Optional multiple long-axial gated blood pool SPECT images were prepared for the purpose of stereoscopic and quantitative imaging of left ventricular wallmotion (LVWM). Sixteen patients with ischemic heart disease and 8 healthy subjects were imaged in 32 views in the 360 degrees position after iv injection of 740 MBq of Tc-99m-labeled human serum albumin D. The R-R interval was divided into 16. After preparing conventional oblique images, long-axial images were prepared. Shortening rate of left ventricular wall was calculated in 5 segments of the apex and base of the left ventricle. An average shortening rate in each segment was graded with a score from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 40% or more. In the normal group, shortening rate in each segment, except for the base of the septal region, exceeded 40%. In the group of ischemic heart disease, radial shortening was capable of visualizing the degree and ...
A quantitative description is proposed for the depletion-induced slip thickness and velocity profile of a polymer solution near the wall-fluid interface in simple shear flow. The inhomogeneous polymer density profile at a flat wall is inserted into the equations of motion for the flow of a polymer solution near the flat wall. The theory is in quantitative agreement with simulation results. (letter to the editor)
Quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) was evaluated in 7 normal volunteers and 31 patients with cardiac diseases. Adequate cut off value of a prefilter was 0.45. In phantom, the left ventricular volume value was 93.9% of determined value by 180-degree projection in L type and 98.8% by 360-degree projection in opposed type. In normal volunteers, LVEF measured by QGS program related to value by first pass method. As for functional map, regional EF and wallmotion decreased at the septum side, and wall thickening at base side of heart. Good correlation was recognized (p<0.0001) between blood flow image and functional map (regional EF and wall thickening). In 20 cases of acute myocardial infarction, lesion was detected conspicuously in regional EF and wallmotion. The accuracy of coronary arterial stenosis improved in functional map (regional EF 92%, ...
...direct-injection systems Atomisation from hole-type nozzles (gasoline and diesel) under cavitating flow conditions Spray-wall interaction in gasoline direct injection engines Spray-wall interaction in direct-injection diesel engines Evaporation of multi-component fuels Cavitation in diesel injectors Nozzle flow, air motion, spray development and combustion in marine diesel engines ...
Accidents of free-rolling cars against walls with friction are special cases of the general problem of the dynamic behavior (elastic or plastic) of car motion. Using particle modeling of the car body it is shown that large rotations, contact friction and plastic deformations can be computed. Because of the limitations of FEM it is necessary to model the car as a system of mass points connected by central force systems which are non-linear. The wall is formulated as a rigid body producing constraints for the contacting particles, while the contact force is given by the defined force system. Every contacting particle produces a plastic impact on the wall. The friction force is proportional to the contact force and lies in the direction of the sliding velocity on the wall. Time integration is carried out using a second order Gear method. ((orig.))
The switching behavior of magnetic patterns prepared by ion irradiation was investigated. Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy and large out-of-plane coercivities 5-6 kOe were grown on electron transparent SiN windows. Regularly spaced 1 micron sized regions, were magnetically pattered via ion beam irradiation through a stencil mask. Lorentz TEM was used to observe in-situ magnetization reversal processes of irradiated regions under well-defined applied magnetic fields. When the in-plane field was increased, domain wallmotion was observed, resulting in the alignment of the patterns with the direction of the applied field. The switching mechanism of the in-plane patterns was by domain wallmotion.
This paper deals with the buffeting of a slender, circular, flexible beam-rod in an axial turbulent flow. The principal excitation mechanisms are the turbulent wall pressure fluctuations and the motion-dependent (self-excited) aerodynamic force caused by the beam motion. On the assumption that the turbulent wall pressure fluctuations are independent of the beam motion, a linear forced-vibration model is used to determine the buffeting response of the beam and to investigate the length scale effects of turbulences on the beam buffeting. Transverse buffeting of the beam in an axial turbulent flow depends largely on the ratio of the longitudinal scale of the turbulences to the bending wavelength of the beam and on the ratio of the circumferential scale of the turbulences to the radius of the beam. The spectra and the mean square values of the buffeting displacement of the beam become ...
Presented in this paper is the transient analysis of a Group Distribution Header (GDH) following a guillotine break at the end of the header. The GDH is the most important component of reactor safety in case of accidents. Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) piping is connected to the GDH piping such that, during an accident, coolant passes from the GDH into the ECCS. The GDH that is propelled into motion after a guillotine break can impact neighboring GDH pipes or the nearest wall of the compartment. Therefore, two cases are investigated: GDH impact on an adjacent GDH and its attached piping; and GDH impact on an adjacent reinforced concrete wall. A whipping RBMK-1500 GDH along with neighboring concrete walls and pipelines is modeled using finite elements. The finite element code NEPTUNE used in this study enables a dynamic pipe whip structural analysis that accommodates large displacements and ...
In this dissertation, a two-phase, air-droplets, dilute, turbulent, and steady state flow in a horizontal rectangular channel, is modeled and numerically simulated using a modified KIVA-3V code. The deposition of different sizes of droplets on the walls of the channel is also studied. In this model, the interaction effects between the phases (two-way coupling) are considered by source terms in the momentum and energy equations for the continuous phase and by the instantaneous local velocity of the air in the droplet equation of motion, which includes the aerodynamic and gravitational forces. The turbulence is modeled by a k-? model. The interaction effects between the turbulence and the dispersed droplets are also taken into account. The effects of the turbulence on the droplets are modeled by a fluctuating component added to the local air velocity in the droplet equation of motion. The effects of the droplets on the ...
Experimental investigations have been performed to study solutal convection around an air bubble squeezed between the walls of a horizontal rectangular channel, filled by an aqueous solution of surfactant with vertically stratified concentration. A convective motion in the fluid develops due to the solutocapillary Marangoni forces at the bubble lateral free surface. The structure and evolution of the convective flow and the surfactant concentration fields in the channel have been investigated using interferometric technique. The tests revealed the development of self-oscillatory modes near the bubble surface, related to the interaction between solutocapillary and solutogravitational motion mechanisms. The time dependences of the oscillations period are analyzed in relation to the average c...
Presented in this paper is the transient analysis of a Group Distribution Header (GDH) following a guillotine break at the end of the header. The GDH is the most important component of reactor safety in case of accidents. Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) piping is connected to the GDH piping such that, during an accident, coolant passes from the GDH into the ECCS. The GDH that is propelled into motion after a guillotine break can impact neighboring GDH pipes or the nearest wall of the compartment. The cases of GDH impact on an adjacent GDH and its attached piping are investigated in this paper. A whipping RBMK-1500 GDH along with neighboring concrete walls and pipelines is modeled using finite elements. The finite element code NEPTUNE used in this study enables a dynamic pipe whip structural analysis that accommodates large displacements and nonlinear material characteristics. The results of the study indicate that a ...
ObjectiveTo develop a simple summary risk score for the prediction of Alzheimer disease in elderly persons based on their vascular risk profiles.DesignFull Text Available
A geological and geotechnical framework was provided in order to facilitate understanding of the damage to structures resulting from soil conditions during the earthquake of January 17, 1995 at Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe), Japan. Special attention was paid to the large scale failures of the quay walls in the port of Kobe, resulting from liquefaction. The performance of structures in improved and unimproved ground were compared. It was observed that locations with some previous site improvements through densification behaved satisfactorily, despite unanticipated high levels of ground motion. Soil-structure interaction problems, such as pile foundations, bridge piers, lifelines, and an underground subway station were also described. Reference was made to the significance of these failures for the seismic design in the Fraser Delta in British Columbia in view of the area`s proneness to liquefaction during a major earthquake. 31 refs., 5 tabs., 45 figs.
We have discovered a previously unidentified thermal explosion mode using the Los Alamos deflagration cylinder test (DFCT). The DFCT is a "pipe bomb"-style test similar to the detonation cylinder test (DTCT), which has been used for many years to calibrate detonation product equations of state. The shot is heated in an oven to a uniform test temperature. The pre-heated high explosive (HE) is triggered by a hot wire initiator on one end. The tube is back-illuminated by a bright light source, and its combustion-driven deformation and subsequent break-up are observed by a high-speed framing camera. Like the DTCT, the DFCT tube wallmotion provides the primary diagnostic. A variety of reactive responses are possible, including quasi-steady deflagration and deflagration-to-detonation transition...
This study was aimed at evaluating CT sensitivity in identifying the signs of pulmonary cystic fibrosis (CF). The chests of 39 patients (16 males and 23 females, mean age 19.1 years) were examined by CT: all patients had been given a clinical score according to Schwachman and Kulckzycki criteria. Thickened bronchial walls were observed in all cases, which are typical of peribronchitis. Bronchiectases were present in 87% of cases; their extent, pattern and localization were exactly shown on CT scans. Bronchoceles were seen on CT scans in 64% of patients; less frequent was the finding of atelectases and subpleural bullous emphysema. In a great number of patients (64% and 82%, respectively) pleural thickening and hilar adenopathy were demonstrated on CT scans. In conclusion, our results confirm CT as a more sensitive method than conventional radiography to identify and locate the signs of pulmonary CF. The early identification of the lesions of ...
A novel compact CT-guided intensity modulated proton radiotherapy (IMPT) system is described. The system is being designed to deliver fast IMPT so that larger target volumes and motion management can be accomplished. The system will be ideal for large and complex target volumes in young patients. The basis of the design is the dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) system being developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The DWA uses fast switched high voltage transmission lines to generate pulsed electric fields on the inside of a high gradient insulating (HGI) acceleration tube. High electric field gradients are achieved by the use of alternating insulators and conductors and short pulse times. The system will produce individual pulses that can be varied in intensity, energy and spot width. The IMPT planning system will optimize delivery characteristics. The system will be capable of being sited in a conventional linac vault ...
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) on hemodynamics and left ventricular (LV) function, and to examine the value of ATP radionuclide-ventriculography (RNVG) for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) in comparison with standard exercise RNVG. Thirty-eight consecutive patients with suspected CAD underwent ATP (0.18 mg/Kg/min) RNVG and symptom-limited exercise RNVG. Coronary angiography revealed 27 patients with CAD (Group S) and 11 without CAD (Group N). In group S, exercise induced an increase in LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and LV end-systolic volume (LVESV), and a decrease in LV ejection fraction (LVEF). In contrast, ATP infusion caused LVESV to decrease in both groups, improving LVEF. Only 14 of 39 segments whose wallmotion was deteriorated by exercise showed worsening regional wallmotion during ATP infusion. The sensitivity and specificity of ATP ...
Typically, point forecasting methods are compared and assessed by means of an error measure or scoring function, such as the absolute error or the squared error. The individual scores are then averaged over forecast cases, to result in a summary measure of the predictive performance, such as the mean absolute error or the (root) mean squared error. I demonstrate that this common practice can lead to grossly misguided inferences, unless the scoring function and the forecasting task are carefully matched. Effective point forecasting requires that the scoring function be specified ex ante, or that the forecaster receives a directive in the form of a statistical functional, such as the mean or a quantile of the predictive distribution. If the scoring function is specified ex ante, the forecaster can issue the optimal point forecast, namely, the Bayes rule. If the forecaster receives a ...
The term biological motion is often used by researchers studying the patterns of movement generated by living forms and in sports. We studied a pattern recognition system of motion in sport using biological motion data. Biological motion data are acquired using a 3D motion capture system. However, 3D motion capture systems are very expensive. In this article, a biological motion capture system was built using acceleration sensors. Our proposed system uses the technique of Gaussian fitting and regression analysis. We tested our proposed system in pattern recognition of outdoor tennis and its evaluations.
Experiments on heat transfer augmentation in a rectangular cross-section water channel are reported. The channel geometry is designed to excite normally damped Tollmein-Schlichting modes in order to enhance mixing. In this experiment, a hydrodynamically fully developed flow encounters a test section where one channel boundary is a series of periodic, saw-tooth, transverse grooves. Free shear layers span the groove openings, separating the main channel flow from the circulating vortices contained within each cavity. The periodicity length of the grooves is equal to one-half of the expected wavelength of the most unstable mode. The remaining channel walls are flat, and the channel has an aspect ratio of 10:1. Experiments are performed over the Reynolds number range of 300 to 15,000. Streakline flow visualization shows that the flow is steady at the entrance, but becomes oscillatory downstream of an onset location. This location moves upstream with increasing Reynolds ...
Post amputation pain can be debilitating for patients and families. Chronic pain is a common phenomenon after lower extremity amputation, occurring in up to 80% of this population. The purpose of this...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe purpose of the study was to compare the knowledge scores of medical students in Problem-based Learning and traditional curriculum on public health topics.Full Text Available
DescriptionLameness, commonly referred to as the leg health, in the modern broiler chicken is an emotive issue and the debate surrounding this subject is not helped by the lack of agreement as to how leg health should be assessed. A commonly used tool for scoring leg health is the Bristol Gait Score, a technique used in the recently reported Defra project AW0230 (`Leg Health and Welfare in Commercial Broiler Production`). The authors of the final report for AW0230 noted that for the chickens gait scored [continued...
We report the direct molecular dynamics simulations for molecular ball bearings composed of fullerene molecules (C{sub 60} and C{sub 20}) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The comparison of friction levels indicates that fullerene ball bearings have extremely low friction (with minimal frictional forces of 5.283 x 10{sup -7} and 6.768 x 10{sup -7} nN/atom for C{sub 60} and C{sub 20} bearings) and energy dissipation (lowest dissipation per cycle of 0.013 and 0.016 meV/atom for C{sub 60} and C{sub 20} bearings). A single fullerene inside the ball bearings exhibits various motion statuses of mixed translation and rotation. The influences of the shaft's distortion on the long-ranged potential energy and normal force are discussed. The phonic dissipation mechanism leads to a non-monotonic function between the friction and the load rate for the molecular bearings.
The study of natural convection flow and heat transfer within a cylindrical annulus has received considerable attention because of its numerous applications, such as in nuclear reactor design, electronic component cooling, thermal storage systems, energy conservation, energy storage, and energy transmission. Here, the effects of multiple geometric perturbations on the inner and outer cylinders of an annulus with impermeable end walls are investigated in this work. A three-dimensional study was done using a numerical scheme based on a Galerkin method of finite element formulation. The nature of the buoyancy-induced flow field has been analyzed in detail. The flow fields for the cases considered were found to be qualitatively similar, and the introduction of each additional perturbation altered the flow field in a regular and recurring manner. The introduction of each perturbation on the outer cylinder causes clockwise and counterclock-wise rotating patterns on ...
The study of natural convection flow and heat transfer within a cylindrical annulus has received considerable attention because of its numerous applications, such as in nuclear reactor design, electronic component cooling, thermal storage systems, energy conservation, energy storage, and energy transmission. Here, the effects of multiple geometric perturbations on the inner and outer cylinders of an annulus with impermeable end walls are investigated in this work. A three-dimensional study was done using a numerical scheme based on a Galerkin method of finite element formulation. The nature of the buoyancy-induced flow field has been analyzed in detail. The flow fields for the cases considered were found to be qualitatively similar, and the introduction of each additional perturbation altered the flow field in a regular and recurring manner. The introduction of each perturbation on the outer cylinder causes clockwise and counterclock-wise rotating patterns on ...
An approximate analyzing model was developed to predict the azimuth of zigzag streamline, the distribution ratio between two neighboring layers and the radial distribution among the layers of the gas passing through the shaft of blast furnace loaded in layers. The theoretical basis of the approximate analysis is composed of the material balance derived from the assumption that any stream line surrounded with two streamlines is isolated and no material transfer occurs through the tube wall, and of the energy theory that the stream tube and passage are formed so that the total pressure drop in the whole system is the minimum. The effects of the apparent angle of repose between two layers, the packing volume and the passage resistance on the non-uniform flow in the layer were evaluated on the basis of the model. The result calculated by the approximate analysis agrees with the result by the numerical analysis based on the equations of continuity and of ...
As the result of 15 years of research (50 staff years of effort) Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), through its involvement in fluidized-bed combustion, magnetohydrodynamics, and a variety of environmental programs, has produced extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and models to predict the multiphase hydrodynamic and reactive behavior of fluid-solids motions and interactions in complex fluidized-bed reactors (FBRS) and slurry systems. This has resulted in the FLUFIX, IRF, and SLUFIX computer programs. These programs are based on fluid-solids hydrodynamic models and can predict information important to the designer of atmospheric or pressurized bubbling and circulating FBR, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and slurry units to guarantee optimum efficiency with minimum release of pollutants into the environment. This latter issue will become of paramount importance with the enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendment (CAAA) of 1995. Solids ...
Parallel imaging and echo sharing techniques have markedly reduced the acquisition times for MRI of large volumes. Dynamic 2 and 3-dimensional data sets of the chest with high temporal resolution (up to 10 images/s with single slice and 2 volume/s) allow an analysis of respiratory motion of the lungs and tumors. Time-resolved 2D series in preselected planes can be used to observe respiratory motion during free breathing or after respiratory commands, e.g. to exclude chest wall invasion by a tumor or for diagnosing impairment of respiratory mechanics. Time-resolved 3D-series (4D-MRI) allow monitoring of the spatial displacement of the lungs and tumors as a whole volume. Present limitations such as an overestimation of tumor size and an underestimation of displacement due to a limited temporal resolution are expected to be overcome with further technical developments. However, 4D-MRI already appears to be the appropriate tool ...
Cancer treatment with ionizing radiation is often compromised by organ motion, in particular for lung cases. Motion uncertainties can significantly degrade an otherwise optimized treatment plan....Full Text Available
X-ray ablation of material from the first wall and other components of an ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion) chamber is a major threat to the laser final optics. Material condensing on these optics after a shot may cause damage with subsequent laser shots. To ensure the successful operation of the ICF facility, removal rates must be predicted accurately. The goal for this dissertation is to develop an experimentally validated x-ray response model, with particular application to the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Accurate knowledge of the x-ray and debris emissions from ICF targets is a critical first step in the process of predicting the performance of the target chamber system. A number of 1-D numerical simulations of NIF targets have been run to characterize target output in terms of energy, angular distribution, spectrum, and pulse shape. Scaling of output characteristics with variations of both target yield and hohlraum wall thickness are ...
We show that the eigenvalue equations describing a cylindrical ideal magnetophydrodynamicsw (MHD) plasma interacting with a thin resistive wall can be put into the standard mathematical form: ??? = ??? ?. This is accomplished by using a finite element basis for the plasma, and by adding an extra degree of freedom corresponding to the electrical current in the thin wall. The standard form allows the use of linear eigenvalue solvers, without additional interations, to compute the complete spectrum of plasma modes in the presence of a surrounding restrictive wall at arbitrary separation. We show that our method recovers standard results in the limits of (1) an infinitely resistive wall (no wall), and (2) a zero resistance wall (ideal wall).
BACKGROUNDHirsutism is the presence of excess body or facial terminal (coarse) hair growth in females in a male-like pattern, affects 5–15% of women, and is an important...Full Text Available
... proficiency, most Army personnel must shoot to the same standards required of ... Wild- flecken was to provide this standard range, but its scores ... I3a I] ...
Psychological distress and postamputation pain were investigated in a sample of 582 males with long-term limb amputations (mean time since amputation 639.3 months, standard deviation 166.1; range 240-784 months). Prevalence of significant depressive symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]-D score?8) was 32.0%, and 34.0% of respondents met the screening criterion for clinical anxiety (HADS-A score?8). Nearly one quarter (24.6%) of respondents reported significant post-traumatic psychological stress symptoms (Impact of Event Scale scores?35). In total, 87.8% experienced either phantom or residual limb pain. Affective distress scores differed according to the respondents' type of pain experience. Respondents who experienced residual limb pain reported significantly hig...
Abstract: We present a generic scoring system that compares the impact of alien species among members of large taxonomic groups. This scoring can be used to identify the most harmful alien species so that conservation measures to ameliorate their negative effects can be prioritized. For all alien mammals in Europe, we assessed impact reports as completely as possible. Impact was classified as either environmental or economic. We subdivided each of these categories into five subcategories (environmental: impact through competition, predation, hybridization, transmission of disease, and herbivory; economic: impact on agriculture, livestock, forestry, human health, and infrastructure). We assigned all impact reports to one of these 10 categories. All categories had impact scores that ranged f...
The motion of a test particle moving in an interior static spherically symmetric geometry is investigated. The author concludes that an oscillatory motion with the test particle changing its motion from a free fall towards the center to an outward radial motion can not exist for any static interior spherically symmetric model.
1 - Description of program or function: T-HEMP3D (Transportable HEMP3D) is a derivative of the STEALTH three-dimensional thermodynamics code developed by Science Applications, Inc. Changes were made primarily in three areas: material specification, coordinate generation, and the addition of sliding surface boundary conditions. STEALTH itself is based entirely on the HEMP3D code written at LLNL. HEMP3D solves problems in solid mechanics involving dynamic plasticity and time-dependent material behavior and problems in gas dynamics. 2 - Method of solution: The equations of motion, conservation equations, and constitutive relations for stresses, strains, hydrostatic pressure, the von Mises yield condition, and artificial viscosity are solved by finite difference methods following the format of the HEMP code (NESC Abstract 775). The physical object is divided into zones defined by 8 grid points. The grid (i,j,k) moves with the material, and the mass within a zone ...
Etching of SiO_2 rods has been obtained with a dc torch with argon as the process gas in an air environment at atmospheric pressure; the high temperature of the plasma jet causes vaporization of the exposed area. The apparatus and torch operative parameters have been set up to obtain a depth etch rate of up to 0.6 mm min"-"1 corresponding to 0.826 g min"-"1. An enthalpy probe has been employed to monitor the plasma conditions before the thermal plasma etching process and from the experimental etch rate a surface rod temperature of T_s_u_r = 2057 K has been derived. Etching has been obtained with uniformity over the entire exposed area with peak to peak differences below 1%. The plasma to rod heat transfer has been simulated using a commercial CFD code Fluent (copyright). The model consists of a non-steady two-dimensional simulation for a compressible turbulent fluid, with an adapted grid calculation. Boundary conditions have been set out using the enthalpy probe plasma jet map. In ...
The Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) is an active heat transfer augmentation technique which utilizes the effect of secondary motions generated through the application of an electrostatic potential to a dielectric fluid. Net result is better momentum and heat transfer between the fluid and the heat transfer wall through destabilization of the thermal boundary layer and better mixing of the fluid adjacent to the heat transfer surface. EHD enhancement of refrigerant/refrigerant oil mixtures heat transfer using the Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technique is the subject of a three-year experimental investigation in a project funded by the US Department of Energy, effective June 1, 1993. For the interim period between November 1992 and June 1993 when the DOE funds became available, the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute (ARTI) provided partial funding for our EHD research program with the aim of accomplishing three major tasks: (1) conduct ...
An original dc double anode plasma torch which provides a long-time and highly stable atmospheric plasma jet has been devised for the purpose of hazardous waste treatment. The arc fluctuations and dynamic behaviour of the argon and argon-nitrogen plasma jets under different operating conditions have been investigated by means of classical tools, such as the statistic method, fast Fourier transform (FFT) and correlation analysis. In our experiments, the takeover mode is identified as the fluctuation characteristic of the argon plasma jet while the restrike mode is typical in the argon-nitrogen plasma dynamic behaviour. In the case of pure argon, the FFT and correlation calculation results of electrical signals exhibit the only characteristic frequency of 150 Hz, which originates from the torch power and is independent of any change in the operating conditions. It indicates that the nature of fluctuations in an argon plasma jet is mainly induced by the undulation of the tri-phase ...
