NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Yu, F. P.; Pyle, B. H.; McFeters, G. A.
1993-01-01
This report describes the adaptation of an in situ direct viable count (in situ DVC) method in biofilm disinfection studies. The results obtained with this technique were compared to two other enumeration methods, the plate count (PC) and conventional direct viable count (c-DVC). An environmental isolate (Klebsiella pneumoniae Kp1) was used to form biofilms on stainless steel coupons in a stirred batch reactor. The in situ DVC method was applied to directly assess the viability of bacteria in biofilms without disturbing the integrity of the interfacial community. As additional advantages, the results were observed after 4 h instead of the 24 h incubation time required for colony formation and total cell numbers that remained on the substratum were enumerated. Chlorine and monochloramine were used to determine the susceptibilities of attached and planktonic bacteria to disinfection treatment using this novel analytical approach. The planktonic cells in the reactor showed no significant change in susceptibility to disinfectants during the period of biofilm formation. In addition, the attached cells did not reveal any more resistance to disinfection than planktonic cells. The disinfection studies of young biofilms indicated that 0.25 mg/l free chlorine (at pH 7.2) and 1 mg/l monochloramine (at pH 9.0) have comparable disinfection efficiencies at 25 degrees C. Although being a weaker disinfectant, monochloramine was more effective in removing attached bacteria from the substratum than free chlorine. The in situ DVC method always showed at least one log higher viable cell densities than the PC method, suggesting that the in situ DVC method is more efficient in the enumeration of biofilm bacteria. The results also indicated that the in situ DVC method can provide more accurate information regarding the cell numbers and viability of bacteria within biofilms following disinfection.
García-Hernández, J; Moreno, Y; Amorocho, C M; Hernández, M
2012-03-01
We have developed a direct viable count (DVC)-FISH procedure for quickly and easily discriminating between viable and nonviable cells of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus strains, the traditional yogurt bacteria. direct viable count method has been modified and adapted for Lact. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Strep. thermophilus analysis by testing different times of incubation and concentrations of DNA-gyrase inhibitors. DVC procedure has been combined with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for the specific detection of viable cells of both bacteria with specific rRNA oligonucleotide probes (DVC-FISH). Of the four antibiotics tested (novobiocin, nalidixic acid, pipemidic acid and ciprofloxacin), novobiocin was the most effective for DVC method and the optimum incubation time was 7 h for both bacteria. The number of viable cells was obtained by the enumeration of specific hybridized cells that were elongated at least twice their original length for Lactobacillus and twice their original size for Streptococcus. This technique was successfully applied to detect viable cells in inoculated faeces. Results showed that this DVC-FISH procedure is a quick and culture-independent useful method to specifically detect viable Lact. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Strep. thermophilus in different samples, being applied for the first time to lactic acid bacteria. © 2011 The Authors. Letters in Applied Microbiology © 2011 The Society for Applied Microbiology.
Rapid in situ assessment of physiological activities in bacterial biofilms using fluorescent probes
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Yu, F. P.; McFeters, G. A.
1994-01-01
Two rapid in situ enumeration methods using fluorescent probes were used to assess the physiological activities of Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms on stainless steel. Fluorescent dyes, 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) and rhodamine 123 (Rh 123), were chosen to perform this study. CTC is a soluble redox indicator which can be reduced by respiring bacteria to fluorescent CTC-formazan crystals. Rh 123 is incorporated into bacteria with respect to cellular proton motive force. The intracellular accumulation of these fluorescent dyes can be determined using epifluorescence microscopy. The results obtained with these two fluorescent probes in situ were compared to the plate count (PC) and in situ direct viable count (DVC) methods. Viable cell densities within biofilms determined by the three in situ methods were comparable and always showed approximately 2-fold higher values than those obtained with the PC method. As an additional advantage, the results were observed after 2 h, which was shorter than the 4 h incubation time required for the DVC method and 24 h for colony formation. The results indicate that staining with CTC and Rh 123 provides rapid information regarding cell numbers and physiological activities of bacteria within biofilms.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dall'Ara, Enrico; Peña-Fernández, Marta; Palanca, Marco; Giorgi, Mario; Cristofolini, Luca; Tozzi, Gianluca
2017-11-01
Accurate measurement of local strain in heterogeneous and anisotropic bone tissue is fundamental to understand the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal diseases, to evaluate the effect of interventions from preclinical studies, and to optimize the design and delivery of biomaterials. Digital volume correlation (DVC) can be used to measure the three-dimensional displacement and strain fields from micro-Computed Tomography (µCT) images of loaded specimens. However, this approach is affected by the quality of the input images, by the morphology and density of the tissue under investigation, by the correlation scheme, and by the operational parameters used in the computation. Therefore, for each application the precision of the method should be evaluated. In this paper we present the results collected from datasets analyzed in previous studies as well as new data from a recent experimental campaign for characterizing the relationship between the precision of two different DVC approaches and the spatial resolution of the outputs. Different bone structures scanned with laboratory source µCT or Synchrotron light µCT (SRµCT) were processed in zero-strain tests to evaluate the precision of the DVC methods as a function of the subvolume size that ranged from 8 to 2500 micrometers. The results confirmed that for every microstructure the precision of DVC improves for larger subvolume size, following power laws. However, for the first time large differences in the precision of both local and global DVC approaches have been highlighted when SRµCT or in vivo µCT images were used instead of conventional ex vivo µCT. These findings suggest that in situ mechanical testing protocols applied in SRµCT facilities should be optimized in order to allow DVC analyses of localized strain measurements. Moreover, for in vivo µCT applications DVC analyses should be performed only with relatively course spatial resolution for achieving a reasonable precision of the method. In conclusion, we have extensively shown that the precision of both tested DVC approaches is affected by different bone structures, different input image resolution and different subvolume sizes. Before each specific application DVC users should always apply a similar approach to find the best compromise between precision and spatial resolution of the measurements.
Baudart, Julia; Coallier, Josée; Laurent, Patrick; Prévost, Michèle
2002-01-01
Water quality assessment involves the specific, sensitive, and rapid detection of bacterial indicators and pathogens in water samples, including viable but nonculturable (VBNC) cells. This work evaluates the specificity and sensitivity of a new method which combines a fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) approach with a physiological assay (direct viable count [DVC]) for the direct enumeration, at the single-cell level, of highly diluted viable cells of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae in freshwater and drinking water after membrane filtration. The approach (DVC-FISH) uses a new direct detection device, the laser scanning cytometer (Scan RDI). Combining the DVC-FISH method on a membrane with Scan RDI detection makes it possible to detect as few as one targeted cell in approximately 108 nontargeted cells spread over the membrane. The ability of this new approach to detect and enumerate VBNC enterobacterial cells in freshwater and drinking water distribution systems was investigated and is discussed. PMID:12324357
Moreno, Yolanda; Ballesteros, Lorena; García-Hernández, Jorge; Santiago, Paula; González, Ana; Ferrús, M Antonia
2011-10-01
Listeria monocytogenes detection in wastewater can be difficult because of the large amount of background microbiota and the presence of viable but non-culturable forms in this environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate a Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) assay combined with Direct Viable Count (DVC) method for detecting viable L. monocytogenes in wastewater samples, as an alternative to conventional culture methods. 16S rRNA sequence data were used to design a specific oligonucleotide probe. In order to assess the suitability of the method, the assays were performed on naturally (n=87) and artificially (n=14) contaminated samples and results were compared to those obtained with the isolation of cells on selective media and with a PCR method. The detection limit of FISH and PCR assays was 10(4) cells/mL without enrichment and 10 cells/mL after enrichment. A total of 47 samples, including 3 samples from effluent sites, yielded FISH positive results for L. monocytogenes. Using DVC-FISH technique, the presence of viable L. monocytogenes cells was detected in 23 out of these 47 FISH positive wastewater samples. PCR and culture methods yielded 27 and 23 positive results, respectively. According to these results, FISH technique has the potential to be used as a sensitive method for the detection and enumeration of L. monocytogenes in environmental wastewater samples. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Adaptive Distributed Video Coding with Correlation Estimation using Expectation Propagation
Cui, Lijuan; Wang, Shuang; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Cheng, Samuel
2013-01-01
Distributed video coding (DVC) is rapidly increasing in popularity by the way of shifting the complexity from encoder to decoder, whereas no compression performance degrades, at least in theory. In contrast with conventional video codecs, the inter-frame correlation in DVC is explored at decoder based on the received syndromes of Wyner-Ziv (WZ) frame and side information (SI) frame generated from other frames available only at decoder. However, the ultimate decoding performances of DVC are based on the assumption that the perfect knowledge of correlation statistic between WZ and SI frames should be available at decoder. Therefore, the ability of obtaining a good statistical correlation estimate is becoming increasingly important in practical DVC implementations. Generally, the existing correlation estimation methods in DVC can be classified into two main types: pre-estimation where estimation starts before decoding and on-the-fly (OTF) estimation where estimation can be refined iteratively during decoding. As potential changes between frames might be unpredictable or dynamical, OTF estimation methods usually outperforms pre-estimation techniques with the cost of increased decoding complexity (e.g., sampling methods). In this paper, we propose a low complexity adaptive DVC scheme using expectation propagation (EP), where correlation estimation is performed OTF as it is carried out jointly with decoding of the factor graph-based DVC code. Among different approximate inference methods, EP generally offers better tradeoff between accuracy and complexity. Experimental results show that our proposed scheme outperforms the benchmark state-of-the-art DISCOVER codec and other cases without correlation tracking, and achieves comparable decoding performance but with significantly low complexity comparing with sampling method. PMID:23750314
Adaptive distributed video coding with correlation estimation using expectation propagation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cui, Lijuan; Wang, Shuang; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Cheng, Samuel
2012-10-01
Distributed video coding (DVC) is rapidly increasing in popularity by the way of shifting the complexity from encoder to decoder, whereas no compression performance degrades, at least in theory. In contrast with conventional video codecs, the inter-frame correlation in DVC is explored at decoder based on the received syndromes of Wyner-Ziv (WZ) frame and side information (SI) frame generated from other frames available only at decoder. However, the ultimate decoding performances of DVC are based on the assumption that the perfect knowledge of correlation statistic between WZ and SI frames should be available at decoder. Therefore, the ability of obtaining a good statistical correlation estimate is becoming increasingly important in practical DVC implementations. Generally, the existing correlation estimation methods in DVC can be classified into two main types: pre-estimation where estimation starts before decoding and on-the-fly (OTF) estimation where estimation can be refined iteratively during decoding. As potential changes between frames might be unpredictable or dynamical, OTF estimation methods usually outperforms pre-estimation techniques with the cost of increased decoding complexity (e.g., sampling methods). In this paper, we propose a low complexity adaptive DVC scheme using expectation propagation (EP), where correlation estimation is performed OTF as it is carried out jointly with decoding of the factor graph-based DVC code. Among different approximate inference methods, EP generally offers better tradeoff between accuracy and complexity. Experimental results show that our proposed scheme outperforms the benchmark state-of-the-art DISCOVER codec and other cases without correlation tracking, and achieves comparable decoding performance but with significantly low complexity comparing with sampling method.
Adaptive Distributed Video Coding with Correlation Estimation using Expectation Propagation.
Cui, Lijuan; Wang, Shuang; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Cheng, Samuel
2012-10-15
Distributed video coding (DVC) is rapidly increasing in popularity by the way of shifting the complexity from encoder to decoder, whereas no compression performance degrades, at least in theory. In contrast with conventional video codecs, the inter-frame correlation in DVC is explored at decoder based on the received syndromes of Wyner-Ziv (WZ) frame and side information (SI) frame generated from other frames available only at decoder. However, the ultimate decoding performances of DVC are based on the assumption that the perfect knowledge of correlation statistic between WZ and SI frames should be available at decoder. Therefore, the ability of obtaining a good statistical correlation estimate is becoming increasingly important in practical DVC implementations. Generally, the existing correlation estimation methods in DVC can be classified into two main types: pre-estimation where estimation starts before decoding and on-the-fly (OTF) estimation where estimation can be refined iteratively during decoding. As potential changes between frames might be unpredictable or dynamical, OTF estimation methods usually outperforms pre-estimation techniques with the cost of increased decoding complexity (e.g., sampling methods). In this paper, we propose a low complexity adaptive DVC scheme using expectation propagation (EP), where correlation estimation is performed OTF as it is carried out jointly with decoding of the factor graph-based DVC code. Among different approximate inference methods, EP generally offers better tradeoff between accuracy and complexity. Experimental results show that our proposed scheme outperforms the benchmark state-of-the-art DISCOVER codec and other cases without correlation tracking, and achieves comparable decoding performance but with significantly low complexity comparing with sampling method.
Comparison of epifluorescent viable bacterial count methods
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rodgers, E. B.; Huff, T. L.
1992-01-01
Two methods, the 2-(4-Iodophenyl) 3-(4-nitrophenyl) 5-phenyltetrazolium chloride (INT) method and the direct viable count (DVC), were tested and compared for their efficiency for the determination of the viability of bacterial populations. Use of the INT method results in the formation of a dark spot within each respiring cell. The DVC method results in elongation or swelling of growing cells that are rendered incapable of cell division. Although both methods are subjective and can result in false positive results, the DVC method is best suited to analysis of waters in which the number of different types of organisms present in the same sample is assumed to be small, such as processed waters. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pan, Bing; Wang, Bo
2017-10-01
Digital volume correlation (DVC) is a powerful technique for quantifying interior deformation within solid opaque materials and biological tissues. In the last two decades, great efforts have been made to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the DVC algorithm. However, there is still a lack of a flexible, robust and accurate version that can be efficiently implemented in personal computers with limited RAM. This paper proposes an advanced DVC method that can realize accurate full-field internal deformation measurement applicable to high-resolution volume images with up to billions of voxels. Specifically, a novel layer-wise reliability-guided displacement tracking strategy combined with dynamic data management is presented to guide the DVC computation from slice to slice. The displacements at specified calculation points in each layer are computed using the advanced 3D inverse-compositional Gauss-Newton algorithm with the complete initial guess of the deformation vector accurately predicted from the computed calculation points. Since only limited slices of interest in the reference and deformed volume images rather than the whole volume images are required, the DVC calculation can thus be efficiently implemented on personal computers. The flexibility, accuracy and efficiency of the presented DVC approach are demonstrated by analyzing computer-simulated and experimentally obtained high-resolution volume images.
Thermal error analysis and compensation for digital image/volume correlation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pan, Bing
2018-02-01
Digital image/volume correlation (DIC/DVC) rely on the digital images acquired by digital cameras and x-ray CT scanners to extract the motion and deformation of test samples. Regrettably, these imaging devices are unstable optical systems, whose imaging geometry may undergo unavoidable slight and continual changes due to self-heating effect or ambient temperature variations. Changes in imaging geometry lead to both shift and expansion in the recorded 2D or 3D images, and finally manifest as systematic displacement and strain errors in DIC/DVC measurements. Since measurement accuracy is always the most important requirement in various experimental mechanics applications, these thermal-induced errors (referred to as thermal errors) should be given serious consideration in order to achieve high accuracy, reproducible DIC/DVC measurements. In this work, theoretical analyses are first given to understand the origin of thermal errors. Then real experiments are conducted to quantify thermal errors. Three solutions are suggested to mitigate or correct thermal errors. Among these solutions, a reference sample compensation approach is highly recommended because of its easy implementation, high accuracy and in-situ error correction capability. Most of the work has appeared in our previously published papers, thus its originality is not claimed. Instead, this paper aims to give a comprehensive overview and more insights of our work on thermal error analysis and compensation for DIC/DVC measurements.
White, Joseph M; Cannon, Jeremy W; Stannard, Adam; Burkhardt, Gabriel E; Spencer, Jerry R; Williams, Ken; Oh, John S; Rasmussen, Todd E
2011-11-01
The optimal method of vascular control and resuscitation in patients with life-threatening, extrathoracic torso hemorrhage remains debated. Guidelines recommend emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) with aortic clamping, although transabdominal aortic clamping followed by vascular control and direct vascular control (DVC) without aortic clamping are alternatives. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of three approaches to extrathoracic torso hemorrhage in a large animal model. Adolescent swine (Sus Scrofa) (mean weight = 80.9 kg) were randomized into three groups all of which had class IV shock established by hemorrhage from an iliac artery injury. Group 1: EDT with thoracic aortic clamping (N = 6); group 2: transabdominal supraceliac aortic clamping (SCC; N = 6); and group 3: DVC of bleeding site without aortic clamping (N = 6). After hemorrhage, EDT or SCC was performed in groups 1 and 2, respectively, with subsequent exploration of the bleeding site and placement of a temporary vascular shunt (TVS). Group 3 (DVC) underwent direct exploration of the injury and placement of a TVS. All groups were resuscitated to predefined physiologic endpoints over 6 hours with repeated measures of central and cerebral perfusion and end-organ function at standardized time points. Postmortem tissue analysis was performed to quantify injury to critical tissue beds. There was no difference in mortality among the groups and no TVS failures. Central aortic pressure, carotid flow, and partial pressure brain tissue oximetry, all demonstrated increases in EDT and SCC after application of the aortic clamp relative to DVC (p < 0.05). During resuscitation, serum lactate levels were higher in EDT compared with SCC and DVC (6.85 vs. 3.08 and 2.15, respectively; p < 0.05) and serum pH in EDT reflected greater acidosis than SCC and DVC (7.24 vs. 7.36 and 7.39, respectively; p < 0.05). EDT and SCC required more intravenous fluid than DVC (2,166 mL and 2,166 mL vs. 667 mL, respectively; p < 0.05) and more vasopressors were used in EDT and SCC compared with DVC (52.1 μg and 43.5 μg vs. 12.4 μg, respectively; p < 0.05). Brain and myocardial tissue stains demonstrated the same degree of acute ischemic changes in all groups. Although aortic clamping increases central and cerebral perfusion, DVC results in less physiologic derangement. The optimal method of aortic control would incorporate the benefits of maintained central pressure with less associated morbidity. Clinical studies evaluating DVC are warranted.
Crystal structure of human PCNA in complex with the PIP box of DVC1
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wang, Yong; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049; Xu, Min
2016-05-27
In higher eukaryotes, DVC1 (SPRTN, Spartan or C1orf124) is implicated in the translesion synthesis (TLS) pathway. DVC1 localizes to sites of DNA damage, binds to the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) via its conserved PCNA-interacting motif (PIP box), and associates with ubiquitin selective segregase p97 and other factors, thus regulating translesion synthesis polymerases. Here, we report the crystal structure of human PCNA in complex with a peptide ({sup 321}SNSHQNVLSNYFPRVS{sup 336}) derived from human DVC1 that contains a unique YF type PIP box. Structural analysis reveals the detailed PIP box-PCNA interaction. Interestingly, substitution of Y331 with Phe severely reduces its PCNAmore » binding affinity. These findings offer new insights into the determinants of PIP box for PCNA binding. -- Highlights: •Crystal structure of PCNA in complex with DVC1{sup PIP} peptide was determined. •The Y331{sup P7}F mutation severely impairs DVC1's PCNA binding affinity. •The intramolecular hydrogen bond N326−Y331 in the 3{sub 10} helix affects DVC1's PCNA binding affinity.« less
Little, Stephen H.; Pirat, Bahar; Kumar, Rahul; Igo, Stephen R.; McCulloch, Marti; Hartley, Craig J.; Xu, Jiaqiong; Zoghbi, William A.
2012-01-01
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to prospectively compare the accuracy of real-time three-dimensional (3D) color Doppler vena contracta (VC) area and two-dimensional (2D) VC diameter in an in vitro model and in the clinical assessment of mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. BACKGROUND Real-time 3D color Doppler allows direct measurement of VC area and may be more accurate for assessment of MR than the conventional VC diameter measurement by 2D color Doppler. METHODS Using a circulatory loop with an incorporated imaging chamber, various pulsatile flow rates of MR were driven through 4 differently sized orifices. In a clinical study of patients with at least mild MR, regurgitation severity was assessed quantitatively using Doppler-derived effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA), and semiquantitatively as recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography. We describe a step-by-step process to accurately identify the 3D-VC area and compare that measure against known orifice areas (in vitro study) and EROA (clinical study). RESULTS In vitro, 3D-VC area demonstrated the strongest correlation with known orifice area (r = 0.92, p < 0.001), whereas 2D-VC diameter had a weak correlation with orifice area (r = 0.56, p = 0.01). In a clinical study of 61 patients, 3D-VC area correlated with Doppler-derived EROA (r = 0.85, p < 0.001); the relation was stronger than for 2D-VC diameter (r = 0.67, p < 0.001). The advantage of 3D-VC area over 2D-VC diameter was more pronounced in eccentric jets (r = 0.87, p < 0.001 vs. r = 0.6, p < 0.001, respectively) and in moderate-to-severe or severe MR (r = 0.80, p < 0.001 vs. r = 0.18, p = 0.4, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Measurement of VC area is feasible with real-time 3D color Doppler and provides a simple parameter that accurately reflects MR severity, particularly in eccentric and clinically significant MR where geometric assumptions may be challenging. PMID:19356505
Chen, Zhe; Sun, Lejia; Chen, Hui; Gu, Dachuan; Zhang, Weitao; Yang, Zifeng; Peng, Tao; Dong, Rong; Lai, Kefang
2018-01-01
Neurogenic airway inflammation in chronic cough and bronchial asthma related to gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is involved in the esophageal-bronchial reflex, but it is unclear whether this reflex is mediated by central neurons. This study aimed to investigate the regulatory effects of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) on airway inflammation induced by the esophageal perfusion of hydrochloric acid (HCl) following the microinjection of nuclei in the DVC in guinea pigs. Airway inflammation was evaluated by measuring the extravasation of Evans blue dye (EBD) and substance P (SP) expression in the airway. Neuronal activity was indicated by Fos expression in the DVC. The neural pathways from the lower esophagus to the DVC and the DVC to the airway were identified using DiI tracing and pseudorabies virus Bartha (PRV-Bartha) retrograde tracing, respectively. HCl perfusion significantly increased plasma extravasation, SP expression in the trachea, and the expression of SP and Fos in the medulla oblongata nuclei, including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). The microinjection of glutamic acid (Glu) or exogenous SP to enhance neuronal activity in the DVC significantly potentiated plasma extravasation and SP release induced by intra-esophageal perfusion. The microinjection of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), lidocaine to inhibit neuronal activity or anti-SP serum in the DVC alleviated plasma extravasation and SP release. In conclusion, airway inflammation induced by the esophageal perfusion of HCl is regulated by DVC. This study provides new insight for the mechanism of airway neurogenic inflammation related to GER.
Chen, Zhe; Sun, Lejia; Chen, Hui; Gu, Dachuan; Zhang, Weitao; Yang, Zifeng; Peng, Tao; Dong, Rong; Lai, Kefang
2018-01-01
Neurogenic airway inflammation in chronic cough and bronchial asthma related to gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is involved in the esophageal–bronchial reflex, but it is unclear whether this reflex is mediated by central neurons. This study aimed to investigate the regulatory effects of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) on airway inflammation induced by the esophageal perfusion of hydrochloric acid (HCl) following the microinjection of nuclei in the DVC in guinea pigs. Airway inflammation was evaluated by measuring the extravasation of Evans blue dye (EBD) and substance P (SP) expression in the airway. Neuronal activity was indicated by Fos expression in the DVC. The neural pathways from the lower esophagus to the DVC and the DVC to the airway were identified using DiI tracing and pseudorabies virus Bartha (PRV-Bartha) retrograde tracing, respectively. HCl perfusion significantly increased plasma extravasation, SP expression in the trachea, and the expression of SP and Fos in the medulla oblongata nuclei, including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). The microinjection of glutamic acid (Glu) or exogenous SP to enhance neuronal activity in the DVC significantly potentiated plasma extravasation and SP release induced by intra-esophageal perfusion. The microinjection of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), lidocaine to inhibit neuronal activity or anti-SP serum in the DVC alleviated plasma extravasation and SP release. In conclusion, airway inflammation induced by the esophageal perfusion of HCl is regulated by DVC. This study provides new insight for the mechanism of airway neurogenic inflammation related to GER. PMID:29867575
An efficient and accurate 3D displacements tracking strategy for digital volume correlation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pan, Bing; Wang, Bo; Wu, Dafang; Lubineau, Gilles
2014-07-01
Owing to its inherent computational complexity, practical implementation of digital volume correlation (DVC) for internal displacement and strain mapping faces important challenges in improving its computational efficiency. In this work, an efficient and accurate 3D displacement tracking strategy is proposed for fast DVC calculation. The efficiency advantage is achieved by using three improvements. First, to eliminate the need of updating Hessian matrix in each iteration, an efficient 3D inverse compositional Gauss-Newton (3D IC-GN) algorithm is introduced to replace existing forward additive algorithms for accurate sub-voxel displacement registration. Second, to ensure the 3D IC-GN algorithm that converges accurately and rapidly and avoid time-consuming integer-voxel displacement searching, a generalized reliability-guided displacement tracking strategy is designed to transfer accurate and complete initial guess of deformation for each calculation point from its computed neighbors. Third, to avoid the repeated computation of sub-voxel intensity interpolation coefficients, an interpolation coefficient lookup table is established for tricubic interpolation. The computational complexity of the proposed fast DVC and the existing typical DVC algorithms are first analyzed quantitatively according to necessary arithmetic operations. Then, numerical tests are performed to verify the performance of the fast DVC algorithm in terms of measurement accuracy and computational efficiency. The experimental results indicate that, compared with the existing DVC algorithm, the presented fast DVC algorithm produces similar precision and slightly higher accuracy at a substantially reduced computational cost.
Yang, H; Taché, Y
1997-05-01
Neurons that contain substance P (SP) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in medullary midline raphe nuclei project to the dorsal vagal complex (DVC). The modulatory role of SP on basal gastric acid secretion (GAS) and TRH on DVC-induced stimulation of GAS was studied in urethan-anesthetized rats. The stable SP agonist, DiMe-C7 ([pGlu5, MePhe8, MeGly9]SP5-11, 50 and 100 pmol), injected unilaterally into the DVC reduced the GAS response (47 +/- 12 mumol/60 min) to coinjected TRH analog, RX 77368 (25 pmol), by 53% and 85%, respectively, whereas DiMe-C7 (100 pmol) alone had no effect on basal and pentagastrin-stimulated GAS. DiMe-C7 (100 pmol/site) inhibited the GAS response to kainic acid injected into the raphe pallidus (Rpa) when it was injected bilaterally into the DVC but not the hypoglossal nuclei. The SP nourokinin-1-receptor antagonist, CP-96,345, injected bilaterally into the DVC (1 nmol/ site) increased basal GAS (33 +/- 8 mumol/90 min) and potentiated the GAS response to kainic acid injected into the Rpa by 40%. These results suggest that SP acts on neurokinin-1 receptors in the DVC to reduce medullary TRH-induced stimulation of GAS in rats.
Lam, Carol K L; Chari, Madhu; Rutter, Guy A; Lam, Tony K T
2011-01-01
Hypothalamic nutrient sensing regulates glucose production, but the neuronal circuits involved remain largely unknown. Recent studies underscore the importance of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the dorsal vagal complex in glucose regulation. These studies raise the possibility that hypothalamic nutrient sensing activates a forebrain-hindbrain NMDA-dependent circuit to regulate glucose production. We implanted bilateral catheters targeting the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) (forebrain) and dorsal vagal complex (DVC) (hindbrain) and performed intravenous catheterizations to the same rat for infusion and sampling purposes. This model enabled concurrent selective activation of MBH nutrient sensing by either MBH delivery of lactate or an adenovirus expressing the dominant negative form of AMPK (Ad-DN AMPK α2 [D¹⁵⁷A]) and inhibition of DVC NMDA receptors by either DVC delivery of NMDA receptor blocker MK-801 or an adenovirus expressing the shRNA of NR1 subunit of NMDA receptors (Ad-shRNA NR1). Tracer-dilution methodology and the pancreatic euglycemic clamp technique were performed to assess changes in glucose kinetics in the same conscious, unrestrained rat in vivo. MBH lactate or Ad-DN AMPK with DVC saline increased glucose infusion required to maintain euglycemia due to an inhibition of glucose production during the clamps. However, DVC MK-801 negated the ability of MBH lactate or Ad-DN AMPK to increase glucose infusion or lower glucose production. Molecular knockdown of DVC NR1 of NMDA receptor via Ad-shRNA NR1 injection also negated MBH Ad-DN AMPK to lower glucose production. Molecular and pharmacological inhibition of DVC NMDA receptors negated hypothalamic nutrient sensing mechanisms activated by lactate metabolism or AMPK inhibition to lower glucose production. Thus, DVC NMDA receptor is required for hypothalamic nutrient sensing to lower glucose production and that hypothalamic nutrient sensing activates a forebrain-hindbrain circuit to lower glucose production.
Imran, Noreen; Seet, Boon-Chong; Fong, A C M
2015-01-01
Distributed video coding (DVC) is a relatively new video coding architecture originated from two fundamental theorems namely, Slepian-Wolf and Wyner-Ziv. Recent research developments have made DVC attractive for applications in the emerging domain of wireless video sensor networks (WVSNs). This paper reviews the state-of-the-art DVC architectures with a focus on understanding their opportunities and gaps in addressing the operational requirements and application needs of WVSNs.
Disseminated visceral coccidiosis in sandhill cranes
Carpenter, J.W.; Novilla, M.N.; Fayer, R.; Iverson, G.C.
1984-01-01
Disseminated visceral coccidiosis (DVC) caused by Eimeria spp was first recognized as a disease entity in captive sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) and whooping cranes (G americana) at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Because cranes produced at the Center are reintroduced to the wild to augment wild populations, studies involving both experimentally induced and natural infections were initiated to determine the potential or actual occurrence of DVC in wild Gruidae. Nine sandhill cranes dosed orally with eimerian oocysts of wild origin developed lesions characteristic of DVC. Extraintestinal granulomas associated with developing schizonts were found in 6 birds. Similar lesions were observed in wild sandhill cranes throughout parts of midwestern United States, Alaska, and Saskatchewan. These studies revealed the wide geographic distribution and the high frequency of occurrence of DVC in wild cranes.
Lisle, John T.; Broadaway, Susan C.; Prescott, Annette M.; Pyle, Barry H.; Fricker, Colin; McFeters, Gordon A.
1998-01-01
Escherichia coli O157:H7 can persist for days to weeks in microcosms simulating natural conditions. In this study, we used a suite of fluorescent, in situ stains and probes to assess the influence of starvation on physiological activity based on membrane potential (rhodamine 123 assay), membrane integrity (LIVE/DEAD BacLight kit), respiratory activity (5-cyano-2,3-di-4-tolyl-tetrazolium chloride assay), intracellular esterase activity (ScanRDI assay), and 16S rRNA content. Growth-dependent assays were also used to assess substrate responsiveness (direct viable count [DVC] assay), ATP activity (MicroStar assay), and culturability (R2A agar assay). In addition, resistance to chlorine disinfection was assessed. After 14 days of starvation, the DVC values decreased, while the values in all other assays remained relatively constant and equivalent to each other. Chlorine resistance progressively increased through the starvation period. After 29 days of starvation, there was no significant difference in chlorine resistance between control cultures that had not been exposed to the disinfectant and cultures that had been exposed. This study demonstrates that E. coli O157:H7 adapts to starvation conditions by developing a chlorine resistance phenotype. PMID:9835545
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Lisle, J. T.; Broadaway, S. C.; Prescott, A. M.; Pyle, B. H.; Fricker, C.; McFeters, G. A.
1998-01-01
Escherichia coli O157:H7 can persist for days to weeks in microcosms simulating natural conditions. In this study, we used a suite of fluorescent, in situ stains and probes to assess the influence of starvation on physiological activity based on membrane potential (rhodamine 123 assay), membrane integrity (LIVE/DEAD BacLight kit), respiratory activity (5-cyano-2,3-di-4-tolyl-tetrazolium chloride assay), intracellular esterase activity (ScanRDI assay), and 16S rRNA content. Growth-dependent assays were also used to assess substrate responsiveness (direct viable count [DVC] assay), ATP activity (MicroStar assay), and culturability (R2A agar assay). In addition, resistance to chlorine disinfection was assessed. After 14 days of starvation, the DVC values decreased, while the values in all other assays remained relatively constant and equivalent to each other. Chlorine resistance progressively increased through the starvation period. After 29 days of starvation, there was no significant difference in chlorine resistance between control cultures that had not been exposed to the disinfectant and cultures that had been exposed. This study demonstrates that E. coli O157:H7 adapts to starvation conditions by developing a chlorine resistance phenotype.
Spatial correlation-based side information refinement for distributed video coding
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Taieb, Mohamed Haj; Chouinard, Jean-Yves; Wang, Demin
2013-12-01
Distributed video coding (DVC) architecture designs, based on distributed source coding principles, have benefitted from significant progresses lately, notably in terms of achievable rate-distortion performances. However, a significant performance gap still remains when compared to prediction-based video coding schemes such as H.264/AVC. This is mainly due to the non-ideal exploitation of the video sequence temporal correlation properties during the generation of side information (SI). In fact, the decoder side motion estimation provides only an approximation of the true motion. In this paper, a progressive DVC architecture is proposed, which exploits the spatial correlation of the video frames to improve the motion-compensated temporal interpolation (MCTI). Specifically, Wyner-Ziv (WZ) frames are divided into several spatially correlated groups that are then sent progressively to the receiver. SI refinement (SIR) is performed as long as these groups are being decoded, thus providing more accurate SI for the next groups. It is shown that the proposed progressive SIR method leads to significant improvements over the Discover DVC codec as well as other SIR schemes recently introduced in the literature.
Toward enhancing the distributed video coder under a multiview video codec framework
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Shih-Chieh; Chen, Jiann-Jone; Tsai, Yao-Hong; Chen, Chin-Hua
2016-11-01
The advance of video coding technology enables multiview video (MVV) or three-dimensional television (3-D TV) display for users with or without glasses. For mobile devices or wireless applications, a distributed video coder (DVC) can be utilized to shift the encoder complexity to decoder under the MVV coding framework, denoted as multiview distributed video coding (MDVC). We proposed to exploit both inter- and intraview video correlations to enhance side information (SI) and improve the MDVC performance: (1) based on the multiview motion estimation (MVME) framework, a categorized block matching prediction with fidelity weights (COMPETE) was proposed to yield a high quality SI frame for better DVC reconstructed images. (2) The block transform coefficient properties, i.e., DCs and ACs, were exploited to design the priority rate control for the turbo code, such that the DVC decoding can be carried out with fewest parity bits. In comparison, the proposed COMPETE method demonstrated lower time complexity, while presenting better reconstructed video quality. Simulations show that the proposed COMPETE can reduce the time complexity of MVME to 1.29 to 2.56 times smaller, as compared to previous hybrid MVME methods, while the image peak signal to noise ratios (PSNRs) of a decoded video can be improved 0.2 to 3.5 dB, as compared to H.264/AVC intracoding.
An approach to contouring the dorsal vagal complex for radiotherapy planning
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
O'Steen, Lillie; Amdur, Robert J., E-mail: amdurr@shands.ufl.edu
Multiple studies suggest that radiation dose to the area of the brainstem called the “dorsal vagal complex (DVC)” influences the frequency of nausea and vomiting during radiotherapy. The purpose of this didactic article is to describe the step-by-step process that we use to contour the general area of the DVC on axial computed tomography (CT) images as would be done for radiotherapy planning. The contouring procedure that we describe for contouring the area of the DVC is useful to medical dosimetrists and radiation oncologists.
Cherian, Ajeesh Koshy; Briski, Karen P
2010-01-01
It has been reported that adrenalectomy (ADX) and the potent type II glucocorticoid receptor agonist, dexamethasone, exert opposing effects on glucose utilization in specific brain regions, including the hypothalamus. The present study investigated the hypothesis that ADX alters neuronal substrate fuel transporter mRNA levels in characterized hypothalamic and hindbrain metabolic monitoring structures, and adjustments in these gene profiles are correlated with modified transcription of genes encoding the glucose sensor, glucokinase (GCK), and the energy-dependent, inwardly-rectifying potassium channel, K(ATP). The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN), and dorsal vagal complex (DVC) were microdissected from ADX and sham-operated male rats 2 h after neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin or vehicle injection, and evaluated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR for neuronal glucose (GLUT3, GLUT4), monocarboxylate (MCT2) transporter, GCK, and sulfonylurea receptor-1 (SUR1) mRNA content. ADX modified basal fuel transporter and energy transducer gene expression in a site-specific manner since this manipulation decreased MCT2 and GLUT3 transcription in the DVC only; increased or decreased GCK mRNA in the LHA and VMN, respectively; and decreased SUR1 gene profiles in the DVC and LHA. Adrenal removal did not alter baseline GLUT4 mRNA in any structure examined. ADX also prevented the following transcriptional responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia: downregulated DVC MCT2, downregulated DVC and upregulated LHA and VMN GLUT3, upregulated LHA GLUT4, upregulated LHA GCK, and upregulated VMN SUR1. These results show that the adrenals regulate basal GLUT3 gene profiles in the DVC alone; during hypoglycemia, these glands suppress (DVC) or increase GLUT3 (LHA and VMH) mRNA, and selectively elevate GLUT4 transcripts in the LHA. The data demonstrate divergent adrenal control of DVC neuronal monocarboxylate transporter gene expression under basal (stimulatory) versus hypoglycemic (inhibitory) conditions. The current work also reveals contrasting adrenal regulation of baseline GCK mRNA in the LHA (inhibitory) and VMN (stimulatory), as well as adrenal-dependent hypoglycemic enhancement of LHA GCK and VMN SUR1 gene profiles. Additional research is required to characterize the impact of adrenal-sensitive substrate transporter and metabolic transducer function on fuel uptake and metabolic regulatory signaling in these brain sites. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Real-time distributed video coding for 1K-pixel visual sensor networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hanca, Jan; Deligiannis, Nikos; Munteanu, Adrian
2016-07-01
Many applications in visual sensor networks (VSNs) demand the low-cost wireless transmission of video data. In this context, distributed video coding (DVC) has proven its potential to achieve state-of-the-art compression performance while maintaining low computational complexity of the encoder. Despite their proven capabilities, current DVC solutions overlook hardware constraints, and this renders them unsuitable for practical implementations. This paper introduces a DVC architecture that offers highly efficient wireless communication in real-world VSNs. The design takes into account the severe computational and memory constraints imposed by practical implementations on low-resolution visual sensors. We study performance-complexity trade-offs for feedback-channel removal, propose learning-based techniques for rate allocation, and investigate various simplifications of side information generation yielding real-time decoding. The proposed system is evaluated against H.264/AVC intra, Motion-JPEG, and our previously designed DVC prototype for low-resolution visual sensors. Extensive experimental results on various data show significant improvements in multiple configurations. The proposed encoder achieves real-time performance on a 1k-pixel visual sensor mote. Real-time decoding is performed on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer or a low-end notebook PC. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed codec is the first practical DVC deployment on low-resolution VSNs.
Zhu, Ming-Liang; Zhang, Qing-Hang; Lupton, Colin; Tong, Jie
2016-04-01
The measurement uncertainty of strains has been assessed in a bone analogue (sawbone), bovine trabecular bone and bone-cement interface specimens under zero load using the Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) method. The effects of sub-volume size, sample constraint and preload on the measured strain uncertainty have been examined. There is generally a trade-off between the measurement uncertainty and the spatial resolution. Suitable sub-volume sizes have been be selected based on a compromise between the measurement uncertainty and the spatial resolution of the cases considered. A ratio of sub-volume size to a microstructure characteristic (Tb.Sp) was introduced to reflect a suitable spatial resolution, and the measurement uncertainty associated was assessed. Specifically, ratios between 1.6 and 4 appear to give rise to standard deviations in the measured strains between 166 and 620 με in all the cases considered, which would seem to suffice for strain analysis in pre as well as post yield loading regimes. A microscale finite element (μFE) model was built from the CT images of the sawbone, and the results from the μFE model and a continuum FE model were compared with those from the DVC. The strain results were found to differ significantly between the two methods at tissue level, consistent in trend with the results found in human bones, indicating mainly a limitation of the current DVC method in mapping strains at this level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Investigation of deer-vehicle crash data and countermeasure implementation in Texas
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2008-02-01
The Deer-Vehicle Crash Information and Research (DVCIR) Center is the only entity in the United States that focuses on the DVC problem and its reduction. This project investigated the status of DVC data and countermeasure implementation in Texas. Two...
Little, Stephen H; Pirat, Bahar; Kumar, Rahul; Igo, Stephen R; McCulloch, Marti; Hartley, Craig J; Xu, Jiaqiong; Zoghbi, William A
2008-11-01
Our goal was to prospectively compare the accuracy of real-time three-dimensional (3D) color Doppler vena contracta (VC) area and two-dimensional (2D) VC diameter in an in vitro model and in the clinical assessment of mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. Real-time 3D color Doppler allows direct measurement of VC area and may be more accurate for assessment of MR than the conventional VC diameter measurement by 2D color Doppler. Using a circulatory loop with an incorporated imaging chamber, various pulsatile flow rates of MR were driven through 4 differently sized orifices. In a clinical study of patients with at least mild MR, regurgitation severity was assessed quantitatively using Doppler-derived effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA), and semiquantitatively as recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography. We describe a step-by-step process to accurately identify the 3D-VC area and compare that measure against known orifice areas (in vitro study) and EROA (clinical study). In vitro, 3D-VC area demonstrated the strongest correlation with known orifice area (r = 0.92, p < 0.001), whereas 2D-VC diameter had a weak correlation with orifice area (r = 0.56, p = 0.01). In a clinical study of 61 patients, 3D-VC area correlated with Doppler-derived EROA (r = 0.85, p < 0.001); the relation was stronger than for 2D-VC diameter (r = 0.67, p < 0.001). The advantage of 3D-VC area over 2D-VC diameter was more pronounced in eccentric jets (r = 0.87, p < 0.001 vs. r = 0.6, p < 0.001, respectively) and in moderate-to-severe or severe MR (r = 0.80, p < 0.001 vs. r = 0.18, p = 0.4, respectively). Measurement of VC area is feasible with real-time 3D color Doppler and provides a simple parameter that accurately reflects MR severity, particularly in eccentric and clinically significant MR where geometric assumptions may be challenging.
Digital Videoconferencing: Applications across the Disciplines
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dudding, Carol C.
2009-01-01
The purpose of this article is to describe the technologies and applications of digital videoconferencing (DVC) within the realm of communication sciences and disorders. The discussion includes (a) a brief description of videoconferencing, (b) an explanation of the types of DVC available along with the advantages and disadvantages of each, (c)…
The detection of fecal pollution is performed via culturing methods in spite of the fact that culturable counts can severely underestimate the densities of fecal microorganisms. One approach that has been used to enumerate bacteria is the direct viable count method (DVC). The ob...
Real World 101: A Professional Development Seminar for Seniors.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Letourneau, Tanya Misner
2002-01-01
This article explains the origins of Delaware Valley College's (DVC) "Professional Development Seminar," jointly developed by DVC's Office of Career and Life Education and the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce to help seniors prepare for their transition from college to the workplace. Also outlines the program's content methodology and details its…
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cheng, Jin; Ye, Feng; Dan, Guorong
Nitrogen mustard (NM), a bifunctional alkylating agent (BAA), contains two alkyl arms and can act as a cross-linking bridge between DNA and protein to form a DNA-protein cross-link (DPC). O{sup 6}-methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair enzyme for alkyl adducts removal, is found to enhance cell sensitivity to BAAs and to promote damage, possibly due to its stable covalent cross-linking with DNA mediated by BAAs. To investigate MGMT-DNA cross-link (mDPC) formation and its possible dual roles in NM exposure, human bronchial epithelial cell line 16HBE was subjected to different concentrations of HN2, a kind of NM, and we found mDPCmore » was induced by HN2 in a concentration-dependent manner, but the mRNA and total protein of MGMT were suppressed. As early as 1 h after HN2 treatment, high mDPC was achieved and the level maintained for up to 24 h. Quick total DPC (tDPC) and γ-H2AX accumulation were observed. To evaluate the effect of newly predicted protease DVC1 on DPC cleavage, we applied siRNA of MGMT and DVC1, MG132 (proteasome inhibitor), and NMS-873 (p97 inhibitor) and found that proteolysis plays a role. DVC1 was proven to be more important in the cleavage of mDPC than tDPC in a p97-dependent manner. HN2 exposure induced DVC1 upregulation, which was at least partially contributed to MGMT cleavage by proteolysis because HN2-induced mDPC level and DNA damage was closely related with DVC1 expression. Homologous recombination (HR) was also activated. Our findings demonstrated that MGMT might turn into a DNA damage promoter by forming DPC when exposed to HN2. Proteolysis, especially DVC1, plays a crucial role in mDPC repair. - Highlights: • Nitrogen mustard-induced MGMT-DNA cross-linking was detected in a living cell. • Concentration- and time-dependent manners of MGMT-DNA cross-linking were revealed. • Proteolysis played an important role in protein (MGMT)-DNA cross-linking repair. • DVC1 acts as a proteolytic enzyme in cross-linking repair in a p97-dependent manner.« less
Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Total Viable Vibrio spp. in a NW Mediterranean Coastal Area.
Girard, Léa; Peuchet, Sébastien; Servais, Pierre; Henry, Annabelle; Charni-Ben-Tabassi, Nadine; Baudart, Julia
2017-09-27
A cellular approach combining Direct Viable Counting and Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization using a one-step multiple-probe technique and Solid Phase Cytometry (DVC-FISH-SPC) was developed to monitor total viable vibrios and cover the detection of a large diversity of vibrios. FISH combined three probes in the same assay and targeted sequences located at different positions on the 16S rRNA of Vibrio and Aliivibrio members. We performed a 10-month in situ study to investigate the weekly dynamics of viable vibrios relative to culturable counts at two northwestern Mediterranean coastal sites, and identified the key physicochemical factors for their occurrence in water using a multivariate analysis. Total viable and culturable cell counts showed the same temporal pattern during the warmer season, whereas the ratios between both methods were inverted during the colder seasons (<15°C), indicating that some of the vibrio community had entered into a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. We confirmed that Seawater Surface Temperature explained 51-62% of the total variance in culturable counts, and also showed that the occurrence of viable vibrios is controlled by two variables, pheopigment (15%) and phosphate (12%) concentrations, suggesting that other unidentified factors play a role in maintaining viability.
Differential detection of pathogenic Yersinia spp. by fluorescence in situ hybridization.
Rohde, Alexander; Hammerl, Jens Andre; Appel, Bernd; Dieckmann, Ralf; Al Dahouk, Sascha
2017-04-01
Yersinia enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis are pathogens of major medical importance, which are responsible for a considerable number of infections every year. The detection of these species still relies on cultural methods, which are slow, labour intensive and often hampered by the presence of high amounts of accompanying flora. In this study, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to develop a fast, sensitive and reliable alternative to detect viable bacteria in food. For this purpose, highly specific probes targeting the 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA were employed to differentially detect each of the three species. In order to enable the differentiation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), suitable competitor oligonucleotides and locked nucleic acids (LNAs) were used. Starved cells still showed a strong signal and a direct viable count (DVC) approach combined with FISH optimized live/dead discrimination. Sensitivity of the FISH test was high and even a single cell per gram of spiked minced pork meat could be detected within a day, demonstrating the applicability to identify foodborne hazards at an early stage. In conclusion, the established FISH tests proved to be promising tools to compensate existing drawbacks of the conventional cultural detection of these important zoonotic agents. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
CXCR4 receptors in the dorsal medulla: implications for autonomic dysfunction
Hermann, Gerlinda E.; Van Meter, Montina J.; Rogers, Richard C.
2014-01-01
The chemokine receptor, CXCR4, plays an essential role in guiding neural development of the CNS. Its natural agonist, CXCL12 [or stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1)], normally is derived from stromal cells, but is also produced by damaged and virus-infected neurons and glia. Pathologically, this receptor is critical to the proliferation of the HIV virus and initiation of metastatic cell growth in the brain. Anorexia, nausea and failed autonomic regulation of gastrointestinal (GI) function cause morbidity and contribute to the mortality associated with these disease states. Our previous work on the peripheral cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, demonstrated that similar morbidity factors involving GI dysfunction are attributable to agonist action on neural circuit elements of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) of the hindbrain. The DVC includes vagal afferent terminations in the solitary nucleus, neurons in the solitary nucleus (NST) and area postrema, and visceral efferent motor neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus (DMN) that are responsible for the neural regulation of digestive functions from the oral cavity to the transverse colon. Immunohistochemical techniques demonstrate a dense concentration of CXCR4 receptors on neurons throughout the DVC and the hypoglossal nucleus. CXCR4-immunoreactivity is also intense on microglia within the DVC, though not on the astrocytes. Physiological studies show that nanoinjection of SDF-1 into the DVC produces a significant reduction in gastric motility in parallel with an elevation in the numbers of cFOS-activated neurons in the NST and DMN. These results suggest that this chemokine receptor may contribute to autonomically mediated pathophysiological events associated with CNS metastasis and infection. PMID:18333961
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Satar, H. Muge
2013-01-01
Desktop videoconferencing (DVC) offers many opportunities for language learning through its multimodal features. However, it also brings some challenges such as gaze and mutual gaze, that is, eye-contact. This paper reports some of the findings of a PhD study investigating social presence in DVC interactions of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)…
Giles, Jareca M; Whitaker, Julia W; Moy, Sheryl S; Fletcher, Craig A
2018-04-18
Aggression among mice remains a common undesirable problem in laboratory settings, and animal welfare and scientific outcomes may become compromised depending on the severity of aggression. This study evaluated the effect of cage enrichment comprising a bilevel, mounted 'mezzanine' compared with a cotton square or shelter on intracage male aggression over a 6-wk period. Our first study involved home-cage behavioral challenges to male mice from a high aggression substrain (BALB/cJ) and low-aggression substrain (BALB/cByJ). Aggressive interactions and locomotor activity were scored manually and then compared with measures of activity obtained by using a continuous automated home-cagemonitoring system, the Digital Ventilated Caging (DVC) system. BALB/cJ mice exhibited similar levels of aggression acrosshousing conditions, whereas BALB/cByJ mice had lower aggression when housed with a mezzanine. In the second study,videorecordings and continuous DVC automated measures were collected over 24 h and divided into 12-h light and dark phases. BALB/cByJ mice-but not BALB/cJ-mice had increased aggressive behaviors during the dark phase. However, the DVC detected higher activity levels during the dark phase, compared with the light phase, in both substrains. Elevated activity levels recorded by the DVC correlated with fighting bouts and high levels of locomotion. These results show that a bilevel structural form of enrichment reduces aggression, depending on the BALB/c substrain, and confirms higher aggression levels in the BALB/cJ substrain. In addition, our findings provide evidence that the DVC is effective in identifying mouse cages with patterns of high activity levels, signaling possible aggression incidences, thus potentially allowing for early intervention and consequently improving animal welfare.
Vavaiya, Kamlesh V; Briski, Karen P
2007-10-24
While in vitro studies show that the oxidizable energy substrate, lactate, is a preferred fuel for CNS neurons during states of energy crisis, and that lactate may regulate neuronal glucose uptake under those conditions, its role in neuronal function in vivo remains controversial. Glucose-excited neurons in hindbrain dorsal vagal complex (DVC) monitor both glucose and lactate, and express both the glucose sensor, glucokinase (GK), and the SUR1 subunit of the plasma membrane energy transducer, K(ATP). Fourth ventricular lactate infusion exacerbates insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH) and IIH-associated patterns of DVC neuronal activation. We investigated the hypothesis that during glucoprivation, lactate regulates neuronal monocarboxylate and glucose transporter gene transcription in the DVC, and adjustments in these gene profiles are correlated with altered GK and SUR1 mRNA expression. We also examined whether caudal hindbrain lactate repletion alters the impact of hypoglycemia on substrate fuel uptake and metabolic sensing functions in other characterized metabolic monitoring sites, e.g., the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMH) and lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). qPCR was used to measure MCT2, GLUT3, GLUT4, GK, and SUR1 transcripts in the microdissected DVC, VMH, and LHA from groups of male rats treated by continuous infusion of aCSF or lactate into the caudal fourth ventricle (CV4), initiated prior to injection of Humulin R or saline. Blood glucose was decreased in response to insulin, a response that was significantly augmented by CV4 lactate infusion. IIH alone did not alter mean DVC MCT2, GLUT3, GLUT4, GK, or SUR1 mRNA levels, but these transcripts were increased in the lactate plus insulin group, relative to both euglycemic and aCSF-infused hypoglycemic rats. IIH decreased MCT2, GLUT3, and SUR1 gene profiles in the VMH; CV4 lactate infusion during IIH further diminished these transcripts, and suppressed GLUT4 and GK mRNA levels in this site. In LHA, IIH increased GLUT3 and SUR1 gene expression to an equal extent, with or without lactate, while GLUT4, MCT2, and GK mRNA levels were elevated only in response to lactate plus insulin. These studies show that caudal hindbrain-targeted delivery of exogenous lactate during IIH upregulates neuronal monocarboxylate and glucose transporter, GK, and SUR1 gene profiles in the DVC, and results in increased or decreased GLUT4 and GK mRNA in LHA and VMH, respectively. These data suggest that lactate and glucose utilization by DVC neurons may be enhanced in response to local lactate surfeit, alone or relative to glucose deficiency, and that increases in intracellular glucose and net energy yield may be correlated with elevated GK and SUR1 gene transcription, respectively, in local glucose sensing neurons. The results also imply that GLUT4- and GK-mediated glucose uptake and glucose sensing functions in the VMH and LHA may be reactive to DVC signaling of relative lactate abundance within the caudal hindbrain, and/or to physiological sequelae of this fuel augmentation, including amplified hypoglycemia.
Gaykema, Ronald P A; Goehler, Lisa E
2011-03-01
Immune challenges can lead to marked behavioral changes, including fatigue, reduced social interest, anorexia, and somnolence, but the precise neuronal mechanisms that underlie sickness behavior remain elusive. Part of the neurocircuitry influencing behavior associated with illness likely includes viscerosensory nuclei located in the caudal brainstem, based on findings that inactivation of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) can prevent social withdrawal. These brainstem nuclei contribute multiple neuronal projections that target different components of autonomic and stress-related neurocircuitry. In particular, catecholaminergic neurons in the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) and DVC target the hypothalamus and drive neuroendocrine responses to immune challenge, but their particular role in sickness behavior is not known. To test whether this catecholamine pathway also mediates sickness behavior, we compared effects of DVC inactivation with targeted lesion of the catecholamine pathway on exploratory behavior, which provides an index of motivation and fatigue, and associated patterns of brain activation assessed by immunohistochemical detection of c-Fos protein. LPS treatment dramatically reduced exploratory behavior, and produced a pattern of increased c-Fos expression in brain regions associated with stress and autonomic adjustments paraventricular hypothalamus (PVN), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), central amygdala (CEA), whereas activation was reduced in regions involved in exploratory behavior (hippocampus, dorsal striatum, ventral tuberomammillary nucleus, and ventral tegmental area). Both DVC inactivation and catecholamine lesion prevented reductions in exploratory behavior and completely blocked the inhibitory LPS effects on c-Fos expression in the behavior-associated regions. In contrast, LPS-induced activation in the CEA and BST was inhibited by DVC inactivation but not by catecholamine lesion. The findings support the idea that parallel pathways from immune-sensory caudal brainstem sources target distinct populations of forebrain neurons that likely mediate different aspects of sickness. The caudal medullary catecholaminergic projections to the hypothalamus may significantly contribute to brain mechanisms that induce behavioral "fatigue" in the context of physiological stressors. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gaykema, Ronald P.A.; Goehler, Lisa E.
2010-01-01
Immune challenges can lead to marked behavioral changes, including fatigue, reduced social interest, anorexia, and somnolence, but the precise neuronal mechanisms that underlie sickness behavior remain elusive. Part of the neurocircuitry influencing behavior associated with illness likely includes viscerosensory nuclei located in the caudal brainstem, based on findings that inactivation of the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) can prevent social withdrawal. These brainstem nuclei contribute multiple neuronal projections that target different components of autonomic and stress-related neurocircuitry. In particular, catecholaminergic neurons in the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) and DVC target the hypothalamus and drive neuroendocrine responses to immune challenge, but their particular role in sickness behavior is not known. To test whether this catecholamine pathway also mediates sickness behavior, we compared effects of DVC inactivation with targeted lesion of the catecholamine pathway on exploratory behavior, which provides an index of motivation and fatigue, and associated patterns of brain activation assessed by immunohistochemical detection of c-Fos protein. LPS treatment dramatically reduced exploratory behavior, and produced a pattern of increased c-Fos expression in brain regions associated with stress and autonomic adjustments paraventricular hypothalamus (PVN), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), central amygdala (CEA), whereas activation was reduced in regions involved in exploratory behavior (hippocampus, dorsal striatum, ventral tuberomammillary nucleus, and ventral tegmental area). Both DVC inactivation and catecholamine lesion prevented reductions in exploratory behavior and completely blocked the inhibitory LPS effects on c-Fos expression in the behavior-associated regions. In contrast, LPS-induced activation in the CEA and BST was inhibited by DVC inactivation but not by catecholamine lesion. The findings support the idea that parallel pathways from immune-sensory caudal brainstem sources target distinct populations of forebrain neurons that likely mediate different aspects of sickness. The caudal medullary catecholaminergic projections to the hypothalamus may significantly contribute to brain mechanisms that induce behavioral “fatigue” in the context of physiological stressors. PMID:21075199
Mulligan, Mark J; Stapleton, Jack T; Keitel, Wendy A; Frey, Sharon E; Chen, Wilbur H; Rouphael, Nadine; Edupuganti, Srilatha; Beck, Allison; Winokur, Patricia L; El Sahly, Hana M; Patel, Shital M; Atmar, Robert L; Graham, Irene; Anderson, Edwin; El-Kamary, Samer S; Pasetti, Marcela F; Sztein, Marcelo B; Hill, Heather; Goll, Johannes B
2017-08-24
Tularemia is caused by Francisella tularensis, a gram-negative bacterium that has been weaponized as an aerosol. For protection of personnel conducting biodefense research, the United States Army required clinical evaluation of a new lot of tularemia live vaccine strain manufactured in accordance with Current Good Manufacturing Practices. A phase 2 randomized clinical trial compared the new lot (DVC-LVS) to the existing vaccine that has been in use for decades (USAMRIID-LVS). The vaccines were delivered by scarification to 228 participants. Safety, reactogenicity, take and/or antibody levels were assessed on days 0, 1, 2, 8, 14, 28, 56, and 180. Both vaccines were safe and had acceptable reactogenicity profiles during six months of follow-up. There were no serious or grade 3 and 4 laboratory adverse events. Moderate systemic reactogenicity (mostly headache or feeling tired) was reported by ∼23% of participants receiving either vaccine. Injection site reactogenicity was mostly mild itchiness and pain. The frequencies of vaccine take skin reactions were 73% (95% CI, 64, 81) for DVC-LVS and 80% (95% CI, 71, 87) for USAMRIID-LVS. The 90% CI for the difference in proportions was -6.9% (-16.4, 2.6). The rates of seroconversion measured by microagglutination assay on days 28 or 56 were 94% (95% CI, 88, 98; n=98/104) for DVC-LVS and 94% (95% CI, 87, 97; n=103/110) for USAMRIID-LVS (p=1.00). Day 14 sera revealed more rapid seroconversion for DVC-LVS relative to USAMRIID-LVS: 82% (95% CI, 73, 89) versus 55% (95% CI, 45, 65), respectively (p<0.0001). The DVC-LVS vaccine had similar safety, reactogenicity, take and antibody responses compared to the older USAMRIID vaccine, and was superior for early (day 14) antibody production. Vaccination take was not a sensitive surrogate for seroconversion in a multi-center study where personnel at five research clinics performed assessments. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01150695. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Urban air pollution targets the dorsal vagal complex and dark chocolate offers neuroprotection.
Villarreal-Calderon, Rafael; Torres-Jardón, Ricardo; Palacios-Moreno, Juan; Osnaya, Norma; Pérez-Guillé, Beatriz; Maronpot, Robert R; Reed, William; Zhu, Hongtu; Calderón-Garcidueñas, Lilian
2010-12-01
Mexico City (MC) residents exposed to fine particulate matter and endotoxin exhibit inflammation of the olfactory bulb, substantia nigra, and vagus nerve. The goal of this study was to model these endpoints in mice and examine the neuroprotective effects of chocolate. Mice exposed to MC air received no treatment or oral dark chocolate and were compared to clean-air mice either untreated or treated intraperitoneally with endotoxin. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), and CD14 messenger RNA (mRNA) were quantified after 4, 8, and 16 months of exposure in target brain regions. After 16 months of exposure, the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) exhibited significant inflammation in endotoxin-treated and MC mice (COX-2 and IL-1β P<.001). Mexico City mice had olfactory bulb upregulation of CD14 (P=.002) and significant DVC imbalance in genes for antioxidant defenses, apoptosis, and neurodegeneration. These findings demonstrate sustained DVC inflammation in mice exposed to MC air, which is mitigated by chocolate administration. © The Author(s) 2010
Decellularized Cartilage May Be a Chondroinductive Material for Osteochondral Tissue Engineering
Sutherland, Amanda J.; Beck, Emily C.; Dennis, S. Connor; Converse, Gabriel L.; Hopkins, Richard A.; Berkland, Cory J.; Detamore, Michael S.
2015-01-01
Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based materials are attractive for regenerative medicine in their ability to potentially aid in stem cell recruitment, infiltration, and differentiation without added biological factors. In musculoskeletal tissue engineering, demineralized bone matrix is widely used, but recently cartilage matrix has been attracting attention as a potentially chondroinductive material. The aim of this study was thus to establish a chemical decellularization method for use with articular cartilage to quantify removal of cells and analyze the cartilage biochemical content at various stages during the decellularization process, which included a physically devitalization step. To study the cellular response to the cartilage matrix, rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs) were cultured in cell pellets containing cells only (control), chondrogenic differentiation medium (TGF-β), chemically decellularized cartilage particles (DCC), or physically devitalized cartilage particles (DVC). The chemical decellularization process removed the vast majority of DNA and about half of the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) within the matrix, but had no significant effect on the amount of hydroxyproline. Most notably, the DCC group significantly outperformed TGF-β in chondroinduction of rBMSCs, with collagen II gene expression an order of magnitude or more higher. While DVC did not exhibit a chondrogenic response to the extent that DCC did, DVC had a greater down regulation of collagen I, collagen X and Runx2. A new protocol has been introduced for cartilage devitalization and decellularization in the current study, with evidence of chondroinductivity. Such bioactivity along with providing the ‘raw material’ building blocks of regenerating cartilage may suggest a promising role for DCC in biomaterials that rely on recruiting endogenous cell recruitment and differentiation for cartilage regeneration. PMID:25965981
Micro Finite Element models of the vertebral body: Validation of local displacement predictions.
