omega = Omega(sub 0)(omega(sub 0)/omega), where omega denotes radial distance from the axis of rotation. Green's functions for the galactic rotation problem are used to investigate the spectrum of accelerated particles arising from monoenergetic and truncated power-law sources. We conclude that it is possible to accelerate particles beyond the knee by galactic rotation, but not in sufficient number to adequately explain the observed spectrum.

Casimir force in brane worlds: Coinciding results from Green's and zeta function approaches

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

Linares, Roman; Morales-Tecotl, Hugo A.; Pedraza, Omar

2010-06-15

Casimir force encodes the structure of the field modes as vacuum fluctuations and so it is sensitive to the extra dimensions of brane worlds. Now, in flat spacetimes of arbitrary dimension the two standard approaches to the Casimir force, Green's function, and zeta function yield the same result, but for brane world models this was only assumed. In this work we show that both approaches yield the same Casimir force in the case of universal extra dimensions and Randall-Sundrum scenarios with one and two branes added by p compact dimensions. Essentially, the details of the mode eigenfunctions that enter themore » Casimir force in the Green's function approach get removed due to their orthogonality relations with a measure involving the right hypervolume of the plates, and this leaves just the contribution coming from the zeta function approach. The present analysis corrects previous results showing a difference between the two approaches for the single brane Randall-Sundrum; this was due to an erroneous hypervolume of the plates introduced by the authors when using the Green's function. For all the models we discuss here, the resulting Casimir force can be neatly expressed in terms of two four-dimensional Casimir force contributions: one for the massless mode and the other for a tower of massive modes associated with the extra dimensions.« less

Reliable Viscosity Calculation from Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations: A Time Decomposition Method.

PubMed

Zhang, Yong; Otani, Akihito; Maginn, Edward J

2015-08-11

Equilibrium molecular dynamics is often used in conjunction with a Green-Kubo integral of the pressure tensor autocorrelation function to compute the shear viscosity of fluids. This approach is computationally expensive and is subject to a large amount of variability because the plateau region of the Green-Kubo integral is difficult to identify unambiguously. Here, we propose a time decomposition approach for computing the shear viscosity using the Green-Kubo formalism. Instead of one long trajectory, multiple independent trajectories are run and the Green-Kubo relation is applied to each trajectory. The averaged running integral as a function of time is fit to a double-exponential function with a weighting function derived from the standard deviation of the running integrals. Such a weighting function minimizes the uncertainty of the estimated shear viscosity and provides an objective means of estimating the viscosity. While the formal Green-Kubo integral requires an integration to infinite time, we suggest an integration cutoff time tcut, which can be determined by the relative values of the running integral and the corresponding standard deviation. This approach for computing the shear viscosity can be easily automated and used in computational screening studies where human judgment and intervention in the data analysis are impractical. The method has been applied to the calculation of the shear viscosity of a relatively low-viscosity liquid, ethanol, and relatively high-viscosity ionic liquid, 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethane-sulfonyl)imide ([BMIM][Tf2N]), over a range of temperatures. These test cases show that the method is robust and yields reproducible and reliable shear viscosity values.

Rapid finite-fault inversions in Southern California using Cybershake Green's functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thio, H. K.; Polet, J.

2017-12-01

We have developed a system for rapid finite fault inversion for intermediate and large Southern California earthquakes using local, regional and teleseismic seismic waveforms as well as geodetic data. For modeling the local seismic data, we use 3D Green's functions from the Cybershake project, which were made available to us courtesy of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). The use of 3D Green's functions allows us to extend the inversion to higher frequency waveform data and smaller magnitude earthquakes, in addition to achieving improved solutions in general. The ultimate aim of this work is to develop the ability to provide high quality finite fault models within a few hours after any damaging earthquake in Southern California, so that they may be used as input to various post-earthquake assessment tools such as ShakeMap, as well as by the scientific community and other interested parties. Additionally, a systematic determination of finite fault models has value as a resource for scientific studies on detailed earthquake processes, such as rupture dynamics and scaling relations. We are using an established least-squares finite fault inversion method that has been applied extensively both on large as well as smaller regional earthquakes, in conjunction with the 3D Green's functions, where available, as well as 1D Green's functions for areas for which the Cybershake library has not yet been developed. We are carrying out validation and calibration of this system using significant earthquakes that have occurred in the region over the last two decades, spanning a range of locations and magnitudes (5.4 and higher).

The Post-Processing Approach in the Finite Element Method. Part 1. Calculation of Displacements, Stresses, and other Higher Derivatives of the Displacements.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

Were the influence function (Green’s function) known for this point, then we could take i=O and 0 would be expressible in terms of the input data...alone. So (1.1) would take the form 4=R . Of course, the influence function is not in general available. At the other extreme, if we take to be the Dirac...where n is some integer, which, for the moment, will remain arbitrary. If we select for the influence function (Green’s function), then (2.5a) and

Current Issues in Mental Retardation and Human Development: Selected Papers from the 1970 Staff Development Conferences of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation (Washington, D.C., 1971).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stedman, Donald J., Ed.