Intervertebral spacers for anterior spine fusion are made of different materials, such as titanium and cobalt chromium alloys and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers. Implant-related susceptibility artifacts can decrease the quality of MRI scans. The aim of this cadaveric study was to demonstrate the extent that implant-related MRI artifacting affects the postfusion differentiation of determined regions of interest (ROIs). In six cadaveric porcine spines, we evaluated the postimplantation MRI scans of a titanium, cobalt-chromium and carbon spacer that differed in shape and surface qualities. A spacer made of human cortical bone was used as a control. A defined evaluation unit was divided into ROIs to characterize the spinal canal as well as the intervertebral disc space. Considering 15 different MRI sequences read independently by an interobserver-validated team of specialists the artifact-affected image quality of the median MRI slice was rated on a score of 0-3. A ...
Terminal differentiation of many vascular cells involves cell wall changes. Cells first elongate their primary wall, then lay down a lignified secondary wall, which is often followed by digestion of...Full Text Available
This study was conducted to search for the type of technical error in DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and the effect of error to measurement of BMD. The changes of BMD (g/cm2, T-score) by patients information (Age, Weight, Height, Manopause age) input error and Confirming ROI error were investigated. Using spine phantom, we canned 10 times by age (5, 10), weight (10, 20 kg), height (5, 10 cm), manopause age (5, 10) increase and decrease respectively. Scanning region (L-spine, femur, Forearm) of 10 patients was calculated by changing ROI respectively. Analysis of difference for mean (precision 1%) were carried out. There error of patient information (Age, Weight, Height, Manopause age) was not changed differently. In confirming ROI, the BMD and T-score of L-spine involving T-12 was decreased to 0.063 g/cm2, 0.3 and involving L-5 increased to 0.077 g/cm2, 0.5. In narrowing 1 cm of vertical line of ROI, the BMD and ...
To understand the function of edges in perception of moving objects, we defined four questions to answer. Is the focus point in visual motion detection of a moving object: (1) the body or the edge of...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo evaluate a faith-based intervention (“Sisters in Motion”) intended to increase walking among older, sedentary African American women.Full Text Available
BackgroundIntrafractional motion results in local over- and under-dosage in particle therapy with a scanned beam. Scanned beam delivery offers the possibility to compensate target...Full Text Available
BackgroundTo better understand the underlying mechanisms involved in trunk motion during a tennis serve, this study aimed to examine the (1) relative motion of the middle and lower...Full Text Available
We study the production of gravitational waves from cosmic domain walls created during phase transition in the early universe. We investigate the process of formation and evolution of domain walls by running three dimensional lattice simulations. If we introduce an approximate discrete symmetry, walls become metastable and finally disappear. We calculate the spectrum of gravitational waves produced by collapsing metastable domain walls. Extrapolating the numerical results, we find the signal of gravitational waves produced by domain walls whose energy scale is around 10^10-10^12GeV will be observable in the next generation gravitational wave interferometers.
Over a 6.5-year period a total of 2554 values were reported by nine laboratories for 259 certified or reference nutrient concentrations in 26 certified reference materials (CRM) submitted to contract laboratories, blinded, as part of the qualifying process for analytical contracts and in the routine sample stream as part of the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program. Each value was converted to a Z?-score, reflecting the difference from the assigned value related to the combined expected analytical uncertainty plus the uncertainty in the CRM value. Z?-scores >|3.0| were considered unacceptable. For some nutrients (Na, folate, dietary fiber, pantothenic acid, thiamin, tocopherols, carotenoids, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids), >20% of Z?-scores were >|3.0|. For total f...
AbstractBackground: So far, infliximab (IFX) therapy for the treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) has generally been guided by clinical symptoms. Data on treatment response as ascertained by endoscopy in IFX therapy are scarce. The aims of this study were to measure the endoscopic response rate during IFX induction and maintenance therapy in luminal CD, and also evaluate the role of endoscopy in monitoring IFX therapy. Methods: Data obtained from 71 patients with active luminal CD and treated with IFX were analyzed retrospectively. The endoscopy findings were scored according to mucosal activity as: 0 (remission), 1-2 (mild), 3-4 (moderate), and 5-6 (severe). A positive endoscopic response was determined by a decrease in score of at least two points and mucosal healing was assigned a score of...
Background There is some evidence that a patient?s pre-operative condition influences short-term and long-term post-operative outcomes. The aim of the present study is to compare the physiological and operative severity score for the enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM) and modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) models in the prediction of post-operative outcome, both short term and long term, in patients undergoing resection of oesophago-gastric cancer. Patients and Methods Patients who underwent curative resection for oesophago-gastric cancer from January 2005 to May 2009 and who had data to score the POSSUM, P-POSSUM, O-POSSUM and mGPS models were included in the study. Observed morbidity and mortality rates were compared with predicted outcome in different risk groups. Bot...
The present paper is concerned with the prediction method for the motions and tensions of mooring lines on slack-moored floating oceanic architectural building in coastal zone. The motions and the tensions of mooring lines were estimated by the time domain numerical simulation in the present method. The present method includes the nonlinearity of mooring system, slow varying wave drift force. The authors performed a time domain numerical simulation for motions and the tensions of mooring lines on floating barge in two component waves. Also, the results obtained by numerical simulation were compared with the experimental results. The validity of the present method was confirmed.
A one-dimensional tachyon Klein-Gordon equation is reduced to a nonrelativistic-tachyon equation of motion. The interpretation of this reduced equation leads to the following conclusions: 1) tachyons can be localized in time instead of in space as compared with bradyons, 2) space representation and momentum representation of bradyonic quantum equation of motion are replaced by time representation and energy representation in tachyon quantum equation of motion and 3) with the aid of these results, it has been found that the solutions of the tachyon Klein-Gordon equation of motion form a complete set. (author).
Generalized dynamic motion of balls and cage in a ball bearing are simulated by solving the differential equations of motion under prescribed operating conditions and bearing geometry. The general cage motion is parametrically evaluated as a function of clearances both in the ball pockets and at the guide lands. The design significance of the modeling approach is demonstrated by the prediction of critical clearances which trigger certain instabilities in the cage motion. In more practical terms, the correlation between cage clearances and instability defines a wear life for the bearing under the prescribed operating conditions. 10 refs.
runs are necessary, provision shall be made for expansion joints, motion of the units, or similar compensation to ensure that no excessive strains are ...
The Jacobi and Weierstrass elliptic functions used to be part of the standard mathematical arsenal of physics students. They appear as solutions of many important problems in classical mechanics: the motion of a planar pendulum (Jacobi), the motion of a force-free asymmetric top (Jacobi), the motion of a spherical pendulum (Weierstrass), and the motion of a heavy symmetric top with one fixed point (Weierstrass). The problem of the planar pendulum, in fact, can be used to construct the general connection between the Jacobi and Weierstrass elliptic functions. The easy access to mathematical software by physics students suggests that they might reappear as useful tools in the undergraduate curriculum.
The molecular structure, chemical properties, and biological function of the xyloglucan polysaccharide isolated from cell walls of suspension-cultured sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)...Full Text Available
We study a kinetic model for a system of two species of particles interacting via a repulsive long range potential and with a reservoir at fixed temperature. The interaction between the particles is modeled by a Vlasov term and the thermal bath by a Fokker-Planck term. We show that in the diffusive and sharp interface limit the motion of the interfaces at low temperature is described by a Stefan problem or a Mullins-Sekerka motion, depending on the time scale.
An analysis is presented of the motion of test particles in Goedel's universe. Both geodesical and nongeodesical motions are considered; the accelerations for nongeodesical motions are given. Examples for closed timelike world lines are shown and the dynamical conditions for time travel in Goedel's space-time are discussed. It is shown that these conditions alone do not suffice to exclude time travel in Goedel's space-time. (author).
The paper deals with a model in which the motion of a gas in plasma accerators and high-curent discharges in the present of a skin effect is treated as expulsion by a 'magnetic piston' under the action of surface current flow. Specifically examined is the situation where the initial gas pressure is negligible in comparison with the magnetic pressure, and the motion of the gas may be treated as a self-simulating one. A system of hydrodynamic equations of the problem is derived and integrated by Adam's method. Results are plotted and discussed.
Reports by U.S. workers on geodetic measurements of recent plate motions or crustal deformation published in 1987-1990 are reviewed. The review begins with global plate motions, proceeds through plate boundaries in California, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest, and finishes with volcanic phenomena, monument stability and longevity, and GPS relative position measurements. 184 refs.
The purpose of this study was to develop a simple motion measurement system with magnetic resonance (MR) compatibility and safety. The motion measurement system proposed here can measure 5-DoF motion signals without deteriorating the MR images, and it has no effect on the intense and homogeneous main magnetic field, the temporal-gradient magnetic field (which varies rapidly with time), the transceiver radio frequency (RF) coil, and the RF pulse during MR data acquisition. A three-axis accelerometer and a two-axis gyroscope were used to measure 5-DoF motion signals, and Velcro was used to attach a sensor module to a finger or wrist. To minimize the interference between the MR imaging system and the motion measurement system, nonmagnetic materials were used for all electric circuit components in an MR shield room. To remove the effect of RF pulse, an amplifier, modulation circuit, and ...
BackgroundTraumatic paediatric arterial injuries are a great challenge due to low incidence and specific characteristics of paediatric anatomy and physiology. The aim of the present...Full Text Available
The changes in protein species synthesized during early Drosophila embryogenesis were characterized by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Of the 261 proteins scored, 68 (26%) show dramatic changes in...Full Text Available
A 24-item short form of the 96-item Developmental Behaviour Checklist was developed to provide a brief measure of Total Behaviour Problem Score for research purposes. The short form Developmental...Full Text Available
Prostate biopsy is the current gold-standard procedure for prostate cancer diagnosis. Existing prostate biopsy procedures have been mostly focusing on detecting cancer presence. However, they...Full Text Available
ObjectiveThis study assessed the relationship between multiple indicators of ‘real-world’ functioning and scores on a brief performance-based measure...Full Text Available
Probabilistic sensitivities using the score function method are developed for a lifing analysis of an alpha + beta titanium alloy in a round bar under axial fatigue load. Sensitivities with respect to the statistical inputs of the crack initiation size (a...
Eurobarometer 67, carried out in Spring 2007 ...fallen somewhat compared to the peak seen in Spring 2007.However, in the main this ...decrease of 9 points from the +26 score seen in Spring 2007 (where
OBJECTIVE: The management and outcome of 138 abdominal shotgun wounds were examined over a 5-year period. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: It has been proposed that exploratory laparotomy may be unnecessary...Full Text Available
BackgroundFor the clinical management of adrenocortical neoplasms it is crucial to correctly distinguish between benign and malignant tumours. Even histomorphologically based scoring...Full Text Available
BackgroundMultiple sclerosis (MS) is the endpoint of a complex and still poorly understood process which results in inflammation, demyelination and axonal and neuronal degeneration....Full Text Available
Preliminary psychometric properties of a new instrument, Angie/Andy Cartoon Trauma Scales (ACTS), are presented. Angie/Andy features a cartoon-based methodology, measuring trauma-related sequelae of prolonged, repeated abuse. A sample of 208 children comprised intrafamilial trauma, extrafamilial trauma, combined trauma, and nontrauma groups. Angie/Andy demonstrated high internal consistency, with coefficient alphas from 0.70 to 0.95. The three trauma groups scored significantly higher than the nontrauma group on all scales (p's < 0.0001). Generally, the most severely traumatized group scored significantly higher than the less severely traumatized groups. The number of types of violence exposures correlated with Angie/Andy scores from 0.55 to 0.74. The frequency and severity of trauma exposure correlated with Angie/Andy scores from 0.44 to 0.56. The Angie/Andy parent version correlated with a ...
BackgroundThe receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is a fundamental tool to assess the discriminant performance for not only a single marker but also a score function combining...Full Text Available
Five methods of personality assessment are evaluated to provide guidance for the psychological treatment of patients with chronic back pain. Patient pain drawings, pentothal pain studies, stress score...Full Text Available
This paper reviews generation methods of artificial earthquake motion and proposes an improved method of generating input motions for use in vibration tests of equipment to prove aseismic performance. The improved method employs beat wave repetition characteristic that inherently appears in the component waves of recorded earthquakes decomposed by bandpass filter and algebraic function phase for the component waves. Typical motions generated by the improved method satisfies prescribed severe conditions such as target response spectrum that are defined with a wideband frequency component and a limited maximum acceleration due to shaking table performance. The motions had never been generated by the conventional method.
We have developed a playmate robot system for playing the rock-paper-scissors game with humans. The playmate robot recognizes the hand motions of a human using image processing without attaching any additional units to the human. The playmate robot system consists of three parts: a game management part, a hand motion recognition part, and a robot hand control part. The system functions as follows. (1) Before the game is played, the game management part decides on the motion of the robot hand from amongst rock, paper, and scissors. After the game is played, the robot develops a reaction using speech and facial expressions depending on the result of the game. (2) The hand motion recognition part recognizes the hand motion of the human. It does not use any additional units on the human?s body...
Fifty patients scheduled to undergo IVF received a standard anesthetic of fentanyl and propofol for induction, followed by propofol infusion, with Bispectral index values and modified Ramsey sedation scores recorded at 5-minute intervals for the duration of anesthesia care. Moderate sedation was found only transiently during the first 5-10 minutes of the oocyte retrieval, but thereafter the level of sedation increased, with deep sedation and general anesthesia measured in all patients as determined by both the Bispectral index scores and lack of response to painful stimulation.
Taobao website online transaction evaluation has been well accepted, but its value has not been measured. This paper quantifies the value of commercial credit of salers in bringing sale purchase on Taobao website through three aspects of data as credit score buyer to saler, number of comments and rate of bad comments. The illustration results on Taobao online transaction credit evaluation show that number of comments, credit score and rate of bad comments have significant impact on sale revenue.
Nowadays, the floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units are used to marginal oil fields and deep seas, because of mobility and reduced lead time from discovery to first production. One of the methods for offloading is to moor a tanker alongside the FPSO unit. In this case motion response of the system becomes highly complex, and will be affected by many factors such as hydrodynamic interaction and mechanical connections between the vessels. In this study, a quite general method is developed which has taken into account the hydrodynamic interaction as well as the effects of connectors and mooring lines, in motion response analysis of a multi-body floating system. For this purpose, 3-D source distribution method is applied for hydrodynamic analysis, and linear stiffness matrices are introduced to represent the effect of connectors and mooring lines on the motion equations. The method has been used for ...
In a reactor environment, the surface of a limiter or wall is primarily determined by the mechanism of erosion and deposition of surface material. It should be possible to use pellet injection to reduce net erosion to zero everywhere if low-Z materials are used for the surface. Erosion rates can, in general, be minimized by large area limiters and high plasma temperatures, which transmit power to the walls with less sputtering. Under ideal steady state conditions the wall surface is dominated by metallurgical effects in the wall.
The paper investigates the effect of the wall heat flux ratio on the local heat transfer augmentation in a square channel with two opposite in-line ribbed walls for Reynolds numbers from 15,000 to 80,000. The square channel composed of 10 isolated copper sections has a length-to-hydraulic diameter ratio of 20. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio is 0.0625 and the rib pitch-to-height ratio equals 10. Six ribbed side to smooth side wall heat flux ratios are studied for four rib orientations. The results show that the ribbed side wall heat transfer augmentation increases with increasing ribbed side to smooth side wall heat flux ratios, but the reverse is true for the smooth side wall heat transfer augmentation. The average heat transfer augmentation of the ribbed side and smooth side wall decreases slightly with increasing ...
Radiological findings of chest and abdominal wall involvement in Hodgkin's disease are reported. This manifestation was diagnosed in one patient in the primary staging and in two patients during the course of the disease. Typical radiological findings are soft tissue masses in the chest and abdominal wall, in two cases with continous tumor growth of enlarged mediastinal lymphnodes into the anterior chest wall. The axial computed tomography is the best method to evaluate the extent of chest and abdominal wall involvement in Hodgkin's disease.
High-spin states in the mirror pair nuclei {sup 49}Cr and {sup 49}Mn and their cross-conjugate partners, the mirror pair {sup 47}V and {sup 47}Cr have been investigated using experimental {gamma}-ray spectroscopic techniques. The combination of high-efficiency EUROBALL cluster Germanium detectors and clean exit-channel gating afforded by a 31-element silicon ball used in conjunction with a 15-detector neutron wall allowed a revision and extension to the energy level schemes of all four nuclei up to J{sup {pi}}=31{sup -}/2. The difference in excitation energy between states of equivalent spin in the parent nucleus and its analogue partner have thus been established for both mirror pairs up to the f{sub 7/2}-shell band terminating state for the first time. This difference is assumed to be due almost entirely to the Coulomb effect and is therefore called the Coulomb energy difference (CED). The variation in the CED with spin has been interpreted as reflecting the ...
The influence of motion of ions and electron temperature on nonlinear one-dimensional plasma waves with velocity close to the speed of light in vacuum investigated. It is shown that although the wavebreaking field weakly depends on mass of ions, the nonlinear relativistic wavelength essentially changes. The nonlinearity leads to the increase of the strong plasma wavelength, while the motion of ions leads to the decrease of the wavelength. Both hydrodynamic approach and kinetic one, based on Vlasov-Poisson equations, are used to investigate the relativistic strong plasma waves in a warm plasma. The existence of relativistic solitons in a thermal plasma is predicted.
The Screening Risk Evaluation (SRE) guidance document is a set of guidelines provided for the uniform implementation of SREs performed on decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) facilities. Although this method has been developed for D&D facilities, it can be used for transition (EM-60) facilities as well. The SRE guidance produces screening risk scores reflecting levels of risk through the use of risk ranking indices. Five types of possible risk are calculated from the SRE: current releases, worker exposures, future releases, physical hazards, and criticality. The Current Release Index (CRI) calculates the current risk to human health and the environment, exterior to the building, from ongoing or probable releases within a one-year time period. The Worker Exposure Index (WEI) calculates the current risk to workers, occupants and visitors inside contaminated D&D facilities due to contaminant exposure. The Future Release Index (FRI) calculates the ...
The effect of addition of rosemary and oregano extracts on the sensory quality of irradiated beef burger was investigated. Batches of beef burgers were prepared with 400 ppm of rosemary or oregano extract and a group prepared with 200 ppm of synthetic butyl-hydroxytoluene (BHT)/butyl-hydroxy-anisol (BHA) was used as a control. Half of each formulation was irradiated at the maximum dose allowed for frozen meat (7 kGy). Samples were kept under frozen conditions (-20 deg. C) during the whole storage period, including during irradiation. Two analyses were performed after 20 and 90 days to verify the influence of the addition of the different types of antioxidants and the effect of irradiation and storage time on the acceptance of the product. Thirty-three and thirty-four untrained panelists were invited to participate in the first and second test, respectively. A structured hedonic scale ranging from 1 to 9 points was used in both analyses. BHT/BHA formulation obtained the highest ...
Although the radioisotope liver scan has primarily been of use in the detection of the intra-hepatic space occupying lesions, there has been an increasing awareness of its use in evaluation of liver function. In this study, the degree of hepatomegaly, changes in shape and mottling radiodensity on each lobe and splenic visualization in the liver scans done with colloidal radiogold were numerically expressed as scores under the arbitrary standard in 210 patients with liver cirrhosis. The clinical value of this scoring system was studied with special regards to the correlation between the radiogold hepatic uptake half time and conventional liver function tests. Following were the results; 1) The normal scan appeared in 6.7% of 210 patients with liver cirrhosis. 2) The colloidal radiogold hepatic uptake half time was abnormally and progressively prolonged in parallel to severity of hepatocellular dysfunction. The mean hepatic uptake half time in ...
Wall thickness measurement of pipe is very important of the structural integrity of the industrial plant. However, the radiography method has an advantage because the ability of penetrating the insulated pipe. This will have economic benefit for industry. Moreover, the era of digital radiography has more advantages because the speed of radiographic work, less exposure time and no chemical used for film development. Either the conventional radiography or digital radiology, the wall thickness measurement is using the tangential radiography technique (TRT). In case, of a large diameter, pipe (more than inches) the determination maximum penetration wall thickness must be taken into the consideration. This paper is revisited the mathematical derivation of the determination of wall thickness measurement based on tangential radiography technique (TRT). The mathematical approach used in this derivation is the ...
A review of tests on earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete structural walls is presented. Laboratory tests of isolated walls and construction joints are discussed. Where appropriate, design recommendations are given. The review indicates only few experimental data are available for short walls which are directly applicable to nuclear power plant design. In particular, tests of short rectangular walls subjected to load reversals are needed. Tests are also needed to determine the damping and frequency characteristics of cracked short walls. Analytical and experimental results should be correlated so that the hysteretic response observed in tests can be realistically related to the analytical response 'demand' of nuclear power plant structures. (Auth.).
This paper summarizes the findings from an exploratory definition of a usage strategy for multiple control centre wall displays in CANDU nuclear power plants. Wall displays are defined as large sized, vertically oriented display surfaces that may be positioned in various locations about a control room to support user information needs. The paper begins by discussing the need for a usage strategy for all control room information resources, and then reviews the history in wall display implementation and usage in nuclear power plant control rooms. The balance of the paper discusses the approach used in characterization and review of control room task information needs and definition of a wall display usage strategy. The paper concludes by outlining some of the possible impacts on future control room design and operations that the introduction of wall displays may imply. (author)
HAMILTON is a computer code performing all algebraic operations necessary for an analytic determination of the power series of the Hamiltonian equations of motion in the electromagnetic fields with at least one plane of symmetry. It is written entirely in FORTRAN in order to achieve fast machine performance, a requirement which is essential due to the complexity of the equations of motion in higher orders. HAMILTON is considerably faster than common more versatile formula manipulators and uses noticeably less storage. Besides the mere solution of the equations of motion, HAMILTON also produces FORTRAN code compatible with the program COSY 5.0 allowing the computation of matrix elements of individual optical elements and their concatenation. The produced FORTRAN code is highly optimized and on average requires only 30% of the execution time of a handwritten comparable code. (orig.).
Sensory systems must form stable representations of the external environment in the presence of self-induced variations in sensory signals. It is also possible that the variations themselves may provide...Full Text Available
There is a mismatch between the documentation of the visually guided behaviors and visual physiology of decapods (Malacostraca, Crustacea) and knowledge about the neural architecture of their...Full Text Available
The purpose of this study is to explain the unplanned longitudinal dose modulations that appear in helical tomotherapy (HT) dose distributions in the presence of irregular patient breathing....Full Text Available
... that range from relatively low frequency strong ground motion modeling [Vidale et al., 1985] to high frequency reverse time migration of seismic ...
BackgroundMovement regularities are inherently present in automated goal-directed motions of the primate's arm system. They can provide important signatures of intentional behaviours...Full Text Available
Protein motions on all timescales faster than molecular tumbling are encoded in the spectral density. The dissection of complex protein dynamics is typically performed using relaxation rates determined at high and ultra-high field. Here we expand this range of the spectral density to low fields through field cycling using the nucleocapsid protein of the SARS coronavirus as a model system. The field-cycling approach enables site-specific measurements of R{sub 1} at low fields with the sensitivity and resolution of a high-field magnet. These data, together with high-field relaxation and heteronuclear NOE, provide evidence for correlated rigid-body motions of the entire {beta}-hairpin, and corresponding motions of adjacent loops with a time constant of 0.8 ns (mesodynamics). MD simulations substantiate these findings and provide direct verification of the time scale and collective nature of these motions.