Costa, Maria Cristiana; Tozzi, Gianluca; Cristofolini, Luca; Danesi, Valentina; Viceconti, Marco; Dall'Ara, Enrico
2017-01-01
The estimation of local and structural mechanical properties of bones with micro Finite Element (microFE) models based on Micro Computed Tomography images depends on the quality bone geometry is captured, reconstructed and modelled. The aim of this study was to validate microFE models predictions of local displacements for vertebral bodies and to evaluate the effect of the elastic tissue modulus on model's predictions of axial forces. Four porcine thoracic vertebrae were axially compressed in situ, in a step-wise fashion and scanned at approximately 39μm resolution in preloaded and loaded conditions. A global digital volume correlation (DVC) approach was used to compute the full-field displacements. Homogeneous, isotropic and linear elastic microFE models were generated with boundary conditions assigned from the interpolated displacement field measured from the DVC. Measured and predicted local displacements were compared for the cortical and trabecular compartments in the middle of the specimens. Models were run with two different tissue moduli defined from microindentation data (12.0GPa) and a back-calculation procedure (4.6GPa). The predicted sum of axial reaction forces was compared to the experimental values for each specimen. MicroFE models predicted more than 87% of the variation in the displacement measurements (R2 = 0.87-0.99). However, model predictions of axial forces were largely overestimated (80-369%) for a tissue modulus of 12.0GPa, whereas differences in the range 10-80% were found for a back-calculated tissue modulus. The specimen with the lowest density showed a large number of elements strained beyond yield and the highest predictive errors. This study shows that the simplest microFE models can accurately predict quantitatively the local displacements and qualitatively the strain distribution within the vertebral body, independently from the considered bone types.
Vagally mediated effects of brain stem dopamine on gastric tone and phasic contractions of the rat.
Anselmi, L; Toti, L; Bove, C; Travagli, R A
2017-11-01
Dopamine (DA)-containing fibers and neurons are embedded within the brain stem dorsal vagal complex (DVC); we have shown previously that DA modulates the membrane properties of neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) via DA1 and DA2 receptors. The vagally dependent modulation of gastric tone and phasic contractions, i.e., motility, by DA, however, has not been characterized. With the use of microinjections of DA in the DVC while recording gastric tone and motility, the aims of the present study were 1 ) assess the gastric effects of brain stem DA application, 2 ) identify the DA receptor subtype, and, 3 ) identify the postganglionic pathway(s) activated. Dopamine microinjection in the DVC decreased gastric tone and motility in both corpus and antrum in 29 of 34 rats, and the effects were abolished by ipsilateral vagotomy and fourth ventricular treatment with the selective DA2 receptor antagonist L741,626 but not by application of the selective DA1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390. Systemic administration of the cholinergic antagonist atropine attenuated the inhibition of corpus and antrum tone in response to DA microinjection in the DVC. Conversely, systemic administration of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor nitro-l-arginine methyl ester did not alter the DA-induced decrease in gastric tone and motility. Our data provide evidence of a dopaminergic modulation of a brain stem vagal neurocircuit that controls gastric tone and motility. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Dopamine administration in the brain stem decreases gastric tone and phasic contractions. The gastric effects of dopamine are mediated via dopamine 2 receptors on neurons of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. The inhibitory effects of dopamine are mediated via inhibition of the postganglionic cholinergic pathway. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.
Zheng, Huiyuan; Patterson, Laurel M; Berthoud, Hans-Rudolf
2005-05-02
Orexin-expressing neurons in the hypothalamus project throughout the neuraxis and are involved in regulation of the sleep/wake cycle, food intake, and autonomic functions. Here we specifically analyze the anatomical organization of orexin projections to the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) and raphe pallidus and effects on ingestive behavior and autonomic functions of local orexin-A administration in nonanesthetized rats. Retrograde tracing experiments revealed that as many as 20% of hypothalamic orexin neurons project to the DVC, where they form straight varicose axon profiles, some of which are in close anatomical apposition with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-, glucagon-like peptide-1-, gamma-aminobutyric acid-, and nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive neurons in a nonselective manner. Similar contacts were frequently observed with neurons of the nucleus of the solitary tract whose activation by gastrointestinal food stimuli was demonstrated by the expression of nuclear c-Fos immunoreactivity. Orexin-A administration to the fourth ventricle induced significant Fos-expression throughout the DVC compared with saline control injections, with about 20-25% of TH-ir neurons among the stimulated ones. Fourth ventricular orexin injections also significantly stimulated chow and water intake in nonfood-deprived rats. Direct bilateral injections of orexin into the DVC increased intake of palatable high-fat pellets. Orexin-ir fibers also innervated raphe pallidus. Fourth ventricular orexin-A (1 nmol) activated Fos expression in the raphe pallidus and C1/A1 catecholaminergic neurons in the ventral medulla and increased body temperature, heart rate, and locomotor activity. The results confirm that hypothalamomedullary orexin projections are involved in a variety of physiological functions, including ingestive behavior and sympathetic outflow. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Disseminated visceral coccidiosis in a wild white-naped crane (Grus vipio)
Kwon, Y.K.; Jeon, W.J.; Kang, M.I.; Kim, J.-H.; Olsen, Glenn H.
2006-01-01
Disseminated visceral coccidiosis (DVC) was unexpectedly recognized in a wild white-naped crane (Grits vipio) killed by phosphamidon insecticide. On gross pathologic examination, widely disseminated white nodules were found on the serosa of the proventriculus, gizzard, and intestine, as well as on the surface and in the parenchyma of liver, spleen, and cardiac muscle. Microscopically, asexual stages of a coccidia were observed in some nodules. However, the species of coccidia could not be determined because no oocysts were found on fecal examination. This is believed to be the first reported case of DVC in a wild white-naped crane infected with Eimeria spp.
Wang, Tony J C; Fontenla, Sandra; McCann, Patrick; Young, Robert J; McNamara, Stephen; Rao, Shyam; Mechalakos, James G; Lee, Nancy Y
2013-12-01
To correlate the planned dose to the nausea center (NC) - area postrema (AP) and dorsal vagal complex (DVC) - with nausea and vomiting symptoms in OPC patients treated with IMRT without chemotherapy. We also investigated whether it was possible to reduce doses to the NC without significant degradation of the clinically accepted treatment plan. From 11/04 to 4/09, 37 OPC patients were treated with definitive or adjuvant IMRT without chemotherapy. Of these, only 23 patients had restorable plans and were included in this analysis. We contoured the NC with the assistance of an expert board-certified neuroradiologist. We searched for correlation between the delivered dose to the NC and patient-reported nausea and vomiting during IMRT. We used one-paired t-test: two-sample assuming equal variances to compare differences in dose to NC between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. We then replanned each case to determine if reduced dose to the NC could be achieved without compromising coverage to target volumes, increasing unwarranted hotspots or increasing dose to surrounding critical normal tissues. Acute symptoms of nausea were as follows: Grade 0 (n=6), Grade 1 (n=13), Grade 2 (n=3), and Grade 3 (n=1). Patients with no complaints of nausea had a median dose to the DVC of 34.2 Gy (range 4.6-46.6 Gy) and AP of 32.6 Gy (range 7.0-41.4Gy); whereas those with any complaints of nausea had a median DVC dose of 40.4 Gy (range 19.3-49.4 Gy) and AP dose of 38.7 Gy (range 16.7-46.8 Gy) (p=0.04). Acute vomiting was as follows: Grade 0 (n=17), Grade 1 (n=4), Grade 2 (n=1), and Grade 3 (n=1). There was no significant difference in DVC or AP dose among those with and without vomiting symptoms (p=0.28).Upon replanning of each case to minimize dose to the NC, we were, on average, able to reduce the radiation dose to AP by 18% and DVC by 17%; while the average dose variations to the PTV coverage, brainstem, cord, temporal lobes, and cochlea were never greater than 3%. Hotspots increased by 2% for 3 patients while hotspots for remaining patients were less than 2% variation. For OPC cancer patients treated with IMRT without chemotherapy, dose to AP and DVC may be associated with development of nausea. We were able to show that reducing doses substantially to the NC is achievable without significant alteration of the clinically accepted plan and may reduce the incidence and grade of nausea. As symptoms of nausea can be devastating to patients, one can consider routine contouring and constraining of the NC to minimize chances of having this complication.
Nerada, Zsuzsanna; Hegyi, Zoltán; Szepesi, Áron; Tóth, Szilárd; Hegedüs, Csilla; Várady, György; Matula, Zsolt; Homolya, László; Sarkadi, Balázs; Telbisz, Ágnes
2016-09-01
ABC multidrug transporters are key players in cancer multidrug resistance and in determining the ADME-Tox properties of drugs and xenobiotics. The most sensitive and specific detection of these transporters is based on functional assays. Assessment of the transporter-dependent reduction of cellular uptake of the fluorescent dyes, such as Hoechst 33342 (Ho) and more recently DyeCycle Violet (DCV), have been widely advocated for the characterization of both ABCB1 and ABCG2 multidrug transporters. Detailed comparison of these supravital DNA-binding dyes revealed that DCV is less toxic to ABCG2- and ABCB1-expressing cells than Ho. ATPase measurements imply that DCV and Ho are similarly handled by ABCB1, whereas ABCG2 seems to transport DVC more effectively. In addition, we have developed an image-based high content microscopy screening method for simultaneous in situ measurement of the cellular activity and expression of the ABCG2 multidrug transporter. We demonstrated the applicability of this method for identifying ABCG2-positive cells in heterogeneous cell population by a single dye uptake measurement. These results may promote multidrug transporter studies at a single cell level and allow the quantitative detection of clinically important drug-resistant sub-populations. © 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. © 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.
Zhou, Lushan; Zeng, Yuhan; Baker, Lane A; Hou, Jianghui
2015-01-01
Direct recording of tight junction permeability is of pivotal importance to many biologic fields. Previous approaches bear an intrinsic disadvantage due to the difficulty of separating tight junction conductance from nearby membrane conductance. Here, we propose the design of Double whole-cell Voltage Clamp - Ion Conductance Microscopy (DVC-ICM) based on previously demonstrated potentiometric scanning of local conductive pathways. As proposed, DVC-ICM utilizes two coordinated whole-cell patch-clamps to neutralize the apical membrane current during potentiometric scanning, which in models described here will profoundly enhance the specificity of tight junction recording. Several potential pitfalls are considered, evaluated and addressed with alternative countermeasures. PMID:26716077
Side-information-dependent correlation channel estimation in hash-based distributed video coding.
Deligiannis, Nikos; Barbarien, Joeri; Jacobs, Marc; Munteanu, Adrian; Skodras, Athanassios; Schelkens, Peter
2012-04-01
In the context of low-cost video encoding, distributed video coding (DVC) has recently emerged as a potential candidate for uplink-oriented applications. This paper builds on a concept of correlation channel (CC) modeling, which expresses the correlation noise as being statistically dependent on the side information (SI). Compared with classical side-information-independent (SII) noise modeling adopted in current DVC solutions, it is theoretically proven that side-information-dependent (SID) modeling improves the Wyner-Ziv coding performance. Anchored in this finding, this paper proposes a novel algorithm for online estimation of the SID CC parameters based on already decoded information. The proposed algorithm enables bit-plane-by-bit-plane successive refinement of the channel estimation leading to progressively improved accuracy. Additionally, the proposed algorithm is included in a novel DVC architecture that employs a competitive hash-based motion estimation technique to generate high-quality SI at the decoder. Experimental results corroborate our theoretical gains and validate the accuracy of the channel estimation algorithm. The performance assessment of the proposed architecture shows remarkable and consistent coding gains over a germane group of state-of-the-art distributed and standard video codecs, even under strenuous conditions, i.e., large groups of pictures and highly irregular motion content.
Vavaiya, Kamlesh V; Paranjape, Sachin A; Briski, Karen P
2007-01-01
Recurrent insulin-induced hypoglycemia (RIIH) impairs glucose counter-regulatory function in male humans and rodents and, in the latter, diminishes neuronal activation in CNS structures that monitor metabolic homeostasis, including the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and dorsal vagal complex (DVC). We investigated whether habituated neuronal reactivity in CNS sensing sites to hypoglycemia is correlated with modified monocarboxylate and/or glucose uptake by using quantitative real-time RT-PCR to analyze neuronal monocarboxylate transporter (MCT2) and glucose transporter variant (GLUT and GLUT4) gene expression profiles in the microdissected LHA, ventromedial nucleus hypothalamus (VMH), and DVC after one or multiple insulin injections. Because orchidectomy (ORDX) maintains uniform glycemic responses to RIIH in male rats, we also examined whether regional gene response patterns are testes dependent. In the intact male rat DVC, MCT2, GLUT3, and GLUT4 gene expression was not altered by acute hypoglycemia but was enhanced by RIIH. MCT2 and GLUT3 mRNA levels in the ORDX rat DVC did not differ among groups, but GLUT4 transcripts were progressively increased by acute and recurrent hypoglycemia. Precedent hypoglycemia decreased or increased basal MCT2 and GLUT4 gene expression, respectively, in the intact rat LHA; LHA GLUT3 transcription was augmented by RIIH in intact rats only. Acute hypoglycemia suppressed MCT2, GLUT3, and GLUT4 gene expression in the intact rat VMH, a response that was abolished by RIIH. In ORDX rats, VMH gene transcript levels were unchanged in response to one dose of insulin but were selectively diminished during RIIH. These data demonstrate site-specific, testes-dependent effects of acute and recurrent hypoglycemia on neuronal metabolic substrate transporter gene expression in characterized rat brain metabolic sensing loci and emphasize the need to assess the impact of potential alterations in glucose and lactate uptake during RIIH on general and specialized, e.g., metabolic monitoring, functions of neurons in those sites.
Micro Finite Element models of the vertebral body: Validation of local displacement predictions
Costa, Maria Cristiana; Tozzi, Gianluca; Cristofolini, Luca; Danesi, Valentina; Viceconti, Marco
2017-01-01
The estimation of local and structural mechanical properties of bones with micro Finite Element (microFE) models based on Micro Computed Tomography images depends on the quality bone geometry is captured, reconstructed and modelled. The aim of this study was to validate microFE models predictions of local displacements for vertebral bodies and to evaluate the effect of the elastic tissue modulus on model’s predictions of axial forces. Four porcine thoracic vertebrae were axially compressed in situ, in a step-wise fashion and scanned at approximately 39μm resolution in preloaded and loaded conditions. A global digital volume correlation (DVC) approach was used to compute the full-field displacements. Homogeneous, isotropic and linear elastic microFE models were generated with boundary conditions assigned from the interpolated displacement field measured from the DVC. Measured and predicted local displacements were compared for the cortical and trabecular compartments in the middle of the specimens. Models were run with two different tissue moduli defined from microindentation data (12.0GPa) and a back-calculation procedure (4.6GPa). The predicted sum of axial reaction forces was compared to the experimental values for each specimen. MicroFE models predicted more than 87% of the variation in the displacement measurements (R2 = 0.87–0.99). However, model predictions of axial forces were largely overestimated (80–369%) for a tissue modulus of 12.0GPa, whereas differences in the range 10–80% were found for a back-calculated tissue modulus. The specimen with the lowest density showed a large number of elements strained beyond yield and the highest predictive errors. This study shows that the simplest microFE models can accurately predict quantitatively the local displacements and qualitatively the strain distribution within the vertebral body, independently from the considered bone types. PMID:28700618
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Lisle, J. T.; Pyle, B. H.; McFeters, G. A.
1999-01-01
A suite of fluorescent intracellular stains and probes was used, in conjunction with viable plate counts, to assess the effect of chlorine disinfection on membrane potential (rhodamine 123; Rh123 and bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol; DiBAC4(3)), membrane integrity (LIVE/DEAD BacLight kit), respiratory activity (5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride; CTC) and substrate responsiveness (direct viable counts; DVC) in the commensal pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7. After a 5 min exposure to the disinfectant, physiological indices were affected in the following order: viable plate counts > substrate responsiveness > membrane potential > respiratory activity > membrane integrity. In situ assessment of physiological activity by examining multiple targets, as demonstrated in this study, permits a more comprehensive determination of the site and extent of injury in bacterial cells following sublethal disinfection with chlorine. This approach to assessing altered bacterial physiology has application in various fields where detection of stressed bacteria is of interest.
Barret, Eric; Sanchez-Salas, Rafael; Kasraeian, Ali; Benoist, Nicolas; Ganatra, Anjali; Cathelineau, Xavier; Rozet, Francois; Galiano, Marc; Vallancien, Guy
2009-01-01
Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) represents a novel approach to abdominal surgery. Several applications have already been described. Drawbacks include limited range of motion and need for articulated instruments. Robotic technology could overcome such technical difficulties. We report our experience with LESS radical prostatectomy (LESS-RP) in a cadaver and LESS robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (LESS-RARP) in a human patient. Standard laparoscopic instruments (SLI) and articulated laparoscopic instruments were used in the cadaveric LESS-RP. The da Vinci system was used in the LESS-RARP. Both procedures reproduced standard extraperitoneal laparoscopic prostatectomy as performed at Institut Montsouris. Control of the dorsal venous complex (DVC) and urethrovesical anastomosis (UVA) were key elements evaluated for feasibility. Cadaveric model: Total operative time (TOT) was 160 minutes, with 5 minutes for the DVC (one stitch) and 35 minutes for the UVA (six stitches). Although articulated instruments were helpful in the operation, SLI remained essential for the procedure. Clinical experience: LESS-RARP was performed for T(1c) prostate cancer. TOT was 150 minutes, including 5 minutes for the DVC (one figure-of-eight stitch) and 30 minutes for the UVA (six interrupted stitches). Blood loss was 500 mL. Bilateral neurovascular preservation was performed, and results of final pathologic examination showed negative surgical margins. The human cadaver is an adequate model for LESS-RP, and LESS-RARP is feasible to be performed in the clinical arena. The synergy of robotic technology and LESS represents a new generation of surgery.
Pathology and pathogenesis of disseminated visceral coccidiosis in cranes.
Novilla, Meliton N; Carpenter, James W
2004-06-01
Disseminated visceral coccidiosis (DVC) caused by Eimeria spp. was recognized as a disease entity in captive sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) and whooping cranes (Grus americana) in the late 1970s. While most avian species of Eimeria inhabit the intestinal tract of its host, the crane eimerians, Eimeria reichenowi and Eimeria gruis, invade and multiply systemically and complete their development in both digestive and respiratory tracts. In DVC, cranes, especially chicks, may succumb to acute infections resulting in hepatitis, bronchopneumonia, myocarditis, splenitis, and enteritis. Cranes may also develop chronic, subclinical infections characterized by granulomatous nodules in various organs and tissues. This paper reviews the pathology and pathogenicity of natural and experimental DVC in sandhill and whooping cranes. Naturally infected birds appeared clinically normal, but progressive weakness, emaciation, greenish diarrhea, and recumbency before death were observed in birds administered doses > or = 10 x 10(3) sporulated oocysts per os. At necropsy, naturally infected birds had nodules in the mucosa of the oral cavity and the esophagus, and in thoracic and abdominal viscera. Experimentally infected birds necropsied less than 7 days after infection (a.i.) had no gross lesions. Birds examined later had hepatosplenomegaly, liver mottling, lung congestion and consolidation with frothy fluid in airways, and turgid intestinal tracts with hyperemic mucosa. From 28 days a.i., grossly visible granulomatous nodules were seen in the esophagus, heart, liver, cloaca, and eyelids. By light microscopy, the basic host response was a granulomatous inflammation with non-suppurative vasculitis affecting many organs and tissues. With time, multifocal aggregates of mononuclear cells, many laden with asexual coccidial stages, increased in size and number. Widespread merogony resulted in morbidity and death, particularly in birds administered 20 x 10(3) sporulated oocysts. Ultrastructural examination revealed developing asexual coccidian stages in the cytoplasm of large lymphocytes or monocytes within a parasitophorous vacuole, often indenting the nucleus. Oocysts and gametocytes were found in the intestines by 12 days a.i., and in the esophagus, trachea, bronchi, and lung by 14 days a.i., indicating that crane eimerians can complete their life cycle at these sites. Thus, DVC in cranes could be a useful animal model for the study of eimerian extra-intestinal stages and the evaluation of potential systemic anticoccidial drugs.
Geology and Conceptual Model of the Domuyo Geothermal Area, Patagonia, Argentina
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fragoso, A. S.; Ferrari, L.; Norini, G.
2017-12-01
Cerro Domuyo is the highest mountain in Patagonia and its western slope is characterized by thermal springs with boiling fluids as well as silicic domes and pyroclastic deposits that suggest the existence of a geothermal reservoir. Early studies proposed that the thermal springs were fault-controlled and the reservoir was located in a graben bounded by E-W normal faults. A recent geochemical study estimated a temperature of 220ºC for the fluid reservoir and a thermal energy release of 1.1 GW, one of the world largest advective heat flux from a continental volcanic center. We carried out a geologic survey and U-Pb and U-Th geochronologic study to elaborate an updated conceptual model for the Domuyo geothermal area. Our study indicates that the Domuyo Volcanic Complex (DVC) is a dome complex overlying an older, Middle Miocene to Pliocene volcanic sequence widely exposed to the southwest and to the north, which in turn covers: 1) the Jurassice-Early Creteacoeus Neuquen marine sedimentary succession, 2) silicic ignimbrites dated at 186.7 Ma and, 3) the Paleozoic metamorphic basement intruded by 288 Ma granite bodies. These pre-Cenozoic successions are involved in dominantly N-S trending folds and thrust faults later displaced by E-W striking normal faults with a right lateral component of motion that underlie the DVC. The volcanic cycle forming the DVC is distinctly bimodal with the emplacement of massive silicic domes but also less voluminous olivine basalts on its southern slope. The central dome underwent a major collapse that produced 0.35 km3 of ash and block flow and associated pyroclastic flows that filled the valley to the southwest up to 30 km from the source. This was followed by a voluminous effusive activity that formed silicic domes dated between 254-322 Ky, which is inferred to overlain a partially molten silicic magma chamber. Integrating the geologic model with magnetotelluric and gravity surveys we developed a conceptual model of the geothermal system in which the reservoir is inferred at a depth of less than 2 km in pre-Pliocene fractured rocks, bounded by E-W faults and sealed by the pyroclastic deposits and rhyolitic lavas of the DVC. The location of most thermal springs is not controlled by faults. Rather, they are lateral flows emerging at the contact between the fractured basement and the caprock.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McBeck, J.; Kobchenko, M.; Hall, S.; Tudisco, E.; Cordonnier, B.; Renard, F.
2017-12-01
Previous studies have identified compaction bands primarily within sandstones, and in fewer instances, within other porous rocks and sediments. Using Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) of X-ray microtomography scans, we find evidence of localized zones of high axial contraction that form tabular structures sub-perpendicular to maximum compression, σ1, in Green River shale. To capture in situ strain localization throughout loading, two shale cores were deformed in the HADES triaxial deformation apparatus installed on the X-ray microtomography beamline ID19 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. In these experiments, we increase σ1 in increments of two MPa, with constant confining pressure (20 MPa), until the sample fails in macroscopic shear. After each stress step, a 3D image of the sample inside the rig is acquired at a voxel resolution of 6.5 μm. The evolution of lower density regions within 3D reconstructions of linear attenuation coefficients reveal the development of fractures that fail with some opening. If a fracture produces negligible dilation, it may remain undetected in image segmentation of the reconstructions. We use the DVC software TomoWarp2 to identify undetected fractures and capture the 3D incremental displacement field between each successive pair of microtomography scans acquired in each experiment. The corresponding strain fields reveal localized bands of high axial contraction that host minimal shear strain, and thus match the kinematic definition of compaction bands. The bands develop sub-perpendicular to σ1 in the two samples in which pre-existing bedding laminations were oriented parallel and perpendicular to σ1. As the shales deform plastically toward macroscopic shear failure, the number of bands and axial contraction within the bands increase, while the spacing between the bands decreases. Compaction band development accelerates the rate of overall axial contraction, increasing the mean axial contraction throughout the sample, and strengthens the shale sufficiently to localize shear faults. These results are critical to robust assessment of deformation patterns in shale rocks in contexts such as nuclear waste storage, hydrocarbon recovery and groundwater access.
Keyes, S D; Gillard, F; Soper, N; Mavrogordato, M N; Sinclair, I; Roose, T
2016-06-14
The mechanical impedance of soils inhibits the growth of plant roots, often being the most significant physical limitation to root system development. Non-invasive imaging techniques have recently been used to investigate the development of root system architecture over time, but the relationship with soil deformation is usually neglected. Correlative mapping approaches parameterised using 2D and 3D image data have recently gained prominence for quantifying physical deformation in composite materials including fibre-reinforced polymers and trabecular bone. Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) are computational techniques which use the inherent material texture of surfaces and volumes, captured using imaging techniques, to map full-field deformation components in samples during physical loading. Here we develop an experimental assay and methodology for four-dimensional, in vivo X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) and apply a Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) approach to the data to quantify deformation. The method is validated for a field-derived soil under conditions of uniaxial compression, and a calibration study is used to quantify thresholds of displacement and strain measurement. The validated and calibrated approach is then demonstrated for an in vivo test case in which an extending maize root in field-derived soil was imaged hourly using XCT over a growth period of 19h. This allowed full-field soil deformation data and 3D root tip dynamics to be quantified in parallel for the first time. This fusion of methods paves the way for comparative studies of contrasting soils and plant genotypes, improving our understanding of the fundamental mechanical processes which influence root system development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Vagal afferent fibres determine the oxytocin-induced modulation of gastric tone
Holmes, Gregory M; Browning, Kirsteen N; Babic, Tanja; Fortna, Samuel R; Coleman, F Holly; Travagli, R Alberto
2013-01-01
Oxytocin (OXT) inputs to the dorsal vagal complex (DVC; nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS) dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) and area postrema) decrease gastric tone and motility. Our first aim was to investigate the mechanism(s) of OXT-induced gastric relaxation. We demonstrated recently that vagal afferent inputs modulate NTS–DMV synapses involved in gastric and pancreatic reflexes via group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). Our second aim was to investigate whether group II mGluRs similarly influence the response of vagal motoneurons to OXT. Microinjection of OXT in the DVC decreased gastric tone in a dose-dependent manner. The OXT-induced gastric relaxation was enhanced following bethanechol and reduced by l-NAME administration, suggesting a nitrergic mechanism of gastroinhibition. DVC application of the group II mGluR antagonist EGLU induced a gastroinhibition that was not dose dependent and shifted the gastric effects of OXT to a cholinergic-mediated mechanism. Evoked and miniature GABAergic synaptic currents between NTS and identified gastric-projecting DMV neurones were not affected by OXT in any neurones tested, unless the brainstem slice was (a) pretreated with EGLU or (b) derived from rats that had earlier received a surgical vagal deafferentation. Conversely, OXT inhibited glutamatergic currents even in naive slices, but their responses were unaffected by EGLU pretreatment. These results suggest that the OXT-induced gastroinhibition is mediated by activation of the NANC pathway. Inhibition of brainstem group II mGluRs, however, uncovers the ability of OXT to modulate GABAergic transmission between the NTS and DMV, resulting in the engagement of an otherwise silent cholinergic vagal neurocircuit. PMID:23587885
Wang, Hao; Liu, Wen-Jian; Shen, Guo-Ming; Zhang, Meng-Ting; Huang, Shun; He, Ying
2015-01-01
AIM: To study the neural mechanism by which electroacupuncture (EA) at RN12 (Zhongwan) and BL21 (Weishu) regulates gastric motility. METHODS: One hundred and forty-four adult Sprague Dawley rats were studied in four separate experiments. Intragastric pressure was measured using custom-made rubber balloons, and extracellular neuron firing activity, which is sensitive to gastric distention in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC), was recorded by an electrophysiological technique. The expression levels of c-fos, motilin (MTL) and gastrin (GAS) in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVN) were assayed by immunohistochemistry, and the expression levels of motilin receptor (MTL-R) and gastrin receptor (GAS-R) in both the PVN and the gastric antrum were assayed by western blotting. RESULTS: EA at RN12 + BL21 (gastric Shu and Mu points), BL21 (gastric Back-Shu point), RN12 (gastric Front-Mu point), resulted in increased neuron-activating frequency in the DVC (2.08 ± 0.050, 1.17 ± 0.023, 1.55 ± 0.079 vs 0.75 ± 0.046, P < 0.001) compared with a model group. The expression of c-fos (36.24 ± 1.67, 29.41 ± 2.55, 31.79 ± 3.00 vs 5.73 ± 2.18, P < 0.001), MTL (22.48 ± 2.66, 20.76 ± 2.41, 19.17 ± 1.71 vs 11.68 ± 2.52, P < 0.001), GAS (24.99 ± 2.95, 21.69 ± 3.24, 23.03 ± 3.09 vs 12.53 ± 2.15, P < 0.001), MTL-R (1.39 ± 0.05, 1.22 ± 0.05, 1.17 ± 0.12 vs 0.84 ± 0.06, P < 0.001), and GAS-R (1.07 ± 0.07, 0.91 ± 0.06, 0.78 ± 0.05 vs 0.45 ± 0.04, P < 0.001) increased in the PVN after EA compared with the model group. The expression of MTL-R (1.46 ± 0.14, 1.26 ± 0.11, 0.99 ± 0.07 vs 0.65 ± 0.03, P < 0.001), and GAS-R (1.63 ± 0.11, 1.26 ± 0.16, 1.13 ± 0.02 vs 0.80 ± 0.11, P < 0.001) increased in the gastric antrum after EA compared with the model group. Damaging the PVN resulted in reduced intragastric pressure (13.67 ± 3.72 vs 4.27 ± 1.48, P < 0.001). These data demonstrate that the signals induced by EA stimulation of acupoints RN12 and BL21 are detectable in the DVC and the PVN, and increase the levels of gastrointestinal hormones and their receptors in the PVN and gastric antrum to regulate gastric motility. CONCLUSION: EA at RN12 and BL21 regulates gastric motility, which may be achieved through the PVN-DVC-vagus-gastric neural pathway. PMID:26730159
Development and evaluation of devices designed to minimize deer-vehicle collisions : phase III.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2015-09-01
To better understand factors that might contribute to deer-vehicle collisions (DVC); we captured 32 deer within a 5-mile test : roadway along Interstate 20 near Madison, Georgia and fitted them each with a Global Positioning System collar to monitor ...
Use of Digital Volume Correlation to Measure Deformation of Shale Using Natural Markers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dewers, T. A.; Quintana, E.; Ingraham, M. D.; Jacques, C. L.
2016-12-01
We apply digital volume correlation (DVC) to interpreting deformation as influenced by shale heterogeneity. An extension of digital image correlation, DVC uses 3D images (CT Scans) of a sample before, during and after loading to determine deformation in terms of a 3D strain map. The technology tracks the deformation of high and low density regions within the sample to determine full field 3D strains within the sample. High pyrite shales (Woodford and Marcellus in this study) are being used as the high density pyrite serves as an excellent point to track in the volume correlation. Preliminary results indicate that this technology is promising for measuring true volume strains, strain localization, and strain portioning by microlithofacies within specimens during testing. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
Control advances for achieving the ITER baseline scenario on KSTAR
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eidietis, N. W.; Barr, J.; Hahn, S. H.; Humphreys, D. A.; in, Y. K.; Jeon, Y. M.; Lanctot, M. J.; Mueller, D.; Walker, M. L.
2017-10-01
Control methodologies developed to enable successful production of ITER baseline scenario (IBS) plasmas on the superconducting KSTAR tokamak are presented: decoupled vertical control (DVC), real-time feedforward (rtFF) calculation, and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) X-point control. DVC provides fast vertical control with the in-vessel control coils (IVCC) while sharing slow vertical control with the poloidal field (PF) coils to avoid IVCC saturation. rtFF compensates for inaccuracies in offline PF current feedforward programming, allowing reduction or removal of integral gain (and its detrimental phase lag) from the shape controller. Finally, MIMO X-point control provides accurate positioning of the X-point despite low controllability due to the large distance between coils and plasma. Combined, these techniques enabled achievement of IBS parameters (q95 = 3.2, βN = 2) with a scaled ITER shape on KSTAR. n =2 RMP response displays a strong dependence upon this shaping. Work supported by the US DOE under Award DE-SC0010685 and the KSTAR project.
Measurement and modeling of advanced coal conversion processes, Volume II
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Solomon, P.R.; Serio, M.A.; Hamblen, D.G.
1993-06-01
A two dimensional, steady-state model for describing a variety of reactive and nonreactive flows, including pulverized coal combustion and gasification, is presented. The model, referred to as 93-PCGC-2 is applicable to cylindrical, axi-symmetric systems. Turbulence is accounted for in both the fluid mechanics equations and the combustion scheme. Radiation from gases, walls, and particles is taken into account using a discrete ordinates method. The particle phase is modeled in a lagrangian framework, such that mean paths of particle groups are followed. A new coal-general devolatilization submodel (FG-DVC) with coal swelling and char reactivity submodels has been added.
Meaning-Making in Online Language Learner Interactions via Desktop Videoconferencing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Satar, H. Müge
2016-01-01
Online language learning and teaching in multimodal contexts has been identified as one of the key research areas in computer-aided learning (CALL) (Lamy, 2013; White, 2014). This paper aims to explore meaning-making in online language learner interactions via desktop videoconferencing (DVC) and in doing so illustrate multimodal transcription and…
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2014-11-01
To better understand deer movements that might contribute to deer-vehicle collisions (DVC), we conducted preparatory field work : necessary for an operational field trial of the efficacy of a 1.2-m woven-wire fence with a top-mounted outrigger. We wo...
Carpenter, J.W.; Novilla, M.N.; Hatfield, J.S.
1992-01-01
Because crane chick mortality from disseminated visceral coccidiosis (DVC) at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center increased in 1988, suggesting that the parasite may be developing a resistance to amprolium, a target animal safety study using coccidiostats, monensin and clazuril, was conducted on 27 subadult sandhill cranes.
Synchrotron quantification of fracturing during maturation of shales
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Figueroa Pilz, Fernando; Fauchille, Anne-Laure; Dowey, Patrick; Courtois, Loic; Bay, Brian; Ma, Lin; Taylor, Kevin; Mecklenburgh, Julian; Lee, Peter
2017-04-01
To understand both the hydrocarbon migration within and from shale rocks, and during hydraulic fracturing, is needed to evaluate and predict its environmental footprint. As a consequence, the time characterization of fracture networks in shale is particularly important. Time resolved synchrotron X-ray tomography was used to quantify the initiation and propagation of fractures during the simulated maturation of an organic-rich Kimmeridge Clay shale from the µm to mm scales. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations were performed before and after maturation in order to compare the microstructure evolution and better understand the fracture location. Fracture and strain development during heating was quantified in 3D by Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) (Bay et al., 1999). The combination of DVC, X-Ray tomography and SEM obtained direct 4D strain measurements of the anisotropic mechanical behaviour of Kimmeridge shale with the temperature during an accelerated thermal maturation (Figueroa Pilz et al.). Such a combination has rarely been investigated in 4D at these scales in the past. In the study conditions, the results demonstrated the anisotropy in thermal expansion and the aperture fracture pathways through organic matter and clay matrix.
Bär, Karl-Jürgen; Herbsleb, Marco; Schumann, Andy; de la Cruz, Feliberto; Gabriel, Holger W.; Wagner, Gerd
2016-01-01
Regular physical exercise leads to increased vagal modulation of the cardiovascular system. A combination of peripheral and central processes has been proposed to underlie this adaptation. However, specific changes in the central autonomic network have not been described in human in more detail. We hypothesized that the anterior hippocampus known to be influenced by regular physical activity might be involved in the development of increased vagal modulation after a 6 weeks high intensity intervention in young healthy men (exercise group: n = 17, control group: n = 17). In addition to the determination of physical capacity before and after the intervention, we used resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging and simultaneous heart rate variability assessment. We detected a significant increase of the power output at the anaerobic threshold of 11.4% (p < 0.001), the maximum power output Pmax of 11.2% (p < 0.001), and VO2max adjusted for body weight of 4.7% (p < 0.001) in the exercise group (EG). Comparing baseline (T0) and post-exercise (T1) values of parasympathetic modulation of the exercise group, we observed a trend for a decrease in heart rate (p < 0.06) and a significant increase of vagal modulation as indicated by RMSSD (p < 0.026) during resting state. In the whole brain analysis, we found that the connectivity pattern of the right anterior hippocampus (aHC) was specifically altered to the ventromedial anterior cortex, the dorsal striatum and to the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) in the brainstem. Moreover, we observed a highly significant negative correlation between increased RMSSD after exercise and decreased functional connectivity from the right aHC to DVC (r = −0.69, p = 0.003). This indicates that increased vagal modulation was associated with functional connectivity between aHC and the DVC. In conclusion, our findings suggest that exercise associated changes in anterior hippocampal function might be involved in increased vagal modulation. PMID:27092046
The Use of the Webcam for Teaching a Foreign Language in a Desktop Videoconferencing Environment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Develotte, Christine; Guichon, Nicolas; Vincent, Caroline
2010-01-01
This paper explores how language teachers learn to teach with a synchronous multimodal setup ("Skype"), and it focuses on their use of the webcam during the pedagogical interaction. First, we analyze the ways that French graduate students learning to teach online use the multimodal resources available in a desktop videoconferencing (DVC)…
Diablo Valley College: The First Forty Years, 1949-1989.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mahan, Don; And Others
An overview is provided of the 40-year history of Diablo Valley College (DVC), examining the educational ideals of the founders of the college and the changes in the goals of community college education in Central Contra Costa County, California. Part 1 sets the historical scene for the establishment of public two-year colleges nationally, in…
Malfroy Camine, V; Rüdiger, H A; Pioletti, D P; Terrier, A
2016-12-08
A good primary stability of cementless femoral stems is essential for the long-term success of total hip arthroplasty. Experimental measurement of implant micromotion with linear variable differential transformers is commonly used to assess implant primary stability in pre-clinical testing. But these measurements are often limited to a few distinct points at the interface. New techniques based on micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) have recently been introduced, such as Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) or markers-based approaches. DVC is however limited to measurement around non-metallic implants due to metal-induced imaging artifacts, and markers-based techniques are confined to a small portion of the implant. In this paper, we present a technique based on micro-CT imaging and radiopaque markers to provide the first full-field micromotion measurement at the entire bone-implant interface of a cementless femoral stem implanted in a cadaveric femur. Micromotion was measured during compression and torsion. Over 300 simultaneous measurement points were obtained. Micromotion amplitude ranged from 0 to 24µm in compression and from 0 to 49µm in torsion. Peak micromotion was distal in compression and proximal in torsion. The technique bias was 5.1µm and its repeatability standard deviation was 4µm. The method was thus highly reliable and compared well with results obtained with linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) reported in the literature. These results indicate that this micro-CT based technique is perfectly relevant to observe local variations in primary stability around metallic implants. Possible applications include pre-clinical testing of implants and validation of patient-specific models for pre-operative planning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gröschner, Alexander; Seidel, Tina; Kiemer, Katharina; Pehmer, Ann-Kathrin
2015-01-01
For developing professional development (PD) programs, research suggests referring to effective components. In developing a PD program on classroom dialogue, we explored to what extent effective components could be addressed. We conducted a study with two groups. In the "Dialogic Video Cycle" (DVC), six German teachers participated in a…
Santiago, Paula; Moreno, Yolanda; Ferrús, M Antonía
2015-08-01
Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common causes of chronic bacterial infection in humans, directly related to peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. It has been suggested that H. pylori can be acquired through different transmission routes, including water. In this study, culture and qPCR were used to detect and identify the presence of H. pylori in drinking water. Furthermore, the combined techniques PMA-qPCR and DVC-FISH were applied for detection of viable cells of H. pylori. Among 24 drinking water samples, 16 samples were positive for the presence of H. pylori, but viable cells were only detected in six samples. Characteristic colonies, covered by a mass of bacterial unspecific growth, were observed on selective agar plates from an only sample, after enrichment. The mixed culture was submitted to DVC-FISH and qPCR analysis, followed by sequencing of the amplicons. Molecular techniques confirmed the growth of H. pylori on the agar plate. Our results demonstrate for the first time that H. pylori can survive and be potentially infective in drinking water, showing that water distribution systems could be a potential route for H. pylori transmission. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shepherd, Sue
2018-01-01
Deputy and pro-vice-chancellors (DVCs and PVCs) are core members of the executive team and play a pivotal role in university management. Nevertheless, they have rarely been the subject of empirical investigation. This study addresses this research gap, utilising a census to examine the size and remit of the DVC and PVC cohort in English pre-1992…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alles, Martina; Seidel, Tina; Gröschner, Alexander
2018-01-01
Goal clarity is an essential element of classroom dialogue and a component of effective instruction. Until now, teachers have been struggling to implement goal clarity in the classroom dialogue. In the present study, we investigated the classroom practice of teachers in a video-based intervention called the Dialogic Video Cycle (DVC) and compared…
Cartilage extracellular matrix as a biomaterial for cartilage regeneration.
Kiyotake, Emi A; Beck, Emily C; Detamore, Michael S
2016-11-01
The extracellular matrix (ECM) of various tissues possesses the model characteristics that biomaterials for tissue engineering strive to mimic; however, owing to the intricate hierarchical nature of the ECM, it has yet to be fully characterized and synthetically fabricated. Cartilage repair remains a challenge because the intrinsic properties that enable its durability and long-lasting function also impede regeneration. In the last decade, cartilage ECM has emerged as a promising biomaterial for regenerating cartilage, partly because of its potentially chondroinductive nature. As this research area of cartilage matrix-based biomaterials emerged, investigators facing similar challenges consequently developed convergent solutions in constructing robust and bioactive scaffolds. This review discusses the challenges, emerging trends, and future directions of cartilage ECM scaffolds, including a comparison between two different forms of cartilage matrix: decellularized cartilage (DCC) and devitalized cartilage (DVC). To overcome the low permeability of cartilage matrix, physical fragmentation greatly enhances decellularization, although the process itself may reduce the chondroinductivity of fabricated scaffolds. The less complex processing of a scaffold composed of DVC, which has not been decellularized, appears to have translational advantages and potential chondroinductive and mechanical advantages over DCC, without detrimental immunogenicity, to ultimately enhance cartilage repair in a clinically relevant way. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.
Pulmonary lesions in disseminated visceral coccidiosis of sandhill and whooping cranes
Novilla, M.N.; Carpenter, J.W.; Jeffers, T.K.; White, S.L.
1989-01-01
Fifty cranes, consisting of 46 sandhill (Grus canadensis) and four whooping cranes (Grus americana), were studied. Eighteen sandhill cranes and the four whooping cranes were naturally infected with disseminated visceral coccidiosis (DVC). The remaining sandhill cranes were chicks experimentally infected with oocysts of Eimeria reichenowi and/or E. gruis; five chicks served as controls. There were no clinical signs attributed to respiratory infection. Necropsy of naturally infected adult birds revealed nodules in many organs, including the lung, air sacs, trachea and nares. Artificially infected sandhill cranes and the whooping crane chicks that died from DVC had congestion and consolidated areas in the lung with frothy fluid in the airways. Grossly visible nodules were observed from 10 days postinoculation. Granulomatous pneumonia and tracheitis were observed with light microscopy. Lesions were associated with merogonic and gametogonic stages of eimerian coccidia. Granulomas and granulomatous foci contained parasitized large mononuclear cells. Merogonic stages were seen in lymphoid cells by ultrastructural examination. Oocysts were observed in the trachea and bronchial mucosa and admixed with exudate in the airways, indicating that crane eimerians can complete their life cycle at these sites. Of the few eimeriid coccidia that have extraintestinal stages of development in birds and mammals, only the species in cranes complete their life cycle in both the digestive and respiratory tracts.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Olweny, Ephrem O.; Tan, Yung K.; Faddegon, Stephen; Jackson, Neil; Wehner, Eleanor F.; Best, Sara L.; Park, Samuel K.; Thapa, Abhas; Cadeddu, Jeffrey A.; Zuzak, Karel J.
2012-03-01
Digital light processing hyperspectral imaging (DLP® HSI) was adapted for use during laparoscopic surgery by coupling a conventional laparoscopic light guide with a DLP-based Agile Light source (OL 490, Optronic Laboratories, Orlando, FL), incorporating a 0° laparoscope, and a customized digital CCD camera (DVC, Austin, TX). The system was used to characterize renal ischemia in a porcine model.
GHRELIN HYPORESPONSIVENESS CONTRIBUTES TO AGING-RELATED HYPERINFLAMMATION IN SEPTIC SHOCK
Wu, Rongqian; Zhou, Mian; Dong, Weifeng; Ji, Youxin; Miksa, Michael; Marini, Corrado P.; Ravikumar, Thanjavur S.; Wang, Ping
2009-01-01
Objective To test the hypothesis that hyporesponsiveness to ghrelin due to reduced growth hormone (GH) contributes to the aging-related hyperinflammatory state in sepsis. Summary Background Data Sepsis and septic shock are a serious problem particularly in the geriatric population. Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand for the GH secretagogue receptor 1a (GHSR1a, i.e., ghrelin receptor). The decline in GH with age is directly associated with many adverse changes that occur with aging. However, the role of GH, ghrelin, and GHSR1a in the age-associated vulnerability to sepsis remains unknown. Methods Male Fischer-344 rats (young: 3-months; aged: 24-months) were used. Plasma GH levels, ghrelin receptor expression and neuronal activity in the parasympathostimulatory nuclei of the brain stem in normal young and aged animals were measured. Endotoxemia was induced by intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 15 mg/kg BW). Results While LPS-induced release of proinflammatory cytokines from macrophages isolated from aged rats decreased, LPS injection caused an in vivo hyperinflammatory state. GH levels were lower in aged rats, which was associated with lower expression of GHSR1a in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) and a decrease in parasympathostimulatory neuronal activity. GHSR1a antagonist elevated LPS-induced cytokine release in young rats. GH increased GHSR-1a expression in the DVC in aged rats. Co-administration of ghrelin and GH, but not ghrelin alone or GH alone, markedly reduced cytokine levels and organ injury after endotoxemia in aged rats, which was associated with significantly elevated parasympathostimulatory neuronal activity. Conclusions These findings suggest that the reduced central (brain) responsiveness to ghrelin due to the decreased GH, plays a major role in producing the hyperinflammatory state, resulting in severe organ injuries and high mortality after endotoxemia in aged animals. Ghrelin and GH can be developed as a novel therapy for sepsis in the geriatric population. PMID:19561473
A new hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm for optimal design of large-scale dome structures
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kaveh, A.; Ilchi Ghazaan, M.
2018-02-01
In this article a hybrid algorithm based on a vibrating particles system (VPS) algorithm, multi-design variable configuration (Multi-DVC) cascade optimization, and an upper bound strategy (UBS) is presented for global optimization of large-scale dome truss structures. The new algorithm is called MDVC-UVPS in which the VPS algorithm acts as the main engine of the algorithm. The VPS algorithm is one of the most recent multi-agent meta-heuristic algorithms mimicking the mechanisms of damped free vibration of single degree of freedom systems. In order to handle a large number of variables, cascade sizing optimization utilizing a series of DVCs is used. Moreover, the UBS is utilized to reduce the computational time. Various dome truss examples are studied to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, as compared to some existing structural optimization techniques. The results indicate that the MDVC-UVPS technique is a powerful search and optimization method for optimizing structural engineering problems.
TFTR diagnostic vacuum controller
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Olsen, D.; Persons, R.
1981-01-01
The TFTR diagnostic vacuum controller (DVC) provides in conjunction with the Central Instrumentation Control and Data Acquisition System (CICADA), control and monitoring for the pumps, valves and gauges associated with each individual diagnostic vacuum system. There will be approximately 50 systems on TFTR. Two standard versions of the controller (A and B) wil be provided in order to meet the requirements of two diagnostic manifold arrangements. All pump and valve sequencing, as well as protection features, will be implemented by the controller.
Moreno-Mesonero, Laura; Moreno, Yolanda; Alonso, José Luis; Ferrús, M Antonia
2017-10-01
Helicobacter pylori is one of the most concerning emerging waterborne pathogens. It has been suggested that it could survive in water inside free-living amoebae (FLA), but nobody has studied this relationship in the environment yet. Thus, we aimed to detect viable H. pylori cells from inside FLA in water samples. Sixty-nine wastewater and 31 drinking water samples were collected. FLA were purified and identified by PCR and sequencing. For exclusively detecting H. pylori inside FLA, samples were exposed to sodium hypochlorite and assayed by specific PMA-qPCR, DVC-FISH and culture. FLA were detected in 38.7% of drinking water and 79.7% of wastewater samples, even after disinfection. In wastewater, Acanthamoeba spp. and members of the family Vahlkampfiidae were identified. In drinking water, Acanthamoeba spp. and Echinamoeba and/or Vermamoeba were present. In 39 (58.2%) FLA-positive samples, H. pylori was detected by PMA-qPCR. After DVC-FISH, 21 (31.3%) samples harboured viable H. pylori internalized cells. H. pylori was cultured from 10 wastewater samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates that H. pylori can survive inside FLA in drinking water and wastewater, strongly supporting the hypothesis that FLA could play an important role in the transmission of H. pylori to humans. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Hemmerling, Franziska; Lebe, Karen E; Wunderlich, Johannes; Hahn, Frank
2018-03-08
The divinylcyclopropane (DVC) fragment of the ambruticins is proposed to be formed by a unique polyene cyclisation mechanism, in which the unusual didomain AmbG plays a key role. It is proposed to activate the branched thioester carboxylic acid resulting from polyene cyclisation and to transfer it to its associated acyl carrier protein (ACP). After oxidative decarboxylation, the intermediate is channelled back into polyketide synthase (PKS) processing. AmbG was previously annotated as an adenylation-thiolation didomain with a very unusual substrate selectivity code but has not yet been biochemically studied. On the basis of sequence and homology model analysis, we reannotate AmbG as a fatty acyl:adenylate ligase (FAAL)-acyl carrier protein didomain with unusual substrate specificity. The expected adenylate-forming activity on fatty acids was confirmed by in vitro studies. AmbG also adenylates a number of structurally diverse carboxylic acids, including functionalised fatty acids and unsaturated and aromatic carboxylic acids. HPLC-MS analysis and competition experiments show that AmbG preferentially acylates its ACP with long-chain hydrophobic acids and tolerates a π system and a branch near the carboxylic acid. AmbG is the first characterised example of a FAAL-ACP didomain that is centrally located in a PKS and apparently activates a polyketidic intermediate. This is an important step towards deeper biosynthetic studies such as partial reconstitution of the ambruticin pathway to elucidate DVC formation. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lee, Victor H.F., E-mail: vhflee@hku.hk; Ng, Sherry C.Y.; Leung, T.W.
Purpose: We wanted to investigate dosimetric parameters that would predict radiation-induced acute nausea and vomiting in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx (NPC). Methods and Materials: Forty-nine consecutive patients with newly diagnosed NPC were treated with IMRT alone in this prospective study. Patients receiving any form of chemotherapy were excluded. The dorsal vagal complex (DVC) as well as the left and right vestibules (VB-L and VB-R, respectively) were contoured on planning computed tomography images. A structure combining both the VB-L and the VB-R, named VB-T, was also generated. All structures were labeled organs at risk (OAR).more » A 3-mm three-dimensional margin was added to these structures and labeled DVC+3 mm, VB-L+3 mm, VB-R+3 mm, and VB-T+3 mm to account for physiological body motion and setup error. No weightings were given to these structures during optimization in treatment planning. Dosimetric parameters were recorded from dose-volume histograms. Statistical analysis of parameters' association with nausea and vomiting was performed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Six patients (12.2%) reported Grade 1 nausea, and 8 patients (16.3%) reported Grade 2 nausea. Also, 4 patients (8.2%) complained of Grade 1 vomiting, and 4 patients (8.2%) experienced Grade 2 vomiting. No patients developed protracted nausea and vomiting after completion of IMRT. For radiation-induced acute nausea, V40 (percentage volume receiving at least 40Gy) to the VB-T and V40>=80% to the VB-T were predictors, using univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, V40>=80% to the VB-T was the only predictor. There were no predictors of radiation-induced acute vomiting, as the number of events was too small for analysis. Conclusions: This is the first study demonstrating that a V40 to the VB-T is predictive of radiation-induced acute nausea. The vestibules should be labeled as sensitive OARs, and weightings should be considered for dose sparing during optimization in the treatment planning of IMRT.« less
Microstructural consequences of blast lung injury characterised with digital volume correlation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Arora, Hari; Nila, Alex; Vitharana, Kalpani; Sherwood, Joseph M.; Nguyen, Thuy-Tien N.; Karunaratne, Angelo; Mohammed, Idris K.; Bodey, Andrew J.; Hellyer, Peter J.; Overby, Darryl R.; Schroter, Robert C.; Hollis, Dave
2017-12-01
This study focuses on microstructural changes that occur within the mammalian lung when subject to blast and how these changes influence strain distributions within the tissue. Shock tube experiments were performed to generate the blast injured specimens (cadaveric Sprague-Dawley rats). Blast overpressures of 100 kPa and 180 kPa were studied. Synchrotron tomography imaging was used to capture volumetric image data of lungs. Specimens were ventilated using a custom-built system to study multiple inflation pressures during each tomography scan. This data enabled the first digital volume correlation (DVC) measurements in lung tissue to be performed. Quantitative analysis was performed to describe the damaged architecture of the lung. No clear changes in the microstructure of the tissue morphology were observed due to controlled low to moderate level blast exposure. However, significant focal sites of injury were observed using DVC, which allowed detection of bias and concentration in the patterns of strain level. Morphological analysis corroborated the findings, illustrating that the focal damage caused by a blast can give rise to diffuse influence across the tissue. It is important to characterise the non-instantly fatal doses of blast, given the transient nature of blast lung in the clinical setting. This research has highlighted the need for better understanding of focal injury and its zone of influence (alveolar inter-dependency and neighbouring tissue burden as a result of focal injury). Digital volume correlation techniques show great promise as a tool to advance this endeavour, providing a new perspective on lung mechanics post-blast.
Weston-Green, Katrina; Huang, Xu-Feng; Deng, Chao
2012-01-01
Background/Aim Second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are used to treat schizophrenia but can cause serious metabolic side-effects, such as obesity and diabetes. This study examined the effects of low to high doses of olanzapine on appetite/metabolic regulatory signals in the hypothalamus and brainstem to elucidate the mechanisms underlying olanzapine-induced obesity. Methodology/Results Levels of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65, enzyme for GABA synthesis) mRNA expression, and cannabinoid CB1 receptor (CB1R) binding density (using [3H]SR-141716A) were examined in the arcuate nucleus (Arc) and dorsal vagal complex (DVC) of female Sprague Dawley rats following 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 mg/kg olanzapine or vehicle (3×/day, 14-days). Consistent with its weight gain liability, olanzapine significantly decreased anorexigenic POMC and increased orexigenic NPY mRNA expression in a dose-sensitive manner in the Arc. GAD65 mRNA expression increased and CB1R binding density decreased in the Arc and DVC. Alterations to neurotransmission signals in the brain significantly correlated with body weight and adiposity. The minimum dosage threshold required to induce weight gain in the rat was 0.5 mg/kg olanzapine. Conclusions Olanzapine-induced weight gain is associated with reduced appetite-inhibiting POMC and increased NPY. This study also supports a role for the CB1R and GABA in the mechanisms underlying weight gain side-effects, possibly by altering POMC transmission. Metabolic dysfunction can be modelled in the female rat using low, clinically-comparable olanzapine doses when administered in-line with the half-life of the drug. PMID:22438946
Cherian, Ajeesh Koshy; Briski, Karen P
2011-07-01
Cellular metabolic stasis is monitored in discrete brain sites, including the dorsal vagal complex (DVC), where A2 noradrenergic neurons perform this sensory function. Single-cell qPCR and high-sensitivity immunoblotting were used to determine if A2 neurons adapt to chronic hypoglycemia by increasing substrate fuel transporter expression, and whether such adjustments coincide with decreased cellular energy instability during this systemic metabolic stress. Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunolabeled neurons were laser-microdissected from the caudal DVC 2 hr after single or serial neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin (NPH) dosing. Preceding hypoglycemia suppressed basal A2 MCT2, GLUT3, and GLUT4 profiles and diminished MCT2, GLUT4, and glucokinase responses to recurring hypoglycemia. Acute NPH caused a robust increase in A2 phospho-AMPK protein levels; baseline phospho-AMPK expression was elevated after 3 days of insulin treatment but only slight augmented after a fourth NPH injection. Transcripts encoding the catecholamine biosynthetic enzyme dopamine-β-hydroxylase were unaffected by acute NPH but were diminished by serial insulin dosing. This evidence for diminished basal A2 glucose and lactate uptake and attenuated phospho-AMPK-mediated detection of hypoglycemia-associated energy deficits suggests that these cells acclimate to chronic hypoglycemia by adopting a new metabolic steady state characterized by energy paucity and reduced sensitivity to hypoglycemia. Because dopamine-β-hydroxylase mRNA was reduced after serial, but not single NPH dosing, A2 neurotransmitter biosynthesis may be impervious to acute hypoglycemia but inhibited when posthypoglycemic metabolic deficiency is exacerbated by recurring hypoglycemia. This research suggests that chronic hypoglycemia-associated adjustments in A2-sensory neurotransmission may reflect cellular energetic debilitation rather than adaptive attenuation of cellular metabolic imbalance. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
O’Donnell, Justin N.R.; Schumacher, Gary E.; Antonucci, Joseph M.; Skrtic, Drago
2009-01-01
Our studies of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP)-based materials over the last decade have yielded bioactive polymeric composites capable of protecting teeth from demineralization or even regenerating lost tooth mineral. The anti-cariogenic/re-mineralizing potential of these ACP composites originates from their propensity, when exposed to the oral environment, to release in a sustained manner sufficient levels of mineral-forming calcium and phosphate ions to promote formation of stable apatitic tooth mineral. However, the less than optimal ACP filler/resin matrix cohesion, excessive polymerization shrinkage and water sorption of these experimental materials can adversely affect their physicochemical and mechanical properties, and, ultimately, limit their lifespan. This study demonstrates the effects of chemical structure and composition of the methacrylate monomers used to form the matrix phase of composites on degree of vinyl conversion (DVC) and water sorption of both copolymers and composites and the release of mineral ions from the composites. Modification of ACP surface via introducing cations and/or polymers ab initio during filler synthesis failed to yield mechanically improved composites. However, moderate improvement in composite’s mechanical stability without compromising its remineralization potential was achieved by silanization and/or milling of ACP filler. Using ethoxylated bisphenol A dimethacrylate or urethane dimethacrylate as base monomers and adding moderate amounts of hydrophilic 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate or its isomer ethyl-α-hydroxymethacrylate appears to be a promising route to maximize the remineralizing ability of the filler while maintaining high DVC. Exploration of the structure/composition/property relationships of ACP fillers and polymer matrices is complex but essential for achieving a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that govern dissolution/re-precipitation of bioactive ACP fillers, and, ultimately, the suitability of the composites for clinical evaluation. PMID:21966588
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wulandari, Asri; Asti Anggari, Ega; Dwiasih, Novi; Suyanto, Imam
2018-03-01
Very Low Frequency (VLF) measurement has been done at Pagerkandang Volcanic, Dieng Volcanic Complex (DVC) to examine the possible existence of conductive zones that related with geothermal manifestation. VLF – EM survey used tilt mode with T-VLF BRGM Iris Instrument operated with two frequencies, they are 22200 Hz from Japan (JJI) and 19800 Hz from Australia (NWC). There are five lines with distance between lines is 50 m, and distance between measure points is 20 m. The parameters measured from VLF method are tilt angle (%) and elliptisity (%). Data processed by tilt angle value with fraser and Karous – Hjelt filter used WinVLF program. Karous – Hjelt filter resulted current density contour to estimate lateral location from conductive and resistive zones. The conductive zone is interpreted as the area which have high current density value. This area located at eastern dan western of Pagerkandang Volcanic. The conductive zone related to geothermal manifestation as like as fumarol that appeared because presenced of normal fault. Whereas the resistive zone is interpreted as the area which have low current density value. This area spread almost in the middle of the Pagerkandang Volcanic. The resistive zone was caused by the high weathering in claystone.
Advanced Development of the rF1V and rBV A/B Vaccines: Progress and Challenges
Hart, Mary Kate; Saviolakis, George A.; Welkos, Susan L.; House, Robert V.
2012-01-01
The development of vaccines for microorganisms and bacterial toxins with the potential to be used as biowarfare and bioterrorism agents is an important component of the US biodefense program. DVC is developing two vaccines, one against inhalational exposure to botulinum neurotoxins A1 and B1 and a second for Yersinia pestis, with the ultimate goal of licensure by the FDA under the Animal Rule. Progress has been made in all technical areas, including manufacturing, nonclinical, and clinical development and testing of the vaccines, and in assay development. The current status of development of these vaccines, and remaining challenges are described in this chapter. PMID:22028978
Deformation mechanisms of idealised cermets under multi-axial loading
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bele, E.; Goel, A.; Pickering, E. G.; Borstnar, G.; Katsamenis, O. L.; Pierron, F.; Danas, K.; Deshpande, V. S.
2017-05-01
The response of idealised cermets comprising approximately 60% by volume steel spheres in a Sn/Pb solder matrix is investigated under a range of axisymmetric compressive stress states. Digital volume correlation (DVC) anal`ysis of X-ray micro-computed tomography scans (μ-CT), and the measured macroscopic stress-strain curves of the specimens revealed two deformation mechanisms. At low triaxialities the deformation is granular in nature, with dilation occurring within shear bands. Under higher imposed hydrostatic pressures, the deformation mechanism transitions to a more homogeneous incompressible mode. However, DVC analyses revealed that under all triaxialities there are regions with local dilatory and compaction responses, with the magnitude of dilation and the number of zones wherein dilation occurs decreasing with increasing triaxiality. Two numerical models are presented in order to clarify these mechanisms: (i) a periodic unit cell model comprising nearly rigid spherical particles in a porous metal matrix and (ii) a discrete element model comprising a large random aggregate of spheres connected by non-linear normal and tangential "springs". The periodic unit cell model captured the measured stress-strain response with reasonable accuracy but under-predicted the observed dilation at the lower triaxialities, because the kinematic constraints imposed by the skeleton of rigid particles were not accurately accounted for in this model. By contrast, the discrete element model captured the kinematics and predicted both the overall levels of dilation and the simultaneous presence of both local compaction and dilatory regions with the specimens. However, the levels of dilation in this model are dependent on the assumed contact law between the spheres. Moreover, since the matrix is not explicitly included in the analysis, this model cannot be used to predict the stress-strain responses. These analyses have revealed that the complete constitutive response of cermets depends both on the kinematic constraints imposed by the particle aggregate skeleton, and the constraints imposed by the metal matrix filling the interstitial spaces in that skeleton.
