Selection of the appropriate radiation quality is an important aspect of optimisation for every clinical imaging task in radiology, since it affects both image quality and patient dose. Spreadsheet...Full Text Available
Synthetic polymers and nanomaterials display selective phenotypic effects in cells and in the body that affect signal transduction mechanisms involved in inflammation, differentiation, proliferation,...Full Text Available
BackgroundUnderstanding the interactions between ion channels and blockers remains an important goal that has implications for delineating the basic mechanisms of ion channel function...Full Text Available
Two experiments used the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) to examine the affective dimension of pain in patients whose pain was secondary to malignancy. In experiment I, segregating groups of cancer patients on the basis of extreme scores (high versus low) on the MPQ failed to produce segregation on independent measures of affect and infirmity. This outcome contrasts with earlier work with chronic benign pain patients. Experiment II compared cancer pain patients matched with benign pain patients on intensity of pain report on the affective dimension of the MPQ. Cancer pain patients reported a reliably higher affective loading to their pain. These data suggest that cancer pain patients employ different criteria than benign pain patients in selectingaffective pain descriptors. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. PMID:7070825
Sexually-selected communication signals can be used by competing males to settle contests without incurring the costs of fighting. Steroid regulation of these signals can render them as reliable...Full Text Available
A positive, genetic selection against the activity of the nitrogen regulatory (NTR) system was used to isolate insertion mutations affecting nitrogen regulation in Klebsiella aerogenes. Two classes...Full Text Available
The Seabed Disposal Project (SDP) was evaluating the technical feasibility of high-level nuclear waste disposal in deep ocean sediments. Working standards were needed for risk assessments, evaluation of alternative designs, sensitivity studies, and conceptual design guidelines. This report completes a three part program to develop radiological standards for the feasibility phase of the SDP. The characteristics of subseabed disposal and how they affect the selection of standards are discussed. General radiological protection standards are reviewed, along with some new methods, and a systematic approach to developing standards is presented. The selected interim radiological standards for the SDP and the reasons for their selection are given. These standards have no legal or regulatory status and will be replaced or modified by regulatory agencies if subseabed disposal is implemented. 56 refs., 29 figs., ...
This report contains studies which are part of the Bonneville Power Administration`s program to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development and operation of hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River and its tributaries. Attention is focused on population monitoring studies in the Sawtooth Valley Lakes. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.
SummaryExposure to stress during prenatal or early postnatal life can dramatically impact adult behavior and neuroendocrine function. We recently began to selectively breed Sprague-Dawley...Full Text Available
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 2,000 trait-SNP associations, and the number continues to increase. GWAS have focused on traits with potential consequences for human...Full Text Available
Identity is a part of self-consciousness, which is also expressed as ''being in the world'' which one in turn shows to others as the Self. The assessment of the Self in a population of patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a multidimensional definition (physical, social, spiritual), showed that the social self was impaired, and the severity of impairment of the self was correlated to apathy and lack of semantic autobiographical memory. It also appears that ipseity is selectivelyaffected by the disease.
As evidence mounts that male genitalia can affect relative fertilisation success, the role that sexual selection has played in the rapid and divergent evolution of genitalia is becoming increasingly recognized. Unfortunately, the limited functional understanding of these complex structures and their interactions with the female reproductive tract often limit interpretation regarding their evolution. Here, we address this issue using the earwig Euborellia brunneri, where both the male intromittent organ and the female spermatheca are highly exaggerated in length yet structurally simple. In a double mating design, we use the sterile male technique to study how sperm precedence patterns are affected by male genital length, male age, and the size of the male sperm storage organ, the seminal ve...
Mining affects the environment in different ways depending on the physical context in which the mining occurs. In mining areas with an arid environment, mining affects plants? growth by changing the amount of available water. This paper discusses the effects of mining on two important determinants of plant growth?soil moisture and groundwater table (GWT)?which were investigated using an integrated approach involving a field sampling investigation with remote sensing (RS) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR). To calculate and map the distribution of soil moisture for a target area, we initially analyzed four models for regression analysis between soil moisture and apparent thermal inertia and finally selected a linear model for modeling the soil moisture at a depth 10?cm; the relative error o...
Background: Apheresis is a procedure to selectively obtain blood components. For the collection process citrate is routinely used. It inhibits coagulation by binding to ionized calcium and leads to metabolic alkalosis. Objective: Whether regular apheresis affects bone and mineral metabolism is unknown. The intention of this study was to investigate 1) the acute effects of apheresis on acid-base balance, bone and mineral metabolism and 2) to compare bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and hip of donors to matched control subjects. Design: In this open, observational, single-center, cross-sectional study we enrolled 102 regular plasma and thrombocyte donors to pursue objective 1) and compared those to 102 matched controls (CTR) for objective 2). Results: Platelet donation led to s...
The objective of this study is to develop a method to aid in the selection of an overburden handling system in surface coal mining. The selection procedure consists of three major parts. The first part is aimed at rating the equipment's potential to perform the environmental protection related activities and then integrating this rating into the system selection process. The second part is an engineering analysis of the design of pit layouts and the operation of alternative overburden handling systems. The third part consists of a cost and sensitivity analysis of alternative systems on different mining situations. Specifically, the work includes: (1) a Delphi study to determine the magnitude of the environmental impacts and to quantify the relationship between mining practices and environmental remedies, (2) a scoring model to set up an index of the relative capability of equipment to do the environmental ...
Invading melanoma spreads to local and unpredictable distant location at the early stages of its development. It is justifiable, therefore, to classify the disease as a systemic disorder. This requires a systemic treatment that reaches all melanoma cells irrespective of whether they are singly dispersed and in circulation or already forming solid tumours of various sizes. Targeted radiotherapy affects directly and selectively cancer cells provided an appropriate radionuclide and its carrier are chosen. Melanoma is a pigmented tumour. Methylene blue (MTB)) accumulates selectively in melanoma cells due to its exceptionally high affinity to melanin. MTB serves, therefore, as a carrier for radionuclides. "2"1"1At-MTB has proved to be particularly effective in treating disseminated melanoma when administered systemically and, at the same time, non-toxic to normal non-pigmented and pigmented organs. (authors)
In June 1998, NRPB published formal advice to Government on radon Affected Areas in Wales. Estimates of the percentage of homes exceeding the Action Level of 200 Bq m{sup -3} in each 5 km square of the Ordnance Survey National Grid were given in a map covering the whole of Wales. This companion report gives details of results of radon measurements in Welsh homes available to early 1998. The data are presented by unitary authority and postcode divisions. The atlas section shows the same information as given on the map in the formal advice at a larger scale in a series of plates which also include selected towns and other information. (author)
Indoor radon is a potential health hazard for the general public, especially in buildings with poor ventilation. A variety of dosemeters have been developed and used in surveys of radon concentration measurements. In this article the passive dosemeters which are based on solid state nuclear track detectors are reviewed. The principle of passive dosimetry and the factors affecting their performance are discussed. The characteristics of SSNTD materials in relation to their behaviour under different environmental conditions are tabulated and discussed. Results of radon surveys from selected studies are also presented. (Author).
The purpose of the chapter is to explain briefly the various considerations that enter into determining the general layout or arrangement of typical hydroelectric powerplants, pumping plants, and pumped-storage plants. Some of the important factors that affect or determine the location, type, and layout of the plant and the selection of the major items of equipment included in the installation are outlined in this chapter. The first consideration in the design of a powerplant, pumping plant, or pumped-storage plant is that it adequately perform its function and be structurally safe. The structure is also designed to give a pleasing architectural appearance.
SiSiC is one of selected materials for the thermal chemical hydrogen production IS (Iodine-Sulfur) process at JAERI. SiSiC was tested in boiling sulfuric acid for 1000 hours. The obtained results showed the following facts. The transverse strength was not changed by sulfuric corrosion, high temperature oxidation and oxidation. Silica scale formed on SiSiC by sulfate corrosion and high temperature oxidation had corrosion resistance in boiling sulfuric acid. Bilayer structure of silica scale produced by high temperature oxidation was not affected by sulfate corrosion. (S.Y.).
Selected samples of waste microbial biomass originating from various industrial fermentation processes and biological treatment plants have been screened for biosorbent properties in conjunction with uranium and thorium in aqueous solutions. Biosorption isotherms have been used for the evaluation of biosorptive uptake capacity of the biomass which was also compared to an activated carbon and the ion exchange resin currently used in uranium production processes. Determined uranium and thorium biosorption isotherms were independent of the initial U or Th solution concentration. Solution pH affected the exhibited uptake. 24 refs.
The classical phenomenon of position-effect variegation (PEV) is the mosaic expression that occurs when a chromosomal rearrangements moves a euchromatic gene near heterochromatin. A striking feature of this phenomenon is that genes far away from the junction with heterochromatin can be affected, as if the heterochromatic state {open_quotes}spreads.{close_quotes} We have investigated classical PEV of a Drosophila brown transgene affected by a heterochromatic junction {approximately} 60 kb away. PEV was enhanced when the transgene was locally duplicated using P transposase. Successive rounds of P transpose mutagenesis and phenotypic selection produced a series of PEV alleles with differences in phenotype that depended on transgene copy number and orientation. As for other examples of classical PEV, nearby heterochromatin was required for gene silencing. Modifications of classical PEV by alterations at a single site are ...
The objective of the Coastal Habitat Injury Assessment study was to document and quantify injury to biota of the shallow subtidal, intertidal, and supratidal zones throughout the shoreline affected by oil or cleanup activity associated with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The results of these studies were to be used to support the Trustee`s Type B Natural Resource Damage Assessment under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). A probability based stratified random sample of shoreline segments was selected with probability proportional to size from each of 15 strata (5 habitat types crossed with 3 levels of potential oil impact) based on those data available in July, 1989. Three study regions were used: Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet/Kenai Peninsula, and Kodiak/Alaska Peninsula. A Geographic Information System was utilized to combine oiling and habitat data and to select the ...
As stated last quarter, we discovered potassium as an impurity in the mixed metal oxides. The potassium was probably incorporated into the solid during the coprecipitation using K{sub 2}CO{sub 3}. Currently NH{sub 4}OH is being used as the precipitating base. We have discovered that the precipitation agent influences the surface composition of the mixed-metal oxides. Chemical analysis of the surface and bulk compositions showed significant differences in surface compositions of the K{sub 2}CO{sub 3} and NH{sub 4}OH precipitated catalysts. In TPR experiments we have discovered that the precipitating pH markedly affects the reducibility of the ZnMnCr oxides. This shows that the choice of base as well as the pH strongly affects the surface composition of the mixed metal catalysts. Additional studies are in progress in which we are studying how the precipitating agents affect the surface composition of the mixed metal oxide ...
The interference of hyperthermia and ionizing radiation, respectively, with the effects of capric (10:0), lauric (12:0), myristic (14:0), oleic (cis-18:1) and elaidic (trans-18:1) acids on the osmotic resistance of human erythrocytes was investigated. The results are summarized as follows: (A) not only at 37 degrees, but also at 42 and 47{degrees}C lauric acid (12:0) represents the minimum chain length for the biphasic behaviour of protecting against hypotonic hemolysis at a certain lower concentration range and hemolysis promotion at subsequent higher concentrations; (B) with increasing temperatures the protecting as well as the hemolytic effects occur at lower concentrations of the fatty acids; (C) the increase of temperature promotes the extent of hemolysis and reduces the extent of protection against hypotonic hemolysis; (D) Gamma-irradiation of erythrocytes selectivelyaffects the concentration of oleic acid at which maximum protection ...
A low-molybdenum austenitic stainless steel (UNS S30100) has been surface implanted with molybdenum ions, using various doses of 50 keV and 140 keV ions at room temperature. It is found that in aqueous sulphate/chloride solutions similar to the constitution of sea-waters the implantation does not affect the potentiostatically-determined critical pitting potential, but does change the density and morphology of corrosion pits. Pitting initiation after the addition of chloride at a fixed potential indicates little change in the time for measurable current increase, but the rate of increase of the current is much lower for implanted material. Detailed examination using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction suggests that the pits produced in implanted material are hemispherical with smooth covers of unattacked alloy. The use of half-implanted samples demonstrates that ...
A low-molybdenum austenitic stainless steel (UNS S30100) has been surface implanted with molybdenum ions, using various doses of 50 keV and 140 keV ions at room temperature. It is found that in aqueous sulphate/chloride solutions similar to the constitution of sea-waters the implantation does not affect the potentiostatically-determined critical pitting potential, but does change the density and morphology of corrosion pits. Pitting initiation after the addition of chloride at a fixed potential indicates little change in the time for measurable current increase, but the rate of increase of the current is much lower for implanted material. Detailed examination using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction suggests that the pits produced in implanted material are hemispherical with smooth covers of unattacked alloy. The use of half-implanted samples demonstrates that ...
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 Bragg-curve detector of the parallel plate ionization chamber type generates a signal that is a distorted replica of the original Bragg-curve. In result of this distortion, the signal peak height is not only a function of the atomic number of the heavy ion, as it is often stated, but also of the particle mass. This mass effect was studied with the aid of computer simulation, and it was found to be dependent on the Frisch grid to anode gap width and on the detector gas. The charge resolution of the detector is affected very significantly by this mass dependence of the signal peak height. Therefore, a careful selection of the detector gas and the grid to anode gap width is necessary, if good charge resolution over a wide range of heavy ions is required. (orig.).
Abstract: Thorough evaluation has made the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List the most widely used and accepted authority on the conservation status of biodiversity. Although the system used to determine risk of extinction is rigorously and objectively applied, the list of threatening processes affecting a species is far more subjectively determined and has not had adequate review. I reviewed the threats listed in the IUCN Red List for randomly selected groups within the three most threatened orders of mammals: Artiodactyla, Carnivora, and Primates. These groups are taxonomically related and often ecologically similar, so I expected they would suffer relatively similar threats. Hominoid primates and all other terrestrial fauna faced similar threats, except for b...
European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) is a marine species of great economic importance, particularly in Mediterranean aquaculture. However, numerous pathogenic viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites affect the species, causing various infectious diseases and thereby leading to the most heavy losses in aquaculture production of sea bass. In this respect, knowledge on molecular and genetic mechanisms of resistance to pathogens and specific features of immune response against various infectious agents should greatly benefit the development of effective vaccines and proper vaccination strategies in marker-assisted selection of fish resistant to a range of infections. To date, genetic knowledge on sea bass immune regulatory genes responsible for resistance to pathogens is relatively poor ...
In a fluoroscopic imaging system, image quality and patient dose are both affected by the optical system linking the image intensifier with the video camera. The effect on patient exposure of increasing the optical iris aperture size over that required for other procedures performed on the same imaging system was investigated for the air-contrast barium enema examination. Using a large-area transmission ionisation chamber to monitor the Roentgen-area-product of entrance exposure, a decrease in fluoroscopic radiation of greater than 50% was clinically documented for a fluoroscopic system utilising kVp and mA variable automatic brightness control. For this iris change, the video image was of acceptable quality for positioning and monitoring the patient, and no deleterious effect was detected in the conduct of the air-contrast exam. The availability of a variable-sized operator-selectable iris diaphragm would permit this dose-reduction approach to ...
A novel composite charged mosaic membrane (CCMM) was prepared via interfacial polymerization (IP) of polyamine [poly(epichlorohydrin amine)] and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on the polyethersulfone (PES) support. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water contact angle analysis were applied to characterize the resulted CCMM. The FT-IR spectrum indicates that TMC reacts sufficiently with polyamine. ESEM and AFM pictures show that the IP process produces a dense selective layer on the support membrane. The water contact angle of the CCMM is smaller than that of the substrate membrane because of the cross-linked hydrophilic polyamine network. Several factors affecting the IP reaction and the performan...
Summary Objective To find out whether there was over-reporting of SARS patients in mainland China in view of the relatively low case fatality ratio in mainland China, in comparison with other affected countries and areas. Methods We searched PubMed for all SARS antibody detection papers (in English or Chinese language) using the keywords `SARS' and `antibody'. Then the resulting articles were further read through to select the SARS detection results using ELISA methods of serum samples collected at least 1 month after disease onset. A multi-level logistic regression was applied to test for possible differences in the proportions positive between locations of the study. Results A total of 48 studies were identified, including 39 from mainland China and nine from elsewhere (Hong Kong, Taiwan...
The Bragg-curve detector of the parallel plate ionization chamber type generates a signal that is a distorted replica of the original Bragg-curve. In result of this distortion, the signal peak height is not only a function of the atomic number of the heavy ion, as it is often stated, but also of the particle mass. This mass effect was studied with the aid of computer simulation, and it was found to be dependent on the Frisch grid to anode gap width and on the detector gas. The charge resolution of the detector is affected very significantly by this mass dependence of the signal peak height. Therefore, a careful selection of the detector gas and the grid to anode gap width is necessary, if good charge resolution over a wide range of heavy ions is required.
Laboratory studies have been carried out to determine the toxicity of methiocarb pellets to wild trapped wood mice in order to provide some background data prior to any further evaluation of hazard in the field. In this study, wood mice were exposed to dry and to dampened methiocarb pellets in order to reproduce field trial application conditions. Field observations of methiocarb pellets indicate that the physical character changes under dry and wet weather conditions. This may affect their relative attractiveness and potential toxicity to wood mice. The laboratory assessment of exposed wood mice included measurement of brain esterase activities, methiocarb residues in selected mouse tissue, carcasses, and histological evaluation of kidney, liver and lungs.
Phytoremediation has been identified as a potentially environmentally friendly and cost effective technique for the treatment of contaminated soil. However, phytoremediation has an unknown mechanism. In this study, we focus on the effects of the cultivation of Italian ryegrass on the soil microbes collected at oil showings, which were expected to have a variety of crude oil degradable microorganisms. We evaluated the number of crude oil degradable microorganism, microbial activity, microflora using the PCR-DGGE method and the change in the concentration of crude oil in the soil. The results indicated that the microflora was affected by the cultivation of Itarian ryegrass, and that the microbial activity and the number of crude oil degradable microorganisms were also improved by the cultivation. Moreover, the concentration of crude oil in the rhizosphere soil decreased significantly when compared to the uncultivated soil. These results suggested that cultivation ...
New technologies are needed to reduce the current high rate of well abandonment. Improved sweep efficiency, reservoir conformance, and permeability modification can have a significant impact on oil recovery processes. Microorganisms can be used to selectively plug high-permeability zones to improve sweep efficiency and impart conformance control. Studies of a promising microbial system for polymer production were conducted to evaluate reservoir conditions in which this system would be effective. Factors which can affect microbial growth and polymer production include salinity, pH, temperature, divalent ions, presence of residual oil, and rock matrix. Flask tests and coreflooding experiments were conducted to optimize and evaluate the effectiveness of this system. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) was used to visualize microbial polymer production in porous media. Changes in fluid distribution within the pore system of the core were ...
A Brownian dynamics simulation has been used to investigate the aggregation kinetics of bimodal colloidal mixtures with similar surface chemistries but different sizes, driven by the DLVO interaction potential. The time evolution of structural formation is examined by the mean number of neighbors under fast and slow aggregation regions. It was found that the electrolyte ionic strength affects the kinetic pattern of colloidal aggregation. Under the high electrolyte ionic strength conditions (fast aggregation), the selective aggregation of the least stable single component can take place in the early stage, while the other component is enriched in this least stable component in the later stage. With the ionic strength decreasing (towards the slow aggregation), the hybrid aggregation (selecti...
Mineral matter in coals is important in various senses for coal liquefaction. It is possible that the catalytic activity is affected by the interaction between catalyst and mineral matter. Iron-based catalyst forms pyrrhotite in the process of liquefaction, but the interaction between it and mineral matter is not known in detail. In this study, the interaction between mineral matter and catalyst and the selective reaction between them were investigated. Tanito Harum coal was used for this study. This coal contains a slight amount of siderite and jarosite besides pyrite as iron compounds. Liquefaction samples were obtained from the 1 t/d NEDOL process PSU. The solid deposits in the reactor mainly contained pyrrhotite and quartz. A slight amount of kaolinite was observed, and pyrite was little remained. It was found that the catalyst (pyrrhotite) often coexisted with quartz, clay and calcite. 8 figs., 2 tabs.