The study design included an in vivo laboratory study. The objective of the study is to quantify the kinematics of the lumbar spinous processes in asymptomatic patients during un-restricted functional...Full Text Available
... Zinn, J., Hoerlin, H., and Petschek, AG, "The Motion of Bomb Debris Follow- ing the Starfish Test," Radiation Trapped in the Earth's Magnetic Field ...
PurposeTo determine the dosimetric impact of inter-fraction anatomical movements in prostate cancer patients receiving proton therapy.Full Text Available
Zinn, John;. Hoerlin,. Herman; and Petschek,. Albert. G.: The Motion of Bomb. Debris. Following the Starfish. Test. Radiation. Trapped in the Earth's ...
In this paper, a complete solution of the steady-state Newton-Euler equations describing the motion of the balls in high speed thrust bill bearings is presented. Kinematic equations are derived and used as ancillary equations to obtain the numerical solution of the Newton-Euler equations. This differs from previously reported work where extraneous assumptions (instead of kinematic analysis) are used to allow solutions of these equations. It is shown that the no-slip condition for the ball motion reported in the literature is based on an unnecessary assumption. The correct form of the condition is developed and used in the analysis of the ball motion. The analysis shows the importance of contact angle on both ball motion and contact force. An approximate theory is then developed for determining the optimum contact angle that would result in minimum contact force in high speed ball bearings. The results ...
The challenges of lung cancer radiotherapy are intra/inter-fraction tumor/organ anatomy/motion changes and the need to spare surrounding critical structures. Evolving radiotherapy technologies, such...Full Text Available
The relationship between hyperactivity and neuropsychological test performance at different age levels was examined. It was found that for young children (6 to 8 years of age, n = 90), there was no significant association between hyperactivity/attentional problems (as measured by the Hyperactivity scale of the Child Behavior Checklist) and performance on neuropsychological tasks thought to contain an attentional component (WISC-R Coding, Arithmetic, and Digit Span; WRAT Arithmetic; and the Benton Visual Retention Test). However, for older children (9 to 12 years of age, n = 92), there were significant and large negative correlations between CBC Hyperactivity scores and Coding, WRAT Arithmetic, and Benton VRT scores. Multiple regression analyses supported the above results (for Coding and WRAT Arithmetic), indicating that hyperactivity/inattention has a particularly deleterious effect on test performance (relative to same-age peers) as age ...
The adverse effects and diagnostic accuracy of thallium-201 myocardial SPECT after intravenous infusion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were studied and compared with SPECT examinations with other type of loading. The subjects of the study were 147 patients with or without coronary artery disease, who underwent some type of loading SPECT and coronary arteriography (CAG) within 30 days. Myocardial ischemia was evaluated qualitatively in SPECT and was compared with CAG for the diagnostic accuracy of coronary artery disease. The degree of myocardial uptake defect was also calculated semiquantitatively using visual scoring method and compared with coronary artery severity score. The adverse effects occurred in 46.7% of ATP loading SPECT which was more frequent that DIP loading SPECT, but all of them were transient and mild. As for the diagnostic ability the ATP loading SPECT was as effective as other type of loading in qualitative interpretation, ...
The study was designed to determine the correlation between parenchymal lesions on MRI and depression. Thirty patients with depression satisfying the following criteria were selected: (1) 60 years or over at the time of MRI scanning, (2) no evidence of cerebrovascular disorder or dementia, and (3) no evidence of neurological findings such as extremity palsy. Seventy six patients with no history of psychiatric visits to a clinic served as controls. There was no significant difference in risk factors for cerebrovascular disorders, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and ischemic heart disease, between the depressive group and the control group. MRI manifestations were semiquantitatively scored according to the periventricular hyperintensity (PVH), white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and pons hyperintensity (PH). All of the PVH score, WMH score, and cerebral enlargement index correlated with age. Although there was no ...
To assess the diagnostic capability Fuji computed radiography (FCR) using a dual side reading system was compared to the conventional radiography using a film-screen system. Twenty-eight patients with lung cancer were examined with a new FCR system (FCR 5501D) and a conventional screen-film system concurrently. FCR utilizes a reading system that detects emissions from dual sides of imaging plate. Chest X-rays were obtained with same exposure factors in both systems. Image qualities of both systems were compared by two radiologists using a five-level score. There were no lesion that FCR images were inferior to film-screen images. The frequency of score +1 or +2 that FCR images were superior to film-screen images was 31% in large nodular shadows, 40% in accompanying shadows with a nodule, 67% of small nodular shadows, and 43% of the lymph node swelling in the hilum of the lung or mediastinum. In large nodular shadows which were the most frequent ...
We describe a closed-loop brain-computer interface that re-ranks an image database by iterating between user generated 'interest' scores and computer vision generated visual similarity measures. The interest scores are based on decoding the electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of target detection, attentional shifts and self-monitoring processes, which result from the user paying attention to target images interspersed in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sequences. The highest scored images are passed to a semi-supervised computer vision system that reorganizes the image database accordingly, using a graph-based representation that captures visual similarity between images. The system can either query the user for more information, by adaptively resampling the database to create additional RSVP sequences, or it can converge to a 'done' state. The done state includes a final ranking of the image database and also ...
Walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN), formerly known as pancreatic abscess is a late complication of acute pancreatitis. It can be lethal, even though it is rare. This critical review provides an overview...Full Text Available
The dwelling is equipped with solar collectors which heat the air circulating in the cavity walls and the space beneath the floors. The thermal aspects of such a building are described. Heat balance, losses, heating by the sun in different seasons are described. Different measures taken to reduce the energy losses are described.
The fungal pathogen Candida albicans is one of the leading causative agents of death in immunocompromised individuals. It harbors an arsenal of cell wall anchored factors that are implicated...Full Text Available
This report describes a field-test program to determine the effectiveness of a polymeric wall sealant to reduce the escape of naturally occurring radioactive gas radon from the walls of an underground uranium mine into the ventilation air.
The objective of this study was to determine if inflammatory tolerance and enhancement of innate immune function could be induced by the gram-positive cell wall component peptidoglycan (PGN)....Full Text Available
Poland's anomaly is an uncommon congenital aberration of the chest wall characterized by absence of the pectoralis major muscle and other nearby musculoskeletal components. In this series, a wide spectrum...Full Text Available
A technique is described for displaying distinct tissue layers of large blood vessel walls as well as measuring their mechanical strain. The technique is based on deuterium double-quantum-filtered (DQF)...Full Text Available
Blunt chest-wall trauma is common; however, resultant tricuspid valve rupture is rare and can be subtle in its presentation. Transthoracic echocardiography plays a key role in diagnosis.Herein,...Full Text Available
BackgroundClinical studies suggest that local wall shear stress (WSS) patterns modulate the site and the progression of atherosclerotic lesions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)...Full Text Available
Ewing's sarcoma is the second most common malignant bone tumor in children and young adults. It is most prevalent between the ages of 10 and 15 years. There are present two cases of Ewing's sarcoma of the chest wall. The clinical, radiological and pathological features are described and the therapeutic options are discussed. (Author)
Primary cell walls, free from cytoplasmic contamination were prepared from corn (Zea mays L.) roots and potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers. After EDTA treatment, the...Full Text Available
BackgroundDuring normal breathing, the mesothelial surfaces of the lung and chest wall slide relative to one another. Experimentally, the shear stresses induced by...Full Text Available
Purified cell walls were prepared from roots of Horse bean (Vicia faba L., var. minor) and Yellow Lupine (Lupinus luteus L.). Two methods were used:...Full Text Available
A general model for wakefield-generated instabilities in linear accelerators, originally developed for cumulative beam breakup [1], is applied to the resistive wall instability. The general solution for various bunch charge distributions and application to various accelerator configurations are presented.
Current methods to calculate dose distributions with organ motion can be broadly classified as 'dose convolution' and 'fluence convolution' methods. In the former, a static dose distribution is convolved with the probability distribution function (PDF) that characterizes the motion. However, artifacts are produced near the surface and around inhomogeneities because the method assumes shift invariance. Fluence convolution avoids these artifacts by convolving the PDF with the incident fluence instead of the patient dose. In this paper we present an alternative method that improves the accuracy, generality as well as the speed of dose calculation with organ motion. The algorithm starts by sampling an isocenter point from a parametrically defined space curve corresponding to the patient-specific motion trajectory. Then a photon is sampled in the linac head and propagated through the three-dimensional (3-D) ...
... Although other authors had made cross-spectral density measurements, Corcos pointed to the importance of this function as indicative of the true ...
A four-stage scoring system for brain maturation was established with MR imaging. First, gyration and myelination were analyzed in 50 anamnestically normal children (32-240 weeks postconceptional age). Subsequently 60 patients (same age range) with birth asphyxia, seizures, or developmental delays were evaluated analogously. T1- and T2-weighted images (500/30 and 3,000/120 [repetition time msec/echo time msec]) were obtained with a 2.35-T magnet in all children. Whereas gyration abnormalities were seen in some patients, all handicapped children presented with delayed myelination. In conclusion, prospective staging of brain development (gyration and myelination) is possible and is best obtained with T2-weighted images.
The authors have performed I-123 IMP single- photon emission CT (SPECT) brain imaging on seven mildly demented patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and on seven normal subjects. Pixel-intensity histograms have been analyzed for the fraction of pixels in the lowest quartile of the intensity range. This fraction (F) averaged 17.7% (standard deviation [SD] = 4.3) in the AIDS group and 12.6 (SD = 4.7) in the normal group (P <.05). Regression analysis of neuropsychological testing (NPT) scores vs F yielded a correlation coefficient of.71. The presence or degree of atrophy did not correlate with F or NPT scores.
This study examined the psychometric properties of the Anti-fat Attitudes Scale (AFAS), a 5-item instrument developed by the authors to measure negative attitudes toward overweight individuals. A total of 4 studies were conducted among Canadian adolescents (n = 1,452) and university students (n = 424). Results suggested that the AFAS possessed a unidimensional factor structure and satisfactory reliability for both men and women. As predicted, men obtained higher scores than women on the AFAS, and antifat attitudes were positively associated with authoritarianism, homonegativity, and political conservatism. Participants who were overweight had lower scores on the AFAS than participants who were thin or average weight. Responses on the AFAS did not appear to be contaminated by social desirability bias. PMID:10457760
Purpose. To compare erectile function (EF) recovery of patients treated by early penile rehabilitation therapy (PRT) with sildenafil and with control group. Method. Forty men treated by bilateral nerve sparing radical prostatectomy (NSRP) and with a normal pre-operative EF were enrolled. Fourteen days after surgery, they were randomised to a flexible-dose sildenafil group and to a control group. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaire was completed before surgery and at 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks after NSRP. Results. In the group treated, the mean IIEF score before surgery was 26.2 and 14.1, 16.2, 22.5 and 25.2 at 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks after NSRP, respectively. In the control group, the respective scores were 26.5 and 12.4, 15.8, 15.3 and 17.4. There was a significant ...
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disorder and a major cause of pain and disability. The hypothesis tested in this study was that the passion fruit peel extract (PFP), a flavonoid-rich dietary supplement, would reduce symptoms due to knee OA. Thirty-three OA patients were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with parallel-group design. Patients received either placebo or PFP pills (150 mg, daily) in a double-blinded fashion for 2 months. The OA clinical symptoms were evaluated monthly with Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index. In the PFP group, there was a significant improvement in total WOMAC score and WOMAC subscale score of physical function after 30 days and pain after 60 days. At 60 days, reductions o...
Background Experimental and clinical studies have identified a crucial role of microcirculation impairment in severe infections. We hypothesized that mottling, a sign of microcirculation alterations, was correlated to survival during septic shock. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study in a tertiary teaching hospital. All consecutive patients with septic shock were included during a 7-month period. After initial resuscitation, we recorded hemodynamic parameters and analyzed their predictive value on mortality. The mottling score (from 0 to 5), based on mottling area extension from the knees to the periphery, was very reproducible, with an excellent agreement between independent observers [kappa?=?0.87, 95% CI (0.72?0.97)]. Results Sixty patients were included. The SOFA scor...
The need to evolve with our ever-changing student bodies has never been as great as it is today, particularly given the advanced technological aptitude of today's students. This retrospective study evaluates student outcomes as they relate to overall course score and composite quiz and examination scores from a basic pharmacology course taught over three separate semesters using three different lecture delivery modalities: traditional in-class; blended; and online-only. A total of 48 students from a US university's health sciences bachelor degree programme enrolled in one of these three sections between 2009 and 2010. A one-way analysis of variance test with Tukey's honestly significant difference post hoc testing was utilized to determine if any statistical difference existed between the ...
Abstract Background: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a common dementia of the elderly. A significant cholinergic deficit has been demonstrated that may be responsive to treatment by cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs). Methods: A 24-week, open-label study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of a ChEI, galantamine, in 50 patients with DLB. Results: This study showed beneficial effects with galantamine in 2 of the 3 primary efficacy parameters. The scores on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-12) improved by 8.24 points from baseline (p = 0.01) especially in visual hallucinations and nighttime behaviors (p = 0.004). The scores on the Clinician's Global Impression of Change improved by 0.5 points from baseline (p = 0.01). The third primary efficacy parameter, the Cognitive Drug R...
Purpose - Holding the number of outside directorships constant, this paper aims to test whether executive directors from superior performing firms are subsequently rewarded with better quality outside directorships. Design/methodology/approach - The quality of new outside directorship appointments is modelled using a two-step Heckman selection procedure to control for the probability of acquiring a new outside board seat. Outside directorship quality is estimated using an index formed from series of observable firm-specific characteristics proxying for the following three latent aspects of quality: prestige, reputational risk and monetary rewards. The index aggregates across these three dimensions to produce an overall quality score, with higher scores signifying higher quality directorshi...
Abstract This study explored the demographic and diagnostic features of children who were currently receiving antipsychotics compared to children who were receiving other psychotropics in a cohort of children with and without elevated symptoms of mania (ESM). Participants were recruited from 10 child outpatient mental health clinics associated with four universities. Guardians with children between 6?12 years who presented for new clinical evaluations completed the Parent General Behavior Inventory-10 Item Mania Scale (PGBI-10M). All children who scored ?12 on the PGBI-10M and a select demographically matched comparison group of patients who scored ?11 were invited to participate. Children were divided into two groups: those receiving at least one antipsychotic medication and those receivi...
A theoretical analysis of two-dimensional unsteady flow in a porous medium bounded by a horizontal wall is presented as a perturbation on a basic flow. It is assumed that the perturbation is occasioned by a sudden suction at the wall. Even for a highly permeable medium the characteristic Reynolds number in porous media flow is usually small and asymptotic solutions are developed by the Laplace transform technique. It is observed that the perturbed shear stress at the wall decays exponentially with time. (author). 5 refs.
Results of an investigation made to develop methods of making iron castings having wall thicknesses as small as 2.5 mm in green sand molds are presented. It was found that thin wall ductile and compacted graphite iron castings can be made and have properties consistent with heavier castings. Green sand molding variables that affect casting dimensions were also identified.
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in seven new type wall materials were surveyed. The radioactivity was determined with HPGe-#gamma# spectrometer. The red mud has the highest radioactivity concentration, followed by slag building blocks, fly-ash building blocks (bricks), gangue bricks and light weight board materials, gypsum blocks. Fly-ash and slag contain higher NORM, which contributes the major part of the radioactivity in new wall materials. (authors)
As a part of a phenomenological model, a method for simulating the wall/jet interaction in a direct injection diesel engine is proposed. The method is based on the application of the momentum conservation equation in the different directions in which the wall jet is spread, and takes into account both the interaction with the combustion chamber geometry and with swirl. It takes as initial conditions the results of calculating the free jet, which is divided into packages. The predictions provide good agreement with those by other researchers. (author).
The purpose of the invention is to simplify assembly and to reduce labor intensity. This is achieved by the fact that the assembly shaft is positioned in a hawser, while its wall which is turned towards the body of the installation is combined with the hawser wall, where a U shaped opening is made in the wall of the assembly shaft, along the edges of which there is a hermetically sealing device, while the bottom of the body of the offshore drilling rig is equipped with a rigid insert attached with the capability of adjoining it with the hermetically sealing device.
The motion of an accelerated charge in a vacuum is analyzed, via the superposition principle and Fourier analysis, into uniform-motion components, which include bradyonic as well as tachyonic contributions. It is shown that the former contribute only to the induction fields whereas the latter are the source of the radiation emitted by the charge, via the Sommerfeld-Cerenkov mechanism. This result calls for a reexamination of some recently formulated theories of superluminal particles.
The nuclear power plants with WWER type reactors are characterized by horizontally situated steam generators (SG). During seismic event the horizontal and vertical ground accelerations induce fluid motion in directions of longitudinal and transversal axis. Resulting dynamic forces act on the SG attachment and could cause the failure of screws. In obvious PSA scenarios, these phenomena are classified as a indirect induced LOCA. In this paper the effects of transversal sloshing of fluid are analyzed.
The relativistic motion of an electron is numerically analyzed in a tokamak having macroscopic magnetic turbulence. Stochasticity induced by the relativistic motion overwhelms the phase averaging effect, which provides a tokamak with an effective loss mechanism for the avoidance/suppression of runaway electron generation at a major disruption. On the other hand, electrons in the KAM (Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser) region will be observed as a runaway snake. (author)
Random motion of a particle, emitting and absorbing tachyons, is investigated. It is shown that if bradyon is in equilibrium with neutral gas, i.e. it absorbs and emits tachyons, which do not have any charges, tha particle with each absorption-emittance of a tachyon changes its energy and momentum, never varying its own mass, and as a result it moves like a brownian particle. Thus, bradyon, interacting with tachyon gas, increases its momentum continuously in agreement with the Einstein-Fokker-Planck type equation.
We discuss the use of active control to reduce mirror position fluctuations at the quantum level. We have shown in a recent experiment that it is possible to reduce the thermal noise of a mirror by measuring and controlling its motion with an optomechanical sensor based on a high-finesse optical cavity. This approach can be extended to lock the mirror motion at the quantum level, and to suppress the quantum effects of radiation pressure in interferometric measurements such as gravitational-wave detectors. The sensitivity improvement is furthermore independent of losses in the interferometer.
Analytical techniques for analyzing the effects of ship motion and attitude on the primary coolant system flow rates are presented. Design data for minimizing these effects are given. (C.J.G.)
The purpose of this study was to investigate if interfraction and intrafraction motion in free-breathing and gated lung IMRT can lead to systematic dose differences between 3DCT and 4DCT. Dosimetric...Full Text Available
In this article, equations of motion of a manipulator are derived after consideration of the characteristics of the driving source. By considering a collision between a link and an object, and considering the active motion to absorb the kinetic energy of the object, the trajectories for saving energy are calculated by the iterative dynamic programming (IDP) method. The dynamic characteristics of manipulator control based on the trajectory for saving energy are also analyzed theoretically and investigated experimentally.
Hyogo-ken Nanbu earthquake with a focus in the Akashi straits has given huge earthquake damages in and around Awaji Island and Kobe City in 1995. It is clear that the basement structure, which is steeply deepened at Kobe City from Rokko Mountains towards the coast, and the focus under this related closely to the local generation of strong ground motion. Generation process of the strong ground motion was discussed using 2D and 3D numerical simulation methods. The 3D pseudospectral method was used for the calculation. Space of 51.2km{times}25.6km{times}25.6km was selected for the calculation. This space was discretized with the lattice interval of 200m. Consequently, it was found that the basement structure with a steeply deepened basement, soft and weak geological structure thickly deposited on the basement, and earthquake faults running under the boundary of base rock and sediments related greatly to the generation of strong ground ...
In this paper, the authors describe the characteristics of design seismic input motions and recently observed seismic records of base isolated buildings in Japan. First, we describe some seismic design spectra for building structures which were adopted. Then we show response spectra and energy spectra of observed records obtained during two recent major earthquakes (The 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake and the 2003 Tokachi-oki Earthquake), which demonstrate the effectiveness of base isolation against large amplitude earthquake ground motion. We also introduce the responses of base isolated buildings during some earthquakes including the Tokachi-oki Earthquake. These data were gathered through questionnaires sent to many engineers who had conducted response observations of base isolated buildings. Last, an example of a base isolated building on soft ground is shown. We point out the importance of selecting the appropriate design seismic ...
We have studied the application of direct aperture optimization (DAO) as an inverse planning tool for breast IMRT. Additionally, we have analysed the impact of respiratory motion on the quality of the delivered dose distribution. From this analysis, we have developed guidelines for balancing the desire for a high-quality optimized plan with the need to create a plan that will not degrade significantly in the presence of respiratory motion. For a DAO optimized breast IMRT plan, the tangential fields incorporate a flash field to cover the range of respiratory motion. The inverse planning algorithm then optimizes the shapes and weights of additional segments that are delivered in combination with the open fields. IMRT plans were generated using DAO with the relative weights of the open segments varied from 0% to 95%. To assess the impact of breathing motion, the dose distribution for the optimized IMRT ...
This paper describes a new time-resolved three-dimensional, three-component (3D-3C) measurement technique called wall-PIV. It was developed to assess near wall flow fields and shear rates near non-planar surfaces. The method is based on light absorption according to Beer-Lambert's law. The fluid containing a molecular dye and seeded with buoyant particles is illuminated by a monochromatic, diffuse light. Due to the dye, the depth of view is limited to the near wall layer. The three-dimensional particle positions can be reconstructed by the intensities of the particle's projection on an image sensor. The flow estimation is performed by a new algorithm, based on learned particle trajectories. Possible sources of measurement errors related to the wall-PIV technique are analyzed. The accuracy analysis was based on single particle experiments and a three-dimensional artificial data set ...
The experimental survey about the heat transfer between the working fluid and the combustion chamber wall with a direct injection diesel engine has shown the production of a soot layer with increasing loads on the combustion chamber wall. Because the combustion process of methanol occurs without the formation of wall deposits, the same engine spark ignitioned with methanol at the same conditions has shown a higher heat transfer coefficient. Because the heat losses do not only depend on the heat transfer coefficient but also on the driving temperature difference between the working fluid and the combustion chamber wall, the methanol engine with corresponding process management showed lower heat losses than the diesel engine at nearly the same load. (orig./HW)
With the combination of source ventilation and ceiling cooling for air-conditioning of working and recreation rooms, a ventilation system is available which fulfills the highest demands regarding thermal comfort. In order to utilize the advantages of this ventilation system with regard to air quality and thermal comfort to an optimum, the influence of the radiation exchange between cooling ceiling and walls on the flow in the room is investigated experimentally. Energy transfer from the walls to the cooled ceiling may result in an insufficient temperature of the walls compared to ambient air and in an upward flow on the wall surfaces (downward flow of) driven by gravity, which influences the flow pattern in the case of source ventilation. (orig.)
Improved separation of heavier material from a dispersoid of gas and heavier material entrained therein is taught by the method of this invention which advantageously uses apparatus embodied in an inertial separator having rotary partition means comprising wall members dividing a housing into a plurality of axially-extending through passages arranged in parallel. Simultaneously with the helical transit of a moving stream of the dispersoid through the parallel arrangement of axially-extending through passages at a constant angular velocity, the heavier material is driven radially to the collecting surfaces of the rotational wall members where it is collected while the wall members are rotating at the same angular velocity as the moving stream. The plurality of wall members not only provides an increased area of collecting surfaces but the positioning of each of the wall members ...