Six papers discuss some of the current issues in the field of mental retardation and human development. Epidemiology of mental retardation from a sociological and clinical point of view is analyzed by Jane R. Mercer, based on studies of mental retardation in the community in Pomona, California. The role of genetics and intra-uterine diagnosis of…

Green's function calculations for semi-infinite carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

John, D. L.; Pulfrey, D. L.

2006-02-01

In the modeling of nanoscale electronic devices, the non-equilibrium Green's function technique is gaining increasing popularity. One complication in this method is the need for computation of the self-energy functions that account for the interactions between the active portion of a device and its leads. In the one-dimensional case, these functions may be computed analytically. In higher dimensions, a numerical approach is required. In this work, we generalize earlier methods that were developed for tight-binding Hamiltonians, and present results for the case of a carbon nanotube.

Regulation of GABAA receptors by fragile X mental retardation protein

PubMed Central

Liu, Baosong; Li, Lijun; Chen, Juan; Wang, Zefen; Li, Zhiqiang; Wan, Qi

2013-01-01

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is caused by the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). The deficiency of GABAA receptors (GABAARs) is implicated in FXS. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate the effect of FMRP on GABAARs, we transfected FMRP cDNAs in rat cortical neurons. We measured the protein expression of GABAARs and phosphatase PTEN, and recorded GABAAR-mediated whole-cell currents in the transfected neurons. We show that the transfection of FMRP cDNAs causes increased protein expression of GABAARs in cortical neurons, but GABAAR-mediated whole-cell currents are not potentiated by FMRP transfection. These results suggest the possibility that intracellular signaling antagonizing GABAAR activity may play a role in inhibiting GABAAR function in FMRP-transfected neurons. We further show that FMRP transfection results in an enhanced protein expression of PTEN, which contributes to the inhibition of GABAAR function in FMRP-transfected neurons. These results indicate that GABAARs are regulated by FMRP through both an up-regulation of GABAAR expression and a PTEN enhancement-induced inhibition of GABAAR function, suggesting that an abnormal regulation of GABAAR and PTEN by the loss of FMRP underlies the pathogenesis of FXS. PMID:24044036

Poisson equation for the three-loop ladder diagram in string theory at genus one

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basu, Anirban

2016-11-01

The three-loop ladder diagram is a graph with six links and four cubic vertices that contributes to the D12ℛ4 amplitude at genus one in type II string theory. The vertices represent the insertion points of vertex operators on the toroidal worldsheet and the links represent scalar Green functions connecting them. By using the properties of the Green function and manipulating the various expressions, we obtain a modular invariant Poisson equation satisfied by this diagram, with source terms involving one-, two- and three-loop diagrams. Unlike the source terms in the Poisson equations for diagrams at lower orders in the momentum expansion or the Mercedes diagram, a particular source term involves a five-point function containing a holomorphic and a antiholomorphic worldsheet derivative acting on different Green functions. We also obtain simple equalities between topologically distinct diagrams, and consider some elementary examples.

Modeling Sound Propagation Through Non-Axisymmetric Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leib, Stewart J.

2014-01-01

A method for computing the far-field adjoint Green's function of the generalized acoustic analogy equations under a locally parallel mean flow approximation is presented. The method is based on expanding the mean-flow-dependent coefficients in the governing equation and the scalar Green's function in truncated Fourier series in the azimuthal direction and a finite difference approximation in the radial direction in circular cylindrical coordinates. The combined spectral/finite difference method yields a highly banded system of algebraic equations that can be efficiently solved using a standard sparse system solver. The method is applied to test cases, with mean flow specified by analytical functions, corresponding to two noise reduction concepts of current interest: the offset jet and the fluid shield. Sample results for the Green's function are given for these two test cases and recommendations made as to the use of the method as part of a RANS-based jet noise prediction code.

Performance of carbon material derived from starch mixed with flame retardant as electrochemical capacitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsubota, Toshiki; Morita, Masaki; Murakami, Naoya; Ohno, Teruhisa

2014-12-01

Carbon materials derived from starch with an added flame retardant, such as melamine polyphosphate, melamine sulfate, guanylurea phosphate, or guanidine phosphate, were synthesized for investigating the performance as the electrode of an electrochemical capacitor. The yield after the heat treatment of the carbonization reaction increased by the addition of these flame retardants up to 800 °C. Although both the specific surface area and electrical resistivity are almost independent of the addition of the flame retardants, the capacitance values are improved with the addition of the flame retardants. The nitrogen atoms derived from the flame retardants are introduced to some extent into the synthesized carbon material. Moreover, the phosphorous atoms or the sulfur atoms derived from the flame retardants are doped into the synthesized carbon material. The method applied in this study, that is, the addition of flame retardants before the carbonization process can be used for the doping of the hetero atom such as N, P and S into the carbon material.

Biodiversity in the City: Fundamental Questions for Understanding the Ecology of Urban Green Spaces for Biodiversity Conservation

Treesearch

Christopher A. Lepczyk; Myla F. J. Aronson; Karl L. Evans; Mark A. Goddard; Susannah B. Lerman; J. Scott MacIvor

2017-01-01

As urban areas expand, understanding how ecological processes function in cities has become increasingly important for conserving biodiversity. Urban green spaces are critical habitats to support biodiversity, but we still have a limited understanding of their ecology and how they function to conserve biodiversity at local and landscape scales across multiple taxa....