The large number of forms and types of pump equipment in common use have different purposes and varying application requirements. This text has been prepared to bring together necessary information for those who are required to select and apply pumps in systems for all kinds of fluids and purposes. It is not a design manual. It limits the discussion of design to those factors which are necessary for an understanding of pump operation. The book contains not only descriptive information of many types of designs, but also the effect of design variation on use, economy, and reliability. Systems, an integral part of application, are discussed, so that the user of such equipment may properly select and install machines to reliably and economically satisfy his requirements. Reading of appropriate sections of the text will indicate possible problems to be avoided, and economics to be gained. The engineering design of pumps is a science; their proper ...
A comprehensive dataset of NDV genome sequences was evaluated using bioinformatics to characterize the evolutionary forces affecting NDV genomes. Despite evidence of recombination in most genes, only one event in the fusion gene of genotype V viruses produced evolutionarily viable progenies. The codon-associated rate of change for the six NDV proteins revealed that the highest rate of change occurred at the fusion protein. All proteins were under strong purifying (negative) selection; the fusion protein displayed the highest number of amino acids under positive selection. Regardless of the phylogenetic grouping or the level of virulence, the cleavage site motif was highly conserved implying that mutations at this site that result in changes of virulence may not be favored. The coding sequence of the fusion gene and the genomes of viruses from wild birds displayed higher yearly rates of change in virulent viruses than in ...
The crystallography of #alpha#(hcp) precipitates formed on the #beta#(bcc) matrix grain boundaries has been studied with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in a Ti-15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al alloy. The #alpha# precipitates have a near-Burgers orientation relationship with respect to at least one of the adjacent #beta# grains. Among the possible 12 variants in this orientation relationship, the variant that [11 bar 20]_#alpha# is parallel to the _#beta# closest to the grain boundary plane tends to be preferred by the #alpha# precipitates. Additionally, further variant selections are made so as to minimize the deviation of orientation relationship with respect to the ''opposite'' #beta# grain from the Burgers one. Such rules in variant selection often result in the formation of precipitates with a single variant at a planar grain boundary. Prior small deformation of #beta# matrix changes the variant of #alpha# precipitates at the deformed portion of ...
The five thermal-hydraulic concepts chosen for advanced PWR have been studied as follows: (1) Critical Heat Flux: Review of previous works, analysis of parametric trends, analysis of transient CHF characteristics, extension of the CHF date bank, survey and assessment of correlations, design of a intermediate-pressure CHF test loop have been performed. (2) Passive Cooling Concepts for Concrete Containment system: Review of condensation phenomena with noncondensable gases, selection of a promising concept (i.e., use of external condensers), design of test loop according to scaling laws have been accomplished. and computer programs based on the control-volume approach, and the conceptual design of test loop have been accomplished. (4) Fluidic Diode Concepts: Review of previous applications of the concept, analysis major parameters affecting the performance, development of a computational code, and conceptual investigation of the verification test ...
The Self Actuated Shutdown System (SASS) is now under development for use in a large scale FBR, in order to establish the passive shutdown capability against the postulated ATWS events, i.e. ULOF, UTOP and ULOHS. The function of SASS makes use of the safety characteristics of a liquid metal cooled FBRs such as a large subcooling and low pressure system. The insertion of the control rods insertion is assured even in the most conservative seismic design condition by employing articulate rods and the SASS will be installed into the detaching mechanism employing a curie point the magnet alloy. ULOF analysis of the present FBR shows that coolant boiling inception is prevented if a control rod of the SASS is detached at the uppermost temperature of 680degC for the Curie point magnet, and after the reactor shutdown the coolant temperature is kept below 600degC by the pony motor flow. Therefore the SASS will establish passive shutdown capability without affecting the core ...
In radiation processing of food, the product often has to be prepackaged to prevent microbial recontamination during and after irradiation. The packaging material is exposed to radiation during radiation processing and radiation stability is a key consideration in the selection of packaging materials. The effects of ionizing radiation on many food packaging materials at the dose levels recommended for food precessing can be minimized by selecting appropriate radiation resistant materials. It is important to select materials in which chemicals formed as a result of the radiation treatment do not migrate and interact with the food, affecting its organoleptic and toxicological aspects. It is also important to select materials in which the physical properties are not altered to the extent they cannot resist damage during commercial production, shipment and storage. Radiation treatment ...
Selecting the best bit for an application is a difficult task because a large number of variables can influence bit performance, therefore upon a decision to run a particular bit type based solely on the average measurements of previous bit performances can lead to a very important impact on the drilling cost. Bits are designed with different concepts and that recent technological advances allow them to be used in a wider range of applications that could improve their drilling programs. Rather than a deterministic estimate, a more mature view of a bit performance is a presentation of possible outputs (bits longevity in drilled meters, rate of penetration, bit cost and cost per meter) in recognition of the uncertainty associated with drilling wells. An evaluation of a simple model based on the drilling cost equation indicates the sensitivity of each variable - described here by its probability distribution function - on the bottom line and can be a very effective ...
Proposals for use of Alloy 800 as a H.T.R. boiler material have prompted studies of its creep and high temperature fatigue properties in impure helium with comparative tests in air. In impure helium, as expected in a H.T.R., reactions of potential importance are selective oxidation (of chromium, aluminium and titanium) and possibly carburisation from carbon monoxide or methane. In air, general oxidation will occur, possibly accompanied by nitridation. The effects of these reactions will depend on specimen geometry and the nature of the deformation. Two important possibilities are: (i) that environment affects the structure and properties of a surface zone of material undegoing uniform deformation (this may modify creep rate and crack nucleation); and (ii) that environment affects behaviour of a small region (e.g. at the root of a notch or ahead of a crack) in a specimen undergoing non-uniform deformation (this will modify ...
China operates 10 nuclear power reactors and has 5 more under construction. A large extension of nuclear power is expected by 2020. Nuclear generated electricity accounts for 2% of the total electric power generation. The Chinese policy is to have spent fuel reprocessed in China. So, final disposal include vitrified waste and some CANDU spent fuel for direct disposal. There is a legal framework in place in China to manage HLW. The China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) has the responsibility for setting policy on HLW disposal and implementing the disposal programme, while the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) and the State Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are the regulatory bodies, which are responsible for licensing and reviewing of environment impact assessment report. The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is considered to be the actual implementer, conducting the major activities for HLW management. In the 1980's, China started generic research and development ...
The Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is developing poplars (Populus species and hybrids) as sources of renewable energy, i.e., ethanol. Notable increases in adaptability, volume productivity, and pest/stress resistance have been achieved via classical selection and breeding and intensified cultural practices. Significant advances have also been made in the efficiencies of harvesting and handling systems. Given these and anticipated accomplishments, program leaders are considering shifting some attention to genetically modifying feedstock physical and chemical properties, so as to improve the efficiency with which feedstocks can be converted to ethanol. This report provides an in-depth review and synthesis of opportunities for and feasibilities of genetically modifying feedstock qualities via classical selection and breeding, marker-aided selection and ...
The exchange of Eu[sup 3+] for Na[sup +] cations into the sodalite cages of X zeolite (Eu[sub 25]Na[sub 11]X) leads selectively to the isomerization reaction of cyclopropane to propylene. The latter reaction is catalyzed by Broensted acid sites with an apparent activation energy of 10.6 kcal/mol. Sorption measurements of cyclopropane and propylene with Eu/NaX and NaX zeolites at 40 C support the view that Na[sup +] cations might be considered as sites for sorption of these molecules. Force fields created by Eu[sub 4]O[sup 10+] present in Eu/NaX zeolite may affect sorption. On the other hand, Broensted acid sites in Eu/NaX enhance sorption of cyclopropane and propylene at 40 C. Chemisorption of propylene on the Broensted acid sites of Eu/NaX is reversible and may occur via a propylene carbenium cation intermediate. Small amounts of hexene are formed during this sorption. The amount of Broensted acid sites in the present Eu/NaX is at least 0.6 ...
Simple hydroxamic acids have been shown to have useful applications in an Advanced Purex process for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel. They are especially suited to the separation of neptunium (IV) from uranium (VI) by the selective formation of a hydrophilic complex with Np(IV). U(VI) extraction in to 30% tributyl phosphate is unaffected. However, they have also been shown to be very fast reducing agents for Np(VI). The timescales of the reduction have been defined under a range of typical Purex Process conditions although the accurate determination of the reaction kinetics was not possible due to the rapidity of the reaction. U(VI) was shown not to be reduced. Therefore, Np(VI) can be efficiently reductively stripped when solvent phase (30% tributyl phosphate in odourless kerosene) solutions of Np(VI) and U(VI) are contacted with aqueous phase hydroxamic acid solutions. The slow reduction of plutonium (IV) to Pu(III) has also been observed and this is ...
This work studied the effect of the nature of the metal on the performance of Co/CeO{sub 2}, Pd/CeO{sub 2} and Pt/CeO{sub 2} catalysts in the partial oxidation of ethanol. Infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed ethanol and temperature programmed desorption of ethanol were performed in order to establish the reaction mechanism. Catalytic experiments revealed that the product distribution is strongly affected by the nature of the metal. Acetaldehyde was practically the only product formed on a Co/CeO{sub 2} catalyst while methane was also produced on Pt/CeO{sub 2} and Pd/CeO{sub 2} catalysts. These results were explained through a reaction mechanism proposed by the characterization techniques. Co/CeO{sub 2} and Pt/CeO{sub 2} catalysts show mainly ethoxy species at room temperature whereas acetate species is mainly formed on the Pd/CeO{sub 2} catalyst. The ethoxy species can undergo further dehydrogenation and desorb as acetaldehyde. This effect is more significant with ...
Silicon nitride-based ceramics behavior is strongly influenced by microstructural parameters, which, in turn are determined by chosen densification method. Highly covalent Si-N bond hind are the silicon nitride densification. Therefore, metal oxides are used in order to get high density. However, such oxides must be carefully selected, because they affect the general macroscopic properties of sintered bodies. In the present work, the viability of rare earth concentrate use to produce #beta#--Si_6_-_xAl_xO_xN_8_-_x and its effect on mechanical properties of the sintering ceramics are studied. Additive composition, heating rate, soaking time and sintering temperature were took as variables. Hardness, fracture toughness, Young's modulus and flexural strength were investigated. Lattice parameter compositional dependence and secondary phases crystallized after past-sintering heat treatment were also determined. The results show that rare earth ...
PLZT-7/65/35 is a ferroelectric ceramic with strong electrooptic properties and memory; it is switched through transparent electrodes when mechanically strained. Matrix addressed x-y page composers for interfacing electrical and coherent optical systems are being fabricated with PLZT. Switching voltages are 50-300 V. Optical efficiencies greater than 40% have been achieved. Strains near 2.4 x 10(-3) mm/mm permit half-wave retardation switching in 100-micro-thick plates with 80-V read-in and 190-V erase levels (60 Hz hysteresis data). A 128 x 128 element array can operate at 10(7) bits/sec with 10-microsec switching in a row at a time mode. Half-select disturbances affect contrasts. Applications in displays are also feasible. PMID:20111514
The presence of residual stresses in engineering components can significantly affect their load carrying capacity and resistance to fracture. In order to quantify their effect it is necessary to know their magnitude and distribution. Neutron diffraction is the most suitable method of obtaining these stresses non-destructively in the interior of components. In this paper the principles of the technique are described. A monochromatic beam of neutrons, or time of flight measurements, can be employed. In each case, components of strain are determined directly from changes in the lattice spacings between crystals. Residual stresses can then be calculated from these strains. The experimental procedures for making the measurements are described and precautions for achieving reliable results discussed. These include choice of crystal planes on which to make measurements, extent of masking needed to identify a suitable sampling volume, type of detector and alignment ...
Postulated impacts of large energy releases were examined in the light of existing technical information. The magnitudes of direct atmospheric modifications were estimated, and the ecological and economic implications of the modifications were explored. Energy releases from energy centers (10 to 40 power plants at a single site) and individual power plant clusters (1 to 4 power plants) were considered. In the atmosphere the energy will exist initially as increased temperature (sensible heat), moisture (latent heat), and air motion (kinetic energy). Addition of energy could result in increased cloudiness and fog, and changed precipitation patterns. A framework for economic analysis of the impacts of the postulated atmospheric modifications was established on the basis of costs and benefits. Willingness-to-pay was selected as the appropriate measure for valuing each impact. The primary and secondary atmospheric modifications may affect ...
The Nuclear Safety Commission acknowledged the policy of the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy to cope with these important matters on August 8, 1984. The main contents of the investigation and deliberation were as follows, As to the prevention of the occurrence of fires, the prevention of the leak and spread of inflammable liquid and gas, the installation of protective relays and so on, the use of incombustible materials and aseismatic design and the installation of lightning arresters. As to the detection of fires and fire fighting, the proper selection and arrangement of fire detectors and extinguishers, the extinguishers which do not harm the safety function of structures and equipment, and the extinguishers which are not affected by natural phenomena. As to the reduction of the effect of fires, the proper installation of fire walls and extinguishers, and the high temperature shut off of nuclear reactors which is never hampered by any ...
The use of electricity is indispensable to modern life. As Macao Special Administrative Region becomes a gaming and tourism center in Asia, modeling the consumption of electricity is critical to Macao's economic development. The purposes of this paper are to conduct an extensive literature review on modeling of electricity consumption, and to identify key climatic, demographic, economic and/or industrial factors that may affect the electricity consumption of a country/city. It was identified that the five factors, namely temperature, population, the number of tourists, hotel room occupancy and days per month, could be used to characterize Macao's monthly electricity consumption. Three selected approaches including multiple regression, artificial neural network (ANN) and wavelet ANN were used to derive mathematical models of the electricity consumption. The accuracy of these models was assessed by using the mean squared error ...
Research highlights: #-># Welding parameters affect pitting corrosion resistance of AL-6XN laser welds. #-># Lower heat input laser welds correspond to higher critical pitting temperature. #-># Depletion of Mo and Cr at dendrite cores causes preferential pitting corrosion. #-># Local Mo level at dendrite cores dominates weld pitting corrosion susceptibility. #-># Lower heat input laser welds manifest lower degree of microsegregation of Mo. - Abstract: Pitting corrosion resistance of laser welds of AL-6XN superaustenitic stainless steel (SASS) was investigated in acidic chloride ion medium. It was found that the critical pitting temperature (CPT) of the laser welds increased with increasing welding speed or decreasing laser power. Pitting attack preferentially occurred at selective dendrite cores of the laser welds. Analytical electron microscope (AEM) microanalysis revealed that depletion of Mo at dendrite cores due to ...
This paper presents an analysis of the applicability of alternative systems for electric vehicle (EV) heating and air conditioning (HVAC). The paper consists of two parts. The first part is a cooling and heating load calculation for electric vehicles. The second part is an evaluation of several systems that can provide the desired cooling and heating in EVs. These systems are ranked according to their overall weight The overall weight is calculated by adding the system weight and the weight of the battery necessary to provide energy for system operation. The system with the minimum overall weight is considered to be the best, because minimum vehicle weight decreases the energy required for propulsion, and therefore increases the vehicle range. Three systems are considered as the best choices for EV HVAC. These are, vapor compression, ice storage and adsorption systems. These systems are evaluated, including calculations of system weight, system volume, and COP. The paper also includes ...
The K0.5 for intracellular sodium of the two forms of (Na ,K )-ATPase which exist in rat adipocytes has been determined by incubating the cells in the absence of potassium in buffers of varying sodium concentration; these conditions shut off the Na pump and allow sodium to equilibrate into the cell. The activity of (Na ,K )-ATPase was then monitored with YWRb /K pumping which was initiated by adding isotope and KCl to 5 mM, followed by a 3-min uptake period. Atomic absorption and SSNa tracer equilibration were used to determine the actual intracellular (Na ) under the different conditions. The K0.5 values thus obtained were 17 mM for alpha and 52 mM for alpha(+). Insulin treatment of rat adipocytes had no effect on the intracellular (Na+) nor on the Vmax of YWRb /K pumping, but did produce a shift in the sodium ion K0.5 values to 14 mM for alpha and 33 mM for alpha(+). This change in affinity can explain the selective stimulation of alpha(+) by insulin under normal ...
Brittleness and poor low-temperature thermal conductivity of A-15 compounds remain the major obstacles preventing the effective use of these superconductors in large-scale engineering applications. In order to circumvent these difficulties, a new type of ductile superconducting filamentary alloy has been developed recently by a simple metallurgical process which consists of melting the constituent elements and subsequent cold working and appropriate heat treatment. These superconducting materials are essentially Cu-base alloys containing a few percent of A-15 phase such as Nb_3Sn or V_3Ga which is in the form of fine filaments embedded in the Cu matrix. The emphasis of this work is on the formation of the A-15 phase in the Cu-base alloys and its correlation with superconducting properties such as transition temperature and critical current density. The formation of Nb_3Sn, Nb_3Al, V_3Si, and V_3Ga will serve as examples to illustrate the importance of some features in the phase ...
Freezing and thaw have an effect on soils, and the effect of the freeze-thaw cycle on soil covers used in the control of acid mine drainage was discussed in this poster presentation. The purpose of soil covers in cases involving acid mine drainage (AMD) is to reduce the exposure of tailings to oxygen which cause AMD. The effect of this freezing-thaw cycle on soft materials used in soil covers with capillary effect was studied. Some laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the properties of the moisture retention layer. The preliminary results were presented. The results indicated that the freeze-thaw cycle might affect the performance of soil covers in the long term, depending on the type of materials selected. Further research is undergoing. 26 figs.
Lubricant additives have been known to affect rolling element bearing surface durability for many years. Tapered roller bearings were used in fatigue testing of lubricants formulated with gear oil type additive systems. These systems have sulfur- and phosphoruscontaining compounds used for gear protection as well as bearing lubrication. Several variations of a commercially available base additive formulation were tested having modified sulfur components. The variations represent a range of ''active'' extreme pressure (EP) chemistries. The bearing fatigue test results were compared with respect to EP formulation and test conditions. Inner ring near-surface material in selected test bearings was evaluated on two scales: the micrometer scale using optical metallography and the nanometer scale using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Focused-ion beam (FIB) techniques were used for TEM specimen preparation. ...
The efficacy of gamma irradiation as a method of decontamination for food and herbal materials is well established. In the present study, Glycyrrhiza glabra roots were irradiated at doses 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kGy in a cobalt-60 irradiator. The irradiated and un-irradiated control samples were evaluated for phenolic contents, antimicrobial activities and DPPH scavenging properties. The result of the present study showed that radiation treatment up to 20 kGy does not affect the antifungal and antibacterial activity of the plant. While sample irradiated at 25 kGy does showed changes in the antibacterial activity against some selected pathogens. No significant differences in the phenolic contents were observed for control and samples irradiated at 5, 10 and 15 kGy radiation doses. However, phenolic contents increased in samples treated with 20 and 25 kGy doses. The DPPH scavenging activity significantly (p<0.05) increased in all irradiated ...
In response to US Department of Energy directives, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed a waste minimization plan aimed at reducing the amount of wastes at this national research and development laboratory. Activities at ANL are primarily research- oriented and as such affect the amount and type of source reduction that can be achieved at this facility. The objective of ANL's waste minimization program is to cost-effectively reduce all types of wastes, including hazardous, mixed, radioactive, and nonhazardous wastes. The ANL Waste Minimization Plan uses a waste minimization audit as a systematic procedure to determine opportunities to reduce or eliminate waste. To facilitate these audits, a computerized bar-coding procedure is being implemented at ANL to track hazardous wastes from where they are generated to their ultimate disposal. This paper describes the development of the ANL Waste Minimization Plan and a pilot demonstration of the how the ...
Radon exposure assessment in case-control studies on radon and lung cancer is generally based on contemporary radon concentration measurements, which can be affected by significant changes in the building structures or in living habits. Another method to estimate the radon exposure of the subjects is the recently developed retrospective dosimetry technique based on the {sup 210}Po surface activity from glass objects. In order to compare the results obtained by the two methods, a study has been carried out in a sample of 26 dwellings in Rome, with radon concentration values ranging from 28 to 623 Bq m{sup -3}. Retrospective detectors based on CR-39 and LR 115 were exposed on 50 glass objects in bedrooms and living rooms. The correlation factor between the two sets of data, after removing six extreme values, is 0.67, which is similar to results obtained in other validation studies of similar sample size. The correlation increases to 0.83 if the 21 objects exposed in ...