Following Hurricane Katrina, the study of cantilevered sheet pile I-wall with gap or partial gap has become one of the central elements of the ongoing investigation pertaining to the re-building of hurricane protection systems in New Orleans, LA. Historically, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) had mostly relied upon the Method of Planes (MOP) analysis procedure for slope stability analysis of I-wall systems. However MOP is a simplified procedure which does not satisfy total equilibrium. Nevertheless, MOP is still considered by USACE as a popular analysis tool because of its simplicity and ease of use in slope stability analysis. This paper demonstrates the applicability and suitability of MOP as a viable analysis tool for the analysis of New Orleans I-wall founded on layered cohesive ...
Complete text of publication follows. In order to extend the capabilities of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source (ECRIS) of ATOMKI it has been transformed into a special plasma facility [1,2]. The transformation is reversible and was simply done by changing several main components of the ion source by new ones, namely: the hexapole magnet, the plasma chamber and the microwave source. The basic requirements of the transformation were: (1) most parts of the present ECRIS should be used in the new assembly in the same way and (2) the transformation time between the two operation modes should not be more than 2-3 days (in both directions). The following sub-systems are used identically in both configurations: solenoid coils, vacuum system, gas dosing system, ovens, probes. The extraction optics and beam transport system can also be used in the new configuration to check the components and charge-state of the plasma. A new, large, but unusually thin cylindrical NdFeB hexapole ...
The unsteady state heat transfer behaviour of a vertical wall subject to the effects of uniform radiation is investigated and the dimensional analysis of combined heat transfers by conduction, convection and radiation is presented. The convective heat transfer coefficients used in the numerical model are determined experimentally by means of an assembly resembling the conditions encountered in the dwelling (variable temperatures and heat flows in time and space, wall associated with a floor, radiative flux outside the wall). In routine conditions (homogeneous wall dimensions, temperature differentials less than 40/sup 0/C), it is shown that the problem depends in practice on three parameters (instead of five) and that nomographs can give the energy accumulated in the wall as a function of its geometric and thermal charactersitics and the external conditions (type and thickness of ...
From the results of the In-Service Inspection (ISI) measuring the wall thickness of outlet (hot-leg side) feeder pipes performed at two Canadian nuclear power plants, Point Lepreau and Gentilly-2 in 1995 and 1996, respectively, the wall thinning degradation of feeder pipes at the bend part was found to be much more severe than expected. It has been well known that such wall thinning of feeder pipes is caused by the flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) which is one of the mechanical-chemical degradation mechanisms affecting the integrity of piping systems. For the Wolsung unit 1, the wall thickness measurements have been performed during every overhaul period since 1996. The wall thinning rates at the bends of outlet feeder pipes were assessed to exceed the design value. However, for the Wolsung units 2, 3 and 4, the wall thinning rates of all the outlet feeder pipes ...
From the results of the In-Service Inspection (ISI) measuring the wall thickness of outlet (hot-leg side) feeder pipes performed at two Canadian nuclear power plants, Point Lepreau and Gentilly-2 in 1995 and 1996, respectively, the wall thinning degradation of feeder pipes at the bend part was found to be much more severe than expected. It has been well known that such wall thinning of feeder pipes is caused by the flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) which is one of the mechanical-chemical degradation mechanisms affecting the integrity of piping systems. For the Wolsung unit 1, the wall thickness measurements have been performed during every overhaul period since 1996. The wall thinning rates at the bends of outlet feeder pipes were assessed to exceed the design value. However, for the Wolsung units 2, 3 and 4, the wall thinning rates of all the outlet feeder pipes ...
A popular myth in football (soccer) that it is unwise tactically to score early against Brazil is busted using data from 1993 to 2010. This result provides further evidence about the choice of timing of effort exertion by an underdog in a finite-length industry contest against a more favoured opponent.
Background and purpose: A diagnosis of malignancy and its treatment is a very stressful time for patients and their families. This study was conducted to determine the impact of more intensive written information on patients' anxiety levels. The secondary aim was to determine the impact of this information on patients' satisfaction levels. Materials and methods: This prospective randomized trial consisted of patients with a pathological diagnosis of cancer having radical radiotherapy (RT). Patients were randomized to receive the more intensive information (including written information and a telephone call from the research nurse) or not to receive the more intensive information at the time of their initial consultation with the radiation oncologist. Study questionnaires measuring anxiety (STAI form) were completed prior to their first consultation (baseline) at the time of simulation (pre-RT) and at the completion of radiotherapy. A second questionnaire assessing satisfaction with the ...
The purpose of this study was to correlate MR imaging findings with pathology in experimental hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury, which has similar pathology to diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). Seventeen Yorkshire pigs were studied. These animals were exposed to more than 80% oxygen for 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours in a sealed cage. The lungs were removed and inflated with air infused through the trachea, and then examined by both MRI and high-resolution CT (HRCT). T1-weighted spin-echo (T1WSE), T2-weighted fast (T2WFSE), and half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) sequences were performed. Severity in MR findings and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) on MR images were well correlated with pathological scores. CT values were also correlated well with pathologic scores. Abnormal SNR values were obtained from a pathological score of 5, whereas abnormal CT values were obtained from a pathological ...
The diagnostic value of the portable chest radiography obtained with Fuji computed radiography (FCR) was evaluated in comparison with conventional images in 23 patients who were admitted to ICU in Yokohama City University Hospital. On the whole , FCR produced more exellent images than conventional screen-film radiographs. Especially the evaluation for the demonstration of the catheters, the endotracheal tubes and the tracheal shadows obtained high score. We discuss the clinically utility of FCR for the portable chest radiographs in ICU. (author).
The diagnostic value of the portable chest radiography obtained with Fuji computed radiography (FCR) was evaluated in comparison with conventional images in 23 patients who were admitted to ICU in Yokohama City University Hospital. On the whole , FCR produced more exellent images than conventional screen-film radiographs. Especially the evaluation for the demonstration of the catheters, the endotracheal tubes and the tracheal shadows obtained high score. We discuss the clinically utility of FCR for the portable chest radiographs in ICU. (author).
Nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are widely used in cardiac diagnostics. Both techniques have been carefully evaluated and are equivalent for the assessment of regional and global wallmotion as well as the evaluation of ejection fraction and cardiac volumes, though MRI is herein currently seen as gold standard. For evaluation of myocardial perfusion, extensive data exist for nuclear imaging, that, next to high diagnostic accuracy for evaluation of coronary artery disease, show incremental prognostic information and allow for independent risk stratification. Because of rapid technical advance, myocardial perfusion imaging has also become feasible with cardiac MRI. Results of recent studies are promising, but the data are few compared to perfusion scintigraphy. For viability assessment in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, positron emission tomography (PET) with FDG is currently seen as gold standard. However, single ...
CT is the most accurate method to detect pulmonary emphysema in vivo. They compared prospectively two different methods for emphysema quantitation in 5 normal volunteers and 20 consecutive patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All subjects were submitted to function tests and HRCT; three scans were acquired at preselected levels during inspiration. The type and extent of pulmonary emphysema were defined by two independent observers under blind conditions. Disagreements were subsequently settled by consent. All subjects were also examined with expiratory spiral CT using a density mask program, at two different cut-off levels (-850,-900 HU). Visual score and expiratory spiral density mask values (-850 HU) were significantly correlated (r = 0.86), but the visual extent of emphysema was always higher than shown by expiratory spiral CT. The emphysema extent assessed with both CT methods correlated with the function result of expiratory airflow ...
CT is the most accurate method to detect pulmonary emphysema in vivo. They compared prospectively two different methods for emphysema quantitation in 5 normal volunteers and 20 consecutive patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All subjects were submitted to function tests and HRCT; three scans were acquired at preselected levels during inspiration. The type and extent of pulmonary emphysema were defined by two independent observers under blind conditions. Disagreements were subsequently settled by consent. All subjects were also examined with expiratory spiral CT using a density mask program, at two different cut-off levels (-850,-900 HU). Visual score and expiratory spiral density mask values (-850 HU) were significantly correlated (r = 0.86), but the visual extent of emphysema was always higher than shown by expiratory spiral CT. The emphysema extent assessed with both CT methods correlated with the function result of expiratory airflow ...
Very often in many textbooks the formalism of the general theory of relativity is applied to gravitational problems. We think that it would be didactically useful to show how it can be adopted also for describing physical situations in accelerated frames of reference by working out in detail a particular case. This choice will also offer an opportunity to discuss a classical topic of relativistic physics. Indeed, we deal analytically with a version of the so-called clock paradox in which the moving clock performs a circular motion. The rest clock is denoted as (1), the rotating clock is (2), the inertial frame in which (1) is at rest and (2) moves is I and, finally, the accelerated frame in which (2) is at rest and (1) rotates is A. By using the general theory of relativity in order to describe the motion of (1) as seen in A we will show the following features. (I) A differential ageing between (1) and (2) occurs at their reunion and it has an ...
Measurements of human joint motion frequently involve the use of opto-electronic and other motion analysis systems where some type of makers are used to establish joint motion within a global reference coordinate frame. Typically, this global reference coordinate frame is chosen to be most convenient for the person carrying out the experiment in which the joint motion is measured, and Euler angles are chosen as the measure of joint motion. Results, however, may be quite arbitrary and therefore rendered meaningless if the reference frame is not properly chosen with respect to the physical joint axis. In order to make a proper choice of coordinate axes in the reference frame, one must take into consideration both the location and the orientation of die physical joint axis relative to the reference frame`s axes. In nature, joint axes can exist at any orientation and location relative ...
The Jodrell Bank MERLIN array was used to map the OH 1665-and 1667-MHz masers in the circumstellar envelope of U Orionis in 1984, 1986 and 1987. The OH masers lie within a region of extent 130 x 180 AU"2, and have complex distribtuions which are different for each line and polarization. The masers show clumpy structures with a typical clump size of #approx# 25 AU. The strongest emission is from a ring of radius 60 AU which we interpret as part of an expanding, tilted torus. Proper motions have been measured for the OH masers on the ring. The ring has a proper motion of 5.4#+-#1.4 mass yr"-"1 corresponding to a transverse expansion velocity of #approx# 7 km s"-"1 for the period-luminosity distance of U Orionis of 260 pc. (author).
Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism rich in genetic tools to manipulate and identify neural circuits involved in specific behaviors. Here we present a technique for two-photon calcium imaging in the central brain of head-fixed Drosophila walking on an air-supported ball. The ball's motion is tracked at high resolution and can be treated as a proxy for the fly's own movements. We used the genetically encoded calcium sensor, GCaMP3.0, to record from important elements of the motion-processing pathway, the horizontal-system lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs) in the fly optic lobe. We presented motion stimuli to the tethered fly and found that calcium transients in horizontal-system neurons correlated with robust optomotor behavior during walking. Our technique allows both behavior ...
An Otto cycle engine with internal and external irreversibilities of friction and heat leakage, in which the heat transfer between the working fluid and the environment obeys linear phenomenological heat transfer law [q ?? ?(T ?1)], is studied in this paper. The optimal piston motion trajectory for maximizing the work output per cycle is derived for the fixed total cycle time and fuel consumed per cycle. Optimal control theory is applied to determine the optimal piston trajectories for the cases of with and without piston acceleration constraint on each stroke and the optimal distribution of the total cycle time among the strokes. The optimal piston motion with acceleration constraint for each stroke consists of three segments, including initial maximum acceleration and final maximum decel...
In the past decade, considerable progress has been made on reducing the seismic response of structures through seismic isolation. Application of seismic-isolation techniques to nuclear power facilities is currently being investigated. This paper presents an analysis of the effect of long period motions on a seismic-isolated nuclear structure. Preliminary analysis indicates that long-period earthquake motions increase structural accelerations and relative displacements between the upper and lower mats. Relative displacement between the mats can be represented by spectral displacement at the frequency of the structure, and can be effectively reduced by increasing viscous damping in the isolator. The isolated structure behaves as a system with one degree of freedom. Future analysis of seismic effects on seismic-isolated structures should include the linear and nonlinear effects of soil-structure interactions. 3 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs.
The transport of magnetospheric particles in the outer cusp region is examined by means of three-dimensional single particle codes. It is shown that, at high altitudes, particles can experience nonadiabatic motions leading to significant magnetic moment changes. It is demonstrated that this nonadiabatic behavior can be interpreted, at least partly, by the action of an impulsive centrifugal force perturbing the particle gyromotion. Systematic trajectory calculations reveal that plasma sheet ions which ExB convert toward the magnetopause from low L-shells in the dayside sector are subjected to such nonadiabatic motions. As a result of magnetic moment damping, a number of them are injected into the loss cone and subsequently precipitate near the cusp equatorward edge.
Orbit correction is now routinely performed at the few-micron level in the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring. Three diagnostics are presently in use to measure and control both AC and DC orbit motions: broad-band turn-by-turn rf beam position monitors (BPMs), narrow-band switched heterodyne receivers, and photoemission-style x-ray beam position monitors. Each type of diagnostic has its own set of systematic error effects that place limits on the ultimate pointing stability of x-ray beams supplied to users at the APS. Limiting sources of beam motion at present are magnet power supply noise, girder vibration, and thermal timescale vacuum chamber and girder motion. This paper will investigate the present limitations on orbit correction, and will delve into the upgrades necessary to achieve true sub-micron beam stability.
In the paper presented, an attempt is made to describe quantitatively the room air motion by diffuse air distribution. Since solving the problem theoretically, seems to be hopeless at present, only an experimental solution seems to promise success. Experiments with diffuse air distribution offer suitable preconditions. With this kind of air introduction into the room, a relatively regular distribution of room air motion can be expected. A further simplification will be achieved by isotherme flow conditions. The first goal of the experiments was to establish whether the velocities measured are reproducible to demonstrate, and can be brought into a functional connection. The room air motion is a measured value which changes temporarily and locally quite largely, far more than is customary with technical measurements. From there, a second task arises, i.e. to evaluate the fluctuation of the velocity registered by its quantity ...
A new mathematical framework is formulated to derive the effective equations of motion for the constrained quantum system which possesses an internal clock. In the realm close to classical behavior, the quantum evolution is approximated by a finite system of coupled but ordinary differential equations adhered to the weakly imposed Hamiltonian constraint. For the simplified version of loop quantum cosmology in the Bianchi I model with a free massless scalar filed, the resulting effective equations of motion affirm the bouncing scenario predicted by the previous studies: The big bang singularity is resolved and replaced by the big bounces, which take place up to three times, once in each diagonal direction, whenever the directional density approaches the critical value in the regime of Planckian density. It is also revealed that back-reaction arises from the quantum corrections and modifies the precise value of the directional density at the ...
Root growth is a highly dynamic process influenced by genetic background and environment. This paper reports the development of R scripts that enable root growth kinematic analysis that complements a new motion analysis tool: PlantVis. Root growth of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing a plasma membrane targeted GFP (C24 and Columbia 35S:LTI6b-EGFP) was imaged using time-lapse confocal laser scanning microscopy. Displacement of individual pixels in the time-lapse sequences was estimated automatically by PlantVis, producing dense motion vector fields. R scripts were developed to extract kinematic growth parameters and report displacement to ?0.1 pixel. In contrast to other currently available tools, Plantvis-R delivered root velocity profiles without interpolation or averaging across the root s...
Motion Camouflage (MC) is illuminated as a novel strategy in counterattacking anti-satellite by way of stealth trajectory scheduling. The dynamics model of MC in space is developed and a quadratic function with three boundary constraints is employed for trajectory determination. Based on the model a scenario is set to run the simulation. The results indicate given the designed acceleration input, the predator will be moved following a prescribed route, which precisely locates the predator between two objects at each time instant. In the last approaching phase, the motion is achieved with a big bumping rate which guarantees the power of this striking. Methods for deriving minimum fuel cost in the fixed approaching duration and the minimum approaching duration in limited acceleration input are proposed and are verified in the simulation. At last, camouflage is recognized as a multi-faceted affair, in which stealth trajectory design is considered ...
The authors report here on an experimental study of heat transfer augmentation in turbulent flow. Enhancement strategies employed in this investigation are based on the near-wall mixing processes induced in the sublayer through appropriate wall and near-wall streamwise-periodic disturbances. Experiments are performed in a low-turbulence wind-tunnel with a high-aspect-ratio rectangular channel having either (a) two-dimensional periodic microgrooves on the wall, or (b) two-dimensional microcylinders placed in the immediate vicinity of the wall. It is found that microdisturbances placed inside the sublayer induce favorable heat-transport augmentation with respect to the smooth-wall case, in the near-analogous momentum and heat transfer behavior are preserved; a roughly commensurate increase in heat and momentum transport is termed favorable in that it leads to a ...
A 33-year-old man sustained an acute Achilles tendon rupture which was surgically repaired. Early nonweight-bearing range of motion and strengthening of the ankle and the repaired muscle unit was allowed...Full Text Available
The observation by inelastic neutron scattering techniques of a high energy peak in the phonon spectrum (14 THz) of V_3Si is reported, and is attributed to a peak in the phonon density of states due to vanadium motions by the incoherent inelastic neutron scattering process.
Natural abundance 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to investigate the effect of the incorporation of cholesterol on the dynamics of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC)...Full Text Available
Ionic motion of a divalent cation, Ba"2"+, in a single crystal of Ba-Al-priderite was studied using "2"7Al as an NMR probe. Several pairs of satellite peaks due to electric quadrupole interaction were observed superposed on broad satellite tails on both sides of the main peak of "2"7Al. These peak pairs indicate the existence of some stable three-dimensional configurations of Ba"2"+ ions in the structure, and the broad shoulders show a random substitution of Al"3"+ for Ti"4"+ sites. The temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation time T"*_l measured in the temperature range from 161 to 1176 K was analyzed by a curve fitting method on the assumption that there are two types of Ba"2"+ ions. An activation energy of 0.47 eV was obtained for the motion of Ba"2"+ ions which are easy to move, and a broad distribution of activation energies spread over a range from 0.95 to 2.45 eV was obtained for the motion of Ba"2"+ ...
The relationships between muscle tensions, jaw motions, bite and joint forces, and craniofacial morphology are not fully understood. Three-dimensional (3-D) computer models are able to combine anatomical...Full Text Available
Typical aircraft types supported include F4-Phantom, Tornado, MiG-29 ...... attempt to develop a theoretical explanation for learning phenomena [16]. ..... perspective, a primary reason for this is that an exponential curve approximates ...
Four of seven human male subjects developed full penile erections when exposed to erotically stimulating motion pictures. Changes in penile size were detected by a mercury strain gauge transducer and...Full Text Available
The delicate mesothelial surfaces of the pleural space and other serosal cavities slide relative to each, lubricated by pleural fluid. In the absence of breathing motion, differences between...Full Text Available
It is shown that a relativistic point kinematics with one independent dilation of (scalar) proper time for each spatial freedom degree would give a really rigorous physical significance to the ordinary logical resolution of the clock paradox between systems in relative motion.
The sensations of sound and motion generated by the inner ear are controlled by the brain through extensive centripetal innervation originating within the brain stem. In the semicircular canals, brain...Full Text Available
Double cones (DCs) are the most common cone types in fish, reptiles and birds. It has been suggested that DCs are used for achromatic tasks such as luminance, motion and polarization vision. Here we...Full Text Available
The capability to image tissue motion such as blood flow through an endoscope could have many applications in medicine. Spectrally encoded endoscopy (SEE) is a recently introduced technique...Full Text Available
BackgroundMost retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) convey contrast and motion information to visual brain centers. Approximately 2% of RGCs are intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs), express...Full Text Available
Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) studies of the glassy states of as-received and hydrated lysozyme, hemoglobin, and myoglobin powders, with water contents of < or = 0.25, < or...Full Text Available
A high-speed fiber-based network for the transmission and display of digitized full-motion cardiac images has been developed. Based on Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), the network is scaleable, meaning...Full Text Available
The offline adaptive radiotherapy (ART) has been used to effectively correct and compensate the prostate motion and reduce the required margin. The efficacy depends on the characteristics of...Full Text Available
This paper summarises the main results obtained so far in the frame of the EU Home Team test programme of ITER primary wall small scale mock ups. It describes briefly the fabrication method of the mock ups, the test conditions and the main results obtained with high heat flux and thermal fatigue tests of Cu alloy/stainless steel and beryllium/Cu alloy/stainless steel mock ups. The results obtained so far show good thermal fatigue performance and operation margin of the ITER primary first wall concept. (author)
It is postulated that a break of a thin-walled pipe does not cause a subsequent break in the pipe in the vicinity of a plastic hinge even when the wall is weakened by a 60 circumferential crack of a depth of 30% of the wall thickness on the tension side. This pipe behavior is the result of plastic buckling in the compression side and applies to pipes of diameter-to-thickness ratio larger than 20. For this type of pipe, the axial strains decrease with increasing diameter-to-thickness ratio in the tension side. As the pipe is only loaded in one direction, there is no cyclic behavior that can trigger a subsequent break. (orig.)
This paper presents the main achievements of the European Home Team (EU HT) test programme of ITER primary wall small scale mock ups. It describes briefly the fabrication method of the mock ups, the test conditions and the main results obtained with high heat flux and thermal fatigue tests of Cu alloy/stainless steel and beryllium/Cu alloy/stainless steel mock ups. The results obtained so far show very good thermal fatigue performance and operation margin of the ITER primary first wall concept.
Several recent experiments on micro- (or nano-) structured samples of ferromagnetic materials are introduced. Magnetization reversal phenomena are investigated on submicron wire samples of trilayer structure using the giant magnetoresistance effect. Domain wall movements are sensitively monitored by resistivity measurements and the velocity of propagation is determined. The contribution of domain wall to the resistivity is argued from the results on artificially designed samples of a spring-magnet system. In circular dots of permalloy, the existence of vortex magnetization is confirmed and the reversal of the vortex core magnetization is studied from magnetic force microscopy measurements. (author)
We present evidence for the creation of an exchange spring in an antiferromagnet due to exchange coupling to a ferromagnet. X-ray magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy on single crystal Co/NiO(001) shows that a partial domain wall is wound up at the surface of the antiferromagnet when the adjacent ferromagnet is rotated by a magnetic field. We determine the interface exchange stiffness and the antiferromagnetic domain wall energy from the field dependence of the direction of the antiferromagnetic axis, the antiferromagnetic pendant to a ferromagnetic hysteresis loop. The existence of a planar antiferromagnetic domain wall, proven by our measurement, is a key assumption of most exchange bias models.
The paper describes an analytical study of two parallel-flowing boundary layers of free and forced convection modes on the facing sides of a vertical thin wall. The two layers are analyzed separately within the framework of boundary layer theory, and coupled by the matching conditions at wall. Numerical data are obtained for a wide range of a dimensionless conjugation parameter {zeta} relating the heat transfer effectiveness of two convection modes. Based on these data, an expression for calculating the conjugate mean Nusselt number as a function of {zeta}-parameter is found by means of a curve-fitting method. (orig.)
An aspiration cover is proposed for the site of loading a belt conveyer including a housing arranged above the belt conveyer in whose cover there is an aspiration sleeve and a discharge chute from the upper wall and a guide having a cushioning plate on the lower end. It is distinguished by the fact that in order to improve the effectiveness of removing dust by decreasing the volume of aspirated air, the cover between the aspiration sleeve and the upper wall of the loading chute is convex in the inside of the housing and has a smooth connection to the upper wall of the discharge chute turned towards the cushioning plate.
