WorldWideScience

Sample records for saa seostada ninakinnisuse

  1. Implementing SaaS Solution for CRM

    OpenAIRE

    Adriana LIMBÄ‚ÅžAN; Lucia RUSU

    2011-01-01

    Greatest innovations in virtualization and distributed computing have accelerated interest in cloud computing (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, aso). This paper presents the SaaS prototype for Customer Relationship Management of a real estate company. Starting from several approaches of e-marketing and SaaS features and architectures, we adopted a model for a CRM solution using SaaS Level 2 architecture and distributed database. Based on the system objective, functionality, we developed a modular solution f...

  2. SaaS ve web designu

    OpenAIRE

    Míka, Filip

    2011-01-01

    This thesis is aimed to evaluate if the current SaaS market is able to meet functional re-quirements of web design in order to appropriately support web design's activities. The theoretical part introduces the web design model which describes web design's functional requirements. The next section presents a research concept that describes model assessment (i.e. solutions delivered as SaaS that support web design) and evaluation process. The results show that the current SaaS market is able to...

  3. Implementing SaaS Solution for CRM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana LIMBASAN

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Greatest innovations in virtualization and distributed computing have accelerated interest in cloud computing (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, aso. This paper presents the SaaS prototype for Customer Relationship Management of a real estate company. Starting from several approaches of e-marketing and SaaS features and architectures, we adopted a model for a CRM solution using SaaS Level 2 architecture and distributed database. Based on the system objective, functionality, we developed a modular solution for solve CRM and e-marketing targets in real estate companies.

  4. Migration Adapter Development for SaaS Applications

    OpenAIRE

    Šemrov, Sandi

    2013-01-01

    This thesis presents methods and procedures for migration and applications integration, with the main focus on applications that are offered as a service – SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). At the level of data integration we analyze approaches for data migration between different types of SaaS applications. We design a framework for executing migration adapters and show an example of data migration between two SaaS applications. We then describe the development of adapters for two specific SaaS ...

  5. Evaluating the impact of virtualization characteristics on SaaS adoption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomás, Sara; Thomas, Manoj; Oliveira, Tiago

    2018-03-01

    Software as a service (SaaS) is a service model in which the applications are accessible from various client devices through internet. Several studies report possible factors driving the adoption of SaaS but none have considered the perception of the SaaS features and the organization's context. We propose an integrated research model that combines the process virtualization theory (PVT), the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and the institutional theory (INT). PVT seeks to explain whether processes are suitable for migration into virtual environments via an information technology-based mechanism as SaaS. The TOE framework seeks to explain the effects of the intra-organizational factors, while INT seeks to explain the effects of the inter-organizational factors on the technology adoption. This research addresses a gap in the SaaS adoption literature by studying the internal perception of the technical features of SaaS and technology, organization, and environment perspectives. Additionally, the integration of PVT, the TOE framework, and INT contributes to the information system (IS) discipline, deepening the applicability and strengths of these theories.

  6. A Systematic Process for Developing High Quality SaaS Cloud Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    La, Hyun Jung; Kim, Soo Dong

    Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a type of cloud service which provides software functionality through Internet. Its benefits are well received in academia and industry. To fully utilize the benefits, there should be effective methodologies to support the development of SaaS services which provide high reusability and applicability. Conventional approaches such as object-oriented methods do not effectively support SaaS-specific engineering activities such as modeling common features, variability, and designing quality services. In this paper, we present a systematic process for developing high quality SaaS and highlight the essentiality of commonality and variability (C&V) modeling to maximize the reusability. We first define criteria for designing the process model and provide a theoretical foundation for SaaS; its meta-model and C&V model. We clarify the notion of commonality and variability in SaaS, and propose a SaaS development process which is accompanied with engineering instructions. Using the proposed process, SaaS services with high quality can be effectively developed.

  7. Clustering composite SaaS components in Cloud computing using a Grouping Genetic Algorithm

    OpenAIRE

    Yusoh, Zeratul Izzah Mohd; Tang, Maolin

    2012-01-01

    Recently, Software as a Service (SaaS) in Cloud computing, has become more and more significant among software users and providers. To offer a SaaS with flexible functions at a low cost, SaaS providers have focused on the decomposition of the SaaS functionalities, or known as composite SaaS. This approach has introduced new challenges in SaaS resource management in data centres. One of the challenges is managing the resources allocated to the composite SaaS. Due to the dynamic environment of ...

  8. Coordination mechanism of SaaS service supply chain: Based on compensation contracts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanli Guo

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to build new contracts theories of SaaS service supply chain. Software as a Service (SaaS has become a hot topic in this industry . Compared with traditional manufacturing supply chain and general service supply chain, the new IT service supply chain which based on SaaS has characteristics of both service and IT. And SaaS is completely different from traditional software package model. Therefore the classic contracts, which be widely used in traditional manufacturing supply chain, can’t be directly applied in SaaS service supply chain. The necessary way of IT services developing is to study the SaaS service supply chain combining with characteristics of SaaS. Therefore, It focuses on the coordination of SaaS service supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: It tries to answer the following question: how do the ISV motivate SaaS operators to improve the service level through effective contracts mechanism under conditions of asymmetric information. In order to answer these questions, this paper does some researches including: Under the conditions of information asymmetry, supposing the service level (is related to the degree of effort of SaaS operator was private information, we construct model of compensation contract, i.e., to motivate SaaS operator to improve service level through transfer payments of compensation price. Findings and Originality/value: The study finds out that when ISV get to “positive feedback”, instead of the traditional market equilibrium, compensation contract (linear can coordinate satisfactorily the SaaS service supply chain. In the point of “positive feedback”, the marginal revenue equals the marginal cost, but it is not the equilibrium of ISV’profit-maximization. Research limitations/implications: There are some limitations in this research. In the linear compensation contracts, the compensation price is fixed value. If in the contract, we can create a change value

  9. A Framework for the Evaluation of SaaS Impact

    OpenAIRE

    Araujo, Virginia Maria; Vazquez, Jose Ayude; Cota, Manuel Perez

    2014-01-01

    Nowadays the technological progress allows us to have highly flexible solutions, easily accessible with lower levels of investment, which leads to many companies adopting SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) to support their business processes. Associated with this movement and considering the advantages of SaaS, it is important to understand whether work is being developed that is underutilized because companies are not taking advantage of it, and in this case it is necessary to understand the reaso...

  10. Customer journey in B2B SaaS business models

    OpenAIRE

    Opanasenko, Mariia

    2017-01-01

    In this paper customer journey for B2B SaaS business models was analyzed to study customer experience, customer success and its key performance indicators. The research method is the case study of Supplier Relationship Management SaaS solution provider. In recent years, the research in customer journey management identified the tendency of acknowledge customer journey as a differentiator and a competitive advantage. Customer journey is a complex process that entails structured customer experi...

  11. A design of evaluation method for SaaS in cloud computing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chekfoung Tan

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: This paper aims to design an evaluation method that enables an organization to assess its current IT landscape and provide readiness assessment prior to Software as a Service (SaaS adoption.Design/methodology/approach: The research employs a mixed of quantitative and qualitative approaches for conducting an IT application assessment. Quantitative data such as end user’s feedback on the IT applications contribute to the technical impact on efficiency and productivity. Qualitative data such as business domain, business services and IT application cost drivers are used to determine the business value of the IT applications in an organization.Findings: The assessment of IT applications leads to decisions on suitability of each IT application that can be migrated to cloud environment.Research limitations/implications: The evaluation of how a particular IT application impacts on a business service is done based on the logical interpretation. Data mining method is suggested in order to derive the patterns of the IT application capabilities.Practical implications: This method has been applied in a local council in UK. This helps the council to decide the future status of the IT applications for cost saving purpose.Originality/value: The proposed method has gauge various factors including the organizational, business, IT, SaaS assessment, risk assessment prior to SaaS adoption. SaaS providers and consumers hence can have a better understanding on the SaaS adoption from the top level.

  12. Severe Aplastic Anemia (SAA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... page Print this page My Cart Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a disease ... leukemia (ALL) Other diseases What is severe aplastic anemia (SAA)? SAA is a bone marrow disease. The ...

  13. Continuous evolution of multi-tenant SaaS applications: A customizable dynamic adaptation approach

    OpenAIRE

    Gey, Fatih; Van Landuyt, Dimitri; Joosen, Wouter; Jonckers, Viviane

    2015-01-01

    Applying application-level multi-tenancy in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings yields a number of compelling benefits: sharing a single instance of the application between large numbers of customer organizations increases cost efficiency and allows the SaaS provider to attain true economies-of-scale benefits. There is however a main downside to this: increased sharing of resources causes the SaaS application to be very difficult to modify after initial development and deployment ...

  14. Measurement of serum amyloid A1 (SAA1), a major isotype of acute phase SAA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yuanyuan; Yamada, Toshiyuki; Satoh, Takahiko; Okuda, Yasuaki

    2006-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA), a plasma precursor of reactive amyloid deposits, is a multigene product. SAA1 and SAA2, with primary structures that are 93% identical (98 of 104 amino acids), behave as acute phase proteins, as demonstrated by their increasing levels in plasma. Heretofore, it has been understood that SAA1 predominates and functions as an isotype in plasma. However, accurate measurements differentiating the two isotypes have not been reported. In this study, using monoclonal antibodies specific for SAA1, we developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for SAA1. The levels and ratios of SAA1 in total SAA (TSAA) were investigated in healthy subjects and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The SAA1/TSAA ratio was 74 +/- 12% and 77 +/- 12% in healthy subjects and RA patients, respectively. In RA patients, the ratios were not influenced by SAA1 genotype, which has been proposed to affect plasma SAA values. The kinetics of SAA1 in inflamed patients undergoing hemodialysis was found to be parallel with total SAA and C-reactive protein. Finally, this study confirmed that SAA1 is a major isotype of acute phase SAA and may determine total SAA values. This specific assay could be used in the evaluation of SAA behavior in several clinical conditions.

  15. Research on SaaS and Web Service Based Order Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Jianhua; Sheng, Buyun; Gong, Lixiong; Yang, Mingzhong

    To solve the order tracking of across enterprises in Dynamic Virtual Enterprise (DVE), a SaaS and web service based order tracking solution was designed by analyzing the order management process in DVE. To achieve the system, the SaaS based architecture of data management on order tasks manufacturing states was constructed, and the encapsulation method of transforming application system into web service was researched. Then the process of order tracking in the system was given out. Finally, the feasibility of this study was verified by the development of a prototype system.

  16. A Mechanism of Modeling and Verification for SaaS Customization Based on TLA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luan, Shuai; Shi, Yuliang; Wang, Haiyang

    With the gradually mature of SOA and the rapid development of Internet, SaaS has become a popular software service mode. The customized action of SaaS is usually subject to internal and external dependency relationships. This paper first introduces a method for modeling customization process based on Temporal Logic of Actions, and then proposes a verification algorithm to assure that each step in customization will not cause unpredictable influence on system and follow the related rules defined by SaaS provider.

  17. SaaS architecture and pricing models

    OpenAIRE

    Laatikainen, Gabriella; Ojala, Arto

    2014-01-01

    In the new era of computing, SaaS software with different architectural characteristics might be priced in different ways. Even though both pricing and architectural characteristics are responsible for the success of the offering; the relationship between architectural and pricing characteristics has not been studied before. The present study fills this gap by employing a multi-case research. The findings accentuate that flexible and well-designed architecture enables different pricing models...

  18. Connecting long-tail scientists with big data centers using SaaS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Percivall, G. S.; Bermudez, L. E.

    2012-12-01

    Big data centers and long tail scientists represent two extremes in the geoscience research community. Interoperability and inter-use based on software-as-a-service (SaaS) increases access to big data holdings by this underserved community of scientists. Large, institutional data centers have long been recognized as vital resources in the geoscience community. Permanent data archiving and dissemination centers provide "access to the data and (are) a critical source of people who have experience in the use of the data and can provide advice and counsel for new applications." [NRC] The "long-tail of science" is the geoscience researchers that work separate from institutional data centers [Heidorn]. Long-tail scientists need to be efficient consumers of data from large, institutional data centers. Discussions in NSF EarthCube capture the challenges: "Like the vast majority of NSF-funded researchers, Alice (a long-tail scientist) works with limited resources. In the absence of suitable expertise and infrastructure, the apparently simple task that she assigns to her graduate student becomes an information discovery and management nightmare. Downloading and transforming datasets takes weeks." [Foster, et.al.] The long-tail metaphor points to methods to bridge the gap, i.e., the Web. A decade ago, OGC began building a geospatial information space using open, web standards for geoprocessing [ORM]. Recently, [Foster, et.al.] accurately observed that "by adopting, adapting, and applying semantic web and SaaS technologies, we can make the use of geoscience data as easy and convenient as consumption of online media." SaaS places web services into Cloud Computing. SaaS for geospatial is emerging rapidly building on the first-generation geospatial web, e.g., OGC Web Coverage Service [WCS] and the Data Access Protocol [DAP]. Several recent examples show progress in applying SaaS to geosciences: - NASA's Earth Data Coherent Web has a goal to improve science user experience using

  19. Characterization of rat serum amyloid A4 (SAA4): A novel member of the SAA superfamily

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rossmann, Christine; Windpassinger, Christian; Brunner, Daniela; Kovacevic, Alenka; Schweighofer, Natascha; Malli, Roland; Schuligoi, Rufina; Prokesch, Andreas; Kluve-Beckerman, Barbara; Graier, Wolfgang F.; Kratky, Dagmar; Sattler, Wolfgang; Malle, Ernst

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The full length rat SAA4 (rSAA4) mRNA was characterized by rapid amplification of cDNA ends. • rSAA4 mRNA has 1830 bases including a GA dinucleotide tandem repeat in the 5′UTR. • Three consecutive C/EBP promoter elements are crucial for transcription of rSAA4. • rSAA4 is abundantly expressed in the liver on mRNA and protein level. - Abstract: The serum amyloid A (SAA) family of proteins is encoded by multiple genes, which display allelic variation and a high degree of homology in mammals. The SAA1/2 genes code for non-glycosylated acute-phase SAA1/2 proteins, that may increase up to 1000-fold during inflammation. The SAA4 gene, well characterized in humans (hSAA4) and mice (mSaa4) codes for a SAA4 protein that is glycosylated only in humans. We here report on a previously uncharacterized SAA4 gene (rSAA4) and its product in Rattus norvegicus, the only mammalian species known not to express acute-phase SAA. The exon/intron organization of rSAA4 is similar to that reported for hSAA4 and mSaa4. By performing 5′- and 3′RACE, we identified a 1830-bases containing rSAA4 mRNA (including a GA-dinucleotide tandem repeat). Highest rSAA4 mRNA expression was detected in rat liver. In McA-RH7777 rat hepatoma cells, rSAA4 transcription was significantly upregulated in response to LPS and IL-6 while IL-1α/β and TNFα were without effect. Luciferase assays with promoter-truncation constructs identified three proximal C/EBP-elements that mediate expression of rSAA4 in McA-RH7777 cells. In line with sequence prediction a 14-kDa non-glycosylated SAA4 protein is abundantly expressed in rat liver. Fluorescence microscopy revealed predominant localization of rSAA4-GFP-tagged fusion protein in the ER

  20. Privacy Data Decomposition and Discretization Method for SaaS Services

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changbo Ke

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In cloud computing, user functional requirements are satisfied through service composition. However, due to the process of interaction and sharing among SaaS services, user privacy data tends to be illegally disclosed to the service participants. In this paper, we propose a privacy data decomposition and discretization method for SaaS services. First, according to logic between the data, we classify the privacy data into discrete privacy data and continuous privacy data. Next, in order to protect the user privacy information, continuous data chains are decomposed into discrete data chain, and discrete data chains are prevented from being synthesized into continuous data chains. Finally, we propose a protection framework for privacy data and demonstrate its correctness and feasibility with experiments.

  1. Universal SaaS platform of internet of things for real-time monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tongke; Wu, Gang

    2018-04-01

    Real-time monitoring service, as a member of the IoT (Internet of Things) service, has a wide range application scenario. To support rapid construction and deployment of applications and avoid repetitive development works in these processes, this paper designs and develops a universal SaaS platform of IoT for real-time monitoring. Evaluation shows that this platform can provide SaaS service to multiple tenants and achieve high real-time performance under the situation of large amount of device access.

  2. Challenges of reengineering into multi-tenant SaaS applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bezemer, C.; Zaidman, A.

    2010-01-01

    Multi-tenancy is a relatively new software architecture principle in the realm of the Software as a Service (SaaS) business model. It allows to make full use of the economy of scale, as multiple customers "tenants" share the same application and database instance. All the while, the tenants enjoy a

  3. Pembangunan Aplikasi Perhitungan Honor dan Pengukuran Kinerja Asisten Praktikum Berbasis SaaS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fitri Susanti

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Bagi suatu perguruan tinggi, kegiatan praktikum sangat penting untuk mendukung pembelajaran di kelas. Beberapa masalah yang muncul dalam pengelolaan kegiatan praktikum seperti keterlambatan pengumpulan berita acara praktikum (BAP sehingga memperlambat perhitungan, pembayaran dan pelaporan honor asprak. Dibutuhkan waktu sekitar dua minggu untuk rekapitulasi dan validasi ratusan lembar BAP yang telah terkumpul setiap bulannya. Dibutuhkan pengolahan data lebih lanjut untuk menilai kinerja asprak berdasarkan data BAP. Untuk mengatasi permasalahan di atas maka dibangun aplikasi perhitungan honor dan kinerja asprak. Aplikasi ini digunakan untuk mengelola data BAP, perhitungan dan pelaporan honor, perhitungan nilai transkrip aktivitas kemahasiswaan (TAK dan pencetakan sertifikat asprak. Keterbatasan SDM atau biaya menyebabkan tidak semua perguruan tinggi dapat langsung membuat aplikasi yang dibutuhkan. Oleh karena itu aplikasi ini dibangun berbasis Software as A Service (SaaS. Aplikasi ini dikembangkan dengan metode analisis perancangan terstruktur dengan model waterfall. Pengumpulan data kebutuhan aplikasi dilakukan dengan survey ke fakultas-fakultas di Universitas Telkom. Hasilnya dianalisis dan dikembangkan menjadi rancangan aplikasi. Aplikasi diimplementasikan pada pemrograman PHP. Pengujian dilakukan dengan metode black box testing. Hasilnya berupa aplikasi SaaS untuk perhitungan honor dan pengukuran kinerja asisten praktikum. Perguruan tinggi pengguna aplikasi SaaS ini dapat melakukan kostumisasi terhadap fitur yang ada sesuai dengan kebutuhan.

  4. Sourcing Lifecycle for Software as a Service (SAAS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santy; Sikkel, K.

    2014-03-01

    In recent years, Software as a Service (SaaS) has changed from curiosity caused concept to an accepted well known concept. A key advantage of this model is that, by cautious engineering, it is possible to influence economy of scale to decrease total cost of ownership compared to on-premises solutions. By using the guideline elaborated in this paper, companies which has interest in implementing SaaS will be led throughout the entire implementation cycle starting before the company decides to implement SaaS until the stage when the company decides to shift from SaaS model to another model or when they shift to another SaaS company

  5. Sourcing Lifecycle for Software as a Service (SAAS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santy

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, Software as a Service (SaaS has changed from curiosity caused concept to an accepted well known concept. A key advantage of this model is that, by cautious engineering, it is possible to influence economy of scale to decrease total cost of ownership compared to on-premises solutions. By using the guideline elaborated in this paper, companies which has interest in implementing SaaS will be led throughout the entire implementation cycle starting before the company decides to implement SaaS until the stage when the company decides to shift from SaaS model to another model or when they shift to another SaaS company

  6. Why do Companies Adopt or Reject SaaS? Looking at the Organizational Aspect

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mangula, Ivonne; van de Weerd, G.C.; Brinkkemper, Sjaak

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of three organizational factors on the adoption of SaaS in Indonesian companies, namely top management support, organizational readiness, and organizational size. We conducted interviews with 15 case companies. Our results show that top

  7. Design Choices Underlying the Software as a Service (SaaS) Business Model from the User Perspective : Exploring the Fourth Wave of Outsourcing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Joha, A.; Janssen, M.F.W.H.A.

    2012-01-01

    Software as a Service (SaaS) can be viewed as the fourth wave of outsourcing. SaaS is a relatively new type of service delivery model in which a service provider delivers its services over the web to many users on a pay per use or period basis. In the scarce literature available, the SaaS business

  8. Multi-Instance Quotation System (SaaS) Based on Docker Containerizing Platform

    OpenAIRE

    Shekhamis, Anass

    2016-01-01

    This thesis covers the development of a quotation system that is built as a multi-instance SaaS. Quotation systems usually come as part of customer relationship management systems, but not necessarily included. They also tend to have invoicing alongside the original functionality; creating quotations for customers. The system uses Microservices Architecture were each service is a replaceable and upgradeable component that achieve certain functionality and easily integrate with other third-par...

  9. Human SR-BII mediates SAA uptake and contributes to SAA pro-inflammatory signaling in vitro and in vivo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina N Baranova

    Full Text Available Serum amyloid A (SAA is an acute phase protein with cytokine-like and chemotactic properties, that is markedly up-regulated during various inflammatory conditions. Several receptors, including FPRL-1, TLR2, TLR4, RAGE, class B scavenger receptors, SR-BI and CD36, have been identified as SAA receptors. This study provides new evidence that SR-BII, splice variant of SR-BI, could function as an SAA receptor mediating its uptake and pro-inflammatory signaling. The uptake of Alexa Fluor488 SAA was markedly (~3 fold increased in hSR-BII-expressing HeLa cells when compared with mock-transfected cells. The levels of SAA-induced interleukin-8 secretion by hSR-BII-expressing HEK293 cells were also significantly (~3-3.5 fold higher than those detected in control cells. Moderately enhanced levels of phosphorylation of all three mitogen-activated protein kinases, ERK1/2, and p38 and JNK, were observed in hSR-BII-expressing cells following SAA stimulation when compared with control wild type cells. Transgenic mice with pLiv-11-directed liver/kidney overexpression of hSR-BI or hSR-BII were used to assess the in vivo role of each receptor in SAA-induced pro-inflammatory response in these organs. Six hours after intraperitoneal SAA injection both groups of transgenic mice demonstrated markedly higher (~2-5-fold expression levels of inflammatory mediators in the liver and kidney compared to wild type mice. Histological examinations of hepatic and renal tissue from SAA-treated mice revealed moderate level of damage in the liver of both transgenic but not in the wild type mice. Activities of plasma transaminases, biomarkers of liver injury, were also moderately higher in hSR-B transgenic mice when compared to wild type mice. Our findings identify hSR-BII as a functional SAA receptor that mediates SAA uptake and contributes to its pro-inflammatory signaling via the MAPKs-mediated signaling pathways.

  10. How to Sell SaaS: A Model for Main Factors of Marketing and Selling Software-as-a-Service

    OpenAIRE

    Tyrväinen, Pasi; Selin, Joona

    2011-01-01

    Software-as-a-Service providers have been growing fast while the contemporary research literature has neglected analysis of their business-critical marketing and sales processes. In this paper we collect the key factors characterizing how to market and sell SaaS to business customers into an eight dimensional model. We also use an explorative multi-case study to observe six SaaS providers and validate the model. The interviewed providers emphasized use of the Internet for ma...

  11. Design Choices Underlying the Software as a Service (SaaS) Business Model from the User Perspective: Exploring the Fourth Wave of Outsourcing

    OpenAIRE

    Joha, A.; Janssen, M.F.W.H.A.

    2012-01-01

    Software as a Service (SaaS) can be viewed as the fourth wave of outsourcing. SaaS is a relatively new type of service delivery model in which a service provider delivers its services over the web to many users on a pay per use or period basis. In the scarce literature available, the SaaS business model is almost always analyzed from the perspective of the service provider perspective, and rarely from the user organization. Using the unified business model conceptual framework, two case studi...

  12. Challenges in Small Screening Laboratories: SaaS to the rescue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemmon, Vance P.; Jia, Yuanyuan; Shi, Yan; Holbrook, S. Douglas; Bixby, John L; Buchser, William

    2012-01-01

    The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, includes a laboratory devoted to High Content Analysis (HCA) of neurons. The goal of the laboratory is to uncover signalling pathways, genes, compounds, or drugs that can be used to promote nerve growth. HCA permits the quantification of neuronal morphology, including the lengths and numbers of axons. HCA screening of various libraries on primary neurons requires a team-based approach, a variety of process steps and complex manipulations of cells and libraries to obtain meaningful results. HCA itself produces vast amounts of information including images, well-based data and cell-based phenotypic measures. Managing experimental workflow and library data, along with the extensive amount of experimental results is challenging. For academic laboratories generating large data sets from experiments using thousands of perturbagens, a laboratory information management system (LIMS) is the data tracking solution of choice. With both productivity and efficiency as driving rationales, the Miami Project has equipped its HCA laboratory with a Software As A Service (SAAS) LIMS to ensure the quality of its experiments and workflows. The article discusses this application in detail, and how the system was selected and integrated into the laboratory. The advantages of SaaS are described. PMID:21631415

  13. Sourcing Lifecycle for Software as a Service (SAAS)

    OpenAIRE

    Santy; Sikkel K.

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, Software as a Service (SaaS) has changed from curiosity caused concept to an accepted well known concept. A key advantage of this model is that, by cautious engineering, it is possible to influence economy of scale to decrease total cost of ownership compared to on-premises solutions. By using the guideline elaborated in this paper, companies which has interest in implementing SaaS will be led throughout the entire implementation cycle starting before the company decides to i...

  14. How to scale SaaS business from local toglobal markets? Case of ad servers

    OpenAIRE

    PANDERS, TOMS

    2014-01-01

    This thesis will describe SaaS (Software as a Service) business in a global environment. The prior focus will be to give suggestions of models and good examples of how to scale local business into global markets. The necessary theoretical framework on software product and scalability issues is given. Qualitative research is carried out to find out how the suggested models are adopted among selected ad serving companies. The results from three different companies were analyzed to find similari...

  15. Software as a Service - Common Service Bus (SAAS-CSB)

    OpenAIRE

    Swaminathan, R.; Karnavel, K.

    2013-01-01

    Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a form of cloud computing that relieves the user from the concern of hardware, software installation and management. It is an emerging business model that delivers software applications to the users through Web-based technology. Software vendors have varying requirements and SaaS applications most typically support such requirements. The various applications used by unique customers in a single instance are known as Multi-Tenancy. There would be a delay in serv...

  16. Developing Applications in the Era of Cloud-based SaaS Library Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josh Weisman

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available As the move to cloud-based SaaS library systems accelerates, we must consider what it means to develop applications when the core of the system isn't under the library's control. The entire application lifecycle is changing, from development to testing to production. Developing applications for cloud solutions raises new concerns, such as security, multi-tenancy, latency, and analytics. In this article, we review the landscape and suggest a view of how to be successful for the benefit of library staff and end-users in this new reality. We discuss what kinds of APIs and protocols vendors should be supporting, and suggest how best to take advantage of the innovations being introduced.

  17. A security model for saas in cloud computing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbas, R.; Farooq, A.

    2016-01-01

    Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. It has many service modes like Software as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). In SaaS model, service providers install and activate the applications in cloud and cloud customers access the software from cloud. So, the user does not have the need to purchase and install a particular software on his/her machine. While using SaaS model, there are multiple security issues and problems like Data security, Data breaches, Network security, Authentication and authorization, Data integrity, Availability, Web application security and Backup which are faced by users. Many researchers minimize these security problems by putting in hard work. A large work has been done to resolve these problems but there are a lot of issues that persist and need to overcome. In this research work, we have developed a security model that improves the security of data according to the desire of the End-user. The proposed model for different data security options can be helpful to increase the data security through which trade-off between functionalities can be optimized for private and public data. (author)

  18. How to scale SaaS business  from local to global markets? : Case of ad servers

    OpenAIRE

    PANDERS, TOMS

    2014-01-01

    This thesis will describe SaaS (Software as a Service) business in a global environment. The prior focus will be to give suggestions of models and good examples of how to scale local business into global markets. The necessary theoretical framework on software product and scalability issues is given. Qualitative research is carried out to find out how the suggested models are adopted among selected ad serving companies. The results from three different companies were analyzed to find similari...

  19. ANALISIS PERANCANGAN BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE BERBASIS SAAS CLOUD COMPUTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I Gede Adnyana

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Persaingan bisnis yang ketat, mendorong setiap perusahaan menyusun strategi bisnis agar dapat bertahan dari para pesaing. Penyusunan strategi bisnis mutlak memerlukan informasi yang tepat dan akurat, pengolahan hingga analisis data yang menghasilkan informasi yang tepat dan akurat menjadi proses yang sangat penting. Business Intelligence (BI menawarkan solusi bisnis untuk menganalisis data dan memungkinkan suatu perusahaan untuk mengambil keputusan untuk meningkatkan keuntungan dan kinerja bisnis. Namun, BI mahal untuk diimplementasikan, memerlukan biaya pemeliharaan yang tidak sedikit dan infrastruktur yang kuat. Hal ini mendorong perusahaan mengurangi biaya tetapi masih memiliki teknologi yang tepat untuk memungkinkan mereka untuk membuat keputusan, mengidentifikasi peluang dan proaktif mengidentifikasi risiko yang dapat mempengaruhi bisnis. Konsep Software as a Service (SaaS Cloud Computing dapat menjawab tantangan yang dihadapi BI. Sebelum merancang BI berbasis SaaS perlu diketahui parameter-parameter evaluasi hingga kelebihan dan kekurangannya.

  20. Circadian integration of glutamatergic signals by little SAAS in novel suprachiasmatic circuits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkins, Norman; Mitchell, Jennifer W; Romanova, Elena V; Morgan, Daniel J; Cominski, Tara P; Ecker, Jennifer L; Pintar, John E; Sweedler, Jonathan V; Gillette, Martha U

    2010-09-07

    Neuropeptides are critical integrative elements within the central circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), where they mediate both cell-to-cell synchronization and phase adjustments that cause light entrainment. Forward peptidomics identified little SAAS, derived from the proSAAS prohormone, among novel SCN peptides, but its role in the SCN is poorly understood. Little SAAS localization and co-expression with established SCN neuropeptides were evaluated by immunohistochemistry using highly specific antisera and stereological analysis. Functional context was assessed relative to c-FOS induction in light-stimulated animals and on neuronal circadian rhythms in glutamate-stimulated brain slices. We found that little SAAS-expressing neurons comprise the third most abundant neuropeptidergic class (16.4%) with unusual functional circuit contexts. Little SAAS is localized within the densely retinorecipient central SCN of both rat and mouse, but not the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT). Some little SAAS colocalizes with vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), known mediators of light signals, but not arginine vasopressin (AVP). Nearly 50% of little SAAS neurons express c-FOS in response to light exposure in early night. Blockade of signals that relay light information, via NMDA receptors or VIP- and GRP-cognate receptors, has no effect on phase delays of circadian rhythms induced by little SAAS. Little SAAS relays signals downstream of light/glutamatergic signaling from eye to SCN, and independent of VIP and GRP action. These findings suggest that little SAAS forms a third SCN neuropeptidergic system, processing light information and activating phase-shifts within novel circuits of the central circadian clock.

  1. Kinetics of selective deposition of Apo SAA2 during development of amyloidosis in mice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meek, R.L.; Benditt, E.P.; Hoffman, J.S.

    1986-01-01

    The major murine serum amyloid proteins (apoSAA 1 , apoSAA 2 ) have been identified, of which only one (apoSAA 2 ) shares amino acid sequence identity with tissue protein AA. To examine the mechanism of this apparent isotypespecific amyloid protein deposition, we have studied apoSAA metabolism at the levels of gene expression and plasma content during amyloidogenesis. In CBA mice, daily intraperitoneal casein administration resulted in a linear increase in splenic amyloid content, beginning within 10 days and reaching approximately 30% of the organ volume at 20 days. Hepatic apoSAA mRNA content, estimated by in vitro translation, was highest at day 1 (3% of total mRNA) and declined thereafter (to 1%, day 20). The relative content of apoSAA 2 mRNA compared with that of apoSAA 1 was unchanged throughout amyloid induction. Simultaneously, a 2-3 fold drop in total serum apoSAA levels was observed with, by contrast, a 10-fold reduction in the serum ratio of apoSAA 2 /apoSAA 1 . These results are consistent with the hypothesis that murine tissue protein AA accumulates by selective deposition of apoSAA 2 from the serum

  2. Arsitektur Saas Pada Komputasi Awan ‘INKOM'

    OpenAIRE

    Suwarningsih, Wiwin; Nugraheni, Ekasari

    2015-01-01

    Cloud computing is a technology that is needed at this time. Increasing information needs to be the foundation built a cloud-based applications. One application that we are developing now is an application that supports the field of e-government, and e-health. In this paper will explain the design of software architecture as one of the software as a services = SaaS. This architecture is built to facilitate the process of transforming information from standardized technology to cloud technolog...

  3. Cloud Computing (SaaS Adoption as a Strategic Technology: Results of an Empirical Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro R. Palos-Sanchez

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The present study empirically analyzes the factors that determine the adoption of cloud computing (SaaS model in firms where this strategy is considered strategic for executing their activity. A research model has been developed to evaluate the factors that influence the intention of using cloud computing that combines the variables found in the technology acceptance model (TAM with other external variables such as top management support, training, communication, organization size, and technological complexity. Data compiled from 150 companies in Andalusia (Spain are used to test the formulated hypotheses. The results of this study reflect what critical factors should be considered and how they are interrelated. They also show the organizational demands that must be considered by those companies wishing to implement a real management model adopted to the digital economy, especially those related to cloud computing.

  4. Внедрения SaaS в производство

    OpenAIRE

    ЛАЗЕЕВА В.И.; ДОЛГОВА Т.Г.

    2014-01-01

    Рассматривается эффективность различного рода систем автоматизации бизнес-процессов. Достоинство и недостатки SaaS технологий. С какими проблемами сталкивается клиент при работе SaaS.

  5. Analyse: The Comparison of Czech and Foreign ASP/SAAS Providers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beer Daniela

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available This report gives an overview of the current Application Service Provider´s (ASP market, especially the offered services. A questionnaire was sent to more than 20 companies which offer some kind of ASP / SaaS, but none of them replied. For this reason all comparisons were done only on the basis of their websites. Chapter three gives an overview of ASP and SaaS definitions, as well as describing the differences between the two. The analysis is focused on the comparison of Czech and foreign companies. Czech companies were compared in accordance with the survey. As the foreign companies offered all services inquired in the survey given to Czech companies, comparison was instead based on the classification of the kind of ASP models offered such as business ASP, enterprice ASP, functional oriented ASP, vertical market ASP and ASP aggregators. At the end of this report, some trends in the ASP market are mentioned.

  6. 24 CFR 3282.309 - Formal and informal presentations of views held by SAAs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Formal and informal presentations of views held by SAAs. 3282.309 Section 3282.309 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating... held by SAAs. (a) When an SAA is the appropriate agency to hold a Formal or Informal Presentation of...

  7. Characterization of serum amyloid A (SAA) in rainbow trout using a new monoclonal antibody

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kania, Per Walter; Chettri, Jiwan Kumar; Buchmann, Kurt

    2014-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an integral part of the innate immune response in mammals and considered to be important during the acute phase response. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the role of SAA protein in the innate immune response of rainbow trout. A monoclonal antibody raised...... against a recombinant peptide of rainbow trout SAA was characterized using Western blot, dot blot, ELISA and immunohistochemistry. SAA association with high density lipoprotein (HDL) complicated band identification in Western blot, but delipidization of the SAA-HDL isolate highly increased the quality...... of reaction in the western blot. Rainbow trout fry (87 days post hatch) infected with Yersinia ruckeri showed a significant up-regulation of the SAA gene at 72 h post infection with an increase until 96 h post infection. Non-significant up-regulations were seen at earlier time points i.e. 4 and 24 h...

  8. Valorización de la empresa Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A. (UNACEM S.A.A.)

    OpenAIRE

    Cárdenas Zúñiga, Julissa Yasmet; Zapana Solórzano, Edson Humberto; Puell Escobedo, Percy Alejandro

    2016-01-01

    Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A. (UNACEM S.A.A.) es la cementera líder en el Perú con más de 60 años en el mercado. Es una empresa formada el 25 de julio del 2012 a partir de la fusión de dos empresas cementeras (Cementos Lima fundada en 1967, y Cemento Andino creada en 1952). Su actividad se centra en producir cemento en el Perú y en el extranjero, incluyendo su comercialización y venta. Se muestra el valor de la empresa UNACEM mediante el uso de dos modelos: el método de descuento del flujo ...

  9. A Novel Method for Mining SaaS Software Tag via Community Detection in Software Services Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Li; Li, Bing; Pan, Wei-Feng; Peng, Tao

    The number of online software services based on SaaS paradigm is increasing. However, users usually find it hard to get the exact software services they need. At present, tags are widely used to annotate specific software services and also to facilitate the searching of them. Currently these tags are arbitrary and ambiguous since mostly of them are generated manually by service developers. This paper proposes a method for mining tags from the help documents of software services. By extracting terms from the help documents and calculating the similarity between the terms, we construct a software similarity network where nodes represent software services, edges denote the similarity relationship between software services, and the weights of the edges are the similarity degrees. The hierarchical clustering algorithm is used for community detection in this software similarity network. At the final stage, tags are mined for each of the communities and stored as ontology.

  10. Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) from mink, horse, and man: a comparative study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marhaug, G.; Husby, G.; Husebeck, A.; Sletten, K.

    1986-01-01

    Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) was isolated from mink, horse, and human serum by ultracentrifugation and gel filtration and characterized by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, Western blotting followed by autoradiography and N-terminal amino acid analysis. SAA was found in similar quantities in the high density lipoprotein (HDL) fraction of serum from a patient suffering from systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and mink stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and in somewhat smaller quantities in serum from horses stimulated with Escherichia coli cultures. Only very small quantities were present in normal human controls and not detectable in normal mink and horse. Striking similarities were found between human and mink SAA with respect to molecular weight, isolectric point and degree of heterogeneity, while the molecular weight, isolectric point and degree of heterogeneity, while the molecular weight of horse SAA seemed to be somewhat lower, and no obvious heterogeneity could be demonstrated in this protein using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Immunologic cross-reactivity between SAA from the three species was not found. In contrast to human and horse HDL, mink HDL was found not to contain apoA-II and only minute amounts of apoC proteins. Normal horse HDL also contained additional apoproteins not present in HDL from the other species. N-terminal amino acids analysis of SAA from mink and horse demonstrated the same similarity with the corresponding AA protein as previously reported for human SAA/AA

  11. Definition of a Twelve-Point Polygonal SAA Boundary for the GLAST Mission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Djomehri, Sabra I.; UC, Santa Cruz; SLAC

    2007-01-01

    The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), set to launch in early 2008, detects gamma rays within a huge energy range of 100 MeV - 300 GeV. Background cosmic radiation interferes with such detection resulting in confusion over distinguishing cosmic from gamma rays encountered. This quandary is resolved by encasing GLAST's Large Area Telescope (LAT) with an Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD), a device which identifies and vetoes charged particles. The ACD accomplishes this through plastic scintillator tiles; when cosmic rays strike, photons produced induce currents in Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) attached to these tiles. However, as GLAST orbits Earth at altitudes ∼550km and latitudes between -26 degree and 26 degree, it will confront the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), a region of high particle flux caused by trapped radiation in the geomagnetic field. Since the SAA flux would degrade the sensitivity of the ACD's PMTs over time, a determined boundary enclosing this region need be attained, signaling when to lower the voltage on the PMTs as a protective measure. The operational constraints on such a boundary require a convex SAA polygon with twelve edges, whose area is minimal ensuring GLAST has maximum observation time. The AP8 and PSB97 models describing the behavior of trapped radiation were used in analyzing the SAA and defining a convex SAA boundary of twelve sides. The smallest possible boundary was found to cover 14.58% of GLAST's observation time. Further analysis of defining a boundary safety margin to account for inaccuracies in the models reveals if the total SAA hull area is increased by ∼20%, the loss of total observational area is < 5%. These twelve coordinates defining the SAA flux region are ready for implementation by the GLAST satellite

  12. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS MOVING TOWARDS A UNIFIED COLLABORATIVE SYSTEM IN IT. SAAS MAY BE THE NEW ORIENTATION.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tolea Eniko Elisabeta

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we will present an alternative way of programming. Our opinion is that, in the next few years, software development business will suffer serious changes. Software vendors will adopt SaaS (Software as a Service as the new way of selling their products. We will try to guide you through the basic concepts of this relatively new domain. The article also includes a brief description of an application, developed indoor but using SaaS applications for some of its modules. In the end we want to make an SWOT analysis of the opportunity of using SaaS.

  13. Development of a SaaS application probe to the physical properties of the Earth's interior: An attempt at moving HPC to the cloud

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Qian

    2014-09-01

    Scientific computing often requires the availability of a massive number of computers for performing large-scale simulations, and computing in mineral physics is no exception. In order to investigate physical properties of minerals at extreme conditions in computational mineral physics, parallel computing technology is used to speed up the performance by utilizing multiple computer resources to process a computational task simultaneously thereby greatly reducing computation time. Traditionally, parallel computing has been addressed by using High Performance Computing (HPC) solutions and installed facilities such as clusters and super computers. Today, it has been seen that there is a tremendous growth in cloud computing. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), the on-demand and pay-as-you-go model, creates a flexible and cost-effective mean to access computing resources. In this paper, a feasibility report of HPC on a cloud infrastructure is presented. It is found that current cloud services in IaaS layer still need to improve performance to be useful to research projects. On the other hand, Software as a Service (SaaS), another type of cloud computing, is introduced into an HPC system for computing in mineral physics, and an application of which is developed. In this paper, an overall description of this SaaS application is presented. This contribution can promote cloud application development in computational mineral physics, and cross-disciplinary studies.

  14. ProSAAS-derived peptides are differentially processed and sorted in mouse brain and AtT-20 cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan H Wardman

    Full Text Available ProSAAS is the precursor for some of the most abundant peptides found in mouse brain and other tissues, including peptides named SAAS, PEN, and LEN. Both SAAS and LEN are found in big and little forms due to differential processing. Initial processing of proSAAS is mediated by furin (and/or furin-like enzymes and carboxypeptidase D, while the smaller forms are generated by secretory granule prohormone convertases and carboxypeptidase E. In mouse hypothalamus, PEN and big LEN colocalize with neuropeptide Y. In the present study, little LEN and SAAS were detected in mouse hypothalamus but not in cell bodies of neuropeptide Y-expressing neurons. PEN and big LEN show substantial colocalization in hypothalamus, but big LEN and little LEN do not. An antiserum to SAAS that detects both big and little forms of this peptide did not show substantial colocalization with PEN or big LEN. To further study this, the AtT-20 cells mouse pituitary corticotrophic cell line was transfected with rat proSAAS and the distribution of peptides examined. As found in mouse hypothalamus, only some of the proSAAS-derived peptides colocalized with each other in AtT-20 cells. The two sites within proSAAS that are known to be efficiently cleaved by furin were altered by site-directed mutagenesis to convert the P4 Arg into Lys; this change converts the sequences from furin consensus sites into prohormone convertase consensus sites. Upon expression of the mutated form of proSAAS in AtT-20 cells, there was significantly more colocalization of proSAAS-derived peptides PEN and SAAS. Taken together, these results indicate that proSAAS is initially cleaved in the Golgi or trans-Golgi network by furin and/or furin-like enzymes and the resulting fragments are sorted into distinct vesicles and further processed by additional enzymes into the mature peptides.

  15. Organization and Biology of the Porcine Serum Amyloid A (SAA) Gene Cluster: Isoform Specific Responses to Bacterial Infection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Helle G; Skovgaard, Kerstin; Nielsen, Ole L

    2013-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a prominent acute phase protein. Although its biological functions are debated, the wide species distribution of highly homologous SAA proteins and their uniform behavior in response to injury or inflammation in itself suggests a significant role for this protein. The pig...... is increasingly being used as a model for the study of inflammatory reactions, yet only little is known about how specific SAA genes are regulated in the pig during acute phase responses and other responses induced by pro-inflammatory host mediators. We designed SAA gene specific primers and quantified the gene...... expression of porcine SAA1, SAA2, SAA3, and SAA4 by reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in liver, spleen, and lung tissue from pigs experimentally infected with the Gram-negative swine specific bacterium Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, as well as from pigs experimentally...

  16. CRP and SAA1 Haplotypes Are Associated with Both C-Reactive Protein and Serum Amyloid A Levels: Role of Suppression Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Lin Ko

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available To test the statistical association of the CRP and SAA1 locus variants with their corresponding circulating levels and metabolic and inflammatory biomarker levels by using mediation analysis, a sample population of 599 Taiwanese subjects was enrolled and five CRP and four SAA1 variants were genotyped. Correlation analysis revealed that C-reactive protein (CRP and serum amyloid A (SAA levels were significantly associated with multiple metabolic phenotypes and inflammatory marker levels. Our data further revealed a significant association of CRP and SAA1 variants with both CRP and SAA levels. Mediation analysis revealed that SAA levels suppressed the association between SAA1 genotypes/haplotypes and CRP levels and that CRP levels suppressed the association between CRP haplotypes and SAA levels. In conclusion, genetic variants at the CRP and SAA1 loci independently affect both CRP and SAA levels, and their respective circulating levels act as suppressors. These results provided further evidence of the role of the suppression effect in biological science and may partially explain the missing heritability in genetic association studies.

  17. Extending multi-tenant architectures: a database model for a multi-target support in SaaS applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rico, Antonio; Noguera, Manuel; Garrido, José Luis; Benghazi, Kawtar; Barjis, Joseph

    2016-05-01

    Multi-tenant architectures (MTAs) are considered a cornerstone in the success of Software as a Service as a new application distribution formula. Multi-tenancy allows multiple customers (i.e. tenants) to be consolidated into the same operational system. This way, tenants run and share the same application instance as well as costs, which are significantly reduced. Functional needs vary from one tenant to another; either companies from different sectors run different types of applications or, although deploying the same functionality, they do differ in the extent of their complexity. In any case, MTA leaves one major concern regarding the companies' data, their privacy and security, which requires special attention to the data layer. In this article, we propose an extended data model that enhances traditional MTAs in respect of this concern. This extension - called multi-target - allows MT applications to host, manage and serve multiple functionalities within the same multi-tenant (MT) environment. The practical deployment of this approach will allow SaaS vendors to target multiple markets or address different levels of functional complexity and yet commercialise just one single MT application. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated via a case study of a real multi-tenancy multi-target (MT2) implementation, called Globalgest.

  18. Detoxification of Corncob Acid Hydrolysate with SAA Pretreatment and Xylitol Production by Immobilized Candida tropicalis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Li-Hong; Tang, Yong; Liu, Yun

    2014-01-01

    Xylitol fermentation production from corncob acid hydrolysate has become an attractive and promising process. However, corncob acid hydrolysate cannot be directly used as fermentation substrate owing to various inhibitors. In this work, soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) pretreatment was employed to reduce the inhibitors in acid hydrolysate. After detoxification, the corncob acid hydrolysate was fermented by immobilized Candida tropicalis cell to produce xylitol. Results revealed that SAA pretreatment showed high delignification and efficient removal of acetyl group compounds without effect on cellulose and xylan content. Acetic acid was completely removed, and the content of phenolic compounds was reduced by 80%. Furthermore, kinetic behaviors of xylitol production by immobilized C. tropicalis cell were elucidated from corncob acid hydrolysate detoxified with SAA pretreatment and two-step adsorption method, respectively. The immobilized C. tropicalis cell showed higher productivity efficiency using the corncob acid hydrolysate as fermentation substrate after detoxification with SAA pretreatment than by two-step adsorption method in the five successive batch fermentation rounds. After the fifth round fermentation, about 60 g xylitol/L fermentation substrate was obtained for SAA pretreatment detoxification, while about 30 g xylitol/L fermentation substrate was obtained for two-step adsorption detoxification. PMID:25133211

  19. Kohtunik, ma ei saa teist aru! / Marko Mägi

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Mägi, Marko

    2007-01-01

    Kohtuasjast USAs Arizonas kolme inimsmugeldamises kahtlustatava Mehhiko mehe üle, kelle suhtes ei saa kohtuotsust langetada, kuna ei suudeta tuvastada keelt, mida kohtualused on võimelised mõistma süüdistusest aru saamiseks

  20. Detoxification of Corncob Acid Hydrolysate with SAA Pretreatment and Xylitol Production by Immobilized Candida tropicalis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li-Hong Deng

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Xylitol fermentation production from corncob acid hydrolysate has become an attractive and promising process. However, corncob acid hydrolysate cannot be directly used as fermentation substrate owing to various inhibitors. In this work, soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA pretreatment was employed to reduce the inhibitors in acid hydrolysate. After detoxification, the corncob acid hydrolysate was fermented by immobilized Candida tropicalis cell to produce xylitol. Results revealed that SAA pretreatment showed high delignification and efficient removal of acetyl group compounds without effect on cellulose and xylan content. Acetic acid was completely removed, and the content of phenolic compounds was reduced by 80%. Furthermore, kinetic behaviors of xylitol production by immobilized C. tropicalis cell were elucidated from corncob acid hydrolysate detoxified with SAA pretreatment and two-step adsorption method, respectively. The immobilized C. tropicalis cell showed higher productivity efficiency using the corncob acid hydrolysate as fermentation substrate after detoxification with SAA pretreatment than by two-step adsorption method in the five successive batch fermentation rounds. After the fifth round fermentation, about 60 g xylitol/L fermentation substrate was obtained for SAA pretreatment detoxification, while about 30 g xylitol/L fermentation substrate was obtained for two-step adsorption detoxification.

  1. Getting SaaSy: The Implementation of Magazine Manager at Canada Wide Media

    OpenAIRE

    Fleischmann, Ariane Louise

    2015-01-01

    In 2013, Canada Wide Media (Canada Wide), a regional magazine publisher based out of Vancouver, BC, upgraded its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) from outdated proprietary software – Media Services Group – to a Software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendor – Magazine Manager. Its implementation was considered a failure (by 2014 Canada Wide scrapped Magazine Manager in favour of Media Services Group’s later CRM iteration, Élan) and this report seeks to answer why. Through an examination of Canada ...

  2. A Regularization SAA Scheme for a Stochastic Mathematical Program with Complementarity Constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-xin Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available To reflect uncertain data in practical problems, stochastic versions of the mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPCC have drawn much attention in the recent literature. Our concern is the detailed analysis of convergence properties of a regularization sample average approximation (SAA method for solving a stochastic mathematical program with complementarity constraints (SMPCC. The analysis of this regularization method is carried out in three steps: First, the almost sure convergence of optimal solutions of the regularized SAA problem to that of the true problem is established by the notion of epiconvergence in variational analysis. Second, under MPCC-MFCQ, which is weaker than MPCC-LICQ, we show that any accumulation point of Karash-Kuhn-Tucker points of the regularized SAA problem is almost surely a kind of stationary point of SMPCC as the sample size tends to infinity. Finally, some numerical results are reported to show the efficiency of the method proposed.

  3. Investigation of the solubility and the potentials for purification of serum amyloid A (SAA) from equine acute phase serum

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Michelle Brønniche; Sørensen, Jens Christian; Jacobsen, Stine

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Serum amyloid A (SAA) is useful as a diagnostic marker of systemic inflammation in horses, but only heterologous assays based on non-equine calibration and standardization are available for measurements of equine SAA. More accurate measurements could be obtained using purified species......-specific SAA in native conformation for assay calibration and standardization. Further knowledge about the biochemical properties of SAA would facilitate a future production of native species-specific calibration material Therefore, the aim of the study was an investigation of the solubility and potentials...... for purification of equine SAA based on biochemical properties.Freeze dried equine acute phase serum was dissolved in 70% 2-propanol, 8 M urea, and milli-Q water, respectively. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), size-exclusive chromatography (FPLC-SEC), and preparative isoelectric focusing (IEF) were performed...

  4. Transformace obchodního modelu IT průmyslu směrem k SaaS a její důsledky na roli podnikové informatiky v oblasti Business Intelligence

    OpenAIRE

    Kűfner, Jiří

    2014-01-01

    The theme of this thesis is one of ways, which develops area of Business Intelligence in the last few years. This way are BI systems design on the principle of Cloud computing, also called BI SaaS. This is a cost available solution also suitable for small companies. This work is aimed to acquaint the reader with basic theoretical knowledge in the areas of Cloud computing, Business Intelligence and their connections. Wants to show risks of this technologies and compare between on-premise and c...

  5. Getting SaaS-y. Why the sisters of Mercy Health System opted for on-demand portfolio management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Jay

    2011-03-01

    Sisters of Mercy Health System chose the SaaS model as a simpler way to plan, execute, and monitor strategic business initiatives. It also provided something that was easy to use and offered quick time to value.

  6. A comparison of serum amyloid A (SAA) synthesis with that of the pentraxins: Serum amyloid P (SAP) and C-reactive protein (CRP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tatsuta, E.; Shirahama, T.; Sipe, J.D.; Skinner, M.

    1986-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) and serum amyloid P (SAP) were detected in cultures of hepatocytes which had been isolated from normal CBA/J mice by the collagenase perfusion technique. SAP production in 24 h cultures was more resistant than SAA and total protein synthesis to inhibition by actinomycin D, but was more sensitive to inhibition by 48 h. However, the production of SAP was more sensitive to cycloheximide than SAA and total protein throughout the 48 hr incubation period. SAP and SAA levels in the culture media were suppressed by treatment of liver cells with 10 -6 M of colchicine for 48 h. Inhibition of SAP production by colchicine was the same regardless of culture condition, but the effect of colchicine on SAA synthesis varied according to the presence of serum of monokine. These observations also support the concept that the two amyloid proteins are produced under different regulatory mechanisms. When C-reactive protein (CRP) was not detected in the sera of patients with severe chronic liver diseases, the SAA levels were very low. When CRP was detected, SAA values were within the normal range. Thus, in order to produce SAA, liver cells in these patients not only were viable but also maintained their specialized function

  7. Implementing Iris in the Railway Control Office Application for Secure Saas in Cloud Environment

    OpenAIRE

    Dr. K. Meena; Dr. M. Manimekalai

    2015-01-01

    Technology plays a vital role in each and every part of the world. In particular ―Cloud‖ computing - a moderately recent term, characterizes the path to develop the advancement in the world of computer science. Further, Cloud provides an affordable environment for its users through different forms of services such as SaaS (Software as a service), PaaS (Platform as a service), and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). Cloud computing is also an Internet-based computing where a large ...

  8. ProSAAS-derived peptides are regulated by cocaine and are required for sensitization to the locomotor effects of cocaine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berezniuk, Iryna; Rodriguiz, Ramona M; Zee, Michael L; Marcus, David J; Pintar, John; Morgan, Daniel J; Wetsel, William C; Fricker, Lloyd D

    2017-11-01

    To identify neuropeptides that are regulated by cocaine, we used a quantitative peptidomic technique to examine the relative levels of neuropeptides in several regions of mouse brain following daily intraperitoneal administration of 10 mg/kg cocaine or saline for 7 days. A total of 102 distinct peptides were identified in one or more of the following brain regions: nucleus accumbens, caudate putamen, frontal cortex, and ventral tegmental area. None of the peptides detected in the caudate putamen or frontal cortex were altered by cocaine administration. Three peptides in the nucleus accumbens and seven peptides in the ventral tegmental area were significantly decreased in cocaine-treated mice. Five of these ten peptides are derived from proSAAS, a secretory pathway protein and neuropeptide precursor. To investigate whether proSAAS peptides contribute to the physiological effects of psychostimulants, we examined acute responses to cocaine and amphetamine in the open field with wild-type (WT) and proSAAS knockout (KO) mice. Locomotion was stimulated more robustly in the WT compared to mutant mice for both psychostimulants. Behavioral sensitization to amphetamine was not maintained in proSAAS KO mice and these mutants failed to sensitize to cocaine. To determine whether the rewarding effects of cocaine were altered, mice were tested in conditioned place preference (CPP). Both WT and proSAAS KO mice showed dose-dependent CPP to cocaine that was not distinguished by genotype. Taken together, these results suggest that proSAAS-derived peptides contribute differentially to the behavioral sensitization to psychostimulants, while the rewarding effects of cocaine appear intact in mice lacking proSAAS. © 2017 International Society for Neurochemistry.

  9. Study on isotopic distribution produced by nucleus-nucleus collisions with modified SAA model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Chen; Fang Deqing; Cai Xiangzhou; Shen Wenqing; Zhang Huyong; Wei Yibin; Ma Yugang

    2003-01-01

    Base on Brohm's Statistic-Ablation-Abrasion (SAA) model, the modified SAA model was developed via introducing the isospin dependence of nucleon distribution in nucleus and parameterized formulas for nucleon-nucleon cross section in nuclear matter. It can simulate well the isotopic distribution at both high and intermediate energies. By the improvement of computational method, the range of calculation of isotopic distribution can be increased from three order magnitude to eight order magnitude (even higher). It can reproduce experimental data and predict the isotopic distribution for very far from stability line which is very important from experimental viewpoint

  10. Antioxidants inhibit SAA formation and pro-inflammatory cytokine release in a human cell model of alkaptonuria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spreafico, Adriano; Millucci, Lia; Ghezzi, Lorenzo; Geminiani, Michela; Braconi, Daniela; Amato, Loredana; Chellini, Federico; Frediani, Bruno; Moretti, Elena; Collodel, Giulia; Bernardini, Giulia; Santucci, Annalisa

    2013-09-01

    Alkaptonuria (AKU) is an ultra-rare autosomal recessive disease that currently lacks an appropriate therapy. Recently we provided experimental evidence that AKU is a secondary serum amyloid A (SAA)-based amyloidosis. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the use of antioxidants to inhibit SAA amyloid and pro-inflammatory cytokine release in AKU. We adopted a human chondrocytic cell AKU model to evaluate the anti-amyloid capacity of a set of antioxidants that had previously been shown to counteract ochronosis in a serum AKU model. Amyloid presence was evaluated by Congo red staining. Homogentisic acid-induced SAA production and pro-inflammatory cytokine release (overexpressed in AKU patients) were evaluated by ELISA and multiplex systems, respectively. Lipid peroxidation was evaluated by means of a fluorescence-based assay. Our AKU model allowed us to prove the efficacy of ascorbic acid combined with N-acetylcysteine, taurine, phytic acid and lipoic acid in significantly inhibiting SAA production, pro-inflammatory cytokine release and membrane lipid peroxidation. All the tested antioxidant compounds were able to reduce the production of amyloid and may be the basis for establishing new therapies for AKU amyloidosis.

  11. Synthesis and conformational analysis of linear homo- and heterooligomers from novel 2-C-branched sugar amino acids (SAAs).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Guang-Zong; Hu, Jing; Zhang, Heng-Xi; Rademacher, Christoph; Zou, Xiao-Peng; Zheng, Hong-Ning; Xu, Fei; Wang, Xiao-Li; Linker, Torsten; Yin, Jian

    2018-04-26

    Sugar amino acids (SAAs), as biologically interesting structures bearing both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups represent an important class of multifunctional building blocks. In this study, we develop an easy access to novel SAAs in only three steps starting from nitro compounds in high yields in analytically pure form, easily available by ceric (IV) mediated radical additions. Such novel SAAs have been applied in the assembly of total nine carbopeptoids with the form of linear homo- and heterooligomers for the structural investigations employing circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, which suggest that the carbopeptoids emerge a well-extended, left (or right)-handed conformation similar to polyproline II (PPII) helices. NMR studies also clearly demonstrated the presence of ordered secondary structural elements. 2D-ROESY spectra were acquired to identify i+1 NH ↔  i C 1 H, i C 2 H correlations which support the conformational analysis of tetramers by CD spectroscopy. These findings provide interesting information of SAAs and their oligomers as potential scaffolds for discovering new drugs and materials.

  12. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of Na-SAA-2 from the human hookworm parasite Necator americanus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asojo, Oluwatoyin A.; Goud, Gaddam N.; Zhan, Bin; Ordonez, Katherine; Sedlacek, Meghan; Homma, Kohei; Deumic, Vehid; Gupta, Richi; Brelsford, Jill; Price, Merelyn K.; Ngamelue, Michelle N.; Hotez, Peter J.