Inclusion of environmental externality costs in the selection of utility resources has become a reality in New York, Massachusetts, Nevada and California. Soon several other jurisdictions are likely to join these states in using environmental externality costs in decision-making. The consideration of environmental externalities are bound to profoundly affect utility decision-making in the future. So far attention has focused largely on air emission externalities of SO_2, NO_x and CO_2. However, the recent Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) will reduce SO_2 emissions from utilities by about 50 percent. With such a large reduction in SO_2 loading, the question has been raised as to the need to further consider SO_2 externality costs in decision-making. This paper comments on this issue. By using generation and emission data from New York utilities, the paper shows that SO_2 emission externalities exist even after complying with requirements of the ...
The authors describe the application of an approximate fuzzy C-means (AFCM) clustering algorithm as a data dimension reduction approach to medical magnetic resonance images (MRI). Image data consisted of one T1-weighted, two T2-weighted, and one T2*-weighted (magnetic susceptibility) image for each cranial study and a matrix of 10 images generated from 10 combinations of TE and TR for each body lymphoma study. All images were obtained with a 1.5 Tesla imaging system (GE Signa). Analyses were performed on over 100 MR image sets with a variety of pathologies. The cluster analysis was operated in an unsupervised mode and computational overhead was minimized by utilizing a table look-up approach without adversely affecting accuracy. Image data were first segmented into 2 coarse clusters, each of which was then subdivided into 16 fine clusters. The final tissue classifications were presented as color-coded anatomically-mapped images and as two and three dimensional ...
Pyrolysis of Greek fir wood samples in a fluidized bed reactor was studied. The experimental conditions selected control the yield of gaseous, liquid and solid products. The factors examined were: pyrolysis temperature, mean particle size, pressure, residence time of volatiles, lignin content of biomass and moisture content. The experiments were performed on the basis of a 12-run Plackett-Burman fractional factorial design. Statistical analysis of the data showed that the pyrolysis temperature is the main factor affecting the distribution of the yields of liquids, their phenolic fraction and gases in the range of experimental conditions tested. Empirical expressions were obtained from linear regression giving the yields of liquids, phenols and gases in terms of temperature. The maximum predicted yields were 56 and 12 wt.% on a moisture-free basis at 520 C and 545 C for liquids and phenols, respectively. The yield of gases increased ...
T-history method, developed for measuring heat-of-fusion of phase change material (PCM) in sealed tubes, has the advantages of a simple experimental device and convenience with no sampling process. However, some improper assumptions in the original method, such as using a degree of supercooling as the end of latent heat period and neglecting sensible heat during phase change, can cause significant errors in determining the heat of fusion. We have improved this problem in order to predict better results. The present study shows that the modified T-history method is successfully applied to a variety of PCMs such as paraffin and lauric acid having no or a low degree of supercooling. Also it turned out that selected periods for sensible and latent heat do not significantly affect the accuracy of heat- of-fusion. As a result, the method can provide an appropriate means to assess a newly developed PCM by a cycle test even if a very accurate value ...
The possibility of improving the cold formability of wrought magnesium alloys is considered in light of their good hot forming characteristics. Magnesium alloy AZ31B sheet is selected as a model system. Parameters affecting formability, such as strain hardening rate, strain rate sensitivity, and the degree of anisotropy are examined systematically by conducting tensile tests over a range of temperatures (room temperature to 250 C) and strain rates (1 x 10{sup -5} to 0.1 s{sup -1}). The plastic anisotropy and deformation texture evolution are examined in samples aligned with the sheet rolling and transverse directions. Polycrystal plasticity simulations using a viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) formulation are used to model the observed anisotropy and texture evolution. The adjustable parameters in the model are the relative critical resolved shear stresses of the dislocation mechanisms known to operate within magnesium. The experimental ...
This report is a review of waste form options for the immobilization of high-level-liquid wastes from the nuclear fuel cycle. This review covers the status of international research and development on waste forms as of May 1979. Although the emphasis in this report is on waste form properties, process parameters are discussed where they may affect final waste form properties. A summary table is provided listing properties of various nuclear waste form options. It is concluded that proposed waste forms have properties falling within a relatively narrow range. In regard to crystalline versus glass waste forms, the conclusion is that either glass of crystalline materials can be shown to have some advantage when a single property is considered; however, at this date no single waste form offers optimum properties over the entire range of characteristics investigated. A long-term effort has been applied to the development of glass and calcine waste forms. Several ...
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 elasticities and 65 % ...
The 177 underground storage tanks at the DOE's Hanford Site contain an estimated 180 million tons of high-level radioactive wastes. It is desirable to remove and concentrate the highly radioactive fraction of the tank wastes for vitrification. Resorcinol-formaldehyde (R-F) resin, an organic ion-exchange resin with high selectivity and capacity for the cesium ion, which is a candidate ion-exchange material for use in remediation of tank wastes. The report includes information on the structure/function analysis of R-F resin and the synthetic factors that affect performance of the resin. CS-100, a commercially available phenol-formaldehyde (P-F) resin, and currently the baseline ion-exchanger for removal of cesium ion at Hanford, is compared with the R-F resin. The primary structural unit of the R-F resin was determined to consist of a 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted resorcinol ring unit while CS-100, was composed mainly of a 1,2,4-trisubstituted ring. ...
In earlier works, the inelastic mean free path (IMFP) of electrons was determined by elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES) using Ni and Ag reference standard samples, but fully neglecting surface excitation. Surface excitation that is characterized by the surface excitation parameter (SEP), and may affect considerably the elastic peak for the sample and the reference material. The SEP parameters of selected conducting polymers (polythiophenes, polyaniline and polyethylene) were determined by EPES using Si and Ge reference samples. Experiments were made with a hemispherical analyzer of energy resolution 100-200 meV in the E = 0.2-2.0 keV energy range. The composition of the sample surfaces was determined by in situ XPS, their surface roughness by AFM. The experimental SEP parameter data of eight polymer samples were determined by our new procedure, using the formulae of Chen and Werner et al. in the E = 0.2-2.0 keV energy range. The trial ...
The design of separation devices, particularly for solvent-based selective removal of H{sub 2}S from CO{sub 2}, requires an accurate mathematical model. Unfortunately, this requirement for high accuracy is often in conflict with the need for efficient computation. The addition of more and more complicated analyses, such as a move from Henry's law to a method incorporating gas and liquid activities for computing vapor liquid equilibria, may give a more accurate solution, but only at the cost of decreased computational efficiency. The efforts in this work have been directed toward two goals. The first was to develop an accurate mathematical model for the aqueous methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) system. The steady-state packed column model developed in this work has been tested with data from Schubert (1988) to verify its accuracy. The second goal was to modify the model to improve its computational efficiency. Areas such as vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations, ...
The red sequence is an important feature of galaxy clusters and plays a crucial role in optical cluster detection. Measurement of the slope and scatter of the red sequence are affected both by selection of red sequence galaxies and measurement errors. In this paper, we describe a new error corrected Gaussian Mixture Model for red sequence galaxy identification. Using this technique, we can remove the effects of measurement error and extract unbiased information about the intrinsic properties of the red sequence. We use this method to select red sequence galaxies in each of the 13,823 clusters in the maxBCG catalog, and measure the red sequence ridgeline location and scatter of each. These measurements provide precise constraints on the variation of the average red galaxy populations in the observed frame with redshift. We find that the scatter of the red sequence ridgeline increases mildly with redshift, and that the slope ...
Low-permeability reservoirs are currently being propped with sand, resin-coated sand, intermediate-density proppants, and bauxite. This wide range of proppant cost and performance has resulted in a proliferation of proppant selection models. Initially, a rather vague relationship between well depth and proppant strength dictated the choice of proppant. More recently, computerized models of varying complexity have become available that use net-present-value (NPV) calculations. The input is based on the operator's performance goals for each well and on specific reservoir properties. Simpler, noncomputerized approaches also being used include cost/performance comparisons and nomographs. Each type of model, including several of the computerized models, will be examined. By use of these models and NPV calculations, optimum fracturing treatment designs have been developed for such low-permeability reservoirs as the Prue in Oklahoma. Typical well conditions are ...
African bovine trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma sp., is a major constraint on cattle productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Some African Bos taurus breeds are highly tolerant of infection, but the potentially more productive Bos indicus zebu breeds are much more susceptible. Zebu cattle are well adapted for plowing and haulage, and increasing their tolerance of trypanosomiasis could have a major impact on crop cultivation as well as dairy and beef production. We used three strategies to obtain short lists of candidate genes within QTL that were previously shown to regulate response to infection. We analyzed the transcriptomes of trypanotolerant N'Dama and susceptible Boran cattle after infection with Trypanosoma congolense. We sequenced EST libraries from these two breeds to identify polymorphisms that might underlie previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTL), and we assessed QTL regions and candidate loci for evidence of selective sweeps. The scan of ...
Artificial selection and experimental evolution document natural selection under controlled conditions. Collectively, these techniques are continuing to provide fresh and important insights into the...Full Text Available
The language used by chronic benign pain patients to characterize their pain complaint was analyzed to determine the best predictor of psychiatric disturbance. Using the 78 adjectives provided by the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the number of affective descriptors used was the best predictor of psychiatric disturbance. Addition of sensory descriptors either to augment the total number of descriptors used (magnitude) or as a pattern of sensory greater than affective or sensory less than affective failed to increase predictive strength. PMID:6877847
Critics of higher fuel economy standards for vehicles have long argued that improving vehicle fuel economy will require reducing vehicle weight, and that would result in an increase in the number of fatalities from vehicle crashes. Several researchers have estimated that an across-the-board reduction of vehicle weight would reduce passenger safety (Evans 1991; Kahane 1997; U.S. GAO 1994). However, little research has been done on the relationship of vehicle size and fatality rates, independent of weight (see, however, Joksch, Massie, and Pichler 1998). In this report we review previous analyses of the relationship of vehicle weight and safety. We do this to study the opportunities to improve fuel economy in a more sophisticated way than across-the-board mass reduction. The aim is to explore improvements in traffic safety by making selected vehicle groups lighter, and retaining or enlarging selected vehicle dimensions. Unfortunately, the effects ...
Limestone slurry needs to move efficiently through a complex process, meaning that selecting the right pumps and valves is critical. The article discusses factors to consider in selecting pumps and values for flue gas desulfurization process in coal-fired power plants. 2 photos.
Economic and performance criteria that should be used in the selection of a scrubber system are presented. Selection should be based on the type of emissions put out by a plant and the removal efficiency required by pollution control standards. Costs and efficiencies for 10 different scrubber systems are reported. (10 diagrams)
Although the p53 tumor suppressor is relatively well characterized, much less is known about the functions of other members of the p53 family, p73 and p63. Here, we present evidence that in specific pathological conditions caused by exposure of normal cells to bile acids in acidic conditions, p73 protein plays the predominant role in the DNA damage response. These pathological conditions frequently occur during gastric reflux in the human esophagus and are associated with progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma. We found that despite strong DNA damage induced by bile acid exposure, only p73 (but not p53 and p63) is selectively activated in a c-Abl kinase-dependent manner. The activated p73 protein induces DNA damage repair. Using a human DNA repair PCR array, we identified multiple DNA repair genes affected by p73. Two glycosylases involved in base excision repair, SMUG1 and MUTYH, were characterized and found to be transcriptionally regulated ...
Grassroots education is imperative if economic development is to be actualized. Therefore, it becomes necessary to study the primary school teachers' perception of the Universal Basic Education (UBE). This study attempted to find out the primary school teachers' perception of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme and their perceived contribution towards the success of the programme. It further examined how favorable perception towards the scheme could be a catalyst in the successful implementation of the UBE. To accomplish this task, two research questions and a hypothesis were raised to guide the study. The opinion of one hundred and eighteen (118) teachers, out of four hundred and forty-seven teachers (447) that constituted the population of the teachers in Esan West Public Primary Schools was obtained. The respondents were randomly selected. The questionnaire was used for data collection. A 1-4 Likert-type scale ranging from Strongly Agreed to Strongly ...
At two locations in southern Lake Huron (U.S.A.), twelve 35.5-cm diameter cores of fine-grained sediments were taken for comparison of the vertical distribution of "2"1"0Pb and fallout "1"3"7Cs with the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates, mainly oligochaete worms (Tubificidae) and the amphipod, Pontoporeia affinis. Locations were selected on the basis of "2"1"0Pb distributions measured a year earlier which indicated contrasting depths of mixing of surface sediments. At one location the activity of "2"1"0Pb is uniform down to about 6 cm and 95% of total invertebrates occur within this zone; at the other location the zone of constant activity is only 3 cm deep but 90% of the invertebrates occur within it. Comparison of published tubificid defecation rates with sediment accumulation rates based on "2"1"0Pb shows that oligochaetes alone can account for mixing in one case while the effects of amphipods may be required in the case of shallower mixing. If mixing ...
Purpose: Reconstruction of organ doses of selected organs and tissues from radiographic settings and exposure data collected during chest X-ray examinations of children of various age groups performed in Dr. von Hauner's Kinderspital (children's hospital of the University of Munich, DvHK) between 1976 and 2007. Materials and Method: The dosimetric data of all X-ray examinations performed since 1976 at DvHK were stored electronically in a database. After 30 years of data collection, the database now includes 305 107 radiological examinations (radiographs and fluoroscopies), especially 119 150 chest radiographs of all age groups. Reconstruction of organ doses in 40 organs and tissues in X-ray examinations of the chest was performed based on the conversion factor concept. Results: The radiation exposure of organs in projection radiography is determined by the exact site of the organs relative to the edges of the X-ray field and the beam direction of ...
Full text: The general population is daily exposed to chronic, low doses of ionizing radiation (IR) from both natural and artificial sources. The biological consequences of acute, high dose IR exposure can be readily determined; however, the nature and significance of low dose, low dose-rate IR effects are still the subject of debate. Confounding the issue, are the phenomena collectively referred to as the Radiation-induced Bystander Effect (RIBE). The RIBE describes a collection of in vitro observations that suggest the presence of a soluble, transmissible factor(s) released from irradiated cells that can induce a biological response in un-irradiated cells. The induction, nature and magnitude of the RIBE varies between cell culture systems, radiation sources and end-points measured. Efforts to confirm the presence of the RIBE in vivo have been confined to in vivo-like culture systems and limited work with tumour and bone-marrow transplantation models. Validation of the RIBE in vivo ...
During the first 18 months of this project, four experimental subtasks were to have begun but only one of these was to have been completed. Additionally, five modeling subtasks were scheduled to begin, four of which were to have been completed. We are on schedule for all but one of these subtasks. All four experimental tasks are progressing on schedule. Initial durability tests were completed. The conclusions drawn from this first round of durability tests are being used to design the next set of tests. Initial baseline engine data were acquired and showed that the engine selected for this task behaves as hoped. However, the dyno controller is inadequate. The engine will be moved to another dyno during the near future. The modeling tasks are also progressing well. A model for the dynamic response of the ignition circuit was developed and validated. Two technical papers resulting from this model were submitted for publication. Development of a model for the railplug ...
Quality Assurance (QA) has not been taken very seriously in developing countries despite their having significant nuclear power programmes. This may affect plant reliability and demands that urgent and serious attention be given to the development and implementation of Quality Assurance programmes according to local conditions. Confusion has been created by the differences in definitions and interpretations of terminologies of Quality Assurance and Control. Problems have been aggravated by the lack of clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities during the projects execution phases of site selection, data collection, design, equipment fabrication and construction, etc. Therefore, reliability of nuclear power plants in developing countries is relatively low. But whenever some programme of QA has been implemented it has helped to improve the plant performance. This is highlighted in this paper by the practical examples for the experience ...
Under appropriate conditions, bismuth molybdates can catalyze a number of transformations of olefins with selective oxidation being of particular importance. Experimental evidence suggests that the propylene is activated to an allylic species by a site associated with the Bi and that the oxidation step occurs at an Mo site. In order to address the mechanistic steps associated with these Mo sites. The authors discuss the chemistry of terminal oxo and imido groups. They find that for surface sites such as 1 about, 2 about and 3 about, the presence of two double bonds leads to a much more active species than those with a single multiple bond. This leads to a situation similar to that in olefin metathesis by high oxidation state Mo catalysis where the (spectator) oxo group species promotes formation of the metallacycle intermediate by formation of a partial Mo==O triple bond that stabilizes the intermediate. Calculations suggest that the magnitude of the spectator oxo ...
The Clean Air Act establishes New Source Review (NSR) programs that apply to the construction or modification of major stationary emissions sources. In 2002 and 2003, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revised its rules to narrow the applicability of NSR to facility renovations. Congress then mandated a National Research Council study of the effects of the rules. An electricity-sector model - the Integrated Planning Model (IPM) - was used to explore the possible effects of the equipment replacement provision (ERP), the principal NSR change that was to affect the power-generation industry. The studies focused in particular on coal-fired electricity generating units, EGUs, for two reasons. First, coal-fired EGUs are important contributors of these pollutants, accounting for approximately 70 and 20% of nations SO{sub 2} and NOx emissions in 2004, respectively. Second, the shares of total capacity of large coal-fired EGUs that lack flue-gas desulfurization to ...
During third quarter 1994, samples from AMB groundwater monitoring wells at the Metallurgical Laboratory Hazardous Waste Management Facility (Met Lab HWMF) were analyzed for selected heavy metals, indicator parameters, radionuclides, volatile organic compounds, and other constituents. Eight parameters exceeded standards during the quarter. As in previous quarters, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene exceeded final Primary Drinking Water Standards (PDWS). Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate exceeded final PDWS in one well. Aluminum, iron, manganese, tin, and total organic halogens exceeded the Savannah River Site (SRS) Flag 2 criteria. Groundwater flow direction and rate in the M-Area Aquifer Zone were similar to previous quarters. Conditions affecting determination of groundwater flow directions and rates in the Upper Lost Lake Aquifer Zone, Lower Lost Lake Aquifer Zone, and the Middle Sand Aquifer Zone of the Crouch Branch Confining Unit were ...
As part of The International Northern Sea Route Programme (INSROP), Subprogram III, Trade and Commercial Shipping, a study has been made concerning seaborne export of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Northern Russia, especially the West Siberian fields in Tyumen. The main purpose of the total project III.0703, part 2 and this study is to evaluate the economic viability of seaborne export from this area to the European region, mainly with the use of a special ice-strengthened LPG vessel, constructed and designed for such seaborne operations. This study concentrates on both seaborne LPG transportation, the demand and supply for seaborne LPG in the world and marine transportation of LPG from the West Siberian fields. Another purpose is to see which regions are potential exporters, importers and buyers of seaborne export of LPG from Tyumen. Currently large quantities of liquefied gas are flared off at the West Siberian fields due to insufficient infrastructure, lack of modern ...
Iron deficiency anaemia is an important health problem in Peru, which affects approximately 25% of the population. The most vulnerable groups are children below 5 years of age and pregnant women, of whom 64% and 53% respectively are anemic. The main reason for this deficiency is inadequate iron intake. Heme iron consumption is very low, and non-heme iron is virtually the only source of iron in the diet. Despite regional differences in food consumption, wheat, salt and sugar are widely consumed in all areas. Wheat is likely to be the most suitable food vehicle for iron fortification due to the processing required. Based on the recent food consumption surveys conducted in Lima by the IIN, we selected examples of typical main meals and measured iron bioavailability in the diet using an extrinsic tag method with 1.5 #mu#Ci of "5"9Fe and 5 #mu#Ci of "5"5Fe as markers. Coffee with bread and butter for breakfast, noodle soup with vegetables, rice with ...
This paper describes the results of a model intercomparision exercise for predicting tritium transport through foodchains. Modellers were asked to assume that farmland was exposed for one hour to an average concentration in air of 10{sup 4} MBq tritium m{sup -3}. They were given the initial soil moisture content and 30 days of hourly averaged historical weather and asked to predict HTO and OBT concentrations in foods at selected times up to 30 days later when crops were assumed to be harvested. Two fumigations were postulated, one at 10.00 h (i.e., in day-light), and the other at 24.00 h (i.e., in darkness).Predicted environmental media concentrations after the daytime exposure agreed within an order of magnitude in most cases. Important sources of differences were variations in choices of numerical values for transport parameters. The different depths of soil layers used in the models appeared to make important contributions to differences in predictions for the ...