Bubbly and slug flows have been analyzed using the afore-mentioned techniques. An image series of bubbly-slug flow is shown. The image separation time is 17 ms, and the total flow length is {approx} 10 cm. A circular eddy pattern that follows the slug can be readily seen and tracked, although reliability is low due to motion in the transverse direction. This motion also adds considerable error to the velocity measurements using image recognition technique. This will increase the reliability and accuracy of the tracking method.
In terms of Berezins's theory of symbols of operators, the integral formulation is suggested for the free differential algebra which gives rise to consistent equations of motion of interacting massless fields of all spins 0#<=#s<#infinity# in the frameworks of gravity. In the first nontrivial order of the expansion in powers of curvatures, Frobenius consistency conditions for higher-spin equations of motion are shown to reduce to the simple geometrical fast that there are two ways for splitting any quadrangle in two triangles. To clarify our construction, we illustrate how it works in the simplest case of pure gravity. (orig.).
We have studied the effects of temperature fluctuations on the Advanced Light Source (ALS). By modeling the storage ring support structure, we find that fluctuations of {plus minus}2 to 3deg C in the tunnel will cause photon beam motion of the order of the beam size. Temperature stabilization at this level will allow the residual motion of the photon beams to be reduced by a second level of active feedback, operating on signals from photon beam position monitors. Air temperature in the experimental area and the temperature of cooling water serving the beamlines should be constant to {plus minus}1deg C. This will provide a suitable environment for experiments. (orig.).
Vibrational dephasing in condensed phases is studied from both a theoretical and experimental standpoint. A theory is presented which describes the dynamics of motional or exchange processes in weakly perturbed systems. This general formalism, which has been previously used to describe motional narrowing in magnetic resonance, is applied to vibrational spectroscopy. The model treats the case of a high frequency vibration anharmonically coupled to a low-frequency vibration. Intermolecular exchange of low frequency vibrational quanta results in a temperature dependent broadening and frequency shift of the high frequency vibration. Analysis of experimental data by this model yields both the exchange rates and the anharmonic couplings.
We study quantum Darwinism -- the redundant recording of information about a decohering system by its environment -- in zero-temperature quantum Brownian motion. An initially nonlocal quantum state leaves a record whose redundancy increases rapidly with its spatial extent. Significant delocalization (e.g., a Schroedinger's Cat state) causes high redundancy: many observers can measure the system's position without perturbing it. This explains the objective (i.e. classical) existence of einselected, decoherence-resistant pointer states of macroscopic objects.
By applying the mass, momentum, and angular momentum conservation laws and the maximum flow rate principle to swirling, effectively inviscid, incompressible flows in a circular tube with a sudden expansion and the direct-flow and reversed-flow Borda mouthpieces the dependence of the flow rate coefficient and mechanical energy losses on the radius ratio and nondimensional circulation is obtained. Several calculating approaches with potential and helical motion are introduced and investigated. In the case of helical motion, as the swirl decreases the axial core of the flow is found to close with a sudden change of the flow parameters.
This paper deals with dynamical behavior of a nonlinear suspension system. We examine chaotic motion in a vehicle suspension system with hysteretic nonlinearity excited by a road profile. A one degree of freedom quarter-car model with nonsymmetric potential is investigated. The Melnikov criterion is used to study the intersection of stable and unstable manifolds and transition to chaos for the system. The condition for chaotic vibration is found using a Melnikov function. Chaotic motion also is indicated by a bifurcation diagram and Lyapunov exponents.
The outward radial expansion of a free liquid annulus is a common problem of both earlier and current ICF blanket design. Whether the annulus fractures or not depends on the internal pressure and surface stability. In this paper a model based on incompressible cylindrically symmetric flow is used to get a theoretical solution similar to that of the Rayleigh's solution for bubble dynamics. The pressure inside the annulus is found positive all time but the peak is lowering during the expansion. Besides, both surfaces are Taylor stable during such motion. Thus, it is concluded that an annulus in outward radial motion will not cavitate or breakup.
... necessary to allow for the effata nr the finits size of the oressure tranaducer on both the root mean square and power spectral density measurements ...
screens of fine wire was placed between the gun barrel and the panel to determine whether the gun performance was repeatable. The transducers were placed ...
We demonstrate a novel cross-sectional deformation, called the radial corrugation, of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) under hydrostatic pressure. Theoretical analyses based on the continuum elastic approximation have revealed that MWNTs consisting of more than ten concentric walls undergo elastic deformations at critical pressure Formula Not Shown , above which the circular shape of the cross-section becomes radially corrugated. Various corrugation modes have been observed by tuning the innermost tube diameter and the number of constituent walls, which is a direct consequence of the core-shell structure of MWNTs. Cross-sectional views of MWNT under high hydrostatic pressure: elliptic deformation with the mode index n = 2 (left), and radial corrugations with n = 5 (center), and n = 6 ...
Morphological, Electrophysiological and Behavioral Investigations of the Nervous Tissue Developed from the Embryonic Matrix Zone Cells of the Dorsolateral Walls of Lateral Ventricles, Implanted into the Lesioned Regions of the Adult Rat's Brain
We study dipolar bosons in a 1D optical lattice and identify a region in parameter space---strong coupling but relatively weak on-site repulsion---hosting a series of stable CDW states whose low-energy excitations, built from "fractional domain walls", are remarkably similar to those of non-abelian fractional quantum Hall states. Here, a conventional domain wall between translated CDW's may split by inserting strings of degenerate, but inequivalent, CDW states. Outside these insulating regions, we find numerous supersolids as well as a superfluid regime. The mentioned phases should be accessible experimentally, and in particular, the fractional domain walls can be created in the ground state using single-site addressing, i.e. by locally changing the chemical potential.
was deemed adequate and a cooling system designed utilizing the Melcor CP2-15- 10B thermoelectric module. Wall temperature achieved with this system was - 36 ...
Figure 23 presented detailed layout of the cooling system designed for the Mach 6 hypersonic- transport. The distribution system consisted of thin-wall ...
Using a quasi-static approach valid for Stefan numbers less than one, we derive approximate equations governing the movement of a phase change front for materials which generate internal heat. These models are applied for both constant surface temperature and constant surface heat flux boundary conditions, in cylindrical, spherical, plane wall and semi-infinite geometries. Exact solutions with the constant surface temperature condition are obtained for the steady-state solidification thickness using the cylinder, sphere, and plane wall geometries which show that the thickness depends on the inverse square root of the internal heat generation. Under constant surface heat flux conditions, closed form equations can be obtained for the three geometries. In the case of the semi-infinite wall, we show that for constant temperature and constant heat flux out of the wall conditions, the solidification layer ...
Protein isolated from hen egg-white and functions as a bacteriostatic enzyme by degrading bacterial cell walls. First enzyme ever characterized by protein ...
Background: High-resolution computed tomography is the image procedure of choice in the evaluation of interstitial lung disease. Multidetector-row computed tomography provides the possibility of simultaneous reconstruction of thin and thick slices from the same raw data, acquired from one single series. Thus, it may be tempting to exclude the step-and-shoot series. Purpose: To compare high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT step-and-shoot) from single-slice CT (SSCT) and 16-channel multidetector CT (MDCT) in terms of visibility and motion artifacts, and to investigate whether thin images reconstructed from helical MDCT are equal to or better than conventional HRCT by SSCT in terms of visibility and motion artifacts. Material and Methods: 20 patients underwent HRCT step-and-shoot by SSCT (SSCT step-and-shoot) and MDCT (MDCT step-and-shoot), and a helical MDCT acquisition (MDCT helical). Images from four anatomical levels were analyzed in ...
Phase contrast X-ray imaging has been studied intensively using X-rays from synchrotron radiation and micro-focus X-ray tubes. However, these studies have revealed the difficulty of this technique's application to practical medical imaging. We have created a phase contrast imaging technique using a molybdenum X-ray tube with a small focal spot size for mammography. We identified the radiographic conditions in phase contrast magnification mammography with a screen-film system, where edge effect due to phase contrast overcomes geometrical unsharpness caused by the 0.1 mm-focal spot of a molybdenum X-ray tube. The edge enhancement due to phase imaging was observed in an image of a plastic tube, and then geometrical configuration of the X-ray tube, the object and the screen-film system was determined for phase imaging of mammography. In order to investigate a potential for medical application of this method, we conducted evaluation of the images of the American Collage of Radiology (ACR) ...
There are several methods for the risk assessment and risk management applied to pipelines, among them the Muhlbauer's Method. W. Kent Muhlbauer is an internationally recognized authority on pipeline risk management. He made a detailed identification about 300 distinct conditions that influence the risk assessment in pipelines and he proposed a score system that is known as method of Muhlbauer. The purpose of this model is to evaluate the public exposure to the risk and identify ways for management that risk in fact. The assessment is made by the attribution of quantitative values to the several items that influences in the pipeline risk. This paper approaches the Muhlbauer's basic model for risk assessment and management in pipelines. In the beginning, the basic model for risk assessment is presented, and methodology for pipelines in onshore environment is detailed. After, presents major items in risk assessment and this relative ...
Postamputation pain (PAP) affects over 60% of major limb amputees. One of the main challenges in treating PAP is the difficulty involved in identifying pain mechanism(s), which pertains to both residual limb pain (RLP) and phantom limb pain (PLP). In this study, sympathetic blocks were performed on 17 major limb amputees refractory to treatment, including 2 placebo-controlled blocks done for bilateral amputations. One hour postinjection, mean RLP scores at rest declined from 5.2 (SD 2.8) to 2.8 (SD 2.6) (P = .0002), and PLP decreased from 5.3 (SD 3.1) to 2.3 (SD 2.1) (P = .0009). By 1 week, mean pain scores for RLP and PLP were 4.3 (SD 2.9) and 4.2 (SD 3.0), respectively. Overall, 8 of 16 (50%) patients experienced ?50% reduction in RLP 1-hour postinjection, with the beneficial effects ...
Twenty-four male weanling rats were fed either copper-adequate or -deficient diets until 9 or 11 weeks of age. Deficient rat hearts had increased mitochondria: myofibril compared to adequate rats. Eleven week old deficient rat hearts had decreased mitochondria: myofibril as the hearts increased in weight, but the larger hearts had greater myofibril volume densities. Cardiac mitochondria of deficient rats appeared vacuolated with fragmented cristae and translucent matrix. Valves from copper deficient rats appeared to have less connective tissue and were fragmented in areas. For deficient rats, heart:body weights of 9 wk old rats were negatively correlated with bicuspid valve pathology scores, whereas tricuspid valve scores from 11 wk old rats were negatively correlated with myofibril volume densities. These data suggest that the enlargement of the copper-deficient rat heart is due to: larger (1) mitochondria and (2) myofibril volume densities.
Many assays for oncogenic transformation have been developed ranging from those in established rodent cell lines where morphological alteration is scored, to those in human cells growing in nude mice where tumor invasiveness is scored. In general, systems that are most quantitaive are also the least relevant in terms of human carcinogenesis and human risk estimation. The development of cell culture systems has made it possible to assess at the cellular level the oncogenic potential of a variety of chemical, physical and viral agents. Cell culture systems afford the opportunity to identify factors and conditions that may prevent or enhance cellular transformation by radiation and chemicals. Permissive and protective factors in radiation-induced transformation include thyroid hormone and the tumor promoter TPA that increase the transformation incidence for a given dose of radiation, and retinoids, selenium, vitamin E, and 5-aminobenzamide that ...
Many assays for oncogenic transformation have been developed ranging from those in established rodent cell lines where morphological alteration is scored, to those in human cells growing in nude mice where tumor invasiveness is scored. In general, systems that are most quantitaive are also the least relevant in terms of human carcinogenesis and human risk estimation. The development of cell culture systems has made it possible to assess at the cellular level the oncogenic potential of a variety of chemical, physical and viral agents. Cell culture systems afford the opportunity to identify factors and conditions that may prevent or enhance cellular transformation by radiation and chemicals. Permissive and protective factors in radiation-induced transformation include thyroid hormone and the tumor promoter TPA that increase the transformation incidence for a given dose of radiation, and retinoids, selenium, vitamin E, and 5-aminobenzamide that ...
To determine the diagnostic accuracy of iofetamine hydrochloride I 123 (IMP) with single photon emission computed tomography in Alzheimer's disease, we studied 58 patients with AD and 15 age-matched healthy control subjects. We used a qualitative method to assess regional IMP uptake in the entire brain and to rate image data sets as normal or abnormal without knowledge of subjects'clinical classification. The sensitivity and specificity of IMP with single photon emission computed tomography in AD were 88% and 87%, respectively. In 15 patients with mild cognitive deficits (Blessed Dementia Scale score, less than or equal to 10), sensitivity was 80%. With the use of a semiquantitative measure of regional cortical IMP uptake, the parietal lobes were the most functionally impaired in AD and the most strongly associated with the patients' Blessed Dementia Scale scores. These results indicated that IMP with single photon ...
The effect of fetal distress on the neonatal brain was investigated by neonatal CT brain scan, FHR monitoring and mode of delivery. This study involved 11 cases of full term vertex delivery in which FHR was recorded by fetal direct ECG during the second stage labor. All infants weighed 2,500 g or more. FHR monitoring was evaluated by Hon's classification. Neonatal brain edema was evaluated by cranial CT histgraphic analysis (Nakada's method). 1) Subdural hemorrhage was noted in 6 of 7 infants delivered by vacuum extraction or fundal pressure (Kristeller's method). 2) Intracranial hemorrhage was demonstrated in all of 3 infants with 5-min. Apgar score 7 or less. 3) Two cases with prolonged bradycardia and no variability had intraventricular or intracerebral hemorrhage which resulted in severe central nervous system damage. 4) The degree of neonatal brain edema correlated with 5-min. Apgar score. 5) One case with ...
The effect of fetal distress on the neonatal brain was investigated by neonatal CT brain scan, FHR monitoring and mode of delivery. This study involved 11 cases of full term vertex delivery in which FHR was recorded by fetal direct ECG during the second stage labor. All infants weighed 2,500 g or more. FHR monitoring was evaluated by Hon's classification. Neonatal brain edema was evaluated by cranial CT histgraphic analysis (Nakada's method). 1) Subdural hemorrhage was noted in 6 of 7 infants delivered by vacuum extraction or fundal pressure (Kristeller's method). 2) Intracranial hemorrhage was demonstrated in all of 3 infants with 5-min. Apgar score 7 or less. 3) Two cases with prolonged bradycardia and no variability had intraventricular or intracerebral hemorrhage which resulted in severe central nervous system damage. 4) The degree of neonatal brain edema correlated with 5-min. Apgar score. 5) One case with prolonged bradycardia and no ...
We examined fat phobia, defined as a pathological fear of fatness, by constructing the Fat Phobia Scale, determining its reliability and validity, examining correlates of fat phobia, and using a treatment approach designed to decrease fat phobia. Study 1 describes the development of the Fat Phobia Scale, a 50-item, modified 5-point semantic differential scale. Subjects (974 females and 117 males) completed the scale; factor analysis yielded six factors. Respondents who are average weight, female, younger, have more than a high school education, or are nonmedical professionals are more likely to have fat phobic attitudes. Study 2 examines fat phobic attitudes of women (N = 40) who had negative feelings about their bodies. Subjects completed the Fat Phobia Scale before and after a treatment approach designed to reduce their feelings of responsibility for fatness. Total scores on the Fat Phobia Scale and scores on all six factors decreased ...
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is known as a psychiatric disorder in childhood associated with dopamine dysregulation. We investigated dopamine transporter (DAT) density in children with ADHD in the present study using {sup 123}I-IPT SPECT and postulated that an alteration in DAT density in the basal ganglia (BG) is responsible for dopaminergic dysfunction in children with ADHD. 9 durg-naive children with ADHD and 6 normal children were included in the study. We performed brain SPECT 2 hours after administration of {sup 123}I-IPT and made both quantitative and qualitative analyses for assessment of specific/nonspecific DAT binding ratio in the BG. We investigated the correlation between the severity scores of ADHD symptoms in children with ADHD assessed with ADHD rating scale and specific/nonspecific DAT binding ratio in the BG. Drug-naive children with ADHD showed a significantly incresed specific/nonspecific DAT binding ratio in the BG compared ...
INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a prominent symptom in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and it has distinctive features; however, there is a need for a robust scale to measure fatigue in COPD. METHODS: At baseline, 122 patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) 52%, women 38%, mean age 66 years) completed a pilot fatigue scale covering a pool of 57 items and underwent a range of tests, including indicators of mood and a short general fatigue questionnaire. All patients responded to the 57-item scale and it was readministered to a subset of 30 patients. The pilot scale was first subjected to constructive validated shortening steps and then to a principal components analysis. RESULTS: The Manchester COPD fatigue scale (MCFS) consists of 27 items, loading into three dimensions: physical, cognitive and psychosocial fatigue. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97) and test-retest repeatability (r = 0.97, por=16 scores in the Center for ...
Examination of measurement invariance provides a powerful method to evaluate the hypothesis that the same set of psychological constructs underlies a set of test scores in different populations. If measurement invariance is observed, then the same psychological meaning can be ascribed to scores in both populations. In this study, the measurement model including core and supplementary subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth edition (WAIS-IV) were compared across the U.S. and Canadian standardization samples. Populations were compared on the 15 subtest version of the test in people aged 70 and younger and on the 12 subtest version in people aged 70 or older. Results indicated that a slightly modified version of the four-factor model reported in the WAIS-IV technical manual provided the best fit in both populations and in both age groups. The null hypothesis of measurement invariance across populations was not rejected, and the ...
The long-term survival of certain patients after treatment with radiation or chemotherapeutic agents has allowed the realization that agents that effectively control cancer in the human subject may also possess an oncogenic potential, resulting in secondary malignancies in a significant proportion of surviving patients. A quantitative assessment of the oncogenic effects of these agents at a cellular level is important, as is information on conditions and agents that may effectively alter the development of the neoplastic state. Cell culture systems where the neoplastic transformation of cells can be scored after exposure to carcinogens offer powerful tools for evaluating the oncogenic potential of radiation and chemotherapeutic agents.
Objective: Results of reliability and agreement studies are intended to provide information about the amount of error inherent in any diagnosis, score, or measurement. The level of reliability and agreement among users of scales, instruments, or classifications is widely unknown. Therefore, there is a need for rigorously conducted interrater and intrarater reliability and agreement studies. Information about sample selection, study design, and statistical analysis is often incomplete. Because of inadequate reporting, interpretation and synthesis of study results are often difficult. Widely accepted criteria, standards, or guidelines for reporting reliability and agreement in the health care and medical field are lacking. The objective was to develop guidelines for reporting reliability and...
In many industrialised societies, women remain underrepresented in the sciences, which can be predicted by the gender gap in math achievement at school. Using PISA 2006 data, we explore the role of family background and single-sex schooling in girls' disadvantage in maths in South Korea and Hong Kong. This disadvantage is found to be associated with single-sex schooling, but not with family background. Attending a girls' school confers a benefit only in South Korea, whereas the gendered curriculum counteracts the selectivity advantage of girls' schools in Hong Kong. We find that a gendered social structure prevalent in both societies.
The purpose of this study was to examine the day-to-day reproducibility and single measurement reliability of peak force, time to half peak force and rate of force development indices of knee extension neuromuscular performance in patients with end-stage renal failure. Eleven self-selected patients (6 men, 5 women) receiving maintenance dialysis (dialysis history 67 +/- 42.8 month) completed 3 inter-day assessment sessions. Each comprised a standardized warm-up and 3 intermittent static maximal voluntary actions of the knee extensors of the preferred limb (45 degrees knee flexion angle [0 degrees = full knee extension]) using a specially-constructed dynamometer. Repeated measures ANOVA of coefficient of variation scores revealed significant differences between indices in their reproducibility across day-to-day trials. Post-hoc comparisons of group mean scores suggested that peak force (6.6 +/- 3.0%) offers significantly greater measurement ...
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the recent literature on the prognostic value of biomarkers of liver fibrosis and impaired liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis C with or without HIV coinfection. RECENT FINDINGS: A combination of standard blood tests seems to be useful in identifying patients at risk of liver-related complications. Findings from studies investigating the validity of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score in HIV-infected liver transplant candidates are conflicting. Two large studies of HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients have shown that plasma levels of the fibrosis marker hyaluronic acid are a strong predictor of clinical complications. A smaller study found hyaluronic acid and two other fibrosis tests, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and Fib-4, to be independent predictors of mortality when included in models with the MELD or the Child-Pugh-Turcotte scores. SUMMARY: ...
The authors solve the two-dimensional stefan problem of solidification in a half-space, where the heat flux at the wall is a slightly varying function of positioning along the wall, by means of a large Stefan number approximation (which turns out to be equivalent to a small time solution), and then by means of the Heat Balance Integral Method, which is valid for all time, and which agrees with the large Stefan number solution for small times. A representative solution is given for a particular form of the heat flux perturbation.
The change in concentrations of elements due to transmutations resulting from neutron irradiation in the first wall of the ARIES-IV conceptual fusion energy device were determined as a function of neutron dose. SiC burns out at a rate of about 0.5% per effective full power year. The largest impurity concentration is that of He, but several other elements burn in at rates of hundreds of appm/efpy.
... The composite ground floor is suitable for support to all types of wall construction and can be used equally well on strip footings or mini-pile foundations . The light steel edge beams provide the accurate template required for internal timber or light steel wall frames to minimise fitting time and eliminate rework. The floated slab surface will accept floor finishes directly and thermal insulation can be easily fitted beneath ...
In this work, the thermal performance of a conventional collector is improved by inserting porous substrates at the inner walls of the collector tubes. The porous substrates improve the convective heat transfer coefficient between the tube wall and the fluid. This improvement is investigated numerically and its effects on the efficiency and the useful gain of the collector are evaluated. It is found that inserting the porous substrate may raise the collector efficiency considerably, especially at high values of the overall heat loss coefficient.
The effectiveness of an acrylic latex wall sealant in limiting the escape of radon from rock in underground mines is the subject of this paper. Application of the latex as a two-coat system over a fillter coat of gunite produced a reduction of radon concentration from an initial level of 80 to 100 pCi/L to a final average of 25 to 30 pCi/L under similar conditions.
Analytical solutions are derived for a flow in a semi-infinite vertical porous medium with heat and mass transfer. When the temperature and mass concentration are uniform a constant pressure is possible and sustains a fully developed flow. Thereafter there is a small perturbation on the wall temperature and concentration and the subsequent two-dimensional problem is tackled for a large Prandtl number, free convection parameters and small Reynolds number. The heat transfer rate at the wall is discussed quantitatively.
We report on the fouling of Focused Ion Beam (FIB)-fabricated silicon oxide nanopores after exposure to tap water for two weeks. Pore clogging was monitored by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) on both bare silicon oxide and chemically functionalized nanopores. While fouling occurred on hydrophilic silicon oxide pore walls, the hydrophobic nature of alkane chains prevented clogging on the chemically functionalized pore walls. These results have implications for nanopore sensing platform design.
Ti honeycombs with the side of 800 and 400 nm were fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB), though the surfaces of the bottom and wall of the Ti honeycombs were rough, as compared with the surfaces of the bottom and wall of the Si honeycomb. It is demonstrated that the nanoscale Ti components can be fabricated in a short time by FIB.
