There is ample evidence suggesting that superantigens may act as a triggeringfactor in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated whether superantigen could activate T cells in...Full Text Available
Genome endoreduplication during mammalian development is a rare event for which the mechanism is unknown. It first appears when fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) deprivation induces differentiation...Full Text Available
The overarching goals of the 'Kootenai River Floodplain Ecosystem Operational Loss Assessment, Protection, Mitigation and Rehabilitation' Project (BPA Project No.2002-011-00) are to: (1) assess abiotic and biotic factors (i.e., geomorphologic, hydrological, aquatic and riparian/floodplain communities) in determining a definitive composition of ecological integrity, (2) develop strategies to assess and mitigate losses of ecosystem functions, and (3) produce a regional operational loss assessment framework. To produce a scientifically defensible, repeatable, and complete assessment tool, KTOI assembled a team of top scientists in the fields of hydrology, hydraulics, ornithology, entomology, statistics, and river ecology, among other expertise. This advisory team is known as the Research Design and Review Team (RDRT). The RDRT scientists drive the review, selection, and adaptive management of the research ...
Sep 28, 2011 ... Description: Four Populus clones were grown in central Missouri for 2 years at 1 x 1 m spacing to study total biomass production on floodplain ...
Objective: To explore the feasibility of real-time monitoring exposure dose and image quality by using the data stored in the DICOM image archive of direct digital radiography system. Methods: Model TO. 16 was exposed, the current increased gradually from 0.5 to 125 mAs. The displayed number of model A( diameter 11.1 mm), D (diameter 4.0 mm) and J( diameter 0.7 mm) were recorded, and the detect factors (H_T) was also calculated. Images were sent to workstation before the end of DR examination. An automatic procedure was implemented to extract dose data and exposure parameters from the DICOM header file. Maximum, minimum and 3rd quartile values were preinstalled. Mean values exceeding the threshold trigger alarm signal to guide radiologist to explore the cause. Results: When the current of point A was less than 10 mAs and the current of point D and J were less than 16 mAs, the detect factor (H_T) increased with the rise of ...
Visceral hypersensitivity is currently considered a key pathophysiological mechanism involved in pain perception in large subgroups of patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In IBS, visceral hypersensitivity has been described in 20%?90% of patients. The contribution of the central nervous system and psychological factors to visceral hypersensitivity in patients with IBS may be significant, although still debated. Peripheral factors have gained increasing attention following the recognition that infectious enteritis may trigger the development of persistent IBS symptoms, and the identification of mucosal immune, neural, endocrine, microbiological, and intestinal permeability abnormalities. Growing evidence suggests that these factors ...
Autophagy is a regulated catabolic process triggered in cells deprived of nutrients or growth factors that govern nutrient uptake. Here we report that autophagy is induced by cetuximab, a therapeutic...Full Text Available
T_2 weighted ultra-short turbo spin echo sequences were used in five individuals with variations in echo times, delayed triggering and echo intervals. To reduce movement artifacts all examinations were carried out with ECG and respiratory triggering. The sequences giving optimal image quality were then employed in 19 patients having various pulmonary abnormalities. Image resolutions, artifacts, image contrasts and diagnostic value were then judged by two observers and compared with CT. In the first study, a diastole-triggered UTSE sequence with the shortest echo proved optimal (T_E=90 ms, T_R=2-4 s, echo=9 ms, turbo factor=19). In the patient series studied, MRT was inferior to CT with regard to resolution and number of artifacts, but better in respect of contrast and diagnostic value. Using UTSE of the lung, MRT can produce images of good quality. Compared with CT, contrast is better with MRT, offering ...
We have designed a local trigger board for the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment, which is aimed to measure the neutrino mixing angle sin22?13 with a precision down to 1% level. The local trigger board processes both the total number of coincident photomultiplier tube (PMT) hits and the PMT energy sum to make trigger decisions. With this design, a high trigger probability is achieved to meet the system requirement. The design of the local trigger board is presented.
The mammalian placenta consists of different trophoblast cell types that assist in the variety of functions required for the maintenance of pregnancy. In rodents, labyrinthine trophoblasts of the placenta are especially important, because they are capable of differentiating into fused labyrinthine cells, which form the feto-maternal exchange surface. Even though the molecular signals triggering labyrinthine trophoblast differentiation are poorly understood, transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b) has been shown to be present in the placental environment and alter trophoblast development. In this study, we investigated the effects of TGF-b on the differentiation of the labyrinthine trophoblast stem cell lines SM10 and HRP-1. RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that while the molecular expression of l...
Under changing redox conditions some plants create plaques at their root surface, which may affect the mobility and uptake of As and heavy metals but it is unknown to what extent this also holds true for willows in contaminated floodplain soils. Therefore, willow roots were sampled from a phytoremediation trial in the contaminated floodplain of the river Elbe (Germany), cryofixed, freeze-dried, and cross sections were mapped for the distribution of As, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Ni, S and Zn by synchrotron based X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The elements Ca, Cu, Ni, S and Zn were concentrated in the aerenchymatic tissue, and not associated with Fe and Mn. Mixed Fe-Mn plaques covered the surface of the willow roots and As was accumulated in these plaques. The observed association pattern between...
... multivibrators and amplifiers arranged to operate as described above. ... The first of the multivibrators is triggered by the trailing edge of the ...
This paper describes an experiment which has been performed with a somewhat different philosophy in its approach as compared to previous work. (a) The trigger threshold energy was increased by more than a factor of ten on previous experiments reducing the dilution effect of many lower energy showers known not to produce tachyons. 1673 shower were recorded. (b) The exposure time was made longer than previous experiments in order to obtain a reasonably large statistical sample at the higher threshold. Observations were made between February 1979 and June 1980, the total live time being 9768 hours. (c) Records of the detector output amplitude for the 480#mu#s lead time were integrated point by point as is sometimes done in radio astronomy, this gives the integrated energy deposition within the detector.
Abstract Host-microorganism interactions in the intestinal tract are complex, and little is known about specific nonpathogenic microbial factorstriggering host responses in the gut. In this study, mannose-specific interactions of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v with jejunal epithelium were investigated using an in situ pig Small Intestinal Segment Perfusion model. The effects of L. plantarum 299v wild-type strain were compared with those of two corresponding mutant strains either lacking the gene encoding for the mannose-specific adhesin (msa) or sortase (srtA; responsible for anchoring of cell surface proteins like Msa to the cell wall). A slight enrichment of the wild-type strain associated with the intestinal surface could be observed after 8 h of perfusion when a mixture of wild-type and...
The available data on isolated X-ray pulsars, their wind nebulae, and the supernova remnants which are connected to some of these sources are analyzed. It is shown that electric fields of neutron stars tear off charged particles from the surface of neutron star and trigger the acceleration of particles. The charged particles are accelerated mainly in the field of magneto-dipole radiation wave. Power and energy spectra of the charged particles depend on the strength of the magneto-dipole radiation. Therefore, the X-ray radiation is strongly dependent on the rate of rotational energy loss and weakly dependent on the electric field intensity. Coulomb interaction between the charged particles is the main factor for the energy loss and the X-ray spectra of the charged particles.
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), and Hashimotos thyroiditis (HT) are autoimmune disorders caused by impaired self-tolerance mechanisms triggered by interaction between genetic and environmental factors. ITP is an immune-mediated destruction of platelets resulting in mucocutaneous bleeding, GBS is an ascending motor paralysis caused by an inflammatory demyelination of peripheral nerves, and HT is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruction of the thyroid gland. The concurrent development of ITP and GBS has only rarely been reported in the literature, and GBS itself rarely occurs with other autoimmune disorders. We present a 21 year-old patient with known Hashimotos hypothyroidism that simultaneously developed GBS and ITP after an upper respiratory t...
Mammary glands are special tissue characterized by proliferation of the epithelium, during puberty and pregnancy and by programmed cell death, during involution. In this study, apoptosis was identified by TUNEL staining and then related to cell proliferation, as determined by Ki-67 staining. The apoptotic index was at its highest at 8 days of involution, whereas the proliferation index was at its highest during lactation. Caspase-3 was immunolocalised only in mast cells and along the basal membrane in the mammary tissue at -10 days from lambing, 150 days of lactation and at 8 days of involution. This finding could indicate that caspase-3 is not involved in sheep mammary gland apoptosis, but that other proteins - such as apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) - can trigger apoptosis, through the m...
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and sometimes leads to death. Understanding mechanisms, triggers, and patient-specific risk factors for severe or fatal anaphylaxis is critically important. Diagnosis of anaphylaxis is currently based on established clinical criteria. Epinephrine (adrenaline) is the first-line medication for anaphylaxis treatment and delay in injecting it contributes to biphasic reactions, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and fatality. Here, we focus on four important areas of translational research in anaphylaxis: studies of potential new biomarkers to support the clinical diagnosis of anaphylaxis, laboratory tests to distinguish allergen sensitization from clinical risk of anaphylaxis, the primary role of epinephrine (adrenaline) in anaphylaxis treatment, and strengthening the overall evidence base for anaphylaxis treatment. PMID:21668849
The available data of single X-ray pulsars, their wind nebulae, and the SNRs which are connected to some of these sources are analysed. It is shown that electric field intensity of neutron stars tears off charged particles from the surface of neutron star and triggers the acceleration of particles. The charged particles are accelerated mainly in the field of magnetodipole radiation wave. Power and energy spectra of the charged particles depend on the strength of the magnetodipole radiation. Therefore, the X-ray radiation is strongly dependent on the rate of rotational energy loss and weakly dependent on the electric field intensity. Coulomb interaction between the charged particles is the main factor for the energy loss and the X-ray spectra of the charged particles.
We describe a model of damage in rf cavities and show how this damage can limit cavity operation. We first present a review of mechanisms that may or may not affect the ultimate fields that can be obtained in rf cavities, assuming that mechanical stress explains the triggers of rf breakdown events. We present a method of quantifying the surface damage caused by breakdown events in terms of the spectrum of field enhancement factors, Beta, for asperities on the surface. We then model an equilibrium that can develop between damage and conditioning effects, and show how this equilibrium can determine cavity performance and show experimental evidence for this mechanism. We define three functions that quantify damage, and explain how the parameters that determine this performance can be factored out and measured. We then show how this model can quantitatively explain the dependence of cavity performance on material, frequency, ...
{sup 137}Cs released during 1954-1974 from nuclear production reactors on the Savannah River Site, a US Department of Energy nuclear materials production site in South Carolina, contaminated a portion of the Savannah River floodplain known as Creek Plantation. {sup 137}Cs activity concentrations have been measured in Creek Plantation since 1974 making it possible to calculate effective half-lives for {sup 137}Cs in soil and vegetation and assess the spatial distribution of contaminants on the floodplain. Activity concentrations in soil and vegetation were higher near the center of the floodplain than near the edges as a result of frequent inundation coupled with the presence of low areas that trapped contaminated sediments. {sup 137}Cs activity was highest near the soil surface, but depth related differences diminished with time as a likely result of downward diffusion or leaching. Activity concentrations in vegetation were ...
T{sub 2} weighted ultra-short turbo spin echo sequences were used in five individuals with variations in echo times, delayed triggering and echo intervals. To reduce movement artifacts all examinations were carried out with ECG and respiratory triggering. The sequences giving optimal image quality were then employed in 19 patients having various pulmonary abnormalities. Image resolutions, artifacts, image contrasts and diagnostic value were then judged by two observers and compared with CT. In the first study, a diastole-triggered UTSE sequence with the shortest echo proved optimal (T{sub E}=90 ms, T{sub R}=2-4 s, echo=9 ms, turbo factor=19). In the patient series studied, MRT was inferior to CT with regard to resolution and number of artifacts, but better in respect of contrast and diagnostic value. Using UTSE of the lung, MRT can produce images of good quality. Compared with CT, contrast is better ...
Comparative studies of flocculent and grand-design spirals suggest that density waves are not the predominant trigger of star formation in most galaxies. Implications for chemical evolution are profound. It may be possible to ignore the details of the spiral-wave phenomenon in research aimed at unifying the chemical properties of spiral disks. 16 references.
A structurally conserved element, the trigger loop, has been suggested to play a key role in substrate selection and catalysis of RNA polymerase II (pol II) transcription elongation. Recently resolved...Full Text Available
The Savannah River Swamp is a 3,020 Ha forested wetland on the floodplain of the Savannah River and is located on the Department of Energy`s Savannah River Site (SRS). Major impacts to the swamp hydrology occurred with the completion of the production reactors and one coal-fired powerhouse at the SRS in the early 1950`s. Water was pumped from the Savannah River, through secondary heat exchangers of the reactors, and discharged into three of the tributary streams that flow into the swamp. This continued from 1954 to 1988 at various levels. The sustained increases in water volume resulted in overflow of the original stream banks and the creation of additional floodplains. Accompanying this was considerable erosion of the original stream corridor and deposition of a deep silt layer on the newly formed delta. Heated water was discharged directly into Pen Branch and water temperature in the stream often exceeded 50 C. The nearly continuous flood of ...
"2"3"9 "2"4"0Pu concentrations were measured in biota from a 30-year-old contaminated floodplain forest in Tennessee. Concentration ratios relative to soil, for plutonium in litter, invertebrate cryptozoans, herbaceous ground vegetation, orthoptera and small mammals were approximately 10"-"1, 10"-"2, 10"-"3, and 10"-"4, respectively. Concentration ratios (CR) for plutonium in biota from the floodplain forest are less than CR values from other contaminated ecosystems in the USA. Presumably, this is due to humid conditions and greater rainfall which minimize resuspension as a physical transport mechanism to biota. Plutonium and radiocesium concentrations are correlated in biota from the forest at Oak Ridge and also from Mortandad Canyon in New Mexico. The cause of the covariance between concentrations of these elements is unknown. Nevertheless, the existence of these relationships suggests that it is possible to predict plutonium in biota from ...
The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA), DOE/EA-0804, for the proposed replacement of a deteriorated brine disposal pipeline from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Bryan Mound storage facility in Brazoria County, Texas, into the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the ocean discharge outfall would be moved shoreward by locating the brine diffuser at the end of the pipeline 3.5 miles offshore at a minimum depth of 30 feet. The action would occur in a floodplain and wetlands; therefore, a floodplain/wetlands assessment has been prepared in conjunction with this EA. Based on the analyses in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 USC. 4321, et seg.). Therefore, the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required, ...
... 4. Range Multivibrator Section: The range multivibrator section consists of five multivibrators which are sequentially triggered every 62 ýLsec of the ...
The IRG protein Irgm3 preserves cell survival during coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection. However, the molecular mechanisms are not clear. Here, we examined the effect of Irgm3 expression on ER stress triggered by pharmacological agents or CVB3 infection. In Tet-On/Irgm3 HeLa cells, Irgm3 expression suppressed either chemical- or CVB3-induced upregulation of glucose-regulated protein78. Further, Irgm3 strongly inhibited the activation of both the PERK and ATF6 pathways of ER stress responses, which further led to the diminished phosphorylation of eIF2?, reduced cleavage/activation of transcription factor SREBP1 and attenuated induction of proapoptotic genes CHOP and GADD34. These data were further supported by experiments using Irgm3 knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts, in which the ER stress induced by CVB3 was not relieved due to the lack of Irgm3 expression. In addition, the tunicamycin-triggered ER stress promoted the ...
Receptor interacting protein 140 (RIP140) is a coregulator for numerous nuclear receptors and transcription factors and primarily exerts gene-repressive activities on various target genes. We previously identified a spectrum of posttranslational modifications on RIP140 that augment its property and biological activity. In T(3)-triggered biphasic regulation of cellular retinoic acid binding protein 1 (Crabp1) gene along the course of fibroblast-adipocyte differentiation, we found TRAP220(MED1) critical for T(3)-activated chromatin remodeling whereas RIP140 essential for T(3)-repressive chromatin remodeling of this gene promoter. In this current study, we aim to examine whether and how RIP140 replaces TRAP220(MED1) on the CrabpI promoter in differentiating adipocyte cultures. We find increasing recruitment of RIP140 to this promoter, with corresponding reduction in TRAP220(MED1) recruitment during the T(3)-repressive phase. We also uncover direct ...
The paper describes design and practical realization of an internal communication layer referred to as the Internal Interface (II). The system was realized for the RFC Muon Trigger of the CMS experiment. Fully automatic implementation of the communication layer is realized in the FPGA chips and in the control software. The methodology of implementation was presented in the description form of the interface structure from the sides of hardware and software. The examples of the communication layer realizations were given for the RFC Muon Trigger.
This study presents monthly estimates of groundwater anomalies in a large river basin dominated by extensive floodplains, the Negro River Basin, based on the synergistic analysis using multisatellite observations and hydrological models. For the period 2003-2004, changes in water stored in the aquifer is isolated from the total water storage measured by GRACE by removing contributions of both the surface reservoir, derived from satellite imagery and radar altimetry, and the root zone reservoir simulated by WGHM and LaD hydrological models. The groundwater anomalies show a realistic spatial pattern compared with the hydrogeological map of the basin, and similar temporal variations to local in situ groundwater observations and altimetry-derived level height measurements. Results highlight th...
Some newly created wetland areas in the Scheldt estuary are heavily contaminated by metals. They are expected to be colonised by reed (Phragmites australis) and, on a longer term, willow (Salix ssp.). Supplying litter or stimulating plant biomass production on the short term could be possible management options to restrict metal mobility or availability in the upper soil layer. The influence of litter application on the mobility and availability of metals in the top layer of a soil of a recently created floodplain along the river Scheldt (Schelde) was studied in a greenhouse experiment. Reed stem, reed leaf and willow leaf litter were dried, ground and added to the soil. The treated soil was subsequently subjected to permanently flooded and alternately flooded/drained conditions. Metal con...
Superconducting rf cavities are increasingly used in accelerators. Gradient is a parameter of particular importance for the ILC. Much progress in gradient has been made over the past decade, overcoming problems of multipacting, field emission, and breakdown triggered by surface impurities. However, the quenching limit of the surface magnetic field for niobium remains a hard limitation on cavity fields sustainable with this technology. Further exploration of materials and preparation may offer a path to surpassing the current limit. For this purpose, we have designed a resonant test cavity. One wall of the cavity is formed by a flat sample of superconducting material; the rest of the cavity is copper or niobium. The H field on the sample wall is 75% higher than on any other surface. Multipacting is avoided by use of a mode with no surface electric field. The cavity will be resonated through a coupling iris with high-power rf at superconducting temperature until the ...
Canisters with spent nuclear fuel can obviously not be located within deformation zones as this might jeopardise their long term mechanical stability and thereby constitute a potential hazard to the biosphere. Less apparent, but equally important, is the fact that earthquakes trigger reactivation, slip, of structures some distance from their hypocentres due to, among many other factors, stress redistribution. Fault slip across a deposition hole might damage the isolation capacity of the canister and thereby jeopardise the overall integrity of the barrier system. Therefore, the following question might be posed: What is the distance from a deformation zone beyond which a canister can be safely emplaced? This respect distance cannot be readily computed because, unknown future events aside, there are some complicated aspects that need to be addressed e.g. degree of conservatism, scale, our ability to model ice sheets and earthquakes, etc. In this ...
This paper presents an overview of issues related to surface water contamination arising from uranium mining activities in the Alligator Rivers Region (ARR) of northern Australia, and a program of research and monitoring that must assess the potential and actual effects on ecosystem and human health. The program of assessing effects on aquatic ecosystems involves a four-tiered approach including the derivation of local water quality guideline trigger values, direct toxicity assessment of mine waters prior to their release, creekside or in situ monitoring for early warning of adverse effects during mine water release, and longer-term monitoring of macroinvertebrate and fish communities. Bioaccumulation in aquatic biota is also assessed, and is an issue of importance not only to ecosystem health, but also to the health of local Aboriginal people. The aquatic animals they consume represent potential sources of radiological dose, and as a result, a major component of ...
This report examines the concept of climate surprise and its implications for environmental policymaking. Although most integrated assessment models of climate change deal with average values of change, it is usually the extreme events or surprises that cause the most damage to human health and property. Current models do not help the policymaker decide how to deal with climate surprises. This report examines the literature of surprise in many aspects of human society: psychology, military, health care, humor, agriculture, etc. It draws together various ways to consider the concept of surprise and examines different taxonomies of surprise that have been proposed. In many ways, surprise is revealed to be a subjective concept, triggered by such factors as prior experience, belief system, and level of education. How policymakers have reacted to specific instances of climate change or climate surprise in the past is considered, particularly with ...
Background & AimsMolecular mechanisms underlying alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are still not fully understood. Activating transcription factor-4 (ATF4) is the master coordinator of the integrated stress response (ISR), an adaptive pathway triggered by multiple stressors. which can promote cell death and induce metabolic dysregulation if the stress is intense or prolonged. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of alcohol on the ISR signaling pathway in human liver cells and to define the role of cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) in this response. MethodsPrimary cultured human hepatocytes and human HepG2 cells over-expressing CYP2E1 by adenoviral infection were exposed to ethanol (25-100mM) for 8-48h. ResultsEthanol treatment of both liver cells up-regulated ATF4 as well as the pro-survi...
A remarkable aspect of the interaction of Cryptococcus neoformans with mammalian hosts is a consistent increase in capsule volume. Given...Full Text Available
At Super-LHC luminosity it is expected that the standard suite of L1 triggers for CMS will saturate. Information from the tracker will be needed to reduce trigger rates to satisfy the L1 bandwidth. Tracking trigger modules which correlate information from closely-spaced sensor layers to form an on-detector momentum filter are being developed by several groups. We report on a trigger module design which utilizes three dimensional IC technology to incorporate chips which are connected both to the top and bottom sensor, providing the ability to filter information locally. A demonstration chip, the VICTR, has been submitted to the Chartered/Tezzaron two-tier 3D run coordinated by Fermilab. We report on the 3D design concept, the status of the VICTR chip and associated sensor integration utilizing oxide bonding.
The US Department of Energy is conducting cleanup operations at the Weldon Spring site, St. Charles, Missouri, that will include development of a 77-ha (191-acre) soil borrow area. Eight wetlands, including riverine and palustrine emergent wetland types and totaling 0.9 ha (2.2 acres), will be eliminated during excavation of the borrow area. A 23-ha (57-acre) wetland/shorebird complex will be created at the Busch Conservation Area. The complex will include 2 ha (5 acres) of palustrine emergent wetland as mitigation for wetland losses in the borrow area.
BackgroundThe pre-fusion form of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) fusion protein gB undergoes pH-triggered conformational change in vitro and during viral entry (Dollery...Full Text Available
Electrically triggered action potentials in the giant alga Chara corallina are associated with a transient rise in the concentration of free Ca2+ in the cytoplasm (Ca2+cyt)....Full Text Available
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must account for legally protected and endangered species. Uncertainties relating to the validity and sensitivity of EIA arise from predictions and valuation of effects on these species. This paper presents a validity and sensitivity analysis of a model (BIO-SAFE) for assessment of impacts of land use changes and physical reconstruction measures on legally protected and endangered river species. The assessment is based on links between species (higher plants, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, butterflies and dragon- and damselflies) and ecotopes (landscape ecological units, e.g., river dune, soft wood alluvial forests), and on value assignment to protected and endangered species using different valuation criteria (i.e., EU Habitats and Birds directive, Conventions of Bern and Bonn and Red Lists). The validity of BIO-SAFE has been tested by comparing predicted effects of landscape changes on the diversity of protected and endangered species ...