Leite, Hércules Ribeiro; Oliveira-Lima, Onésia Cristina de; Pereira, Luciana de Melo; Oliveira, Vinícius Elias de Moura; Prado, Vania Ferreira; Prado, Marco Antônio Máximo; Pereira, Grace Schenatto; Massensini, André Ricardo
2016-10-01
In addition to the well-known functions as a neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh) can modulate of the immune system. Nonetheless, how endogenous ACh release inflammatory responses is still not clear. To address this question, we took advantage of an animal model with a decreased ACh release due a reduction (knockdown) in vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) expression (VAChT-KD(HOM)). These animals were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Afterwards, we evaluated sickness behavior and quantified systemic and cerebral inflammation as well as neuronal activation in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC). VAChT-KD(HOM) mice that were injected with LPS (10mg/kg) showed increased mortality rate as compared to control mice. In line with this result, a low dose of LPS (0.1mg/kg) increased the levels of pro-inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines in the spleen and brain of VAChT-KD(HOM) mice in comparison with controls. Similarly, serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were increased in VAChT-KD(HOM) mice. This excessive cytokine production was completely prevented by administration of a nicotinic receptor agonist (0.4mg/kg) prior to the LPS injection. Three hours after the LPS injection, c-Fos expression increased in the DVC region of VAChT-KD(HOM) mice compared to controls. In addition, VAChT-KD(HOM) mice showed behavioral changes such as lowered locomotor and exploratory activity and reduced social interaction after the LPS challenge, when compared to control mice. Taken together, our results show that the decreased ability to release ACh exacerbates systemic and cerebral inflammation and promotes neural activation and behavioral changes induced by LPS. In conclusion, our findings support the notion that activity of cholinergic pathways, which can be modulated by VAChT expression, controls inflammatory and neural responses to LPS challenge. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ciura, Katherine; McBurney, Michelle; Nguyen, Baongoc
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is becoming the treatment of choice for many head and neck cancer patients. IMRT reduces some toxicities by reducing radiation dose to uninvolved normal tissue near tumor targets; however, other tissues not irradiated using previous 3D techniques may receive clinically significant doses, causing undesirable side effects including nausea and vomiting (NV). Irradiation of the brainstem, and more specifically, the area postrema and dorsal vagal complex (DVC), has been linked to NV. We previously reported preliminary hypothesis-generating dose effects associated with NV in IMRT patients. The goal of this study is to relate brainstem dose to NVmore » symptoms. We retrospectively studied 100 consecutive patients that were treated for oropharyngeal cancer with IMRT. We contoured the brainstem, area postrema, and DVC with the assistance of an expert diagnostic neuroradiologist. We correlated dosimetry for the 3 areas contoured with weekly NV rates during IMRT. NV rates were significantly higher for patients who received concurrent chemotherapy. Post hoc analysis demonstrated that chemoradiation cases exhibited a trend towards the same dose-response relationship with both brainstem mean dose (p = 0.0025) and area postrema mean dose (p = 0.004); however, both failed to meet statistical significance at the p {<=} 0.002 level. Duration of toxicity was also greater for chemoradiation patients, who averaged 3.3 weeks with reported Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTC-AE), compared with an average of 2 weeks for definitive RT patients (p = 0.002). For definitive RT cases, no dose-response trend could be ascertained. The mean brainstem dose emerged as a key parameter of interest; however, no one dose parameter (mean/median/EUD) best correlated with NV. This study does not address extraneous factors that would affect NV incidence, including the use of antiemetics, nor chemotherapy dose schedule specifics before and during RT. A prospective study will be required to depict exactly how IMRT dose affects NV.« less
Method for enhanced longevity of in situ microbial filter used for bioremediation
Carman, M. Leslie; Taylor, Robert T.
1999-01-01
An improved method for in situ microbial filter bioremediation having increasingly operational longevity of an in situ microbial filter emplaced into an aquifer. A method for generating a microbial filter of sufficient catalytic density and thickness, which has increased replenishment interval, improved bacteria attachment and detachment characteristics and the endogenous stability under in situ conditions. A system for in situ field water remediation.
The Bioactivity of Cartilage Extracellular Matrix in Articular Cartilage Regeneration
Sutherland, Amanda J.; Converse, Gabriel L.; Hopkins, Richard A.; Detamore, Michael S.
2014-01-01
Cartilage matrix is a particularly promising acellular material for cartilage regeneration given the evidence supporting its chondroinductive character. The ‘raw materials’ of cartilage matrix can serve as building blocks and signals for enhanced tissue regeneration. These matrices can be created by chemical or physical methods: physical methods disrupt cellular membranes and nuclei but may not fully remove all cell components and DNA, whereas chemical methods when combined with physical methods are particularly effective in fully decellularizing such materials. Critical endpoints include no detectable residual DNA or immunogenic antigens. It is important to first delineate between the sources of the cartilage matrix, i.e., derived from matrix produced by cells in vitro or from native tissue, and then to further characterize the cartilage matrix based on the processing method, i.e., decellularization or devitalization. With these distinctions, four types of cartilage matrices exist: decellularized native cartilage (DCC), devitalized native cartilage (DVC), decellularized cell derived matrix (DCCM), and devitalized cell derived matrix (DVCM). Delivery of cartilage matrix may be a straightforward approach without the need for additional cells or growth factors. Without additional biological additives, cartilage matrix may be attractive from a regulatory and commercialization standpoint. Source and delivery method are important considerations for clinical translation. Only one currently marketed cartilage matrix medical device is decellularized, although trends in filed patents suggest additional decellularized products may be available in the future. To choose the most relevant source and processing for cartilage matrix, qualifying testing needs to include targeting the desired application, optimizing delivery of the material, identify relevant FDA regulations, assess availability of raw materials, and immunogenic properties of the product. PMID:25044502
Nanostructural Engineering of Nanoporous Anodic Alumina for Biosensing Applications
Ferré-Borrull, Josep; Pallarès, Josep; Macías, Gerard; Marsal, Lluis F.
2014-01-01
Modifying the diameter of the pores in nanoporous anodic alumina opens new possibilities in the application of this material. In this work, we review the different nanoengineering methods by classifying them into two kinds: in situ and ex situ. Ex situ methods imply the interruption of the anodization process and the addition of intermediate steps, while in situ methods aim at realizing the in-depth pore modulation by continuous changes in the anodization conditions. Ex situ methods permit a greater versatility in the pore geometry, while in situ methods are simpler and adequate for repeated cycles. As an example of ex situ methods, we analyze the effect of changing drastically one of the anodization parameters (anodization voltage, electrolyte composition or concentration). We also introduce in situ methods to obtain distributed Bragg reflectors or rugate filters in nanoporous anodic alumina with cyclic anodization voltage or current. This nanopore engineering permits us to propose new applications in the field of biosensing: using the unique reflectance or photoluminescence properties of the material to obtain photonic barcodes, applying a gold-coated double-layer nanoporous alumina to design a self-referencing protein sensor or giving a proof-of-concept of the refractive index sensing capabilities of nanoporous rugate filters. PMID:28788127
Method for enhanced longevity of in situ microbial filter used for bioremediation
Carman, M.L.; Taylor, R.T.
1999-03-30
An improved method is disclosed for in situ microbial filter bioremediation having increasingly operational longevity of an in situ microbial filter emplaced into an aquifer. A method is presented for generating a microbial filter of sufficient catalytic density and thickness, which has increased replenishment interval, improved bacteria attachment and detachment characteristics and the endogenous stability under in situ conditions. A system is also disclosed for in situ field water remediation. 31 figs.
Grabauskas, Gintautas; Zhou, Shi-Yi; Das, Sudipto; Lu, Yuanxu; Owyang, Chung; Moises, Hylan C
2004-12-15
Prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP) is a recently discovered neuropeptide implicated in the central control of feeding behaviour and autonomic homeostasis. PrRP-containing neurones and PrRP receptor mRNA are found in abundance in the caudal portion of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), an area which together with the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) comprises an integrated structure, the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) that processes visceral afferent signals from and provides parasympathetic motor innervation to the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, microinjection experiments were conducted in vivo in combination with whole-cell recording from neurones in rat medullary slices to test the hypothesis that PrRP plays a role in the central control of gastric motor function, acting within the DVC to modulate the activity of preganglionic vagal motor neurones that supply the stomach. Microinjection of PrRP (0.2 pmol (20 nl)(-1)) into the DMV at the level of the area postrema (+0.2 to +0.6 mm from the calamus scriptorius, CS) markedly stimulated gastric contractions and increased intragastric pressure (IGP). Conversely, administration of peptide into the DMV at sites caudal to the obex (0.0 to -0.3 mm from the CS) decreased IGP and reduced phasic contractions. These effects occurred without change in mean arterial pressure and were abolished by ipsilateral vagotomy, indicating mediation via a vagal-dependent mechanism(s). The pattern of gastric motor responses evoked by PrRP mimicked that produced by administration of L-glutamate at the same sites, and both the effects of L-glutamate and PrRP were abolished following local administration of NMDA and non-NMDA-type glutamate receptor antagonists. On the other hand, microinjection of PrRP into the medial or comissural nucleus of the solitary tract (mNTS and comNTS, respectively) resulted in less robust changes in IGP in a smaller percentage of animals, accompanied by marked alterations in arterial pressure. Superfusion of brain slices with PrRP (100-300 nm) produced a small depolarization and increased spontaneous firing in 10 of 30 retrogradely labelled gastric-projecting DMV neurones. The excitatory effects were blocked by administration of TTX (2 mum) or specific glutamate receptor antagonists, indicating that they resulted from interactions of PrRP at a presynaptic site. Congruent with this, PrRP increased the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs, 154 +/- 33%, 12 of 25 neurones) evoked by electrical stimulation in mNTS or comNTS. In addition, administration of PrRP decreased the paired-pulse ratio of EPSCs evoked by two identical stimuli delivered 100 ms apart (from 0.95 +/- 0.08 to 0.71 +/- 0.11, P < 0.05), whereas it did not affect the amplitude of inward currents evoked by exogenous application of L-glutamate to the slice. The frequency, but not amplitude of spontaneous EPSCs and action potential-independent miniature EPSCs was also increased by administration of PrRP, suggesting that the peptide was acting at least in part at receptors on presynaptic nerve terminals to enhance glutamatergic transmission. In recordings obtained from a separate group of slices, we did not observe any direct effects of PrRP on spontaneous discharge or postsynaptic excitability in either mNTS or comNTS neurones (n = 31). These data indicate that PrRP may act within the DVC to regulate gastric motor function by modulating the efficacy of conventional excitatory synaptic inputs from the NTS onto gastric-projecting vagal motor neurones.
Grabauskas, Gintautas; Zhou, Shi-Yi; Das, Sudipto; Lu, Yuanxu; Owyang, Chung; Moises, Hylan C
2004-01-01
Prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP) is a recently discovered neuropeptide implicated in the central control of feeding behaviour and autonomic homeostasis. PrRP-containing neurones and PrRP receptor mRNA are found in abundance in the caudal portion of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), an area which together with the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) comprises an integrated structure, the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) that processes visceral afferent signals from and provides parasympathetic motor innervation to the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, microinjection experiments were conducted in vivo in combination with whole-cell recording from neurones in rat medullary slices to test the hypothesis that PrRP plays a role in the central control of gastric motor function, acting within the DVC to modulate the activity of preganglionic vagal motor neurones that supply the stomach. Microinjection of PrRP (0.2 pmol (20 nl)−1) into the DMV at the level of the area postrema (+0.2 to +0.6 mm from the calamus scriptorius, CS) markedly stimulated gastric contractions and increased intragastric pressure (IGP). Conversely, administration of peptide into the DMV at sites caudal to the obex (0.0 to −0.3 mm from the CS) decreased IGP and reduced phasic contractions. These effects occurred without change in mean arterial pressure and were abolished by ipsilateral vagotomy, indicating mediation via a vagal-dependent mechanism(s). The pattern of gastric motor responses evoked by PrRP mimicked that produced by administration of l-glutamate at the same sites, and both the effects of l-glutamate and PrRP were abolished following local administration of NMDA and non-NMDA-type glutamate receptor antagonists. On the other hand, microinjection of PrRP into the medial or comissural nucleus of the solitary tract (mNTS and comNTS, respectively) resulted in less robust changes in IGP in a smaller percentage of animals, accompanied by marked alterations in arterial pressure. Superfusion of brain slices with PrRP (100–300 nm) produced a small depolarization and increased spontaneous firing in 10 of 30 retrogradely labelled gastric-projecting DMV neurones. The excitatory effects were blocked by administration of TTX (2 μm) or specific glutamate receptor antagonists, indicating that they resulted from interactions of PrRP at a presynaptic site. Congruent with this, PrRP increased the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs, 154 ± 33%, 12 of 25 neurones) evoked by electrical stimulation in mNTS or comNTS. In addition, administration of PrRP decreased the paired-pulse ratio of EPSCs evoked by two identical stimuli delivered 100 ms apart (from 0.95 ± 0.08 to 0.71 ± 0.11, P < 0.05), whereas it did not affect the amplitude of inward currents evoked by exogenous application of l-glutamate to the slice. The frequency, but not amplitude of spontaneous EPSCs and action potential-independent miniature EPSCs was also increased by administration of PrRP, suggesting that the peptide was acting at least in part at receptors on presynaptic nerve terminals to enhance glutamatergic transmission. In recordings obtained from a separate group of slices, we did not observe any direct effects of PrRP on spontaneous discharge or postsynaptic excitability in either mNTS or comNTS neurones (n = 31). These data indicate that PrRP may act within the DVC to regulate gastric motor function by modulating the efficacy of conventional excitatory synaptic inputs from the NTS onto gastric-projecting vagal motor neurones. PMID:15486017
Mallik, Saurav; Bhadra, Tapas; Mukherji, Ayan; Mallik, Saurav; Bhadra, Tapas; Mukherji, Ayan; Mallik, Saurav; Bhadra, Tapas; Mukherji, Ayan
2018-04-01
Association rule mining is an important technique for identifying interesting relationships between gene pairs in a biological data set. Earlier methods basically work for a single biological data set, and, in maximum cases, a single minimum support cutoff can be applied globally, i.e., across all genesets/itemsets. To overcome this limitation, in this paper, we propose dynamic threshold-based FP-growth rule mining algorithm that integrates gene expression, methylation and protein-protein interaction profiles based on weighted shortest distance to find the novel associations among different pairs of genes in multi-view data sets. For this purpose, we introduce three new thresholds, namely, Distance-based Variable/Dynamic Supports (DVS), Distance-based Variable Confidences (DVC), and Distance-based Variable Lifts (DVL) for each rule by integrating co-expression, co-methylation, and protein-protein interactions existed in the multi-omics data set. We develop the proposed algorithm utilizing these three novel multiple threshold measures. In the proposed algorithm, the values of , , and are computed for each rule separately, and subsequently it is verified whether the support, confidence, and lift of each evolved rule are greater than or equal to the corresponding individual , , and values, respectively, or not. If all these three conditions for a rule are found to be true, the rule is treated as a resultant rule. One of the major advantages of the proposed method compared with other related state-of-the-art methods is that it considers both the quantitative and interactive significance among all pairwise genes belonging to each rule. Moreover, the proposed method generates fewer rules, takes less running time, and provides greater biological significance for the resultant top-ranking rules compared to previous methods.
Laboratory method used for bioremediation
Carman, M. Leslie; Taylor, Robert T.
2000-01-01
An improved method for in situ microbial filter bioremediation having increasingly operational longevity of an in situ microbial filter emplaced into an aquifer. A method for generating a microbial filter of sufficient catalytic density and thickness, which has increased replenishment interval, improved bacteria attachment and detachment characteristics and the endogenous stability under in situ conditions. A system for in situ field water remediation.
In situ microbial filter used for bioremediation
Carman, M. Leslie; Taylor, Robert T.
2000-01-01
An improved method for in situ microbial filter bioremediation having increasingly operational longevity of an in situ microbial filter emplaced into an aquifer. A method for generating a microbial filter of sufficient catalytic density and thickness, which has increased replenishment interval, improved bacteria attachment and detachment characteristics and the endogenous stability under in situ conditions. A system for in situ field water remediation.
System for enhanced longevity of in situ microbial filter used for bioremediation
Carman, M. Leslie; Taylor, Robert T.
2000-01-01
An improved method for in situ microbial filter bioremediation having increasingly operational longevity of an in situ microbial filter emplaced into an aquifer. A method for generating a microbial filter of sufficient catalytic density and thickness, which has increased replenishment interval, improved bacteria attachment and detachment characteristics and the endogenous stability under in situ conditions. A system for in situ field water remediation.
Bentrup, Ursula
2010-12-01
Several in situ techniques are known which allow investigations of catalysts and catalytic reactions under real reaction conditions using different spectroscopic and X-ray methods. In recent years, specific set-ups have been established which combine two or more in situ methods in order to get a more detailed understanding of catalytic systems. This tutorial review will give a summary of currently available set-ups equipped with multiple techniques for in situ catalyst characterization, catalyst preparation, and reaction monitoring. Besides experimental and technical aspects of method coupling including X-ray techniques, spectroscopic methods (Raman, UV-vis, FTIR), and magnetic resonance spectroscopies (NMR, EPR), essential results will be presented to demonstrate the added value of multitechnique in situ approaches. A special section is focussed on selected examples of use which show new developments and application fields.
Haught, Dan; Venditti, Jeremy G.; Wright, Scott A.
2017-01-01
The use of “off-the-shelf” acoustic Doppler velocity profilers (ADCPs) to estimate suspended sediment concentration and grain-size in rivers requires robust methods to estimate sound attenuation by suspended sediment. Theoretical estimates of sediment attenuation require a priori knowledge of the concentration and grain-size distribution (GSD), making the method impractical to apply in routine monitoring programs. In situ methods use acoustic backscatter profile slope to estimate sediment attenuation, and are a more attractive option. However, the performance of in situ sediment attenuation methods has not been extensively compared to theoretical methods. We used three collocated horizontally mounted ADCPs in the Fraser River at Mission, British Columbia and 298 observations of concentration and GSD along the acoustic beams to calculate theoretical and in situ sediment attenuation. Conversion of acoustic intensity from counts to decibels is influenced by the instrument noise floor, which affects the backscatter profile shape and therefore in situ attenuation. We develop a method that converts counts to decibels to maximize profile length, which is useful in rivers where cross-channel acoustic profile penetration is a fraction of total channel width. Nevertheless, the agreement between theoretical and in situ attenuation is poor at low concentrations because cross-stream gradients in concentration, sediment size or GSD can develop, which affect the backscatter profiles. We establish threshold concentrations below which in situ attenuation is unreliable in Fraser River. Our results call for careful examination of cross-stream changes in suspended sediment characteristics and acoustic profiles across a range of flows before in situ attenuation methods are applied in river monitoring programs.
Roychowdhury, Roopali; Mukherjee, Pritam; Roy, Madhumita
2016-02-01
Eight chromium resistant bacteria were isolated from a dry fly ash sample of DVC-MTPS thermal power plant located in Bankura, West Bengal, India. These isolates displayed different degrees of chromate reduction under aerobic conditions. According to 16S rDNA gene analysis, five of them were Staphylococcus, two were Bacillus and one was Micrococcus. The minimum inhibitory concentration towards chromium and the ability to reduce hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium was highest in Staphylococcus haemolyticus strain HMR17. All the strains were resistant to multiple heavy metals (As, Cu, Cd, Co, Zn, Mn, Pb and Fe) and reduced toxic hexavalent chromium to relatively non toxic trivalent chromium even in the presence of these multiple heavy metals. All of them showed resistance to different antibiotics. In a soil microcosm study, S. haemolyticus strain HMR17 completely reduced 4 mM hexavalent chromium within 7 days of incubation.
The SENSEI Generic In Situ Interface
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ayachit, Utkarsh; Whitlock, Brad; Wolf, Matthew
The SENSEI generic in situ interface is an API that promotes code portability and reusability. From the simulation view, a developer can instrument their code with the SENSEI API and then make make use of any number of in situ infrastructures. From the method view, a developer can write an in situ method using the SENSEI API, then expect it to run in any number of in situ infrastructures, or be invoked directly from a simulation code, with little or no modification. This paper presents the design principles underlying the SENSEI generic interface, along with some simplified coding examples.
Method for characterization of the redox condition of cementitious materials
Almond, Philip M.; Langton, Christine A.; Stefanko, David B.
2015-12-22
Disclosed are methods for determining the redox condition of cementitious materials. The methods are leaching methods that utilize an in situ redox indicator that is present in the cementitious materials as formed. The in situ redox indicator leaches from cementitious material and, when the leaching process is carried out under anaerobic conditions can be utilized to determine the redox condition of the material. The in situ redox indicator can exhibit distinct characteristics in the leachate depending upon the redox condition of the indicator.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Simons, Carl A.
1988-06-01
One major objective of this study was to compare several woodstove particulate emission sampling methods under laboratory and in-situ conditions. The laboratory work compared the EPA Method 5H, EPA Method 5G, and OMNI Automated Woodstove Emission Sampler (AWES)/Data LOG'r particulate emission sampling systems. A second major objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of two integral catalytic, two low emission non-catalytic, and two conventional technology woodstoves under in-situ conditions with AWES/Data LOG'r system. The AWES/Data LOG'r and EPA Method 5G sampling systems were also compared in an in-situ test on one of the integral catalytic woodstove models. 7more » figs., 12 tabs.« less
Alhadeff, Amber L.; Holland, Ruby A.; Nelson, Alexandra; Grill, Harvey J.
2015-01-01
Cisplatin chemotherapy is used commonly to treat a variety of cancers despite severe side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and anorexia that compromise quality of life and limit treatment adherence. The neural mechanisms mediating these side effects remain elusive despite decades of clinical use. Recent data highlight the dorsal vagal complex (DVC), lateral parabrachial nucleus (lPBN), and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) as potential sites of action in mediating the side effects of cisplatin. Here, results from immunohistochemical studies in rats identified a population of cisplatin-activated DVC neurons that project to the lPBN and a population of cisplatin-activated lPBN calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP, a marker for glutamatergic neurons in the lPBN) neurons that project to the CeA, outlining a neuroanatomical circuit that is activated by cisplatin. CeA gene expressions of AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptor subunits were markedly increased after cisplatin treatment, suggesting that CeA glutamate receptor signaling plays a role in mediating cisplatin side effects. Consistent with gene expression results, behavioral/pharmacological data showed that CeA AMPA/kainate receptor blockade attenuates cisplatin-induced pica (a proxy for nausea/behavioral malaise in nonvomiting laboratory rodents) and that CeA NMDA receptor blockade attenuates cisplatin-induced anorexia and body weight loss in addition to pica, demonstrating that glutamate receptor signaling in the CeA is critical for the energy balance dysregulation caused by cisplatin treatment. Together, these data highlight a novel circuit and CGRP/glutamatergic mechanism through which cisplatin-induced malaise and energy balance dysregulation are mediated. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To treat cancer effectively, patients must follow prescribed chemotherapy treatments without interruption, yet most cancer treatments produce side effects that devastate quality of life (e.g., nausea, vomiting, anorexia, weight loss). Although hundreds of thousands of patients undergo chemotherapies each year, the neural mechanisms mediating their side effects are unknown. The current data outline a neural circuit activated by cisplatin chemotherapy and demonstrate that glutamate signaling in the amygdala, arising from hindbrain projections, is required for the full expression of cisplatin-induced malaise, anorexia, and body weight loss. Together, these data help to characterize the neural circuits and neurotransmitters mediating chemotherapy-induced energy balance dysregulation, which will ultimately provide an opportunity for the development of well tolerated cancer and anti-emetic treatments. PMID:26245970
In situ methods for Li-ion battery research: A review of recent developments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harks, P. P. R. M. L.; Mulder, F. M.; Notten, P. H. L.
2015-08-01
A considerable amount of research is being directed towards improving lithium-ion batteries in order to meet today's market demands. In particular in situ investigations of Li-ion batteries have proven extremely insightful, but require the electrochemical cell to be fully compatible with the conditions of the testing method and are therefore often challenging to execute. Advantageously, in the past few years significant progress has been made with new, more advanced, in situ techniques. Herein, a comprehensive overview of in situ methods for studying Li-ion batteries is given, with the emphasis on new developments and reported experimental highlights.
Hanselman, Travis A; Graetz, Donald A; Obreza, Thomas A
2004-01-01
In situ incubation methods may help provide site-specific estimates of N mineralization from land-applied wastes. However, there are concerns about the reliability of the data generated by the various methods due to containment artifacts. We amended a sandy soil with either poultry manure, biosolids, or yard-waste compost and incubated the mixtures using four in situ methods (buried bags, covered cylinders, standard resin traps, and "new" soil-resin traps) and a conventional laboratory technique in plastic bags. Each incubation device was destructively sampled at 45-d intervals for 180 d and net N mineralization was determined by measuring the amount of inorganic N that accumulated in the soil or soil plus resin traps. Containment effects were evaluated by comparing water content of the containerized soil to a field-reference soil column. In situ incubation methods provided reasonable estimates of short-term (< 45 d) N mineralization, but long-term (> 45 d) mineralization data were not accurate due to a variety of problems specific to each technique. Buried bags and covered cylinders did not retain mineralized N due to water movement into and out of the containers. Neither resin method captured all of the mineralized N that leached through the soil columns, but the new soil-resin trap method tracked field soil water content better than all other in situ methods evaluated. With further refinement and validation, the new soil-resin trap method may be a useful in situ incubation technique for measuring net N mineralization rates of organic soil amendments.
Kunju, Lakshmi P; Carskadon, Shannon; Siddiqui, Javed; Tomlins, Scott A; Chinnaiyan, Arul M; Palanisamy, Nallasivam
2014-09-01
The genetic basis of 50% to 60% of prostate cancer (PCa) is attributable to rearrangements in E26 transformation-specific (ETS) (ERG, ETV1, ETV4, and ETV5), BRAF, and RAF1 genes and overexpression of SPINK1. The development and validation of reliable detection methods are warranted to classify various molecular subtypes of PCa for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. ETS gene rearrangements are typically detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction methods. Recently, monoclonal antibodies against ERG have been developed that detect the truncated ERG protein in immunohistochemical assays where staining levels are strongly correlated with ERG rearrangement status by fluorescence in situ hybridization. However, specific antibodies for ETV1, ETV4, and ETV5 are unavailable, challenging their clinical use. We developed a novel RNA in situ hybridization-based assay for the in situ detection of ETV1, ETV4, and ETV5 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues from prostate needle biopsies, prostatectomy, and metastatic PCa specimens using RNA probes. Further, with combined RNA in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry we identified a rare subset of PCa with dual ETS gene rearrangements in collisions of independent tumor foci. The high specificity and sensitivity of RNA in situ hybridization provides an alternate method enabling bright-field in situ detection of ETS gene aberrations in routine clinically available PCa specimens.
Quantitative characterization of 3D deformations of cell interactions with soft biomaterials
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Franck, Christian
In recent years, the importance of mechanical forces in directing cellular function has been recognized as a significant factor in biological and physiological processes. In fact, these physical forces are now viewed equally as important as biochemical stimuli in controlling cellular response. Not only do these cellular forces, or cell tractions, play an important role in cell migration, they are also significant to many other physiological and pathological processes, both at the tissue and organ level, including wound healing, inflammation, angiogenesis, and embryogenesis. A complete quantification of cell tractions during cell-material interactions can lead to a deeper understanding of the fundamental role these forces play in cell biology. Thus, understanding the function and role of a cell from a mechanical framework can have important implications towards the development of new implant materials and drug treatments. Previous research has contributed significant descriptions of cell-tissue interactions by quantifying cell tractions in two-dimensional environments; however, most physiological processes are three-dimensional in nature. Recent studies have shown morphological differences in cells cultured on two-dimensional substrates versus three-dimensional matrices, and that the intrinsic extracellular matrix interactions and migration behavior are different in three dimensions versus two dimensions. Hence, measurement techniques are needed to investigate cellular behavior in all three dimensions. This thesis presents a full-field imaging technique capable of quantitatively measuring cell traction forces in all three spatial dimensions, and hence addresses the need of a three-dimensional quantitative imaging technique to gain insight into the fundamental role of physical forces in biological processes. The technique combines laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) with digital volume correlation (DVC) to track the motion of fluorescent particles during cell-induced or externally applied deformations. This method is validated by comparing experimentally measured non-uniform deformation fields near hard and soft spherical inclusions under uniaxial compression with the corresponding analytical solution. Utilization of a newly developed computationally efficient stretch-correlation and deconvolution algorithm is shown to improve the overall measurement accuracy, in particular under large deformations. Using this technique, the full three-dimensional substrate displacement fields are experimentally determined during the migration of individual fibroblast cells on polyacrylamide gels. This is the first study to show the highly three-dimensional structure of cell-induced displacement and traction fields. These new findings suggest a three-dimensional push-pull cell motility, which differs from the traditional theories based on two-dimensional data. These results provide new insight into the dynamic cell-matrix force exchange or mechanotransduction of migrating cells, and will aid in the development of new three-dimensional cell motility and adhesion models. As this study reveals, the mechanical interactions of cells and their extracellular matrix appear to be highly three-dimensional. It also shows that the LSCM-DVC technique is well suited for investigating the mechanics of cell-matrix interactions while providing a platform to access detailed information of the intricate biomechanical coupling for many cellular responses. Thus, this method has the capability to provide direct quantitative experimental data showing how cells interact with their surroundings in three dimensions and might stimulate new avenues of scientific thought in understanding the fundamental role physical forces play in regulating cell behavior.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES FOR ISCO METHODS IN-SITU FENTON OXIDATION IN-SITU PERMANGANATE OXIDATION
The advantages and disadvantages of in-situ Fenton oxidation and in-situ permanganate oxidation will be presented. This presentation will provide a brief overview of each technology and a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each technology. Included in the ...
Gas injection to inhibit migration during an in situ heat treatment process
Kuhlman, Myron Ira; Vinegar; Harold J.; Baker, Ralph Sterman; Heron, Goren
2010-11-30
Methods of treating a subsurface formation are described herein. Methods for treating a subsurface treatment area in a formation may include introducing a fluid into the formation from a plurality of wells offset from a treatment area of an in situ heat treatment process to inhibit outward migration of formation fluid from the in situ heat treatment process.
In-situ polymerization PLOT columns I: divinylbenzene
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shen, T. C.
1992-01-01
A novel method for preparation of porous-layer open-tubular (PLOT) columns is described. The method involves a simple and reproducible, straight-forward in-situ polymerization of monomer directly on the metal tube.
In situ high-pressure measurement of crystal solubility by using neutron diffraction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Ji; Hu, Qiwei; Fang, Leiming; He, Duanwei; Chen, Xiping; Xie, Lei; Chen, Bo; Li, Xin; Ni, Xiaolin; Fan, Cong; Liang, Akun
2018-05-01
Crystal solubility is one of the most important thermo-physical properties and plays a key role in industrial applications, fundamental science, and geoscientific research. However, high-pressure in situ measurements of crystal solubility remain very challenging. Here, we present a method involving high-pressure neutron diffraction for making high-precision in situ measurements of crystal solubility as a function of pressure over a wide range of pressures. For these experiments, we designed a piston-cylinder cell with a large chamber volume for high-pressure neutron diffraction. The solution pressures are continuously monitored in situ based on the equation of state of the sample crystal. The solubility at a high pressure can be obtained by applying a Rietveld quantitative multiphase analysis. To evaluate the proposed method, we measured the high-pressure solubility of NaCl in water up to 610 MPa. At a low pressure, the results are consistent with the previous results measured ex situ. At a higher pressure, more reliable data could be provided by using an in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction method.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Matsumura, H.; Toyoda, A.; Masumoto, K.; Yoshida, G.; Yagishita, T.; Nakabayashi, T.; Sasaki, H.; Matsumura, K.; Yamaya, Y.; Miyazaki, Y.
2018-06-01
In the decommissioning work for concrete walls of PET-cyclotron rooms, an in-situ measurement is expected to be useful for obtaining a contour map of the specific activity on the walls without destroying the structure. In this study, specific activities of γ-ray-emitting radionuclides in concrete walls were determined by using an in-situ measurement method employing a portable Ge semiconductor detector, and compared with the specific activity obtained using the sampling measurement method, at the Medical and Pharmacological Research Center Foundation in Hakui, Ishikawa, Japan. Accordingly, the specific activity could be determined by the in-situ determination method. Since there is a clear correlation between the total specific activity of γ-ray-emitting radionuclides and contact dose rate, the specific activity can be determined approximately by contact dose-rate measurement using a NaI scintillation survey meter. The specific activity of each γ-ray-emitting radionuclide can also be estimated from the contact dose rate using a NaI scintillation survey meter. The in-situ measurement method is a powerful tool for the decommissioning of the PET cyclotron room.
Assessing coral health and disease from digital photographs and in situ surveys.
Page, C A; Field, S N; Pollock, F J; Lamb, J B; Shedrawi, G; Wilson, S K
2017-01-01
Methods for monitoring the status of marine communities are increasingly adopting the use of images captured in the field. However, it is not always clear how data collected from photographic images relate to historic data collected using traditional underwater visual census methods. Here, we compare coral health and disease data collected in situ by scuba divers with photographic images collected simultaneously at 12 coral reef sites. Five globally relevant coral diseases were detected on 194 colonies from in situ surveys and 79 colonies from photos, whilst 698 colonies from in situ surveys and 535 colonies from photos exhibited signs of compromised health other than disease. Comparisons of in situ surveys with photographic analyses indicated that the number of disease cases occurring in the examined coral populations (prevalence) was six times higher (4.5 vs. 0.8% of colonies), whilst compromised health was three times higher (14 vs. 4% of colonies) from in situ surveys. Skeletal eroding band disease, sponge overgrowth and presence of Waminoa flatworms were not detected in photographs, though they were identified in situ. Estimates of black band disease and abnormally pigmented coral tissues were similar between the two methods. Estimates of the bleached and healthy colonies were also similar between methods and photographic analyses were a strong predictor of bleached (r 2 = 0.8) and healthy (r 2 = 0.5) colony prevalence from in situ surveys. Moreover, when data on disease and compromised health states resulting in white or pale coral colony appearance were pooled, the prevalence of 'white' colonies from in situ (14%) and photographic analyses (11%) were statistically similar. Our results indicate that information on coral disease and health collected by in situ surveys and photographic analyses are not directly comparable, with in situ surveys generally providing higher estimates of prevalence and greater ability to identify some diseases and compromised states. Careful sampling of photographs can however identify signs of coral stress, including some coral diseases, which may be used to trigger early-warning management interventions.
Juárez, M; Polvillo, O; Contò, M; Ficco, A; Ballico, S; Failla, S
2008-05-09
Four different extraction-derivatization methods commonly used for fatty acid analysis in meat (in situ or one-step method, saponification method, classic method and a combination of classic extraction and saponification derivatization) were tested. The in situ method had low recovery and variation. The saponification method showed the best balance between recovery, precision, repeatability and reproducibility. The classic method had high recovery and acceptable variation values, except for the polyunsaturated fatty acids, showing higher variation than the former methods. The combination of extraction and methylation steps had great recovery values, but the precision, repeatability and reproducibility were not acceptable. Therefore the saponification method would be more convenient for polyunsaturated fatty acid analysis, whereas the in situ method would be an alternative for fast analysis. However the classic method would be the method of choice for the determination of the different lipid classes.
Quantitative comparison of in situ soil CO2 flux measurement methods
Jennifer D. Knoepp; James M. Vose
2002-01-01
Development of reliable regional or global carbon budgets requires accurate measurement of soil CO2 flux. We conducted laboratory and field studies to determine the accuracy and comparability of methods commonly used to measure in situ soil CO2 fluxes. Methods compared included CO2...
Methods for characterizing subsurface volatile contaminants using in-situ sensors
Ho, Clifford K [Albuquerque, NM
2006-02-21
An inverse analysis method for characterizing diffusion of vapor from an underground source of volatile contaminant using data taken by an in-situ sensor. The method uses one-dimensional solutions to the diffusion equation in Cartesian, cylindrical, or spherical coordinates for isotropic and homogenous media. If the effective vapor diffusion coefficient is known, then the distance from the source to the in-situ sensor can be estimated by comparing the shape of the predicted time-dependent vapor concentration response curve to the measured response curve. Alternatively, if the source distance is known, then the effective vapor diffusion coefficient can be estimated using the same inverse analysis method. A triangulation technique can be used with multiple sensors to locate the source in two or three dimensions. The in-situ sensor can contain one or more chemiresistor elements housed in a waterproof enclosure with a gas permeable membrane.
Dall'Ara, E; Barber, D; Viceconti, M
2014-09-22
The accurate measurement of local strain is necessary to study bone mechanics and to validate micro computed tomography (µCT) based finite element (FE) models at the tissue scale. Digital volume correlation (DVC) has been used to provide a volumetric estimation of local strain in trabecular bone sample with a reasonable accuracy. However, nothing has been reported so far for µCT based analysis of cortical bone. The goal of this study was to evaluate accuracy and precision of a deformable registration method for prediction of local zero-strains in bovine cortical and trabecular bone samples. The accuracy and precision were analyzed by comparing scans virtually displaced, repeated scans without any repositioning of the sample in the scanner and repeated scans with repositioning of the samples. The analysis showed that both precision and accuracy errors decrease with increasing the size of the region analyzed, by following power laws. The main source of error was found to be the intrinsic noise of the images compared to the others investigated. The results, once extrapolated for larger regions of interest that are typically used in the literature, were in most cases better than the ones previously reported. For a nodal spacing equal to 50 voxels (498 µm), the accuracy and precision ranges were 425-692 µε and 202-394 µε, respectively. In conclusion, it was shown that the proposed method can be used to study the local deformation of cortical and trabecular bone loaded beyond yield, if a sufficiently high nodal spacing is used. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pinheiro, Areli Cunha; Novais, Michelli Christina Magalhães; Neto, Mansueto Gomes; Rodrigues, Marcus Vinicius Herbst; de Souza Rodrigues, Erenaldo; Aras, Roque; Carvalho, Vitor Oliveira
2011-05-12
Measurement of vital capacity (VC) by spirometry is the most widely used technique for lung function evaluation, however, this form of assessment is costly and further investigation of other reliable methods at lower cost is necessary. To analyze the correlation between direct vital capacity measured with ventilometer and with incentive inspirometer in patients in pre and post cardiac surgery. Cross-sectional comparative study with patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Respiratory parameters were evaluated through the measurement of VC performed by ventilometer and inspirometer. To analyze data normality the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied, for correlation the Pearson correlation coefficient was used and for comparison of variables in pre and post operative period Student's t test was adopted. We established a level of ignificance of 5%. Data was presented as an average, standard deviation and relative frequency when needed. The significance level was set at 5%. We studied 52 patients undergoing cardiac surgery, 20 patients in preoperative with VC-ventilometer: 32.95 ± 11.4 ml/kg and VC-inspirometer: 28.9 ± 11 ml/Kg, r = 0.7 p < 0.001. In the post operatory, 32 patients were evaluated with VC-ventilometer: 28.27 ± 12.48 ml/kg and VC-inspirometer: 26.98 ± 11 ml/Kg, r = 0.95 p < 0.001. Presenting a very high correlation between the evaluation forms studied. There was a high correlation between DVC measures with ventilometer and incentive spirometer in pre and post CABG surgery. Despite this, arises the necessity of further studies to evaluate the repercussion of this method in lowering costs at hospitals.
2011-01-01
Background Measurement of vital capacity (VC) by spirometry is the most widely used technique for lung function evaluation, however, this form of assessment is costly and further investigation of other reliable methods at lower cost is necessary. Objective: To analyze the correlation between direct vital capacity measured with ventilometer and with incentive inspirometer in patients in pre and post cardiac surgery. Methodology Cross-sectional comparative study with patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Respiratory parameters were evaluated through the measurement of VC performed by ventilometer and inspirometer. To analyze data normality the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied, for correlation the Pearson correlation coefficient was used and for comparison of variables in pre and post operative period Student's t test was adopted. We established a level of ignificance of 5%. Data was presented as an average, standard deviation and relative frequency when needed. The significance level was set at 5%. Results We studied 52 patients undergoing cardiac surgery, 20 patients in preoperative with VC-ventilometer: 32.95 ± 11.4 ml/kg and VC-inspirometer: 28.9 ± 11 ml/Kg, r = 0.7 p < 0.001. In the post operatory, 32 patients were evaluated with VC-ventilometer: 28.27 ± 12.48 ml/kg and VC-inspirometer: 26.98 ± 11 ml/Kg, r = 0.95 p < 0.001. Presenting a very high correlation between the evaluation forms studied. Conclusion There was a high correlation between DVC measures with ventilometer and incentive spirometer in pre and post CABG surgery. Despite this, arises the necessity of further studies to evaluate the repercussion of this method in lowering costs at hospitals. PMID:21569437
In situ electrochemical assessment of cytotoxicity of chlorophenols in MCF-7 and HeLa cells.
Qin, Hongwei; Liu, Jiguang; Zhang, Zeshi; Li, Jinlian; Gao, Guanggang; Yang, Yuxin; Yuan, Xing; Wu, Dongmei
2014-10-01
An in situ electrochemical method was used to assess the cytotoxicity of chlorophenols using human breast cancer (MCF-7) and cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells as models. On treatment with different chlorophenols, the electrochemical responses of the selected cells, resulting from the oxidation of guanine and xanthine in the cytoplasm, indicated the cell viability. In addition, the in situ in vitro electrochemical method was further compared with the traditional MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays. Although similar cytotoxicity data were obtained from both methods, the effective concentrations of chlorophenols that inhibited 50% cell growth (EC50 values) from the electrochemical method were only slightly lower than those from the MTT assay. These results indicate that the in situ in vitro electrochemical method paves a simple, rapid, strongly responsive, and label-free way to the cytotoxicity assessment of different chlorophenol pollutants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Feuerstein, Albert; Knapp, James; Taylor, Thomas; Ashary, Adil; Bolcavage, Ann; Hitchman, Neil
2008-06-01
The most advanced thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems for aircraft engine and power generation hot section components consist of electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) applied yttria-stabilized zirconia and platinum modified diffusion aluminide bond coating. Thermally sprayed ceramic and MCrAlY bond coatings, however, are still used extensively for combustors and power generation blades and vanes. This article highlights the key features of plasma spray and HVOF, diffusion aluminizing, and EBPVD coating processes. The coating characteristics of thermally sprayed MCrAlY bond coat as well as low density and dense vertically cracked (DVC) Zircoat TBC are described. Essential features of a typical EBPVD TBC coating system, consisting of a diffusion aluminide and a columnar TBC, are also presented. The major coating cost elements such as material, equipment and processing are explained for the different technologies, with a performance and cost comparison given for selected examples.
In situ electronic probing of semiconducting nanowires in an electron microscope.
Fauske, V T; Erlbeck, M B; Huh, J; Kim, D C; Munshi, A M; Dheeraj, D L; Weman, H; Fimland, B O; Van Helvoort, A T J
2016-05-01
For the development of electronic nanoscale structures, feedback on its electronic properties is crucial, but challenging. Here, we present a comparison of various in situ methods for electronically probing single, p-doped GaAs nanowires inside a scanning electron microscope. The methods used include (i) directly probing individual as-grown nanowires with a sharp nano-manipulator, (ii) contacting dispersed nanowires with two metal contacts and (iii) contacting dispersed nanowires with four metal contacts. For the last two cases, we compare the results obtained using conventional ex situ litho-graphy contacting techniques and by in situ, direct-write electron beam induced deposition of a metal (Pt). The comparison shows that 2-probe measurements gives consistent results also with contacts made by electron beam induced deposition, but that for 4-probe, stray deposition can be a problem for shorter nanowires. This comparative study demonstrates that the preferred in situ method depends on the required throughput and reliability. © 2015 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2015 Royal Microscopical Society.
Shen, Quan; Edler, Matthias; Griesser, Thomas; Knall, Astrid-Caroline; Trimmel, Gregor; Kern, Wolfgang; Teichert, Christian
2014-01-01
Photolithographic methods allow an easy lateral top-down patterning and tuning of surface properties with photoreactive molecules and polymers. Employing friction force microscopy (FFM), we present here different FFM-based methods that enable the characterization of several photoreactive thin organic surface layers. First, three ex situ methods have been evaluated for the identification of irradiated and non-irradiated zones on the same organosilane sample by irradiation through different types of masks. These approaches are further extended to a time dependent ex situ FFM measurement, which allows to study the irradiation time dependent evolution of the resulting friction forces by sequential irradiation through differently sized masks in crossed geometry. Finally, a newly designed in situ FFM measurement, which uses a commercial bar-shaped cantilever itself as a noncontact shadow mask, enables the determination of time dependent effects on the surface modification during the photoreaction. SCANNING 36:590–598, 2014. PMID:25183629
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2008-02-01
The objective of the proposed research project is to compare the results of two recently introduced nondestructive load test methods to the existing 24-hour load test method described in Chapter 20 of ACI 318-05. The two new methods of nondestructive...
Krizsan, S J; Jančík, F; Ramin, M; Huhtanen, P
2013-02-01
The objective of the present study was to compare digestion rates (kd) of NDF for different feeds estimated with the in situ method or derived from an automated gas in vitro system. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate how in situ derived kd of NDF related to in vivo digestibility of NDF. Furthermore, in vitro true digestibility of the feed samples incubated within filter bags or dispersed in the medium was compared, and kd for insoluble and soluble components of those feeds were estimated. Four different concentrates and 4 forages were used in this study. Two lactating Swedish Red cows fed a diet of 60% grass silage and 40% concentrate on DM basis were used for in situ incubations and for collection of rumen fluid. The feed samples were ground through a 2.0-mm screen before the in situ incubations and a 1.0-mm screen before the in vitro gas incubations. In situ nylon bags were introduced into the rumen for determination of kd of NDF. Additional kinetic data were produced from isolated NDF and intact samples subjected to in vitro incubations in which gas production was recorded for 72 h. Samples were weighed in the bottles or within filter bags (for fiber and in vitro studies) that were placed in the bottles. The interaction between feed and method was significant (P < 0.01); kd of NDF for grass hay tended (P = 0.06) to be less whereas kd of NDF for alfalfa, barley grain, canola meal, and dried sugar beet pulp were greater (P < 0.01) when estimated with the in situ method than from gas production recordings. The meta-analysis suggested that in situ derived kd of NDF were biased and underestimated in vivo digestibility of NDF. Digestion rates of the intact samples were lower for all feeds, except for the hay, when incubated within the bags compared with dispersed in the medium (P < 0.01). Less OM and NDF were digested for all feeds when incubated within bags than dispersed in the medium (P < 0.01). It is concluded from the in vitro study that microbial activity within the bags is less than in the medium. Significant interactions between method (in situ vs. in vitro) and feed suggest that one or both methods result in biased estimates of digestion kinetics.
Trindade, I G; Fermento, R; Leitão, D; Sousa, J B
2009-07-01
In this article, a method to measure the electrical resistivity/conductivity of metallic thin films during layer growth on specific underlayers is described. The in situ monitoring of an underlayer electrical resistance, its change upon the incoming of new material atoms/molecules, and the growth of a new layer are presented. The method is easy to implement and allows obtaining in situ experimental curves of electrical resistivity dependence upon film thickness with a subatomic resolution, providing insight in film growth microstructure characteristics, specular/diffuse electron scattering surfaces, and optimum film thicknesses.
Giger-Reverdin, Sylvie; Maaroufi, Chiraze; Chapoutot, Patrick; Peyronnet, Corinne; Sauvant, Daniel
2014-01-01
In ruminant nutrition, peas are characterized by high protein solubility and degradability, which impair its protein value estimated by the official in situ method. Grinding can be used as a technological treatment of pea seeds to modify their nutritional value. The aim of this study was to compare the in situ method with an in vitro method on the same pea either in a coarse pea flour form (PCF) or in a ground pea fine flour form (PFF) to understand the effect of grinding. Both forms were also reground (GPCF and GPFF). PCF presented a lower rate of in vitro degradation than PFF, and more stable fermentation parameters (pH, ammonia, soluble carbohydrates) even if gas production was higher for the PCF after 48 h of incubation. In situ dry matter and protein degradation were lower for PCF than those for PFF; these differences were more marked than with the in vitro method. Reground peas were very similar to PFF. The values for pea protein digestible in the intestine (PDI) were higher for PCF than those for PFF. This study points out the high sensitivity of the in situ method to grinding. The study needs to be validated by in vivo measurements. PMID:25473488
Souder, Christopher D; Bomar, James D; Wenger, Dennis R
2014-12-01
Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) can be treated by a variety of methods with the traditional method of in situ pin fixation being most commonly used. More recently, the Modified Dunn (Mod. Dunn) procedure consisting of capital realignment has been popularized as a treatment method for SCFE, particularly for more severe cases. Over the last 5 years, our institution has selectively used this method for more complex cases. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the differences between these 2 treatment methods in terms of avascular necrosis (AVN) rate, reoperation rate, and complication rate. Eighty-eight hips that were surgically treated for SCFE between July 2004 and June 2012 met our inclusion criteria. The in situ fixation group included 71 hips, whereas 17 hips were anatomically reduced with the Mod. Dunn procedure. Loder classification, severity, acuity, complication rate, and reoperation rate were determined for the 2 cohorts. The χ analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between the treatment method and outcome. As expected, stable slips did well with in situ pinning with no cases of AVN, even in more severe slips. Ten stable slips were treated with the Mod. Dunn approach and 2 (20%) developed AVN. Unstable slips were more difficult to treat with 3 of the 7 hips stabilized in situ developing AVN (43%). Two of the 7 unstable slips treated by the Mod. Dunn procedure developed AVN (29%). The other outcomes studied (reoperation rate and complication rate) were not significantly related to the surgical treatment method (P = 0.732 and 0.261, respectively). In situ pinning remains a safe and predictable method for treatment of stable SCFE with no AVN noted, even in severe slips. Attempts to anatomically reduce stable slips led to severe AVN in 20% of cases, thus this treatment approach should be considered with caution. Treatment of unstable slips remains problematic with high AVN rates noted whether treated by in situ fixation or capital realignment (Mod. Dunn). Level III retrospective comparative study.
Alhadeff, Amber L; Holland, Ruby A; Nelson, Alexandra; Grill, Harvey J; De Jonghe, Bart C
2015-08-05
Cisplatin chemotherapy is used commonly to treat a variety of cancers despite severe side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and anorexia that compromise quality of life and limit treatment adherence. The neural mechanisms mediating these side effects remain elusive despite decades of clinical use. Recent data highlight the dorsal vagal complex (DVC), lateral parabrachial nucleus (lPBN), and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) as potential sites of action in mediating the side effects of cisplatin. Here, results from immunohistochemical studies in rats identified a population of cisplatin-activated DVC neurons that project to the lPBN and a population of cisplatin-activated lPBN calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP, a marker for glutamatergic neurons in the lPBN) neurons that project to the CeA, outlining a neuroanatomical circuit that is activated by cisplatin. CeA gene expressions of AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptor subunits were markedly increased after cisplatin treatment, suggesting that CeA glutamate receptor signaling plays a role in mediating cisplatin side effects. Consistent with gene expression results, behavioral/pharmacological data showed that CeA AMPA/kainate receptor blockade attenuates cisplatin-induced pica (a proxy for nausea/behavioral malaise in nonvomiting laboratory rodents) and that CeA NMDA receptor blockade attenuates cisplatin-induced anorexia and body weight loss in addition to pica, demonstrating that glutamate receptor signaling in the CeA is critical for the energy balance dysregulation caused by cisplatin treatment. Together, these data highlight a novel circuit and CGRP/glutamatergic mechanism through which cisplatin-induced malaise and energy balance dysregulation are mediated. To treat cancer effectively, patients must follow prescribed chemotherapy treatments without interruption, yet most cancer treatments produce side effects that devastate quality of life (e.g., nausea, vomiting, anorexia, weight loss). Although hundreds of thousands of patients undergo chemotherapies each year, the neural mechanisms mediating their side effects are unknown. The current data outline a neural circuit activated by cisplatin chemotherapy and demonstrate that glutamate signaling in the amygdala, arising from hindbrain projections, is required for the full expression of cisplatin-induced malaise, anorexia, and body weight loss. Together, these data help to characterize the neural circuits and neurotransmitters mediating chemotherapy-induced energy balance dysregulation, which will ultimately provide an opportunity for the development of well tolerated cancer and anti-emetic treatments. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3511094-11$15.00/0.
A Low-Cost, In Situ Resistivity and Temperature Monitoring System
We present a low-cost, reliable method for long-term in situ autonomous monitoring of subsurface resistivity and temperature in a shallow, moderately heterogeneous subsurface. Probes, to be left in situ, were constructed at relatively low cost with close electrode spacing. Once i...
Deasy, William; Shepherd, Tom; Alexander, Colin J; Birch, A Nicholas E; Evans, K Andrew
2016-11-01
Research on plant root chemical ecology has benefited greatly from recent developments in analytical chemistry. Numerous reports document techniques for sampling root volatiles, although only a limited number describe in situ collection. To demonstrate a new method for non-invasive in situ passive sampling using solid phase micro extraction (SPME), from the immediate vicinity of growing roots. SPME fibres inserted into polyfluorotetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sampling tubes located in situ which were either perforated, covered with stainless steel mesh or with microporous PTFE tubing, were used for non-invasive sub-surface sampling of root volatiles from glasshouse-grown broccoli. Sampling methods were compared with above surface headspace collection using Tenax TA. The roots were either mechanically damaged or infested with Delia radicum larvae. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to investigate the effect of damage on the composition of volatiles released by broccoli roots. Analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with SPME and automated thermal desorption (ATD) confirmed that sulphur compounds, showing characteristic temporal emission patterns, were the principal volatiles released by roots following insect larval damage. Use of SPME with in situ perforated PTFE sampling tubes was the most robust method for out-of-lab sampling. This study describes a new method for non-invasive passive sampling of volatiles in situ from intact and insect damaged roots using SPME. The method is highly suitable for remote sampling and has potential for wide application in chemical ecology/root/soil research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gallegos, Tanya J.; Bern, Carleton R.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Haines, Seth S.; Engle, Mark A.
2015-01-01
Global trends toward developing new energy resources from lower grade, larger tonnage deposits that are not generally accessible using “conventional” extraction methods involve variations of subsurface in situ extraction techniques including in situ oil-shale retorting, hydraulic fracturing of petroleum reservoirs, and in situ recovery (ISR) of uranium. Although these methods are economically feasible and perhaps result in a smaller above-ground land-use footprint, there remain uncertainties regarding potential subsurface impacts to groundwater. This chapter provides an overview of the role of water in these technologies and the opportunities and challenges for water reuse and recycling.
Method for in situ carbon deposition measurement for solid oxide fuel cells
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kuhn, J.; Kesler, O.
2014-01-01
Previous methods to measure carbon deposition in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anodes do not permit simultaneous electrochemical measurements. Electrochemical measurements supplemented with carbon deposition quantities create the opportunity to further understand how carbon affects SOFC performance and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS). In this work, a method for measuring carbon in situ, named here as the quantification of gasified carbon (QGC), was developed. TGA experiments showed that carbon with a 100 h residence time in the SOFC was >99.8% gasified. Comparison of carbon mass measurements between the TGA and QGC show good agreement. In situ measurements of carbon deposition in SOFCs at varying molar steam/carbon ratios were performed to further validate the QGC method, and suppression of carbon deposition with increasing steam concentration was observed, in agreement with previous studies. The technique can be used to investigate in situ carbon deposition and gasification behavior simultaneously with electrochemical measurements for a variety of fuels and operating conditions, such as determining conditions under which incipient carbon deposition is reversible.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Broecker, Jana; Klingel, Viviane; Ou, Wei-Lin
In recent years, in situ data collection has been a major focus of progress in protein crystallography. Here, we introduce the Mylar in situ method using Mylar-based sandwich plates that are inexpensive, easy to make and handle, and show significantly less background scattering than other setups. A variety of cognate holders for patches of Mylar in situ sandwich films corresponding to one or more wells makes the method robust and versatile, allows for storage and shipping of entire wells, and enables automated crystal imaging, screening, and goniometerbased X-ray diffraction data-collection at room temperature and under cryogenic conditions for soluble andmore » membrane-protein crystals grown in or transferred to these plates. We validated the Mylar in situ method using crystals of the water-soluble proteins hen egg-white lysozyme and sperm whale myoglobin as well as the 7-transmembrane protein bacteriorhodopsin from Haloquadratum walsbyi. In conjunction with current developments at synchrotrons, this approach promises high-resolution structural studies of membrane proteins to become faster and more routine.« less
Miglierini, Marcel B; Procházka, Vít; Vrba, Vlastimil; Švec, Peter; Janičkovič, Dušan; Matúš, Peter
2018-06-07
We demonstrate the use of two nuclear-based analytical methods that can follow the modifications of microstructural arrangement of iron-based metallic glasses (MGs). Despite their amorphous nature, the identification of hyperfine interactions unveils faint structural modifications. For this purpose, we have employed two techniques that utilize nuclear resonance among nuclear levels of a stable 57 Fe isotope, namely Mössbauer spectrometry and nuclear forward scattering (NFS) of synchrotron radiation. The effects of heat treatment upon (Fe2.85Co1)77Mo8Cu1B14 MG are discussed using the results of ex situ and in situ experiments, respectively. As both methods are sensitive to hyperfine interactions, information on structural arrangement as well as on magnetic microstructure is readily available. Mössbauer spectrometry performed ex situ describes how the structural arrangement and magnetic microstructure appears at room temperature after the annealing under certain conditions (temperature, time), and thus this technique inspects steady states. On the other hand, NFS data are recorded in situ during dynamically changing temperature and NFS examines transient states. The use of both techniques provides complementary information. In general, they can be applied to any suitable system in which it is important to know its steady state but also transient states.
Enzymatic method for measuring starch gelatinization in dry products in situ
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
An enzymatic method based on hydrolysis of starch by amyloglucosidase and measurement of D-glucose released by glucose oxidase-peroxidase was developed to measure both gelatinized starch and hydrolyzable starch in situ of dried starchy products. Efforts focused on the development of sample handling ...
Bethel, EW; Bauer, A; Abbasi, H; ...
2016-06-10
The considerable interest in the high performance computing (HPC) community regarding analyzing and visualization data without first writing to disk, i.e., in situ processing, is due to several factors. First is an I/O cost savings, where data is analyzed /visualized while being generated, without first storing to a filesystem. Second is the potential for increased accuracy, where fine temporal sampling of transient analysis might expose some complex behavior missed in coarse temporal sampling. Third is the ability to use all available resources, CPU’s and accelerators, in the computation of analysis products. This STAR paper brings together researchers, developers and practitionersmore » using in situ methods in extreme-scale HPC with the goal to present existing methods, infrastructures, and a range of computational science and engineering applications using in situ analysis and visualization.« less
43 CFR 3931.11 - Content of plan of development.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... in situ development sequence, with appropriate time-frames; (h) A narrative addressing the environmental aspects of the proposed mine or in situ operation, including at a minimum, the following: (1) An... hazardous to people or animals; and (2) For in situ operations, a description of the method and materials to...
43 CFR 3931.11 - Content of plan of development.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... in situ development sequence, with appropriate time-frames; (h) A narrative addressing the environmental aspects of the proposed mine or in situ operation, including at a minimum, the following: (1) An... hazardous to people or animals; and (2) For in situ operations, a description of the method and materials to...
43 CFR 3931.11 - Content of plan of development.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... in situ development sequence, with appropriate time-frames; (h) A narrative addressing the environmental aspects of the proposed mine or in situ operation, including at a minimum, the following: (1) An... hazardous to people or animals; and (2) For in situ operations, a description of the method and materials to...
43 CFR 3931.11 - Content of plan of development.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... in situ development sequence, with appropriate time-frames; (h) A narrative addressing the environmental aspects of the proposed mine or in situ operation, including at a minimum, the following: (1) An... hazardous to people or animals; and (2) For in situ operations, a description of the method and materials to...
Constrained Kinematics of ICMEs from Multi-point in Situ and Heliospheric Imaging Data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rollett, T.; Temmer, M.; Moestl, C.; Veronig, A. M.; Lugaz, N.; Vrsnak, B.; Farrugia, C. J.; Amerstorfer, U.
2013-12-01
The constrained harmonic mean (CHM) method is used to calculate the direction of motion of ICMEs and their kinematical profiles. Combining single spacecraft white-light observations from STEREO/HI with supplementary in situ data, it is possible to derive the propagation speed varying with heliocentric distance. This is a big advantage against other single-viewpoint methods, i.e. fitting methods, which assume a constant propagation speed. We show two different applications for the CHM method: first, an analysis of the interaction between the solar wind and ICMEs, and second, the interaction between two ICMEs. For analyzing interaction processes it is crucial to use a method that has the ability to investigate the corresponding effects on ICME kinematics. Additionally, we show the analysis of an outstanding fast ICME event of March 2012, which was detected in situ by Venus Express, Messenger and Wind and also observed by STEREO-A/HI. Due to these multiple in situ measurements it was possible to constrain the ICME kinematics by three different boundary values. These studies are fundamental in order to deepen the understanding of ICME evolution and to enhance existing forecasting methods. This work has received funding from the European Commission FP7 Project COMESEP (263252).
Baghdady, Yehia Z; Schug, Kevin A
2016-01-01
Accurate and specific analysis of target molecules in complex biological matrices remains a significant challenge, especially when ultra-trace detection limits are required. Liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry is often the method of choice for bioanalysis. Conventional sample preparation and clean-up methods prior to the analysis of biological fluids such as liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction, or protein precipitation are time-consuming, tedious, and can negatively affect target recovery and detection sensitivity. An alternative or complementary strategy is the use of an off-line or on-line in situ derivatization technique. In situ derivatization can be incorporated to directly derivatize target analytes in their native biological matrices, without any prior sample clean-up methods, to substitute or even enhance the extraction and preconcentration efficiency of these traditional sample preparation methods. Designed appropriately, it can reduce the number of sample preparation steps necessary prior to analysis. Moreover, in situ derivatization can be used to enhance the performance of the developed liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry-based bioanalysis methods regarding stability, chromatographic separation, selectivity, and ionization efficiency. This review presents an overview of the commonly used in situ derivatization techniques coupled to liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry-based bioanalysis to guide and to stimulate future research. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Current approaches for the assessment of in situ biodegradation.
Bombach, Petra; Richnow, Hans H; Kästner, Matthias; Fischer, Anko
2010-04-01
Considering the high costs and technical difficulties associated with conventional remediation strategies, in situ biodegradation has become a promising approach for cleaning up contaminated aquifers. To verify if in situ biodegradation of organic contaminants is taking place at a contaminated site and to determine if these processes are efficient enough to replace conventional cleanup technologies, a comprehensive characterization of site-specific biodegradation processes is essential. In recent years, several strategies including geochemical analyses, microbial and molecular methods, tracer tests, metabolite analysis, compound-specific isotope analysis, and in situ microcosms have been developed to investigate the relevance of biodegradation processes for cleaning up contaminated aquifers. In this review, we outline current approaches for the assessment of in situ biodegradation and discuss their potential and limitations. We also discuss the benefits of research strategies combining complementary methods to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the complex hydrogeological and microbial interactions governing contaminant biodegradation in the field.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Fruchter, Jonathan S.
In Situ Treatment of Chromate Contaminated Groundwater Jonathan S. Fruchter Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Abstract of paper published in Environmental Science and Technology, 2002 Although not as common as solvent or fuel products contamination, chromate (chromium (VI)) contamination of groundwater is relatively widespread. Chromate has a variety of industrial uses, including chrome plating, steel making, and use as a corrosion inhibitor, wood preservative, well-drilling fluid additive, biocide, and as a pigment in paints and primers. EPA has estimated that as many as 1300 sites in the United States may have groundwater contaminated with chromate. The paper discusses a number ofmore » approaches to in situ treatment of chromate contamination in groundwater aquifers. The approaches include various types of chemical treatments, biological treatments and natural attenuation. The strengths and weaknesses of each method are discussed and compared. Field examples of two types of chemical treatment, in situ redox manipulation and chemically enhanced pump and treat are presented. It is concluded that in situ methods show promise, but can be difficult to implement due to site-specific conditions and limited long-term experience with these methods. As more performance and cost data are acquired for the demonstrations that are ongoing, and continuing research increases our understanding of subsurface processes, in situ treatment methods for chromium (VI) contamination in groundwater should gain wider acceptance.« less
40 CFR 440.34 - New source performance standards (NSPS).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... uranium ore, excluding mines using in situ leach methods, shall not exceed: Effluent characteristic... for the extraction of uranium or from mines and mills using in situ leach methods. The Agency... Subcategory § 440.34 New source performance standards (NSPS). Except as provided in subpart L of this part any...
40 CFR 440.34 - New source performance standards (NSPS).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... uranium ore, excluding mines using in situ leach methods, shall not exceed: Effluent characteristic... for the extraction of uranium or from mines and mills using in situ leach methods. The Agency... Subcategory § 440.34 New source performance standards (NSPS). Except as provided in subpart L of this part any...