Small scale mock-ups of the primary first wall, the baffle first wall, the shield block and a partial model for the edge of the primary first wall module were designed and fabricated incorporating most of the key design features of the ITER shielding blanket. All mock-ups featured the DSCu heat sink, the built-in SS coolant tubes within the heat sink and the SS shield block. CFC tiles was used as the protection armor for the baffle first wall mock-up. The small scale shield block mock-up, integrated with the first wall, was designed to have a poloidal curvature specified in the ITER design. Fabrication routes of mock-ups were decided based on the single step solid HIP of DSCu/DSCu, DSCu/SS and SS/SS reflecting the results of previous joining techniques development and testing. For attaching the CFC tiles onto DSCu heat sink in the fabrication of the baffle first ...
The Doublet III device is operating with an extensive system of plasma limiters and wall protective armor. Operations with up to 8MW of neutral beam power and 1.5MA plasma current are planned. Design and operational performance of the following systems are discussed: 1. Water-cooled graphite moveable limiter. 2. Water-cooled graphite fixed limiter and neutral beam wall armor. 3. Radiatively cooled Inconel divertor plates.
A side terminal battery is described comprising: a casing having a side wall made from a moldable material; and a plug formed of relatively deformable, electrically conductive, corrosion resistant material molded into the side wall to form a seal between the interior and exterior of the casing and including a battery terminal insert embedded therein so as to be exposed at the exterior of the casing and isolated, by the plug, from the interior of the casing.
During the operation of a tokamak, the first wall elements suffer very high heat fluxes. Heat is removed by internal cooling by means of water, helium or fluid metal. The resulting inhomogeneous temperature field cause internal stresses which, due to the pulsed operation are of cyclic nature. Additional mechanical stresses in the first wall may be caused by disruptions or vertical plasma movements. During theses events high currents are induced in the metallic part of the first wall which by their interaction with the magnetic field of the tokamak lead to mechanical forces. These electromechanical stresses may lie beyond the yield stress of the structural material. From the interaction of thermal and mechanical forces, a complex stress state is achieved which under certain circumstances may lead to premature failure and/or to progressive plastic deformations (ratcheting). In order to study the boundary conditions for the ...
Device for separating and collecting ultrafine atomized powder from the gas stream of a gas atomizing apparatus comprises a housing having an interior wall oriented at an angle relative to horizontal so as to form a downwardly converging, conical expansion chamber, an inlet conduit communicated to the expansion chamber proximate an upper region thereof for receiving the gas stream, and an outlet proximate a lower region of the expansion chamber. The inlet conduit is oriented at a compound inclined angle (with respect to horizontal) selected to promote separation and collection of powder from the gas stream in the expansion chamber. The compound angle comprises a first entrance angle that is greater than the angle of repose of the powder on the housing interior wall such that any powder accumulation in the inlet conduit tends to flow down the wall toward the outlet. The second angle is selected generally equal to the angle ...
This report presents the thermal-hydraulic analysis of four Loss-of-Flow Accidents (LOFAs) in the first wall/blanket cooling system of the alternative SEAFP reactor design. The LOFAs considered result from a loss of electrical power for the recirculation pump in the primary cooling circuit. The analyses have been performed using the thermal-hydraulic system analysis code RELAP5/MOD3. In the analyses, special attention has been paid to the transient thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the cooling system and the temperature development in the first wall and blanket. For the LOFA without plasma shutdown, significant loss of heat removal due to dryout occurs at the midplane of the outboard first wall cooling pipes about 41 s after pump trip. For the three LOFA cases with emergency plasma shutdown that have been studied, the temperature increase in the Be-coating at the midplane of the outboard first wall is ...
To assess the potential of CT in evaluating the histological severity of acute appendicitis in comparison with surgical and pathological findings. The CT images of 75 patients with surgically proven appendicitis, including 10 cases of catarrhal, 34 of phlegmonous, and 31 of gangrenous appendicitis, were retrospectively analyzed for the following five CT findings: hazy periappendiceal densities, enlarged appendix, increased enhancement of the appendiceal wall, increased enhancement of the periappendiceal intestinal wall, and deficiency of the appendiceal wall. By comparing all the CT findings and the pathological severity of appendicitis (catarrhal, phlegmonous, and gangrenous), the prevalence of the five CT findings was calculated for each pathological category. Abnormal CT findings were noted in only one case of catarrhal appendicitis. Increased enhancement of the appendiceal wall was observed in all ...
Research highlights: #-># Morphological and chemical characterization at atomic scale of porous alumina layers anodised in ordered regimes. #-># Characterization based on the use of FEG-SEM, STEM-HAADF, STEM-EELS and STEM-X-EDS. #-># Nanoscale distribution of P-, C- and S-bearing species in the pore wall. - Abstract: Ordered porous alumina layers prepared by two-step anodising in phosphoric, oxalic and sulphuric acids have been characterized at sub-nanometer scale using electron microscopy techniques. FEG-SEM and STEM-HAADF images allowed estimating the pore size, cell wall and pore wall thicknesses of the layers. Nanoanalytical characterization has been performed by STEM-EELS and STEM-X-EDS. Detailed features of the spatial distribution of anions in the pore wall of the films have been obtained. Maximum concentration of P-species occurs, approximately, at the middle of the pore ...
The oxygen vacancies distribution in the rigid lattice and the thermally activated motion of oxygen atoms are studied in La1-xSrxGa1-xMgxO3-x (x=0.00; 0.05; 0.10; 0.15 and 0.20) compounds. For that 71Ga, 25Mg and 17O NMR was performed from 100 K up to 670 K, and ion conductivity measurements were carried out up to 1273 K. The comparison of the electric field gradients at the Ga- and Mg-sites evidences that oxygen vacancies appear exclusively near gallium cations as a species trapped below room temperature in local clusters, GaO5/2-#square#-GaO5/2. These clusters decay at higher temperature into mobile constituents of the structural octahedra Ga(O5/6#square#1/6)6/2. At the same time, the nearest octahedral oxygen environment of magnesium cations persists at different doping levels. The case of two adjacent vacant anion sites is found highly unlikely within the studied doping range. The thermally activated oxygen motion starts to develop above ...
Large rigid-body domain movements are critical to GroEL-mediated protein folding, especially apical domain elevation and twist associated with the formation of a folding chamber upon binding ATP and co-chaperonin GroES. Here, we have modeled the anisotropic displacements of GroEL domains from various crystallized states, unliganded GroEL, ATP?S-bound, ADP-AlFx/GroES-bound, and ADP/GroES bound, using translation-libration-screw (TLS) analysis. Remarkably, the TLS results show that the inherent motions of unliganded GroEL, a polypeptide-accepting state, are biased along the transition pathway that leads to the folding-active state. In the ADP-AlFx/GroES-bound folding-active state the dynamic modes of the apical domains become reoriented and coupled to the motions of bound GroES. The ADP/GroES complex exhibits these same motions, but they are increased in magnitude, potentially reflecting the decreased stability of the complex ...
This paper introduces the JNM Special Issue on the development of a first wall for the reaction chamber in a laser fusion power plant. In this approach to fusion energy a spherical target is injected into a large chamber and heated to fusion burn by an array of lasers. The target emissions are absorbed by the wall and encapsulating blanket, and the resulting heat converted into electricity. The bulk of the energy deposited in the first wall is in the form of X-rays (1.0-100 keV) and ions (0.1-4 MeV). In order to have a practical power plant, the first wall must be resistant to these emissions and suffer virtually no erosion on each shot. A wall candidate based on tungsten armor bonded to a low activation ferritic steel substrate has been chosen as the initial system to be studied. The choice was based on the vast experience with these materials in a nuclear environment and the ...
The third US Naval Observatory (USNO) CCD Astrograph Catalog, UCAC3 was released at the IAU General Assembly on 2009 August 10. It is the first all-sky release in this series and contains just over 100 million objects, about 95 million of them with proper motions, covering about R = 8 to 16 magnitudes. Current epoch positions are obtained from the observations with the 20 cm aperture USNO Astrograph's "red lens", equipped with a 4k by 4k CCD. Proper motions are derived by combining these observations with over 140 ground- and space-based catalogs, including Hipparcos/Tycho and the AC2000.2, as well as unpublished measures of over 5000 plates from other astrographs. For most of the faint stars in the Southern Hemisphere the Yale/San Juan first epoch plates from the SPM program (YSJ1) form the basis for proper motions. These data are supplemented by all-sky Schmidt plate survey astrometry and photometry obtained from the ...
The traditional way of estimating the gravitational field from observed motions of test objects is based on the virial relation between their kinetic and potential energy. We find a more efficient method. It is based on the natural presumption that the objects are observed at a random moment of time and therefore have random orbital time phases. The proposed estimator, which we call "orbital roulette", checks the randomness of the phases. The method has the following advantages: (1) It estimates accurately Keplerian (point-mass) potentials as well as non-Keplerian potentials where the unknown gravitating mass is distributed in space. (2) It is a complete statistical estimator: it checks a trial potential and accepts it or rules it out with a certain significance level; the best-fit measurement is thus supplemented with error bars at any confidence level. (3) It needs no a priori assumptions about the distribution of orbital parameters of the test bodies. We test ...
The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) tests the quantitative fit of masks which are worn by military personnel during nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. Subjects are placed in a Dynatech-Frontier Fit Testing Chamber, salt air is fed into the chamber, and samples of air are drawn from the mask and the chamber. The ratio of salt air outside the mask to salt air inside the mask is called the quantitative fit factor. A motion-time study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the layout and work method presently used in the laboratory. A link analysis was done to determine equipment priorities, and the link data and design guidelines were used to develop three proposed laboratory designs. The proposals were evaluated by projecting the time and motion efficiency, and the energy expended working in each design. Also evaluated were the lengths of the equipment links for each proposal, and each ...
The Department of Energy is investigating Yucca Mountain, Nevada as a potential site for commercial radioactive waste disposal in a mined geologic repository. One critical aspect of site suitability is the tectonic stability of the repository site. The levels of risk from both actual fault displacements in the repository block and ground shaking from nearby earthquakes are being examined. In particular, it is necessary to determine the expected level of ground shaking at the repository depth for large seismic sources such as nearby large earthquakes or underground nuclear explosions (UNEs). Earthquakes are expected to cause the largest ground motions at the site, however, only underground nuclear explosion data have been obtained at the repository depth level (about 350m below the ground level) to date. In this study we investigate ground motion from Nevada Test Site underground nuclear explosions recorded at Yucca Mountain to establish a ...
We derive spin-orbit coupling effects on the gravitational field and equations of motion of compact binaries in the 2.5 post-Newtonian approximation to general relativity, one PN order beyond where spin effects first appear. Our method is based on that of Blanchet, Faye, and Ponsot, who use a post-Newtonian metric valid for general (continuous) fluids and represent pointlike compact objects with a delta-function stress-energy tensor, regularizing divergent terms by taking the Hadamard finite part. To obtain post-Newtonian spin effects, we use a different delta-function stress-energy tensor introduced by Bailey and Israel. In a future paper we will use the 2.5PN equations of motion for spinning bodies to derive the gravitational-wave luminosity and phase evolution of binary inspirals, which will be useful in constructing matched filters for signal analysis. The gravitational field derived here may help in posing initial data for numerical ...
The clinical courses of heterotopic ossification (HO) as a consequence of trauma and central nervous system insults have many similarities as well as dissimilarities. Detection is commonly noted at two months. The incidence of clinically significant HO is 10%-20%. Approximately 10% of the HO is massive and causes severe restriction in joint motion or ankylosis. The most common sign and symptom are decreased range of motion and pain. The locations are the proximal limbs and joints. Sites of HO about a joint may vary according to the etiology of the HO. Roentgenographic evolution of HO occurs during a six-month period in the majority of patients. Treatment modalities include diphosphonates, indomethacin, radiation, range of motion exercises, and surgical excision. Surgical timing differs according to etiology: traumatic HO may be resected at six months; spinal cord injury HO is excised at one year; and traumatic brain injury ...
The clinical courses of heterotopic ossification (HO) as a consequence of trauma and central nervous system insults have many similarities as well as dissimilarities. Detection is commonly noted at two months. The incidence of clinically significant HO is 10%-20%. Approximately 10% of the HO is massive and causes severe restriction in joint motion or ankylosis. The most common sign and symptom are decreased range of motion and pain. The locations are the proximal limbs and joints. Sites of HO about a joint may vary according to the etiology of the HO. Roentgenographic evolution of HO occurs during a six-month period in the majority of patients. Treatment modalities include diphosphonates, indomethacin, radiation, range of motion exercises, and surgical excision. Surgical timing differs according to etiology: traumatic HO may be resected at six months; spinal cord injury HO is excised at one year; and traumatic brain injury ...
We report the discovery of a bow shock around the high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) 4U 1907+09 using the Spitzer Space Telescope 24 $\\mu$m data (after Vela X-1 the second example of bow shocks associated with HMXBs). The detection of the bow shock implies that 4U 1907+09 is moving through the space with a high (supersonic) peculiar velocity. To confirm the runaway nature of 4U 1907+09, we measured its proper motion, which for an adopted distance to the system of 4 kpc corresponds to a peculiar transverse velocity of $\\simeq 160 \\pm 115$ km/s, meaning that 4U 1907+09 is indeed a runaway system and supporting the general belief that most of HMXBs possess high space velocities. The direction of motion of 4U 1907+09 inferred from the proper motion measurement is consistent with the orientation of the symmetry axis of the bow shock, and shows that the HMXB is running away from the Galactic plane. We also present the Spitzer ...
A nonlinear mathematical model is presented of a WWER-440 nuclear power plant horizontal steam generator. On the proposed model is based a computer program for investigating transients in steam generators during loss of coolant accidents. Processes taking place at the primary side of the steam generator are described by a set of partial differential equations while those at the secondary side of the steam generator are described by plain differential equations with the variables being complex time functions. The model takes account of the coolant as both a single- and two-phase medium, of changes in the direction of the primary coolant flow and of changes in the direction of heat transfer. Heat transfer through the wall is based on a simple model of heat transfer through a thin-walled tube and includes a correction for the heat resistance of the wall. (author).
Based on the CFD-code FLUENT trademark, theoretical studies were conducted of the influences of incineration chamber geometry (direct, countercurrent and center flow) on the combustion process. The boundary conditions, e.g., the thermal input and the waste grate, were kept constant. Close attention was paid to the distribution of flow, spe-cies, and temperatures. In addition, the influence of a dis-placement body at the end of the combustion chamber was tested. The variation of different wall materials and the prediction of problem areas concerning corrosion, slagging, and contamination completed the studies. Close to the chamber walls, high CO-concentrations may indi-cate corrosion; particle flow may indicate where contami-nation, slagging or erosion could occur. (orig.)
A new kind of receiver-reactor for high-temperature solar furnaces is proposed. The main body of the receiver component is an ellipsoid of revolution with specularly reflecting inner walls. The reactor component, a crucible, is placed at one focal point and the aperture at the other. With this arrangement, substantially all of the incident radiation from the concentrator should reach the reactor directly or after one reflection from the cavity walls. An analysis of the radiative exchange among the surfaces is presented. The analysis provides a tool for a parametric study and optimization of the design. It is found that, in contrast to that of conventional well-insulated cavity receivers, its collection efficiency is not very sensitive to the size of its aperture.
Heat transfer experiments were performed in the post-CHF two-phase flow regime in a vertical tube. The tube inside diameter was 7.75 mm, and the boiling fluid was R-113. The experiments were performed at steady state by means of liquid heating of the test tube. Wall superheats were maintained below 70 C for heat exchanger/steam generator application. The mass flux range of the data was 379-816 kg m{sup -2} s{sup -1}. The use of R-113 significantly extended the property range of the existing low wall-superheat data base. Experimental data are presented in tabular as well as graphical form, and the results were used with low wall-superheat data from other fluids to add generality to a predictive heat transfer correlation. (orig.)
In this paper, four different types of pulsed eddy current (PEC) probe are designed and their performance of detecting wall thickness reduction is compared. By using the backward difference method in time and the finite element method in space, PEC signals from various thickness and materials are numerically calculated and three features of the signal are selected. Since PEC signals and features are obtained by various types and sizes of probe, the comparison is made through the normalized features which reflect the sensitivity of the feature to thickness reduction. The normalized features indicate that the shielded reflection probe provides the best sensitivity to wall thickness reduction for all three signal features. Results show that the best sensitivity to thickness reduction is achieved by the peak value, but also suggest that the time to peak can be a good candidate because of its linear relationship with the thickness variation.
Combined gas and steam turbine processes based on direct coal firing show a high thermal efficiency. At RWTH Aachen, University of Technology, an experimental test furnace has been built to investigate the pressurized pulverized coal combustion (PPCC). The PPCC-facility has been constructed as a slag tap furnace. Particles hitting the walls at temperatures above the melting point cause slagging depositions and create a film flowing down the reactor walls. As a part of the PPCC-program different mathematical models have been developed and implemented into the CFD-code FLUENT to predict the behavior of slag films at the furnace walls. Numerical strategies and the mathematical models used are described in detail. 12 refs., 9 figs.
The evaluation of calculated values determined by means of the equations given in the TRD 300/301 standard resulted in two nomographs by which it is possible to find the theoretical wall thickness of cylinder shells without cutouts and branches as well as cylinder shells with an inclined or vertical single branch without additional thickening. The equations for the calculation of cylinder shells with an inclined single branch according to TRD 301 having only an iterative solution, the nomographs will be a considerable help for the engineering work. The determination of the theoretical wall-thickness from the nomographs is demonstrated by means of examples.
The present work summarizes efforts on the simulation of natural convection cooling within the IFMIF target and test cell. The simulations have been performed with the STAR-CD code using the k-#omega# high-Reynolds number turbulence model. A dedicated thermohydraulic model has been devised including Lithium loop components. Nuclear heat production has been calculated by the Monte-Carlo code McDeLicious for different parts of the target and test cell walls and was used as input for the STAR-CD simulations. Helium atmospheres at several pressures from 0.1 to 10"-"5 MPa have been investigated. In order to limit the maximum temperature of the concrete walls to 80 deg. C it was necessary to add thermal insulation layers to the hot Lithium loop surfaces and a conceptual system of two cooling layers in different depths of the concrete walls.
Lateral plume dispersion in deep river valleys during neutral and stable lapse rate conditions can be exceptionally high due to the intense horizontal turbulence generated by prominent variations in the width, orientation and surface roughness of the valley walls. Use of the standard Gaussian dispersion equation to represent this enhanced lateral plume spread in a narrow valley may be inappropriate since consideration should also be given to the restriction of the horizontal plume spread due to impingement against the valley walls. The basic concept employed in the modification of the Gaussian dispersion equation was to assume that multiple eddy reflections occur between the valley walls in a manner similar to the vertical eddy reflections between the ground plane and an inversion layer aloft. The expressions are developed, but no attempt has been made to validate them with actual measured field data. 4 references, 3 ...
In the frame of the Primary Wall Module prototype manufacturing for ITER, a consistent R and D phase was conducted in order to identify the industrial allowable tolerances and manufacturing problems which would occur when joining pieces by HIPping process during the PW module manufacturing. The purpose of this development was to give as industrial as possible manufacturing routes for joining together large Stainless Steel or DS-Copper pieces with Stainless Steel tubes and for bonding Beryllium tiles onto a curved component surface. The study concerned surface preparations, allowable gaps and joint geometry, Beryllium tile geometry, Titanium interlayer thickness, etc. This R and D phase also allowed the development and validation of different ultrasonic inspection tools needed for plate-plate, tube-plate, edge to edge plate bonding.
The local heat transfer coefficient distribution of a square channel with two opposite ribbed walls was determined. The square channel was connected to a sudden contraction entrance in order to simulate the inlet condition of the turbine blade cooling passages. The test channel was heated by thin stainless steel foils with a thickness of 0.000025 m, and instrumented with 180 thermocouples. The brass ribs of a square cross-section were glued periodically, in line, onto the top and bottom walls of the foil-heated channel in patterns to achieve the desired spacing and angle-of-attack. The local heat transfer coefficients on the smooth side and the ribbed side walls, at the channel entrance and the downstream regions, were measured for eight rib configurations and three Reynolds numbers (Re = 10,000, 30,000, and 60,000).
The concepts of general flow and thermal boundary conditions are introduced to treat the interaction between indoor and outdoor thermal environments in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The results from a multi-zone model are used to supply the general flow boundary conditions. The energy balance equation at wall-air interfaces is used to supply the general thermal boundary conditions. An example calculation in a 13-room building shows that infiltration influences indoor air flow patterns considerably. The air flow in a room ventilated by displacement is measured and simulated. Two surface coatings are considered, i.e. black walls and aluminum walls. Implementation of these two boundary conditions is essential in predicting air flow patterns, air quality, and thermal comfort in a real building. (author)
In order to develop the filler metal for Hastelloy alloy XR structure with thick wall, the weldability and high temperature strength properties of Hastelloy alloy XR weldment were investigated using the filler metals, which were alloy-designed on the basis of multiple regression analysis. The former was examined through the chemical analysis in the deposited metal, bend test, FISCO cracking test, optical microscopy and hardness measurement. The latter was investigated by means of tensile and creep test. It was found from these results that the crack susceptibility in the weldment was apparent to be lowered without degrading the high temperature strength properties. Therefore, it is concluded that these filler metals possess excellent performance as the filler metal for Hastelloy alloy XR structure with thick wall. (author).
The unburned HC in a direct-injection diesel engine is a cause of exhaust odor and SOF emission. Reduction of HC by changing the injection nozzle specifications was attempted in previous studies. In this study, some experiments in which the mixture formation was varied by using different hole diameters in a multihole nozzle and spray angles to the combustion chamber wall have been conducted. When the diameter of injection holes, which influences the fuel adhering to on the cylinder head walls and the combustion chamber wall, becomes smaller, the HC emission in the idling condition, HC deviation from cylinder to cylinder and HC increase with long idling time are decreased. The same effects were obtained by decreasing the diameter of all holes and by injecting the spray downward to the combustion chamber. 13 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab.
The distribution of the central benzodiazepine receptor specific ligand iodine-123 iomazenil was investigated in seven human adults from whole-body scans, blood samples and urine collected up to 24 h after injection. Using 12 source organs, the MIRD method was applied to calculate the absorbed radiation dose of the radioligand in various organs. The urinary bladder wall (0.15 mGy/MBq), lower large intestinal wall (0.071 mGy/MBq) testes (0.044 mGy/MBq) and upper large intestined wall (0.038 mGy/MBq) received the highest absorbed doses. The average effective dose equivalent of "1"2"3I-IBZM for adults was estimated to be 0.033 mSv/MBq. (orig.).
A dielectric-wall linear accelerator is improved by a high-voltage, fast rise-time switch that includes a pair of electrodes between which are laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators. A high voltage is placed between the electrodes sufficient to stress the voltage breakdown of the insulator on command. A light trigger, such as a laser, is focused along at least one line along the edge surface of the laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators extending between the electrodes. The laser is energized to initiate a surface breakdown by a fluence of photons, thus causing the electrical switch to close very promptly. Such insulators and lasers are incorporated in a dielectric wall linear accelerator with Blumlein modules, and phasing is controlled by adjusting the length of fiber optic cables that carry the laser light to the insulator surface.
A dielectric-wall linear accelerator is improved by a high-voltage, fast rise-time switch that includes a pair of electrodes between which are laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators. A high voltage is placed between the electrodes sufficient to stress the voltage breakdown of the insulator on command. A light trigger, such as a laser, is focused along at least one line along the edge surface of the laminated alternating layers of isolated conductors and insulators extending between the electrodes. The laser is energized to initiate a surface breakdown by a fluence of photons, thus causing the electrical switch to close very promptly. Such insulators and lasers are incorporated in a dielectric wall linear accelerator with Blumlein modules, and phasing is controlled by adjusting the length of fiber optic cables that carry the laser light to the insulator surface. 12 figs.