Probabilistic assessment methods can be used to identify specific plant vulnerabilities. Application of such methods can also facilitate selection among system design alternatives available for safety enhancements. The quality of assessment results is however strongly dependent on realistic and accurate input data for modelling of system component behaviour and failure modes during conditions to be assessed. Use of conservative input data may not lead to results providing guidance on safety upgrades. Adequate input data for probabilistic assessments seems to be lacking for at least failure modes of some electrical components when exposed to a fire. This report presents an attempt to improve the situation with respect to such input data. In order to take advantage of information in existing documentation of fire incident occurrences some of the lessons learned from the fire at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant on March 22, 1975 are discussed in this report. Also a ...
Hox genes encode a family of transcriptional regulators that operate differential developmental programs along the anteroposterior axis of bilateral animals. Regulatory changes affecting Hox gene expression are believed to have been crucial for the evolution of animal body plans. In Drosophila melanogaster, Hox expression is post-transcriptionally regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs) acting on target sites located in the 3' untranslated regions (3'UTRs) of Hox mRNAs. Notably, recent work has shown that during D. melanogaster development Hox genes produce mRNAs with variable 3'UTRs (short and long forms) in different sets of tissues as a result of alternative polyadenylation; importantly, Hox short and long 3'UTRs contain very different target sites for miRNAs. Here, we use a computational approach to explore the evolution of Hox 3'UTRs treated with especial regard to miRNA regulation. Our work is focused on the 12 Drosophila species for which genomic sequences are ...
It is hypothesized that systemic ??-noradrenergic antagonists may interfere with the transmission of sensory stimulation, particularly vaginal--cervical stimulation (VCS), which is crucial for reproductive functioning. To determine if ??-noradrenergic transmission receptor activity is necessary for transmission of sensory information important for VCS-dependent events, we conducted an experiment using prazosin, a ??-noradrenergic receptor antagonist. First, three doses of prazosin (1.0, 0.5 or 0.1 mg/kg) or the 10% ETOH in sesame oil vehicle were administered i.p. and sexual receptivity was assessed 30 min later in ovariectomized, hormone-treated female rats. The 1 mg/kg dose of prazosin significantly inhibited lordosis quotients and lordosis ratings. This dose of prazosin (1.0 mg/kg) was then administered 30 min prior to VCS or control scapular stimulation (CSS) and Fos-IR was examined in the posterodorsal medial amygdala (MeaPD), the medial preoptic area (mPOA), and the rostral ...
Development of food preservation and processing techniques by radiation was performed. Gamma irradiation at 2-10 kGy is considered to be an effective method to control pathogenic bacteria in species including Escherichia coli O157:H7. Gamma irradiation at 5 kGy completely eliminated pathogenic bacteria in beef. Gamma irradiation at such doses and subsequent storage at less than 4 deg C could ensure hygienic quality and prolong the microbiological shelf-life resulting from the reduction of spoilage microorganisms. Gamma irradiation on pre-rigor beef shortens the aging-period, improves tenderness and enhances the beef quality. And, a new beef processing method using gamma irradiation, such as in the low salt sausage and hygienic beef patty was developed. Safety tests of gamma-irradiated meats(beefs: 0-5 kGy; porks: 0-30 kGy) in areas such as genotoxicity, acute toxicity, four-week oral toxicity, rat hepato carcinogenesis and the anti oxidative defense system, were not ...
BackgroundDespite an ever-improving understanding of the molecular biology of cancer, the treatment of most cancers has not changed dramatically in the past three decades and drugs that do not discriminate between tumor cells and normal tissues remain the mainstays of anticancer therapy. Since Hsp90 is typically involved in cell proliferation and survival, this is thought to play a key role in cancer, and Hsp90 has attracted considerable interest in recent years as a potential therapeutic target.MethodsWe focused on the interaction of Hsp90 with its cofactor protein p60/Hop, and engineered a cell-permeable peptidomimetic, termed "hybrid Antp-TPR peptide", modeled on the binding interface between the molecular chaperone Hsp90 and the TPR2A domain of Hop.ResultsIt was demonstrated that this designed hybrid Antp-TPR peptide inhibited the interaction of Hsp90 with the TPR2A domain, inducing cell death of breast, pancreatic, renal, lung, prostate, and gastric cancer cell lines in vitro. In ...
Laser spectroscopy measurements have been performed on neutron-deficient and stable Ir isotopes using the COMPLIS experimental setup installed at ISOLDE-CERN. The radioactive Ir atoms were obtained from successive decays of a mass-separated Hg beam deposited onto a carbon substrate after deceleration to 1kV and subsequently laser desorbed. A three-color, two-step resonant scheme was used to selectively ionize the desorbed Ir atoms. The hyperfine structure (HFS) and isotope shift (IS) of the first transition of the ionization path 5d"76s"2"4F_9_/_2#->#5d"76s6p"6F_1_1_/_2 at 351.5nm were measured for "1"8"2"-"1"8"9Ir, "1"8"6Ir"m and the stable "1"9"1","1"9"3Ir. The nuclear magnetic moments #mu#_I and the spectroscopic quadrupole moments Q_s were obtained from the HFS spectra and the change of the mean square charge radii from the IS measurements. The sign of #mu#_I was experimentally determined for the first time for the masses 182#=#+0.2 for the lighter group ...
Life cycle oriented methods are increasingly used for environmental assessments (EAs) of the built environment. However, many assumptions are made in such assessments, potentially influencing the results and making the assessment more ambiguous. To increase the reliability of EAs, consequences of the assumptions made have to be better understood. Since energy use in the operation and maintenance phase is an important factor decisive for the overall environmental performance of a building, the purpose of this study is to investigate how the selection of heat and electricity mix affects the assessed environmental performance of buildings. It also aims to suggest how to choose heat and electricity data in EAs of the built environment in general. Applying four different modes of electricity production and two different modes of heat production in a case study of three different buildings with different technical solutions for heat and electricity ...
Cassava chips (cassava balls, and cassava pellets) are derived cassava products traditionally produced by farmers in sub-Saharan Africa following fermentation, and drying of fresh roots of cassava, and are widely consumed in Cameroon. Once produced, this food commodity can be stored for more than two months and contaminated by a wide array of harmful microbes. In order to assess persistence of toxigenic fungi in cassava chips, aflatoxin-producing fungi (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus nomius, and Aspergillus parasiticus) and aflatoxins were contrasted at regular intervals in home-stored cassava chips collected in two locations of southern Cameroon throughout a two-month monitoring period. Three hundred and forty-six isolates of aflatoxin-producing fungi were found to be associated with all samples. A. flavus contaminated more samples in both types of chips (267 isolates in 53 samples), followed by A. nomius (58 isolates in 15 samples), whereas A. parasiticus was rarest. A direct ...
The presence of the nitrogen-fixing shrub, Alnus incana ssp. rugosa, influences the concentration of inorganic nitrogen in surface waters in the Adirondack Mountain region of northern New York. - The purpose of this research was to determine the abundance of the nitrogen-fixing shrub, Alnus incana ssp. rugosa (speckled alder), in shrub wetlands of the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State and to determine whether its abundance affects the concentration or accumulation of inorganic nitrogen in wetland substrates. Alder/willow wetlands are the second most common wetland type in the Adirondack region. The Adirondack Park Agency's digital GIS database of wetland types was used to determine the areal extent of alder/willow wetlands in the Adirondacks. Randomly selected wetlands were sampled to determine the size and abundance of alder. Alder densities averaged {approx}7000 stems ha{sup -1} and alder was present in 75% of the ...
The five thermal-hydraulic concepts chosen for conceptual study of advanced PWR systems have been studied as follows: (1) Critical Heat Flux in passive PWR Conditions: review of previous works (various of correlations, analysis of parametric trends) on CHF, assessment and improvement of CHF prediction models for round tubes, development of the prediction model on bundle CHF with considering the correction factor calculated from the tube data base, design and construction of the intermediate-pressure CHF experimental loop, extension of CHF data base by performing the experiments at low-flow, and low-quality conditions (2) Passive Cooling Concepts for Concrete Containment Systems: Selection of the external condenser by comparing and reviewing between passive cooling concepts for concrete containment system concepts, survey and review of previous studies (theoretical mechanism of condensation heat transfer and effect of non-condensable gases) on the condensation ...
Full text of publication follows: Low activation ferritic/martensitic steels are receiving a high priority in the European long term materials research. Although extensively investigated, the available experimental data do not cover all required parameter ranges and cannot unambiguously be used to produce hardening/embrittlement trend curves. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to provide a physically-based engineering model offering a rational to experimental observations. From the literature, experimental data were selected to establish a database that mainly consists of 8 to 9Cr-steels irradiated in the range of 50 to 600 deg. C up to 30 dpa and with a He-content up to 5000 appm. The database includes neutron and proton irradiations, He-implanted as well as B- and Ni-doped steels. Because of the difficulty of interpretation inherent to the Charpy impact test, only tensile data were considered. The difficulty stems from the large range of specimen sizes ...
Particle shape is an important parameter in numerous civil, environmental, and petroleum engineering applications. In ground-water flow, the shape of individual particles comprising the soil affects the soil`s pore size distribution and, hence, the important flow characteristics such as hydraulic conductivity and headloss. A model for delineating the relative importance of particle size, particle shape, and porosity, (and their interactions), in explaining the variability of hydraulic conductivity of a granular porous medium is developed and tested. Three types of porous media are considered in this work: spherical glass beads; granular sand; and irregularly shaped, shredded glass particles. A reliable method for quantifying the three-dimensional shape and packing of large samples of irregular particles based on their angle of repose is presented. The results of column experiments indicate that in the size range examined (i.e., 149 {micro}m to 2,380 {micro}m), the ...
The goal of the present work was to determine the impact of N3-methyladenine (3-mA), an important lesion generated by many environmental agents and anticancer drugs, on in vivo DNA replication and in vitro RNA transcription. Due to 3-mA chemical instability, the stable isostere 3-methyl-3-deazaadenine (3-m-c(3)A) was site specifically positioned into an oligodeoxynucleotide. The oligomer was, then incorporated into a vector system that is rapidly converted to ssDNA inside yeast cells and requires DNA replication opposite the lesion for plasmid clonal selection. For control purposes, an adenine or a stable apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP)-lesion was placed at the same site. The presence of each lesion in the oligonucleotide was confirmed by MALDI-TOF analysis. Plasmids were then transfected into yeast cells. While the AP-site dramatically reduced plasmid replication in all strains, the 3-m-c(3)A had a slight effect in the rad30 background which significantly increased ...
BackgroundFeature selection is an important pre-processing task in the analysis of complex data. Selecting an appropriate subset of features can improve classification or clustering...Full Text Available
The development of several DDT-resistant strains of Anopheles atroparvus is described. They were selected by larval treatment only (RL), selection of larval and adult females (RLAF),...Full Text Available
... TITLE (Include Security Classification) Sorption of Selected Volatile Organic Constituents of Jet Fuels and Solvents on Natural Sorbents from Gas ...
Sep 21, 2006 ... NASA has selected Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, Pa., to design, furnish and install a plant to produce liquid nitrogen for ...
Here, we show that the consequences of deficient micronutrient (β-carotene) intake during larval stages of Manduca sexta are carried across metamorphosis, affecting adult behaviour....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
The performance of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converter for solar energy is compared with that of direct solar energy conversion by silicon and germanium solar cells. The optical selectivity of an intermediate emitter is computed. Experimental results on selective emission, based on selectively emitting materials and on antireflection coatings on metals, are reported. For a TPV converter equipped with silicon solar cells, no selective emitter is found to yield better results than would be obtained by direct conversion. A TPV converter with germanium cells operating with a ThO/sub 2/-coated tungsten emitter, however, may achieve a conversion efficiency superior to that of direct solar energy conversion by either silicon or germanium solar cells.
Ecosystems worldwide are experiencing unprecedented nitrogen enrichment through fertilization and pollution. While longterm ecological consequences are difficult to predict, it seems that plants and animals adapted to nitrogen-limited environments are at particular risk from these changes. This report summarizes the limited body of literature which addresses this important topic. From a herbivoreAes perspective, fertilization increases the nutritional quality of host plant tissues. In some cases fertilization has lead to decreased production of defensive compounds. How this affects populations of insects is unclear because fertilization affects not only herbivores but their natural enemies. This report outlines how fertilization affects tree processes such as growth, photosynthesis, and production of defensive compounds. The many factors that affect insect repsonse to fertilization and the difficulties ...
Initially, the decision of the operator in Dortmund-Derne to select the impact-type separator concept is explained. None of the tenderers for this 52 t/h boiler could supply references for this fluidized bed steam generator concept with staged combustion in a high-expansion fluidized bed. Under the circumstances, the simple configuration of the Steinmueller fluidized bed steam generator, its compact construction, the reduced amount of refractory and the operational behaviour of the boiler resulting therefrom were decisive in the operator`s decision to select this concept. The development schedule shows the individual stages from cold and hot trials in various test rigs and pilot plants to the final design. So far, this fluidized bed steam generator concept has been realized in the plants Derne (52 t/h), commissioned in November 1989, and Brilon (100 t/h), commissioned in November 1990. The discussion on the essential design features points out ...
Calcined and sulfided Ni-Mo catalysts supported on ultrastable Y zeolite (USY), NaY zeolite, mordenite, and ZSM-5 were studied by high-resolution electron transmission microscopy (HRTEM) with selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Ni and Mo oxide aggregates were rarely observed in the USY-supported Ni-Mo catalyst, indicating that most of Ni and Mo may be incorporated into USY, e.g., supercavities and possibly sodalite cages. However, there were a large number of {alpha}-NiMoO{sub 4} aggregates of different particle sizes in NaY-, mordenite-, and ZSM-5-supported catalysts, and the mordenite-supported catalyst also contained MoO{sub 3} crystals. The {alpha}-NiMoO{sub 4} may be attached to the surface of substrates as individual particles or needle aggregates, it may be disseminated into mordenite particles, or it may even form an isolated sphere (in Ni-Mo/NaY) or a needle (in Ni-Mo/ZSM-5) aggregates. Thus, most of Ni and ...
Laser spectroscopy measurements have been performed on neutron-deficient and stable Ir isotopes using the COMPLIS experimental setup installed at ISOLDE-CERN. The radioactive Ir atoms were obtained from successive decays of a mass-separated Hg beam deposited onto a carbon substrate after deceleration to 1kV and subsequently laser desorbed. A three-color, two-step resonant scheme was used to selectively ionize the desorbed Ir atoms. The hyperfine structure (HFS) and isotope shift (IS) of the first transition of the ionization path 5d{sup 7}6s{sup 24}F{sub 9/2}{yields}5d{sup 7}6s6p{sup 6}F{sub 11/2} at 351.5nm were measured for {sup 182-189}Ir, {sup 186}Ir{sup m} and the stable {sup 191,193}Ir. The nuclear magnetic moments {mu}{sub I} and the spectroscopic quadrupole moments Q{sub s} were obtained from the HFS spectra and the change of the mean square charge radii from the IS measurements. The sign of {mu}{sub I} was experimentally determined for the first time for ...
Despite the rapid development of literature pertaining to fundamental (1-4) studies of oxidation catalysis, a general theory of heterogeneous selective oxidation catalysis explaining the selectivity behavior of different metal oxide systems has not yet been developed. Redox mechanisms have been widely invoked in the kinetic and mechanistic descriptions of selective oxidation reactions, suggesting a dynamic behavior of hydrocarbon and oxygen interactions with the catalyst surface. Nevertheless, most of the recent theoretical approaches of this subject matter (5-7) are essentially static in nature. Correlations are made with surface structure on the basis of crystallographic considerations with selectivity being related to the nature, number, bond-strength and nearness of oxygen atoms in the neighborhood of adsorption centers. The effect of the reaction medium on the configuration of the catalyst surface, ...
This study reports on the physical-chemical behaviour of swelling di-octahedral clays (smectites) and their interaction with aqueous solutions and bacteria (Shewanella putrefaciens). Experimental results are presented for compacted clays, hydrated under confined volume conditions, using a new type of reaction-cell (the 'wet-cell' of Warr and Hoffman, 2004) that was designed for in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement. For comparison, dispersed clay systems were studied using standard batch solutions subjected to varying degrees of agitation. The combination of time-dependent in situ XRD measurements with gravimetric measurements and calculated diffraction patterns using the CALCMIX software (Plancon and Drits, 1999) allowed to successful quantification of the dynamics of water uptake and storage. This analytical procedure combined with published water vapour adsorption data enabled determination of the abundance of structured water layers, developed in the ...
Educational data mining (EDM) is a new growing research area and the essence of data mining concepts are used in the educational field for the purpose of extracting useful information on the behaviors of students in the learning process. In this EDM, feature selection is to be made for the generation of subset of candidate variables. As the feature selection influences the predictive accuracy of any performance model, it is essential to study elaborately the effectiveness of student performance model in connection with feature selection techniques. In this connection, the present study is devoted not only to investigate the most relevant subset features with minimum cardinality for achieving high predictive performance by adopting various filtered feature selection techniques in data mining but also to evaluate the goodness of subsets with different cardinalities and the quality of six filtered feature ...
ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to identify patterns of brain activation elicited by erotic visual stimuli in patients treated with either Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors...Full Text Available
The objectives of this study were to select and initially characterize mutants of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv Williams) with decreased ability to reduce nitrate. Selection involved...Full Text Available
Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) represent a class with a growing number of compounds that act as either estrogen receptor agonists or antagonists in a tissue-specific manner. This article...Full Text Available
Types of disorders in the earth's surface as a result of open pit mining operations are analyzed. Trends for recultivation of lands are defined. Formulas are presented for calculating the economic expediency of the selected direction of recultivation.
The objectives of this research are: (1) to assess selected formulation-relevant physical properties of several commercial Feverfew extracts, including flowability, hygroscopicity, compressibility and...Full Text Available
Direct identification of group B streptococci from a selective broth medium was performed with the Phadebact streptococcus test to determine the feasibility of this technique for early detection of...Full Text Available
We evaluated whether ejaculatory dysfunction induced with a selective α1A-blocker influenced orgasm. Fifteen healthy male volunteers took silodosin or a placebo in a randomized, double-blind...Full Text Available
Importance of the fieldThe cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms that are selectively induced following exposure to structurally-diverse chemicals often are the ones capable...Full Text Available
BackgroundScorpion venom contains insect and mammal selective toxins. We investigated the venom of the South Indian red scorpion, Mesobuthus tamulus for the purpose...Full Text Available
With the advent of dense maps of human genetic variation, it is now possible to detect positive natural selection across the human genome. Here we report an analysis of over 3 million polymorphisms...Full Text Available
BackgroundMicroarray data are often used for patient classification and gene selection. An appropriate tool for end users and biomedical researchers should combine user friendliness...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the commercial microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA), Abbott IMx Select Chlamydia, for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in women and to compare its performance with endocervical...Full Text Available
We compared MRSA Select to mannitol-salt agar with 8 μg/ml cefoxitin for the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from 6,199 clinical...Full Text Available
Many pathogens colonize different anatomical sites, but the selective pressures contributing to survival in the diverse niches are poorly understood. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is...Full Text Available
In this paper, we propose an antenna selection method in a wireless cognitive radio (CR) system, namely difference selection, whereby a single transmit antenna is selected at the secondary transmitter out of $M$ possible antennas such that the weighted difference between the channel gains of the data link and the interference link is maximized. We analyze mutual information and outage probability of the secondary transmission in a CR system with difference antenna selection, and propose a method of optimizing these performance metrics of the secondary data link subject to practical constraints on the peak secondary transmit power and the average interference power as seen by the primary receiver. The optimization is performed over two parameters: the peak secondary transmit power and the difference selection weight $\\delta\\in [0, 1]$. We show that, difference ...