Methods of hydrotreating a liquid stream to remove clogging compounds
Minderhoud, Johannes Kornelis [Amsterdam, NL; Nelson, Richard Gene [Katy, TX; Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria [Houston, TX; Ryan, Robert Charles [Houston, TX; Nair, Vijay [Katy, TX
2009-09-22
A method includes producing formation fluid from a subsurface in situ heat treatment process. The formation fluid is separated to produce a liquid stream and a gas stream. At least a portion of the liquid stream is provided to a hydrotreating unit. At least a portion of selected in situ heat treatment clogging compositions in the liquid stream are removed to produce a hydrotreated liquid stream by hydrotreating at least a portion of the liquid stream at conditions sufficient to remove the selected in situ heat treatment clogging compositions.
In-situ soil carbon analysis using inelastic neutron scattering
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
In situ soil carbon analysis using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) is based on the emission of 4.43 MeV gamma rays from carbon nuclei excited by fast neutrons. This in-situ method has excellent potential for easily measuring soil carbon since it does not require soil core sampling and processing ...
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Philipp, W. H.; Hsu, L. C.
1979-01-01
Three methods of in situ cross-linking polyvinyl alcohol films are presented. They are: (1) acetalization with a dialdehyde such as glutaraldehyde, (2) acetalization with aldehyde groups formed by selective oxidative cleaving of the few percent of 1,2 diol units present in polyvinyl alcohol, and (3) cross-linking by hydrogen abstraction by reaction with hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl radicals from irradiated water. For the third method, improvement in film conductivity in KOH solution at the expense of mechanical strength is obtained by the presence of polyacrylic acid in the polyvinyl alcohol films. Resistivities in 45 percent KOH are given for in situ cross-linked films prepared by each of the three methods.
In Situ Test Method for the Electrostatic Characterization of Lunar Dust
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Buhler, C. R.; Calle, Carlos I.; CLements, S. J.; Mantovani, J.; Ritz, M. I.
2007-01-01
This paper serves to illustrate the testing methods necessary to classify the electrostatic properties of lunar dust using in situ instrumentation and the required techniques therein. A review of electrostatic classification of lunar simulant materials is provided as is its relevance to the success of future human lunar missions.
In situ 10Be-26Al exposure ages at Meteor Crater, Arizona
Nishiizumi, K.; Kohl, C.P.; Shoemaker, E.M.; Arnold, J.R.; Klein, J.; Fink, D.; Middleton, R.
1991-01-01
A new method of dating the surface exposure of rocks from in situ production of 10Be and 26Al has been applied to determine the age of Meteor Crater, Arizona. A lower bound on the crater age of 49,200 ?? 1,700 years has been obtained by this method. ?? 1991.
40 CFR 440.34 - New source performance standards (NSPS).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... underground, that produce uranium ore, excluding mines using in situ leach methods, shall not exceed: Effluent... leach process for the extraction of uranium or from mines and mills using in situ leach methods. The... Vanadium Ores Subcategory § 440.34 New source performance standards (NSPS). Except as provided in subpart L...
40 CFR 440.34 - New source performance standards (NSPS).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... underground, that produce uranium ore, excluding mines using in situ leach methods, shall not exceed: Effluent... leach process for the extraction of uranium or from mines and mills using in situ leach methods. The... Vanadium Ores Subcategory § 440.34 New source performance standards (NSPS). Except as provided in subpart L...
40 CFR 440.34 - New source performance standards (NSPS).
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... underground, that produce uranium ore, excluding mines using in situ leach methods, shall not exceed: Effluent... leach process for the extraction of uranium or from mines and mills using in situ leach methods. The... Vanadium Ores Subcategory § 440.34 New source performance standards (NSPS). Except as provided in subpart L...
Optimized Setup and Protocol for Magnetic Domain Imaging with In Situ Hysteresis Measurement.
Liu, Jun; Wilson, John; Davis, Claire; Peyton, Anthony
2017-11-07
This paper elaborates the sample preparation protocols required to obtain optimal domain patterns using the Bitter method, focusing on the extra steps compared to standard metallographic sample preparation procedures. The paper proposes a novel bespoke rig for dynamic domain imaging with in situ BH (magnetic hysteresis) measurements and elaborates the protocols for the sensor preparation and the use of the rig to ensure accurate BH measurement. The protocols for static and ordinary dynamic domain imaging (without in situ BH measurements) are also presented. The reported method takes advantage of the convenience and high sensitivity of the traditional Bitter method and enables in situ BH measurement without interrupting or interfering with the domain wall movement processes. This facilitates establishing a direct and quantitative link between the domain wall movement processes-microstructural feature interactions in ferritic steels with their BH loops. This method is anticipated to become a useful tool for the fundamental study of microstructure-magnetic property relationships in steels and to help interpret the electromagnetic sensor signals for non-destructive evaluation of steel microstructures.
Optimized Setup and Protocol for Magnetic Domain Imaging with In Situ Hysteresis Measurement
Liu, Jun; Wilson, John; Davis, Claire; Peyton, Anthony
2017-01-01
This paper elaborates the sample preparation protocols required to obtain optimal domain patterns using the Bitter method, focusing on the extra steps compared to standard metallographic sample preparation procedures. The paper proposes a novel bespoke rig for dynamic domain imaging with in situ BH (magnetic hysteresis) measurements and elaborates the protocols for the sensor preparation and the use of the rig to ensure accurate BH measurement. The protocols for static and ordinary dynamic domain imaging (without in situ BH measurements) are also presented. The reported method takes advantage of the convenience and high sensitivity of the traditional Bitter method and enables in situ BH measurement without interrupting or interfering with the domain wall movement processes. This facilitates establishing a direct and quantitative link between the domain wall movement processes–microstructural feature interactions in ferritic steels with their BH loops. This method is anticipated to become a useful tool for the fundamental study of microstructure–magnetic property relationships in steels and to help interpret the electromagnetic sensor signals for non-destructive evaluation of steel microstructures. PMID:29155796
Instrumentation development for In Situ 40Ar/39Ar planetary geochronology
Morgan, Leah; Munk, Madicken; Davidheiser-Kroll, Brett; Warner, Nicholas H.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Slaybaugh, Rachel; Harkness, Patrick; Mark, Darren
2017-01-01
The chronology of the Solar System, particularly the timing of formation of extra-terrestrial bodies and their features, is an outstanding problem in planetary science. Although various chronological methods for in situ geochronology have been proposed (e.g., Rb-Sr, K-Ar), and even applied (K-Ar), the reliability, accuracy, and applicability of the 40Ar/39Ar method makes it by far the most desirable chronometer for dating extra-terrestrial bodies. The method however relies on the neutron irradiation of samples, and thus a neutron source. Herein, we discuss the challenges and feasibility of deploying a passive neutron source to planetary surfaces for the in situ application of the 40Ar/39Ar chronometer. Requirements in generating and shielding neutrons, as well as analysing samples are described, along with an exploration of limitations such as mass, power and cost. Two potential solutions for the in situ extra-terrestrial deployment of the 40Ar/39Ar method are presented. Although this represents a challenging task, developing the technology to apply the 40Ar/39Ar method on planetary surfaces would represent a major advance towards constraining the timescale of solar system formation and evolution.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moser, Stefan; Nau, Siegfried; Salk, Manfred; Thoma, Klaus
2014-02-01
The in situ investigation of dynamic events, ranging from car crash to ballistics, often is key to the understanding of dynamic material behavior. In many cases the important processes and interactions happen on the scale of milli- to microseconds at speeds of 1000 m s-1 or more. Often, 3D information is necessary to fully capture and analyze all relevant effects. High-speed 3D-visualization techniques are thus required for the in situ analysis. 3D-capable optical high-speed methods often are impaired by luminous effects and dust, while flash x-ray based methods usually deliver only 2D data. In this paper, a novel 3D-capable flash x-ray based method, in situ flash x-ray high-speed computed tomography is presented. The method is capable of producing 3D reconstructions of high-speed processes based on an undersampled dataset consisting of only a few (typically 3 to 6) x-ray projections. The major challenges are identified, discussed and the chosen solution outlined. The application is illustrated with an exemplary application of a 1000 m s-1 high-speed impact event on the scale of microseconds. A quantitative analysis of the in situ measurement of the material fragments with a 3D reconstruction with 1 mm voxel size is presented and the results are discussed. The results show that the HSCT method allows gaining valuable visual and quantitative mechanical information for the understanding and interpretation of high-speed events.
Chen, Xiaoxia; Zhao, Jing; Chen, Tianshu; Gao, Tao; Zhu, Xiaoli; Li, Genxi
2018-01-01
Comprehensive analysis of the expression level and location of tumor-associated membrane proteins (TMPs) is of vital importance for the profiling of tumor cells. Currently, two kinds of independent techniques, i.e. ex situ detection and in situ imaging, are usually required for the quantification and localization of TMPs respectively, resulting in some inevitable problems. Methods: Herein, based on a well-designed and fluorophore-labeled DNAzyme, we develop an integrated and facile method, in which imaging and quantification of TMPs in situ are achieved simultaneously in a single system. The labeled DNAzyme not only produces localized fluorescence for the visualization of TMPs but also catalyzes the cleavage of a substrate to produce quantitative fluorescent signals that can be collected from solution for the sensitive detection of TMPs. Results: Results from the DNAzyme-based in situ imaging and quantification of TMPs match well with traditional immunofluorescence and western blotting. In addition to the advantage of two-in-one, the DNAzyme-based method is highly sensitivity, allowing the detection of TMPs in only 100 cells. Moreover, the method is nondestructive. Cells after analysis could retain their physiological activity and could be cultured for other applications. Conclusion: The integrated system provides solid results for both imaging and quantification of TMPs, making it a competitive method over some traditional techniques for the analysis of TMPs, which offers potential application as a toolbox in the future.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Soil moisture monitoring with in situ technology is a time consuming and costly endeavor for which a method of increasing the resolution of spatial estimates across in situ networks is necessary. Using a simple hydrologic model, the resolution of an in situ watershed network can be increased beyond...
2007-09-30
Planar Laser Imaging of Scattering and Fluorescence of Zooplankton Feeding in Layers of Phytoplankton in situ Peter J.S. Franks Scripps...herbivorous copepod feeding in the laboratory, and 2) to apply these methods in the field to observe the dynamics of copepod feeding in situ. In...particular we intend to test the “ feeding sorties” hypothesis vs. the “in situ feeding ” hypothesis regarding the location and timing of copepod feeding
Maruyama, Fumito; Kenzaka, Takehiko; Yamaguchi, Nobuyasu; Tani, Katsuji; Nasu, Masao
2005-01-01
Rolling circle amplification (RCA) generates large single-stranded and tandem repeats of target DNA as amplicons. This technique was applied to in situ nucleic acid amplification (in situ RCA) to visualize and count single Escherichia coli cells carrying a specific gene sequence. The method features (i) one short target sequence (35 to 39 bp) that allows specific detection; (ii) maintaining constant fluorescent intensity of positive cells permeabilized extensively after amplicon detection by fluorescence in situ hybridization, which facilitates the detection of target bacteria in various physiological states; and (iii) reliable enumeration of target bacteria by concentration on a gelatin-coated membrane filter. To test our approach, the presence of the following genes were visualized by in situ RCA: green fluorescent protein gene, the ampicillin resistance gene and the replication origin region on multicopy pUC19 plasmid, as well as the single-copy Shiga-like toxin gene on chromosomes inside E. coli cells. Fluorescent antibody staining after in situ RCA also simultaneously identified cells harboring target genes and determined the specificity of in situ RCA. E. coli cells in a nonculturable state from a prolonged incubation were periodically sampled and used for plasmid uptake study. The numbers of cells taking up plasmids determined by in situ RCA was up to 106-fold higher than that measured by selective plating. In addition, in situ RCA allowed the detection of cells taking up plasmids even when colony-forming cells were not detected during the incubation period. By optimizing the cell permeabilization condition for in situ RCA, this method can become a valuable tool for studying free DNA uptake, especially in nonculturable bacteria. PMID:16332770
Pattern classification by memristive crossbar circuits using ex situ and in situ training.
Alibart, Fabien; Zamanidoost, Elham; Strukov, Dmitri B
2013-01-01
Memristors are memory resistors that promise the efficient implementation of synaptic weights in artificial neural networks. Whereas demonstrations of the synaptic operation of memristors already exist, the implementation of even simple networks is more challenging and has yet to be reported. Here we demonstrate pattern classification using a single-layer perceptron network implemented with a memrisitive crossbar circuit and trained using the perceptron learning rule by ex situ and in situ methods. In the first case, synaptic weights, which are realized as conductances of titanium dioxide memristors, are calculated on a precursor software-based network and then imported sequentially into the crossbar circuit. In the second case, training is implemented in situ, so the weights are adjusted in parallel. Both methods work satisfactorily despite significant variations in the switching behaviour of the memristors. These results give hope for the anticipated efficient implementation of artificial neuromorphic networks and pave the way for dense, high-performance information processing systems.
Pattern classification by memristive crossbar circuits using ex situ and in situ training
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alibart, Fabien; Zamanidoost, Elham; Strukov, Dmitri B.
2013-06-01
Memristors are memory resistors that promise the efficient implementation of synaptic weights in artificial neural networks. Whereas demonstrations of the synaptic operation of memristors already exist, the implementation of even simple networks is more challenging and has yet to be reported. Here we demonstrate pattern classification using a single-layer perceptron network implemented with a memrisitive crossbar circuit and trained using the perceptron learning rule by ex situ and in situ methods. In the first case, synaptic weights, which are realized as conductances of titanium dioxide memristors, are calculated on a precursor software-based network and then imported sequentially into the crossbar circuit. In the second case, training is implemented in situ, so the weights are adjusted in parallel. Both methods work satisfactorily despite significant variations in the switching behaviour of the memristors. These results give hope for the anticipated efficient implementation of artificial neuromorphic networks and pave the way for dense, high-performance information processing systems.
In-Situ Cure Monitoring of the Immidization Reaction of PMR-15
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cossins, Sheryl; Kellar, Jon J.; Winter, Robb M.
1997-01-01
Glass fiber reinforced polymer composites are becoming widely used in industry. With this increase in production, an in-situ method of quality control for the curing of the polymer is desirable. This would allow for the production of high-quality parts having more uniform properties.' Recently, in-situ fiber optic monitoring of polymer curing has primarily focused on epoxy resins and has been performed by Raman or fluorescence methods. In addition, some infrared (IR) investigations have been performed using transmission or ATR cells. An alternate IR approach involves using optical fibers as a sensor by utilizing evanescent wave spectroscopy.
In-situ vitrification of waste materials
Powell, J.R.; Reich, M.; Barletta, R.
1997-10-14
A method for the in-situ vitrification of waste materials in a disposable can that includes an inner container and an outer container is disclosed. The method includes the steps of adding frit and waste materials to the inner container, removing any excess water, heating the inner container such that the frit and waste materials melt and vitrify after cooling, while maintaining the outer container at a significantly lower temperature than the inner container. The disposable can is then cooled to ambient temperatures and stored. A device for the in-situ vitrification of waste material in a disposable can is also disclosed. 7 figs.
In-situ vitrification of waste materials
Powell, James R.; Reich, Morris; Barletta, Robert
1997-11-14
A method for the in-situ vitrification of waste materials in a disposable can that includes an inner container and an outer container is disclosed. The method includes the steps of adding frit and waste materials to the inner container, removing any excess water, heating the inner container such that the frit and waste materials melt and vitrify after cooling, while maintaining the outer container at a significantly lower temperature than the inner container. The disposable can is then cooled to ambient temperatures and stored. A device for the in-situ vitrification of waste material in a disposable can is also disclosed.
Comparison of Available Soil Nitrogen Assays in Control and Burned Forested Sites
Jennifer D. Knoepp; Wayne T. Swank
1995-01-01
The existence of several different methods for measuring net Nmineralization and nitrilkation rates and indexing N availability has raised questions about the comparability of these methods. We compared in situ covered cores, in situ buried bags, aerobic laboratory incubations, and tension lysimetry on control and treated plots of a prescribed burn experiment in the...
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Alternatives to the in situ method for estimating rumen-degradable protein (RDP) in diverse forage legumes should be validated. In this study, RDP in roll conditioned or macerated silages and hays of Medicago, Lotus, and Trifolium species with differing polyphenol compositions were estimated from in...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... using in-situ leach methods shall not exceed: Effluent characteristic Effluent limitations Maximum for... uranium, radium and vanadium including mill-mine facilities and mines using in-situ leach methods shall... available (BPT). Except as provided in subpart L of this part and 40 CFR 125.30 through 125.32, any existing...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... using in-situ leach methods shall not exceed: Effluent characteristic Effluent limitations Maximum for... uranium, radium and vanadium including mill-mine facilities and mines using in-situ leach methods shall... available (BPT). Except as provided in subpart L of this part and 40 CFR 125.30 through 125.32, any existing...
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... using in-situ leach methods shall not exceed: Effluent characteristic Effluent limitations Maximum for... uranium, radium and vanadium including mill-mine facilities and mines using in-situ leach methods shall... available (BPT). Except as provided in subpart L of this part and 40 CFR 125.30 through 125.32, any existing...
In situ synthesis of protein arrays.
He, Mingyue; Stoevesandt, Oda; Taussig, Michael J
2008-02-01
In situ or on-chip protein array methods use cell free expression systems to produce proteins directly onto an immobilising surface from co-distributed or pre-arrayed DNA or RNA, enabling protein arrays to be created on demand. These methods address three issues in protein array technology: (i) efficient protein expression and availability, (ii) functional protein immobilisation and purification in a single step and (iii) protein on-chip stability over time. By simultaneously expressing and immobilising many proteins in parallel on the chip surface, the laborious and often costly processes of DNA cloning, expression and separate protein purification are avoided. Recently employed methods reviewed are PISA (protein in situ array) and NAPPA (nucleic acid programmable protein array) from DNA and puromycin-mediated immobilisation from mRNA.
In situ gamma-spectrometry several years after deposition of radiocesium. II. Peak-to-valley method.
Gering, F; Hillmann, U; Jacob, P; Fehrenbacher, G
1998-12-01
A new method is introduced for deriving radiocesium soil contaminations and kerma rates in air from in situ gamma-ray spectrometric measurements. The approach makes use of additional information about gamma-ray attenuation given by the peak-to-valley ratio, which is the ratio of the count rates for primary and forward scattered photons. In situ measurements are evaluated by comparing the experimental data with the results of Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport and detector response. The influence of photons emitted by natural radionuclides on the calculation of the peak-to-valley ratio is carefully analysed. The new method has been applied to several post-Chernobyl measurements and the results agreed well with those of soil sampling.
The Role of Landscape in the Distribution of Deer-Vehicle Collisions in South Mississippi
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McKee, Jacob J; Cochran, David
2012-01-01
Deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) have a negative impact on the economy, traffic safety, and the general well-being of otherwise healthy deer. To mitigate DVCs, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of factors that play a role in their spatial distribution. Much of the existing research on DVCs in the United States has been inconclusive, pointing to a variety of causal factors that seem more specific to study site and region than indicative of broad patterns. Little DVC research has been conducted in the southern United States, making the region particularly important with regard to this issue. In this study,more » we evaluate landscape factors that contributed to the distribution of 347 DVCs that occurred in Forrest and Lamar Counties of south Mississippi, from 2006 to 2009. Using nearest-neighbor and discriminant analysis, we demonstrate that DVCs in south Mississippi are not random spatial phenomena. We also develop a classification model that identified seven landscape metrics, explained 100% of the variance, and could distinguish DVCs from control sites with an accuracy of 81.3 percent.« less
EP-DRAFT-1.1 2014-01-19 OSI-GAM-SOP-00x In Situ High-resolution Gamma Spectroscopy
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wimer, N. G.; Kreek, S. A.
2014-01-27
The standard operating procedure is described for in situ high-resolution gamma spectroscopy, including operational readiness, planning, preparation, conduct, and reporting. Data analysis of in situ gamma spectrum files will be performed together with those of other gamma assay methods by a dedicated Data Analysis process, documented in companion OSI procedures.
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-01-12
...] Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed HB Potash, LLC--``In-Situ... HB Potash, LLC--``In- Situ'' Solution Mine Project by any of the following methods: E-mail: Rebecca..., (Intrepid) is proposing to construct and operate an ``in-situ'' solution mining project that would involve...
Sen, Debasish; Jones, Stephen M; Oswald, Erin M; Pinkard, Henry; Corbin, Kaitlin; Krummel, Matthew F
2016-01-01
Myeloid-derived cells such as monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), and macrophages are at the heart of the immune effector function in an inflammatory response. But because of the lack of an efficient imaging system to trace these cells live during their migration and maturation in their native environment at sub-cellular resolution, our knowledge is limited to data available from specific time-points analyzed by flow cytometry, histology, genomics and other immunological methods. Here, we have developed a ratiometric imaging method for measuring monocyte maturation in inflamed mouse lungs in situ using real-time using 2-photon imaging and complementary methods. We visualized that while undifferentiated monocytes were predominantly found only in the vasculature, a semi-differentiated monocyte/macrophage population could enter the tissue and resembled more mature and differentiated populations by morphology and surface phenotype. As these cells entered and differentiated, they were already selectively localized near inflamed airways and their entry was associated with changes in motility and morphology. We were able to visualize these during the act of differentiation, a process that can be demonstrated in this way to be faster on a per-cell basis under inflammatory conditions. Finally, our in situ analyses demonstrated increases, in the differentiating cells, for both antigen uptake and the ability to mediate interactions with T cells. This work, while largely confirming proposed models for in situ differentiation, provides important in situ data on the coordinated site-specific recruitment and differentiation of these cells and helps elaborate the predominance of immune pathology at the airways. Our novel imaging technology to trace immunogenic cell maturation in situ will complement existing information available on in situ differentiation deduced from other immunological methods, and assist better understanding of the spatio-temporal cellular behavior during an inflammatory response.
Bioelectrochemical removal of carbon dioxide (CO2): an innovative method for biogas upgrading.
Xu, Heng; Wang, Kaijun; Holmes, Dawn E
2014-12-01
Innovative methods for biogas upgrading based on biological/in-situ concepts have started to arouse considerable interest. Bioelectrochemical removal of CO2 for biogas upgrading was proposed here and demonstrated in both batch and continuous experiments. The in-situ biogas upgrading system seemed to perform better than the ex-situ one, but CO2 content was kept below 10% in both systems. The in-situ system's performance was further enhanced under continuous operation. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and alkali production with CO2 absorption could be major contributors to biogas upgrading. Molecular studies showed that all the biocathodes associated with biogas upgrading were dominated by sequences most similar to the same hydrogenotrophic methanogen species, Methanobacterium petrolearium (97-99% sequence identity). Conclusively, bioelectrochemical removal of CO2 showed great potential for biogas upgrading. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Dong, R H; Qin, C C; Qiu, X; Yan, X; Yu, M; Cui, L; Zhou, Y; Zhang, H D; Jiang, X Y; Long, Y Z
2015-12-14
The side effects or toxicity of cyanoacrylate used in vivo have been argued since its first application in wound closure. We propose an airflow-assisted in situ precision electrospinning apparatus as an applicator and make a detailed comparison with traditional spraying via in vitro and in vivo experiments. This novel method can not only improve operational performance and safety by precisely depositing cyanoacrylate fibers onto a wound, but significantly reduce the dosage of cyanoacrylate by almost 80%. A white blood cell count, liver function test and histological analysis prove that the in situ precision electrospinning applicator produces a better postoperative outcome, e.g., minor hepatocyte injury, moderate inflammation and the significant ability for liver regeneration. This in situ precision electrospinning method may thus dramatically broaden both civilian and military applications of cyanoacrylates.
Tarigh, Ghazale Daneshvar; Shemirani, Farzaneh
2014-06-01
A simple and rapid method for the simultaneous in situ derivatizaion, preconcentration and extraction of thiamine (vitamin B1) as a model analyte was developed by a novel quantitative method, namely ultrasound-assisted dispersive magnetic solid phase extraction spectrofluorimetry (USA-DMSPE-FL) from different real samples. This method consists of sample preparation, in situ derivatization, exhaustive extraction and clean up by a single process. High extraction efficiency and in situ derivatization in a short period of time is the main advantages of this procedure. For this purpose, the reusable magnetic multi-wall carbon nanotube (MMWCNT) nanocomposite was used as an adsorbent for preconcentration and determination of thiamine. Thiamine was, simultaneously, in situ derivatized as thiochrome by potassium hexacyanoferrate (III) and adsorbed on MMWCNT in an ultrasonic water bath. The MMWCNTs were then collected using an external magnetic field. Subsequently, the extracted thiochrome was washed from the surface of the adsorbent and determined by spectrofluorimetry. The developed method, which has been analytically characterized under its optimal operating conditions, allows the detection of the analyte in the samples with method detection limits of 0.37 µg L(-1). The repeatability of the method, expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD, n=6), varies between 2.0% and 4.8% in different real samples, while the enhancement factor is 197. The proposed procedure has been applied for the determination of thiamine in biological (serum and urine), pharmaceutical (multivitamin tablet and B complex syrup) and foodstuff samples (cereal, wheat flour, banana and honey) with the good recoveries in the range from 90% to 105%. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Revil, A.; Karaoulis, M.; Johnson, T.; Kemna, A.
2012-06-01
Low-frequency geoelectrical methods include mainly self-potential, resistivity, and induced polarization techniques, which have potential in many environmental and hydrogeological applications. They provide complementary information to each other and to in-situ measurements. The self-potential method is a passive measurement of the electrical response associated with the in-situ generation of electrical current due to the flow of pore water in porous media, a salinity gradient, and/or the concentration of redox-active species. Under some conditions, this method can be used to visualize groundwater flow, to determine permeability, and to detect preferential flow paths. Electrical resistivity is dependent on the water content, the temperature, the salinity of the pore water, and the clay content and mineralogy. Time-lapse resistivity can be used to assess the permeability and dispersivity distributions and to monitor contaminant plumes. Induced polarization characterizes the ability of rocks to reversibly store electrical energy. It can be used to image permeability and to monitor chemistry of the pore water-minerals interface. These geophysical methods, reviewed in this paper, should always be used in concert with additional in-situ measurements (e.g. in-situ pumping tests, chemical measurements of the pore water), for instance through joint inversion schemes, which is an area of fertile on-going research.
Wang, Peifang; Liu, Cui; Yao, Yu; Wang, Chao; Wang, Teng; Yuan, Ye; Hou, Jun
2017-05-01
To assess the capabilities of the different techniques in predicting Cadmium (Cd) bioavailability in Cd-contaminated soils with the addition of Zn, one in situ technique (diffusive gradients in thin films; DGT) was compared with soil solution concentration and four widely used single-step extraction methods (acetic acid, EDTA, sodium acetate and CaCl 2 ). Wheat and maize were selected as tested species. The results demonstrated that single Cd-polluted soils inhibited the growth of wheat and maize significantly compared with control plants; the shoot and root biomasses of the plants both dropped significantly (P < 0.05). The addition of Zn exhibited a strong antagonism to the physiological toxicity induced by Cd. The Pearson correlation coefficient presented positive correlations (P < 0.01, R > 0.9) between Cd concentrations in two plants and Cd bioavailability indicated by each method in soils. Consequently, the results indicated that the DGT technique could be regarded as a good predictor of Cd bioavailability to plants, comparable to soil solution concentration and the four single-step extraction methods. Because the DGT technique can offer in situ data, it is expected to be widely used in more areas.
Li, Zhongwei; Liu, Xingjian; Wen, Shifeng; He, Piyao; Zhong, Kai; Wei, Qingsong; Shi, Yusheng; Liu, Sheng
2018-01-01
Lack of monitoring of the in situ process signatures is one of the challenges that has been restricting the improvement of Powder-Bed-Fusion Additive Manufacturing (PBF AM). Among various process signatures, the monitoring of the geometric signatures is of high importance. This paper presents the use of vision sensing methods as a non-destructive in situ 3D measurement technique to monitor two main categories of geometric signatures: 3D surface topography and 3D contour data of the fusion area. To increase the efficiency and accuracy, an enhanced phase measuring profilometry (EPMP) is proposed to monitor the 3D surface topography of the powder bed and the fusion area reliably and rapidly. A slice model assisted contour detection method is developed to extract the contours of fusion area. The performance of the techniques is demonstrated with some selected measurements. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can reveal irregularities caused by various defects and inspect the contour accuracy and surface quality. It holds the potential to be a powerful in situ 3D monitoring tool for manufacturing process optimization, close-loop control, and data visualization. PMID:29649171
Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} layers for the in-situ passivation of GaN-based HEMT structures
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Yunin, P. A., E-mail: yunin@ipmras.ru; Drozdov, Yu. N.; Drozdov, M. N.
2015-11-15
A method for the in situ passivation of GaN-based structures with silicon nitride in the growth chamber of a metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) reactor is described. The structural and electrical properties of the obtained layers are investigated. The in situ and ex situ passivation of transistor structures with silicon nitride in an electron-beam-evaporation device are compared. It is shown that ex situ passivation changes neither the initial carrier concentration nor the mobility. In situ passivation makes it possible to protect the structure surface against uncontrollable degradation upon the finishing of growth and extraction to atmosphere. In the inmore » situ passivated structure, the carrier concentration increases and the mobility decreases. This effect should be taken into account when manufacturing passivated GaN-based transistor structures.« less
Perspectives on in situ electron microscopy
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Zheng, Haimei; Zhu, Yimei
In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with the ability to reveal materials dynamic processes with high spatial and temporal resolution has attracted significant interest. The recent advances in in situ methods, including liquid and gas sample environment, pump-probe ultrafast microscopy, nanomechanics and ferroelectric domain switching the aberration corrected electron optics as well as fast electron detector has opened new opportunities to extend the impact of in situ TEM in broad areas of research ranging from materials science to chemistry, physics and biology. Here in this paper, we highlight the development of liquid environment electron microscopy and its applications in themore » study of colloidal nanoparticle growth, electrochemical processes and others; in situ study of topological vortices in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials. At the end, perspectives of future in situ TEM are provided.« less
Perspectives on in situ electron microscopy
Zheng, Haimei; Zhu, Yimei
2017-03-29
In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with the ability to reveal materials dynamic processes with high spatial and temporal resolution has attracted significant interest. The recent advances in in situ methods, including liquid and gas sample environment, pump-probe ultrafast microscopy, nanomechanics and ferroelectric domain switching the aberration corrected electron optics as well as fast electron detector has opened new opportunities to extend the impact of in situ TEM in broad areas of research ranging from materials science to chemistry, physics and biology. Here in this paper, we highlight the development of liquid environment electron microscopy and its applications in themore » study of colloidal nanoparticle growth, electrochemical processes and others; in situ study of topological vortices in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials. At the end, perspectives of future in situ TEM are provided.« less
Ninomiya, Kazuaki; Yamada, Ryuji; Matsumoto, Masami; Fukiya, Satoru; Katayama, Takane; Ogino, Chiaki; Shimizu, Nobuaki
2013-02-01
An image analyzing method was developed to evaluate in situ bioluminescence expression, without exposing the culture sample to the ambient oxygen atmosphere. Using this method, we investigated the effect of dissolved oxygen concentration on bioluminescence from an obligate anaerobe Bifidobacterium longum expressing bacterial luciferase which catalyzes an oxygen-requiring bioluminescent reaction. Copyright © 2012 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Wang, Ke; Shi, Min; Cheng, Hong
2017-01-01
Microinjection and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) assay is a useful method for mRNA export studies, which can overcome the problems of traditional transfection in cells. Here, we describe the method of microinjection and FISH assay applied in investigation of mRNA export. By this method we can estimate the mRNA export kinetics, examining mRNA export in cells with low transfection efficiencies, and observing nuclear export of aberrant RNAs.
Method of rubblization for in-situ oil shale processing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Yang, Lien C. (Inventor)
1985-01-01
A method that produces a uniformly rubblized oil shale bed of desirable porosity for underground, in-situ heat extraction of oil. Rubblization is the generation of rubble of various sized fragments. The method uses explosive loadings lying at different levels in adjacent holes and detonation of the explosives at different levels in sequence to achieve the fracturing and the subsequent expansion of the fractured oil shale into excavated rooms both above and below the hole pattern.
Life Support Catalyst Regeneration Using Ionic Liquids and In Situ Resources
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Abney, Morgan B.; Karr, Laurel J.; Paley, Mark S.; Donovan, David N.; Kramer, Teersa J.
2016-01-01
Oxygen recovery from metabolic carbon dioxide is an enabling capability for long-duration manned space flight. Complete recovery of oxygen (100%) involves the production of solid carbon. Catalytic approaches for this purpose, such as Bosch technology, have been limited in trade analyses due in part to the mass penalty for high catalyst resupply caused by carbon fouling of the iron or nickel catalyst. In an effort to mitigate this challenge, several technology approaches have been proposed. These approaches have included methods to prolong the life of the catalysts by increasing the total carbon mass loading per mass catalyst, methods for simplified catalyst introduction and removal to limit the resupply container mass, methods of using in situ resources, and methods to regenerate catalyst material. Research and development into these methods is ongoing, but only use of in situ resources and/or complete regeneration of catalyst material has the potential to entirely eliminate the need for resupply. The use of ionic liquids provides an opportunity to combine these methods in a technology approach designed to eliminate the need for resupply of oxygen recovery catalyst. Here we describe the results of an initial feasibility study using ionic liquids and in situ resources for life support catalyst regeneration, we discuss the key challenges with the approach, and we propose future efforts to advance the technology.
Photoacoustic spectroscopy and the in situ characterization of the electrochemical interface
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Vallet, C.E.
1988-01-01
Photoacoustics is a new spectroscopic method which has been used for in situ characterization of the electrochemical interface during the past ten years. The basic principles of the photoacoustic effect and the principal results of the Rosencwaig-Gersho theory are discussed in light of the usefulness of the method in electrochemical studies. Different experimental arrangements suitable for in situ electrode studies are presented. A review of the use to date of photoacoustics in electrochemistry includes studies of electrochromic systems, semiconductor electrodes, passivation layers, and of electrocatalytic mixed oxides. These works demonstrated that, with relatively simple apparatus, it was possible to detectmore » and to characterize very thin layers formed on electrodes. It is still not clear whether in most cases photoacoustic spectroscopy has an overwhelming advantage over well-established optical methods for adsorption measurements; however, all the potentialities of the method have yet to be explored. 73 refs., 6 figs.« less
Survey of in-situ and remote sensing methods for soil moisture determination
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Schmugge, T. J.; Jackson, T. J.; Mckim, H. L.
1981-01-01
General methods for determining the moisture content in the surface layers of the soil based on in situ or point measurements, soil water models and remote sensing observations are surveyed. In situ methods described include gravimetric techniques, nuclear techniques based on neutron scattering or gamma-ray attenuation, electromagnetic techniques, tensiometric techniques and hygrometric techniques. Soil water models based on column mass balance treat soil moisture contents as a result of meteorological inputs (precipitation, runoff, subsurface flow) and demands (evaporation, transpiration, percolation). The remote sensing approaches are based on measurements of the diurnal range of surface temperature and the crop canopy temperature in the thermal infrared, measurements of the radar backscattering coefficient in the microwave region, and measurements of microwave emission or brightness temperature. Advantages and disadvantages of the various methods are pointed out, and it is concluded that a successful monitoring system must incorporate all of the approaches considered.
I-SonReb: an improved NDT method to evaluate the in situ strength of carbonated concrete
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Breccolotti, Marco; Bonfigli, Massimo F.
2015-10-01
Concrete strength evaluated in situ by means of the conventional SonReb method can be highly overestimated in presence of carbonation. This latter, in fact, is responsible for the physical and chemical alteration of the outer layer of concrete. As most of the existing concrete structures are subjected to carbonation, it is of high importance to overcome this problem. In this paper, an Improved SonReb method (I-SonReb) for carbonated concretes is proposed. It relies on the definition of a correction coefficient of the measured Rebound index as a function of the carbonated concrete cover thickness, an additional parameter to be measured during in situ testing campaigns. The usefulness of the method has been validated showing the improvement in the accuracy of concrete strength estimation from two sets of NDT experimental data collected from investigations on real structures.
Christien, F; Telling, M T F; Knight, K S; Le Gall, R
2015-05-01
A method is proposed for the monitoring of metal recrystallization using neutron diffraction that is based on the measurement of stored energy. Experiments were performed using deformed metal specimens heated in-situ while mounted at the sample position of the High Resolution Powder Diffractometer, HRPD (ISIS Facility), UK. Monitoring the breadth of the resulting Bragg lines during heating not only allows the time-dependence (or temperature-dependence) of the stored energy to be determined but also the recrystallized fraction. The analysis method presented here was developed using pure nickel (Ni270) specimens with different deformation levels from 0.29 to 0.94. In situ temperature ramping as well as isothermal annealing was undertaken. The method developed in this work allows accurate and quantitative monitoring of the recrystallization process. The results from neutron diffraction are satisfactorily compared to data obtained from calorimetry and hardness measurements.
In Situ Formation of Calcium Apatite in Soil for Sequestering Contaminants in Soil and Groundwater
Moore, Robert; Szecsody, Jim; Thompson, Mike
2018-01-16
A new method for in situ formation of a calcium apatite permeable reactive barrier that is a groundbreaking technology for containing radioactive/heavy metal contaminants threatening groundwater supplies.
In Situ Formation of Calcium Apatite in Soil for Sequestering Contaminants in Soil and Groundwater
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Moore, Robert; Szecsody, Jim; Thompson, Mike
2015-10-20
A new method for in situ formation of a calcium apatite permeable reactive barrier that is a groundbreaking technology for containing radioactive/heavy metal contaminants threatening groundwater supplies.
In situ calibration of inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission and mass spectroscopy
Braymen, Steven D.
1996-06-11
A method and apparatus for in situ addition calibration of an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer or mass spectrometer using a precision gas metering valve to introduce a volatile calibration gas of an element of interest directly into an aerosol particle stream. The present situ calibration technique is suitable for various remote, on-site sampling systems such as laser ablation or nebulization.
Junfeng Feng; Chung-yun Hse; Zhongzhi Yang; Kui Wang; Jianchun Jiang; Junming Xu
2017-01-01
The objective of this study was to find an effective method for converting renewable biomass-derived phenolic compounds into hydrocarbons bio-fuel via in situ catalytic hydrodeoxygenation. The in situ hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived phenolic compounds was carried out in methanol-water solvent over bifunctional catalysts of Raney Ni and HZSM-5 or H-Beta. In the in...
Fan, Chen; Li, Nai; Cao, Xueli
2015-05-01
In-situ ionic liquid-dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (IL-DLLME) method was developed as a pretreatment method for the detection of six chlorophenols (CPs) in honey samples. The hydrophobic ionic liquid [C4MIM][NTf2], formed in-situ by the hydrophilic ionic liquid [C4MIM][BF4] and the ion exchange reagent LiNTf2 was used as the microextractant solvent of CPs from honey sample. Then the enriched analytes were back-extracted into 40 μL of 0.14 M NaOH solution and finally subjected to analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography. The method showed low limit of detection of CPs, 0.8-3.2 μg/L and high enrichment factor, 34-65 with the recoveries range from 91.60% to 114.33%. The method is simple, rapid, environmentally friendly and with high extraction efficiency. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
He, Yongrui; Zhao, Xian-En; Wang, Renjun; Wei, Na; Sun, Jing; Dang, Jun; Chen, Guang; Liu, Zhiqiang; Zhu, Shuyun; You, Jinmao
2016-11-02
A simple, rapid, sensitive, selective, and environmentally friendly method, based on in situ derivatization ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (in situ DUADLLME) coupled with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode has been developed for the simultaneous determination of food-related biogenic amines and amino acids. A new mass-spectrometry-sensitive derivatization reagent 4'-carbonyl chloride rosamine (CCR) was designed, synthesized, and first reported. Parameters and conditions of in situ DUADLLME and UHPLC-MS/MS were optimized in detail. Under the optimized conditions, the in situ DUADLLME was completed speedily (within 1 min) with high derivatization efficiencies (≥98.5%). With the cleanup and concentration of microextraction step, good analytical performance was obtained for the analytes. The results showed that this method was accurate and practical for quantification of biogenic amines and amino acids in common food samples (red wine, beer, wine, cheese, sausage, and fish).
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Jianhua; Lu, Wenbo; Chen, Ming; Yan, Peng; Zhou, Chuangbing
2013-07-01
During deep rock mass excavation with the method of drill and blast, accompanying the secession of rock fragments and the formation of a new free surface, in situ stress on this boundary is suddenly released within several milliseconds, which is termed the transient release of in situ stress. In this process, enormous strain energy around the excavation face is instantly released in the form of kinetic energy and it inevitably induces microseismic events in surrounding rock masses. Thus, blasting excavation-induced microseismic vibrations in high-stress rock masses are attributed to the combined action of explosion and the transient release of in situ stress. The intensity of stress release-induced microseisms, which depends mainly on the magnitude of the in situ stress and the dimension of the excavation face, is comparable to that of explosion-induced vibrations. With the methods of time-energy density analysis, amplitude spectrum analysis, and finite impulse response (FIR) digital filter, microseismic vibrations induced by the transient release of in situ stress were identified and separated from recorded microseismic signals during a blast of deep rock masses in the Pubugou Hydropower Station. The results show that the low-frequency component in the microseismic records results mainly from the transient release of in situ stress, while the high-frequency component originates primarily from explosion. In addition, a numerical simulation was conducted to demonstrate the occurrence of microseismic events by the transient release of in situ stress, and the results seem to have confirmed fairly well the separated vibrations from microseismic records.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Jingliang; Su, Jun; Kochan, Orest; Levkiv, Mariana
2018-04-01
The simplified metrological software test (MST) for modeling the method of determining the thermocouple (TC) error in situ during operation is considered in the paper. The interaction between the proposed MST and a temperature measuring system is also reflected in order to study the error of determining the TC error in situ during operation. The modelling studies of the random error influence of the temperature measuring system, as well as interference magnitude (both the common and normal mode noises) on the error of determining the TC error in situ during operation using the proposed MST, have been carried out. The noise and interference of the order of 5-6 μV cause the error of about 0.2-0.3°C. It is shown that high noise immunity is essential for accurate temperature measurements using TCs.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kühbach, Markus; Brüggemann, Thiemo; Molodov, Konstantin D.; Gottstein, Günter
2015-03-01
In the current study, we detail a novel in situ X-ray diffraction-based bulk measurement technique, which allows for the continuous tracking of primary recrystallization kinetics. The approach is based on measuring the diffracted intensity that is correlated with the evolution of the volume fraction of particular texture components during annealing of a sample within a texture goniometer. The method is applied in an experimental study on a cold-rolled industrial Al-Fe-Si alloy. For comparison purposes, the macrotexture and the hardness evolution were monitored ex situ along isothermal and nonisothermal annealing. These measurements were then contrasted to the in situ obtained growth kinetics of recrystallizing grains in beta-fiber deformation and cube orientation. The results showed clearly that this method can be reliably utilized for the characterization of recrystallization kinetics in an industrial context.
Allen, Ranulfo; Pan, Lijia; Fuller, Gerald G; Bao, Zhenan
2014-07-09
Single-walled carbon nanotubes/polymer composites typically have limited conductivity due to a low concentration of nanotubes and the insulating nature of the polymers used. Here we combined a method to align carbon nanotubes with in-situ polymerization of conductive polymer to form composite films and fibers. Use of the conducting polymer raised the conductivity of the films by 2 orders of magnitude. On the other hand, CNT fiber formation was made possible with in-situ polymerization to provide more mechanical support to the CNTs from the formed conducting polymer. The carbon nanotube/conductive polymer composite films and fibers had conductivities of 3300 and 170 S/cm, respectively. The relatively high conductivities were attributed to the polymerization process, which doped both the SWNTs and the polymer. In-situ polymerization can be a promising solution-processable method to enhance the conductivity of carbon nanotube films and fibers.
Apell, Jennifer N; Gschwend, Philip M
2016-11-01
Superfund sites with sediments contaminated by hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) can be difficult to characterize because of the complex nature of sorption to sediments. Porewater concentrations, which are often used to model transport of HOCs from the sediment bed into overlying water, benthic organisms, and the larger food web, are traditionally estimated using sediment concentrations and sorption coefficients estimated using equilibrium partitioning (EqP) theory. However, researchers have begun using polymeric samplers to determine porewater concentrations since this method does not require knowledge of the sediment's sorption properties. In this work, polyethylene passive samplers were deployed into sediments in the field (in situ passive sampling) and mixed with sediments in the laboratory (ex situ active sampling) that were contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The results show that porewater concentrations based on in situ and ex situ sampling generally agreed within a factor of two, but in situ concentrations were consistently lower than ex situ porewater concentrations. Imprecision arising from in situ passive sampling procedures does not explain this bias suggesting that field processes like bioirrigation may cause the differences observed between in situ and ex situ polymeric samplers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wu, Yimin A.; Yin, Zuwei; Farmand, Maryam; Yu, Young-Sang; Shapiro, David A.; Liao, Hong-Gang; Liang, Wen-I.; Chu, Ying-Hao; Zheng, Haimei
2017-02-01
We report the study of Mg cathodic electrochemical deposition on Ti and Au electrode using a multimodal approach by examining the sample area in-situ using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Magnesium Aluminum Chloride Complex was synthesized and utilized as electrolyte, where non-reversible features during in situ charging-discharging cycles were observed. During charging, a uniform Mg film was deposited on the electrode, which is consistent with the intrinsic non-dendritic nature of Mg deposition in Mg ion batteries. The Mg thin film was not dissolvable during the following discharge process. We found that such Mg thin film is hexacoordinated Mg compounds by in-situ STXM and XAS. This study provides insights on the non-reversibility issue and failure mechanism of Mg ion batteries. Also, our method provides a novel generic method to understand the in situ battery chemistry without any further sample processing, which can preserve the original nature of battery materials or electrodeposited materials. This multimodal in situ imaging and spectroscopy provides many opportunities to attack complex problems that span orders of magnitude in length and time scale, which can be applied to a broad range of the energy storage systems.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wu, Yimin A.; Yin, Zuwei; Farmand, Maryam
We report the study of Mg cathodic electrochemical deposition on Ti and Au electrode using a multimodal approach by examining the sample area in-situ using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Magnesium Aluminum Chloride Complex was synthesized and utilized as electrolyte, where non-reversible features during in situ charging-discharging cycles were observed. During charging, a uniform Mg film was deposited on the electrode, which is consistent with the intrinsic non-dendritic nature of Mg deposition in Mg ion batteries. The Mg thin film was not dissolvable during the following discharge process. Wemore » found that such Mg thin film is hexacoordinated Mg compounds by in-situ STXM and XAS. This study provides insights on the non-reversibility issue and failure mechanism of Mg ion batteries. Also, our method provides a novel generic method to understand the in situ battery chemistry without any further sample processing, which can preserve the original nature of battery materials or electrodeposited materials. This multimodal in situ imaging and spectroscopy provides many opportunities to attack complex problems that span orders of magnitude in length and time scale, which can be applied to a broad range of the energy storage systems.« less
Wu, Yimin A.; Yin, Zuwei; Farmand, Maryam; ...
2017-02-10
We report the study of Mg cathodic electrochemical deposition on Ti and Au electrode using a multimodal approach by examining the sample area in-situ using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Magnesium Aluminum Chloride Complex was synthesized and utilized as electrolyte, where non-reversible features during in situ charging-discharging cycles were observed. During charging, a uniform Mg film was deposited on the electrode, which is consistent with the intrinsic non-dendritic nature of Mg deposition in Mg ion batteries. The Mg thin film was not dissolvable during the following discharge process. Wemore » found that such Mg thin film is hexacoordinated Mg compounds by in-situ STXM and XAS. This study provides insights on the non-reversibility issue and failure mechanism of Mg ion batteries. Also, our method provides a novel generic method to understand the in situ battery chemistry without any further sample processing, which can preserve the original nature of battery materials or electrodeposited materials. This multimodal in situ imaging and spectroscopy provides many opportunities to attack complex problems that span orders of magnitude in length and time scale, which can be applied to a broad range of the energy storage systems.« less
Wu, Yimin A; Yin, Zuwei; Farmand, Maryam; Yu, Young-Sang; Shapiro, David A; Liao, Hong-Gang; Liang, Wen-I; Chu, Ying-Hao; Zheng, Haimei
2017-02-10
We report the study of Mg cathodic electrochemical deposition on Ti and Au electrode using a multimodal approach by examining the sample area in-situ using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Magnesium Aluminum Chloride Complex was synthesized and utilized as electrolyte, where non-reversible features during in situ charging-discharging cycles were observed. During charging, a uniform Mg film was deposited on the electrode, which is consistent with the intrinsic non-dendritic nature of Mg deposition in Mg ion batteries. The Mg thin film was not dissolvable during the following discharge process. We found that such Mg thin film is hexacoordinated Mg compounds by in-situ STXM and XAS. This study provides insights on the non-reversibility issue and failure mechanism of Mg ion batteries. Also, our method provides a novel generic method to understand the in situ battery chemistry without any further sample processing, which can preserve the original nature of battery materials or electrodeposited materials. This multimodal in situ imaging and spectroscopy provides many opportunities to attack complex problems that span orders of magnitude in length and time scale, which can be applied to a broad range of the energy storage systems.
Wu, Yimin A.; Yin, Zuwei; Farmand, Maryam; Yu, Young-Sang; Shapiro, David A.; Liao, Hong-Gang; Liang, Wen-I; Chu, Ying-Hao; Zheng, Haimei
2017-01-01
We report the study of Mg cathodic electrochemical deposition on Ti and Au electrode using a multimodal approach by examining the sample area in-situ using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Magnesium Aluminum Chloride Complex was synthesized and utilized as electrolyte, where non-reversible features during in situ charging-discharging cycles were observed. During charging, a uniform Mg film was deposited on the electrode, which is consistent with the intrinsic non-dendritic nature of Mg deposition in Mg ion batteries. The Mg thin film was not dissolvable during the following discharge process. We found that such Mg thin film is hexacoordinated Mg compounds by in-situ STXM and XAS. This study provides insights on the non-reversibility issue and failure mechanism of Mg ion batteries. Also, our method provides a novel generic method to understand the in situ battery chemistry without any further sample processing, which can preserve the original nature of battery materials or electrodeposited materials. This multimodal in situ imaging and spectroscopy provides many opportunities to attack complex problems that span orders of magnitude in length and time scale, which can be applied to a broad range of the energy storage systems. PMID:28186175
Chang, Qing; Peng, Yue'e; Shi, Bin; Dan, Conghui; Yang, Yijun; Shuai, Qin
2016-05-01
Many secondary metabolites in plants are labile compounds which under environmental stress, are difficult to detect and track due to the lack of rapid in situ identification techniques, making plant metabolomics research difficult. Therefore, developing a reliable analytical method for rapid in situ identification of labile compounds and their short-lived intermediates in plants is of great importance. To develop under atmospheric pressure, a rapid in situ method for effective identification of labile compounds and their short-lived intermediates in fresh plants. An in vivo nanospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) method was used for rapid capture of labile compounds and their short-lived intermediates in plants. A quartz capillary was partially inserted into fresh plant tissues, and the liquid flowed out through the capillary tube owing to the capillary effect. A high direct current (d.c.) voltage was applied to the plant to generate a spray of charged droplets from the tip of the capillary carrying bioactive molecules toward the inlet of mass spectrometer for full-scan and MS/MS analysis. Many labile compounds and short-lived intermediates were identified via this method: including glucosinolates and their short-lived intermediates (existing for only 10 s) in Raphanus sativus roots, alliin and its conversion intermediate (existing for 20 s) in Allium sativum and labile precursor compound chlorogenic acid in Malus pumila Mill. The method is an effective approach for in situ identification of internal labile compounds and their short-lived intermediates in fresh plants and it can be used as an auxiliary tool to explore the degradation mechanisms of new labile plant compounds. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
England, M L; Broderick, G A; Shaver, R D; Combs, D K
1997-11-01
Ruminally undegraded protein (RUP) values of blood meal (n = 2), hydrolyzed feather meal (n = 2), fish meal (n = 2), meat and bone meal, and soybean meal were estimated using an in situ method, an inhibitor in vitro method, and an inhibitor in vitro technique applying Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics. Degradation rates for in situ and inhibitor in vitro methods were calculated by regression of the natural log of the proportion of crude protein (CP) remaining undegraded versus time. Nonlinear regression analysis of the integrated Michaelis-Menten equation was used to determine maximum velocity, the Michaelis constant, and degradation rate (the ratio of maximum velocity to the Michaelis constant). A ruminal passage rate of 0.06/h was assumed in the calculation of RUP. The in situ and inhibitor in vitro techniques yielded similar estimates of ruminal degradation. Mean RUP estimated for soybean meal, blood meal, hydrolyzed feather meal, fish meal, and meat and bone meal were, respectively, 28.6, 86.0, 77.4, 52.9, and 52.6% of CP by the in situ method and 26.4, 86.1, 76.0, 59.6, and 49.5% of CP by the inhibitor in vitro technique. The Michaelis-Menten inhibitor in vitro technique yielded more rapid CP degradation rates and decreased estimates of RUP. The inhibitor in vitro method required less time and labor than did the other two techniques to estimate the RUP values of animal by-product proteins. Results from in vitro incubations with pepsin.HCl suggested that low postruminal digestibility of hydrolyzed feather meal may impair its value as a source of RUP.
The presentation shows how a multi-objective optimization method is integrated into a transport simulator (MT3D) for estimating parameters and cost of in-situ bioremediation technology to treat perchlorate-contaminated groundwater.
Qin, Shuping; Clough, Timothy; Luo, Jiafa; Wrage-Mönnig, Nicole; Oenema, Oene; Zhang, Yuming; Hu, Chunsheng
2017-02-01
Increased production of reactive nitrogen (Nr) from atmospheric di-nitrogen (N 2 ) has greatly contributed to increased food production. However, enriching the biosphere with Nr has also caused a series of negative effects on global ecosystems, especially aquatic ecosystems. The main pathway converting Nr back into the atmospheric N 2 pool is the last step in the denitrification process. Despite several attempts, there is still a need for perturbation-free methods for measuring in situ N 2 fluxes from denitrification in aquatic ecosystems at the field scale. Such a method is needed to comprehensively quantify the N 2 fluxes from aquatic ecosystems. Here we observed linear relationships between the δ 15 N-N 2 O signatures and the logarithmically transformed N 2 O/(N 2 +N 2 O) emission ratios. Through independent measurements, we verified that the perturbation-free N 2 flux from denitrification in nitrate-rich aquatic ecosystems can be inferred from these linear relationships. Our method allowed the determination of field-scale in situ N 2 fluxes from nitrate-rich aquatic ecosystems both with and without overlaying water. The perturbation-free in situ N 2 fluxes observed by the new method were almost one order of magnitude higher than those by the sediment core method. The ability of aquatic ecosystems to remove Nr may previously have been severely underestimated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Forrest, Stephen R.; Vartanian, Garen; Rolin, Cedric
2015-06-23
A method for in-situ monitoring of gas-phase photoactive organic molecules in real time while depositing a film of the photoactive organic molecules on a substrate in a processing chamber for depositing the film includes irradiating the gas-phase photoactive organic molecules in the processing chamber with a radiation from a radiation source in-situ while depositing the film of the one or more organic materials and measuring the intensity of the resulting photoluminescence emission from the organic material. One or more processing parameters associated with the deposition process can be determined from the photoluminescence intensity data in real time providing useful feedback on the deposition process.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Atkinson, Dean B.; Pekour, Mikhail; Chand, Duli; Radney, James G.; Kolesar, Katheryn R.; Zhang, Qi; Setyan, Ari; O'Neill, Norman T.; Cappa, Christopher D.
2018-04-01
Multi-wavelength in situ aerosol extinction, absorption and scattering measurements made at two ground sites during the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) are analyzed using a spectral deconvolution method that allows extraction of particle-size-related information, including the fraction of extinction produced by the fine-mode particles and the effective radius of the fine mode. The spectral deconvolution method is typically applied to analysis of remote sensing measurements. Here, its application to in situ measurements allows for comparison with more direct measurement methods and validation of the retrieval approach. Overall, the retrieved fine-mode fraction and effective radius compare well with other in situ measurements, including size distribution measurements and scattering and absorption measurements made separately for PM1 and PM10, although there were some periods during which the different methods yielded different results. One key contributor to differences between the results obtained is the alternative, spectrally based definitions of fine
and coarse
modes from the optical methods, relative to instruments that use a physically defined cut point. These results indicate that for campaigns where size, composition and multi-wavelength optical property measurements are made, comparison of the results can result in closure or can identify unusual circumstances. The comparison here also demonstrates that in situ multi-wavelength optical property measurements can be used to determine information about particle size distributions in situations where direct size distribution measurements are not available.
Atkinson, Dean B.; Pekour, Mikhail; Chand, Duli; ...
2018-04-23
Here, multi-wavelength in situ aerosol extinction, absorption and scattering measurements made at two ground sites during the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) are analyzed using a spectral deconvolution method that allows extraction of particle-size-related information, including the fraction of extinction produced by the fine-mode particles and the effective radius of the fine mode. The spectral deconvolution method is typically applied to analysis of remote sensing measurements. Here, its application to in situ measurements allows for comparison with more direct measurement methods and validation of the retrieval approach. Overall, the retrieved fine-mode fraction and effective radius compare wellmore » with other in situ measurements, including size distribution measurements and scattering and absorption measurements made separately for PM 1 and PM 10, although there were some periods during which the different methods yielded different results. One key contributor to differences between the results obtained is the alternative, spectrally based definitions of fine and coarse modes from the optical methods, relative to instruments that use a physically defined cut point. These results indicate that for campaigns where size, composition and multi-wavelength optical property measurements are made, comparison of the results can result in closure or can identify unusual circumstances. The comparison here also demonstrates that in situ multi-wavelength optical property measurements can be used to determine information about particle size distributions in situations where direct size distribution measurements are not available.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Atkinson, Dean B.; Pekour, Mikhail; Chand, Duli
Here, multi-wavelength in situ aerosol extinction, absorption and scattering measurements made at two ground sites during the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) are analyzed using a spectral deconvolution method that allows extraction of particle-size-related information, including the fraction of extinction produced by the fine-mode particles and the effective radius of the fine mode. The spectral deconvolution method is typically applied to analysis of remote sensing measurements. Here, its application to in situ measurements allows for comparison with more direct measurement methods and validation of the retrieval approach. Overall, the retrieved fine-mode fraction and effective radius compare wellmore » with other in situ measurements, including size distribution measurements and scattering and absorption measurements made separately for PM 1 and PM 10, although there were some periods during which the different methods yielded different results. One key contributor to differences between the results obtained is the alternative, spectrally based definitions of fine and coarse modes from the optical methods, relative to instruments that use a physically defined cut point. These results indicate that for campaigns where size, composition and multi-wavelength optical property measurements are made, comparison of the results can result in closure or can identify unusual circumstances. The comparison here also demonstrates that in situ multi-wavelength optical property measurements can be used to determine information about particle size distributions in situations where direct size distribution measurements are not available.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Atkinson, Dean B.; Pekour, Mikhail; Chand, Duli
Multi-wavelength in situ aerosol extinction, absorption and scattering measurements made at two ground sites during the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) are analyzed using a spectral deconvolution method that allows extraction of particle-size-related information, including the fraction of extinction produced by the fine-mode particles and the effective radius of the fine mode. The spectral deconvolution method is typically applied to analysis of remote sensing measurements. Here, its application to in situ measurements allows for comparison with more direct measurement methods and validation of the retrieval approach. Overall, the retrieved fine-mode fraction and effective radius compare well withmore » other in situ measurements, including size distribution measurements and scattering and absorption measurements made separately for PM 1 and PM 10, although there were some periods during which the different methods yielded different results. One key contributor to differences between the results obtained is the alternative, spectrally based definitions of fine and coarse modes from the optical methods, relative to instruments that use a physically defined cut point. These results indicate that for campaigns where size, composition and multi-wavelength optical property measurements are made, comparison of the results can result in closure or can identify unusual circumstances. The comparison here also demonstrates that in situ multi-wavelength optical property measurements can be used to determine information about particle size distributions in situations where direct size distribution measurements are not available.« less
2006-08-21
Dynamic Testing of In-Situ Composite Floors and Evaluation of Vibration Serviceability Using the Finite Element Method By Anthony R. Barrett...Setareh Alfred L. Wicks 21 August 2006 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: vibration, floor, serviceability , walking, modal analysis, fundamental frequency...burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services
SITE TECHNOLOGY CAPSULE: J.R. SIMPLOT EX-SITU BIOREMEDIATION TECHNOLOGY: DINOSEB
The J.R. Simplot Ex-Situ Bioremediation Technology is designed to anaerobically degrade nitroaromatic and energetic compounds in soils and liquids without forming identifiable toxic intermediate compounds produced by other biotreatment methods. This technology was evaluated un...
Photonic Crystal Biosensor with In-Situ Synthesized DNA Probes for Enhanced Sensitivity
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hu, Shuren; Zhao, Y.; Retterer, Scott T
2013-01-01
We report on a nearly 8-fold increase in multi-hole defect photonic crystal biosensor response by incorporating in-situ synthesis of DNA probes, as compared to the conventional functionalization method employing pre-synthesized DNA probe immobilization.
In situ calibration of inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission and mass spectroscopy
Braymen, S.D.
1996-06-11
A method and apparatus are disclosed for in situ addition calibration of an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer or mass spectrometer using a precision gas metering valve to introduce a volatile calibration gas of an element of interest directly into an aerosol particle stream. The present in situ calibration technique is suitable for various remote, on-site sampling systems such as laser ablation or nebulization. 5 figs.
Rivastigmine-loaded in situ gelling nanostructured lipid carriers for nose to brain delivery.
Wavikar, Preeti R; Vavia, Pradeep R
2015-01-01
In the current research work, rivastigmine (RV)-loaded in situ gelling nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were developed for nose to brain delivery. NLCs were fabricated by ethanol injection method using glyceryl monosterate, Capmul MCM C8, Lecithin and Tween 80. NLCs showed average particle size of 123.2 ± 2.3 nm with entrapment efficiency of 68.34 ± 3.4%. DSC, XRD and IR studies showed complete amorphization and incorporation of the drug into nanoparticles. NLCs were incorporated into an in situ gelling system using 0.8% gellan gum and 15% Lutrol F 127. RV in situ gel showed excellent elasticity, rheology, mucoadhesion and adhesiveness to facilitate its adhesion to the upper nasal mucosa. NLC-based in situ gel showed a 2-fold increase in nasal permeation of the drug over plain RV solution. In situ gelling NLCs showed a 3-fold increase in enzyme inhibition efficacy.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Eaton, Todd R.; Boston, Andrew M.; Thompson, Anthony B.
2015-06-04
Quantifying specific active sites in supported catalysts improves our understanding and assists in rational design. Supported oxides can undergo significant structural changes as surface densities increase from site-isolated cations to monolayers and crystallites, which changes the number of kinetically relevant sites. Herein, TiO x domains are titrated on TiO x–SiO 2 selectively with phenylphosphonic acid (PPA). An ex situ method quantifies all fluid-accessible TiO x, whereas an in situ titration during cis-cyclooctene epoxidation provides previously unavailable values for the number of tetrahedral Ti sites on which H 2O 2 activation occurs. We use this method to determine the active sitemore » densities of 22 different catalysts with different synthesis methods, loadings, and characteristic spectra and find a single intrinsic turnover frequency for cis-cyclooctene epoxidation of (40±7) h -1. This simple method gives molecular-level insight into catalyst structure that is otherwise hidden when bulk techniques are used.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Christien, F., E-mail: frederic.christien@univ-nantes.fr; Le Gall, R.; Telling, M. T. F.