Using a noneikonal expression for the two-body scattering amplitude, consistent with the proton-nucleon scattering data, the cross-section of the 1.04 GeV-proton elastic scattering on {sup 40}Ca is calculated by the Glauber-Sitenko theoretical scheme in the framework of the coherent density fluctuation model (CDFM) as well as of the independent-particle model (IPM). It is shown that the use of the noneikonal amplitude in the CDFM calculations improves the agreement with the experimental data especially at larger scattering angles in contrast to the case of the independent-particle model. To that end a decisive role play the zero-motion flucton correlations taken into account in the CDFM. (orig.).
Using a noneikonal expression for the two-body scattering amplitude, consistent with the proton-nucleon scattering data, the cross-section of the 1.04 GeV-proton elastic scattering on "4"0Ca is calculated by the Glauber-Sitenko theoretical scheme in the framework of the coherent density fluctuation model (CDFM) as well as of the independent-particle model (IPM). It is shown that the use of the noneikonal amplitude in the CDFM calculations improves the agreement with the experimental data especially at larger scattering angles in contrast to the case of the independent-particle model. To that end a decisive role play the zero-motion flucton correlations taken into account in the CDFM. (orig.).
This article presents a hands-on web-based activity motivated by the relation between human health and ozone pollution in California. This case study is based on multivariate data collected monthly at 20 locations in California between 1980 and 2006. Several strategies and tools for data interrogation and exploratory data analysis, model fitting and statistical inference on these data are presented. All components of this case study (data, tools, activity) are freely available online at: http://wiki.stat.ucla.edu/socr/index.php/SOCR_MotionCharts_CAOzoneData. Several types of exploratory (motion charts, box-and-whisker plots, spider charts) and quantitative (inference, regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA)) data analyses tools are demonstrated. Two specific human health related questions...
Constrained least-squares techniques have been used to produce a well known class of image restoration algorithms. These techniques typically involve minimizing a linear operator on a vector representation of an image, subject to a constraint. For cases where an equality constraint is appropriate the method of Lagrange multipliers can be used to produce a restored image. In this work a fractal textural model, fractional Brownian motion, is used to represent images of interest. Using a variance fractal dimension estimator a non-linear operator, that represents the squared difference between the fractal dimension of the restored image and on a priori value is minimized, subject to the constraint that the norm of the residual between the restored image and available measurement equal the norm of the additive noise.
We have examined the theory of NMR multiple echoes developed for solid {sup 3}He to determine whether multiple echoes could be observed in solid hydrogen. We were particularly interested in the possibility of testing for low frequency quantum tunneling motions in solid hydrogen by the observation of multiple echoes. We find that for easily accessible nuclear spin polarizations, P > 12%, multiple echoes would be observed for HD impurities in solid parahydrogen if motional narrowing is effective in increasing the HD nuclear spin-spin relaxation time T{sub 2} to the order of 1 msec. These values for T{sub 2}, which have been observed for HD impurity concentrations of the order of 1%, are larger than the calculated rigid lattice values and can be attributed to quantum tunneling at frequencies of the order of 1kHz.
The thermal conductivity of liquid CHCl3, C6H6, and CCl4 is measured by a steady-state method under saturated vapor pressure in the temperature regions corresponding to pre-crystallization temperatures. The experimental results obtained are used to investigate the isobaric thermal conductivity jump ? ?p at the crystal-liquid phase transition in CHCl3, C6H6, and CCl4. The contributions of the phonon-phonon and phonon-rotational interaction to the total thermal resistance in solid and liquid state are specified using a modified method of reduced coordinates. The decrease in the thermal conductivity at the crystal-liquid phase transition, ? ?p, is explained by a combined effect of variations in positional distribution of molecules and in the form of rotational molecular motion.
The thermal conductivity of liquid CHCl3, C6H6, and CCl4 is measured by a steady-state method under saturated vapor pressure in the temperature regions corresponding to pre-crystallization temperatures. The experimental results obtained are used to investigate the isobaric thermal conductivity jump ??p at the crystal-liquid phase transition in CHCl3, C6H6, and CCl4. The contributions of the phonon-phonon and phonon-rotational interaction to the total thermal resistance in solid and liquid state are specified using a modified method of reduced coordinates. The decrease in the thermal conductivity at the crystal-liquid phase transition, ??p, is explained by a combined effect of variations in positional distribution of molecules and in the form of rotational molecular motion.
A theory for the mass transfer process was developed. It was assumed that the largest convective motions in the flow control the rate of mass transfer. Measurements of mass transfer coefficients for the absorption of oxygen by water films were made for concurrent flows in a horizontal rectangular channel, and for concurrent and free-falling downflow in a one-inch pipe. The measured values of the Sherwood number for concurrent flows were up to three times as great as would be predicted from this relation. This increase in Sherwood number was correlated with a dimensionless group similar to a Martinelli parameter which is characteristic of two phase flows. An explanation for this effect is given in terms of the way that the scales of the convective motions are related to bulk flow parameters.
We revisit a recently proposed agent-based model of active biological motion and compare its predictions with own experimental findings for the speed distribution of bacterial cells, Salmonella typhimurium. Agents move according to a stochastic dynamics and use energy stored in an internal depot for metabolism and active motion. We discuss different assumptions of how the conversion from internal to kinetic energy d(v) may depend on the actual speed, to conclude that d 2 v ? with either ? = 2 or 1 ? < 2 are promising hypotheses. To test these, we compare the model?s prediction with the speed distribution of bacteria which were obtained in media of different nutrient concentration and at different times. We find that both hypotheses are in line with the experimental observations, with ? bet...
In this work, we address the problem of road interpretation for driver assistance based on an early cognitive vision system. The structure of a road and the relevant traf?c are interpreted in terms of ego-motion estimation of the car, independently moving objects on the road, lane markers and large scale maps of the road. We make use of temporal and spatial disambiguation mechanisms to increase the reliability of visually extracted 2D and 3D information. This information is then used to interpret the layout of the road by using lane markers that are detected via Bayesian reasoning. We also estimate the ego-motion of the car which is used to create large scale maps of the road and also to detect independently moving objects. Sample results for the presented algorithms are shown on a stereo image sequence, that has been collected from a structured road.
A real-time orbit feedback system has been implemented at the Advanced Photon Source in order to meet the stringent orbit stability requirements. The system reduces global orbit motion below 30Hz by a factor of four to below 5{micro}m rms horizontally and 2{micro}m rms vertically. This paper focuses on dynamic orbit stability and describes the all-digital orbit feedback system that has been implemented at the APS. Implementation of the global orbit feedback system is described and its latest performance is presented. Ultimately, the system will provide local feedback at each x-ray source point using installed photon BPMs to measure x-ray beam position and angle directly. Technical challenges associated with local feedback and with dynamics of the associated corrector magnets are described. The unique diagnostic capabilities provided by the APS system are discussed with reference to their use in identifying sources of the underlying orbit ...
Common forms of testing of student understanding of science content can be misleading about their understanding of the nature of scientific thinking. Observational astronomy integrated with related ideas of force and motion is a rich context to explore the correlation between student content knowledge and student understanding of the scientific thinking about that content. In this paper, we describe this correlation in detail with a focus on a question about the relative motion of the Sun and the Earth. We find that high achieving high school students throughout New York City struggle with what constitutes scientific justification and thought processes, but can improve these skills tremendously in an inquiry-oriented summer astronomy-physics program. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)
Recent work has been carried out on development of isotope wear analysis and optical and eddy current technologies to provide bearing wear measurements and real time monitoring of shaft speed, shaft axial displacement and shaft orbit of the Orbit Transfer Vehicle hydrostatic bearing tester. Results show shaft axial displacement can be optically measured (at the same time as shaft orbital motion and speed) to within 0.3 mils by two fiberoptic deflectometers. Evaluation of eddy current probes showed that, in addition to measuring shaft orbital motion, they can be used to measure shaft speed without having to machine grooves on the shaft surface as is the usual practice for turbomachinery. The interim results of this condition monitoring effort are presented.
The analysis of the linearization effect in multifractal analysis, and hence of the estimation of moments for multifractal processes, is revisited borrowing concepts from the statistical physics of disordered systems, notably from the analysis of the so-called Random Energy Model. Considering a standard multifractal process (compound Poisson motion), chosen as a simple representative example, we show: i) the existence of a critical order q* beyond which moments, though finite, cannot be estimated through empirical averages, irrespective of the sample size of the observation; ii) that multifractal exponents necessarily behave linearly in q, for q > q*. Tailoring the analysis conducted for the Random Energy Model to that of Compound Poisson motion, we provide explicative and quantitative predictions for the values of q* and for the slope controlling the linear behavior of the multifractal exponents. These quantities are shown to be related ...
We propose two algorithms to provide a full preliminary orbit of an Earth-orbiting object with a number of observations lower than the classical methods, such as those by Laplace and Gauss. The first one is the Virtual debris algorithm, based upon the admissible region, that is the set of the unknown quantities corresponding to possible orbits for a given observation for objects in Earth orbit (as opposed to both interplanetary orbits and ballistic ones). A similar method has already been successfully used in recent years for the asteroidal case. The second algorithm uses the integrals of the geocentric 2-body motion, which must have the same values at the times of the different observations for a common orbit to exist. We also discuss how to account for the perturbations of the 2-body motion, e.g., the J 2 effect.
The purpose of this paper is to check up a GPS (global positioning system) impact on scientific research activities of the Geodetic Society of Japan. First, it is mentioned that the conventional geoid-based concept of 'gravity anomaly' should be changed to a new definition, according to the GPS-determined ellipsoidal height system. Secondly, the results of many experiments, which have been made to monitor ocean-plate motions relative to the Japanese island-arcs, demonstrate that GPS is a powerful tool for obtaining temporal changes in horizontal displacement induced by the plate motion. Therefore, it is suggested that terrestrial measurements, such as triangulation and long-range leveling, would be replaced by GPS measurements in near future. Moreover, it is pointed out that GPS geodesy should play an important role in monitoring secular sea level trend due to global warming of the atmosphere and ocean. 19 refs., 4 figs.
It is the intention of this paper to point to some of the problems due to molecular motion and to suggest a few solutions to those problems. A few examples will be presented of model systems which demonstrate the effects of motion on the NMR spectroscopy and a very qualitative example of severe spectral distortion in fulvic acids will be shown. In the following discussions we will use concepts derived from the oft repeated thermodynamic picture shown in figure 1. When dealing with a homogeneous, pure compound this picture is sufficient but in a heterogeneous mixture, it is likely that there will be different compounds and different domains all with slightly different versions of figure 1 with poor thermodynamic contact between them. Thus optimal conditions for cross polarization in one domain may be totally inappropriate for another. 59 refs., 10 figs.
Adaptive radiation therapy for liver cancer has the potential to reduce normal tissue complications and enable dose escalation, allowing the potential for tumor control in this challenging site. Using adaptive techniques to tailor treatment margins to reflect patient-specific breathing motions and image-guidance techniques can reduce the high dose delivered to surrounding normal tissues while ensuring that the prescription dose is delivered to the tumor. Several treatment planning and delivery techniques have been developed for use in the liver, including a margin to encompass the full breathing motion, mean position techniques, which evaluate the probability of tumor location during breathing, breath hold, gating, and tracking. Patient selection, clinical workflow, and quality assurance m...
A new semi-submersible floating structure is proposed on which three wind turbine towers are installed. This paper presents a basic characteristic of the wave-induced motion of this semi-submersible floating structure via. numerical computations and 1/150 scaled rigid model experiments in a wave tank. In the numerical computations, nonlinear damping effect due to drag forces modeled by the Morison's formula is considered in the equation of motion, where the linear hydrodynamic forces are obtained from the Green's function model. As a result, the response characteristics around the resonant frequency region were successfully improved. In addition to such basic examination, major results of feasibility studies, including the structural stability for severe wave conditions and the long-term fatigue limit state, are presented for a realistic situation.
The wavenumber-frequency spectral densities of turbulent wall pressure fluctuations are investigated over a rigid flat plate. Nonlinear Reynolds stress terms of the inhomogeneous Orr-Sommerfeld equation are regarded as a known forcing function. The forcing function is modeled after Bark{close_quote}s hydrodynamic bursting formulation. The inhomogeneous Orr-Sommerfeld equation is solved by the method of Eckhaus in terms of discrete homogeneous solutions. The method of Eckhaus is then extended and proved for the continuous Orr-Sommerfeld eigenfunctions. Turbulent wall pressure fluctuations in terms of wavenumber-frequency spectral densities are numerically computed and compared to the experimental results of Martin as well as to his transformation of Blake{close_quote}s data fitted to a modified Corcos model. The wavenumber-frequency spectral densities numerically computed from the discrete eigenfunctions compared well with Martin{close_quote}s ...
The present design of Blanket Shield and Primary Wall for ITER envisages construction of the wall with a water cooled, stainless steel outer layer and a water cooled, copper liner on the inside plasma facing surface. Protection of the inner copper surface with an armour layer is necessary to cope with plasma to wall interaction. There are a number of armour materials under consideration, for this project beryllium was used. The scope of work was to produce a series of mock-ups, each consisting of a different combination of materials, which included Dispersion Strengthened Copper, Copper-Chrome-Zirconium alloy, Beryllium and Stainless Steel. Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) was the method used to ensure that a fully diffused bonded joint was achieved giving the necessary strength and thermal conductivity. The first five of the mock ups have been successfully completed and are being tested at the various laboratories in Europe. ...
Dominant mutations in sarcomere protein genes cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited human disorder with increased ventricular wall thickness, myocyte hypertrophy, and disarray. To understand...Full Text Available
The cell wall envelopes of gram-positive bacteria represent a surface organelle that not only functions as a cytoskeletal element but also promotes interactions between bacteria and their environment....Full Text Available
Partial bladder outlet obstruction (PBOO) induces remodeling of urinary bladder smooth muscle (detrusor). We demonstrate an increase in bladder wall mass, muscle bundle size, and a threefold increase...Full Text Available
A regulatory locus on the Staphylococcus aureus chromosome, designated sar, is involved in the expression of cell wall proteins, some of which are potentially important in the pathogenesis of endocarditis....Full Text Available
The author describes the layout of the environmental monitoring scheme at Devco's No. 26 Colliery in Canada, which includes wall face ventilation, fan performance, and methane drainage monitoring. He gives details of the sensors, outstations, and the surface control room.
The radiation method has been employed for the modification of the surface of vascular prostheses by means of acrylamide. As a result of the treatment, the tightness of the prosthesis walls was improved as well as an increase of surface hydrophilicity. Upon autoclaving, stable binding of polyacrylamide to prostheses is achieved. (author).
The properties of an atypical Brucella strain isolated from lymph node tissue of a cow slaughtered as a brucellosis reactor were examined. The organism was Gram negative and highly pleomorphic, existing...Full Text Available
Mycolic acids are key cell wall components for the survival, pathogenicity, and antibiotic resistance of the human tubercle bacillus. Although it was thought that Mycobacterium tuberculosis...Full Text Available
In Canada, the cost of heating is a major expense in the operation of greenhouses in the winter season, inhibiting greenhouse production in winter months in most part of the country. Alternative energy sources, such as solar energy and biomass energy may offer an economically feasible heating alternative. A solar energy greenhouse technology developed in northern China for winter vegetable production has demonstrated good potential for Manitoba winter conditions. The design and performance of solar energy greenhouses depend on the geographical location. Therefore, in order to optimize the design of solar greenhouses with respect to the latitude of the location for maximum solar radiation gain, a theoretical analysis was performed that analyzed parameters such as greenhouse length and the roof slope. This paper described the methodology of the study, including a description of solar energy greenhouses; the energy of solar radiation; shading of the north roof; shading of the end ...
BackgroundWithin the last 25 years, after the introduction of the swimbladder nematode Anguillicoloides crassus from East-Asia to Europe, a body of work has aggregated...Full Text Available
BackgroundGastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal tumors that develop in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract and their diagnosis during pregnancy or puerperium...Full Text Available
We report a case of 38-year-old male, who presented with a large pulsatile swelling on the left side of the anterior chest wall of 4 months’ duration with a gradual increase in size. He gave...Full Text Available
Unless relaxation of the stringent response is achieved, all nongrowing bacteria rapidly develop resistance to autolysis induced by a variety of agents, including all classes of cell wall synthesis...Full Text Available
In the body, vascular cells continuously interact with tissues that possess nanostructured surface features due to the presence of proteins (such as collagen and elastin) embedded in the vascular wall....Full Text Available
Symplastic transport occurs between neighbouring plant cells through functionally and structurally dynamic channels called plasmodesmata (PD). Relatively little is known about the composition of PD or the mechanisms that facilitate molecular transport into neighbouring cells. While transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides 2-dimensional information about the structural components of PD, 3-dimensional information is difficult to extract from ultrathin sections. This study has exploited high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) to reveal the 3-dimensional morphology of PD in the cell walls of algae, ferns and higher plants. Varied patterns of PD were observed in the walls, ranging from uniformly distributed individual PD to discrete clusters. Occasionally the thick walls of the giant alga Chara were fractured, revealing the surface morphology of PD within. External structures such as spokes, spirals and mesh ...
A compact heat exchanger pedestal array for augmenting heat transfer in a machine is disclosed. The compact heat exchanger pedestal array includes a wall having first and second surfaces. The first surface faces a heated flow path and the second surface p...
An experimental investigation of heat transfer characteristics for various configurations of air jets impinging on the leading edge inner surface of a gas turbine blade wall is presented. Three configurations were investigated, namely a slot jet, a round ...
Moenomycin A (MmA) belongs to a family of natural products that inhibit peptidoglycan biosynthesis by binding to the peptidoglycan glycosyltransferases (PGTs), the enzymes that make the glycan...Full Text Available
This paper deals with electron flux densities and electron energy flux densities in positive column discharges. Recent kinetic calculations by Uhrlandt and Winkler have revealed the interesting physical phenomenon of radially inward directed energy flux densities in positive column plasmas. We have used a self-consistent positive column model, based on an accurate and highly detailed Monte Carlo code, to study this effect in more depth. The results of this study show a rather complex physical picture of electron particle and energy flux densities. Electrons with low energies usually exhibit radially outward directed particle and energy flux densities. At energies above the threshold for electronic excitation particle and energy flux densities are usually inward directed. Only close to the wall, at total energies above the wall potential energy, do these flux densities point towards the wall. The thickness of this ...
The objective of this study was to develop a specific immunological diagnostic assay for yellow disease in hyacinths, using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Mice were immunized with a crude cell wall preparation...Full Text Available
The curvature elastic modulus (bending stiffness) of stearoyloleoyl phosphatidylcholine (SOPC) bilayer membrane is determined from membrane tether formation experiments. R. E. Waugh and R. M. Hochmuth...Full Text Available
The dental pulp consists of loose connective tissue encased in rigid dentinal walls. Because of its topography the tissue has low interstitial compliance and limited capacity to expand during fluid...Full Text Available
In a previous study we found that nanofibrous poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) scaffolds mimicking collagen fibers in size were superior to solid-walled scaffolds in promoting osteoblast differentiation...Full Text Available
BackgroundWide resection with tumor-free margins is necessary in soft-tissue sarcomas to minimize local recurrence and to contribute to long-term survival. Information about treatment...Full Text Available
We used tryptophan auxotrophs of the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana (wall cress) to determine whether tryptophan has the capacity to serve as a precursor to the auxin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Quantitative...Full Text Available
Cyclothiazomycin B1 (CTB1) is an antifungal cyclic thiopeptide isolated from the culture broth of Streptomyces sp. HA 125-40. CTB1 inhibited the growth of several filamentous fungi including plant pathogens along with swelling of hyphae and spores. The antifungal activity of CTB1 was weakened by hyperosmotic conditions, and hyphae treated with CTB1 burst under hypoosmotic conditions, indicating increased cell wall fragility. CTB1-sensitive fungal species contain high levels of cell wall chitin and/or chitosan. Unlike nikkomycin Z, a competitive inhibitor of chitin synthase (CHS), CTB1 did not inhibit CHS activity. Although CTB1 inhibited CHS biosynthesis, the same result was also obtained with a non-specific proteins inhibitor, cycloheximide, which did not reduce cell wall rigidity. These ...
BackgroundBlue nevi that arise from the Müllerian tract are rare melanocytic lesions. Several histopathologic variants of cellular blue nevi have been described. The angiomatoid...Full Text Available
The incidence of arrhythmias after acute myocardial infarction of the inferior wall varies with the affected segment and increases when there is right ventricular involvement. This paper provides a...Full Text Available
Using an expanded nuclear data base, the activation of nitrogen, aluminum, iron, nickel, copper, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, tungsten, and lead were calculated for the first wall positions of the STARFIRE and MARS conceptual fusion reactors.
Hollow needles made of an electrically conducting material are attached by hinges in the openings of the perforated end of an insert in order to intensify heat and mass transfer. The free sections of the needles are placed outside the insert, and a wick is placed on the wall of the frame in the condensation area. The wick overlaps the inlet openings of the insert.
Mar 1, 2011 ... The most interesting flow characteristics observed were the occasional appearance of steady, ... pressure gradient, rather than wall divergence angle, controlled flow separation. ... Report/Patent Number: AGARD-AG-19/P9 ...
A safety analysis code to design a pressurized water reactor and to obtain the licenses including entire proprietary rights is under development in domestic R and D project. The tasks of KAERI is to develop the constitutive relations including models for defining flow regimes and flow regime related models for inter-phase friction, wall frictions, wall heat transfer, and interphase heat and mass transfer in the two-phase three-field equations. In this paper, the process will be presented for choosing the best flow regime maps which occur in gas-liquid two-phase flow in horizontal and vertical tubes.
A safety analysis code to design a pressurized water reactor and to obtain the licenses including entire proprietary rights is under development in domestic R and D project. The tasks of KAERI is to develop the constitutive relations including models for defining flow regimes and flow regime related models for inter-phase friction, wall frictions, wall heat transfer, and interphase heat and mass transfer in the two-phase three-field equations. In this paper, the process will be presented for choosing the best flow regime maps which occur in gas-liquid two-phase flow in horizontal and vertical tubes.
Charged particle beams in circular accelerators couple with their surroundings through induced electromagnetic fields. This interaction can be described by so-called coupling impedances. In the frequency domain the impedance in connection with the bunch spectrum allows for stability analysis and estimates. However, for simulation codes one usually needs the wakefunction, the equivalent of the impedance in time domain. Recently the transverse impedance of a cylindrical pipe with arbitrary surface impedance was given by L. Vos. An expression for the wakefunction of this transverse resistive wall impedance with inductive bypass is derived here.
A simple formulation is presented for torsion analysis of hollow tubes with polygonal shapes. Thicknesses of segments of cross section can be different. Governing equations in term of Prandtl's stress function are used to derive the formulas. The derived formulas are so simple that computations can be carried out with a pocket calculator. Several examples are presented to show the accuracy and efficiency of the formulation. The obtained results are verified by accurate finite element solutions. It will be seen that the derived formulas can be useful for analysis of thin-walled and moderately thick-walled hollow tubes.