Recombinant biotin-binding phages were affinity-selected from a random peptide library expressed on the surface of filamentous phage. Phage binding to biotinylated proteins was half-maximally inhibited...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVES: Although the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline is extensively used in the prophylactic treatment of chronic tension-type headache, only few studies have investigated the efficacy of...Full Text Available
Six patient assessment systems that have explicit decision rules for replicating team judgments on level of care patient placement were selected for analysis. The six were selected because of their...Full Text Available
Surface temperature is measured with an infrared thermometer. Measuring Surface Temperature. Nine sample points are selected with a site of uniform land ...
Selection of detailed-items for Periodic Safety Review on PWR radwaste management system, the main component could be faithfully clarified according to the purpose of establishment on each system and basic purpose. It is proper to select detailed-items those of radioactivities in the reactor coolant activity levels and the released volume of liquid and gaseous radioactive material on safety performance. It's also proper to select solid radwaste production quantities as detailed-item that it would be predict the next ten years trends after PSR.
2.1.1 Levels of preservation and packaging and the levels of packing to be applied selectively are defined in MIL-STD-2073-1 and are mandatory for use or ...
Current technical specifications of Wolsong Unit 2,3,4 was analyzed and improvement methods was suggested to develop Improved Standard Technical Specifications(ISTS) of PHWR. The selection criteria of PHWR limiting condition for operation(LCO) was established, then limiting conditions for operationl were selected. The number of current LCOs for Wolsong Units 2,3,4 is 109, and 46 LCOs(42%) were relocated by the selection criteria of PHWR LCO. 63 LCOs which met the selection criteria of PHWR LCO were recomposed to 59 LCOs.
After some observations about the tests of the research exposed in the literature, authors illustrate the tests for 142 patients divided into 5 groups: a) patients affected with acute viral hepatitis; b) patients affected with praegressa acute viral hepatitis; c) relatives of patients with acute viral hepatitis; d) volunteers; e) patients affected with chronic uraemia under dialisis periodic treatment. After the testing control, authors, conclude with an hipotesis: a possible epidemic function of faeces, urine saliva, in the passage of the acute viral hepatitis. PMID:488577
The article explains the method of selecting the optimum energy for correcting the energy selectivity of tomographic projection and the optimum length of the crystals corresponding to it when the dual energy method in computerized tomography is used. Results of numerical calculations for actual materials and count results are presented.
In this paper, a new design methodology for determining the size, location, type and number of capacitors to be placed on a radial distribution system is presented. The objective is to minimize the peak power losses and the energy losses in the distribution system considering the capacitor cost. A sensitivity analysis based method is used to select the candidate locations for the capacitors. A new optimization method using a Genetic Algorithm is proposed to determine the optimal selection of capacitors. Test results have been presented along with the discussion of the algorithm.
Investigation of selective emitter solar cells has been undertaken using both device fabrication and accurate two-dimensional simulation program. Our results show that selective emitter solar cells exhibit a relatively low fill factor because of minority carriers crowding at the lateral junction. It is also found that carrier recombination in the space-charge region of the lateral junction limits open-circuit voltage improvements
Isotopically selective IR multiphoton dissociation of molecules (SF_6, CF_3I) in a pulsed gas-dynamic flow interacting with a solid surface was studied for the first time. A noticeable (severalfold) increase in the yield of products (compared to excitation of molecules in an unperturbed flow) without a substantial decrease in the selectivity of the process was observed. Possible reasons for the effect are discussed. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)
Supplement B to the Terra Nova Development Application provides a description of the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel system selected for the development, a summary of the reasons for selecting the system, and the impact of this selection on the Development Plan, the Benefits Plan, the Environmental Impact Statement and the Socio-Economic Impact Statement. There is also a description of the contractor alliance approach to be used in the Terra Nova Development. Refs., tabs., figs.
Coatings and sensors having both steric and chemical selectivity. Controlled porosity provides the steric selectivity, whereas chemically tailored film properties, using controlled composition or modification by coupling agents, chemical species replacement, or chemical species within pores, provide the chemical selectivity. Single or multiple layers may be provided.
BACKGROUNDHirsutism is the presence of excess body or facial terminal (coarse) hair growth in females in a male-like pattern, affects 5–15% of women, and is an important...Full Text Available
The objective of this study was to evaluate how the vehicles of choice affect the pharmacokinetics of orally administered Fluoranthene [FLA] in rats. Fluoranthene is a member of the family of...Full Text Available
Recessive mutations of the early phase change (epc) gene in maize affect several aspects of plant development. These mutations were identified initially because of...Full Text Available
Mitochondria are the major sites where energy is produced in the cell. Functions of organs such as the heart which has high energy demand are seriously affected by dysfunction of mitochondria....Full Text Available
... 500 ppm, boron increases the 0.2% offset strength; results show that boron doping does not appreciably affect ultimate compressive strength; for 0 ...
IntroductionShoulder pain covers a wide range of problems and affects up to 20% of the population. It is not a specific diagnosis. Shoulder pain can be caused by problems with the...Full Text Available
Reference failures, and their increase in affectively negative conditions (known as affective reactivity of speech), are more frequently observed in schizophrenia patients than in normal controls, but no information is available comparing schizophrenia with depression, ie, a mental disorder closely linked to the concept of affective reactivity. To address this gap in the literature, the present study compared 24 schizophrenia inpatients, 21 unipolar depression inpatients and 21 normal controls. Two 10-minute conversational speech samples (1 on negative and 1 on positive memories) were collected from each patient. The transcripts of the audiotaped interviews were analyzed blindly for frequencies of 6 types of referential failures, employing the Communication Disturbances Index, adapted for ...
BackgroundHealth service databases of administrative type can be a useful tool for the study of progression of a disease, but the data reported in such sources could be affected...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of complicating and concurrent morbidities in older diabetic patients and to evaluate to what extent their occurrence affects the burden of...Full Text Available
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
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
BackgroundChanges in levels of estradiol and progesterone that occur with the transition to reproductive senescence may influence nociception or affect.Full Text Available
The temporal synchrony of auditory and visual signals is known to affect the perception of an external event, yet it is unclear what neural mechanisms underlie the influence of temporal synchrony...Full Text Available
... System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). ... retirement, thrift savings plan, annual and sick leave, severance pay and ...
The physical demands of performing on musical instruments can cause pain, sensory loss, and lack of coordination. Five cases illustrate common problems. Knowledge of the interaction between the technique...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 ...
BackgroundMalaria is one of the most important tropical diseases that affects people globally. The influence of environmental conditions in the patterns of temporal distribution...Full Text Available
Lichen striatus begins similarly to lichen planus, with small bumps (papules), but over a period of days expands to form a long streak or band of affected ...
Aging is a biological process that affects most cells, organisms and species. Human aging is associated with increased susceptibility to a variety of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease,...Full Text Available
where I was in El Paso, I could always look up and see the smokestacks of the old Asarco smelter looming. The facility affected the city in more ways than that constant visual...
where I was in El Paso, I could always look up and see the smokestacks of the old Asarco smelter looming. The facility affected the city in more ways than that constant visual...
... 2. Help women become accepted by providing job-related training, creating flexible work groups with good climates, and encourage supervisors to ...
Periodontitis is an infectious process characterized by inflammation affecting the supporting structures of the teeth. Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major oral bacterial species implicated...Full Text Available
... content of the environment) are significant factors affecting the useful service life of adhesive bonded plastic composite sandwich panels at 650 F ...
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) persists as a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease and is characterized by the production of autoantibodies and immune complexes that affects multiple organs....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
SummaryCongenital lobar emphysema (CLE) characterized by over distension and air-trapping in the affected lobe is one of the causes of infantile respiratory distress requiring...Full Text Available
... Deepwater Program is a 25-year, $24 billion plan to replace or modernize its fleet of vessels, aircraft, and information management capabilities. ...
Primary cardiac angiosarcoma is a rare cardiac tumor. The initial clinical course is often asymptomatic, and metastatic disease is present in a majority of affected patients at diagnosis. We present...Full Text Available
Sep 1, 2011 ... Title: Application of chloropicrin to Douglas-fir stumps to control laminated root rot does not affect infection or growth of regeneration 16 growing ...
Hypertension affects most hemodialysis patients and is often poorly controlled. Adequate control of blood pressure is difficult with conventional hemodialysis alone but is important to improve...Full Text Available
Aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the troposphere and exert an important influence on global climate and the environment. They affect climate through scattering, transmission, and absorption of...Full Text Available
We report the influence of a small quantity of Cl[sub 2], which enhanced the selectivity of silicon-selective epitaxial growth (Si-SEG) in UHV-CVD using Si[sub 2]H[sub 6], on both the epitaxial growth rate and the B-doping properties for each Si and Si[sub 1-x]Ge[sub x] film. The small quantity of Cl[sub 2] inhibited the Si, Ge and B incorporation, while the selectivity was enhanced. However, it was found, in the case of Si[sub 1-x]Ge[sub x]-SEG using Cl[sub 2], that the reduction ratio of both the growth rate and the B incorporation were smaller than those of Si-SEG with the selectivity still more enhanced. (orig.)
Selective formation of ZnO nanodots was accomplished by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on nanopatterned SiO_2/Si substrates. Self-organized ZnO nanodots were selectively formed in nanopatterned lines of Si created by etching of SiO_2 with focused ion beam (FIB), whereas any nanodots were hardly observed on the SiO_2 surface in the vicinity of the FIB-sputtered Si areas. The mechanism of the selective formation of ZnO nanodots on FIB-nanopatterned lines is mainly attributed to the effective migration of Zn adatoms diffusing on the SiO_2 surface into the Si lines followed by the nucleation at surface atomic steps and kinks created by Ga"+ ion sputtering. Cathodoluminescence measurements confirmed that the emission originated from the selectively grown ZnO nanodots.
Model selection aims to determine which theoretical models are most plausible given some data, without necessarily asking about the preferred values of the model parameters. A common model selection question is to ask when new data require introduction of an additional parameter, describing a newly-discovered physical effect. We review several model selection statistics, and then focus on use of the Bayesian evidence, which implements the usual Bayesian analysis framework at the level of models rather than parameters. We describe our CosmoNest code, which is the first computationally-efficient implementation of Bayesian model selection in a cosmological context. We apply it to recent WMAP satellite data, examining the need for a perturbation spectral index differing from the scale-invariant (Harrison-Zel'dovich) case.
Feature selection refers to the problem of selecting relevant features which produce the most predictive outcome. In particular, feature selection task is involved in datasets containing huge number of features. Rough set theory has been one of the most successful methods used for feature selection. However, this method is still not able to find optimal subsets. This paper proposes a new feature selection method based on Rough set theory hybrid with Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) in an attempt to combat this. This proposed work is applied in the medical domain to find the minimal reducts and experimentally compared with the Quick Reduct, Entropy Based Reduct, and other hybrid Rough Set methods such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO).
We consider relay selection technique in a cooperative cellular network where user terminals act as mobile relays to help the communications between base station (BS) and mobile station (MS). A novel relay selection scheme, called Joint Uplink and Downlink Relay Selection (JUDRS), is proposed in this paper. Specifically, we generalize JUDRS in two key aspects: (i) relay is selected jointly for uplink and downlink, so that the relay selection overhead can be reduced, and (ii) we consider to minimize the weighted total energy consumption of MS, relay and BS by taking into account channel quality and traffic load condition of uplink and downlink. Information theoretic analysis of the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff demonstrates that the proposed scheme achieves full spatial diversity in the quantity of cooperating terminals in this network. And numerical results are provided to further ...
... All rickettsial diseases respond to treatment with antibiotics such as doxycycline and tetracycline As of 10 May, the Government of South Africa has reported 186 confirmed cases of RVF in humans, including 18 deaths, in Free State Province, Eastern Cape Province, Northern Cape Province, Western Cape, and North West Province. RVF is a viral disease that primarily affects animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and camels). The disease can also affect humans. The main mode of transmission of RVF ...
Eight patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were examined preoperative to locate the affected parathyroid glands. The localisation was done with technetium 99m and thallium 201. This new method seems to be of great value to locate preoperative the affected parathyroid glands. (R.B.).
BackgroundType 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) affects persons of all ages, while also placing heavy economic burdens on national economies and healthcare systems. The study aims to investigate...Full Text Available
Within the tight binding framework, a study is made of how the disorder affects the electronic properties of A-15 compounds. In particular it is shown that for compounds of two transition metals in the A-15 structure, the vacancy formation affects the density of states only in the low energy region or in the high energy region, in opposition with the isolated chain model of Labbe and Friedel. It is concluded that interchain interactions are important. (U.K.).
The United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) has recently implemented a series of strategic initiatives to address long-term radiological surveillance needs at former U.S. nuclear test sites in the Marshall Islands. The plan is to engage local atoll communities in developing shared responsibilities for implementing radiation protection monitoring programs for resettled and resettling populations in the northern Marshall Islands. Using the pooled resources of the U.S. DOE and local atoll governments, individual radiological surveillance programs have been developed in whole body counting and plutonium urinalysis in order to accurately assess radiation doses resulting from the ingestion and uptake of fallout radionuclides contained in locally grown foods. Permanent whole body counting facilities have been established at three separate locations in the Marshall Islands including Rongelap Atoll (Figure 1). These facilities are operated and maintained by Marshallese technicians with ...
This report describes experimental results for the selective removal of strontium and cesium from simulated waste solutions using monosodium titanate (MST) and crystalline silicotitanate (CST)-laden filter cartridges. Four types of ion exchange cartridge media (CST and MST designed by both 3M and POROX{reg_sign}) were evaluated. In these proof-of-principle tests effective uptake of both Sr-85 and Cs-137 was observed. However, the experiments were not performed long enough to determine the saturation levels or breakthrough curve for each filter cartridge. POREX{reg_sign} MST cartridges, which by design were based on co-sintering of the active titanates with polyethylene particles, seem to perform as well as the 3M-designed MST cartridges (impregnated filter membrane design) in the uptake of strontium. At low salt simulant conditions (0.29 M Na{sup +}), the instantaneous decontamination factor (D{sub F}) for Sr-85 with the 3M-design MST cartridge measured 26, ...
The problem of model selection arises in a number of contexts, such as subset selection in linear regression, estimation of structures in graphical models, and signal denoising. This paper generalizes the notion of "incoherence" in the existing literature on model selection and introduces two fundamental measures of coherence---termed as the worst-case coherence and the average coherence---among the columns of a design matrix. It utilizes these two measures of coherence to provide an in-depth analysis of two variants of a simple one-step thresholding (OST) algorithm for model selection and proves that OST is feasible for model selection as long as the design matrix obeys an easily verifiable property. One of the key insights offered by the ensuing analysis in this regard is that if the design matrix has reasonably small worst-case and average coherence then OST performs ...
Long-term divergent selection for low or high body weight from the same founder population has generated two extremely divergent lines of chickens, the high- (HWS) and low-weight (LWS) selected lines. At selection age (56?days), the lines differ by more than nine times in body weight. The HWS line chickens are compulsive feeders, whereas in the LWS line, some individuals are anorexic and others have very low appetite. Previous studies have implicated the central nervous system and particularly the hypothalamus in these behavioural differences. Here, we compared the mRNA expression in hypothalamus tissue from chickens on day?4 post-hatch using oligonucleotide arrays and found that the divergent selection had resulted in minor but multiple expression differences. Differentially expressed gen...
Object: To smoothly control automatic water supply for realizing stable operation of a nuclear reactor by providing a flow rate limiting signal selection circuit and a preferential circuit in a water supply control device for a nuclear reactor wherein the speed of a recirculation pump may be changed in two-steps. Structure: Opening angle signals for a water supply regulating valve are controlled by a nuclear reactor water level signal, a vapor flow rate signal and a supplied water flow rate signal through an adder and an adjuster in response to a predetermined water level setting signal. When the water in the reactor is maintained at a predetermined level, a selection circuit receives a water pump condition signal for selecting one of the signals from a supplied water rate limiting signal generator generating signals for indicating whether one or two water supply pumps are operated. A low value preferential circuit passes ...
The authors present the emitter efficiency results for the thin film 25 percent Ho YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet, Y3Al5O12) selective emitter from 1000 to 1700 K with a platinum substrate. Spectral emittance and emissive power measurements were made (1.2 less than lambda less than 3.2 microns) and used to calculate the radiative efficiency. The radiative efficiency and power density of rare earth doped selective emitters are strongly dependent on temperature and experimental results indicate an optimum temperature (1650 K for Ho YAG) for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) applications.
Single and selective pole tripping schemes may be used to maintain a desired level of system integrity while minimizing transmission line expenditures. In general, these schemes will be most effective on those portions of the system where relatively few interconnections exist. While selective pole tripping may superficially appear to provide more margin than single pole schemes in the preservation of system stability, it seems unlikely that in those actual applications where single pole tripping is warranted that selective pole tripping will provide any significant advantages.
For the selective extraction of radionuclides from nitrate media, the extractabilities of organo-poly-phosphine poly-oxides were examined in the form of impregnated resins. It was found that the extractability of 1,1,3,5,5-pentaphenyl-1,3,5-tri-phospha-pentane trioxide (PPTPT) for U(VI) is quite unusual with very high values at both low and high concentrations of nitric acid, which is not observed for other types of extractants. Thus, this extractant might be promising for the selective extraction of U(VI) in very high concentrations of HNO3. (authors)
High-resolution spectroscopy of 13 bright red giants and Ba stars shows selective enhancement of Ba in three of them, HD 65699 (Ba 2), ..cap alpha..TrA (K4 III), and epsilonPeg (K2 Ib). Infrared spectra available for HD 65699 show that Sr is enhanced, too. This selective enhancement is discussed in terms of a modified s-process which converts some of the pre-existing r- and s-process matter into the magic nuclei /sup 88/Sr and /sup 138/Ba.
The transverse modes of a submillimetre laser cavity that contains waveguides and open parts were studied theoretically and experimentally with the purpose of finding methods for mode selection. Two methods based on the filtering of the Fourier spectra of the waveguide modes and the use of their interference were substantiated numerically and realised in experiment. Special attention was paid to the mode selection in tunable lasers. Scaling laws allowing one to use the obtained results in a wide range of the cavity parameters and wavelengths are presented. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)
A method for analyzing the experimental results of coal liquefaction reactions which is applicable to a number of aspects of coal liquefaction research and process control, including rapid selectivity and performance screening for catalysts; correlation of laboratory results with process parameters; and optimization of product yield with plant process conditions is described here. Ternary diagrams of product/by-product distributions for the coal liquefaction using Co/Mo catalysts combined with a hyperbolic relationship for the conversion of various hydrocarbon fractions can be used for catalyst screening. A hydrogen consumption diagram used to provide a more significant selectivity test than the hyperbolic correlation is also included. (BLM)
Oxidation of propylene with oxygen, air and a mixture of nitrogen?oxygen in a barrier discharge is investigated. The selectivity towards formation of propylene oxide in pure oxygen is shown to be as high as 45 wt% and the propylene conversion ratio is found to be 12.9 wt%. In the oxidation with air, the propylene oxide selectivity is 23 wt%, while the conversion is 7.5 wt%. The values of propylene conversion and selectivity towards formation of propylene oxide in a barrier discharge are consistent with those obtained by the thermocatalytic methods for production of propylene oxide.
In this paper, it is suggested that the selection method of optimal parameter of power system stabilizer (PSS) with robustness in low frequency oscillation for power system using real variable elitism genetic algorithm (RVEGA). The optimal parameters were selected in the case of power system stabilizer with one lead compensator, and two lead compensator. Also, the frequency responses characteristics of PSS, the system eigenvalues criterion and the dynamic characteristics were considered in the normal load and the heavy load, which proved usefulness of RVEGA compare with Yu's compensator design theory. (author). 20 refs., 15 figs., 8 tabs.
A temperature gradient across a thick ({ge}.1mm) film selective emitter will produce a significant reduction in the spectral emittance from the no temperature gradient case. Thick film selective emitters of rare earth doped host materials such as yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) are examples where temperature gradient effects are important. In this paper a model is developed for the spectral emittance assuming a linear temperature gradient across the film. Results of the model indicate that temperature gradients will result in reductions the order of 20{percent} or more in the spectral emittance. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
This paper presents an analysis of the performance of a selective emitter using small particles of rare earth compounds stable at high temperatures in a low emittance inert gas stream. An expression for the spectral emissive power excluding radiation scattering was derived to include the radiation in the emission band, produced by electronic transitions of the rare earth ion, and the continuum radiation outside the emission band produced by the rare earth host. Preliminary results suggest that a selective emitter based on suspended rare earth oxide particles will have high efficiency and merits further experimental investigation. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}
Sep 1, 2011 ... Recent wildfires in interior Alaska have left substantial volumes of burned timber, potentially usable for biomass energy. Motivated,in part, by ...