2015-05-15
A method is proposed for the monitoring of metal recrystallization using neutron diffraction that is based on the measurement of stored energy. Experiments were performed using deformed metal specimens heated in-situ while mounted at the sample position of the High Resolution Powder Diffractometer, HRPD (ISIS Facility), UK. Monitoring the breadth of the resulting Bragg lines during heating not only allows the time-dependence (or temperature-dependence) of the stored energy to be determined but also the recrystallized fraction. The analysis method presented here was developed using pure nickel (Ni270) specimens with different deformation levels from 0.29 to 0.94. In situ temperature rampingmore » as well as isothermal annealing was undertaken. The method developed in this work allows accurate and quantitative monitoring of the recrystallization process. The results from neutron diffraction are satisfactorily compared to data obtained from calorimetry and hardness measurements.« less
Virtual directions in paleomagnetism: A global and rapid approach to evaluate the NRM components.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ramón, Maria J.; Pueyo, Emilio L.; Oliva-Urcia, Belén; Larrasoaña, Juan C.
2017-02-01
We introduce a method and software to process demagnetization data for a rapid and integrative estimation of characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) components. The virtual directions (VIDI) of a paleomagnetic site are “all” possible directions that can be calculated from a given demagnetization routine of “n” steps (being m the number of specimens in the site). If the ChRM can be defined for a site, it will be represented in the VIDI set. Directions can be calculated for successive steps using principal component analysis, both anchored to the origin (resultant virtual directions RVD; m * (n2+n)/2) and not anchored (difference virtual directions DVD; m * (n2-n)/2). The number of directions per specimen (n2) is very large and will enhance all ChRM components with noisy regions where two components were fitted together (mixing their unblocking intervals). In the same way, resultant and difference virtual circles (RVC, DVC) are calculated. Virtual directions and circles are a global and objective approach to unravel different natural remanent magnetization (NRM) components for a paleomagnetic site without any assumption. To better constrain the stable components, some filters can be applied, such as establishing an upper boundary to the MAD, removing samples with anomalous intensities, or stating a minimum number of demagnetization steps (objective filters) or selecting a given unblocking interval (subjective but based on the expertise). On the other hand, the VPD program also allows the application of standard approaches (classic PCA fitting of directions a circles) and other ancillary methods (stacking routine, linearity spectrum analysis) giving an objective, global and robust idea of the demagnetization structure with minimal assumptions. Application of the VIDI method to natural cases (outcrops in the Pyrenees and u-channel data from a Roman dam infill in northern Spain) and their comparison to other approaches (classic end-point, demagnetization circle analysis, stacking routine and linearity spectrum analysis) allows validation of this technique. The VIDI is a global approach and it is especially useful for large data sets and rapid estimation of the NRM components.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Anza, Inigo; Makhlouf, Makhlouf M.
2018-02-01
The Rotating Impeller In-Situ Gas-Liquid Reaction Method is employed for the production of Al-TiC composites. The method relies on injecting a carbon-bearing gas by means of a rotating impeller into a specially formulated molten aluminum-titanium alloy. Under the optimal conditions of temperature and composition, the gas reacts preferentially with titanium to form titanium carbide particles. The design of the apparatus, the process operation window, and the routes for forming titanium carbide particles with different sizes are elucidated.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Anza, Inigo; Makhlouf, Makhlouf M.
2017-12-01
The Rotating Impeller In-Situ Gas-Liquid Reaction Method is employed for the production of Al-TiC composites. The method relies on injecting a carbon-bearing gas by means of a rotating impeller into a specially formulated molten aluminum-titanium alloy. Under the optimal conditions of temperature and composition, the gas reacts preferentially with titanium to form titanium carbide particles. The design of the apparatus, the process operation window, and the routes for forming titanium carbide particles with different sizes are elucidated.
APPLICATIONS OF BOREHOLE-ACOUSTIC METHODS IN ROCK MECHANICS.
Paillet, Frederick L.
1985-01-01
Acoustic-logging methods using a considerable range of wavelengths and frequencies have proven very useful in the in situ characterization of deeply buried crystalline rocks. Seismic velocities are useful in investigating the moduli of unfractured rock, and in producing a continuous record of rock quality for comparison with discontinuous intervals of core. The considerable range of frequencies makes the investigation of scale effects possible in both fractured and unfractured rock. Several specific methods for the characterization of in situ permeability have been developed and verified in the field.
In meso in situ serial X-ray crystallography of soluble and membrane proteins
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Huang, Chia-Ying; Olieric, Vincent; Ma, Pikyee
A method for performing high-throughput in situ serial X-ray crystallography with soluble and membrane proteins in the lipid cubic phase is described. It works with microgram quantities of protein and lipid (and ligand when present) and is compatible with the most demanding sulfur SAD phasing. The lipid cubic phase (LCP) continues to grow in popularity as a medium in which to generate crystals of membrane (and soluble) proteins for high-resolution X-ray crystallographic structure determination. To date, the PDB includes 227 records attributed to the LCP or in meso method. Among the listings are some of the highest profile membrane proteins,more » including the β{sub 2}-adrenoreceptor–G{sub s} protein complex that figured in the award of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Lefkowitz and Kobilka. The most successful in meso protocol to date uses glass sandwich crystallization plates. Despite their many advantages, glass plates are challenging to harvest crystals from. However, performing in situ X-ray diffraction measurements with these plates is not practical. Here, an alternative approach is described that provides many of the advantages of glass plates and is compatible with high-throughput in situ measurements. The novel in meso in situ serial crystallography (IMISX) method introduced here has been demonstrated with AlgE and PepT (alginate and peptide transporters, respectively) as model integral membrane proteins and with lysozyme as a test soluble protein. Structures were solved by molecular replacement and by experimental phasing using bromine SAD and native sulfur SAD methods to resolutions ranging from 1.8 to 2.8 Å using single-digit microgram quantities of protein. That sulfur SAD phasing worked is testament to the exceptional quality of the IMISX diffraction data. The IMISX method is compatible with readily available, inexpensive materials and equipment, is simple to implement and is compatible with high-throughput in situ serial data collection at macromolecular crystallography synchrotron beamlines worldwide. Because of its simplicity and effectiveness, the IMISX approach is likely to supplant existing in meso crystallization protocols. It should prove particularly attractive in the area of ligand screening for drug discovery and development.« less
Soil Segregation Methods for Reducing Transportation and Disposal Costs - 13544
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Frothingham, David; Andrews, Shawn; Barker, Michelle
2013-07-01
At Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites where the selected alternative for contaminated soil is excavation and off-site disposal, the most significant budget items of the remedial action are the costs for transportation and disposal of soil at an off-site facility. At these sites, the objective is to excavate and dispose of only those soils that exceed derived concentration guideline levels. In situ soil segregation using gross gamma detectors to guide the excavation is often challenging at sites where the soil contamination is overlain by clean soil or where the contaminated soil is located in isolated, subsurface pockets.more » In addition, data gaps are often identified during the alternative evaluation and selection process, resulting in increased uncertainty in the extent of subsurface contamination. In response, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District is implementing ex situ soil segregation methods. At the remediated Painesville Site, soils were excavated and fed through a conveyor-belt system, which automatically segregated them into above- and below-cleanup criteria discharge piles utilizing gamma spectroscopy. At the Linde Site and the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) Site, which are both in the remediation phase, soils are initially segregated during the excavation process using gross gamma detectors and then transported to a pad for confirmatory manual surveying and sampling. At the Linde Site, the ex situ soils are analyzed on the basis of a site-specific method, to establish compliance with beneficial reuse criteria that were developed for the Linde remediation. At the SLDA Site, the ex situ soils are surveyed and sampled based on Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) final status survey guidance to demonstrate compliance with the derived concentration guideline levels. At all three sites, the ex situ soils that meet the site- specific DCGLs are retained on-site and used as backfill material. This paper describes the ex situ soil segregation methods, the considerations of each method, and the estimated cost savings from minimizing the volume of soil requiring transportation and off-site disposal. (authors)« less
Surface, J Andrew; Skemer, Philip; Hayes, Sophia E; Conradi, Mark S
2013-01-02
We explore a new in situ NMR spectroscopy method that possesses the ability to monitor the chemical evolution of supercritical CO(2) in relevant conditions for geological CO(2) sequestration. As a model, we use the fast reaction of the mineral brucite, Mg(OH)(2), with supercritical CO(2) (88 bar) in aqueous conditions at 80 °C. The in situ conversion of CO(2) into metastable and stable carbonates is observed throughout the reaction. After more than 58 h of reaction, the sample was depressurized and analyzed using in situ Raman spectroscopy, where the laser was focused on the undisturbed products through the glass reaction tube. Postreaction, ex situ analysis was performed on the extracted and dried products using Raman spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and magic-angle spinning (1)H-decoupled (13)C NMR. These separate methods of analysis confirmed a spatial dependence of products, possibly caused by a gradient of reactant availability, pH, and/or a reaction mechanism that involves first forming hydroxy-hydrated (basic, hydrated) carbonates that convert to the end-product, anhydrous magnesite. This carbonation reaction illustrates the importance of static (unmixed) reaction systems at sequestration-like conditions.
Effects of Peripapillary Scleral Stiffening on the Deformation of the Lamina Cribrosa
Coudrillier, Baptiste; Campbell, Ian C.; Read, A. Thomas; Geraldes, Diogo M.; Vo, Nghia T.; Feola, Andrew; Mulvihill, John; Albon, Julie; Abel, Richard L.; Ethier, C. Ross
2016-01-01
Purpose Scleral stiffening has been proposed as a treatment for glaucoma to protect the lamina cribrosa (LC) from excessive intraocular pressure–induced deformation. Here we experimentally evaluated the effects of moderate stiffening of the peripapillary sclera on the deformation of the LC. Methods An annular sponge, saturated with 1.25% glutaraldehyde, was applied to the external surface of the peripapillary sclera for 5 minutes to stiffen the sclera. Tissue deformation was quantified in two groups of porcine eyes, using digital image correlation (DIC) or computed tomography imaging and digital volume correlation (DVC). In group A (n = 14), eyes were subjected to inflation testing before and after scleral stiffening. Digital image correlation was used to measure scleral deformation and quantify the magnitude of scleral stiffening. In group B (n = 5), the optic nerve head region was imaged using synchrotron radiation phase-contrast microcomputed tomography (PC μCT) at an isotropic spatial resolution of 3.2 μm. Digital volume correlation was used to compute the full-field three-dimensional deformation within the LC and evaluate the effects of peripapillary scleral cross-linking on LC biomechanics. Results On average, scleral treatment with glutaraldehyde caused a 34 ± 14% stiffening of the peripapillary sclera measured at 17 mm Hg and a 47 ± 12% decrease in the maximum tensile strain in the LC measured at 15 mm Hg. The reduction in LC strains was not due to cross-linking of the LC. Conclusions Peripapillary scleral stiffening is effective at reducing the magnitude of biomechanical strains within the LC. Its potential and future utilization in glaucoma axonal neuroprotection requires further investigation. PMID:27183053
Method for in situ characterization of a medium of dispersed matter in a continuous phase
Kaufman, Eric N.
1995-01-01
A method for in situ characterization of a medium of a dispersed phase in a continuous phase, including the steps of adding a fluorescent dye to one phase capable of producing fluorescence therein when the fluorescent dye is optically excited, optically exciting the fluorescent dye at a wavelength to produce fluorescence in the one phase, and monitoring the fluorescence to distinguish the continuous phase from the dispersed phase.
de Lucena, Reinaldo F P; Lucena, Camilla M; Araújo, Elcida L; Alves, Angelo G C; de Albuquerque, Ulysses P
2013-03-01
This study analyzes three methods of data analysis to verify which one would be more appropriate to get information aiming the conservation, selecting the use value (VU) inventory in situ and conservation property index (IPC). It was developed in in Northeast Brazil, via interviewed householders (46 informants). The VU was calculated considering only the effective use of plants; the inventory in situ was made through the frequency of species occurrence in homes; and the IPC combining ethnobotanical and phytossociological data. It was observed a similar cast of the indicated species by VU and inventory in situ, being different from the IPC cast. As this study sought to analyze the best technique for species identification which were needing conservationist actions, and obtained different results among the chosen methods. It has been suggested the use of methods that unite in their analysis both ethnobotanical and ecological aspects, like in the plants list from the priority index of conservation, which demonstrated to be more efficient to identify rare species in the local vegetation. The VU and the inventory in situ are more efficient to identify the most known and used species in the communities, however without analyzing these plants in the local vegetation.
2010-09-30
planktonic ecosystems. OBJECTIVES Our objectives in this work are to 1) visualize and quantify herbivorous copepod feeding in the laboratory...and 2) to apply these methods in the field to observe the dynamics of copepod feeding in situ. In particular we intend to test the “feeding sorties...hypothesis vs. the “in situ feeding” hypothesis regarding the location and timing of copepod feeding and vertical migration. APPROACH Previous
In Situ Activation of Microcapsules
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Morrison, Dennis R. (Inventor); Mosier, Benjamin (Inventor)
2000-01-01
Disclosed are microcapsules comprising a polymer shell enclosing two or more immiscible liquid phases in which a drug, or a prodrug and a drug activator are partitioned into separate phases. or prevented from diffusing out of the microcapsule by a liquid phase in which the drug is poorly soluble. Also disclosed are methods of using the microcapsules for in situ activation of drugs where upon exposure to an appropriate energy source the internal phases mix and the drug is activated in situ.
Wan, Xiao-Fang; Liu, Bao-Lian; Yu, Teng; Yan, Ning; Chai, Xin-Sheng; Li, You-Ming; Chen, Guang-Xue
2018-05-01
This work reports on a simple method for the determination of lysine content by an in situ sample pretreatment and headspace gas chromatographic measurement (HS-GC) technique, based on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) formation from the pretreatment reaction (between lysine and ninhydrin solution) in a closed vial. It was observed that complete lysine conversion to CO 2 could be achieved within 60 min at 60 °C in a phosphate buffer medium (pH = 4.0), with a minimum molar ratio of ninhydrin/lysine of 16. The results showed that the method had a good precision (RSD < 5.23%) and accuracy (within 6.80%), compared to the results measured by a reference method (ninhydrin spectroscopic method). Due to the feature of in situ sample pretreatment and headspace measurement, the present method becomes very simple and particularly suitable to be used for batch sample analysis in lysine-related research and applications. Graphical abstract The flow path of the reaction and HS-GC measurement for the lysine analysis.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meddings, Nina; Owen, John R.; Garcia-Araez, Nuria
2017-10-01
Lithium ion conducting membranes are important to protect the lithium metal electrode and act as a barrier to crossover species such as polysulphides in Li-S systems, redox mediators in Li-O2 cells or dissolved cathode species or electrolyte oxidation products in high voltage Li-ion batteries. We present an in-situ method for measuring permeability of membranes to crossover redox species. The method employs a 'Swagelok' cell design equipped with a glassy carbon working electrode, in which redox species are placed initially in the counter electrode compartment only. Permeability through the membrane, which separates working and counter electrodes, is determined using a square wave voltammetry technique that allows the concentration of crossover redox species to be evaluated over time with very high precision. We test the method using a model and well-behaved electrochemical system to demonstrate its sensitivity, reproducibility and reliability relative to alternative approaches. This new method offers advantages in terms of small electrolyte volume, and simple, fast, quantitative and in-situ measurement.
Ji, Xin; Fu, Tao; Bu, Zhao-De; Zhang, Ji; Wu, Xiao-Jiang; Zong, Xiang-Long; Jia, Zi-Yu; Fan, Biao; Zhang, Yi-Nan; Ji, Jia-Fu
2016-10-03
Surgery for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) often includes dissection of splenic hilar lymph nodes (SHLNs). This study compared the safety and effectiveness of different approaches to SHLN dissection for upper- and/or middle-third AGC. We retrospectively compared and analyzed clinicopathologic and follow-up data from a prospectively collected database at the Peking University Cancer Hospital. Patients were divided into three groups: in situ spleen-preserved, ex situ spleen-preserved and splenectomy. We analyzed 217 patients with upper- and/or middle-third AGC who underwent R0 total or proximal gastrectomy with splenic hilar lymphadenectomy from January 2006 to December 2011, of whom 15.2 % (33/217) had metastatic SHLNs, and from whom 11.4 % (53/466) of the dissected SHLNs were metastatic. The number of harvested SHLNs per patient was higher in the ex situ group than in the in situ group (P = 0.017). Length of postoperative hospital stay was longer in the splenectomy group than in the in situ group (P = 0.002) or the ex situ group (P < 0.001). The splenectomy group also lost more blood volume (P = 0.007) and had a higher postoperative complication rate (P = 0.005) than the ex situ group. Kaplan-Meier (log rank test) analysis showed significant survival differences among the three groups (P = 0.018). Multivariate analysis showed operation duration (P = 0.043), blood loss volume (P = 0.046), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.005), and N stage (P < 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for survival. The ex situ procedure was more effective for SHLN dissection than the in situ procedure without sacrificing safety, whereas splenectomy was not more effective, and was less safe. The SHLN dissection method was not an independent risk factor for survival in this study.
In situ detection of warfarin using time-correlated single-photon counting
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rosengren, Annika M.; Karlsson, Bjoern C.G.; Naeslund, Inga
Highlights: {yields} Direct in situ measurement of specific isomeric forms of the anticoagulant warfarin. {yields} TCSPC spectroscopy in conjunction with synthetic Sudlow I binding site receptors. {yields} Development of sensor principle for use in clinical and environmental monitoring. -- Abstract: Here we report on a novel method for the direct in situ measurement of specific isomeric forms of the anticoagulant warfarin using time correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) spectroscopy in conjunction with synthetic Sudlow I binding site receptors. The method is highly robust over the clinically significant concentration range, and demonstrates the potential of the binding site mimics in conjunction withmore » the spectroscopic strategy employed here for the determination of this important pharmaceutical in clinical or even environmental samples.« less
Yang, Fuqiang; Wang, Xiaolin; Fan, Huidong; Tang, Ying; Yang, Jianjun; Yu, Junsheng
2017-08-23
In this work, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with a bottom gate top contact structure were fabricated by using a spray-coating method, and the influence of in situ annealing treatment on the OFET performance was investigated. Compared to the conventional post-annealing method, the field-effect mobility of OFET with 60 °C in situ annealing treatment was enhanced nearly four times from 0.056 to 0.191 cm 2 /Vs. The surface morphologies and the crystallization of TIPS-pentacene films were characterized by optical microscope, atomic force microscope, and X-ray diffraction. We found that the increased mobility was mainly attributed to the improved crystallization and highly ordered TIPS-pentacene molecules.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Fuqiang; Wang, Xiaolin; Fan, Huidong; Tang, Ying; Yang, Jianjun; Yu, Junsheng
2017-08-01
In this work, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with a bottom gate top contact structure were fabricated by using a spray-coating method, and the influence of in situ annealing treatment on the OFET performance was investigated. Compared to the conventional post-annealing method, the field-effect mobility of OFET with 60 °C in situ annealing treatment was enhanced nearly four times from 0.056 to 0.191 cm2/Vs. The surface morphologies and the crystallization of TIPS-pentacene films were characterized by optical microscope, atomic force microscope, and X-ray diffraction. We found that the increased mobility was mainly attributed to the improved crystallization and highly ordered TIPS-pentacene molecules.
Method for initiating in-situ vitrification using an impregnated cord
Carter, John G.
1991-01-01
In-situ vitrification of soil is initiated by placing a cord of dielectric material impregnated with conductive material in thermally-conductive contact with the soil, and energizing the cord with an electric current for heating the cord and starting the vitrification process.
Monolithic microfluidic concentrators and mixers
Frechet, Jean M.; Svec, Frantisek; Yu, Cong; Rohr, Thomas
2005-05-03
Microfluidic devices comprising porous monolithic polymer for concentration, extraction or mixing of fluids. A method for in situ preparation of monolithic polymers by in situ initiated polymerization of polymer precursors within microchannels of a microfluidic device and their use for solid phase extraction (SPE), preconcentration, concentration and mixing.
Li, Zhongwei; Liu, Xingjian; Wen, Shifeng; He, Piyao; Zhong, Kai; Wei, Qingsong; Shi, Yusheng; Liu, Sheng
2018-04-12
Lack of monitoring of the in situ process signatures is one of the challenges that has been restricting the improvement of Powder-Bed-Fusion Additive Manufacturing (PBF AM). Among various process signatures.
In-situ generation of chlorine dioxide for surface decontamination of produce
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Fruits and vegetables, particularly fresh-cut products, are frequently contaminated with bacterial pathogens and implicated in foodborne illnesses. The objective of this study was to develop a unique in-situ sequential surface decontamination method for produce using sodium chlorite and acid. The ...
Structure determination of an integral membrane protein at room temperature from crystals in situ
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Axford, Danny; Foadi, James; Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ
2015-05-14
The X-ray structure determination of an integral membrane protein using synchrotron diffraction data measured in situ at room temperature is demonstrated. The structure determination of an integral membrane protein using synchrotron X-ray diffraction data collected at room temperature directly in vapour-diffusion crystallization plates (in situ) is demonstrated. Exposing the crystals in situ eliminates manual sample handling and, since it is performed at room temperature, removes the complication of cryoprotection and potential structural anomalies induced by sample cryocooling. Essential to the method is the ability to limit radiation damage by recording a small amount of data per sample from many samplesmore » and subsequently assembling the resulting data sets using specialized software. The validity of this procedure is established by the structure determination of Haemophilus influenza TehA at 2.3 Å resolution. The method presented offers an effective protocol for the fast and efficient determination of membrane-protein structures at room temperature using third-generation synchrotron beamlines.« less
Rodier, C; Vandenabeele-Trambouze, O; Sternberg, R; Coscia, D; Coll, P; Szopa, C; Raulin, F; Vidal-Madjar, C; Cabane, M; Israel, G; Grenier-Loustalot, M F; Dobrijevic, M; Despois, D
2001-01-01
If there is, or ever was, life in our solar system beyond the Earth, Mars is the most likely place to search for. Future space missions will have then to take into account the detection of prebiotic molecules or molecules of biological significance such as amino acids. Techniques of analysis used for returned samples have to be very sensitive and avoid any chemical or biological contamination whereas in situ techniques have to be automated, fast and low energy consuming. Several possible methods could be used for in situ amino acid analyses on Mars, but gas chromatography would likely be the most suitable. Returned samples could be analyzed by any method in routine laboratory use such as gas chromatography, already successfully performed for analyses of organic matter including amino acids from martian meteorites. The derivatization step, which volatilizes amino acids to perform both in situ and laboratory analysis by gas chromatography, is discussed here. c2001 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
TEM in situ micropillar compression tests of ion irradiated oxide dispersion strengthened alloy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yano, K. H.; Swenson, M. J.; Wu, Y.; Wharry, J. P.
2017-01-01
The growing role of charged particle irradiation in the evaluation of nuclear reactor candidate materials requires the development of novel methods to assess mechanical properties in near-surface irradiation damage layers just a few micrometers thick. In situ transmission electron microscopic (TEM) mechanical testing is one such promising method. In this work, microcompression pillars are fabricated from a Fe2+ ion irradiated bulk specimen of a model Fe-9%Cr oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy. Yield strengths measured directly from TEM in situ compression tests are within expected values, and are consistent with predictions based on the irradiated microstructure. Measured elastic modulus values, once adjusted for the amount of deformation and deflection in the base material, are also within the expected range. A pillar size effect is only observed in samples with minimum dimension ≤100 nm due to the low inter-obstacle spacing in the as received and irradiated material. TEM in situ micropillar compression tests hold great promise for quantitatively determining mechanical properties of shallow ion-irradiated layers.
Application of ion exchange resin in floating drug delivery system.
Upadhye, Abhijeet A; Ambike, Anshuman A; Mahadik, Kakasaheb R; Paradkar, Anant
2008-10-01
The purpose of this study was to explore the application of low-density ion exchange resin (IER) Tulsion(R) 344, for floating drug delivery system (FDDS), and study the effect of its particle size on rate of complexation, water uptake, drug release, and in situ complex formation. Batch method was used for the preparation of complexes, which were characterized by physical methods. Tablet containing resin with high degree of crosslinking showed buoyancy lag time (BLT) of 5-8 min. Decreasing the particle size of resin showed decrease in water uptake and drug release, with no significant effect on the rate of complexation and in situ complex formation for both preformed complexes (PCs) and physical mixtures (PMs). Thus, low-density and high degree of crosslinking of resin and water uptake may be the governing factor for controlling the initial release of tablet containing PMs but not in situ complex formation. However, further sustained release may be due to in situ complex formation.
Chang, Qing; Peng, Yue'e; Dan, Conghui; Shuai, Qin; Hu, Shenghong
2015-03-25
A method for the rapid in situ identification of bioactive compounds in fresh plants has been developed using in vivo nanospray coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS). Using a homemade in vivo nanospray ion source, the plant liquid was drawn out from a target region and ionized in situ. The ionized bioactive compounds were then identified using Q-Orbitrap HR-MS. The accurate mass measurements of these bioactive compounds were performed by full-scan or selected ion monitoring (SIM), and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was used in the structural elucidation. Without sample pretreatment, 12 bioactive compounds in 7 different plant species were identified, namely, isoalliin in onion; butylphthalide in celery; N-methylpelletierine, pelletierine, and pseudopelletierine in pomegranate; chlorogenic acid in crabapple; solamargine, solasonine, and solasodine in nightshade; aloin and aloe-emodin in aloe; and menthone in mint. This work demonstrates that in vivo nanospray HR-MS is a good method for rapid in situ identification of bioactive compounds in plants.
In-column bonded phase polymerization for improved packing uniformity
Huckabee, Alexis G.; Yerneni, Charu; Jacobson, Rachel E.; Alzate, Edwin J.; Chen, Tse-Hong; Wirth, Mary J.
2017-01-01
It is difficult to pack chromatographic particles having polymeric-bonded phases because solvents used for making a stable slurry cause the polymer layer to swell. Growth of the polymer inside the column (in situ) after packing was investigated and compared with conventional, ex situ polymer growth. The method of activators generated by electron transfer, along with atom-transfer radical polymerization, enabled polymerization under ambient conditions. Nonporous, 0.62 µm silica particles with silane initiators were used. Polyacrylamide films with a hydrated thickness of 23 nm in 75:25 water/isopropanol grew in 55 min for both in situ and ex situ preparations, and the same carbon coverage was observed. Higher chromatographic resolution and better column-to-column reproducibility were observed for in situ polymer growth, as evaluated by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for the model glycoprotein, ribonuclease B. In situ polymer growth was also found to give lower eddy diffusion, as shown by a narrower peak width for injected acetonitrile in 50:50 acetonitrile/water. When columns were packed more loosely, bed collapse occurred quickly for ex situ, but not for in situ, polymer growth. The higher resolution and stability for in situ polymer growth is explained by packing with hard, rather than soft, contacts between particles. PMID:28387037
Ikeno, Shinya; Asakawa, Hitoshi; Haruyama, Tetsuya
2007-08-01
Biodetection and biosensing have been developed based on the concept of sensitivity toward specific molecules. However, current demand may require more levelheaded or far-sighted methods, especially in the field of biological safety and security. In the fields of hygiene, public safety, and security including fighting bioterrorism, the detection of biological contaminants, e.g., microorganisms, spores, and viruses, is a constant challenge. However, there is as yet no sophisticated method of detecting such contaminants in situ without oversight. The authors focused their attention on diphosphoric acid anhydride, which is a structure common to all biological phosphoric substances. Interestingly, biological phosphoric substances are peculiar substances present in all living things and include many different substances, e.g., ATP, ADP, dNTP, pyrophosphate, and so forth, all of which have a diphosphoric acid anhydride structure. The authors took this common structure as the basis of their development of an artificial enzyme membrane with selectivity for the structure common to all biological phosphoric substances and studied the possibility of its application to in situ biosurveillance sensors. The artificial enzyme membrane-based amperometric biosensor developed by the authors can detect various biological phosphoric substances, because it has a comprehensive molecular selectivity for the structure of these biological phosphoric substances. This in situ detection method of the common diphosphoric acid anhydride structure brings a unique advantage to the fabrication of in situ biosurveillance sensors for monitoring biological contaminants, e.g., microorganism, spores, and viruses, without an oversight, even if they were transformed.
Verloock, Leen; Joseph, Wout; Gati, Azeddine; Varsier, Nadège; Flach, Björn; Wiart, Joe; Martens, Luc
2013-06-01
An experimental validation of a low-cost method for extrapolation and estimation of the maximal electromagnetic-field exposure from long-term evolution (LTE) radio base station installations are presented. No knowledge on downlink band occupation or service characteristics is required for the low-cost method. The method is applicable in situ. It only requires a basic spectrum analyser with appropriate field probes without the need of expensive dedicated LTE decoders. The method is validated both in laboratory and in situ, for a single-input single-output antenna LTE system and a 2×2 multiple-input multiple-output system, with low deviations in comparison with signals measured using dedicated LTE decoders.
Thermography detection on the fatigue damage
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Bing
It has always been a great temptation in finding new methods to in-situ "watch" the material fatigue-damage processes so that in-time reparations will be possible, and failures or losses can be minimized to the maximum extent. Realizing that temperature patterns may serve as fingerprints for stress-strain behaviors of materials, a state-of-art infrared (IR) thermography camera has been used to "watch" the temperature evolutions of both crystalline and amorphous materials "cycle by cycle" during fatigue experiments in the current research. The two-dimensional (2D) thermography technique records the surface-temperature evolutions of materials. Since all plastic deformations are related to heat dissipations, thermography provides an innovative method to in-situ monitor the heat-evolution processes, including plastic-deformation, mechanical-damage, and phase-transformation characteristics. With the understanding of the temperature evolutions during fatigue, thermography could provide the direct information and evidence of the stress-strain distribution, crack initiation and propagation, shear-band growth, and plastic-zone evolution, which will open up wide applications in studying the structural integrity of engineering components in service. In the current research, theoretical models combining thermodynamics and heat-conduction theory have been developed. Key issues in fatigue, such as in-situ stress-strain states, cyclic softening and hardening observations, and fatigue-life predictions, have been resolved by simply monitoring the specimen-temperature variation during fatigue. Furthermore, in-situ visulizations as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses of fatigue-damage processes, such as Luders-band evolutions, crack propagation, plastic zones, and final fracture, have been performed by thermography. As a method requiring no special sample preparation or surface contact by sensors, thermography provides an innovative and convenient method to in-situ monitor and analyze the mechanical-damage processes of materials and components.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liang, Qingguo; Li, Jie; Li, Dewu; Ou, Erfeng
2013-01-01
The vibrations of existing service tunnels induced by blast-excavation of adjacent tunnels have attracted much attention from both academics and engineers during recent decades in China. The blasting vibration velocity (BVV) is the most widely used controlling index for in situ monitoring and safety assessment of existing lining structures. Although numerous in situ tests and simulations had been carried out to investigate blast-induced vibrations of existing tunnels due to excavation of new tunnels (mostly by bench excavation method), research on the overall dynamical response of existing service tunnels in terms of not only BVV but also stress/strain seemed limited for new tunnels excavated by the full-section blasting method. In this paper, the impacts of blast-induced vibrations from a new tunnel on an existing railway tunnel in Xinjiang, China were comprehensively investigated by using laboratory tests, in situ monitoring and numerical simulations. The measured data from laboratory tests and in situ monitoring were used to determine the parameters needed for numerical simulations, and were compared with the calculated results. Based on the results from in situ monitoring and numerical simulations, which were consistent with each other, the original blasting design and corresponding parameters were adjusted to reduce the maximum BVV, which proved to be effective and safe. The effect of both the static stress before blasting vibrations and the dynamic stress induced by blasting on the total stresses in the existing tunnel lining is also discussed. The methods and related results presented could be applied in projects with similar ground and distance between old and new tunnels if the new tunnel is to be excavated by the full-section blasting method.
Scoglio, M E; Di Pietro, A; Anzalone, C; Calimeri, S; Lo Giudice, D; Trimarchi, G R
2000-01-01
The toxicity of synthetic sewage containing increasing concentrations of arsenic (.125, .25, .5, 1.0 mg L-1), cadmium (.02, .05, .1, .2 mg L-1), lead (.2, .5, 1.0, 2.0 mg L-1) and nickel (.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 mg L-1) has been investigated by determining the total direct count (TDC) and the direct viable count (DVC) of Salmonella enteritidis by means of an immunofluorescence technique (IFA). This has been done in order to evaluate the possibility of using the IFA technique to estimate the toxicity of complex effluents. Arsenic, cadmium and nickel produced a concentration-dependent reduction in the number of viable bacterial cells. This was more clear when the viable bacterial cells were considered than when only the culturable part was used. Lead did not show a concentration-dependent and reproducible effect. At the highest concentrations allowed by the Italian wastewater regulations, lead, cadmium, arsenic and nickel reduced the viable/total bacterial cells ratio to 74.5%, 68.5%, 28.4% and 6.9%, respectively. The toxic effects of the metals were also tested using the standard Microtox assay.
MEASURING VERTICAL PROFILES OF HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY WITH IN SITU DIRECT-PUSH METHODS
U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) staff developed a field procedure to measure hydraulic conductivity using a direct-push system to obtain vertical profiles of hydraulic conductivity. Vertical profiles were obtained using an in situ field device-composed of a
Geopr...
Terra Vac In Situ Vacuum Extraction System: Applications Analysis Report
This document is an evaluation of the Terra Vac in situ vacuum extraction system and its applicability as a treatment method for waste site cleanup. This report analyzes the results from the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program’s 56-day demonstration at t...
Soltis, Jennifer A.; Isley, William C.; Conroy, Michele; ...
2018-01-01
The development of targeted syntheses requires a better understanding of how production pathways affect the final product, but many ex situ techniques used for studying nanoparticle growth are unsuitable as standalone methods for identifying and characterizing growth mechanisms.
Method for initiating in-situ vitrification using an impregnated cord
Carter, J.G.
1991-04-02
In-situ vitrification of soil is initiated by placing a cord of dielectric material impregnated with conductive material in thermally-conductive contact with the soil, and energizing the cord with an electric current for heating the cord and starting the vitrification process. 1 figure.
Method of making in-situ whisker reinforced glass ceramic
Brown, Jesse J.; Hirschfeld, Deidre A.; Lee, K. H.
1993-02-16
A heat processing procedure is used to create reinforcing whiskers of TiO.sub.2 in glass-ceramic materials in the LAS and MAS family. The heat processing procedure has particular application in creating TiO.sub.2 in-situ in a modified .beta.-eucryptite system.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Soltis, Jennifer A.; Isley, William C.; Conroy, Michele
The development of targeted syntheses requires a better understanding of how production pathways affect the final product, but many ex situ techniques used for studying nanoparticle growth are unsuitable as standalone methods for identifying and characterizing growth mechanisms.
Fresco, Jacques R.; Johnson, Marion D.
2002-01-01
Disclosed are methods for detecting in situ the presence of a target sequence in a substantially double-stranded nucleic acid segment, which comprises: a) contacting in situ under conditions suitable for hybridization a substantially double-stranded nucleic acid segment with a detectable third strand, said third strand being capable of hybridizing to at least a portion of the target sequence to form a triple-stranded structure, if said target sequence is present; and b) detecting whether hybridization between the third strand and the target sequence has occured.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Takahashi, Tomoko; Thornton, Blair
2017-12-01
This paper reviews methods to compensate for matrix effects and self-absorption during quantitative analysis of compositions of solids measured using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and their applications to in-situ analysis. Methods to reduce matrix and self-absorption effects on calibration curves are first introduced. The conditions where calibration curves are applicable to quantification of compositions of solid samples and their limitations are discussed. While calibration-free LIBS (CF-LIBS), which corrects matrix effects theoretically based on the Boltzmann distribution law and Saha equation, has been applied in a number of studies, requirements need to be satisfied for the calculation of chemical compositions to be valid. Also, peaks of all elements contained in the target need to be detected, which is a bottleneck for in-situ analysis of unknown materials. Multivariate analysis techniques are gaining momentum in LIBS analysis. Among the available techniques, principal component regression (PCR) analysis and partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis, which can extract related information to compositions from all spectral data, are widely established methods and have been applied to various fields including in-situ applications in air and for planetary explorations. Artificial neural networks (ANNs), where non-linear effects can be modelled, have also been investigated as a quantitative method and their applications are introduced. The ability to make quantitative estimates based on LIBS signals is seen as a key element for the technique to gain wider acceptance as an analytical method, especially in in-situ applications. In order to accelerate this process, it is recommended that the accuracy should be described using common figures of merit which express the overall normalised accuracy, such as the normalised root mean square errors (NRMSEs), when comparing the accuracy obtained from different setups and analytical methods.
FISH-ing for Genes: Modeling Fluorescence "in situ" Hybridization
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baker, William P.; Jones, Carleton Buck
2006-01-01
Teaching methods of genetic analysis such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) can be an important part of instructional units in biology, microbiology, and biotechnology. Experience, however, indicates that these topics are difficult for many students. The authors of this article describe how they created an activity that effectively…
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bauer, Stephen J.; Glover, Steven F.; Pfeifle, Tom
A device for electrofracturing a material sample and analyzing the material sample is disclosed. The device simulates an in situ electrofracturing environment so as to obtain electrofractured material characteristics representative of field applications while allowing permeability testing of the fractured sample under in situ conditions.
IN-SITU STRATEGIES FOR THE SEQUESTRATION OF ZINC IN CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS
The application of in-situ remediation strategies for the sequestration of zinc is being studied as an alternative to the traditional method of excavation and containment. The site of study is the Indian Head Naval Warfare Center (IHNWC) located adjacent to Mattawoman Creek in Ch...
Ammonia plays an important role in many biogeochemical processes, yet atmospheric mixing ratios arc not well known. Recently, methods have been developed for retrieving NH3 from space-based observations, but they have not been compared to in situ measurements. We have ...
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other chlorinated aromatic compounds are distributed in soils and sediments at over 400 sites in the USA. A national need exists for both in situ and ex situ methods to destroy these persistent organic pollutants in soils and sediments at ambi...
An evaluation was performed of the International Waste Technologies (IWT) HWT-20 additive and the Geo-Con, Inc. deep-soil-mixing equipment for an in situ stabilization/solidification process and its applicability as an on-site treatment method for waste site cleanup. The analysis...
A procedure for coating in-situ silica in commercially available prepacked cartridges with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) acidified with hydrochloric acid is described. The coated cartridge was compared with a validated DNPH impinger method for sampling organic carbonyl compou...
Best Practices for In-Situ Sediment-Water Incubations with Benthic Landers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tengberg, Anders; Kononets, Mikhail; Hall, Per; Nilsson, Madeleine; Ekeroth, Nils
2017-04-01
Biological, chemical, physical and geological processes that take place at the seafloor are crucial in influencing and regulating many aquatic environments. One method to estimate exchange rates, fluxes, between the sediment and the overlying water is in-situ sediment-water incubations using autonomous chamber landers. As for all field sampling and measurements best practices methods are needed to obtain high quality data. With experiences form many years usage of the Gothenburg autonomous bottom lander systems this presentation will describe some of the experimental work that has been done with focus on quality control and data evaluation methods.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chwirot, B. W.; Chwirot, S.; Jedrzejczyk, W.; Redzinski, J.; Raczynska, A. M.; Telega, K.
2001-07-01
We studied spectral and spatial distributions of the intensity of the ultraviolet light-excited fluorescence of human skin. Our studied performed in situ in 162 patients with malignant and non-malignant skin lesions resulted in a new method of detecting melanomas in situ using digital imaging of the spectrally resolved fluorescence. With our diagnostic algorithm we could successfully detect 88.5% of the cases of melanoma in the group of patients subject to examinations with the fluorescence method. A patent application for the method has been submitted to the Patent Office in Warsaw.
In situ temperature measurement of. alpha. -mercuric iodide by reflection spectroscopy
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Nason, D.; Burger, A.
1991-12-30
Crystal face temperatures of single crystals of {alpha}-HgI{sub 2} growing in transparent ampules by physical vapor transport have been measured, {ital in} {ital situ}, by a novel, noncontact method which may be called reflectance spectroscopy thermometry. The method is based on the temperature dependence of the energy of the free-exciton peak as detected with a low-energy reflected beam. As presently configured, the accuracy is {plus minus}1.5 {degree}C for a slowly varying surface temperature. The method has potential for noncontact temperature measurement in some systems for which pyrometry is unsatisfactory.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nishidate, Izumi; Ooe, Shintaro; Todoroki, Shinsuke; Asamizu, Erika
2013-05-01
To evaluate the functional pigments in the tomato fruits nondestructively, we propose a method based on the multispectral diffuse reflectance images estimated by the Wiener estimation for a digital RGB image. Each pixel of the multispectral image is converted to the absorbance spectrum and then analyzed by the multiple regression analysis to visualize the contents of chlorophyll a, lycopene and β-carotene. The result confirms the feasibility of the method for in situ imaging of chlorophyll a, β-carotene and lycopene in the tomato fruits.
Li, H; Yuan, B; Gao, Y; Chung, C Y; Zhu, M
2011-12-15
An in-situ nitriding method has been developed to modify the outer surface and the pore walls of both open and closed pores of porous NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) as part of their sintering process. XRD and XPS examinations revealed that the modified layer is mainly TiN. The biocompatibility of the in-situ nitrided sample has been characterized by its corrosion resistance, cell adherence, and implant surgery. The in-situ nitrided porous NiTi SMAs exhibit much better corrosion resistance, cell adherence, and bone tissue induced capability than the porous NiTi alloys without surface modification. Furthermore, the released Ni ion content in the blood of rabbit is reduced greatly by the in-situ nitriding. The excellent biocompatibility of in-situ nitrided sample is attributed to the formation of the TiN layer on all the pore walls including both open and closed pores. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optimized preparation of in situ forming microparticles for the parenteral delivery of vinpocetine.
Li, Jizhong; Chen, Fei; Hu, Chanjuan; He, Ling; Yan, Keshu; Zhou, Liying; Pan, Weisan
2008-06-01
A spherical symmetric design-response surface methodology was applied to optimize the preparation of vinpocetine-loaded poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) PLGA in situ forming microparticles (ISM system). The influence of the ratio of PLGA to vinpocetine (w/w), the concentration of Tween 80 (w/v) and the volume of propylene glycol on the burst release, medium particle diameter and size distribution was evaluated. Scan electron microscopy of the optimized in situ microparticles exhibited spherical shape, and vinpocetine-loading mainly inside the microparticles. The data showed that the release of vinpocetine from in situ microparticles in vitro and in vivo lasted about 40 d. In vivo pharmacokinetic characteristics of the optimized in situ microparticles was assessed after they were intramuscularly injected into rats. HPLC method was used to determine the plasma concentration of vinpocetine. The absolute bioavailability of vinpocetine in the microparticles was 27.6% in rats, which suggested that PLGA in situ microparticles were a valuable system for the delivery of vinpocetine.
[Study of the phase transformation of TiO2 with in-situ XRD in different gas].
Ma, Li-Jing; Guo, Lie-Jin
2011-04-01
TiO2 sample was prepared by sol-gel method from chloride titanium. The phase transformation of the prepared TiO2 sample was studied by in-situ XRD and normal XRD in different gas. The experimental results showed that the phase transformation temperatures of TiO2 were different under in-situ or normal XRD in different kinds of gas. The transformation of amorphous TiO2 to anatase was controlled by kinetics before 500 degrees C. In-situ XRD showed that the growth of anatase was inhibited, but the transformation of anatase to rutile was accelerated under inactive nitrogen in contrast to air. Also better crystal was obtained under hydrogen than in argon. These all showed that external oxygen might accelerate the growth of TiO2, but reduced gas might partly counteract the negative influence of lack of external oxygen. The mechanism of phase transformation of TiO2 was studied by in-situ XRD in order to control the structure in situ.
Derivation of Aerosol Columnar Mass from MODIS Optical Depth
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Gasso, Santiago; Hegg, Dean A.
2003-01-01
In order to verify performance, aerosol transport models (ATM) compare aerosol columnar mass (ACM) with those derived from satellite measurements. The comparison is inherently indirect since satellites derive optical depths and they use a proportionality constant to derive the ACM. Analogously, ATMs output a four dimensional ACM distribution and the optical depth is linearly derived. In both cases, the proportionality constant requires a direct intervention of the user by prescribing the aerosol composition and size distribution. This study introduces a method that minimizes the direct user intervention by making use of the new aerosol products of MODIS. A parameterization is introduced for the derivation of columnar aerosol mass (AMC) and CCN concentration (CCNC) and comparisons between sunphotometer, MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) and in-measurements are shown. The method still relies on the scaling between AMC and optical depth but the proportionality constant is dependent on the MODIS derived r$_{eff}$,\\eta (contribution of the accumulation mode radiance to the total radiance), ambient RH and an assumed constant aerosol composition. The CCNC is derived fkom a recent parameterization of CCNC as a function of the retrieved aerosol volume. By comparing with in-situ data (ACE-2 and TARFOX campaigns), it is shown that retrievals in dry ambient conditions (dust) are improved when using a proportionality constant dependent on r$ {eff}$ and \\eta derived in the same pixel. In high humidity environments, the improvement inthe new method is inconclusive because of the difficulty in accounting for the uneven vertical distribution of relative humidity. Additionally, two detailed comparisons of AMC and CCNC retrieved by the MAS algorithm and the new method are shown. The new method and MAS retrievals of AMC are within the same order of magnitude with respect to the in-situ measurements of aerosol mass. However, the proposed method is closer to the in-situ measurements than the MODIS retrievals. The retrievals of CCNC are also within the same order of magnitude for both methods. The new method is applied to an actual MODIS retrieval and although no in-situ data is available to compare, it is shown that the proposed method yields more credible values than the MODIS retrievals. In addition, recent data available from the PRIDE (Puerto Rico Dust Experiment, July 2000) will be shown by comparing sunphotometer, MODIS and in-situ data.
Biological degradation of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs)
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Ensley, B.; Strong-Gunderson, J.M.; Palumbo, A.V.
1996-08-01
In situ bioremediation is a very attractive, safe and efficient method of not only removing, but eliminating hazardous compounds from the environment. However, the quickest and most efficient method of restoring a hazardous waste site would be to link several remediation processes. In situ biodegradation can involve the addition of nutrients, oxygen, electron donors, electron acceptors, organisms or all the above. These amendments can be introduced and coupled to a variety of other technologies such as permeability enhancements, chemical treatments and/or physical processes. In addition to in situ technologies, bioremediation in bioreactors is an efficient tool facilitating mineralization of contaminants.more » Overall, biodegradation has a significant potential to increase the rate of site restoration and decrease overall costs. 37 refs., 2 figs.« less
Detection of trace microcystin-LR on a 20 MHz QCM sensor coated with in situ self-assembled MIPs.
He, Hao; Zhou, Lianqun; Wang, Yi; Li, Chuanyu; Yao, Jia; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Qingwen; Li, Mingyu; Li, Haiwen; Dong, Wen-fei
2015-01-01
A 20 MHz quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor coated with in situ self-assembled molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was presented for the detection of trace microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in drinking water. The sensor performance obtained using the in situ self-assembled MIPs was compared with traditionally synthesized MIPs on 20 MHz and normal 10 MHz QCM chip. The results show that the response increases by more than 60% when using the in situ self-assembly method compared using the traditionally method while the 20 MHz QCM chip provides four-fold higher response than the 10 MHz one. Therefore, the in situ self-assembled MIPs coated on a high frequency QCM chip was used in the sensor performance test to detect MC-LR in tap water. It showed a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.04 nM which is lower than the safety guideline level (1 nM MC-LR) of drinking water in China. The low sensor response to other analogs indicated the high specificity of the sensor to MC-LR. The sensor showed high stability and low signal variation less than 2.58% after regeneration. The lake water sample analysis shows the sensor is possible for practical use. The combination of the higher frequency QCM with the in situ self-assembled MIPs provides a good candidate for the detection of other small molecules. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Method for in situ characterization of a medium of dispersed matter in a continuous phase
Kaufman, E.N.
1995-03-07
A method is described for the in situ characterization of a medium of a dispersed phase in a continuous phase, including the steps of adding a fluorescent dye to one phase capable of producing fluorescence therein when the fluorescent dye is optically excited, optically exciting the fluorescent dye at a wavelength to produce fluorescence in the one phase, and monitoring the fluorescence to distinguish the continuous phase from the dispersed phase. 2 figs.
Nanorobotic System iTRo for Controllable 1D Micro/nano Material Twisting Test.
Lu, Haojian; Shang, Wanfeng; Wei, Xueyong; Yang, Zhan; Fukuda, Toshio; Shen, Yajing
2017-06-08
In-situ micro/nano characterization is an indispensable methodology for material research. However, the precise in-situ SEM twisting of 1D material with large range is still challenge for current techniques, mainly due to the testing device's large size and the misalignment between specimen and the rotation axis. Herein, we propose an in-situ twist test robot (iTRo) to address the above challenges and realize the precise in-situ SEM twisting test for the first time. Firstly, we developed the iTRo and designed a series of control strategies, including assembly error initialization, triple-image alignment (TIA) method for rotation axis alignment, deformation-based contact detection (DCD) method for sample assembly, and switch control for robots cooperation. After that, we chose three typical 1D material, i.e., magnetic microwire Fe 74 B 13 Si 11 C 2 , glass fiber, and human hair, for twisting test and characterized their properties. The results showed that our approach is able to align the sample to the twisting axis accurately, and it can provide large twisting range, heavy load and high controllability. This work fills the blank of current in-situ mechanical characterization methodologies, which is expected to give significant impact in the fundamental nanomaterial research and practical micro/nano characterization.
Geng, Shiyu; Wei, Jiayuan; Aitomäki, Yvonne; Noël, Maxime; Oksman, Kristiina
2018-04-20
In nanocomposites, dispersing hydrophilic nanomaterials in a hydrophobic matrix using simple and environmentally friendly methods remains challenging. Herein, we report a method based on in situ polymerization to synthesize nanocomposites of well-dispersed cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc). We have also shown that by blending this PVAc/CNC nanocomposite with poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a good dispersion of the CNCs can be reached in PLA. The outstanding dispersion of CNCs in both PVAc and PLA/PVAc matrices was shown by different microscopy techniques and was further supported by the mechanical and rheological properties of the composites. The in situ PVAc/CNC nanocomposites exhibit enhanced mechanical properties compared to the materials produced by mechanical mixing, and a theoretical model based on the interphase effect and dispersion that reflects this behavior was developed. Comparison of the rheological and thermal behaviors of the mixed and in situ PVAc/CNC also confirmed the great improvement in the dispersion of nanocellulose in the latter. Furthermore, a synergistic effect was observed with only 0.1 wt% CNCs when the in situ PVAc/CNC was blended with PLA, as demonstrated by significant increases in elastic modulus, yield strength, elongation to break and glass transition temperature compared to the PLA/PVAc only material.
Uyuşur, Burcu; Snee, Preston T.; Li, Chunyan; ...
2016-01-01
Knowledge of the fate and transport of nanoparticles in the subsurface environment is limited, as techniques to monitor and visualize the transport and distribution of nanoparticles in porous media and measure their in situ concentrations are lacking. To address these issues, we have developed a light transmission and fluorescence method to visualize and measure in situ concentrations of quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles in variably saturated environments. Calibration cells filled with sand as porous medium and various known water saturation levels and QD concentrations were prepared. By measuring the intensity of the light transmitted through porous media exposed to fluorescent lightmore » and by measuring the hue of the light emitted by the QDs under UV light exposure, we obtained simultaneously in situ measurements of water saturation and QD nanoparticle concentrations with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Water saturation was directly proportional to the light intensity. A linear relationship was observed between hue-intensity ratio values and QD concentrations for constant water saturation levels. Lastly, the advantages and limitations of the light transmission and fluorescence method as well as its implications for visualizing and measuring in situ concentrations of QDs nanoparticles in the subsurface environment are discussed.« less
In Situ Growth of Mesoporous Silica with Drugs on Titanium Surface and Its Biomedical Applications.
Wan, Mimi; Zhang, Jin; Wang, Qi; Zhan, Shuyue; Chen, Xudong; Mao, Chun; Liu, Yuhong; Shen, Jian
2017-06-07
Mesoporous silica has been developed for the modification of titanium surfaces that are used as implant materials. Yet, the traditional modification methods failed to effectively construct mesoporous silica on the titanium surface evenly and firmly, in which the interaction between mesoporous silica and titanium was mainly physical. Here, in situ growth of mesoporous silica on a titanium surface was performed using a simple evaporation-induced self-assembly strategy. Meantime, in situ introduction of drugs (heparin and vancomycin) to mesoporous silica was also adopted to improve the drug-loading amount. Both the above-mentioned processes were completed at the same time. Transmission electron microscopy, N 2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle measurements were used to characterize the structure of the mesoporous silica film. Results indicated that the mesoporous silica film that in situ grew on the titanium surface was smooth, thin, transparent, and stable. Cytotoxicity, proliferation performance of osteoblast cells, and in vitro and in vivo studies of the antibacterial activity of the coating were tested. This is the first study to modify the titanium surface by the in situ growth of a mesoporous silica coating with two kinds of drugs. The stability of the mesoporous silica coating can be attributed to the chemical bonding between dopamine and silicon hydroxyl of the mesoporous silica coating, and the smooth surface of mesoporous silica is a result of the method of in situ growth. The large amount of drug-loading also could be ascribed to the in situ introduction of drugs during the synthetic process. The strategy proposed in this work will bring more possibilities for the preparation of advanced functional materials based on the combination of mesoporous structure and metallic materials.
Cyber-physical geographical information service-enabled control of diverse in-situ sensors.
Chen, Nengcheng; Xiao, Changjiang; Pu, Fangling; Wang, Xiaolei; Wang, Chao; Wang, Zhili; Gong, Jianya
2015-01-23
Realization of open online control of diverse in-situ sensors is a challenge. This paper proposes a Cyber-Physical Geographical Information Service-enabled method for control of diverse in-situ sensors, based on location-based instant sensing of sensors, which provides closed-loop feedbacks. The method adopts the concepts and technologies of newly developed cyber-physical systems (CPSs) to combine control with sensing, communication, and computation, takes advantage of geographical information service such as services provided by the Tianditu which is a basic geographic information service platform in China and Sensor Web services to establish geo-sensor applications, and builds well-designed human-machine interfaces (HMIs) to support online and open interactions between human beings and physical sensors through cyberspace. The method was tested with experiments carried out in two geographically distributed scientific experimental fields, Baoxie Sensor Web Experimental Field in Wuhan city and Yemaomian Landslide Monitoring Station in Three Gorges, with three typical sensors chosen as representatives using the prototype system Geospatial Sensor Web Common Service Platform. The results show that the proposed method is an open, online, closed-loop means of control.
Cyber-Physical Geographical Information Service-Enabled Control of Diverse In-Situ Sensors
Chen, Nengcheng; Xiao, Changjiang; Pu, Fangling; Wang, Xiaolei; Wang, Chao; Wang, Zhili; Gong, Jianya
2015-01-01
Realization of open online control of diverse in-situ sensors is a challenge. This paper proposes a Cyber-Physical Geographical Information Service-enabled method for control of diverse in-situ sensors, based on location-based instant sensing of sensors, which provides closed-loop feedbacks. The method adopts the concepts and technologies of newly developed cyber-physical systems (CPSs) to combine control with sensing, communication, and computation, takes advantage of geographical information service such as services provided by the Tianditu which is a basic geographic information service platform in China and Sensor Web services to establish geo-sensor applications, and builds well-designed human-machine interfaces (HMIs) to support online and open interactions between human beings and physical sensors through cyberspace. The method was tested with experiments carried out in two geographically distributed scientific experimental fields, Baoxie Sensor Web Experimental Field in Wuhan city and Yemaomian Landslide Monitoring Station in Three Gorges, with three typical sensors chosen as representatives using the prototype system Geospatial Sensor Web Common Service Platform. The results show that the proposed method is an open, online, closed-loop means of control. PMID:25625906
In situ thermomechanical testing methods for micro/nano-scale materials.
Kang, Wonmo; Merrill, Marriner; Wheeler, Jeffrey M
2017-02-23
The advance of micro/nanotechnology in energy-harvesting, micropower, electronic devices, and transducers for automobile and aerospace applications has led to the need for accurate thermomechanical characterization of micro/nano-scale materials to ensure their reliability and performance. This persistent need has driven various efforts to develop innovative experimental techniques that overcome the critical challenges associated with precise mechanical and thermal control of micro/nano-scale specimens during material characterization. Here we review recent progress in the development of thermomechanical testing methods from miniaturized versions of conventional macroscopic test systems to the current state of the art of in situ uniaxial testing capabilities in electron microscopes utilizing either indentation-based microcompression or integrated microsystems. We discuss the major advantages/disadvantages of these methods with respect to specimen size, range of temperature control, ease of experimentation and resolution of the measurements. We also identify key challenges in each method. Finally, we summarize some of the important discoveries that have been made using in situ thermomechanical testing and the exciting research opportunities still to come in micro/nano-scale materials.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1994-01-01
The classical method of observing the sea surface height has been to make shipboard measurements of the vertical - density profile, and then calculating the surface height relative to a deeper reference surface. Two methods (a moored vertical string of instruments and an inverted echo sounder) were subsequently developed to obtain longer time in situ measurements. The first of these can be thought of as an extension of the discrete bottle hydrocast while the second integrates acoustically over the water column. One purpose of this note is to compare the result when coincidental observations are made by these two methods. This was done at two sites in the western tropical Pacific. Two inverted echo sounders were deployed alongside two enhanced TOGA-COARE moorings to be used in an in situ evaluation of TOPEX/Poseidon altimetric measurements of sea surface height. The mooring and inverted echo sounder data reproduced one another, at low frequency, with a correlation of 0.93 and 0.95 and the altimeter correlated with each of the above values ranging from 0.84 to 0.94. It is concluded that the altimetric measurements are statistically equivalent to the in situ measurements in the area of study.
In-situ trainable intrusion detection system
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Symons, Christopher T.; Beaver, Justin M.; Gillen, Rob
A computer implemented method detects intrusions using a computer by analyzing network traffic. The method includes a semi-supervised learning module connected to a network node. The learning module uses labeled and unlabeled data to train a semi-supervised machine learning sensor. The method records events that include a feature set made up of unauthorized intrusions and benign computer requests. The method identifies at least some of the benign computer requests that occur during the recording of the events while treating the remainder of the data as unlabeled. The method trains the semi-supervised learning module at the network node in-situ, such thatmore » the semi-supervised learning modules may identify malicious traffic without relying on specific rules, signatures, or anomaly detection.« less
SULFATE REDUCTION IN GROUNDWATER: CHARACTERIZATION AND APPLICATIONS FOR REMEDIATION
Miao, Z.; Brusseau, M. L.; Carroll, K. C.; Carreón-Diazconti, C.; Johnson, B.
2013-01-01
Sulfate is ubiquitous in groundwater, with both natural and anthropogenic sources. Sulfate reduction reactions play a significant role in mediating redox conditions and biogeochemical processes for subsurface systems. They also serve as the basis for innovative in-situ methods for groundwater remediation. An overview of sulfate reduction in subsurface environments is provided, along with a brief discussion of characterization methods and applications for addressing acid mine drainage. We then focus on two innovative, in-situ methods for remediating sulfate-contaminated groundwater, the use of zero-valent iron (ZVI) and the addition of electron-donor substrates. The advantages and limitations associated with the methods are discussed, with examples of prior applications. PMID:21947714
Apparatus and method for determining solids circulation rate
Ludlow, J Christopher [Morgantown, WV; Spenik, James L [Morgantown, WV
2012-02-14
The invention relates to a method of determining bed velocity and solids circulation rate in a standpipe experiencing a moving packed bed flow, such as the in the standpipe section of a circulating bed fluidized reactor The method utilizes in-situ measurement of differential pressure over known axial lengths of the standpipe in conjunction with in-situ gas velocity measurement for a novel application of Ergun equations allowing determination of standpipe void fraction and moving packed bed velocity. The method takes advantage of the moving packed bed property of constant void fraction in order to integrate measured parameters into simultaneous solution of Ergun-based equations and conservation of mass equations across multiple sections of the standpipe.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mendolia, D.; D'Souza, R. J. C.; Evans, G. J.; Brook, J.
2013-01-01
Tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities were retrieved for the first time in Toronto, Canada using three methods of differing spatial scales. Remotely-sensed NO2 vertical column densities, retrieved from multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy and satellite remote sensing, were evaluated by comparison with in situ vertical column densities derived using a pair of chemiluminescence monitors situated 0.01 and 0.5 km above ground level. The chemiluminescence measurements were corrected for the influence of NOz, which reduced the NO2 concentrations at 0.01 and 0.5 km by 8 ± 1% and 12 ± 1%, respectively. The average absolute decrease in the chemiluminescence NO2 measurement as a result of this correction was less than 1 ppb. Good correlation was observed between the remotely sensed and in situ NO2 vertical column densities (Pearson R ranging from 0.68 to 0.79), but the in situ vertical column densities were 27% to 55% greater than the remotely-sensed columns. These results indicate that NO2 horizontal heterogeneity strongly impacted the magnitude of the remotely-sensed columns. The in situ columns reflected an urban environment with major traffic sources, while the remotely-sensed NO2 vertical column densities were representative of the region, which included spatial heterogeneity introduced by residential neighbourhoods and Lake Ontario. Despite the difference in absolute values, the reasonable correlation between the vertical column densities determined by three distinct methods increased confidence in the validity of the values provided by each of the methods.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hamada, Y.; Kitamura, M.; Yamada, Y.; Sanada, Y.; Moe, K.; Hirose, T.
2016-12-01
In-situ rock properties in/around seismogenic zone in an accretionary prism are key parameters to understand the development mechanisms of an accretionary prism, spatio-temporal variation of stress state, and so on. For the purpose of acquiring continuous-depth-profile of in-situ formation strength in an accretionary prism, here we propose the new method to evaluate the in-situ rock strength using drilling performance property. Drilling parameters are inevitably obtained by any drilling operation even in the non-coring intervals or at challenging environment where core recovery may be poor. The relationship between the rock properties and drilling parameters has been proposed by previous researches [e.g. Teale 1964]. We introduced the relationship theory of Teale [1964], and developed a converting method to estimate in-situ rock strength without depending on uncertain parameters such as weight on bit (WOB). Specifically, we first calculated equivalent specific toughness (EST) which represents gradient of the relationship between Torque energy and volume of penetration at arbitrary interval (in this study, five meters). Then the EST values were converted into strength using the drilling parameters-rock strengths correlation obtained by Karasawa et al. [2002]. This method was applied to eight drilling holes in the Site C0002 of IODP NanTroSEIZE in order to evaluate in-situ rock strength in shallow to deep accretionary prism. In the shallower part (0 - 300 mbsf), the calculated strength shows sharp increase up to 20 MPa. Then the strength has approximate constant value to 1500 mbsf without significant change even at unconformity around 1000 mbsf (boundary between forearc basin and accretionary prism). Below that depth, value of the strength gradually increases with depth up to 60 MPa at 3000 mbsf with variation between 10 and 80 MPa. Because the calculated strength is across approximately the same lithology, the increase trend can responds to the rock strength. This strength-depth curve correspond reasonably well with the strength data of core and cutting samples collected from hole C0002N and C0002P [Kitamura et al., 2016 AGU]. These results show the validity of the method evaluating in-situ strength from the drilling parameters.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lan, Ru; Lin, Hai; Qiao, Bing; Dong, Yingbo; Zhang, Wei; Chang, Wen
2018-02-01
In this paper, the restoration behaviour of the in-situ microorganisms in seawater and sediments to the marine accident oil spill was researched. The experimental study on the breeding of in-situ petroleum-degrading bacteria in the seawater and sediments of Hangzhou Bay and the restoration of oil spill were carried out. Making use of the reinforced microbial flora, combined with physical and chemical methods in field environment, petroleum degrading and restoration experiment were performed, the effect of the breeding of in-situ degrading bacteria was evaluated, and the standard process of in-situ bacteria sampling, laboratory screening, domestication and degradation efficiency testing were formed. This study laid a foundation for further evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages for the petroleum-degrading bacteria of Hangzhou Bay during the process of in-situ restoration. The results showed that in-situ microbes of Hangzhou Bay could reach the growth peak in 5 days with the suitable environmental factors and sufficient nutrient elements, and the degradation efficiency could reach 65.2% (or 74.8% after acclimation). And also the microbes could adapt to the local sea water and environmental conditions, with a certain degree of degradation. The research results could provide parameter support for causal judgment and quantitative assessment of oil spill damage.