    2010-01-01

    The purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a surface-associated antigen from the major human hookworm N. americanus is presented. Human hookworms are among the most pathogenic soil-transmitted helminths. These parasitic nematodes have co-evolved with the host and are able to maintain a high worm burden for decades without killing the human host. However, it is possible to develop vaccines against laboratory-challenge hookworm infections using either irradiated third-state infective larvae (L3) or enzymes from the adult parasites. In an effort to control hookworm infection globally, the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative, a product-development partnership with the Sabin Vaccine Institute to develop new control tools including vaccines, has identified a battery of protein antigens, including surface-associated antigens (SAAs) from L3. SAA proteins are characterized by a 13 kDa conserved domain of unknown function. SAA proteins are found on the surface of infective L3 stages (and some adult stages) of different nematode parasites, suggesting that they may play important roles in these organisms. The atomic structures and function of SAA proteins remain undetermined and in an effort to remedy this situation recombinant Na-SAA-2 from the most prevalent human hookworm parasite Necator americanus has been expressed, purified and crystallized. Useful X-ray data have been collected to 2.3 Å resolution from a crystal that belonged to the monoclinic space group C2 with unit-cell parameters a = 73.88, b = 35.58, c = 42.75 Å, β = 116.1°

  13. A new 12-bit spectroscopy analog-to-digital converter type SAA intended for CAMAC acquisition systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borsuk, S.; Kulka, Z.

    1989-12-01

    A new 12-bit spectroscopy analog-to-digital converter (ADC) type SAA (Successive Approximation type with channel width Averaging) intended for CAMAC acquisition systems is decsribed. ADC type SAA initiates new series of spectroscopy ADC's based on a binary-approximation method in which differential nonlinearity is corrected by a statistical channel width averaging method. The structure and principle of operation, as well as some circuit realizations and specifications of the new converter are described. 41 refs., 5 figs. (author)

  14. EOP and SAA Undergraduates Who Left UC Davis without a Degree.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasor, Marianne

    Undergraduate students enrolled in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) or the Student Affirmative Action (SAA) program at the University of California (UC), Davis, who withdrew before graduation were surveyed in 1981. Attention was directed to the respondents' educational experiences after leaving, their current employment, and their…

  15. An eclogite-bearing continental tectonic slice in the Zermatt-Saas high-pressure ophiolites at Trockener Steg (Zermatt, Swiss Western Alps)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Sebastian; Bucher, Kurt

    2015-09-01

    The Theodul Glacier Unit (TGU) at "Trockener Steg" represents a continental slice, embedded within the ophiolitic Zermatt-Saas Zone. The Zermatt-Saas Zone is the remnant of the Piemonte-Liguria oceanic lithosphere, formed in the middle Jurassic and subducted up to eclogite facies conditions in the Early Tertiary. The close spatial association of the TGU to the Zermatt-Saas Zone permits a comparison of the metamorphic evolution of the units by detailed field mapping and a petrological investigation of eclogites. The eclogites from both tectono-metamorphic units can be clearly distinguished by their textures, mineral assemblages and by mineral and bulk-rock composition. Geothermobarometry and computed assemblage stability diagrams for the TGU eclogites indicate P-T conditions of 2.2 ± 0.1 GPa and 580 ± 50 °C. These derived P-T conditions must be considered as minimum peak metamorphic conditions the rocks achieved during subduction. The P-T data are different from those derived for eclogites of Zermatt-Saas Zone adjacent to the Theodul Glacier Unit, that reached maximal burial depths at 2.3-2.4 GPa and 500 ± 50 °C. While the estimates of the eclogites of Zermatt-Saas Zone are in good agreement with some of the previous studies, the contrasting P-T estimates for the TGU eclogites suggest that the Zermatt-Saas complex must be subdivided into several tectonic subunits. The non-uniform peak conditions over the "Trockener Steg" area and the maximum pressures conditions reported from ultra-high pressure localities within Zermatt-Saas Zone suggest, that individual tectonic slices have been assembled after detachment from the slab at the return-point, i.e. along the exhumation path. Detached packages of rocks may range from small tectonic slices up to several kilometer-sized fragments. The TGU is separated from the surrounding rocks of the ophiolite unit by two major tectonic contacts. In addition, the formation of biotite-rich crusts along the basal contact of the TGU

  16. Põhjakeskuse tehingut ei saa tagasi pöörata / Anne Oja

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Oja, Anne, 1970-

    2008-01-01

    Kobe Investmentsi partnerite Veljo Kuuse ja Kaire Kopli sõnul ei saa endine autoärimees Toomas Rüütmann Põhjakeskuse tehingut tagasi pöörata ning T. Rüütmann on keskuse projektist kätte saanud kordades enam raha, kui on sinna investeerinud. Vt. samas: Rüütmann väidab, et ta lasi varad arestida

  17. Variation of amino acid sequences of serum amyloid a (SAA) and immunohistochemical analysis of amyloid a (AA) in Japanese domestic cats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tei, Meina; Uchida, Kazuyuki; Chambers, James K; Watanabe, Ken-Ichi; Tamamoto, Takashi; Ohno, Koichi; Nakayama, Hiroyuki

    2018-02-02

    Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis, a fatal systemic amyloid disease, occurs secondary to chronic inflammatory conditions in humans. Although persistently elevated serum amyloid A (SAA) levels are required for its pathogenesis, not all individuals with chronic inflammation necessarily develop AA amyloidosis. Furthermore, many diseases in cats are associated with the elevated production of SAA, whereas only a small number actually develop AA amyloidosis. We hypothesized that a genetic mutation in the SAA gene may strongly contribute to the pathogenesis of feline AA amyloidosis. In the present study, genomic DNA from four Japanese domestic cats (JDCs) with AA amyloidosis and from five without amyloidosis was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and direct sequencing. We identified the novel variation combination of 45R-51A in the deduced amino acid sequences of four JDCs with amyloidosis and five without. However, there was no relationship between amino acid variations and the distribution of AA amyloid deposits, indicating that differences in SAA sequences do not contribute to the pathogenesis of AA amyloidosis. Immunohistochemical analysis using antisera against the three different parts of the feline SAA protein-i.e., the N-terminal, central, and C-terminal regions-revealed that feline AA contained the C-terminus, unlike human AA. These results indicate that the cleavage and degradation of the C-terminus are not essential for amyloid fibril formation in JDCs.

  18. The acute phase response of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A (SAA) in cattle undergoing experimental infection with bovine respiratory syncytial virus

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heegaard, Peter M. H.; Godson, D.L.; Toussaint, M.J.M.

    2000-01-01

    respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), analysing the induction of the two most dominant bovine acute phase proteins haptoglobin and serum amyloid A (SAA). Strong and reproducible acute phase responses were detected for both proteins, peaking at around 7-8 days after inoculation of BRSV, while no response...... was seen in mock-inoculated control animals. The serum concentrations reached for SAA and haptoglobin during the BRSV-induced acute phase response were generally the same or higher than previously reported for bacterial infections in calves. The magnitude and the duration of the haptoglobin response...... was found to correlate well with the severity of clinical signs (fever) and with the extent of lung consolidation while SAA responded most rapidly to infection....

  19. An Investigation of Alerting and Prioritization Criteria for Sense and Avoid (SAA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-01

    TECHNICAL REPORT RDMR-TM-13-01 AN INVESTIGATION OF ALERTING AND PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA FOR SENSE AND AVOID ( SAA ...OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT OR APPROVAL OF THE USE OF SUCH COMMERCIAL HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE . i/ii (Blank) REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved...burden to Washington Headquarters Services , Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington

  20. Biofortification of riboflavin and folate in idli batter, based on fermented cereal and pulse, by Lactococcus lactis N8 and Saccharomyces boulardii SAA655.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandrasekar Rajendran, S C; Chamlagain, B; Kariluoto, S; Piironen, V; Saris, P E J

    2017-06-01

    Lactococcus lactis N8 and Saccharomyces boulardii SAA655 were investigated for their ability to synthesize B-vitamins (riboflavin and folate) and their functional role as microbial starters in idli fermentation. In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and microbiological assay were used to determine the total riboflavin and folate content respectively. Increased levels of folate were evident in both L. lactis N8 and S. boulardii SAA655 cultivated medium. Enhanced riboflavin levels were found only in S. boulardii SAA655 grown medium, whereas decreased riboflavin level was found in L. lactis N8 cultivated medium. To evaluate the functional role of microbial starter strains, L. lactis N8 and S. boulardii SAA655 were incorporated individually and in combination into idli batter, composed of wet grounded rice and black gram. For the experiments, naturally fermented idli batter was considered as control. The results indicated that natural idli fermentation did not enhance the riboflavin level and depleted folate levels by half. In comparison with control, L. lactis N8 and S. boulardii SAA655 incorporated idli batter (individually and in combination) increased riboflavin and folate levels by 40-90%. Apart from compensating the folate loss caused by natural fermentation, S. boulardii SAA655 fermented idli batter individually and in combination with L. lactis N8 also showed the highest leavening character. Moreover, the microbial starter incorporation did not significantly influence the pH of idli batter. Incorporation of L. lactis N8 and S. boulardii SAA655 can evidently enhance the functional and technological characteristics of idli batter. UN General Assembly declared 2016 the International Year of pulses emphasizing the importance of legumes as staple food. Furthermore, this is the first experimental report of in situ biofortifcation of riboflavin and folate using microbes in pulse based fermented staple food. The current study suggests possible

  1. Solución de business intelligence utilizando tecnología SaaS. Caso: área de proyectos en empresa bancaria – Perú

    OpenAIRE

    Villanueva Román, José Antonio

    2015-01-01

    La investigación pretende explicar la influencia de la estandarización de procesos y el uso de tecnología business intelligence aplicadas con Saas (Software as a Service) en la nube en la gestión de proyectos de una empresa bancaria en Perú. Para ello, se hará inicialmente un diagnóstico situacional de la empresa en estudio, que nos permita tener un punto de referencia con respecto a los objetivos estratégicos de la empresa, los factores críticos de éxito y el riesgo asociado. Posteriormente ...

  2. Quantification of VGF- and pro-SAAS-derived peptides in endocrine tissues and the brain, and their regulation by diet and cold stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Tandra R; Tkalych, Oleg; Nanno, Daniela; Garcia, Angelo L; Devi, Lakshmi A; Salton, Stephen R J

    2006-05-17

    Two novel granin-like polypeptides, VGF and pro-SAAS, which are stored in and released from secretory vesicles and are expressed widely in nervous, endocrine, and neuroendocrine tissues, play roles in the regulation of body weight, feeding, and energy expenditure. Both VGF and pro-SAAS are cleaved into peptide fragments, several of which are biologically active. We utilized a highly sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) to immunoreactive, pro-SAAS-derived PEN peptides, developed another against immunoreactive, VGF-derived AQEE30 peptides, and quantified these peptides in various mouse tissues and brain regions. Immunoreactive AQEE30 was most abundant in the pituitary, while brain levels were highest in hypothalamus, striatum, and frontal cortex. Immunoreactive PEN levels were highest in the pancreas and spinal cord, and in brain, PEN was most abundant in striatum, hippocampus, pons and medulla, and cortex. Since both peptides were expressed in hypothalamus, a region of the brain that controls feeding and energy expenditure, double label immunofluorescence studies were employed. These demonstrated that 42% of hypothalamic arcuate neurons coexpress VGF and SAAS peptides, and that the intracellular distributions of these peptides in arcuate neurons differed. By RIA, cold stress increased immunoreactive AQEE30 and PEN peptide levels in female but not male hypothalamus, while a high fat diet increased AQEE30 and PEN peptide levels in female but not male hippocampus. VGF and SAAS-derived peptides are therefore widely expressed in endocrine, neuroendocrine, and neural tissues, can be accurately quantified by RIA, and are differentially regulated in the brain by diet and cold stress.

  3. The internal structure of eclogite-facies ophiolite complexes: Implications from the Austroalpine outliers within the Zermatt-Saas Zone, Western Alps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Sebastian; Martinez, Raul

    2016-04-01

    The Western Alpine Penninic domain is a classical accretionary prism that formed after the closure of the Penninic oceans in the Paleogene. Continental and oceanic nappes were telescoped into the Western Alpine stack associated with continent-continent collision. Within the Western Alpine geologic framework, the ophiolite nappes of the Zermatt-Saas Zone and the Tsate Unit are the remnants of the southern branch of the Piemonte-Liguria ocean basin. In addition, a series of continental basement slices reported as lower Austroalpine outliers have preserved an eclogitic high-pressure imprint, and are tectonically sandwiched between these oceanic nappes. Since the outliers occur at an unusual intra-ophiolitic setting and show a polymetamorphic character, this group of continental slices is of special importance for understanding the tectono-metamorphic evolution of Western Alps. Recently, more geochronological data from the Austroalpine outliers have become available that make it possible to establish a more complete picture of their complex geological history. The Lu-Hf garnet-whole rock ages for prograde growth of garnet fall into the time interval of 52 to 62 Ma (Weber et al., 2015, Fassmer et al. 2015), but are consistently higher than the Lu-Hf garnet-whole rock ages from several other locations throughout the Zermatt-Saas zone that range from 52 to 38 Ma (Skora et al., 2015). This discrepancy suggests that the Austroalpine outliers may have been subducted earlier than the ophiolites of the Zermatt-Saas Zone and therefore have been tectonically emplaced into their present intra-ophiolite position. This points to the possibility that the Zermatt-Saas Zone consists of tectonic subunits, which reached their respective pressure peaks over a prolonged time period, approximately 10-20 Ma. The pressure-temperature estimates from several members of the Austroalpine outliers indicate a complex distribution of metamorphic peak conditions, without ultrahigh

  4. Vammaisten henkilöiden osallisuus ja sen monet tasot : "saa olla osallinen arjessa"

    OpenAIRE

    Liinamaa, Piia

    2016-01-01

    TIIVISTELMÄ VAMMAISTEN HENKILÖIDEN OSALLISUUS JA SEN MONET TASOT “Saa olla osallinen arjessa” Piia Liinamaa Sosiaalityö Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja filosofian laitos Pro gradu -tutkielma Jyväskylän yliopisto / Kokkolan yliopistokeskus Chydenius Ohjaaja: YTT Kari Ilmonen Syksy 2016 Sivumäärä: 87 sivua, 3 liitettä ____________________________________________________________________________ Tämä kvalitatiivinen pro gradu -tutkimus liittyy vammaisten henkilöiden o...

  5. Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A. (UNACEM). Capital Structure Case

    OpenAIRE

    Lizarzaburu Bolaños, Edmundo R.; Burneo Farfan, Kurt; Berggun, Luis

    2015-01-01

    This present research paper, introduces one of the most important companies in the local market (Peru), Union Andina de Cementos S.A.A. (UNACEM). The company is engaged in the development and manufacture of clinker, cement and other building materials in the country and abroad, including marketing and sales as well as the operation of the dock facilities and complementary Conchan oil refinery. In the last years, their capital structure and their WACC changed because of the merger between Ceme...

  6. Studia Generalia "Mõisteloomest ja tähistamisest"

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2007-01-01

    Studia Generalia loengus vaadeldakse erinevaid tähistamisteooriaid ning esitatakse neil põhinev mudel, mille abiga saab kultuurinähtuste analüüsis seostada nende kogemuslikke ja keelelisi aspekte

  7. Distributed Energy Resource Optimization Using a Software as Service (SaaS) Approach at the University of California, Davis Campus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stadler, Michael; Marnay, Chris; Donadee, Jon; Lai, Judy; Megel, Olivier; Bhattacharya, Prajesh; Siddiqui, Afzal

    2011-02-06

    Together with OSIsoft LLC as its private sector partner and matching sponsor, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) won an FY09 Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The goal of the project is to commercialize Berkeley Lab's optimizing program, the Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) using a software as a service (SaaS) model with OSIsoft as its first non-scientific user. OSIsoft could in turn provide optimization capability to its software clients. In this way, energy efficiency and/or carbon minimizing strategies could be made readily available to commercial and industrial facilities. Specialized versions of DER-CAM dedicated to solving OSIsoft's customer problems have been set up on a server at Berkeley Lab. The objective of DER-CAM is to minimize the cost of technology adoption and operation or carbon emissions, or combinations thereof. DER-CAM determines which technologies should be installed and operated based on specific site load, price information, and performance data for available equipment options. An established user of OSIsoft's PI software suite, the University of California, Davis (UCD), was selected as a demonstration site for this project. UCD's participation in the project is driven by its motivation to reduce its carbon emissions. The campus currently buys electricity economically through the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). The campus does not therefore face compelling cost incentives to improve the efficiency of its operations, but is nonetheless motivated to lower the carbon footprint of its buildings. Berkeley Lab attempted to demonstrate a scenario wherein UCD is forced to purchase electricity on a standard time-of-use tariff from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which is a concern to Facilities staff. Additionally, DER-CAM has been set up to consider the variability of carbon emissions throughout the day and seasons. Two

  8. MPs question reports of citizenship bribery / Ksenia Repson

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Repson, Ksenia

    2005-01-01

    Reformierakonna väitel on alusetu seostada rahvastikuminister Paul-Erik Rummo ettepanekut anda teenete eest kodakondsus ärimeestele Sergei Sergejenkovile ja Aleksandr Frolovile ning viimaste soovi ühineda Reformierakonnaga. Mitte-eestlaste osakaal Reformierakonnas

  9. flexCloud: Deployment of the FLEXPART Atmospheric Transport Model as a Cloud SaaS Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morton, Don; Arnold, Dèlia

    2014-05-01

    FLEXPART (FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model) is a Lagrangian transport and dispersion model used by a growing international community. We have used it to simulate and forecast the atmospheric transport of wildfire smoke, volcanic ash and radionuclides. Additionally, FLEXPART may be run in backwards mode to provide information for the determination of emission sources such as nuclear emissions and greenhouse gases. This open source software is distributed in source code form, and has several compiler and library dependencies that users need to address. Although well-documented, getting it compiled, set up, running, and post-processed is often tedious, making it difficult for the inexperienced user. Our interest is in moving scientific modeling and simulation activities from site-specific clusters and supercomputers to a cloud model as a service paradigm. Choosing FLEXPART for our prototyping, our vision is to construct customised IaaS images containing fully-compiled and configured FLEXPART codes, including pre-processing, execution and postprocessing components. In addition, with the inclusion of a small web server in the image, we introduce a web-accessible graphical user interface that drives the system. A further initiative being pursued is the deployment of multiple, simultaneous FLEXPART ensembles in the cloud. A single front-end web interface is used to define the ensemble members, and separate cloud instances are launched, on-demand, to run the individual models and to conglomerate the outputs into a unified display. The outcome of this work is a Software as a Service (Saas) deployment whereby the details of the underlying modeling systems are hidden, allowing modelers to perform their science activities without the burden of considering implementation details.

  10. President kinnitas süümevande ehtsust

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2006-01-01

    President Arnold Rüütel teatas, et pole süümevannet andes midagi salanud ega valet vandunud ning on alusetu seostada tema nõukogudeaegset tegevust Johannes Hindi represseerimisega. Arvamust avaldab presidendikandidaat Toomas Hendrik Ilves

  11. A 12-bit spectroscopy analog-to-digital converter type SAA (Successive Approximation type with channel width Averaging) intended for multichannel pulse height analyzer SWAN-1 based on IBM PC/XT/AT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borsuk, S.; Kulka, Z.

    1989-12-01

    A 12-bit spectroscopy analog-to-digital converter (ADC) type SAA (Successive Approximation type with channel width Averaging) intended for multichannel pulse height analyzer SWAN-1 based on IBM PC/XT/AT has been described. Design principles, specifications and measurements of a fundamental SAA-2 converter version are reported. Finally, two next versions of the converter with introduced modifications are discussed. 6 refs., 7 figs. (author)

  12. Is Having Low Motivation the Same as Not Having High Motivation? Comparing the CSAS-R and the SAAS-R

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoach, Betsy; Newton, Sarah D.; Siegle, Del; Baslanti, Ugur; Picho, Katherine

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships among the Challenges to Scholastic Achievement Scale-Revised (CSAS-R) and The School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (SAAS-R) items and factors to determine whether the negative scales on the CSAS-R seemed to be measuring the same constructs as those that are measured on the…

  13. A hideout, fortified dwelling and labyrinths - archaeological investigations in Hiiumaa / Monika Reppo

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Reppo, Monika

    2015-01-01

    Valipe kindlustatud elamu alalt saadud leiud kuuluvad peamiselt 16. - 17. sajandisse. Puhastati ja joonistati üles labürint Kootsaare Jeruusalemm. Saunaseljamäe pelgupaiga kohta ei saadud infot, mida võiks täie kindlusega seostada seal asunud pelgupaigaga

  14. Saa võimust : [luuletused] / J{u00E1nos Pilinszky ; tlk. Tiiu Kokla, Kairi Mesipuu

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Pilinszky, J{u00E1nos

    2004-01-01

    Sisu: Saa võimust ; Trapets ja tõke ; Talvise taeva all ; Ühe kire marginaaliks ; Harbach 1944 ; Armastuse kõrb ; Apokrüüf ; Nelik ; Järelsõna ; Introitus ; Van Gogh ; Väike öömuusika ; Timuka päevikust ; Madalseisu pidu ; Pole muud ; Ravensbrücki passioon ; Van Goghi palve ; Kadunud poja otsimine ; Su käsi, mu käsi ; Salamõrv ; Luuletus ; Peks ; 22. detsember 1970 ; Visand ; Kolmandal päeval ; Kadunud pojad ; Lõpetamata minevik. Eluloolisi andmeid autori kohta lk. 181-182

  15. Fabrics produced mimetically during static metamorphism in retrogressed eclogites from the Zermatt-Saas zone, Western Italian Alps

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNamara, D. D.; Wheeler, J.; Pearce, M.; Prior, D. J.

    2012-11-01

    Lattice preferred orientations (LPOs) are commonly interpreted to form by dislocation creep. Consequently they are used to infer deformation at the metamorphic grade at which the minerals were stable, especially if those minerals show a shape fabric. Here we show that LPOs can occur through mimicry of a pre-existing LPO, so they formed statically, not during deformation. Omphacite and glaucophane LPOs occur in eclogite facies rocks from the Zermatt-Saas Unit of the Northwest Italian Alps. Barroisite grew during greenschist facies retrogression and has an LPO controlled significantly by the eclogite facies omphacite and glaucophane LPOs, rather than directly by deformation. Using spatially resolved lattice orientation data from the three key minerals, collected using electron backscatter diffraction, we deploy a new technique of interphase misorientation distribution analysis to prove this. Barroisite LPO develops by mimicry of omphacite (via a particular lattice orientation relationship) and by direct topotactic and epitactic replacement of glaucophane. LPO in turn influenced anisotropic grain growth, resulting in a barroisite grain shape fabric. Thus regional retrogression during exhumation of the Zermatt-Saas high-pressure rocks was, in large part, static, rather than dynamic as previously interpreted. In general the possibility of mimetic fabrics forming during metamorphic reactions must be borne in mind when interpreting direct structural observations and seismic anisotropy data in terms of deformation, in both crust and mantle.

  16. Archaeological investigations on the coast of Sutu bay on Saaremaa / Kristin Ilves

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Ilves, Kristin

    2006-01-01

    Töid tehti uurimisprojekti "Saaremaa rannaasustus muinas- ja keskajal (1500eKr-1500pKr)" raames. Sutu lahe päras avastatud kultuurkihiga ala saab seostada mereäärse asustusega. Paraku ei kinnitanud arheoloogiline materjal selle koha võimalikku seotust mere ja randumisega

  17. Evaluation of the Trade Space Between UAS Maneuver Performance and SAA System Performance Requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jack, Devin P.; Hoffler, Keith D.; Johnson, Sally C.

    2014-01-01

    A need exists to safely integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System. Replacing manned aircraft's see-and-avoid capability in the absence of an onboard pilot is one of the key challenges associated with safe integration. Sense-and-avoid (SAA) systems will have to achieve yet-to-be-determined required separation distances for a wide range of encounters. They will also need to account for the maneuver performance of the UAS they are paired with. The work described in this paper is aimed at developing an understanding of the trade space between UAS maneuver performance and SAA system performance requirements. An assessment of current manned and unmanned aircraft performance was used to establish potential UAS performance test matrix bounds. Then, nearterm UAS integration work was used to narrow down the scope. A simulator was developed with sufficient fidelity to assess SAA system performance requirements for a wide range of encounters. The simulator generates closest-point-of-approach (CPA) data from the wide range of UAS performance models maneuvering against a single intruder with various encounter geometries. The simulator is described herein and has both a graphical user interface and batch interface to support detailed analysis of individual UAS encounters and macro analysis of a very large set of UAS and encounter models, respectively. Results from the simulator using approximate performance data from a well-known manned aircraft is presented to provide insight into the problem and as verification and validation of the simulator. Analysis of climb, descent, and level turn maneuvers to avoid a collision is presented. Noting the diversity of backgrounds in the UAS community, a description of the UAS aerodynamic and propulsive design and performance parameters is included. Initial attempts to model the results made it clear that developing maneuver performance groups is required. Discussion of the performance groups developed and how

  18. Ponjat samogo sebja / Ze'ev Hanin ; interv. Josef Kats

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Hanin, Ze'ev

    2006-01-01

    Lääne tsivilisatsiooni katse seostada tähtsamad maailma poliitikasündmused Iisraeliga ei ole selle riigi süü ega teene, tegemist on euroopa tsivilisatsiooni sügava kriisiga - sellisel seisukohal on hiljuti Tallinna külastanud Bar-Ilani ülikooli õppejõud ja politoloog Ze'ev Hanin

  19. 43rd Saas-Fee Advanced Course of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Jablonka, Pascale; Teyssier, Romain; Mayer, Lucio

    2016-01-01

    This book contains the elaborated and updated versions of the 24 lectures given at the 43rd Saas-Fee Advanced Course. Written by four eminent scientists in the field, the book reviews the physical processes related to star formation, starting from cosmological down to galactic scales. It presents a detailed description of the interstellar medium and its link with the star formation. And it describes the main numerical computational techniques designed to solve the equations governing self-gravitating fluids used for modelling of galactic and extra-galactic systems. This book provides a unique framework which is needed to develop and improve the simulation techniques designed for understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies. Presented in an accessible manner it contains the present day state of knowledge of the field. It serves as an entry point and key reference to students and researchers in astronomy, cosmology, and physics.

  20. Test equipment used for radiation protection type testing of aerosol filters at the National Board of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (SAAS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ullmann, W.; Przyborowski, S.

    1977-01-01

    Following a description of the overall design of test equipment developed in the SAAS for radiation protection type testing of aerosol filters, the most important physical and technical details concerning the preparation and measurement of test aerosols as well as the sampling procedure upstream and downstream of the filter to the tested, are comprehensively discussed. Furthermore, experiences gained during several years with different devices for mixing and diluting the aerosols are reported. (author)

  1. Rohkem kui 300 aastat tagasi surnud pere õnnestus tuvastada / Mati Mandel ; Kalev Jaago

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Mandel, Mati, 1945-

    2016-01-01

    Peanse külas Lihula vallas toimunud kaevamistest. Leiti nelja inimese luustikud. Leiumaterjal võimaldas võrrelda ja kokku viia arheoloogi, numismaatiku, atropoloogi ja arhivaari uurimistulemusi. Suure tõenäosusega võisid leitud maetud olla Leti Andrese Mihkel, tema abikaasa ning lapsed Heinrich ja Ann. Tegu võib olla 1710.- 1711. aasta katku ohvritega. Haruldase juhtumina saab luid seostada konkreetsete ajalooliste isikutega

  2. Sun, Solar Analogs and the Climate Saas-Fee Advanced Course 34 2004 Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Haigh, Joanna Dorothy; Güdel, Lockwood Michael Manuel; Schmutz, Giampapa Mark; Werner, S

    2005-01-01

    This book presents the lectures notes of the 34th Saas-Fee Advanced Course "The Sun, Solar Analogs and the Climate" given by leading scientists in the field. Emphasis is on the observed variability of the Sun and the present understanding of the variability’s origin as well as its impact on the Earth's climate. The solar variability is then studied in the broader context of solar-type stars, allowing for better understanding of the solar-activity cycle and the magnetic activity in general. This book provides an accessible and up-to-date introduction to the field for graduate students and serves as modern source of reference for active researchers in this field.

  3. 42nd Saas-Fee Advanced Course of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy

    CERN Document Server

    Eyer, Laurent; Bell, Cameron

    2015-01-01

    Where do most stars (and the planetary systems that surround them) in the Milky Way form? What determines whether a young star cluster remains bound (such as an open or globular cluster), or disperses to join the field stars in the disc of the Galaxy? These questions not only impact understanding of the origins of stars and planetary systems like our own (and the potential for life to emerge that they represent), but also galaxy formation and evolution, and ultimately the story of star formation over cosmic time in the Universe. This volume will help readers understand our current views concerning the answers to these questions as well as frame new questions that will be answered by the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite that was launched in late 2013. The book contains the elaborated notes of lectures given at the 42nd Saas-Fee Advanced Course “Dynamics of Young Star Clusters & Associations" by Cathie Clarke (University of Cambridge) who presents the theory of star formation and dynamical evoluti...

  4. Stress-related salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity in alcohol dependent patients with and without a history of childhood maltreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muehlhan, Markus; Höcker, Anja; Höfler, Michael; Wiedemann, Klaus; Barnow, Sven; Schäfer, Ingo

    2017-06-01

    Alcohol-dependent (AD) patients with a history of childhood maltreatment (CM) have shown a more severe clinical profile and a higher risk of relapse than those without CM. It was hypothesized that stress responsivity plays an important role in moderating the relationship between CM and AD. Surprisingly, systematic investigations about the stress responsivity in AD patients with CM are rare. This study compared physiological and subjective stress responses in AD patients with and without CM as well as in healthy controls with and without CM. A total of 130 participants performed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Physiological stress reactivity related to the noradrenergic system was assessed by salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity. Subjective ratings of anxiety, nervousness, distress, and mood were rated on visual analogue scales. AD patients showed significantly lower stress-related sAA activity than healthy controls (p ≤ 0.024; z ≥ 1.97). A different pattern was found in the subjective ratings. In particular, anticipatory anxiety revealed a clear effect of CM (p ≤ 0.005; z ≥ 2.43) but no difference between AD patients and healthy controls (p > 0.05). After the TSST, distress ratings differed between AD patients with CM and AD patients without CM (p ≤ 0.009; z ≥ 2.61). The discrepancy between physiological responsivity and subjective stress experiences may account for an increased inability to cope with stressful situations, which in turn might explain the enhanced risk of relapse in AD patients with a history of CM during early abstinence.

  5. The Behaviour of Fe Stable Isotopes Accompanying Fluid Migration in Subducted Serpentinite from the Zermatt-Saas Ophiolite of the Swiss Alps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inglis, E.; Bouilhol, P.; Burton, K. W.; Debret, B.; Millet, M. A.; Williams, H. M.

    2016-12-01

    During subduction the destabilisation of hydrous serpentine group phases can generate significant fluid fluxes between the subducting slab and the overlying mantle wedge. Despite our knowledge of this, the exact process and nature of the fluids released during serpentinite devolatilisation remain poorly understood. This study presents new field observations alongside petrographic and geochemical data for metamorphic veins and host serpentinite from the Zermatt-Saas ophiolite from the Swiss Alps, which underwent high-pressure metamorphism during the Alpine orogeny. Samples were collected from the serpentinised ultramafic section of the Zermatt-Saas ophiolite, which is mainly comprised of variably foliated and sheared antigorite serpentine. High-pressure metamorphic veins hosted within the antigorite serpentinite, are observed within the least deformed part of the massif, occurring as cm scale laterally continuous channels or mm scale interconnected anastomosing networks. Preliminary high-precision Fe isotope data for the host antigorite serpentine yield a mean δ56Fe value of -0.09‰ ± 0.04‰ (n=3), notably lighter than previously measured Alpine and abyssal serpentinites (Debret et al., 2016). In contrast, samples of cm scale olivine-bearing veins display a mean δ56Fe value of 0.07 ± 0.05‰ (n=3), resolvably heavier than that of the host serpentinite. These preliminary results suggest preferential mobility of isotopically heavy Fe within the vein forming fluids, but at this stage it is unclear if this fluid is related to local devolatilisation of the host serpentinite or input from an external source. Debret et al., 2016. Isotopic evidence for iron mobility during subduction. Geology, v. 44, no. 3, pp. 215 -218.

  6. Kinematics of syn- and post-exhumational shear zones at Lago di Cignana (Western Alps, Italy): constraints on the exhumation of Zermatt-Saas (ultra)high-pressure rocks and deformation along the Combin Fault and Dent Blanche Basal Thrust

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirst, Frederik; Leiss, Bernd

    2017-01-01

    Kinematic analyses of shear zones at Lago di Cignana in the Italian Western Alps were used to constrain the structural evolution of units from the Piemont-Ligurian oceanic realm (Zermatt-Saas and Combin zones) and the Adriatic continental margin (Dent Blanche nappe) during Palaeogene syn- and post-exhumational deformation. Exhumation of Zermatt-Saas (U)HP rocks to approximately lower crustal levels at ca. 39 Ma occurred during normal-sense top-(S)E shearing under epidote-amphibolite-facies conditions. Juxtaposition with the overlying Combin zone along the Combin Fault at mid-crustal levels occurred during greenschist-facies normal-sense top-SE shearing at ca. 38 Ma. The scarcity of top-SE kinematic indicators in the hanging wall of the Combin Fault probably resulted from strain localization along the uppermost Zermatt-Saas zone and obliteration by subsequent deformation. A phase of dominant pure shear deformation around 35 Ma affected units in the direct footwall and hanging wall of the Combin Fault. It is interpreted to reflect NW-SE crustal elongation during updoming of the nappe stack as a result of underthrusting of European continental margin units and the onset of continental collision. This phase was partly accompanied and followed by ductile bulk top-NW shearing, especially at higher structural levels, which transitioned into semi-ductile to brittle normal-sense top-NW deformation due to Vanzone phase folding from ca. 32 Ma onwards. Our structural observations suggest that syn-exhumational deformation is partly preserved within units and shear zones exposed at Lago di Cignana but also that the Combin Fault and Dent Blanche Basal Thrust experienced significant post-exhumational deformation reworking and overprinting earlier structures.

  7. A petro-structural review of the Zermatt-Saas Fee zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schenker, Filippo Luca; Markus Schmalholz, Stefan; Baumgartner, Lukas

    2014-05-01

    The Zermatt-Saas Fee zone (ZSZ) is an imbricate of fragments of blueschist- to eclogite-facies metabasalts and metagabbros, serpentinites and mélange zones containing blocks of the above mentioned rocks. The ZSZ is usually interpreted as a fragment of oceanic crust belonging to the Piemont-Ligurian (Tethyan) Ocean that was accreted into the Alpine nappe pile. In the last decades the discovery of several Ultra-High Pressure (UHP, >2.7 GPa at 550-600 °C from coesite bearing eclogites and diamond-bearing fluid inclusions in garnet) localities lead to the interpretation of deep subduction (> 100 km) of the ZSZ in the Eocene, and subsequent uplift from mantle depth with high exhumation rates (e.g. Amato et al., 1999). However, these high pressures are in apparent contrast to the regional metamorphic conditions that reflect pressures peaking at < 2 GPa for 550-600°C (blueschist and eclogite mineral assemblages in mafic rocks). These latter metamorphic conditions do not need anomalous high burial histories and exhumation velocities higher than the plate velocities. The magnitude and distribution of pressure in the tectonic units of the ZSZ are important for constraining dynamic models for the evolution of the ZSZ and the Western Alps. Before entering into dynamic models, we propose a petro-structural overview where the published petrological data on pressure and temperature are critically reviewed, and positioned on a geological map and cross section in order to integrate them into the proper structural and tectonic framework. The questions we seek to answer are: How is the pressure distributed within the main tectonic units and within the entire ZSZ? Do we observe sharp or gradual pressure gradients within the ZSZ? Can the UHP conditions be averaged/extended to the entire ZSZ? If not, do they correspond to conditions of observable subunits, or do they reflect anomalies in the pressure field? Answering these questions is fundamental to better understand the

  8. Application de la SAA électrothermique a Panalyse des matrices complexes: cas de l'arsenic dans les végétaux

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoenig, M.; Van Hoeyweohen, P.

    This work shows the possibilities and the analytical limitations of ETA-SAA for arsenic determination in plants. Wet oxidation of these media is quantitative, but the direct determination of arsenic is strongly interferred with the presence of sulphuric acid and, principally, phosphorus, which is contained in plant matrix. In this case, only arsenic concentrations around 100 ng ml -1 in solution (5 μg g -1 in dry matter) can be directly determined. Because lower concentrations must be determined in unpolluted samples, two extraction procedures have been developed, both based on a preliminary reduction of As 5+ to As 3+ and a further extraction in toluene. NH 4I turns out as a better reducing agent than KI. In routine analysis, arsenic concentrations in the vicinity of 20ng g -1 in dry matter can be easily determined under the adopted conditions.

  9. Small and Medium Enterprises using Software as a Service: Exploring the different roles of intermediaries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagarajan Venkatachalam

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Software as a Service (SaaS can provide significant benefits to small and medium enterprises (SMEs due to advantages like ease of access, 7*24 availability, and utility pricing. However, underlying the SaaS delivery model is often the assumption that SMEs will directly interact with the SaaS vendor and use a self-service approach. In practice, we see the rise of SaaS intermediaries who can support SMEs with sourcing and leveraging SaaS. This paper reports on the roles of intermediaries and how they support SMEs with using SaaS. We conducted an empirical study of two SaaS intermediaries and analysed their business models, in particular their value propositions. We identified orientation (technology or customer and alignment (operational or strategic as themes for understanding their roles. The contributions of this paper include: (1 the identification and description of SaaS intermediaries for SMEs based on an empirical study and (2 understanding the different roles of SaaS intermediaries, in particular a more basic role based on technology orientation and operational alignment and a more value adding role based on customer orientation and strategic alignment. We propose that SaaS intermediaries can address SaaS adoption and implementation challenges of SMEs by playing a basic role and can also aim to support SMEs in creating business value with SaaS based solutions by playing an added value role.

  10. Quality of Service Attributes for Software as a Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukas Burkon

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Software as a Service (SaaS has been developing for over ten years and, is reaching a mature level, where quality and its monitoring and management become significant. Although, SaaS is derived from the ASP model, SaaS background and architecture is different and therefore also SaaS quality management is based on different concepts. This paper is focused on the difference between traditional IT outsourcing and SaaS and proposes a set of quality attributes appropriate for the management of the SaaS quality.

  11. Age Differences of Salivary Alpha-Amylase Levels of Basal and Acute Responses to Citric Acid Stimulation Between Chinese Children and Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Ze-Min; Chen, Long-Hui; Zhang, Min; Lin, Jing; Zhang, Jie; Chen, Wei-Wen; Yang, Xiao-Rong

    2015-01-01

    It remains unclear how salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) levels respond to mechanical stimuli in different age groups. In addition, the role played by the sAA gene (AMY1) copy number and protein expression (glycosylated and non-glycosylated) in sAA activity has also been rarely reported. In this study, we analyzed saliva samples collected before and after citric acid stimulation from 47 child and 47 adult Chinese subjects. We observed that adults had higher sAA activity and sAA glycosylated levels (glycosylated sAA amount/total sAA amount) in basal and stimulated saliva when compared with children, while no differences were found in total or glycosylated sAA amount between them. Interestingly, adults showed attenuated sAA activity levels increase over those of children after stimulation. Correlation analysis showed that total sAA amount, glycosylated sAA amount, and AMY1 copy number × total sAA amount were all positively correlated with sAA activity before and after stimulation in both groups. Interestingly, correlation r between sAA levels (glycosylated sAA amount and total sAA amount) and sAA activity decreased after stimulation in children, while adults showed an increase in correlation r. In addition, the correlation r between AMY1 copy number × total sAA amount and sAA activity was higher than that between AMY1 copy number, total sAA amount, and sAA activity, respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that total sAA amount, glycosylated sAA amount, and the positive interaction between AMY1 copy number and total sAA amount are crucial in influencing sAA activity before and after stimulation in children and adults.

  12. Age differences of salivary alpha-amylase levels of basal and acute responses to citric acid stimulation between Chinese children and adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zemin eYang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available It remains unclear how salivary alpha-amylase (sAA levels respond to mechanical stimuli in different age groups. In addition, the role played by the sAA gene (AMY1 copy number and protein expression (glycosylated and non-glycosylated in sAA activity has also been rarely reported. In this study, we analyzed saliva samples collected before and after citric acid stimulation from 47 child and 47 adult Chinese subjects. We observed that adults had higher sAA activity and sAA glycosylated levels (glycosylated sAA amount/total sAA amount in basal and stimulated saliva when compared with children, while no differences were found in total or glycosylated sAA amount between them. Interestingly, adults showed attenuated sAA activity levels increase over those of children after stimulation. Correlation analysis showed that total sAA amount, glycosylated sAA amount, and AMY1 copy number×total sAA amount were all positively correlated with sAA activity before and after stimulation in both groups. Interestingly, correlation r between sAA levels (glycosylated sAA amount and total sAA amount and sAA activity decreased after stimulation in children, while adults showed an increase in correlation r. In addition, the correlation r between AMY1 copy number×total sAA amount and sAA activity was higher than that between AMY1 copy number, total sAA amount and sAA activity, respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that total sAA amount, glycosylated sAA amount, and the positive interaction between AMY1 copy number and total sAA amount are crucial in influencing sAA activity before and after stimulation in children and adults.

  13. Quality of Service Attributes for Software as a Service

    OpenAIRE

    Lukas Burkon

    2013-01-01

    Software as a Service (SaaS) has been developing for over ten years and, is reaching a mature level, where quality and its monitoring and management become significant. Although, SaaS is derived from the ASP model, SaaS background and architecture is different and therefore also SaaS quality management is based on different concepts. This paper is focused on the difference between traditional IT outsourcing and SaaS and proposes a set of quality attributes appropriate for the management of th...

  14. Desarrollo SaaS con Ruby on Rails

    OpenAIRE

    Peralta Calvo, Alfonso

    2015-01-01

    Con el objetivo de liberar a los dispositivos finales de lógica de cómputo, muchas veces esta se traslada al servidor y estos terminales simplemente se tienen que ocupar de consultar información. Las aplicaciones web se alojan en la nube y hacen el desarrollo y el mantenimiento más sencillos. En este Trabajo de Fin de Grado se ha implementado una aplicación web accesible por navegador y desarrollada con metodologías ágiles. Mediante una serie de herramientas y ténicas de desarrollo se ha c...

  15. Cloning, expression analysis, and antibacterial propertiesof three serum amyloid A in common carp (Cyprinus carpio).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Juhua; Tang, Yongkai; Li, Jianlin; Li, Hongxia; Yu, Fan; Yu, Wenjuan; He, Feng; Fu, Chunjie; Mao, Shuntao

    2017-06-01

    Three serum amyloid A (SAA) genes were identified from the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) by PCR and RT-PCR. Considering both direction and sequence similarity with mammal's orthologs, they were named CcSAA3a, CcSAA3b and CcSAA1. CcSAA3b and CcSAA1 are adjacent on contig LHQP01017858, suggesting that the prototype of or the simplest SAA multigene family have occurred in common carp. A phylogenetic analysis of the SAAs indicated that the fish SAAs were closer to those of invertebrates and Ornithorhynchus anatinus, a primitive mammal, than to mammalian SAAs. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR results displayed different expression profiles of three CcSAAs. The CcSAA3a was detected in all tested tissues, and was most abundant in the muscle; CcSAA3b was predominately expressed in the intestine and liver, and CcSAA1 in the skin. The expression level of CcSAA3a was higher than that of CcSAA3b and CcSAA1 in most tissues. Stimulation with Aeromonas hydrophila dramatically induced the expression of the three CcSAAs in all examined tissues, especially in the liver. Like Epinephelus coioides SAA, all of three rCcSAA fusion proteins could bind to both Gram-negative bacteria (A. hydrophila and E. coli) and Gram-positive bacterium (S. aureus), playing a role in the identification of bacteria. However, only rCcSAA3a showed significantly anti-A. hydrophila and anti-E. coli in vitro antibacterial activity assays. These results suggested that the three CcSAAs were in functional differentiation and play significant roles in the innate immunity of common carp. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  16. Influences of AMY1 gene copy number and protein expression on salivary alpha-amylase activity before and after citric acid stimulation in splenic asthenia children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zemin; Lin, Jing; Chen, Longhui; Zhang, Min; Yang, Xiaorong; Chen, Weiwen

    2015-06-01

    To compare the correlations between salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity and amylase, alpha 1 (salivary) gene (AMYl) copy number or its gene expression between splenic asthenia and healthy children, and investigate the reasons of attenuated sAA activity ratio before and after citric acid stimulation in splenic asthenia children. Saliva samples from 20 splenic asthenia children and 29 healthy children were collected before and after citric acid stimulation. AMYl copy number, sAA activity, and total sAA and glycosylated sAA contents were determined, and their correlations were analyzed. Although splenic asthenia and healthy children had no differences in AMY1 copy number, splenic asthenia children had positive correlations between AMY1 copy number and sAA activity before or after citric acid stimulation. Splenic asthenia children had a higher sAA glycosylated proportion ratio and glycosylated sAA content ratio, while their total sAA content ratio and sAA activity ratio were lower compared with healthy children. The glycosylated sAA content ratio was higher than the total sAA content ratio in both groups. Splenic asthenia and healthy children had positive correlations between total sAA or glycosylated sAA content and sAA activity. However, the role played by glycosylated sAA content in sAA activity in healthy children increased after citric acid stimulation, while it decreased in splenic asthenia children. Genetic factors like AMY1 copy number variations, and more importantly, sAA glycosylation abnormalities leading to attenuated sAA activity after citric acid stimulation, which were the main reasons of the attenuated sAA activity ratio in splenic asthenia children compared with healthy children.

  17. A Decision Frameworkon Small and Medium Enterprises to Adopt Cloud Software as a Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lu Hsi-Peng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Software as a service (SaaSis the future trend in software services. However, only a few successful SaaS providerscurrently exist. This study investigated how Taiwanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs can utilize SaaS, giveSaaSprovidersbusiness strategy references, and supply a basis for information system operators to transfer service mode in order to innovate the provision of SaaS. The study is based on survey results obtained from 474 SMEs for a telecom company in Taiwan to determine the reasons SMEs utilizeSaaS. Taking the technology acceptance model (TAM as the fundamental theoretical foundation, we explored the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and SaaS system features as external variables. In addition, we analyzed each system characteristic on the Likert scale and found that, in addition to the necessary consideration for cost and convenience, SaaS also provides information and communication technology applications in system characteristics,which are including online sharing services, customer relationship management services, and business operation and orders purchasing services. The fact that SMEs wish to utilize SaaS has a positive and direct impact on business.

  18. Endogenous acute phase serum amyloid A lacks pro-inflammatory activity, contrasting the two recombinant variants that activate human neutrophils through different receptors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karin eChristenson

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Most notable among the acute phase proteins is serum amyloid A (SAA, levels of which can increase 1000-fold during infections, aseptic inflammation, and/or trauma. Chronically elevated SAA levels are associated with a wide variety of pathological conditions, including obesity and rheumatic diseases. Using a recombinant hybrid of the two human SAA isoforms (SAA1 and 2 that does not exist in vivo, numerous in vitro studies have given rise to the notion that acute phase SAA is a pro-inflammatory molecule with cytokine-like properties. It is however unclear whether endogenous acute phase SAA per se mediates pro-inflammatory effects. We tested this in samples from patients with inflammatory arthritis and in a transgenic mouse model that expresses human SAA1. Endogenous human SAA did not drive production of pro-inflammatory IL-8/KC in either of these settings. Human neutrophils derived from arthritis patients displayed no signs of activation, despite being exposed to severely elevated SAA levels in circulation, and SAA-rich sera also failed to activate cells in vitro. In contrast, two recombinant SAA variants (the hybrid SAA and SAA1 both activated human neutrophils, inducing L-selectin shedding, production of reactive oxygen species, and production of IL-8. The hybrid SAA was approximately 100-fold more potent than recombinant SAA1. Recombinant hybrid SAA and SAA1 activated neutrophils through different receptors, with recombinant SAA1 being a ligand for formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2. We conclude that even though recombinant SAAs can be valuable tools for studying neutrophil activation, they do not reflect the nature of the endogenous protein.

  19. State-of-the-Art Resources (SOAR) for Software Vulnerability Detection, Test, and Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-07-01

    preclude in-depth analysis, and widespread use of a Software -as-a- Service ( SaaS ) model that limits data availability and application to DoD systems...provide mobile application analysis using a Software - as-a- Service ( SaaS ) model. In this case, any software to be analyzed must be sent to the...tools are only available through a SaaS model. The widespread use of a Software -as-a- Service ( SaaS ) model as a sole evaluation model limits data

  20. A Decision Frameworkon Small and Medium Enterprises to Adopt Cloud Software as a Service

    OpenAIRE

    Lu Hsi-Peng; Liu Yao-Yuan

    2016-01-01

    Software as a service (SaaS)is the future trend in software services. However, only a few successful SaaS providerscurrently exist. This study investigated how Taiwanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can utilize SaaS, giveSaaSprovidersbusiness strategy references, and supply a basis for information system operators to transfer service mode in order to innovate the provision of SaaS. The study is based on survey results obtained from 474 SMEs for a telecom company in Taiwan to determine ...

  1. Multi-walled carbon nanotube-physicochemical properties predict the systemic acute phase response following pulmonary exposure in mice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Sarah Søs; Knudsen, Kristina Bram; Jackson, Petra

    2017-01-01

    of acute phase response proteins serum amyloid A1/2 (SAA1/2) and SAA3 were determined on day 1, 28 or 92. Expression levels of hepatic Saal and pulmonary Saa3 mRNA levels were assessed to determine the origin of the acute phase response proteins. Pulmonary Saa3 mRNA expression levels were greater...... and lasted longer than hepatic Saal mRNA expression. Plasma SAA1/2 and SAA3 protein levels were related to time and physicochemical properties using adjusted, multiple regression analyses. SAA3 and SAA1/2 plasma protein levels were increased after exposure to almost all of the MWCNTs on day 1, whereas...... limited changes were observed on day 28 and 92. SAA1/2 and SAA3 protein levels did not correlate and only SAA3 protein levels correlated with neutrophil influx. The multiple regression analyses revealed a protective effect of MWCNT length on SAA1/2 protein level on day 1, such that a longer length...

  2. Serum amyloid A stimulates macrophage foam cell formation via lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 upregulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Ha Young; Kim, Sang Doo; Baek, Suk-Hwan; Choi, Joon Hyuk; Cho, Kyung-Hyun; Zabel, Brian A.; Bae, Yoe-Sik

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► SAA induced macrophage foam cell formation. ► SAA stimulated upregulation of lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX1). ► SAA-induced LOX1 expression and foam cell formation is mediated by JNK/NF-κB signaling. ► HDL-conjugated SAA also stimulates foam cell formation via LOX1 upregulation. ► The finding reveals a novel mechanism of action of SAA in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. -- Abstract: Elevated levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, however, the role of SAA in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis remains unclear. Here we show that SAA induced macrophage foam cell formation. SAA-stimulated foam cell formation was mediated by c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling. Moreover, both SAA and SAA-conjugated high density lipoprotein stimulated the expression of the important scavenger receptor lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX1) via nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). A LOX1 antagonist carrageenan significantly blocked SAA-induced foam cell formation, indicating that SAA promotes foam cell formation via LOX1 expression. Our findings therefore suggest that SAA stimulates foam cell formation via LOX1 induction, and thus likely contributes to atherogenesis

  3. Serum amyloid A stimulates macrophage foam cell formation via lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 upregulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Ha Young, E-mail: hayoung@skku.edu [Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Mitochondria Hub Regulation Center, Dong-A University, Busan 602-714 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sang Doo [Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Baek, Suk-Hwan [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu 705-717 (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Joon Hyuk [Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu 705-717 (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Kyung-Hyun [School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749 (Korea, Republic of); Zabel, Brian A. [Palo Alto Institute for Research and Education, Veterans Affairs Hospital, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (United States); Bae, Yoe-Sik, E-mail: yoesik@skku.edu [Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Mitochondria Hub Regulation Center, Dong-A University, Busan 602-714 (Korea, Republic of); Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 135-710 (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-03-29

    Highlights: ► SAA induced macrophage foam cell formation. ► SAA stimulated upregulation of lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX1). ► SAA-induced LOX1 expression and foam cell formation is mediated by JNK/NF-κB signaling. ► HDL-conjugated SAA also stimulates foam cell formation via LOX1 upregulation. ► The finding reveals a novel mechanism of action of SAA in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. -- Abstract: Elevated levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, however, the role of SAA in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis remains unclear. Here we show that SAA induced macrophage foam cell formation. SAA-stimulated foam cell formation was mediated by c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling. Moreover, both SAA and SAA-conjugated high density lipoprotein stimulated the expression of the important scavenger receptor lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX1) via nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). A LOX1 antagonist carrageenan significantly blocked SAA-induced foam cell formation, indicating that SAA promotes foam cell formation via LOX1 expression. Our findings therefore suggest that SAA stimulates foam cell formation via LOX1 induction, and thus likely contributes to atherogenesis.

  4. Using Technology to Control Costs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Simon; Schoenberg, Doug; Richards, Dan; Morath, Michael

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the authors examines the use of technology to control costs in the child care industry. One of these technology solutions is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SaaS solutions can help child care providers save money in many aspects of center management. In addition to cost savings, SaaS solutions are also particularly appealing to…

  5. Development of a SaaS Inventory Management System

    OpenAIRE

    Loizides, Antonis

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this research is to develop a Software as a Service web application and more specifically an Inventory Management System for Caterpro Ltd. The aim of this web application is to provide the basic tool for tracking as well as monitoring sales and inventory to individuals and small businesses who cannot afford the investment of a complete dedicated Inventory Management System. Moreover, this research will used for various purposes all the necessary components as well as steps re...

  6. SaaS Platform for Time Series Data Handling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oplachko, Ekaterina; Rykunov, Stanislav; Ustinin, Mikhail

    2018-02-01

    The paper is devoted to the description of MathBrain, a cloud-based resource, which works as a "Software as a Service" model. It is designed to maximize the efficiency of the current technology and to provide a tool for time series data handling. The resource provides access to the following analysis methods: direct and inverse Fourier transforms, Principal component analysis and Independent component analysis decompositions, quantitative analysis, magnetoencephalography inverse problem solution in a single dipole model based on multichannel spectral data.

  7. Determination of the full-genome sequence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) SAAS-FX17 and use as a reference to identify putative HEV genotype 4 virulence determinants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yumin; Yu, Xiaoming; Huang, Fenfen; Yu, Ruisong; Dong, Shijuan; Si, Fusheng; Zhang, Yuanshu; Li, Zhen

    2012-11-08

    Four major genotypes of hepatitis E virus (HEV), the causative agent of hepatitis E, have so far been recognized. While genotypes 3 and 4 are both zoonotic, the disease symptoms caused by the latter tend to be more severe. To examine if specific nucleotide/amino acid variations between genotypes 3 and 4 play a role in determining the severity of hepatitis E disease, the complete genome of one swine HEV genotype 4 isolate, SAAS-FX17, was determined and compared with other genotype 4 and genotype 3 genomes to identify putative HEV genotype 4 virulence determinants. A total of 42 conformable nt/aa variations between genotype 3 and 4 HEVs were detected, of which 19 were proposed to be potential disease severity determinants for genotype 4 strains. One potential determinant was located in each of the 5'-UTR and 3'-UTR, 3 and 12 within ORF1 and ORF2 respectively, and 2 in the junction region.

  8. Avoidable Software Procurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-01

    software license, software usage, ELA, Software as a Service , SaaS , Software Asset...PaaS Platform as a Service SaaS Software as a Service SAM Software Asset Management SMS System Management Server SEWP Solutions for Enterprise Wide...delivery of full Cloud Services , we will see the transition of the Cloud Computing service model from Iaas to SaaS , or Software as a Service . Software

  9. Strategic Mobility 21 Transition Plan: From Research Federation to Business Enterprise

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-31

    Transportation Management System (GTMS), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Service -as-a- Software ( SaaS ), Joint Capability Technolgoy Demonstration...the Software -as-a- Service ( SaaS ) format, whereby users access the application with the appropriate Internet authorizations. Security is provided by...integrating best-of-breed dual-use systems deployed in the software as a service ( SaaS ) environment. It includes single sign-on capabilities and was

  10. Evaluating a Service-Oriented Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-09-01

    See the description on page 13. SaaS Software as a service ( SaaS ) is a software delivery model where customers don’t own a copy of the application... serviceability REST Representational State Transfer RIA rich internet application RPC remote procedure call SaaS software as a service SAML Security...Evaluating a Service -Oriented Architecture Phil Bianco, Software Engineering Institute Rick Kotermanski, Summa Technologies Paulo Merson

  11. Migrating To The Cloud: Preparing The USMC CDET For MCEITS

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    Service SAAR System Authorization Access Request SaaS Software as a... Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service ( SaaS ), and Data as a Service (DaaS) (Takai, 2012). A closer examination of each...8 3. Software as a Service NIST described SaaS as a model of cloud computing where the service provider offers its customers fee-based access

  12. Assessing the service quality in Software-as-a-Service from the customers’ perspective: a methodological approach and case of use

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André Luís Policani Freitas

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Despite the advances in the evaluation of the quality of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS, new studies seem to be necessary, since the existing criticisms concerning the SERVQUAL scale and the lack of studies concerning the use of SERVPERF for this purpose. This work aims to fulfil this gap by proposing a methodological approach to assess the SaaS service quality by measuring SaaS customers’ satisfaction. Factor analysis is used to summarize the information contained in the original items into a smaller set of new dimensions and Quartile analysis is suggested to determine the most critical items. By conducting a study, the factors that most influence customer’s satisfaction are customer service, customer assistance and the reliability of SaaS. Most of the critical items are associated with the transparency and accuracy in correcting errors, the company's interest in solving customer problems, SaaS application's ability to meet business requirements, implemented updates and regularity of service performance.

  13. Integration of Experience API Into CDET’s E-Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    50 x THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK xi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. SaaS Pricing Strategies. Adapted from...Learning Record Store MCU Marine Corps University PIF Package Interchange File PME Professional Military Education SaaS Software as a Service...method consists of an e- learning course with xAPI and utilizes existing software as a service ( SaaS ) learning technologies to create a new way to use

  14. A Generic Software Development Process Refined from Best Practices for Cloud Computing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soojin Park

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing has emerged as more than just a piece of technology, it is rather a new IT paradigm. The philosophy behind cloud computing shares its view with green computing where computing environments and resources are not as subjects to own but as subjects of sustained use. However, converting currently used IT services to Software as a Service (SaaS cloud computing environments introduces several new risks. To mitigate such risks, existing software development processes must undergo significant remodeling. This study analyzes actual cases of SaaS cloud computing environment adoption as a way to derive four new best practices for software development and incorporates the identified best practices for currently-in-use processes. Furthermore, this study presents a design for generic software development processes that implement the proposed best practices. The design for the generic process has been applied to reinforce the weak points found in SaaS cloud service development practices used by eight enterprises currently developing or operating actual SaaS cloud computing services. Lastly, this study evaluates the applicability of the proposed SaaS cloud oriented development process through analyzing the feedback data collected from actual application to the development of a SaaS cloud service Astation.

  15. Department of Defense Use of Commercial Cloud Computing Capabilities and Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-11-01

    models (Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service ( SaaS )), and four deployment models (Public...NIST defines three main models for cloud computing: IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS . These models help differentiate the implementation responsibilities that fall...and SaaS . 3. Public, Private, Community, and Hybrid Clouds Cloud services come in different forms, depending on the customer’s specific needs

  16. Architecture Design of Healthcare Software-as-a-Service Platform for Cloud-Based Clinical Decision Support Service

    OpenAIRE

    Oh, Sungyoung; Cha, Jieun; Ji, Myungkyu; Kang, Hyekyung; Kim, Seok; Heo, Eunyoung; Han, Jong Soo; Kang, Hyunggoo; Chae, Hoseok; Hwang, Hee; Yoo, Sooyoung

    2015-01-01

    Objectives To design a cloud computing-based Healthcare Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform (HSP) for delivering healthcare information services with low cost, high clinical value, and high usability. Methods We analyzed the architecture requirements of an HSP, including the interface, business services, cloud SaaS, quality attributes, privacy and security, and multi-lingual capacity. For cloud-based SaaS services, we focused on Clinical Decision Service (CDS) content services, basic functi...