Lower East Fork Poplar Creek (LEFPC) and its floodplain are contaminated with mercury (Hg) from ongoing and historical releases from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. A remedial investigation and feasibility study of LEFPC resulted in the signing of a Record of Decision (ROD) in August 1995. In response to the ROD, soil contaminated with mercury above 400 mg/kg was removed from two sites in LEFPC and the floodplain during a recently completed remedial action (RA). The Postremediation Monitoring Program (PMP) outlined in the LEFPC Monitoring Plan was envisioned to occur in two phases: (1) a baseline assessment prior to remediation and (2) postremediation monitoring. The current report summarizes the results of the baseline assessment of soil, water, biota, and groundwater usage in LEFPC and its floodplain conducted in 1995 and 1996 by personnel of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Biological Monitoring ...
Breakdowns occurring in rf accelerating structures will limit the ultimate performance of future linear colliders such as the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC). Because of the similarity of many aspects of dc and rf breakdown, a dc breakdown study is underway at CERN to better understand the vacuum breakdown mechanism in a simple setup. Measurements of the field enhancement factor ? show that the local breakdown field is constant and depends only on the electrode material. With copper electrodes, the local breakdown field is around 10.8GV/m, independent of the gap distance. The ? value characterizes the electrode surface state, and the next macroscopic breakdown field can be well predicted. In breakdown rate experiments, where a constant field is applied to the electrodes, clusters of consecutive breakdowns alternate with quiet periods. The occurrence and lengths of these clusters and quiet periods depend on the evolution of ?. The application of a high field can even ...
Purpose: To develop, test, evaluate and implement effective state-of-the-art teacher training in didactic skills and methods. The training concept should be designed and beneficial for medical teachers' postgraduate medical education (CME). Materials and methods: A 5-day workshop with 12 theoretical and 9 'hands-on' modules was designed and stepwise improved, according to the trainees' feedback. All trainees were trained in small groups (6 to 10 participants per workshop). The workshops consisted of mini-lectures, repeated micro teaching exercises and video-supported feedback concerning the following key-competencies: Communication of goals; methods to trigger interactivity; design of slides in power point presentations; effective feedback-techniques; and use of media, time-management, skills teaching, assessment methods (e.g. OSCE and others), evaluation and general presentation skills. The evaluation was based on two components: (A) trainees' scores in two ...
Besides differentiation and apoptosis, cell migration is a basic process in brain development in which neural cells migrate several centimeters within the developing brain before reaching their proper positions and forming the right connections. For identifying signaling events that control neural migration and are therefore potential targets of chemicals to disturb normal brain development, we developed a human neurosphere-based migration assay based on normal human neural progenitor (NHNP) cells, in which the distance is measured that cells wander over time. Applying this assay, we investigated the role of the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) in the regulation of NHNP cell migration. Exposure to model substances like ethanol or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) revealed a correlation between ERK1/2 activation and cell migration. The participation of phospho-(P-) ERK1/2 was confirmed by exposure of the cells to the MEK inhibitor PD98059, which directly ...
The ATLAS High Level Trigger (HLT) is a distributed real-time software system that performs the final online selection of events produced during proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It is designed as a two-stage trigger and event filter running on a farm of commodity PC hardware. Currently the system consists of about 850 processing nodes and will be extended incrementally following the expected increase in luminosity of the LHC to about 2000 nodes. The event selection within the HLT applications is carried out by specialized reconstruction algorithms. The selection can be controlled via properties that are stored in a central database and are retrieved at the startup of the HLT processes, which then usually run continuously for many hours. To be able to respond to changes in the LHC beam conditions, it is essential that the algorithms can be re-configured without disrupting data taking while ensuring a consistent and ...
One of the keystones of the canceled BTeV experiment (proposed at Fermilab's Tevatron) was its sophisticated three-level trigger. The trigger was designed to reject 99.9% of light-quark background events and retain a large number of B decays. The BTeV Pixel Detector provided a 3-dimensional, high resolution tracking system to detect B signatures. The Level 1 pixel detector trigger was proposed as a two stage process, a track-segment finder and a vertex finder which analyzed every accelerator crossing. In simulations the track-segment finder stage outputs an average of 200 track-segments per accelerator crossing (2.5MHz). The vertexing stage finds vertices and associates track-segments with the vertices found. This paper proposes a novel adaptive pattern recognition model to find the number and the estimated location of vertices, and to cluster track-segments around those vertices. The track clustering and vertex ...
Interkingdom signaling is established in the gastrointestinal tract in that human hormones trigger responses in bacteria; here, we show that the corollary is true, that a specific bacterial signal,...Full Text Available
By placing a discharge or 'dump' tube across an exploding bridgewire load, it is possible to by-pass the electrical energy and terminate the explosion of the wire. The dump tube is triggered by a signal derived from the energy removed from the storage cap...
We investigate a method for gene delivery to vascular smooth muscle cells using ultrasound triggered delivery of plasmid DNA from electrostatically coupled cationic microbubbles. Microbubbles...Full Text Available
Background/Objective:Three patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and 3 able-bodied (AB) patients were infused with naloxone during a study to examine their neuroendocrine...Full Text Available
Green leaf C6-volatiles are among the most important herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). They play important roles in mediating the behavior of herbivores and their natural enemies, and in triggering...Full Text Available
Resistance (R) protein mediated recognition of pathogen avirulence effectors triggers signaling that induces a very robust form of species-specific immunity in plants. The soybean Rpg1-b protein mediates...Full Text Available
Cleavage of membrane-associated proteins with the release of biologically active macromolecules is an emerging theme in biology. However, little is known about the nature and regulation of the involved...Full Text Available
BackgroundNumerous microRNAs (miRNAs) have heterogeneous ends resulting from imprecise cleavages by processing nucleases and from various non-templated nucleotide additions. The...Full Text Available
Myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) has been implicated in inhibition of nerve regeneration in the CNS. This results from interactions between MAG and the Nogo receptor and gangliosides on...Full Text Available
The LHCb experiment that is being settled in CERN is dedicated to the study of CP violation and rare decays in the field of beauty hadrons. The phenomenological background necessary to an adequate understanding of the physics of flavor is presented in the first chapter, it is shown how the flavordynamics can open the way to new physics. The second chapter is dedicated to a brief presentation of the LHCb detector. Two aspects of the design of the muon trigger are more detailed: the radiation resistance of the opto-electronic transmitters and the simulated performances of the trigger. The third chapter reviews the tasks linked to the tagging of the savors of B mesons which will be an important step in all the experiments made at LHCb. The recent progress in heavy savor physics as well as the expected contribution of LHCb in this field are presented in the fourth chapter, especially the search for new physics in penguin diagrams b {yields} s.
Bone remodeling is necessary to avoid microdamage accumulation, which could lead to whole-bone failure. Previous studies have shown that this bone-repair mechanism is triggered by osteocyte apoptosis....Full Text Available
Neuronal death is known to trigger reactive microgliosis. However, little is known regarding the manner by which microglia are activated by injured neurons and how microgliosis participates...Full Text Available
Exteriorized phosphatidylserine (PS) residues in apoptotic cells trigger rapid phagocytosis by macrophage scavenger receptor pathways. Mimicking apoptosis with liposomes containing PS may represent...Full Text Available
May 10, 2009 ... The estimated magnitude is 18.95 with a 1-sigma error of about 0.17. ... The points of contact for this burst is Masanori Ohno .... 80 seconds after the BAT trigger with a settling exposure in the UVOT v filter. ...
Dectin-1, the major β-glucan receptor in leukocytes, triggers an effective immune response upon fungal recognition. Here we use sortase-mediated transpeptidation, a technique that allows placement...Full Text Available
Salinisation of freshwater has been identified as a serious environmental issue in Australia and around the world. Protective concentrations (trigger values) for salinity can be used to manage salinity impacts, though require locally relevant salinity tolerance information. 72-h acute salinity tolerance values were determined for 102 macroinvertebrates collected from 11 locations in four biologically distinct freshwater bio-regions in Northeast Australia and compared with sensitivities observed in Southeast Australia. The salinity tolerance of individual taxa was consistent across Northeast Australia and between Northeast and Southeast Australia. However, two distinct communities were identified in Northeast Australia using distributions of the acute tolerance values and a calculated index of salinity sensitivity. Salinity trigger values should therefore be representative of local or regionally relevant communities and may be adequately ...
New experiences can trigger changes in gene expression in the brain. To understand this phenomenon better, we studied zebra finches hearing playbacks of birdsong. Earlier research had shown that initial...Full Text Available
An approach to generate mimics of phosphorylated serine proteins chemically through site-specific sulfonation of cysteine is presented. This chemical modification is reversible in the presence of reducing agent and therefore is analogous to the kinase/phosphatase system used in nature. PMID:21717004
Cytokinins are distributed through the vascular system and trigger responses of target cells via receptor-mediated signal transduction. Perception and transduction of the signal can occur at the plasma...Full Text Available
In the cellular immune response, recognition by CTL-TCRs of viral antigens presented as peptides by HLA class I molecules, triggers destruction of the virally infected cell (Townsend, A.R.M., J. Rothbard,...Full Text Available
BackgroundPeriodontal disease in diabetic patients presents higher severity and prevalence; and increased severity of ligature-induced periodontal disease has been verified in diabetic...Full Text Available
One hundred and seventy-nine patients completed a questionnaire focusing on adverse reactions to dental local anesthetics as manifested by 16 signs and symptoms. Twenty-six percent of the participants...Full Text Available
The nuo-6 and isp-1 genes of C. elegans encode, respectively, subunits of complex I and III of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Partial loss-of-function...Full Text Available
The preliminary design of the read-out system for the GEM (Gammas, Electrons, Muons) detector at the Superconducting Super Collider is presented. The system reads all digitized data from the detector data sources at a Level 1 trigger rate of up to 100 kHz. A total read-out bandwidth of 40 GBytes/s is available. Data are stored in buffers that are accessible for further event filtering by an on-line, processor farm. Data are transported to the farm only as they are needed by the higher-level trigger algorithms, leading to a reduced bandwidth requirement in the Data Acquisition System.
The Rio Grande alluvial floodplain aquifer between El Paso/Juarez and Fort Quitman, Texas has been intensively tilled and irrigated since 1910. Almost since that time, the Rio Grande and its interconnected alluvial aquifer in this stream reach have been affected by excessive salinity problems. Presently, salinity of surface water and groundwater increases from 800 to 2000 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS) near El Paso, Texas to 2500 to 5500 mg/L TDS near Fort Quitman, Texas, approximately 115 km downstream. Chloride (Cl) and Chloride/Bromide (Cl/Br) ratios increase downstream, with a marked increase in salinity beginning about 45 km below El Paso. Groundwater sampling in an intensively investigated reach of the floodplain aquifer, extending from 35 to 60 km below El Paso identified two distinct water types. The first water type (17 samples) is a relatively dilute groundwater containing 1000 to 2000 mg/L TDS, 250 to 600 mg/L Cl, and Cl/Br ...
This Wetlands Assessment has been prepared in accordance with the Department of Energy`s (DOE) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 10 CFR 1022, Compliance with Floodplain/Wetlands Environmental Review Requirements, which established the policy and procedure for implementing Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands. The proposed action is to conduct characterization activities in or near wetlands at the ANS site. The proposed action will covered under a Categorical Exclusion, therefore this assessment is being prepared as a separate document [10 CFR 1022.12(c)]. The purpose of this Wetlands Assessment is to fulfill the requirements of 10 CFR 1022.12(a) by describing the project, discussing the effects of the proposed action upon the wetlands, and considering alternatives to the proposed action.
In the Carpathian Basin, significant percentage of watershed area and floodplains of rivers are utilised agriculturally. Several potential sources of poisonous metal pollution have been identified in these areas. Because of spills from some of them a few severe accidents have happened especially in the watershed area of Tisza River during the last decades. The motivation of our present work was to produce {sup 62,65}Zn and {sup 203}Pb radioisotopes because they can be used especially as tracers for studying the kinetics of uptake, transport and accumulation of zinc and lead by plants under different circumstances. (orig.)
In the Carpathian Basin, significant percentage of watershed area and floodplains of rivers are utilised agriculturally. Several potential sources of poisonous metal pollution have been identified in these areas. Because of spills from some of them a few severe accidents have happened especially in the watershed area of Tisza River during the last decades. The motivation of our present work was to produce "6"2","6"5Zn and "2"0"3Pb radioisotopes because they can be used especially as tracers for studying the kinetics of uptake, transport and accumulation of zinc and lead by plants under different circumstances. (orig.)
Summary Indigenous people demonstrably lived along rivers and around lakes and wetlands of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin in pre-European times. Waterways were, and continue to be, of major significance to the society and culture of Aboriginal peoples throughout Australia. Historically, they exploited most of the fauna - from mussels and crayfish, to fish and birds - and either ate, or used for other purposes, many species of aquatic plants. Such practices placed them in the role of environmental modifiers, a role played by all human groups from both past and present. They built sophisticated fish traps, cut gaps in river banks to allow fish to move on to floodplains, and there is evidence that they practised a form of fish culture by creating small impoundments in which small fish could...
The Quantou Formation recovered by CCSD-SK-Is borehole (China Cretaceous Continental Scientific Drilling-SongkeI-the south borehole) is 132.07 m long and the recovery of cores is 100%. The sequence and process of lithology-lithofacies and cyclostratigraphy are revealed by a detailed core description. Nine rock types and three kinds of sedimentary facies including meandering river, shallow lake, and delta front are recognized from the drilling core, there are ten sedimentary microfacies, which are point bar, natural levee, crevasse splay, crevasse channel, floodplain, flood lake, distributary mouth bar, interdistributary bay, mudstone of still water, and turbidite. The Quantou Formation represents seventy-six meter-scale cycles (sixth-order cycle), twenty-five fifth-order cycles, eight four...
Due to current social and economical framework, in last years many nuclear power plant owners started a program for the Long Term Operation (LTO)/PLIM (Plant Life Management) of their older nuclear facilities. PLIM/PLEX has already been implemented in many countries (USA, Russia, etc.). This process has many nuclear safety implications, other than strategic and political ones. The need for tailoring the available safety assessment tools to such applications has become urgent in recent years and triggered many research actions. In particular, a PLIM framework requires both a detailed review of the features of the main safety programs (Maintenance, ISI, Surveillance) and a complete integration of these programs into the general management system of the plant. New external factors, such as: large use of subcontractors, need for efficient management of spare parts, request for heavy plant refurbishment programs demand for updated techniques in the ...
The fundamental optical absorption of ion crystals characterizes the creation of different free low energetic electronic excitation (the excitons and electron-hole pairs), but their straight registration is not possible because of incommensurable big absorption factor of alkali halide monocrystals. So to registration the spectrums of alkali halide monocrystal very fine layers are necessary. We have received fine films of Nal and KCl in system of KCl-Nal-KCl, KCl-KI-KCl on the base of universal vacuum post VUP-4, VUP-5 by thermal evaporation. A unique spectral unit has been created For this on the basic the SDL-2 complex. Complex consists of radiator, systems of condensers, monochromators MDR-12 and MDR-23, receivers of radiation, controller by unit. Connect and control of monochromators by means of IBM-compatible computer has been created. Kinematics schemes of monochromators provide consequent removing on output slot of monochromatic radiation in operating range ...
The twin-cities of El Paso and Juarez share the water resources of the Hueco Bolson aquifer and overlying Rio Grande aquifer. Both aquifers span the international border between Mexico and the United States. Salinity in the Rio Grande aquifer varies widely, some parts of the shallow aquifer containing less than 1,000 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS), other parts of the aquifer exceeding 5,000 mg/L TDS. One sizable part of the "Lower Valley" area, approximately 45 km below El Paso contains very dilute water near the outer edge of the floodplain. Historically it had been thought that the dilute waters in this location were derived from recharge from arroyos that drained proximal parts of the Hueco Bolson. Instead, our hydrogen and oxygen isotope data and carbon-14 data indicate that these dilute waters were derived from pre-dam infiltration of the Rio Grande. Relatively light and slightly evaporated pre-dam waters (-11.5 del O18) at the arroyos are also ...
The lakes formed in the Amazon floodplain play a key role in sustaining the highest populational density in the Amazon Basin because of its high primary productivity. The water volume in these lakes vary greatly during the year and possible water sources are the feeding river during high water state of the hydrographs and local inputs from its drainage basin. As these sources are chemically distinct, to understand the nutrient dynamics in these lakes, it is very important to know the relative water contribution of different water sources. In this paper we use "1"8O as a conservative to know the water sources for the lakes and our hypothesis is that: 1) In the high water stage lake water is derived predominantly from its feeding river. Therefore their #delta#"1"8O should be similar. 2) In the low water stage lake water is a mixture of watershed and last flood event waters. In this case, lake #delta#"1"8O should be indicative of the relative contribution of each ...
The Lower Cretaceous Falher Member (Spirit River Formation) in the Deep Basin of Alberta is composed of 5 units (A-E) comprising the reservoir of the giant Elmworth gas field. Using high resolution sequence stratigraphy, 333 well logs and 65 cores were integrated to understand the evolution of Falher C and D in the study area. Five major faces associations were defined in each unit. The basal surface of Falher D overlies nonmarine deposits (Falher E) and is defined by a marine flooding surface (transgressive surface of erosion) partially modified by a subsequent regressive surface of erosion. Southward, all the facies become more continental and the marine flooding surface passes into a lagoon-on-nonmarine contact. Falher D contains a series of shingled marine sandstone lenses separated by erosional surfaces interpreted as seaward-dipping ravinement surfaces indicating different phases of marine transgression-regression. The Falher C basal surface is a marine flooding surface partially ...
Two branches of research are conducted in this thesis. The first deals with nonlinear combustion response as a mechanism for triggering combustion instabilities in solid rocket motors. A nonlinear wave equation is developed to study a wide class of combustion response functions to second-order in fluctuation amplitude. Conditions for triggering are derived from analysis of limit cycles, and regions of triggering are found in parametric space. Introduction of linear cross-coupling and quadratic self-coupling among the acoustic modes appears to be how the nonlinear combustion response produces triggering to a stable limit cycle. Regions of initial conditions corresponding to stable pulses were found, suggesting that stability depends on initial phase angle and harmonic content, as well as the composite amplitude, of the pulse. Also, dependence of nonlinear stability upon system parameters is considered. ...
The BESS detector is a new type of balloon-borne spectrometer which utilizes various technologies recently developed for collider experiments. The principal scientific objectives include a measurement of cosmic-ray antiproton spectrum, search for anti-nuclei in cosmic radiation, and precise measurements of cosmic-ray primaries. A thin superconducting solenoidal coil produces a uniform magnetic field of 1 T. Cylindrical drift chambers are located inside and outside the coil and perform continuous tracking. The momentum resolution is 0.5% at 1 GeV/c. i.e., the maximum detectable rigidity is 200 GV. Scintillation counter hodoscopes, placed above and below the solenoid, provide timing and dE/dx measurements and trigger generation. The timing resolution is 80 ps/counter. This cylindrical configuration achieves a large geometrical acceptance of 0.35 m{sup 2} sr which is essential to detect rare cosmic-ray particles. In order to cope with high trigger ...
Generation of anomalous resistivity and dynamical development of collisionless reconnection in the vicinity of a magnetically neutral sheet are investigated by means of a three-dimensional particle simulation. For no external driving source, two different types of plasma instabilities are excited in the current layer. The lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI) is observed to grow in the periphery of current layer in an early period, while a drift kink instability (DKI) is triggered at the neutral sheet in a late period as a result of the nonlinear deformation of the current sheet by the LHDI. A reconnection electric field grows at the neutral sheet in accordance with the excitation of the DKI. When an external driving field exists, the convective electric field penetrates into the current layer through the particle kinetic effect and collisionless reconnection is triggered by the convective electric field earlier than the DKI is excited. It is ...
The CDF II eXtremely Fast Tracker (XFT) is the trigger processor which reconstructs charged particle tracks in the CDF II central outer tracking chamber. The XFT tracks are also extrapolated to the electromagnetic calorimeter and muon chambers and are associated to electromagnetic clusters and muon stubs to generate trigger electron and muon candidates. The steady increase of the Tevatron instantaneous luminosity and the resulting higher occupancy of the chamber demanded an upgrade of the original system, which performed tracking only in the transverse plane of the chamber and was consequently affected by a significant level of fake tracks. In the upgraded XFT, tracking is reinforced by using additional data from the stereo layers of the chamber to reduce the level of fake tracks and to perform three-dimensional track reconstruction. A review of this upgrade is presented.
This peer-reviewed article from Bioscience journal is about restoring the Truckee river.Throughout the 20th century, the Truckee River that flows from Lake Tahoe into the Nevada desert was progressively dammed and dewatered, which led to the collapse of its aquatic and riparian ecosystems. The federal designation of the endemic cui-ui sucker (Chasmistes cujus) as endangered prompted a restoration program in the 1980s aimed at increasing spring flows to permit fish spawning. These flows did promote cui-ui reproduction, as well as an unanticipated benefit, the extensive seedling recruitment of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and sandbar willow (Salix exigua). Recruitment was scattered in 1983 but extensive in 1987, when the hydrograph satisfied the riparian recruitment box model that had been developed for other rivers. That model was subsequently applied to develop flow prescriptions that were implemented from 1995 through 2000 and enabled further seedling establishment. The ...
An aerial radiological survey of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) and surrounding area in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was conducted during the period March 30 to April 14,1992. The purpose of the survey was to measure and document the terrestrial radiological environment of the Oak Ridge Reservation for use in environmental management programs and emergency response planning. The aerial survey was flown at an altitude of 150 feet (46 meters) along a series of parallel lines 250 feet (76 meters) apart and included X-10 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), K-25 (former Gaseous Diffusion Plant), Y-12 (Weapons Production Plant), the Freels Bend Area and Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the East Fork Poplar Creek (100-year floodplain extending from K-25 to Y-12), Elza Gate (former uranium ore storage site located in the city of Oak Ridge), Parcel A, the Clinch River (river banks extending from Melton Hill Dam to the city of Kingston), and the CSX Railroad Tracks ...
In t(15;17) acute promyelocytic leukemia, all-trans retinoic acid (RA) induces leukemic cell maturation in vitro and remission in acute promyelocytic leukemia patients, but in vivo treatments invariably...Full Text Available
Programmed cell death (PCD) is triggered when Pto, a Ser-Thr protein kinase, recognizes either the AvrPto or AvrPtoB effector from Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato. This...Full Text Available
Apr 16, 2007 ... with a 1-sigma error radius of about 0.5 arc sec. ... It was consistent with a single point source at: RA (J2000) = 03h 13m 57.6s ... At 13000 sec. after the trigger, the magnitude in the UVOT B filter was ~19.9 with a ...
Events detected in a shielded plastic scintillation counter occurring in the 26 microsec preceding the arrival of an extensive air shower at ground level with local electron density or = 20 m to the -2 power and the 240 microsec after its arrival have been studied. No significant excess of events (tachyons) arriving in the early time domain have been observed in a sample of 11,585 air shower triggers.
PCD (programmed cell death) in plants presents important morphological and biochemical differences compared with apoptosis in animal cells. This raises the question of whether PCD arose independently...Full Text Available
Recent observations of the evolutionary properties of paired and interacting galaxies are reviewed, with special emphasis on their global emission properties and star formation rates. Data at several wavelengths provide strong confirmation of the hypothesis, proposed originally by Larson and Tinsley, that interactions trigger global bursts of star formation in galaxies. The nature and properties of the starbursts, and their overall role in galactic evolution are also discussed.