Turick, C.E.; Apel, W.W.
1997-10-28
A method of reducing the concentration of Cr(VI) in a liquid aqueous residue comprises the steps of providing anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria, mixing the liquid aqueous residue with a nutrient medium to form a mixture, and contacting the mixture with the anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria such that Cr(VI) is reduced to Cr(III). The anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria appear to be ubiquitous in soil and can be selected by collecting a soil sample, diluting the soil sample with a sterile diluent to form a diluted sample, mixing the diluted sample with an effective amount of a nutrient medium and an effective amount of Cr(VI) to form a mixture, and incubating the mixture in the substantial absence of oxygen such that growth of Cr(VI) sensitive microorganisms is inhibited and growth of the anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria is stimulated. A method of in situ bioremediation of Cr(VI) contaminated soil and/or groundwater is also disclosed. 10 figs.
Turick, Charles E.; Apel, William W.
1997-10-28
A method of reducing the concentration of Cr(VI) in a liquid aqueous residue comprises the steps of providing anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria, mixing the liquid aqueous residue with a nutrient medium to form a mixture, and contacting the mixture with the anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria such that Cr(VI) is reduced to Cr(III). The anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria appear to be ubiquitous in soil and can be selected by collecting a soil sample, diluting the soil sample with a sterile diluent to form a diluted sample, mixing the diluted sample with an effective amount of a nutrient medium and an effective amount of Cr(VI) to form a mixture, and incubating the mixture in the substantial absence of oxygen such that growth of Cr(VI) sensitive microorganisms is inhibited and growth of the anaerobic Cr(VI) reducing bacteria is stimulated. A method of in situ bioremediation of Cr(VI) contaminated soil and/or groundwater is also disclosed.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Zhang, Shuo; Ma, Ping, E-mail: maping@semi.ac.cn; Liu, Boting
2016-06-15
High-resistive layers were obtained by periodic growth and in situ annealing of InGaN. The effect of the annealing temperature of InGaN on the indium content and the material sheet resistive was investigated. The indium content decreased as the increase of in situ annealing temperature. Additionally, the material sheet resistance increased with the increase of the in situ annealing temperature for the annealed samples and reached 2 × 10{sup 10}Ω/sq in the light and 2 × 10{sup 11}Ω/sq in the dark when the in situ annealing temperature reached 970{sup ∘}C. The acquirement of high-resistive layers is attributed to the generation ofmore » indium vacancy-related defects. Introducing indium vacancy-related defects to compensate background carriers can be an effective method to grow high-resistance material.« less
Mechanism of Pinhole Formation in Membrane Electrode Assemblies for PEM Fuel Cells
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stanic, Vesna; Hoberecht, Mark
2004-01-01
The pinhole formation mechanism was studied with a variety of MEAs using ex-situ and in-situ methods. The ex-situ tests included the MEA aging in oxygen and MEA heat of ignition. In-situ durability tests were performed in fuel cells at different operating conditions with hydrogen and oxygen. After the in-situ failure, MEAs were analyzed with an Olympus BX 60 optical microscope and Cambridge 120 scanning electron microscope. MEA chemical analysis was performed with an IXRF EDS microanalysis system. The MEA failure analyses showed that pinholes and tears were the MEA failure modes. The pinholes appeared in MEA areas where the membrane thickness was drastically reduced. Their location coincided with the stress concentration points, indicating that membrane creep was responsible for their formation. Some of the pinholes detected had contaminant particles precipitated within the membrane. This mechanism of pinhole formation was correlated to the polymer blistering.
In situ mechanical characterization of the cell nucleus by atomic force microscopy.
Liu, Haijiao; Wen, Jun; Xiao, Yun; Liu, Jun; Hopyan, Sevan; Radisic, Milica; Simmons, Craig A; Sun, Yu
2014-04-22
The study of nuclear mechanical properties can provide insights into nuclear dynamics and its role in cellular mechanotransduction. While several methods have been developed to characterize nuclear mechanical properties, direct intracellular probing of the nucleus in situ is challenging. Here, a modified AFM (atomic force microscopy) needle penetration technique is demonstrated to mechanically characterize cell nuclei in situ. Cytoplasmic and nuclear stiffness were determined based on two different segments on the AFM indentation curves and were correlated with simultaneous confocal Z-stack microscopy reconstructions. On the basis of direct intracellular measurement, we show that the isolated nuclei from fibroblast-like cells exhibited significantly lower Young's moduli than intact nuclei in situ. We also show that there is in situ nucleus softening in the highly metastatic bladder cancer cell line T24 when compared to its less metastatic counterpart RT4. This technique has potential to become a reliable quantitative measurement tool for intracellular mechanics studies.
Heat exchanger life extension via in-situ reconditioning
Holcomb, David E.; Muralidharan, Govindarajan
2016-06-28
A method of in-situ reconditioning a heat exchanger includes the steps of: providing an in-service heat exchanger comprising a precipitate-strengthened alloy wherein at least one mechanical property of the heat exchanger is degraded by coarsening of the precipitate, the in-service heat exchanger containing a molten salt working heat exchange fluid; deactivating the heat exchanger from service in-situ; in a solution-annealing step, in-situ heating the heat exchanger and molten salt working heat exchange fluid contained therein to a temperature and for a time period sufficient to dissolve the coarsened precipitate; in a quenching step, flowing the molten salt working heat-exchange fluid through the heat exchanger in-situ to cool the alloy and retain a supersaturated solid solution while preventing formation of large precipitates; and in an aging step, further varying the temperature of the flowing molten salt working heat-exchange fluid to re-precipitate the dissolved precipitate.
The science and economics of ex situ plant conservation.
Li, De-Zhu; Pritchard, Hugh W
2009-11-01
Ex situ seed storage underpins global agriculture and food supplies and enables the conservation of thousands of wild species of plants within national and international facilities. As an insurance policy against extinction, ex situ seed conservation is estimated to cost as little as 1% of in situ conservation. The assumptions, costs, risks and scientific challenges associated with ex situ plant conservation depend on the species, the methods employed and the desired storage time. Recent, relatively widespread evidence of less than expected longevity at conventional seed bank temperatures, innovations in the cryopreservation of recalcitrant-seeded species and economic comparators provide compelling evidence that ultra-cold storage should be adopted for the long-term conservation of plants. Policy instruments, such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (2011-2020), should respond to the evidence base and promote the implementation of cryopreservation for both tropical and temperate plants.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Vuichard, N.; Papale, D.
In this study, exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere are monitored by eddy covariance technique at the ecosystem level. Currently, the FLUXNET database contains more than 500 registered sites, and up to 250 of them share data (free fair-use data set). Many modelling groups use the FLUXNET data set for evaluating ecosystem models' performance, but this requires uninterrupted time series for the meteorological variables used as input. Because original in situ data often contain gaps, from very short (few hours) up to relatively long (some months) ones, we develop a new and robustmore » method for filling the gaps in meteorological data measured at site level. Our approach has the benefit of making use of continuous data available globally (ERA-Interim) and a high temporal resolution spanning from 1989 to today. These data are, however, not measured at site level, and for this reason a method to downscale and correct the ERA-Interim data is needed. We apply this method to the level 4 data (L4) from the La Thuile collection, freely available after registration under a fair-use policy. The performance of the developed method varies across sites and is also function of the meteorological variable. On average over all sites, applying the bias correction method to the ERA-Interim data reduced the mismatch with the in situ data by 10 to 36 %, depending on the meteorological variable considered. In comparison to the internal variability of the in situ data, the root mean square error (RMSE) between the in situ data and the unbiased ERA-I (ERA-Interim) data remains relatively large (on average over all sites, from 27 to 76 % of the standard deviation of in situ data, depending on the meteorological variable considered). The performance of the method remains poor for the wind speed field, in particular regarding its capacity to conserve a standard deviation similar to the one measured at FLUXNET stations.« less
Vuichard, N.; Papale, D.
2015-07-13
In this study, exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere are monitored by eddy covariance technique at the ecosystem level. Currently, the FLUXNET database contains more than 500 registered sites, and up to 250 of them share data (free fair-use data set). Many modelling groups use the FLUXNET data set for evaluating ecosystem models' performance, but this requires uninterrupted time series for the meteorological variables used as input. Because original in situ data often contain gaps, from very short (few hours) up to relatively long (some months) ones, we develop a new and robustmore » method for filling the gaps in meteorological data measured at site level. Our approach has the benefit of making use of continuous data available globally (ERA-Interim) and a high temporal resolution spanning from 1989 to today. These data are, however, not measured at site level, and for this reason a method to downscale and correct the ERA-Interim data is needed. We apply this method to the level 4 data (L4) from the La Thuile collection, freely available after registration under a fair-use policy. The performance of the developed method varies across sites and is also function of the meteorological variable. On average over all sites, applying the bias correction method to the ERA-Interim data reduced the mismatch with the in situ data by 10 to 36 %, depending on the meteorological variable considered. In comparison to the internal variability of the in situ data, the root mean square error (RMSE) between the in situ data and the unbiased ERA-I (ERA-Interim) data remains relatively large (on average over all sites, from 27 to 76 % of the standard deviation of in situ data, depending on the meteorological variable considered). The performance of the method remains poor for the wind speed field, in particular regarding its capacity to conserve a standard deviation similar to the one measured at FLUXNET stations.« less
In situ detrital zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tripathy, A.; Monteleone, B. D.; van Soest, M. C.; Hodges, K.; Hourigan, J. K.
2010-12-01
Detrital studies of both sand and rock are relevant to many problems, ranging from the climate and tectonics feedback debate to the long-term record of orogenic evolution. When applying the conventional (U-Th)/He technique to such studies, two important issues arise. Often, only euhedral grains are permissible for analysis in order to make simple geometric corrections for α-recoil. In detrital samples, this is problematic because euhedral grains can be scarce due to mechanical abrasion during transport, and potentially introduce bias in favour of more proximally sourced grains. Second, inherent to detrital studies is the need to date many grains (>100) per sample to ensure a representative sampling of the sediment source region, thus making robust conventional detrital studies both expensive and time-consuming. UV laser microprobes can improve this by permitting careful targeting of the grain interior away from the α-ejection zone, rendering the α-recoil correction unnecessary, thus eliminating bias toward euhedral grains. In the Noble Gas, Geochemistry, and Geochronology Laboratory at ASU, apatite and zircon have been successfully dated using in situ methods. For this study, the conventional and in situ techniques are compared by dating zircons from a modern river sand that drains a small catchment in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Ladakh Batholith in NW India. This sample has a simple provenance, which allows us to demonstrate the robustness of the in situ method. Moreover, different microbeam techniques will be explored to establish the most efficient approach to obtain accurate and precise U-Th concentrations using synrock, which is our powdered, homogenized, and reconstituted zircon-rock standard. Without this, such in situ U-Th data would be difficult to obtain. 117 zircons were dated using the conventional (U-Th)/He method, revealing dates ranging from 9.70±0.35 to 106.6±3.5 Ma (2σ) with the major mode at 26 Ma. For comparison, 44 grains were dated using the in situ method, utilizing SIMS to determine the U-Th concentrations. The major mode is the same as the conventional dataset, with only single outliers missing from the in situ dataset. The in situ method is described as follows: Zircons are polished and imaged using cathodoluminesence to guide laser spot placement. Then, each grain is ablated with a 193nm ArF Excimer laser using 20-35µm beam sizes and depths of 10-17µm. After purification, 4He is analyzed on a ThermoScientific Helix Split Flight Tube mass spectrometer. U-Th concentrations are measured on the polished mount using a Cameca IMS 6f by placing a 60µm diameter beam directly over the He laser pit to cover the surface area contributing to the measured He. In theory, using LA-ICP-MS to obtain U-Th concentrations could be a faster, cheaper, but possibly less precise, technique. However, using laser ablation would allow pit sizes that average the U-Th concentration over the volume of material available that contributes to the measured He, thus accounting for intracrystalline α-recoil effects. Preliminary data on slabs of Sri Lankan zircon suggest this could be a viable method, but will require further exploration and refinement.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Food-borne human pathogens are typically detected and enumerated by either cultural methods or PCR-based approaches. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) is a standard microscopy tool for microbial ecology but has not been widely used for food safety applications despite important advantages o...
Ammonia plays an important role in many biogeochemical processes, yet atmospheric mixing ratios are not well known. Recently, methods have been developed for retrieving NH3 from space-based observations, but they have not been compared to in situ measurements. We have conducted a...
Upper Washita River experimental watersheds: Multiyear stability of soil water content profiles
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Scaling in situ soil water content time series data to a large spatial domain is a key element of watershed environmental monitoring and modeling. The primary method of estimating and monitoring large-scale soil water content distributions is via in situ networks. It is critical to establish the s...
Production of biodiesel via the in situ transesterification of grain sorghum bran and DDGS
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The acylglycerides in sorghum bran and distiller’s dried grains and solubles (DDGS) from sorghum post-fermentation stillage have been converted to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) using an in-situ transesterification (IST) method. The reactions were conducted at 25 deg C or 40 deg C in the presence...
Continued Development of in Situ Geochronology for Planetary Missions
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Devismes, D.; Cohen, B. A.
2015-01-01
The instrument 'Potassium (K) Argon Laser Experiment' (KArLE) is developed and designed for in situ absolute dating of rocks on planetary surfaces. It is based on the K-Ar dating method and uses the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy - Laser Ablation - Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (LIBSLA- QMS) technique. We use a dedicated interface to combine two instruments similar to SAM of Mars Science Laboratory (for the QMS) and ChemCam (for the LA and LIBS). The prototype has demonstrated that KArLE is a suitable and promising instrument for in situ absolute dating.
In Situ Analysis of DNA Methylation in Plants.
Kathiria, Palak; Kovalchuk, Igor
2017-01-01
Epigenetic regulation in the plant genome is associated with the determination of expression patterns of various genes. Methylation of DNA at cytosine residues is one of the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and has been a subject of various studies. Various techniques have been developed to analyze DNA methylation, most of which involve isolation of chromatin from cells and further in vitro studies. Limited techniques are available for in situ study of DNA methylation in plants. Here, we present such an in situ method for DNA methylation analysis which has high sensitivity and good reproducibility.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Krings, Thomas; Neininger, Bruno; Gerilowski, Konstantin; Krautwurst, Sven; Buchwitz, Michael; Burrows, John P.; Lindemann, Carsten; Ruhtz, Thomas; Schüttemeyer, Dirk; Bovensmann, Heinrich
2018-02-01
Reliable techniques to infer greenhouse gas emission rates from localised sources require accurate measurement and inversion approaches. In this study airborne remote sensing observations of CO2 by the MAMAP instrument and airborne in situ measurements are used to infer emission estimates of carbon dioxide released from a cluster of coal-fired power plants. The study area is complex due to sources being located in close proximity and overlapping associated carbon dioxide plumes. For the analysis of in situ data, a mass balance approach is described and applied, whereas for the remote sensing observations an inverse Gaussian plume model is used in addition to a mass balance technique. A comparison between methods shows that results for all methods agree within 10 % or better with uncertainties of 10 to 30 % for cases in which in situ measurements were made for the complete vertical plume extent. The computed emissions for individual power plants are in agreement with results derived from emission factors and energy production data for the time of the overflight.
Xue, Chang; Zhang, Shu-Xin; Ouyang, Chang-He; Chang, Dingran; Salena, Bruno J; Li, Yingfu; Wu, Zai-Sheng
2018-06-14
DNA is a highly programmable material that can be configured into unique high-order structures, such as DNA branched junctions containing multiple helical arms converging at a center. Herein we show that DNA programmability can deliver in situ growth of a 3-way junction-based DNA structure (denoted Y-shaped DNA) with the use of three hairpin-shaped DNA molecules as precursors, a specific microRNA target as a recyclable trigger, and a DNA polymerase as a driver. We demonstrate that the Y-shaped configuration comes with the benefit of restricted freedom of movement in confined cellular environment, which makes the approach ideally suited for in situ imaging of small RNA targets, such as microRNAs. Comparative analysis illustrates that the proposed imaging technique is superior to both the classic fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method and an analogous amplified imaging method via programmed growth of a double-stranded DNA (rather than Y-shaped DNA) product. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Optical in situ monitoring of plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition process
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zeeshan Arshad, Muhammad; Jo, Kyung Jae; Kim, Hyun Gi; Jeen Hong, Sang
2018-06-01
An optical in situ process monitoring method for the early detection of anomalies in plasma process equipment is presented. Cyclic process steps of precursor treatment and plasma reaction for the deposition of an angstrom-scale film increase their complexity to ensure the process quality. However, a small deviation in process parameters, for instance, gas flow rate, process temperature, or RF power, may jeopardize the deposited film quality. As a test vehicle for the process monitoring, we have investigated the aluminum-oxide (Al2O3) encapsulation process in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) to form a moisture and oxygen diffusion barrier in organic-light emitting diodes (OLEDs). By optical in situ monitoring, we successfully identified the reduction in oxygen flow rates in the reaction steps, which resulted in a 2.67 times increase in the water vapor transmission ratio (WVTR) of the deposited Al2O3 films. Therefore, we are convinced that the suggested in situ monitoring method is useful for the detection of process shifts or drifts that adversely affect PEALD film quality.
Dong, Tao; Yu, Liang; Gao, Difeng; Yu, Xiaochen; Miao, Chao; Zheng, Yubin; Lian, Jieni; Li, Tingting; Chen, Shulin
2015-12-01
Accurate determination of fatty acid contents is routinely required in microalgal and yeast biofuel studies. A method of rapid in situ fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derivatization directly from wet fresh microalgal and yeast biomass was developed in this study. This method does not require prior solvent extraction or dehydration. FAMEs were prepared with a sequential alkaline hydrolysis (15 min at 85 °C) and acidic esterification (15 min at 85 °C) process. The resulting FAMEs were extracted into n-hexane and analyzed using gas chromatography. The effects of each processing parameter (temperature, reaction time, and water content) upon the lipids quantification in the alkaline hydrolysis step were evaluated with a full factorial design. This method could tolerate water content up to 20% (v/v) in total reaction volume, which equaled up to 1.2 mL of water in biomass slurry (with 0.05-25 mg of fatty acid). There were no significant differences in FAME quantification (p>0.05) between the standard AOAC 991.39 method and the proposed wet in situ FAME preparation method. This fatty acid quantification method is applicable to fresh wet biomass of a wide range of microalgae and yeast species.
Tang, Yuting; Zhang, Yue; Rosenberg, Julian N.; ...
2016-11-08
Microalgae are a valuable source of lipid feedstocks for biodiesel and valuable omega-3 fatty acids. Nannochloropsis gaditana has emerged as a promising producer of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) due to its fast growth rate and high EPA content. In the present study, the fatty acid profile of Nannochloropsis gaditana was found to be naturally high in EPA and devoid of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), thereby providing an opportunity to maximize the efficacy of EPA production. Using an optimized one-step in situ transesterification method (methanol:biomass = 90 mL/g; HCl 5% by vol.; 70 °C; 1.5 h), the maximum fatty acid methyl ester (FAME)more » yield of Nannochloropsis gaditana cultivated under rich condition was quantified as 10.04% ± 0.08% by weight with EPA-yields as high as 4.02% ± 0.17% based on dry biomass. The total FAME and EPA yields were 1.58- and 1.23-fold higher separately than that obtained using conventional two-step method (solvent system: methanol and chloroform). Furthermore, this one-step in situ method provides a fast and simple method to measure fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yields and could serve as a promising method to generate eicosapentaenoic acid methyl ester from microalgae.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Tang, Yuting; Zhang, Yue; Rosenberg, Julian N.
Microalgae are a valuable source of lipid feedstocks for biodiesel and valuable omega-3 fatty acids. Nannochloropsis gaditana has emerged as a promising producer of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) due to its fast growth rate and high EPA content. In the present study, the fatty acid profile of Nannochloropsis gaditana was found to be naturally high in EPA and devoid of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), thereby providing an opportunity to maximize the efficacy of EPA production. Using an optimized one-step in situ transesterification method (methanol:biomass = 90 mL/g; HCl 5% by vol.; 70 °C; 1.5 h), the maximum fatty acid methyl ester (FAME)more » yield of Nannochloropsis gaditana cultivated under rich condition was quantified as 10.04% ± 0.08% by weight with EPA-yields as high as 4.02% ± 0.17% based on dry biomass. The total FAME and EPA yields were 1.58- and 1.23-fold higher separately than that obtained using conventional two-step method (solvent system: methanol and chloroform). Furthermore, this one-step in situ method provides a fast and simple method to measure fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yields and could serve as a promising method to generate eicosapentaenoic acid methyl ester from microalgae.« less
Song, Biao; Zeng, Guangming; Gong, Jilai; Liang, Jie; Xu, Piao; Liu, Zhifeng; Zhang, Yi; Zhang, Chen; Cheng, Min; Liu, Yang; Ye, Shujing; Yi, Huan; Ren, Xiaoya
2017-08-01
Soil and sediment contamination has become a critical issue worldwide due to its great harm to the ecological environment and public health. In recent years, many remediation technologies including physical, chemical, biological, and combined methods have been proposed and adopted for the purpose of solving the problems of soil and sediment contamination. However, current research on evaluation methods for assessing these remediation technologies is scattered and lacks valid and integrated evaluation methods for assessing the remediation effectiveness. This paper provides a comprehensive review with an environmental perspective on the evaluation methods for assessing the effectiveness of in situ remediation of soil and sediment contaminated with organic pollutants and heavy metals. The review systematically summarizes recent exploration and attempts of the remediation effectiveness assessment based on the content of pollutants, soil and sediment characteristics, and ecological risks. Moreover, limitations and future research needs of the practical assessment are discussed. These limitations are not conducive to the implementation of the abatement and control programs for soil and sediment contamination. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the evaluation methods for assessing the remediation effectiveness while developing new in situ remediation technologies in future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Poudel, Diwakar; Johnsen, Fred H
2009-01-01
Crop genetic resources constitute an important aspect of biodiversity conservation, both because of their direct value to the farmers and due to their indirect global value. This study uses the contingent valuation method to document the economic value of crop genetic resources based on the farmers' willingness to pay for conservation. A total of 107 households in Kaski, Nepal were surveyed in November 2003. Their mean willingness to pay was USD 4.18 for in situ and USD 2.20 for ex situ conservation per annum. Landholding size, household size, education level, socio-economic status, sex of respondent, number of crop landraces grown, and knowledge on biodiversity influenced the willingness to pay for in situ conservation, whereas only landholding size and household size influenced the willingness to pay for ex situ conservation. The respondents were willing to contribute more for in situ than ex situ conservation because of the additional effect of direct use and direct involvement of the farmers in in situ conservation. This study supports the view that economic valuation of crop genetic resources can assist the policy makers in setting conservation priorities.
Mineralization of Carbon Dioxide: Literature Review
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Romanov, V; Soong, Y; Carney, C
2015-01-01
CCS research has been focused on CO2 storage in geologic formations, with many potential risks. An alternative to conventional geologic storage is carbon mineralization, where CO2 is reacted with metal cations to form carbonate minerals. Mineralization methods can be broadly divided into two categories: in situ and ex situ. In situ mineralization, or mineral trapping, is a component of underground geologic sequestration, in which a portion of the injected CO2 reacts with alkaline rock present in the target formation to form solid carbonate species. In ex situ mineralization, the carbonation reaction occurs above ground, within a separate reactor or industrialmore » process. This literature review is meant to provide an update on the current status of research on CO2 mineralization. 2« less
Signal processing methods for in-situ creep specimen monitoring
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guers, Manton J.; Tittmann, Bernhard R.
2018-04-01
Previous work investigated using guided waves for monitoring creep deformation during accelerated life testing. The basic objective was to relate observed changes in the time-of-flight to changes in the environmental temperature and specimen gage length. The work presented in this paper investigated several signal processing strategies for possible application in the in-situ monitoring system. Signal processing methods for both group velocity (wave-packet envelope) and phase velocity (peak tracking) time-of-flight were considered. Although the Analytic Envelope found via the Hilbert transform is commonly applied for group velocity measurements, erratic behavior in the indicated time-of-flight was observed when this technique was applied to the in-situ data. The peak tracking strategies tested had generally linear trends, and tracking local minima in the raw waveform ultimately showed the most consistent results.
Evaluation of UV-fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS for precise in situ copper isotopic microanalysis of cubanite.
Ikehata, Kei; Hirata, Takafumi
2013-01-01
We evaluated the capabilities of an in situ method for measuring copper isotopes of cubanite using UV-fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS. A comparison of the UV-fs laser results with those obtained from the NIR-fs laser system shows that there is obviously an improvement in the precision (<0.10‰, 2SE) when using the UV-fs laser. In both wavelength modes, matrix-matched standards are required for reliable in situ copper isotope analysis of cubanite. This method was applied to determinations for copper isotopes of minute cubanite grains in a skarn ore. Copper isotopic ratios of cubanite grains near a weathered surface of the sample are lower than those of intact cubanite grains within the sample, suggesting that selective leaching of heavier copper isotope in primary minerals occurred during weathering.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Matsunaga, Tsuneo
1993-01-01
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a Japanese future imaging sensor which has five channels in thermal infrared (TIR) region. To extract spectral emissivity information from ASTER and/or TIMS data, various temperature-emissivity (T-E) separation methods have been developed to date. Most of them require assumptions on surface emissivity, in which emissivity measured in a laboratory is often used instead of in-situ pixel-averaged emissivity. But if these two emissivities are different, accuracies of separated emissivity and surface temperature are reduced. In this study, the difference between laboratory and in-situ pixel-averaged emissivity and its effect on T-E separation are discussed. TIMS data of an area containing both rocks and vegetation were also processed to retrieve emissivity spectra using two T-E separation methods.
Methods and systems for in-situ electroplating of electrodes
Zappi, Guillermo Daniel; Zarnoch, Kenneth Paul; Huntley, Christian Andrew; Swalla, Dana Ray
2015-06-02
The present techniques provide electrochemical devices having enhanced electrodes with surfaces that facilitate operation, such as by formation of a porous nickel layer on an operative surface, particularly of the cathode. The porous metal layer increases the surface area of the electrode, which may result in increasing the efficiency of the electrochemical devices. The formation of the porous metal layer is performed in situ, that is, after the assembly of the electrodes into an electrochemical device. The in situ process offers a number of advantages, including the ability to protect the porous metal layer on the electrode surface from damage during assembly of the electrochemical device. The enhanced electrode and the method for its processing may be used in any number of electrochemical devices, and is particularly well suited for electrodes in an electrolyzer useful for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Wang, Shuo; Jeon, Oju; Shankles, Peter G.; ...
2016-02-03
Here, we present a simple microfluidic technique to in-situ photopolymerize (by 365 nm ultraviolet) monodisperse oxidized methacrylated alginate (OMA) microgels using a photoinitiator (VA-086). By this technique, we generated monodisperse spherical OMA beads and discoid non-spherical beads with better shape consistency than ionic crosslinking methods do. We found that a high monomer concentration (8 w/v %), a high photoinitiator concentration (1.5 w/v %) and absence of oxygen are critical factors to cure OMA microgels. This photopolymerizing method is an alternative to current methods to form alginate microgels and is a simpler approach to generate non-spherical alginate microgels.
Method for maximizing shale oil recovery from an underground formation
Sisemore, Clyde J.
1980-01-01
A method for maximizing shale oil recovery from an underground oil shale formation which has previously been processed by in situ retorting such that there is provided in the formation a column of substantially intact oil shale intervening between adjacent spent retorts, which method includes the steps of back filling the spent retorts with an aqueous slurry of spent shale. The slurry is permitted to harden into a cement-like substance which stabilizes the spent retorts. Shale oil is then recovered from the intervening column of intact oil shale by retorting the column in situ, the stabilized spent retorts providing support for the newly developed retorts.
Apparatus for in-situ calibration of instruments that measure fluid depth
Campbell, Melvin D.
1994-01-01
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for in-situ calibration of distance measuring equipment. The method comprises obtaining a first distance measurement in a first location, then obtaining at least one other distance measurement in at least one other location of a precisely known distance from the first location, and calculating a calibration constant. The method is applied specifically to calculating a calibration constant for obtaining fluid level and embodied in an apparatus using a pressure transducer and a spacer of precisely known length. The calibration constant is used to calculate the depth of a fluid from subsequent single pressure measurements at any submerged position.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wu Shioumin; Kruijs, Robbert van de; Zoethout, Erwin
Ion sputtering yields for Ru, Mo, and Si under Ar{sup +} ion bombardment in the near-threshold energy range have been studied using an in situ weight-loss method with a Kaufman ion source, Faraday cup, and quartz crystal microbalance. The results are compared to theoretical models. The accuracy of the in situ weight-loss method was verified by thickness-decrease measurements using grazing incidence x-ray reflectometry, and results from both methods are in good agreement. These results provide accurate data sets for theoretical modeling in the near-threshold sputter regime and are of relevance for (optical) surfaces exposed to plasmas, as, for instance, inmore » extreme ultraviolet photolithography.« less
Do we really need in-situ bioassays?
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Salazar, M.H.; Salazar, S.M.
1995-12-31
In-situ bioassays are needed to validate the results from laboratory testing and to understand biological interactions. Standard laboratory protocols provide reproducible test results, and the precision of those tests can be mathematically defined. Significant correlations between toxic substances and levels of response (bioaccumulation and bioeffects) have also been demonstrated with natural field populations and suggest that the laboratory results can accurately predict field responses. An equal number of studies have shown a lack of correlation between laboratory bioassay results and responses of natural field populations. The best way to validate laboratory results is with manipulative field testing; i.e., in-situ bioassaysmore » with caged organisms. Bioaccumulation in transplanted bivalves has probably been the most frequently used form of an in-situ bioassay. The authors have refined those methods to include synoptic measurements of bioaccumulation and growth. Growth provides an easily-measured bioeffects endpoint and a means of calibrating bioaccumulation. Emphasis has been on minimizing the size range of test animals, repetitive measurements of individuals and standardization of test protocols for a variety of applications. They are now attempting to standardize criteria for accepting and interpreting data in the same way that laboratory bioassays have been standardized. Others have developed methods for in-situ bioassays using eggs, larvae, unicellular organisms, crustaceans, benthic invertebrates, bivalves, and fish. In the final analysis, the in-situ approach could be considered as an exposure system where any clinical measurements are possible. The most powerful approach would be to use the same species in laboratory and field experiments with the same endpoints.« less
Target-strength Measurements of Sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yoon, Eun-A.; Lee, Kyounghoon; Oh, Wooseok; Choi, Junghwa; Hwang, Kangseok; Kang, Myounghee
2018-03-01
The goal of this study was to estimate the target strength (TS) of the sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus using in-situ and ex-situ methods with an echosounder. For the in-situ TS measurement, the survey was conducted by taking hydroacoustic measurements at 38 and 120 kHz and using a coastal gill net, in Goseong, in the northeastern sea of Korea in early December 2009. Ex-situ measurement of TS used live specimens and the tethering method, and was conducted at 120 kHz. The distribution of fork length (FL) was bimodal: 14.6-19.8 cm (n = 241 individuals, mean = 17.0 cm) for males and 16.3-24.5 cm (n = 105 individuals, mean = 19.6 cm) for females. The in-situ TS ranged from -79.8 to -59.1 dB (mean = -74.3 dB for males and -64.1 dB for females) at 38 kHz and -79.9 to -56.2 dB (mean = -74.3 dB for males and -64.1 dB for females) at 120 kHz. The mean TS of females was approximately 10 dB higher than that of males at each dominant frequency. The female ex-situ TS values ranged from 68.5 to -54.6 dB, and those of males was from -67.7 to -59.3 dB. The mean TS value for females was 2.9 dB higher than that of males. These results may be used in echo-integration surveys of sandfish to estimate their abundance and seasonal distribution.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Harikrishnan, R.; Hareland, G.; Warpinski, N.R.
This paper evaluates the correlation between values of minimum principal in situ stress derived from two different models which use data obtained from triaxial core tests and coefficient for earth at rest correlations. Both models use triaxial laboratory tests with different confining pressures. The first method uses a vcrified fit to the Mohr failure envelope as a function of average rock grain size, which was obtained from detailed microscopic analyses. The second method uses the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Both approaches give an angle in internal friction which is used to calculate the coefficient for earth at rest which gives themore » minimum principal in situ stress. The minimum principal in situ stress is then compared to actual field mini-frac test data which accurately determine the minimum principal in situ stress and are used to verify the accuracy of the correlations. The cores and the mini-frac stress test were obtained from two wells, the Gas Research Institute`s (GRIs) Staged Field Experiment (SFE) no. 1 well through the Travis Peak Formation in the East Texas Basin, and the Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Multiwell Experiment (MWX) wells located west-southwest of the town of Rifle, Colorado, near the Rulison gas field. Results from this study indicates that the calculated minimum principal in situ stress values obtained by utilizing the rock failure envelope as a function of average rock grain size correlation are in better agreement with the measured stress values (from mini-frac tests) than those obtained utilizing Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion.« less
Method for in situ gasification of a subterranean coal bed
Shuck, Lowell Z.
1977-05-31
The method of the present invention relates to providing controlled directional bores in subterranean earth formations, especially coal beds for facilitating in situ gasification operations. Boreholes penetrating the coal beds are interconnected by laser-drilled bores disposed in various arrays at selected angles to the major permeability direction in the coal bed. These laser-drilled bores are enlarged by fracturing prior to the gasification of the coal bed to facilitate the establishing of combustion zones of selected configurations in the coal bed for maximizing the efficiency of the gasification operation.
Fluorescent in situ hybridisation to amphioxus chromosomes.
Castro, Luis Filipe Costa; Holland, Peter William Harold
2002-12-01
We describe an efficient protocol for mapping genes and other DNA sequences to amphioxus chromosomes using fluorescent in situ hybridisation. We apply this method to identify the number and location of ribosomal DNA gene clusters and telomere sequences in metaphase spreads of Branchiostoma floridae. We also describe how the locations of two single copy genes can be mapped relative to each other, and demonstrate this by mapping an amphioxus Pax gene relative to a homologue of the Notch gene. These methods have great potential for performing comparative genomics between amphioxus and vertebrates.
Compositions produced using an in situ heat treatment process
Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria; Nair, Vijay; Munsterman, Erwin Hunh; Van Bergen, Petrus Franciscus; Van Den Berg, Franciscus Gondulfus Antonius
2013-05-28
Methods for treating a subsurface formation and compositions produced therefrom are described herein. At least one method for producing hydrocarbons from a subsurface formation includes providing heat to the subsurface formation using an in situ heat treatment process. One or more formation particles may be formed during heating of the subsurface formation. Fluid that includes hydrocarbons and the formation particles may be produced from the subsurface formation. The formation particles in the produced fluid may include cenospheres and have an average particle size of at least 0.5 micrometers.
Compositions produced using an in situ heat treatment process
Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria [Houston, TX; Nair, Vijay [Katy, TX; Munsterman, Erwin Henh [Amsterdam, NL; Van Bergen, Petrus Franciscus [Amsterdam, NL; Van Den Berg, Franciscus Gondulfus Antonius
2009-10-20
Systems, methods, and heaters for treating a subsurface formation are described herein. At least one method for producing hydrocarbons from a subsurface formation includes providing heat to the subsurface formation using an in situ heat treatment process. One or more formation particles may be formed during heating of the subsurface formation. Fluid that includes hydrocarbons and the formation particles may be produced from the subsurface formation. The formation particles in the produced fluid may include cenospheres and have an average particle size of at least 0.5 micrometers.
Steven Oak; Jaesoon Hwang; Steven Jeffers
2013-01-01
In situ baiting with whole, intact leaves of Rhododendron spp. has been employed since 2006 by the National Phytophthora ramorum Early Detection survey of forests (national survey). Using this method, P. ramorum was detected for the first time in national survey waterways draining 12 infested ornamental...
Hao Liu; J. Y. Zhu; X. S. Chai
2011-01-01
This study demonstrated two in situ UV-vis spectrophotometric methods for rapid and temporally resolved measurements of cellulase adsorption onto cellulosic and lignocellulosic substrates during enzymatic hydrolysis. The cellulase protein absorption peak at 280 nm was used for quantification. The spectral interferences from light scattering by small fibers (fines) and...
In situ ZnO-PVA nanocomposite coated microfluidic chips for biosensing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Habouti, Salah; Kunstmann-Olsen, Casper; Hoyland, James D.; Rubahn, Horst-Günter; Es-Souni, Mohammed
2014-05-01
Microfluidic chips with integrated fluid and optical connectors have been generated via a simple PDMS master-mould technique. In situ coating using a Zinc oxide polyvinylalcohol based sol-gel method results in ultrathin nanocomposite layers on the fluid channels, which makes them strongly hydrophilic and minimizes auto contamination of the chips by injected fluorescent biomarkers.
Kobler, Aaron; Kübel, Christian
2018-01-01
To relate the internal structure of a volume (crystallite and phase boundaries) to properties (electrical, magnetic, mechanical, thermal), a full 3D reconstruction in combination with in situ testing is desirable. In situ testing allows the crystallographic changes in a material to be followed by tracking and comparing the individual crystals and phases. Standard transmission electron microscopy (TEM) delivers a projection image through the 3D volume of an electron-transparent TEM sample lamella. Only with the help of a dedicated TEM tomography sample holder is an accurate 3D reconstruction of the TEM lamella currently possible. 2D crystal orientation mapping has become a standard method for crystal orientation and phase determination while 3D crystal orientation mapping have been reported only a few times. The combination of in situ testing with 3D crystal orientation mapping remains a challenge in terms of stability and accuracy. Here, we outline a method to 3D reconstruct the crystal orientation from a superimposed diffraction pattern of overlapping crystals without sample tilt. Avoiding the typically required tilt series for 3D reconstruction enables not only faster in situ tests but also opens the possibility for more stable and more accurate in situ mechanical testing. The approach laid out here should serve as an inspiration for further research and does not make a claim to be complete.
In situ, dual-mode monitoring of organ-on-a-chip with smartphone-based fluorescence microscope.
Cho, Soohee; Islas-Robles, Argel; Nicolini, Ariana M; Monks, Terrence J; Yoon, Jeong-Yeol
2016-12-15
The use of organ-on-a-chip (OOC) platforms enables improved simulation of the human kidney's response to nephrotoxic drugs. The standard method of analyzing nephrotoxicity from existing OOC has majorly consisted of invasively collecting samples (cells, lysates, media, etc.) from an OOC. Such disruptive analyses potentiate contamination, disrupt the replicated in vivo environment, and require expertize to execute. Moreover, traditional analyses, including immunofluorescence microscopy, immunoblot, and microplate immunoassay are essentially not in situ and require substantial time, resources, and costs. In the present work, the incorporation of fluorescence nanoparticle immunocapture/immunoagglutination assay into an OOC enabled dual-mode monitoring of drug-induced nephrotoxicity in situ. A smartphone-based fluorescence microscope was fabricated as a handheld in situ monitoring device attached to an OOC. Both the presence of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) on the apical brush-border membrane of 786-O proximal tubule cells within the OOC surface, and the release of GGT to the outflow of the OOC were evaluated with the fluorescence scatter detection of captured and immunoagglutinated anti-GGT conjugated nanoparticles. This dual-mode assay method provides a novel groundbreaking tool to enable the internal and external in situ monitoring of the OOC, which may be integrated into any existing OOCs to facilitate their subsequent analyses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Zhenhua; Li, Cong; Xiao, Qingmei; Liu, Ping; Fang, Ding; Mao, Hongmin; Wu, Jing; Zhao, Dongye; Ding, Hongbin; Luo, Guang-Nan; EAST Team
2017-02-01
Post-mortem methods cannot fulfill the requirement of monitoring the lifetime of the plasma facing components (PFC) and measuring the tritium inventory for the safety evaluation. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is proposed as a promising method for the in situ study of fuel retention and impurity deposition in a tokamak. In this study, an in situ LIBS system was successfully established on EAST to investigate fuel retention and impurity deposition on the first wall without the need of removal tiles between plasma discharges. Spectral lines of D, H and impurities (Mo, Li, Si, … ) in laser-induced plasma were observed and identified within the wavelength range of 500-700 nm. Qualitative measurements such as thickness of the deposition layers, element depth profile and fuel retention on the wall are obtained by means of in situ LIBS. The results demonstrated the potential applications of LIBS for in situ characterization of fuel retention and co-deposition on the first wall of EAST. Supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China (Nos. 2013GB105002, 2015GB109001, and 2013GB109005), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11575243, 11605238, 11605023), Chinesisch-Deutsches Forschungs Project (GZ765), and Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science and Technology (KRCF) under the international collaboration & research in Asian countries (PG1314).
Bench, Thomas R.; McCann, Larry D.
1989-01-01
A method for the in situ decontamination of underground water containing -volatile contaminants comprising continuously contacting in situ underground water containing non-volatile contaminants with a liquid-absorbent material possessing high capillary activity, allowing the non-volatile contaminants to deposit in the material while the water moves upwardly through the material by capillary action, allowing substantially decontaminated water to be volatilized by impinging solar radiation, and then allowing the volatilized water to escape from the material into the atmosphere. An apparatus for the in situ decontamination of underground water containing non-volatile contaminants comprising at least one water-impermeable elongated conduit having an upper portion and first and second open ends and containing a homogeneous liquid-absorbent material possessing high capillary activity, means for supporting said conduit, and means for accelerating the escape of the volatilized decontamined water from the material, said means being detachably connected to the second end of the elongated conduit; wherein when underground water contaminated with non-volatile contaminants is continuously contacted in situ with the material contained in the first end of the conduit and the second end of the conduit is placed in contact with atmospheric air, non-volatile contaminants deposit in said material as the water moves upwardly through the material by capillary action, is then volatilized by impinging solar energy and escapes to the atmosphere.
Electrical resisitivity of mechancially stablized earth wall backfill
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Snapp, Michael; Tucker-Kulesza, Stacey; Koehn, Weston
2017-06-01
Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls utilized in transportation projects are typically backfilled with coarse aggregate. One of the current testing procedures to select backfill material for construction of MSE walls is the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standard T 288: ;Standard Method of Test for Determining Minimum Laboratory Soil Resistivity.; T 288 is designed to test a soil sample's electrical resistivity which correlates to its corrosive potential. The test is run on soil material passing the No. 10 sieve and believed to be inappropriate for coarse aggregate. Therefore, researchers have proposed new methods to measure the electrical resistivity of coarse aggregate samples in the laboratory. There is a need to verify that the proposed methods yield results representative of the in situ conditions; however, no in situ measurement of the electrical resistivity of MSE wall backfill is established. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) provides a two-dimensional (2D) profile of the bulk resistivity of backfill material in situ. The objective of this study was to characterize bulk resistivity of in-place MSE wall backfill aggregate using ERT. Five MSE walls were tested via ERT to determine the bulk resistivity of the backfill. Three of the walls were reinforced with polymeric geogrid, one wall was reinforced with metallic strips, and one wall was a gravity retaining wall with no reinforcement. Variability of the measured resistivity distribution within the backfill may be a result of non-uniform particle sizes, thoroughness of compaction, and the presence of water. A quantitative post processing algorithm was developed to calculate mean bulk resistivity of in-situ backfill. Recommendations of the study were that the ERT data be used to verify proposed testing methods for coarse aggregate that are designed to yield data representative of in situ conditions. A preliminary analysis suggests that ERT may be utilized as construction quality assurance for thoroughness of compaction in MSE construction; however more data are needed at this time.
Kim, Hun Young; Salvi, Luca; Carroll, Patrick J.; Walsh, Patrick J.
2009-01-01
Highly enantio- and diastereoselective methods for the synthesis of a variety of cyclopropyl alcohols are reported. These methods represent the first one-pot approaches to syn-vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols, syn-cis-disubstituted cyclopropyl alcohols, and anti-cyclopropyl alcohols from achiral precursors. The methods begin with enantioselective C–C bond formations promoted by a MIB-based zinc catalyst to generate allylic alkoxide intermediates. The intermediates are then subjected to in situ alkoxide-directed cyclopropanation to provide cyclopropyl alcohols. In the synthesis of vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols, hydroboration of enynes is followed by transmetalation of the resulting dienylborane to zinc to provide dienylzinc reagents. Enantioselective addition to aldehydes generates the requisite dienyl zinc alkoxides, which are then subjected to in situ cyclopropanation to furnish vinyl cyclopropyl alcohols. Cyclopropanation occurs at the double bond allylic to the alkoxide. Using this method, syn-vinylcyclopropyl alcohols are obtained in 65–85% yield, 76–93% ee, and >19:1 dr. To prepare anti-cyclopropanols, enantioselective addition of alkylzinc reagents to conjugated enals provides allylic zinc alkoxides. Because direct cyclopropanation provides syn-cyclopropyl alcohols, the intermediate allylic alkoxides were treated with TMSCl/Et3N to generate intermediate silyl ethers. In situ cyclopropanation of the allylic silyl ether resulted in cyclopropanation to form the anti-cyclopropyl silyl ether. Workup with TBAF affords the anti-cyclopropyl alcohols in one-pot in 60–82% yield, 89–99% ee, and ≥10:1 dr. For the synthesis of cis-disubstituted cyclopropyl alcohols, in situ generated (Z)-vinyl zinc reagents were employed in asymmetric addition to aldehydes to generate (Z)-allylic zinc alkoxides. In situ cyclopropanation provides syn-cis-disubstituted cyclopropyl alcohols in 42–70% yield, 88–97% ee, and >19:1 dr. These one-pot procedures enable the synthesis of a diverse array of cyclopropyl alcohol building blocks with high enantio- and diastereoselectivities. PMID:19954146
Ji, Zhenwei; Ma, Yunlei; Li, Wei; Li, Xiaoxiang; Zhao, Guangyi; Yun, Zhe; Qian, Jixian; Fan, Qingyu
2012-01-01
Limb-salvage surgery has been well recognized as a standard treatment and alternative to amputation for patients with malignant bone tumors. Various limb-sparing techniques have been developed including tumor prosthesis, allograft, autograft and graft-prosthesis composite. However, each of these methods has short- and long-term disadvantages such as nonunion, mechanical failures and poor limb function. The technique of intracorporeal devitalization of tumor-bearing bone segment in situ by microwave-induced hyperthermia after separating it from surrounding normal tissues with a safe margin is a promising limb-salvage method, which may avoid some shortcomings encountered by the above-mentioned conventional techniques. The purpose of this study is to assess the healing process and revitalization potential of the devitalized bone segment by this method in a dog model. In addition, the immediate effect of microwave on the biomechanical properties of bone tissue was also explored in an in vitro experiment. We applied the microwave-induced hyperthermia to devitalize the distal femurs of dogs in situ. Using a monopole microwave antenna, we could produce a necrotic bone of nearly 20 mm in length in distal femur. Radiography, bone scintigraphy, microangiography, histology and functional evaluation were performed at 2 weeks and 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months postoperatively to assess the healing process. In a biomechanical study, two kinds of bone specimens, 3 and 6 cm in length, were used for compression and three-point bending test respectively immediately after extracorporeally devitalized by microwave. An in vivo study showed that intracorporeally and in situ devitalized bone segment by microwave had great revitalization potential. An in vitro study revealed that the initial mechanical strength of the extracorporeally devitalized bone specimen may not be affected by microwave. Our results suggest that the intracorporeal microwave devitalization of tumor-bearing bone segment in situ may be a promising limb-salvage method.
Wei, Erin X.; Qureshi, Abrar A.; Han, Jiali; Li, Tricia Y.; Cho, Eunyoung; Lin, Jennifer Y.; Li, Wen-Qing
2016-01-01
Background The incidence of melanoma in situ is rising, but little is known about its characteristics. Objective To determine trends in diagnosis and clinical features of melanoma in situ. Methods Incident cases of melanoma were collected prospectively from the Nurses’ Health Study from 1976–2010 and Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986–2010. Results MIS incidence increased from 2 to 42 per 100,000-person-year (100KPY) among women, and from 11 to 73 per 100KPY among men, exceeding the rate of increase of invasive melanomas. Melanoma mortality initially increased during the follow-up period then plateaued. Men were more likely than women to develop in situ melanomas on upper half of the body (p<0.001). Invasive melanomas were diagnosed at a younger age than melanoma in situ (p<0.001), and were more likely to be found on the lower extremities than in situ melanomas (p<0.001). Limitations This is a strictly descriptive study without examination into mechanisms. Conclusion We found epidemiologic and clinical differences in in situ and invasive melanomas, which support further examination into the variations in etiologic pathways. The lack of improvement in mortality despite increase in detection of in situ relative to invasive lesions further highlight the need to improve invasive melanoma-specific clinical screening features. PMID:27436155
Kopach, Olga; Krotov, Volodymyr; Voitenko, Nana
2017-10-01
Catheterization has been widely used in neuroscience and pain research for local drug delivery. Though different modifications were developed, the use of young animals for spinal catheterization remains limited because of a little success rate. A reliable technique is needed to catheterize young animals aimed for in vivo testing combined with spinal cord electrophysiology, often limited by animal age, to facilitate pain research. We describe intrathecal catheterization of young rats (3-week-old) through atlanto-occipical approach for long-lasting drug delivery into the lumbar subarachnoid space. The technique represents a surgical approach of minimized invasiveness that requires PE-10 catheter and few equipment of standard laboratory use. Behavioral assessments revealed that spinal catheterization does not change peripheral sensitivity of different modalities (thermal and mechanical) and gives no rise to locomotive deficit or anxiety-like behavior in young rats. The long-term administration of genetic material (oligodeoxynucleotides given up to 4days), examined both in vivo and in situ, produced no adverse effects on basal peripheral sensitivity, but changed the AMPA receptor-mediated currents in sensory interneurons of the spinal cord. Dissimilar to already described methods, the method is designed for the use of young rats for behavioral testing in vivo and/or spinal cord electrophysiology in situ. A practical method for spinal catheterization of young animals designed for studies in vivo and in situ is proposed. The method is rapid and effective and should facilitate investigation of therapeutic effects on both systemic and subcellular levels, as an advantage over the existing methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Zhao, W; Busto, R; Truettner, J; Ginsberg, M D
2001-07-30
The analysis of pixel-based relationships between local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and mRNA expression can reveal important insights into brain function. Traditionally, LCBF and in situ hybridization studies for genes of interest have been analyzed in separate series. To overcome this limitation and to increase the power of statistical analysis, this study focused on developing a double-label method to measure local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and gene expressions simultaneously by means of a dual-autoradiography procedure. A 14C-iodoantipyrine autoradiographic LCBF study was first performed. Serial brain sections (12 in this study) were obtained at multiple coronal levels and were processed in the conventional manner to yield quantitative LCBF images. Two replicate sections at each bregma level were then used for in situ hybridization. To eliminate the 14C-iodoantipyrine from these sections, a chloroform-washout procedure was first performed. The sections were then processed for in situ hybridization autoradiography for the probes of interest. This method was tested in Wistar rats subjected to 12 min of global forebrain ischemia by two-vessel occlusion plus hypotension, followed by 2 or 6 h of reperfusion (n=4-6 per group). LCBF and in situ hybridization images for heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) were generated for each rat, aligned by disparity analysis, and analyzed on a pixel-by-pixel basis. This method yielded detailed inter-modality correlation between LCBF and HSP70 mRNA expressions. The advantages of this method include reducing the number of experimental animals by one-half; and providing accurate pixel-based correlations between different modalities in the same animals, thus enabling paired statistical analyses. This method can be extended to permit correlation of LCBF with the expression of multiple genes of interest.
Custer, Kevin W; Burton, G Allen; Coelho, Ricardo S; Smith, Preston R
2006-09-01
Determining toxicity in streams during storm-water runoff can be highly problematic because of the fluctuating exposures of a multitude of stressors and the difficulty of linking these dynamic exposures with biological effects. An underlying problem with assessing storm-water quality is determining if toxicity exists and then which contaminant is causing the toxicity. The goal of this research is to provide an alternative to standard toxicity testing methods by incorporating an in situ toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) approach. A benthic in situ TIE bioassay (BiTIE) was developed for separating key chemical classes of stressors in streams during both low- and high-flow events to help discern between point and nonpoint sources of pollution. This BiTIE method allows for chemical class fractionation through the use of resins, and these resins are relatively specific for removing nonpolar organics (Dowex Optipore), ammonia (zeolite), and polywool (control). Three indigenous aquatic insects, a mayfly (Isonychia spp.), a caddisfly (Hydropsyche spp.), and a water beetle (Psephenus herricki), were placed in BiTIE chambers that were filled with natural substrates. Acute 96-h exposures were conducted at Honey Creek, New Carlisle, Ohio, USA (reference site), and Little Beavercreek, Beavercreek, Ohio, USA (impaired site). At both sites, significant (p < 0.025) stressor responses were observed using multiple species with polywool or no resin (control) treatments exhibiting < 80% survival and resin treatments with >80% survival. The BiTIE method showed stressor-response relationships in both runoff and base flow events during 96-h exposures. The method appears useful for discerning stressors with indigenous species in situ.
Pathak, Rupak; Koturbash, Igor; Hauer-Jensen, Martin
2017-01-01
Ionizing radiation (IR) induces numerous stable and unstable chromosomal aberrations. Unstable aberrations, where chromosome morphology is substantially compromised, can easily be identified by conventional chromosome staining techniques. However, detection of stable aberrations, which involve exchange or translocation of genetic materials without considerable modification in the chromosome morphology, requires sophisticated chromosome painting techniques that rely on in situ hybridization of fluorescently labeled DNA probes, a chromosome painting technique popularly known as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH probes can be specific for whole chromosome/s or precise sub-region on chromosome/s. The method not only allows visualization of stable aberrations, but it can also allow detection of the chromosome/s or specific DNA sequence/s involved in a particular aberration formation. A variety of chromosome painting techniques are available in cytogenetics; here two highly sensitive methods, multiple fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH) and spectral karyotyping (SKY), are discussed to identify inter-chromosomal stable aberrations that form in the bone marrow cells of mice after exposure to total body irradiation. Although both techniques rely on fluorescent labeled DNA probes, the method of detection and the process of image acquisition of the fluorescent signals are different. These two techniques have been used in various research areas, such as radiation biology, cancer cytogenetics, retrospective radiation biodosimetry, clinical cytogenetics, evolutionary cytogenetics, and comparative cytogenetics. PMID:28117817
Grudinina, N A; Sasina, L K; Noniashvili, E M; Neronova, E G; Pavlinova, L I; Suchkova, I O; Sofronov, G A; Patkin, E L
2015-01-01
Qualitative and quantitate analysis of DNA methylation in situ at the level of cells, chromosomes and chromosomal domains is extremely important for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, the study of ageing and the consequences of environmental impacts. An important question arises, whether the revealed in situ methylation pattern reflects DNA methylation per se and (or) availability of the DNA for antibodies, which in turn depends on the peculiarities of chromatin structure and chromosome condensation. These events can lead to an incorrect evaluation of the actual pattern of DNA methylation. To avoid this shortcoming as far as possible, we have modified the most widely used method of revealing 5-methylcytosine in situ with monoclonal antibodies. Here we have shown that the detection of DNA methylation staining of chromosomes including C-heterochromatin, chromosomal arms and sister chromatids is drastically dependent on pretreatment of chromosomal preparations for immunocytochemical study using fluorescent antibodies. Using undifferentiated stem cells of mouse embryonal carcinoma line F9, it has been found that change in preparations storage results in a sharp fluorescence decrease up to complete disappearance of the signal in centromeric heterochromatin. With the help of the method described in the work, we have first revealed the asymmetry of sister chromatids methylation in metaphase chromosomes of F9 cell and lymphocytes of human periphery blood. This may lead to asymmetry of transcriptional signature of daughter cells after division. The proposed here modification of 5-methylcytosine detection in situ provides a more complete characterization of methylation of chromosomes and chromosomal domains, compared to previously published methods.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Krauss, A.R.; Lin, Y.; Auciello, O.
1994-07-01
Low-energy (5--15 keV) pulsed ion beam surface analysis comprises several different surface spectroscopies which possess the ability to provide a remarkably wide range of information directly relevant to the growth of single and multicomponent semiconductor, metal and metal-oxide thin films and layered structures. Ion beam methods have not however, been widely used as an [ital in] [ital situ] monitor of thin film growth because existing commercial instrumentation causes excessive film damage, physically conflicts with the deposition equipment, and requires a chamber pressure [similar to]10[sup [minus]7]--10[sup [minus]8] Torr, i.e., much lower than that associated with most deposition processes ([ge]10[sup [minus]4] Torr).more » We have developed time-of-flight ion scattering and recoil spectroscopy (TOF-SARS) as a nondestructive, [ital in] [ital situ], real-time probe of thin film composition and structure which does not physically interfere with the deposition process. Several TOF-SARS implementations are exceptionally surface specific, yet in a properly designed system can yield high-resolution data at ambient pressures well in excess of 10 mTorr (4--6 orders of magnitude higher than conventional surface analytic methods). Because of the exceptional surface specificity of these methods, TOF-SARS is ideally suited as a means of studying ultrathin layers and atomically abrupt interfaces. TOF-SARS instrumentation designed specifically for use as an [ital in] [ital situ], real-time monitor of growth processes for single and multicomponent thin films and layered structures is described here. Representative data are shown for [ital in] [ital situ] analysis of Pb and Zr layers at room temperature and high vacuum, as well as under conditions appropriate to the growth of Pb(Zr[sub [ital x
In-situ electrochemical transmission electron microscopy for battery research.
Mehdi, B Layla; Gu, Meng; Parent, Lucas R; Xu, Wu; Nasybulin, Eduard N; Chen, Xilin; Unocic, Raymond R; Xu, Pinghong; Welch, David A; Abellan, Patricia; Zhang, Ji-Guang; Liu, Jun; Wang, Chong-Min; Arslan, Ilke; Evans, James; Browning, Nigel D
2014-04-01
The recent development of in-situ liquid stages for (scanning) transmission electron microscopes now makes it possible for us to study the details of electrochemical processes under operando conditions. As electrochemical processes are complex, care must be taken to calibrate the system before any in-situ/operando observations. In addition, as the electron beam can cause effects that look similar to electrochemical processes at the electrolyte/electrode interface, an understanding of the role of the electron beam in modifying the operando observations must also be understood. In this paper we describe the design, assembly, and operation of an in-situ electrochemical cell, paying particular attention to the method for controlling and quantifying the experimental parameters. The use of this system is then demonstrated for the lithiation/delithiation of silicon nanowires.
Rao, Siyuan; Xiu, Ruijie; Si, Jiangju; Lu, Shanfu; Yang, Meng; Xiang, Yan
2014-03-01
In situ synthesis is a powerful approach to control nanoparticle formation and consequently confers extraordinary properties upon composite membranes relative to conventional doping methods. Herein, uniform nanoparticles of cesium hydrogen salts of phosphotungstic acid (CsPW) are controllably synthesized in situ in Nafion to form CsPW–Nafion nanocomposite membranes with both improved proton conductivity and methanol-crossover suppression. A 101.3% increase of maximum power density has been achieved relative to pristine Nafion in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), indicating a potential pathway for large-scale fabrication of DMFC alternative membranes.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Mukai, K., E-mail: mukai.kiyofumi@LHD.nifs.ac.jp; Peterson, B. J.; SOKENDAI
The InfraRed imaging Video Bolometer (IRVB) is a useful diagnostic for the multi-dimensional measurement of plasma radiation profiles. For the application of IRVB measurement to the neutron environment in fusion plasma devices such as the Large Helical Device (LHD), in situ calibration of the thermal characteristics of the foil detector is required. Laser irradiation tests of sample foils show that the reproducibility and uniformity of the carbon coating for the foil were improved using a vacuum evaporation method. Also, the principle of the in situ calibration system was justified.
Evaluation of Methods for In-Situ Calibration of Field-Deployable Microphone Phased Arrays
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Humphreys, William M.; Lockard, David P.; Khorrami, Mehdi R.; Culliton, William G.; McSwain, Robert G.
2017-01-01
Current field-deployable microphone phased arrays for aeroacoustic flight testing require the placement of hundreds of individual sensors over a large area. Depending on the duration of the test campaign, the microphones may be required to stay deployed at the testing site for weeks or even months. This presents a challenge in regards to tracking the response (i.e., sensitivity) of the individual sensors as a function of time in order to evaluate the health of the array. To address this challenge, two different methods for in-situ tracking of microphone responses are described. The first relies on the use of an aerial sound source attached as a payload on a hovering small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) vehicle. The second relies on the use of individually excited ground-based sound sources strategically placed throughout the array pattern. Testing of the two methods was performed in microphone array deployments conducted at Fort A.P. Hill in 2015 and at Edwards Air Force Base in 2016. The results indicate that the drift in individual sensor responses can be tracked reasonably well using both methods. Thus, in-situ response tracking methods are useful as a diagnostic tool for monitoring the health of a phased array during long duration deployments.
Vendelbo, S B; Kooyman, P J; Creemer, J F; Morana, B; Mele, L; Dona, P; Nelissen, B J; Helveg, S
2013-10-01
In situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of solids under reactive gas conditions can be facilitated by microelectromechanical system devices called nanoreactors. These nanoreactors are windowed cells containing nanoliter volumes of gas at ambient pressures and elevated temperatures. However, due to the high spatial confinement of the reaction environment, traditional methods for measuring process parameters, such as the local temperature, are difficult to apply. To address this issue, we devise an electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) method that probes the local temperature of the reaction volume under inspection by the electron beam. The local gas density, as measured using quantitative EELS, is combined with the inherent relation between gas density and temperature, as described by the ideal gas law, to obtain the local temperature. Using this method we determined the temperature gradient in a nanoreactor in situ, while the average, global temperature was monitored by a traditional measurement of the electrical resistivity of the heater. The local gas temperatures had a maximum of 56 °C deviation from the global heater values under the applied conditions. The local temperatures, obtained with the proposed method, are in good agreement with predictions from an analytical model. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Improved Flotation Technique for Microscopy of In Situ Soil and Sediment Microorganisms
Bone, T. L.; Balkwill, D. L.
1986-01-01
An improved flotation method for microscopy of in situ soil and sediment microorganisms was developed. Microbial cells were released into gellike flotation films that were stripped from soil and sediment aggregates as these aggregates were submerged in 0.5% solutions of polyvinylpyrrolidone. The use of polyvinylpyrrolidone solutions instead of water facilitated the release of films from saturated samples such as aquifer sediments as well as from typical surface soils. In situ microbial morphological characteristics could then be surveyed rapidly by light microscopy of films stained with acridine orange. This method effectively determined the ranges of morphological diversity in a variety of sample types. It also detected microcolonies and other spatial relationships among microbial cells. Only a small fraction (3.4 to 10.1%) of the microflora was released into the flotation films, but plating and direct evaluations by microscopy showed that this fraction was representative of the total population. Images PMID:16347005
In situ induction of dendritic cell–based T cell tolerance in humanized mice and nonhuman primates
Jung, Kyeong Cheon; Jeon, Yoon Kyung; Ban, Young Larn; Min, Hye Sook; Kim, Eun Ji; Kim, Ju Hyun; Kang, Byung Hyun; Bae, Youngmee; Yoon, Il-Hee; Kim, Yong-Hee; Lee, Jae-Il; Kim, Jung-Sik; Shin, Jun-Seop; Yang, Jaeseok; Kim, Sung Joo; Rostlund, Emily; Muller, William A.