  17. A Framework for Software-as-a-Service Selection and Provisioning

    OpenAIRE

    Badidi, Elarbi

    2013-01-01

    As cloud computing is increasingly transforming the information technology landscape, organizations and businesses are exhibiting strong interest in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings that can help them increase business agility and reduce their operational costs. They increasingly demand services that can meet their functional and non-functional requirements. Given the plethora and the variety of SaaS offerings, we propose, in this paper, a framework for SaaS provisioning, which relies o...

  18. 60NiTi Intermetallic Material Evaluation for Lightweight and Corrosion Resistant Spherical Sliding Bearings for Aerospace Applications, Report on NASA-Kamatics SAA3-1288

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dellacorte, Christopher; Jefferson, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Under NASA Space Act Agreement (SAA3-1288), NASA Glenn Research Center and the Kamatics subsidiary of the Kaman Corporation conducted the experimental evaluation of spherical sliding bearings made with 60NiTi inner races. The goal of the project was to assess the feasibility of manufacturing lightweight, corrosion resistant bearings utilizing 60NiTi for aerospace and industrial applications. NASA produced the bearings in collaboration with Abbott Ball Corporation and Kamatics fabricated bearing assemblies utilizing their standard reinforced polymer liner material. The assembled bearings were tested in oscillatory motion at a load of 4.54 kN (10,000 lb), according to the requirements of the plain bearing specification SAE AS81820. Several test bearings were exposed to hydraulic fluid or aircraft deicing fluid prior to and during testing. The results show that the 60NiTi bearings exhibit tribological performance comparable to conventional stainless steel (440C) bearings. Further, exposure of 60NiTi bearings to the contaminant fluids had no apparent performance effect. It is concluded that 60NiTi is a feasible bearing material for aerospace and industrial spherical bearing applications.

  19. Software-as-a-Service Offer Differentiation by Business Unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Islam Balbaa

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This article summarizes the author's recent research into the fit between software-as-a-service (SaaS tools and the requirements of particular business units. First, an overview of SaaS is provided, including a summary of its benefits to users and software vendors. Next, the approach used to gather and analyze data about the SaaS solutions offered on the Force.com AppExchange is outlined. Finally, the article describes the managerial implications of this research.

  20. How Customers and Employees of Perceptive Informatics Feel about Software as A Service Deployment Model and What Are the Barriers They Feel that Exist towards Adoption of the Model?

    OpenAIRE

    Panneerselvam, Arunkumar

    2012-01-01

    Software-as-a-Service deployment model has become the way forward for many technology companies. Most companies with an established on-premise business are looking to adopt SaaS deployment model to incorporate SaaS offerings into their product portfolio. Gartner (2012) expects the SaaS enterprise application market to grow from $11.8 billion in 2012 to $26.5billion in 2016 generating a 17.4% compound annual growth rate. Perceptive Informatics is a leading eClinical solutions provider, loo...

  1. Serum Amyloid A Induces Toll-Like Receptor 2-Dependent Inflammatory Cytokine Expression and Atrophy in C2C12 Skeletal Muscle Myotubes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Passey, Samantha L; Bozinovski, Steven; Vlahos, Ross; Anderson, Gary P; Hansen, Michelle J

    2016-01-01

    Skeletal muscle wasting is an important comorbidity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and is strongly correlated with morbidity and mortality. Patients who experience frequent acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) have more severe muscle wasting and reduced recovery of muscle mass and function after each exacerbation. Serum levels of the pro-inflammatory acute phase protein Serum Amyloid A (SAA) can rise more than 1000-fold in AECOPD and are predictively correlated with exacerbation severity. The direct effects of SAA on skeletal muscle are poorly understood. Here we have examined SAA effects on pro-inflammatory cachectic cytokine expression (IL-6 and TNFα) and atrophy in C2C12 myotubes. SAA increased IL-6 (31-fold) and TNFα (6.5-fold) mRNA levels compared to control untreated cells after 3h of SAA treatment, and increased secreted IL-6 protein at 24h. OxPAPC, a dual TLR2 and TLR4 inhibitor, reduced the response to SAA by approximately 84% compared to SAA alone, and the TLR2 neutralising antibody T2.5 abolished SAA-induced expression of IL-6, indicating that SAA signalling in C2C12 myotubes is primarily via TLR2. SAA also reduced myotube width by 10-13% and induced a 2.5-fold increase in the expression of the muscle atrophy gene Atrogin-1, suggesting direct effects of SAA on muscle wasting. Blocking of TLR2 inhibited the SAA-induced decrease in myotube width and Atrogin-1 gene expression, indicating that SAA induces atrophy through TLR2. These data demonstrate that SAA stimulates a robust pro-inflammatory response in skeletal muscle myotubes via the TLR2-dependent release of IL-6 and TNFα. Furthermore, the observed atrophy effects indicate that SAA could also be directly contributing to the wasting and poor recovery of muscle mass. Therapeutic strategies targeting this SAA-TLR2 axis may therefore ameliorate muscle wasting in AECOPD and a range of other inflammatory conditions associated with loss of muscle mass.

  2. Rebleeding of a Splenic Artery Aneurysm after Coil Embolisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyra D. Kingma

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA is an uncommon and difficult diagnosis. SAA is more common in females. Only 20% of SAA is symptomatic and may present as a rupture. A ruptured SAA is associated with a 25% mortality rate. Case Presentation. We present a case of a male patient with a bleeding SAA that rapidly increased in size. Distal coiling was technically impossible and despite proximal coil embolisation the SAA continued to bleed. A laparotomy including splenectomy and partial pancreatectomy was performed with an uneventful patient recovery. Discussion. Endovascular management is currently considered the optimal treatment of SAA. However, careful monitoring and follow-up is needed after embolisation as rapid recanalization of the SAA may possibly occur, especially when distal coiling of the aneurysm is unsuccessful. Conclusion. Endovascular treatment of an SAA is not necessarily effective. Surgeons must be prepared to perform open procedures to further reduce mortality rates.

  3. [Effect of citric acid stimulation on salivary alpha-amylase, total protein, salivary flow rate and pH value in Pi deficiency children].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Ze-min; Chen, Long-hui; Lin, Jing; Zhang, Min; Yang, Xiao-rong; Chen, Wei-wen

    2015-02-01

    To compare the effect of citric acid stimulation on salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), total protein (TP), salivary flow rate, and pH value between Pi deficiency (PD) children and healthy children, thereby providing evidence for Pi controlling saliva theory. Twenty PD children were recruited, and 29 healthy children were also recruited at the same time. Saliva samples from all subjects were collected before and after citric acid stimulation. The sAA activity and amount, TP contents, salivary flow rate, and pH value were determined and compared. (1) Citric acid stimulation was able to significantly increase salivary flow rate, pH value, sAA activities, sAA specific activity and sAA amount (including glycosylated and non-glycosylated sAA amount) in healthy children (Psalivary flow rate, pH value, and glycosylated sAA levels in PD children (Psalivary indices between the two groups (P>0.05), salivary indices except salivary flow rate and glycosylated sAA levels decreased more in PD children. There was statistical difference in sAA activity ratio, sAA specific activity ratio, and the ratio of glycosylated sAA levels between PD children and healthy children (P<0.05). PD children had decreased response to citric acid stimulation.

  4. Multi-walled carbon nanotube-physicochemical properties predict the systemic acute phase response following pulmonary exposure in mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah S Poulsen

    Full Text Available Pulmonary exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs has been linked to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease in addition to the well-documented physicochemical-dependent adverse lung effects. A proposed mechanism is through a strong and sustained pulmonary secretion of acute phase proteins to the blood. We identified physicochemical determinants of MWCNT-induced systemic acute phase response by analyzing effects of pulmonary exposure to 14 commercial, well-characterized MWCNTs in female C57BL/6J mice pulmonary exposed to 0, 6, 18 or 54 μg MWCNT/mouse. Plasma levels of acute phase response proteins serum amyloid A1/2 (SAA1/2 and SAA3 were determined on day 1, 28 or 92. Expression levels of hepatic Saa1 and pulmonary Saa3 mRNA levels were assessed to determine the origin of the acute phase response proteins. Pulmonary Saa3 mRNA expression levels were greater and lasted longer than hepatic Saa1 mRNA expression. Plasma SAA1/2 and SAA3 protein levels were related to time and physicochemical properties using adjusted, multiple regression analyses. SAA3 and SAA1/2 plasma protein levels were increased after exposure to almost all of the MWCNTs on day 1, whereas limited changes were observed on day 28 and 92. SAA1/2 and SAA3 protein levels did not correlate and only SAA3 protein levels correlated with neutrophil influx. The multiple regression analyses revealed a protective effect of MWCNT length on SAA1/2 protein level on day 1, such that a longer length resulted in lowered SAA1/2 plasma levels. Increased SAA3 protein levels were positively related to dose and content of Mn, Mg and Co on day 1, whereas oxidation and diameter of the MWCNTs were protective on day 28 and 92, respectively. The results of this study reveal very differently controlled pulmonary and hepatic acute phase responses after MWCNT exposure. As the responses were influenced by the physicochemical properties of the MWCNTs, this study provides the first step

  5. Solid-phase immunoradiometric assay for serum amyloid A protein using magnetisable cellulose particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Beer, F.C.; Dyck, R.F.; Pepys, M.B.

    1982-01-01

    An immunoradiometric assay for human serum amyloid A protein (SAA) was developed using magnetisable cellulose particles as the solid phase. Rabbit antiserum to SAA was raised by immunization with SAA isolated from acute-phase serum by gel filtration in formic acid. The antiserum was rendered monospecific for SAA by solid-phase immunoabsorption with normal human serum, which contains only traces of SAA, and some was coupled covalently to the cellulose particles. Immunopurified anti-SAA antibodies were isolated from the monospecific anti-SAA serum by binding to, and elution from insolubilized acute-phase serum and were radiolabelled with 125 I. The assay was calibrated with an acute phase serum which contained 6000 times more SAA than normal sera with the lowest detectable level of SAA, and an arbitrary value of 6000 U/l was assigned to this standard. Sera were tested in the native, undenatured state and there was no increase in SAA immunoreactivity following alkali treatment or heating. The assay range was from 1-2000 U/l so that all SAA levels above 6 U/l could be measured on a single (1:6) dilution of serum. The intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were 11.7 and 15.0% respectively. Among 100 healthy normal subjects (50 male, 50 female) the median SAA level was 9 U/l, range <1-100, with 93% below 20 U/l and only 2% below the lower limit of sensitivity of the assay (1 U/l). (Auth.)

  6. Foundations for Tools as a Service Workspace: A Reference Architecture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chauhan, Muhammad Aufeef

    S). However, providing the resources corresponding to a domain following *aaS requires specific challenges associated with the domain to be addressed. Software as a Service (SaaS) model enables software vendors to offer their software solutions to end users following pay-per-use model. SaaS also enables end...... users to have access to the software system without being bound into long-term license commitments and without incurring additional infrastructure and maintenance overheads. Though SaaS has been successful in providing stand-alone applications where users can perform a specific set of activities using...... an application, applicability of SaaS for scenarios where users need to use a number of software systems to perform activities and associated tasks is limited. A typical such use case is the activities associated with software engineering domains in general and software architecting domain in particular...

  7. Unraveling P-T-t-D Evolution of Zermatt-Saas Ophiolites from Valtournanche: from Ocean Opening to Mountain Building

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rebay, G.; Tiepolo, M.; Zanoni, D.; Langone, A.; Spalla, M. I.

    2015-12-01

    The Zermatt-Saas (ZS) Zone, formerly part of Tethyan oceanic crust and variously affected by oceanic metamorphism, is now part of the orogenic suture that developed in the Western European Alps during the Alpine subduction and collision. The ZS rocks preserve a dominant HP to UHP metamorphic imprint overprinted by greenschist facies metamorphism. The age of the oceanic protoliths is considered to be middle to upper Jurassic whereas the HP metamorphism is mostly considered to be Eocene. In upper Valtournanche ZS ophiolites, the dominant regional S2 foliation is mapped with spatial continuity in serpentinite, metarodingite and eclogite and is defined by HP/UHP parageneses in all lithotypes. It developed at 2.5 ± 0.3 GPa and 600 ± 20°C during Alpine subduction. S2 foliation of serpentinites wraps rare clinopyroxene and zircon relics. Trace element composition of clinopyroxene suggests that they crystallised from a melt in equilibrium with plagioclase: they most likely represent relicts of gabbroic assemblages. The clinopyroxene porphyroclasts have rims indented within S2 and compositions similar to fine-grained clinopyroxeneII defining S2, suggesting that they recrystallised during Alpine subduction. Zircon cores show, under CL, sector zoning typical of magmatic growth. U-Pb dates suggest their crystallisation during Middle Jurassic. Magmatic cores have thin fringe overgrowths parallel to the S2 foliation. U-Pb concordant analyses on these domains reveal an Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene crystallization most likely representing the HP to UHP Alpine re-equilibration. This suggests that some sections of the ZS have experienced HP to UHP metamorphism earlier than previously thought, opening new interpretative geodynamic scenarios. Remarkably, these new dates are similar to those recorded for the HP re-equilibration in the continental crust of the adjacent Austroalpine units (upper plate of the Alpine subduction system) and to those recorded for prograde metamorphism in

  8. Multi tenancy for cloud-based in-memory column databases workload management and data placement

    CERN Document Server

    Schaffner, Jan

    2014-01-01

    With the proliferation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings, it is becoming increasingly important for individual SaaS providers to operate their services at a low cost. This book investigates SaaS from the perspective of the provider and shows how operational costs can be reduced by using ""multi tenancy,"" a technique for consolidating a large number of customers onto a small number of servers. Specifically, the book addresses multi tenancy on the database level, focusing on in-memory column databases, which are the backbone of many important new enterprise applications. For efficiently

  9. The natural history of splanchnic artery aneurysms and outcomes after operative intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corey, Michael R; Ergul, Emel A; Cambria, Richard P; English, Sean J; Patel, Virendra I; Lancaster, R Todd; Kwolek, Christopher J; Conrad, Mark F

    2016-04-01

    Splanchnic artery aneurysms (SAAs) are uncommon, and standards for surveillance and intervention are lacking. The goal of this study was to review our 20-year experience with managing SAAs. The Research Patient Data Registry at the Massachusetts General Hospital was queried, and all patients with SAAs identified by axial imaging from 1994 to 2014 were included. Aneurysms were stratified into two cohorts: those that underwent early intervention (SAAs identified in 250 patients. In 166 patients, 176 SAAs (66.6%) were placed into the surveillance cohort; 38 SAAs (21.6%) did not have subsequent axial imaging and were considered lost to follow-up. Mean aneurysm size in the surveillance cohort at first imaging study was 16.28 mm (8-41 mm), and mean surveillance time was 36.1 months (2-155 months); 126 SAAs (91.3%) remained stable in size over time, and 8 SAAs (5.8%) required intervention for aneurysm growth after a mean of 24 months. There were no ruptures in the surveillance cohort. There were 88 SAAs (33.3%) repaired early. Mean size of SAAs that were repaired early was 31.1 mm (10-140 mm). For intact SAAs, 30-day morbidity and mortality rates after repair were 13% and 3%, respectively. In the early repair cohort, 13 SAAs (14.7%) were ruptured at presentation. The 30-day morbidity and mortality rates after rupture were 54% and 8%, respectively. Five ruptured SAAs (38%) were anatomically located in the pancreaticoduodenal arcade. On univariate analysis, pancreaticoduodenal aneurysms were strongly associated with rupture (P = .0002). Small SAAs (≤25 mm) are not prone to significant expansion and do not require frequent surveillance imaging. Imaging every 3 years for small SAAs is adequate. Aneurysms of the pancreaticoduodenal arcade and gastroduodenal aneurysms are more likely to rupture and therefore warrant a more aggressive interventional approach. Copyright © 2016 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Measurements of salivary alpha amylase and salivary cortisol in hominoid primates reveal within-species consistency and between-species differences.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Verena Behringer

    Full Text Available Salivary alpha amylase (sAA is the most abundant enzyme in saliva. Studies in humans found variation in enzymatic activity of sAA across populations that could be linked to the copy number of loci for salivary amylase (AMY1, which was seen as an adaptive response to the intake of dietary starch. In addition to diet dependent variation, differences in sAA activity have been related to social stress. In a previous study, we found evidence for stress-induced variation in sAA activity in the bonobos, a hominoid primate that is closely related to humans. In this study, we explored patterns of variation in sAA activity in bonobos and three other hominoid primates, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan to (a examine if within-species differences in sAA activity found in bonobos are characteristic for hominoids and (b assess the extent of variation in sAA activity between different species. The results revealed species-differences in sAA activity with gorillas and orangutans having higher basal sAA activity when compared to Pan. To assess the impact of stress, sAA values were related to cortisol levels measured in the same saliva samples. Gorillas and orangutans had low salivary cortisol concentrations and the highest cortisol concentration was found in samples from male bonobos, the group that also showed the highest sAA activity. Considering published information, the differences in sAA activity correspond with differences in AMY1 copy numbers and match with general features of natural diet. Studies on sAA activity have the potential to complement molecular studies and may contribute to research on feeding ecology and nutrition.

  11. XMM-Newton On-demand Reprocessing Using SaaS Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibarra, A.; Fajersztejn, N.; Loiseau, N.; Gabriel, C.

    2014-05-01

    We present here the architectural design of the new on-the-fly reprocessing capabilities that will be soon developed and implemented in the new XMM-Newton Science Operation Centre. The inclusion of processing capabilities into the archive, as we plan, will be possible thanks to the recent refurbishment of the XMM-Newton science archive, its alignment with the latest web technologies and the XMM-Newton Remote Interface for Science Analysis (RISA), a revolutionary idea of providing processing capabilities through internet services.

  12. Serum amyloid A stimulates matrix-metalloproteinase-9 upregulation via formyl peptide receptor like-1-mediated signaling in human monocytic cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Ha Young; Kim, Mi-Kyoung; Park, Kyoung Sun; Bae, Yun Hee; Yun, Jeanho; Park, Joo-In; Kwak, Jong-Young; Bae, Yoe-Sik

    2005-01-01

    In the present study, we found that serum amyloid A (SAA) stimulated matrix-metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) upregulation at the transcription and translational levels in THP-1 cells. SAA stimulated the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), which was required for the MMP-9 upregulation by SAA. The signaling events induced by SAA included the activation of ERK and intracellular calcium rise, which were found to be required for MMP-9 upregulation. Formyl peptide receptor like 1 (FPRL1) was found to be involved in the upregulation of MMP-9 by SAA. Among several FPRL1 agonists, including Trp-Lys-Tyr-Met-Val-D-Met (WKYMVm), SAA selectively stimulated MMP-9 upregulation. With respect to the molecular mechanisms involved in the differential action of SAA and WKYMVm, we found that SAA could not competitively inhibit the binding of 125 I-labeled WKYMVm to FPRL1. Taken together, we suggest that SAA plays a role in the modulation of inflammatory and immune responses via FPRL1, by inducing MMP-9 upregulation in human monocytic cells

  13. Expeditionary Oblong Mezzanine

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    Operating System OSI Open Systems Interconnection OS X Operating System Ten PDU Power Distribution Unit POE Power Over Ethernet xvii SAAS ...providing infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service ( SaaS ) cloud computing technologies. IaaS is a way of providing computing services...such as servers, storage, and network equipment services (Mell & Grance, 2009). SaaS is a means of providing software and applications as an on

  14. Dietary Sulfur-Containing Amino Acids Are Associated with Higher Prevalence of Overweight/Obesity in Northern Chinese Adults, an Internet-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yan-Chuan; Li, Yu-Zheng; Li, Rui; Lan, Li; Li, Chun-Long; Huang, Min; Shi, Dan; Feng, Ren-Nan; Sun, Chang-Hao

    2018-06-07

    Elevation of plasma sulfur-containing amino acids (SAAs) is generally associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and unfavorable lipid profiles. It is not known how dietary SAAs relate to these associations in humans. A convenient tool named internet-based dietary questionnaire for Chinese (IDQC) was used to estimate dietary SAAs intake. A total of 936 participants were randomly recruited and asked to complete the IDQC. Furthermore, 90 subjects were randomly selected to perform a subgroup study. The associations between dietary SAAs and prevalence of obesity, lipid profiles, and status of insulin resistance (IR), inflammation and oxidative stress were assessed. Dietary total SAAs and cysteine of overweight/obese participants were significantly higher. Dietary total SAAs and cysteine were positively associated with BMI and waist circumference. Higher dietary total SAAs were associated with higher prevalence of overweight/obesity. Higher dietary total SAAs and cysteine also associated with higher serum triglyceride (total cholesterol), low density lipoprotein, fasting blood glucose, 2 h-postprandial glucose, and homeostasis model assessment of IR. In the subgroup study, positive associations between dietary SAAs and inflammation biomarkers were also observed. Dietary SAAs are associated with higher prevalence of overweight/obesity, unfavorable lipid profiles and status of IR, and inflammation. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  15. Business intelligence in the cloud

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willem J.J. Thompson

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing has become an important topic to research because of the value it can provide to the business. In this article, the researcher examined how Business Intelligence (BI can be offered to the business over the Internet as a solution. BI environments, however, require a large capital layout to implement and support the large volumes of data that needs to be analysed to identify trends. It also requires enormous processing power which places pressure on the business resources. The goal of this article is to show how BI will be offered as a Software as a Service (SaaS solution to the business. The BI SaaS solution will allow companies to reduce cost of having a BI solution and also having access to the latest software which will give the business an edge on their competition. By making use of a literature review the researcher were able gather and present evidence to support the value that the BI SaaS solution will add to the business and how such a BI SaaS solution will look like. As part of this research paper the researcher will also identify the challenges that the business will face when making us a BI SaaS solution.

  16. Business intelligence in the cloud

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willem J.J. Thompson

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing has become an important topic to research because of the value it can provide to the business. In this article, the researcher examined how Business Intelligence (BI can be offered to the business over the Internet as a solution. BI environments, however, require a large capital layout to implement and support the large volumes of data that needs to be analysed to identify trends. It also requires enormous processing power which places pressure on the business resources. The goal of this article is to show how BI will be offered as a Software as a Service (SaaS solution to the business. The BI SaaS solution will allow companies to reduce cost of having a BI solution and also having access to the latest software which will give the business an edge on their competition. By making use of a literature review the researcher were able gather and present evidence to support the value that the BI SaaS solution will add to the business and how such a BI SaaS solution will look like. As part of this research paper the researcher will also identify the challenges that the business will face when making us a BI SaaS solution.

  17. Multi-walled carbon nanotube-physicochemical properties predict the systemic acute phase response following pulmonary exposure in mice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Sarah Søs; Knudsen, Kristina Bram; Jackson, Petra

    2017-01-01

    of acute phase proteins to the blood. We identified physicochemical determinants of MWCNT-induced systemic acute phase response by analyzing effects of pulmonary exposure to 14 commercial, well-characterized MWCNTs in female C57BLI6J mice pulmonary exposed to 0, 6, 18 or 54 lag MWCNT/mouse. Plasma levels...... of acute phase response proteins serum amyloid A1/2 (SAA1/2) and SAA3 were determined on day 1, 28 or 92. Expression levels of hepatic Saal and pulmonary Saa3 mRNA levels were assessed to determine the origin of the acute phase response proteins. Pulmonary Saa3 mRNA expression levels were greater...... limited changes were observed on day 28 and 92. SAA1/2 and SAA3 protein levels did not correlate and only SAA3 protein levels correlated with neutrophil influx. The multiple regression analyses revealed a protective effect of MWCNT length on SAA1/2 protein level on day 1, such that a longer length...

  18. Serum amyloid A is a marker for pulmonary involvement in systemic sclerosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Lakota

    Full Text Available Inflammation in systemic sclerosis (SSc is a prominent, but incompletely characterized feature in early stages of the disease. The goal of these studies was to determine the circulating levels, clinical correlates and biological effects of the acute phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA, a marker of inflammation, in patients with SSc. Circulating levels of SAA were determined by multiplex assays in serum from 129 SSc patients and 98 healthy controls. Correlations between SAA levels and clinical and laboratory features of disease were analyzed. The effects of SAA on human pulmonary fibroblasts were studied ex vivo. Elevated levels of SAA were found in 25% of SSc patients, with the highest levels in those with early-stage disease and diffuse cutaneous involvement. Significant negative correlations of SAA were found with forced vital capacity and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide. Patients with elevated SAA had greater dyspnea and more frequent interstitial lung disease, and had worse scores on patient-reported outcome measures. Incubation with recombinant SAA induced dose-dependent stimulation of IL-6 and IL-8 in normal lung fibroblasts in culture. Serum levels of the inflammatory marker SAA are elevated in patients with early diffuse cutaneous SSc, and correlate with pulmonary involvement. In lung fibroblasts, SAA acts as a direct stimulus for increased cytokine production. These findings suggest that systemic inflammation in SSc may be linked to lung involvement and SAA could serve as a potential biomarker for this complication.

  19. Increased apoptosis and peripheral blood mononuclear cell suppression of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in severe aplastic anemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Yu-Hua; Lin, Chiao-Wen; Pan, Hui-Hsien; Yang, Shun-Fa; Weng, Te-Fu; Peng, Ching-Tien; Wu, Kang-Hsi

    2018-06-05

    Although immune-mediated pathogenesis is considered an important aspect of severe aplastic anemia (SAA), its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are essential to the formation of specialized microenvironments in the bone marrow (BM), and MSC insufficiency can trigger the development of SAA. To find MSC alterations in the SAA BM, we compared BM MSCs from five children with SAA and five controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cocultured with MSCs to evaluate the supportive effects of MSCs on hematopoiesis. Cytometric bead array immunoassay was used to determine cytokine excretion by MSCs. The immune functions of MSCs and their conditioned medium (CM) were evaluated by PBMC proliferation assays. SAA MSCs were characterized by a high percentage of cells in the abnormal sub-G1 phase of the cell cycle, which suggests an increased rate of apoptosis in SAA MSCs. In comparison with control MSCs, PBMCs cocultured with SAA MSCs displayed significantly reduced PBMC proliferation (P = 0.009). Aberrant cytokine profiles were secreted by SAA MSCs, with increased concentrations of interleukin-6, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-1β in the CM. PBMC proliferation assays demonstrated additional immunosuppressive effects of SAA MSCs (P = 0.016) and their CM (P = 0.013). Our data revealed increased apoptosis and PBMC suppression of SAA MSCs. The alterations of MSCs may contribute to the formation of functionally abnormal microenvironments in SAA BM. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Multidetector CT findings of splenic artery aneurysm in children with chronic liver disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ulu, Esra Meltem Kayahan; Kirbas, Ismail; Emiroglu, Feride Kural; Cakir, Banu; Harman, Ali; Coskun, Mehmet; Bakar, Coskun

    2008-01-01

    Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is a well-known complication of chronic liver disease and portal hypertension in adults. The incidence of SAA in children undergoing selective hepatic angiography prior to liver transplantation is reported as 4%, but there are few systematic studies. To investigate the SAAs detected by multidetector CT angiography (MDCTA) among children with chronic liver disease. A total of 124 children (71 girls, 53 boys; mean age 118 months; age range 5 days to 204 months) with chronic liver disease underwent MDCTA to display the vascular anatomy and any vascular complications during the pretransplantation period. Of these children, 23 also underwent coeliac angiography. The digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and MDCTA findings were compared. SAAs were detected in 13 children (10.4%); none was detectable by US. All patients had more than one aneurysm; ten patients had more than three. In all except one patient, the SAAs were located only in the intraparenchymal branches of the splenic artery; in one patient they were located in the intraparenchymal segment and in the distal third of the splenic artery. The mean size of the aneurysms was 6.5 mm (range 2.5-18 mm). All patients with aneurysms had splenomegaly and vascular collaterals. Nine of the children with SAAs had portal vein pathologies (two occlusions, two stenoses, five dilatations). A statistically significant difference existed with regard to the size of spleen (P < 0.05) and patient age (P < 0.05) between children with SAAs and children without SAAs. There was an increased risk of SAAs in patients with portal vein pathologies. In 19 patients without SAAs on MDCTA, no SAAs were seen on DSA. It is likely that the incidence of SAA in children with chronic liver disease will increase with improved survival of children with long-standing portal hypertension and chronic liver disease. MDCTA with multiplanar reconstruction is a noninvasive and effective means of imaging paediatric patients with

  1. Ground and satellite observations of multiple sun-aligned auroral arcs on the duskside

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosokawa, K.; Maggiolo, R.; Zhang, Y.; Fear, R. C.; Fontaine, D.; Cumnock, J. A.; Kullen, A.; Milan, S. E.; Kozlovsky, A.; Echim, M.; Shiokawa, K.

    2014-12-01

    Sun-aligned auroral arcs (SAAs) are one of the outstanding phenomena in the high-latitude region during periods of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Smaller scale SAAs tend to occur either in the duskside or dawnside of the polar cap and are known to drift in the dawn-dusk direction depending on the sign of the IMF By. Studies of SAAs are of particular importance because they represent dynamical characteristics of their source plasma in the magnetosphere, for example in the interaction region between the solar wind and magnetosphere or in the boundary between the plasma sheet and tail lobe. To date, however, very little has been known about the spatial structure and/or temporal evolution of the magnetospheric counterpart of SAAs. In order to gain more comprehensive understanding of the field-aligned plasma transport in the vicinity of SAAs, we have investigated an event of SAAs on November 10, 2005, during which multiple SAAs were detected by a ground-based all-sky camera at Resolute Bay, Canada. During this interval, several SAAs were detached from the duskside oval and moved poleward. The large-scale structure of these arcs was visualized by space-based imagers of TIMED/GUVI and DMSP/SSUSI. In addition to these optical observations, we employ the Cluster satellites to reveal the high-altitude particle signature corresponding to the small-scale SAAs. The ionospheric footprints of the 4 Cluster satellites encountered the SAAs sequentially and observed well correlated enhancements of electron fluxes at weak energies (SAAs. This implies that these ions and electrons were accelerated upward by a quasi-stationary electric field existing in the vicinity of the SAAs and constitute a current system in the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling system. Ionospheric convection measurement from one of the SuperDARN radars shows an indication that the SAAs are embedded in the lobe cell during northward IMF conditions. In the presentation, we will show the results of

  2. Multidetector CT findings of splenic artery aneurysm in children with chronic liver disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ulu, Esra Meltem Kayahan; Kirbas, Ismail; Emiroglu, Feride Kural; Cakir, Banu; Harman, Ali; Coskun, Mehmet [Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Ankara (Turkey); Bakar, Coskun [Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Ankara (Turkey)

    2008-10-15

    Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is a well-known complication of chronic liver disease and portal hypertension in adults. The incidence of SAA in children undergoing selective hepatic angiography prior to liver transplantation is reported as 4%, but there are few systematic studies. To investigate the SAAs detected by multidetector CT angiography (MDCTA) among children with chronic liver disease. A total of 124 children (71 girls, 53 boys; mean age 118 months; age range 5 days to 204 months) with chronic liver disease underwent MDCTA to display the vascular anatomy and any vascular complications during the pretransplantation period. Of these children, 23 also underwent coeliac angiography. The digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and MDCTA findings were compared. SAAs were detected in 13 children (10.4%); none was detectable by US. All patients had more than one aneurysm; ten patients had more than three. In all except one patient, the SAAs were located only in the intraparenchymal branches of the splenic artery; in one patient they were located in the intraparenchymal segment and in the distal third of the splenic artery. The mean size of the aneurysms was 6.5 mm (range 2.5-18 mm). All patients with aneurysms had splenomegaly and vascular collaterals. Nine of the children with SAAs had portal vein pathologies (two occlusions, two stenoses, five dilatations). A statistically significant difference existed with regard to the size of spleen (P < 0.05) and patient age (P < 0.05) between children with SAAs and children without SAAs. There was an increased risk of SAAs in patients with portal vein pathologies. In 19 patients without SAAs on MDCTA, no SAAs were seen on DSA. It is likely that the incidence of SAA in children with chronic liver disease will increase with improved survival of children with long-standing portal hypertension and chronic liver disease. MDCTA with multiplanar reconstruction is a noninvasive and effective means of imaging paediatric patients with

  3. Supporting Performance Isolation in Software as a Service Systems with Rich Clients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oral, A.; Tekinerdogan, B.

    2015-01-01

    In a non-isolated Software as a Service (SaaS) system, different clients can freely use the resources of the SaaS. Hereby, disruptive tenants who exceed their limits can easily cause degradation of performance of the provided services for other tenants. To ensure performance demands of the multiple

  4. Software Assurance Competency Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    COTS) software , and software as a service ( SaaS ). L2: Define and analyze risks in the acquisition of contracted software , COTS software , and SaaS ...2010a]: Application of technologies and processes to achieve a required level of confidence that software systems and services function in the...

  5. Serum Amyloid A Production Is Triggered by Sleep Deprivation in Mice and Humans: Is That the Link between Sleep Loss and Associated Comorbidities?

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira, Edson M.; Visniauskas, Bruna; Tufik, Sergio; Andersen, Monica L.; Chagas, Jair R.; Campa, Ana

    2017-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) was recently associated with metabolic endotoxemia, obesity and insulin resistance. Concurrently, insufficient sleep adversely affects metabolic health and is an independent predisposing factor for obesity and insulin resistance. In this study we investigated whether sleep loss modulates SAA production. The serum SAA concentration increased in C57BL/6 mice subjected to sleep restriction (SR) for 15 days or to paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) for 72 h. Sleep restriction also induced the upregulation of Saa1.1/Saa2.1 mRNA levels in the liver and Saa3 mRNA levels in adipose tissue. SAA levels returned to the basal range after 24 h in paradoxical sleep rebound (PSR). Metabolic endotoxemia was also a finding in SR. Increased plasma levels of SAA were also observed in healthy human volunteers subjected to two nights of total sleep deprivation (Total SD), returning to basal levels after one night of recovery. The observed increase in SAA levels may be part of the initial biochemical alterations caused by sleep deprivation, with potential to drive deleterious conditions such as metabolic endotoxemia and weight gain. PMID:28335560

  6. Secure and Resilient Cloud Computing for the Department of Defense

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-11-16

    platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service ( SaaS )—that target system administrators, developers, and end-users respectively (see Table 2...interfaces (API) and services Medium Amazon Elastic MapReduce, MathWorks Cloud, Red Hat OpenShift SaaS Full-fledged applications Low Google gMail

  7. Lincoln Laboratory Journal. Volume 22, Number 1, 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-09

    different service models—infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service ( SaaS )—that target system... SaaS Full-fledged applications Low Google Gmail, Microsoft Office 365, Facebook 126 LINCOLN LABORATORY JOURNAL n VOLUME 22, NUMBER 1, 2016 SECURE AND

  8. A Risk-based, Practice-centered Approach to Project Management for HPCMP CREATE

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-10-05

    form of videoconferencing. These impediments have been mitigated to some extent by using browser-based Software as a Service ( SaaS ) access to CREATE...one-time password (OTP), and OpenID. Security is managed within the DREN, as opposed to every desktop. As a “Software as a Service” ( SaaS

  9. Value Co-creation in the Cloud : Understanding Software-as-a-Service-Driven Convergence of the Enterprise Systems and Financial Services Industries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Teracino, Elizabeth Anne

    2017-01-01

    Enterprise systemen worden meer en meer gehost in de cloud en aangeboden als een dienst, volgens het zogenaamde software-als-een-dienst (Software-as-a-Service, of afgekort, SaaS) business model. Ook financiële dienstverleners zijn SaaS aan het invoeren en passen hierdoor de wijze waarop zij hun

  10. 78 FR 60193 - Manufactured Housing: Revision of Notification, Correction, and Procedural Regulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-01

    ... Agencies (SAAs), and primary inspection agencies (PIAs), are required to follow to assure that notification.... 3286.115 to clarify the date of installation in the final rule. Comment: Specify that SAAs would notify... views held by SAAs. (a) When an SAA is the appropriate agency to hold a Formal or Informal Presentation...

  11. Architecturally Significant Requirements Identification, Classification and Change Management for Multi-tenant Cloud-Based Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chauhan, Muhammad Aufeef; Probst, Christian W.

    2017-01-01

    presented a framework for requirements classification and change management focusing on distributed Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) systems as well as complex software ecosystems that are built using PaaS and SaaS, such as Tools as a Service (TaaS). We have demonstrated...

  12. It's Bandwagon Time

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panettieri, Joseph C.

    2008-01-01

    Colleges and universities worldwide are turning to the hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) model and saying goodbye to issues like patch management and server optimization. Generally, SaaS involves applications (such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and e-mail) offered by a hosting provider. In this…

  13. Emergency endovascular coiling of a ruptured giant splenic artery aneurysm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wernheden, Erika; Brenøe, Anne Sofie; Shahidi, Saeid

    2017-01-01

    Splenic artery aneurysms (SAAs) are the third most common abdominal aneurysm. Endovascular treatment of SAAs is preferred, and coiling is the most commonly used technique. Ruptured giant (>5 cm) SAAs are usually treated with open surgery including splenectomy. We present a rare case of a ruptured...... 15-cm giant SAA in an 84-year-old woman treated successfully with emergency endovascular coiling. To our knowledge, this is one of the few reports of emergency endovascular treatment for ruptured giant SAA....

  14. Salivary alpha amylase diurnal pattern and stress response are associated with body mass index in low-income preschool-aged children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Alison L; Sturza, Julie; Rosenblum, Katherine; Vazquez, Delia M; Kaciroti, Niko; Lumeng, Julie C

    2015-03-01

    Physiological stress responses are proposed as a pathway through which stress can "get under the skin" and lead to health problems, specifically obesity. We tested associations of salivary alpha amylase (sAA) diurnal patterns and stress responses with body mass index (BMI) in young, low-income children (51% male; 54% non-Hispanic white). Diurnal saliva samples were collected three times per day across three days for 269 children (M age 50.8 months, SD 6.3). Individual sAA intercept and slope values were calculated using random effect models to represent morning sAA levels and rate of sAA change across the day. A subset of children (n=195; M age 56.6 months, SD 6.9) participated in a lab-based behavioral stress protocol. Area under the curve increase (AUCI) across four timepoints was calculated to represent increase in sAA output during stress elicitation. Children were weighed and height measured and BMI z-score was calculated. Linear regression was used to evaluate associations of sAA intercept, sAA slope, and sAA AUCI with BMI z-score, controlling for child age, sex, and race/ethnicity; maternal weight status; and family income-to-needs ratio. Diurnal and stress-response sAA patterns were related to child adiposity: for each 1-standard deviation unit (SDU) decrease in morning sAA level, the child's BMI z-score increased by 0.11 (SE 0.05) SDU's (pstress elicitation, the child's BMI z-score increased by 0.14 (SE 0.06) SDU's (pstress responses and atypical diurnal patterns of sAA have been found following exposure to chronic life stressors such as poverty. Findings suggest that associations of stress, sAA, and elevated body mass index may develop very early in the lifespan. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Emergency endovascular coiling of a ruptured giant splenic artery aneurysm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erika Wernheden, MD

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Splenic artery aneurysms (SAAs are the third most common abdominal aneurysm. Endovascular treatment of SAAs is preferred, and coiling is the most commonly used technique. Ruptured giant (>5 cm SAAs are usually treated with open surgery including splenectomy. We present a rare case of a ruptured 15-cm giant SAA in an 84-year-old woman treated successfully with emergency endovascular coiling. To our knowledge, this is one of the few reports of emergency endovascular treatment for ruptured giant SAA.

  16. Cloud Challenges for an ERP Vendor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rebsdorf, Mads; Hedman, Jonas

    2014-01-01

    . In this paper, we present a case study of small and mid-sized Nordic ERP vendor. The case study describes company evolution and challenges when starting to compete strategically with SaaS offerings. We conclude by presenting a phased business model that deals with the old on-premises business as well...... as the companies’ new SaaS initiatives....

  17. Serum Amyloid A Level in Egyptian Children with Familial Mediterranean Fever

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hala M. Lofty

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives. SAA is an acute-phase reactant detected during an FMF attack or other inflammatory conditions. High SAA levels may increase the risk of amyloidosis. The aim of the study is to measure the serum amyloid A (SAA level in a group of Egyptian children with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF and study its various correlates, if any. Methods. The study enrolled seventy-one children with FMF. Results. SAA level was high in 78.9% of the studied patients with a mean of 81.62±31.6 mg/L, and CRP was positive in 31% of patients. There was no significant releation between SAA level and any demographic or clinical manifestation. High SAA was more frequent in V726A allele (16.9% followed by M694V allele (12.3%. Elevated SAA levels were more frequent in patients on low colchicine doses. Forty-five percent (45% of patients have low adherence to colchicine therapy. Interpretation and Conclusion. High SAA levels were detected two weeks after last FMF attack in a large percentage of Egyptian FMF children. This indicates that subclinical inflammation continues during attack-free periods, and SAA could be used as a marker of it.

  18. Modified immunosuppressive therapy with porcine antilymphocyte globulin plus delayed cyclosporine A in children with severe aplastic anemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Qingya; Sha, Pingping; Chen, Haifei; Shen, Hongshi; Qin, Longmei; Li, Zhengyang; Wu, Tianqin; Wang, Zhaoyue

    2018-01-01

    Immunosuppressive therapy (IST) with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CsA) is the standard treatment for children with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) with no human leukocyte antigen-matched siblings. Due to the unavailability of horse ATG in China, porcine antilymphocyte globulin (p-ALG), which is less expensive and more effective than rabbit ATG, is widely used. We sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of modified IST with p-ALG plus delayed CsA at day 21 in 50 SAA children. Eighteen SAA patients who progressed from nonsevere aplastic anemia (NSAA) were classified as SAA-II; the other 32 patients were classified as SAA-I. Overall response (OR) rates at 3, 6 and 12 months were 56, 64 and 62%, respectively. The 10-year overall survival (OS) rate and disease-free survival (DFS) rate were 80 and 56%. The OR, OS and DFS rates in the SAA-I group were clearly better than those in the SAA-II group. Death rate from infection within 30 days was 4%. Modified IST with p-ALG plus delayed CsA is a reliable and well-tolerated treatment for children with SAA, and reduces early death due to infection. Modified IST is more suitable for children with SAA-I.

  19. Comparison of aqueous ammonia and dilute acid pretreatment of bamboo fractions: Structure properties and enzymatic hydrolysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xin, Donglin; Yang, Zhong; Liu, Feng; Xu, Xueru; Zhang, Junhua

    2015-01-01

    The effect of two pretreatments methods, aqueous ammonia (SAA) and dilute acid (DA), on the chemical compositions, cellulose crystallinity, morphologic change, and enzymatic hydrolysis of bamboo fractions (bamboo yellow, timber, green, and knot) was compared. Bamboo fractions with SAA pretreatment had better hydrolysability than those with DA pretreatment. High crystallinity index resulted in low hydrolysis yield in the conversion of SAA pretreated bamboo fractions, not DA pretreated fractions. The increase of cellulase loading had modestly positive effect in the hydrolysis of both SAA and DA pretreated bamboo fractions, while supplement of xylanase significantly increased the hydrolysis of the pretreated bamboo fractions, especially after SAA pretreatment. The results indicated that SAA pretreatment was more effective than DA pretreatment in conversion of bamboo fractions, and supplementation of xylanase was necessary in effective conversion of the SAA pretreated fractions into fermentable sugars. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Occupational exposure levels of bioaerosol components are associated with serum levels of the acute phase protein Serum Amyloid A in greenhouse workers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Anne Mette; Thilsing, Trine; Bælum, Jesper

    2016-01-01

    to elevated levels of bioaerosols. The objective of this study is to assess whether greenhouse workers personal exposure to bioaerosol components was associated with serum levels of the acute phase proteins Serum Amyloid A (SAA) and C-reactive protein (CRP). METHODS: SAA and CRP levels were determined......-glucan. RESULTS: Serum levels of SAA and CRP were not significantly different in greenhouse workers and a reference group, or on the two work days. In a mixed model, SAA levels were positively associated with endotoxin exposure levels (p = 0.0007). Results for fungi were not clear. CRP levels were positively...... associated with endotoxin exposures (p = 0.022). Furthermore, when workers were categorized into three groups based on SAA and CRP serum levels endotoxin exposure was highest in the group with the highest SAA levels and in the group with middle and highest CRP levels. SAA and CRP levels were elevated...

  1. Generalized Ocean Color Inversion Model for Retrieving Marine Inherent Optical Properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werdell, P. Jeremy; Franz, Bryan A.; Bailey, Sean W.; Feldman, Gene C.; Boss, Emmanuel; Brando, Vittorio E.; Dowell, Mark; Hirata, Takafumi; Lavender, Samantha J.; Lee, ZhongPing; hide

    2013-01-01

    Ocean color measured from satellites provides daily, global estimates of marine inherent optical properties (IOPs). Semi-analytical algorithms (SAAs) provide one mechanism for inverting the color of the water observed by the satellite into IOPs. While numerous SAAs exist, most are similarly constructed and few are appropriately parameterized for all water masses for all seasons. To initiate community-wide discussion of these limitations, NASA organized two workshops that deconstructed SAAs to identify similarities and uniqueness and to progress toward consensus on a unified SAA. This effort resulted in the development of the generalized IOP (GIOP) model software that allows for the construction of different SAAs at runtime by selection from an assortment of model parameterizations. As such, GIOP permits isolation and evaluation of specific modeling assumptions, construction of SAAs, development of regionally tuned SAAs, and execution of ensemble inversion modeling. Working groups associated with the workshops proposed a preliminary default configuration for GIOP (GIOP-DC), with alternative model parameterizations and features defined for subsequent evaluation. In this paper, we: (1) describe the theoretical basis of GIOP; (2) present GIOP-DC and verify its comparable performance to other popular SAAs using both in situ and synthetic data sets; and, (3) quantify the sensitivities of their output to their parameterization. We use the latter to develop a hierarchical sensitivity of SAAs to various model parameterizations, to identify components of SAAs that merit focus in future research, and to provide material for discussion on algorithm uncertainties and future ensemble applications.

  2. Elevated levels of serum amyloid A indicate poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Jun-Ye; Zheng, Yu-Zhen; Yang, Juan; Lin, Yue-Hao; Dai, Shu-Qin; Zhang, Ge; Liu, Wan-Li

    2012-01-01

    Increase of Serum amyloid A (SAA) level has been observed in patients with a variety of cancers. The objective of this study was to determined whether SAA level could be used as a prognostic parameter in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). SAA levels were measured by rate nephelometry immunoassay in 167 healthy controls and 167 ESCC patients prior to surgical resection. Statistical associations between clinicopathological observations and SAA levels were determined using the Mann–Whitney U test. The clinical value of SAA level as a prognostic parameter was evaluated using the Cox’s proportional hazards model. SAA levels were significantly higher in patients with ESCC compared to levels in healthy controls (13.88 ± 15.19 mg/L vs. 2.26 ± 1.66 mg/L, P < 0.001). Elevation of SAA levels (≥ 8.0 mg/L) was observed in 54.5% (91/167) of patients with ESCC but not in healthy controls. SAA levels were associated with tumor size (P < 0.001), histological differentiation (P = 0.015), T classification (P < 0.001), clinical stage (P < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001) and distant metastasis (P < 0.001), but not with the age and gender of the patients or tumor location. Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with an elevated level of SAA (≥ 8.0 mg/L) had significantly lower 5-year survival rate than those with non-elevated SAA (< 8.0 mg/L, log-rank P < 0.0001). An elevated level of preoperative SAA was found to associate with tumor progression and poor survival in patients with ESCC

  3. Software Epistemology

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    in-vitro decision to incubate a startup, Lexumo [7], which is developing a commercial Software as a Service ( SaaS ) vulnerability assessment...LTS Label Transition System MUSE Mining and Understanding Software Enclaves RTEMS Real-Time Executive for Multi-processor Systems SaaS Software ...as a Service SSA Static Single Assignment SWE Software Epistemology UD/DU Def-Use/Use-Def Chains (Dataflow Graph)

  4. Safety & Service in the Skies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grush, Mary

    2009-01-01

    As colleges and universities rely more heavily on software as a service (SaaS), they're putting more critical data in the cloud. What are the security issues, and how are cloud providers responding? "Campus Technology" ("CT") went to three higher ed SaaS vendors--Google, IBM, and TopSchool--and asked them to share their thoughts about the state of…

  5. On the way to the smart education in the cloud: The experience of using a virtual learning environment and webinars in educational and career guidance process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lapshinsky, V. A.

    2017-01-01

    The article is devoted to the consideration of issues of functionality and application of educational portal as virtual learning environments and webinars as SaaS services. Examples of their use in educational and vocational guidance processes are presented. The prospects of transition from portal VLE to SaaS and cloud services are marked. Portal www.valinfo.ru with original learning management system has been used in the educational process since 2003 in the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and in the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. Supported courses: Computer Science, Computer Workshop, Networks, Information Technology, The Introduction to Nano-Engineer, Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials etc. For webinars as SaaS services, used the "virtual classroom," kindly provided by WebSoft Company.

  6. SaaS Infrastructure as a Means of DDoS-amplification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denis Nikolaevich Makrushin

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Any online project – be it a long-lost blog, or a new start-up’s web app – has a very important performance feature called a “maximum load”. This indicator makes itself known when a web app either partially or fully fails to perform its assigned functions to process user requests. For some owners, this may mean losing a portion of their blog-reading audience, and for others, it may mean the loss of clients who opt for a product from a competitor whose online store is up and running. Each online resource has its own maximum load when it comes to the number of user requests it can process at any one time. That’s why developers and web app owners devote special attention to load procedures and stress tests. Load testing services today are useful, but sometimes the way they are set up leaves a loophole that malicious users can take advantage of.

  7. Trusted Silicon Stratus (TSS) Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-01

    business case for a proposed Infrastructure-as-a- Service (IaaS)/ Software -as-a- Service ( SaaS ) cloud architecture. User desires for innovative pricing and...Public Physically Unclonable Function PUF Physically Unclonable Function SaaS Software -as-a- Service SIP Semiconductor Intellectual Property SNL...WORKSHOP NIMBIS SERVICES INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 2011 FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT  ROME, NY 13441 UNITED STATES AIR FORCE  AIR FORCE

  8. Acute serum amyloid A induces migration, angiogenesis, and inflammation in synovial cells in vitro and in a human rheumatoid arthritis/SCID mouse chimera model.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Connolly, Mary

    2010-06-01

    Serum amyloid A (A-SAA), an acute-phase protein with cytokine-like properties, is expressed at sites of inflammation. This study investigated the effects of A-SAA on chemokine-regulated migration and angiogenesis using rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cells and whole-tissue explants in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. A-SAA levels were measured by real-time PCR and ELISA. IL-8 and MCP-1 expression was examined in RA synovial fibroblasts, human microvascular endothelial cells, and RA synovial explants by ELISA. Neutrophil transendothelial cell migration, cell adhesion, invasion, and migration were examined using transwell leukocyte\\/monocyte migration assays, invasion assays, and adhesion assays with or without anti-MCP-1\\/anti-IL-8. NF-kappaB was examined using a specific inhibitor and Western blotting. An RA synovial\\/SCID mouse chimera model was used to examine the effects of A-SAA on cell migration, proliferation, and angiogenesis in vivo. High expression of A-SAA was demonstrated in RA patients (p < 0.05). A-SAA induced chemokine expression in a time- and dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Blockade with anti-scavenger receptor class B member 1 and lipoxin A4 (A-SAA receptors) significantly reduced chemokine expression in RA synovial tissue explants (p < 0.05). A-SAA induced cell invasion, neutrophil-transendothelial cell migration, monocyte migration, and adhesion (all p < 0.05), effects that were blocked by anti-IL-8 or anti-MCP-1. A-SAA-induced chemokine expression was mediated through NF-kappaB in RA explants (p < 0.05). Finally, in the RA synovial\\/SCID mouse chimera model, we demonstrated for the first time in vivo that A-SAA directly induces monocyte migration from the murine circulation into RA synovial grafts, synovial cell proliferation, and angiogenesis (p < 0.05). A-SAA promotes cell migrational mechanisms and angiogenesis critical to RA pathogenesis.

  9. The anti-apoptotic and cardioprotective effects of salvianolic acid a on rat cardiomyocytes following ischemia/reperfusion by DUSP-mediated regulation of the ERK1/2/JNK pathway.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tongda Xu

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of salvianolic acid A (SAA pretreatment on the myocardium during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R and to illuminate the interrelationships among dual specificity protein phosphatase (DUSP 2/4/16, ERK1/2 and JNK pathways during myocardial I/R, with the ultimate goal of elucidating how SAA exerts cardioprotection against I/R injury (IRI. Wistar rats were divided into the following six groups: control group (CON, I/R group, SAA+I/R group, ERK1/2 inhibitor PD098059+I/R group (PD+I/R, PD+SAA+I/R group, and JNK inhibitor SP600125+I/R group (SP+I/R. The cardioprotective effects of SAA on the myocardium during I/R were investigated with a Langendorff device. Heart rate (HR, left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP, maximum rate of ventricular pressure rise and fall (±dp/dtmax, myocardial infarction areas (MIA, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, and cardiomyocytes apoptosis were monitored. To determine the crosstalk betwee JNK and ERK1/2 via DUSP2/4/16 with SAA pretreatment, siRNA-DUSP2/4/16 were performed. The expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, caspase 3, p-JNK, p-ERK1/2 and DUSP2/4/16 in cardiomyocytes were assayed by Western blot. Our results showed that LDH, MIA and cell apoptosis were decreased, and various parameters of heart function were improved by SAA pretreatment and SP application. In the I/R group, the expression levels of p-ERK1/2 and DUSP4/16 were not significantly different compared with the CON group, however, the protein expression levels of p-ERK1/2, Bcl-2 and DUSP4/16 were higher, while p-JNK, Bax, caspase 3 and DUSP2 levels were reduced among the SAA+I/R, PD+SAA+I/R and SP+I/R groups. The above indices were not significantly different between the SAA+I/R and SP+I/R groups. Compared with the SAA+I/R group, p-ERK1/2 was increased and p-JNK was decreased in the SAA+si-DUSP2+I/R, however, p-ERK was downregulated and p-JNK was upregulated in SAA+si-DUSP4

  10. Production of serum amyloid A in equine articular chondrocytes and fibroblast-like synoviocytes treated with proinflammatory cytokines and its effects on the two cell types in culture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Stine; Ladefoged, Søren; Berg, Lise Charlotte

    2016-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of the major equine acute phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA) in inflammation of equine intraarticular tissues. SAMPLE: Articular chondrocytes and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) from 8 horses (4 horses/cell type). PROCEDURES: Chondrocytes and FLSs were...... stimulated in vitro for various periods up to 48 hours with cytokines (recombinant interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, or a combination of all 3 [IIT]) or with recombinant SAA. Gene expression of SAA, IL-6, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1 and −3, and cartilage-derived retinoic acid......-sensitive protein were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR assay; SAA protein was evaluated by immunoturbidimetry and denaturing isoelectric focusing and western blotting. RESULTS: All cytokine stimulation protocols increased expression of SAA mRNA and resulted in detectable SAA protein production...

  11. Zoneminder as ‘Software as a Service’ and Load Balancing of Video Surveillance Requests

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deshmukh, Aaradhana A.; Mihovska, Albena D.; Prasad, Ramjee

    2012-01-01

    Cloud computing is evolving as a key computing platform for sharing resources that include infrastructures, softwares, applications, and business processes. Virtualization is a core technology for enabling cloud resource sharing. Software as a Service (SaaS) on the cloud platform provides software...... application vendors a Web based delivery model to serve large amount of clients with multi-tenancy based infrastructure and application sharing architecture so as to get great benefit from the economy of scale. The emergence of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model has attracted great attentions...... from both researchers and practitioners. SaaS vendors deliver on demand information processing services to users, and thus offer computing utility rather than the standalone software itself. This paper proposes a deployment of an open source video surveillance application named Zoneminder...

  12. Effect of relative humidity on soot - secondary organic aerosol mixing: A case study from the Soot Aerosol Aging Study (PNNL-SAAS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, N.; China, S.; Zaveri, R. A.; Shilling, J. E.; Pekour, M. S.; Liu, S.; Aiken, A. C.; Dubey, M. K.; Wilson, J. M.; Zelenyuk, A.; OBrien, R. E.; Moffet, R.; Gilles, M. K.; Gourihar, K.; Chand, D.; Sedlacek, A. J., III; Subramanian, R.; Onasch, T. B.; Laskin, A.; Mazzoleni, C.

    2014-12-01

    Atmospheric processing of fresh soot particles emitted by anthropogenic as well as natural sources alters their physical and chemical properties. For example, fresh and aged soot particles interact differently with incident solar radiation, resulting in different overall radiation budgets. Varying atmospheric chemical and meteorological conditions can result in complex soot mixing states. The Soot Aerosol Aging Study (SAAS) was conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in November 2013 and January 2014 as a step towards understanding the evolution of mixing state of soot and its impact on climate-relevant properties. Aging experiments on diesel soot were carried out in a controlled laboratory chamber, and the effects of condensation and coagulation processes were systematically explored in separate sets of experiments. In addition to online measurement of aerosol properties, aerosol samples were collected for offline single particle analysis to investigate the evolution of the morphology, elemental composition and fine structure of sample particles from different experiments. Condensation experiments focused on the formation of α-pinene secondary organic aerosol on diesel soot aerosol seeds. Experiments were conducted to study the aging of soot under dry (RH < 2%) and humid conditions (RH ~ 80%). We present an analysis of the morphology of soot, its evolution, and its correlation with optical properties, as the condensation of α-pinene SOA is carried out for the two different RH conditions. The analysis was performed by using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission x-ray microscopy and atomic force microscopy for single particle characterization. In addition, particle size, mass, composition, shape, and density were characterized in-situ, as a function of organics condensed on soot seeds, using single particle mass spectrometer.

  13. Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on a Research Agenda for Maintenance and Evolution of Service-Oriented Systems (MESOA 2009)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-01

    through software -as-a- service ( SaaS ) (Nitu 2009, Sedayao 2008). In practice, an organization’s initial SOA implementation almost never attempts to cover...004 Nitu. "Configurability in SaaS ( Software as a Service ) Applications." Proceedings of the 2nd An- nual Conference on India Software Engineering...and evolution of service -oriented systems. In 2007, the Software Engineering Institute started assembling a SOA Research Agenda based on a

  14. IEEE Computer Society/Software Engineering Institute Software Process Achievement (SPA) Award 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-01

    capabilities to our GDM. We also introduced software as a service ( SaaS ) as part our technology solutions and have further enhanced our ability to...model PROSPER Infosys production support methodology Q&P quality and productivity R&D research and development SaaS software as a service ... Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) 23 Table 10: Scientific Estimation Coverage by Service Line 27 CMU/SEI-2011-TR-008 | vi CMU/SEI-2011

  15. No relationship between baseline salivary alpha-amylase and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Score in drug-naïve patients with short-illness-duration first episode major depressive disorder: An exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szarmach, Joanna; Cubała, Wiesław-Jerzy; Landowski, Jerzy; Chrzanowska, Anna

    2017-04-01

    Salivary α-amylase (sAA) activity alternations are observed in major depressive disorder (MDD) being associated with depression severity and its specific psychopathological dimensions with anxiety being attributed to distress. No data is available on sAA in MDD according to Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The exploratory study examines whether and to what extent baseline sAA level is interrelated to the psychopathological features including severity of symptoms and specific psychopathological dimensions. The basal, non-stimulated sAA activity was studied in 20 non-late-life adult, treatment-naïve MDD patients with short-illness-duration and in 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls along with psychometric assessments with Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17) and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Significantly lower ( p =0.011) sAA activity was observed in MDD as compared to controls. No significant correlations were observed between sAA activity and the total HAMD-17 score as well as with regard to the specific core depression, insomnia, anxiety and somatic HAM-D psychopathological dimensions. No significant correlations were also found between sAA and STAIX-1 and STAIX-2 scores. Low baseline sAA levels in MDD with no correlations between sAA and psychopathological features including severity of symptoms and specific psychopathological dimensions was found. Key words: Salivary alpha-amylase, major depressive disorder, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

  16. Serum amyloid A protein in amyloidosis, rheumatic, and neoplastic diseases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benson, M.D.; Cohen, A.S.