The presynaptic Ca2+ signal, which triggers vesicle release, disperses to a broadly distributed residual [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]res) that plays an important...Full Text Available
Arsenic trioxide (As2O3), used to treat promyelocytic leukemia, triggers cell death via unknown mechanisms. To further our understanding of As2O3-induced...Full Text Available
The first analysis of inelastic J/{psi} meson production in photoproduction (Q{sup 2}<2.5 GeV{sup 2}) of the H1 experiment for the second phase of HERA (HERA II) is presented. The analysis is carried out at low and medium elasticities. The production of heavy quarks (charm, or bottom) is of special interest since the mass of the quarks provides a hard scale for the application of perturbative QCD. The muonic decay channel is used to select the J/{psi} mesons. The data was collected by the H1 detector during the period 2003-2005, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 133 pb{sup -1}. However only a subset of this data could be analysed. At the start of HERA II the trigger system was affected by a sizeable background. Then a fault was introduced in the trigger software during the summer 2004 and was only discovered and solved in April 2006. This means that approximately 80 % of the triggered events at medium ...
The WIDeField telescope for Gamma-ray burst Early Timing (WIDGET) is used for a fully automated, ultra-wide-field survey aimed at detecting the prompt optical emission associated with Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs). WIDGET surveys the HETE-2 and Swift/BAT pointing directions covering a total field of view of 62 degree x 62 degree every 10 secounds using an unfiltered system. This monitoring survey allows exploration of the optical emission before the gamma-ray trigger. The unfiltered magnitude is well converted to the SDSS r' system at a 0.1 mag level. Since 2004, WIDGET has made a total of ten simultaneous and one pre-trigger GRB observations. The efficiency of synchronized observation with HETE-2 is four times better than that of Swift. There has been no bright optical emission similar to that from GRB 080319B. The statistical analysis implies that GRB080319B is a rare event. This paper summarizes the design and operation of the WIDGET system and ...
Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are a promising approach to realize a single-photon source. To avoid bulky and expensive laser systems for future applications, electrical excitation is desirable. InP QDs are especially suited, as they emit in the red spectral range and therefore in the optimal range of commercial detectors. Additionally, they have been shown to be capable of emitting single photons up to 80 K. Thus, we embedded InP QDs in the intrinsic region of a p-i-n diode. To form single devices, 100 #mu#m mesas were etched and supplied with electrical contacts. We investigated the electroluminescence from single QDs and performed second-order auto correlation measurements to verify single-photon emission. To prevent expensive helium cooling and reach operation above 80 K, we investigated the influence of elevated temperature on the performance of our device. Since triggered single-photon emission is required for most applications, sub-nanosecond pulses were ...
PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range (protons: 80 MeV-700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV-400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV-190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV-270 GeV) and search for antimatter with a precision of the order of $10^{-8}$). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15 2006 in a $350\\times 600 km$ orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees. The detector is composed of a series of scintillator counters arranged at the extremities of a permanent magnet spectrometer to provide charge, Time-of-Flight and rigidity information. Lepton/hadron identification is performed by a Silicon-Tungsten calorimeter and a Neutron detector placed at the bottom of the device. An Anticounter system is used offline to reject false triggers coming from the satellite. In ...
The presented results are the first measurements at RHIC for direct $\\gamma$-charged hadron azimuthal correlations in heavy ion collisions. We use these correlations to study the color charge density of the medium through the medium-induced modification of high-p$_T$ parton fragmentation. Azimuthal correlations of direct photons at high transverse energy (8 $<$ p$_T$ $<$ 16 GeV) with away-side charged hadrons of transverse momentum (3 $<$ p$_T$ $<$ 6 GeV/c) have been measured over a broad range of centrality for $Au+Au$ collisions and $p+p$ collisions at $\\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV in the STAR experiment. A transverse shower shape analysis in the STAR Barrel Electromagnetic Calorimeter Shower Maximum Detector is used to discriminate between the direct photons and photons from the decays of high p$_T$ $\\pi^{0}$. The per-trigger away-side yield of direct $\\gamma$ is smaller than from $\\pi^{0}$ trigger at the same centrality class. ...
PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range protons: 80 MeV-700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV-400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV-190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV-270 GeV) and search for antimatter with a precision of the order of 10^-8). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15, 2006 in a 350*600 km orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees. The detector is composed of a series of scintillator counters arranged at the extremities of a permanent magnet spectrometer to provide charge, Time-of-Flight and rigidity information. Lepton/hadron identification is performed by a Silicon-Tungsten calorimeter and a Neutron detector placed at the bottom of the device. An Anticounter system is used offline to reject false triggers coming from the satellite. In ...
A total of 10 samples disks of 2024-T3 aluminum and 4130 ferrous steel were exposed to rocket-triggered lightning currents at the Kennedy Space Center test site in Florida during the summer of 1990. The experimental configuration was arranged so that the samples were not exposed to the preliminary streamer, wire-burn, or following currents that are associated with an upward-initiated rocket-triggered flash but which are a typical of naturally initiated lightning. Return-stroke currents and continuing currents actually attaching to the sample were measured, augmented by close-up video recordings of approximately 3 feet of the channel above the sample and by 16-mm movies with 5-ms resolution. From these data it was possible to correlate individual damage spots with streamer, return-stroke, and continuing currents that produced them. Substantial penetration of 80-mil aluminum was produced by a continuing current of submedian amplitude and ...
The Data Acquisition System for the CDMS II dark matter experiment was designed and built when the experiment moved to its new underground installation at the Soudan Lab. The combination of remote operation and increased data load necessitated a completely new design. Elements of the original LabView system remained as stand-alone diagnostic programs, but the main data processing moved to a VME-based system with custom electronics for signal conditioning, trigger formation and buffering. The data rate was increased 100-fold and the automated cryogenic system was linked to the data acquisition. A modular server framework with associated user interfaces was implemented in Java to allow control and monitoring of the entire experiment remotely.
It is postulated that a break of a thin-walled pipe does not cause a subsequent break in the pipe in the vicinity of a plastic hinge even when the wall is weakened by a 60 circumferential crack of a depth of 30% of the wall thickness on the tension side. This pipe behavior is the result of plastic buckling in the compression side and applies to pipes of diameter-to-thickness ratio larger than 20. For this type of pipe, the axial strains decrease with increasing diameter-to-thickness ratio in the tension side. As the pipe is only loaded in one direction, there is no cyclic behavior that can trigger a subsequent break. (orig.)
Major similarities between robustness assessment and seismic design exist, and significant information can be brought from seismic design to robustness design. As will be discussed, although some methods and limitations considered in seismic design can improve robustness, the capacity of the structure to sustain limited damage without disproportionate effects is significantly more complex. In fact, seismic design can either improve or reduce the resistance of structures to unforeseeable events, depending on the structural type, triggering event, structural material, among others. Based on a case study, the influence of redundancy and ductility on the seismic behavior and robustness of a long-span timber structure is assessed.
We demonstrate reversible movement of (1/2)[110](110) dislocation loops generated from nanodisturbances in a #beta#-titanium alloy. High resolution transmission electron microscope observations during an in situ tensile test found three reversible deformation mechanisms, nanodisturbances, dislocation loops and martensitic transformation, that are triggered in turn with increasing applied stress. All three mechanisms contribute to the nonlinear elasticity of the alloy. The experiments also revealed the evolution of the dislocation loops to disclination dipoles that cause severe local lattice rotations.
Generalized dynamic motion of balls and cage in a ball bearing are simulated by solving the differential equations of motion under prescribed operating conditions and bearing geometry. The general cage motion is parametrically evaluated as a function of clearances both in the ball pockets and at the guide lands. The design significance of the modeling approach is demonstrated by the prediction of critical clearances which trigger certain instabilities in the cage motion. In more practical terms, the correlation between cage clearances and instability defines a wear life for the bearing under the prescribed operating conditions. 10 refs.
This digest paper presents the theoretical project of a fission engine for space ship as imagined by Y. Ronen from the Ben-Gourion Univ. (Israel). In this engine, the combustion chamber is covered with metastable {sup 242}Am thin sheets. The fission reaction is triggered with a bombardment of neutrons and the fission fragments ionize a gas (hydrogen, for instance) which is overheated and ejected through the engine nozzle. (J.S.)
This paper describes the design of PMT readout module for detector prototype of Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. According to the design requirements of the readout module, the basic structure of the readout module is discussed. This paper also discusses how to realize the charge measurement and time measurement and data processing using a high performance FPGA. The DAQ system including three readout modules and one trigger module are well commissioned and doing data taking now. (authors)
We entertain the idea that a suitable background of cold (very low momentum) pseudoscalar particles or condensate, may trigger a background that effectively generates Lorentz-invariance violation. This aether-like background induces a Chern-Simons modification of QED. Physics is different in different frames and, in the rest frame of the pseudoscalar background, high momentum photons can decay into pairs. The threshold for such decay depends quadratically on the rest mass of the particles. This mechanism could explain in a natural way why antiprotons are absent in recent cosmic ray measurements. A similar signal could be used as a probe of pseudoscalar condensation in heavy ion collisions.
This paper describes a reactor design to facilitate a room-temperature nuclear fusion/fission reaction to generate heat without generating unwanted neutrons, gamma rays, tritium, or other radioactive products. The room-temperature fusion/fission reaction involves the sequential triggering of billions of single-molecule, "6LiD 'fusion energy pellets' distributed in lattices of a palladium ion accumulator that also acts as a catalyst to produce the molecules of "6LiD from a solution comprising D_2O, "6LiOD with D_2 gas bubbling through it. The D_2 gas is the source of the negative deuterium ions in the "6LiD molecules. The next step is to trigger a first nuclear fusion/fission reaction of some of the "6LiD molecules, according to the well-known nuclear reaction: "6Li + D #-># 2"4He + 22.4 MeV. The highly energetic alpha particles ("4He nuclei) generated by this nuclear reaction within the palladium will cause shock and vibrations in the ...
We have previously shown that budded viruses of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) enter the cell cytoplasm but do not migrate into the nuclei of non-permissive Sf9 cells that support a high titer of Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) multiplication. Here we show, using the syncytium formation assay, that low-pH-triggered membrane fusion of BmNPV GP64 protein (Bm-GP64) is significantly lower than that of AcMNPV GP64 protein (Ac-GP64). Mutational analyses of GP64 proteins revealed that a single amino acid substitution between Ac-GP64 H155 and Bm-GP64 Y153 can have significant positive or negative effects on membrane fusion activity. Studies using bacmid-based GP64 recombinant AcMNPV harboring point-mutated ac-gp64 and bm-gp64 genes showed that Ac-GP64 H155Y and Bm-GP64 Y153H substitutions decreased and increased, respectively, the multiplication and cell-to-cell spread of progeny viruses. These results indicate that Ac-GP64 H155 ...
A summary of the effects presented here is given in the table. The designation "factor present" implies that there is knowledge (from human or animal studies, or both) of a specific factor(s) present...Full Text Available
Dysregulation of the alternative pathway of complement activation, caused by mutations or polymorphisms in the genes encoding factor H, membrane co-factor protein, factor I or factor B, is associated...Full Text Available
In the CNS, there are widespread and diverse interactions between growth factors and estrogen. Here we examine the interactions of estrogen and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), two...Full Text Available
Human Factor VIII/von Willebrand factor, purified by calcium citrate-cellulose chromatography and 4% agarose gel filtration was subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis on gels containing...Full Text Available
Most antibodies to factor VIII have recently been shown to react with discrete regions of the factor VIII light chain (within the C2 domain) and/or the factor VIII heavy chain (within the amino-terminal...Full Text Available
The detectors used in the TS93 balloon flight produced a large volume of information for each cosmic ray trigger. Some of the data was visual in nature, other portions contained energy deposition and timing information. The data sets are amenable to conventional analysis techniques but there is no assurance that conventional techniques make full use of subtle correlations and relations amongst the detector responses. With the advent of neural network technologies, particularly adept at classification of complex phenomena, it would seem appropriate to explore the utility of neural network techniques to classify particles observed with the instruments. In this paper neural network based methodology for signal/background discrimination in a cosmic ray space experiment is discussed. Results are presented for electron and positron classification in the TS93 flight data set and will be compared to conventional analyses.
Objective To investigate the impact on life quality of women with traumatic and non-traumatic origin fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS]. Method Women affected with FMS were selected and divided into two groups: those with traumatic origin FMS [Group 1] and those with non-traumatic origin FMS [Group 2]. A standard question form was used for the research, as well as the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire [FIQ] for evaluation of life quality. Results Seventy-two patients, 34 for Group 1 and 38 for Group 2 were analyzed. The main triggering symptoms were divorce [23.5 percent of cases] and death in the family [23.5 percent of cases]. In addition to diffuse pain, the main symptoms presented were poor sleep quality, weariness, and paresthesia, with no difference between the groups; migraine had a greate...
The buckling behaviors of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) under torsion are investigated by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effect of length on the torsional buckling behaviors of DWCNTs is examined for the first time. The simulation results show that the DWCNTs experience gradual or simultaneous buckling deformations depending on their lengths. In addition, the effect of the inner tube in a DWCNT on its torsional buckling behavior is also examined. The presence of the inner tube triggers van der Waals (vdW) interactions between it and the outer tube and thus leads to a stiffening effect of the DWCNT against torsional deformation. Whether the ends of the inner tube are free or fixed and whether it is subject to a torque or not, the critical torque and the critical torsional angle of the outer tube are only marginally affected.
Previous research demonstrates that we tend to derogate individuals who are perceived to be in a social relationship with stigmatized persons. Two experiments examined whether this phenomenon also occurs for individuals seen in the presence of an obese person and whether a social relationship is necessary for stigmatization to spread. The results from both experiments revealed that a male job applicant was rated more negatively when seen with an overweight compared to a normal weight female and that just being in the mere proximity of an overweight woman was enough to trigger stigmatization toward the male applicant. Experiment 2 examined possible moderating effects of the proximity finding. Applicants seated next to heavy (vs. average weight) individuals were denigrated consistently regardless of the perceived depth of the relationship, the participant's anti-fat attitudes or gender, and whether or not positive information was presented concerning the woman. The ...
This paper seeks to investigate the liquefaction of clayey soils, a phenomenon that has been the trigger for many natural disasters in the last few decades, including landslides. Research was conducted on artificial clay?sand mixtures and natural clayey soils collected from the sliding surfaces of earthquake-induced landslides. The undrained response of normally consolidated clayey soils to cyclic loading was studied by means of a ring-shear apparatus. For the artificial clay?sand mixtures, it was found that the presence of a small amount of bentonite (?7%) would cause rapid liquefaction, while a further increase in bentonite content (?11%) produced the opposite effect of raising soil resistance to liquefaction by a significant degree. It was demonstrated that the bentonite?sand mixture wa...
We perform a systematic analysis of an extension of the Standard Model that includes a complex singlet scalar field and is scale invariant at the tree level. We call such a model the Minimal Scale Invariant extension of the Standard Model (MSISM). The tree-level scale invariance of the model is explicitly broken by quantum corrections, which can trigger electroweak symmetry breaking and potentially provide a mechanism for solving the gauge hierarchy problem. Even though the scale invariant Standard Model is not a realistic scenario, the addition of a complex singlet scalar field may result in a perturbative and phenomenologically viable theory. We present a complete classification of the flat directions which may occur in the classical scalar potential of the MSISM. After calculating the one-loop effective potential of the MSISM, we investigate a number of representative scenarios and determine their scalar boson mass spectra, as well as their perturbatively ...
The Gigabit Link Interface Board (GLIB) is an evaluation platform and an easy entry point for users of high speed optical links in high energy physics experiments. Its intended use ranges from optical link evaluation in the laboratory to control, triggering and data acquisition from remote modules in beam or irradiation tests. The GLIB is an FPGA-based Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) conceived to serve a small and simple system residing either inside a Micro Telecommunications Computing Architecture (?TCA) crate, or on a bench with a link to a PC. This paper presents the architecture of the GLIB, its features as well as examples of its use in different setups.
Quartz fiber calorimetry is a technique the signal generation mechanism of which is based on the Cherenkov effect. In this article we try to give a comprehensive overview of the subject. We start with a general introduction to calorimetry where the basic elements that characterize the development of electromagnetic and hadronic showers are discussed. Then we describe in detail the operation principle and the properties of calorimeters equipped with quartz fibers. The main advantages of this type of calorimeters are the radiation hardness, the fast response and the compact detector dimensions, features that derive from the quartz material and the specific mechanism of operation. A section is devoted to presenting the quartz fiber calorimeters that have been built or planned to in various experiments to operate as centrality detectors, trigger detectors, luminosity monitors or general purpose very forward calorimeters.
Recently, we cloned purpurin cDNA as an upregulated gene in the axotomized fish retina. The retina-specific protein was secreted from photoreceptors to ganglion cell layer during an early stage of optic nerve regeneration in zebrafish retina. The purpurin worked as a trigger molecule for axonal regrowth in adult injured fish retina. During zebrafish development, purpurin mRNA first appeared in ventral retina at 2 days post-fertilization (dpf) and spread out to the outer nuclear layer at 3 dpf. Here, we investigated the role of purpurin for zebrafish retinal development using morpholino gene knockdown technique. Injection of purpurin morpholino into the 1-2 cell stage of embryos significantly inhibited the transcriptional and translational expression of purpurin at 3 dpf. In the purpurin mo...
Resistive switching memory is a very promising technology for emerging nonvolatile memory applications. Generally, the switching behavior is triggered by a sweep or pulse voltage. In this paper, a charged capacitor is proposed to be used as the external electrical source to program a resistive switching element. From theoretical analyses based on a set behavior model, the capacitor approach can program the device efficiently. Compared with sweep or pulse mode, capacitor driving method can greatly reduce over-programming after the set event, and thus improve the resistance uniformity. The experimental results performed on Cu/ZrO2:Cu/Pt device support this conclusion quite well. The proposed methodology has great value for achieving a reliable resistive switching, which is important for high...
We have discovered a previously unidentified thermal explosion mode using the Los Alamos deflagration cylinder test (DFCT). The DFCT is a "pipe bomb"-style test similar to the detonation cylinder test (DTCT), which has been used for many years to calibrate detonation product equations of state. The shot is heated in an oven to a uniform test temperature. The pre-heated high explosive (HE) is triggered by a hot wire initiator on one end. The tube is back-illuminated by a bright light source, and its combustion-driven deformation and subsequent break-up are observed by a high-speed framing camera. Like the DTCT, the DFCT tube wall motion provides the primary diagnostic. A variety of reactive responses are possible, including quasi-steady deflagration and deflagration-to-detonation transition...
The discovery of atomic nucleus by E. Rutherford, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was the Nuclear Physics original landmark. From then, a series of experiments in which beams of particles composed of neutrons, protons and others, brought to collide with a nucleus in order to unravel its structure or produce artificial elements through nuclear transmutation, were triggered. With the development of experimental equipment, a number of other nuclear phenomena have been observed, such as beta decay, nuclear fission and fusion, M\\"oesbauer effect, etc. In view of the global political and economic landscape and the contemporary educational trends, this work suggest alternative topics in nuclear physics that can be discussed at the conceptual level in high school teaching, where the main focus lies in the historical and technological importance of such phenomena in society.
We present a detailed analysis of the self-organization phenomenon in which the stylized facts originate from finite size effects with respect to the number of agents considered and disappear in the limit of an infinite population. By introducing the possibility that agents can enter or leave the market depending on the behavior of the price, it is possible to show that the system self-organizes in a regime with a finite number of agents which corresponds to the stylized facts. The mechanism to enter or leave the market is based on the idea that a too stable market is unappealing for traders while the presence of price movements attracts agents to enter and speculate on the market. We show that this mechanism is also compatible with the idea that agents are scared by a noisy and risky market at shorter time scales. We also show that the mechanism for self-organization is robust with respect to variations of the exit/entry rules and that the attempt to trigger the ...
There is a rapidly growing need to evaluate sensor network functionality and performance in the context of the larger environment of infrastructure and applications in which the sensor network is organically embedded. This need, which is motivated by complex applications related to national security operations, leads to a paradigm fundamentally different from that of traditional data networks. In the sensor networks of interest to us, the network dynamics depend strongly on sensor activity, which in turn is triggered by events in the environment. Because the behavior of sensor networks is sensitive to these driving phenomena, the integrity of the sensed observations, measurements and resource usage by the network can widely vary. It is therefore imperative to accurately capture the environmental phenomena, and drive the simulation of the sensor network operation by accounting fully for the environment effects. In this paper, we illustrate the strong, intimate ...
Introduction: Haploidentical transplantation, with extensive T cell depletion to prevent GvHD, is associated with a high incidence of infection-related deaths. The key challenge is to improve immune recovery with allogeneic donor T cells without triggering GvHD. As T regulatory cells (Tregs) controlled GvHD in pre-clinical studies, the present study evaluated the impact of an infusion of donor CD4/CD25 + Tregs, followed by an inoculum of donor mature T cells (Tcons) and positively immunoselected CD34 + cells in the setting of haploidentical stem cell transplantation. Patients and methods: Twenty-eight patients were enrolled in this study (22 AML; 5 ALL; 1 NHL). All received immunoselected Tregs (CliniMACS, Miltenyi Biotec) followed by positively immunoselected CD34 + cells together with Tc...
Following the breakthrough for cast magnesium products, interest is now spreading to wrought applications - triggering a variety of technological questions. A major bottleneck in the manufacture of magnesium sections (profiles) by conventional hot extrusion is the low productivity, with extrusion speeds typically five to ten times lower than for comparable aluminium sections. This paper focuses on the use of hydrostatic extrusion as a means to overcome this problem. On the basis of an analytical model, it is clarified why and how process limits are affected by the process mechanics. Experimental work on the hydrostatic extrusion of the alloys M1A, ZM21 and AZ31 confirms that extrusion speed is indeed multiplied, whereas the resulting mechanical properties are similar to or better than those for conventional extrusions. (orig.)
An evaluation of Enova's heating program is presented. The central point was to evaluate to which degree Enova's heating program had resulted in increased supply of renewable energy for heating purposes to the Norwegian energy system. Main results are presented in part 1, chapter 1 to 5, while the facts and analyses behind the evaluation are presented in part 2, chapter I to VII. The main conclusion is that the program seen as one has had triggering effect on the market. The program has thus provided results in the form of increased supply of heating energy. Because of the project limitations and the lack of systematically documented baselines in the procedures, there are insecurities connected to the exact data registered. This makes quantification of the results difficult (ml)
The mass asymmetry of fragments from nuclear fission of heavy nuclei is reviewed. While mass asymmetry is a common and well-known phenomenon for low-energy fission of the lighter actinides, more recent experiments have demonstrated that, for the heaviest actinides, the mass distribution switches to a symmetric one. On the other hand, it has been discovered that, though for fissioning nuclei with mass numbers A< or [approx]225 the mass distribution is basically symmetric, an asymmetric component is clearly to be identified for nuclei down to the Pb-region. In the absence of a generally accepted dynamical theory of fission, the above experimental findings are discussed in terms of static energy considerations. Triggered from the outset by the structure of the potential energy surface at the saddlepoint, the energy balance at the scission point between the available energy (Q-value) of the reaction and the Coulomb and deformation energy of the nascent fragments is ...