Background. To determine total upper limb function following selective neck dissection over a mean follow-up of 1.6 years. Methods. A retrospective questionnaire study in a tertiary head and neck surgical unit. One hundred forty-eight patients who underwent selective neck dissection for head and neck cancer from January 2000 to December 2005 were invited to participate. The main outcome measure was ipsilateral upper limb dysfunction as measured by the Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. Results. Sixty-five patients responded to the invitation to join the study from 148 invited. Despite accessory nerve conserving surgery for all the selective neck dissections studied, 23% reported no upper limb dysfunction, 54% reported mild upper limb dysfunction, 15% reported modera...
Ultraconserved elements (UCEs) are sequences that are identical between reference genomes of distantly related species. As they are under negative selection and enriched near or in specific classes...Full Text Available
The transformation and the accommodation of National Power System (SEN) units to a new management system, own to a decentralized economy and having financial support from both native capital and foreign capital, in uncertain proportion at the moment and being in a continuous adjustment determined by the reasons and the motivations first of all political, generated conceptual changes in the so-called modern management theory. The accommodation of this theory to the concrete situation from SEN units imposed the concept of negative selection. It is a concept which represents author's desire to be created as an original contribution to the contemporary management theory. Unlike the selection at the hiring (or positive selection), the negative selection is achieved on personal already employed, in the conditions of activities of a decreased number of personnel and also of a redistribution of personnel on the ...
We present results on searches for exotic particles (relativistic magnetic monopoles and WIMPs) and for UHE neutrinos, obtained with the Baikal neutrino telescope NT200.
Objectives: To evaluate the training of pharmacists in Accra, Ghana, in the syndromic management of STIs. Methods: We randomly selected 50 pharmacy outlets that had...Full Text Available
A specific radiochemical procedure for indium determination in semiconductor-grade silicon, using an inorganic ion exchanger (cerium oxalate) is proposed.
Deltombe T, Gustin T. Selective tibial neurotomy in the treatment of spastic equinovarus foot in hemiplegic patients: a 2-year longitudinal follow-up of 30 cases. Objective To assess the long-term efficacy of selective tibial neurotomy in the treatment of spastic equinovarus foot in hemiplegic patients. Design Intervention study (before-after trial) with an observational design and 2-year follow-up. Setting Spasticity group in a university hospital. Participants Hemiplegic patients (N=30) with spastic equinovarus foot. Intervention A selective neurotomy was performed at the level of the motor nerve branches of the tibial nerve. Main Outcome Measures Spasticity (Ashworth scale), muscle strength (Medical Research Council scale), passive ankle dorsiflexion, gait parameters (6 min walking test...
This paper proposes a new approach based on missing value pattern discovery for classifying incomplete data. This approach is particularly designed for classification of datasets with a small...Full Text Available
... as the difference between date of birth and date of ... Final model selections were based on the ... approval by the Naval Submarine Medical Research ...
... And those who study cognition select problems (eg, tower of Hanoi, missionaries and cannibals, logic theorems) with minimal perceptual and motor ...
Significant research has been carried out in the recent years for generating systems exhibiting intelligence for realizing optimized routing in networks. In this paper, a grade based twolevel based node selection method along with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique is proposed. It assumes that the nodes are intelligent and there exist a knowledge base about the environment in their local memory. There are two levels for approaching the effective route selection process through grading. At the first level, grade based selection is applied and at the second level, the optimum path is explored using PSO. The simulation has been carried out on different topological structures and it is observed that a graded network produces a significant reduction in number of iteration to arrive at the optimal path selection.
Several years ago, the AGARD Structures and Materials Panel selected ... flow separation appears to have occurred during the tests, and the angles of attack ...
NEWTON's first law prohibits the coupling of free tachyons to ordinary matter, if it is interpreted as selection rule interdicting emission without change of the rest-mass of the emitting system.
The tremendous growth of wireless technologies has introduced the potential of continuous service adaptation to the users' needs by giving them the ability to be able to select and access the proper network based on different criteria. Moreover, next generation wireless networks have been designed to provide support for multimedia services, with different traffic characteristics and different Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. However, the expansion of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) networks poses new research era in the decision of the access network selection. In this paper, the existing access network selection schemes are classified into three categories: the network-centric, the user-centric and the collaborative sche...
Jul 7, 2008 ... HOUSTON -- Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected ... in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the station. ...
The KDP crystal was 10 cm long and cut such that the c-axis was 50.3* to the normal of its input face. We selected for study idler and signal beams ...
BackgroundWhereas there is increasing evidence that loss of expression and/or function of the thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) could result in a selective advantage for tumor development,...Full Text Available
... the area covered by the point-count grid, stopping approximately every 100 m, stepping away from the vehicle, and scanning with binoculars for mountain plovers. Once ... ...
The purpose of this report is to provide management with performance data on key performance indicators selected from the FFTF Early Warning System performance indicators.
... Using a weighted linear regression on randomly selected coincident SSM/I-buoy pairs from each of the climate m codes, it was possible to produce ...
... This is the case for the 82nd Airborne Division ready brigade force (DRB) and the Military Airlift Command (MAC) strategic airlift system operating ...
By using the paired comparison methodology, it was possible to establish evaluative priorities, providing criterion weights which reflected the thoughts and feelings of an advisory committee consisting of experts in the task selection process. For the U.S. Army Infantry School, the weights can be used to stress higher weighted criterion results in the task selection process. By extending the size and diversity of the advisory committee, the use of paired comparison methodology can provide an effective, reliable procedure for (1) constructing evaluative criterion weights for the task selection process and in other areas which have multiple criteria used for evaluative purposes and (2) incorporating into an evaluative design the valuable contributions of various experts and interest groups. (Author/BW)
Direct plating, selective enrichment, and cold enrichment followed by secondary selective enrichment procedures were compared for detecting and enumerating Listeria monocytogenes in chopped cabbage stored at 5 degrees C for up to 64 days. Addition of Fe3+ to solid media enhanced detection of the organism. Cold enrichment (5 degrees C) in nutrient broth and brain heart infusion broth followed by secondary enrichment (48 h, 30 degrees C) in Trypticase soy-yeast extract-antibiotic broth and thiocyanate-nalidixic acid broth and plating on selective agar media (Doyle and Schoeni selective enrichment agar [minus acriflavin hydrochloride, supplemented with 5 micrograms of Fe3+/ml] and McBride Listeria agar) resulted in the detection of highest populations. PMID:3111369
... spontaneous radiation of amplifiers within a relatively w~de range of ... pulse widths are 20-30ns, while amplified spontaneous radiation pulse ...
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The goal of this investigation is to research possible methodologies into automating the design of, specifically, nuclear power facilities; however, it is relevant to all thermal power systems. The strategy of this research has been to concentrate on individual areas of the thermal design process, investigate procedures performed, develop methodology to emulate that behavior, and prototype it in the form of a computer program. The design process has been generalized as follows: problem definition, design definition, component selection procedure, optimization and engineering analysis, testing and final design with the problem definition defining constraints that will be applied to the selection procedure as well as design definition. The result of this research is a prototype computer program applying an original procedure for the selection of the best set of real components that would be used in constructing a system with ...
This research proposes that the concept of emotional attachment, and specifically the independent constructs of psychological ownership and affective reaction, can help explain many of the endowment effect findings documented in the literature. We define these constructs and then test them across a set of nine studies in which we both replicate previous and generate new endowment effect findings, and then show that psychological ownership and affective reaction can mediate the effects. In doing so, we offer direct empirical support for the idea of emotional attachment as a driver of loss aversion while also providing practitioners and future endowment effect researchers with new insights about the psychological processes that underlie the endowment effect.
The effect of water shortage on growth and gas exchange of maize grown on sandy soil (SS) and clay soil was studied. The lower soil water content in the SS during vegetative growth stages did not affect plant height, above-ground biomass, and leaf area index (LAI). LAI reduction was observed on the SS during the reproductive stage due to early leaf senescence. Canopy and leaf gas exchanges, measured by eddy correlation technique and by a portable photosynthetic system, respectively, were affected by water stress and a greater reduction in net photosynthetic rate (A N) and stomatal conductance (g s) was observed on SS. Chlorophyll and carotenoids content was not affected by water shortage in either condition. Results support two main conclusions: (1) leaf photosynthetic capacity was unaffec...
Climate variability greatly affects animals through direct and indirect effects. Animals with slow reproductive adaptation to ecological changes such as large mammals are likely to have evolved mechanisms to anticipate early such impacts of climate variability on the environment. One of the adaptive mechanisms between reproductive costs and benefits in mammals affects parental investment through biases in sex ratio. Deer might be likely to show an early detection of climate variability because conception takes place in early autumn, but the main raising cost in deer concerns lactation, which takes place at the end of the following spring. The aim of this paper is to assess whether there is a relationship between global indices of climate variability such as El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (EN...
The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, a neglected tropical infection that affects millions of people in the Americas. Current chemotherapy...Full Text Available
Man-made endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present a threat to biodiversity, even in remote areas. To date, numerous wildlife species have been affected by EDCs in the environment, but it is likely...Full Text Available
Ophthalmologic abnormalities have been described in patients with dementia, but the extent to which poor vision and treatment for visual disorders affect cognitive decline is not well defined. Linked...Full Text Available
Femur fractures typically affect elderly patients with multiple co-morbidities. Pain control can be difficult, requiring intensive nursing and physician care as elderly patients may manifest cardiovascular...Full Text Available
Tinea nigra is a superficial mycosis caused by Hortaea werneckii. It is an infrequent asymptomatic infection that affects human palms and soles, and is mostly observed in tropical...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.
After lifestyle and behavioral measures to control overactive bladder, the mainstay of pharmacological treatment is the use of antimuscarinic therapy. Overactive bladder predominantly affects older...Full Text Available
FRAXA is one of a number of fragile sites in human chromosomes that are induced by agents like fluorodeoxyuridine (FdU) that affect intracellular thymidylate levels. FRAXA coincides with a >200...Full Text Available
The rolC gene of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, which drastically affects growth and development of transgenic plants, codes for a cytokinin-beta-glucosidase. Indeed, rolC protein expressed in Escherichia...Full Text Available
The gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes was recently reported to possess a homologue of the luxS gene that is responsible for the production of autoinducer...Full Text Available
BackgroundWhile the gene flow in some organisms is strongly affected by physical barriers and geographical distance, other highly mobile species are able to overcome such constraints....Full Text Available
The challenge to our profession today is to improve the quality of oral health while overcoming both extrinsic and intrinsic factors which may adversely affect our progress toward this goal. The combined...Full Text Available
BackgroundDuring the last ten years, major advances have been made in characterizing and understanding the evolution of mitochondrial DNA, the most popular marker of molecular biodiversity....Full Text Available
Chronically elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) affects lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. Individuals genetically predisposed to higher IL-6 secretion may be at risk of dyslipidemia, especially during the...Full Text Available
After more than a decade of the AIDS epidemic in Thailand, the number of children whose parents are living with HIV or have died from AIDS is increasing significantly and it has been reported that these...Full Text Available
Thyroid hormone is a critical regulator of growth, development and metabolism in virtually all tissues, and altered thyroid status affects many organs and systems. Although for many years testis...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
Hip fractures are associated with a high rate of mortality and profound temporary and sometimes permanent impairment of quality of life. Current guidelines indicate that surgeons should perform surgery...Full Text Available
In recent years, the interest in the use of bacteria for biological control of plant-pathogenic fungi has increased. We studied the possible side effects of coating barley seeds with the antagonistic...Full Text Available
Gas exchange between the plant and the environment is severely hampered when plants are submerged, leading to oxygen and energy deficits. A straightforward way to reduce these shortages of oxygen and...Full Text Available
Gonadal, adrenal, and thyroid hormones affect the brain directly, and the sensitivity to hormones begins in embryonic life with the appearance of hormone receptor sites in discrete populations of neurons....Full Text Available
Sperm competition occurs when 2 or more males copulate with a particular female during the same reproductive cycle, and their sperm compete to fertilize the female's available eggs. One strategy that...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn many of the European countries affected by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), case clustering patterns have been observed. Most of these patterns have been interpreted...Full Text Available
Sparganosis is a rare parasitic infection affecting various organs, including the central nervous system, especially the lumbar epidural space. This report describes the identification of disease and...Full Text Available
Leptin is involved in the endocrine control of energy expenditure and body weight regulation. Previous studies emphasize a relationship between hypoxic states and leptin concentrations. The aim of this...Full Text Available
From view on Organization Behavior theory, the concept, development and affecting factors of safety culture are introduced. The focuses are on the establishment, development and management practice for safety culture at Daya Bay NPP. A strong safety culture, also demonstrated, has contributed greatly to improving performance at Daya Bay
This paper addresses the major issues beginning teachers face in their first postings to rural areas in Australia. The issues go beyond pedagogy. Beginning teachers need to understand social factors affecting rural communities so they can link lessons to the realities experienced by students. Geographic isolation affects the provision of education in terms of time taken to travel, cost, terrain, and technology. Rural communities have groups that are socially isolated from each other and from the staff in schools. In order to teach effectively, teachers need to be aware of the social context of the community in which they live and work. Teachers in rural areas suffer from professional isolation and often confront teaching situations for which they have had little formal preparation. Communities in remote places often move quickly to adopt technological means to overcome their isolation. Teachers in rural areas need to identify and promote the ...
Though central to our understanding of how roots perform their vital function of scavenging water and solutes from the soil, no direct genetic evidence currently exists to support the foundational model...Full Text Available
Atypical antipsychotic medications have assumed growing importance for the treatment of bipolar disorder, an illness that affects approximately 1.2%–3.7% of the general population in a given...Full Text Available
Peripheral vascular diseases (PVD) are referred to as diseases affecting the blood vessels other than the heart and the brain. Interventional endovascular treatment whenever feasible has become the...Full Text Available
Rate of dehydration greatly affects desiccation tolerance of recalcitrant seeds. This effect is presumably related to two different stress vectors: direct mechanical or physical stress because of the...Full Text Available
Breast cancer is a progressive and potentially fatal disease that affects women of all ages. Like all progressive diseases, early and reliable diagnosis is the key for successful treatment and annihilation....Full Text Available
BACKGROUND:Canadian chronic pain prevalence estimates range from 11% to 66%, are affected by sampling and measurement bias, and largely represent urban settings.OBJECTIVES:To...Full Text Available
Orthologous positions of 55 genes associated with height in four human populations were located on the bovine genome. Single nucleotide polymorphisms close to eight of these genes were significantly...Full Text Available
Polyandrous mating is common, but the benefits for females of polyandry remain controversial. To test whether mating with multiple males affects female fitness, we compared lifetime components of fitness...Full Text Available
The phytochrome-mediated attachment of root tips of mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) to glass is affected by the prior exposure of hydrated...Full Text Available
We examine how the structure and function of indirect flight muscle (IFM) and the entire flight system of Drosophila melanogaster are affected by phosphorylation of the myosin regulatory light chain...Full Text Available
The epigenome consists of non–sequence-based modifications, such as DNA methylation, that are heritable during cell division and that may affect normal phenotypes and predisposition...Full Text Available
Objective:We examine the extent to which body weight affects three types of perceived interpersonal mistreatment, and evaluate whether these patterns vary by race,...Full Text Available
BackgroundSeasonal influenza A infection affects a significant cohort of the global population annually, resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality. Therapeutic strategies...Full Text Available
Subjective tinnitus, the phantom ringing or buzzing sensation that occurs in the absence of sound, affects 12–14% of adults; in some cases the tinnitus is so severe or disabling that...Full Text Available
Exposure of a group of horses to tetracycline-contaminated feed resulted in acute colitis and subsequent death in one horse and milder diarrhea in 3 others. The most severely affected animal demonstrated...Full Text Available
An organ-specific invertase deficiency affecting only the primary root system is described in the Oh 43 inbred maize (Zea mays). Invertases (acid and neutral/soluble and insoluble)...Full Text Available
The majority of diseases in the retina are caused by genetic mutations affecting the development and function of photoreceptor cells. The transcriptional networks directing these processes are regulated...Full Text Available
In a follow-up to our previously reported genome-wide association study of cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC)1, we describe here several new susceptibility...Full Text Available
In our quest for novel genes required for the development of the embryonic peripheral nervous system (PNS), we have performed three genetic screens using MAb 22C10 as a marker of terminally differentiated...Full Text Available
PurposeRetinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by progressive loss of vision. The aim of this study was to identify the causative mutations...Full Text Available
Abstract in english The main objective of the research presented here is to relate anatomical features of wood species that affect the interactions between polymeric phases and performance of wood plastic composites (WPC). These interactions are related to the probable interlocking volume and surface area for stress transfer in a WPC. Composites were produced from different wood species and analyzed using SEM (scanning electron microscopy). Results showed that wood species with high interfac (more) ial areas may increase mechanical interlocking, reflected in the viscous constant of the Maxwell model. A complicating factor is that the relation of cell wall thickness-lumen diameter and the interconnectivity between wood cells in a wood, affect the potential for cell collapse. When wood cells collapse, the penetration of the thermoplastic into the wood structure is almost always ceased. The collapse of wood cells during extrusion-injection molding ...
The walleye dermal sarcoma is a mesenchymal tumor which seasonally affects up to 27% of adult walleye fish (Stizostedion vitreum). It arises multicentrically in the dermis, in which its development...Full Text Available
Aluminium (Al) toxicity, affecting around half of the world¿s arable land, severely hinders the ability of crop plants to utilize moisture and nutrients by restricting root growth and function. Among the cultivated cereals, rye is the most Al-tolerant and represents an important potential source of ...
The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to identify factors that place a dairy cow with uncomplicated milk fever (MF) at significant risk of becoming an alert downer cow (ADC) and to verify...Full Text Available
Factors affecting the membrane filtration of food suspensions were studied for 58 foods and 13 membrane filters. Lot number within a brand, pore size (0.45 or 0.8 micrometer), and time elapsed before...Full Text Available
Objective:Parkinson disease (PD) may affect the autonomic nervous system and may cause constipation; however, few studies have explored constipation preceding the motor onset of...Full Text Available
A mechanistic understanding of fracture in human bone is critical to predicting fracture risk associated with age and disease. Despite extensive work, a mechanistic framework for describing how the underlying microstructure affects the failure mode in bone is lacking.
BackgroundMass treatment to trachoma endemic communities is a critical part of the World Health Organization SAFE strategy. However, non-participation may not be at random, affecting...Full Text Available
Female sexual promiscuity can have significant effects on male mating decisions because it increases the intensity of competition between ejaculates for fertilization. Because sperm production is costly,...Full Text Available
In this paper we report a case with primarily unspecific arthralgia after surgical therapy of hallux valgus deformity and consecutive reflex sympathetic dystrophy in which MR led to the diagnosis of Lyme disease. (orig.)
Retinal degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis, are a leading cause of untreatable blindness with substantive impact on the quality of life of affected individuals...Full Text Available
In this study, our main objective was to determine whether energy restriction (ER) affects the rate of oxygen consumption of mice transiently or lastingly and whether metabolic rate plays a role in...Full Text Available
BackgroundLead poisoning affects many organs in the body. Lead inhibits δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD), an enzyme with two co-dominantly expressed alleles, ALAD1...Full Text Available
A field experiment was conducted during the summer of 1988 to test the hypothesis that water deficit affects the abscisic acid (ABA) and indole acetic acid (IAA) concentrations in cotton (Gossypium...Full Text Available
The phytochrome-mediated attachment of mung bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., var. Oklahoma 612) root tips on glass is quickly affected by indoleactic acid and abscisic acid at concentrations...Full Text Available
Increased sensitivity to light-induced melatonin suppression characterizes some, but not all, patients with bipolar illness or seasonal affective disorder. The aim of this study was to test...Full Text Available
BackgroundDespite concerns that facilitating informed choice would decrease diabetes screening uptake, 'informed choice' invitations that increased knowledge did not affect attendance...Full Text Available
BackgroundGene regulation is a key mechanism in higher eukaryotic cellular processes. One of the major challenges in gene regulation studies is to identify regulators affecting the...Full Text Available
Bortezomib/PS-341/Velcade, a proteasome inhibitor, is widely used to treat multiple myeloma. While several mechanisms of the cytotoxicity of the drug were proposed, the actual mechanism remains elusive....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, has been affected by severe mortality episodes associated with the protistan parasite QPX (Quahog Parasite Unknown)...Full Text Available
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) affects approximately 31% of infants whose birth weight is between 501 and 1500 g. The ductus arteriosus is a blood vessel that allows blood to bypass the pulmonary vasculature...Full Text Available
Several examples of the 14-membered, para-bridged ring system of the cyclopeptide alkaloids have been synthesized via an active ester cyclization. The yield of monomeric cyclopeptide varied from 1 to 33% and was affected by the amino acid substitution pat...