    1979-01-01

    Serum levels of amyloid protein A (SAA) have been shown to be elevated in different types of amyloidosis and in rheumatic diseases by radioimmunoassay using 125 iodine labeled AA and anti-AA. SAA levels were elevated in both primary and secondary amyloidosis, but there were highly significant differences between these levels. In heredofamilial amyloid, SAA levels were within normal limits. While the mean SAA level was elevated in persons over 70 years, the fact that some persons in this age group had normal levels suggested that marked elevation after age 70 may be due to occult inflammatory or neoplastic disease. High SAA levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis correlated, in most cases, with physician evaluation of disease activity and Westergren ESR. SAA levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were lower than those in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and most patients with degenerative joint disease had normal levels. Very high levels of SAA were found in patients with neoplastic diseases. Patients with carcinoma of the lung and bowel had much higher levels than patients with carcinoma of the breast. Determination of SAA levels may be of value in evaluating different forms of systemic amyloidosis, assessing the activity of rheumatic disease, and screening for occult inflammatory or neoplastic disease

  17. Effects of Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib on circulating serum amyloid A and interleukin-6 during treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Migita, K; Izumi, Y; Jiuchi, Y; Kozuru, H; Kawahara, C; Izumi, M; Sakai, T; Nakamura, M; Motokawa, S; Nakamura, T; Kawakami, A

    2014-01-01

    The Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib is currently being investigated as a disease-modifying agent in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated the in-vivo effects of tofacitinib treatment for 4 weeks on elevated circulating acute-phase serum amyloid (SAA) levels in 14 Japanese patients with RA. SAA levels fell from 110·5 ± 118·5 μg/ml (mean ± standard deviation) at treatment initiation to 15·3 ± 13·3 μg/ml after 4 weeks treatment with tofacitinib. The reduction in SAA levels was greater in patients receiving tofacitinib plus methotrexate compared with those receiving tofacitinib monotherapy. Tofacitinib was also associated with reduced serum interleukin (IL)-6, but had no effect on serum levels of soluble IL-6 receptor. Patients were divided into groups with adequate (normalization) and inadequate SAA responses (without normalization). Serum IL-6 levels were reduced more in the group with adequate SAA response compared with those with inadequate SAA response. These results suggest that tofacitinib down-regulates the proinflammatory cytokine, IL-6, accompanied by reduced serum SAA levels in patients with active RA. The ability to regulate elevated serum IL-6 and SAA levels may explain the anti-inflammatory activity of tofacitinib. PMID:24665995

  18. Serum Amyloid A as a Marker of Persistent Inflammation and an Indicator of Cardiovascular and Renal Involvement in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bożena Targońska-Stępniak

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA is a systemic, inflammatory disease. Serum amyloid A (SAA is an acute-phase protein, involved in pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of the study was to assess serum concentration of SAA in RA patients, with reference to other inflammatory parameters and markers of extra-articular involvement. Methods. The study population consisted of 140 RA patients, low/moderate disease activity (L/MDA in 98 (70% patients and high disease activity (HDA in 42 (30%. Comprehensive clinical and laboratory assessment was performed with evaluation of electrocardiogram and carotid intima-media thickness. Results. The mean SAA concentration [327.0 (263.4 mg/L] was increased highly above the normal value, even in patients with L/MDA. Simultaneously, SAA was significantly higher in patients with HDA versus L/MDA. The mean SAA concentration was significantly higher in patients treated with glucocorticoids, was inversely associated with QTc duration, and was markedly higher in patients with atherosclerotic plaques, emphasizing increased CV risk. SAA was significantly higher in patients with increased cystatin-C level. Conclusions. In RA patients, high serum SAA concentration was strongly associated with activity of the disease and risk of CV and renal involvement. Recurrent assessment of SAA may facilitate searching patients with persistent inflammation and risk of extra-articular complications.

  19. Serum amyloid A is found on ApoB-containing lipoproteins in obese humans with diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jahangiri, Anisa; Wilson, Patricia G; Hou, Tianfei; Brown, Aparna; King, Victoria L; Tannock, Lisa R

    2013-05-01

    In murine models of obesity/diabetes, there is an increase in plasma serum amyloid A (SAA) levels along with redistribution of SAA from high-density lipoprotein (HDL) to apolipoprotein B (apoB)-containing lipoprotein particles, namely, low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein. The goal of this study was to determine if obesity is associated with similar SAA lipoprotein redistribution in humans. Three groups of obese individuals were recruited from a weight loss clinic: healthy obese (n = 14), metabolic syndrome (MetS) obese (n = 8), and obese with type 2 diabetes (n = 6). Plasma was separated into lipoprotein fractions by fast protein liquid chromatography, and SAA was measured in lipid fractions using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting. Only the obese diabetic group had SAA detectable in apoB-containing lipoproteins, and SAA reverted back to HDL with active weight loss. In human subjects, SAA is found in apoB-containing lipoprotein particles only in obese subjects with type 2 diabetes, but not in healthy obese or obese subjects with MetS. Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.

  20. Horizontal Allocation of Decision Rights for On-Premise Applications and Software-as-a-Service

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Winkler, Till; Brown, Carol V.

    2014-01-01

    This study addresses a major gap in our knowledge about the allocation of information technology (IT) decision rights between business and IT units at the application level, including the governance of applications delivered on-premise versus those delivered with a software-as-a-service (SaaS......) model. Building on the findings from a multicase qualitative study of organizations that had adopted the same SaaS application, we draw on three theoretical lenses (agency theory, transaction cost economics, and knowledge-based view) to develop a theoretically grounded model with three organization......-level factors, three application-level factors, and application-level IT governance. Hypotheses derived from the model, as well as a set of differential hypotheses about factor influences due to on-premise versus SaaS delivery, are tested with survey responses from 207 firms in which application...

  1. Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation-2 Report (with Classified Annex)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    JIST into MUOS and from MUOS back into JIST to create satellite access authorizations ( SAAs ). The Navy should develop the capability to electronically...9.6, 32, 64 kbps) based on type of access authorized in the satellite access authorizations ( SAA ) report.  Fix the problem with “zombie networks...Communications Tool (JIST) to electronically import MUOS PlanProvApp SAA output data into JIST and auto-populate the SAA fields. J. Michael

  2. Cloud Service Provider Methods for Managing Insider Threats: Analysis Phase 2, Expanded Analysis and Recommendations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    and software as a service ( SaaS )) for staff’s abnormal behavior that may indicate an insider incident. As mentioned above, combining SIEM data...Mellon Software Engineering Institute, contacted commercial and government cloud service providers (CSPs) to better understand the administrative and...availability services . We have observed a number of scenarios in which a customer leaves a CSP’s IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS , but its data remains online for some

  3. Cloud Service Provider Methods for Managing Insider Threats: Analysis Phase 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-01

    of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-145 (NIST SP 800-145) defines three types of cloud services : Software as a Service ( SaaS ...among these three models. NIST SP 800-145 describes the three service models as follows: SaaS —The capability provided to the consumer is to use the...Cloud Service Provider Methods for Managing Insider Threats: Analysis Phase I Greg Porter November 2013 TECHNICAL NOTE CMU/SEI-2013-TN-020

  4. Cloud services in organization

    OpenAIRE

    FUXA, Jan

    2013-01-01

    The work deals with the definition of the word cloud computing, cloud computing models, types, advantages, disadvantages, and comparing SaaS solutions such as: Google Apps and Office 365 in the area of electronic communications. The work deals with the use of cloud computing in the corporate practice, both good and bad practice. The following section describes the methodology for choosing the appropriate cloud service organization. Another part deals with analyzing the possibilities of SaaS i...

  5. Feasibility of Cloud Services for Customer Relationship Management in Small Business : A Drupal Approach towards Software as a Service

    OpenAIRE

    Sun, Liang

    2012-01-01

    Information has value. All kinds of business should have information systems for business growth. Software is used for business management and entrepreneurship resource planning worldwide. However, its shortages turn out to be more and more obvious in recent years. Software as a Service (SaaS) is thus regarded as one serious alternative of software. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is of vital importance in today’s business. SaaS adoption for CRM then becomes a trend in Small and Medium...

  6. Exploring a business to business recurring revenue framework for the delivery of software as a service through a cloud computing channel

    OpenAIRE

    Dempsey, David

    2015-01-01

    Cloud Computing (CC) is creating a new paradigm for the distribution of computer software applications. Within this context CC enabled Software as a Service (SaaS) fundamentally changes the revenue expectations and business model for the application software industry. This study considers the revenue expectation of the CC industry and its dependency on renewal subscriptions, while the study focuses on SaaS in the Business-to-Business (B2B) domain, delivered through the CC chann...

  7. Cloud computing can simplify HIT infrastructure management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, John

    2011-08-01

    Software as a Service (SaaS), built on cloud computing technology, is emerging as the forerunner in IT infrastructure because it helps healthcare providers reduce capital investments. Cloud computing leads to predictable, monthly, fixed operating expenses for hospital IT staff. Outsourced cloud computing facilities are state-of-the-art data centers boasting some of the most sophisticated networking equipment on the market. The SaaS model helps hospitals safeguard against technology obsolescence, minimizes maintenance requirements, and simplifies management.

  8. T-cell receptor Vbeta CDR3 oligoclonality frequently occurs in childhood refractory cytopenia (MDS-RC) and severe aplastic anemia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vries, A.C. de; Langerak, A.W.; Verhaaf, B.

    2008-01-01

    (Very) severe acquired aplastic anemia ((v)SAA) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are rare diseases in childhood. (V)SAA is a bone marrow (BM) failure syndrome characterized by immune-mediated destruction of hematopoietic progenitors. MDS is a malignant clonal stem cell disorder, of which...... the hypoplastic variant is, in case of absence of a cytogenetic clone, difficult to separate from (v)SAA. Recently, studies provided a molecular signature of autoimmunity in adult (v)SAA, by showing oligoclonality based on the length of the TCR Vbeta CDR3 region. We investigated retrospectively the frequency...... and the discriminative value of TCR Vbeta CDR3 oligoclonality in pediatric (v)SAA and MDS patients. Peripheral blood (PB) and/or BM mononuclear cell samples of pediatric patients with (v)SAA (n=38), refractory cytopenia (MDS-RC) (n=28) and 18 controls were analysed via TCR Vbeta heteroduplex PCR analysis of extracted...

  9. Particle-induced pulmonary acute phase response correlates with neutrophil influx linking inhaled particles and cardiovascular risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saber, Anne Thoustrup; Lamson, Jacob Stuart; Jacobsen, Nicklas Raun

    2013-01-01

    We analysed the mRNA expression of Serum Amyloid A (Saa3) in lung tissue from female C57BL/6J mice exposed to different particles including nanomaterials (carbon black and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, multi- and single walled carbon nanotubes), diesel exhaust particles and airborne dust collected...... at a biofuel plant. Mice were exposed to single or multiple doses of particles by inhalation or intratracheal instillation and pulmonary mRNA expression of Saa3 was determined at different time points of up to 4 weeks after exposure. Also hepatic mRNA expression of Saa3, SAA3 protein levels in broncheoalveolar...... lavage fluid and in plasma and high density lipoprotein levels in plasma were determined in mice exposed to multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Results Pulmonary exposure to particles strongly increased Saa3 mRNA levels in lung tissue and elevated SAA3 protein levels in broncheoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma...

  10. [Serum anticholinergic activity: relationship with clinical symptoms in Alzheimer's disease and proposal of new biological marker].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hori, Koji; Konishi, Kimiko; Hachisu, Mitsugu

    2011-06-01

    We reviewed the importance of measuring serum anticholinergic activity (SAA) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since Tune and Coyle reported a simple method for assessing SAA using radioreceptor-binding assay, SAA is assumed to be the cumulative activity of parent medications and their metabolites and its relationship with delirium and cognitive functions has been debated. However, we evaluated the SAA in AD patients and SAA was correlated with prescription of antipsychotic medications, cognitive dysfunctions, severity of AD and psychotic symptoms, especially, with delusion and diurnal rhythm disturbance. From these results, we should not only pay attention to avoiding the prescription of medications with anticholinergic activity but also we speculated that AA appeared endogenously in AD and accelerated AD pathology. Moreover, there might be the possibility that SAA has predictive value for assessing the progressiveness of AD and as a biological marker for AD.

  11. DEXA measures of body fat percentage and acute phase proteins among breast cancer survivors: a Cross-Sectional Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dee, Anne; Bernstein, Leslie; McKean-Cowdin, Roberta; Neuhouser, Marian L; Ulrich, Cornelia; Baumgartner, Richard N; McTiernan, Anne; Baumgartner, Kathy; Alfano, Catherine M; Ballard-Barbash, Rachel

    2012-01-01

    C-reactive protein (CRP) and Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) increases with systemic inflammation and are related to worse survival for breast cancer survivors. This study examines the association between percent body fat and SAA and CRP and the potential interaction with NSAID use and weight change. Participants included 134 non-Hispanic white and Hispanic breast cancer survivors from the Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle Study. Body fat percentage, measured with Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometer (DEXA), and circulating levels of CRP and SAA were obtained 30 months after breast cancer diagnosis. Circulating concentrations of CRP and SAA were associated with increased adiposity as measured by DEXA after adjustment for age at 24-months, race/ethnicity, dietary energy intake, weight change, and NSAID use. Survivors with higher body fat ≥35% had significantly higher concentrations of CRP (2.01 mg/l vs. 0.85 mg/l) and SAA (6.21 mg/l vs. 4.21 mg/l) compared to non-obese (body fat < 35%). Women who had gained more than 5% of their body weight since breast cancer diagnosis had non-statistically significant higher geometric mean levels of CRP and SAA. Mean levels of CRP and SAA were higher among obese women who were non-users of NSAIDs compared to current users; the association with SAA reached statistical significance (Mean SAA = 7.24, 95%CI 6.13-8.56 for non-NSAID; vs. 4.87; 95%CI 3.95-6.0 for NSAID users respectively). Breast cancer survivors with higher body fat had higher mean concentrations of CRP and SAA than women with lower body fat. Further assessment of NSAID use and weight control in reducing circulating inflammatory markers among survivors may be worthwhile to investigate in randomized intervention trials as higher inflammatory markers are associated with worse survival

  12. Characteristics and Fate of Systemic Artery Aneurysm after Kawasaki Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoshino, Shinsuke; Tsuda, Etsuko; Yamada, Osamu

    2015-07-01

    To determine the long-term outcome of systemic artery aneurysms (SAAs) after Kawasaki disease (KD). We investigated the characteristics and the fate of SAAs in 20 patients using medical records and angiograms. The age of onset of KD ranged from 1 month to 20 months. The interval from the onset of KD to the latest angiogram ranged from 16 months to 24 years. The regression rate of peripheral artery aneurysm and the frequency of stenotic lesions were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method in 11 patients who had undergone initial angiography within 4 months. The mean duration of fever was 24 ± 12 days. All 20 patients had at least 1 symmetric pair of aneurysms in bilateral peripheral arteries, and 16 patients had multiple SAAs. The distributions of SAAs was as follows: brachial artery, 30; common iliac artery, 20; internal iliac artery, 21; abdominal aortic aneurysm, 7; and others, 29. The frequencies of regression of SAA and of the occurrence of stenotic lesions at 20 years after the onset of KD were 51% and 25%, respectively (n = 42). The diameter of all SAAs in the acute phase leading to stenotic lesions in the late period was >10 mm. SAAs occurred symmetrically and were multiple in younger infants and those with severe acute vasculitis. The fate of SAAs resembles that of coronary artery aneurysms, and depends on the diameter during the acute phase. Larger SAAs can lead to stenotic lesions in the late period. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. α-Amylase as a reliable and convenient measure of sympathetic activity: don't start salivating just yet!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosch, Jos A; Veerman, Enno C I; de Geus, Eco J; Proctor, Gordon B

    2011-05-01

    Recent years have seen a growing interest in salivary α-amylase (sAA) as a non-invasive marker for sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. Saliva offers many advantages as a biomarker fluid and sAA is one of its most plentiful components. sAA is a digestive enzyme that breaks down starch, which provides a simple means of quantification by measuring its enzymatic activity. This commentary will address a number of common misconceptions and methodological issues that surround the use of sAA as a marker of SNS activity and limit its utility in biobehavioral research. The usefulness of sAA as an SNS marker is undermined by the fact that the parasympathetic nerves also play a significant role in sAA release. Local parasympathetic nerves regulate sAA activity via: (1) α-amylase release from glands that are solely or mainly parasympathetically innervated; (2) via synergistic sympathetic-parasympathetic effects on protein secretion (known as 'augmented secretion'); and (3) via effects on salivary flow rate. Regarding methodology, we discuss why it is problematic: (1) to ignore the contribution of salivary flow rate; (2) to use absorbent materials for saliva collection, and; (3) to stimulate saliva secretion by chewing. While these methodological problems can be addressed by using standardized and timed collection of unstimulated saliva, the physiological regulation of sAA secretion presents less resolvable issues. We conclude that at present there is insufficient support for the use and interpretation of sAA activity as a valid and reliable measure of SNS activity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. 75 FR 39619 - Proposed Information Collection (Quarterly Report of State Approving Agency) Activities Activity...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-09

    ... information needed to accurately reimburse State Approving Agencies (SAAs) for expenses incurred in the... reimburses SAAs for expenses incurred in the approval and supervision of education and training programs. SAAs are required to report their activities to VA quarterly and provide notices regarding which...

  15. Energy Aware Pricing in a Three-Tiered Cloud Service Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Debdeep Paul

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available We consider a three-tiered cloud service market and propose an energy efficient pricing strategy in this market. Here, the end customers are served by the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS providers, who implement customized services for their customers. To host these services, these SaaS providers, in turn, lease the infrastructure related resources from the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS providers. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a mechanism for pricing between SaaS providers and Iaas/PaaS providers and between SaaS providers and the end customers. The pricing scheme is designed in a way such that the integration of renewable energy is promoted, which is a very crucial aspect of energy efficiency. Thereafter, we propose a technique to strategically provide an improved Quality of Service (QoS by deploying more resources than what is computed by the optimization procedure. This technique is based on the square root staffing law in queueing theory. We carry out numerical evaluations with real data traces on electricity price, renewable energy generation, workload, etc., in order to emulate the real dynamics of the cloud service market. We demonstrate that, under practical assumptions, the proposed technique can generate more profit for the service providers operating in the cloud service market.

  16. Characteristics of the mechanosensitive bladder afferent activities in relation with microcontractions in male rats with bladder outlet obstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aizawa, Naoki; Ichihara, Koji; Fukuhara, Hiroshi; Fujimura, Tetsuya; Andersson, Karl-Erik; Homma, Yukio; Igawa, Yasuhiko

    2017-08-09

    We investigated the characteristics of bladder mechanosensitive single-unit afferent activities (SAAs) in rats with a bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and their relationship with bladder microcontractions. Male Wistar rats were divided into Sham and BOO groups. Four or 10 days after the surgery, rats were anesthetized with urethane. The SAAs of Aδ- or C-fibers from the L6 dorsal roots were recorded during bladder filling. The BOO group showed a higher number of microcontractions and lower SAAs of Aδ-fibers compared with those of the Sham group. These findings were significant at day 10 post-operatively. In contrast, SAAs of C-fibers were not significantly different between the groups at either day 4 or 10. In the BOO group at day 10, the SAAs of both Aδ- and C-fibers at the "ascending" phase of microcontractions were significantly higher than those at the other phases (descending or stationary), and a similar tendency was also observed at day 4. Taken together, during bladder filling, the bladder mechanosensitive SAAs of Aδ-fibers were attenuated, but SAAs of both Aδ- and C-fibers were intermittently enhanced by propagation of microcontractions.

  17. Salvianolic acid A reverses cisplatin resistance in lung cancer A549 cells by targeting c-met and attenuating Akt/mTOR pathway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xia-li Tang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Drug resistance is one of the leading causes of chemotherapy failure in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of c-met in human lung cancer cisplatin resistance cell line (A549/DDP and the reversal mechanism of salvianolic acid A (SAA, a phenolic active compound extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza. In this study, we found that A549/DDP cells exert up-regulation of c-met by activating the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. We also show that SAA could increase the chemotherapeutic efficacy of cisplatin, suggesting a synergistic effect of SAA and cisplatin. Moreover, we revealed that SAA enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin in A549/DDP cells mainly through suppression of the c-met/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Knockdown of c-met revealed similar effects as that of SAA in A549/DDP cells. In addition, SAA effectively prevented multidrug resistance associated protein1 (MDR1 up-regulation in A549/DDP cells. Taken together, our results indicated that SAA suppressed c-met expression and enhanced the sensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells to cisplatin through AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

  18. Kinetics of local and systemic isoforms of serum amyloid A in bovine mastitic milk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Stine; Niewold, T.A.; Kornalijnslijper, E.

    2005-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to characterise the serum amyloid A (SAA) response to intramammary inoculation of Escherichia coli and to examine the distribution of hepatically and extrahepatically pruduced SAA isoforms in plasma and milk fra cows with mastitis.......The aim of the present study was to characterise the serum amyloid A (SAA) response to intramammary inoculation of Escherichia coli and to examine the distribution of hepatically and extrahepatically pruduced SAA isoforms in plasma and milk fra cows with mastitis....

  19. Managing Service Development (SaaS) as a project: business process modeling

    OpenAIRE

    Iliadi, Vasiliki; Ηλιάδη, Βασιλική

    2017-01-01

    In the context of the present thesis, we will be studying core principles of Business Process Management, and how we can take advantage of them in combination with Project Management Methodologies and modeling tools in the context of Software as a Service businesses and their development. Initially we provide the reader with an introduction to Business Process Management, how it can be used, and how the life cycle is structured. We further define the first three phases of the life cycle to...

  20. SaaS Model, Virtualization and Information Safety - Challenge for Online Business

    OpenAIRE

    Ioana Lupasc; Gabriela Gheorghe

    2016-01-01

    The advantages of new information technologies are present in all fields, while disadvantages, weaknesses represent a relatively recent topic of study. Security issues currently facing online business is new concerns for European legislative environment and new challenges of finding methods of securing technology solution providers offered information. As for Schengen terrorist threats represent a threat to the proper functioning of the European Economic Area also the online business cyber ...

  1. SaaS Model, Virtualization and Information Safety - Challenge for Online Business

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioana Lupasc

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The advantages of new information technologies are present in all fields, while disadvantages, weaknesses represent a relatively recent topic of study. Security issues currently facing online business is new concerns for European legislative environment and new challenges of finding methods of securing technology solution providers offered information. As for Schengen terrorist threats represent a threat to the proper functioning of the European Economic Area also the online business cyber threats have the effect of impeding and even huge losses.

  2. Pluggable SaaS Integration: Quality Characteristics for Cloud Based Application Services

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aulkemeier, Fabian; Iacob, Maria Eugenia; van Hillegersberg, Jos

    2015-01-01

    Cloud services have recently gained popularity and play an increasing role in enterprise architectures. Organizations adopting cloud services expect not only improvements in flexibility and scalability, but also a means of outsourcing IT tasks. In contrast to custom or packaged applications,

  3. 78 FR 52877 - VOCA Victim Assistance Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-27

    ... these requirements has merely been re-worked for clarity. Under the proposed rule SAAs must identify... victim populations will allow OVC and SAAs to better tailor their training and technical assistance and... SAAs may use for these purposes. Funding victim service programs located in adjacent States. Program...

  4. 24 CFR 3282.501 - General.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... Secretary shall oversee the performance of SAAs, the Secretary's agent, and primary inspection agencies as... the activities of SAAs and the Secretary's agent. (e) The Secretary shall take such other actions to... Secretary, the Secretary's agent, and where appropriate, SAAs and PIAs for review at any reasonable time. ...

  5. Saved from a fatal flight: A ruptured splenic artery aneurysm in a pregnant woman

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heitkamp, A.C.; Dickhoff, C.; Nederhoed, J.H.; Franschman, G.; Vries, J.I.P.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction The reported prevalence of a SAA varies between 0.01 and 10.4% [1], and since SAAs often remain asymptomatic, the true prevalence is uncertain. The reported SAAs occur more frequently in younger patients, with 58% diagnosed in women of childbearing age; 95% of these are diagnosed during

  6. Spontaneous Rupture of Splenic Artery Aneurysm during the First Trimester of Pregnancy: Report of an Extremely Rare Case and Review of the Literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theodoros Pavlis

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA occurs predominantly in women and the majority of them are asymptomatic until rupture. In cases of spontaneous rupture of an SAA, maternal and fetal mortality rates remain extremely high. Furthermore, the spontaneous ruptures of SAAs predominantly appear during the third trimester of pregnancy. We present the third known case of spontaneous SAA rupture during the first trimester of pregnancy, which manifested as sudden hypovolemic collapse and was successfully confronted with combined aggressive resuscitation and emergency surgical operation.

  7. Towards a molecular level understanding of the sulfanilamide-soil organic matter-interaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahmed, Ashour A., E-mail: ashour.ahmed@uni-rostock.de [University of Rostock, Institute of Physics, Albert-Einstein-Str. 23-24, D-18059 Rostock (Germany); Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer, 70174 Stuttgart (Germany); University of Cairo, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, 12613 Giza (Egypt); Thiele-Bruhn, Sören, E-mail: thiele@uni-trier.de [University of Trier, Soil Science, D-54286 Trier (Germany); Leinweber, Peter, E-mail: peter.leinweber@uni-rostock.de [Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer, 70174 Stuttgart (Germany); University of Rostock, Soil Science, D-18051 Rostock (Germany); Kühn, Oliver, E-mail: oliver.kuehn@uni-rostock.de [University of Rostock, Institute of Physics, Albert-Einstein-Str. 23-24, D-18059 Rostock (Germany)

    2016-07-15

    Sorption experiments of sulfanilamide (SAA) on well-characterized samples of soil size-fractions were combined with the modeling of SAA-soil-interaction via quantum chemical calculations. Freundlich unit capacities were determined in batch experiments and it was found that they increase with the soil organic matter (SOM) content according to the order fine silt > medium silt > clay > whole soil > coarse silt > sand. The calculated binding energies for mass-spectrometrically quantified sorption sites followed the order ionic species > peptides > carbohydrates > phenols and lignin monomers > lignin dimers > heterocyclic compounds > fatty acids > sterols > aromatic compounds > lipids, alkanes, and alkenes. SAA forms H-bonds through its polar centers with the polar SOM sorption sites. In contrast dispersion and π-π-interactions predominate the interaction of the SAA aromatic ring with the non-polar moieties of SOM. Moreover, the dipole moment, partial atomic charges, and molecular volume of the SOM sorption sites are the main physical properties controlling the SAA-SOM-interaction. Further, reasonable estimates of the Freundlich unit capacities from the calculated binding energies have been established. Consequently, we suggest using this approach in forthcoming studies to disclose the interactions of a wide range of organic pollutants with SOM. - Highlights: • Experiment and theory showed that SAA obeys a site-specific sorption on soil surfaces. • SAA-SOM-interaction increases by increasing polarity of SOM sorption site. • H-bonds, dispersion, and π-π-interactions were observed for SAA-SOM-interaction. • Dipole moment and atomic charges of SOM sorption sites control SAA-SOM-interaction. • The Freundlich unit capacities were estimated from the calculated binding energies. • The current SOM model is flexible to describe interactions of SOM with other pollutants.

  8. Salivary alpha amylase activity in human beings of different age groups subjected to psychological stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahu, Gopal K; Upadhyay, Seema; Panna, Shradha M

    2014-10-01

    Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has been proposed as a sensitive non-invasive biomarker for stress-induced changes in the body that reflect the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Though several experiments have been conducted to determine the validity of this salivary component as a reliable stress marker in human subjects, the effect of stress induced changes on sAA level in different age groups is least studied. This article reports the activity of sAA in human subjects of different age groups subjected to psychological stress induced through stressful video clip. Differences in sAA level based on sex of different age groups under stress have also been studied. A total of 112 subjects consisting of both the male and female subjects, divided into two groups on basis of age were viewed a video clip of corneal transplant surgery as stressor. Activity of sAA from saliva samples of the stressed subjects were measured and compared with the activity of the samples collected from the subjects before viewing the clip. The age ranges of subjects were 18-25 and 40-60 years. The sAA level increased significantly in both the groups after viewing the stressful video. The increase was more pronounced in the younger subjects. The level of sAA was comparatively more in males than females in the respective groups. No significant change in sAA activity was observed after viewing the soothed video clip. Significant increase of sAA level in response to psychological stress suggests that it might act as a reliable sympathetic activity biochemical marker in different stages of human beings.

  9. Social Area Analysis in Program Evaluation and Planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piasecki, Joseph R.; Kamis-Gould, Edna

    1981-01-01

    Social area analysis (SAA) is defined, and its conceptual roots and principal applications identified. The utility of SAA is assessed by reviewing use of demographic data among several disciplines. Authors review seminal and recent contributions to the field. Ecological fallacies and other problematic facets of SAA are considered. (Author/DWH)

  10. Silk amino acids improve physical stamina and male reproductive function of mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Sunhee; Yeon, Seongho; Park, Dongsun; Oh, Jiyoung; Kang, Hyomin; Kim, Sunghyun; Joo, Seong Soo; Lim, Woo-Taek; Lee, Jeong-Yong; Choi, Kyung-Chul; Kim, Ki Yon; Kim, Seung Up; Kim, Jong-Choon; Kim, Yun-Bae

    2010-01-01

    The effects of a silk amino acid (SAA) preparation on the physical stamina and male reproductive function of mice were investigated. Eight-week-old male ICR mice (29-31 g) were orally administered SAA (50, 160 or 500 mg/kg) for 44 d during 30-min daily swimming exercise. The mice were subjected to a weight-loaded (5% of body weight) forced swimming on the 14th, 28th and 42nd day to determine maximum swimming time, and after a 2-d recovery period (treated with SAA without swimming exercise), parameters related to fatigue and reproductive function were analyzed from blood, muscles and reproductive organs. Repeated swimming exercise increased the maximum swimming time to some extent, in spite of a marked reduction in body weight gain, and SAA further enhanced the stamina in a dose-dependent manner. Forced swimming exercises increased blood parameters of tissue injury, but depleted blood glucose and tissue glycogen, which were substantially prevented by SAA treatment. In addition, SAA significantly reduced the muscular thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and blood corticosterone content increased by forced swimming. Swimming exercise decreased the blood testosterone level, which was recovered by SAA, leading to enhanced sperm counts. These combined results indicate that SAA not only enhances physical stamina by minimizing damage to tissues, including muscles, as well as preventing energy depletion caused by swimming stress, but also improves male reproductive function by increasing testosterone and sperm counts.

  11. The building blocks to the architecture of a cloud platform

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mvelase, P

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Service (SaaS). The datacenter hardware and software is what is called the Cloud. When a Cloud is made available in a pay-as-you-go manner to the public, it is called a Public Cloud; the service being sold is Utility Computing. The term Private Cloud... to develop and deliver Software as a Service (SaaS). Examples of such frameworks include the following: • Different hardware architectures with different server sizes— from small, Intel-based servers to mid- or top-range servers and mainframes...

  12. A Self-Provisioning Mechanism in OpenStack for IoT Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solano, Antonio; Dormido, Raquel; Duro, Natividad; Sánchez, Juan Miguel

    2016-08-17

    The aim of this paper is to introduce a plug-and-play mechanism for an Internet of Things (IoT) device to instantiate a Software as a Service (SaaS) application in a private cloud, built up with OpenStack. The SaaS application is the digital avatar of a physical object connected to Internet. As a proof of concept, a Vending Machine is retrofitted and connected to Internet with and Arduino Open Hardware device. Once the self-configuration mechanism is completed, it is possible to order a product from a mobile communication device.

  13. Assessment of MSFCs Process for the Development and Activation of Space Act Agreements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daugherty, Rachel A.

    2014-01-01

    A Space Act Agreement (SAA) is a contractual vehicle that NASA utilizes to form partnerships with non-NASA entities to stimulate cutting-edge innovation within the science and technology communities while concurrently supporting the NASA missions. SAAs are similar to traditional contracts in that they involve the commitment of Agency resources but allow more flexibility and are more cost effective to implement than traditional contracts. Consequently, the use of SAAs to develop partnerships has greatly increased over the past several years. To facilitate this influx of SAAs, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed a process during a kaizen event to streamline and improve the quality of SAAs developed at the Center level. This study assessed the current SAA process to determine if improvements could be implemented to increase productivity, decrease time to activation, and improve the quality of deliverables. Using a combination of direct procedural observation, personnel interviews, and statistical analysis, elements of the process in need of remediation were identified and potential solutions developed. The findings focus primarily on the difficulties surrounding tracking and enforcing process adherence and communication issues among stakeholders. Potential solutions include utilizing customer relationship management (CRM) software to facilitate process coordination and co-locating or potentially merging the two separate organizations involved in SAA development and activation at MSFC.

  14. Human serum amyloid genes--molecular characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sack, G.H.; Lease, J.J.

    1986-01-01

    Three clones containing human genes for serum amyloid A protein (SAA) have been isolated and characterized. Each of two clones, GSAA 1 and 2 (of 12.8 and 15.9 kilobases, respectively), contains two exons, accouting for amino acids 12-58 and 58-103 of mature SAA; the extreme 5' termini and 5' untranslated regions have not yet been defined but are anticipated to be close based on studies of murine SAA genes. Initial amino acid sequence comparisons show 78/89 identical residues. At 4 of the 11 discrepant residues, the amino acid specified by the codon is the same as the corresponding residue in murine SAA. Identification of regions containing coding regions has permitted use of selected subclones for blot hybridization studies of larger human SAA chromosomal gene organization. The third clone, GSAA 3 also contains SAA coding information by DNA sequence analysis but has a different organization which has not yet been fully described. We have reported the isolation of clones of human DNA hybridizing with pRS48 - a plasmid containing a complementary DNA (cDNA) clone for murine serum amyloid A (SAA; 1, 2). We now present more detailed data confirming the identity and defining some of the organizational features of these clones

  15. A Cross-Sectional Study Demonstrating Increased Serum Amyloid A Related Inflammation in High-Density Lipoproteins from Subjects with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and How This Association Was Augmented by Poor Glycaemic Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jane McEneny

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Inflammatory atherosclerosis is increased in subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM. Normally high-density lipoproteins (HDL protect against atherosclerosis; however, in the presence of serum amyloid-A- (SAA- related inflammation this property may be reduced. Fasting blood was obtained from fifty subjects with T1DM, together with fifty age, gender and BMI matched control subjects. HDL was subfractionated into HDL2 and HDL3 by rapid ultracentrifugation. Serum-hsCRP and serum-, HDL2-, and HDL3-SAA were measured by ELISAs. Compared to control subjects, SAA was increased in T1DM subjects, nonsignificantly in serum (P=0.088, and significantly in HDL2(P=0.003 and HDL3(P=0.005. When the T1DM group were separated according to mean HbA1c (8.34%, serum-SAA and HDL3-SAA levels were higher in the T1DM subjects with HbA1c ≥ 8.34%, compared to when HbA1c was 0.05. This cross-sectional study demonstrated increased SAA-related inflammation in subjects with T1DM that was augmented by poor glycaemic control. We suggest that SAA is a useful inflammatory biomarker in T1DM, which may contribute to their increased atherosclerosis risk.

  16. Salvianolic acid A reverses cisplatin resistance in lung cancer A549 cells by targeting c-met and attenuating Akt/mTOR pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Xia-Li; Yan, Li; Zhu, Ling; Jiao, De-Min; Chen, Jun; Chen, Qing-Yong

    2017-09-01

    Drug resistance is one of the leading causes of chemotherapy failure in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of c-met in human lung cancer cisplatin resistance cell line (A549/DDP) and the reversal mechanism of salvianolic acid A (SAA), a phenolic active compound extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza. In this study, we found that A549/DDP cells exert up-regulation of c-met by activating the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. We also show that SAA could increase the chemotherapeutic efficacy of cisplatin, suggesting a synergistic effect of SAA and cisplatin. Moreover, we revealed that SAA enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin in A549/DDP cells mainly through suppression of the c-met/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Knockdown of c-met revealed similar effects as that of SAA in A549/DDP cells. In addition, SAA effectively prevented multidrug resistance associated protein1 (MDR1) up-regulation in A549/DDP cells. Taken together, our results indicated that SAA suppressed c-met expression and enhanced the sensitivity of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells to cisplatin through AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. The prevention of radiation-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in human intestinal epithelial cells by salvianic acid A

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanjun Zhang

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The topic of radiation always provokes public debate, and the uses of radiation for therapeutic and other purposes have always been associated with some anxiety. Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge has been widely used for the treatment of various diseases including cerebrovascular diseases, coronary artery diseases, and myocardial infarction. Salvianolic acid A (SAA d (+-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid is the principal effective, watersoluble constituent of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. In our present study, radiation-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in human intestinal epithelial cells (HIEC in the presence and absence of SAA were examined. We investigated the effects of SAA on ROS formation and the activity of enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, the lipid peroxidative index and the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidant (GSH. Finally, we investigated whether the reduction of radiation-induced cell death caused by SAA might be related to mitochondria-dependent apoptosis. Present findings indicate that SAA is a promising radioprotective agent with a strong antioxidant activity. SAA exerted its protective action on the proliferative activity of HIEC cells as evidenced by decreased cytotoxicity after exposure to γ-radiation. It is possible that SAA achieved its radioprotective action, at least in part, by enhancing DNA repair and the activity of antioxidant enzymes, by scavenging ROS and by inhibiting the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway.

  18. alfa-Amylase as a reliable and convenient measure of sympathetic activity: don’t start salivating just yet!

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bosch, JA; Veerman, J.W.; de Geus, E.J.C.; Proctor, J.

    2011-01-01

    Recent years have seen a growing interest in salivary α-amylase (sAA) as a non-invasive marker for sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. Saliva offers many advantages as a biomarker fluid and sAA is one of its most plentiful components. sAA is a digestive enzyme that breaks down starch, which

  19. Expression of serum amyloid a in equine wounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Mette Aamand; Jacobsen, Stine; Berg, Lise Charlotte

    2010-01-01

    ), and bandaged limb wounds (aberrant healing with formation of EGT). All biopsies were examined for the relative mRNA expression level of SAA using qRT-PCR. Differences in SAA expression levels between the three groups were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunns test. RESULTS SAA mRNA level was significantly...

  20. α-Amylase as a reliable and convenient measure of sympathetic activity: don't start salivating just yet!

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bosch, J.A.; Veerman, E.C.I.; de Geus, E.J.; Proctor, G.B.

    2011-01-01

    Recent years have seen a growing interest in salivary α-amylase (sAA) as a non-invasive marker for sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. Saliva offers many advantages as a biomarker fluid and sAA is one of its most plentiful components. sAA is a digestive enzyme that breaks down starch, which

  1. The developmental course of salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol from 12 to 36 months: Relations with early poverty and later behavior problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill-Soderlund, Ashley L; Holochwost, Steven J; Willoughby, Michael T; Granger, Douglas A; Gariépy, Jean-Louis; Mills-Koonce, W Roger; Cox, Martha J

    2015-02-01

    This study examined the development of baseline autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) physiological activity from 12 to 36 months as well as antecedents (poverty) and consequents (behavior problems) of individual differences in physiological development. Children (N=179; 50% poor; 56% African American; 52% male) provided saliva samples at 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age. Latent growth curve models indicated that nonlinear change was evident for both sAA and cortisol, with sAA increasing and cortisol decreasing with age. Children residing in poor households exhibited lower initial levels of sAA, but not cortisol. African-American children showed slightly smaller decreases in cortisol over time. Initial levels of sAA predicted higher levels of internalizing behaviors at 36 months and both initial levels of and total change in sAA predicted higher levels of externalizing behaviors at 36 months. There was no evidence that sAA or cortisol mediated the relationship between poverty and later behavior problems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Serum concentrations of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis with abomasal ulcer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javad Tajik

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available To evaluate the serum concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp and serum amyloid A (SAA in water buffaloes with abomasal ulcers, the abomasums of 100 randomly selected water buffaloes were examined after slaughter. Type I abomasal ulcers were found in 56 out of 100 buffaloes. Serum concentrations of Hp and SAA were measured. There was no significant difference between affected and non-affected buffaloes in the serum concentrations of Hp and SAA. The serum concentrations of Hp and SAA had no significant correlation with age and the serum SAA revealed no significant correlation with the number of abomasal ulcers. A significant correlation was found between the serum Hp and the number of abomasal ulcers (r =0.29, p = 0.04. There was no significant difference in the serum concentrations of Hp and SAA between buffaloes with different ulcer locations in the abomasums. Although more work on a larger number of animals is required in this area, it seems that the measurement of the serum Hp can be used to predict the abundance of type I abomasal ulcers.

  3. Software as a service approach to sensor simulation software deployment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webster, Steven; Miller, Gordon; Mayott, Gregory

    2012-05-01

    Traditionally, military simulation has been problem domain specific. Executing an exercise currently requires multiple simulation software providers to specialize, deploy, and configure their respective implementations, integrate the collection of software to achieve a specific system behavior, and then execute for the purpose at hand. This approach leads to rigid system integrations which require simulation expertise for each deployment due to changes in location, hardware, and software. Our alternative is Software as a Service (SaaS) predicated on the virtualization of Night Vision Electronic Sensors (NVESD) sensor simulations as an exemplary case. Management middleware elements layer self provisioning, configuration, and integration services onto the virtualized sensors to present a system of services at run time. Given an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment, enabled and managed system of simulations yields a durable SaaS delivery without requiring user simulation expertise. Persistent SaaS simulations would provide on demand availability to connected users, decrease integration costs and timelines, and benefit the domain community from immediate deployment of lessons learned.

  4. Diurnal Salivary Alpha-amylase Dynamics among Dementia Family Caregivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yin; Granger, Douglas A.; Kim, Kyungmin; Klein, Laura C.; Almeida, David M.; Zarit, Steven H.

    2016-01-01

    Objective The study examined diurnal regulation of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) in association with daily stressors, adult day services (ADS) use, and other caregiving characteristics. Methods A sample of 165 family caregivers of individuals with dementia (IWD) completed an 8-day diary study. Caregivers provided 5 saliva samples across the 8 days. On some days, caregivers provided all or most of the care. On other days, their relative attended ADS for part of the day. A 3-level unconditional linear spline model was fit to describe the typical sAA diurnal rhythms. Predictors were then added to the unconditional model to test the hypotheses on ADS use and daily stressors. Results Daily ADS use did not have an effect on diurnal sAA regulation. However, controlling for daily ADS use, greater ADS use over the 8 days was associated with a more prominent rise between 30 minutes after wake-up and before lunch, and a more prominent decline between before lunch and late afternoon. Fewer ADS days were associated with a more flattened sAA diurnal rhythm. Additionally, greater daily care-related stressor exposures had a within-person association with lower sAA levels in the late afternoon. Care-related stressor exposures had significant within- and between-person associations with sAA diurnal slopes. Furthermore, daily positive experiences had a significant between-person association with sAA diurnal slopes. Conclusions Caring for a disabled family member may heighten the vulnerability to potential physiological conditions. Respite from care stressors from ADS use may have some biobehavioral benefits on sAA regulations. PMID:27786517

  5. Heart rate and autonomic response to stress after experimental induction of worry versus relaxation in healthy, high-worry, and generalized anxiety disorder individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Aaron J; Newman, Michelle G

    2013-04-01

    Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most commonly occurring anxiety disorder and has been related to cardiovascular morbidity such as cardiac ischemia, sudden cardiac death, and myocardial infarction. Both GAD and its cardinal symptom - worry - have been shown to promote muted physiological reactivity in response to laboratory and ecological stressors. Importantly, no study to date has examined the concurrent and relative contributions of trait and state worry within healthy controls, (non-clinical) high trait-worry controls, and GAD participants. The present study examined heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) responses to laboratory stress during and following the experimental induction of worry versus relaxation in healthy controls (n=42), high trait worriers (n=33) and participants with GAD (n=76). All groups exhibited increased HR and decreased RSA in response to the stressor, with no differences by condition. Baseline sAA significantly moderated HR and RSA reactivity, such that higher sAA predicted greater increases in HR and decreases in RSA. There was a significant group by baseline sAA interaction such that in GAD, higher baseline sAA predicted decreased change in sAA during stress, whereas higher baseline sAA predicted greater sAA change in healthy controls. High-worry controls fell non-significantly between these groups. The present study provides additional evidence for the effect of worry on diminished HR stress response and points to possible suppression of adrenergic sympathetic stress responses in GAD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Pigs experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic strain of Escherichia coli have improved feed efficiency and indicators of inflammation with dietary supplementation of tryptophan and methionine in the immediate post-weaning period

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Capozzalo, Meeka M; Kim, Jae Cheol; Htoo, J.K.

    2017-01-01

    This experiment tested the hypothesis that pigs challenged with an enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (ETEC) will improve performance by dietary supplementation of sulfur amino acids (SAA) and tryptophan (Trp) above the current recommended levels in the immediate post-weaning period. Male pigs (n ...... of inflammation and SAA supplementation decreased the pro-inflammatory interferon-gamma response and improved protein utilisation, as measured by PU, whereas supplementation with both Trp and SAA improved feed conversion ratio....... interferon-gamma regardless of dietary Trp or day of sampling (P = 0.043). Increasing dietary SAA decreased plasma urea (PU) levels on Days 5, 8 and 14 (P

  7. A Self-Provisioning Mechanism in OpenStack for IoT Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Solano

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to introduce a plug-and-play mechanism for an Internet of Things (IoT device to instantiate a Software as a Service (SaaS application in a private cloud, built up with OpenStack. The SaaS application is the digital avatar of a physical object connected to Internet. As a proof of concept, a Vending Machine is retrofitted and connected to Internet with and Arduino Open Hardware device. Once the self-configuration mechanism is completed, it is possible to order a product from a mobile communication device.

  8. Acute phase proteins as diagnostic markers in horses with colic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pihl, Tina; Scheepers, Elrien; Sanz, Macarena

    2016-01-01

    Objective – To investigate the diagnostic potential of the concentrations of acute-phase proteins serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), and fibrinogen in blood and peritoneal fluid (PF) for differentiating horses within flammatory colic (entero-colitis and peritonitis) from those with surgical...... of the model to correctly differentiate inflammatory from surgical colic was 86% determined as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Adding blood parameters (WBC, PCV, total plasma protein, lactate, SAA, Hp, and fibrinogen concentrations) to the logistic model based on clinical parameters...... revealed that only WBC and SAA and fibrinogen concentrations improved the model. With SAA included in the model no additional blood parameters improved the model, and the final model had an area under the curve of 90%. Addition of PF parameters (hemolysis, total protein concentration, WBC, SAA, or Hp...

  9. Serum amyloid A isoforms in serum and synovial fluid from spontaneously diseased dogs with joint diseases or other conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjelgaard-Hansen, Mads Jens; Christensen, Michelle B.; Lee, Marcel Huisung

    2007-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute phase protein in dogs. However, knowledge of qualitative properties of canine SAA and extent of its synthesis in extrahepatic tissues is limited. The aim of the study was to investigate expression of different SAA isoforms in serum and synovial fluid...... in samples obtained from dogs (n = 16) suffering from different inflammatory or non-inflammatory conditions, which were either related or unrelated to joints. Expression of SAA isoforms was visualized by denaturing isoelectric focusing and Western blotting. Serum amyloid A was present in serum from all dogs...... with systemic inflammatory activity, and up to four major isoforms with apparent isoelectric points between 6.1 and 7.9 were identified. In synovial fluid from inflamed joints one or more highly alkaline SAA isoforms (with apparent isoelectric points above 9.3) were identified, with data suggesting local...

  10. Investigation of inflammatory markers in horses with acute abdominal pain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pihl, Tina Holberg; Kjelgaard-Hansen, Mads; Andersen, Pia Haubro

    of colic horses in a referral hospital have not been reported earlier. Objectives Evaluation of serum and peritoneal fluid (PF) levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin in horses with colic. Methods Blood and PF samples were collected from 75 colic horses at admission to a referral hospital and from...... 19 healthy control horses. SAA and haptoglobin were measured in both serum and PF. Colic cases were classified according to diagnosis, treatment and outcome based on the clinical records. Protein concentrations were compared between groups with student´s t-test and ANOVA. Results Colic horses had...... significantly higher mean concentrations of serum SAA, PF SAA and PF haptoglobin compared to controls. PF SAA was significantly higher in horses with infectious conditions compared to both simple and strangulating obstructions, where as PF haptoglobin was higher in both strangulating and infectious conditions...

  11. Structured Assessment Approach: a microcomputer-based insider-vulnerability analysis tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patenaude, C.J.; Sicherman, A.; Sacks, I.J.

    1986-01-01

    The Structured Assessment Approach (SAA) was developed to help assess the vulnerability of safeguards systems to insiders in a staged manner. For physical security systems, the SAA identifies possible diversion paths which are not safeguarded under various facility operating conditions and insiders who could defeat the system via direct access, collusion or indirect tampering. For material control and accounting systems, the SAA identifies those who could block the detection of a material loss or diversion via data falsification or equipment tampering. The SAA, originally desinged to run on a mainframe computer, has been converted to run on a personal computer. Many features have been added to simplify and facilitate its use for conducting vulnerability analysis. For example, the SAA input, which is a text-like data file, is easily readable and can provide documentation of facility safeguards and assumptions used for the analysis

  12. Proteomic analysis of highly prevalent amyloid A amyloidosis endemic to endangered island foxes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricia M Gaffney

    Full Text Available Amyloid A (AA amyloidosis is a debilitating, often fatal, systemic amyloid disease associated with chronic inflammation and persistently elevated serum amyloid A (SAA. Elevated SAA is necessary but not sufficient to cause disease and the risk factors for AA amyloidosis remain poorly understood. Here we identify an extraordinarily high prevalence of AA amyloidosis (34% in a genetically isolated population of island foxes (Urocyon littoralis with concurrent chronic inflammatory diseases. Amyloid deposits were most common in kidney (76%, spleen (58%, oral cavity (45%, and vasculature (44% and were composed of unbranching, 10 nm in diameter fibrils. Peptide sequencing by mass spectrometry revealed that SAA peptides were dominant in amyloid-laden kidney, together with high levels of apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein A-IV, fibrinogen-α chain, and complement C3 and C4 (false discovery rate ≤ 0.05. Reassembled peptide sequences showed island fox SAA as an 111 amino acid protein, most similar to dog and artic fox, with 5 unique amino acid variants among carnivores. SAA peptides extended to the last two C-terminal amino acids in 5 of 9 samples, indicating that near full length SAA was often present in amyloid aggregates. These studies define a remarkably prevalent AA amyloidosis in island foxes with widespread systemic amyloid deposition, a unique SAA sequence, and the co-occurrence of AA with apolipoproteins.

  13. Kontrasepsi Hormonal Meningkatkan Kadar α-Amylase Saliva

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juni Handajani

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Salivary α-amylase atau α-amylase saliva (SAA adalah salah satu enzim dalam saliva yang berperan penting pada inisiasi digesti karbohidrat dan fungsi interaksi bakteri. Kontrasepsi hormonal sangat populer di Indonesia untuk mencegah kehamilan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kadar SAA wanita pemakai kontrasepsi pil dan suntik. Subjek penelitian sebanyak 30 perempuan usia 20-35 tahun. Prosedur penelitian telah mendapat persetujuan dari Komite Etik Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta. Subjek dibagi menjadi 3 kelompok (pemakai kontrasepsi pil, suntik, dan kontrol, masing-masing 10 perempuan. Kriteria subjek antara lain subjek sehat, tidak menggunakan alat ortodontik, protesa atau mahkota, serta menggunakan kontrasepsi hormonal lebih dari 3 bulan. Sampel saliva dikumpulkan pada sore hari (16.00-18.00 WIB selama 1 menit dengan metode tanpa stimulasi. Kadar tingkat SAA diukur menggunakan ELISA kit (Salimetrics LLC dengan Optical Density (OD pada 405 nm. Data dianalisis menggunakan ANOVA (p<0,05. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kadar SAA tertinggi pada perempuan pemakai kontrasepsi  pil dan ada perbedaan yang signifikan diantara tiga kelompok. Disimpulkan bahwa kontrasepsi hormonal meningkatkan kadar SAA. Hormonal Contraceptive Increased The Level of Salivary Α-Amylase. Salivary α-amylase (SAA is one of the most important enzymes in saliva. This enzyme was mainly involved in the initiation of the digestion of starch in the oral cavity and has significant bacterial interactive function. Hormonal contraceptives are very popular in Indonesia to avoid pregnancy. This study aimed to evaluate the level of SAA in woman who taking pill and by injection contraceptives. Thirty women were in subjects, 20-35 years old, approval ethical clearance from Ethic Committee Medical Faculty of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta Indonesia. Subjects were divided into three groups (taking pill contraceptive, by injection contraceptive and

  14. PInCom project: SaaS Big Data Platform for and Communication Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Manuel Lombardo

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The problem of optimization will be addressed in this article, based on the premise that the successful implementation of Big Data solutions requires as a determining factor not only effective -it is assumed- but the efficiency of the responsiveness of management information get the best value offered by the digital and technological environment for gaining knowledge. In adopting Big Data strategies should be identified storage technologies and appropriate extraction to enable professionals and companies from different sectors to realize the full potential of the data. A success story is the solution PInCom: Intelligent-Communications Platform that aims customer loyalty by sending multimedia communications across heterogeneous transmission channels.

  15. Architectural aspects of SaaS applications in the case of Windows Azure

    OpenAIRE

    Kastelic , Uroš

    2014-01-01

    Architectural and design patterns help solving specific problems during the process of software development. The advent of new technologies like cloud computing, demand the introduction of new architectural and design patterns for this type of technology. Developers need to be offered patterns, through which they could easier and quicker implement functionalities to the cloud applications. In this thesis there are defined and implemented three design patterns, using the approach of documentin...

  16. SaaS enabled admission control for MCMC simulation in cloud computing infrastructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vázquez-Poletti, J. L.; Moreno-Vozmediano, R.; Han, R.; Wang, W.; Llorente, I. M.

    2017-02-01

    Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are widely used in the field of simulation and modelling of materials, producing applications that require a great amount of computational resources. Cloud computing represents a seamless source for these resources in the form of HPC. However, resource over-consumption can be an important drawback, specially if the cloud provision process is not appropriately optimized. In the present contribution we propose a two-level solution that, on one hand, takes advantage of approximate computing for reducing the resource demand and on the other, uses admission control policies for guaranteeing an optimal provision to running applications.

  17. High-pressure metamorphic age and significance of eclogite-facies continental fragments associated with oceanic lithosphere in the Western Alps (Etirol-Levaz Slice, Valtournenche, Italy)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassmer, Kathrin; Obermüller, Gerrit; Nagel, Thorsten J.; Kirst, Frederik; Froitzheim, Nikolaus; Sandmann, Sascha; Miladinova, Irena; Fonseca, Raúl O. C.; Münker, Carsten

    2016-05-01

    The Etirol-Levaz Slice in the Penninic Alps (Valtournenche, Italy) is a piece of eclogite-facies continental basement sandwiched between two oceanic units, the blueschist-facies Combin Zone in the hanging wall and the eclogite-facies Zermatt-Saas Zone in the footwall. It has been interpreted as an extensional allochthon from the continental margin of Adria, emplaced onto ultramafic and mafic basement of the future Zermatt-Saas Zone by Jurassic, rifting-related detachment faulting, and later subducted together with the future Zermatt-Saas Zone. Alternatively, the Etirol-Levaz Slice could be derived from a different paleogeographic domain and be separated from the Zermatt-Saas Zone by an Alpine shear zone. We present Lu-Hf whole rock-garnet ages of two eclogite samples, one from the center of the unit and one from the border to the Zermatt-Saas Zone below. These data are accompanied by a new geological map of the Etirol-Levaz Slice and the surrounding area, as well as detailed petrology of these two samples. Assemblages, mineral compositions and garnet zoning in both samples indicate a clockwise PT-path and peak-metamorphic conditions of about 550-600 °C/20-25 kbar, similar to conditions proposed for the underlying Zermatt-Saas Zone. Prograde garnet ages of the two samples are 61.8 ± 1.8 Ma and 52.4 ± 2.1 Ma and reflect different timing of subduction. One of these is significantly older than published ages of eclogite-facies metamorphism in the Zermatt-Saas Zone and thus contradicts the hypothesis of Mesozoic emplacement. The occurrence of serpentinite and metagabbro bodies possibly derived from the Zermatt-Saas Zone inside the Etirol-Levaz Slice suggests that the latter is a tectonic composite. The basement slivers forming the Etirol-Levaz Slice and other continental fragments were subducted earlier than the Zermatt-Saas Zone, but nonetheless experienced similar pressure-temperature histories. Our results support the hypothesis that the Zermatt-Saas Zone and the

  18. Validation of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: A Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mills, Sarah D; Kwakkenbos, Linda; Carrier, Marie-Eve; Gholizadeh, Shadi; Fox, Rina S; Jewett, Lisa R; Gottesman, Karen; Roesch, Scott C; Thombs, Brett D; Malcarne, Vanessa L

    2018-01-17

    Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease that can cause disfiguring changes in appearance. This study examined the structural validity, internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and measurement equivalence of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) across SSc disease subtypes. Patients enrolled in the Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network Cohort completed the SAAS and measures of appearance-related concerns and psychological distress. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the structural validity of the SAAS. Multiple-group CFA was used to determine if SAAS scores can be compared across patients with limited and diffuse disease subtypes. Cronbach's alpha was used to examine internal consistency reliability. Correlations of SAAS scores with measures of body image dissatisfaction, fear of negative evaluation, social anxiety, and depression were used to examine convergent validity. SAAS scores were hypothesized to be positively associated with all convergent validity measures, with correlations significant and moderate to large in size. A total of 938 patients with SSc were included. CFA supported a one-factor structure (CFI: .92; SRMR: .04; RMSEA: .08), and multiple-group CFA indicated that the scalar invariance model best fit the data. Internal consistency reliability was good in the total sample (α = .96) and in disease subgroups. Overall, evidence of convergent validity was found with measures of body image dissatisfaction, fear of negative evaluation, social anxiety, and depression. The SAAS can be reliably and validly used to assess fear of appearance evaluation in patients with SSc, and SAAS scores can be meaningfully compared across disease subtypes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  19. The physico-chemical, antigenic, and functional heterogeneity of human serum amyloid A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, M.E.; HUq, A.; Rosenthal, C.J.