The mass asymmetry of fragments from nuclear fission of heavy nuclei is reviewed. While mass asymmetry is a common and well-known phenomenon for low-energy fission of the lighter actinides, more recent experiments have demonstrated that, for the heaviest actinides, the mass distribution switches to a symmetric one. On the other hand, it has been discovered that, though for fissioning nuclei with mass numbers A< or #approx#225 the mass distribution is basically symmetric, an asymmetric component is clearly to be identified for nuclei down to the Pb-region. In the absence of a generally accepted dynamical theory of fission, the above experimental findings are discussed in terms of static energy considerations. Triggered from the outset by the structure of the potential energy surface at the saddlepoint, the energy balance at the scission point between the available energy (Q-value) of the reaction and the Coulomb and deformation energy of the nascent fragments is ...
Acidification is one of the most common and serious problems inducing process failure in anaerobic digesters. The production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) mainly triggers acidic shock. However, little is known about the bacteria involved in the processes of acidogenic metabolism, such as fermentation and reductive acetogenesis. Here, the metabolic responses of a methanogenic community to the acidification and resulting process deterioration were investigated using transcriptional profiling of both the 16S rRNA and formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (FTHFS) genes. The 16S rRNA-based analyses demonstrated that the dynamic shift of bacterial populations was closely correlated with reactor performance, especially with VFA accumulation levels. The pH drop accompanied by an increase in VFAs stim...
A dielectric-wall linear accelerator is improved by a high-voltage, fast rise-time switch that includes a pair of electrodes between which are laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators. A high voltage is placed between the electrodes sufficient to stress the voltage breakdown of the insulator on command. A light trigger, such as a laser, is focused along at least one line along the edge surface of the laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators extending between the electrodes. The laser is energized to initiate a surface breakdown by a fluence of photons, thus causing the electrical switch to close very promptly. Such insulators and lasers are incorporated in a dielectric wall linear accelerator with Blumlein modules, and phasing is controlled by adjusting the length of fiber optic cables that carry the laser light to the insulator surface.
A dielectric-wall linear accelerator is improved by a high-voltage, fast rise-time switch that includes a pair of electrodes between which are laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators. A high voltage is placed between the electrodes sufficient to stress the voltage breakdown of the insulator on command. A light trigger, such as a laser, is focused along at least one line along the edge surface of the laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators extending between the electrodes. The laser is energized to initiate a surface breakdown by a fluence of photons, thus causing the electrical switch to close very promptly. Such insulators and lasers are incorporated in a dielectric wall linear accelerator with Blumlein modules, and phasing is controlled by adjusting the length of fiber optic cables that carry the laser light to the insulator surface. 12 figs.
Delayed Afterdepolarization in Sinoatrial Node. Introduction: Recent evidence indicates that spontaneous sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca release and Na-Ca exchanger current activation contribute to the sinoatrial node (SAN) automaticity. These findings suggest that SAN activity may share mechanisms that underlie both automaticity and triggered activity. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that spontaneous, nonvoltage gated, intracellular Ca (Cai) elevation may induce delayed afterdepolarization (DAD) in intact SAN during isoproterenol infusion. Methods and Results: We simultaneously mapped Cai and membrane potential in 31 isolated Langendorff-perfused canine right atriums (RA). Isoproterenol increased heart rate and late diastolic Cai elevation (LDCAE) of the superior SAN, leading to...
This book deals with advanced computing applications in physics, and in particular in high energy physics environments. The main subjects covered are networking; vector and parallel processing; and embedded systems. Also examined are topics such as operating systems, future computer architectures and commercial computer products. The book presents solutions that are foreseen as coping, in the future, with computing problems in experimental and theoretical High Energy Physics. In the experimental environment the large amounts of data to be processed offer special problems on-line as well as off-line. For on-line data reduction, embedded special purpose computers, which are often used for trigger applications are applied. For off-line processing, parallel computers such as emulator farms and the cosmic cube may be employed. The analysis of these topics is therefore a main feature of this volume.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and increases the morbidity and cost. Amiodarone reduces AF after CABG. Ranolazine, an antianginal agent, also prolongs atrial refractoriness and inhibits after depolarizations and triggered activity; effects that could decrease AF after CABG. The present study compared amiodarone versus ranolazine for the prevention of AF after CABG. A retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing CABG at Aspirus Hospital from June 2008 to April 2010. The patients received either amiodarone (400 mg preoperatively followed by 200 mg twice daily for 10 to 14 days) or ranolazine (1,500 mg preoperatively followed by 1,000 mg twice daily for 10 to 14 days). The primary end point was any identified AF after CABG. A total of 393 ...
Proton pump inhibitors are highly successful in treating gastroesophageal reflux disease, but a significant proportion of patients have persistent symptoms from weakly or nonacidic reflux. Transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation (TLESR) represents the dominant mechanism of gastroesophageal reflux and has therefore become the most intensely investigated therapeutic target. The triggering of TLESR involve the vagal pathways and the ?-aminobutyric type B (GABA(B)) and metabotropic glutamate type 5 (mGluR5) receptors. Baclofen is a GABA(B) receptor agonist that is effective in inhibiting TLESR and reducing the number of reflux episodes, but is associated with significant central nervous system (CNS) side effects. The newer GABA(B) agonists, such as AZD9343 and AZD3355, and mGluR5 antag...
In this work, we investigated self-heating related instability in polysilicon thin film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) fabricated on polyimide (PI) substrates. Indeed, when Joule heating becomes relevant, the temperature of the active layer can substantially rise, since the devices are fabricated on thermally insulating substrates. As a result, electrical instability is triggered and attributed to the generation of interface states, due to the Si-H bond breaking, and charge trapping into the gate insulator. In addition, by using 3-dimensional numerical simulations, coupling the thermodynamic and transport models, we analyzed the temperature distribution of the device under operating conditions and found that self-heating is more severe for devices fabricated on plastic substrates.
It has been acknowledged that river morphology and hydrology have been intensively altered due to the anthropic demands in floodplain land use and management, flood protection, promotion of navigability or energy production. Rivers were transformed in water highways, having lost contact with their surrounding floodplain as well as the plethora of ecological processes and occupants once thriving in these ecotonal zones. The identification of this emerging threat of morphological and hydrological alteration on ecological integrity adds further complexity in the exploitation of hydrosystem resources. These resources are heavily coveted and guarded by different lobbies each having strategic views on future project development. Stakeholders may want to promote hydro-electricity, ecologists a natural reserve, communes may wish to have an increased flood protection and leisure promoters a nautical center. As a result, the proposition of a river ...
We discuss the consequence of local duality for elastic scattering, and derive a model-independent equation between structure functions at x ? 1 and elastic electromagnetic form factors. Then the electromagnetic form factors of proton are discussed using the quark-hadron duality theory. We also debate the form factor of proton in a bound state. It may be an effective approach to study the form factor of proton in media.
Vacuum arc with cathode spots on the cold electrode is widely used as a plasma generator in a such kind of devices like metal ion sources, plasma cathode electron guns, thing films deposition facilities and others. Most vacuum arc devices utilize a high voltage discharge across an insulator surface to provide a trigger plasma which in turn initiates the main arc discharge. Operation of vacuum arc in a repetitively pulsed mode required a stable triggering system for the long time. But with a discharge across the insulators the number of stable pulses is limited by 100,000 or little bit more. The better method for vacuum arc ignition is low pressure discharge. As shown in this paper it is possible to increase the lifetime of the ignition system in 10 times at least, but negative characteristic of this system is a relatively high pressure (about 0.1 mtorr). In some kinds of vacuum arc applications it is impermissible because it leads to the ...
Electrically triggered action potentials in the giant alga Chara corallina are associated with a transient rise in the concentration of free Ca(2)+ in the cytoplasm (Ca(2)+(cyt)). The present measurements of Ca(2)+(cyt) during membrane excitation show that stimulating pulses of low magnitude (subthreshold pulse) had no perceivable effect on Ca(2)+(cyt). When the strength of a pulse exceeded a narrow threshold (suprathreshold pulse) it evoked the full extent of the Ca(2)+(cyt) elevation. This suggests an all-or-none mechanism for Ca(2)+ mobilization. A transient calcium rise could also be induced by one subthreshold pulse if it was after another subthreshold pulse of the same kind after a suitable interval, i.e., not closer than a few 100 ms and not longer than a few seconds. This dependency of Ca(2)+ mobilization on single and double pulses can be simulated by a model in which a second messenger is produced in a voltage-dependent manner. This second messenger ...
Electrically triggered action potentials in the giant alga Chara corallina are associated with a transient rise in the concentration of free Ca2+ in the cytoplasm (Ca2+cyt). The present measurements of Ca2+cyt during membrane excitation show that stimulating pulses of low magnitude (subthreshold pulse) had no perceivable effect on Ca2+cyt. When the strength of a pulse exceeded a narrow threshold (suprathreshold pulse) it evoked the full extent of the Ca2+cyt elevation. This suggests an all-or-none mechanism for Ca2+ mobilization. A transient calcium rise could also be induced by one subthreshold pulse if it was after another subthreshold pulse of the same kind after a suitable interval, i.e., not closer than a few 100 ms and not longer than a few seconds. This dependency of Ca2+ mobilization on single and double pulses can be simulated by a model in which a second messenger is produced in a voltage-dependent manner. This second messenger liberates Ca2+ from ...
Background:Tobacco smoking is the most important risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development. Inhaled cigarette smoke can induce tumor necrosis factor-α...Full Text Available
Replication of plus-strand RNA viruses depends on host factors that are recruited into viral replicase complexes. Previous studies showed that eukaryotic translation elongation factor (eEF1A) is one...Full Text Available
The experiments at the incinerator for low-level wastes processing, (containing transuranium radionuclides) are described. Air decontamination factors and detector readings correction factors for efficiency and absorption are indicated.
The experiments at the incinerator for low-level wastes processing, (containing transuranium radionuclides) are described. Air decontamination factors and detector readings correction factors for efficiency and absorption are indicated.
A fluid-phase immunoradiometric assay has been developed which identifies an antigen on the Factor VIII (antihemophilic factor) procoagulant protein. This sensitive and quantitative assay is not influenced...Full Text Available
The ternary complex factor (TCF) Elk-1 is a transcription factor that regulates immediate early gene (IEG) expression via the serum response element (SRE) DNA consensus site. Elk-1 is associated with...Full Text Available
Caries is a multifactorial disease, and studies aiming to unravel the factors modulating its etiology must consider all known predisposing factors. One major factor is bacterial colonization,...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: Higher urinary calcium is a risk factor for nephrolithiasis. This study delineated associations between demographic, dietary, and urinary factors and 24-h urinary calcium.Design,...Full Text Available
The extracellular domain of human fibroblast growth factor receptor (XC-FGF-R) was expressed in Escherichia coli. The protein was purified to homogeneity and the interaction with basic fibroblast growth...Full Text Available
Because of the instability of Factor VIII (antihaemophilic factor) in plasma in vitro, and since evidence has accumulated that the level of activity varies significantly between samples...Full Text Available
Radium is known to be taken up by aquatic animals, and tends to accumulate in bone, shell and exoskeleton. The most common approach to estimating the uptake of a radionuclide by aquatic animals for use in health and environmental risk assessments is the concentration factor method. The concentration factor method relates the concentration of a contaminant in an organism to the concentration in the surrounding water. Site specific data are not usually available, and generic, default values are often used in risk assessment studies. This paper describes the concentration factor method, summarizes some of the variables which may influence the concentration factor for radium, reviews reported concentration factors measured in marine environments and presents concentration factors derived from data collected in a study in coastal Louisiana. The use of generic default ...
Radium is known to be taken up by aquatic animals, and tends to accumulate in bone, shell and exoskeleton. The most common approach to estimating the uptake of a radionuclide by aquatic animals for use in health and environmental risk assessments is the concentration factor method. The concentration factor method relates the concentration of a contaminant in an organism to the concentration in the surrounding water. Site specific data are not usually available, and generic, default values are often used in risk assessment studies. This paper describes the concentration factor method, summarizes some of the variables which may influence the concentration factor for radium, reviews reported concentration factors measured in marine environments and presents concentration factors derived from data collected in a study in coastal Louisiana. The use of generic default ...
The purpose of this article is to critically review the available evidence pertaining to occupational, environmental, and individual factors that can affect the development of occupational asthma (OA)....Full Text Available
The data base for the form factors of the nucleon obtained from elastic ep scattering is discussed, as well as some recent developments in their calculation.
Although the initiating factor(s) is unknown, it is now accepted that pulmonary sarcoidosis develops as a result of an over-stimulated local cellular immune response. Starting as a lymphocytic alveolitis,...Full Text Available
This is a presentation on Human Factors in reactor operations. It discusses issues that deal with power plant operations, training and design, operational effectiveness and safety, supporting people to achieve effective and error free performance.
The stock market has been known to form homogeneous stock groups with a higher correlation among different stocks according to common economic factors that influence individual stocks. We investigate the role of common economic factors in the market in the formation of stock networks, using the arbitrage pricing model reflecting essential properties of common economic factors. We find that the degree of consistency between real and model stock networks increases as additional common economic factors are incorporated into our model. Furthermore, we find that individual stocks with a large number of links to other stocks in a network are more highly correlated with common economic factors than those with a small number of links. This suggests that common economic factors in the stock market can be understood in terms of deterministic factors.
In general, the etiologic factors of chronic paranasal sinusitis are systemic conditions such as nutrition, predisposition, allergy, and local factors such as nasal anatomic conditions. Among these...Full Text Available
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) is decommissioning many of its excess facilities through removal of the facility structures leaving only the concrete-slab foundations in place. Site-specific, risk-based derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs) for radionuclides have been determined for a future industrial worker potentially exposed to residual contamination on these concrete slabs as described in Jannik. These risk-based DCGLs were estimated for an exposure area of 100 m2. During deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) operations at SRS, the need for area factors for larger and smaller contaminated areas arose. This paper compares the area factors determined for an industrial worker exposed to a concrete slab end-state for several radionuclides of concern at SRS with 1) the illustrative area factors provided in MARSSIM, 2) the area correction factors provided in ...
Transcription activation of sulfur metabolism in yeast is dependent on two DNA binding factors, the centromere binding factor 1 (Cbf1) and Met4. While the role of Met4 was clearly established by showing...Full Text Available
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurobehavioral disorder affecting 5% to 10% of children. Although considered to be a highly familial disorder, ADHD heritability estimates of 60% to 80% highlight the considerable role that environmental factors may still play in disorder susceptibility. Proposed ADHD environmental risk factors include prenatal substance exposures, heavy metal and chemical exposures, nutritional factors, and lifestyle/psychosocial factors. This paper reviews the literature published in 2010 investigating the association between environmental risk factors and ADHD or related symptomatology. Sources of risk factor exposure and the proposed mechanism by which each exposure is linked to ADHD-related neurobehavioral changes are also reported. Metho...
Collection, analysis and quantification of human factor data are important compositions of human reliability analysis (HRA) and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Various human factor databases have been set up, but there are comparatively little human factor data management systems which can be uses for collection, classification, analysis, calculation and predication of the human factor data. Therefore, the human factor data management system for Daya Bay NPP is developed, with the following three modules and four databases: original data module, computing module, introduced data module, and basic database, other data source of the plant, external database and introduced database. The foundational problems about human factor data and the systemic structure and function are described. The data structure in the database is also discussed, because it is of the ...
Looking at all the indeterminate factors as a whole and regarding activity durations as independent random variables, the traditional stochastic network planning models ignore the inevitable relationship and dependence among activity durations when more than one activity is possibly affected by the same indeterminate factors. On this basis of analysis of indeterminate effect factors of durations, the effect factors-based stochastic network planning (EFBSNP) model is proposed, which emphasizes on the effects of not only logistic and organizational relationships, but also the dependent relationships, due to indeterminate factors among activity durations on the project period. By virtue of indeterminate factor analysis the model extracts and describes the quantitatively indeterminate effect f...
Elastic electromagnetic form factors of nucleons are investigated for both the time-like and the space-like momenta by using the unsubtracted dispersion relation with QCD constraints. It is shown that the calculated form factors reproduce the experimental data reasonably well; they agree with recent experimental data for the neutron magnetic form factors for the space-like data obtained by the CLAS Collaboration and are compatible with the ratio of the electric and magnetic form factors for the time-like momentum obtained by the BABAR Collaboration.
The sequential layer-by-layer adsorption of polyanions and polycations to build polyelectrolyte multilayers has triggered enormous interest in their potential uses in a wide range of fields, from photonic to pharmaceutical applications. We show that the conformation of the solvent swollen films - prior to drying - is determined by the initial adsorption conditions, but can be altered ex-situ by exposure to a liquid phase of very high ionic strength. Recently it has been observed that the swelling depends on the charge of the outermost layer. In the PAH/PSS system we saw that assemblies with PSS as the outermost layer swell more than those with PAH outside. A neutron reflectivity study of this effect in addition indicated the existence of two kinds of water, bound with different strength within the films. Beside an unexpected two-step kinetics of swelling, the reflectivity curves of the layers against vacuum before and after re-hydration in D{sub 2}O vapor did not ...
In the summer of 1980, a balloon-borne cosmic ray experiment reported the detection of 14 low energy antiprotons during an 18 hour flight. This measurement represented an antiproton intensity two orders of magnitude greater than that predicted by conventional theories. This surprising result triggered a flurry of papers theorizing the origin of these particles, including the prediction of domains of primary antimatter, and evidence for supersymmetric particle annihilation. Not until the summer of 1987 was a follow up experiment (PBAR) performed. The PBAR detector has both better resolution and a larger dynamic range in energy than the previous detector. It measured the energy spectrum of antiprotons in the 0.1-1.5 GeV kinetic energy range. The present work describes the instrument, the experiment, and the results. Our analysis of the PBAR data reveals no antiprotons in the energy range of 0.13-0.64 GeV and only one antiproton candidate for energies between 0.64 and ...
The ALICE heavy-ion particle physics experiment is currently being built at CERN near Geneva. It will use a PC cluster of 900 dual-processor machines for the last stages of the data readout process and a network of 400 microcomputers for the configuration and control of the cluster nodes. One of the most important objectives to be achieved in such experiments is to guarantee the utilized devices are running correctly during the experiment life-time. A second aspect is the extremely high availability and reliability requirements of the applications being run, the so called high level trigger (HLT). The SysMES framework is a scalable, decentralized, fault tolerant, dynamic, rule based tool set for the monitoring of networks of target systems and applications. The management algorithms consist of the following steps: system and application monitoring, recognition of undesirable states, event (message) generation, local event handling on the target, event forwarding to ...
Supersymmetry, extension of the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM), is searched for by trying to observe the supersymmetric partner of bottom quark ({tilde b}). This search is performed using events with a final state comprising two acoplanar b-quark jets and missing transverse energy (MET) and coming from a sample of 992 pb{sup -1} of data collected by the D0 detector at the Tevatron, the Fermilab p{bar p} collider. The absence of an excess of events in comparison to MS expectations leads to exclude sb masses up to 201 GeV, neutralino masses up to 94 GeV. The MET has been studied under two points of view, because of its fundamental role in this search. First, at the level of the trigger system which allows the online selection candidate events, and then, within the framework of the ALPGEN generator, the simulation of the Z boson transverse momentum which appears as MET when the Z boson decays into neutrino.
Experiments were completed to study intermittent coal-water slurry (CWS) fuel sprays injected from an electronically-controlled accumulator injector system. A new synchronization technique was developed using the light extinction signal as a triggering source for the data taking initiation with a laser diffraction particle analyzing (LDPA) technique. This technique allowed measurement of SMDs near the spray tip where the light extinction was low and the data were free from the multiscattering bias. Coal-water slurry fuel with 50% coal loading in mass containing 5 {mu}m mass median diameter coal particulates was considered. A correlation of the SMD with the injection conditions was determined which should show a satisfactory agreement with the measured SMD data. The spray SMD showed an increase with the distance of the axial measurement location and with the ambient gas density, and showed a decrease with increasing injection pressure.
Nanoparticles of AgBr were prepared by precipitating AgBr in the water pools of microemulsions consisting of CTAB, n-butanol, isooctane and water. An aqueous solution of AgNO{sub 3} added to the microemulsion was the source of Ag{sup +} ions. The formation of AgBr nanoparticles in microemulsions through direct reaction with the surfactant counterion is a novel approach aimed at decreasing the role of intermicellar nucleation on nanoparticle formation for rapid reactions. The availability of the surfactant counterion in every reverse micelle and the rapidity of the reaction with the counterion trigger nucleation within individual reverse micelles. The effect of the following variables on the particle size and size distribution was investigated: the surfactant and cosurfactant concentrations, moles of AgNO{sub 3} added, and water to surfactant mole ratio, R. High concentration of the surfactant or cosurfactant, or high water content of the microemulsion favored ...
A heavy ion gas detector system consisting of a Bragg-curve spectroscopy ionization chamber for particle identification and a multiwire proportional chamber as position sensitive fast trigger device is described. The Bragg IC has been tested with several beams up to Z=36 to investigate some aspects of the BCS method. Results are reported on energy resolution and linearity, Z resolving power and mass sensitivity. The energy resolution is well below 1%. The Bragg-peak amplitude is fairly independent of the energy in a wide energy range and single elements are identified up to Z=38 with a resolving power Z/..delta..Zproportional50-80. Isotope identification by range measurement is limited by the straggling in the ionization process and the mass resolving power is M/..delta..Mproportional20-26 for S and Si isotopes. The MWPC allows subnanosecond time resolution and position identification along the in-plane coordinate within +-0.5 mm.
A heavy ion gas detector system consisting of a Bragg-curve spectroscopy ionization chamber for particle identification and a multiwire proportional chamber as position sensitive fast trigger device is described. The Bragg IC has been tested with several beams up to Z=36 to investigate some aspects of the BCS method. Results are reported on energy resolution and linearity, Z resolving power and mass sensitivity. The energy resolution is well below 1%. The Bragg-peak amplitude is fairly independent of the energy in a wide energy range and single elements are identified up to Z=38 with a resolving power Z/#DELTA#Zproportional50-80. Isotope identification by range measurement is limited by the straggling in the ionization process and the mass resolving power is M/#DELTA#Mproportional20-26 for S and Si isotopes. The MWPC allows subnanosecond time resolution and position identification along the in-plane coordinate within +-0.5 mm. (orig.).
We evaluated the similarities between ozone-induced and mite-induced emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from lima beans, and tested the response of the natural enemies of herbivores to these emissions using trophic system of two-spotted spider mites and predatory mites. The acute ozone-exposure and spider mite-infestation induced the emission of two homoterpenes, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene and (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyl-1,3,7,11-tridecatetraene, and (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate. Only plants with spider mite-infestation emitted the monoterpene (E)-{beta}-ocimene. Predatory mites were equally attracted to ozone-exposed and unexposed plants, but discriminated between spider mite-infested and uninfested plants, when both were exposed to ozone. The similarities between ozone and herbivore-induced VOCs suggest that plant defence against phytotoxic ozone and the production of VOCs for attraction of the natural enemies of herbivores may have adaptive coevolution. However, the expected ...
In this paper we will report on the operation and the performance of the ATLAS data-flow system during the 2010 physics run of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at 7TeV. The data-flow system is responsible for reading out, formatting and conveying the event data, eventually saving the selected events into the mass storage. By the second quarter of 2010, for the first time, the system will be capable of the full event building capacity and improved data-logging throughput. We will in particular detail the tools put in place to predict and track the system working point, with the aim of optimizing the bandwidth and the computing resource sharing, and anticipate possible limits. Naturally, the LHC duty cycle, the trigger performance, and the detector configuration influence the system working point. Therefore, numerical studies of the data-flow system capabilities have been performed considering different scenarios. This is crucial for the first phase of the LHC ...