2011-01-01
Induction of antigen-specific T cell tolerance would aid treatment of diverse immunological disorders and help prevent allograft rejection and graft versus host disease. In this study, we establish a method of inducing antigen-specific T cell tolerance in situ in diabetic humanized mice and Rhesus monkeys receiving porcine islet xenografts. Antigen-specific T cell tolerance is induced by administration of an antibody ligating a particular epitope on ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule 1). Antibody-mediated ligation of ICAM-1 on dendritic cells (DCs) led to the arrest of DCs in a semimature stage in vitro and in vivo. Ablation of DCs from mice completely abrogated anti–ICAM-1–induced antigen-specific T cell tolerance. T cell responses to unrelated antigens remained unaffected. In situ induction of DC-mediated T cell tolerance using this method may represent a potent therapeutic tool for preventing graft rejection. PMID:22025302
In situ investigation of deformation mechanisms in magnesium-based metal matrix composites
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Farkas, Gergely; Choe, Heeman; Máthis, Kristián; Száraz, Zoltán; Noh, Yoonsook; Trojanová, Zuzanka; Minárik, Peter
2015-07-01
We studied the effect of short fibers on the mechanical properties of a magnesium alloy. In particular, deformation mechanisms in a Mg-Al-Sr alloy reinforced with short alumina fibers were studied in situ using neutron diffraction and acoustic emission methods. The fibers' plane orientation with respect to the loading axis was found to be a key parameter, which influences the acting deformation processes, such as twinning or dislocation slip. Furthermore, the twinning activity was much more significant in samples with parallel fiber plane orientation, which was confirmed by both acoustic emission and electron backscattering diffraction results. Neutron diffraction was also used to assist in analyzing the acoustic emission and electron backscattering diffraction results. The simultaneous application of the two in situ methods, neutron diffraction and acoustic emission, was found to be beneficial for obtaining complementary datasets about the twinning and dislocation slip in the magnesium alloys and composites used in this study.
OpenMC In Situ Source Convergence Detection
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Aldrich, Garrett Allen; Dutta, Soumya; Woodring, Jonathan Lee
2016-05-07
We designed and implemented an in situ version of particle source convergence for the OpenMC particle transport simulator. OpenMC is a Monte Carlo based-particle simulator for neutron criticality calculations. For the transport simulation to be accurate, source particles must converge on a spatial distribution. Typically, convergence is obtained by iterating the simulation by a user-settable, fixed number of steps, and it is assumed that convergence is achieved. We instead implement a method to detect convergence, using the stochastic oscillator for identifying convergence of source particles based on their accumulated Shannon Entropy. Using our in situ convergence detection, we are ablemore » to detect and begin tallying results for the full simulation once the proper source distribution has been confirmed. Our method ensures that the simulation is not started too early, by a user setting too optimistic parameters, or too late, by setting too conservative a parameter.« less
Method for forming an in situ oil shale retort with horizontal free faces
Ricketts, Thomas E.; Fernandes, Robert J.
1983-01-01
A method for forming a fragmented permeable mass of formation particles in an in situ oil shale retort is provided. A horizontally extending void is excavated in unfragmented formation containing oil shale and a zone of unfragmented formation is left adjacent the void. An array of explosive charges is formed in the zone of unfragmented formation. The array of explosive charges comprises rows of central explosive charges surrounded by a band of outer explosive charges which are adjacent side boundaries of the retort being formed. The powder factor of each outer explosive charge is made about equal to the powder factor of each central explosive charge. The explosive charges are detonated for explosively expanding the zone of unfragmented formation toward the void for forming the fragmented permeable mass of formation particles having a reasonably uniformly distributed void fraction in the in situ oil shale retort.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Z.; Gierse, N.; Li, C.; Liu, P.; Zhao, D.; Sun, L.; Oelmann, J.; Nicolai, D.; Wu, D.; Wu, J.; Mao, H.; Ding, F.; Brezinsek, S.; Liang, Y.; Ding, H.; Luo, G.; Linsmeier, C.; EAST Team
2017-12-01
A laser based method combined with spectroscopy, such as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser-induced ablation spectroscopy (LIAS), is a promising technology for plasma-wall interaction studies. In this work, we report the development of in situ laser-based diagnostics (LIBS and LIAS) for the assessment of static and dynamic fuel retention on the first wall without removing the tiles between and during plasma discharges in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The fuel retention on the first wall was measured after different wall conditioning methods and daily plasma discharges by in situ LIBS. The result indicates that the LIBS can be a useful tool to predict the wall condition in EAST. With the successful commissioning of a refined timing system for LIAS, an in situ approach to investigate fuel retention is proposed.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lebo, R.V.; Lynch, E.D.; Golbus, M.S.
1992-01-01
This study demonstrates a clear and current role for multicolor in situ hybridization in expediting positional cloning studies of unknown disease genes. Nine polymorphic DNA cosmids have been mapped to eight ordered locations spanning the Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1 (CMT1A) disease gene region in distal band 17p11.2, by multicolor in situ hybridization. When used with linkage analysis, these methods have generated a fine physical map and have firmly assigned the CMT1A gene to distal band 17p11.2. Linkage analysis with four CMT1A pedigrees mapped the CMT1A gene with respect to two flanking markers. Additional loci were physically mapped and ordered by inmore » situ hybridization and analysis of phase-known recombinants in CMT1A pedigrees. These data demonstrate the ability of in situ hybridization to resolve loci within 0.5 Mb on early-metaphase chromosomes. Multicolor in situ hybridization also excluded the possibility of pericentric inversions in two unrelated patients with CMT1 and neurofibromatosis type 1. When used with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multicolor in situ hybridization can establish physical location, order, and distance in closely spaced chromosome loci.« less
Bhogal, Maninder; Lwin, Chan N.; Seah, Xin-Yi; Murugan, Elavazhagan; Adnan, Khadijah; Lin, Shu-Jun; Mehta, Jodhbir S.
2017-01-01
Purpose To establish a method for assessing graft viability, in-vivo, following corneal transplantation. Methods Optimization of calcein AM fluorescence and toxicity assessment was performed in cultured human corneal endothelial cells and ex-vivo corneal tissue. Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty grafts were incubated with calcein AM and imaged pre and post preparation, and in-situ after insertion and unfolding in a pig eye model. Global, macroscopic images of the entire graft and individual cell resolution could be attained by altering the magnification of a clinical confocal scanning laser microscope. Patterns of cell loss observed in situ were compared to those seen using standard ex-vivo techniques. Results Calcein AM showed a positive dose-fluorescence relationship. A dose of 2.67μmol was sufficient to allow clear discrimination between viable and non-viable areas (sensitivity of 96.6% with a specificity of 96.1%) and was not toxic to cultured endothelial cells or ex-vivo corneal tissue. Patterns of cell loss seen in-situ closely matched those seen on ex-vivo assessment with fluorescence viability imaging, trypan blue/alizarin red staining or scanning electron microscopy. Iatrogenic graft damage from preparation and insertion varied between 7–35% and incarceration of the graft tissue within surgical wounds was identified as a significant cause of endothelial damage. Conclusions In-situ graft viability assessment using clinical imaging devices provides comparable information to ex-vivo methods. This method shows high sensitivity and specificity, is non-toxic and can be used to evaluate immediate cell viability in new grafting techniques in-vivo. PMID:28977017
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cucchi, K.; Kawa, N.; Hesse, F.; Rubin, Y.
2017-12-01
In order to reduce uncertainty in the prediction of subsurface flow and transport processes, practitioners should use all data available. However, classic inverse modeling frameworks typically only make use of information contained in in-situ field measurements to provide estimates of hydrogeological parameters. Such hydrogeological information about an aquifer is difficult and costly to acquire. In this data-scarce context, the transfer of ex-situ information coming from previously investigated sites can be critical for improving predictions by better constraining the estimation procedure. Bayesian inverse modeling provides a coherent framework to represent such ex-situ information by virtue of the prior distribution and combine them with in-situ information from the target site. In this study, we present an innovative data-driven approach for defining such informative priors for hydrogeological parameters at the target site. Our approach consists in two steps, both relying on statistical and machine learning methods. The first step is data selection; it consists in selecting sites similar to the target site. We use clustering methods for selecting similar sites based on observable hydrogeological features. The second step is data assimilation; it consists in assimilating data from the selected similar sites into the informative prior. We use a Bayesian hierarchical model to account for inter-site variability and to allow for the assimilation of multiple types of site-specific data. We present the application and validation of the presented methods on an established database of hydrogeological parameters. Data and methods are implemented in the form of an open-source R-package and therefore facilitate easy use by other practitioners.
Specimen's plane misaligned installation solution based on charge fluctuation inside SEM
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lu, Haojian; Liu, Yanting; Yang, Yuanyuan; Wang, Panbing; Shen, Yajing
2018-04-01
Precise specimen's installation is a sticking point to ensure the characterization accuracy of the in-situ material property test. Although it is common knowledge that specimen's plane misaligned installation (PMI) would cause extra force loading during mechanical testing, there are few effective solutions available to deal with it at the current stage, especially during the in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test. Taking into consideration the charge fluctuation phenomenon under SEM, this paper proposes a highlight area variation (HAV) method for specimen deformation judgment, i.e., the specimen deformation is defined when the highlight area changes greater than 20% of the initial value of the specimen surface. Three types of specimens with different resistivities, i.e., human hair (electrical resistivity ˜3 × 1012 Ω cm), optical fiber (electrical resistivity ˜1017 Ω cm), and magnetic wire (electrical resistivity ˜2 × 10-5 Ω cm), are chosen to verify the effectiveness of the HAV method. Furthermore, combined with the developed robot-aided alignment system, the specimen's PMI problem can also be solved. In the demonstration, the human hair specimen is installed across two specimen stages and its in-situ twisting (in 360°) test is implemented. The results clearly indicate that the HAV method and the robot-aided alignment system are practical and reliable, and the specimen can be aligned on the same plane and installed precisely with accuracy up to 3 μm. This method will benefit the in-situ SEM material mechanical property test and has a significant impact in fundamental material research.
Method And Apparatus For High Resolution Ex-Situ Nmr Spectroscopy
Pines, Alexander; Meriles, Carlos A.; Heise, Henrike; Sakellariou, Dimitrios; Moule, Adam
2004-01-06
A method and apparatus for ex-situ nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for use on samples outside the physical limits of the magnets in inhomogeneous static and radio-frequency fields. Chemical shift spectra can be resolved with the method using sequences of correlated, composite z-rotation pulses in the presence of spatially matched static and radio frequency field gradients producing nutation echoes. The amplitude of the echoes is modulated by the chemical shift interaction and an inhomogeneity free FID may be recovered by stroboscopically sampling the maxima of the echoes. In an alternative embodiment, full-passage adiabatic pulses are consecutively applied. One embodiment of the apparatus generates a static magnetic field that has a variable saddle point.
Method for in-situ restoration of plantinum resistance thermometer calibration
Carroll, Radford M.
1989-01-01
A method is provided for in-situ restoration of platinum resistance thermometers (PRT's) that have undergone surface oxide contamination and/or strain-related damage causing decalibration. The method, which may be automated using a programmed computer control arrangement, consists of applying a dc heating current to the resistive sensing element of the PRT of sufficient magnitude to heat the element to an annealing temperature and maintaining the temperature for a specified period to restore the element to a stress-free calibration condition. The process anneals the sensing element of the PRT without subjecting the entire PRT assembly to the annealing temperature and may be used in the periodic maintenance of installed PRT's.
Apparatus for in-situ calibration of instruments that measure fluid depth
Campbell, M.D.
1994-01-11
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for in-situ calibration of distance measuring equipment. The method comprises obtaining a first distance measurement in a first location, then obtaining at least one other distance measurement in at least one other location of a precisely known distance from the first location, and calculating a calibration constant. The method is applied specifically to calculating a calibration constant for obtaining fluid level and embodied in an apparatus using a pressure transducer and a spacer of precisely known length. The calibration constant is used to calculate the depth of a fluid from subsequent single pressure measurements at any submerged position. 8 figures.
Method of producing drive fluid in situ in tar sands formations
Mudunuri, Ramesh Raju; Jaiswal, Namit; Vinegar, Harold J.; Karanikas, John Michael
2010-03-23
Methods of treating a tar sands formation are described herein. Methods for treating a tar sands may include providing heat to at least part of a hydrocarbon layer in the formation from one or more heaters located in the formation. The heat may be allowed to transfer from the heaters to at least a portion of the formation such that a drive fluid is produced in situ in the formation. The drive fluid may move at least some mobilized, visbroken, and/or pyrolyzed hydrocarbons from a first portion of the formation to a second portion of the formation. At least some of the mobilized, visbroken, and/or pyrolyzed hydrocarbons may be produced from the formation.
Method for in-situ restoration of platinum resistance thermometer calibration
Carroll, R.M.
1987-10-23
A method is provided for in-situ restoration of platinum resistance thermometers (PRT's) that have undergone surface oxide contamination and/or stain-related damage causing decalibration. The method, which may be automated using a programmed computer control arrangement, consists of applying a dc heating current to the resistive sensing element of the PRT of sufficient magnitude to heat the element to an annealing temperature and maintaining the temperature for a specified period to restore the element to a stress-free calibration condition. The process anneals the sensing element of the PRT without subjecting the entire PRT assembly to the annealing temperature and may be used in the periodic maintenance of installed PRT's. 1 fig.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aoun, Bachir; Yu, Cun; Fan, Longlong; Chen, Zonghai; Amine, Khalil; Ren, Yang
2015-04-01
A generalized method is introduced to extract critical information from series of ranked correlated data. The method is generally applicable to all types of spectra evolving as a function of any arbitrary parameter. This approach is based on correlation functions and statistical scedasticity formalism. Numerous challenges in analyzing high throughput experimental data can be tackled using the herein proposed method. We applied this method to understand the reactivity pathway and formation mechanism of a Li-ion battery cathode material during high temperature synthesis using in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction. We demonstrate that Pearson's correlation function can easily unravel all major phase transition and, more importantly, the minor structural changes which cannot be revealed by conventionally inspecting the series of diffraction patterns. Furthermore, a two-dimensional (2D) reactivity pattern calculated as the scedasticity along all measured reciprocal space of all successive diffraction pattern pairs unveils clearly the structural evolution path and the active areas of interest during the synthesis. The methods described here can be readily used for on-the-fly data analysis during various in-situ operando experiments in order to quickly evaluate and optimize experimental conditions, as well as for post data analysis and large data mining where considerable amount of data hinders the feasibility of the investigation through point-by-point inspection.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Aoun, Bachir; Yu, Cun; Fan, Longlong
A generalized method is introduced to extract critical information from series of ranked correlated data. The method is generally applicable to all types of spectra evolving as a function of any arbitrary parameter. This approach is based on correlation functions and statistical scedasticity formalism. Numerous challenges in analyzing high throughput experimental data can be tackled using the herein proposed method. We applied this method to understand the reactivity pathway and formation mechanism of a Li-ion battery cathode material during high temperature synthesis using in-situ highenergy X-ray diffraction. We demonstrate that Pearson's correlation function can easily unravel all major phase transitionmore » and, more importantly, the minor structural changes which cannot be revealed by conventionally inspecting the series of diffraction patterns. Furthermore, a two-dimensional (2D) reactivity pattern calculated as the scedasticity along all measured reciprocal space of all successive diffraction pattern pairs unveils clearly the structural evolution path and the active areas of interest during the synthesis. The methods described here can be readily used for on-the-fly data analysis during various in-situ operando experiments in order to quickly evaluate and optimize experimental conditions, as well as for post data analysis and large data mining where considerable amount of data hinders the feasibility of the investigation through point-by-point inspection.« less
Long-term results of in situ saphenous vein bypass. Analysis of 2058 cases.
Shah, D M; Darling, R C; Chang, B B; Fitzgerald, K M; Paty, P S; Leather, R P
1995-01-01
OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the long-term patency and outcome of patients undergoing infrainguinal reconstruction using the in situ saphenous vein. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The in situ saphenous vein bypass has demonstrated excellent patency and limb salvage rates in numerous studies. The authors previously reported their early results with these bypass procedures, and this article represents their long-term experience with 2058 in situ saphenous vein bypasses during a 20-year period. This comprises the largest series with long-term follow-up of in situ saphenous vein bypasses in the literature. METHODS: From 1975 to 1995, 3148 autogenous vein bypasses were performed at the authors' institution, of which 2058 used the saphenous vein in situ. The indication for operation was limb-threatening ischemia in 1875 of 2058 patients (91%). In 88% of patients with an intact ipsilateral saphenous vein, an in situ bypass was completed successfully. One thousand twenty-three bypasses (69%) were terminated at the infrapopliteal level. Of these bypasses, 1562 of 2058 (76%) were completed using the closed in situ technique. RESULTS: The 30-day patency rate was 96%, and the cumulative secondary patency was 91%, 81%, and 70% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. Limb salvage rates using the in situ bypass were 97%, 95%, and 90% at 1, 5, and 10 years, respectively. CONCLUSION: The infrainguinal inflow source, length of bypass, specific outflow vessel, or vein diameter did not have a significant effect on immediate or long-term bypass performance. These data suggest that the in situ saphenous vein is an excellent conduit for femoropopliteal and femoral to infrageniculate bypasses for limb salvage. PMID:7574925
Recent developments of the in situ wet cell technology for transmission electron microscopies.
Chen, Xin; Li, Chang; Cao, Hongling
2015-03-21
In situ wet cells for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) allow studying structures and processes in a liquid environment with high temporal and spatial resolutions, and have been attracting increasing research interests in many fields. In this review, we highlight the structural and functional developments of the wet cells for TEM and STEM. One of the key features of the wet cells is the sealing technique used to isolate the liquid sample from the TEM/STEM vacuum environments, thus the existing in situ wet cells are grouped by different sealing methods. In this study, the advantages and shortcomings of each type of in situ wet cells are discussed, the functional developments of different wet cells are presented, and the future trends of the wet cell technology are addressed. It is suggested that in the future the in situ wet cell TEM/STEM technology will have an increasing impact on frontier nanoscale research.
Skierszkan, Elliott K; Irvine, Graham; Doyle, James R; Kimpe, Linda E; Blais, Jules M
2013-03-01
The extraction of oil sands by in-situ methods in Alberta has expanded dramatically in the past two decades and will soon overtake surface mining as the dominant bitumen production process in the province. While concerns regarding regional metal emissions from oil sand mining and bitumen upgrading have arisen, there is a lack of information on emissions from the in-situ industry alone. Here we show using lake sediment records and regionally-distributed soil samples that in the absence of bitumen upgrading and surface mining, there has been no significant metal (As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V) enrichment from the Cold Lake in-situ oil field. Sediment records demonstrate post-industrial Cd, Hg and Pb enrichment beginning in the early Twentieth Century, which has leveled off or declined since the onset of commercial in-situ bitumen production at Cold Lake in 1985. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Farndon, Joshua J; Ma, Xiaofeng; Bower, John F
2017-10-11
We outline a simple protocol that accesses directly unprotected secondary amines by intramolecular C-N bond forming dearomatization or aryl C-H amination. The method is dependent on the generation of a potent electrophilic aminating agent released by in situ deprotection of O-Ts activated N-Boc hydroxylamines.
GI-13 – A brief review of the GEO Work Plan DescriptionGlobal map examples of PM2.5 satellite measuresUS Maps showing examples of fused in-situ and satellite dataNew AQ Monitoring approach with social value – Village Green exampleComputing and Systems Applied in Energ...
Johnson, Raymond H.
2012-01-01
This report releases groundwater geochemistry data from samples that were collected in June 2011 at the Dewey Burdock proposed uranium in-situ recovery site near Edgemont, South Dakota. The sampling and analytical methods are summarized, and all of the data, including quality assurance/quality control information are provided in data tables.
Junfeng Feng; Zhongzhi Yang; Chung-yun Hse; Qiuli Su; Kui Wang; Jianchun Jiang; Junming Xu
2017-01-01
The renewable phenolic compounds produced by directional liquefaction of biomass are a mixture of complete fragments decomposed from native lignin. These compounds are unstable and difficult to use directly as biofuel. Here, we report an efficient in situ catalytic hydrogenation method that can convert phenolic compounds into saturated cyclohexanes. The process has...
Rapid in situ assessment for predicting soil quality using an algae-soaked disc seeding assay.
Nam, Sun-Hwa; Moon, Jongmin; Kim, Shin Woong; Kim, Hakyeong; Jeong, Seung-Woo; An, Youn-Joo
2017-11-16
The soil quality of remediated land is altered and this land consequently exerts unexpected biological effects on terrestrial organisms. Therefore, field evaluation of such land should be conducted using biological indicators. Algae are a promising new biological indicator since they are a food source for organisms in higher soil trophic levels and easily sampled from the soil. Field evaluation of soil characteristics is preferred to be testing in laboratory conditions because many biological effects cannot be duplicated during laboratory evaluations. Herein, we describe a convenient and rapid algae-soaked disc seeding assay for assessing soil quality in the field based on soil algae. The collection of algae is easy and rapid and the method predicts the short-term quality of contaminated, remediated, and amended farm and paddy soils. The algae-soaked disc seeding assay is yet to be extensively evaluated, and the method cannot be applied to loamy sand soil in in situ evaluations. The algae-soaked disc seeding assay is recommended for prediction of soil quality in in situ evaluations because it reflects all variations in the environment. The algae-soaked disc seeding assay will help to develop management strategies for in situ evaluation.
Ha, S-K; Choi, C; Chae, C
2004-10-01
An optimized protocol was developed for the detection of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues obtained from experimentally and naturally infected pigs by seminested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results for seminested RT-PCR were compared with those determined by in situ hybridization. The results obtained show that the use of deparaffinization with xylene, digestion with proteinase K, extraction with Trizol LS, followed by seminested RT-PCR is a reliable detection method. An increase in sensitivity was observed as amplicon size decreased. The highest sensitivity for RT-PCR on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues RNA was obtained with amplicon sizes less than approximately 200 base pairs. An hybridization signal for CSFV was detected in lymph nodes from 12 experimentally and 12 naturally infected pigs. The sensitivity of seminested RT-PCR compared with in situ hybridization was 100% for CSFV. When only formalin-fixed tissues are available, seminested RT-PCR and in situ hybridization would be useful diagnostic methods for the detection of CSFV nucleic acid.
In Situ Neutron Powder Diffraction Using Custom-made Lithium-ion Batteries
Brant, William R.; Schmid, Siegbert; Du, Guodong; Brand, Helen E. A.; Pang, Wei Kong; Peterson, Vanessa K.; Guo, Zaiping; Sharma, Neeraj
2014-01-01
Li-ion batteries are widely used in portable electronic devices and are considered as promising candidates for higher-energy applications such as electric vehicles.1,2 However, many challenges, such as energy density and battery lifetimes, need to be overcome before this particular battery technology can be widely implemented in such applications.3 This research is challenging, and we outline a method to address these challenges using in situ NPD to probe the crystal structure of electrodes undergoing electrochemical cycling (charge/discharge) in a battery. NPD data help determine the underlying structural mechanism responsible for a range of electrode properties, and this information can direct the development of better electrodes and batteries. We briefly review six types of battery designs custom-made for NPD experiments and detail the method to construct the ‘roll-over’ cell that we have successfully used on the high-intensity NPD instrument, WOMBAT, at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The design considerations and materials used for cell construction are discussed in conjunction with aspects of the actual in situ NPD experiment and initial directions are presented on how to analyze such complex in situ data. PMID:25406578
In situ measurement on TSV-Cu deformation with hotplate system based on sheet resistance
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sun, Yunna; Wang, Bo; Wang, Huiying; Wu, Kaifeng; Yang, Shengyong; Wang, Yan; Ding, Guifu
2017-12-01
The in situ measurement of TSVs deformation at different temperature is meaningful for learning more about the thermal deformation schemes of 3D TSVs in the microelectronic devices. An efficient and smart hotplate based on sheet resistance is designed for offering more heat, producing a uniform temperature distribution, relieving thermal stress and heat concentration issues, and reducing room space, which was optimized by the finite element method (FEM). The fabricated hotplate is efficient and smart (2.5 cm × 2.0 cm × 0.5 cm) enough to be located in the limited space during measuring. The thermal infrared imager was employed as the temperature sensor for monitoring the temperature distribution of TSVs sample. The 3D profilometry was adopted as the observer for TSVs profiles survey. The in situ 2D top surface profiles and 3D displacement profiles of TSVs sample at the different temperature were measured by 3D profilometer. The in situ average relative deformation and effective plastic deformation of the TSV sample were measured. With optical measurement method, 3D profilometry, the TSV sample can be tested repeatedly.
In situ neutron powder diffraction using custom-made lithium-ion batteries.
Brant, William R; Schmid, Siegbert; Du, Guodong; Brand, Helen E A; Pang, Wei Kong; Peterson, Vanessa K; Guo, Zaiping; Sharma, Neeraj
2014-11-10
Li-ion batteries are widely used in portable electronic devices and are considered as promising candidates for higher-energy applications such as electric vehicles. However, many challenges, such as energy density and battery lifetimes, need to be overcome before this particular battery technology can be widely implemented in such applications. This research is challenging, and we outline a method to address these challenges using in situ NPD to probe the crystal structure of electrodes undergoing electrochemical cycling (charge/discharge) in a battery. NPD data help determine the underlying structural mechanism responsible for a range of electrode properties, and this information can direct the development of better electrodes and batteries. We briefly review six types of battery designs custom-made for NPD experiments and detail the method to construct the 'roll-over' cell that we have successfully used on the high-intensity NPD instrument, WOMBAT, at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The design considerations and materials used for cell construction are discussed in conjunction with aspects of the actual in situ NPD experiment and initial directions are presented on how to analyze such complex in situ data.
Zougman, Alexandre; Banks, Rosamonde E
2015-01-01
Recently we introduced the concept of Suspension Trapping (STrap) for bottom-up proteomics sample processing that is based upon SDS-mediated protein extraction, swift detergent removal and rapid reactor-type protein digestion in a quartz depth filter trap. As the depth filter surface is made of silica, it is readily modifiable with various functional groups using the silane coupling chemistries. Thus, during the digest, peptides possessing specific features could be targeted for enrichment by the functionalized depth filter material while non-targeted peptides could be collected as an unbound distinct fraction after the digest. In the example presented here the quartz depth filter surface is functionalized with the pyridyldithiol group therefore enabling reversible in-situ capture of the cysteine-containing peptides generated during the STrap-based digest. The described C-STrap method retains all advantages of the original STrap methodology and provides robust foundation for the conception of the targeted in-situ peptide fractionation in the STrap format for bottom-up proteomics. The presented data support the method's use in qualitative and semi-quantitative proteomics experiments.
Spencer, Brian; Rank, Logan; Metcalf, Jeff; Desplats, Paula
2018-03-06
Insulin and its receptor are widely expressed in a variety of tissues throughout the body including liver, adipose tissue, liver and brain. The insulin receptor is expressed as two functionally distinct isoforms, differentiated by a single 12 amino acid exon. The two receptor isoforms, designated IR/A and IR/B, are expressed in a highly tissue and cell specific manner and relative proportions of the different isoforms vary during development, aging and disease states. The high degree of similarity between the two isoforms has prevented detailed studies as differentiation of the two isoforms by traditional immunological methods cannot be achieved. We describe here a new in situ RT-PCR/ FISH assay that allows for the visualization of IR/A and IR/B in tissue along with tissue specific markers. We used this new method to show for the first time that IR/A and IR/B are both expressed in neurons in the adult human brain. Thus, we present a method that enables the investigation of IR/A and IR/B insulin receptor isoform expression in situ in various tissues.
He, M; Taussig, M J
2001-08-01
We describe a format for production of protein arrays termed 'protein in situ array' (PISA). A PISA is rapidly generated in one step directly from PCR-generated DNA fragments by cell-free protein expression and in situ immobilisation at a surface. The template for expression is DNA encoding individual proteins or domains, which is produced by PCR using primers designed from information in DNA databases. Coupled transcription and translation is carried out on a surface to which the tagged protein adheres as soon as it is synthesised. Because proteins generated by cell-free synthesis are usually soluble and functional, this method can overcome problems of insolubility or degradation associated with bacterial expression of recombinant proteins. Moreover, the use of PCR-generated DNA enables rapid production of proteins or domains based on genome information alone and will be particularly useful where cloned material is not available. Here we show that human single-chain antibody fragments (three domain, V(H)/K form) and an enzyme (luciferase) can be functionally arrayed by the PISA method.
Automated in Situ Measurement of Gas Solubility in Liquids with a Simple Tube-in-Tube Reactor.
Zhang, Jisong; Teixeira, Andrew R; Zhang, Haomiao; Jensen, Klavs F
2017-08-15
Data on the solubilities of gases in liquids are foundational for assessing a variety of multiphase separations and gas-liquid reactions. Taking advantage of the tube-in-tube reactor design built with semipermeable Teflon AF-2400 tubes, liquids can be rapidly saturated without direct contacting of gas and liquid. The gas solubility can be determined by performing steady-state flux balances of both the gas and liquid flowing into the reactor system. Using this type of reactor, a fully automated strategy has been developed for the rapid in situ measurement of gas solubilities in liquids. The developed strategy enables precise gas solubility measurements within 2-5 min compared with 4-5 h using conventional methods. This technique can be extended to the discrete multipoint steady-state and continuous ramped-multipoint data acquisition methods. The accuracy of this method has been validated against several gas-liquid systems, showing less than 2% deviation from known values. Finally, this strategy has been extended to measure the temperature dependence of gas solubilities in situ and to estimate the local enthalpy of dissolution across a defined temperature range.
Park, J S; Kurman, R J; Kessis, T D; Shah, K V
1991-01-01
A study comparing in situ hybridization using nonradioactive DNA probes directly conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and 35S-labeled antisense RNA probes for human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6/11, 16, and 18 was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 34 lesions of the cervix and vulva. These lesions included exophytic condylomas and intraepithelial and invasive neoplasms. HPV 6/11 was detected in two of four condylomata acuminata by both in situ techniques. HPV 16 was detected in 13 of 30 cases of intraepithelial and invasive neoplasms by both methods. Discordance between the two methods occurred in two instances. The radiolabeled probe but not the HRP probe detected HPV 16 in one case of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 3), whereas the converse occurred in one case of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN 3). HPV 18 was not detected in any of the specimens by either method. This study demonstrates that nonradioactive HRP-labeled probes for the detection of specific HPV types are as sensitive as the more laborious and potentially hazardous radioactive probes.
Gicquel, Yannig; Schubert, Robin; Kapis, Svetlana; Bourenkov, Gleb; Schneider, Thomas; Perbandt, Markus; Betzel, Christian; Chapman, Henry N; Heymann, Michael
2018-04-24
This protocol describes fabricating microfluidic devices with low X-ray background optimized for goniometer based fixed target serial crystallography. The devices are patterned from epoxy glue using soft lithography and are suitable for in situ X-ray diffraction experiments at room temperature. The sample wells are lidded on both sides with polymeric polyimide foil windows that allow diffraction data collection with low X-ray background. This fabrication method is undemanding and inexpensive. After the sourcing of a SU-8 master wafer, all fabrication can be completed outside of a cleanroom in a typical research lab environment. The chip design and fabrication protocol utilize capillary valving to microfluidically split an aqueous reaction into defined nanoliter sized droplets. This loading mechanism avoids the sample loss from channel dead-volume and can easily be performed manually without using pumps or other equipment for fluid actuation. We describe how isolated nanoliter sized drops of protein solution can be monitored in situ by dynamic light scattering to control protein crystal nucleation and growth. After suitable crystals are grown, complete X-ray diffraction datasets can be collected using goniometer based in situ fixed target serial X-ray crystallography at room temperature. The protocol provides custom scripts to process diffraction datasets using a suite of software tools to solve and refine the protein crystal structure. This approach avoids the artefacts possibly induced during cryo-preservation or manual crystal handling in conventional crystallography experiments. We present and compare three protein structures that were solved using small crystals with dimensions of approximately 10-20 µm grown in chip. By crystallizing and diffracting in situ, handling and hence mechanical disturbances of fragile crystals is minimized. The protocol details how to fabricate a custom X-ray transparent microfluidic chip suitable for in situ serial crystallography. As almost every crystal can be used for diffraction data collection, these microfluidic chips are a very efficient crystal delivery method.
Improved phase-ellipse method for in-situ geophone calibration.
Liu, Huaibao P.; Peselnick, L.
1986-01-01
For amplitude and phase response calibration of moving-coil electromagnetic geophones 2 parameters are needed, namely the geophone natural frequency, fo, and the geophone upper resonance frequency fu. The phase-ellipse method is commonly used for the in situ determination of these parameters. For a given signal-to-noise ratio, the precision of the measurement of fo and fu depends on the phase sensitivity, f(delta PHI/delta PHIf). For some commercial geophones (f(delta PHI/delta PHI) at fu can be an order of magnitude less than the sensitivity at fo. Presents an improved phase-ellipse method with increased precision. Compared to measurements made with the existing phase-ellipse methods, the method shows a 6- and 3-fold improvement in the precision, respectively, on measurements of fo and fu on a commercial geophone.-from Authors
40 CFR 430.02 - Monitoring requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... monoxide (Cl2O). (g) Analyst may use NCASI Method CP-86.07, “Chlorinated Phenolics in Water by In situ... EPA Method 1653. NCASI Method CP-86.07 is available from the Publications Coordinator, NCASI, P.O. Box...
40 CFR 430.02 - Monitoring requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
... monoxide (Cl2O). (g) Analyst may use NCASI Method CP-86.07, “Chlorinated Phenolics in Water by In situ... EPA Method 1653. NCASI Method CP-86.07 is available from the Publications Coordinator, NCASI, P.O. Box...
40 CFR 430.02 - Monitoring requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... monoxide (Cl2O). (g) Analyst may use NCASI Method CP-86.07, “Chlorinated Phenolics in Water by In situ... EPA Method 1653. NCASI Method CP-86.07 is available from the Publications Coordinator, NCASI, P.O. Box...
40 CFR 430.02 - Monitoring requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... monoxide (Cl2O). (g) Analyst may use NCASI Method CP-86.07, “Chlorinated Phenolics in Water by In situ... EPA Method 1653. NCASI Method CP-86.07 is available from the Publications Coordinator, NCASI, P.O. Box...
40 CFR 430.02 - Monitoring requirements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... monoxide (Cl2O). (g) Analyst may use NCASI Method CP-86.07, “Chlorinated Phenolics in Water by In situ... EPA Method 1653. NCASI Method CP-86.07 is available from the Publications Coordinator, NCASI, P.O. Box...
Geophysical methods for determining the geotechnical engineering properties of earth materials.
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2010-03-01
Surface and borehole geophysical methods exist to measure in-situ properties and structural : characteristics of earth materials. Application of such methods has demonstrated cost savings through : reduced design uncertainty and lower investigation c...
He, Yongrui; Zhao, Xian-En; Zhu, Shuyun; Wei, Na; Sun, Jing; Zhou, Yubi; Liu, Shu; Liu, Zhiqiang; Chen, Guang; Suo, Yourui; You, Jinmao
2016-08-05
Simultaneous monitoring of several neurotransmitters (NTs) linked to Parkinson's disease (PD) has important scientific significance for PD related pathology, pharmacology and drug screening. A new simple, fast and sensitive analytical method, based on in situ derivatization-ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (in situ DUADLLME) in a single step, has been proposed for the quantitative determination of catecholamines and their biosynthesis precursors and metabolites in rat brain microdialysates. The method involved the rapid injection of the mixture of low toxic bromobenzene (extractant) and acetonitrile (dispersant), which containing commercial Lissamine rhodamine B sulfonyl chloride (LRSC) as derivatization reagent, into the aqueous phase of sample and buffer, and the following in situ DUADLLME procedure. After centrifugation, 50μL of the sedimented phase (bromobenzene) was directly injected for ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) detection in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. This interesting combination brought the advantages of speediness, simpleness, low matrix effects and high sensitivity in an effective way. Parameters of in situ DUADLLME and UHPLC-MS/MS conditions were all optimized in detail. The optimum conditions of in situ DUADLLME were found to be 30μL of microdialysates, 150μL of acetonitrile containing LRSC, 50μL of bromobenzene and 800μL of NaHCO3-Na2CO3 buffer (pH 10.5) for 3.0min at 37°C. Under the optimized conditions, good linearity was observed with LODs (S/N>3) and LOQs (S/N>10) of LRSC derivatized-NTs in the range of 0.002-0.004 and 0.007-0.015 nmol/L, respectively. It also brought good precision (3.2-12.8%, peak area CVs%), accuracy (94.2-108.6%), recovery (94.5-105.5%) and stability (3.8-8.1%, peak area CVs%) results. Moreover, LRSC derivatization significantly improved chromatographic resolution and MS detection sensitivity of NTs when compared with the reported studies through the introduction of a permanent charged moiety from LRSC into NTs. Taken together, this in situ DUADLLME method was successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of six NTs in biological samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Wheeler, Derek S; Geis, Gary; Mack, Elizabeth H; LeMaster, Tom; Patterson, Mary D
2013-06-01
In situ simulation training is a team-based training technique conducted on actual patient care units using equipment and resources from that unit, and involving actual members of the healthcare team. We describe our experience with in situ simulation training in a major children's medical centre. In situ simulations were conducted using standardised scenarios approximately twice per month on inpatient hospital units on a rotating basis. Simulations were scheduled so that each unit participated in at least two in situ simulations per year. Simulations were conducted on a revolving schedule alternating on the day and night shifts and were unannounced. Scenarios were preselected to maximise the educational experience, and frequently involved clinical deterioration to cardiopulmonary arrest. We performed 64 of the scheduled 112 (57%) in situ simulations on all shifts and all units over 21 months. We identified 134 latent safety threats and knowledge gaps during these in situ simulations, which we categorised as medication, equipment, and/or resource/system threats. Identification of these errors resulted in modification of systems to reduce the risk of error. In situ simulations also provided a method to reinforce teamwork behaviours, such as the use of assertive statements, role clarity, performance of frequent updating, development of a shared mental model, performance of independent double checks of high-risk medicines, and overcoming authority gradients between team members. Participants stated that the training programme was effective and did not disrupt patient care. In situ simulations can identify latent safety threats, identify knowledge gaps, and reinforce teamwork behaviours when used as part of an organisation-wide safety programme.
Xu, Yuanlong; Wang, Yonglu; Li, Xue Ming; Huang, Qinqin; Chen, Wei; Liu, Ran; Chen, BaoAn; Wei, Ping
2014-07-01
As an oral delivery carrier for poorly water soluble drugs, the nanosuspension was prepared by melt emulsification method combined with high-pressure homogenization. The objective of this study was to clarify the absorption mechanism in rats of fenofibrate nanosuspension using the model of in situ gut perfusion. The release rate of drug from nanosuspension was fast which about 70% of the drug would be released within 5 minutes. The absorption of fenofibrate nanosuspension in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract was studied by the in situ closed loop method in rats. It was found that the absorption process in intestine was first-process with passive diffusion mechanism, and the whole intestine was the major segment for the drug absorption. Additionally, GI absorption in situ studies indicated that the fenofibrate nanosuspension had great success in regard to enhancement of intestinal absorption compared to the fenofibrate suspension of coarse powder. The pharmacokinetic characteristics were studied in rats after oral administration of fenofibrate nanosuspension or suspension at the dosage of 27 mg/kg. The plasma concentration-time curve was fitted to the one-compartment model. The correlation between in vitro dissolution (P), in situ intestinal absorption (F) and in vivo absorption (Fa) in rats was investigated with the results as follows: Fa = 6.2061P-456.38(r = 0.9559), F = 3.6911P-2.2169(r = 0.970), F = 0.5095P + 44.189(r = 0.9609). The highest level A could be obtained from the in vitro--in vivo correlation (IVIVC) between dissolution percentage and intestinal absorption of the fenofibrate nanosuspension in rats. Consequently, the in situ intestinal perfusion model could be used to predict the in vivo pharmacokinetic characteristics in rats.
In situ tagging technique for fishes provides insight into growth and movement of invasive lionfish
Akins, John L; Morris, James A; Green, Stephanie J
2014-01-01
Information on fish movement and growth is primarily obtained through the marking and tracking of individuals with external tags, which are usually affixed to anesthetized individuals at the surface. However, the quantity and quality of data obtained by this method is often limited by small sample sizes owing to the time associated with the tagging process, high rates of tagging-related mortality, and displacement of tagged individuals from the initial capture location. To address these issues, we describe a technique for applying external streamer and dart tags in situ, which uses SCUBA divers to capture and tag individual fish on the sea floor without the use of anesthetic. We demonstrate this method for Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/P. miles), species which are particularly vulnerable to barotrauma when transported to and handled at the surface. To test our method, we tagged 161 individuals inhabiting 26 coral reef locations in the Bahamas over a period of 3 years. Our method resulted in no instances of barotrauma, reduced handling and recovery time, and minimal post-tagging release displacement compared with conventional ex situ tag application. Opportunistic resighting and recapture of tagged individuals reveals that lionfish exhibit highly variable site fidelity, movement patterns, and growth rates on invaded coral reef habitats. In total, 24% of lionfish were resighted between 29 and 188 days after tagging. Of these, 90% were located at the site of capture, while the remaining individuals were resighted between 200 m and 1.1 km from initial site of capture over 29 days later. In situ growth rates ranged between 0.1 and 0.6 mm/day. While individuals tagged with streamer tags posted slower growth rates with increasing size, as expected, there was no relationship between growth rate and fish size for individuals marked with dart tags, potentially because of large effects of tag presence on the activities of small bodied lionfish (i.e., <150 mm), where the tag was up to 7.6% of the lionfish's mass. Our study offers a novel in situ tagging technique that can be used to provide critical information on fish site fidelity, movement patterns, and growth in cases where ex situ tagging is not feasible. PMID:25614791
In situ tagging technique for fishes provides insight into growth and movement of invasive lionfish.
Akins, John L; Morris, James A; Green, Stephanie J
2014-10-01
Information on fish movement and growth is primarily obtained through the marking and tracking of individuals with external tags, which are usually affixed to anesthetized individuals at the surface. However, the quantity and quality of data obtained by this method is often limited by small sample sizes owing to the time associated with the tagging process, high rates of tagging-related mortality, and displacement of tagged individuals from the initial capture location. To address these issues, we describe a technique for applying external streamer and dart tags in situ, which uses SCUBA divers to capture and tag individual fish on the sea floor without the use of anesthetic. We demonstrate this method for Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/P. miles), species which are particularly vulnerable to barotrauma when transported to and handled at the surface. To test our method, we tagged 161 individuals inhabiting 26 coral reef locations in the Bahamas over a period of 3 years. Our method resulted in no instances of barotrauma, reduced handling and recovery time, and minimal post-tagging release displacement compared with conventional ex situ tag application. Opportunistic resighting and recapture of tagged individuals reveals that lionfish exhibit highly variable site fidelity, movement patterns, and growth rates on invaded coral reef habitats. In total, 24% of lionfish were resighted between 29 and 188 days after tagging. Of these, 90% were located at the site of capture, while the remaining individuals were resighted between 200 m and 1.1 km from initial site of capture over 29 days later. In situ growth rates ranged between 0.1 and 0.6 mm/day. While individuals tagged with streamer tags posted slower growth rates with increasing size, as expected, there was no relationship between growth rate and fish size for individuals marked with dart tags, potentially because of large effects of tag presence on the activities of small bodied lionfish (i.e., <150 mm), where the tag was up to 7.6% of the lionfish's mass. Our study offers a novel in situ tagging technique that can be used to provide critical information on fish site fidelity, movement patterns, and growth in cases where ex situ tagging is not feasible.
Apparatus and method for igniting an in situ oil shale retort
Chambers, Carlon C.
1981-01-01
A method and apparatus for conducting such method are disclosed for igniting a fragmented permeable mass of formation particles in an in situ oil shale retort. The method is conducted by forming a hole through unfragmented formation to the fragmented mass. An oxygen-containing gas is introduced into the hole. A fuel is introduced into a portion of the hole spaced apart from the fragmented mass. The fuel and oxygen-containing gas mix forming a combustible mixture which is ignited for establishing a combustion zone in a portion of the hole spaced apart from the fragmented mass. The hot gas generated in the combustion zone is conducted from the hole into the fragmented mass for heating a portion of the fragmented mass above an ignition temperature of oil shale.
Planar Gradient Diffusion System to Investigate Chemotaxis in a 3D Collagen Matrix.
Stout, David A; Toyjanova, Jennet; Franck, Christian
2015-06-12
The importance of cell migration can be seen through the development of human life. When cells migrate, they generate forces and transfer these forces to their surrounding area, leading to cell movement and migration. In order to understand the mechanisms that can alter and/or affect cell migration, one can study these forces. In theory, understanding the fundamental mechanisms and forces underlying cell migration holds the promise of effective approaches for treating diseases and promoting cellular transplantation. Unfortunately, modern chemotaxis chambers that have been developed are usually restricted to two dimensions (2D) and have complex diffusion gradients that make the experiment difficult to interpret. To this end, we have developed, and describe in this paper, a direct-viewing chamber for chemotaxis studies, which allows one to overcome modern chemotaxis chamber obstacles able to measure cell forces and specific concentration within the chamber in a 3D environment to study cell 3D migration. More compelling, this approach allows one to successfully model diffusion through 3D collagen matrices and calculate the coefficient of diffusion of a chemoattractant through multiple different concentrations of collagen, while keeping the system simple and user friendly for traction force microscopy (TFM) and digital volume correlation (DVC) analysis.
3D video coding: an overview of present and upcoming standards
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Merkle, Philipp; Müller, Karsten; Wiegand, Thomas
2010-07-01
An overview of existing and upcoming 3D video coding standards is given. Various different 3D video formats are available, each with individual pros and cons. The 3D video formats can be separated into two classes: video-only formats (such as stereo and multiview video) and depth-enhanced formats (such as video plus depth and multiview video plus depth). Since all these formats exist of at least two video sequences and possibly additional depth data, efficient compression is essential for the success of 3D video applications and technologies. For the video-only formats the H.264 family of coding standards already provides efficient and widely established compression algorithms: H.264/AVC simulcast, H.264/AVC stereo SEI message, and H.264/MVC. For the depth-enhanced formats standardized coding algorithms are currently being developed. New and specially adapted coding approaches are necessary, as the depth or disparity information included in these formats has significantly different characteristics than video and is not displayed directly, but used for rendering. Motivated by evolving market needs, MPEG has started an activity to develop a generic 3D video standard within the 3DVC ad-hoc group. Key features of the standard are efficient and flexible compression of depth-enhanced 3D video representations and decoupling of content creation and display requirements.
Preparation and properties of single-walled nanotubes filled with inorganic compounds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eliseev, Andrei A.; Kharlamova, M. V.; Chernysheva, M. V.; Lukashin, Alexey V.; Tretyakov, Yuri D.; Kumskov, A. S.; Kiselev, N. A.
2009-09-01
The state-of-the-art methods for filling single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are analyzed systematically. In situ and ex situ approaches for filling SWNTs are addressed. They are based on both intercalation of inorganic substances from the gas phase, solution or melts inside SWNTs and the formation of nanocrystals inside the channels as a result of chemical reactions. A comparative evaluation of these methods is performed, and major requirements for successful formation of '1D-crystal@SWNT' nanocomposites are formulated. The functional properties of the intercalated single-walled nanotubes and their possible applications in modern nanotechnologies are discussed.
Sung, Yu-Lung; Jeang, Jenn; Lee, Chia-Hsiung; Shih, Wei-Chuan
2015-04-01
We present a highly repeatable, lithography-free and mold-free method for fabricating flexible optical lenses by in situ curing liquid polydimethylsiloxane droplets on a preheated smooth surface with an inkjet printing process. This method enables us to fabricate lenses with a focal length as short as 5.6 mm, which can be controlled by varying the droplet volume and the temperature of the preheated surface. Furthermore, the lens can be attached to a smartphone camera without any accessories and can produce high-resolution (1 μm) images for microscopy applications.
Methods of producing alkylated hydrocarbons from an in situ heat treatment process liquid
Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria [Houston, TX; Mo, Weijian [Sugar Land, TX; Muylle, Michel Serge Marie [Houston, TX; Mandema, Remco Hugo [Houston, TX; Nair, Vijay [Katy, TX
2009-09-01
A method for producing alkylated hydrocarbons is disclosed. Formation fluid is produced from a subsurface in situ heat treatment process. The formation fluid is separated to produce a liquid stream and a first gas stream. The first gas stream includes olefins. The liquid stream is fractionated to produce at least a second gas stream including hydrocarbons having a carbon number of at least 3. The first gas stream and the second gas stream are introduced into an alkylation unit to produce alkylated hydrocarbons. At least a portion of the olefins in the first gas stream enhance alkylation.
Spatially controlled, in situ synthesis of polymers
Caneba, Gerard T.; Tirumala, Vijaya Raghavan; Mancini, Derrick C.; Wang, Hsien-Hau
2005-03-22
An in situ polymer microstructure formation method. The monomer mixture is polymerized in a solvent/precipitant through exposure to ionizing radiation in the absence any chemical mediators. If an exposure mask is employed to block out certain regions of the radiation cross section, then a patterned microstructure is formed. The polymerization mechanism is based on the so-called free-radical retrograde-precipitation polymerization process, in which polymerization occurs while the system is phase separating above the lower critical solution temperature. This method was extended to produce a crosslinked line grid-pattern of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide), which has been known to have thermoreversible properties.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sugano, Michinaka; Ballarino, Amalia; Bartova, Barbora; Bjoerstad, Roger; Gerardin, Alexandre; Scheuerlein, Christian
2016-02-01
MgB2 wire is a promising superconductor for the superconducting links for the high-luminosity upgrade of the large Hadron collider at CERN. The mechanical properties of MgB2 must be fully quantified for the cable design, and in this study, we evaluate the Young’s modulus of MgB2 filaments in wires with a practical level of critical current. The Young’s moduli of MgB2 filaments by two different processes, in situ and ex situ, were compared. Two different evaluation methods were applied to an in situ MgB2 wire, a single-fiber tensile test and a tensile test after removing Monel. In addition, the Young’s modulus of the few-micron-thick Nb-Ni reaction layer in an ex situ processed wire was evaluated using a nanoindentation testing technique to improve the accuracy of analysis based on the rule of mixtures. The Young’s moduli of the in situ and ex situ MgB2 wires were in the range of 76-97 GPa and no distinct difference depending on the fabrication process was found.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nurjannah, Yanah; Budianto, Emil
2018-04-01
Heliobacter pylori (H.pylori) is a type of bacteria that causes inflammation in the lining of the stomach. The treatment of the bacterial infection by using conventional medicine which is amoxicillin trihidrate has a very short retention time in the stomach which is about 1-1,5 hours. Floating drug delivery system is expected to have a long retention time in the stomach so the efficiency of drug can be achieved. In this study, has been synthesized matrix of semi-IPN chitosan-Poly(N-vinil pyrrolidone) hydrogel with a pore-forming agent of CaCO3 under optimum conditions. Amoxicillin is encapsulated in a matrix hydrogel to be applied as a floating drug delivery system by in situ loading and post loading methods. The encapsulation efficiency and dissolution of in situ loading and post loading hydrogels are performed in vitro on gastric pH. In situ loading hydrogel shows higer percentage of encapsulation efficiency and dissolution compared to post loading hydrogel. The encapsulation efficiency of in situ and post loading hydrogels were 92,1% and 89,4%, respectively. The aim of drug dissolution by mathematical equation model is to know kinetics and the mecanism of dissolution. The kinetics release of in situ hydrogel tends to follow first order kinetics, while the post loading hydrogel follow the Higuchi model. The dissolution mecanism of hydrogels is erosion.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Camy-Peyret, Claude; Payan, Sébastien; Jeseck, Pascal; Té, Yao
2001-09-01
Infrared spectroscopy is a powerful tool for precise measurements of atmospheric trace species concentrations through the use of characteristic spectral signatures of the different molecular species and their associated vibration-rotation bands in the mid- or near-infrared. Different methods based on quantitative spectroscopy permit tropospheric or stratospheric measurements: in situ long path absorption, atmospheric absorption/emission by Fourier transform spectroscopy with high spectral resolution instruments on the ground, airborne, balloon-borne or satellite-borne.
In situ polymerization of monomers for polyphenylquinoxaline/graphite
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Serafini, T. T.; Delvigs, P.; Vannucci, R. D.
1973-01-01
Methods currently used to prepare fiber reinforced, high temperature resistant polyphenylquinoxaline (PPQ) composites employ extremely viscous, low solids content solutions of high molecular weight PPQ polymers. An improved approach, described in this report, consists of impregnating the fiber with a solution of the appropriate monomers instead of a solution of previously synthesized high molecular weight polymer. Polymerization of the monomers occurs in situ on the fiber during the solvent removal and curing stages. The in situ polymerization approach greatly simplifies the fabrication of PPQ graphite fiber composites. The use of low viscosity monomeric type solutions facilitates fiber wetting, permits a high solids content, and eliminates the need for prior polymer synthesis.
In situ heat treatment process utilizing a closed loop heating system
Vinegar, Harold J.; Nguyen, Scott Vinh
2010-12-07
Systems and methods for an in situ heat treatment process that utilizes a circulation system to heat one or more treatment areas are described herein. The circulation system may use a heated liquid heat transfer fluid that passes through piping in the formation to transfer heat to the formation. In some embodiments, the piping may be positioned in at least two of the wellbores.
Estimating water content in an active landfill with the aid of GPR
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Yochim, April, E-mail: ayochim@regionofwaterloo.ca; Zytner, Richard G., E-mail: rzytner@uoguelph.ca; McBean, Edward A., E-mail: emcbean@uoguelph.ca
Highlights: • Limited information in the literature on the use of GPR to measure in situ water content in a landfill. • Developed GPR method allows measurement of in situ water content in a landfill. • Developed GPR method is appealing to waste management professionals operating landfills. - Abstract: Landfill gas (LFG) receives a great deal of attention due to both negative and positive environmental impacts, global warming and a green energy source, respectively. However, predicting the quantity of LFG generated at a given landfill, whether active or closed is difficult due to the heterogeneities present in waste, and themore » lack of accurate in situ waste parameters like water content. Accordingly, ground penetrating radar (GPR) was evaluated as a tool for estimating in situ water content. Due to the large degree of subsurface heterogeneity and the electrically conductive clay cap covering landfills, both of which affect the transmission of the electromagnetic pulses, there is much scepticism concerning the use of GPR to quantify in situ water content within a municipal landfill. Two landfills were studied. The first landfill was used to develop the measurement protocols, while the second landfill provided a means of confirming these protocols. GPR measurements were initially completed using the surface GPR approach, but the lack of success led to the use of borehole (BH) GPR. Both zero offset profiling (ZOP) and multiple offset gathers (MOG) modes were tried, with the results indicating that BH GPR using the ZOP mode is the most simple and efficient method to measure in situ water content. The best results were obtained at a separation distance of 2 m, where higher the water content, smaller the effective separation distance. However, an increase in water content did appear to increase the accuracy of the GPR measurements. For the effective separation distance of 2 m at both landfills, the difference between GPR and lab measured water contents were reasonable at 33.9% for the drier landfill and 18.1% for the wetter landfill. Infiltration experiments also showed the potential to measure small increases in water content.« less
Fan, Chen; Liang, You; Dong, Hongqiang; Ding, Guanglong; Zhang, Wenbing; Tang, Gang; Yang, Jiale; Kong, Dandan; Wang, Deng; Cao, Yongsong
2017-07-04
In this work, in-situ ionic liquid dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined ultrasmall Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles was developed as a kind of pretreatment method to detect pyrethroid pesticides in water samples. New anion-exchange reagents including Na[DDTC] and Na[N(CN) 2 ] were optimized for in-situ extraction pyrethroids, which showed enhanced microextraction performance. Pyrethroids were enriched by hydrophilic ionic liquid [P 4448 ][Br] (aqueous solution, 200 μL, 0.2 mmol mL -1 ) reaction in-situ with anion-exchange reagent Na[N(CN) 2 ] (aqueous solution, 300 μL, 0.2 mmol mL -1 ) forming hydrophobic ionic liquid as extraction agent in water sample (10 mL). Ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (30 mg) were used to collect the mixture of ionic liquid and pyrethroids followed by elution with acetonitrile. The extraction of ionic liquid strategies was unique and efficiently fulfilled with high enrichment factors (176-213) and good recoveries (80.20-117.31%). The method was successively applied to the determination of pyrethroid pesticides in different kinds of water samples with the limits of detection ranged from 0.16 to 0.21 μg L -1 . The proposed method is actually nanometer-level microextraction (average size 80 nm) with the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, and sensitivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Perez, Magali; Simpson, Stuart L; Lespes, Gaëtane; King, Josh J; Adams, Merrin S; Jarolimek, Chad V; Grassl, Bruno; Schaumlöffel, Dirk
2016-12-01
Fluctuations in concentrations of bioavailable metals occur in most natural waters. In situ measurements are desirable to predict risks of adverse effects to aquatic organisms. We evaluated Diffusive Milli-Gels (DMG), a new in situ passive sampler, for assessing the bioavailability and toxicity of copper in waters exhibiting a wide range of characteristics. The performance was compared to an established Chelex-column method that measures labile copper concentrations by discrete sampling, and the ability to predict acute toxicity to the cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia dubia. The labile copper concentrations measured by the DMG and Chelex-column methods decreased with increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (1.9-15 mg L -1 ) and hardness (21-270 mg CaCO 3 L -1 hardness), with 20-70% of total dissolved copper being present as labile copper. Toxicity decreased with increasing DOC and hardness. Strong linear relationships existed between the EC50 for C. dubia and DOC, and when the EC50 was related to either the labile copper concentrations measured by DMG (r 2 = 0.874) or the Chelex column (0.956) methods. The study demonstrates that the DMG passive sampler is a relevant tool for the in situ assessment of environmental risks posed by metals whose toxicity is strongly influenced by speciation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Rapid Sequential in Situ Multiplexing with DNA Exchange Imaging in Neuronal Cells and Tissues.
Wang, Yu; Woehrstein, Johannes B; Donoghue, Noah; Dai, Mingjie; Avendaño, Maier S; Schackmann, Ron C J; Zoeller, Jason J; Wang, Shan Shan H; Tillberg, Paul W; Park, Demian; Lapan, Sylvain W; Boyden, Edward S; Brugge, Joan S; Kaeser, Pascal S; Church, George M; Agasti, Sarit S; Jungmann, Ralf; Yin, Peng
2017-10-11
To decipher the molecular mechanisms of biological function, it is critical to map the molecular composition of individual cells or even more importantly tissue samples in the context of their biological environment in situ. Immunofluorescence (IF) provides specific labeling for molecular profiling. However, conventional IF methods have finite multiplexing capabilities due to spectral overlap of the fluorophores. Various sequential imaging methods have been developed to circumvent this spectral limit but are not widely adopted due to the common limitation of requiring multirounds of slow (typically over 2 h at room temperature to overnight at 4 °C in practice) immunostaining. We present here a practical and robust method, which we call DNA Exchange Imaging (DEI), for rapid in situ spectrally unlimited multiplexing. This technique overcomes speed restrictions by allowing for single-round immunostaining with DNA-barcoded antibodies, followed by rapid (less than 10 min) buffer exchange of fluorophore-bearing DNA imager strands. The programmability of DEI allows us to apply it to diverse microscopy platforms (with Exchange Confocal, Exchange-SIM, Exchange-STED, and Exchange-PAINT demonstrated here) at multiple desired resolution scales (from ∼300 nm down to sub-20 nm). We optimized and validated the use of DEI in complex biological samples, including primary neuron cultures and tissue sections. These results collectively suggest DNA exchange as a versatile, practical platform for rapid, highly multiplexed in situ imaging, potentially enabling new applications ranging from basic science, to drug discovery, and to clinical pathology.
Liu, Jie; Zhang, Fu-Dong; Teng, Fei; Li, Jun; Wang, Zhi-Hong
2014-10-01
In order to in-situ detect the oil yield of oil shale, based on portable near infrared spectroscopy analytical technology, with 66 rock core samples from No. 2 well drilling of Fuyu oil shale base in Jilin, the modeling and analyzing methods for in-situ detection were researched. By the developed portable spectrometer, 3 data formats (reflectance, absorbance and K-M function) spectra were acquired. With 4 different modeling data optimization methods: principal component-mahalanobis distance (PCA-MD) for eliminating abnormal samples, uninformative variables elimination (UVE) for wavelength selection and their combina- tions: PCA-MD + UVE and UVE + PCA-MD, 2 modeling methods: partial least square (PLS) and back propagation artificial neural network (BPANN), and the same data pre-processing, the modeling and analyzing experiment were performed to determine the optimum analysis model and method. The results show that the data format, modeling data optimization method and modeling method all affect the analysis precision of model. Results show that whether or not using the optimization method, reflectance or K-M function is the proper spectrum format of the modeling database for two modeling methods. Using two different modeling methods and four different data optimization methods, the model precisions of the same modeling database are different. For PLS modeling method, the PCA-MD and UVE + PCA-MD data optimization methods can improve the modeling precision of database using K-M function spectrum data format. For BPANN modeling method, UVE, UVE + PCA-MD and PCA- MD + UVE data optimization methods can improve the modeling precision of database using any of the 3 spectrum data formats. In addition to using the reflectance spectra and PCA-MD data optimization method, modeling precision by BPANN method is better than that by PLS method. And modeling with reflectance spectra, UVE optimization method and BPANN modeling method, the model gets the highest analysis precision, its correlation coefficient (Rp) is 0.92, and its standard error of prediction (SEP) is 0.69%.
Partial articular-sided rotator cuff tears: in situ repair versus tear completion prior to repair.
Sethi, Paul M; Rajaram, Arun; Obopilwe, Elifho; Mazzocca, Augustus D
2013-06-01
Uncertainty exists over the ideal surgical treatment method for partial articular-sided rotator cuff tears, with options ranging from debridement to in situ repair to tear completion prior to repair. The purpose of this study was to determine whether in situ repair was a viable biomechanical treatment option compared with tear completion prior to repair of partial articular-sided rotator cuff tears. Fourteen fresh-frozen cadaveric shoulders were dissected. Partial articular-sided tears were created and repaired using in situ repair or tear completion prior to the repair. Strain and displacement were measured at 45°, 60°, and 90° of glenohumeral abduction. Testing was performed with a load of 100 N applied for 30 cycles. Data from the biomechanical testing displayed 4 conditions that showed improved characteristics of in situ repair over completion and repair: bursal-sided strain anteriorly at 45°, bursal-sided strain anteriorly at 90°, bursal-sided displacement anteriorly at 45°, and bursal-sided displacement anteriorly at 90°. The data indicate that in situ repair is a viable biomechanical treatment option compared with tear completion prior to repair of partial articular-sided rotator cuff tears. When clinically appropriate, the in situ repair may offer some biomechanical advantages, with lower strain and displacement observed on the bursal side compared with tear completion prior to repair. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.