    1986-01-01

    In the present study we attempted to develop a rapid method to isolate serum amyloid A isomers (SAA is.) and to determine whether this physicochemical heterogeneity corresponds to an antigenic and functional one. Pure human low molecular SAA (SAAL) was prepared from the serum of 6 patients (pts.) using standard techniques. Preparative isoelectric focusing in agarose/sephadex gels was used to separate SAAL is. Monoclonal antibodies (m. abs.) to SAAL and to AA were prepared by hybridization of P3XU-1 nonsecretory murine myeloma cells with murine spleen cells from Balb/c mice immunized with pooled SAAL and AA respectively. Four distinctly migrating SAAL isomers with PI's of 4.9, 5.8, 6.6, and 7.2 were isolated from 6 pts. while only three isomers were separated from the pt. with myasthenia gravis. Four m. abs. to SAAL, one to AA, six m. abs. to SAAL-2 is. and one to SAAL-1 is. were generated in murine ascitic fluid. Dishes coated with the four human SAA is., human AA, various mammalian and human proteins as well as with serum from 31 pts. with metastatic Ca. and 23 pts. with inflammatory diseases (ID) were reacted with the m. abs. The amount of binding was determined using 125 I labelled goat antimouse serum. The m. abs. to SAA were found specific for human SAA recognizing two different patterns in relationship to the intensity of binding to SAA is. One of them (7A2-43) had a greater affinity for SAA from pts with ID, while the other (5A6-5) reacted stronger with SAA from pts with metastatic Ca

  20. A sulfur amino acid-free meal increases plasma lipids in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Youngja; Le, Ngoc-Anh; Yu, Tianwei; Strobel, Fred; Gletsu-Miller, Nana; Accardi, Carolyn J; Lee, Kichun S; Wu, Shaoxiong; Ziegler, Thomas R; Jones, Dean P

    2011-08-01

    The content of sulfur amino acid (SAA) in a meal affects postprandial plasma cysteine concentrations and the redox potential of cysteine/cystine. Because such changes can affect enzyme, transporter, and receptor activities, meal content of SAA could have unrecognized effects on metabolism during the postprandial period. This pilot study used proton NMR ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy of human plasma to test the hypothesis that dietary SAA content changes macronutrient metabolism. Healthy participants (18-36 y, 5 males and 3 females) were equilibrated for 3 d to adequate SAA, fed chemically defined meals without SAA for 5 d (depletion), and then fed isoenergetic, isonitrogenous meals containing 56 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1) SAA for 4.5 d (repletion). On the first and last day of consuming the chemically defined meals, a morning meal containing 60% of the daily food intake was given and plasma samples were collected over an 8-h postprandial time course for characterization of metabolic changes by (1)H-NMR spectroscopy. SAA-free food increased peak intensity in the plasma (1)H-NMR spectra in the postprandial period. Orthogonal signal correction/partial least squares-discriminant analysis showed changes in signals associated with lipids, some amino acids, and lactate, with notable increases in plasma lipid signals (TG, unsaturated lipid, cholesterol). Conventional lipid analyses confirmed higher plasma TG and showed an increase in plasma concentration of the lipoprotein lipase inhibitor, apoC-III. The results show that plasma (1)H-NMR spectra can provide useful macronutrient profiling following a meal challenge protocol and that a single meal with imbalanced SAA content alters postprandial lipid metabolism.

  1. Psychosocial determinants of diurnal alpha-amylase among healthy Quebec workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchand, Alain; Juster, Robert-Paul; Lupien, Sonia J; Durand, Pierre

    2016-04-01

    Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) is a stress-sensitive biomarker the shows promise as an indirect proxy of sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axis activities that are otherwise difficult to discern non-invasively. This comprehensive study investigated diurnal sAA in association with numerous psychosocial characteristics related to mental health, work stress, and non-work stress. Participants included 395 workers (56.1% women, age: M=41.3, SD=10.81) from across 34 distinct workplaces. Diurnal sAA was sampled over two non-consecutive work days at awakening, 30 min after awakening, 14h00, 16h00, and bedtime. Well-validated psychometrics and survey items were used to measure mental health (psychological distress, depression, burnout, work characteristics) (task design, demands, social relations, gratifications), and non-work characteristics (marital/parental status, economic statuses, marital and parental stress, work-family conflicts). Preliminary results revealed that men showed occasionally higher sAA concentrations than women. Multilevel regressions were used to analyze sAA concentrations nested according to levels (i) for each time-point, (ii) between workers, and (iii) across workplaces while covarying for time of awakening, sex, age, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, regular physical activity, psychotropic drug use, and body mass index. Main results revealed that psychological demands, support from colleagues, interpersonal conflicts, job recognition and job insecurity appear to be associated with diurnal sAA, while non-work factors did not. Our findings showing a distinct diurnal profile for sAA replicate and expand those of Nater et al. (2007, Psychoneuroendocrinology 32, 392-401), providing further evidence that sAA is associated to subjective psychosocial factors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Haptoglobin and serum amyloid A in bulk tank milk in relation to raw milk quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akerstedt, Maria; Waller, Karin Persson; Sternesjö, Ase

    2009-11-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate relationships between the presence of the two major bovine acute phase proteins haptoglobin (Hp) and serum amyloid A (SAA) and raw milk quality parameters in bulk tank milk samples. Hp and SAA have been suggested as specific markers of mastitis but recently also as markers for raw milk quality. Since mastitis has detrimental effects on milk quality, it is important to investigate whether the presence of Hp or SAA indicates such changes in the composition and properties of the milk. Bulk tank milk samples (n=91) were analysed for Hp, SAA, total protein, casein, whey protein, proteolysis, fat, lactose, somatic cell count and coagulating properties. Samples with detectable levels of Hp had lower casein content, casein number and lactose content, but higher proteolysis than samples without Hp. Samples with detectable levels of SAA had lower casein number and lactose content, but higher whey protein content than samples without SAA. The presence of acute phase proteins in bulk tank milk is suggested as an indicator for unfavourable changes in the milk composition, e.g. protein quality, due to udder health disturbances, with economical implications for the dairy industry.

  3. Acute-phase proteins in pregnant goats: a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czopowicz, Michał; Szaluś-Jordanow, Olga; Mickiewicz, Marcin; Witkowski, Lucjan; Markowska-Daniel, Iwona; Stefaniak, Tadeusz; Reczyńska, Daria; Bagnicka, Emilia; Kaba, Jarosław

    2017-11-01

    We documented changes in serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin (Hp) concentration in goats during pregnancy, as measured by competitive ELISAs. Fifteen does (pregnant group) and 20 castrated males (control group) were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were collected on the same day from all 35 goats, 7 times throughout the study period: at mating, then once every month, during the week preceding kidding, and 1 mo after kidding. Baseline SAA and Hp concentrations at mating were identical in the 2 groups. In the pregnant group, SAA concentration rose significantly in the second month and remained elevated until the end of pregnancy, with the peak concentration at kidding. In the control group, SAA concentration remained unchanged compared to the baseline concentration throughout the study. SAA concentration was significantly higher in the pregnant than control group only at the end of the fourth month of pregnancy and at kidding. Hp concentration did not change during pregnancy or between groups. SAA concentration at kidding was affected only by parity of does - it was highest in does in the third and fourth pregnancy and gradually lower in older does.

  4. Doses Due to the South Atlantic Anomaly During the Euromir'95 Mission Measured by an On-Board TLD System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deme, S.; Apathy, I.; Hejja, I.; Lang, E.; Feher, I.; Reitz, G.

    1999-01-01

    During the Euromir'95 mission, a specially designed microprocessor-controlled thermoluminescent detector (TLD) system, called the 'Pille'95', was used by ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter to measure the cosmic radiation dose inside the Mir space station. One of the experiment's objectives was to determine the dose fraction on Mir due to the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) on an orbit inclined at 51.6 deg. and at an altitude of about 400 km. Using an hourly measuring period for 170 h in automatic mode, dose components both of galactic (independent of SAA) and SAA origin were determined. It was found that the maximum dose due to crossing the SAA was equal to 55 μGy. Averaging all the measurements it was calculated that the mean dose rate inside the Mir was 12-14 μGy.h -1 , and that half of this value was caused by the SAA. (author)

  5. Transcatheter Embolization for Giant Splenic Artery Aneurisms: Still an Open Question

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianna Mastroroberto

    2012-01-01

    patients with portal hypertension. It is indicated when the SAA diameter reaches 20 mm. Although endovascular techniques are effective and safe for the treatment of medium-sized SAAs, little is known about their applicability to large-sized SAAs. Herein, we report a case of giant SAA, which was treated with transcatheter coil embolization. The case was not considered suitable for surgery because of the presence of severe portal hypertension. The procedure was complicated by bacterial infection of the coils within the aneurismatic sac, leading to the development of hepatic failure. A liver transplant was then successfully performed despite the presence of a nonresponsive infection.

  6. Software-as-a-Service Vendors: Are They Ready to Successfully Deliver?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heart, Tsipi; Tsur, Noa Shamir; Pliskin, Nava

    Software as a service (SaaS) is a software sourcing option that allows organizations to remotely access enterprise applications, without having to install the application in-house. In this work we study vendors' readiness to deliver SaaS, a topic scarcely studied before. The innovation classification (evolutionary vs. revolutionary) and a new, Seven Fundamental Organizational Capabilities (FOCs) Model, are used as the theoretical frameworks. The Seven FOCs model suggests generic yet comprehensive set of capabilities that are required for organizational success: 1) sensing the stakeholders, 2) sensing the business environment, 3) sensing the knowledge environment, 4) process control, 5) process improvement, 6) new process development, and 7) appropriate resolution.

  7. Acute phase proteins in cattle after exposure to complex stress

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lomborg, S. R.; Nielsen, L. R.; Heegaard, Peter M. H.

    2008-01-01

    Abstract Stressors such as weaning, mixing and transportation have been shown to lead to increased blood concentrations of acute phase proteins (APP), including serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin, in calves. This study was therefore undertaken to assess whether SAA and haptoglobin levels...... concentrations of SAA and haptoglobin increased significantly in response to the stressors (P...... in blood mirror stress in adult cattle. Six clinically healthy Holstein cows and two Holstein heifers were transported for four to six hours to a research facility, where each animal was housed in solitary tie stalls. Blood samples for evaluation of leukocyte counts and serum SAA and haptoglobin...

  8. Optimal sulfur amino acid to lysine ratio for post weaning piglets reared under clean or unclean sanitary conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roselyn Kahindi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Two 14-day experiments, each with 90 (Duroc × [Yorkshire × Landrace]; 7.3 ± 0.6 kg piglets, were conducted to determine the optimum sulfur amino acid (SAA to lysine (Lys ratio (SAA:Lys for piglets when reared under clean or unclean sanitary conditions using performance and non-performance response criteria. Piglets were randomly assigned to the following dietary treatments. The basal diet contained 1.18% standardized ileal digestible (SID Lys, and the SAA:Lys was 52%. In diets 2 to 5, the basal diet was supplemented with 4 graded levels of dl-Met to make SAA:Lys of 56%, 60%, 64% and 68%. In Exp. 1, piglets were housed in disinfected clean room. In Exp. 2, piglets were housed in a room previously occupied by other pigs and was not disinfected. On the last day, blood was collected to measure plasma urea nitrogen (PUN and one pig per pen was euthanized to collect jejunal tissue to measure villus height (VH, crypt depth (CD, and VH:CD. In Exp. 1, increasing SAA:Lys linearly and quadratically increased VH and VH:CD (P < 0.05. In Exp. 2, increasing SAA:Lys linearly increased (P < 0.05 VH and VH:CD and linearly and quadratically decreased PUN (P < 0.05. Estimated PUN and VH-based optimum SAA:Lys requirements for clean and unclean sanitary condition were 60%, 63% and 66%, respectively.

  9. Structural airway abnormalities contribute to dysphagia in children with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baxter, Katherine J; Baxter, Lauren M; Landry, April M; Wulkan, Mark L; Bhatia, Amina M

    2018-01-31

    Long-term dysphagia occurs in up to 50% of repaired esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) patients. The underlying factors are unclear and may include stricture, esophageal dysmotility, or associated anomalies. Our purpose was to determine whether structural airway abnormalities (SAA) are associated with dysphagia in EA/TEF. We conducted a retrospective chart review of children who underwent EA/TEF repair in our hospital system from 2007 to 2016. Children with identified SAA (oropharyngeal abnormalities, laryngeal clefts, laryngomalacia, vocal cord paralysis, and tracheomalacia) were compared to those without airway abnormalities. Dysphagia outcomes were determined by the need for tube feeding and the modified pediatric Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) at 1 year. SAA was diagnosed in 55/145 (37.9%) patients with EA/TEF. Oropharyngeal aspiration was more common in children with SAA (58.3% vs. 36.4%, p=0.028). Children with SAA were more likely to require tube feeding both at discharge (79.6% vs. 48.3%, pesophageal stricture, the presence of SAA remained a significant risk factor for dysphagia (OR 4.17 (95% CI 1.58-11.03)). SAA are common in children with EA/TEF and are associated with dysphagia, even after accounting for gestational age, esophageal gap and stricture. This study highlights the need for a multidisciplinary approach, including early laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy, in the evaluation of the EA/TEF child with dysphagia. Level II retrospective prognostic study. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  10. The Effect of Different Types of Musculoskeletal Injuries on Blood Concentration of Serum Amyloid A in Thoroughbred Racehorses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turło, Agnieszka; Cywińska, Anna; Czopowicz, Michał; Witkowski, Lucjan; Niedźwiedź, Artur; Słowikowska, Malwina; Borowicz, Hieronim; Jaśkiewicz, Anna; Winnicka, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Background Training-induced muscle, skeletal and joint trauma may result in acute phase response reflected by the changes in the blood concentration of serum amyloid A (SAA) in racehorses. It remains yet unclear if such systemic reaction could be triggered by sport injuries and what is the impact of different types of musculoskeletal trauma on SAA concentrations in racehorses. This study aimed to determine changes in the SAA blood concentration in racehorses with different types of injuries of musculoskeletal system. Materials and Methods The study involved 28 racehorses diagnosed after the race with bone fractures (n = 7), dorsal metacarpal disease (n = 11), joint trauma (n = 4) or tendon and muscle trauma (n = 6) and 28 healthy control racehorses. Serum samples were collected twice, between 1 and 4 days of the injury or succesful completion of the race. SAA concentration was measured using the commercial ELISA kit. Differences between mean SAA concentration in respective groups were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test. Results Mean SAA concentration within the first 4 days of the injury of muscle and tendon was significantly higher than in bone fractures, dorsal metacarpal disease, joint trauma or in the healthy horses (p<0,001). There were no significant differences between the other groups. Conclusions Strain injuries of muscle and tendons can cause a moderate increase in SAA blood concentration in racehorses, reflecting the occurrence of the acute phase response. Similar reaction is not observed in the stress-related bone injuries. PMID:26466121

  11. The Effect of Different Types of Musculoskeletal Injuries on Blood Concentration of Serum Amyloid A in Thoroughbred Racehorses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Turło

    Full Text Available Training-induced muscle, skeletal and joint trauma may result in acute phase response reflected by the changes in the blood concentration of serum amyloid A (SAA in racehorses. It remains yet unclear if such systemic reaction could be triggered by sport injuries and what is the impact of different types of musculoskeletal trauma on SAA concentrations in racehorses. This study aimed to determine changes in the SAA blood concentration in racehorses with different types of injuries of musculoskeletal system.The study involved 28 racehorses diagnosed after the race with bone fractures (n = 7, dorsal metacarpal disease (n = 11, joint trauma (n = 4 or tendon and muscle trauma (n = 6 and 28 healthy control racehorses. Serum samples were collected twice, between 1 and 4 days of the injury or succesful completion of the race. SAA concentration was measured using the commercial ELISA kit. Differences between mean SAA concentration in respective groups were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test.Mean SAA concentration within the first 4 days of the injury of muscle and tendon was significantly higher than in bone fractures, dorsal metacarpal disease, joint trauma or in the healthy horses (p<0,001. There were no significant differences between the other groups.Strain injuries of muscle and tendons can cause a moderate increase in SAA blood concentration in racehorses, reflecting the occurrence of the acute phase response. Similar reaction is not observed in the stress-related bone injuries.

  12. Correlation between serum anyloid a low density lipoprotein and genotoxicity in smokers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jamil, A.; Rashid, A.; Majeed, A.; Naveed, A.K.

    2018-01-01

    Objective:To investigate the relation between serum amyloid A-low density lipoprotein (SAA-LDL) and genotoxicity in smokers. Study Design:An experimental study. Place and Duration of Study:Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, from June 2014 to February 2015. Methodology:Seventy healthy Sprague Dawley rats were purchased from NIH and exposed to cigarette smoke in smoke chamber for three months. Blood samples were drawn from each rat at the end of the study period. SAA-LDL was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Genotoxicity was assessed by cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) assay. Pearson correlation was used to find correlation between SAA-LDL and genotoxicity. Results:Strong positive correlation was found between SAA-LDL and micronuclei frequency in smoke-exposed rats (r=0.799, N=70, p <0.01). Conclusion:Statistically significant strong positive correlation between SAA-LDL and genotoxicity in smoke-exposed rats shows that changes in one is associated with changes in other and vice versa. (author)

  13. Innovation in the United States Air Force: Evidence from Six Cases

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    PAVN People’s Army of Vietnam PGM precision guided munitions RPA remotely piloted aircraft RWR radar warning receivers SAAS School of Advanced...related subjects to the establishment in 1990 of the School of Advanced Airpower Studies ( SAAS ), which provides graduate-level education to officers likely...Storm have been SAAS alumni.268 Emergence of the Innovation A host of factors set the stage for the emergence of the precision-attack air campaign

  14. Milk amyloid A and selected serum proteins in cows suffering from mastitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel Kováč

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis on the concentrations of mammary associated isotype of serum amyloid A (M-SAA in milk samples, as well as on the concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp and serum amyloid A (SAA, and some other biochemical variables in blood serum of dairy cows (n = 41. The concentrations of aforementioned variables were measured in 4 groups of cows divided according to the results of the clinical examination of the udder and to the results of California Mastitis Test (CMT: group 1 – cows without clinical changes on the mammary gland and with negative CMT, group 2 – cows without clinical changes on the mammary gland and with weakly positive CMT, group 3 – cows without clinical changes on the mammary gland and with strongly positive CMT and group 4 – cows with clinical changes on the mammary gland and changes in milk appearance. The concentrations of M-SAA were analyzed also in 145 quarter’s milk samples which were categorized according to the same criteria as cows used in the study. By the evaluation of M-SAA concentrations in composite milk samples we found significantly the highest mean value in cows with clinical signs of mastitis. Similar findings were recorded in the M-SAA concentrations in quarter’s milk samples. Moreover, higher concentrations of M-SAA were found also in samples from mammary quarters without clinical changes and positive CMT. The analyses of Hp and SAA concentrations showed a trend of higher values in cows with clinical mastitis. The lowest mean concentration of albumin we found in cows with clinical signs of mastitis. Our results indicate elevated production of M-SAA in cows with clinical changes on mammary gland, and suggest the usefulness of this indicator also in the diagnosing of sub-clinical mastitis.

  15. Serum amyloid A as a prognostic marker in melanoma identified by proteomic profiling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Findeisen, Peter; Zapatka, Marc; Peccerella, Teresa; Matzk, Heike; Neumaier, Michael; Schadendorf, Dirk; Ugurel, Selma

    2009-05-01

    Currently known prognostic serum biomarkers of melanoma are powerful in metastatic disease, but weak in early-stage patients. This study was aimed to identify new prognostic biomarkers of melanoma by serum mass spectrometry (MS) proteomic profiling, and to validate candidates compared with established markers. Two independent sets of serum samples from 596 melanoma patients were investigated. The first set (stage I = 102; stage IV = 95) was analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption and ionization time of flight (MALDI TOF) MS for biomarkers differentiating between stage I and IV. In the second set (stage I = 98; stage II = 91; stage III = 87; stage IV = 103), the serum concentrations of the candidate marker serum amyloid A (SAA) and the known biomarkers S100B, lactate dehydrogenase, and C reactive protein (CRP) were measured using immunoassays. MALDI TOF MS revealed a peak at m/z 11.680 differentiating between stage I and IV, which could be identified as SAA. High peak intensities at m/z 11.680 correlated with poor survival. In univariate analysis, SAA was a strong prognostic marker in stage I to III (P = .043) and stage IV (P = .000083) patients. Combination of SAA and CRP increased the prognostic impact to P = .011 in early-stage (I to III) patients. Multivariate analysis revealed sex, stage, tumor load, S100B, SAA, and CRP as independent prognostic factors, with an interaction between SAA and CRP. In stage I to III patients, SAA combined with CRP was superior to S100B in predicting patients' progression-free and overall survival. SAA combined with CRP might be used as prognostic serological biomarkers in early-stage melanoma patients, helping to discriminate low-risk patients from high-risk patients needing adjuvant treatment.

  16. Data requirement comparison between the fixed site upgrade rule guidance compendium and the Structured Assessment Approach Licensee Submittal Document

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parziale, A.A.; Sacks, I.J.

    1980-12-01

    We compared the Structured Assessment Approach's (SAA) Licensee Submittal Document (LSD) with the Fixed Site Physical Protection Upgrade Rule Guidance Compendium Standard Format and Content (SFC) Guide using correlation matrices to see how well the data requirements of the SFC Guide coincided with those of a specific automated vulnerability assessment technique for fixed-site nuclear fuel cycle facilities, namely, SAA. We found that a limited SAA assessment is possible using the SFC Guide, but significant and critical safeguards vulnerabilities might be missed. Also, it was found that in some cases the organization and format of the SFC Guide input data and information made the preparation of data for the SAA somewhat awkward. 2 refs., 2 tabs.

  17. Maternal and Cord Blood Levels of Serum Amyloid A, C-Reactive Protein, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, Interleukin -1β, and Interleukin-8 During and After Delivery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciane Marzzullo Cicarelli

    2005-01-01

    after delivery and try to correlate these proteins with tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin -1β, and interleukin-8. Acute-phase proteins and cytokines were measured by ELISA in 24 healthy pregnant women undergoing vaginal delivery or Cesarean section. Cord blood samples in addition to maternal blood were collected. SAA and CRP reached the maximum maternal serum levels 24 hours after delivery, while cytokines remained constant over time. SAA and CRP were significantly higher in maternal serum than in newborn's (P<.001 at the moment of delivery. SAA and CRP, regardless of the type of delivery, reproduce the common pattern observed in most inflammatory conditions. Proinflammatory cytokine serum levels do not mirror the increase in SAA and CRP levels.

  18. Horizontal and vertical combination of multi-tenancy patterns in service-oriented applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mietzner, Ralph; Leymann, Frank; Unger, Tobias

    2011-02-01

    Software as a service (SaaS) providers exploit economies of scale by offering the same instance of an application to multiple customers typically in a single-instance multi-tenant architecture model. Therefore the applications must be scalable, multi-tenant aware and configurable. In this article, we show how the services in a service-oriented SaaS application can be deployed using different multi-tenancy patterns. We describe how services in different multi-tenancy patterns can be composed on the application level. In addition to that, we also describe how these multi-tenancy patterns can be applied to middleware and hardware components. We then show with some real world examples how the different multi-tenancy patterns can be combined.

  19. Post-exercise dynamics of serum amyloid A blood concentration in thoroughbred horses classified as injured and non-injured after the race.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turlo, A; Cywinska, A; Czopowicz, M; Witkowski, L; Szarska, E; Winnicka, A

    2015-06-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate serum amyloid A (SAA) concentration in horses with orthopedic injuries acquired during racing and in healthy ones after completing the race. Injuries of bone and tendon did not cause radical increase in SAA concentration observed in other inflammatory conditions. SAA concentration correlated positively with white blood cell count (WBC) on the 3rd-4th days after race being significantly higher in the injured horses than in the control group in that time. It was suggested that racing effort may cause increase in SAA level, more pronounced in horses manifesting clinical signs of orthopedic injury after the race. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Black Carbon Aging from SOA Coatings and Coagulation with Diesel BC Emissions during SAAS at the PNNL Environmental Chamber

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aiken, A. C.; Liu, S.; Dubey, M. K.; Zaveri, R. A.; Shilling, J. E.; Gourihar, K.; Pekour, M. S.; Subramanian, R.; Zelenyuk, A.; Wilson, J. M.; Mazzoleni, C.; China, S.; Sharma, N.

    2014-12-01

    Black carbon (BC) is considered to be potentially the 2nd most important global warming factor behind CO2 (Bond et al., 2013). Uncertainties exist due to BC morphology and mixing state on the extent of the warming that it causes, e.g. Cappa et al., 2012. Core-shell BC is expected to enhance absorption by up to a factor of 2, but has yet to be observed to this extent from ambient data. Experiments were conducted during the Soot Aerosol Aging Study (SAAS) Laboratory Campaign at Pactific Northwest National Laboratory's Environmental Chamber in the winter of 2013-2014 to investigate the relationship between coatings and enhancements from diesel emissions. Direct on-line measurements were made with the single particle soot photometer (SP2) from fresh and aged BC from coating and coagulation experiments with secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed in the chamber. BC measurements are coupled with photoactoustic measurements spanning the visible region to probe BC enhancements when mixed with SOA. Here we focus on the enhancements at 781 nm, that are tracked throughout SOA growth on BC, as determined from SP2 coating thicknesses. Thermal denuder (TD) experiments are conducted and enhancements are calculated from two different methods that agree well with each other, confirming the observed results. BC measurements are also compared with co-located measurements from SPLAT-II and filter analysis using SEM and TEM. BC coagulated with SOA produces minimal absorption enhancement values, whereas coatings are observed to have significant enhancement values at 300 degrees C, e.g. 1.3 for thickly coated BC. BC particles were coagulated with SOA in the chamber since this morphology has been observed in wildfire emissions (Sedlacek et al., 2012). Since we did not observe appreciable enhancements for the coagulated BC, we expect that ambient emissions dominated by this particle type to have enhancements due to other sources, such as brown carbon (BrC) that is often co-emitted (Saleh et

  1. Architecture Design of Healthcare Software-as-a-Service Platform for Cloud-Based Clinical Decision Support Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Sungyoung; Cha, Jieun; Ji, Myungkyu; Kang, Hyekyung; Kim, Seok; Heo, Eunyoung; Han, Jong Soo; Kang, Hyunggoo; Chae, Hoseok; Hwang, Hee; Yoo, Sooyoung

    2015-04-01

    To design a cloud computing-based Healthcare Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform (HSP) for delivering healthcare information services with low cost, high clinical value, and high usability. We analyzed the architecture requirements of an HSP, including the interface, business services, cloud SaaS, quality attributes, privacy and security, and multi-lingual capacity. For cloud-based SaaS services, we focused on Clinical Decision Service (CDS) content services, basic functional services, and mobile services. Microsoft's Azure cloud computing for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) was used. The functional and software views of an HSP were designed in a layered architecture. External systems can be interfaced with the HSP using SOAP and REST/JSON. The multi-tenancy model of the HSP was designed as a shared database, with a separate schema for each tenant through a single application, although healthcare data can be physically located on a cloud or in a hospital, depending on regulations. The CDS services were categorized into rule-based services for medications, alert registration services, and knowledge services. We expect that cloud-based HSPs will allow small and mid-sized hospitals, in addition to large-sized hospitals, to adopt information infrastructures and health information technology with low system operation and maintenance costs.

  2. Serum amyloid A in the diagnosis of feline sepsis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Troìa, Roberta; Gruarin, Marta; Foglia, Armando; Agnoli, Chiara; Dondi, Francesco; Giunti, Massimo

    2017-11-01

    Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis can be challenging to diagnose in cats. Retrospectively, we investigated the diagnostic and prognostic potential of serum amyloid A (SAA), a major feline acute-phase protein (APP), in a population of critically ill cats with SIRS related to trauma or sepsis. A total of 56 SIRS cats (trauma n = 27; sepsis n = 29) were included and compared with healthy controls ( n = 18). SAA concentration was significantly increased in SIRS cats compared to controls, confirming its potential for the detection of systemic inflammation in this species. Significantly higher values of SAA were detected in cats belonging to the sepsis group; however, according to the results of the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the value of using SAA (>81 mg/L) to discriminate septic cats was only moderate (AUC = 0.76). Additionally, cats with sepsis had significantly higher serum bilirubin concentrations and toxic neutrophil changes compared to the trauma group. Overall, 38 of 56 cats were survivors; 18 of 56 were non-survivors, with 83% of the non-survivors (15 of 18) belonging to the sepsis group. Serum bilirubin concentration, but not SAA, was able to predict outcome. Prospective studies are needed to assess the potential of SAA in the diagnosis of feline sepsis and outcome prediction.

  3. SAAs: The Adviser's View.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todd, Barbara Tipsord

    1992-01-01

    The administration's adviser to the Illinois State University Student Alumni Council examines the benefits of student participation in alumni affairs, outlines some considerations in the creation and development of a new student alumni program, and suggests program possibilities for different constituencies, including alumni, students, future…

  4. SAAs: The Student's View.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, Beth

    1992-01-01

    A student member of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's student alumni association discusses numerous advantages of student participation with alumni, including contacts with campus officials, friendships, valuable networking opportunities, job-hunting assistance, and a sense of loyalty; the characteristics of good student members; and factors in…

  5. Donor Telomere Length SAA

    Science.gov (United States)

    A new NCI study has found that, among patients with severe aplastic anemia who received a hematopoietic cell transplant from an unrelated donor, those whose donor white blood cells had longer telomeres had higher survival rates five-years after transplant

  6. 77 FR 25861 - Establishing Principles of Excellence for Educational Institutions Serving Service Members...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-02

    ... State Approving Agencies (SAAs) that work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to review participating institutions, provide a coordinated mechanism across SAAs to alert the Department of Veterans...

  7. 76 FR 8851 - Manufactured Housing: Notification, Correction, and Procedural Regulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-15

    ... define the term. Further, HUD's proposed rule provides additional, not less, authority to SAAs to... the procedures to be followed by manufacturers, retailers, and distributors, SAAs, primary inspection...

  8. 75 FR 56663 - Agency Information Collection (Quarterly Report of State Approving Agency Activities); Activity...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-16

    ... a currently approved collection. Abstract: VA reimburses State Approving Agencies (SAAs) for expenses incurred in the approval and supervision of education and training programs. SAAs are required to...

  9. Treatment of splenic artery aneurysm with double overlapping bare stents: case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwak, Hyo Sung; Han, Young Min; Jin, Gong Yong

    2004-01-01

    The traditional treatment of splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is generally surgery and/or transcatheter arterial embolization, but recently, the treatment of SAA using a stent graft has been reported. However, the acute angle of the celiac axis, as well as the tortuous path of the splenic artery makes the use of stent graft difficult for treatment of aneurysma. We report here a case of SAA treated with the technique of double overlapping metallic stents

  10. The Department of Defense and the Power of Cloud Computing: Weighing Acceptable Cost Versus Acceptable Risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-01

    of control 8 2 PAAS component stack and scope of control 9 3 SAAS component stack and scope of control 10 vii Foreword It is my great pleasure to...service (PAAS), or software as a service ( SAAS ). Regardless of the model or service selected, the process of implementing a cloud-computing environment... SAAS . To- gether, these build on each other, providing more service to the customer while limiting customers’ abilities to operate, maintain, and

  11. A Sulfur Amino Acid–Free Meal Increases Plasma Lipids in Humans123

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Youngja; Le, Ngoc-Anh; Yu, Tianwei; Strobel, Fred; Gletsu-Miller, Nana; Accardi, Carolyn J.; Lee, Kichun S.; Wu, Shaoxiong; Ziegler, Thomas R.; Jones, Dean P.

    2011-01-01

    The content of sulfur amino acid (SAA) in a meal affects postprandial plasma cysteine concentrations and the redox potential of cysteine/cystine. Because such changes can affect enzyme, transporter, and receptor activities, meal content of SAA could have unrecognized effects on metabolism during the postprandial period. This pilot study used proton NMR (1H-NMR) spectroscopy of human plasma to test the hypothesis that dietary SAA content changes macronutrient metabolism. Healthy participants (...

  12. Seizure-associated aphasia has good lateralizing but poor localizing significance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loesch, Anna Mira; Steger, Hannah; Losher, Claudia; Hartl, Elisabeth; Rémi, Jan; Vollmar, Christian; Noachtar, Soheyl

    2017-09-01

    To investigate the occurrence of ictal and postictal aphasia in different focal epilepsy syndromes. We retrospectively analyzed the video-electroencephalographic monitoring data of 1,118 patients with focal epilepsy for seizure-associated aphasia (SAA). Statistical analysis included chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test. We identified 102 of 1,118 patients (9.1%) in whom ictal or postictal aphasia (SAA) was part of their recorded seizures (n = 59 of 102; 57.8%) or who reported aphasia by history (n = 43; 42.2% only reported aphasia by history). Postictal aphasia was present in 18 patients (30.5%). Six of the 59 patients had both ictal and postictal aphasia (10.2%). SAA occurred either with left hemisphere seizure onset or with seizures spreading from the right to the left hemisphere. SAA was most common in patients with parieto-occipital epilepsy (10.9%; five of 46 patients), followed by patients with temporal (6.7%; 28 of 420 patients), focal (not further localized; 4.8%; 22 of 462 patients), and frontal epilepsy (2.1%; four of 190 patients; p = 0.04). SAA was more common in parieto-occipital epilepsy than in frontal epilepsy (p = 0.02). In contrast, there was no significant difference in SAA between temporal and parieto-occipital epilepsy (p = 0.36). SAA has a high lateralizing but limited localizing value, as it often reflects spread of epileptic activity into speech-harboring brain regions. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International League Against Epilepsy.

  13. Serum Amyloid A Protein Concentration in Blood is Influenced by Genetic Differences in the Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franklin, Ashley D; Schmidt-Küntzel, Anne; Terio, Karen A; Marker, Laurie L; Crosier, Adrienne E

    2016-03-01

    Systemic amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among captive cheetahs. The self-aggregating AA protein responsible for this disease is a byproduct of serum amyloid A (SAA) protein degradation. Transcriptional induction of the SAA1 gene is dependent on both C/EBPβ and NF-κB cis-acting elements within the promoter region. In cheetahs, 2 alleles exist for a single guanine nucleotide deletion in the putative NF-κB binding site. In this study, a novel genotyping assay was developed to screen for the alleles. The results show that the SAA1A (-97delG) allele is associated with decreased SAA protein concentrations in the serum of captive cheetahs (n = 58), suggesting genetic differences at this locus may be affecting AA amyloidosis prevalence. However, there was no significant difference in the frequency of the SAA1A (-97delG) allele between individuals confirmed AA amyloidosis positive versus AA amyloidosis negative at the time of necropsy (n = 48). Thus, even though there is evidence that having more copies of the SAA1A (-97delG) allele results in a potentially protective decrease in serum concentrations of SAA protein in captive cheetahs, genotype is not associated with this disease within the North American population. These results suggest that other factors are playing a more significant role in the pathogenesis of AA amyloidosis among captive cheetahs. © The American Genetic Association 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Estimating surface pCO2 in the northern Gulf of Mexico: Which remote sensing model to use?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shuangling; Hu, Chuanmin; Cai, Wei-Jun; Yang, Bo

    2017-12-01

    Various approaches and models have been proposed to remotely estimate surface pCO2 in the ocean, with variable performance as they were designed for different environments. Among these, a recently developed mechanistic semi-analytical approach (MeSAA) has shown its advantage for its explicit inclusion of physical and biological forcing in the model, yet its general applicability is unknown. Here, with extensive in situ measurements of surface pCO2, the MeSAA, originally developed for the summertime East China Sea, was tested in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) where river plumes dominate water's biogeochemical properties during summer. Specifically, the MeSAA-predicted surface pCO2 was estimated by combining the dominating effects of thermodynamics, river-ocean mixing and biological activities on surface pCO2. Firstly, effects of thermodynamics and river-ocean mixing (pCO2@Hmixing) were estimated with a two-endmember mixing model, assuming conservative mixing. Secondly, pCO2 variations caused by biological activities (ΔpCO2@bio) was determined through an empirical relationship between sea surface temperature (SST)-normalized pCO2 and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) 8-day composite chlorophyll concentration (CHL). The MeSAA-modeled pCO2 (sum of pCO2@Hmixing and ΔpCO2@bio) was compared with the field-measured pCO2. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was 22.94 μatm (5.91%), with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.25, mean bias (MB) of - 0.23 μatm and mean ratio (MR) of 1.001, for pCO2 ranging between 316 and 452 μatm. To improve the model performance, a locally tuned MeSAA was developed through the use of a locally tuned ΔpCO2@bio term. A multi-variate empirical regression model was also developed using the same dataset. Both the locally tuned MeSAA and the regression models showed improved performance comparing to the original MeSAA, with R2 of 0.78 and 0.84, RMSE of 12.36 μatm (3.14%) and 10.66 μatm (2.68%), MB of 0.00 μatm and - 0

  15. Irradiation in industrial waste treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perkowski, J. (Politechnika Lodzka (Poland). Katedra Chemii Radiacyjnej); Kos, L.; Rouba, J. (Research and Development Centre of the Knitting Industry, Lodz (Poland))

    1984-09-01

    In this paper, the treatment by irradiation of some surface active agents (SAA) contained in aqueous solutions and industrial wastes, has been shown. Studies were carried out on selected SAA, namely Rokafenol N-6 and Pretepon G-extra, representatives of nonionic and anionic SAA, respectively. The aqueous solutions of these compounds were irradiated in radiation chamber, at the Institute of Applied Radiation Chemistry, in Lodz Polytechnic. Co/sup 60/ was used as a source of radiation. The kinetics and degree of destruction of these compounds at the doses ranging from 2 kGy to 110 kGy were investigated. The study was extended to attempts to remove SAA from textile effluents. Reduction of other parameters of contamination, including measurements of toxicity, were also evaluated.

  16. Pulmonary response to surface‐coated nanotitanium dioxide particles includes induction of acute phase response genes, inflammatory cascades, and changes in microRNAs: A toxicogenomic study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halappanavar, Sabina; Jackson, Petra; Williams, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    with acute phase, inflammation and immune response 5 days post exposure with concomitant changes in several miRNAs. The role of these miRNAs in pulmonary response to inhaled particles is unknown and warrants further research. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc....... in increased levels of mRNA for acute phase markers serum amyloid A‐1 (Saa1) and serum amyloid A‐3 (Saa3), several C‐X‐C and C‐C motif chemokines, and cytokine tumor necrosis factor genes. Protein analysis of Saa1 and 3 showed selective upregulation of Saa3 in lung tissues. Sixteen miRNAs were induced by more...... than 1.2‐fold (adjusted P‐value changes in the expression of genes associated...

  17. Effect of chronic training on heart rate variability, salivary IgA and salivary alpha-amylase in elite swimmers with a disability.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rohan Edmonds

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to a determine the heart rate variability (HRV and saliva markers of immunity (salivary immunoglobulin A; sIgA and stress (salivary alpha-amylase; sAA responses to chronic training in elite swimmers with a disability; and b identify the relationships between HRV, sIgA, sAA and training volume. Eight members of a high performance Paralympic swimming program were monitored for their weekly resting HRV, sIgA and sAA levels in the 14 weeks leading up to a major international competition. The 14 week training program included aerobic, anaerobic, power and speed, and taper training phases, while also incorporating two swimming step tests and two swimming competitions. Specific time (root mean square of the successive differences; RMSSD and frequency (high frequency normalized units [HFnu] domain measures, along with non-linear indices (standard deviation of instantaneous RR variability; SD1 and short term fractal scaling exponent; α1 of HRV were used for all analyses with effects examined using magnitude-based inferences. Relationships between HRV and saliva markers were identified by Spearman rank rho (ρ correlation coefficients. Compared with week 1, SD1 was very likely lower (96/4/0, ES = -2.21, while sAA was very likely elevated (100/0/0, ES = 2.32 at the beginning of week 7 for all athletes. The training program did not alter HRV or saliva whereas competition did. There were also no apparent differences observed for HRV, sIgA and sAA between each of the training phases during the 14 week swimming program. Correlations were observed between sAA and SD1 (ρ = -0.212, p<0.05, along with sAA and mean HR (ρ = 0.309, p<0.05. These results show that high level national competition influences depresses HRV (SD1 and increases saliva biomarkers of stress (sAA. It appears that a well-managed and periodised swimming program can maintain these indices within normal baseline levels. The study also highlighted the

  18. A Reference Software Architecture to Support Unmanned Aircraft Integration in the National Airspace System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-01

    and Avoid ( SAA ) testbed that provides some of the core services . This paper describes the general architecture and a SAA testbed implementation that...that provides data and software services to enable a set of Unmanned Aircraft (UA) platforms to operate in a wide range of air domains which may...implemented by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the form of a Sense and Avoid ( SAA ) testbed that provides some of the core services . This paper describes the general

  19. Search for GLAST gamma ray burst triggers due to particle precipitation in the South Atlantic Anomaly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Augusto, C. R. A.; Navia, C. E.; Tsui, K. H.

    2008-01-01

    When GLAST is in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), the rate of charged particles is too high to be efficiently filtered out. Moreover the high rate can cause saturation effects in the readout electronics and the sensors must be turned off. The SAA area relative to the total area of GLAST's orbit is approximately 12.5% and GLAST spends 18% of the time in it. In spite of these cares, we show in this work that, due to drift processes, particle precipitation can still trigger GLAST when it is close to the SAA region. Here, we report two GLAST gamma ray burst monitor (GBM) triggers, trigger 239895229 and trigger 239913100, on August, 08, 2008 whose characteristics are similar to the ones observed in the Swift-BAT noise triggers (due to particle precipitation in the SAA region). Both GLAST triggers happened during a plentiful particle precipitation in the SAA region, observed by Tupi telescopes at the ground with their trigger coordinates close to the field of view of the telescopes. Details of these results are reported.

  20. Determination of the optimum standardised ileal digestible sulphur amino acids to lysine ratio in weaned pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Capozzalo, M. M.; Resink, J. W.; Htoo, J. K.

    2017-01-01

    This experiment tested the hypothesis that pigs challenged with an enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (ETEC) would require a higher sulphur amino acids (SAA) to Lys ratio (SAA:Lys). Pigs (n = 120) weighing 7.4 ± 0.52 kg (mean ± SD) and weaned at 27 d (Pietrain genotype, mixed sex) were stratified...... into 1 of 6 treatments based on weaning weight, sex and genotype for the F4 fimbria receptor (n = 20). Five diets were formulated with increasing ratios of standardised ileal digestible (SID) sulphurSAA:Lys. Pigs were housed in pens of 4 during an adaptation period of 6 d after which time pigs were...... housed individually. Pigs fed different SID SAA:Lys levels were infected with ETEC (5 mL, 1.13 × 108 CFU/mL, serotype O149:K91:K88) on d 8, 9, and 10 after weaning. The sixth diet, which contained 0.55 SID SAA:Lys and corresponded to current NRC recommendations, was allocated to 2 groups of pigs either...

  1. Blueprinting Approach in Support of Cloud Computing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willem-Jan van den Heuvel

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Current cloud service offerings, i.e., Software-as-a-service (SaaS, Platform-as-a-service (PaaS and Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS offerings are often provided as monolithic, one-size-fits-all solutions and give little or no room for customization. This limits the ability of Service-based Application (SBA developers to configure and syndicate offerings from multiple SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS providers to address their application requirements. Furthermore, combining different independent cloud services necessitates a uniform description format that facilitates the design, customization, and composition. Cloud Blueprinting is a novel approach that allows SBA developers to easily design, configure and deploy virtual SBA payloads on virtual machines and resource pools on the cloud. We propose the Blueprint concept as a uniform abstract description for cloud service offerings that may cross different cloud computing layers, i.e., SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. To support developers with the SBA design and development in the cloud, this paper introduces a formal Blueprint Template for unambiguously describing a blueprint, as well as a Blueprint Lifecycle that guides developers through the manipulation, composition and deployment of different blueprints for an SBA. Finally, the empirical evaluation of the blueprinting approach within an EC’s FP7 project is reported and an associated blueprint prototype implementation is presented.

  2. DEXA measures of body fat percentage and acute phase proteins among breast cancer survivors: a Cross-Sectional Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dee Anne

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background C-reactive protein (CRP and Serum amyloid A protein (SAA increases with systemic inflammation and are related to worse survival for breast cancer survivors. This study examines the association between percent body fat and SAA and CRP and the potential interaction with NSAID use and weight change. Methods Participants included 134 non-Hispanic white and Hispanic breast cancer survivors from the Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle Study. Body fat percentage, measured with Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometer (DEXA, and circulating levels of CRP and SAA were obtained 30 months after breast cancer diagnosis. Results Circulating concentrations of CRP and SAA were associated with increased adiposity as measured by DEXA after adjustment for age at 24-months, race/ethnicity, dietary energy intake, weight change, and NSAID use. Survivors with higher body fat ≥35% had significantly higher concentrations of CRP (2.01 mg/l vs. 0.85 mg/l and SAA (6.21 mg/l vs. 4.21 mg/l compared to non-obese (body fat  Conclusions Breast cancer survivors with higher body fat had higher mean concentrations of CRP and SAA than women with lower body fat. Further assessment of NSAID use and weight control in reducing circulating inflammatory markers among survivors may be worthwhile to investigate in randomized intervention trials as higher inflammatory markers are associated with worse survival.

  3. Study on the mechanism and efficiency of simulated annealing using an LP optimization benchmark problem - 113

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qianqian, Li; Xiaofeng, Jiang; Shaohong, Zhang

    2010-01-01

    Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA) for solving combinatorial optimization problems is a popular method for loading pattern optimization. The main purpose of this paper is to understand the underlying search mechanism of SAA and to study its efficiency. In this study, a general SAA that employs random pair exchange of fuel assemblies to search for the optimum fuel Loading Pattern (LP) is applied to an exhaustively searched LP optimization benchmark problem. All the possible LPs of the benchmark problem have been enumerated and evaluated via the use of the very fast and accurate Hybrid Harmonics and Linear Perturbation (HHLP) method, such that the mechanism of SA for LP optimization can be explicitly analyzed and its search efficiency evaluated. The generic core geometry itself dictates that only a small number LPs can be generated by performing random single pair exchanges and that the LPs are necessarily mostly similar to the initial LP. This phase space effect turns out to be the basic mechanism in SAA that can explain its efficiency and good local search ability. A measure of search efficiency is introduced which shows that the stochastic nature of SAA greatly influences the variability of its search efficiency. It is also found that using fuel assembly k-infinity distribution as a technique to filter the LPs can significantly enhance the SAA search efficiency. (authors)

  4. ATP binding cassette G1-dependent cholesterol efflux during inflammation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Beer, Maria C; Ji, Ailing; Jahangiri, Anisa; Vaughan, Ashley M; de Beer, Frederick C; van der Westhuyzen, Deneys R; Webb, Nancy R

    2011-02-01

    ATP binding cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1) mediates the transport of cellular cholesterol to HDL, and it plays a key role in maintaining macrophage cholesterol homeostasis. During inflammation, HDL undergoes substantial remodeling, acquiring lipid changes and serum amyloid A (SAA) as a major apolipoprotein. In the current study, we investigated whether remodeling of HDL that occurs during acute inflammation impacts ABCG1-dependent efflux. Our data indicate that lipid free SAA acts similarly to apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) in mediating sequential efflux from ABCA1 and ABCG1. Compared with normal mouse HDL, acute phase (AP) mouse HDL containing SAA exhibited a modest but significant 17% increase in ABCG1-dependent efflux. Interestingly, AP HDL isolated from mice lacking SAA (SAAKO mice) was even more effective in promoting ABCG1 efflux. Hydrolysis with Group IIA secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)-IIA) significantly reduced the ability of AP HDL from SAAKO mice to serve as a substrate for ABCG1-mediated cholesterol transfer, indicating that phospholipid (PL) enrichment, and not the presence of SAA, is responsible for alterations in efflux. AP human HDL, which is not PL-enriched, was somewhat less effective in mediating ABCG1-dependent efflux compared with normal human HDL. Our data indicate that inflammatory remodeling of HDL impacts ABCG1-dependent efflux independent of SAA.

  5. Architecture Design of Healthcare Software-as-a-Service Platform for Cloud-Based Clinical Decision Support Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Sungyoung; Cha, Jieun; Ji, Myungkyu; Kang, Hyekyung; Kim, Seok; Heo, Eunyoung; Han, Jong Soo; Kang, Hyunggoo; Chae, Hoseok; Hwang, Hee

    2015-01-01

    Objectives To design a cloud computing-based Healthcare Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform (HSP) for delivering healthcare information services with low cost, high clinical value, and high usability. Methods We analyzed the architecture requirements of an HSP, including the interface, business services, cloud SaaS, quality attributes, privacy and security, and multi-lingual capacity. For cloud-based SaaS services, we focused on Clinical Decision Service (CDS) content services, basic functional services, and mobile services. Microsoft's Azure cloud computing for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) was used. Results The functional and software views of an HSP were designed in a layered architecture. External systems can be interfaced with the HSP using SOAP and REST/JSON. The multi-tenancy model of the HSP was designed as a shared database, with a separate schema for each tenant through a single application, although healthcare data can be physically located on a cloud or in a hospital, depending on regulations. The CDS services were categorized into rule-based services for medications, alert registration services, and knowledge services. Conclusions We expect that cloud-based HSPs will allow small and mid-sized hospitals, in addition to large-sized hospitals, to adopt information infrastructures and health information technology with low system operation and maintenance costs. PMID:25995962

  6. C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A levels in discriminating malignant from non-malignant pleural effusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hala Mohamed Shalaby Samaha

    2015-10-01

    Conclusion: Measurement of SAA and CRP levels in pleural fluid has good diagnostic utility in differentiation between malignant and non-malignant pleural effusion and pleural SAA has a better diagnostic performance than CRP.

  7. Analysis of South Atlantic Anomaly perturbations on Sentinel-3A Ultra Stable Oscillator. Impact on DORIS phase measurement and DORIS station positioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jalabert, Eva; Mercier, Flavien

    2018-07-01

    DORIS measurements rely on the precise knowledge of the embedded oscillator which is called the Ultra Stable Oscillator (DORIS USO). The important radiations in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) perturb the USO behavior by causing rapid frequency variations when the satellite is flying through the SAA. These variations are not taken into account in standard DORIS processing, since the USO is modelled as a third degree polynomial over 7-10 days. Therefore, there are systematic measurements errors when the satellite passes through SAA. In standard GNSS processing, the clock is directly estimated at each epoch. On Sentinel-3A, the GPS receiver and the DORIS receiver use the same USO. It is thus possible to estimate the behavior of the USO using GPS measurements. This estimated USO behavior can be used in the DORIS processing, instead of the third degree polynomial, hence allowing an estimation of the orbit sensitivity to these USO anomalies. This study shows two main results. First, the SAA effect on the DORIS USO is observed well using GPS measurements. Second, the USO behavior observed with GPS can be used to mitigate the SAA effect. Indeed, when used in Sentinel-3A processing, the resulting DORIS orbit shows improved phase measurements and station positioning for stations inside the SAA (Arequipa and Cachoeira). The phase measurements residuals are improved by up to 10 cm, and station vertical positioning (i.e. on the estimated Up component in the North-East-Up station frame) is improved by up to a few centimeters. However, the orbit itself is not sensitive to the correction because only two stations (out of almost 60) are SAA-sensitive on Sentinel-3A.

  8. Recent Insights into the Pathogenesis of Type AA Amyloidosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. C. H. van der Hilst

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The amyloidoses are a group of life-threatening diseases in which fibrils made of misfolded proteins are deposited in organs and tissues. The fibrils are stable, insoluble aggregates of precursor proteins that have adopted an antiparallel β-sheet structure. In type AA, or reactive, amyloidosis, the precursor protein of the fibrils is serum amyloid A (SAA. SAA is a 104-amino-acid protein that is produced in the liver in response to proinflammatory cytokines. Although the protein that is produced by the liver contains 104 amino acids, only the N-terminal 66–76 amino acids are found in amyloid fibrils. Furthermore, SAA has been shown to have an α-helical structure primarily. Thus, for SAA to be incorporated into an amyloid fibril, two processes have to occur: C-terminal cleavage and conversion into a β-sheet. Only a minority of patients with elevated SAA levels develop amyloidosis. Factors that contribute to the risk of amyloidosis include the duration and degree of SAA elevation, polymorphisms in SAA, and the type of autoinflammatory syndrome. In the Hyper-IgD syndrome, amyloidosis is less prevalent than in the other autoinflammatory diseases. In vitro work has shown that the isoprenoid pathway influences amyloidogenesis by farnesylated proteins. Although many proteins contain domains that have a potential for self-aggregation, amyloidosis is only a very rare event. Heat shock proteins (HSPs are chaperones that assist other proteins to attain, maintain, and regain a functional conformation. In this review, recent insights into the pathogenesis of amyloidosis are discussed, in addition to a new hypothesis for a role of HSPs in the pathogenesis of type AA.

  9. Monitoring the South Atlantic Anomaly Using ATSR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casadio, Stefano; Arino, Olivier; Serpe, Danilo

    2010-12-01

    Space mission planning needs to quantify the risks arising from exposure to high doses of radiation, as to both the effects on human health and the impact on instrumental efficiency. Constant monitoring of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is therefore required as it is a major cause of radiation flux increase. In order to address this need, the time evolution of the particle induced noise of the SWIR channels of the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) instrument series is analysed in the 1991-2009 time window. The data considered in this work are the night-time SWIR hot spots generated by energetic particles hitting the ATSR detectors when satellites pass through the SAA region. To avoid misinterpretation of results, hot spots due to wildfires (individuated from the ATSR World Fire Atlas products) have been removed. The location and area of the SAA are inferred by fitting a two-dimensional, elliptical Gaussian equation to the SWIR (1.6 μm) night- time hot spots detected over the SAA region. The location of the SAA is found to drift westwards with an average drift rate of about 0.35 deg/yr and northward with an average drift rate of about 0.12 deg/yr. These results are in very good agreement with latest works. Irregularities are found where the speed of the drift changes and the SAA moves eastward and southward, especially in the late 1991 and 2002-2003 time windows. These drift anomalies are attributed to geomagnetic jerks. Results indicate that, as expected, the strength and the area of the SAA are anti-correlated with the sun-spot numbers (SSN) and the 11.7 cm Solar Flux (SF).

  10. Supplementation with Silk Amino Acids improves physiological parameters defining stamina in elite fin-swimmers

    OpenAIRE

    Zubrzycki, Igor Z; Ossowski, Zbigniew; Przybylski, Stanislaw; Wiacek, Magdalena; Clarke, Anna; Trabka, Bartosz

    2014-01-01

    Background Previous animal study has shown that supplementation with silk amino acid hydrolysate (SAA) increases stamina in mice. The presented study was the first formal evaluation of the influence of SAA supplementation on parameters defining physiological fitness level in humans. Methods It was a randomized controlled trial with a parallel-group design on elite male fin-swimmers. The experimental group was supplemented with 500 mg of SAA per kg of body mass, dissolved in 250 ml of a Carbor...

  11. Endovascular treatment of ruptured splenic artery aneurysm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjerring, Ole Steen

    2008-01-01

    Splenic artery aneurysms (SAA) are traditionally treated surgically, but endovascular techniques are becoming increasingly popular. A 64 year-old male with chest pain and low blood pressure was admitted under suspicion of AMI. A CT scan showed a 56 mm SAA with signs of rupture. The patient...... was treated with endovascular embolisation of the SAA with coils. Blood pressure and haemoglobin levels were stabilized and the patient was discharged. In the case of rupture the treatment of choice seems to be endovascular....

  12. Kinetics of human serum amyloid A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosenthal, C.J.; Martin, M.E.; Solomon, N.

    1986-01-01

    In order to better understand the pathogenetic role of serum amyloid A (SAA) we studied the kinetics of 131 I radiolabelled pure SAA, extracted from 400 ml serum of a human volunteer. 50 microCi of 131 I SAA and 15 microCi 125 I labelled sodium iodide were administered i.v. on two occasions at 6 month intervals. Serum and plasma samples were collected at 10-20 min intervals x 10, then once daily x 10; lymphocytes were separated from monocytes and granulocytes. Counts per minute of 131 I and 125 I were measured in each sample in the serum, in serum precipitates resulting after addition of a rabbit anti-SAA antibody and of TCA and in various cell subpopulations as well as in the whole urine and TCA precipitated urine from each micturition. The 131 I disappearance curves from the plasma and serum precipitates were semilogarithmically plotted; cumulative 131 I cpm in plasma, cells and urine at various intervals were determined. Body scanning was performed at 2, 16, and 48 h. The results of the two experiments were very similar. The curve of 131 I SAA in plasma TCA precipitates indicated the existence of 4 compartments likely due to uptake of 131 I SAA by some plasma proteins, circulating cells and other tissues; later release from tissues started at 6 h. The 131 I SAA half-life time in these compartments was found to be 35, 170, 255, and 550 min, respectively. Tissue binding of 131 I was also suggested by a rising of the 125 I: 131 I ratio with time and by a 26% release of 131 I in the urine at 15 h which could not account for its plasma disappearance. Scanning, except for 131 I uptake in the spleen at 2 h likely due to blood activity, showed no organ concentration. 92% of the injected 131 I was found in the urine but only 6.2% of 131 I SAA was accounted for in urine precicipitates

  13. DSaaS: A cloud service for persistent data structures

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Le Roux, PB

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available 2CSIR/SU Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research pierrebleroux@gmail.com, kroon@sun.ac.za, whkbester@cs.sun.ac.za Keywords: DaaS, SaaS, Cloud Computing, Persistent Data Structure, Version...

  14. Serum amyloid A and C-reactive protein combined determination for diagnosis of bacterial infection in neonates%血清淀粉样蛋白A与C反应蛋白联合检测在新生儿细菌感染诊断中的应用

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    沈伟虹; 岳朝艳; 孙振东; 应春妹

    2016-01-01

    目的:研究血清淀粉样蛋白 A(SAA)和 C 反应蛋白(CRP)以及白细胞总数在新生儿细菌感染诊断中的应用价值。方法分别检测80例细菌感染新生儿及58名体检正常的新生儿(非感染组)SAA、CRP 和白细胞总数并做比较。结果新生儿细菌感染组 SAA 与 CRP 水平分别为(67.3±38.4)、(19.2±11.2)mg/L,明显高于非感染组[(8.7±2.1)、(5.6±2.5)mg/L](P15.00×109/L,明显高于非感染组[24例(41%)]。结论 SAA 和 CRP 可作为新生儿细菌感染诊断的重要指标,SAA 较 CRP 更为敏感,SAA 与 CRP 的联合检测能够提高新生儿细菌感染的检出率,为疾病的早期诊断和监测提供实验依据。%Objective To study the significance of serum amyloid A(SAA),C-reactive protein(CRP)and white blood cell count determinations for diagnosis of bacterial infection in neonates. Methods SAA,CRP and white blood cell count were determined in 80 neonates with bacterial infection and 58 healthy neonates(non-bacterial infection group),and the results were analyzed. Results The concentrations of SAA and CRP in infection group [(67.3±38.4)and(19.2±11.2) mg/L] were significantly higher than those in non-bacterial infection group [(8.7±2.1)and(5.6±2.5)mg/L](P15.00×109/L in 64 neonates of 80 cases of infection group(80%),which was higher than that in non-bacterial infection group [24 cases(41%)]. Conclusions SAA and CRP could be used as important markers for monitoring bacterial infection in neonates,and SAA is more sensitive than CRP. The combined determination of SAA and CRP could improve the determination rate of bacterial infection,which provides an experimental reference for early diagnosis and monitoring of bacterial infection.

  15. Ascension and Port Stanley geomagnetic observatories and monitoring the South Atlantic Anomaly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Macmillan, S.; Turbitt, C.; Thomson, A.

    2009-01-01

    Our 15-year experience of operating two remote observatories, Ascension and Port Stanley, in the south Atlantic is described. These observatories help monitor the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), a region of weak magnetic field which causes considerable problems for spacecraft operators. One-minute and one-second values from these observatories, and other observatories both inside and outside the SAA, are analysed. We investigate whether the SAA, and its growth over time, are having any tangible effect on the observed external field variations. Whilst only able to illustrate the long-term characteristics of the irregular external field related to the solar cycle and not due to any long-term changes in the internal field, we do isolate micro pulsation signals at sites inside the SAA which contain more power than at sites outside.

  16. 76 FR 20553 - Changes in Flood Elevation Determinations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-13

    ... 170480 (10-05-2793P). 30, 2010, The Saas, Mayor, Village of Northwest Herald. Huntley, 10987 Main Street... 170480 (10-05-2799P). 23, 2010, The Saas, Mayor, Village of Northwest Herald. Huntley, 10987 Main Street...

  17. State Arts Agencies 1965-2003. Whose Interests to Serve?

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Lowell, Julia

    2004-01-01

    ... (referred to as state arts agencies, or SAAs). In fiscal year (FY) 2003, a record 43 of 56 SAAs reported year-over-year declines in the general fund appropriations budgeted to them by their state legislatures...