In this paper we will report on the operation and the performance of the ATLAS data-flow system during the 2010 physics run of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at 7 TeV. The data-flow system is responsible for reading out, formatting and conveying the event data, eventually saving the selected events into the mass storage. By the second quarter of 2010, for the first time, the system will be capable of the full event building capacity and improved data-logging throughput. We will in particular detail the tools put in place to predict and track the system working point, with the aim of optimizing the bandwidth and the computing resource sharing, and anticipate possible limits. Naturally, the LHC duty cycle, the trigger performance, and the detector configuration influence the system working point. Therefore, numerical studies of the data-flow system capabilities have been performed considering different scenarios. This is crucial for the first phase of the LHC ...
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the heavy-ion detector designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Some specific calibration tasks are performed regularly for each of the 18 ALICE sub-detectors in order to achieve most accurate physics measurements. These procedures involve events analysis in a wide range of experimental conditions, implicating various trigger types, data throughputs, electronics settings, and algorithms, both during short sub-detector standalone runs and long global physics runs. A framework was designed to collect statistics and compute some of the calibration parameters directly online, using resources of the Data Acquisition System (DAQ), and benefiting from its inherent parallel architecture to process events. This system has been used at the experimental area for one year, and includes more than 30 calibration routines in production. This paper ...
The term {open_quotes}hazardous{close_quotes} waste is used primarily in reference to potential hazards to human health and, to a lesser decree, hazards to wildlife and the ecosystem. Many of the chemicals associated with hazardous waste sites are also widely distributed throughout the environment; therefore, the health hazards associated with hazardous waste sites are not different from those associated with general environmental contamination. Until recently, it was generally assumed that cancer was the human disease of greatest concern associated with toxic chemicals. In fact, most governmental regulations related to exposure are designed on the basis of presumed cancer risks. Since the evidence that hazardous chemicals can cause cancer is strong, it is appropriate to be concerned about cancer risk. Recent evidence, however, has triggered a reevaluation of the assumption that only cancer is of concern. New evidence suggests that noncancer endpoints may occur ...
ABB Industrietechnik AG recently has introduced an augmented version of its Cyldeyt cylinder pressure monitoring system aimed at spark-ignited and diesel/gas, dual-fuel engines. In addition to recording and evaluating cylinder pressure as a means of assessing engine condition, the new Cyldet version now evaluates the cylinder pressure signals to provide protection against pre-ignition related damage. When pre-ignition reaches critical levels, the Cyldet computer relays alarm signals in two stages to the overriding engine control system of the power plant. On receiving the first-stage alarm signal, the engine control system is programmed to adjust one or more engine settings to eliminate preignition - a typical adjustment is to lower charge-air temperature, for example. If such measures fail to eliminate pre-ignition, in the case of a dual-fuel engine, a second alarm signal triggers a reduction in engine load or, as last resort, changeover of the engine to 100% ...
We investigate some aspects of the radiation damage mechanisms in biomolecules, focusing on the modelling of resonant fragmentation caused by the attachment of low-energy electrons (LEEs) initially ejected by biological tissues when exposed to ionizing radiation. Scattering equations are formulated within a symmetry-adapted, single-center expansion of both continuum and bound electrons, and the interaction forces are obtained from a combination of ab initio calculations and a nonempirical model of exchange and correlation effects developed in our group. We present total elastic scattering cross-sections and resonance features obtained for the equilibrium geometries of glycine, alanine, proline and valine. Our results at those geometries of the target molecules are briefly shown to qualitatively explain some of the fragmentation patterns obtained in experiments. We further carry out a one-dimensional (1D) modeling for the dynamics of intramolecular energy transfers mediated by the ...
The design of a gaging head for a portable radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analyzer is described. The gaging head is designed as a construction unit system which enables the application of lateral reflexion geometry as well as of coaxial geometry. It is designed so that adjustment from one geometry to the other is labour and time saving. The selection of characteristic radiation is performed by a couple of Ross' differential filters. These filters are prepared by a novel technique developed by our laboratory. The filter exchange is effected by the longitudinal move of the couple of filters encapsulated in a holder. The shift of the filters is controlled by means of a triggering mechanism situated in the body of the gaging head handle. This design makes is possible to handle the gaging head during measurements with one hand. A simple interchange of the absorption filter for the transmissive filter allows the operator to avoid any unwanted shift of the head during ...
For 12C 9Be interactions at a kinetic beam energy of 3.2 GeV per nucleon, the spectra of photons at laboratory angles in the range 55o-73o were measured off the kinematical region available to the interaction of single nucleons within colliding nuclei. The use of a fast trigger for selecting events involving the production of high-transverse-momentum photons made it possible to measure spectra off the kinematical boundary of four-nucleon interaction. It is shown that the proposed procedure is adequate to the problem of searches for and investigation of flucton-flucton interaction. In the kinematical region where flucton-flucton interaction can manifest itself, the cross sections in question are on the same order of magnitude as respective model predictions. In order to draw definitive conclusions on the role of flucton-flucton interaction, it is highly desirable to extend the angular range of the measurements toward smaller angles.
Calcium (Ca) plays an important role in regulating various cellular processes. In a variety of cell types, Ca signaling occurs within microdomains where channels deliver localized pulses of Ca which activate a nearby collection of Ca-sensitive receptors. The small number of channels involved ensures that the signaling process is stochastic. The aggregate response of several thousand of these microdomains yields a whole-cell response which dictates the cell behavior. Here, we study analytically the statistical properties of a population of these microdomains in response to a trigger signal. We apply these results to understand the relationship between Ca influx and Ca release in cardiac cells. In this context, we use a first passage time approach to show analytically how Ca release in the whole cell depends on the single channel kinetics of Ca channels and the properties of microdomains. Using these results, we explain the underlying mechanism for the graded ...
Purpose: To evaluate a T_2-weighted URSE sequence for the assessment of pulmonary infiltrations in comparison to CT. Methods: 28 MRT scans of 22 patients with confirmed pneumonia were recorded on a 1.5 Tesla apparatus with an expiratory and diastolic triggered, T_2-weighted ultrafast-spin-echo sequence in axial slice mode with the following parameters: TR_e_f_f/T_E/Turbofactor 2000-4000/90 ms/21-23; slice thickness/separation 6/0.6 mm; FOV 360 mm; 24 slices. 24 spiral CTs (sice thickness/table advance: 1-2 mm/10 mm) were available for comparison. The separate evaluation of MRTs and CTs was performed by three radiologists in a consensus procedure with regard to pulmonary lesions (e.g., infiltration, round foci, net patterns) and image quality of the MRTs (4-step scale). Results: In 71% of the cases the CTs and MRTs agreed with the diagnosis and representation of the lesions, in 25% MRT was superior. MRT was better for the detection of pulmonary abscesses. In 93% the ...
Waste Management Area U (WMA U) includes the U Tank Farm, is currently regulated under RCRA interim-status regulations, and is scheduled for closure probably post-2030. Groundwater monitoring has been under an evaluation program that compared general contaminant indicator parameters from downgradient wells to background values established from upgradient wells. One of the indicator parameters, specific conductance, exceeded its background value in one downgradient well triggering a change from detection monitoring to a groundwater quality assessment program. The objective of the first phase of this assessment program is to determine whether the increased concentrations of nitrate and chromium in groundwater are from WMA U or from an upgradient source. Based on the results of the first determination, if WMA U is not the source of contamination, then the site will revert to detection monitoring. If WMA U is the source, then a second part of the groundwater quality ...
Since the 1970's, global efforts have been going on to replace the high-enriched (>90% "2"3"5U), low-density UAlx research reactor fuel with high-density, low enriched (<20% "2"3"5U) replacements. This search is driven by the attempt to reduce the civil use of high-enriched material because of proliferation risks and terrorist threats. American initiatives, such as the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program have triggered the development of reliable low-enriched fuel types for these reactors, which can replace the high enriched ones without loss of performance. Most success has presently been obtained with U_3Si_2 dispersion fuel, which is currently used in many research reactors in the world. However, efforts to search for a replacement with even higher density, which will also allow the conversion of some high flux research reactors that currently cannot change to U_3Si_2 (eg. BR2 ...
The phase transition behaviour of polyethylene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PE-b-PEO) diblock copolymer with relatively short chain lengths has been studied on the basis of temperature dependent infrared and Raman spectral measurements and synchrotron WAXD/SAXS simultaneous measurements, from which the concrete structural changes were deduced successfully from the various levels of molecular chain conformation, chain packing mode and higher-order structure. The higher-order structure has been found to transform between lamella, perforated lamella, gyroid, cylinder and sphere structures. The inner structural changes occurring in the polyethylene and poly(ethylene oxide) parts have been related with these morphological changes. The morphological transition from lamella to gyroid occurs with keeping the crystalline state of polyethylene parts. This apparently curious transition can be interpreted reasonably by assuming the thermally-activated chain motion in the crystal lattice, which may play ...
The objective of this project was to develop a explosion suppression system capable to confine and extinguish gas explosions of the type produced in sub level caving faces when blasting to the coal pillar. Existing systems, such as triggered barriers, were considered not to be valid because of size, weight, cost, and other operational constraints. The research activities have been focused in the development of a mixed water/air spray system that should be manually activated some second before blasting. Two prototypes have been developed and tested, the first one using nozzle operating at the standard ranges of pressure that are normally available in underground coal mines, and a second one based in high-pressure nozzles. In this case, bottles containing a pressurized air/water mixtures are required. The works carried out included theoretical studies, hydraulic nozzles characterization, and modelling of the explosion phenomena using the AutoReaGas code. Besides, ...
This is a multi-color 230-page textbook covering analog electronics at the upper-division level. Text material is intended for a full-year sequence at 2-3 credits per term. Topics include: amplifier thermal considerations; class A IC output stage; class B complementary amplifier; class A and Class B single-ended amplifiers; feedback amplifiers; gain margin and phase margin; compensation; oscillators (Wien-bridge, Hartley, Colpitts, Pierce); piezoelectric crystals, single-pole circuits; single-pole pulse response; single-pole rectangular wave response; comparators; Schmitt triggers; 555 timers; multivibrators; RC attenuators; compensated attenuators; principles of dc-dc conversion; capacitor-based converters; buck converter; boost converter; buck-boost converter. The text is in Adobe Acrobat 4.0 format, complete with Acrobat index. Large font size allows the text to be used with overhead transparencies, on screen with an Acrobat Reader, or in print form.
Pulsations driven by partial ionization of hydrogen in the envelope are often considered important for driving winds from red supergiants (RSGs). In particular, it has been suggested by some authors that the pulsation growth rate in an RSG can be high enough to trigger an unusually strong wind (or a superwind), when the luminosity-to-mass ratio becomes sufficiently large. Using both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic stellar evolution models with initial masses ranging from 15 to 40 M_s_u_n, we investigate (1) how the pulsation growth rate depends on the global parameters of supergiant stars and (2) what would be the consequences of a pulsation-driven superwind, if it occurred, for the late stages of massive star evolution. We suggest that such a superwind history would be marked by a runaway increase, followed by a sudden decrease, of the wind's mass-loss rate. The impact on the late evolution of massive stars would be substantial, with stars losing a huge fraction of ...
ECAL Barrel (EB) As already mentioned in June, the Barrel ECAL is fully commissioned and routinely used during CRUZET runs. Good progress has been made in the last months to ensure a stable and fully reliable operation, in particular for the Trigger path. More details can be found in the DPG report in this bulletin. ECAL Endcaps (EE) In the June CMS bulletin, it had been announced that the Dee’s mechanical assembly had been finished end of May. However the electronics integration was still going on for the first Dee. The Summer has seen a spectacular breakthrough of the Endcap project. The electronics integration of Dee1 was completed early July, and this first Dee was transported to point 5 on July 8th. The completion of the three other Dees followed at a pace of one per week. In all cases the quality of the detector as measured in the assembly center was excellent, with all channels active and the expected ...
We present results of a study of large-scale neutral hydrogen (HI) gas in nearby radio galaxies. We find that the early-type host galaxies of different types of radio sources (compact, FR-I and FR-II) appear to contain fundamentally different large-scale HI properties: enormous regular rotating disks and rings are present around the host galaxies of a significant fraction of low power compact radio sources, while no large-scale HI is detected in low power, edge-darkened FR-I radio galaxies. Preliminary results of a study of nearby powerful, edge-brightened FR-II radio galaxies show that these systems generally contain significant amounts of large-scale HI, often distributed in tail- or bridge-like structures, indicative of a recent galaxy merger or collision. Our results suggest that different types of radio galaxies may have a different formation history, which could be related to a difference in the triggering mechanism of the radio source. If confirmed by larger ...
The human CDC25 tyrosine phosphatases trigger activation of CDC2 by removing inhibitory phosphates; thus the genes encoding these phosphatases may be suspected as potential oncogenes due to their role in promoting cell division. To date, three human CDC25 genes have been identified: CDC25A, B, and C. This communication describes the mapping of CDC25A to chromosome 3p21 and CDC25B to chromosome 20p13 by fluorescence in situ hybridization with confirmation by the polymerase chain reaction of hamster-human somatic cell hybrid DNA. 3p21 is near an area frequently involved in karyotypic abnormalities in renal carcinomas, small cell carcinomas of the lung, and benign tumors of the salivary gland. 20p13 does not seem to be a common area for karyotypic alteration in tumors. Mapping of these genes to their chromosomal loci may help identify tumors with abnormal regulation of CDC25 genes due to genomic alterations. 15 refs., 3 figs.
Boron (B) is an essential plant micronutrient that is toxic at higher levels. NIP5;1 is a boric acid channel required for B uptake and growth under B deficiency. Accumulation of the NIP5;1 transcript is upregulated under B deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. To elucidate the mechanism of regulation, the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of NIP5;1 was tested for its ability to confer B-dependent regulation using ?-glucuronidase and green fluorescent protein as reporters. This analysis showed that the 5' UTR was involved in NIP5;1 transcript accumulation in response to B conditions. We also found that high-B conditions trigger NIP5;1 mRNA degradation and that the sequence from +182 to +200 bp in the 5' UTR is required for this mRNA destabilization. In the nip5;1-1 mutant background, a NIP5;1 complementation construct without the 5' UTR produced high levels of mRNA accumulation, increased B concentrations in tissues, and reduced growth under high-B conditions. These ...
The work scope of 'Biological Research for the Radiation Protection' had contained the research about ornithine decarboxylase and its controlling proteins, thioredoxin, peroxiredoxin, S-adenosymethionine decarboxylase, and glutamate decarboxylase 67KD effect on the cell death triggered ionizing radiation and H_2O_2(toxic agents). In this study, to elucidate the role of these proteins in the ionizing radiation (or H_2O_2)-induced apoptotic cell death, we utilized sensesed (or antisensed) cells, which overexpress (or down-regulate) RNAs associated with these proteins biosynthesis, and investigated the effects of these genes on the cytotoxicity caused by ionizing radiation and H_2O_2(or paraquat). We also investigated whether genisteine(or thiamine) may enhance the cytotoxic efficacy of tumor cells caused by ionizing radiation (may enhance the preventing effect radiation or paraquat-induced damage) because such compounds are able to potentiate the cell-killing or cell ...
The SPring-8 linac has been improved to realize stable top-up injection into the SPring-8 and the NewSUBARU storage rings. The beam energy instability of 0.02% rms in the long term was achieved by means of reducing RF variations, providing beam energy compensation, reinforcement of monitor systems and introduction of beam feedback controls: Variations in the RF power and phase have been reduced by improving the voltage regulation system for the klystron modulator, and by stabilizing the temperature drift of the atmosphere and cooling water in order to reduce the phase variation. A new synchronous oscillator synchronizes a beam trigger pulse and a 2856 MHz reference signal, reducing variation in the beam charge. A beam energy compression system (ECS) was installed to compensate for accidental energy variation and reduce the energy spread. Beam feedback controls compensate for residual long-term variations of beam trajectory and energy. (author)
The front-end electronics system for the anode signals of the CMS Endcap Muon cathode strip chambers has about 183000 channels. The purposes of the anode front-end electronics are to acquire precise muon timing information for bunch crossing number identification at the Level-1 muon trigger system and to provide a coarse radial position of the muon track. Each anode channel consists of an input protection network, amplifier, shaper, constant-fraction discriminator, and a programmable delay. The essential parts of the electronics include a 16-channel amplifier-shaper-discriminator ASIC CMP16 and a 16-channel ASIC D16G providing programmable time delay. The ASIC CMP16 was optimized for the large cathode chamber size (up to 3 x 2.5 m2) and for the large input capacitance (up to 200 pf). The ASIC combines low power consumption (30 mW/channel) with good time resolution (2 - 3 ns). The del ay ASIC D16G makes possible the alignment of signals with an accuracy of 2.2 ns. ...
The Alice experiment is one of the four main LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiments. It is dedicated to the study of a new state of matter: the quark gluon plasma, where quarks and gluons are no longer confined within hadrons. In this document, the physics issues that led to the construction of Alice dimuon spectrometer, are described. Then, the research and development on the dimuon spectrometer is presented. The different absorbers are described and experimental tests used to determine their dimensions are presented. The dimuon trigger built using the RPC (Resistive Plate Chamber) streamer mode is then described along with the associated beam and cosmic tests and results. Finally, the tracking system is described in detail and more particularly all its electronics and the first station. The physics constraints on the expected performances of all these systems are clearly defined. (author)
At Himeji Institute of Technology, the high power microwaves with the peak power of 20 MW, frequency of 12 GHz and pulse duration of 14 ns have been produced with a virtual cathode oscillator (vircator). These high power microwaves offer new applications in various fields. One problem in laser-triggered lightning experiment is the strong attenuation of laser energy by rain, cloud and laser-produced plasma. Microwaves propagate in thundercloud with small loss, and also are able to irradiate much extensive region of targets. In this paper, the fundamental experiment on the air breakdown induced by high power, short pulse microwaves is reported. The experimental setup of the vircator diode for microwave generation is shown. The typical evolution of diode voltage, electron beam current and microwave emission from the top in the course of time is shown. The experimental setup for microwave-induced air breakdown and the experimental procedure are explained. The results ...
Introducing intelligence by means of cognition for managing, protecting, processing, and delivering of information in mobile communication systems is the way towards ubiquitous, converged and secure communications. In this context, this paper introduces the concept of quality of information (QoI). QoI means QoS while all the requirements for dependability, security, privacy and trust are satisfied at the highest possible level. This work proposes and describes an approach to network monitoring in a heterogeneous communication environment based on use of cognitive techniques and learning predictive algorithms (e.g., fuzzy logic). These methodologies are used to create an autonomy in the decision making process that is based on the calculation of key performance indicators (KPIs), which in their turn would trigger the needed radio resource management algorithms. The expected output is an improved network performance in terms of maximized throughput and faster ...
This contribution provides an overview and imparts basic knowledge on pertinent technical developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the liver: 3D sequences, respiratory triggering, parallel imaging, and 3 Tesla (3T). 3D sequences can be used as T1-weighted (T1w) sequences for analyzing dynamics of contrast enhancement or as T2w sequences for MR cholangiography. Consistent improvements in respiratory triggering make it possible to obtain good image quality on T2w scans even in patients unable to hold their breath. Parallel imaging as a universal technique to accelerate image acquisition is particularly appropriate for MRI of the liver, and it has been shown that the reduced acquisition time is not achieved at the expense of image quality. Further progress in MRI of the liver can be expected with use of the 3T systems, but hitherto irrelevant problems must still be solved. Overall the innovations presented here, applied alone or in ...
Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune connective tissue disorder characterized by a widespread microangiopathy, autoimmunity and fibrosis of the skin and of various internal organs. Microangiopathy is characterized by a reduced capillary density and an irregular chaotic architecture that lead to chronic tissue hypoxia. Despite the hypoxic conditions, there is no evidence for a sufficient compensative angiogenesis in SSc. Furthermore, vasculogenesis is also impaired. An imbalance between angiogenic and angiostatic factors might explain the pathogenetic mechanisms of SSc vasculopathy. As far as angiogenic factors are concerned, within the most important are vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors, platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-?), fibroblast growth factor -2 (FGF-2), angiopoietin 1 (Ang-1), stromal ...
In many applications, the experimenter has limited options about what factor combinations can be chosen for a designed study. Consider a screening study for a production process involving five input factors whose levels have been previously established. The goal of the study is to understand the effect of each factor on the response, a variable that is expensive to measure and results in destruction of the part. From an inventory of available parts with known factor values, we wish to identify a best collection of factor combinations with which to estimate the factor effects. Though the observational nature of the study cannot establish a causal relationship involving the response and the factors, the study can increase understanding of the underlying process. The study can also help determine where investment should be made to control input ...
The activity assay of a radiopharmaceutical administration to a patient is normally achieved via the use of a radionuclide calibrator. Because of the different geometries and elemental compositions between plastic syringes and glass vials, the calibration factors for syringes may well be significantly different from those for the glass containers. The magnitude of these differences depends on the energies of the emitted photons. For some radionuclides variations have been observed of 70 %, it is therefore important to recalibrate for syringes or use syringe calibration factors. Calibration factors and volume correction factors have been derived for the NPL secondary standard radionuclide calibrator, for a variety of commonly used syringes and needles, for the most commonly used medical radionuclide.
Polarization measurements are allowing the electric to magnetic form factor ratio of the proton to be determined with unprecedented precision. Recent results indicate that there is a large deviation from unity in the proton form factor ratio around Q{sup 2}{approx_equal}0.35 GeV{sup 2}. Furthermore, the deviation from unity is attributed to a deviation of the electric form factor from standard fits and calculations. A new, partially completed, experiment will significantly improve the existing data and will determine the presence, if any, of a narrow structure in the form factor ratio. The new measurement, combined with the expected high precision cross section measurements, will allow the extraction of individual form factors with unprecedented accuracy at low Q{sup 2}.
The complete world set of parity-violating electron scattering data up to Q{sup 2}{approx}0.3 GeV{sup 2} is analyzed. We extract the current experimental determination of the strange electric and magnetic form factors of the proton, as well as the weak axial form factors of the proton and neutron, at Q{sup 2}=0.1 GeV{sup 2}. Within experimental uncertainties, we find that the strange form factors are consistent with zero, as are the anapole contributions to the axial form factors. Nevertheless, the correlation between the strange and anapole contributions suggest that there is only a small probability that these form factors all vanish simultaneously.
The aim of this study is to develop the methodology which enables to identify the mechanical properties of element such as stress intensity factor by using the AE parameters. Considering the multivariate and nonlinear properties of AE parameters such as ringdown count, rise time, energy, event duration and peak amplitude from fatigue cracks of machine element the principal component regression(PCR) and artificial neural network(ANN) models for the estimation of stress intensity factor were developed and validated. The AE parameters were found to be very significant to estimate the stress intensity factor. Since the statistical values including correlation coefficients, standard mr of calibration, standard error of prediction and bias were stable, the PCR and ANN models for stress intensity factor were very robust. The performance of ANN model for unknown data of stress intensity ...