Objectives. Thousands of Louisiana residents were asked to boil water because of widespread disruptions in electricity and natural gas services after Hurricane Rita. We sought to assess...Full Text Available
Chrysomelid leaf beetles use chemical defenses to overcome predatory attack and microbial infestation. Larvae of Chrysomela lapponica that feed on willow sequester plant-derived salicin...Full Text Available
Childhood cancer survivors often experience complications related to cancer and its treatment that may adversely affect quality of life and increase the risk of premature death. The purpose of this...Full Text Available
Understanding the mechanisms by which climate and predation patterns by top predators co-vary to affect community structure accrues added importance as humans exert growing influence over both climate...Full Text Available
Increasing numbers of human cowpox virus infections that are being observed and that particularly affect young non-vaccinated persons have renewed interest in this zoonotic disease. Usually causing...Full Text Available
The torque-velocity relationship is known to be affected by ageing, decreasing its protective role in the prevention of falls. Interindividual variability in this torque-velocity relationship is partly...Full Text Available
Fungi have long been known to affect human well being in various ways, including disease of essential crop plants, decay of stored foods with possible concomitant production of mycotoxins, superficial...Full Text Available
Female mammals are particularly sensitive to changes in food availability. The mechanisms that affect sexual behavior and food intake are closely related to one another; chief among the mechanisms...Full Text Available
"Fiddler's neck" is an irritant contact dermatitis that frequently affects violin and viola players. The etiology of the skin changes associated with this condition are probably attributable to a combination...Full Text Available
Fear learning is associated with changes in synapse strength in the lateral amygdala (LA). To examine changes in LA dendritic spine structure with learning, we used serial electron microscopy to re-construct...Full Text Available
On agar plates, daughter cells of Escherichia coli mutually slide and align side-by-side in parallel during the first round of binary fission. This phenomenon has been previously attributed...Full Text Available
For meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, seasonal differences exist in self-grooming and in odor preferences for conspecifics, two behaviors which facilitate sexual interactions...Full Text Available
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) constitute a key antibiotic-resistance mechanism affecting Gram-negative bacteria, and also an excellent model for studying evolution in real time. A shift in...Full Text Available
Objective: To evaluate effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on the viability, membrane properties, and zinc distribution, with and without the presence of Zn2+, in human prostate...Full Text Available
Alcohol dependence (AD) is clinically and etiologically heterogeneous. The goal of this study was to explore AD subtypes among a sample of 1, 221 participants in the Irish Affected Sib Pair...Full Text Available
Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans, with a half-million new cases emerging each year. Whereas up to 50% of heart failure patients die of arrhythmia, the diverse mechanisms underlying...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe motivation for this study was to investigate how role stress among nurses could affect their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and whether the job rotation...Full Text Available
The objective was to determine scrotal and testicular temperatures in rams and how they are affected by ambient temperature (10 degrees C vs 25 degrees C) and scrotal fleece (densely fleeced vs shaved)....Full Text Available
BackgroundPerfluorocarbons (PFC) are used to improve gas exchange in diseased lungs. PFC have been shown to affect various cell types. Thus, effects on alveolar type II (ATII) cells...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVEHormonal contraceptives may adversely affect bone mineral density . However, racial differences and the reversibility of these changes are poorly understood....Full Text Available
The electrical parameters that affect young seedling growth were investigated. Voltages ranging from 5 to 40 volts were applied longitudinally along the mesocotyl region of 4-day old Zea mays...Full Text Available
The report discusses the capabilities of equipment vendors to supply and install the quantity of flue gas desulfurization systems required to meet alternative standards for coal-fired steam generators. It analyzes limiting factors affecting supply capabilities (such as the availa...
The passage of a vascular-injected paramagnetic contrast reagent (CR) bolus through a region-of-interest affects tissue 1H2O relaxation and thus MR image intensity. For longitudinal...Full Text Available
Background:Continuous renal replacement therapy is used to manage fluid and solute imbalances in critically ill patients but may affect the clearance of concurrently administered...Full Text Available
In virtually all organisms, life expectancy is profoundly affected by caloric intake. For example, dietary restriction (DR; a feeding regimen of fewer calories compared to the ad libitum level without...Full Text Available
The hypothesis that the antiarrhythmic drug amiodarone slows down the heart rate by its inhibitory action on the intracellular conversion of thyroxine (T4) to 3,5,3' triiodothyronine (T3) was investigated....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe interactions between torus and several factors such as age, gender, and dental status have not been studied comprehensively. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gender on the mandibular cortical index (MCI) and to investigate a possible association between torus mandibularis (TM) and MCI.MethodsThe study consisted of 189 consecutive patients referred to Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology of Hacettepe University within 30 workdays. Patients who did not have systemic disorders affecting bone density were included; and the age, gender, dental status and existing TM of the patients were recorded. Morphology of the mandibular inferior cortex was determined according to Klemitti's classification on panoramic radiographs.ResultsMCI was affected by age and gender (P 0.05).ConclusionIn the study population, MCI was affected by age and gender. As age increased, semilunar defects could be ...
BackgroundThough long known to affect smooth muscle biology, recent studies indicate that phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) is also expressed in myocardium. Recognizing that the regulation...Full Text Available
Using a ligature-induced model in type-2 Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rat and normoglycemic littermates, we investigated whether diabetes primarily affects periodontitis by enhancing bone loss...Full Text Available
BackgroundOsteoporosis affects over 200 million people worldwide, and represents a significant cost burden. Although guidelines are available for best practice in osteoporosis, evidence...Full Text Available
Certain structural and environmental factors other than technical combination of resources and firm size are hypothesized to affect medical practice output. Four groups of variables related to physician...Full Text Available
Carney-Stratakis syndrome, an inherited condition predisposing affected individuals to gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and paraganglioma, is caused by germline mutations in succinate dehydrogenase...Full Text Available
DNA damage is a threat to genomic integrity in all living organisms. Plants and green algae are particularly susceptible to DNA damage especially that caused by UV light, due to their light dependency...Full Text Available
Background:We analyzed the effects of a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation in patients affected with late onset Stargardt disease (STGD).Methods:DHA...Full Text Available
Background. It is currently recommended that diet of pregnant mothers contain 200–300 mg DHA/day. Aim. To determine whether DHA supplementation...Full Text Available
Ewing's sarcoma is the second most common bone malignancy affecting children and young adults. The prognosis is especially poor in metastatic or relapsed disease. The cell of origin remains elusive,...Full Text Available
We study how the microscale topography of a solid surface affects the apparent advancing and receding angles at the contact line of a liquid drop pinned to this surface. Photolithographic methods...Full Text Available
BackgroundWhite spot syndrome (WSS) is a viral disease that affects most of the commercially important shrimps and causes serious economic losses to the shrimp farming industry worldwide....Full Text Available
There is growing epidemiological and molecular evidence that ABO blood group affects host susceptibility to severe Plasmodium falciparum infection. The high frequency of common...Full Text Available
The opportunistic pathogenic yeast Candida albicans exhibits growth phase-dependent changes in cell surface hydrophobicity, which has been correlated with adhesion to host tissues....Full Text Available
The mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway plays a key role in mediating estrogen actions in the brain and neuronal sensitization during inflammation....Full Text Available
Chondroitin sulphate (CS) is a glycosaminoglycan widely distributed in animal tissues, which has anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective properties. We reported previously that chondroitin 4-sulphate...Full Text Available
RNA is involved in a variety of chromatin modification events, ranging from large-scale structural rearrangements to subtle local affects. Here, we extend the evidence for RNA–chromatin interactions...Full Text Available
Studies on alcoholic liver injury mechanisms show a significant inhibition of the proteasome activity. To investigate this phenomenon, we isolated proteasome complexes from the liver of rats...Full Text Available
PurposeOcular surface disease following penetrating keratoplasty has been shown to increase patient morbidity and adversely affect graft survival. Five cases of dense central subepithelial...Full Text Available
The commissioning of four CANDU-600 reactors is discussed, with mention of some design features. The four are Point Lepreau, Gentilly-2, Wolsung and Cordoba reactors. The commissioning of Pickering-5 is also mentioned, and so are some events affecting other CANDU reactors.
Heavy ion tests of a switching converter using power MOSFETs have allowed us to identify the main parameters which affect the burnout sensitivity of these components. The differences between static and dynamic conditions are clarified in this paper. (author). 7 refs., 16 figs., 3 tabs.
Anemia commonly affects critically ill patients. The causes are multifactorial and include acute blood loss, blood loss from diagnostic testing and blunted red blood cell production. Blood transfusions...Full Text Available
Bhanja virus (BHAV) is pathogenic for young domestic ruminants and also for humans, causing fever and affections of the central nervous system. This generally neglected arbovirus of the family Bunyaviridae...Full Text Available
BackgroundSelenium is a trace element performing important biological functions in many organisms including humans. It usually affects organisms in a strictly dosage-dependent manner...Full Text Available
We have used a sintered glass bead core to simulate the spaces and surfaces of reservoir rock in studies of the bacterial plugging phenomenon that affects waterflood oil recovery operations. The passage...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND: DNA prenatal diagnosis for cystic fibrosis (CF) has been available for parents of affected children since late 1985. METHODS: Using anonymous questionnaires, we surveyed 395 parents of children...Full Text Available
Background: The causes of elevated B-Type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are multifactorial. Renal dysfunction has been shown to affect BNP levels in some studies and...Full Text Available
Many species introduced by humans for social and economic benefits have invaded new ranges by escaping from captivity. Such invasive species can negatively affect biodiversity and economies. Understanding...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND: Angiosarcoma of the scalp is a rare, aggressive, and deadly cancer that affects mainly elderly Caucasian men. OBJECTIVES: The insidious and masquerading presentation of angiosarcoma poses...Full Text Available
The incidence of arrhythmias after acute myocardial infarction of the inferior wall varies with the affected segment and increases when there is right ventricular involvement. This paper provides a...Full Text Available
ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the failure of trials (<50% pain reduction in pain for trial period) to improve success rate of spinal...Full Text Available
BackgroundCystic ovarian disease is an important cause of infertility that affects bovine, ovine, caprine and porcine species and even human beings. Alterations in the ovarian micro-environment...Full Text Available
BackgroundSocial isolation affects a significant proportion of older people and is associated with poor health outcomes. The current evidence base regarding the effectiveness of...Full Text Available
BackgroundBreast-feeding may affect the risk of developing allergy during childhood and may also cause exposure to immunotoxicants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which...Full Text Available
Models of age-related effects on behavior predict that among short-lived species younger adults are more attractive and attracted to opposite-sex conspecifics than are older adults, whereas...Full Text Available
Objective:This study examined the role of cognitive factors—such as expectancies regarding the consequences of not drinking and perceptions of peer drinking—in...Full Text Available
BackgroundAdhesive Capsulitis (AC) affects patient of all ages, and stretching protocols are commonly prescribed for this condition. Dynamic splinting has been shown effective in...Full Text Available
The question of whether storage of red blood cells (RBCs) alters their capacity to deliver oxygen and affects patient outcomes remains in a state of clinical equipoise. Studies of the changes...Full Text Available
PurposeTo detail the highly variable ocular phenotypes of a French family affected with an autosomal dominantly inherited vitreoretinopathy and to identify the disease gene.MethodsSixteen...Full Text Available
BackgroundTraffic injuries can cause physical, psychological, and economical impairment, and affected individuals may also experience shortcomings in their post-accident care and...Full Text Available
Erectile dysfunction (ED) affects up to 50% of men between the ages of 40 and 70. Treatment with PDE-5 inhibitors is effective in the majority of men with ED. However, PDE-5 inhibitors are not effective...Full Text Available
Traditional approaches to the study of hormones and cognition have been primarily observational or correlational in nature. Because this work does not permit causal relationships to be identified,...Full Text Available
P granules are non-membrane-bound organelles found in the germ-line cytoplasm throughout Caenorhabditis elegans development. Like their “germ granule” counterparts in...Full Text Available
Cysticercosis is the most common parasitic infection affecting the central nervous system. Spinal neurocysticercosis (NCC) is very rare compared with intracranial NCC and requires more aggressive management...Full Text Available
The relationships between soil salinization and the zonal and provincial bioclimatic conditions, the lithological composition of the sediments, and the geomorphic features of the territory have been analyzed for the Southern federal okrug of Russia. It is shown that the lithological and geomorphic conditions (relief, salinity of parent materials, degree of drainage, and the depth of saline groundwater) play an important role in the distribution of salt-affected soils against the background of the more general regularities specified by the climate. The participation of salt-affected soils in the soil cover of the Southern federal okrug increases in the eastward direction from the forest-steppe zone to the semidesert zone in agreement with an increase in the aridity and continentality of the...
The visual impact of wind turbines is one of the main factors affecting public acceptance of wind parks. This paper evaluates the visual impact of a wind park in Chania, Crete, using the Spanish method of evaluation. The outcomes are combined with the psychometric testing of the residents by the use of questionnaires and with the values of the Spanish method about various scenarios concerning the size of the wind park (double, half, one wind turbine). The results of the study prove that the quantification of the potential visual impact could minimize this, apparently, main reason that affects public acceptance. (author)
Lupus pernio of the nose is the most characteristic cutaneous lesion of sarcoidosis. It is cosmetically disfiguring and can be the cause of significant morbidity. In particular, the affected skin is often red or purple due to increased vasculature. It is particularly resistant to both surgical and medical therapy. We describe a patient with lupus pernio affecting her nose, which showed a dramatic improvement following treatment with the pulse dye laser (PDL). A biopsy taken after treatment showed the continued presence of sarcoidal granulomas. We therefore feel that treatment with the PDL is an effective tool in improving the cosmetic appearance of lupus pernio, but does not influence the underlying disease process. PMID:11360426
Several enzymes of the metabolic pathways responsible for metabolism of cytosolic ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides are located in mitochondria. Studies described in this paper suggest dysfunction of the mitochondria to affect these metabolic pathways and limit the available levels of cytosolic ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides, which in turn can result in aberrant RNA and DNA synthesis. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to genomic instability, and it is possible that the limiting effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on the levels of nucleotides and resulting aberrant RNA and DNA synthesis in part can be responsible for this link. This paper summarizes the parts of the metabolic pathways responsible for nucleotide metabolism that can be affected by mitochondrial dysfunction.
Beta-C trademark is a metastable beta titanium alloy which can be heat treated to achieve a good combination of properties such as tensile strength, fatigue strength, ductility and toughness, such as needed in aircraft fasteners. Variations in hot and cold processing parameters and solution heat treatment can affect the resultant grain structure which in turn affects subsequent aging response and mechanical properties. Several processing/heat treating routes on round bar are explored in this study to determine the effects on microstructure and various mechanical properties.
Typhoons Aere (2004) and Matsa (2005) caused high nephelometric turbidity in the Shihmen reservoir in northern Taiwan, jeopardizing the operation of the reservoir for several days, and ultimately impacting the living conditions and economy of the downstream residents. The torrential rains caused landslides and debris flows in upland areas, and flowed into riverbeds, likely contributing significantly to the suspended sediment yields in the reservoir. This investigation elucidates how upland landslides affect sediment attributes in the reservoir basin. Study methods including field observations, spatial analysis in GIS and aerial photo interpretation are adopted to trace the sediment sources and contributing factors to the landslide. Torrential rains induced landslides and debris-flows uplan...
The author discusses in detail the following topics: Compensation for domestic nuclear damage and for transfrontier nuclear damage - rule of formal equality of parties which belongs to the basic rule of civil law considering the position of domestic and foreign victims of a grave accident-juridical consequences of the preponderant role played by the state in the promotion, development and supervision of the nuclear industry-rationale for applying the concept of global limitation of liability in the law on nuclear liability and compensation - financial consequences of uncompensated nuclear damage, borne by the victims directly affected or spread over the whole community of the affected state? (HP)
Gaussian-process models are developed to detect genetic linkage using complete high-resolution maps of identity by descent between affected relative pairs. Approximations are given for the significance level and power of the likelihood-ratio test of no linkage and for likelihood-ratio confidence regions for trait loci. The sample sizes required to detect linkage by using different classes of affected relative pairs are compared, and the problem of combining data from different classes of relatives is discussed. 23 refs., 2 figs.
This paper examines why ship shaped floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) systems have been selected for the first two developments on Foinaven and Schiehallion fields in West of Shetland operated by BP Exploration. An overview of the concepts considered for the deepwater harsh environment is made against the business objectives and reservoir conditions which are the primary drivers behind development concept selection. Discussion of technical issues for a range of concepts are held on schedule, construction, installation, safety, flexibility to production throughput, capital and operating costs.
...The system recognises the name and confirms it before it starts to dial. To stop the number being dialled say 'cancel'. If ...of the conference : Press the Recall 'R' button and listen for holding dial tone. Select extension or outside number of the person to ...who is going to join the conference Press Recall 'R' to receive dial tone and select '*' and '4'. The call is ...line is faulty and should be reported to the switchboard operators by dialling '0' and giving full details of the fault, the extension ...
Details are given of the Sasol operation in South Africa. Flow sheets are provided for Sasol 1 and Sasol 2 and 3. The Sasol 1 plant produces waxes, liquid fuels, pipeline gas and chemicals; the Sasol 2 and 3 plants primarily produce ethylene, gasoline and diesel fuel. The versatility of the process is emphasized. The product selectivities of the fixed bed and Synthol reactors are shown and the properties of the products are compared. The influence of the catalyst on selectivity is examined.
Synthesis of the azido substituted non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug 2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)phenylacetic acid and isotope labeling of this compound have been performed and are described. Initial evaluation of the binding ability and photoreactivity indicates that this compound has potential for photoaffinity labeling as well as enzyme selectivity studies. (author).
The sunlight-induced photocatalytic oxidation of aqueous benzene on TiO(2)-supported gold nanoparticles was considerably improved when the reaction was conducted under a CO(2) atmosphere. 13% yield and 89% selectivity of phenol was obtained on P25-supported gold nanoparticles under 230 kPa of CO(2). PMID:21952312
This paper shows some considerations about the cost of wood, steel and cement support pillars in rural power distribution systems. The life span, mechanical properties, cost estimation and general durability of each type of pillar was evaluated, aiming a better selection of the desired one. 6 figs., 8 tabs., 4 refs.
An amorphous mesoporous titania-silica aerogel (20 wt%TiO{sub 2} - 80 wt% SiO{sub 2}) and tert.-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) have been used for the epoxidation of various allylic alcohols. Allylic alcohols possessing an internal double bond were more reactive than those with a terminal C=C bond. Epoxide selectivities could be improved by addition of (basic) zeolite 4 A and NaHCO{sub 3} to the reaction mixture. (orig.)
A new commercial cutting tool software package replaced an internally created legacy system. This report describes the issues that surfaced during the migration and installation of the commercial package and the solutions employed. The primary issues discussed are restructuring the data between two drastically different database schemas and the creation of individual component graphics.
The advantages of radiofrequency and microwaves, such as volumetric heating, rapid and selective heating, compactness of equipment and ease of operation, offer sound economic alternative heating techniques. This article discusses dielectric loss, its quantification, and how it is put to effective use, including the use of applicators. Brief recommendations are presented for whether to select radio frequency or microwaves for a particular application. Uses of radiofrequency and microwaves in the industrial, domestic and medical sectors are described.
Sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1 is a key transcription factor for the regulation of lipogenic enzyme genes in the liver. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) selectively suppress hepatic...Full Text Available
Recent literature indicates that torsion of the left ventricle (LV) is a promising predictor for response to cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). Among patients with severe heart failure, 45 to 75% of patients show rigid body rotation, where the base and apex rotate in the same direction, instead of normal, opposite rotation. The occurrence of this phenomenon seems to be a good indicator for response to CRT. From this review, it can be concluded that LV torsion might be a welcome addition to current selection criteria.
The report presents selected highlights of how research has contributed to the regulatory effort. It explains the research role of the NRC and nuclear safety research contributions in the areas of: pressure vessel integrity, piping, small- and large-break loss-of-coolant accidents, hydrogen and containment, source term analysis, seismic hazards and high-level waste management. The report also provides a summary of current and future research directions in support of regulation.
Certain transition metal chalcogenides are promising materials for use as cathodes in nonaqueous lithium batteries involving the intercalation into these layered compounds. The electrochemical behavior of the chalcogenides depends on various properties such as structure, stoichiometry, electrical conductivity, crystal morphology, etc. The influence of these properties and of the ultimate practical application of the battery on the selection of cathode material is discussed. Battery performance of selected cathode materials is discussed and life limitations due to the limited cycle life of lithium anodes are outlined. 15 refs.
The effect of the non-selective, 1-aminoindan-1,5-dicarboxylic acid (AIDA), and selective (3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrano[2,3-b]quinolin-7-yl)-(cis-4- methoxycyclohexyl) methanone (JNJ16259685),...Full Text Available
Marshall Hall was selected by the US Army Corps of Engineers to participate in the Energy Efficiency Analysis Program. The objective of this program is to assist military installations in identifying energy usage and cost saving projects at their facilities and possibly provide funding for projects. Entech Engineering, Inc. was selected to perform this study.
The irreducible representations associated with states of dipole symmetry have been calculated for the space groups O/sub h//sup 3/, the space group with the correct symmetry for A-15 phase compounds. Also assembled are the character tables of the O/sub h/3 group. Thus all thedirect interband dipole-transition selection rules for A-15 compounds can easily be determined.
Qualifying corrosion inhibitors for use in high velocity multiphase flowlines in arctic or subsea environments is discussed. The tests include high velocity flow loop corrosion tests, pumpability through 0.125 (0.318 cm) inch capillary at low temperatures, compatibility with Nylon 11, emulsion tendency testing, and partitioning characteristics. Laboratory and field data show the importance for using the above criteria for inhibitor selection.
This report deals with the selection of a data communication system for a remote metering system. It covers the following three types of systems: fiber optic, telephone line, and radio packet. It provides a methodology for selecting a communication system for a given remote metering system and a method for comparing costs.
The oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of light alkanes is an alternative way for the production of olefins. A wide variety of catalytic systems has been investigated. Vanadium oxide based catalysts were described in the literature as effective catalysts for the ODH of propane. The catalytic activity and selectivity depend on the kind of support material, the kind of dopants and the formation of complex metal oxide phases. In recent papers it was claimed that both orthovanadate and/or pyrovanadate species are selective for the ODH of propane. Niobia based materials were investigated as catalysts for acidic and selective oxidation type reactions. In the ODH of propane niobia exhibited a high selectivity to propene but the conversion of propane was low. V{sub 2}O{sub 5}-Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} catalysts proved to be catalytically active and selective and showed no formation of oxygenates. In ...
A process is described for the selective oxidation of ammonia to nitric oxide in about 90% or greater yield with a minimum of nitrogen or dinitrogen oxide (N/sub 2/O) as by-products, comprising: (1) contacting gaseous ammonia in an oxygen containing gas optionally with an inert gaseous diluent with a mixed metal perovskite catalyst of the general formula: ABO/sub 3/, wherein: A is selected from the alkali, alkaline earth, lanthanide, or actinide metals or a mixture of these metals having a relatively large ionic, radius, and B is selected from an element or a combination of elements selected from Groups IB, IVB, VB, VIB, VIIB, or VIII of the Periodic Table, wherein the perovskite phase of the catalyst has an equilibrium partial pressure of oxygen at 1000/sup 0/C of greater than about 10/sup -15/ bar; and (2) heating the reactants of step (1) at greater than about 500/sup 0/C under conditions of 10 to ...
A process is described for the selective oxidation of ammonia to nitric oxide in about 90% or greater yield with a minimum of nitrogen or dinitrogen oxide (N/sub 2/O) as by-products, comprising: (1) contacting gaseous ammonia in an oxygen containing gas optionally with an inert gaseous diluent with a mixed metal perovskite catalyst of the general formula: ABO/sub 3/, wherein: A is selected from the alkali, alkaline earth, lanthanide, or actinide metals or a mixture of these metals having a relatively large ionic, radius, and B is selected from an element or a combination of elements selected from Groups IB, IVB, VB, VIB, VIIB, or VIII of the Periodic Table, wherein the perovskite phase of the catalyst has an equilibrium partial pressure of oxygen at 1000"0C of greater than about 10/sup -15/ bar; and (2) heating the reactants of step (1) at greater than about 500"0C under conditions of 10 to 100,000 ...
New rare earth oxide emitters show greater efficiency than previous emitters. As a result, based on a simple model the efficiency of these emitters was calculated. Results indicate that the emission band of the selective emitter must be at relatively low energy (less than or equal to .52 eV) to obtain maximum efficiency at moderate emitter temperatures (less than or equal to 1500 K). Thus low bandgap energy PV materials are required to obtain an efficient thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system. Of the 4 specific rare earths (Nd, Ho, Er, Yb) studied Ho has the largest efficiency at moderate temperatures (72 percent at 1500 K). A comparison was made between a selective emitter TPV system and a TPV system that uses a thermal emitter plus a band pass filter to make the thermal emitter behave like a selective emitter. Results of the comparison indicate that only for very optimistic filter and thermal emitter properties will the filter ...
Because hydrogenation of coal to liquid products (oils) is accompanied by distributions of complex by-product mixtures (IOM, preasphaltenes, asphaltenes and gases) which change as a function of reaction variables (time, temperature and pressure) and reactor configuration, the determination of selectivity relationships for coal liquefaction catalysts has been a difficult and time-consuming task involving numerous experiments to adequately describe catalyst performance over a range of conditions. This paper describes a method for analyzing the experimental results of coal liquefaction reactions which may be applied to a number of aspects of coal liquefaction research and process control, including: rapid selectivity and performance screening for catalysts; correlation of laboratory results with process parameters; and optimization of product yield for plant process conditions. Catalyst selectivity and performance screening ...
Macronutrient self-selection and responses to dietary protein dilution were investigated in Senegalese sole, a flatfish species of interest for Mediterranean aquaculture. Eight groups of six sole were distributed among 75-l tanks and allowed to feed on three experimental diets composed of pure macronutrients: PC (75% crude protein and 25% carbohydrate), PF (75% crude protein and 25% crude fat) and PFC (10% crude protein, 45% crude fat and 45% carbohydrate). Choosing from the above diets, the sole selected a diet containing 68.0% crude protein, 15.7% crude fat and 16.3% carbohydrate. When the PF diet was diluted 50% with cellulose, the fish increased their feed intake to sustain the energy intake (5.0?kJ/kg BW/day). Their selection of fat remained unchanged, while carbohydrate selection sig...
We construct a sample of low-redshift Ly-alpha emission-line selected sources from GALEX grism spectroscopy of nine deep fields to study the role of Ly-alpha emission in galaxy populations with cosmic time. Our final sample consists of 122 (142) sources selected in the redshift interval z=0.195-0.44 (z=0.65-1.25) from the FUV (NUV) channel. We classify the Ly-alpha sources as AGNs if high-ionization emission lines are present in their UV spectra and as galaxies otherwise. These classifications are broadly supported by comparisons with X-ray and optical spectroscopic observations. We classify additional sources as AGNs using line widths for our Ly-alpha emitter (LAE) analysis. Defining the GALEX LAE sample in the same way as high-redshift LAE samples, we show that LAEs constitute only about 5% of NUV-continuum selected galaxies at z~0.3. We also show that they are less common at z~0.3 than they are at z~3. We find that the ...
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems are attractive possibilities for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion, but have typically required the use of black body radiators operating at high temperatures. Recent advances in both the understanding and performance of solid rare-earth oxide selective emitters make possible the use of TPV at temperatures as low as 1200K. Both selective emitter and filter system TPV systems are feasible. However, requirements on the filter system are severe in order to attain high efficiency. A thin-film of a rare-earth oxide is one method for producing an efficient, rugged selective emitter. An efficiency of 0.14 and power density of 9.2 W/KG at 1200K is calculated for a hypothetical thin-film neodymia (Nd2O3) selective emitter TPV system that uses radioisotope decay as the thermal energy source.
The use of standard cementitious material creates pulses of pH in the magnitude of 12-13 in the leachates and release alkalis. Such a high pH is detrimental and also unnecessarily complicates the safety analysis of the repository. As no reliable pH-plume models exist, the use of products giving a pH below 11 in the leachates facilitates the safety analysis. Also, according to current understanding, the use of low-pH cement (pH = 11) will not disturb the functioning of the bentonite, although limiting the amount of low-pH cement is recommended. A result of the project is that there are both low-pH cementitious material for grouting larger fractures (= 100 {mu}m) and non-cementitious material for grouting smaller fractures (< 100 {mu}m) that will, after further optimisation work, be recommended for grouting of deep repositories. This project concentrated on the technical development of properties for the low pH grouts. Long-term safety and environmental aspects and durability of ...
Full text: The US commercial nuclear industry has just completed an outstanding decade of plant performance. Safety levels and electric production are at unprecedented high levels and continue to exceed even high industry goals. Nuclear energy continues to keep the highest priority on performance improvement programs and highly trained/qualified people that maintain its record setting safety and reliability of operations. While the industry has maintained a consistently high level of performance, the advent of deregulation and the consolidation of NPP ownership, as well as the current climate of concern about both rising energy costs and availability of power, has raised the standard for nuclear energy's level of competitiveness in today's market place. The resulting challenge is how to more effectively manage risk and improve performance even further in a generally high performing organization. Newer technology and more training by themselves are not the answer. Rather, the answer ...
We analyze the average of weak values over statistical ensembles of pre- and post-selected states. The protocol of weak values, proposed by Aharonov et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 60 (1988) 1351], is the result of a weak measurement conditional on the outcome of a subsequent strong (projective) measurement. Weak values can be beyond the range of eigenvalues of the measured observable and, in general, can be complex numbers. We show that averaging over ensembles of pre- and post-selected states reduces the weak value within the range of eigenvalues of Formula Not Shown . We further show that the averaged result expressed in terms of pre- and post-selected density matrices, allows us to include the effect of decoherence.
This experiment is carried out in the series of the investigation on the damage mechanism of carbon steel. In this paper, the damage situation is considered by structure observations. The test were carried out in 600degC-1200degC temperature range, in blowing an argon gas. The reagents are Na{sub 2}O, Na{sub 2}O{sub 2} and NaOH. From structure observations, the holes are observed on the surface of iron-base material in some test conditions. This result is indicated that the selective reaction occurs. The selective reaction is more obvious as the time exposed to the high temperature is longer. It is considered that the selective reaction occurs after the chemical reaction between iron-base material and sodium compound. The areas, in which Mn-concentration is higher, are observed in products on the surface of specimen. (author)
Supercritical CO2 is used as a new solvent for immersion deposition, a galvanic displacement process traditionally carried out in aqueous HF solutions containing metal ions, to selectively develop metal films on featured or non-featured silicon substrates. Components of supercritical fluid immersion deposition (SFID) solutions for fabricating Cu and Pd films on silicon substrates are described along with the corresponding experimental setup and procedure. Only silicon substrates exposed and reactive to SFID solutions can be coated. The highly pressurized and gas-like supercritical CO2, combined with the galvanic displacement property of immersion deposition, enables the SFID technique to selectively deposit metal films in small features. SFID may also provide a new method to fabricate palladium silicide in small features or to metallize porous silicon.
Eight selected sulfonamide drugs were investigated as inhibitors of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90). The investigation included simulated docking experiments to fit the selected compounds within the binding pocket of Hsp90. The selected molecules were found to readily fit within the ATP-binding pocket of Hsp90 in low-energy poses. The sulfonamides torsemide, sulfathiazole, and sulfadiazine were found to inhibit the ATPase activity of Hsp90 with IC50 values of 1.0, 2.6, and 1.5 mM, respectively. Our results suggest that these well-established sulfonamides can be good leads for subsequent optimization into potent Hsp90 inhibitors.
Target materials for inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant designs might be selected for a wide variety of reasons including wall absorption of driver energy, material opacity, cost and ease of fabrication. While each of these issues are of great importance, target materials should also be selected based upon their safety and environmental (S and E) characteristics. The present work focuses on the recycling, waste management and accident dose characteristics of potential target materials. If target materials are recycled so that the quantity is small, isotopic separation may be economically viable. Therefore, calculations have been completed for all stable isotopes for all elements from lithium to polonium. The results of these calculations are used to identify specific isotopes and elements that are most likely to be offensive as well as those most likely to be acceptable in terms of their S and E characteristics.
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 ...
The performance of Ag-promoted Pd/Al2O3 catalysts, which were prepared by the selective deposition of Ag onto Pd using a surface redox (SR) method, during acetylene hydrogenation was compared with that of catalysts prepared by impregnation. The Pd surface was more effectively modified with Ag added by SR, even when small amounts of Ag were added. The catalyst prepared by SR showed a higher ethylene selectivity than the one prepared by impregnation, because SR allowed both the preferential deposition of Ag on the low-coordination sites of Pd and a greater electronic modification of Pd by Ag.
Background: Measurements from pressure biofeedback units (PBUs) can be used to evaluate the activity of the transversus abdominis (TrA) muscle indirectly. These measurements can classify patients or monitor the progress of treatment programmes for people with low back pain. Objective: To systematically review studies on the measurement properties of PBUs for the assessment of TrA activity. Data sources: Eligible studies were identified through searches of PUBMED, CINAHL and BIREME (1990 to 2009). In addition, hand searches of journals and citation tracking were performed. Study selection: Full-text studies involving any type of clinimetric tests of PBU measurement for the assessment of TrA activity were selected. Data extraction: Two independent reviewers selected the studies, extracted th...
Indoor and soil gas Radon (222Rn) concentration measurements were accomplished in two stages in Sivas, a central eastern city in Turkey. In the first stage, CR-39 passive nuclear track detectors supplied by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEA) were placed in the selected houses throughout Sivas centrum in two seasons; summer and winter. Before the setup of detectors, a detailed questionnaire form was distributed to the inhabitants of selected houses to investigate construction parameters and properties of the houses, and living conditions of inhabitants. Detectors were collected back two months later and analysed at TAEA laboratories to obtain indoor 222Rn gas concentration values. In the second stage, soil gas 222Rn measurements were performed using an alphameter near the selected h...
Tissue hypoxia is a feature of cancer, heart disease and stroke, and imaging it may become clinically important. Copper-ATSM (ATSMH2 = 2,3-butanedione bis(N-methyl)thiosemicarb-azone), labelled with 60Cu, 62Cu or 64Cu, is selectively taken up in hypoxic cells in vitro and in vivo by a bioreductive mechanism, and is a prototype hypoxia imaging agent amenable to improvement. In vitro studies with several differently alkylated analogues of CuATSM show that hypoxia selectivity is a general property of complexes with two alkyl groups at the diketone backbone, offering a range of pharmacokinetic properties while retaining hypoxia selectivity. This pharmacokinetic control affords a route to development of second-generation hypoxia imaging agents with optimized properties for different clinical ap...
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converters were developed and tested at the heat source operating temperature of 1,700 K. Rare-earth-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) and lutetium yttrium aluminum garnet (Lu, YAG) selective emitters, as well as a blackbody emitter, were coupled to InGaAs/InP photovoltaic (PV) cells and bandpass/infrared (IR) reflector filters. YAG-based selective emitters were adopted with Ho, Tm, and Er. PV cells had bandgaps of 0.51, 0.57, and 0.69 eV. Converter energy conversion efficiencies approaching 30%, as well as electrical output power densities near 2 W/cm{sup 2} were demonstrated. The overall performance of the filtered blackbody-based converter was found to be superior to the selective emitter YAG-based converters. The details of the measurements performed on the above converters and their individual components are presented.
Depletion studies are used to infer the presence of mantles and to constrain grain evolutionary models in the diffuse interstellar medium. The presence of these mantles appears to be important in the evolution of the grains inside diffuse as well as dense clouds. In dense clouds where the element-to-element abundances sometimes differ from those found in diffuse clouds, empirical relationships are starting to emerge between gas abundances and various types of peculiar selective extinction. These peculiar extinction curves may be the results of nonvolatile mantle formation on grain cores or may reflect chemical differences due to variations in the intrinsic metalicity from one cloud to another. A simple model of the time evolution of a parcel of gas and dust as observed by the depletion of two elements is presented. Different studies of grain evolution and selective extinction are discussed and compared.
Using an efficient criterion in selection of fuzzy conditional attributes (i.e. expanded attributes) is important for generation of fuzzy decision trees. Given a fuzzy information system (FIS), fuzzy conditional attributes play a crucial role in fuzzy decision making. Besides, different fuzzy conditional attributes have different influences on decision making, and some of them may be more important than the others. Two well-known criteria employed to select expanded attributes are fuzzy classification entropy and classification ambiguity, both of which essentially use the ratio of uncertainty to measure the significance of fuzzy conditional attributes. Based on fuzzy-rough technique, this paper proposes a new criterion, in which expanded attributes are selected by using significance of fuz...
In a laser system for converting infrared laser light waves to visible light comprising a source of infrared laser light waves and means of harmoic generation associated therewith for production of light waves at integral multiples of the frequency of the original wave, the improvement of said means of harmonic generation comprising a crystal having the chemical formula X.sub.2 Y(NO.sub.3).sub.5 .multidot.2 nZ.sub.2 o wherein X is selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Tl; Y is selected from the group consisting of Sc, Y, La, Ce, Nd, Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Al, Ga, and In; Z is selected from the group consisting of H and D; and n ranges from 0 to 4.
Thermophotovoltaic energy conversion achieves direct conversion of thermal energy to electricity without the need for complex dynamic machinery operating in one of several possible thermodynamic cycles. This paper presents an analysis of a hybrid solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) energy conversion system in which a receiver/photovoltaic (PV) array subsystem is powered by either a solar concentrator or a fossil fuel combustion source. The overall TPV system efficiency is calculated using an appropriate selective emitter and a spectrally tuned solar cell designed to achieve maximum conversion efficiency in the narrow band emitted by the selective emitter. Two limiting cases are examined to place upper and lower bounds on system performance. The estimates of system performance are based on actual experimental data from PV cells and selective emitters.
We have developed efficient spectrally selective infrared (IR) emitters that can be utilized for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generation by using stainless steel (SUS304) substrates coated with b- FeSi2 thin films. To develop spectrally selective emitters, we theoretically propose antireflection (AR) coatings consisting of a single layer of a dielectric material having a high refractive index (~5) and are appropriate for use with metals such as stainless steels in the IR region. This type of AR coating is fabricated by sputtering a b- FeSi2 thin film on a polished SUS304 substrate. The reflectance in the IR region is successfully reduced to less than 10%. In addition, the AR properties are stable even at 700 K in air. Therefore, metals with AR coatings of b- FeSi2 can be applied to IR em...
Ethnobotanical and chemotaxonomical studies for antiparasitic activity of Colombian Annonaceae were carried out. In vitro antiprotozoal activity of 36 extracts obtained from six different species was determined against promastigotes of three Leishmania species, epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi and both chloroquine sensitive (F32) and resistant (W2) Plasmodium falciparum. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated in U-937 cells. Active extracts were selected according their selectivity index (SI). Extracts from Annona muricata, Rollinia exsucca, Rollinia pittieri and Xylopia aromatica were active against Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi showing IC50 values lower than 25mg/ml. Hexane extract from Rollinia pittieri leaves was the most selective against Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. (IS=...