  18. Defense Logistics: Enhanced Policy and Procedures Needed to Improve Management of Sensitive Conventional Ammunition

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-02-01

    Information System-Retail OIS-MC Ordnance Information System-Marine Corps SAAS -MOD Standard Army Ammunition System-Modernization SRC Security Risk...automated information systems. For the Army we used LMP, SAAS , and WARS-NT; for the Navy and Marine Corps we used OIS-W, OIS-R, and OIS-MC; and for the Air...Army we used LMP, SAAS , and WARS-NT; for the Navy and Marine Corps we used OIS-W, OIS-R, and OIS-MC; and for the Air Force we used CAS. Military

  19. Salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol responsiveness following electrical stimulation stress in major depressive disorder patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Yoshihiro; Ishitobi, Yoshinobu; Maruyama, Yoshihiro; Kawano, Aimi; Ando, Tomoko; Okamoto, Shizuko; Kanehisa, Masayuki; Higuma, Haruka; Ninomiya, Taiga; Tsuru, Jusen; Hanada, Hiroaki; Kodama, Kensuke; Isogawa, Koichi; Akiyoshi, Jotaro

    2012-03-30

    Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis by chronic stress. In comparison, psychosocial stress-induced activation of salivary α-amylase (sAA) functions as a marker of sympathoadrenal medullary system (SAM) activity. However, in contrast to salivary cortisol, sAA has been less extensively studied in MDD patients. The present study measured sAA and salivary cortisol levels in patients with MDD. The authors determined Profile of Mood State (POMS) and State-Trait anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and sAA and salivary cortisol levels in 88 patients with MDD and 41 healthy volunteers following the application of electrical stimulation stress. Patients with major depressive disorder were 8 points or more on Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) scores. Tension-Anxiety, Depression-Dejection, Anger-Hostility, Fatigue, and Confusion scores in patients with major depressive disorder were significantly increased compared to healthy controls. In contrast, Vigor scores in patients with MDD were significantly decreased compared with healthy controls. There was no difference in heart rate variability measures between MDD patients and healthy controls. The threshold of electrical stimulation applied in MDD patients was lower than that in healthy controls. SAA levels in female MDD patients were significantly elevated relative to controls both before and after electrical stimulation. Finally, there were no differences in salivary cortisol levels between major depressive patients and controls. In the present study only three time points were explored. Furthermore, the increased secretion of sAA before and after stimulation could allude to an increased responsiveness of novel and uncontrollable situations in patients with MDD. These preliminary results suggest that sAA might be a useful biological marker of MDD. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Expression of the protein serum amyloid A in response to Aspergillus fumigatus in murine models of allergic airway inflammation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, Gabriel; Carcamo, Carolina; Concha, Margarita; Folch, Hugo

    2015-01-01

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an acute phase protein that is elevated in blood during inflammation. The role of this protein in allergic diseases of airways remains unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the SAA in blood, lung and bronchial cells in a murine model of bronchial hypersensitivity to Aspergillus fumigatus. To achieve this purpose, different groups of 5-month-old mice were housed in cages containing hay bedding that was contaminated with A. fumigatus and were kept in an isolation room for 16 days to allow for the induction of allergic airway inflammation. Subsequently, the mice were then exposed once again to Aspergillus spores at 0, 2, 8, 24 and 72 h, and they were bled to acquire serum and sacrificed to obtain bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) or lung tissues for analysis. SAA levels were measured in lung, serum and BALF by dot blot assay and RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction). The results indicated that SAA protein levels increased in both serum and lung within 2-24h after mice were exposed to Aspergillus spores. Moreover, the SAA mRNA expression levels in the lungs and BALF cells demonstrated the same trend that was observed for the protein levels through the dot blot assay; in particular, SAA mRNA levels increased within the first hour after mice were exposed to A. fumigatus. In this allergic airway model, we conclude that A. fumigatus can induce an acute inflammatory response in the airways through the stimulation of the SAA protein, increasing its levels in serum, lung tissue and BALF samples during the early hours of exposure of mice that have been sensitised for this fungus. Copyright © 2012 Revista Iberoamericana de Micología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  1. Comparison of plate-cage construct and stand-alone anchored spacer in the surgical treatment of three-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a preliminary clinical study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Sheng; Liu, Zu-De; Li, Xin-Feng; Qian, Lie; Zhong, Gui-Bin; Chen, Fang-Jing

    2015-09-01

    Although stand-alone cages were advocated to be superior to plate-cage construct (PCC) because of comparable clinical outcomes and fewer plate-related complications, cage dislocation and subsidence were frequently mentioned in multilevel fusion. There are some concerns about whether these issues can be effectively prevented in multilevel anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) by stand-alone anchored spacer (SAAS). The aim was to compare clinical outcomes, radiologic parameters, and complications of PCC and SAAS in the treatment of three-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). This was a retrospective comparative study. A total of 38 consecutive patients with three-level CSM (ACDF with PCC, 20 patients; ACDF with SAAS, 18 patients) were reviewed. Clinical outcomes were assessed using Japanese Orthopaedic Association and Neck Disability Index. The radiologic evaluations included cervical alignment (CA), segmental angle (SA), postoperative curvature loss (PCL), and incidence of subsidence. All the aforementioned parameters were compared before and after surgery between two groups. Besides, the aforementioned results were also compared between the two groups. The complications were also recorded. The mean follow-up period was 30.3 months. No significant differences were observed in clinical outcomes between the two groups (p>.05). Additionally, no significant differences existed in fusion rate between the two groups. There were significant differences in PCL of SA and CA and correction of SA between the two groups (pSAAS group, and the potential of SAAS to reduce the incidence of postoperative dysphagia was not proven. No other complications were observed in this study. In the surgical treatment of three-level CSM, PCC is superior to SAAS in correction and maintenance of SA and avoiding cage subsidence, although the technique of ACDF with SAAS yielded encouraging clinical outcomes and high fusion rate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. A role for the high-density lipoprotein receptor SR-B1 in synovial inflammation via serum amyloid-A.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Mullan, Ronan Hugh

    2012-02-01

    Acute phase apoprotein Serum Amyloid A (A-SAA), which is strongly expressed in rheumatoid arthritis synovial membrane (RA SM), induces angiogenesis, adhesion molecule expression, and matrix metalloproteinase production through the G-coupled receptor FPRL-1. Here we report alternative signaling through the high-density lipoprotein receptor scavenger receptor-class B type 1 (SR-B1). Quantitative expression\\/localization of SR-B1 in RA SM, RA fibroblast-like cells (FLCs), and microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) was assessed by Western blotting and immunohistology\\/fluorescence. A-SAA-mediated effects were examined using a specific antibody against SR-B1 or amphipathic alpha-Helical Peptides (the SR-B1 antagonists L-37pA and D-37pA), in RA FLCs and ECs. Adhesion molecule expression and cytokine production were quantified using flow cytometry and ELISA. SR-B1 was strongly expressed in the RA SM lining layer and endothelial\\/perivascular regions compared with osteoarthritis SM or normal control synovium. Differential SR-B1 expression in RA FLC lines (n = 5) and ECs correlated closely with A-SAA, but not tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced intercellular adhesion molecule-1 upregulation. A-SAA-induced interleukin-6 and -8 production was inhibited in the presence of anti-SR-B1 in human microvascular endothelial cells and RA FLCs. Moreover, D-37pA and L-37pA inhibited A-SAA-induced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and intercellular adhesion molecule expression from ECs in a dose-dependent manner. As SR-B1 is expressed in RA synovial tissue and mediates A-SAA-induced pro-inflammatory pathways, a better understanding of A-SAA-mediated inflammatory pathways may lead to novel treatment strategies for RA.

  3. Salvianic acid A sodium protects HUVEC cells against tert-butyl hydroperoxide induced oxidative injury via mitochondria-dependent pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Dan; Li, Tian; Chen, Xiaofei; Ding, Xuan; Chai, Yifeng; Chen, Alex F; Zhu, Zhenyu; Zhang, Chuan

    2018-01-05

    Salvianic acid A (Danshensu) is a major water-soluble component extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), which has been widely used in clinic in China for treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of salvianic acid A sodium (SAAS) against tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) induced human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) oxidative injury and the underlying molecular mechanisms. In the antioxidant activity-assessing model, SAAS pretreatment significantly ameliorated the cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induced by t-BHP. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) based-metabolic profiling was developed to investigate the metabolic changes of HUVEC cells in response to t-BHP and SAAS. The results revealed that t-BHP injury upregulated 13 metabolites mainly involved in tryptophan metabolism and phenylalanine metabolism which were highly correlated with mitochondrial function and oxidative stress, and 50 μM SAAS pretreatment effectively reversed these metabolic changes. Further biomedical research indicated that SAAS pretreatment reduced the t-BHP induced increase of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and the decrease of key antioxidant enzymes through mitochondria antioxidative pathways via JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signalings. Taken together, our results suggested that SAAS may protect HUVEC cells against t-BHP induced oxidative injury via mitochondrial antioxidative defense system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Serum albumin-adjusted glycated albumin is an adequate indicator of glycemic control in patients with Cushing's syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitamura, Tetsuhiro; Otsuki, Michio; Tamada, Daisuke; Tabuchi, Yukiko; Mukai, Kosuke; Morita, Shinya; Kasayama, Soji; Bando, Yukihiro; Shimomura, Iichiro; Koga, Masafumi

    2014-12-01

    We recently reported that glycated albumin (GA) in patients with Cushing's syndrome is low. In the present study, we examined whether serum albumin (SA)-adjusted GA (SAaGA) is an adequate indicator of glycemic control in patients with Cushing's syndrome. We studied 26 patients with Cushing's syndrome (13 patients without diabetes and 13 patients with diabetes). Twenty six non-diabetic subjects and 26 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus matched for age, sex and BMI were used as the controls. SAaGA was calculated using the regression formula between SA and GA in non-diabetic patients with Cushing's syndrome and non-diabetic subjects. SA showed a significant correlation with GA in non-diabetic patients with Cushing's syndrome and non-diabetic subjects. GA, but not SAaGA, in non-diabetic patients with Cushing's syndrome was significantly lower than that in the non-diabetic controls. Furthermore, the GA/HbA1c ratio, but not the SAaGA/HbA1c ratio, in diabetic patients with Cushing's syndrome was significantly lower than that in the diabetic controls. The measured GA in the patients with Cushing's syndrome was significantly lower than the estimated GA, but there was no difference between SAaGA and the estimated GA. The present findings suggest that SAaGA is an adequate indicator of the glycemic control in patients with Cushing's syndrome. Copyright © 2014 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Measures of anticholinergic drug exposure, serum anticholinergic activity, and all-cause postdischarge mortality in older hospitalized patients with hip fractures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mangoni, Arduino A.; van Munster, Barbara C.; Woodman, Richard J.; de Rooij, Sophia E.

    2013-01-01

    To assess possible associations between anticholinergic drug exposure and serum anticholinergic activity (SAA) and their capacities to predict all-cause mortality in older hospitalized patients. Academic medical center. Data on clinical characteristics, full medication exposure, SAA, and 4

  6. Validation of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale: factor, convergent, and divergent validity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levinson, Cheri A; Rodebaugh, Thomas L

    2011-09-01

    The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) was created to assess fear of overall appearance evaluation. Initial psychometric work indicated that the measure had a single-factor structure and exhibited excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. In the current study, the authors further examined the factor, convergent, and divergent validity of the SAAS in two samples of undergraduates. In Study 1 (N = 323), the authors tested the factor structure, convergent, and divergent validity of the SAAS with measures of the Big Five personality traits, negative affect, fear of negative evaluation, and social interaction anxiety. In Study 2 (N = 118), participants completed a body evaluation that included measurements of height, weight, and body fat content. The SAAS exhibited excellent convergent and divergent validity with self-report measures (i.e., self-esteem, trait anxiety, ethnic identity, and sympathy), predicted state anxiety experienced during the body evaluation, and predicted body fat content. In both studies, results confirmed a single-factor structure as the best fit to the data. These results lend additional support for the use of the SAAS as a valid measure of social appearance anxiety.

  7. [A review for recent advances in AA amyloid research and therapeutic approach to AA amyloidosis complicating rheumatoid arthritis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamura, Hiroaki; Hasegawa, Kiminori

    2009-02-01

    AA amyloidosis is a life threatening clinical complication of chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. It has been demonstrated biochemically that amyloidosis resulted from abnormal folding of proteins, which are deposited as insoluble fibrils in extracellular tissue, leading to the disruption of their normal function. In this regard, amyloidosis has been recognized as a conformation disorder. Interestingly, genetic polymorphisms of amyloid precursor protein (SAA) have been reported to associate with increased risk for AA amyloidosis. Also recent biochemical research revealed that SAA is synthesized under the influence of the proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, TNF-alpha, IL-1. Additionally, it was suggested that amyloid deposits in extracellular tissue could reflect to the serum level of SAA in the reversible fashion, leading to the hypothesis that the control of the SAA synthesis could be beneficial to the treatment of amyloidosis. In this context, anti-cytokine therapies may be most effective. Especially the inhibition of IL-6 is critical to suppression of SAA production, so treatment with a humanized monoclonal antibody against human IL-6 receptor may not only ameliorate RA disease activity but also pave the way for the treatment of AA amyloidosis.

  8. Semi-analytical Model for Estimating Absorption Coefficients of Optically Active Constituents in Coastal Waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, D.; Cui, Y.

    2015-12-01

    The objectives of this paper are to validate the applicability of a multi-band quasi-analytical algorithm (QAA) in retrieval absorption coefficients of optically active constituents in turbid coastal waters, and to further improve the model using a proposed semi-analytical model (SAA). The ap(531) and ag(531) semi-analytically derived using SAA model are quite different from the retrievals procedures of QAA model that ap(531) and ag(531) are semi-analytically derived from the empirical retrievals results of a(531) and a(551). The two models are calibrated and evaluated against datasets taken from 19 independent cruises in West Florida Shelf in 1999-2003, provided by SeaBASS. The results indicate that the SAA model produces a superior performance to QAA model in absorption retrieval. Using of the SAA model in retrieving absorption coefficients of optically active constituents from West Florida Shelf decreases the random uncertainty of estimation by >23.05% from the QAA model. This study demonstrates the potential of the SAA model in absorption coefficients of optically active constituents estimating even in turbid coastal waters. Keywords: Remote sensing; Coastal Water; Absorption Coefficient; Semi-analytical Model

  9. Serum amyloid A and haptoglobin concentrations in serum and peritoneal fluid of healthy horses and horses with acute abdominal pain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pihl, Tina Holberg; Andersen, Pia Haubro; Kjelgaard-Hansen, Mads

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Peritoneal fluid (PF) analysis is a valuable diagnostic tool in equine medicine. Markers such as serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin (Hp) could facilitate the diagnosis of inflammatory abdominal conditions. OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to (1) establish reference intervals (RI......) for SAA and Hp in serum and PF in healthy horses, (2) compare SAA and Hp concentrations between healthy horses and horses with colic, and (3) to assess the correlation between serum and PF concentrations. METHODS: Serum amyloid A and Hp concentrations were determined by automated assays in prospectively...... enrolled healthy reference horses and horses with colic. RIs were calculated, group concentrations were compared by Student's t-test, and Pearson's correlation for serum and PF concentrations were determined. RESULTS: In healthy horses (n = 62) the measurements for SAA were below the detection limit (0...

  10. Administration of perioperative penicillin reduces postoperative serum amyloid A response in horses being castrated standing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Busk, Peter; Jacobsen, Stine; Martinussen, Torben

    2010-01-01

    Objectives: To compare postoperative inflammatory responses in horses administered perioperative procaine penicillin and those not administered penicillin using acute phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA) as a marker of inflammation. Study Design: Randomized clinical trial. Animals: Stallions (n = 50......) castrated under field conditions. Methods: SAA concentrations were determined on days 0, 3, and 8. Six horses were subsequently excluded because of elevated SAA concentrations on day 0. Of the remaining 50 horses, 26 were administered nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy and 24 were...... administered NSAID and 25,000 U/kg procaine penicillin on day 0, 1, and 2. Results: SAA concentrations increased significantly from preoperative levels in both groups, and on day 8 concentrations were significantly (P o .02) higher in horses administered only NSAID than in those administered procaine penicillin...

  11. Current development of UAV sense and avoid system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhahir, A.; Razali, A.; Mohd Ajir, M. R.

    2016-10-01

    As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now gaining high interests from civil and commercialised market, the automatic sense and avoid (SAA) system is currently one of the essential features in research spotlight of UAV. Several sensor types employed in current SAA research and technology of sensor fusion that offers a great opportunity in improving detection and tracking system are presented here. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of SAA system development in general, as well as the current challenges facing UAV researchers and designers.

  12. Adding Value to the Network: Exploring the Software as a Service and Platform as a Service Models for Mobile Operators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonçalves, Vânia

    The environments of software development and software provision are shifting to Web-based platforms supported by Platform/Software as a Service (PaaS/SaaS) models. This paper will make the case that there is equally an opportunity for mobile operators to identify additional sources of revenue by exposing network functionalities through Web-based service platforms. By elaborating on the concepts, benefits and risks of SaaS and PaaS, several factors that should be taken into consideration in applying these models to the telecom world are delineated.

  13. Severe aplastic anaemia and Grave's disease in a paediatric patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Manjusha; Goldman, Jeffrey

    2002-07-01

    Severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) is considered to be an autoimmune disorder affecting the haematopoietic cells and most often is idiopathic. An association between SAA and other autoimmune diseases is rare and has been described in adults for eosinophilic fasciitis, thymomas, systemic lupus erythematosus and thyroid disorders. We describe the first paediatric patient with chronic relapsing SAA and Grave's disease. We discuss the difficulty in diagnosis of Grave's disease, the possibility of its manifestation due to withdrawal of immunosuppressants, and issues to consider in the treatment of this disease in the setting of bone marrow failure.

  14. Identification of Acute Phase Proteins and Assays Applicable in Nondomesticated Mammals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bertelsen, M. F.; Kjelgaard-Hansen, M.; Grøndahl, C.

    2009-01-01

    potential APPs-serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and haptoglobin (Hp)-was evaluated in eight species. For SAA, a turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA) demonstrated significant detective abilities ill the Asian elephant (Elaphas maximus), impala (Aepyceros melampus), musk ox (Ovibos moschatus...

  15. Importance of point-by-point back projection correction for isocentric motion in digital breast tomosynthesis: Relevance to morphology of structures such as microcalcifications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Ying; Lo, Joseph Y.; Dobbins, James T. III

    2007-01-01

    Digital breast tomosynthesis is a three-dimensional imaging technique that provides an arbitrary set of reconstruction planes in the breast from a limited-angle series of projection images acquired while the x-ray tube moves. Traditional shift-and-add (SAA) tomosynthesis reconstruction is a common mathematical method to line up each projection image based on its shifting amount to generate reconstruction slices. With parallel-path geometry of tube motion, the path of the tube lies in a plane parallel to the plane of the detector. The traditional SAA algorithm gives shift amounts for each projection image calculated only along the direction of x-ray tube movement. However, with the partial isocentric motion of the x-ray tube in breast tomosynthesis, small objects such as microcalcifications appear blurred (for instance, about 1-4 pixels in blur for a microcalcification in a human breast) in traditional SAA images in the direction perpendicular to the direction of tube motion. Some digital breast tomosynthesis algorithms reported in the literature utilize a traditional one-dimensional SAA method that is not wholly suitable for isocentric motion. In this paper, a point-by-point back projection (BP) method is described and compared with traditional SAA for the important clinical task of evaluating morphology of small objects such as microcalcifications. Impulse responses at different three-dimensional locations with five different combinations of imaging acquisition parameters were investigated. Reconstruction images of microcalcifications in a human subject were also evaluated. Results showed that with traditional SAA and 45 deg. view angle of tube movement with respect to the detector, at the same height above the detector, the in-plane blur artifacts were obvious for objects farther away from x-ray source. In a human subject, the appearance of calcifications was blurred in the direction orthogonal to the tube motion with traditional SAA. With point-by-point BP, the

  16. Establishment of a Site-Specific Tropospheric Model Based on Ground Meteorological Parameters over the China Region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chongchong; Peng, Bibo; Li, Wei; Zhong, Shiming; Ou, Jikun; Chen, Runjing; Zhao, Xinglong

    2017-07-27

    China is a country of vast territory with complicated geographical environment and climate conditions. With the rapid progress of the Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation system (BDS); more accurate tropospheric models must be applied to improve the accuracy of navigation and positioning. Based on the formula of the Saastamoinen and Callahan models; this study develops two single-site tropospheric models (named SAAS_S and CH_S models) for the Chinese region using radiosonde data from 2005 to 2012. We assess the two single-site tropospheric models with radiosonde data for 2013 and zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) data from four International GNSS Service (IGS) stations and compare them to the results of the Saastamoinen and Callahan models. The experimental results show that: the mean accuracy of the SAAS_S model (bias: 0.19 cm; RMS: 3.19 cm) at all radiosonde stations is superior to those of the Saastamoinen (bias: 0.62 cm; RMS: 3.62 cm) and CH_S (bias: -0.05 cm; RMS: 3.38 cm) models. In most Chinese regions; the RMS values of the SAAS_S and CH_S models are about 0.51~2.12 cm smaller than those of their corresponding source models. The SAAS_S model exhibits a clear improvement in the accuracy over the Saastamoinen model in low latitude regions. When the SAAS_S model is replaced by the SAAS model in the positioning of GNSS; the mean accuracy of vertical direction in the China region can be improved by 1.12~1.55 cm and the accuracy of vertical direction in low latitude areas can be improved by 1.33~7.63 cm. The residuals of the SAAS_S model are closer to a normal distribution compared to those of the Saastamoinen model. Single-site tropospheric models based on the short period of the most recent data (for example 2 years) can also achieve a satisfactory accuracy. The average performance of the SAAS_S model (bias: 0.83 cm; RMS: 3.24 cm) at four IGS stations is superior to that of the Saastamoinen (bias: -0.86 cm; RMS: 3.59 cm) and CH_S (bias: 0.45 cm; RMS: 3.38 cm

  17. Considerations for Cloud Security Operations

    OpenAIRE

    Cusick, James

    2016-01-01

    Information Security in Cloud Computing environments is explored. Cloud Computing is presented, security needs are discussed, and mitigation approaches are listed. Topics covered include Information Security, Cloud Computing, Private Cloud, Public Cloud, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, ISO 27001, OWASP, Secure SDLC.

  18. The use of design science research in the development of a performance management system for hospitality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. António

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Since no Performance Management (PM systems specific for the hospitality industry seem to exist in the market, it was decided to evaluate the commercial viability of such a system by developing one and making it available to hotels in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS. Software deployed in the cloud, delivered and licensed as a service is becoming increasingly common and accepted in a business context. Although PM and Decision Support Systems (DSS are not usually distributed in the SaaS mode, there are some examples that this is changing. To evaluate the system in both the technical and business perspectives, a prototype was developed using the Design Science Research (DSR methodology and made available to four hotels. The results revealed that hotels were very satisfied with the system and that building a prototype is a good method to develop and assess PM systems.

  19. Comparison of serum amyloid A and C-reactive protein as diagnostic markers of systemic inflammation in dogs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Michelle Brønniche; Langhorn, Rebecca; Goddard, Amelia

    2014-01-01

    The diagnostic performance of canine serum amyloid A (SAA) was compared with that of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the detection of systemic inflammation in dogs. Sera from 500 dogs were retrospectively included in the study. C-reactive protein and SAA were measured using validated automated assays....... The overlap performance, clinical decision limits, overall diagnostic performance, correlations, and agreement in the clinical classification between these 2 diagnostic markers were compared. Significantly higher concentrations of both proteins were detected in dogs with systemic inflammation (SAA range: 48.......75 to > 2700 mg/L; CRP range: 0.4 to 907.4 mg/L) compared to dogs without systemic inflammation (SAA range: 1.06 to 56.4 mg/L; CRP range: 0.07 to 24.7 mg/L). Both proteins were shown to be sensitive and specific markers of systemic inflammation in dogs. Significant correlations and excellent diagnostic...

  20. The influence of motivation on stress: is it stressful not to fit?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwab, Sebastian; Wolf, Oliver T; Memmert, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    The present research elaborates on the regulatory fit hypothesis by investigating a biological stress marker in a motivational fit- and non-fit-situation. Recent stress theories lead to the assumption that the participants' stress level in fit-situations remains constant or rather decreases, whereas under non-fit-conditions an increase of the stress activity is observed. We tested this hypothesis by assessment of salivary α-amylase (sAA), a saliva-based stress marker presumed to reflect noradrenergic activity. The results indicated that participants in a fit-situation show a decrease in sAA, whereas participants in a non-fit-situation demonstrate a contrary effect with an increase in sAA. These findings extend the concept of regulatory fit by illustrating that there are differences in sAA activity depending on whether participants are in a fit-situation. The experience of regulatory fit appears to be associated with a reduction of stress.

  1. Alpha-amylase reactivity in relation to psychopathic traits in adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glenn, Andrea L; Remmel, Rheanna J; Raine, Adrian; Schug, Robert A; Gao, Yu; Granger, Douglas A

    2015-04-01

    Recent investigations of the psychobiology of stress in antisocial youth have benefited from a multi-system measurement model. The inclusion of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a surrogate marker of autonomic/sympathetic nervous system (ANS) activity, in addition to salivary cortisol, a biomarker of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning, has helped define a more complete picture of individual differences and potential dysfunction in the stress response system of these individuals. To the authors' knowledge, no studies have examined sAA in relation to antisocial behavior in adults or in relation to psychopathic traits specifically. In the present study, we examined sAA, in addition to salivary cortisol, in a relatively large sample (n=158) of adult males (M age=36.81, range=22-67 years; 44% African-American, 34% Caucasian, 16% Hispanic) recruited from temporary employment agencies with varying levels of psychopathic traits. Males scoring highest in psychopathy were found to have attenuated sAA reactivity to social stress compared to those scoring lower in psychopathy. No differential relationships with the different factors of psychopathy were observed. In contrast to studies of antisocial youth, there were no interactions between sAA and cortisol levels in relation to psychopathy, but there was a significant interaction between pre-stressor levels of sAA and cortisol. Findings reveal potential regulatory deficits in the fast-acting, 'fight or flight', component of the stress response in adult males with psychopathic traits, as well as abnormalities in how this system may interact with the HPA axis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Tracer measured substrate turnover requires arterial sampling downstream of infusion site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanley, W.C.; Neese, R.A.; Gertz, E.W.; Wisneski, J.A.; Morris, D.L.; Brooks, G.A.

    1986-01-01

    Measurement of metabolite turnover (Rt) with radioactive tracers is done by either infusing tracer venously and sampling specific activity (SA) arterially (V-A modes), or by infusing into the aorta and sampling venous blood (A-V mode). Using the Fick principle, the necessity for using the V-A mode can be demonstrated. If tracer is infused into the left ventricle, in a steady state the Rt is the product of arterial trace concentration, the cardiac output, and the tracer extraction ratio for the whole body. This is expressed as: Rt = Ca x Qx ((*Ca - *Cv)/*Ca) (Eq1) where C=trace concentration (μmol/ml), *C=tracer conc. (dpm/ml), a=arterial, v-=mixed venous, and Q=cardiac output (ml/min). Rearranging the equation: Rt = Qx(*Ca - *Cv)/SAa = F/SAa (Eq2) where SAa is *Ca/Ca, and Qx (*Ca-*Cv) equals the infusion rate (F). The authors compared Eqs1 and 2 (Rt = F/SAa) in 3 anesthetized dogs in which [1- 14 C] lactate was infused into the left ventricle, and blood was sampled arterially downstream from the infusion site and in the pulmonary artery. Eqs 1 and 2 gave similar results for Rt (45.9 vs. 43.9 μmol/kg min), while substituting SAv for SAa (A-V mode) into Eq 2 gave a higher Rt (53.6). When SAv (A-V mode) is used, the specific activity seen by the tissues (SAa) is not considered in the calculation of Rt. Therefore, only the V-A mode meets the requirements for tracer measured metabolite turnover

  3. Identifying Efficiencies in the Supply Chain for Training Ammunition: Methods, Models, and Recommendations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Standard Army Ammunition System–Modernized ( SAAS -MOD), Total Army Munitions Information System (TAMIS), and the Worldwide Ammunition Reporting System...activities do your ASP personnel execute that are not captured in the Workload Report accessible in SAAS ? How much time would you estimate each of these

  4. Evening salivary alpha-amylase, major depressive disorder, and antidepressant use in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veen, Gerthe; Giltay, Erik J.; Licht, Carmilla M. M.; Vreeburg, Sophie A.; Cobbaert, Christa M.; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Zitman, Frans G.

    2013-01-01

    Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) may be a suitable index for sympathetic activity and dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system. The relationship between antidepressants and depression with sAA levels was studied, since antidepressants were previously shown to have a profound impact on heart rate

  5. Lower Serum Paraoxonase-1 Activity Is Related to Higher Serum Amyloid A Levels in Metabolic Syndrome

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kappelle, Paul Jan Willem Herman; Bijzet, Johan; Hazenberg, Bouke Pier; Dullaart, Robin Pieter Frank

    Background and Aims. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) contain the anti-oxidative enzyme, paraoxonase-1 (PON-1), which is important for atheroprotection. The acute phase reactant, serum amyloid A (SAA), an HDL-associated apolipoprotein, may impair PON-1 activity, whereas SAA and PON-1 are reciprocally

  6. Serum amyloid A and haptoglobin levels in crossbred cows with endometritis following different therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. S. Biswal

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Aim: To determine the serum variations of two major acute phase proteins, serum amyloid A (SAA and haptoglobin (Hp levels in crossbred endometritis cows following pre and post immunomodulation therapy. Materials and Methods: 21 endometritis cows were randomly assigned to three groups (n=7 and treated with three different immunomodulators while seven healthy cows served as control. Uterine flushing collected from all animals was subjected to bacteriological study and serum samples were analyzed for SAA and Hp by sandwich ELISA method. Results: Escherichia coli was most prevalent Gram-negative bacteria (6.02 × 106 CFU/ml while Staphylococcus (0.86 × 106 CFU/ml and Streptococcus (0.52 × 106 CFU/ml were most predominant Gram-positive species isolated from uterine flushing. The pre-treatment SAA values (μg/ml varied significantly (p<0.01 between the treatment groups whereas no difference was observed in post-treatment groups. No significant difference (p<0.01 was observed for Hp values between the treatment groups, but the mean SAA (μg/ml and Hp (μg/ml levels were significantly (p<0.01 higher in pre-treatment when compared to post-treatment within the groups. Conclusion: In the diagnosis and monitoring of bovine endometritis, both SAA and Hp might serve as reliable biomarkers.

  7. Evolving Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Strategies in Severe Aplastic Anemia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietz, Andrew C.; Lucchini, Giovanna; Samarasinghe, Sujith; Pulsipher, Michael A.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose of Review Significant improvements in unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in recent years has solidified its therapeutic role in severe aplastic anemia (SAA) and led to evolution of treatment algorithms, particularly for children. Recent Findings Advances in understanding genetics of inherited bone marrow failure syndromes (IBMFS) have allowed more confidence in accurately diagnosing SAA and avoiding treatments that could be dangerous and ineffective in individuals with IBMFS, which can be diagnosed in 10–20% of children presenting with a picture of SAA. Additionally long-term survival after matched sibling donor (MSD) and matched unrelated donor (MUD) HSCT now exceed 90% in children. Late effects after HSCT for SAA are minimal with current strategies and compare favorably to late effects after up-front immunosuppressive therapy (IST), except for patients with chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD). Summary 1) Careful assessment for signs or symptoms of IBMFS along with genetic screening for these disorders is of major importance. 2) MSD HSCT is already considered standard of care for up-front therapy and some groups are evaluating MUD HSCT as primary therapy. 3) Ongoing studies will continue to challenge treatment algorithms and may lead to an even more expanded role for HSCT in SAA. PMID:26626557

  8. Temporal Variations of Strength and Location of the South Atlantic Anomaly as Measured by RXTE

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilms, Jorn; Felix, Furst; Rothschild, Richard E.; Pottschmidt, Katja; Smith, David M.; Lingenfelter, Richard

    2009-01-01

    The evolution of the particle background at an altitude of approx.540km during the time interval between 1996 and 2007 is studied using the particle monitor of the High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment on board NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. A special emphasis of this study is the location and strength of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The size and strength of the SAA are anti-correlated with the the 10.7 cm radio flux of the Sun, which leads the SAA strength by approx.1 year reflecting variations in solar heating of the upper atmosphere. The location of the SAA is also found to drift westwards with an average drift rate of about 0.3deg/yr following the drift of the geomagnetic field configuration. Superimposed to this drift rate are irregularities, where the SAA suddenly moves eastwards and where furthermore the speed of the drift changes. The most prominent of these irregularities is found in the second quarter of 2003 and another event took place in 1999. We suggest that these events are previously unrecognized manifestations of the geomagnetic jerks of the Earth's magnetic field. Key words: space radiation environment, South Atlantic Anomaly, radiation monitors, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

  9. Relation between salivary amylase and cortisol respnses to different stress tasks: Impact of sex

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Stegeren, A.H.; Wolf, O.T.; Kindt, M.

    2008-01-01

    Neuro-endocrine markers such as salivary alpha amylase (sAA) and cortisol (CORT) play an important role in establishing human responses to stressful events. Whereas sAA levels reflect sympathetic system activity, salivary cortisol appears to be a valid measure for HPA axis activity. Although many

  10. The Synthesis of cis- and trans-Fused Bicyclic Sugar Amino Acids

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Risseeuw, Martijn D.P.; Grotenbreg, Gijsbert M.; Witte, Martin D.; Tuin, Adriaan W.; Leeuwenburgh, Michiel A.; Marel, Gijsbert A. van der; Overkleeft, Herman S.; Overhand, Mark

    2006-01-01

    Four isomeric bicyclic sugar amino acids (SAAs) were prepared from an α-acetylenic-C-glucoside by employing a Petasis olefination and a ring-closing metathesis (RCM) as key steps. The applicability of the resulting SAAs in solid-phase peptide synthesis was demonstrated by the synthesis of a

  11. Towards cross-organizational process mining in collections of process models and their executions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buijs, J.C.A.M.; Dongen, van B.F.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.; Daniel, F.; Barkaoui, K.; Dustdar, S.

    2012-01-01

    Variants of the same process may be encountered in different organizations, e.g., any municipality will have a process to handle building permits. New paradigms such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing stimulate organizations to share a BPM infrastructure. The shared infrastructure

  12. Determinants of salivary evening alpha-amylase in a large sample free of psychopathology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veen, Gerthe; Giltay, Erik J.; Vreeburg, Sophie A.; Licht, Carmilla M. M.; Cobbaert, Christa M.; Zitman, Frans G.; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.

    Objective: Recently, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has been proposed as a suitable index for sympathetic activity and dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Although determinants of sAA have been described, they have not been studied within the same study with a large sample size

  13. Systemic accident analysis: examining the gap between research and practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Underwood, Peter; Waterson, Patrick

    2013-06-01

    The systems approach is arguably the dominant concept within accident analysis research. Viewing accidents as a result of uncontrolled system interactions, it forms the theoretical basis of various systemic accident analysis (SAA) models and methods. Despite the proposed benefits of SAA, such as an improved description of accident causation, evidence within the scientific literature suggests that these techniques are not being used in practice and that a research-practice gap exists. The aim of this study was to explore the issues stemming from research and practice which could hinder the awareness, adoption and usage of SAA. To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 safety experts from ten countries and a variety of industries, including rail, aviation and maritime. This study suggests that the research-practice gap should be closed and efforts to bridge the gap should focus on ensuring that systemic methods meet the needs of practitioners and improving the communication of SAA research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A link between inflammation and metastasis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, M. T.; Forst, B.; Cremers, N.

    2015-01-01

    S100A4 is implicated in metastasis and chronic inflammation, but its function remains uncertain. Here we establish an S100A4-dependent link between inflammation and metastatic tumor progression. We found that the acute-phase response proteins serum amyloid A (SAA) 1 and SAA3 are transcriptional...... targets of S100A4 via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-κB signaling. SAA proteins stimulated the transcription of RANTES (regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and presumably secreted), G-CSF (granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor) and MMP2 (matrix metalloproteinase 2), MMP3, MMP9...... and MMP13. We have also shown for the first time that SAA stimulate their own transcription as well as that of proinflammatory S100A8 and S100A9 proteins. Moreover, they strongly enhanced tumor cell adhesion to fibronectin, and stimulated migration and invasion of human and mouse tumor cells...

  15. Preliminary analysis on in-core fuel management optimization of molten salt pebble-bed reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia Bing; Jing Xingqing; Xu Xiaolin; Lv Yingzhong

    2013-01-01

    The Nuclear Hot Spring (NHS) is a molten salt pebble-bed reactor featured by full power natural circulation. The unique horizontal coolant flow of the NHS demands the fuel recycling schemes based on radial zoning refueling and the corresponding method of fuel management optimization. The local searching algorithm (LSA) and the simulated annealing algorithm (SAA), the stochastic optimization methods widely used in the refueling optimization problems in LWRs, were applied to the analysis of refueling optimization of the NHS. The analysis results indicate that, compared with the LSA, the SAA can survive the traps of local optimized solutions and reach the global optimized solution, and the quality of optimization of the SAA is independent of the choice of the initial solution. The optimization result gives excellent effects on the in-core power flattening and the suppression of fuel center temperature. For the one-dimensional zoning refueling schemes of the NHS, the SAA is an appropriate optimization method. (authors)

  16. Gain assisted coherent control of microwave pulse in a one dimensional array of artificial atoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waqas, Mohsin; Ayaz, M. Q.; Waseem, M.; Qamar, Sajid; Qamar, Shahid

    2018-06-01

    We study the coherent propagation of a microwave pulse through a one-dimensional array of artificial atoms. The scheme is based upon gain assisted propagation of the pulse using two-photon Raman transition in a three-level superconducting artificial atoms (SAAs) coupled to a microwave transmission line. Our results show that the group velocity can be significantly reduced by increasing the Rabi frequency of the pump fields which in turn can lead to an efficient storage of the pulse inside a 1D array of SAAs. Further, the intensity of the transmitted pulse increases with the number of artificial atoms owing to the gain associated with the two-photon Raman transition. Our results also show that the window width decreases for both scattering and negligible scattering cases with the increase in the number of SAAs. The fidelity of the system also remains high even after the passage of the pulse through a large number of SAAs.

  17. Retrieving Marine Inherent Optical Properties from Satellites Using Temperature and Salinity-dependent Backscattering by Seawater

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werdell, Paul J.; Franz, Bryan Alden; Lefler, Jason Travis; Robinson, Wayne D.; Boss, Emmanuel

    2013-01-01

    Time-series of marine inherent optical properties (IOPs) from ocean color satellite instruments provide valuable data records for studying long-term time changes in ocean ecosystems. Semi-analytical algorithms (SAAs) provide a common method for estimating IOPs from radiometric measurements of the marine light field. Most SAAs assign constant spectral values for seawater absorption and backscattering, assume spectral shape functions of the remaining constituent absorption and scattering components (e.g., phytoplankton, non-algal particles, and colored dissolved organic matter), and retrieve the magnitudes of each remaining constituent required to match the spectral distribution of measured radiances. Here, we explore the use of temperature- and salinity-dependent values for seawater backscattering in lieu of the constant spectrum currently employed by most SAAs. Our results suggest that use of temperature- and salinity-dependent seawater spectra elevate the SAA-derived particle backscattering, reduce the non-algal particles plus colored dissolved organic matter absorption, and leave the derived absorption by phytoplankton unchanged.

  18. Healthcare Data Analytics on the Cloud

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indrajit Bhattacharya

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Meaningful analysis of voluminous health information has always been a challenge in most healthcare organizations. Accurate and timely information required by the management to lead a healthcare organization through the challenges found in the industry can be obtained using business intelligence (BI or business analytics tools. However, these require large capital investments to implement and support the large volumes of data that needs to be analyzed to identify trends. They also require enormous processing power which places pressure on the business resources in addition to the dynamic changes in the digital technology. This paper evaluates the various nuances of business analytics of healthcare hosted on the cloud computing environment. The paper explores BI being offered as Software as a Service (SaaS solution towards offering meaningful use of information for improving functions in healthcare enterprise. It also attempts to identify the challenges that healthcare enterprises face when making use of a BI SaaS solution.

  19. 1 Medium Regiment, (SAHA), SAA

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 16, No 4 (1986) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. Username, Password, Remember me, or Register. 1 Medium Regiment, (S.A.H.A.), ...

  20. DIFFUSION OF A CLOUD-BASED SAP ENTERPRISE SYSTEM TO DANISH MUNICIPALITITES

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frisenvang, Jakob Fogh; Pedersen, Christoffer Ejerskov; Svejvig, Per

    as a Service (ESaaS) (Svejvig, Storgaard, and Møller, 2013). ESaaS encompasses Enterprise systems such as ERP, CRM, and BI systems. From a purely cloud-computing perspective, the delivery of such services does not significantly distinguish itself from the SaaS model, but from a practice perspective...

  1. Diffusion of a Cloud-based SAP Enterprise System to Danish Municipalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fogh Frisenvang, Jakob; Ejerskov Pedersen, Christoffer; Svejvig, Per

    as a Service (ESaaS) (Svejvig, Storgaard, and Møller, 2013). ESaaS encompasses Enterprise systems such as ERP, CRM, and BI systems. From a purely cloud-computing perspective, the delivery of such services does not significantly distinguish itself from the SaaS model, but from a practice perspective...

  2. Usust sellesse, et kollektiivis peitub jõud ja et kvantiteet kasvab ükskord üle kvaliteediks : [ajaloo riigieksamist] / Sulev Valdmaa

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Valdmaa, Sulev, 1954-

    1998-01-01

    Samal teemal : S.Valdmaa. Ei saa me läbi Šotita!? (ÕpL, 9.01 1998), E.Maripu. Veel ajaloo riigieksamist (ÕpL, 23.01. 1998), M.Oja. Vastuseks S. Valdmaa artiklile "Ei saa me läbi Šotita!?" (ÕpL, 30.01. 1998)

  3. A Local Search Algorithm for Clustering in Software as a Service Networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.P. van der Gaast (Jelmer); C.A. Rietveld (Niels); A.F. Gabor (Adriana); Y. Zhang (Yingqian)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper we present and analyze a model for clustering in networks that offer Software as a Service (SaaS). In this problem, organizations requesting a set of applications have to be assigned to clusters such that the costs of opening clusters and installing the necessary

  4. Default Parallels Plesk Panel Page

    Science.gov (United States)

    services that small businesses want and need. Our software includes key building blocks of cloud service virtualized servers Service Provider Products Parallels® Automation Hosting, SaaS, and cloud computing , the leading hosting automation software. You see this page because there is no Web site at this

  5. Salivary alpha amylase in on-call from home fire and emergency service personnel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah J Hall

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The effect of working on-call from home on the sympatho-adrenal medullary system activity is currently unknown. This study had two aims, Aim 1: examine salivary alpha amylase awakening response (AAR and diurnal salivary alpha amylase (sAA profile in fire and emergency service workers who operate on-call from home following a night on-call with a call (NIGHT-CALL, a night on-call without a call (NO-CALL and an off-call night (OFF-CALL, and Aim 2: explore whether there was an anticipatory effect of working on-call from home (ON compared to when there was an off-call (OFF on the diurnal sAA profile. Participants wore activity monitors, completed sleep and work diaries and collected seven saliva samples a day for one week. AAR area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCG, AAR area under the curve with respect to increase (AUCI, AAR reactivity, diurnal sAA slope, diurnal sAA AUCG and mean 12-h sAA concentrations were calculated. Separate generalised estimating equation models were constructed for each variable of interest for each aim. For Aim 1, there were no differences between NIGHT-CALL or NO-CALL and OFF-CALL for any response variable. For Aim 2, there was no difference between any response variable of interest when ON the following night compared to when OFF the following night (n = 14. These findings suggest that there is no effect of working on-call from home on sAA, but should be interpreted with caution, as overnight data were not collected. Future research, using overnight heart rate monitoring, could help confirm these findings.

  6. Inhibitory effects of silodosin on the bladder mechanosensitive afferent activities and their relation with bladder myogenic contractions in male rats with bladder outlet obstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aizawa, Naoki; Watanabe, Daiji; Fukuhara, Hiroshi; Fujimura, Tetsuya; Kume, Haruki; Homma, Yukio; Igawa, Yasuhiko

    2018-03-06

    We investigated the effects of silodosin, an α1A-adrenoceptor (AR) antagonist, on bladder function, especially on non-voiding contractions (NVCs), in a male rat model of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) by evaluating cystometry (CMG) findings and bladder mechanosensitive single-unit afferent activities (SAAs), related with microcontractions, which may be similar with NVCs and to be of myogenic origin, in the rat model. BOO was created by partial ligation of the posterior urethra. At 4 days after surgery for BOO, an osmotic pump filled with silodosin (0.12 mg/kg/day) or its vehicle was subcutaneously implanted. At 10 days after surgery, CMG and SAAs measurements were taken under conscious and urethane-anesthetized conditions, respectively. The SAAs of Aδ- and C-fibers, which were identified by electrical stimulation of the pelvic nerve and by bladder distention, and intravesical pressure were recorded during constant bladder-filling with saline. Microcontractions were divided into three phases: "ascending," "descending," and "stationary." The silodosin-treated group showed a smaller number of NVCs in CMG measurements and lower SAAs of both Aδ- and C-fibers than the vehicle-treated group during bladder-filling. Moreover, in the vehicle-treated groups, the SAAs of both fibers for the ascending phase of microcontractions were significantly higher than those for the other two phases. On the contrary, no significant change was found between any of these three phases in the silodosin-treated group. The present results suggest that silodosin inhibits the SAAs of mechanosensitive Aδ- and C-fibers at least partly due to suppressing myogenic bladder contractions in male BOO rats. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. [Changes of CD34(+) and CD71(+)CD45(-) cell levels in bone marrow of MDS and AA patients].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Zhen-Yu; Tian, Xu; Li, Ying; Yang, Mei-Rong; Zhang, Song; Wang, Xie-Ming; Zhang, Hai-Xia; Cheng, Nai-Yao

    2014-04-01

    This study was aimed to investigate the changes of CD34(+) and CD71(+)CD45(-) cell levels in MDS and AA patients. A total of 25 cases MDS and 43 cases of AA (18 cases SAA and 25 cases of NSAA) from January 2010 to October 2013 in the Department of Hematology, affiliated hospital of Hebei United University were enrolled in this study. The complete blood count, bone marrow smears, bone marrow biopsy, karyotype analysis and bone marrow blood cell immune genotyping (mainly the proportion of CD34(+) cells, CD71(+)CD45(-) cells in nucleated cells) were carried out for all patients; the changes of CD34(+) and CD71(+)CD45(-) cell levels in patients with MDS and AA (SAA NSAA) were compared; the differences of white blood cell count, platelet count and hemoglobin concentration in patients with count of CD71(+)CD45(-) ≥ 15% or MDS group was higher than that in AA (NSAA and SAA) group (P MDS group was higher than that in SAA (P MDS group. In MDS group with CD71(+)CD45(-) ≥ 15%, the platelet count was significantly higher than that in NSAA group (P MDS and NSAA group with CD71(+)CD45(-) 0.05). It is concluded that the count of CD34(+) cells in MDS patients is significantly higher than that in AA and SAA patients. The count of CD71(+)CD45(-) cells in MDS group is significantly higher than that of SAA group. The platelet count in MDS patients with CD71(+)CD45(-) cells ≥ 15% is significantly higher than that of the NSAA group.

  8. Non-Dipole Features of the Geomagnetic Field May Persist for Millions of Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biasi, J.; Kirschvink, J. L.

    2017-12-01

    Here we present paleointensity results from within the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), which is a large non-dipole feature of the geomagnetic field. Within the area of the SAA, anomalous declinations, inclinations, and intensities are observed. Our results suggest that the SAA has been present for at least 5 Ma. This is orders-of-magnitude greater than any previous estimate, and suggests that some non-dipole features do not `average out' over geologic time, which is a fundamental assumption in all paleodirectional studies. The SAA has been steadily growing in size since the first magnetic measurements were made in the South Atlantic, and it is widely believed to have appeared 400 years ago. Recent studies from South Africa (Tarduno et al. (2015)) and Tristan da Cunha (Shah et al. (2016)) have suggested that the SAA has persisted for 1 ka and 96 ka respectively. We conducted paleointensity (PI) experiments on basaltic lavas from James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula. This large shield volcano has been erupting regularly over the last 6+ Ma (dated via Ar/Ar geochronology), and therefore contains the most complete volcanostratigraphic record in the south Atlantic. Our PI experiments used the Thellier-Thellier method, the IZZI protocol, and the same selection criteria as the Lawrence et al. (2009) study of Ross Island lavas (near McMurdo Station), which is the only comparable PI study on the Antarctic continent. We determined an average paleointensity at JRI of 13.8±5.2 μT, which is far lower than what we would expect from a dipole field (55 μT). In addition, this is far lower than the current value over James Ross Island of 36 μT. These results support the following conclusions: The time-averaged field model of Juarez et al. (1998) and Tauxe et al. (2013) is strongly favored by our PI data. The SAA has persisted over James Ross Island for at least 5 Ma, and has not drifted significantly over that time. The strength of non-dipole features such as the SAA

  9. Self-Regulated Assignment Attack Strategy: Evaluating the Effects of a Classroom-Level Intervention on Student Management of Curricular Activities in a Resource Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ness, Bryan M.; Sohlberg, McKay Moore

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a classroom-based strategy instruction package grounded in self-regulated learning. The Self-Regulated Assignment Attack Strategy (SAAS) targeted self-regulation of assignment management and related academic-behavioral variables for 6th grade students in resource support classrooms. SAAS was…

  10. The Notion of Twenty-Two Shrutis

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    IAS Admin

    k-th sur – starting with Saa corresponding to k = 0. – has the ratio 2k/12 with Saa. .... The whole 81/80 business thus comes up, since rather than considering G22 .... proximately 22, 70, 90 (better approximations would be. 21.5, 70.7, 90.2) and ...

  11. ecoSmart landscapes: a versatile SaaS platform for green infrastructure applications in urban environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greg McPherson; Qingfu Xiao; Joe Purohit; Mark Dietenberger; Charles (C.R.) Boardman; Jim Simpson; Paula Peper

    2014-01-01

    The urban environment offers significant opportunities to improve sustainability and optimize water resources. Historically, research and software applications have been focused on the built environment (buildings). Cost-effective, practical tools that can assess the impact of different landscape configurations and their interactions with buildings have not been widely...

  12. Endogenous salivary α-amylase does not interact with skin conductance response during fear extinction in posttraumatic stress disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuj, Daniel V; Palmer, Matthew A; Malhi, Gin S; Bryant, Richard A; Felmingham, Kim L

    2018-04-01

    Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with elevated noradrenergic signaling, which has an impact on emotional learning and memory. Fear extinction is thought to underlie the processes of exposure therapy, however the relationship between noradrenaline and extinction in PTSD is unclear. Participants with PTSD (n = 21), trauma-exposure without PTSD (TC; n = 36), and non-trauma-exposed controls (NTC; n = 27) completed a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm, and conditioned fear was indexed by skin conductance response (SCR). Salivary α-amylase (sAA) collected at baseline and immediately post-fear acquisition was used as an index of noradrenaline, and we examined whether sAA in response to fear acquisition was a moderator between fear extinction and PTSD symptoms. While there was a significant increase in sAA from baseline to post-fear acquisition, this was not modulated by group. Compared to TC and NTC, the PTSD group displayed a slower decline in SCRs during early extinction, which generalized across stimulus type, and was not moderated by sAA. These findings suggest that the relationship between fear extinction and PTSD symptoms does not change as a function of sAA levels; however previous research suggests other processes of fear learning may be associated with noradrenergic activity in PTSD. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Stress reactivity in war-exposed young children with and without posttraumatic stress disorder: relations to maternal stress hormones, parenting, and child emotionality and regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldman, Ruth; Vengrober, Adva; Eidelman-Rothman, Moranne; Zagoory-Sharon, Orna

    2013-11-01

    The current study examined biomarkers of stress in war-exposed young children and addressed maternal and child factors that may correlate with children's stress response. Participants were 232 Israeli children aged 1.5-5 years, including 148 children exposed to continuous war. Similarly, 56 were diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 92 were defined as exposed-no-PTSD. Child cortisol (CT) and salivary alpha amylase (sAA), biomarkers of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary arms of the stress response, were measured at baseline, following challenge, and at recovery. Maternal CT and sAA, PTSD symptoms, and reciprocal parenting, and child negative emotionality and regulatory strategies were assessed. Differences between war-exposed children and controls emerged, but these were related to child PTSD status. Children with PTSD exhibited consistently low CT and sAA, exposed-no-PTSD displayed consistently high CT and sAA, and controls showed increase in CT following challenge and decrease at recovery and low sAA. Exposed children showed higher negative emotionality; however, whereas exposed-no-PTSD children employed comfort-seeking strategies, children with PTSD used withdrawal. Predictors of child CT included maternal CT, PTSD symptoms, low reciprocity, and negative emotionality. Findings suggest that high physiological arousal combined with approach strategies may be associated with greater resilience in the context of early trauma.

  14. Application of NASA Kennedy Space Center system assurance analysis methodology to nuclear power plant systems designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Page, D.W.

    1985-01-01

    The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) entered into an agreement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to conduct a study to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of applying the KSC System Assurance Analysis (SAA) methodology to nuclear power plant systems designs. In joint meetings of KSC and Duke Power personnel, an agreement was made to select to CATAWBA systems, the Containment Spray System and the Residual Heat Removal System, for the analyses. Duke Power provided KSC with a full set a Final Safety Analysis Reports as well as schematics for the two systems. During Phase I of the study the reliability analyses of the SAA were performed. During Phase II the hazard analyses were performed. The final product of Phase II is a handbook for implementing the SAA methodology into nuclear power plant systems designs. The purpose of this paper is to describe the SAA methodology as it applies to nuclear power plant systems designs and to discuss the feasibility of its application. The conclusion is drawn that nuclear power plant systems and aerospace ground support systems are similar in complexity and design and share common safety and reliability goals. The SAA methodology is readily adaptable to nuclear power plant designs because of it's practical application of existing and well known safety and reliability analytical techniques tied to an effective management information system

  15. Analysis of Drug Effects on Primary Human Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells Activated by Serum Amyloid A

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Lakota

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. RA patients have a higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases compared to the general population. Serum amyloid A (SAA is an acute-phase protein, upregulated in sera of RA patients. Aim. To determine the effects of medications on SAA-stimulated human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC. Methods. HCAEC were preincubated for 2 h with medications from sterile ampules (dexamethasone, methotrexate, certolizumab pegol, and etanercept, dissolved in medium (captopril or DMSO (etoricoxib, rosiglitazone, meloxicam, fluvastatin, and diclofenac. Human recombinant apo-SAA was used to stimulate HCAEC at a final 1000 nM concentration for 24 hours. IL-6, IL-8, sVCAM-1, and PAI-1 were measured by ELISA. The number of viable cells was determined colorimetrically. Results. SAA-stimulated levels of released IL-6, IL-8, and sVCAM-1 from HCAEC were significantly attenuated by methotrexate, fluvastatin, and etoricoxib. Both certolizumab pegol and etanercept significantly decreased PAI-1 by an average of 43%. Rosiglitazone significantly inhibited sVCAM-1 by 58%. Conclusion. We observed marked influence of fluvastatin on lowering cytokine production in SAA-activated HCAEC. Methotrexate showed strong beneficial effects for lowering released Il-6, IL-8, and sVCAM-1. Interesting duality was observed for NSAIDs, with meloxicam exhibiting opposite-trend effects from diclofenac and etoricoxib. This represents unique insight into specific responsiveness of inflammatory-driven HCAEC relevant to atherosclerosis.

  16. Systemic serum amyloid A as a biomarker for exposure to zinc and/or copper-containing metal fumes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumann, R; Gube, M; Markert, A; Davatgarbenam, S; Kossack, V; Gerhards, B; Kraus, T; Brand, P

    2018-01-01

    Zinc- and copper-containing welding fumes increase systemic C-reactive protein (CRP). The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of the biomarkers serum amyloid A (SAA) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in this regard. Fifteen male subjects were exposed under controlled conditions to welding fumes containing either zinc, or copper, or copper and zinc for 6 h. Plasma samples were collected before, 6 and 24 h after start of exposure and biomarkers therein were measured by electrochemiluminescent assay. For each exposure, systemic concentrations of systemic SAA, but not VCAM-1, increased significantly at 24 h after exposure start compared with baseline ("copper only": P=0.0005, "zinc only": P=0.027, "copper and zinc": P=0.001). SAA showed a wider range of concentrations than did CRP and its levels increased up to 19-fold after welding fume exposure. The recognition of copper as a potential harmful component in welding fumes, also independent from zinc, deserves further consideration. SAA might represent a new sensitive biomarker for potential subclinical sterile inflammation after inhalation of copper- and/or zinc-containing welding fumes. As elevations of CRP and SAA protein have both been linked to a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, these findings might particularly be important for long-term welders.

  17. Salivary α-amylase as a marker of stress reduction in individuals with intellectual disability and autism in response to occupational and music therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poquérusse, J; Azhari, A; Setoh, P; Cainelli, S; Ripoli, C; Venuti, P; Esposito, G

    2018-02-01

    Although the benefits of a range of disability-centric therapies have been well studied, little remains known about how they work, let alone how to monitor these benefits in a precise and reliable way. Here, in two independent studies, we examine how sessions consisting of occupational or music therapy, both widely recognised for their effectiveness, modulate levels of salivary α-amylase (sAA), a now time- and cost-efficient marker of stress, in individuals with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. Pre-session and post-session levels of sAA were compared in both groups in response to therapy and control sessions. In comparison to control sessions, occupational therapy significantly dampened rises in sAA levels while music therapy significantly decreased baseline sAA levels, highlighting the ability of both types of therapy to reduce stress and by proxy contribute to enhancing overall well-being. Not only do these results confirm the stress-reducing nature of two types of multisensory therapy, but they support the use of sAA as a potential tool for evaluating stress levels in individuals with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, providing an important physiological lens that may guide strategies in clinical and non-clinical care for individuals with disabilities. © 2017 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. 77 FR 60922 - Criminal History Check Requirements for AmeriCorps State/National, Senior Companions, Foster...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-05

    ... prohibited individuals convicted of murder from serving in covered positions. The SAA also required that... Positions (Sec. 2522.200) The SAA amended the NCSA to prohibit an individual convicted of murder, as defined... individuals convicted of murder, as defined under 18 U.S.C. 1111, from serving in a covered position. Congress...

  19. design of government cloud network for a developing economy

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper presents the design of a Government Cloud (G-Cloud) network for Ondo State Government which will provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as Service (SaaS) to major government establishments and citizens within Ondo State. In designing the G-Cloud a mathematical model of cloud computing ...

  20. Enabling multi-tenancy : An industrial experience report

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bezemer, C.P.; Zaidman, A.; Platzbeecker, B.; Hurkmans, T.; 't Hart, A.

    2010-01-01

    Multi-tenancy is a relatively new software architecture principle in the realm of the Software as a Service (SaaS) business model. It allows to make full use of the economy of scale, as multiple customers – “tenants” – share the same application and database instance. All the while, the tenants

  1. Cloud Computing Technologies in Writing Class: Factors Influencing Students' Learning Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jenny

    2017-01-01

    The proposed interactive online group within the cloud computing technologies as a main contribution of this paper provides easy and simple access to the cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) system and delivers effective educational tools for students and teacher on after-class group writing assignment activities. Therefore, this study…

  2. Transforming growth factor 15 increased in severe aplastic anemia patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Yuanyuan; Wang, Honglei; Liu, Chunyan; Cao, Qiuying; Fu, Rong; Wang, Huaquan; Wang, Ting; Qi, Weiwei; Shao, Zonghong

    2017-10-01

    The patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) usually rely on red cell transfusion which lead to secondary iron overload. Transforming growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) plays an important role in erythropoiesis and iron regulation. In this study, we investigated the level of GDF-15 and other indexes of iron metabolism in SAA patients to explore the correlation with GDF-15 and iron overload in SAA. The levels of serum GDF-15, hepcidin (Hepc), and erythropoietin (EPO) were determined by ELISA. The levels of serum iron (SI), ferritin, TIBC, and transferrin saturation (TS) were measured by an auto analyzer. Iron staining of bone marrow cells was used for testing extracellular and intracellular iron. The GDF-15 level in the experimental group was higher than that of the case-control group and normal control group (all p < 0.05). The Hepc level in the experimental group and case-control group were both higher than that of healthy controls (all p < 0.05). The Hepc level was significantly lower in the experimental group patients who had excessive GDF-15 (r = -0.766, p = 0.000). There was a positive correlation between the level of GDF15 and EPO in the experimental group (r = 0.68, p < 0.000). The level of GDF15 in SAA patients was positively correlated with SI levels (r = 0.537, p = 0.008), TS levels (r = 0.466, p = 0.025), and sideroblasts (%) (r = 0.463, p = 0.026). Moreover, there was a positive correlation between GDF-15 level and blood transfusion-dependent time (r = 0.739, p = 0.000). Our data indicated that GDF-15 plays an important role in iron metabolism in SAA. GDF-15 might be a novel target for SAA therapy.