This study determined the phylogenetic groups and virulence factors of 37 Escherichia coli isolates producing types of CTX-M compared with those of 19 isolates producing different types...Full Text Available
Vascular permeability factor (VPF) is an Mr 40-kD protein that has been purified from the conditioned medium of guinea pig line 10 tumor cells grown in vitro, and increases fluid permeability from blood...Full Text Available
AIM: To investigate the effects of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) on the differentiation of colonic lamina propria fibroblasts (CLPF) into myofibroblasts in vitro.METHODS:...Full Text Available
BackgroundPerichondrium is recognized as a tissue with chondrogenic potential yielding cells which can be used for osteochondral repair. Factors which influence the proliferative...Full Text Available
Opinions on factors affecting public power systems are presented. Social, economic, and political factors are discussed in terms of their impact on public power. Competition with investor-owned utilities is the primary focus of the paper. Privatization and regulations are other issues discussed.
Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) promotes tumor cell adaptation to microenvironmental stress. HIF-1 is up-regulated in irradiated tumors and serves as a promising target for radiosensitization....Full Text Available
The covariant quark model is shown to allow a phenomenological description of the neutron electric form factor, G{sub E}{sup n}(Q{sup 2}), in the impulse approximation, provided that the wave function contains minor ({approx}3%) admixtures of the lowest energy sea-quark configurations. While that form factor is not very sensitive to whether the q{sup -} in the qqqqq{sup -} component is in the P-state or in the S-state, the calculated nucleon magnetic form factors are much closer to the empirical values in the case of the former configuration. In the case of the electric form factor of the proton, G{sub E}{sup p}(Q{sup 2}) a zero appears in the impulse approximation close to 10 GeV{sup 2}, when the q{sup -} is in the P-state. That configuration, which may be interpreted as a pion loop ('cloud') fluctuation, also leads to a clearly better description of the nucleon magnetic moments. When ...
The specific binding of transcription factors to cognate sequence elements is thought to be critical for the generation of specific gene expression programs. Members of the nuclear factor κB...Full Text Available
The growth regulating factor CTGF/CCN-2 is an integral factor in growth and development, connective tissue maintenance, wound repair and cell cycle regulation. It has recently been reported that CTGF/CCN-2...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe link between maternal factors and birth outcomes is well established. Substantial changes in society and medical care over time have influenced women's reproductive...Full Text Available
The stability of prothrombin and factor VII was studied using accelerated degradation tests in three preparations of freeze-dried pooled normal plasmas. In a previous report (Brozović, Gurd,...Full Text Available
Little is known about how sociodemographic factors relate to children’s chronic pain. This paper describes the pain, health, and sociodemographic characteristics of a cohort of children...Full Text Available
BackgroundCognitive impairment is an age-related condition as the rate of cognitive decline rapidly increases with aging. It is especially important to better understand factors...Full Text Available
The study of blocking factors requires in vitro assay of cell mediated immunity that parallels the in vivo response. By microcytotoxicity testing, progressor and immune peripheral blood lymphocytes...Full Text Available
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is one of the most important prognostic and predictive factors for breast cancer patients. Recently, serum HER2...Full Text Available
Many growth factors and hormones modulate the reproductive status in mammals. Among these, insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) regulate the development of gonadal tissues. SH2-B has been...Full Text Available
To evaluate the role of putative group A streptococcal virulence factors in the initiation of skin infections, we compared the adherence of a wild-type M49-protein skin-associated strain to that of...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with mental illness in Oyo State at community level using the general health questionnaire...Full Text Available
Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging problem with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study determined risk factors for the recovery of piperacillin-tazobactam-resistant P. aeruginosa...Full Text Available
Background:Parity has been linked to gallbladder cancer and gallstones, but the effects of other reproductive factors are less clear.Methods:We examined...Full Text Available
ABSTRACTPurpose: To describe previously reported locomotor muscle and whole-body composition factors related to mobility in older individuals.Methods:...Full Text Available
Variant alleles of the mannose binding lectin (MBL) gene are associated with increased susceptibility to infection and polymorphisms of tumour necrosis factor and lymphotoxin alpha genes (TNF, LTA)...Full Text Available
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase domain mutations hyperactivate the kinase and confer kinase addiction of the non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor...Full Text Available
Binding of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to the EGF receptor (EGFR) initiates signal transduction, ultimately leading to altered gene expression. Ligand-activated EGFR is also rapidly internalized...Full Text Available
We recently found that many RNA polymerase II transcription factors are modified with N-acetylglucosamine residues. These sugar moieties confer upon transcription factors an ability to bind the lectin wheat germ agglutinin. We have taken advantage of this interaction to devise a purification procedure for the "GC-box" binding transcription factor Sp1. Crude nuclear extracts are first subjected to wheat germ agglutinin affinity chromatography and then subjected to sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography. The Sp1 protein purified by this procedure is at least 95% pure, and the overall recovery is greater than 80%. In addition to yielding larger quantities of Sp1 than conventional schemes, the new purification procedure is also simpler and more rapid. We show that wheat germ agglutinin affinity chromatography can also be used to purify the glycosylated forms of the CCAAT-binding transcription factor. ...
Haemophilia, the commonest hereditary bleeding disorder, arises because of the absence of, decrease in, or deficient functioning of plasma coagulation factor VIII or factor IX. With rare exceptions,...Full Text Available
The objective was to investigate the association of pregravid weight status, dietary restraint and psychosocial factors during pregnancy. We used data from the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition...Full Text Available
BackgroundHealthcare professionals can play a crucial role in optimizing the health status of patients with cardiovascular risk factors (abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, low...Full Text Available
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) related therapies – mainly tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as erlotinib and gefitinib, but also monoclonal antibodies targeting EGFR, for example,...Full Text Available
BackgroundPolymorphisms in Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene may influence EGFR production and/or activity, thereby modulating susceptibility to lung...Full Text Available
Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a potent moderator of soft tissue repair through induction of the inflammatory phase of repair and subsequent enhanced collagen deposition. We examined the effect...Full Text Available
Increased oxidative stress is associated with perinatal asphyxia and respiratory distress in the newborn period. Induction of nuclear factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor (Nrf2) has been shown to decrease...Full Text Available
This paper proposes a novel method for computing linear basis images from tensor-valued image data. As a generalization of the nonnegative matrix factorization, the proposed method aims to approximate...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe aim of the present article was to evaluate whether angiogenic parameters as assessed by transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound (TVCD) may predict those prognostic factors...Full Text Available
For the risk estimate of fatal malignancies, an effective dose was proposed on the basis of the assumption that the risk should be equal whether the whole body irradiated uniformly or whether there is non-uniform irradiation. The effective dose was defined by the product of organ or tissue doses and a weighting factor representing the proportion of risk factor for a fatal malignancy resulting from organ or tissue irradiation to the total malignant factor. The risk of malignancies can be derived by multiplying the malignant significant factor by the product of the risk factor and the effective dose. For the genetic risk, a significant factor was a relative child expectancy and organ or tissue doses were gonad doses. And, for the leukemogenic risk, a significant factor was the leukemia significant factor and organ or ...
BackgroundThe complications of hypertension cause severe health problems in rural areas in China. We (i) screened the major factors inducing hypertensive complications and provided...Full Text Available
To investigate the fate of intrinsic factor and cobalamin during cobalamin absorption, we incubated enterocytes isolated from guinea pig ileum for periods of up to 30 min with 57Co-labeled...Full Text Available
The agglutination of human platelets by ristocetin and von Willebrand factor was inhibited by aggregated immunoglobulin (Ig)G and by Fc fragments of IgG, but not by Fab, F(ab′)2 or...Full Text Available
Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) allows researchers to determine the genome-wide binding locations of individual transcription factors (TFs) at high resolution....Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: We studied 22 dogs to examine the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) alone, in comparison with omental or muscular wrapping on airway healing in a tracheal autotransplantation...Full Text Available
Cellular hypertrophy is regulated by coordinated pro- and antigrowth machineries. Foxo transcription factors initiate an atrophy-related gene program to counter hypertrophic growth. This study was designed...Full Text Available
The effect of growth phase on expression of virulence-associated factors was studied by Northern hybridization in an M1T1 clinical isolate of Streptococcus pyogenes. Expression of M...Full Text Available
PurposeThis study was undertaken to determine the neuroprotective effect of granulocyte stimulating factor (G-CSF) on neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Materials...Full Text Available
The ETS proteins are a family of transcription factors (TFs) that regulate a variety of biological processes. We made genome-wide analyses to explore the classification of the ETS gene family. We identified...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe mammalian FoxO transcription factors function to regulate diverse physiological processes. Emerging evidence that both BDNF and lithium suppress FoxO...Full Text Available
This study investigated potential risk factors for the presence of Salmonella on 89 Alberta swine-finishing farms with the use of a questionnaire. Salmonella status...Full Text Available
The C1 fixation test is widely used for the study of the interaction between immunoglobulins, their fragments and the complement system. Some factors influencing the apparent extent of the C1 fixation...Full Text Available
Various factors affecting the aggregation of Actinomyces naeslundii strain 12104 were studied. When the pH of glucose-supplemented growth medium fell below 5.5, the cells aggregated and formed microbial...Full Text Available
Knowledge of factors affecting variation in birth weight is especially important given the relationship of birth weight to neonatal and adult health. The present study utilises two large contemporary...Full Text Available
In this paper, we present experimentally determined reflection factors of mirrors based on the depleted uranium and dependence of reflection factor on time of presence of samples on air.
Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging problem among nosocomial bacteria. Risk factors for the recovery of ceftriaxone-resistant (CRCF) or -susceptible (CSCF) Citrobacter freundii...Full Text Available
The roles played by environmental factors in seasonal changes in microbial populations were investigated in the Tvärminne area, off the southern coast of Finland. Surface-layer samples were...Full Text Available
In response to oxidative stress, the transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) controls the fate of cells through transcriptional upregulation of antioxidant response element (ARE)-bearing...Full Text Available
Haemophilus parasuis is an important opportunistic pathogen in swine of high health status, but to date no proven virulence factors have been described. As virulence factors are known...Full Text Available
The objectives of this study were to examine the association between dietary factors and underweight and overweight adult Vietnamese living in the rural areas of Vietnam. A cross-sectional study of...Full Text Available
BackgroundHepatitis B and C is common in Pakistan and various risk factors are attributable to its spread.One thousand and fifty consecutive male cases suffering from chronic...Full Text Available
Parallel imaging reconstructions result in spatially varying noise amplification characterized by the g-factor, precluding conventional measurements of noise from the final...Full Text Available
Present investigations suggest that approximately 30% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases arise on the basis of inherited factors. We hypothesize that the majority of inherited factors are moderately...Full Text Available
Pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) is a neuropeptide that plays a prominent role in the circadian clock of several insects. The cockroach Leucophaea maderae...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn Germany, there is a shortage of young physicians in several specialties, the situation of general practitioners (GP) being especially precarious. The factors influencing...Full Text Available
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a critical role in normal development as well as retinal vasculature disease. During retinal vascularization, VEGF is most strongly expressed by not yet...Full Text Available
BackgroundAdipose tissue lipid storage and processing capacity can be a key factor for obesity-related metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and diabetes. Lipid uptake is...Full Text Available
Platelet Factor VIII-related antigen (VIIIR:Ag) represents a significant proportion of the total circulating VIIIR:Ag pool. However, its participation in the events of primary hemostasis has not been...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVEPreimplantation factor (PIF) is a novel, 15 amino acid peptide, secreted by viable embryos. This study aims to elucidate PIF’s effects in human endometrial...Full Text Available
HIV infections show great variation in the rate of progression to disease, and the role of viral genetic factors in this variation had remained poorly characterized until recently. Now a series of four...Full Text Available
...discrimination against participants and beneficiaries based on a health factor. 146.121 Section 146.121 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GROUP HEALTH...
Using some modification of the standard fermion technique we derive factorized formula for spin operator matrix elements (form-factors) between general eigenstates of the Hamiltonian of quantum Ising chain in a transverse field of finite length. The derivation is based on the approach recently used to derive factorized formula for Z_N-spin operator matrix elements between ground eigenstates of the Hamiltonian of the Z_N-symmetric superintegrable chiral Potts quantum chain. The obtained factorized formulas for the matrix elements of Ising chain coincide with the corresponding expressions obtained by the Separation of Variables Method.
This paper deals with the indications for prostatectomy; the differential diagnosis of the symptomatology of bladder neck obstruction; and the factors influencing the choice of operation....Full Text Available
This paper represents a parametric study of the amplification factor to account for rebound effects in the Energy Balance Method. Of the 66 distinct cases we chose for our parametric study, the amplification factor of 1.1 seems sufficient except in four borderline cases where the carbon steel pipes are small or have very small gaps between the pipes and the pipe whip restraints. We conclude that the amplification factor generally decreases as the parameters gap size, hinge-to-break distance and overhang increase.
One case of esophagitis caused by oral medication of Tetracycline is reported. The cause and factors predisposing to this uncommon complication of oral medication are discussed.
This paper is aimed to present a fuzzy decision making approach to deal with the performance measurement in supply chain systems. In the manufacturing environment, performance measurement is based on different quantitative and qualitative factors. Some of these factors may have a larger effect on the performance measure than others. Units of measure of the quantitative factors are different such as time, money, percentage, ratio, and counts. Thus, this paper presents a performance measurement approach based on fuzzy set theory and the pair-wise comparison of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which ensures the consistency of the designer's assignments of importance of one factor over another to find the weight of each of the manufacturing activity in the departmental organization. In the ...
Program decisions by symphony orchestra management are influenced by various factors. To examine these factors, we create an objective index of the propensity of a symphony orchestra to perform the standard repertoire. We use regression analysis to examine factors that influence programming decisions of 64 US symphony orchestras in 2006?2007, including public and private sources of funding. We find that increased funding from ticket sales, endowments, and local government increases the likelihood that an orchestra will perform nonstandard repertoire. In addition, the results suggest that a symphony orchestra?s music director does not have a significant impact on the degree of program conventionality.
Energy productivity and energy intensity within the industrial sector of the economy are examined. Results suggest that relative prices and other economic factors can explain much of the variation in both energy productivity and energy intensity for manufacturing and mining and for the industrial sector as a whole. Cyclical factors, seasonal factors and trend variables are also useful in explaining variation in these data, both for annual and monthly time series. Of the variables examined, it appears that the relative price of energy is a highly significant factor in accounting for the difference between actual industrial energy intensity and that which might have been expected had pre-1973 trends continued.
A semi-mechanistic model for calculating solid radionuclide release rates from bubbling pools of sodium was developed. The influence of particle spacial and size distributions on the decontamination of the releases was analysed and found significant. Decontamination factors are shown as a function of pool depth, bubbling characteristics and particle size distribution. The calculation of a decontamination factor for estimating the source term of large scale hypothetical core disruptive accidents is presented. The decontamination factor for a large scale accident was found to be two orders of magnitude greater than results obtained from small scale experiments conducted with uniform particle distributions.
A semi-mechanistic model for calculating solid radionuclide release rates from bubbling pools of sodium was developed. The influence of particle spacial and size distributions on the decontamination of the releases was analysed and found significant. Decontamination factors are shown as a function of pool depth, bubbling characteristics and particle size distribution. The calculation of a decontamination factor for estimating the source term of large scale hypothetical core disruptive accidents is presented. The decontamination factor for a large scale accident was found to be two orders of magnitude greater than results obtained from small scale experiments conducted with uniform particle distributions. (orig.).
We calculate the electromagnetic form factors of a bound proton. The chiral quark-soliton model provides the quark and antiquark substructure of the proton, which is embedded in nuclear matter. This procedure yields significant modifications of the form factors in the nuclear environment. The sea quarks are almost completely unaffected, and serve to mitigate the valence quark effect. In particular, the ratio of the isoscalar electric to the isovector magnetic form factor decreases by 20% at Q{sup 2}=1 GeV{sup 2} at nuclear density, and we do not see a strong enhancement of the magnetic moment.
exposed to persistent saltwater intrusion, a major factor in the decline of marsh ecosystems. The resulting increase in salinity from persistent flooding due to ...
In this note, we derive from Anstee's fractional $(g,f)$-factor theorem a similar characterization for the property of all fractional $(g,f)$-factors. Let $afactors if the minimum degree is at least $\\delta(G)\\geq \\frac{1}{4a}((a+b-1)^2+4b)$ and every pair of non-adjacent vertices has cardinality of the neighborhood union at least $bn/(a + b)$. This lower bounds are sharp.
Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta isoforms (TGF-beta 1, -beta 2, and -beta 3) regulate cell growth and differentiation and have critical regulatory roles in the process of tissue repair and remodeling....Full Text Available
Technetium transfer from soil to edible parts of various agricultural plants is studied with application of the "9"5"mTc radioactive tracer. The samples of agricultural plants were grown on andesol typical for Japan soil. The technetium transfer factor to edible parts of cultivated lettuce was higher as compared to non foliate cultures. Relative low transfer factor were observed for fruit and pod like plants. the transfer factors for root crops were of intermediate value
While prior research has examined family, school, and peer factors as potential predictors of problem behavior, less attention has been given to studying when these factors are most predictive...Full Text Available
We prove the existence of defective secant varieties of three-factor and four-factor Segre-Veronese varieties embedded in certain multi-degree. These defective secant varieties were previously unknown and are of importance in the classification of defective secant varieties of Segre-Veronese varieties with three or more factors.
This is the June report by the Energy Information Administration. The contents of the report include an energy overview, energy consumption, petroleum, natural gas, oil and gas resource development, coal, electricity, nuclear energy, energy prices, and international energy. Included are appendices containing thermal conversion factors, metric and other physical conversion factors, and carbon dioxide emission factors for coal.
Hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF) 4α is a key transcription factor regulating endo/xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. We investigated whether microRNAs are involved in the regulation...Full Text Available
We examine the electric and magnetic strange form factors of the nucleon in the pseudoscalar-vector SU(3) Skyrme model, with special emphasis on the effects of isospin symmetry breaking (ISB). It is found that ISB has a nontrivial effect on the strange vector form factors of the nucleon and its contribution to the nucleon strangeness is significantly larger than one might naively expect. Our calculations and discussions may be of some significance for the experimental extraction of the authentic strangeness.
We examine the electric and magnetic strange form factors of the nucleon in the pseudoscalar-vector SU(3) Skyrme model, with special emphasis on the effects of isospin symmetry breaking (ISB). It is found that ISB has a nontrivial effect on the strange vector form factors of the nucleon and its contribution to the nucleon strangeness is significantly larger than one might naively expect. Our calculations and discussions may be of some significance for the experimental extraction of the authentic strangeness.
Electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry of irradiated chicken legs is based on the additive dose or the calibration curve methods. In both cases the practical assumption is made that the behaviour of the chicken bone does not depend on factors such as temperature during irradiation, storage conditions and dose rate. So the aim of the present work was to investigate to what extent the above mentioned factors could influence the post-irradiation dose assessment using the ESR technique. (author).
Growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9), an oocyte-secreted member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily, progesterone receptor, cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox2; Ptgs2), and the EP2 prostaglandin...Full Text Available
A measurement of the magnetic form factor of a ferromagnetic actinide compound of UTe with circularly polarized X-rays is reported. The present geometrical configuration of the measurement gives a form factor of L(k)+0.3S(k), where L(k) and S(k) are the form factors of the orbital and the spin magnetic moment, respectively. We have combined the X-ray magnetic form factor with the neutron one which gives L(k)+2S(k) (G. Busch et al.: J. Phys. C 12 (1979) 1391), and have deduced L(k) and S(k) separately. The obtained profiles of L(k) and S(k) show that the orbital and the spin magnetic moments are spatially spread out more than those calculated for a free uranium ion. (author).
A measurement of the magnetic form factor of a ferromagnetic actinide compound of UTe with circularly polarized X-rays is reported. The present geometrical configuration of the measurement gives a form factor of L(k)+0.3S(k), where L(k) and S(k) are the form factors of the orbital and the spin magnetic moment, respectively. We have combined the X-ray magnetic form factor with the neutron one which gives L(k)+2S(k) (G. Busch et al.: J. Phys. C 12 (1979) 1391), and have deduced L(k) and S(k) separately. The obtained profiles of L(k) and S(k) show that the orbital and the spin magnetic moments are spatially spread out more than those calculated for a free uranium ion. (author).
We investigate the effects of the velocity-dependent force on the magnetic form factors and magnetic moments of odd-Z nuclei. The form factors are calculated with the harmonic-oscillator wavefunctions. It is found that the contributions of the velocity-dependent force manifest themselves in the very large momentum transfer region (q?4 fm-1). In the low and medium q region the contributions of the velocity-dependent force are very small compared with those without this force. However, in the high-q region the contributions of the velocity-dependent force are larger than the normal form factors. The diffraction structures beyond the existing experimental data are found after the contributions of the velocity-dependent force are included. The formula of the correction to the single particle magnetic moment due to the velocity-dependent force is reproduced exactly in the long-wavelength limit (q=0) of the M1 form ...
The purpose of this research is to clarify how psychological factors' impact on public acceptance of nuclear energy varies with where they live and their degree of knowledge. For this purpose, we carried out questionnaire survey about nuclear energy at three urban areas and two nuclear power plant siting areas. After collecting data, we applied factor analysis to the data, and found four factors which construct cognitive structure of nuclear energy. Using multiple regression analysis, we evaluated the impact of the four factors on two issues: the decision for or against nuclear policy and the reaction to nuclear power plant siting, and compared changes of the impact by where respondents live and their degree of knowledge. Consequently, we found that the impact of all four factors on the two issues varies with where respondents live. We also found that the impact of respondents' ...
The purpose of this research is to clarify how psychological factor's impact on public acceptance of nuclear energy varies with people's degree of knowledge. For this purpose, we carried out questionnaire survey about nuclear energy at Suginami ward, Tokyo. After collecting data, we applied factor analysis to the data, and found 4 factors: Trust in the Authorities, Superiority of Nuclear Power Generation, Benefit for Nuclear Power Plants' Siting Areas, and Risk Perception about Nuclear Technology. In addition, using multiple regression analysis, we evaluated the impact of the 4 factors on 2 issues: the decision for or against nuclear policy and the reaction to nuclear power plant siting. Consequently, we found the change of impact of all 4 factors on the 2 issues. Especially, the impact of the 4 factors to the reaction to nuclear power ...
The purpose of this research is to clarify how psychological factor's impact on public acceptance of nuclear energy varies with people's degree of knowledge. For this purpose, we carried out questionnaire survey about nuclear energy at Suginami ward, Tokyo. After collecting data, we applied factor analysis to the data, and found 4 factors: Trust in the Authorities, Superiority of Nuclear Power Generation, Benefit for Nuclear Power Plants' Siting Areas, and Risk Perception about Nuclear Technology. In addition, using multiple regression analysis, we evaluated the impact of the 4 factors on 2 issues: the decision for or against nuclear policy and the reaction to nuclear power plant siting. Consequently, we found the change of impact of all 4 factors on the 2 issues. Especially, the impact of the 4 factors to the reaction to nuclear power plant siting was ...
Distinguishing between effects of natural and anthropogenic environmental factors on ecosystems is a fundamental problem in environmental science. In river systems the longitudinal gradient of environmental factors is one of the most relevant sources of dissimilarity between communities that could be confounded with anthropogenic disturbances. To test the hypothesis that in macroinvertebrate communities the distribution of species' sensitivity to organic toxicants is independent of natural longitudinal factors, but depends on contamination with organic toxicants, we analysed the relationship between community sensitivity SPEARorganic (average community sensitivity to organic toxicants) and natural and anthropogenic environmental factors in a large-scale river system, from alpine streams to a lowland river. The results show that SPEARorganic is largely independent of natural longitudinal ...