Zeng, Zhi; Pan, Xingyu; Ma, Hao; He, Jianhua; Cang, Jirong; Zeng, Ming; Mi, Yuhao; Cheng, Jianping
2017-03-01
An underwater in-situ gamma-ray spectrometer based on LaBr 3 :Ce was developed and optimized to monitor marine radioactivity. The intrinsic background mainly from 138 La and 227 Ac of LaBr 3 :Ce was well determined by low background measurement and pulse shape discrimination method. A method of self-calibration using three internal contaminant peaks was proposed to eliminate the peak shift during long-term monitoring. With experiments under different temperatures, the method was proved to be helpful for maintaining long-term stability. To monitor the marine radioactivity, the spectrometer's efficiency was calculated via water tank experiment as well as Monte Carlo simulation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Taylor, Robert T.; Jackson, Kenneth J.; Duba, Alfred G.; Chen, Ching-I
1998-01-01
An in situ thermally enhanced microbial remediation strategy and a method for the biodegradation of toxic petroleum fuel hydrocarbon and halogenated organic solvent contaminants. The method utilizes nonpathogenic, thermophilic bacteria for the thermal biodegradation of toxic and carcinogenic contaminants, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, from fuel leaks and the chlorinated ethenes, such as trichloroethylene, chlorinated ethanes, such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and chlorinated methanes, such as chloroform, from past solvent cleaning practices. The method relies on and takes advantage of the pre-existing heated conditions and the array of delivery/recovery wells that are created and in place following primary subsurface contaminant volatilization efforts via thermal approaches, such as dynamic underground steam-electrical heating.
Taylor, R.T.; Jackson, K.J.; Duba, A.G.; Chen, C.I.
1998-05-19
An in situ thermally enhanced microbial remediation strategy and a method for the biodegradation of toxic petroleum fuel hydrocarbon and halogenated organic solvent contaminants are described. The method utilizes nonpathogenic, thermophilic bacteria for the thermal biodegradation of toxic and carcinogenic contaminants, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, from fuel leaks and the chlorinated ethenes, such as trichloroethylene, chlorinated ethanes, such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and chlorinated methanes, such as chloroform, from past solvent cleaning practices. The method relies on and takes advantage of the pre-existing heated conditions and the array of delivery/recovery wells that are created and in place following primary subsurface contaminant volatilization efforts via thermal approaches, such as dynamic underground steam-electrical heating. 21 figs.
Mirza, Tahseen; Liu, Qian Julie; Vivilecchia, Richard; Joshi, Yatindra
2009-03-01
There has been a growing interest during the past decade in the use of fiber optics dissolution testing. Use of this novel technology is mainly confined to research and development laboratories. It has not yet emerged as a tool for end product release testing despite its ability to generate in situ results and efficiency improvement. One potential reason may be the lack of clear validation guidelines that can be applied for the assessment of suitability of fiber optics. This article describes a comprehensive validation scheme and development of a reliable, robust, reproducible and cost-effective dissolution test using fiber optics technology. The test was successfully applied for characterizing the dissolution behavior of a 40-mg immediate-release tablet dosage form that is under development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, New Jersey. The method was validated for the following parameters: linearity, precision, accuracy, specificity, and robustness. In particular, robustness was evaluated in terms of probe sampling depth and probe orientation. The in situ fiber optic method was found to be comparable to the existing manual sampling dissolution method. Finally, the fiber optic dissolution test was successfully performed by different operators on different days, to further enhance the validity of the method. The results demonstrate that the fiber optics technology can be successfully validated for end product dissolution/release testing. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association
Zhang, Cheng; Cagliero, Cecilia; Pierson, Stephen A; Anderson, Jared L
2017-01-20
A simple and rapid ionic liquid (IL)-based in situ dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) method was developed and coupled to headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) employing electron capture (ECD) and mass spectrometry (MS) detection for the analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and acrylamide at trace levels from milk and coffee samples. The chemical structures of the halide-based ILs were tailored by introducing various functional groups to the cations to evaluate the effect of different structural features on the extraction efficiency of the target analytes. Extraction parameters including the molar ratio of IL to metathesis reagent and IL mass were optimized. The effects of HS oven temperature and the HS sample vial volume on the analyte response were also evaluated. The optimized in situ DLLME method exhibited good analytical precision, good linearity, and provided detection limits down to the low ppt level for PCBs and the low ppb level for acrylamide in aqueous samples. The matrix-compatibility of the developed method was also established by quantifying acrylamide in brewed coffee samples. This method is much simpler and faster compared to previously reported GC-MS methods using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) for the extraction/preconcentration of PCBs and acrylamide from complex food samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A new in-situ method to determine the apparent gas diffusion coefficient of soils
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Laemmel, Thomas; Paulus, Sinikka; Schack-Kirchner, Helmer; Maier, Martin
2015-04-01
Soil aeration is an important factor for the biological activity in the soil and soil respiration. Generally, gas exchange between soil and atmosphere is assumed to be governed by diffusion and Fick's Law is used to describe the fluxes in the soil. The "apparent soil gas diffusion coefficient" represents the proportional factor between the flux and the gas concentration gradient in the soil and reflects the ability of the soil to "transport passively" gases through the soil. One common way to determine this coefficient is to take core samples in the field and determine it in the lab. Unfortunately this method is destructive and needs laborious field work and can only reflect a small fraction of the whole soil. As a consequence insecurity about the resulting effective diffusivity on the profile scale must remain. We developed a new in-situ method using new gas sampling device, tracer gas and inverse soil gas modelling. The gas sampling device contains several sampling depths and can be easily installed into vertical holes of an auger, which allows for fast installation of the system. At the lower end of the device inert tracer gas is injected continuously. The tracer gas diffuses into the surrounding soil. The resulting distribution of the tracer gas concentrations is used to deduce the diffusivity profile of the soil. For Finite Element Modeling of the gas sampling device/soil system the program COMSOL is used. We will present the results of a field campaign comparing the new in-situ method with lab measurements on soil cores. The new sampling pole has several interesting advantages: it can be used in-situ and over a long time; so it allows following modifications of diffusion coefficients in interaction with rain but also vegetation cycle and wind.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Hui-Lin; An, Ru; You, Jia-jun; Wang, Ying; Chen, Yuehong; Shen, Xiao-ji; Gao, Wei; Wang, Yi-nan; Zhang, Yu; Wang, Zhe; Quaye-Ballard, Jonathan Arthur
2017-10-01
Soil moisture plays an important role in the water cycle within the surface ecosystem, and it is the basic condition for the growth of plants. Currently, the spatial resolutions of most soil moisture data from remote sensing range from ten to several tens of km, while those observed in-situ and simulated for watershed hydrology, ecology, agriculture, weather, and drought research are generally <1 km. Therefore, the existing coarse-resolution remotely sensed soil moisture data need to be downscaled. This paper proposes a universal and multitemporal soil moisture downscaling method suitable for large areas. The datasets comprise land surface, brightness temperature, precipitation, and soil and topographic parameters from high-resolution data and active/passive microwave remotely sensed essential climate variable soil moisture (ECV_SM) data with a spatial resolution of 25 km. Using this method, a total of 288 soil moisture maps of 1-km resolution from the first 10-day period of January 2003 to the last 10-day period of December 2010 were derived. The in-situ observations were used to validate the downscaled ECV_SM. In general, the downscaled soil moisture values for different land cover and land use types are consistent with the in-situ observations. Mean square root error is reduced from 0.070 to 0.061 using 1970 in-situ time series observation data from 28 sites distributed over different land uses and land cover types. The performance was also assessed using the GDOWN metric, a measure of the overall performance of the downscaling methods based on the same dataset. It was positive in 71.429% of cases, indicating that the suggested method in the paper generally improves the representation of soil moisture at 1-km resolution.
Method for removal of mercury from various gas streams
Granite, E.J.; Pennline, H.W.
2003-06-10
The invention provides for a method for removing elemental mercury from a fluid, the method comprising irradiating the mercury with light having a wavelength of approximately 254 nm. The method is implemented in situ at various fuel combustion locations such as power plants and municipal incinerators.
Konrad, Anna; Ashok, Nikhil; Pontén, Fredrik; Hober, Sophia; Asplund, Anna
2013-01-01
Antibody-based protein profiling on a global scale using immunohistochemistry constitutes an emerging strategy for mapping of the human proteome, which is crucial for an increased understanding of biological processes in the cell. Immunohistochemistry is often performed indirectly using secondary antibodies for detection, with the benefit of signal amplification. Direct immunohistochemistry instead brings the advantage of multiplexing; however, it requires labeling of the primary antibody. Many antibody-labeling kits do not specifically target IgG and may therefore cause labeling of stabilizing proteins present in the antibody solution. A new conjugation method has been developed that utilizes a modified Z-domain of protein A (ZBPA) to specifically target the Fc part of antibodies. The aim of the present study was to compare the ZBPA conjugation method and a commercially available labeling kit, Lightning-Link, for in situ protein detection. Fourteen antibodies were biotinylated with each method and stained using immunohistochemistry. For all antibodies tested, ZBPA biotinylation resulted in distinct immunoreactivity without off-target staining, regardless of the presence of stabilizing proteins in the buffer, whereas the majority of the Lightning-Link biotinylated antibodies displayed a characteristic pattern of nonspecific staining. We conclude that biotinylated ZBPA domain provides a stringent method for antibody biotinylation, advantageous for in situ protein detection in tissues. PMID:23920108
Lu, W.J.; Chou, I.-Ming; Burruss, R.C.; Yang, M.Z.
2006-01-01
A new method was developed for in situ study of the diffusive transfer of methane in aqueous solution under high pressures near hydrate formation conditions within an optical capillary cell. Time-dependent Raman spectra of the solution at several different spots along the one-dimensional diffusion path were collected and thus the varying composition profile of the solution was monitored. Diffusion coefficients were estimated by the least squares method based on the variations in methane concentration data in space and time in the cell. The measured diffusion coefficients of methane in water at the liquid (L)-vapor (V) stable region and L-V metastable region are close to previously reported values determined at lower pressure and similar temperature. This in situ monitoring method was demonstrated to be suitable for the study of mass transfer in aqueous solution under high pressure and at various temperature conditions and will be applied to the study of nucleation and dissolution kinetics of methane hydrate in a hydrate-water system where the interaction of methane and water would be more complicated than that presented here for the L-V metastable condition. ?? 2006 Society for Applied Spectroscopy.
Estimation of In Situ Stresses with Hydro-Fracturing Tests and a Statistical Method
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Hikweon; Ong, See Hong
2018-03-01
At great depths, where borehole-based field stress measurements such as hydraulic fracturing are challenging due to difficult downhole conditions or prohibitive costs, in situ stresses can be indirectly estimated using wellbore failures such as borehole breakouts and/or drilling-induced tensile failures detected by an image log. As part of such efforts, a statistical method has been developed in which borehole breakouts detected on an image log are used for this purpose (Song et al. in Proceedings on the 7th international symposium on in situ rock stress, 2016; Song and Chang in J Geophys Res Solid Earth 122:4033-4052, 2017). The method employs a grid-searching algorithm in which the least and maximum horizontal principal stresses ( S h and S H) are varied, and the corresponding simulated depth-related breakout width distribution as a function of the breakout angle ( θ B = 90° - half of breakout width) is compared to that observed along the borehole to determine a set of S h and S H having the lowest misfit between them. An important advantage of the method is that S h and S H can be estimated simultaneously in vertical wells. To validate the statistical approach, the method is applied to a vertical hole where a set of field hydraulic fracturing tests have been carried out. The stress estimations using the proposed method were found to be in good agreement with the results interpreted from the hydraulic fracturing test measurements.
The energetics of mesopore formation in zeolites with surfactants.
Linares, Noemi; Jardim, Erika de Oliveira; Sachse, Alexander; Serrano, Elena; Garcia-Martinez, Javier
2018-05-02
Mesoporosity can be conveniently introduced in zeolites by treating them in basic surfactant solutions. The apparent activation energy involved in the formation of mesopores in USY via surfactant-templating was obtained through the combination of in situ synchrotron XRD and ex situ gas adsorption. Additionally, techniques such as pH measurements and TG/DTA were employed to determine the OH- evolution and the CTA+ uptake during the development of mesoporosity, providing information about the different steps involved. By combining both in situ and ex situ techniques, we have been able, for the first time, to determine the apparent activation energies of the different processes involved in the mesostructuring of USY zeolites, which are in the same order of magnitude (30 - 65 kJ mol-1) of those involved in the crystallization of zeolites. Hence, important mechanistic insights on the surfactant-templating method were obtained. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Zou, Yuqin; Wang, Shuangyin
2015-07-07
Flexible energy storage devices are highly demanded for various applications. Carbon cloth (CC) woven by carbon fibers (CFs) is typically used as electrode or current collector for flexible devices. The low surface area of CC and the presence of big gaps (ca. micro-size) between individual CFs lead to poor performance. Herein, we interconnect individual CFs through the in-situ exfoliated graphene with high surface area by the electrochemical intercalation method. The interconnected CFs are used as both current collector and electrode materials for flexible supercapacitors, in which the in-situ exfoliated graphene act as active materials and conductive "binders". The in-situ electrochemical intercalation technique ensures the low contact resistance between electrode (graphene) and current collector (carbon cloth) with enhanced conductivity. The as-prepared electrode materials show significantly improved performance for flexible supercapacitors.
A highly sensitive in-situ turbidity sensor with low power consumption
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, Yi; Sun, Lei; Ye, Shuming; Chen, Hang; Jiang, Kai; Pan, Jianming
2014-03-01
A highly sensitive in-situ turbidity sensor with the low power consumption was proposed and evaluated in this study. To meet the practical requirements of the in-situ detection, we have designed the light scattering path, watertight mechanical structure, and ultra-weak scattering light detecting method. Experiments showed that the sensor had a sensitivity of 0.0076 FTU with the concentration range of 0-25 FTU and the R-square of 0.9999. The sensor could withstand the water pressure in depth of 1000 m and had the low power consumption in the active mode 10.4 mA, sleep mode 65 μA with a supply voltage of 8.4 V. Southern China Sea buoy experiments indicated that the sensor could work well in the actual in-situ environment. In comparison with sensors of other companies, our sensor had relatively more comprehensive performance.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Newman, A. J.; Notaros, B. M.; Bringi, V. N.; Kleinkort, C.; Huang, G. J.; Kennedy, P.; Thurai, M.
2015-12-01
We present a novel approach to remote sensing and characterization of winter precipitation and modeling of radar observables through a synergistic use of advanced in-situ instrumentation for microphysical and geometrical measurements of ice and snow particles, image processing methodology to reconstruct complex particle three-dimensional (3D) shapes, computational electromagnetics to analyze realistic precipitation scattering, and state-of-the-art polarimetric radar. Our in-situ measurement site at the Easton Valley View Airport, La Salle, Colorado, shown in the figure, consists of two advanced optical imaging disdrometers within a 2/3-scaled double fence intercomparison reference wind shield, and also includes PLUVIO snow measuring gauge, VAISALA weather station, and collocated NCAR GPS advanced upper-air system sounding system. Our primary radar is the CSU-CHILL radar, with a dual-offset Gregorian antenna featuring very high polarization purity and excellent side-lobe performance in any plane, and the in-situ instrumentation site being very conveniently located at a range of 12.92 km from the radar. A multi-angle snowflake camera (MASC) is used to capture multiple different high-resolution views of an ice particle in free-fall, along with its fall speed. We apply a visual hull geometrical method for reconstruction of 3D shapes of particles based on the images collected by the MASC, and convert these shapes into models for computational electromagnetic scattering analysis, using a higher order method of moments. A two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD), collocated with the MASC, provides 2D contours of a hydrometeor, along with the fall speed and other important parameters. We use the fall speed from the MASC and the 2DVD, along with state parameters measured at the Easton site, to estimate the particle mass (Böhm's method), and then the dielectric constant of particles, based on a Maxwell-Garnet formula. By calculation of the "particle-by-particle" scattering matrices over large time intervals using the in-situ measured data, we obtain, simultaneously, all polarimetric radar observables, which are then compared and analyzed against measurements by the CHILL Radar. We present and discuss results from several interesting events observed during the 2014/2015 winter campaign.
Kim, Taeyoung; Park, Seongmin; Baek, Solhee; Lee, Jong Bum; Park, Nokyoung
2016-01-01
Microfluidic devices have been extensively developed as methods for microscale materials fabrication. It has also been adopted for polymeric microsphere fabrication and in situ drug encapsulation. Here, we employed multi-inlet microfluidic channels for DNA hydrogel microsphere formation and in situ protein encapsulation. The release of encapsulated proteins from DNA hydrogels showed different profiles accordingly with the size of microspheres. PMID:27279936
Application of petroleum demulsification technology to shale oil emulsions
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Robertson, R.E.
1983-01-01
Demulsification, the process of emulsion separation, of water-in-oil shale oil emulsions produced by several methods was accomplished using commercial chemical demulsifiers which are used typically for petroleum demulsification. The shale oil emulsions were produced from Green River shale by one in situ and three different above-ground retorts, an in situ high pressure/high temperature steam process, and by washing both retort-produced and hydrotreated shale oils.
Linking Embeddedness and Macroinvertebrate Health in Two Southwest Ohio Streams
2008-03-01
area along the test site was stable with many hardwood trees and low lying shrubs along the banks of the river. The river substrate consisted...situ method of quantifying embeddedness over short time periods. The goal of this research was to develop a short-term embeddedness (EMB...habitat assessments of wadeable streams and rivers. An in situ embeddedness chamber was developed to capture sediment deposited within the
Fabrication of Nanocarbon Composites Using In Situ Chemical Vapor Deposition and Their Applications.
He, Chunnian; Zhao, Naiqin; Shi, Chunsheng; Liu, Enzuo; Li, Jiajun
2015-09-23
Nanocarbon (carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene (GN)) composites attract considerable research interest due to their fascinating applications in many fields. Here, recent developments in the field of in situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for the design and controlled preparation of advanced nanocarbon composites are highlighted, specifically, CNT-reinforced bulk structural composites, as well as CNT, GN, and CNT/GN functional composites, together with their practical and potential applications. In situ CVD is a very attractive approach for the fabrication of composites because of its engaging features, such as its simplicity, low-cost, versatility, and tunability. The morphologies, structures, dispersion, and interface of the resulting nanocarbon composites can be easily modulated by varying the experimental parameters (such as temperature, catalysts, carbon sources, templates or template catalysts, etc.), which enables a great potential for the in situ synthesis of high-quality nanocarbons with tailored size and dimension for constructing high-performance composites, which has not yet been achieved by conventional methods. In addition, new trends of the in situ CVD toward nanocarbon composites are discussed. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Barth, Michael; Datta, Suman, E-mail: sdatta@engr.psu.edu; Bruce Rayner, G.
2014-12-01
We investigate in-situ cleaning of GaSb surfaces and its effect on the electrical performance of p-type GaSb metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) using a remote hydrogen plasma. Ultrathin HfO{sub 2} films grown by atomic layer deposition were used as a high permittivity gate dielectric. Compared to conventional ex-situ chemical cleaning methods, the in-situ GaSb surface treatment resulted in a drastic improvement in the impedance characteristics of the MOSCAPs, directly evidencing a much lower interface trap density and enhanced Fermi level movement efficiency. We demonstrate that by using a combination of ex-situ and in-situ surface cleaning steps, aggressively scaled HfO{sub 2}/p-GaSb MOSCAP structuresmore » with a low equivalent oxide thickness of 0.8 nm and efficient gate modulation of the surface potential are achieved, allowing to push the Fermi level far away from the valence band edge high up into the band gap of GaSb.« less
Grundberg, Ida; Kiflemariam, Sara; Mignardi, Marco; Imgenberg-Kreuz, Juliana; Edlund, Karolina; Micke, Patrick; Sundström, Magnus; Sjöblom, Tobias
2013-01-01
Current assays for somatic mutation analysis are based on extracts from tissue sections that often contain morphologically heterogeneous neoplastic regions with variable contents of genetically normal stromal and inflammatory cells, obscuring the results of the assays. We have developed an RNA-based in situ mutation assay that targets oncogenic mutations in a multiplex fashion that resolves the heterogeneity of the tissue sample. Activating oncogenic mutations are targets for a new generation of cancer drugs. For anti-EGFR therapy prediction, we demonstrate reliable in situ detection of KRAS mutations in codon 12 and 13 in colon and lung cancers in three different types of routinely processed tissue materials. High-throughput screening of KRAS mutation status was successfully performed on a tissue microarray. Moreover, we show how the patterns of expressed mutated and wild-type alleles can be studied in situ in tumors with complex combinations of mutated EGFR, KRAS and TP53. This in situ method holds great promise as a tool to investigate the role of somatic mutations during tumor progression and for prediction of response to targeted therapy. PMID:24280411
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
This paper reports a convenient one-pot method integrating a novel solvent-exchange method into in situ melt polycondensation to fabricate unsaturated polyester nanocomposites containing functionalized graphene sheets (FGS). A novel solvent-exchange method was first developed to prepare graphene oxi...
Camilli, Richard; Duryea, Anthony N
2009-07-01
The TETHYS mass spectrometer is intended for long-term in situ observation of dissolved gases and volatile organic compounds in aquatic environments. Its design maintains excellent low mass range sensitivity and stability during long-term operations, enabling characterization of low-frequency variability in many trace dissolved gases. Results are presented from laboratory trials and a 300-h in situ trial in a shallow marine embayment in Massachusetts, U.S.A. This time series consists of over 15000 sample measurements and represents the longest continuous record made by an in situ mass spectrometer in an aquatic environment. These measurements possess sufficient sampling density and duration to apply frequency analysis techniques for study of temporal variability in dissolved gases. Results reveal correlations with specific environmental periodicities. Numerical methods are presented for converting mass spectrometer ion peak ratios to absolute-scale dissolved gas concentrations across wide temperature regimes irrespective of ambient pressure, during vertical water column profiles in a hypoxic deep marine basin off the coast of California, U.S.A. Dissolved oxygen concentration values obtained with the TETHYS instrument indicate close correlation with polarographic oxygen sensor data across the entire depth range. These methods and technology enable observation of aquatic environmental chemical distributions and dynamics at appropriate scales of resolution.
Optimization of exchange bias in Co/CoO magnetic nanocaps by tuning deposition parameters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sharma, A.; Tripathi, J.; Ugochukwu, K. C.; Tripathi, S.
2017-03-01
In the present work, we report exchange bias tuning by varying thin film deposition parameters such as synthesis method and underlying layer patterning. The patterned substrates for this study were prepared by self-assembly of polystyrene (PS) latex spheres ( 530 nm) on Si (100) substrate. The desired magnetic nanocaps composed of CoO/Co bilayer film on these patterned substrates were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy technique under ultra-high vacuum conditions. For this, a Co layer of 10 nm thickness was deposited on the substrates and then oxidized in-situ to form CoO/Co/PS in-situ oxidized film or ex-situ in ambiance which also gives CoO/Co/PS naturally oxidized film. Simultaneously, reference thin films of Co ( 10 nm) were also prepared on plane Si substrate and similar oxidation treatments were performed on them respectively. The magnetic properties studied using SQUID technique revealed higher exchange bias ( 1736 Oe) in the in-situ oxidized Co/PS film as compared to that in naturally oxidized Co/PS film ( 1544 Oe) and also compared to the reference film. The observed variations in the magnetic properties are explained in terms of surface patterning induced structural changes of the deposited films and different oxidation methods.
An Efficient, Solvent-Free Process for Synthesizing Anhydrous MgCl 2
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Motkuri, Radha K.; Vemuri, Venkata Rama S.; Barpaga, Dushyant
A new efficient and solvent-free method for the synthesis of anhydrous MgCl2 from its hexahydrate is proposed. Fluidized dehydration of MgCl 2·6H 2O feedstock at 200 °C in a porous bed reactor yields MgCl2·nH2O (0 < n < 1), which has a similar diffraction pattern as activated MgCl2. The MgCl 2·nH 2O is then ammoniated directly using liquefied NH 3 in the absence of solvent to form MgCl 2·6NH 3. Calcination of the hexammoniate complex at 300 °C then yields anhydrous MgCl 2. Both dehydration and deammoniation were thoroughly studied using in situ as well as ex situ characterization techniques.more » Specifically, a detailed understanding of the dehydration process was monitored by in situ PXRD and in situ FTIR techniques where formation of salt with nH 2O (n = 4, 2, 1, <1) was characterized. Given the reduction in thermal energy required to produce dehydrated feedstock with this method compared with current strategies, significant cost benefits are expected. Overall, the combined effect of activation, macroporosity, and coordinated water depletion allows the formation of hexammoniate without using solvent, thus minimizing waste formation.« less
Alternative Surfactants for Improved Efficiency of In Situ Tryptic Proteolysis of Fingermarks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Patel, Ekta; Clench, Malcolm R.; West, Andy; Marshall, Peter S.; Marshall, Nathan; Francese, Simona
2015-06-01
Despite recent improvements to in situ proteolysis strategies, a higher efficiency is still needed to increase both the number of peptides detected and the associated ion intensity, leading to a complete and reliable set of biomarkers for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. In the study presented here, an extract of a systematic study is illustrated investigating a range of surfactants assisting trypsin proteolytic activity. Method development was trialled on fingermarks; this specimen results from a transfer of sweat from an individual's fingertip to a surface upon contact. As sweat carries a plethora of biomolecules, including peptides and proteins, fingermarks are, potentially, a very valuable specimen for non-invasive prognostic or diagnostic screening. A recent study has demonstrated the opportunity to quickly detect peptides and small proteins in fingermarks using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry Profiling (MALDI MSP). However, intact detection bears low sensitivity and does not allow species identification; therefore, a shotgun proteomic approach was employed involving in situ proteolysis. Data demonstrate that in fingermarks, further improvements to the existing method can be achieved using MEGA-8 as surfactant in higher percentages as well as combinations of different detergents. Also, for the first time, Rapigest SF, normally used in solution digestions, has been shown to successfully work also for in situ proteolysis.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huffman, K. A.; Saffer, D. M.; Dugan, B.
2016-07-01
We present a method to simultaneously constrain both far-field horizontal stress magnitudes ( S hmin and S Hmax) and in situ rock unconfined compressive strength (UCS), using geophysical logging data from two boreholes located 70 m apart that access the uppermost accretionary prism of the Nankai subduction zone . The boreholes sample the same sediments and are affected by the same tectonic stress field, but were drilled with different annular pressures, thus providing a unique opportunity to refine estimates of both in situ stress magnitudes and rock strength. We develop a forward model to predict the angular width of compressional wellbore failures (borehole breakouts), and identify combinations of S Hmax and UCS that best match breakout widths observed in resistivity images from the two boreholes. The method requires knowledge of S hmin, which is defined by leak-off tests conducted during drilling. Our results define a normal to strike-slip stress regime from 900 to 1386 m below seafloor, consistent with observations from seismic and core data. Our analysis also suggests that in situ values of UCS are generally slightly lower that commonly assumed on the basis of published empirical relations between UCS and P-wave velocity.
Formulation and evaluation of in situ gelling systems for intranasal administration of gastrodin.
Cai, Zheng; Song, Xiangrong; Sun, Feng; Yang, Zhaoxiang; Hou, Shixiang; Liu, Zhongqiu
2011-12-01
Gastrodin is the major bioactive constituent of the traditional Chinese drug "Tianma." It is used in the treatment of some nervous system diseases and can be transported to the brain via intranasal administration. In the current paper, the development of a novel ion-activated in situ gelling system for the nasal delivery of gastrodin is discussed. An in situ perfusion model was used to determine the absorption-rate constant of gastrodin through rat nasal mucosa. The optimal formulation was determined by measuring the critical cation concentration, anti-dilution capacity, gel expansion coefficient, water-holding capacity, and adhesive capacity. The best formulation consisted of 10% gastrodin, 0.5% deacetylated gellan gum as the gelatinizer, and 0.03% ethylparaben as the preservative. The rheological properties of gastrodin nasal in situ gels were also investigated. The viscosity and elasticity sharply increased at temperatures below 25°C. When physiological concentrations of cations were added into the preparation, the mixture gelled into a semi-solid. The results of an accelerated stability test show that gastrodin nasal in situ gels can be stable for more than 2 years. Mucociliary toxicity was evaluated using the in situ toad palate model and the rat nasal mucociliary method; both models demonstrated no measurable ciliotoxicity. Pharmacodynamic studies suggest that similar acesodyne and sedative effects were induced following intranasal administration of 50 mg/kg gastrodin nasal in situ gels or oral administration of 100 mg/kg gastrodin solution. The in situ gel preparation is a safe and effective nasal delivery system for gastrodin.
The Potassium-Argon Laser Experiment (karle): In Situ Geochronology for Planetary Missions
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cohen, B. A.
2016-01-01
Isotopic dating is an essential tool to establish an absolute chronology for geological events. It enables a planet's crystallization history, magmatic evolution, and alteration to be placed into the framework of solar system history. The capability for in situ geochronology will open up the ability for this crucial measurement to be accomplished as part of lander or rover complement. An in situ geochronology package can also complement sample return missions by identifying the most interesting rocks to cache or return to Earth. Appropriate application of in situ dating will enable geochronology on more terrains than can be reached with sample-return missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, outer planetary satellites, and other bodies that contain rocky components. The capability of flight instruments to conduct in situ geochronology is called out in the NASA Planetary Science Decadal Survey and the NASA Technology Roadmap as needing development to serve the community's needs. Beagle 2 is the only mission launched to date with the explicit aim to perform in situ K-Ar isotopic dating [1], but it failed to communicate and was lost. The first in situ K-Ar date on Mars, using SAM and APXS measurements on the Cumberland mudstone [2], yielded an age of 4.21 +/- 0.35 Ga and validated the idea of K-Ar dating on other planets, though the Curiosity method is not purpose-built for dating and requires many assumptions that degrade its precision. To get more precise and meaningful ages, multiple groups are developing dedicated in situ dating instruments.
A methodology for calibration of hyperspectral and multispectral satellite data in coastal areas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pennucci, Giuliana; Fargion, Giulietta; Alvarez, Alberto; Trees, Charles; Arnone, Robert
2012-06-01
The objective of this work is to determine the location(s) in any given oceanic area during different temporal periods where in situ sampling for Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) provides the best capability to retrieve accurate radiometric and derived product data (lowest uncertainties). We present a method to merge satellite imagery with in situ measurements, to determine the best in situ sampling strategy suitable for satellite Cal/Val and to evaluate the present in situ locations through uncertainty indices. This analysis is required to determine if the present in situ sites are adequate for assessing uncertainty and where additional sites and ship programs should be located to improve Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) procedures. Our methodology uses satellite acquisitions to build a covariance matrix encoding the spatial-temporal variability of the area of interest. The covariance matrix is used in a Bayesian framework to merge satellite and in situ data providing a product with lower uncertainty. The best in situ location for Cal/Val is then identified by using a design principle (A-optimum design) that looks for minimizing the estimated variance of the merged products. Satellite products investigated in this study include Ocean Color water leaving radiance, chlorophyll, and inherent and apparent optical properties (retrieved from MODIS and VIIRS). In situ measurements are obtained from systems operated on fixed deployment platforms (e.g., sites of the Ocean Color component of the AErosol RObotic NETwork- AERONET-OC), moorings (e.g, Marine Optical Buoy-MOBY), ships or autonomous vehicles (such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and/or Gliders).
Resolution-improved in situ DNA hybridization detection based on microwave photonic interrogation.
Cao, Yuan; Guo, Tuan; Wang, Xudong; Sun, Dandan; Ran, Yang; Feng, Xinhuan; Guan, Bai-ou
2015-10-19
In situ bio-sensing system based on microwave photonics filter (MPF) interrogation method with improved resolution is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A microfiber Bragg grating (mFBG) is used as sensing probe for DNA hybridization detection. Different from the traditional wavelength monitoring technique, we use the frequency interrogation scheme for resolution-improved bio-sensing detection. Experimental results show that the frequency shift of MPF notch presents a linear response to the surrounding refractive index (SRI) change over the range of 1.33 to 1.38, with a SRI resolution up to 2.6 × 10(-5) RIU, which has been increased for almost two orders of magnitude compared with the traditional fundamental mode monitoring technique (~3.6 × 10(-3) RIU). Due to the high Q value (about 27), the whole process of DNA hybridization can be in situ monitored. The proposed MPF-based bio-sensing system provides a new interrogation method over the frequency domain with improved sensing resolution and rapid interrogation rate for biochemical and environmental measurement.
Li, Baoshan; Liu, Zhenxing; Han, Chunying; Ma, Wei; Zhao, Songjie
2012-07-01
Mesoporous silica pillared clay (SPC) incorporated with tungstophosphoric acid (HPW) has been synthesized via in situ introducing P and W source in the acidic suspension of the clay interlayer template during the formation of the silica pillared clay. The samples were characterized by XRD, XRF, FT-IR, TG-DTA, N(2) adsorption-desorption, and SEM techniques. The results showed that the HPW formed by in situ method has been effectively introduced into the framework of mesoporous silica pillared clay and its Keggin structure remained perfectly after formation of the materials. In addition, samples with similar HPW loadings were also prepared by impregnation method using SPC as the support. HPW in the incorporated samples was better dispersed into the silica pillared clay than in the impregnated samples. The results of catalytic tests indicated that the encapsulated materials demonstrated better catalytic performance than the impregnated samples in oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Monitoring and controlling ovarian activity in elephants.
Thitaram, Chatchote; Brown, Janine L
2018-03-15
Both Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants are important keystone, umbrella and flagship species. Paradoxically, world population numbers of both species are declining in many of their natural ranges due mainly to poaching, while over population of elephants in some areas is resulting in serious human-elephant conflict, and modifications of natural habitats that impact biodiversity. Understanding mechanisms of reproductive control is vital to effective population management, and for that reason significant advances have been made in endocrine and ultrasonographic monitoring techniques, particularly in studies of elephants ex situ. However, there remains a need to develop new methods to control ovarian activity, both for enhancing and inhibiting reproduction, to maintain population numbers at levels that ensure species survival and their ability to safely cohabitate with humans and other species. We present an overview of reproductive monitoring methods and how they have contributed to our knowledge of elephant reproductive biology, as well as their application for in situ and ex situ conservation purposes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Casas Ferreira, Ana María; Möder, Monika; Fernández Laespada, María Esther
2011-01-01
Stir-bar sorptive extraction in combination with an in situ derivatisation reaction and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was successfully applied to determine parabens (methylparaben, isopropylparaben, n-propylparaben, butylparaben and benzylparaben), triclosan and methyltriclosan in water samples. This approach improves both the extraction efficiency and the sensitivity in the GC in a simple way since the derivatisation reaction occurs at the same time as the extraction procedure. The in situ derivatisation reaction was carried out with acetic anhydride under alkaline conditions. Thermal desorption parameters (cryofocusing temperature, desorption flow, desorption time, desorption temperature) were optimised using a Box-Behnken experimental design. All the analytes gave recoveries higher than 79%, except methylparaben (22%). The method afforded detection limits between 0.64 and 4.12 ng/L, with good reproducibility and accuracy values. The feasibility of the method for the determination of analytes in water samples was checked in tap water and untreated and treated wastewater.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kunkel, Nathalie, E-mail: nathalie.kunkel@chimie-paristech.fr; FR 8.1 Universität des Saarlandes, Postach 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken; Reichert, Christian
2015-01-15
In-situ neutron powder diffraction studies of the Half-Heusler phase LiAlSi under high deuterium pressures and first principle calculations of solid solutions of Li{sub x}Sr{sub 1−x}AlSi and their hydrides Li{sub x}Sr{sub 1−x}AlSiH were carried out. In contrast to an earlier study, there is no experimental evidence for hydrogen (deuterium) uptake up to gas pressures of 15 MPa and temperatures of 550 °C. Instead a slow decomposition reaction according to LiAlSi+1/2H{sub 2}=LiH+Al+Si was found by in-situ neutron powder diffraction. Theoretical calculations by DFT methods on hypothetical solid solutions of Li{sub x}Sr{sub 1−x}AlSi show the LiAlSi type to be the energetically most stablemore » structure for 0.7« less
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cheglakov, Zoya
Unequal spreading of mRNA is a frequent experience observed in varied cell lines. The study of cellular processes dynamics and precise localization of mRNAs offers a vital toolbox to target specific proteins in precise cytoplasmic areas and provides a convenient instrument to uncover their mechanisms and functions. Latest methodological innovations have allowed imaging of a single mRNA molecule in situ and in vivo. Today, Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) methods allow the studying of mRNA expression and offer a vital toolbox for accurate biological models. Studies enable analysis of the dynamics of an individual mRNA, have uncovered the multiplex RNA transport systems. With all current approaches, a single mRNA tracking in the mammalian cells is still challenging. This thesis describes mRNA detection methods based on programmable fluorophore-labeled DNA structures complimentary to native targets providing an accurate mRNA imaging in mammalian cells. First method represents beta-actin (ACTB) transcripts in situ detection in human cells, the technique strategy is based on programmable DNA probes, amplified by rolling circle amplification (RCA). The method reports precise localization of molecule of interest with an accuracy of a single-cell. Visualization and localization of specific endogenous mRNA molecules in real-time in vivo has the promising to innovate cellular biology studies, medical analysis and to provide a vital toolbox in drugs invention area. Second method described in this thesis represents miR-21 miRNA detection within a single live-cell resolution. The method using fluorophore-labeled short synthetic DNAs probes forming a stem-loop shape and generating Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) as a result of target-probes hybridization. Catalytic nucleic acid (DNAzymes) probes are cooperative tool for precise detection of different mRNA targets. With assistance of a complementary fluorophore-quencher labeled substrate, the DNAzymes provide a beneficial strategy for simultaneous tracking readily accomplished by multicolor imaging with diverse fluorescent tags. The third method in this thesis will demonstrate the advantage of DNAzymes probes amplification, and offers potential strategy to monitor miRNAs in mammalian live cells.
Treatment of gas from an in situ conversion process
Diaz, Zaida [Katy, TX; Del Paggio, Alan Anthony [Spring, TX; Nair, Vijay [Katy, TX; Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria [Houston, TX
2011-12-06
A method of producing methane is described. The method includes providing formation fluid from a subsurface in situ conversion process. The formation fluid is separated to produce a liquid stream and a first gas stream. The first gas stream includes olefins. At least the olefins in the first gas stream are contacted with a hydrogen source in the presence of one or more catalysts and steam to produce a second gas stream. The second gas stream is contacted with a hydrogen source in the presence of one or more additional catalysts to produce a third gas stream. The third gas stream includes methane.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Sawicki, K.; Malinowski, F. K.; Gałkowski, K.
2015-01-05
A simple, single-color method for permanent marking of the position of individual self-assembled semiconductor Quantum Dots (QDs) at cryogenic temperatures is reported. The method combines in situ photolithography with standard micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy. Its utility is proven by a systematic magnetooptical study of a single CdTe/ZnTe QD containing a Mn{sup 2+} ion, where a magnetic field of up to 10 T in two orthogonal, Faraday and Voigt, configurations is applied to the same QD. The presented approach can be applied to a wide range of solid state nanoemitters.
Choleva, Tatiana G; Kappi, Foteini A; Tsogas, George Z; Vlessidis, Athanasios G; Giokas, Dimosthenis L
2016-05-01
This work describes a new method for the extraction and determination of gold nanoparticles in environmental samples by means of in-situ suspended aggregate microextraction and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The method relies on the in-situ formation of a supramolecular aggregate phase through ion-association between a cationic surfactant and a benzene sulfonic acid derivative. Gold nanoparticles are physically entrapped into the aggregate phase which is separated from the bulk aqueous solution by vacuum filtration on the surface of a cellulose filter in the form of a thin film. The film is removed from the filter surface and is dissociated into an acidified methanolic solution which is used for analysis. Under the optimized experimental conditions, gold nanoparticles can be efficiently extracted from water samples with recovery rates between 81.0-93.3%, precision 5.4-12.0% and detection limits as low as 75femtomolL(-1) using only 20mL of sample volume. The satisfactory analytical features of the method along with the simplicity indicate the efficiency of this new approach to adequately collect and extract gold nanoparticle species from water samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Konovalov, V. G.; Voitsenya, V. S.; Makhov, M. N.; Ryzhkov, I. V.; Shapoval, A. N.; Solodovchenko, S. I.; Stan, A. F.; Bondarenko, V. N.; Donné, A. J. H.; Litnovsky, A.
2016-09-01
The plasma-facing (first) mirrors in ITER will be subject to sputtering and/or contamination with rates that will depend on the precise mirror locations. The resulting influence of both these factors can reduce the mirror reflectance (R) and worsen the transmitted image quality (IQ). This implies that monitoring the mirror quality in situ is an actual desire, and the present work is an attempt towards a solution. The method we propose is able to elucidate the reason for degradation of the mirror reflectance: sputtering by charge exchange atoms or deposition of contaminated layers. In case of deposition of contaminants, the mirror can be cleaned in situ, but a rough mirror (due to sputtering) cannot be used anymore and has to be replaced. To demonstrate the feasibility of the IQ method, it was applied to mirror specimens coated with carbon film in laboratory conditions and to mirrors coated with contaminants during exposure in fusion devices (TRIAM-1M and Tore Supra), as well as to mirrors of different materials exposed to sputtering by plasma ions in the DSM-2 plasma stand (in IPP NSC KIPT).
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Park, J.S.; Kurman, R.J.; Kessis, T.D.
1991-01-01
A study comparing in situ hybridization using nonradioactive DNA probes directly conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and {sup 35}S-labeled antisense RNA probes for human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6/11, 16, and 18 was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 34 lesions of the cervix and vulva. These lesions included exophytic condylomas and intraepithelial and invasive neoplasms. HPV 6/11 was detected in two of four condylomata acuminata by both in situ techniques. HPV 16 was detected in 13 of 30 cases of intraepithelial and invasive neoplasms by both methods. Discordance between the two methods occurred in two instances. The radiolabeled probe butmore » not the HRP probe detected HPV 16 in one case of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 3), whereas the converse occurred in one case of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN 3). HPV 18 was not detected in any of the specimens by either method. This study demonstrates that nonradioactive HRP-labeled probes for the detection of specific HPV types are as sensitive as the more laborious and potentially hazardous radioactive probes.« less
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lin, Tingting; Zhang, Siyuan; Zhang, Yang; Wan, Ling; Lin, Jun
2017-01-01
Compared with the other geophysical approaches, magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) technique is direct and nondestructive in subsurface water exploration. It provides water content distribution and estimates hydrogeological properties. The biggest challenge is that MRS measurement always suffers bad signal-to-noise ratio, and it can be carried out only far from sources of noise. To solve this problem, a series of de-noising methods are developed. However, most of them are post-processing, leading the data quality uncontrolled for in situ measurements. In the present study, a new approach that removal of correlated noise online is found to overcome the restriction. Based on LabVIEW, a method is provided to enable online data quality control by the way of realizing signal acquisition and noise filtering simultaneously. Using one or more reference coils, adaptive noise cancellation based on LabVIEW to eliminate the correlated noise is available for in situ measurements. The approach was examined through numerical simulation and field measurements. The correlated noise is mitigated effectively and the application of MRS measurements is feasible in high-level noise environment. The method shortens the measurement time and improves the measurement efficiency.
Simultaneous monitoring of faecal indicators and harmful algae using an in-situ autonomous sensor.
Yamahara, K M; Demir-Hilton, E; Preston, C M; Marin, R; Pargett, D; Roman, B; Jensen, S; Birch, J M; Boehm, A B; Scholin, C A
2015-08-01
Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and harmful algal blooms (HABs) threaten the health and the economy of coastal communities worldwide. Emerging automated sampling technologies combined with molecular analytical techniques could enable rapid detection of micro-organisms in-situ, thereby improving resource management and public health decision-making. We evaluated this concept using a robotic device, the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP). The ESP automates in-situ sample collection, nucleic acid extraction and molecular analyses. Here, the ESP measured and reported concentrations of FIB (Enterococcus spp.), a microbial source-tracking marker (human-specific Bacteriodales) and a HAB species (Psuedo-nitzschia spp.) over a 45-day deployment on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf (Santa Cruz, CA, USA). Both FIB and HABs were enumerated from single in-situ collected water samples. The in-situ qPCR efficiencies ranged from 86% to 105%, while the limit of quantifications during the deployment was 10 copies reaction(-1) . No differences were observed in the concentrations of enterococci, the human-specific marker in Bacteroidales spp., and P. australis between in-situ collected sample and traditional hand sampling methods (P > 0·05). Analytical results were Internet-accessible within hours of sample collection, demonstrating the feasibility of same-day public notification of current water quality conditions. This study presents the first report of in-situ qPCR enumeration of both faecal indicators and harmful algal species in coastal marine waters. We utilize a robotic device for in-situ quantification of enterococci, the human-specific marker in Bacteriodales and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. from the same water samples collected and processed in-situ. The results demonstrate that rapid, in-situ monitoring can be utilized to identify and quantify multiple health-relevant micro-organisms important in water quality monitoring and that this monitoring can be used to inform same-day notifications. © 2015 The Society for Applied Microbiology.
A measurement routine to determine 137Cs activities at steep mountain slopes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schaub, Monika; Konz, Nadine; Meusburger, Katrin; Alewell, Chrstine
2010-05-01
Caesium-137 (137Cs) is a common tracer for soil erosion. So far, in-situ measurements in steep alpine environments have not often been done. Most studies have been carried out in arable lands and with Ge detectors. However, the NaI detector system is a good priced, easy to handle field instrument. A comparison of laboratory measurements with GeLi detector and in-situ measurements with NaI detector of 137Cs gamma soil radiation has been done in an alpine catchment (Urseren Valley, Swizerland). The aim of this study was to calibrate the in-situ NaI detector system for application at steep alpine slopes. Replicate samples from an altitudinal transect through the Urseren Valley were measured ex situ in the laboratory with a GeLi detector, and compared to in situ NaI detector measurements. Ex situ soil samples showed a big variability in 137Cs activities at a meter-scale. This large, small scale heterogeneity determined with the GeLi detector is smoothed out by uncollimated in-situ measurements with the NaI detector, which provide integrated estimates of 137Cs within the field of view of each measurement (3.1 m2). There was no dependency of 137Cs on pH, clay content and carbon content. However, a close relationship was determined between 137Cs and soil moisture. Thus, in-situ data must be corrected for soil moisture. Close correlation (R2 = 0.86) was found for 137Cs activities (in Bq kg-1) estimated with both, in-situ (NaI detector) and laboratory (GeLi detector) methods which proves the validity of the in-situ measurements with the NaI detector system. This paper describes the calibration of the NaI detector system for field application under elevated 137Cs activities originating from Chernobyl fallout.
Sperm cryopreservation in endangered felids: developing linkage of in situ-ex situ populations.
Swanson, W F; Magarey, G M; Herrick, J R
2007-01-01
Many of the world's cat species face growing threats to their continued survival in nature. For some species, managed captive populations may provide a reservoir for future reintroduction or genetic augmentation. Because most zoo populations are derived from small founder sizes and are subject to loss of genetic variation over time, periodic infusion of founder alleles is necessary to avoid the dire consequences of inbreeding. Collection and freezing of semen from free-living nondomestic felids offers a viable option for introducing founder genes into captive populations without removal of animals from the wild. The effective application of this strategy requires established protocols for safely capturing and anaesthetising wild cats coupled with suitable methods of semen recovery, processing and cryopreservation under field conditions. In small-sized non-domestic felids, the general feasibility of this approach is being explored in two studies of black-footed cats and Pallas' cats. Two factors - relatively low sperm numbers per ejaculate and compromised status of frozen-thawed cat spermatozoa - suggest that in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer present the most efficient use of this limiting resource in small-sized cats. Our studies with captive felids have explored alternative methods of sperm cryopreservation that are adaptable to field situations and shown that frozen-thawed spermatozoa from Pallas' cats, ocelots, and fishing cats exhibit adequate function to fertilise heterologous and/or homologous oocytes in vitro. Most recently, we investigated the fertilising capacity of frozen-thawed spermatozoa obtained from wild Pallas' cats in Mongolia. Combined with improved methods for embryo culture and transfer in small cat species, sperm banking in situ will facilitate introduction of new founders into captive populations without causing further depletion of their wild counterparts. As one component of holistic conservation programs, including ongoing support of field ecology studies in range countries, this reproductive strategy serves to further strengthen linkages among imperiled ex situ and in situ cat populations.
2013-01-01
Background In April 2009, public health surveillance detected an increased number of influenza-like illnesses in Mexico City’s hospitals. The etiological agent was subsequently determined to be a spread of a worldwide novel influenza A (H1N1) triple reassortant. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate that molecular detection of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 strains is possible in archival material such as paraffin-embedded lung samples. Methods In order to detect A (H1N1) virus sequences in archived biological samples, eight paraffin-embedded lung samples from patients who died of pneumonia and respiratory failure were tested for influenza A (H1N1) Neuraminidase (NA) RNA using in situ RT-PCR. Results We detected NA transcripts in 100% of the previously diagnosed A (H1N1)-positive samples as a cytoplasmic signal. No expression was detected by in situ RT-PCR in two Influenza-like Illness A (H1N1)-negative patients using standard protocols nor in a non-related cervical cell line. In situ relative transcription levels correlated with those obtained when in vitro RT-PCR assays were performed. Partial sequences of the NA gene from A (H1N1)-positive patients were obtained by the in situ RT-PCR-sequencing method. Sequence analysis showed 98% similarity with influenza viruses reported previously in other places. Conclusions We have successfully amplified specific influenza A (H1N1) NA sequences using stored clinical material; results suggest that this strategy could be useful when clinical RNA samples are quantity limited, or when poor quality is obtained. Here, we provide a very sensitive method that specifically detects the neuraminidase viral RNA in lung samples from patients who died from pneumonia caused by Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in Mexico City. PMID:23327529
[Association between obesity and DNA methylation among the 7-16 year-old twins].
Li, C X; Gao, Y; Gao, W J; Yu, C Q; Lyu, J; Lyu, R R; Duan, J L; Sun, Y; Guo, X H; Wang, S F; Zhou, B; Wang, G; Cao, W H; Li, L M
2018-04-10
Objective: On whole-genome scale, we tried to explore the correlation between obesity-related traits and DNA methylation sites, based on discordant monozygotic twin pairs. Methods: A total of 90 pairs of 6-17 year-old twins were recruited in Chaoyang district, Yanqing district and Fangshan district in Beijing in 2016. Information on twins was gathered through a self-designed questionnaire and results: from physical examination, including height, weight and waist circumference of the subjects under study. DNA methylation detection was chosen on the Illumina Human Methylation EPIC BeadChip. R 3.3.1 language was used to read the DNA methylation signal under quality control on samples and probes. Ebayes function of empirical Bayes paired moderated t -test was used to identify the differential methylated CpG sites (DMCs). VarFit function of empirical Bayes paired moderated Levene test was used to identify the differentially variables CpG sits (DVCs) in obese and normal groups. Results According to the obesity discordance criteria, we collected 23 pairs of twins (age range 7 to 16 years), including 12 male pairs. A total of 817 471 qualified CpG loci were included in the genome-wide correlation analysis. According to the significance level of FDR set as <0.05, no positive sites would meet this standard. When DMC CpG site cg05684382, with the smallest P value (1.26E-06) as on chromosome 12, the DVC CpG site cg26188191 with the smallest P value (6.44E-06) appeared in CMIP gene on chromosome 16. Conclusions: In this study, we analyzed the genome-wide DNA methylation and its correlation with obesity traits. After multiple testing corrections, no positive sites were found to have associated with obesity. However, results from the correlation analysis demonstrated sites cg05684382 (chr: 12) and cg26188191 (chr: 16) might have played a role in the development of obesity. This study provides a methodologic reference for the studies on discordance twins related problems.
Nitta, Naotaka; Ishiguro, Yasunao; Sasanuma, Hideki; Taniguchi, Nobuyuki; Akiyama, Iwaki
2015-01-01
Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) has recently been used for tissue elasticity measurement and imaging. On the other hand, it is predicted that a rise in temperature occurs. In-situ measurement of temperature rise in animal experiments is important, yet measurement using thermocouples has some problems such as position mismatch of the temperature measuring junction of the thermocouple and the focal point of ultrasound. Therefore, an in-situ measurement system for solving the above problems was developed in this study. The developed system is composed mainly of an ultrasound irradiation unit including a custom-made focused transducer with a through hole for inserting a thin-wire thermocouple, and a temperature measurement unit including the thermocouple. The feasibility of the developed system was evaluated by means of experiments using a tissue-mimicking material (TMM), a TMM containing a bone model or a chicken bone, and an extracted porcine liver. The similarity between the experimental results and the results of simulation using a finite element method (FEM) implied the reasonableness of in-situ temperature rise measured by the developed system. The developed system will become a useful tool for measuring in-situ temperature rise in animal experiments and obtaining findings with respect to the relationship between ultrasound irradiation conditions and in-situ temperature rise.
Scalable Analysis Methods and In Situ Infrastructure for Extreme Scale Knowledge Discovery
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Duque, Earl P.N.; Whitlock, Brad J.
High performance computers have for many years been on a trajectory that gives them extraordinary compute power with the addition of more and more compute cores. At the same time, other system parameters such as the amount of memory per core and bandwidth to storage have remained constant or have barely increased. This creates an imbalance in the computer, giving it the ability to compute a lot of data that it cannot reasonably save out due to time and storage constraints. While technologies have been invented to mitigate this problem (burst buffers, etc.), software has been adapting to employ inmore » situ libraries which perform data analysis and visualization on simulation data while it is still resident in memory. This avoids the need to ever have to pay the costs of writing many terabytes of data files. Instead, in situ enables the creation of more concentrated data products such as statistics, plots, and data extracts, which are all far smaller than the full-sized volume data. With the increasing popularity of in situ, multiple in situ infrastructures have been created, each with its own mechanism for integrating with a simulation. To make it easier to instrument a simulation with multiple in situ infrastructures and include custom analysis algorithms, this project created the SENSEI framework.« less
Oligonucleotide gap-fill ligation for mutation detection and sequencing in situ
Mignardi, Marco; Mezger, Anja; Qian, Xiaoyan; La Fleur, Linnea; Botling, Johan; Larsson, Chatarina; Nilsson, Mats
2015-01-01
In clinical diagnostics a great need exists for targeted in situ multiplex nucleic acid analysis as the mutational status can offer guidance for effective treatment. One well-established method uses padlock probes for mutation detection and multiplex expression analysis directly in cells and tissues. Here, we use oligonucleotide gap-fill ligation to further increase specificity and to capture molecular substrates for in situ sequencing. Short oligonucleotides are joined at both ends of a padlock gap probe by two ligation events and are then locally amplified by target-primed rolling circle amplification (RCA) preserving spatial information. We demonstrate the specific detection of the A3243G mutation of mitochondrial DNA and we successfully characterize a single nucleotide variant in the ACTB mRNA in cells by in situ sequencing of RCA products generated by padlock gap-fill ligation. To demonstrate the clinical applicability of our assay, we show specific detection of a point mutation in the EGFR gene in fresh frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) lung cancer samples and confirm the detected mutation by in situ sequencing. This approach presents several advantages over conventional padlock probes allowing simpler assay design for multiplexed mutation detection to screen for the presence of mutations in clinically relevant mutational hotspots directly in situ. PMID:26240388
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wang, Zhaoying; Zhang, Yanyan; Liu, Bingwen
The in situ molecular characterization of reaction intermediates and products at electrode-electrolyte interfaces is central to mechanistic studies of complex electrochemical processes, yet a great challenge. The coupling of electrochemistry (EC) and mass spectrometry (MS) has seen rapid development and found broad applicability in tackling challenges in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry. However, few truly in situ and real-time EC-MS studies have been reported at electrode-electrolyte interfaces. An innovative EC-MS coupling method named in situ liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) was recently developed by combining SIMS with a vacuum compatible microfluidic electrochemical device. Using this novel capability we report themore » first in situ elucidation of the electro-oxidation mechanism of a biologically significant organic compound, ascorbic acid (AA), at the electrode-electrolyte interface. The short-lived radical intermediate was successfully captured, which had not been detected directly before. Moreover, we demonstrated the power of this new technique in real-time monitoring of the formation and dynamic evolution of electrical double layers at the electrode-electrolyte interface. This work suggests further promising applications of in situ liquid SIMS in studying more complex chemical and biological events at the electrode-electrolyte interface.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Orth, R.; Dauda, T.; McKenzie, D.E.
Contamination in low-permeability soils poses a significant technical challenge to in-situ remediation efforts. Poor accessibility to the contaminants and difficulty in delivery of treatment reagents have rendered existing in-situ treatments such as bioremediation, vapor extraction, and pump and treat rather ineffective when applied to low permeability soils present at many contaminated sites. The technology is an integrated in-situ treatment in which established geotechnical methods are used to install degradation zones directly in the contaminated soil and electro-osmosis is utilized to move the contaminants back and forth through those zones until the treatment is completed. The present Topical Report for Taskmore » {number_sign}3.3 summarizes the iron dechlorination research conducted by Monsanto Company.« less
Remediation by in-situ solidification/stabilisation of Ardeer landfill, Scotland
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wyllie, M.; Esnault, A.; Barker, P.
1997-12-31
The Ardeer Landfill site at ICI Explosives factory on the west coast of Scotland had been a repository for waste from the site for 40 years. In order to safeguard the local environment ICI Explosives, with approval of Local Authorities and the Clyde River Purification Board put into action a programme of investigation and planning which culminated in the in-situ treatment of 10,000 m3 of waste within the landfill by a deep mixing method using the {open_quotes}Colmix{close_quotes} system. The paper describes in varying degrees of detail the remediation from investigation to the execution of the in-situ stabilisation and presents themore » post construction monitoring results.« less
Indentation-Enabled In Situ Mechanical Characterization of Micro/Nanopillars in Electron Microscopes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guo, Qiang; Fu, Xidan; Guo, Xiaolei; Liu, Zhiying; Shi, Yan; Zhang, Di
2018-04-01
Indentation-enabled micro/nanomechanical characterization of small-scale specimens provides powerful new tools for probing materials properties that were once unattainable by conventional experimental methods. Recent advancement in instrumentation further allows mechanical testing to be carried out in situ in electron microscopes, with high spatial and temporal resolution. This review discusses the recent development of nanoindentation-enabled in situ mechanical testing in electron microscopes, with an emphasis on the study of micro/nanopillars. Focus is given to novel applications beyond simple compressive and tensile testing that have been developed in the past few years, and limitations and possible future research directions in this field are proposed and discussed.
Absolute stress measurements at the rangely anticline, Northwestern Colorado
de la Cruz, R. V.; Raleigh, C.B.
1972-01-01
Five different methods of measuring absolute state of stress in rocks in situ were used at sites near Rangely, Colorado, and the results compared. For near-surface measurements, overcoring of the borehole-deformation gage is the most convenient and rapid means of obtaining reliable values for the magnitude and direction of the state of stress in rocks in situ. The magnitudes and directions of the principal stresses are compared to the geologic features of the different areas of measurement. The in situ stresses are consistent in orientation with the stress direction inferred from the earthquake focal-plane solutions and existing joint patterns but inconsistent with stress directions likely to have produced the Rangely anticline. ?? 1972.
In situ polymerization of monomers for polyphenylquinoxaline/graphite fiber composites
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Serafini, T. T.; Delvigs, P.; Vannucci, R. D.
1974-01-01
Methods currently used to prepare fiber reinforced, high temperature resistant polyphenylquinoxaline (PPQ) composites employ extremely viscous, low solids content solutions of high molecular weight PPQ polymers. An improved approach, described in this report, consists of impregnating the fiber with a solution of the appropriate monomers instead of a solution of previously synthesized high molecular weight polymer. Polymerization of the monomers occurs in situ on the fiber during the solvent removal and curing stages. The in situ polymerization approach greatly simplifies the fabrication of PPQ graphite fiber composites. The use of low viscosity monomeric type solutions facilitates fiber wetting, permits a high solids content, and eliminates the need for prior polymer synthesis.
Rho, Jin Kyung; Lee, Hyangsin; Park, Chan-Sik; Choi, Chang-Min; Lee, Jae Cheol
2013-09-01
EML4-ALK fusion oncogene has emerged as a novel molecular target in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although break-apart fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is the standard method for diagnosis, it is expensive, not readily available and sometimes difficult to interpret. In addition, ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC) may miss the diagnosis because of relatively low level of ALK transcription. In situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) originally developed for precise detection and quantification of proteins by dual recognition and amplification process was used for sensitive detection of EML4-ALK fusion oncoprotein in NSCLC cell lines (ALK negative cell: PC-9 and H460, ALK positive cell: H3122 and H2228). EML4-ALK oncogene and protein in lung cancer cells were confirmed by multiplex RT-PCR and Western blots. We detected 117 kDa variant 1 of EML4-ALK in H3122 and 90 kDa variant 3 of EML4-ALK in H2228. These cells were more sensitive to crizotinib, an ALK inhibitor compared with PC-9 and H460 cells without EML4-ALK rearrangement. After fixing on glass slides by cytospin centrifuge, in situ PLA test was performed. Among four cell lines, distinct, tiny spots were visible only in H3122 and H2228 cell lines with ALK rearrangement. The same results were also obtained when paraffin-embedded cell blocks were used. Highly specific and sensitive detection of EML4-ALK fusion oncoprotein is possible by in situ PLA method suggesting its clinical application.
Comparison of in vitro and in situ methods in evaluation of forage digestibility in ruminants.
Krizsan, S J; Nyholm, L; Nousiainen, J; Südekum, K-H; Huhtanen, P
2012-09-01
The objective of this study was to compare the application of different in vitro and in situ methods in empirical and mechanistic predictions of in vivo OM digestibility (OMD) and their associations to near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy spectra for a variety of forages. Apparent in vivo OMD of silages made from alfalfa (n = 2), corn (n = 9), corn stover (n = 2), grass (n = 11), whole crops of wheat and barley (n = 8) and red clover (n = 7), and fresh alfalfa (n = 1), grass hays (n = 5), and wheat straws (n = 5) had previously been determined in sheep. Concentrations of indigestible NDF (iNDF) in all forage samples were determined by a 288-h ruminal in situ incubation. Gas production of isolated forage NDF was measured by in vitro incubations for 72 h. In vitro pepsin-cellulase OM solubility (OMS) of the forages was determined by a 2-step gravimetric digestion method. Samples were also subjected to a 2-step determination of in vitro OMD based on buffered rumen fluid and pepsin. Further, rumen fluid digestible OM was determined from a single 96-h incubation at 38°C. Digestibility of OM from the in situ and the in vitro incubations was calculated according to published empirical equations, which were either forage specific or general (1 equation for all forages) within method. Indigestible NDF was also used in a mechanistic model to predict OMD. Predictions of OMD were evaluated by residual analysis using the GLM procedure in SAS. In vitro OMS in a general prediction equation of OMD did not display a significant forage-type effect on the residuals (observed - predicted OMD; P = 0.10). Predictions of OMD within forage types were consistent between iNDF and the 2-step in vitro method based on rumen fluid. Root mean square error of OMD was least (0.032) when the prediction was based on a general forage equation of OMS. However, regenerating a simple regression for iNDF by omitting alfalfa and wheat straw reduced the root mean square error of OMD to 0.025. Indigestible NDF in a general forage equation predicted OMD without any bias (P ≥ 0.16), and root mean square error of prediction was smallest among all methods when alfalfa and wheat straw samples were excluded. Our study suggests that compared with the in vitro laboratory methods, iNDF used in forage-specific equations will improve overall predictions of forage in vivo OMD. The in vitro and in situ methods performed equally well in calibrations of iNDF or OMD by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy.
Co-deposition methods for the fabrication of organic optoelectronic devices
Thompson, Mark E.; Liu, Zhiwei; Wu, Chao
2016-09-06
A method for fabricating an OLED by preparing phosphorescent metal complexes in situ is provided. In particular, the method simultaneously synthesizes and deposits copper (I) complexes in an organic light emitting device. Devices comprising such complexes may provide improved photoluminescent and electroluminescent properties.