  3. Sulfur amino acids in Cushing's disease: insight in homocysteine and taurine levels in patients with active and cured disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faggiano, Antongiulio; Melis, Daniela; Alfieri, Raffaele; De Martino, MariaCristina; Filippella, Mariagiovanna; Milone, Francesco; Lombardi, Gaetano; Colao, Annamaria; Pivonello, Rosario

    2005-12-01

    Cushing's syndrome is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. Although a series of cardiovascular risk factors have been identified, sulfur amino acids (SAAs), recently indicated as independent cardiovascular risk factors, have been poorly investigated in patients with Cushing's syndrome. The aim of this cross-sectional controlled study was to evaluate serum and urinary levels and urinary excretion rate (ER) of SAAs in patients with Cushing's disease (CD) during the active disease and after long-term disease remission. Forty patients with CD (20 with active disease and 20 with cured disease for at least 5 yr) and 40 controls entered the study. Serum and urinary concentrations and urinary ER of SAAs, namely methionine, cystine, homocysteine, and taurine, were measured by means of cationic exchange HPLC. Serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels were also evaluated in patients and controls and correlated to SAA levels. CD patients with active disease had higher serum and urinary concentrations of cystine and homocysteine, and lower serum and higher urinary concentrations and ER of taurine than cured patients and controls. Vitamin B12 levels were significantly decreased in patients with active disease compared with cured patients and controls, whereas folic acid levels were slightly decreased in patients than in controls. In patients with active CD, urinary cortisol concentrations were significantly and inversely correlated to serum taurine and directly correlated to taurine urinary ER, and fasting serum glucose levels were significantly correlated to taurine urinary ER. At the multiple regression analysis, urinary cortisol concentrations were the best predictors of taurine ER. CD is associated with hyperhomocysteinemia and hypotaurinemia. Glucocorticoid excess, acting directly or indirectly, seems to be the most responsible for this imbalance in SAA levels. The long-term disease remission is accompanied by normalization of SAA levels. Hyperhomocysteinemia and

  4. Psychometric Properties of the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised with International Baccalaureate High School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dedrick, Robert F.; Shaunessy-Dedrick, Elizabeth; Suldo, Shannon M.; Ferron, John M.

    2015-01-01

    In two studies (ns = 312 and 1,149) with 9- to 12-grade students in pre-International Baccalaureate (IB) and IB Diploma programs, we evaluated the reliability, factor structure, measurement invariance, and criterion-related validity of the scores from the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (SAAS-R). Reliabilities of the five SAAS-R subscale…

  5. Resource Storage Management Model For Ensuring Quality Of Service In The Cloud Archive Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariusz Kapanowski

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, service providers offer a lot of IT services in the public or private cloud. The client can buy various kinds of services like SaaS, PaaS, etc. Recently there was introduced Backup as a Service (BaaS as a variety of SaaS. At the moment there are available several different BaaSes for archiving the data in the cloud, but they provide only a basic level of service quality. In the paper we propose a model which ensures QoS for BaaS and some  methods for management of storage resources aimed at achieving the required SLA. This model introduces a set of parameters responsible for SLA level which can be offered on the basic or higher level of quality. The storage systems (typically HSM, which are distributed between several Data Centres,  are built based on disk arrays, VTLs, and tape libraries. The RSMM model does not assume bandwidth reservation or control, but is rather focused on the management of storage resources.

  6. Using ICT techniques for improving mechatronic systems' dependability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miron, Emanuel; Silva, João P. M. A.; Machado, José; Olaru, Dumitru; Prisacaru, Gheorghe

    2013-10-01

    The use of analysis techniques for industrial controller's analysis, such as Simulation and Formal Verification, is complex on industrial context. This complexity is due to the fact that such techniques require sometimes high investment in specific skilled human resources that have sufficient theoretical knowledge in those domains. This paper aims, mainly, to show that it is possible to obtain a timed automata model for formal verification purposes, considering the CAD model of a mechanical component. This systematic approach can be used, by companies, for the analysis of industrial controllers programs. For this purpose, it is discussed, in the paper, the best way to systematize these procedures, and this paper describes, only, the first step of a complex process and promotes a discussion of the main difficulties that can be found and a possibility for handle those difficulties. A library for formal verification purposes is obtained from original 3D CAD models using Software as a Service platform (SaaS) that, nowadays, has become a common deliverable model for many applications, because SaaS is typically accessed by users via internet access.

  7. How Virtual Technology Can Impact Total Ownership Costs on a USN Vessel

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-01

    Figure 2. OSI Model Data Flow (From Dean, 2009) ........................................................9 Figure 3. Routers and Switches in a...IP Internet Protocol ISNS Integrated Shipboard Network System IT Information Systems Technician LAN Local Area Network MAC Media...RSupply Relational Supply SaaS Software as a Service SCI- LAN Sensitive Compartmented Information Local Area Network SSDG Ships Service Diesel

  8. Apprentissage auto-dirige: Quand les chiffres parlent (Self-Directed Learning: Figures Speak for Themselves).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abe, Daniele; Gremmo, Marie-Jose

    The functioning of the semi-autonomous learning system (SAAS) at the Centre de Recherches et d'Applications Pedagogiques en Langues (CRAPEL) was surveyed for the academic year 1980-81. Detailed data were collected about learners' aims, language level, and their assessment of the SAAS, as well as about the way they actually used the system. This…

  9. DNA strand breaks, acute phase response and inflammation following pulmonary exposure by instillation to the diesel exhaust particle NIST1650b in mice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kyjovska, Zdenka O.; Jacobsen, Nicklas R.; Saber, Anne T.

    2015-01-01

    by the alkaline comet assay as DNA strand breaks in BAL cells, lung and liver tissue. The pulmonary acute phase response was analysed by Saa3 mRNA levels by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Instillation of DEP induced a strong neutrophil influx 1 and 3 days, but not 28 days post-exposure. Saa3 m...

  10. Salivary Alpha Amylase and Cortisol Levels in Children with Global Developmental Delay and Their Relation with the Expectation of Dental Care and Behavior during the Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    dos Santos, Marcio Jose Possari; Bernabe, Daniel Galera; Nakamune, Ana Claudia de Melo Stevanato; Perri, Silvia Helena Venturoli; de Aguiar, Sandra Maria Herondina Coelho Avila; de Oliveira, Sandra Helena Penha

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to analyze the alpha-amylase (sAA) and cortisol levels in children with Global developmental delay (GDD) before and after dental treatment and its association with the children's behavior during treatment. The morning salivary cortisol levels and activity of sAA of 33 children with GDD were evaluated before and after…

  11. Analytical validation of a new point-of-care assay for serum amyloid A in horses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, D; Pusterla, N; Jacobsen, S; Christopher, M M

    2018-01-17

    Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute phase protein in horses. A new point-of-care (POC) test for SAA (Stablelab) is available, but studies evaluating its analytical accuracy are lacking. To evaluate the analytical performance of the SAA POC test by 1) determining linearity and precision, 2) comparing results in whole blood with those in serum or plasma, and 3) comparing POC results with those obtained using a previously validated turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA). Assay validation. Analytical validation of the POC test was done in accordance with American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology guidelines using residual equine serum/plasma and whole blood samples from the Clinical Pathology Laboratory at the University of California-Davis. A TIA was used as the reference method. We also evaluated the effect of haematocrit (HCT). The POC test was linear for SAA concentrations of up to at least 1000 μg/mL (r = 0.991). Intra-assay CVs were 13, 18 and 15% at high (782 μg/mL), intermediate (116 μg/mL) and low (64 μg/mL) concentrations. Inter-assay (inter-batch) CVs were 45, 14 and 15% at high (1372 μg/mL), intermediate (140 μg/mL) and low (56 μg/mL) concentrations. SAA results in whole blood were significantly lower than those in serum/plasma (P = 0.0002), but were positively correlated (r = 0.908) and not affected by HCT (P = 0.261); proportional negative bias was observed in samples with SAA>500 μg/mL. The difference between methods exceeded the 95% confidence interval of the combined imprecision of both methods (15%). Analytical validation could not be performed in whole blood, the sample most likely to be used stall side. The POC test has acceptable accuracy and precision in equine serum/plasma with SAA concentrations of up to at least 1000 μg/mL. Low inter-batch precision at high concentrations may affect serial measurements, and the use of the same test batch and sample type (serum/plasma or whole blood) is recommended. Comparison of results between the

  12. Endovascular treatment of splenic artery aneurysms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lagana, Domenico; Carrafiello, Gianpaolo; Mangini, Monica; Fontana, Federico; Dizonno, Massimiliano; Fugazzola, Carlo; Castelli, Patrizio

    2005-01-01

    Purpose. To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of endovascular treatment of splenic artery aneurysm (SAAs). Materials and methods. Between May 2000 and June 2003 we treated 11 true SAAs in 9 patients (7 females and 2 males; mean age 58 years), 8 saccular and 3 fusiform, 4 located at the middle tract of the splenic artery, 5 at the distal tract and 2 intra-parenchymal. The diagnosis was performed with colour-Doppler ultrasound and/or CT-angiography; 7 patients were symptomless, 1 had left hypochondriac pain, and 1 had acute abdomen caused by a ruptured SAA. Four SAAs were treated by micro coil embolisation of the aneurysmal sac with preservation of splenic artery patency; in 2 cases this was associated with transcatheter injection of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate. Four cases were treated by endovascular ligature, with sectoral spleen ischaemia. One ruptured SAA received emergency treatment with splenic artery cyanoacrylate embolisation. Two intra-parenchymal SAAs were excluded, one by cyanoacrylate embolisation of the afferent artery and the other by transcatheter thrombin injection in the aneurysmal sac. Results. Technical success was observed in all cases (in 10/11 at the end of the procedure; in 1/11 at CT performed 3 days after the procedure). The follow-up (mean 18 months; range 6-36) was performed by colour-Doppler ultrasound and/or CT-angiography 3, 6 and 12 months after the procedure and subsequently once a year; the complete exclusion of the aneurysms was confirmed in 11/11 cases. The complications were: 4 cases of mild pleuritis; fever and left hypochondriac pain 1 day after the procedure (in the same 4 patients and in one other case); 5 cases of sectorial spleen ischaemia and 1 case of diffuse spleen infarction with partial revascularization by collateral vessels. No alteration of the levels of pancreatic enzymes was found; a transitory increase in platelet count occurred only in the patient with diffuse spleen infarction. Conclusions. Using different

  13. Measurement of Deformations by MEMS Arrays, Verified at Sub-millimetre Level Using Robotic Total Stations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomas Beran

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Measurement of sub-millimetre-level deformations of structures in the presence of ambienttemperature changes can be challenging. This paper describes the measurement of astructure moving due to temperature changes, using two ShapeAccelArray (SAAinstruments, and verified by a geodetic monitoring system. SAA is a geotechnicalinstrument often used for monitoring of displacements in soil. SAA uses micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS sensors to measure tilt in the gravity field. The geodeticmonitoring system, which uses ALERT software, senses the displacements of targetsrelative to control points, using a robotic total station (RTS. The test setup consists of acentral four-metre free-standing steel tube with other steel tubes welded to most of itslength. The central tube is anchored in a concrete foundation. This composite “pole” isequipped with two SAAs as well as three geodetic prisms mounted on the top, in the middle,and in the foundation. The geodetic system uses multiple control targets mounted inconcrete foundations of nearby buildings, and at the base of the pole. Long-termobservations using two SAAs indicate that the pole is subject to deformations due to cyclicalambient temperature variations causing the pole to move by a few millimetres each day. Ina multiple-day experiment, it was possible to track this movement using SAA as well as theRTS system. This paper presents data comparing the measurements of the two instrumentsand provides a good example of the detection of two-dimensional movements of seeminglyrigid objects due to temperature changes.

  14. The Impairment of Macrophage-to-Feces Reverse Cholesterol Transport during Inflammation Does Not Depend on Serum Amyloid A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Beer, Maria C; Wroblewski, Joanne M; Noffsinger, Victoria P; Ji, Ailing; Meyer, Jason M; van der Westhuyzen, Deneys R; de Beer, Frederick C; Webb, Nancy R

    2013-01-01

    Studies suggest that inflammation impairs reverse cholesterol transport (RCT). We investigated whether serum amyloid A (SAA) contributes to this impairment using an established macrophage-to-feces RCT model. Wild-type (WT) mice and mice deficient in SAA1.1 and SAA2.1 (SAAKO) were injected intraperitoneally with (3)H-cholesterol-labeled J774 macrophages 4 hr after administration of LPS or buffered saline. (3)H-cholesterol in plasma 4 hr after macrophage injection was significantly reduced in both WT and SAAKO mice injected with LPS, but this was not associated with a reduced capacity of serum from LPS-injected mice to promote macrophage cholesterol efflux in vitro. Hepatic accumulation of (3)H-cholesterol was unaltered in either WT or SAAKO mice by LPS treatment. Radioactivity present in bile and feces of LPS-injected WT mice 24 hr after macrophage injection was reduced by 36% (P < 0.05) and 80% (P < 0.001), respectively. In contrast, in SAAKO mice, LPS did not significantly reduce macrophage-derived (3)H-cholesterol in bile, and fecal excretion was reduced by only 45% (P < 0.05). Injection of cholesterol-loaded allogeneic J774 cells, but not syngeneic bone-marrow-derived macrophages, transiently induced SAA in C57BL/6 mice. Our study confirms reports that acute inflammation impairs steps in the RCT pathway and establishes that SAA plays only a minor role in this impairment.

  15. The Impairment of Macrophage-to-Feces Reverse Cholesterol Transport during Inflammation Does Not Depend on Serum Amyloid A

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria C. de Beer

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies suggest that inflammation impairs reverse cholesterol transport (RCT. We investigated whether serum amyloid A (SAA contributes to this impairment using an established macrophage-to-feces RCT model. Wild-type (WT mice and mice deficient in SAA1.1 and SAA2.1 (SAAKO were injected intraperitoneally with 3H-cholesterol-labeled J774 macrophages 4 hr after administration of LPS or buffered saline. 3H-cholesterol in plasma 4 hr after macrophage injection was significantly reduced in both WT and SAAKO mice injected with LPS, but this was not associated with a reduced capacity of serum from LPS-injected mice to promote macrophage cholesterol efflux in vitro. Hepatic accumulation of 3H-cholesterol was unaltered in either WT or SAAKO mice by LPS treatment. Radioactivity present in bile and feces of LPS-injected WT mice 24 hr after macrophage injection was reduced by 36%   (P<0.05 and 80%   (P<0.001, respectively. In contrast, in SAAKO mice, LPS did not significantly reduce macrophage-derived 3H-cholesterol in bile, and fecal excretion was reduced by only 45%   (P<0.05. Injection of cholesterol-loaded allogeneic J774 cells, but not syngeneic bone-marrow-derived macrophages, transiently induced SAA in C57BL/6 mice. Our study confirms reports that acute inflammation impairs steps in the RCT pathway and establishes that SAA plays only a minor role in this impairment.

  16. Decadal-scale teleconnection between South Atlantic SST and southeast Australia surface air temperature in austral summer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Jiaqing; Li, Jianping; Sun, Cheng; Zhao, Sen; Mao, Jiangyu; Dong, Di; Li, Yanjie; Feng, Juan

    2018-04-01

    Austral summer (December-February) surface air temperature over southeast Australia (SEA) is found to be remotely influenced by sea surface temperature (SST) in the South Atlantic at decadal time scales. In austral summer, warm SST anomalies in the southwest South Atlantic induce concurrent above-normal surface air temperature over SEA. This decadal-scale teleconnection occurs through the eastward propagating South Atlantic-Australia (SAA) wave train triggered by SST anomalies in the southwest South Atlantic. The excitation of the SAA wave train is verified by forcing experiments based on both linear barotropic and baroclinic models, propagation pathway and spatial scale of the observed SAA wave train are further explained by the Rossby wave ray tracing analysis in non-uniform basic flow. The SAA wave train forced by southwest South Atlantic warming is characterized by an anomalous anticyclone off the eastern coast of the Australia. Temperature diagnostic analyses based on the thermodynamic equation suggest anomalous northerly flows on western flank of this anticyclone can induce low-level warm advection anomaly over SEA, which thus lead to the warming of surface air temperature there. Finally, SST-forced atmospheric general circulation model ensemble experiments also demonstrate that SST forcing in the South Atlantic is associated with the SAA teleconnection wave train in austral summer, this wave train then modulate surface air temperature over SEA on decadal timescales. Hence, observations combined with numerical simulations consistently demonstrate the decadal-scale teleconnection between South Atlantic SST and summertime surface air temperature over SEA.

  17. Effects of strategic early-morning caffeine gum administration on association between salivary alpha-amylase and neurobehavioural performance during 50 h of sleep deprivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pajcin, Maja; White, Jason M; Banks, Siobhan; Dorrian, Jill; Paech, Gemma M; Grant, Crystal L; Johnson, Kayla; Tooley, Katie; Aidman, Eugene; Fidock, Justin; Kamimori, Gary H; Della Vedova, Chris B

    2018-02-02

    Self-assessment is the most common method for monitoring performance and safety in the workplace. However, discrepancies between subjective and objective measures have increased interest in physiological assessment of performance. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, 23 healthy adults were randomly assigned to either a placebo (n = 11; 5 F, 6 M) or caffeine condition (n = 12; 4 F, 8 M) while undergoing 50 h (i.e. two days) of total sleep deprivation. In previous work, higher salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) levels were associated with improved psychomotor vigilance and simulated driving performance in the placebo condition. In this follow-up article, the effects of strategic caffeine administration on the previously reported diurnal profiles of sAA and performance, and the association between sAA and neurobehavioural performance were investigated. Participants were given a 10 h baseline sleep opportunity (monitored via standard polysomnography techniques) prior to undergoing sleep deprivation (total sleep time: placebo = 8.83 ± 0.48 h; caffeine = 9.01 ± 0.48 h). During sleep deprivation, caffeine gum (200 mg) was administered at 01:00 h, 03:00 h, 05:00 h, and 07:00 h to participants in the caffeine condition (n = 12). This strategic administration of caffeine gum (200 mg) has been shown to be effective at maintaining cognitive performance during extended wakefulness. Saliva samples were collected, and psychomotor vigilance and simulated driving performance assessed at three-hour intervals throughout wakefulness. Caffeine effects on diurnal variability were compared with previously reported findings in the placebo condition (n = 11). The impact of caffeine on the circadian profile of sAA coincided with changes in neurobehavioural performance. Higher sAA levels were associated with improved performance on the psychomotor vigilance test during the first 24 h of wakefulness in the caffeine condition

  18. Polycystic ovary syndrome influences the level of serum amyloid A and activity of phospholipid transfer protein in HDL₂ and HDL₃.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gidwani, S; Phelan, N; McGill, J; McGowan, A; O'Connor, A; Young, I S; Gibney, J; McEneny, J

    2014-07-01

    Is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) associated with altered levels of pro-inflammatory high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and activity of HDL-associated enzymes? In PCOS, HDL contained increased levels of the inflammatory marker serum amyloid A (SAA) and altered functioning of HDL-associated phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP), with these changes being independent of BMI, body fat and insulin resistance (IR). PCOS is associated with adipocyte-derived inflammation, which potentially increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. SAA is an inflammatory marker that is released from hypertrophic adipocytes and interacts with HDL, reducing their anti-atherogenic properties. No studies have previously investigated if SAA-associated HDL influences the HDL-associated enzymes namely, PLTP and cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) in women with PCOS. Obese women with PCOS were matched with controls for BMI and percentage body fat (n = 100/group; cohort-1); a subset of these women (n = 64/group; cohort-2) were further matched for IR. HDL in blood samples was subfractionated into HDL₂ and HDL₃ by rapid ultracentrifugation. SAA was measured in serum, HDL₂ and HDL₃ by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the activities of PLTP and CETP were measured in HDL₂ and HDL₃ by fluorimetric assays. In the PCOS women from cohort-1, SAA was increased in serum, HDL₂ and HDL₃ (P = 0.038, 0.008 and 0.001 versus control, respectively), as was the activity of PLTP in HDL₂ and HDL₃ (P = 0.006 and 0.009 versus controls, respectively). In the PCOS women from cohort-2, SAA was increased in serum, HDL₂ and HDL₃, although only significantly in HDL₃ (P = 0.083, 0.120 and 0.034 versus controls, respectively), as was the activity of PLTP in HDL₂ and HDL₃, although this was only significant in HDL₂ (P = 0.045 and 0.070 versus controls, respectively). First, insulin sensitivity was not determined by the euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp. Secondly, the

  19. Determination of the optimum standardised ileal digestible sulphur amino acids to lysine ratio in weaned pigs challenged with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Capozzalo, M. M.; Resink, J. W.; Htoo, J. K.

    2017-01-01

    This experiment tested the hypothesis that pigs challenged with an enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (ETEC) would require a higher sulphur amino acids (SAA) to Lys ratio (SAA:Lys). Pigs (n = 120) weighing 7.4 ± 0.52 kg (mean ± SD) and weaned at 27 d (Pietrain genotype, mixed sex) were stratified...

  20. Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on a Research Agenda for Maintenance and Evolution of Service-Oriented Systems (MESOA 2010)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-01

    service -oriented systems • Software -as-a- Service ( SaaS ) • social network infrastructures • Internet marketing • mobile computing • context awareness...Maintenance and Evolution of Service -Oriented Systems (MESOA 2010), organized by members of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute’s...CMU/SEI-2011-SR-008 | 1 1 Workshop Introduction The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) started developing a service -oriented architecture

  1. From Product- to Service-Oriented Strategies in the Enterprise Software Market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xin, Mingdi

    2009-01-01

    The enterprise software market is seeing the rise of a new business model--selling Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), in which a standard piece of software is owned and managed remotely by the vendor and delivered as a service over the Internet. Despite the hype, questions remain regarding the rise of this new service model and how it would impact the…

  2. Rupture of splenic artery aneurysm in primipara five days after cesarean section: case report and review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barišić, Tatjana; Šutalo, Nikica; Letica, Ludvig; Kordić, Andrea Vladimira

    2015-11-01

    Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is a rare and usually asymptomatic vascular anomaly which carries the risk of rupture and fatal hemorrhage. It is more common in women and is usually associated with pregnancy. We present the case of rupture of SAA, 5 days after giving birth by cesarean section, which was diagnosed with Multi-Slice Computed Tomografy (MSCT) angiography and was successfully operated in the second emergency laparotomy, with the final good outcome for the mother. This case indicates that in case of sudden bleeding in the abdomen, with the development of hypovolemic shock, especially in the peripartum period, should be suspected rupture of SAA. The paper presents a critical review of this case, with a review of the literature.

  3. Enhancement of mechanical and electrical properties of continuous-fiber-reinforced epoxy composites with stacked graphene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naveh, Naum; Shepelev, Olga; Kenig, Samuel

    2017-01-01

    Impregnation of expandable graphite (EG) after thermal treatment with an epoxy resin containing surface-active agents (SAAs) enhanced the intercalation of epoxy monomer between EG layers and led to further exfoliation of the graphite, resulting in stacks of few graphene layers, so-called "stacked" graphene (SG). This process enabled electrical conductivity of cured epoxy/SG composites at lower percolation thresholds, and improved thermo-mechanical properties were measured with either Kevlar, carbon or glass-fiber-reinforced composites. Several compositions with SAA-modified SG led to higher dynamic moduli especially at high temperatures, reflecting the better wetting ability of the modified nanoparticles. The hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of the SAA dictates the surface energy balance. More hydrophilic SAAs promoted localization of the SG at the Kevlar/epoxy interface, and morphology seems to be driven by thermodynamics, rather than the kinetic effect of viscosity. This effect was less obvious with carbon or glass fibers, due to the lower surface energy of the carbon fibers or some incompatibility with the glass-fiber sizing. Proper choice of the surfactant and fine-tuning of the crosslink density at the interphase may provide further enhancements in thermo-mechanical behavior.

  4. HIV infection and drugs of abuse: role of acute phase proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samikkannu, Thangavel; Rao, Kurapati V K; Arias, Adriana Y; Kalaichezian, Aarthi; Sagar, Vidya; Yoo, Changwon; Nair, Madhavan P N

    2013-09-17

    HIV infection and drugs of abuse such as methamphetamine (METH), cocaine, and alcohol use have been identified as risk factors for triggering inflammation. Acute phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) are the biomarkers of inflammation. Hence, the interactive effect of drugs of abuse with acute phase proteins in HIV-positive subjects was investigated. Plasma samples were utilized from 75 subjects with METH use, cocaine use, alcohol use, and HIV-positive alone and HIV-positive METH, cocaine, and alcohol users, and age-matched control subjects. The plasma CRP and SAA levels were measured by ELISA and western blot respectively and the CD4 counts were also measured. Observed results indicated that the CRP and SAA levels in HIV-positive subjects who are METH, cocaine and alcohol users were significantly higher when compared with either drugs of abuse or HIV-positive alone. The CD4 counts were also dramatically reduced in HIV-positive with drugs of abuse subjects compared with only HIV-positive subjects. These results suggest that, in HIV-positive subjects, drugs of abuse increase the levels of CRP and SAA, which may impact on the HIV infection and disease progression.

  5. CLOUD COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian IVANUS

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing has been a tremendous innovation, through which applications became available online, accessible through an Internet connection and using any computing device (computer, smartphone or tablet. According to one of the most recent studies conducted in 2012 by Everest Group and Cloud Connect, 57% of companies said they already use SaaS application (Software as a Service, and 38% reported using standard tools PaaS (Platform as a Service. However, in the most cases, the users of these solutions highlighted the fact that one of the main obstacles in the development of this technology is the fact that, in cloud, the application is not available without an Internet connection. The new challenge of the cloud system has become now the offline, specifically accessing SaaS applications without being connected to the Internet. This topic is directly related to user productivity within companies as productivity growth is one of the key promises of cloud computing system applications transformation. The aim of this paper is the presentation of some important aspects related to the offline cloud system and regulatory trends in the European Union (EU.

  6. Enhancement of mechanical and electrical properties of continuous-fiber-reinforced epoxy composites with stacked graphene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naum Naveh

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Impregnation of expandable graphite (EG after thermal treatment with an epoxy resin containing surface-active agents (SAAs enhanced the intercalation of epoxy monomer between EG layers and led to further exfoliation of the graphite, resulting in stacks of few graphene layers, so-called “stacked” graphene (SG. This process enabled electrical conductivity of cured epoxy/SG composites at lower percolation thresholds, and improved thermo-mechanical properties were measured with either Kevlar, carbon or glass-fiber-reinforced composites. Several compositions with SAA-modified SG led to higher dynamic moduli especially at high temperatures, reflecting the better wetting ability of the modified nanoparticles. The hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of the SAA dictates the surface energy balance. More hydrophilic SAAs promoted localization of the SG at the Kevlar/epoxy interface, and morphology seems to be driven by thermodynamics, rather than the kinetic effect of viscosity. This effect was less obvious with carbon or glass fibers, due to the lower surface energy of the carbon fibers or some incompatibility with the glass-fiber sizing. Proper choice of the surfactant and fine-tuning of the crosslink density at the interphase may provide further enhancements in thermo-mechanical behavior.

  7. Application of Workflow Technology for Big Data Analysis Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Zhang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This study presents a lightweight representational state transfer-based cloud workflow system to construct a big data intelligent software-as-a-service (SaaS platform. The system supports the dynamic construction and operation of an intelligent data analysis application, and realizes rapid development and flexible deployment of the business analysis process that can improve the interaction and response time of the process. The proposed system integrates offline-batch and online-streaming analysis models that allow users to conduct batch and streaming computing simultaneously. Users can rend cloud capabilities and customize a set of big data analysis applications in the form of workflow processes. This study elucidates the architecture and application modeling, customization, dynamic construction, and scheduling of a cloud workflow system. A chain workflow foundation mechanism is proposed to combine several analysis components into a chain component that can promote efficiency. Four practical application cases are provided to verify the analysis capability of the system. Experimental results show that the proposed system can support multiple users in accessing the system concurrently and effectively uses data analysis algorithms. The proposed SaaS workflow system has been used in network operators and has achieved good results.

  8. Application of NASA Kennedy Space Center System Assurance Analysis methodology to nuclear power plant systems designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Page, D.W.

    1985-01-01

    In May of 1982, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) entered into an agreement with the NRC to conduct a study to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of applying the KSC System Assurance Analysis (SAA) methodology to nuclear power plant systems designs. North Carolina's Duke Power Company expressed an interest in the study and proposed the nuclear power facility at CATAWBA for the basis of the study. In joint meetings of KSC and Duke Power personnel, an agreement was made to select two CATAWBA systems, the Containment Spray System and the Residual Heat Removal System, for the analyses. Duke Power provided KSC with a full set of Final Safety Analysis Reports (FSAR) as well as schematics for the two systems. During Phase I of the study the reliability analyses of the SAA were performed. During Phase II the hazard analyses were performed. The final product of Phase II is a handbook for implementing the SAA methodology into nuclear power plant systems designs. The purpose of this paper is to describe the SAA methodology as it applies to nuclear power plant systems designs and to discuss the feasibility of its application. (orig./HP)

  9. Heart rate, salivary α-amylase activity, and cooperative behavior in previously naïve children receiving dental local anesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arhakis, Aristidis; Menexes, George; Coolidge, Trilby; Kalfas, Sotirios

    2012-01-01

    Psychosomatic indicators, such as heart rate (HR), salivary alpha amylase (sAA) activity, and behavior, can be used to determine stress. This study's aim was to assess the pattern of changes of salivary alpha amylase, heart rate, and cooperative behavior in previously naïve children receiving dental treatment under local anesthesia. Included were 30 children with no prior dental experience who needed 4 or more sessions of dental treatment involving local anesthesia. In each session, sAA, HR, and behavior were assessed before and during the application of local anesthesia and at the end of the treatment. The highest sAA value was always observed at the end of each session; overall, the value was lower in the fourth session. HR always increased during the local anesthesia, and did not vary across sessions. No significant relationship was found between child cooperation and either sAA or HR. In this sample, child cooperation may not be an accurate indicator of stress. Based on salivary alpha amylase activity changes, dental treatment involving local anesthesia in naïve children appeared to be less stressful after 3 sessions.

  10. Systemic AA amyloidosis in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rising, Anna; Cederlund, Ella; Palmberg, Carina; Uhlhorn, Henrik; Gaunitz, Stefan; Nordling, Kerstin; Ågren, Erik; Ihse, Elisabet; Westermark, Gunilla T; Tjernberg, Lars; Jörnvall, Hans; Johansson, Jan; Westermark, Per

    2017-11-01

    Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis occurs spontaneously in many mammals and birds, but the prevalence varies considerably among different species, and even among subgroups of the same species. The Blue fox and the Gray fox seem to be resistant to the development of AA amyloidosis, while Island foxes have a high prevalence of the disease. Herein, we report on the identification of AA amyloidosis in the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Edman degradation and tandem MS analysis of proteolyzed amyloid protein revealed that the amyloid partly was composed of full-length SAA. Its amino acid sequence was determined and found to consist of 111 amino acid residues. Based on inter-species sequence comparisons we found four residue exchanges (Ser31, Lys63, Leu71, Lys72) between the Red and Blue fox SAAs. Lys63 seems unique to the Red fox SAA. We found no obvious explanation to how these exchanges might correlate with the reported differences in SAA amyloidogenicity. Furthermore, in contrast to fibrils from many other mammalian species, the isolated amyloid fibrils from Red fox did not seed AA amyloidosis in a mouse model. © 2017 The Protein Society.

  11. Amyloidosis, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in the Heart of an Alkaptonuric Patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lia Millucci

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. Alkaptonuria, a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by deficiency in homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase activity, leads to accumulation of oxidised homogentisic acid in cartilage and collagenous structures present in all organs and tissues, especially joints and heart, causing a pigmentation called ochronosis. A secondary amyloidosis is associated with AKU. Here we report a study of an aortic valve from an AKU patient. Results. Congo Red birefringence, Th-T fluorescence, and biochemical assays demonstrated the presence of SAA-amyloid deposits in AKU stenotic aortic valve. Light and electron microscopy assessed the colocalization of ochronotic pigment and SAA-amyloid, the presence of calcified areas in the valve. Immunofluorescence detected lipid peroxidation of the tissue and lymphocyte/macrophage infiltration causing inflammation. High SAA plasma levels and proinflammatory cytokines levels comparable to those from rheumatoid arthritis patients were found in AKU patient. Conclusions. SAA-amyloidosis was present in the aortic valve from an AKU patient and colocalized with ochronotic pigment as well as with tissue calcification, lipid oxidation, macrophages infiltration, cell death, and tissue degeneration. A local HGD expression in human cardiac tissue has also been ascertained suggesting a consequent local production of ochronotic pigment in AKU heart.

  12. Amyloidosis, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in the Heart of an Alkaptonuric Patient

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghezzi, Lorenzo; Giorgetti, Giovanna; Viti, Cecilia; Geminiani, Michela; Soldani, Patrizia; Lupetti, Pietro; Benvenuti, Chiara; Perfetto, Federico; Spreafico, Adriano; Santucci, Annalisa

    2014-01-01

    Background. Alkaptonuria, a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by deficiency in homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase activity, leads to accumulation of oxidised homogentisic acid in cartilage and collagenous structures present in all organs and tissues, especially joints and heart, causing a pigmentation called ochronosis. A secondary amyloidosis is associated with AKU. Here we report a study of an aortic valve from an AKU patient. Results. Congo Red birefringence, Th-T fluorescence, and biochemical assays demonstrated the presence of SAA-amyloid deposits in AKU stenotic aortic valve. Light and electron microscopy assessed the colocalization of ochronotic pigment and SAA-amyloid, the presence of calcified areas in the valve. Immunofluorescence detected lipid peroxidation of the tissue and lymphocyte/macrophage infiltration causing inflammation. High SAA plasma levels and proinflammatory cytokines levels comparable to those from rheumatoid arthritis patients were found in AKU patient. Conclusions. SAA-amyloidosis was present in the aortic valve from an AKU patient and colocalized with ochronotic pigment as well as with tissue calcification, lipid oxidation, macrophages infiltration, cell death, and tissue degeneration. A local HGD expression in human cardiac tissue has also been ascertained suggesting a consequent local production of ochronotic pigment in AKU heart. PMID:24876668

  13. Refining the multisystem view of the stress response: Coordination among cortisol, alpha-amylase, and subjective stress in response to relationship conflict

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, Sally I.; Granger, Douglas A.

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated associations among young adults' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, autonomic nervous system activity, and subjective stress in response to interpersonal conflict to better characterize coordination across stress systems. Seven saliva samples were collected from 199 young adult opposite-sex couples before, during, and after they discussed an unresolved relationship conflict. Samples were later assayed for cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA). Couples rated anticipatory stress prior to the conflict and perceived stress immediately following the task. Growth curve modeling was used to examine two possible levels of within-person coordination across physiological systems: alignment between cortisol and sAA responses throughout the sampling period (“matched phase coordination”), and association between overall levels of cortisol and sAA in response to conflict (“average level coordination”). Whereas both partners showed the former type of coordination, only women showed the latter type. Positive anticipation of the stressor predicted stronger cortisol-sAA matched phase coordination for women. Pre-task ratings related to women's sAA, and post-task ratings related to both partners' cortisol responses. Implications for a multisystem interpretation of normal and pathological responses to daily stress are discussed. PMID:23684904

  14. Refining the multisystem view of the stress response: coordination among cortisol, alpha-amylase, and subjective stress in response to relationship conflict.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurent, Heidemarie K; Powers, Sally I; Granger, Douglas A

    2013-07-02

    This study investigated associations among young adults' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, autonomic nervous system activity, and subjective stress in response to interpersonal conflict to better characterize coordination across stress systems. Seven saliva samples were collected from 199 young adult opposite-sex couples before, during, and after they discussed an unresolved relationship conflict. Samples were later assayed for cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA). Couples rated anticipatory stress prior to the conflict and perceived stress immediately following the task. Growth curve modeling was used to examine two possible levels of within-person coordination across physiological systems: alignment between cortisol and sAA responses throughout the sampling period ("matched phase coordination"), and association between overall levels of cortisol and sAA in response to conflict ("average level coordination"). Whereas both partners showed the former type of coordination, only women showed the latter type. Positive anticipation of the stressor predicted stronger cortisol-sAA matched phase coordination for women. Pre-task ratings related to women's sAA, and post-task ratings related to both partners' cortisol responses. Implications for a multisystem interpretation of normal and pathological responses to daily stress are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Studies for the stabilization of coal-oil mixtures. Final report, August 1978-May 1981

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Botsaris, G.D.; Glazman, Y.M.; Adams-Viola, M.

    1981-01-01

    A fundamental understanding of the stabilization of coal-oil mixtures (COM) was developed. Aggregation of the coal particles was determined to control both the sedimentation and rheological properties of the COM. Sedimentation stability of COM prepared with coal, 80% < 200 mesh, is achieved by particle aggregation, which leads to the formation of a network of particles throughout the oil. The wettability of coal powders was evaluated by the Pickering emulsion test and a spherical agglomeration test to assess its effect on the stability of various COM formulations. Sedimentation stability of hydrophilic coal-oil-water mixtures (COWM) involves the formation of water bridges between the coal particles, while less stabilization of oleophilic COWM is achieved by the formation of an emulsion. Anionic SAA were least sensitive to the coal type and enhanced the aggregation stability of the suspension. The effect of cationic SAA, nonionic SAA and polymer additives depended upon the specific chemical structure of the SAA, the water content of the COM and the type of coal. The sedimentation stability of ultrafine COM was not directly due to the fineness of the powder but due to the formation of a network of flocculated particles.

  16. Stress Biomarkers, Mood States, and Sleep during a Major Competition: "Success" and "Failure" Athlete's Profile of High-Level Swimmers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chennaoui, Mounir; Bougard, Clément; Drogou, Catherine; Langrume, Christophe; Miller, Christian; Gomez-Merino, Danielle; Vergnoux, Frédéric

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate stress markers, mood states, and sleep indicators in high-level swimmers during a major 7-days competition according to the outcomes. Nine swimmers [six men and three women (age: 22 ± 2 and 22 ± 4 years, respectively)] were examined. Before (PRE) and after (POST) each race (series, semi-finals, and finals), salivary concentrations of cortisol, α-amylase (sAA), and chromogranin-A (CgA) were determined. Mood states were assessed by the profile of mood state (POMS) questionnaire completed before and after the 7-days, and self-reported sleep diaries were completed daily. In the "failure" group, cortisol and sAA significantly increased between PRE-POST measurements (p failure group." In this group, fatigue, confusion and depression scores, and sleep duration before the finals increased. The results in the "success" group show tendencies for increased cortisol and sCgA concentrations in response to competition, while sAA was not changed. Cortisol levels before the semi-finals and finals and sCgA levels before the finals were positively correlated to the fatigue score in the "failure" group only (r = 0.89). sAA levels before and after the semi-finals were negatively correlated to sleep duration measured in the subsequent night (r = -0.90). In conclusion, the stress of the competition could trigger a negative mood profile and sleep disturbance which correspond to different responses of biomarkers related to the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, cortisol, sAA, and CgA.

  17. Modeling error and apparent isotope discrimination confound estimation of endogenous glucose production during euglycemic glucose clamps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Finegood, D.T.; Bergman, R.N.; Vranic, M.

    1988-01-01

    We previously demonstrated that conventional tracer methods applied to euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic glucose clamps result in substantially negative estimates for the rate of endogenous glucose production, particularly during the first half of 180-min clamps. We also showed that addition of tracer to the exogenous glucose infusate resulted in nonnegative endogenous glucose production (Ra) estimates. In this study, we investigated the underlying cause of negative estimates of Ra from conventional clamp/tracer methods and the reason for the difference in estimates when tracer is added to the exogenous glucose infusate. We performed euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic (300-microU/ml) clamps in normal dogs without (cold GINF protocol, n = 6) or with (hot GINF protocol, n = 6) tracer (D-[3-3H]glucose) added to the exogenous glucose infusate. In the hot GINF protocol, sufficient tracer was added to the exogenous glucose infusate such that arterial plasma specific activity (SAa) did not change from basal through the clamp period (P greater than .05). In the cold GINF studies, plasma SAa fell 81 +/- 2% from the basal level by the 3rd h of clamping. We observed a significant, transient, positive venous-arterial difference in specific activity (SAv-SAa difference) during the cold GINF studies. The SAv-SAa difference reached a peak of 27 +/- 6% at 30 min and diminished to a plateau of 7 +/- 1% between 70 and 180 min. We also observed a positive but constant SAv-SAa difference (4.6 +/- 0.2% between 10 and 180 min) during the hot GINF studies

  18. Assessment of MSFCs Process for the Development and Activation of Space Act Agreement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daugherty, Rachel

    2014-01-01

    Space Act Agreements (SAAs) are contractual agreements that NASA utilizes to form partnerships with researchers, industry, and academia to stimulate cutting-edge innovation within the science and technology communities. center dot This study assessed the current SAA development and activation process at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to determine if improvements could be implemented to increase productivity, decrease time to activation, and improve the quality of deliverables.

  19. Morphological differentiation of severe aplastic anaemia from hypocellular refractory cytopenia of childhood

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baumann, Irith; Führer, Monika; Behrendt, Sonja

    2012-01-01

    To evaluate the reproducibility and reliability of the histomorphological criteria differentiating severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) and hypoplastic refractory cytopenia of childhood (RCC), the most frequently acquired hypocellular bone marrow conditions of childhood.......To evaluate the reproducibility and reliability of the histomorphological criteria differentiating severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) and hypoplastic refractory cytopenia of childhood (RCC), the most frequently acquired hypocellular bone marrow conditions of childhood....

  20. Freemium-hinnoittelustrategia: mahdollisuudet ja haasteet pilvisovellusten tarjoajan näkökulmasta

    OpenAIRE

    Turunen, Tanja

    2011-01-01

    Turunen, Tanja Freemium-hinnoittelustrategia: mahdollisuudet ja haasteet pilvisovellusten tar-joajan näkökulmasta Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2011, 28 s. Tietojärjestelmätiede, kandidaatintutkielma Ohjaaja: Ojala, Arto Pilvisovellusten (SaaS) läpimurto on johtanut ohjelmistoalan perinteisten hin-noittelustrategioiden väistymiseen ja pilvisovellusten tarjoajien tarpeeseen muuttaa vakiintuneita liiketoimintamallejaan. Tämä kirjallisuuskatsauksena toteutettu tutkielma esittel...

  1. CMMI (registered trademark) for Services, Version 1.2

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-02-01

    background in information technology, especially those familiar with disciplines like service - oriented architecture (SOA) or software as a service ( SaaS ). In... services , the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has found several dimensions that an organization can focus on to improve its business. Figure...International Business Machines) and the SEI [Humphrey 1989]. Humphrey’s book, Managing the Software Process, provides a CMMI for Services Version 1.2

  2. Immunosuppressive therapy in patients with aplastic anemia: a single-center retrospective study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasan Jalaeikhoo

    Full Text Available Aplastic anemia (AA is a rare disease in which hematopoietic stem cells are severely diminished resulting in hypocellular bone marrow and pancytopenia. Etiology of AA includes auto immunity, toxins, infection, ionizing radiation, drugs and rare genetic disorders, but in the majority of cases no cause can be identified. In the present study we assessed response rate, survival, relapse and clonal evolution in patients with AA treated with immunosuppressive therapy.Patients with AA who received immunosuppressive therapy between May 1998 and September 2013 were included in this study. Patients with non-severe AA (NSAA were treated with cyclosporine (CsA and danazol while patients with severe AA (SAA as well as patients with NSAA who progressed to SAA after beginning of the treatment, were candidates for receiving antithymocyte globulin in addition to CsA and danazol.Among the 63 studied patients, 29 (46% had NSAA and 34 (54% had SAA. Three months after treatment, overall response was 58.6% in NSAA and 12.9% in patients with SAA. Survival of all patients at 5, 10 and 15 years were 73%, 55% and 49%, respectively. Survival rates were significantly higher in patients with NSAA compared to patients with SAA as well as in patients who responded at 6 months compared to non-responders. The relapse risk was 39.7% at 10 years. Relapse occurred in patients who discontinued the therapy more than those who continued taking CsA (p value<0.01. The risk of clonal evolution was 9.9% at 10 years and 22.8% at 15 years after treatment.This long-term retrospective study indicated that immunosuppressive therapy should be recommended to patients with AA. Also, our experience indicated that immunosuppressive therapy should not be discontinued after response to therapy in patients with both NSAA and SAA due to high risk of relapse. Low dose of CsA should be continued indefinitely.

  3. Nii enam ei saa / Mart Laar

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Laar, Mart, 1960-

    2001-01-01

    Ilmunud ka: Pärnu Postimees 15. sept., lk. 2; Järva Teataja 15. sept., lk. 2; Põhjarannik 15. sept., lk. 2; Severnoje Poberezhje 15. sept., lk. 2; Lääne- Harju Ekspress 15. sept., lk. 4; Nädaline 15. sept., lk. 2; Võrumaa Teataja 15. sept., lk. 4; Lääne Elu 15. sept., lk. 2; Hiiumaa 15. sept., lk. 2; Meie Maa 15. sept., lk. 2; Valgamaalane 15. sept., lk. 2; Sakala 14. sept., lk. 2; Vooremaa 18. sept., lk. 2. Pärnumaa salaviinatragöödia. Autor: Isamaaliit

  4. Using Multiple Seasonal Holt-Winters Exponential Smoothing to Predict Cloud Resource Provisioning

    OpenAIRE

    Ashraf A. Shahin

    2016-01-01

    Elasticity is one of the key features of cloud computing that attracts many SaaS providers to minimize their services' cost. Cost is minimized by automatically provision and release computational resources depend on actual computational needs. However, delay of starting up new virtual resources can cause Service Level Agreement violation. Consequently, predicting cloud resources provisioning gains a lot of attention to scale computational resources in advance. However, most of current approac...

  5. Review of Methods and Algorithms for Dynamic Management of CBRNE Collection Assets

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Li (2000). Note that SAA for UAVs is not a mature technology in the DoD. AFRL’s SAA architecture contains an algorithm called MuSICA (Multi-Sensor...SWOrRD.html. Graham, S., and J. Kay. 2012. Multi-Sensor Integrated Conflict Avoidance ( MuSICA ): 2012 International Test and Evaluation Association...moving target indicator MuSICA Multi-Sensor Integrated Conflict Avoidance MVOI multivariate optimal interpolation MVU maximum variance unfolding

  6. Marine Corps Private Cloud Computing Environment Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-15

    leveraging economies of scale through the MCEITS PCCE, the Marine Corps will measure consumed IT resources more effectively, increase or decrease...flexible broad network access, resource pooling, elastic provisioning and measured services. By leveraging economies of scale the Marine Corps will be able...IaaS SaaS / IaaS 1 1 LCE I ACE Dets I I I I ------------------~ GIG / CJ Internet Security Boundary MCEN I DISN r :------------------ MCEN

  7. Architecting the cloud design decisions for cloud computing service models (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS)

    CERN Document Server

    Kavis, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    An expert guide to selecting the right cloud service model for your business Cloud computing is all the rage, allowing for the delivery of computing and storage capacity to a diverse community of end-recipients. However, before you can decide on a cloud model, you need to determine what the ideal cloud service model is for your business. Helping you cut through all the haze, Architecting the Cloud is vendor neutral and guides you in making one of the most critical technology decisions that you will face: selecting the right cloud service model(s) based on a combination of both business and tec

  8. La actitud de los recursos humanos de las organizaciones ante la complejidad de las aplicaciones SaaS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro R. Palos

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available El objetivo de este trabajo de investigación es contribuir al entendimiento de la adopción de la tecnología cloud y su aportación en la mejora de competitividad de una organización desde la perspectiva de los recursos humanos. Esta investigación estudia la adopción de esta tecnología en función del tamaño de la organización y de la categoría laboral del encuestado. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la influencia de la complejidad tecnológica, el apoyo de la alta dirección, la comunicación, la formación y la actitud hacia el sistema en la intención de uso final del cloud, especialmente en función del tamaño de la organización que adopta la nube y de la categoría laboral del encuestado que pertenece a la organización.

  9. Possible participation of oxidative stress in causation of cell proliferation and in vivo mutagenicity in kidneys of gpt delta rats treated with potassium bromate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Umemura, Takashi; Tasaki, Masako; Kijima, Aki; Okamura, Toshiya; Inoue, Tomoki; Ishii, Yuji; Suzuki, Yuta; Masui, Norio; Nohmi, Takehiko; Nishikawa, Akiyoshi

    2009-01-01

    Clarifying the participation of oxidative stress among possible contributing factors in potassium bromate (KBrO 3 )-induced carcinogenesis is of importance from the perspective of human health protection. In the present study, utilizing the antioxidative effects of α-tocopherol (α-TP) or sodium ascorbic acid (SAA) to attenuate oxidative stress, alterations in bromodeoxyuridine labeling indices (BrdU-LIs) and reporter gene mutations in kidneys of male and female gpt delta rats given KBrO 3 were examined. Five male and female gpt delta rats in each group were given KBrO 3 at a concentration of 500 ppm in the drinking water for 9 weeks, with 1% of α-TP or SAA administered in the diet from 1 week prior to the KBrO 3 treatment until the end of the experiment. Increases in 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine levels in kidney DNA of both sexes of rats given KBrO 3 were significantly inhibited by SAA, but not α-TP. While BrdU-LIs in the proximal tubules of female rats were also significantly reduced by SAA, those in the males and gpt mutant frequencies in kidney DNA of both sexes were not affected by SAA or α-TP. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses for α 2u -globulin strongly suggested that induction of cell proliferation observed in the males might primarily result from accumulation of this protein, independent of oxidative stress. The overall data indicated that while oxidative stress well correlates with induction of cell proliferation in females, its role in males and in generation of in vivo mutagenicity by KBrO 3 in both sexes is limited

  10. Stress Biomarkers, Mood States, and Sleep during a Major Competition: “Success” and “Failure” Athlete's Profile of High-Level Swimmers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chennaoui, Mounir; Bougard, Clément; Drogou, Catherine; Langrume, Christophe; Miller, Christian; Gomez-Merino, Danielle; Vergnoux, Frédéric

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate stress markers, mood states, and sleep indicators in high-level swimmers during a major 7-days competition according to the outcomes. Nine swimmers [six men and three women (age: 22 ± 2 and 22 ± 4 years, respectively)] were examined. Before (PRE) and after (POST) each race (series, semi-finals, and finals), salivary concentrations of cortisol, α-amylase (sAA), and chromogranin-A (CgA) were determined. Mood states were assessed by the profile of mood state (POMS) questionnaire completed before and after the 7-days, and self-reported sleep diaries were completed daily. In the “failure” group, cortisol and sAA significantly increased between PRE-POST measurements (p failure group.” In this group, fatigue, confusion and depression scores, and sleep duration before the finals increased. The results in the “success” group show tendencies for increased cortisol and sCgA concentrations in response to competition, while sAA was not changed. Cortisol levels before the semi-finals and finals and sCgA levels before the finals were positively correlated to the fatigue score in the “failure” group only (r = 0.89). sAA levels before and after the semi-finals were negatively correlated to sleep duration measured in the subsequent night (r = −0.90). In conclusion, the stress of the competition could trigger a negative mood profile and sleep disturbance which correspond to different responses of biomarkers related to the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, cortisol, sAA, and CgA. PMID:27014092

  11. Selected anionic and cationic surface active agents: case study on the Kłodnica sediments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olkowska Ewa

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Surface active agents (surfactants are a group of chemical compounds, which are used as ingredients of detergents, cleaning products, cosmetics and functional products. After use, wastes containing surfactants or their degradation products are discharged to wastewater treatment plants or directly into surface waters. Due to their specific properties of SAAs, compounds are able to migrate between different environmental compartments such as soil, sediment, water or even living organisms and accumulate there. Surfactants can have a harmful effect on living organisms. They can connect with bioactive molecules and modify their function. Additionally, they have the ability to migrate into cells and cause their damage or death. For these reasons investigation of individual surfactants should be conducted. The presented research has been undertaken to obtain information about SAA contamination of sediment from the River Kłodnica catchment caused by selected anionic (linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS C10-C13 and cationic (alkylbenzyldimethylammonium (BDMA-C12-16, alkyl trimethyl ammonium (DTMA, hexadecyl piridinium chloride (HP chlorides surfactants. This river flows through an area of the Upper Silesia Industrial Region where various companies and other institutions (e.g. coal mining, power plants, metallurgy, hospitals are located. To determine their concentration the following analytical tools have been applied: accelerated solvent extraction– solid phase extraction – high performance liquid chromatography – UV-Vis (anionic SAAs and conductivity (cationic SAAs detectors. In all sediments anionic SAAs have been detected. The concentrations of HTMA and BDMA-C16 in tested samples were higher than other cationic analytes. Generally, levels of surfactants with longer alkyl chains were higher and this observation can confirm their higher susceptibility to sorption on solid surfaces.

  12. Sickness-Associated Anorexia: Mother Nature's Idea of Immunonutrition?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Niekerk, Gustav; Isaacs, Ashwin W; Nell, Theo; Engelbrecht, Anna-Mart

    2016-01-01

    During an infection, expansion of immune cells, assembly of antibodies, and the induction of a febrile response collectively place continual metabolic strain on the host. These considerations also provide a rationale for nutritional support in critically ill patients. Yet, results from clinical and preclinical studies indicate that aggressive nutritional support does not always benefit patients and may occasionally be detrimental. Moreover, both vertebrates and invertebrates exhibit a decrease in appetite during an infection, indicating that such sickness-associated anorexia (SAA) is evolutionarily conserved. It also suggests that SAA performs a vital function during an infection. We review evidence signifying that SAA may present a mechanism by which autophagic flux is upregulated systemically. A decrease in serum amino acids during an infection promotes autophagy not only in immune cells, but also in nonimmune cells. Similarly, bile acids reabsorbed postprandially inhibit hepatic autophagy by binding to farnesoid X receptors, indicating that SAA may be an attempt to conserve autophagy. In addition, augmented autophagic responses may play a critical role in clearing pathogens (xenophagy), in the presentation of epitopes in nonprovisional antigen presenting cells and the removal of damaged proteins and organelles. Collectively, these observations suggest that some patients might benefit from permissive underfeeding.

  13. Sex-specific effects of intranasal oxytocin on autonomic nervous system and emotional responses to couple conflict

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nater, Urs M.; Schaer, Marcel; La Marca, Roberto; Bodenmann, Guy; Ehlert, Ulrike; Heinrichs, Markus

    2013-01-01

    Unhappy couple relationships are associated with impaired individual health, an effect thought to be mediated through ongoing couple conflicts. Little is known, however, about the underlying mechanisms regulating psychobiological stress, and particularly autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity, during negative couple interaction. In this study, we tested the effects of the neuropeptide oxytocin on ANS reactivity during couple conflict in a standardized laboratory paradigm. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 47 heterosexual couples (total n = 94) received oxytocin or placebo intranasally prior to instructed couple conflict. Participants’ behavior was videotaped and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a measure of sympathetic activity, and emotional arousal were repeatedly measured during the experiment. Oxytocin significantly reduced sAA during couple conflict in women, whereas men showed increases in sAA levels (sex × group interaction: B = −49.36, t = −2.68, P = 0.009). In men, these increases were related to augmented emotional arousal (r = 0.286, P = 0.028) and more positive behavior (r = 0.291, P = 0.026), whereas there was no such association in women. Our results imply sex-specific effects of oxytocin on sympathetic activity, to negative couple interaction, with the neuropeptide reducing sAA responses and emotional arousal in women while increasing them in men. PMID:22842905

  14. Climatic Droplet Keratopathy in Argentina: Involvement of Environmental Agents in Its Genesis Which Would Open the Prospect for New Therapeutic Interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez, María Fernanda; Correa, Leandro; Crim, Nicolás; Espósito, Evangelina; Monti, Rodolfo; Urrets-Zavalía, Julio Alberto; Serra, Horacio Marcelo

    2015-01-01

    Climatic droplet keratopathy (CDK) is a degenerative corneal disease of unknown etiology. We described CDK for the first time in Latin America in the Argentinean Patagonia (El Cuy). A deeper knowledge of CDK pathogenic mechanisms will provide new therapeutic strategies. For that reason we investigated the prevalence of CDK in El Cuy and its existence in other 3 provinces with similar climate. Patients eyes were examined, habits throughout lives were inquired about, and serum ascorbate (sAA) was determined. All individuals work outdoors for most of the day. All regions had normal O3 levels. Individuals from regions 1, 2, and 3 had very low consumption of vegetables/fruits and low sAA levels. Conversely, region 4 individuals had balanced diet and higher sAA concentrations. CDK was only found in region 3 where individuals had partial deficiency of sAA and did not use eye protection. No CDK was found in regions 1 and 2 where individuals had similar work activities and dietary habits to those in region 3 but wear eye protection. No disease was found in region 4 where individuals work outdoors, have balanced diet, and use eye protection. To summarize, the CDK existence was related not only to climate but also to the dietary habits and lack of protection from sunlight.

  15. Proteomic Analysis of Plasma-Purified VLDL, LDL, and HDL Fractions from Atherosclerotic Patients Undergoing Carotid Endarterectomy: Identification of Serum Amyloid A as a Potential Marker

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio J. Lepedda

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Apolipoproteins are very heterogeneous protein family, implicated in plasma lipoprotein structural stabilization, lipid metabolism, inflammation, or immunity. Obtaining detailed information on apolipoprotein composition and structure may contribute to elucidating lipoprotein roles in atherogenesis and to developing new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of lipoprotein-associated disorders. This study aimed at developing a comprehensive method for characterizing the apolipoprotein component of plasma VLDL, LDL, and HDL fractions from patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, by means of two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE coupled with Mass Spectrometry analysis, useful for identifying potential markers of plaque presence and vulnerability. The adopted method allowed obtaining reproducible 2-DE maps of exchangeable apolipoproteins from VLDL, LDL, and HDL. Twenty-three protein isoforms were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting analysis. Differential proteomic analysis allowed for identifying increased levels of acute-phase serum amyloid A protein (AP SAA in all lipoprotein fractions, especially in LDL from atherosclerotic patients. Results have been confirmed by western blotting analysis on each lipoprotein fraction using apo AI levels for data normalization. The higher levels of AP SAA found in patients suggest a role of LDL as AP SAA carrier into the subendothelial space of artery wall, where AP SAA accumulates and may exert noxious effects.

  16. Developing cloud applications using the e-Science Central platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiden, Hugo; Woodman, Simon; Watson, Paul; Cala, Jacek

    2013-01-28

    This paper describes the e-Science Central (e-SC) cloud data processing system and its application to a number of e-Science projects. e-SC provides both software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service for scientific data management, analysis and collaboration. It is a portable system and can be deployed on both private (e.g. Eucalyptus) and public clouds (Amazon AWS and Microsoft Windows Azure). The SaaS application allows scientists to upload data, edit and run workflows and share results in the cloud, using only a Web browser. It is underpinned by a scalable cloud platform consisting of a set of components designed to support the needs of scientists. The platform is exposed to developers so that they can easily upload their own analysis services into the system and make these available to other users. A representational state transfer-based application programming interface (API) is also provided so that external applications can leverage the platform's functionality, making it easier to build scalable, secure cloud-based applications. This paper describes the design of e-SC, its API and its use in three different case studies: spectral data visualization, medical data capture and analysis, and chemical property prediction.