The mechanisms involved in the glacial inception are still poorly constrained due to a lack of high resolution and cross-dated climate records at various locations. Using air isotopic measurements in the recently drilled NorthGRIP ice core, we show that no evidence exists for stratigraphic disturbance of the climate record of the last glacial inception ({proportional_to}123-100 kyears BP) encompassing Dansgaard-Oeschger events (DO) 25, 24 and 23, even if we lack sufficient resolution to completely rule out disturbance over DO 25. We quantify the rapid surface temperature variability over DO 23 and 24 with associated warmings of 10{+-}2.5 and 16{+-}2.5 C, amplitudes which mimic those observed in full glacial conditions. We use records of {delta}{sup 18}O of O{sub 2} to propose a common timescale for the NorthGRIP and the Antarctic Vostok ice cores, with a maximum uncertainty of 2,500 years, and to examine the interhemispheric sequence of events over this period. After a synchronous ...
The Advanced Photon Source consists of five accelerators. The injection timing system provides the signals required to cause a bunch emitted from the electron gun to navigate through intermediate accelerators to a specific bucket (1 out of 1296) within the storage ring. Two linacs and a positron accumulator ring operate at 60Hz while a booster synchrotron ramps and injects into the storage ring at 2Hz. The distributed, modular VME/VXI-based injection timing system is controlled by two EPICS-based input/output controllers (IOCs). Over 40 VME/VXI cards have been developed to implement the system. Card types range from 352MHz VXI timing modules to VME-based fiber optic fanouts and logic translators/drivers. All timing is distributed with fiber optics. Timing references are derived directly from machine low-level rf of 9.77MHz and 352MHz. The timing references provide triggers to programmable delay generators. Three grades of timing are provided. Precision timing is ...
We revisit our original papers on the burst mode of accretion by incorporating a detailed energy balance equation into a thin-disk model for the formation and evolution of circumstellar disks around low-mass protostars. Our model includes the effect of radiative cooling, viscous and shock heating, and heating due to stellar and background irradiation. Following the collapse from the prestellar phase allows us to model the early embedded phase of disk formation and evolution. During this time, the disk is susceptible to fragmentation, depending upon the properties of the initial prestellar core. Globally, we find that higher initial core angular momentum and mass content favors more fragmentation, but higher levels of background radiation can moderate the tendency to fragment. A higher rate of mass infall onto the disk than that onto the star is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for disk fragmentation. More locally, both the Toomre Q-parameter needs to be below a critical value ...
The water soluble, photolabile nitrene precursor, azidonaphthalene-2,7-disulfonic acid (ANDS) was encapsulated in small unilamellar, isoelectric (egg PC) or negatively charged (egg PC + dihexadecylphosphate) liposomes. The individual and combined effects of heme-proteins and UV irradiation on the fluorescence of these vesicles under aerobic conditions were studied. Consistent with the catalytic action of heme-proteins on lipid peroxidation and peroxide decomposition, addition of cytochrome c (positively charged) or catalase (negatively charged) to the vesicles elicited immediate formation of a fluorescence band at 470 nm, characteristic of Schiff bases that form from aldehyde byproducts of decomposing hydroperoxides. Ultraviolet irradiation of liposomes caused no significant changes in the fluorescence spectrum, in spite of the radiolysis of ANDS inside the vesicles with consequent formation of nitrene radicals. When isoelectric vesicles were irradiated with UV light in the presence of ...
The epidermal compartment is complex and organized into several strata composed of keratinocytes (KCs), including basal, spinous, granular, and cornified layers. The continuous process of self-renewal and barrier formation is dependent on a homeostatic balance achieved amongst KCs involving proliferation, differentiation, and cell death. To determine genes responsible for initiating and maintaining a cornified epidermis, organotypic cultures comprised entirely of stratified KCs creating epidermal equivalents (EE) were raised from a submerged state to an air/liquid (A/L) interface. Compared to the array profile of submerged cultures containing KCs predominantly in a proliferative (relatively undifferentiated) state, EEs raised to an A/L interface displayed a remarkably consistent and distinct profile of mRNAs. Cultures lifted to an A/L interface triggered the induction of gene groups that regulate proliferation, differentiation, and cell death. Next, differentially ...
Abstract in english BACKGROUND: Severe pathogenic infection triggers excessive release of cytokines as part of the massive inflammatory response associated with septic shock. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective effect of caffeic acid phenethye ester (CAPE) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced endotoxemia, hepatic and neuronal damage and the associated systemic inflammatory response (SIR). METHODS: Fifty male Wister rats were divided into: control, LPS, and CAPE+LPS groups. Plasma c (more) oncentrations of various cytokines, including TNF-?, IL-1?, IL-1?, IL-6, IL-4, IL-10, and sICAM-1 were evaluated. In addition, the histopathological changes in the hepatic and neural cells were assessed. RESULTS: The LPS group showed high inflammatory cytokines and sICAM-1 levels reflecting the presence of SIR. Hepatocyte necrosis, apoptosis, extensive hemorrhage and inflammatory cellular infiltration together with brain astrocytes swelling, early neuron injury and ...
In world crude oil markets, 1987 was a year of limited recovery and relative stability after the dramatic price slide of early 1986. Both foreign and domestic crude thereafter, ending the year somewhat higher than a year ago. In contrast, product wholesale markets remained relatively stable throughout the year, while retail prices sustained a fairly steady increase. As has been the case for over a decade, major price movements in international oil markets generally reflected responses to actual or perceived changes in the policies of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and/or its members. The year began with prices on an upward trend, in reaction to the December 1986 OPEC meeting in which the members resolved to return to an official pricing structure (a departure from the market-based pricing of 1986), and to reduce output quotas. Prices continued to rise until August, when evidence of continued OPEC overproduction appeared to outweigh market optimism, ...
Following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a considerable amount of effort and resources were allocated worldwide to designing and developing coherent and comprehensive decision support systems for nuclear or radiological emergency management. They range from simple radiological consequence assessment tools to more advanced systems, incorporating the assessment of countermeasures and their effectiveness. Furthermore, many of these systems have been tailored to answer to national emergency preparedness requirements and in some cases such as the R.O.D.O.S. and A.R.G.O.S. systems they have been successfully deployed in a number of countries. Thus, computer based decision support systems for nuclear emergencies are nowadays a reality in Europe, the US and Japan; however, there was a lack of an adequate information and data exchange mechanism that enabled them to function properly and serve the purpose that triggered their development. Within the EURATOM 5. Framework ...
The increasing complexity of the real-time data acquisition and processing systems (TDAQ: the so called Trigger and Data AcQuisition systems) in high energy physics calls for an appropriate evolution of development tools. This work is about the interplay between in principle specifications of TDAQ systems and their actual design and realization on a concrete hardware and software platform. The basis of our work is to define a methodology for the development of TDAQ systems that meets the specific demands for the development of such systems. The result is the detailed specification of a 'methodological framework' based on the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and designed to manage a development process. The use of this UML-based methodological framework progressively leads to the setting up of a 'home-made' framework, i.e. a development tool that comprises reusable components and generic architectural elements adapted to TDAQ ...
A balloon-borne instrument has measured the cosmic-ray antiproton flux between 130 and 320 MeV and searched for antihelium between 130 and 370 MeV per nuclear. These particles were selected from the background of normal-matter cosmic rays by combining a selective trigger with a detailed spark chamber visualization of each recorded event. Antiprotons are identified by their characteristic annihilatin radiation. Residue from background processes meeting the selection criteria is small. The observed 14 antiprotons yield a measured differential flux of 1.7 +- 0.5 x 10/sup -4/ antiprotons m/sup -2/ sr/sup -1/ s/sup -1/ MeV/sup -1/ at the top of the atmosphere. The corresponding antiproton/proton ratio is 2.2 +- 0.6 x 10/sup -4/,, only slightly smaller than the ratio observed by other experiments at higher energies. Thus the antiprotons have a spectral shape similar to the protons, at least down to about 100 MeV. The expected flux of these particles can be calculated ...
As part of the work scope set in the French law on high level long lived waste R&D passed in 1991, CEA is conducting a research program to establish the scientific basis and assess the feasibility of long term storage as an option for the safe management of nuclear waste for periods as long as centuries. This goal is a significant departure from the current industrial practice where storage facilities are usually built to last only a few decades. From a technical viewpoint such an extension in time seems feasible provided care and maintenance is exercised. Considering such long periods of time, the risk for Society of loosing oversight and control of such a facility is real, which triggers the question of whether and how long term storage safety can be actually achieved. Therefore CEA commissioned a study (1) in which MUTADIS Consultants (2) and CEPN (3) were both involved. The case study looks into several past and actual human enterprises conducted over ...
We studied the effect of extracellular Ca"2"+ concentration ([Ca"2"+]_e) on adipocyte differentiation. Preadipocytes exposed to continuous [Ca"2"+]_e higher than 2.5 mmol/l accumulated little or no cytoplasmic lipid compared to controls in 1.8 mmol/l [Ca"2"+]_e. Differentiation was monitored by Oil Red O staining of cytoplasmic lipid and triglyceride assay of accumulated lipid, by RT-PCR analysis of adipogenic markers, and by the activity of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH). Elevated [Ca"2"+]_e inhibited expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor #gamma#, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein #alpha#, and steroid regulatory binding element protein. High [Ca"2"+]_e significantly inhibited differentiation marker expression including adipocyte fatty acid binding protein, and GPDH. The decrease in Pref-1 expression that accompanied differentiation also was prevented by high [Ca"2"+]_e. Treatment of 3T3-L1 cells with high [Ca"2"+]_e did not significantly affect cell number ...
The renewed CDF II experiment recently re-started data taking. The data collected lately already provides insight in the heavy flavor capabilities of this p{bar p} experiment. As a benchmark of these possibilities we present two preliminary results: the measurement of the branching fractions BR(D{sup o} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}) and BR(D{sup o} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}) relative to BR(D{sup o} {yields} K{sup {+-}} {pi}{sup {-+}}) and the measurement of the invariant mass difference between D{sub s}{sup {+-}} {yields} {phi}{pi}{sup {+-}}, {phi} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -} and D{sup {+-}} {yields} {phi}{pi}{sup {+-}}, {phi} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -}. The preliminary results are BR(D{sup o} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -})/BR(D{sup o} {yields} K{sup {+-}} {pi}{sup {-+}}) = 3.37 {+-} 0.20(stat) {+-} 0.16(sys)%, BR(D{sup o} {yields} K{sup +}K{sup -})/BR(D{sup o} {yields} K{sup {+-}} {pi}{sup {-+}}) = 11.17 {+-} 0.98(sys) % and {Delta}m (D{sub s} - D{sup +}) = 99.28 {+-} 0.43(stat) ...
Energy conservative building design has triggered greater interests in developing flexible and sophisticated air conditioning systems capable of achieving enhanced energy-savings potential without sacrificing the desired thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ). This research work greatly aimed at achieving enhanced energy conservation, good thermal comfort and better IAQ for space conditioning with the application of combined variable refrigerant volume (VRV) and variable air volume (VAV) air conditioning (A/C) systems. Experimental investigation on the proposed combined air conditioning system with the application of intelligent fuzzy logic controller was performed for summer and winter climatic conditions to substantiate the energy-savings capability. The proposed system experimentally analyzed under fixed ventilation, demand controlled ventilation (DCV) and combined DCV and economizer cycle (EC) ventilation techniques effectively conserved 44% and 63% of ...
We present local two-dimensional and three-dimensional hybrid numerical simulations of particles and gas in the midplane of protoplanetary disks (PPDs) using the Athena code. The particles are coupled to gas aerodynamically, with particle-to-gas feedback included. Magnetorotational turbulence is ignored as an approximation for the dead zone of PPDs, and we ignore particle self-gravity to study the precursor of planetesimal formation. Our simulations include a wide size distribution of particles, ranging from strongly coupled particles with dimensionless stopping time #tau#_s #ident to# #OMEGA#t_s_t_o_p = 10"-"4 (where #OMEGA# is the orbital frequency, t_s_t_o_p is the particle friction time) to marginally coupled ones with #tau#_s = 1, and a wide range of solid abundances. Our main results are as follows. (1) Particles with #tau#_s #approx#> 10"-"2 actively participate in the streaming instability (SI), generate turbulence, and maintain the height of the particle layer before ...
We investigate the relationship between spiral arms and star formation in the grand-design spirals NGC 5194 and NGC 628 and in the flocculent spiral NGC 6946. Filtered maps of near-IR (3.6 #mu#m) emission allow us to identify 'arm regions' that should correspond to regions of stellar mass density enhancements. The two grand-design spirals show a clear two-armed structure, while NGC 6946 is more complex. We examine these arm and interarm regions, looking at maps that trace recent star formation-far-ultraviolet (GALEX NGS) and 24 #mu#m emission (Spitzer SINGS)-and cold gas-CO (HERACLES) and H I (THINGS). We find the star formation tracers and CO more concentrated in the spiral arms than the stellar 3.6 #mu#m flux. If we define the spiral arms as the 25% highest pixels in the filtered 3.6 #mu#m images, we find that the majority (60%) of star formation tracers occur in the interarm regions; this result persists qualitatively even when considering the potential impact of finite data ...
The report addresses the application of reverse osmosis to the treatment of radioactive liquid waste, focusing on the effects of non-radioactive cations and anions, existing in radioactive waste, on the removal of radioactive nuclides. The bivalent cations are generally about ten times as high in decontamination factor as monovalent ones. In the case of anions, the factor of SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} is about ten times that of Cl{sup -} while that of NO{sub 3}{sup -} is somewhat smaller than that of Cl{sup -}. During permeation through membrane, anions tend to accompany cations, and the decontamination factor of accompanying ions is found to increase with that of the paring ions. These results indicate that if one can select components that will remain in the liquid waste, one should consider their effects on the efficiency of its treatment. Furthermore, the interaction between two anions or between two cations can be approximated ...
In the contribution under consideration, the author reports on the energy resources as a conflict factor and co-operation factor in East Asia on the basis of the Spratly islands. The main aspects of this contribution are: topography of the Spratly islands; history and actual claims; evaluation of the claims; strategic significance of the islands; resources of oil and natural gas as a conflict factor; resources of oil and natural gas as a co-operation factor. The resources of oil and natural gas have intensified the conflict around the Spratly islands in the last few decades. Due to the unsettled situation relating to international law six countries could claim the potentially energy-rich area having a geo-strategic instrument of power. Due to a treaty and due to the new common research studies of the neighbouring countries a phase of stability can be expected. The increasing involvement of China in the ...
Radon concentrations in homes have been shown to vary considerably with season. It is important to account for this by applying a correction factor to any home radon measurement of less than one year. To date, Irish radon measurement services have used correction factors based on data derived for the UK in the 1980s. In the absence of similar data for Ireland at the time, these were considered suitable for use due to the similarities between the climates, house types and lifestyles in the two countries. In order to better estimate the long-term radon concentration, measurements from 5640 Irish homes were used to derive a set of correction factors specifically for Ireland. These were generated by means of Fourier decomposition analysis and the new correction factors compared, using 95% confidence intervals, to those derived for the UK using the same analysis and to those currently in use for Ireland. In ...
Experience in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility has led to an increased understanding of the prominent role male factors play in many couples' inability to conceive. While many forms of male factor infertility are amenable to treatment, for some patients there is no corrective therapy available. For this reason, a great deal of attention has been focused on developing technologies for semen processing and sperm utilization in cases of decreased semen quality. One area of research is the development of more sophisticated methods of assessing sperm function, as well as methods of sperm preparation. Progress is also being made in the application of technologies such as intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization in the treatment of male factor infertility. Such developments have improved prospects for fertility among patients suffering from decreased semen quality, as well as those suffering from such ...
Organization factors have been known as an important contributor to plant safety. Previous studies associated with assessing organisation factors mainly deals with the aspect of safety of an organization. For an organization, however, efficiency or an aspect of economy related with work activities is also important. This paper introduces a conceptual model, SPOOM-EDM (Self Poly-Oriented Organizational Model - Evaluation Diamond Model), for evaluating an organization with respect to both safety and economy. It also shows how the proposed model can be applied for the evaluation of an organization through the analysis of real events. (author)
Reverse osmosis is a simple process and has relatively high decontamination factor compared to other processes used for the treatment of radioactive liquid waste. Furthermore the quantity of secondary waste of this process is small. In this study, test solution containing nine elements such as cesium, strontium, cobalt etc. in chloride forms are treated by reverse osmosis. Permeate rate decreases as the increase of osmotic pressure of feed solution and is expressed by linear equation. Decontamination factor of cations of univalency is more than ten, and about one tenth of that of bivalency. Decontamination factors of all the elements used in this experiment are approximately estimated using the solution-diffusion model.
Reverse osmosis is a simple process and has relatively high decontamination factor comparing to other processes used for the treatment of radioactive liquid waste. Furthermore the quantity of secondary waste of this process is small. In this study, test solution containing nine elements such as cesium, strontium, cobalt etc. in chloride forms are treated by reverse osmosis. Permeate rate decreases as the increase of osmotic pressure of feed solution and is expressed by linear equation. Decontamination factor of cations of univalency is more than ten, and about one tenth of that of bivalency. Decontamination factors of all the elements used in this experiment are approximately estimated using the solution-diffusion model. (author).
The form factor for excitation of the 1/sup +/ state at 3.48 MeV in /sup 88/Sr by inelastic electron scattering has been measured for momentum transfers q = 0.24-0.62 fm/sup -1/. Neither its magnitude nor shape can be described employing the best available nuclear wave functions. We demonstrate with a schematic model that the observed reduction of the form factor may be understood by taking into account a renormalization of the M1-operator due to virtual ..delta..-hole excitations.
The form factor for excitation of the 1"+ state at 3.48 MeV in "8"8Sr by inelastic electron scattering has been measured for momentum transfers q = 0.24-0.62 fm"-"1. Neither its magnitude nor shape can be described employing the best available nuclear wave functions. We demonstrate with a schematic model that the observed reduction of the form factor may be understood by taking into account a renormalization of the M1-operator due to virtual #DELTA#-hole excitations. (orig.).
The production of and emission factors for the air-polluting matters sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons (esp. benz(a)pyrene), aldehyde and soot with regard to natural gas, excluding process furnaces, are dealt with. The comparison with other fuels indicates that only as to nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide are emission factors equal in order of magnitude. As a summary measure of all air-polluting matters the emission index as proposed already in 1972 is applied. It shows emissions with single-room furnaces for heating oil EL to be six times as high as with natural gas; with black-coal briquettes the factor is at least 33, with wood chimneys about 200.
We study the duality of N=1 gauge theories in the presence of a massless adjoint field. We calculate the superpotential using the factorization method and compare with the result obtained by applying Kutasov duality. The latter result is just the leading term of the former, indicating that Kutasov duality is exact only in the IR limit as claimed in the original literature. We also study various checks for the equivalence of the calculational methods developed recently: factorization methods, diagrammatic expansion, loop equations, integrating fluxes.
This paper presents case studies of economic feasibility of solar photovoltaic systems using the software AVES-F (Analysis of Economic Feasibility of Photovoltaic Systems), developed by the authors, considering cases of stand-alone and grid-connected systems. The software takes into account several factors that can influence the economic feasibility of these kind of systems, like load to be supplied, distance to the grid, the use regime of the system, applied subsidies and others. The main goal of this paper is to analyze some of these factors and to observe how they can affect the economics of PV systems for electricity generation. (authors)
During a high temperature treatment of the radioactive wastes that contain ruthenium, some ruthenium is volatilized and released to the off gas system. The volatilized ruthenium is removed with a scrubber and an adsorber. It was expected that the scrubber was one of the most effective equipments to remove ruthenium and the decontamination factor of the scrubber was studied. The experimental apparatus was simulated as part of an actual perforated plate column scrubber. The non-radioactive ruthenium which simulated the radioactive ruthenium was volatilized and fed into the scrubber. The decontamination factor of the scrubber was determined by the ratio of the ruthenium concentration at the inlet and outlet of the scrubber off gas stream. The results showed that the scrubber removed the volatile ruthenium effectively as expected.
Based on QCD conformal partial wave expansion to leading order conformal spin accuracy, we present the light-cone distribution amplitudes (DAs) of {sigma} and {lambda} baryons up to twist 6. It is concluded that fourteen independent DAs are needed to describe the valence three-quark states of the baryons at small transverse separations. The nonperturbative parameters relevant to the DAs are determined within the framework of QCD sum rule method. With the obtained DAs, a simple investigation on the electromagnetic form factors of these baryons are given. The magnetic moments of the baryons are estimated by fitting the magnetic form factor with the dipole formula.
In the well-known devices for increasing the decontamination factor in the treatment of radioactive waste water by evaporation, which consist of narrowing devices with evaporator sump and condenser, droplets of liquid and solid particles are carried over from the breeder space, which are radioactive and therefore make the decontamination factor worse. Better results are obtained if one places a fibre bed filter between the evaporator sump and the condenser, preferably in a horizontal connecting pipe between the evaporator sump and the condenser.
A process has been developed that exploits the characteristics of microwave heating for the vitrification of high-level radioactive liquid waste. This process, microwave vitrification, has been successfully operated at pilot plant scale in an active cell using simulated liquid waste containing several curies of radioactivity. Excellent decontamination factors have been achieved for both volatiles and nonvolatiles with an average ruthenium decontamination factor of 490 and a gross alpha emitter decontamination factor of 100,000. Almost all the radioactivity is incorporated in a glass block.
A process has been developed that exploits the characteristics of microwave heating for the vitrification of high-level radioactive liquid waste. This process, microwave vitrification, has been successfully operated at pilot plant scale in an active cell using simulated liquid waste containing several curies of radioactivity. Excellent decontamination factors have been achieved for both volatiles and nonvolatiles with an average ruthenium decontamination factor of 490 and a gross alpha emitter decontamination factor of 100,000. Almost all the radioactivity is incorporated in a glass block.
Washington's geothermal potential is discussed. The following topics are covered: exploration, drilling, utilization, legal and institutional setting, and economic factors of direct use projects. (MHR)
[music] Narrator: New treatments can limit the disability caused by a stroke, but you need to know the signs and act in time. Here are the signs to ...
Viral infections are frequently cited as a major environmental factor involved in subacute thyroiditis and autoimmune thyroid diseases This review examines the data related to the role of viruses in...Full Text Available
Amphibians are considered reliable indicators of environmental quality. In the western United States, a general decline of frog populations parallels an apparent worldwide decline. The factors thought...Full Text Available
BackgroundProfessionalism is a critical quality for physicians to possess. Physician professionalism has received increased attention in recent years, with many authorities suggesting...Full Text Available
INTRODUCTION:Postprandial lipemia is characterized by an increased concentration of circulating lipids after fat intake and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease....Full Text Available
Based on the Weinberg-Salam theory, the competition of the Neutrino Energy Loss (NEL) rates due to the pair, photo- and plasma process are canvassed. The ratio factor C1, C2 and C3 which correspond the different contributions of the pair, photo- and plasma neutrino process to those of the total NEL rates are accurately taken into account. The ratio factors are very sensitive to the temperature and density. The ratio factor C2 always is lower than the ratio factor C1 and C3. The pair NEL process is the dominant contribution before the crossed point O(C1=C3=0.45) and the plasma NEL process will be the main dominant contribution after the crossed point O. With increasing temperature, the crossed point O will move to the direction of higher density. (authors)
Snakebites are common among the rural population of developing countries. The severity of venomous snakebites depends on several factors, including the location of the bite, the amount of venom injected,...Full Text Available
... After formation of the monolayer (usually in 48 hours), the growth medium was poured off, and the cells washed twice with a Henkes solution and ...
Background:Prolonged mechanical ventilation is increasingly common. It is expensive and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Our objective is to comprehensively characterize...Full Text Available
Spatial epidemiology is the description and analysis of geographic variations in disease with respect to demographic, environmental, behavioral, socioeconomic, genetic, and infectious risk factors....Full Text Available
Abstract Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas cause a variety of diseases in economically important monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous crop plants worldwide. Successful infection and bacterial multiplication in the host tissue often depend on the virulence factors secreted including adhesins, polysaccharides, LPS and degradative enzymes. One of the key pathogenicity factors is the type III secretion system, which injects effector proteins into the host cell cytosol to manipulate plant cellular processes such as basal defense to the benefit of the pathogen. The coordinated expression of bacterial virulence factors is orchestrated by quorum-sensing pathways, multiple two-component systems and transcriptional regulators such as Clp, Zur, FhrR, HrpX and HpaR. Furthermore, virule...
This paper focuses on the Internet as a tool for enhancing behavior and lifestyle changes to reduce the burden of cancer at a population level. The premise of this paper is that the Internet...Full Text Available
Recurrence of microbial keratitis in the presence of protozoal infection is very rare and infrequently reported unless predisposing factors are present. The association of recurrent microbial keratitis...Full Text Available
BackgroundBrucellosis is a zoonosis of veterinary, public health and economic significance in most developing countries. Human brucellosis is a severely debilitating disease that...Full Text Available
I present an overview of the measurement of the proton form factors in the time-like regiun. BABAR has recently measured with great accuracy the e{sup +} e{sup -} {yields} p p-bar reaction from productiun threshold up to an energy of {approx} 4.5 GeV; finding evidence for a ratio of the electric to magnetic form factur greater than unity, contrary to expectation. In agreement with previous measurements. BABAR confirmed the steep rise uf the magnetic form factor close to the p p-bar mass threshold, suggesting the possible presence of an under-threshuld N N-bar vector state. These and uther open questiuns related to the nucleon furm factors both in the time-like and space-like region, wait for more data with different experimental techniques to be possibly solved.
Several randomized studies have been completed in prostate cancer that show a benefit to immediate postoperative treatment in patients undergoing prostatectomy. In one of the studies, there was even...Full Text Available
BackgroundStatistical autoregressive analyses of direct and delayed density dependence are widespread in ecological research. The models suggest that changes in ecological factors...Full Text Available
There is a need to reduce air pollutant emissions in some U.S. urban regions to meet federal and state air quality guidelines. Opportunities exist for reducing pollutant emissions from natural gas appliances in the residential sector. A cost-benefit analysis on various pollutant-reducing strategies is needed to evaluate these opportunities. The effectiveness of these pollutant-reducing strategies (e.g., low-emission burners, energy conservation) can then be ranked among themselves and compared with other pollutant-reducing strategies available for the region. A key step towards conducting a cost-benefit analysis is to collect information on pollutant emissions from existing residential natural gas appliances. An extensive literature search was conducted to collect data on residential natural-gas-appliance pollutant emission factors. The literature primarily describes laboratory tests and may not reflect actual emission factor distributions in ...
Conclusions. There are gender differences when it comes to the risk factors for sleep apnea. Large tonsils, a high tongue and a wide uvula are risk factors for sleep apnea in men, while large tonsils and a retrognathic mandible are risk factors in women. Upper airway abnormalities including mandibular retrognathia are, however, unable to predict sleep apnea among snorers being investigated for suspected sleep apnea. Objectives. To identify gender-specific risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea and the diagnostic performance from physical upper airway examinations among snoring men and women investigated because of suspected sleep apnea. Patients and methods. The dimensions of the uvula, tonsils, velopharynx and tongue, and nasal septal deviation, mandibular position, neck circumference, ...
One of the most common types of functions in mathematics, physics, and engineering is a sum of products, sometimes called a partition function. After "normalization," a sum of products has a natural graphical representation, called a normal factor graph (NFG), in which vertices represent factors, edges represent internal variables, and half-edges represent the external variables of the partition function. In physics, so-called trace diagrams share similar features. We believe that the conceptual framework of representing sums of products as partition functions of NFGs is an important and intuitive paradigm that, surprisingly, does not seem to have been introduced explicitly in the previous factor graph literature. Of particular interest are NFG modifications that leave the partition function invariant. A simple subclass of such NFG modifications offers a unifying view of the Fourier transform, tree-based reparameterization, ...
BACKGROUNDThe reproductive health of children born of infertile couples may be affected by infertility treatment or factors associated with infertility. We examined sexual maturation...Full Text Available
... growth hormone-like factor from plerocercoids of the tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides is a multifunctional protein. In Parasites and pathogens: ... ...
This report discusses: shape coexistence in {sup 184}Pt; nuclear structure of {sup 187}Ir; g-factors of excited states; OLNO-2; and refrigerator development.
This report discusses: shape coexistence in "1"8"4Pt; nuclear structure of "1"8"7Ir; g-factors of excited states; OLNO-2; and refrigerator development.
Among the different extracellular virulence factors produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa are exotoxin A (ETA) and the pyoverdine and pyochelin siderophores. Production of ETA...Full Text Available
Tobacco use has been recognized to be a significant risk factor for the development and progression of periodontal disease. Its use is associated with increased pocket depths, loss of periodontal attachment,...Full Text Available
These proceedings collect papers on the subject of lymphokines. Topics include: DNA-cloning of mouse and human lymphokine genes, inteferons, interleukins, gene expression, tumor necrosis factors, and recombinant DNA.
Aging is the most significant risk factor for a range of degenerative disease such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders. While the cause of aging and its associated diseases...Full Text Available
BackgroundAs long-term nursing home care is likely to increase with the aging of the population, identifying chronic medical conditions is of particular interest. Although need factors...Full Text Available
Jan 22, 2011 ... Abstract: Land use changes and deforestation in tropical rainforests are among the major factors affecting the overall function of the global ...
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of neurodegenerative disease. The vast majority cases of AD are sporadic, without clear cause, and a combination of environmental and genetic factors has been implicated. The hypothesis that homocysteine (Hcy) is a risk factor for AD was initially prompted by the observation that patients with histologically confirmed AD had higher plasma levels of Hcy, termed hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), than age-matched controls. Most evidence accumulated so far implicates HHcy as a risk factor for AD onset, but there are also conflicting results. In this review we summarize reports on the relationship between HHcy and AD from epidemiological investigations, including observational studies and randomized controlled clinical trials. We also examine recent i...
... 1768 1475 360 to 3400 ... The TSC provided an independent assessment of SA based on ... Complexity of Situation Degree of complication (number of ...
AIM: To search the independent factors determining gastric juice acidity and to investigate the acidity of gastric juices in various benign and malignant upper gastrointestinal diseases.METHODS:...Full Text Available
A group of patients is described who developed the clinical features of foveomacular retinitis. No causative factors were isolated, and all patients strongly denied any type of sun gazing. It is possible...Full Text Available
Abstract Background The increase in the incidence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in developed countries has been related to familiar and environmental factors. This survey was undertaken to investigate the family background, birthweight and the home environment of children suffering from AD in order to point out the possible factors that provoke the development of the disease. Methods The study uses data collected by means of self-administered questionnaires and discusses 461 cases of children (age 0-12) with active skin signs of AD. The control group comprised of 343 children (age 0-12) with no skin signs or positive lifetime history of AD. Associations between familiar and various home environmental factors and the risk of AD were calculated by means of odds ratios. Results There were statist...
Objectives. The purposes of this study were to test the hypothesis that vaginal douching is linked to bacterial vaginosis in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women and to identify...Full Text Available
Techniques for culturing, harvesting, and testing bacteria to evaluate bactericidal chemicals for swimming pools are described. Concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 mg of the chlorine stabilizer cyanuric...Full Text Available
... 2. Help women become accepted by providing job-related training, creating flexible work groups with good climates, and encourage supervisors to ...
... content of the environment) are significant factors affecting the useful service life of adhesive bonded plastic composite sandwich panels at 650 F ...
The regulation of blood vessel formation is of fundamental importance to many physiological processes, and angiogenesis is a major area for novel therapeutic approaches to diseases from ischemia to...Full Text Available
The properties of negative-ion beams are very important for designing negative-ion apparatus and applications of negative-ion beams, especially, electron detachment cross-sections at the interaction between negative-ion beams and gas particles in the transport system, and secondary-electron emission factors when negative ions are incident on solid surfaces. These properties of negative-ion beams were investigated experimentally as a function of the ion energy under 50 keV. The single electron detachment cross-sections are almost constant in the other of 10[sup -15] cm[sup 2] in this energy range, but double electron detachment cross-sections increase in proportion to the ion velocity and much smaller than the single one. As for the secondary-electron emission factor, the emission factors for negative-ion beam are found to be larger by 1 than those for positive-ion beams. (author).
The properties of negative-ion beams are very important for designing negative-ion apparatus and applications of negative-ion beams, especially, electron detachment cross-sections at the interaction between negative-ion beams and gas particles in the transport system, and secondary-electron emission factors when negative ions are incident on solid surfaces. These properties of negative-ion beams were investigated experimentally as a function of the ion energy under 50 keV. The single electron detachment cross-sections are almost constant in the other of 10"-"1"5 cm"2 in this energy range, but double electron detachment cross-sections increase in proportion to the ion velocity and much smaller than the single one. As for the secondary-electron emission factor, the emission factors for negative-ion beam are found to be larger by 1 than those for positive-ion beams. (author).
Despite the proven utility of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) to predict soil rainfall erosion, it has limited precision in predicting soil loss in some soil series. Also, runoff is a factor in rainfall erosion and some models, such as the modified USLE (USLE-M), include runoff in predicting soil erosion. The soil erodibility factor is an essential component in both models and this may be affected by application of soil conditioners, such as polyacrylamide (PAM). The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of different rates of PAM (0, 1, 2, 4, and 6kgha-1) applied with sprinkler irrigation water, followed by two sprinkler irrigations with no PAM, on the erodibility of a loam soil under a rainfall simulator in a laboratory. The range of erodibility factor Ku obtained...
The health of professional bus drivers is a critical factor in their driving performance; any impairment may lead to undesired consequences. In an attempt to develop and prioritize health and wellness programs, this study investigates the factors significantly affecting the health conditions of professional bus drivers, as well as the strength of these factors. This study uses self-rated health as the examination measurement. This simple assessment is an inclusive measure of health status for judging health trajectory, and is highly associated with changes in functional ability, including perceived control over driving. This study evaluates driver responses of self-rated health with ordered response models that consider factors such as the driver reported health problems, physical and psychological conditions, demographic factors, driving experience, and working environment. ...
The dynamic response characteristics of the VAWT rotor are important factors governing the safety and fatique life of VAWT systems. The principal problems are ...
PURPOSE: To determine the risk factors and clinical signs of Curvularia keratitis and to evaluate the management and outcome of this corneal phaeohyphomycosis. METHODS: We reviewed clinical and laboratory...Full Text Available
There is conflicting evidence about the effect of parental consanguinity on fetal growth. Previous studies have not always allowed for other factors that are known to affect birth weight, in particular,...Full Text Available
The heat transfer a characteristics and friction factor in the horizontal double pipes of flat tubes with full length helical screw element of different twist ratio and helical screw inserts with different spacer length are investigated. Cold and hot water are used as working fluid in tube side and shell side respectively. The experiments covered a range of Reynolds numbers 5.7x102Re1.31x103. The effect of spacer length on the heat transfer augmentation and friction factor and the effect of twist ratio on heat transfer augmentation and friction factor have been presented separately. The study shows that, the Nusslet number (Nu) and friction factor (f) decrease with the increase of S or Y for flat tube. The comparison between the data of present plain circular with that of previous plain ci...
airborne separation assistance systems (ASAS) to ... operations should be limited to the outer traffic flow ...... AGARD Meeting on Machine Intelligence in Air ...
Several factors have been proposed to explain the persistence of a high incidence of venous thromboembolism worldwide with its associated morbidity and mortality. Underutilization of anticoagulants...Full Text Available
BackgroundHearing loss is a common sensory disorder, yet prospective data on potentially modifiable risk factors are limited. Regularly used analgesics, the most...Full Text Available
BackgroundFunction exertion of specific proteins are key factors in disease progression, thus the systematical identification of those specific proteins is a prerequisite to understand...Full Text Available
By the turn of the century, American farmers and ranchers will be producing food and fiber through the application of highly sophisticated systems that involve a broad spectrum of relevant factors--from...Full Text Available
The ability of a number of mycobacteria and some of their components to activate complement was examined. Mycobacterium bovis BCG (Glaxo strain), Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium lepraemurium, and...Full Text Available
The biological age (BA) of the majority of the liquidators of the consequences of the radiation accidents in the Navy and of the liquidators of the Chernobyl' APS accident exceeds the medium standard and the DBA (due BA). The index of the BA can be a characteristic of the influence of the social-hygienic factors on the health condition of the Special Risk Subunit--the liquidators of the consequences of the radiation accidents. It was established, that the radiation influence concerns to the factors dramatically increasing the BA and the rate of senescence of the liquidators of the consequences of the radiation accidents. PMID:21809627
Molybdopterin (MPT) is not produced by the Escherichia coli mutants chlA1, chlM, or chlN or by the Neurospora crassa mutant nit-1. Extracts of E. coli chlA1 contain an activity, the converting factor,...Full Text Available
We report herein that trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) is oncogenic and mediates anti-estrogen resistance in human mammary carcinoma. Forced expression of TFF3 in mammary carcinoma cells increased cell proliferation...Full Text Available
We study the low energy expansion of the nucleon`s electroweak form factors in the framework of an effective chiral Lagrangian including pions, nucleons and the {Delta}(1232). We work to third order in the so-called small scale expansion and compare the results with the ones previously obtained in the chiral expansion. In addition, these calculations serve as a first exploratory study of renormalization and decoupling within the small scale expansion. (orig.) 35 refs.
A variety of stress situations may affect the activity and survival of plant-beneficial pseudomonads added to soil to control root diseases. This study focused on the roles of the sigma factor AlgU...Full Text Available
A new optics providing an emittance close to the minimum theoretical value has been proposed for the Super-ACO storage ring with a reduced value of the momentum compaction factor and non-zero dispersive function in the Free-Electron Laser (FEL) section. It has been adapted to the FEL operation mode, with two RF cavities at 100 and 500 MHz. The obtained results concerning this new optics and the FEL oscillation are presented.
A factor which agglutinated the spores of Ceratocystis fimbriata in the presence of Ca2+ was purified from sweet potato (Ipomea batatas Lam cv. Norin[1]) root. Element composition of the purified factor was as follows; analysis found: C (29.8%), H (3.97%), O (65.34%), N (0.81%): calculated for C43H69O70N1: C (30.02%), H (4.01%), O (65.15%), N (0.81%). The factor was mainly composed of galacturonic acid (53% of dry weight) and contained arabinose, fucose, and unidentified component as minor components. The factor also agglutinated A-, B-, AB-, and O types of human erythrocytes to almost the same degree in the presence of Ca2+. The differential spore-agglutinating activity of the factor depended on the pH of the assay medium; it agglutinated similarly the germinated spores of sweet potato and coffee strains at pH 7.5 and 5.5, whereas it displayed a distinct differential agglutinating ...
The standard deviation of measurement results of a given element in XRF spectrometry depends on three factors: concentration and concentration region, atomic number and matrix. The effects of these factors were investigated by an XRF instrument type ARL 72.000 for aluminium metal, bauxite-red mud and aluminium using computerized data processing. A comparison of linear and nonlinear relation between concentration and the result of XRF analysis was made for the determination of standard deviation. (R.P.).
BackgroundUnderstanding immunity, incidence and risk factors of the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic (2009 H1N1) through a national seroprevalence study is necessary for informing...Full Text Available
RIN proteins serve as guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Rab5a. They are characterized by the presence of a RIN homology domain and a C-terminal Vps9 domain. Currently three family members have...Full Text Available
This EPRI sponsored report describes factors that influence the selection of drives in process industry. These factors include economics, safety aspects, speed control and the plant steam balance. Since the economics play a key-role in the decision, this report provides a quick way of estimating the economics of replacing steam turbines with electric motors. The tools to carry out economic analyses have been provided in the form of graphs and nomographs for quick estimation.
Pitting corrosion is localized accelerated dissolution of metal that occurs as a result of a breakdown of the otherwise protective passive film on the metal surface. This paper provides an overview of the critical factors influencing the pitting corrosion of metals. The phenomenology of pitting corrosion is discussed, including the effects of alloy composition, environment, potential, and temperature. A summary is then given of studies that have focused on various stages of the pitting process, including breakdown of the passive film, metastable pitting, and pit growth. 120 refs.
Effect of single and chronic irradiation on factors of hamsters natural immunity such as complement, lysozyme and antibodies in norm and in the cestode invasion has been investigated. Significant phase changes in the complement activity level, lysozyme content and specific antibodies tite have been shown to occur in hamster blood under the influence of ionizing radiation. Cestode invasion in irradiated host organism increases the negative effect of ionizing radiation on the hamster immyne system.
An ``energy snapshot`` article is included on housing characteristics in 1993 (survey of 7,111 households). The rest of the document is divided into: energy overview, energy consumption, petroleum, natural gas, oil and gas resource development, coal, electricity, nuclear energy, energy prices, international energy, and appendices (conversion factors, CO2 emission factors from coal, index, glossary).
In monocytes, sulfatide, a lipid from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, blocked priming for enhanced release of superoxide (O2-) by the macrophage activating factors lipopolysaccharide, gamma interferon,...Full Text Available
The catalytic performance of alkaline-treated zeolite H-ZSM-5 in the conversion of methanol to gasoline has been studied. After treatment with 0.20M NaOH, the total conversion capacity increased by a factor of 3.3, and the selectivity towards the gasoline fraction increased by a factor of 1.7. Physical characterization indicated the formation of mesopores and improved crystallinity.
The observation by Maday in 1974 that the Schmidt-Duffin solution to the optimal fin profile problem was flawed due to neglect of the slant height factor led to a new solution--actually, a demonstration of the ill-posedness of the question--by Snider. The present article proves mathematically that omission of this factor leads inevitably to underestimation of the heat transfer capability of any fin. Additionally, a perturbation scheme for estimating the correction for this effect is derived for configurations with low generalized Biot numbers, and a revised assessment of the performance of the Schmidt fin is presented.
As the Operating and Support staffs of the FFTF organization have gained experience, the plant reliability and capacity factors have shown a steadily improving trend. The plant capacity factor for Cycle 4 was 99.5%. It is the purpose of this report to describe the evolution of the maintenance organization at the FFTF site from a general support organization to a technically proficient organization playing a major role in planning and performance of plant maintenance evolutions.
Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) plays a central role in activation of first-line defenses of a host against foreign organisms. To determine whether Brucella infection modulated TNF-alpha production,...Full Text Available
Oestrogen has been reported to modulate tumour necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 cytokine levels in human mononuclear cell cultures. In the present study, the effects of exogenous oestrogen...Full Text Available
The present study demonstrates that tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and FMLP, but not IL-1 or IL-8, enhanced the adherence of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) to fibronectin, an extracellular matrix...Full Text Available
IntroductionThe major risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) is aging, but the mechanisms underlying this risk are only partly understood. Age-related accumulation of advanced glycation...Full Text Available
We report the implementation of positron wave function and lifetime calculations in the all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. Calculations of lifetimes for more than 30 materials with two different forms of the enhancement factor were done and compared to prior calculations and experiment. We find that reasonable agreement with experiment can be obtained within the local density approximation when all-electron full-potential calculations are done.
The expression status of the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and that of the epidermal growth factor receptor Her-2/neu frequently correlate inversely in breast cancers. While ERα-dependent...Full Text Available
The objectives of this report are: to demonstrate complete CSSX process flowsheet (proof of concept)--decontamination factor {ge} 40,000, and concentration factor {approx}15; Scientific and technical issues evaluated--stage efficiency, temperature control, hydraulic performance, long time (multi-day) operation, short-term shutdown, effect of solids, and recovery from Cs moving through strip section.
Experimental investigation was carried out for friction factor and heat transfer coefficient in the case of a rotating tube with a twisted-tape insert for heat transfer augmentation. The data obtained were compared with existing data for a stationary tube with a twisted-tape insert. It has been observed that the enhancement in heat transfer offsets the rise in friction factor due to rotation, with respect to a plain tube under stationary conditions. A correlation has been proposed for the data obtained.
Although trefoil factor 1 (TFF1; previously named pS2) is abnormally expressed in about 50% of human breast tumors, its physiopathological role in this disease has been poorly studied. Moreover,...Full Text Available
We describe a procedure for correcting the systematic errors in the Moessbauer f-factor measurement due to non-homogeneous effective thickness of the sample. To be more precise, we show that, if the mass of the sample is determined by means of X- or {gamma}-ray absorption, it is possible to establish experimental conditions so that the error on f due to material non-homogeneity in the sample is minimized.
Many factors influence radon-222 influx and radon-daughter concentrations in underground uranium mines. A brief review of some of these factors is presented. Current radon-222 and radon-daughter control principles and practices for US underground uranium mine atmospheres are discussed and a brief review of the applicability of other possible control methods such as rock sealants, radon-222 removal, and radon-daughter removal is given.
A thorough understanding of the immune system, including the role of different cytokines, during inflammatory diseases in ruminants could lead to the development of new diagnostic methods and treatments....Full Text Available
The removal of tritiated water vapour was tested by use of a small burning apparatus and a clinoptilolite filter. It was found that decontamination factor of about 10"4 could be obtained by a clinoptilolite filter. The adsorption of HTO in the clinoptilolite is caused by the diffusion, so it is necessary that filtration velocity is maintained below 0.01 m/sec. Decontamination factor was not influence by the moisture content of a clinoptilolite and tritiated water vapour once adsorbed on a filter was hardly removed. (auth.).
The human causal factors for all human error licensing operational events on Daya Bay nuclear power station since 1993 to 2003 are categorized, the trend of these causal factors is analyzed. The emphasis is placed on analyzing the deficiencies on complying with and executing regulations and procedures. The results provide directional reference for nuclear power station to improve human performance. (author)
This bibliographical study compiles and analyzes findings about the metabolism and resorption of molybdenum. Besides including studies on the physiology of molybdenum 99, a general survey is given on molybdenum in the environment and on its physiological behaviour. In particular, information on the dependence of molybdenum resorption on various factors, such as the chemical form, antagonisms etc., are gathered from literature. These factors have to be considered for sensibly carrying out necessary experiments.
The atmospheric correction factor for cosmic-ray antiproton measurements has been re-calculated using an approximation of the slab model. It is found that the effect of the antiproton non-annihilation inelastic interaction is quite significant. Neglecting this effect has led to an overestimation of the expected antiproton flux at low energies at the atmosphere.
The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are inversely associated with inflammatory processes in an elderly background population.
IntroductionMeniscal injury is a risk factor for the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis, yet little is known about risk factors for meniscal pathology. Joint loading...Full Text Available
Positioning of release factor eRF1 toward adenines and the ribose-phosphate backbone of the UAAA stop signal in the ribosomal decoding site was studied using messenger RNA (mRNA) analogs containing...Full Text Available