  17. Serum amyloid A and haptoglobin concentrations and liver fat percentage in lactating dairy cows with abomasal displacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzelbektes, H; Sen, I; Ok, M; Constable, P D; Boydak, M; Coskun, A

    2010-01-01

    There has been increased interest in measuring the serum concentration of acute phase reactants such as serum amyloid A [SAA] and haptoglobin [haptoglobin] in periparturient cattle in order to provide a method for detecting the presence of inflammation or bacterial infection. To determine whether [SAA] and [haptoglobin] are increased in cows with displaced abomasum as compared with healthy dairy cows. Fifty-four adult dairy cows in early lactation that had left displaced abomasum (LDA, n = 34), right displaced abomasum or abomasal volvulus (RDA/AV, n = 11), or were healthy on physical examination (control, n = 9). Inflammatory diseases or bacterial infections such as mastitis, metritis, or pneumonia were not clinically apparent in any animal. Jugular venous blood was obtained from all cows and analyzed. Liver samples were obtained by biopsy in cattle with abomasal displacement. [SAA] and [haptoglobin] concentrations were increased in cows with LDA or RDA/AV as compared with healthy controls. Cows with displaced abomasum had mild to moderate hepatic lipidosis, based on liver fat percentages of 9.3 +/- 5.3% (mean +/- SD, LDA) and 10.8 +/- 7.7% (RDA/AV). [SAA] and [haptoglobin] were most strongly associated with liver fat percentage, r(s) = +0.55 (P hepatic lipidosis in cattle with abomasal displacement.

  18. Severe Aplastic Anemia following Acute Hepatitis from Toxic Liver Injury: Literature Review and Case Report of a Successful Outcome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamran Qureshi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Hepatitis associated aplastic anemia (HAAA is a rare syndrome in which severe aplastic anemia (SAA complicates the recovery of acute hepatitis (AH. HAAA is described to occur with AH caused by viral infections and also with idiopathic cases of AH and no clear etiology of liver injury. Clinically, AH can be mild to fulminant and transient to persistent and precedes the onset SAA. It is assumed that immunologic dysregulation following AH leads to the development of SAA. Several observations have been made to elucidate the immune mediated injury mechanisms, ensuing from liver injury and progressing to trigger bone marrow failure with the involvement of activated lymphocytes and severe T-cell imbalance. HAAA has a very poor outcome and often requires bone marrow transplant (BMT. The findings of immune related myeloid injury implied the use of immunosuppressive therapy (IST and led to improved survival from HAAA. We report a case of young male who presented with AH resulting from the intake of muscle building protein supplements and anabolic steroids. The liver injury slowly resolved with supportive care and after 4 months of attack of AH, he developed SAA. He was treated with IST with successful outcome without the need for a BMT.

  19. Sickness-Associated Anorexia: Mother Nature’s Idea of Immunonutrition?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustav van Niekerk

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available During an infection, expansion of immune cells, assembly of antibodies, and the induction of a febrile response collectively place continual metabolic strain on the host. These considerations also provide a rationale for nutritional support in critically ill patients. Yet, results from clinical and preclinical studies indicate that aggressive nutritional support does not always benefit patients and may occasionally be detrimental. Moreover, both vertebrates and invertebrates exhibit a decrease in appetite during an infection, indicating that such sickness-associated anorexia (SAA is evolutionarily conserved. It also suggests that SAA performs a vital function during an infection. We review evidence signifying that SAA may present a mechanism by which autophagic flux is upregulated systemically. A decrease in serum amino acids during an infection promotes autophagy not only in immune cells, but also in nonimmune cells. Similarly, bile acids reabsorbed postprandially inhibit hepatic autophagy by binding to farnesoid X receptors, indicating that SAA may be an attempt to conserve autophagy. In addition, augmented autophagic responses may play a critical role in clearing pathogens (xenophagy, in the presentation of epitopes in nonprovisional antigen presenting cells and the removal of damaged proteins and organelles. Collectively, these observations suggest that some patients might benefit from permissive underfeeding.

  20. Software as a Service: Herausforderungen bei der Einführung des Bibliothekssystems Alma in der Freien Universität Berlin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiri Kende

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Moderne Bibliothekssysteme werden zunehmend als Software as a Service (SaaS angeboten. Die Berliner Bibliotheken der Freien Universität Berlin, der Humboldt Universität, der Technischen Universität und der Universität der Künste haben für 2016 gemeinsam den Umstieg auf das cloudbasierte Bibliothekssystem Alma beschlossen. Der Aufsatz berichtet über die Herausforderungen während der zweijährigen Vertragsverhandlungen mit besonderem Augenmerk auf den Datenschutz.  Modern library management systems are increasingly offered as Software as a Service (SaaS.The libraries of the Free University Berlin, the Humboldt university, the Technical university and the University of Arts decided concertedly to move in 2016 to the cloud based next generation library management system Alma. The article reviews the challenges during the contract negotiations with a special focus on data protection.

  1. Commercial Crew Development Program Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Richard W.

    2011-01-01

    NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program is designed to stimulate efforts within the private sector that will aid in the development and demonstration of safe, reliable, and cost-effective space transportation capabilities. With the goal of delivery cargo and eventually crew to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the International Space Station (ISS) the program is designed to foster the development of new spacecraft and launch vehicles in the commercial sector. Through Space Act Agreements (SAAs) in 2011 NASA provided $50M of funding to four partners; Blue Origin, The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and SpaceX. Additional, NASA has signed two unfunded SAAs with ATK and United Space Alliance. This paper will give a brief summary of these SAAs. Additionally, a brief overview will be provided of the released version of the Commercial Crew Development Program plans and requirements documents.

  2. Self-compassionate young adults show lower salivary alpha-amylase responses to repeated psychosocial stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breines, Juliana G; McInnis, Christine M; Kuras, Yuliya I; Thoma, Myriam V; Gianferante, Danielle; Hanlin, Luke; Chen, Xuejie; Rohleder, Nicolas

    2015-10-01

    In this study we tested the hypothesis that participants higher in dispositional self-compassion would show lower stress-induced reactivity of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a marker of sympathetic nervous system activation. Thirty-three healthy participants (18-34 years old) were exposed to a standardized laboratory stressor on two consecutive days. Self-compassion, self-esteem, and demographic factors were assessed by questionnaire and sAA was assessed at baseline and at 1, 10, 30, and 60 minutes following each stressor. Self-compassion was a significant negative predictor of sAA responses on both days. This relationship remained significant when controlling for self-esteem, subjective distress, age, gender, ethnicity, and Body Mass Index (BMI). These results suggest that self-compassion may serve as a protective factor against stress-induced physiological changes that have implications for health.

  3. Vliv Cloud Computingu na Supply Chain Management

    OpenAIRE

    Karkošková, Soňa

    2013-01-01

    Master thesis "Impact of Cloud Computing on Supply Chain Management" analyses the provisioning of IT resources in the form of cloud computing services and their impact on supply chain management environment. Attention is focused particularly on providing SaaS model of public applications delivery. The Cloud SCM implementation offers many advantages especially for small and medium sized companies. In this thesis I analysed the specifics of the deployment of Cloud SCM in highly unstable market ...

  4. Green Cloud on the Horizon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Mufajjul

    This paper proposes a Green Cloud model for mobile Cloud computing. The proposed model leverage on the current trend of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service), and look at new paradigm called "Network as a Service" (NaaS). The Green Cloud model proposes various Telco's revenue generating streams and services with the CaaS (Cloud as a Service) for the near future.

  5. A Reference Architecture for a Cloud-Based Tools as a Service Workspace

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chauhan, Aufeef; Babar, Muhammad Ali; Sheng, Quan Z.

    2015-01-01

    Software Architecture (SA) plays a critical role in developing and evolving cloud-based applications. We present a Reference Architecture (RA) for designing Cloud-based Tools as a service work SPACE (TSPACE) - a platform for provisioning chain of tools following the Software as a Service (SaaS...... evaluate the RA in terms of completeness and feasibility. Our proposed RA can provide valuable guidance and insights for designing and implementing concrete software architectures of TSPACE....

  6. Clinical significance of the serum biomarker index detection in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purevdorj, Narangerel; Mu, Yun; Gu, Yajun; Zheng, Fang; Wang, Ran; Yu, Jinwei; Sun, Xuguo

    2018-02-01

    To explore a panel of serum biomarkers for laboratory diagnosis of pediatric Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP). The blood white blood cells (WBC) and serum levels of serum amyloid A (SAA), interleukin 6 (IL-6), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin E (IgE), C-reactive protein (CRP), complement component 3 (C3), complement component 4 (C4), and ASO (anti-streptolysin O) were detected in 127 patients with Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP), 110 cases of septicemia patients, and 121 healthy volunteers. The diagnostic ability of biomarkers selected from HSP and septicemia patients was analyzed by ROC curve. By designing the calculation model, the biomarker index was calculated for laboratory diagnosis of HSP and differential diagnosis between HSP and septicemia. The levels of serum WBC, CRP, IL-6 and SAA in the septicemia patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). Compared with the healthy individuals, serum levels of WBC, CRP, IL-6, SAA, IgA and IgM were significantly increased in patients with HSP (p<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of SAA, IgA, IgM, WBC, IL-6, and CRP in the patients with HSP was 0.964, 0.855, 0.849, 0.787, 0.765, and 0.622, respectively. The values of SAA, IgA, IgM, WBC, IL-6, and CRP in septicemia patients were 0.700, 0.428, 0.689, 0.682, 0.891, and 0.853, respectively. Biomarker index=SAA+IgA/4000+IgM/4000×0.4CRPmean valueCRPi . The biomarker index in HSP patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy controls. However, the biomarker index in septicemia patients was significantly lower than the control. The biomarker index of HSP patients is higher than that of the control group. While in the infectious disease represented by septicemia, it is decreased. The detection of biomarker index could exclude the interference of infection as the auxiliary examination to HSP patients. Copyright © 2017 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by

  7. Comprehensive low-dose imaging of carotid and coronary arteries with a single-injection dual-source CT angiography protocol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tognolini, A.; Arellano, C.S.; Marfori, W.; Heidari, G.; Sayre, J.W.; Krishnam, M.S.; Ruehm, S.G.

    2014-01-01

    Aim: To assess the feasibility of a fast single-bolus combined carotid and coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) protocol in asymptomatic patients. Materials and methods: Thirty-three consecutive patients (18 women and 15 men) with a median age of 61 ± 14 years old (range 37–87 years) with known or suspected atherosclerotic disease were enrolled in this prospective study. A single breath-hold, single biphasic injection protocol (50 ml at 3 ml/s, 50 ml at 5 ml/s, 50 ml saline flush at 5 ml/s) was used for combined CTA imaging of the supra-aortic (SAA) and coronary arteries (CA) on a 64-slice dual-source CT (DSCT) machine. Helical CTA acquisition of the SAA was followed by prospective electrocardiography (ECG)-triggered coronary CTA. Subjective (four-point scale) image quality and objective signal-to-noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise (CNR) measurements were performed. Vascular disease was graded on a four-point scale (grade 1: absent; grade 2: mild, grade 3: moderate; grade 4: severe). The radiation dose was recorded for each patient. Results: The average enhancement and subjective quality score of SAA and CA segments were 396 HU/358 HU and 1.2 ± 0.3/1.72 ± 0.4, respectively. The SNR was 27.1 ± 1.7 in the SAA and 21.6 ± 1.6 in the CA (p < 0.0001). The CNR was 18.1 ± 1.2 and 15.9 ± 1.8, respectively (p = 0.4). Four percent of SAA and 14% of CA segments (mostly due to peri-venous streak artefacts and small calibre, respectively) produced non-diagnostic images. SAA findings were as follows: 26/33 (79%) patients showed no disease and 6/33 (18%) had grade 2 and 1/33 (3%) had grade 3 disease. CA findings were as follows: 25/33 (76%) showed no disease and 6/33 (18%) patients had grade 2 and 2/33 (6%) had grade 3 disease. Five patients had disease in both districts. The average radiation dose for the combined CTA angiogram was 4.3 ± 0.6 mSv. Conclusion: A fast, low-dose combined DSCT angiography protocol appears technically feasible for imaging carotid and

  8. Identification of a recombinant Muscovy Duck parvovirus (MDPV) in Shanghai, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Yumin; Zhou, Zongqing; Huang, Yu; Yu, Ruisong; Dong, Shijuan; Li, Zhen; Zhang, Yuanshu

    2014-12-05

    The full-length genome of strain SAAS-SHNH, a MDPV isolated from Muscovy Duck in Shanghai, has been sequenced and shown to share 93.7% nucleotide identity with MDPV strain FM (NC_006147). Two putative genetic recombination events were identified as occurring within the 419-610 nt and 3113-4241 nt regions of the SAAS-SHNH genome which, for the first time, provide evidence of recombination between MDPVs and GPVs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. AMADA: Web Data Repositories in the Amazon Cloud

    OpenAIRE

    Aranda-Andújar , Andrés; Bugiotti , Francesca; Camacho-Rodríguez , Jesús; Colazzo , Dario; Goasdoué , François; Kaoudi , Zoi; Manolescu , Ioana

    2012-01-01

    International audience; We present AMADA, a platform for storing Web data (in particular, XML documents and RDF graphs) based on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure. AMADA operates in a Software as a Service (SaaS) approach, allowing users to upload, index, store, and query large volumes of Web data. The demonstration shows (i) the step-by-step procedure for building and exploiting the warehouse (storing, indexing, querying) and (ii) the monitoring tools enabling one to control...

  10. A Generic Software Development Process Refined from Best Practices for Cloud Computing

    OpenAIRE

    Soojin Park; Mansoo Hwang; Sangeun Lee; Young B. Park

    2015-01-01

    Cloud computing has emerged as more than just a piece of technology, it is rather a new IT paradigm. The philosophy behind cloud computing shares its view with green computing where computing environments and resources are not as subjects to own but as subjects of sustained use. However, converting currently used IT services to Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud computing environments introduces several new risks. To mitigate such risks, existing software development processes must undergo si...

  11. Usage of Cloud Computing Simulators and Future Systems For Computational Research

    OpenAIRE

    Lakshminarayanan, Ramkumar; Ramalingam, Rajasekar

    2016-01-01

    Cloud Computing is an Internet based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information, are provided to computers and devices on demand, like the electricity grid. Currently, IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) are used as a business model for Cloud Computing. Nowadays, the adoption and deployment of Cloud Computing is increasing in various domains, forcing researchers to conduct research in the area of Cloud Computing ...

  12. Geographic context scanning & analysis: il Modello Di Riferimento e le Operazioni

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurizio Rosina

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the article is to define a Reference Model and the operators which allow to perform the activities of Geographic ContextScanning & Analysis. The theory and methods exposed will contribute to the evolution of the framework GEOPOI 2.0, developed and delivered by Sogei and acc essed as a SaaS (Software as a Serv ice by a number of Public Administrations for your own institutional tasks.

  13. Merging Agents and Cloud Services in Industrial Applications

    OpenAIRE

    Francisco P. Maturana; Juan L. Asenjo; Neethu S. Philip; Shweta Chatrola

    2014-01-01

    A novel idea to combine agent technology and cloud computing for monitoring a plant floor system is presented. Cloud infrastructure has been leveraged as the main mechanism for hosting the data and processing needs of a modern industrial information system. The cloud offers unlimited storage and data processing in a near real-time fashion. This paper presents a software-as-a-service (SaaS) architecture for augmenting industrial plant-floor reporting capabilities. This reporting capability has...

  14. Projektové řízení malých a středních týmů a analýza podpůrných aplikací

    OpenAIRE

    Demuth, Jan

    2010-01-01

    This thesis is concerned with an issue of small and medium-sized teams project management and supporting tools analysis. The primary objective is to explore and describe currently available tools intended for project management support. In line with today's trend of Web applications and their provisioning in SaaS (Software as a Service) model, main focus is given to opensource or freely available products operating through a Web interface. Analysis of these instruments provided an overview of...

  15. Acute-phase responses in healthy and diseased rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krogh, Anne Kirstine Havnsøe; Lundsgaard, Jo F. H.; Bakker, Jaco

    2014-01-01

    Five acute-phase reactants—serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), haptoglobin, albumin, and iron—were measured using commercially available assays in 110 healthy rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), and reference intervals were established for future use in health monitoring of this species....... Reference intervals established were as follows: SAA, 29.5–87.7 mg/L; CRP, 0–17.5 mg/L; haptoglobin, 354.3–2,414.7 mg/L; albumin, 36.1–53.0 g/L; and iron, 13.3–40.2 lmol/L. Furthermore, changes in the acute-phase reactants were studied in two additional groups of animals: eight rhesus macaques suffering...... from acute traumatic injuries and nine rhesus macaques experimentally infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis reflecting a chronic active inflammation. In animals with inflammation, SAA and haptoglobin concentrations were moderately increased, while CRP increased more than 200-fold. In addition, marked...

  16. Social evaluation-induced amylase elevation and economic decision-making in the dictator game in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Taiki; Ikeda, Koki; Hasegawa, Toshikazu

    2007-10-01

    Little is known regarding the relationship between social evaluation-induced neuroendocrine responses and generosity in game-theoretic situations. Previous studies demonstrated that reputation formation plays a pivotal role in prosocial behavior. This study aimed to examine the relationships between a social evaluation-induced salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) response and generosity in the dictator game. The relationship is potentially important in neuroeconomics of altruism and game theory. We assessed sAA and allocated money in the dictator game in male students with and without social evaluation. RESULTS Social evaluation-responders allocated significantly more money than controls; while there was no significant correlation between social evaluation-induced sAA elevation and the allocated money. Social evaluation significantly increases generosity in the dictator game, and individual differences in trait characteristics such as altruism and reward sensitivity may be important determinants of generosity in the dictator game task.

  17. Expression of C-Reactive Protein and Serum Amyloid A in Early to Late Manifestations of Lyme Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uhde, Melanie; Ajamian, Mary; Li, Xueting; Wormser, Gary P; Marques, Adriana; Alaedini, Armin

    2016-12-01

     Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, triggers host immune responses that affect the clinical outcome and are a source of biomarkers with diagnostic utility. Although adaptive immunity to B. burgdorferi has been extensively characterized, considerably less information is available about the development of innate acute-phase responses in Lyme disease. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the expression of C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA), the prototype acute-phase response proteins, in the context of the varying manifestations associated with Lyme borreliosis.  Circulating concentrations of CRP and SAA in patients with a range of early to late objective manifestations of Lyme disease and in individuals with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome were compared with those in healthy control groups.  CRP and SAA levels were significantly elevated in early localized and early disseminated Lyme disease but not in the later stages of active infection. Levels of CRP, but not SAA, were also found to be significantly increased in patients with antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis and in those with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.  These findings indicate that circulating CRP and SAA levels are highest when the concentration of spirochetes is greatest in skin and/or blood and that levels decline after the dissemination of the organism to extracutaneous sites in subsequent stages of infection. The data also suggest that antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome are associated with elevated CRP responses that are driven by inflammatory mechanisms distinct from those in active infection. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. Prolonged performance-related neuroendocrine activation and perseverative cognition in low- and high-anxious university music students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez, Patrick; Nielsen, Carole; Studer, Regina K; Hildebrandt, Horst; Klumb, Petra L; Nater, Urs M; Wild, Pascal; Danuser, Brigitta

    2018-05-14

    Music performances are social-evaluative situations that can elicit marked short-term neuroendocrine activation and anxious thoughts especially in musicians suffering from music performance anxiety (MPA). The temporal patterns of neuroendocrine activity and concert-related worry and rumination (perseverative cognition, PC) days before and after a concert in low- and high-anxious musicians are unknown. The first goal of the present study was to investigate the prolonged effects of a solo music performance and the effects of trait MPA on salivary cortisol (sC), alpha-amylase (sAA), and concert-related PC. The second goal was to investigate whether concert-related PC is associated with neuroendocrine activity and mediates the effects of measurement day and trait MPA on neuroendocrine responses. Seventy-two university music students collected saliva samples and reported their PC for seven consecutive days. On the fifth day, they performed solo. Measurement day and trait MPA were tested as main predictors of the diurnal area under the curve with respect to ground (sC AUCg, sAA AUCg), awakening responses, and PC. SC AUCg, sAA AUCg, and concert-related PC were highest on concert day. SC AUCg decreased only partially on post-concert days. SAA AUCg remained elevated on the first post-concert day among students with moderate to very high trait MPA. Throughout the assessment period, trait MPA was associated with smaller sC AUCg and higher concert-related PC. Concert-related PC showed significant positive associations with sC AUCg and sAA AUCg but did not mediate the effects of measurement day and trait MPA on these measures. These findings suggest that solo music performances have prolonged neuroendocrine effects and that trait MPA is an important factor having specific effects on university music students' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and cognitive activity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acquired aplastic anemia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georges, George E.; Storb, Rainer

    2016-01-01

    Purpose of review There has been steady improvement in outcomes with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for severe aplastic anemia (SAA), due to progress in optimization of the conditioning regimens, donor hematopoietic cell source and supportive care. Here we review recently published data that highlight the improvements and current issues in the treatment of SAA. Recent findings Approximately one-third of AA patients treated with immune suppression therapy (IST) have acquired mutations in myeloid cancer candidate genes. Because of the greater probability for eventual failure of IST, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling donor BMT is the first-line of treatment for SAA. HLA-matched unrelated donor (URD) BMT is generally recommended for patients who have failed IST. However, in younger patients for whom a 10/10-HLA-allele matched URD can be rapidly identified, there is a strong rationale to proceed with URD BMT as first-line therapy. HLA-haploidentical BMT using post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PT-CY) conditioning regimens, is now a reasonable second-line treatment for patients who failed IST. Summary Improved outcomes have led to an increased first-line role of BMT for treatment of SAA. The optimal cell source from an HLA-matched donor is bone marrow. Additional studies are needed to determine the optimal conditioning regimen for HLA-haploidentical donors. PMID:27607445

  20. A New Approach to Integrate Internet-of-Things and Software-as-a-Service Model for Logistic Systems: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shang-Liang Chen

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM, customer relationship management (CRM, and enterprise resource planning (ERP are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1 enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2 a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3 challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment.

  1. Climatic Droplet Keratopathy in Argentina: Involvement of Environmental Agents in Its Genesis Which Would Open the Prospect for New Therapeutic Interventions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Fernanda Suárez

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Climatic droplet keratopathy (CDK is a degenerative corneal disease of unknown etiology. We described CDK for the first time in Latin America in the Argentinean Patagonia (El Cuy. A deeper knowledge of CDK pathogenic mechanisms will provide new therapeutic strategies. For that reason we investigated the prevalence of CDK in El Cuy and its existence in other 3 provinces with similar climate. Patients eyes were examined, habits throughout lives were inquired about, and serum ascorbate (sAA was determined. All individuals work outdoors for most of the day. All regions had normal O3 levels. Individuals from regions 1, 2, and 3 had very low consumption of vegetables/fruits and low sAA levels. Conversely, region 4 individuals had balanced diet and higher sAA concentrations. CDK was only found in region 3 where individuals had partial deficiency of sAA and did not use eye protection. No CDK was found in regions 1 and 2 where individuals had similar work activities and dietary habits to those in region 3 but wear eye protection. No disease was found in region 4 where individuals work outdoors, have balanced diet, and use eye protection. To summarize, the CDK existence was related not only to climate but also to the dietary habits and lack of protection from sunlight.

  2. A New Approach to Integrate Internet-of-Things and Software-as-a-Service Model for Logistic Systems: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shang-Liang; Chen, Yun-Yao; Hsu, Chiang

    2014-01-01

    Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT) technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1) enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2) a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3) challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment. PMID:24686728

  3. NAPR: a Cloud-Based Framework for Neuroanatomical Age Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pardoe, Heath R; Kuzniecky, Ruben

    2018-01-01

    The availability of cloud computing services has enabled the widespread adoption of the "software as a service" (SaaS) approach for software distribution, which utilizes network-based access to applications running on centralized servers. In this paper we apply the SaaS approach to neuroimaging-based age prediction. Our system, named "NAPR" (Neuroanatomical Age Prediction using R), provides access to predictive modeling software running on a persistent cloud-based Amazon Web Services (AWS) compute instance. The NAPR framework allows external users to estimate the age of individual subjects using cortical thickness maps derived from their own locally processed T1-weighted whole brain MRI scans. As a demonstration of the NAPR approach, we have developed two age prediction models that were trained using healthy control data from the ABIDE, CoRR, DLBS and NKI Rockland neuroimaging datasets (total N = 2367, age range 6-89 years). The provided age prediction models were trained using (i) relevance vector machines and (ii) Gaussian processes machine learning methods applied to cortical thickness surfaces obtained using Freesurfer v5.3. We believe that this transparent approach to out-of-sample evaluation and comparison of neuroimaging age prediction models will facilitate the development of improved age prediction models and allow for robust evaluation of the clinical utility of these methods.

  4. Challenges in small screening laboratories: implementing an on-demand laboratory information management system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemmon, Vance P; Jia, Yuanyuan; Shi, Yan; Holbrook, S Douglas; Bixby, John L; Buchser, William

    2011-11-01

    The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, includes a laboratory devoted to High Content Analysis (HCA) of neurons. The goal of the laboratory is to uncover signaling pathways, genes, compounds, or drugs that can be used to promote nerve growth. HCA permits the quantification of neuronal morphology, including the lengths and numbers of axons. HCA of various libraries on primary neurons requires a team-based approach, a variety of process steps and complex manipulations of cells and libraries to obtain meaningful results. HCA itself produces vast amounts of information including images, well-based data and cell-based phenotypic measures. Documenting and integrating the experimental workflows, library data and extensive experimental results is challenging. For academic laboratories generating large data sets from experiments involving thousands of perturbagens, a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is the data tracking solution of choice. With both productivity and efficiency as driving rationales, the Miami Project has equipped its HCA laboratory with an On Demand or Software As A Service (SaaS) LIMS to ensure the quality of its experiments and workflows. The article discusses how the system was selected and integrated into the laboratory. The advantages of a SaaS based LIMS over a client-server based system are described. © 2011 Bentham Science Publishers

  5. A new approach to integrate Internet-of-things and software-as-a-service model for logistic systems: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shang-Liang; Chen, Yun-Yao; Hsu, Chiang

    2014-03-28

    Cloud computing is changing the ways software is developed and managed in enterprises, which is changing the way of doing business in that dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are regarded as services over the Internet. Traditional manufacturing systems such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are often developed case by case. However, effective collaboration between different systems, platforms, programming languages, and interfaces has been suggested by researchers. In cloud-computing-based systems, distributed resources are encapsulated into cloud services and centrally managed, which allows high automation, flexibility, fast provision, and ease of integration at low cost. The integration between physical resources and cloud services can be improved by combining Internet of things (IoT) technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. This study proposes a new approach for developing cloud-based manufacturing systems based on a four-layer SaaS model. There are three main contributions of this paper: (1) enterprises can develop their own cloud-based logistic management information systems based on the approach proposed in this paper; (2) a case study based on literature reviews with experimental results is proposed to verify that the system performance is remarkable; (3) challenges encountered and feedback collected from T Company in the case study are discussed in this paper for the purpose of enterprise deployment.

  6. Studies on the protein and sulfur amino acid requirements of young bobwhite quail

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serafin, J.A.

    1977-01-01

    Four experiments were conducted with purified diets to examine the influence of protein level and to estimate the sulfur amino acid (S.A.A.) requirement of young Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). These studies demonstrated (I) that 26% protein was sufficient for rapid growth when the diet was supplemented with methionine; (2) that diets containing higher levels of protein (29.3% and 31.3%) failed to support satisfactory growth unless they contained supplemental methionine; and (3) that young Bobwhite quail require no more than 1.0% sulfur-containing amino acids for optimal growth and efficiency of feed utilization. A fifth experiment was conducted to examine the protein and S.A.A. requirements of young Bobwhite quail using practical rations and to compare results with those obtained with purified diets. Diets containing 24%, 26% and 28% protein were supplied with and without supplemental methionine in a five week study. Results showed significant growth responses to protein and supplemental methionine. Responses showed that Bobwhite quail require no more than 26% protein for maximum growth and efficiency of feed utilization when the S.A.A. level of the diet was approximately 1.0%. The results were in close agreement with those obtained with purified diets. These findings define more precisely than had been known the quantitative requirements of young Bobwhite quail for protein and for the S.A.A. necessary for optimal growth.

  7. Reduction in salivary α-amylase levels following a mind-body intervention in cancer survivors--an exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipschitz, David L; Kuhn, Renee; Kinney, Anita Y; Donaldson, Gary W; Nakamura, Yoshio

    2013-09-01

    The main aim of this exploratory study was to assess whether salivary α-amylase (sAA) and salivary cortisol levels would be positively modulated by sleep-focused mind-body interventions in female and male cancer survivors. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in which 57 cancer survivors with self-reported sleep disturbance received either a Sleep Hygiene Education (SHE; n=18) control, or one of two experimental mind-body interventions, namely, Mind-Body Bridging (MBB; n=19) or Mindfulness Meditation (MM; n=20). Interventions were three sessions each conducted once per week for three consecutive weeks. Saliva cortisol and sAA were measured at baseline and 1 week after the last session. Participants also completed a sleep scale at the same time points when saliva was collected for biomarker measurement. Our study revealed that at post-intervention assessment, mean sAA levels upon awakening ("Waking" sample) declined in MBB compared with that of SHE. Mean Waking cortisol levels did not differ among treatment groups but declined slightly in SHE. Self-reported sleep improved across the three interventions at Post-assessment, with largest improvements in the MBB intervention. In this exploratory study, sleep focused mind-body intervention (MBB) attenuated Waking sAA levels, suggesting positive influences of a mind-body intervention on sympathetic activity in cancer survivors with sleep disturbance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. [The variation and clinical significance of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria clone in patients with aplastic anemia before and after immunosuppressive therapy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Ying-xin; Zhu, Ming-qing; He, Guang-sheng; Wang, Xiu-li; Fang, Bao-zhi; Lu, Cong; Liu, Zhen-zhen; Wu, Qian; Yang, Yong; Wu, De-pei; Sun, Ai-ning

    2013-07-01

    To evaluate the evolution of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) clone and its clinical significance before and after immunosuppressive therapy (IST) in patients with aplastic anemia (AA). A total of 186 patients diagnosed as AA were enrolled in this study. Among them, 55 patients were diagnosed as severe AA (SAA) and treated with cyclosporine (CsA) plus anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), 131 were diagnosed as non SAA (NSAA) and treated with CsA alone. All patients were screened for PNH clone by flow cytometry before treatment and followed up for 18-76 months, with a median time of 22 months. Positive PNH clones were detected in 10 SAA (18.9%) patients, significantly more than that of NSAA group [9 patients (7.4%), t = 5.041, P = 0.025]. The proportions of PNH clones in SAA group at 6, 12, 24 and > 24 months were 13.38%, 14.88%, 20.00% and 18.85%, respectively, also significantly higher than those of NSAA patients (5.67%, 5.31%, 5.47% and 9.08%, all P values clone was positive or negative. PNH clone are detectable in AA patients either treated with ATG plus CsA or CsA alone, and more significant by ATG plus CsA. Whether PNH clone occurred before or after IST does not affect the therapeutic efficacy.

  9. Targeting 2.5 versus 4 g/kg/day of amino acids for extremely low birth weight infants: a randomized clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burattini, Ilaria; Bellagamba, Maria Paola; Spagnoli, Cristina; D'Ascenzo, Rita; Mazzoni, Nadia; Peretti, Anna; Cogo, Paola E; Carnielli, Virgilio P

    2013-11-01

    To compare the effect of 2.5 vs 4 g/kg/d of amino acid (AA) in parenteral nutrition of extremely low birth weight infants on metabolic tolerance, short-term growth, and neurodevelopment. One hundred thirty-one infants with birth weight between 500 and 1249 g were randomized to 2.5 (standard AA [SAA] group) or 4 (high AA [HAA] group) g/kg/d AA intake, with equal nonprotein energy. The primary outcome was body size at 36 weeks. One hundred thirty-one patients were randomized and 114 analyzed (58 SAA group and 56 HAA group). Study groups had similar demographics and clinical characteristics. Elevated blood urea (BU >70 mg/dL = BU nitrogen >32.6 mg/dL) occurred in 24% vs 59% (P = .000) and hyperglycemia (>175 mg/dL) in 34% vs 11% (P = .003) of the SAA and HAA patients, respectively. Body weight, length, and head circumference at 36 weeks and 2 years were similar between groups. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition score was 94 ± 13 in the SAA group and 97 ± 15 in the HAA group (P = .35). The HAA group had higher BU levels and better glucose control. An extra 8 g/kg of AA over the first 10 days of life did not improve growth and neurodevelopment. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Moving ERP Systems to the Cloud - Data Security Issues

    OpenAIRE

    Pablo Saa; Andrés Cueva Costales; Oswaldo Moscoso-Zea; Sergio Lujan-Mora

    2017-01-01

    This paper brings to light data security issues and concerns for organizations by moving their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to the cloud. Cloud computing has become the new trend of how organizations conduct business and has enabled them to innovate and compete in a dynamic environment through new and innovative business models. The growing popularity and success of the cloud has led to the emergence of cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ERP systems, a new alternative appr...

  11. Evaluation of Magnetospheric Internal Magnetic Field models and Existing Software

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-01-31

    than an order of magnitude. The polar maxima are still visible, but they are not as distinct. The SAA is still apparent, but apin it is not as...completely overlap each other either. These plots show polar maxima (the right two panels) and the SAA minimum (the lower right panel). Note, that the...coGRF85 83M Contours Year - 1990.0 Atitude 1.5000 to 40 1221020.0 -225 4. DISCUSSION OF SOFWARE 4.1 INTRODUCION iliree basic software packages were used

  12. Considerations Regarding Business Intelligence in Cloud Context

    OpenAIRE

    Mihaela MUNTEAN

    2015-01-01

    This paper explores one of the newer challenges related to the field of Business Intelligence: cloud-based business intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how business intelligence and cloud computing could be used together to provide agility in business. Also, the paper presents briefly the different deployment models for cloud-based BI such as: BI software as a service (BI SaaS) and business analytic platform as a service (BA PaaS). The paper gives an overview of the curr...

  13. Security, Privacy, Threats and Risks in Cloud Computing ― A Vital Review

    OpenAIRE

    Goyal, Sumit

    2016-01-01

    Cloud computing is a multi million dollar business. As more and more enterprises are adopting cloud services for their businesses, threat of security has become a big concern for these enterprises and cloud users. This review describes the latest threats and risks associated with cloud computing and suggests techniques for better privacy and security of data in cloud environment. Threats and risks associated with cloud service models (SaaS, PaaS and IaaS) along with cloud deployment models (p...

  14. Cloud computing and digital media fundamentals, techniques, and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Li, Kuan-Ching; Shih, Timothy K

    2014-01-01

    Cloud Computing and Digital Media: Fundamentals, Techniques, and Applications presents the fundamentals of cloud and media infrastructure, novel technologies that integrate digital media with cloud computing, and real-world applications that exemplify the potential of cloud computing for next-generation digital media. It brings together technologies for media/data communication, elastic media/data storage, security, authentication, cross-network media/data fusion, interdevice media interaction/reaction, data centers, PaaS, SaaS, and more.The book covers resource optimization for multimedia clo

  15. Cloud Computing as Network Environment in Students Work

    OpenAIRE

    Piotrowski, Dominik Mirosław

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the article was to show the need for literacy education from a variety of services available in the cloud computing as a specialist information field of activity. Teaching at university in the field of cloud computing related to the management of information could provide tangible benefits in the form of useful learning outcomes. This allows students and future information professionals to begin enjoying the benefits of cloud computing SaaS model at work, thereby freeing up of...

  16. Geospatial Virtual Appliances Using Open Source Software

    OpenAIRE

    Schwartze , Christian; Kralisch , Sven; Flügel , Wolfgang-Albert

    2011-01-01

    Part 2: eEnvironment and Cross-Border Services in Digital Agenda for Europe; International audience; The hype on the Cloud is based on promising cost savings if, considering the new service platform concepts (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) the term comes with, IT resources will be used effectively. Therefore, the trend is moving away from physical systems to more instant and short-term environments and virtualization is increasingly taking on a key role in various system architectures. This is already wel...

  17. Confiabilidad de la escala "Apreciación de la agencia de autocuidado" (ASA, segunda versión en español, adaptada para población colombiana1 Scale reliability "Self-care Agency Appreciation" (SAA, second version in Spanish, adapted for the Colombian population Confiabilidade da escala "Apreciação da Agência de Autocuidado" (ASA, segunda versão em espanhol, adaptada ao povo colombiano

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RIVERA ÁLVAREZ LUZ NELLY

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Objetivo: establecer la confiabilidad de la escala "Apreciación de la agencia de autocuidado" (ASA deEvers eIsenberg, segunda versión en español, y describir la capacidad de agencia de autocuidado en personas con factor de riesgo cardiovascular que asisten al programa de crónicos del servicio de consulta externa de un hospital de Bogotá, Colombia. Metodología: diseño descriptivo con abordaje cuantitativo que permitió evaluar la capacidad de agencia de autocuidado en una muestra de 201 personas con factores de riesgo cardiovascular que asistieron al programa de crónicos en un hospital de Bogotá, mediante el empleo de la escala ASA, segunda versión en español. A esta escala se le realizó la medición de la confiabilidad a través del cálculo del valor del coeficiente de alfa-Cronbach. Resultados: se encontró que el 35,8% de los participantes tuvo buena capacidad de agencia de autocuidado y el 62,6%, regular. Se aplicó el coeficiente de confiabilidad alfa-Cronbach a la escala ASA y se obtuvo un valor de 0,744. Conclusiones: se observa una diferencia de 0,026 por debajo del valor reportado en la medición de confiabilidad de la escala ASA, realizada por la doctora Gallegos, primera versión en español, para un contexto mexicano; estos resultados significan que los 24 ítems analizados de la escala miden un mismo concepto y por lo tanto se concluye que el instrumento posee consistencia interna.Purpose: To establish the scale reliability "Self-care Agency Appreciation" (SAA of Evers and Isenberg, second version in Spanish, and to describe the capacity of self-care agency among people with cardiovascular factor risks who attend the out-patient chronic patients program service of a hospital in Bogotá, Colombia. Method: descriptive design with a quantitative approach that enabled us to evaluate the self-care agency capacity in a sample of 201 patients with cardiovascular risk factors who attended the chronic patients

  18. Confiabilidad de la escala "Apreciación de la agencia de autocuidado" (ASA, segunda versión en español, adaptada para población colombiana Confiabilidade da escala "Apreciação da Agência de Autocuidado" (ASA, segunda versão em espanhol, adaptada ao povo colombiano Scale reliability "Self-care Agency Appreciation" (SAA, second version in Spanish, adapted for the Colombian population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ANITA VELANDIA ARIAS

    2009-07-01

    que utilizaram o programa de crônicos em um hospital de Bogotá, mediante o uso da escala ASA, segunda versão em espanhol. A escala foi submetida a uma medição de confiabilidade através do cálculo do valor do coeficiente de alfa-Cronbach. Resultados: 35,8% dos participantes mostraram boa capacidade de agência de autocuidado e 62,6%, apresentou uma capacidade regular. Aplicou-se o coeficiente de confiabilidade alfa-Cronbach à escala ASA cujo valor foi de 0,744. Conclusões: verifica-se uma diferença de 0,026 por baixo do valor atingido na medição de confiabilidade da escala ASA, realizada pela doutora Gallegos, primeira versão em espanhol, para um contexto mexicano; estes resultados mostram que os 24 itens analisados da escala mensuram um mesmo conceito e, por tanto, concluise que o instrumento dispõe de consistência interna.Purpose: To establish the scale reliability "Self-care Agency Appreciation" (SAA of Evers and Isenberg, second version in Spanish, and to describe the capacity of self-care agency among people with cardiovascular factor risks who attend the out-patient chronic patients program service of a hospital in Bogotá, Colombia. Method: descriptive design with a quantitative approach that enabled us to evaluate the self-care agency capacity in a sample of 201 patients with cardiovascular risk factors who attended the chronic patients program of a hospital in Bogotá, through the use of the SAA scale, second version in Spanish. Reliability was measured thru this scale by calculating the alfa-Cronbach's reliability coefficient value. Results: it was found that 35,8% of the participants had a good self-care agency capability and 62,6%, an average one. The alfa-Cronbach's reliability coefficient was applied to the SAA scale and a value of 0,744 was obtained. Conclusions: A difference of 0,026 is observed below the value reported in the reliability measure of the SAA scale carried out by doctor Gallegos, first version in Spanish, within a Mexican

  19. Pigs experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic strain of Escherichia coli have improved feed efficiency and indicators of inflammation with dietary supplementation of tryptophan and methionine in the immediate post-weaning period

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Capozzalo, Meeka M; Kim, Jae Cheol; Htoo, J.K.

    2017-01-01

    This experiment tested the hypothesis that pigs challenged with an enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (ETEC) will improve performance by dietary supplementation of sulfur amino acids (SAA) and tryptophan (Trp) above the current recommended levels in the immediate post-weaning period. Male pigs (n...... arrangement of treatments with two levels of SID SAA : Lys ratio (0.52 vs 0.60) and two levels of SID Trp : Lys ratio (0.16 vs 0.24). Diets did not contain any antimicrobial compounds. Pigs were individually housed and were fed diets for 14 days after weaning. Pigs were infected with ETEC (3.44 × 108 CFU....../mL, serotype O149 : K91 : K88) on Days 5, 6, and 7 after weaning. Pigs were bled on Days 5, 8 and 14 and subsequently analysed for plasma levels of acute-phase proteins, urea, cytokines (Days 5 and 8 only) and amino acids (Days 5 and 8 only). Increasing Trp (P = 0.036) and SAA (P = 0.028) improved feed...

  20. Active Dosimetry on Recent Space Flights

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beaujean, R.; Kopp, J.; Reitz, G.

    1999-01-01

    The radiation exposure inside the spacecraft in low earth orbit was investigated with a telescope based on two silicon planar detectors during three NASA shuttle-to-MIR missions (inclination 51.6 deg, altitude about 380 km). Count and dose rate profiles were measured, as well as separate linear energy transfer (LET) spectra, for the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and the trapped radiation encountered in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). Effective quality factors are deduced from the converted LET spectra (in water) in the range 0.1-120 keV.μm -1 according to ICRP 60. Measured mission averaged dose rates in silicon are in the range 98-108 μGy.d-1 and 137-178 μGy.d -1 for the GCR and SAA contributions, respectively. The deduced effective quality factors are 2.95-3.29 (GCR) and 1.18-1.25 (SAA), resulting in mission averaged dose equivalent rates of 631-716 μSv.d -1 for the comparable three missions. (author)

  1. Pt/Cu single-atom alloys as coke-resistant catalysts for efficient C-H activation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcinkowski, Matthew D.; Darby, Matthew T.; Liu, Jilei; Wimble, Joshua M.; Lucci, Felicia R.; Lee, Sungsik; Michaelides, Angelos; Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Maria; Stamatakis, Michail; Sykes, E. Charles H.

    2018-03-01

    The recent availability of shale gas has led to a renewed interest in C-H bond activation as the first step towards the synthesis of fuels and fine chemicals. Heterogeneous catalysts based on Ni and Pt can perform this chemistry, but deactivate easily due to coke formation. Cu-based catalysts are not practical due to high C-H activation barriers, but their weaker binding to adsorbates offers resilience to coking. Using Pt/Cu single-atom alloys (SAAs), we examine C-H activation in a number of systems including methyl groups, methane and butane using a combination of simulations, surface science and catalysis studies. We find that Pt/Cu SAAs activate C-H bonds more efficiently than Cu, are stable for days under realistic operating conditions, and avoid the problem of coking typically encountered with Pt. Pt/Cu SAAs therefore offer a new approach to coke-resistant C-H activation chemistry, with the added economic benefit that the precious metal is diluted at the atomic limit.

  2. Stress analysis of disconnected structures in contact through finite element gaps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stadter, J.T.; Weiss, R.O.

    1976-07-01

    A numerical procedure is presented for analyzing thermal stress problems of disconnected structures in contact across separations or gaps. The new procedure is called SAASGAPS, an adaptation of the basic SAAS III computer program. The SAAS program uses the finite element method and allows analyses of plane and axisymmetric bodies with temperature dependent material properties, subject to thermal and mechanical loads. A secant modulus approach with a bilinear stress-strain curve is used for elastic-plastic problems. The SAASGAPS version contains all of the features of the original SAAS program. A special gap element is used together with a stress invariance principle to model the contact process. The iterative procedure implemented in SAASGAPS is described. Results are discussed for five problems involving frictionless contact. Two of these problems are associated with the thermal stress analysis of the heat shield for the Multi-Hundred Watt Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. Input instructions for the program are described in an appendix

  3. Pt/Cu single-atom alloys as coke-resistant catalysts for efficient C–H activation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marcinkowski, Matthew D.; Darby, Matthew T.; Liu, Jilei; Wimble, Joshua M.; Lucci, Felicia R.; Lee, Sungsik; Michaelides, Angelos; Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Maria; Stamatakis, Michail; Sykes, E. Charles H.

    2018-01-08

    The recent availability of shale gas has led to a renewed interest in C-H bond activation as the first step towards synthesis of fuels and fine chemicals. Heterogeneous catalysts based on Ni and Pt can perform this chemistry, but deactivate easily due to coke formation. Cu- based catalysts are not practical for this chemistry due to high C-H activation barriers, but their weaker binding to adsorbates offers resilience to coking. Utilizing Pt/Cu single atom alloys (SAAs) we examine C-H activation in a number of systems including methyl groups, methane, and butane using a combination of simulations, surface science, and catalysis studies. We find that Pt/Cu SAAs activate C-H bonds more efficiently than Cu, are stable for days under realistic operating conditions, and avoid the problem of coking typically encountered with Pt. Pt/Cu SAAs therefore offer a new approach to coke resistant C-H activation chemistry with the added economic benefit that the precious metal is diluted at the atomic limit.

  4. Acute phase proteins in dogs naturally infected with the Giant Kidney Worm (Dioctophyme renale)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, Elizabeth M. S.; Kjelgaard-Hansen, Mads; Thomas, Funmilola

    2016-01-01

    of nephrectomy on circulating concentrations of select acute phase proteins (APP) such as serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and haptoglobin(HP). Methods: Nephrectomy was performed in infected dogs and the worms were collected for identification. Blood samples were taken 24 hours before surgery...... the 12 dogs evaluated in this study. Dogs showed significantly increased HP concentrations(P SAA concentrations before surgery, and cortisol concentrations were significantly higher at admission when compared to recovery. No significant correlations were found between the number...

  5. Salasanan resetoinnin automatisointi

    OpenAIRE

    Haverinen, Mikael

    2016-01-01

    Tämä opinnäytetyö käsittelee salasanojen nollaamisen eli resetoinnin automatisointia osana Servicenow palvelualustan palvelua. Servicenow tuottaa SaaS palveluna alustan, johon voidaan liittää eri toiminallisuuksia käsittäviä moduuleita. Palvelualustan tarkoituksena on keskittää toiminnallisuudet yh-teen helposti käsiteltävään keskittymään. Servicenow tarjoaa kokonaisnäkymää ja hallintaa IT-palveluihin sekä oleellisen näkymän liiketoiminnan kannalta tärkeisiin toimintoihin. Tietotekniikkaa...

  6. Altered Salivary Alpha-Amylase Secretion in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhuoni Xu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC frequently present with psychological disturbances as well as dysfunctions of autonomic nervous system (ANS. Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA secretion is predominantly controlled by sympathetic nervous activity, while salivary fluid secretion is by parasympathetic nervous activity. Thus, it is speculated that alterations of salivary secretion may be addressed in UC populations. Methods. Thirty-five UC patients as well as 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Saliva samples before and after citric acid stimulation were collected from each participant, and salivary flow rate (SFR was calculated accordingly. Western blotting and quantitative PCR were applied to measure the sAA level and sAA gene (AMY1 copy number, respectively. The psychological disorders, anxiety and depression, were evaluated by the scoring system of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS for each participant. Results. We observed robustly increased prevalence of anxiety (p<0.001 as well as depression (p<0.001 in UC patients relative to controls. Interestingly, we detected elevated basal (p=0.015 and stimulated (p=0.021 sAA levels in the UC populations compared to controls. However, no differences were found for basal (p=0.643 or stimulated (p=0.402 SFR between the two study groups. Besides, AMY1 gene copy number was comparable between UC patients and controls. Conclusions. Our results reveal an overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and a normal activity of the parasympathetic nervous system in the UC population.

  7. Predictors of early mortality after rabbit antithymocyte globulin as first-line treatment in severe aplastic anemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atta, Elias H; Lima, Carlos B L; Dias, Danielle S P; Clé, Diego V; Bonduel, Mariana M; Sciuccati, Gabriela B; Medeiros, Larissa A; Oliveira, Michel M; Salvino, Marco A; Garanito, Marlene P; Blum Fonseca, Patricia B; Saad, Sara Teresinha O; Calado, Rodrigo T; Scheinberg, Phillip

    2017-11-01

    Despite being recommended as first-line immunosuppressive therapy in severe aplastic anemia (SAA), horse antithymocyte globulin (ATG) is still unavailable in many countries outside the USA. Rabbit ATG is more lymphocytoxic than horse ATG, and this might result in a higher incidence of severe infections and early mortality. This study was designed to identify the risk factors for early mortality and overall survival (OS) after rabbit ATG in patients with SAA. We retrospectively reviewed 185 patients with SAA who underwent rabbit ATG and cyclosporine. The incidence of death in 3 months following rabbit ATG therapy was 15.1% (28/185). Early mortality was mainly related to infectious complications, despite adequate antibiotic and/or antifungal treatment. Age > 35 years (odds ratio [OR] 5.06, P = 0.001) and baseline absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≤ 0.1 × 10 9 /L (OR 7.64, P  35 years (OR 1.88, P = 0.03), baseline ANC ≤ 0.1 × 10 9 /L (OR 2.65, P < 0.001), and lack of response to rabbit ATG (OR 11.40, P < 0.001) were independently associated with mortality. Alternative strategies are needed for the treatment of SAA patients in countries were horse ATG is unavailable, particularly for those at high risk for early mortality after rabbit ATG due to a higher age and very low pre-treatment neutrophil count.

  8. Alkaptonuria is a novel human secondary amyloidogenic disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millucci, Lia; Spreafico, Adriano; Tinti, Laura; Braconi, Daniela; Ghezzi, Lorenzo; Paccagnini, Eugenio; Bernardini, Giulia; Amato, Loredana; Laschi, Marcella; Selvi, Enrico; Galeazzi, Mauro; Mannoni, Alessandro; Benucci, Maurizio; Lupetti, Pietro; Chellini, Federico; Orlandini, Maurizio; Santucci, Annalisa

    2012-11-01

    Alkaptonuria (AKU) is an ultra-rare disease developed from the lack of homogentisic acid oxidase activity, causing homogentisic acid (HGA) accumulation that produces a HGA-melanin ochronotic pigment, of unknown composition. There is no therapy for AKU. Our aim was to verify if AKU implied a secondary amyloidosis. Congo Red, Thioflavin-T staining and TEM were performed to assess amyloid presence in AKU specimens (cartilage, synovia, periumbelical fat, salivary gland) and in HGA-treated human chondrocytes and cartilage. SAA and SAP deposition was examined using immunofluorescence and their levels were evaluated in the patients' plasma by ELISA. 2D electrophoresis was undertaken in AKU cells to evaluate the levels of proteins involved in amyloidogenesis. AKU osteoarticular tissues contained SAA-amyloid in 7/7 patients. Ochronotic pigment and amyloid co-localized in AKU osteoarticular tissues. SAA and SAP composition of the deposits assessed secondary type of amyloidosis. High levels of SAA and SAP were found in AKU patients' plasma. Systemic amyloidosis was assessed by Congo Red staining of patients' abdominal fat and salivary gland. AKU is the second pathology after Parkinson's disease where amyloid is associated with a form of melanin. Aberrant expression of proteins involved in amyloidogenesis has been found in AKU cells. Our findings on alkaptonuria as a novel type II AA amyloidosis open new important perspectives for its therapy, since methotrexate treatment proved to significantly reduce in vitro HGA-induced A-amyloid aggregates. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. The relationship between shame and perceived biological origins of mental illness among South Asian and white American young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mokkarala, Sameera; O'Brien, Erin Keely; Siegel, Jason T

    2016-06-01

    Mental illness (MI) affects one in four people in their lifetime and a failure to seek help for MI can have grave consequences. To decrease stigma and increase help seeking, prior campaigns have promoted the biological origins of MI. Even though some research supports the efficacy of this approach, other research does not. We propose cultural differences as a partial explanation for these inconsistent results. The current study assessed ethnic differences in the relationship between perceived causes of MI, shame associated with MI and perceived family support for help seeking. White and South Asian American (SAA) undergraduate students completed an online survey (n = 177). Results indicated that SAAs were significantly more likely than whites to perceive character deficits as the cause of MI. Further, among those who had sought help for MI, ethnic differences emerged in perceptions of MI based on perceived cause. SAAs who believed that MI had biological origins perceived more shame and less family support for seeking help compared to SAAs who believed MI was due to character deficits. The converse was true for whites - those who believed that MI had biological origins perceived less shame and more family support for help seeking compared to whites who believed MI was due to character deficits. The results of the current study illuminate the role that culture plays in perceptions of MI. Further, these results have implications for interventions targeting South Asian populations and for mental health outreach in general.

  10. Active Hydrophilic Components of the Medicinal Herb Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen Potently Inhibit Organic Anion Transporters 1 (Slc22a6 and 3 (Slc22a8

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Wang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Many active components of herbal products are small organic anions, and organic anion transporters were previously demonstrated to be a potential site of drug-drug interactions. In this study, we assessed the inhibitory effects of six hydrophilic components of the herbal medicine Danshen, lithospermic acid, protocatechuic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid A, salvianolic acid B, and tanshinol, on the function of the murine organic anion transporters, mOat1 and mOat3. All of Danshen components significantly inhibited mOat1- and mOat3-mediated substrate uptake (<0.001 with lithospermic acid (LSA, protocatechuic acid, rosmarinic acid (RMA, and salvianolic acid A (SAA producing virtually complete inhibition under test conditions. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that LSA, RMA, and SAA were competitive inhibitors. As such, values were estimated as 14.9±4.9 μM for LSA, 5.5±2.2 μM for RMA, and 4.9±2.2 μM for SAA on mOat1-mediated transport, and as 31.1±7.0 μM for LSA, 4.3±0.2 μM for RMA, and 21.3±7.7 μM for SAA on mOat3-mediated transport. These data suggest that herb-drug interactions may occur in vivo on the human orthologs of these transporters in situations of polypharmacy involving Danshen and clinical therapeutics known to be organic anion transporter substrates.

  11. T4~K REGI~E~Tf SAA

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    armoured divisions now turned back towards. Sidi Rezegh along .... ground in the Tobruk salient while he launched ... For the EIAdem operation XXX Carps wouid ..... But Rommel was still unaware that his move- ments had belatedly pushed.

  12. Pakendiaktsiis ei saa olla turukaitsemehhanism / Ilona Eskelinen

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Eskelinen, Ilona

    2004-01-01

    Vastukaja R. Raaga art. "Pakendiaktsiisid ja tegelikkus", Äripäev 13. sep. 2004. lk. 26. Vaata ka P. Eeki art. "Pakendiaktsiis - hirmul on suured silmad", Äripäev 19. aug. 2004, lk. 23. Pakendiaktsiisi seaduse muutmise eelnõust

  13. Digitaalse kirjaoskuseta enam ei saa / Andres Jõesaar

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Jõesaar, Andres, 1959-

    2015-01-01

    Digikirjaoskusest, ristmeedia tootmisest. Hea lugu ja selle oskuslik edasiandmine digitehnoloogia vahendusel. Balti Filmi- ja Meediakooli ristmeedia tootmise bakalaureuse õppekava teise aasta tudengite tööst "Monsters to clowns", mis on lastega seotud ja lastele suunatud rahvusvaheline ristmeediaprojekt

  14. Britid ei saa Ameerikasse näitlema

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    1999-01-01

    Brittide näiteagentuur nõuab läbirääkimisi Ameerika ühinguga Actors Equity, soovides kaotada kahe riigi ühingute vahelised lepped, mis takistavad briti ja ameerika näitlejatel vabalt endale töökohta valida

  15. Spermasõjas surma ei saa / Kati Murutar

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Murutar, Kati, 1967-

    2003-01-01

    Eesti keeles ilmunud perekonnaõpetuse ja seksuaalkäitumise teemalisest raamatust "Spermasõjad", mille autoriks on zooloog Robin Baker. Raamatu teemal arutlesid ämmaemand Siiri Põllumaa, bioloog Georg Aher ja naistearst Andrei Sõritsa

  16. Nokias ei saa joogivett endiselt keetmata juua

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2007-01-01

    Lääne-Soomes Nokia linnas on tuhanded inimesed haigestunud kõhutõppe, sest eelmisel nädalal veevärki tabanud rikke tõttu jooksis joogivette vähemalt 400 kuupmeetrit reovett. Lisa: Nokia õnnetus

  17. Izdelava spletne strani z uporabo programske opreme kot storitve

    OpenAIRE

    ŠIMŠIĆ, LUKA

    2017-01-01

    Diplomsko delo obravnava izdelavo spletnih strani z uporabo programske opreme kot storitve (SaaS, Software as a Service), pri čemer sem se osredotočil na platformo Wix. Programska oprema kot storitev se ne namešča na lokalni računalnik, saj se nahaja na strežniku ponudnika. Uporabniki pri naročilu uporabe take programske opreme plačajo le tiste storitve, ki jih dejansko potrebujejo. Do programske opreme kot storitve lahko dostopamo od povsod, kjer imamo internetno povezavo, vendar je za to po...

  18. The porcine acute phase response to infection with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Haptoglobin, C-reactive protein, major acute phase protein and serum amyloid a protein are sensitive indicators of infection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heegaard, Peter M. H.; Klausen, Joan; Nielsen, J.P.

    1998-01-01

    response peaking at around 2 days after infection. Haptoglobin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and major acute phase protein (MAP) responded with large increases in serum levels, preceding the development of specific antibodies by 4-5 days. Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) was also strongly induced. The increase......, kinetics of induction and normalization were different between these proteins. It is concluded that experimental Ap-infection by the aerosol route induces a typical acute phase reaction in the pig, and that pig Hp, CRP, MAP, and SAA are major acute phase reactants. These findings indicate the possibility...

  19. Regulation on radiation protection health care of workers exposed to ionizing radiation. - Regulation on radiation protection health care - of the 25 Mar 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-01-01

    The present regulation will be in force on 1 July 1986 and supersedes a regulation from 29 September 1970. It regulates the medical surveillance with regard to radiation protection for all kinds of workers with an increased risk of being exposed to ionizing radiation such as e.g. reactor operators and miners. Examinations have to be performed according to directions of the SAAS including further measures if necessary regarding clinical occupational and radiation protection medicine. The task of the firms, the managers, the medical officers, and the SAAS are distinctly marked

  20. TRENDI NA PODROČJU CELOVITIH INFORMACIJSKIH REŠITEV (ERP)

    OpenAIRE

    Bednjanič, Aljaž

    2012-01-01

    V diplomskem seminarju so predstavljeni trendi na področju rešitev ERP. Ponudniki rešitev ERP nenehno spreminjajo in dopolnjujejo svoje produkte ter jim dodajajo nove funkcionalnosti. Predstavljeni so naslednji trendi: x-ERP, zunanje izvajanje rešitev ERP, rešitev ERP kot storitev (SaaS ERP), ERP v oblaku in mobilni dostop. Zagotovo je najzanimivejša novost ERP v oblaku. Ta nudi številne prednosti, a obstaja veliko vprašanj, povezanih z varnostjo podatkov v oblaku. Pogledali smo, kako je z zu...