Natural convection of vaporizing Deuterium at 25 K transports the heat generated in the moderator cell of the cold neutron source to a He cooled condenser. The thermohydraulics of this thermosiphon were precalculated and the results verified by experiments in a 1:1 model using D_2 as fluid. The experimental results show that the thermosiphon operates stable. The demanded liquid content of the cell as well as wall temperatures below 50 K can be ensured by a proper design of the cell outlet flow geometry. A 7 min. loss of cryogenic power results in transient temperatures of the cell wall of not more than 300 K.
Various remedial measures have been tried to lower radon levels in buildings in Uranium City. The methods used are source material removal, passive ventilation of crawl spaces, sub-floor ventilation, complete epoxy coating of the entire basement, sealants for floor-wall joints and cracks in basements, electrostatic precipitators, mechanical ventilation, and sealing and grouting concrete block plenums in basement walls. The type and condition of structures encountered in Uranium City as well as the relative isolation of the town indicate that mechanical ventilation is the most long-term cost-effective method.
Twenty-seven patients with symptoms or clinical findings suggesting joint or bone disorders of the anterior chest wall (ACW) were evaluated by spiral CT with 3-dimensional (3-D) and multiplanar reconstructions. Preceding conventional ACW tomography was performed in 10 patients. ACW joint and bone changes were visualized more adequately by coronal 2-D reconstructions based on spiral CT than by conventional tomography. In addition, nonossified costal cartilages and soft tissue lesions were demonstrated. 3-D reconstructions sometimes added information, especially in patients with fracture and dislocation. (orig.).
A solar energy receiver is described including a separable endless wall formed of a ceramic material having defined therein a cavity of a substantially cylindrical configuration for entrapping solar flux, and an acceptance aperture adapted to admit to the cavity a concentrated beam of solar energy, said wall being characterized by at least a pair of contiguously related segments separated by lines of cleavage intercepting said aperture, at least one of the segments being supported for pivotal displacement, and a thermal responsive actuator adapted to respond to excessive temperatures within the cavity for initiating pivotal displacement of said one segment, whereby thermal flux is permitted to escape from the cavity.
A flow field and particle trajectory in a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) between two rotating disks in axisymmetric enclosures is investigated using CFD code FLUENT/UNS. The RNG k-{epsilon} model is used as a turbulent model. In this study, the flow field between two disks are symmetric, and the flow field near the enclosure is very complex. Cross stream vectors are shown both for blowing and no blowing from the hub. The larger a particle, the more fast the particle deposits at the walls. In the case of blowing from the hub, the more fast the particle deposits at the walls. (author). 9 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.
The biodegradation of ring-/sup 14/C- and methyl-/sup 14/C-labeled paraquat by the soil yeast Lipomyces starkeyi was studied in vitro. It was found that the degradation of paraquat (acting as a sole source of culture nitrogen) resulted in the accumulation in the extracellular medium of radiolabeled acetic acid. The culture also evolved radiolabeled CO/sub 2/. The results suggest that the degradation of paraquat by L. starkeyi is associated with the integrity of the cell wall and that disruption or removal of the wall results in a complete loss of degradative capability. A mechanism for the degradation of paraquat by this organism is postulated.
The biodegradation of ring-"1"4C- and methyl-"1"4C-labeled paraquat by the soil yeast Lipomyces starkeyi was studied in vitro. It was found that the degradation of paraquat (acting as a sole source of culture nitrogen) resulted in the accumulation in the extracellular medium of radiolabeled acetic acid. The culture also evolved radiolabeled CO_2. The results suggest that the degradation of paraquat by L. starkeyi is associated with the integrity of the cell wall and that disruption or removal of the wall results in a complete loss of degradative capability. A mechanism for the degradation of paraquat by this organism is postulated.
A method and apparatus for operating a compression ignition engine having a cylinder wall, a piston, and a head defining a combustion chamber. The method and apparatus includes delivering fuel substantially uniformly into the combustion chamber, the fuel being dispersed throughout the combustion chamber and spaced from the cylinder wall, delivering an oxidant into the combustion chamber sufficient to support combustion at a first predetermined combustion duration, and delivering a diluent into the combustion chamber sufficient to change the first predetermined combustion duration to a second predetermined combustion duration different from the first predetermined combustion duration.
This reports is a literature survey on models and correlations for determining flow pattern that are used to simulate thermal-hydraulics in nuclear reactors. Determination of flow patterns are a basis for obtaining physical values of wall/interfacial friction, wall/interfacial heat transfer, and droplet entrainment/de-entrainment. Not only existing system codes, such as RELAP5-3D, TRAC-M, MARS, TRACE, CATHARE) but also up-to-date researches were reviewed to find models and correlations
Numerical solutions for fully developed laminar flow in internally finned tubes with trapezoidal and triangular fin profiles were given with Finite Element Method (FEM): The heat transfer characteristics were obtained and compared under the boundary conditions of uniform heat flux, uniform wall temperature, and the third boundary condition with finite wall thermal conductivity considered. The numerical results show that boundary conditions have pronounced effects on the temperature field. Furthermore, a new mechanism on the heat transfer augmentation of internally finned tubes is proposed.
Analytical solutions are derived for a flow in a semi-infinite vertical porous medium with heat and mass transfer. When the temperature and mass concentration are uniform a constant pressure is possible and sustains a fully developed flow. Thereafter there is a small perturbation on the wall temperature and concentration and the subsequent two-dimensional problem is tackled for a large Prandtl number, free convection parameters and small Reynolds number. The heat transfer rate at the wall is discussed quantitatively. (author). 4 refs.
A safety analysis code, named as SPACE, for a pressurized water reactor is under development to obtain a licensing to be used for the PWR design and to hold entire proprietary rights. The task of KAERI is to develop the physical models and correlations which are required to solve the field equations. It can be divided into four parts; i) flow regime determination, ii) wall heat transfer, iii) wall and interfacial friction, iv) interfacial heat and mass transfer. This paper will describe the process to develop the models for the two-phase flow regime maps in the horizontal and vertical pipes.
A safety analysis code, named as SPACE, for a pressurized water reactor is under development to obtain a licensing to be used for the PWR design and to hold entire proprietary rights. The task of KAERI is to develop the physical models and correlations which are required to solve the field equations. It can be divided into four parts; i) flow regime determination, ii) wall heat transfer, iii) wall and interfacial friction, iv) interfacial heat and mass transfer. This paper will describe the process to develop the models for the two-phase flow regime maps in the horizontal and vertical pipes.
In this paper the diffusion of tritiated water vapor into concrete walls is studied to evaluate tritiated water retention capacity of a fusion reactor concrete building. Using a model of the tritiated water diffusion determined form experimental results, depth profiles of tritiated water in concrete are calculated in the case of being exposed to air containing tritiated water vapor during the normal operational condition of a fusion reactor. A 0.5-m-thick concrete is sufficient for reactor hall walls from a viewpoint of the tritium containment.
In this paper the diffusion of tritiated water vapor into concrete walls is studied to evaluate tritiated water retention capacity of a fusion reactor concrete building. Using a model of the tritiated water diffusion determined form experimental results, depth profiles of tritiated water in concrete are calculated in the case of being exposed to air containing tritiated water vapor during the normal operational condition of a fusion reactor. A 0.5-m-thick concrete is sufficient for reactor hall walls from a viewpoint of the tritium containment.
The magnetoresistance in an FeNi submicron-structure comprising two wires of 80 and 200 nm in width connected in series was measured at 77 K. When the external magnetic field was applied parallel to the wire axis, two switching fields corresponding to the distinct coercive force of the two wires were observed. When the external magnetic field was applied at an angle of {theta}>30 deg. to the wire axis one switching field was observed, indicating simultaneous magnetization reversal in both wires. This indicates that the domain-wall trapping around the joint can be controlled systematically in terms of the direction of the external magnetic field.
Alpha particle confinement is necessary for ignition of a D-T tokamak fusion plasma and for first wall protection. Due to high radiation backgrounds and temperatures, scintillators and semiconductor detectors may not be used to study alpha particles which are lost to the first wall during the D-T programs on JET and ITER. An alternative method of charged particle spectrometry capable of operation in these harsh environments, is proposed: it consists of thin foils of electrically isolated conductors with the flux of alpha particles determined by the positive current flowing from the foils. 2 refs., 3 figs.
The development of new electro-optical instrumentation for studying the annular dispersed two-phase flow regime is described. The system measures the thickness of the water film and droplet size and velocity distributions which would be encountered in such a flow regime. The water film thickness is measured by an improved capacitance method with a short time constant using newly developed sensor electrodes. The electrodes are made flush with the inner wall of a cylindrical tube and do not disturb the flow. In the test equipment, steady, laminar flow of water along the inner wall of the tube is controlled by appropriate valves and a porous jacket while droplets are introduced by means of a special spray nozzle.
An anaerobic fermenter-decanter for the purification of residual water from the sugar industry, with recovery of methane, consists of a tank with inclined walls, with a central agitator on a vertical shaft. A flexible cover anchored by its periphery to the walls of the tank and totally submerged forms a collecting pocket for the fermentation gases. The water to be purified is introduced, after being heated to about 35, towards the bottom of the tank near the agitator. A metal collecting bell with submerged edges and with the shaft of the agitator passing axially through it is connected by its edges to a central opening of the cover. The purification yields may exceed 90%.
Malformations in farmed fish are a prime research topic as it has a major impact on fish welfare and on the economical value of the product. In this study, the genetic component of spine deformities was estimated in European sea bass, a major species of Mediterranean aquaculture, with the use of a posteriori reconstruction of pedigree with microsatellites. Our population exhibited a very high malformation rate (81%), probably due to intense swimming of fish during pre-growing. The heritability of global spine deformities was evaluated to be 0.21?0.04 on the underlying scale (0.33?0.06 for lordosis, 0.13?0.04 for scoliosis). Deformities scored by an internal or external examination turned out to be genetically the same trait (genetic correlations>0.9), although phenotypic correlations were ...
We aimed to investigate the effects of local anesthetics soaked in Merocel nasal packs on hemorrhage and pain after septoplasty. The methodology includes a prospective double-blind study that was conducted in patients undergoing septoplasty because of nasal septal deviation. The study included 143 patients. The patients were divided into four groups. Each group received 1% lidocaine?+?0.000625% adrenalin, 0.375% ropivacaine, 0.25% bupivacaine as study groups or 0.9% sodium chloride as a control group in their Merocel packs postoperatively. The local anesthetics or sodium chloride were reapplied at the eighth postoperative hour. Each patient was given a questionnaire where verbal analog score and amount of postoperative hemorrhage was noted. The statistical analysis was performed using two ...
Pai ALH, Gray E, Kurivial K, Ross J, Schoborg D, Goebel J. The Allocation of Treatment Responsibility scale: A novel tool for assessing patient and caregiver management of pediatric medical treatment regimens. Pediatr Transplantation 2010: 14:993 999. 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to report preliminary psychometric properties of the ATR scale, a brief measure of the distribution of treatment tasks across the family members of children with a kidney transplant. Pediatric patients with renal transplants (ages 7 18 yr) and their caregivers completed the ATR and measures of adherence and family functioning. Internal consistency for the ATR (total score and subscales) was strong (range = 0.75 0.93). Validity for the ATR was supported by significant co...
Abstract Background:- Surgical dislocation of the hip has been developed to deal with the problems causing femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). This is a relatively recent procedure that was historically reserved for larger areas specializing in hip surgery. Methods:- We hypothesized that surgical dislocation can be used for symptomatic FAI in a typical Australasian tertiary orthopaedic centre with acceptable results. This prospective study reviews the results of 53 surgical dislocations in this setting, looking particularly at functional outcomes and early complications. Results:- There were significant improvements in the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index score at 1, 2, 3 and 4 years post-operatively. Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index ...
OBJECTIVE:- To determine the effectiveness and safety of short-term treatment of infliximab (IFX) in a group of Chinese patients with active Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS:- Patients with established diagnosis of active CD were treated with IFX intravenously with a dose of 5-mg/kg at week 0, 2, 6. Clinical assessments were performed at baseline (week 0) and every week after IFX infusion until 8 weeks after the induction dose. RESULTS:- Fourteen patients (nine male, five female) with a mean age of 29.7 years (range from 15 to 65 years) were included in the analysis. The mean subjective scores were decreased from 2.85--0.57 at baseline to 1.3--0.4 at week 14 (P-CONCLUSIONS:- Treatment with three infusions of IFX at a dose of 5-mg/kg was effective for induction of remission for active CD patie...
A number of epidemiological studies indicate an association between depression and proximity to high voltage transmission lines. These studies have been criticized, however, for using surrogate measures of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and unstandardized measures of depression. In an effort to overcome these limitations, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale was administered to 152 women living either adjacent to a transmission line or one block away. Results indicate that homes adjacent to the transmission lines have an average EMF level of 4.86 milligauss at their front door and those one block away have an average of 0.68 milligauss. There was no significant difference in CES-D scores between the groups, controlling for demographic variables. There appeared to be an increase in other health effects, including cancer and miscarriages, but these findings were preliminary and need further investigation.
The authors summarize the significant dose-related effects on brain development which have emerged largely within the last six years of study of prenatally exposed A-bomb survivors. The results are described primarily in terms of the DS86 estimates and differences between these and the older T65DR dose estimates are discussed. The severe mental retardation sample was based on 1598 individuals taken from the PE-86 sample, and the intelligence test scores considered from the same sample involved 1673 children. The authors also discuss some of the recent neurobiological developments that appear relevant to an understanding of the biological bases of dose-related events observed, and suggest future research that may contribute either to further delineation of exposure consequences or to the explanation of the cellular and molecular origins of observed effects. (UK).
Abstract Recently, a study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who developed herpes zoster while taking a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- inhibitor reported a decreased incidence of postherpetic neuralgia. The objective of this study was to investigate whether patients on TNF- inhibitors who developed herpes zoster have a lower incidence of subsequent development of postherpetic neuralgia. A retrospective review of herpes zoster patients on TNF- inhibitors (infliximab, etanercept, or adalimumab) was conducted in 12 dermatology clinics. Medical records of such patients were reviewed thoroughly to confirm herpes zoster and TNF- inhibitors and any subsequent development of postherpetic neuralgia (pain score -3 out of 10 after 90 days of shingles onset) was noted. A total of 206 cases were revi...
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a disorder characterized by skin thickness and vasculopathy. The objective of the study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect and safety of the association of pentoxyphylline and vitamin E in SSc patients. Twelve SSc patients (American College of Rheumatology criteria) enrolled this 24-week open-label study. Patients received daily 800?mg of pentoxyphylline and 800?UI of vitamin E and were evaluated at 4-week interval. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change in Modified Rodnan Skin Score (MRSS) at week 24. Nine diffuse SSc patients treated 6?months with cyclophosphamide were used as a historical control group. The mean age of the treated group was 43.6?years, and ten of 12 (84%) patients were women. Their mean MRSS reduced from 25.7 to 18.7 (p?=?0.03) at 1...
The authors have shown that toxicity of paraquat for Escherichia coli is increased over 1-fold in strains defective in the biosynthesis of spermidine compared to isogenic strains containing spermidine. The increased sensitivity of these spermidine-deficient mutants to paraquat is eliminated by growth in medium containing spermidine or by endogenous supplementation of spermidine by the use of a speE"+D"+ plasmid. No paraquat toxicity is seen in the absence of oxygen, even in amine-deficient strains, indicating that superoxide is the agent responsible for the increased toxicity. However, the specific mechanisms responsible for the increased paraquat toxicity in the spermidine-deficient mutants remain to be determined. The marked sensitivity to paraquat of E. coli deficient in spermidine is of particular interest, since such mutants have no other phenotypic properties that can be easily assayed. This increased sensitivity has been used as the basis of a convenient method for ...
Abstract Introduction.- Sling erosion/extrusion is a complication after suburethral sling insertion for female stress urinary incontinence that occurs in approximately 6% of patients. Symptoms may include vaginal discharge, infections, postcoital bleeding, and alterations of the sexual function. Little is known about the effect of sling erosion on the sexual function of the male partner. Aim.- The aim of this study was to determine male sexual function in partners of women who had undergone sling insertion for stress urinary incontinence and who developed sling erosion postoperatively. Main Outcome Measures.- Main outcome measures were the Brief Male Sexual Function Inventory (BMSFI) and visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Methods.- Male partners of patients who presented with sling erosion ...
Two experiments used the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) to examine the affective dimension of pain in patients whose pain was secondary to malignancy. In experiment I, segregating groups of cancer patients on the basis of extreme scores (high versus low) on the MPQ failed to produce segregation on independent measures of affect and infirmity. This outcome contrasts with earlier work with chronic benign pain patients. Experiment II compared cancer pain patients matched with benign pain patients on intensity of pain report on the affective dimension of the MPQ. Cancer pain patients reported a reliably higher affective loading to their pain. These data suggest that cancer pain patients employ different criteria than benign pain patients in selecting affective pain descriptors. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. PMID:7070825
The optimal management of men with very favorable clinicopathological factors who develop biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP) has not been previously reported. Both local and systemic recurrences are unlikely in this cohort. This study examines their management and outcomes. Between October 2000 to March 2010, 1627 men underwent open RP by a single surgeon. In all, 448 (27.5%) met the following criteria for extremely low risk disease: preoperative PSA level <10?ng?ml?1, clinical stage T1c/T2a, Gleason score ?6, estimated cancer volume in the surgical specimen ?5% and no evidence for positive surgical margin. Undetectable PSA was defined as ?0.04?ng?ml?1. BCR was defined as PSA ?0.2?ng?ml...
China's fast-growing online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market merits widespread research efforts. However, it has so far received little research attention. In this exploratory study, we chose Taobao - a leading online C2C auction company in China with more than 70% of market shares - as our research context. We focus on the general market structure of Taobao in terms of three factors: market distribution, market growth, and market concentration. Based on these factors, we reveal the differences between Taobao and eBay. In our preliminary data analyses, we adopt total online reputation scores to measure the transaction volumes of online sellers. We also propose the sample-based Herfindal-Hirschman Index as a measure in the comparison of concentration levels between the two markets and at d...
Objective: Evidence from adults suggests that changes in thyroid function are associated with the development of bipolar disorder (BD) and severe mood dysregulation. A dysregulation profile based on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-DP) describes a phenotype with severe mood problems in youth. The present study investigated whether altered thyroid functioning in youths is associated with the severe mood dysregulation symptoms characterized by the CBCL-DP. Methods: We analyzed the thyroid function data from 262 children and adolescents (n=262 for serum TSH, n=148 for free triiodothyronine [fT3] and n=153 for free thyroxine [fT4]) with their CBCL-DP composite score. We created and compared high CBCL-DP and low CBCL-DP subgroups with regard to their serum TSH, fT3 and fT4 concentrations as w...
The treatment of acetabular bone defects presents a great challenge in revision total hip arthroplasty (THA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcome of revision THA using jumbo cups for acetabular reconstruction after applying the bone-grafting technique. We studied 17?patients with acetabular defects ranging from Type 2A to Type 3A according to Paprosky`s classification. According to the AAOS-score twelve patients were classified as Type II and five patients as Type III. Uncemented press-fit cups with an outer diameter larger than 64?mm were used in all cases. Fifteen patients received morselized bone allografts. In eight patients an additional screw fixation was necessary. The mean follow-up period was 82?months (range 33?149). The mean Harris Hip...
In the post Genome era, the aim of behavior genetics has shifted from estimating the relative contributions of genes and environmental factors to (co-)variation in human complex traits, to localization of genes and identification of functional genetic variants. This special issue reflects this transition and presents fifteen papers that report on genome-wide linkage scans for complex traits in humans and on methodological tools and innovations. Six papers focus on cognition and report overlapping linkage peaks on chromosomes 6p and 14p. Papers on addictive behavior, i.e. smoking and alcohol dependence and its endophenotypes, find moderate LOD scores on chromosomes 6p, 5q, 4p and 7q, respectively. Three papers concentrate on emotionality, depression and loneliness and examine chromosomes 2q...
OBJECTIVE --To evaluate the consequences on male sexual function of intraprostatic injection of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) as a treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Although BoNT/A is effective in decreasing symptoms of BPH, neuronal impairment caused by the neurotoxin might affect emission/ejaculation. These aspects have not been evaluated before. PATIENTS AND METHODS --In all, 16 sexually active men aged >60 years with BPH/benign prostatic enlargement (BPE), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) -8 and a maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) <15mL/s refractory to standard medical therapy volunteered for the study. --Patients were injected transrectally, under ultrasonographic control, with 200U of BoNT/A in the prostate. Evaluation was carried out at baseline and 1, 3 ...
Term extraction is one of the layers in the ontology development process which has the task to extract all the terms contained in the input document automatically. The purpose of this process is to generate list of terms that are relevant to the domain of the input document. In the literature there are many approaches, techniques and algorithms used for term extraction. In this paper we propose a new approach using particle swarm optimization techniques in order to improve the accuracy of term extraction results. We choose five features to represent the term score. The approach has been applied to the domain of religious document. We compare our term extraction method precision with TFIDF, Weirdness, GlossaryExtraction and TermExtractor. The experimental results show that our propose approach achieve better precision than those four algorithm.
A multivariate logistic regression model, based upon National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) data for calendar years 1999-2008, was developed to predict the probability that a crash-involved vehicle will contain one or more occupants with serious or incapacitating injuries. These vehicles were defined as containing at least one occupant coded with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of greater than or equal to 15, in planar, non-rollover crash events involving Model Year 2000 and newer cars, light trucks, and vans. The target injury outcome measure was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led National Expert Panel on Field Triage in their recent revision of the Field Triage Decision Scheme (American College of Surgeons, 2006). The ...
Through an unusual differentiation process, human trophoblast progenitors (cytotrophoblasts) give rise to tumor-like cells that invade the uterus. By an unknown mechanism, invasive cytotrophoblasts exhibit permanent cell cycle withdrawal. Here we report molecular cytogenetic data showing that {approx} 20 to 60 percent of these interphase cells had acquired aneusomies involving chromosomes X, Y, o r16. The incidence positively correlated with gestational age and differentiation to an invasive phenotype. Scoring 12 chromosomes in flow-sorted cytotrophoblasts showed that more than 95 percent of the cells were hyperdiploid. Thus, aneuploidy appears to be an important component of normal placentation, perhaps limiting the proliferative and invasive potential of cytotrophoblasts within the uterus.
We present a method for grouping the synonyms of a lemma according to its dictionary senses. The senses are defined by a large machine readable dictionary for French, the TLFi (Tr\\'esor de la langue fran\\c{c}aise informatis\\'e) and the synonyms are given by 5 synonym dictionaries (also for French). To evaluate the proposed method, we manually constructed a gold standard where for each (word, definition) pair and given the set of synonyms defined for that word by the 5 synonym dictionaries, 4 lexicographers specified the set of synonyms they judge adequate. While inter-annotator agreement ranges on that task from 67% to at best 88% depending on the annotator pair and on the synonym dictionary being considered, the automatic procedure we propose scores a precision of 67% and a recall of 71%. The proposed method is compared with related work namely, word sense disambiguation, synonym lexicon acquisition and WordNet construction.
Young children are at increased risk for valproic acid (VPA) hepatotoxicity. Urinary organic acid profiles, as a surrogate of mitochondrial function, were obtained in children 1.9 to 17.3 years of age (n = 52) who were undergoing treatment with VPA for seizure disorders. Age-matched patients receiving treatment with carbamazepine (CBZ; n = 50) and healthy children not undergoing treatment (n = 22) served as controls. Age-related changes in organic acid profiles were observed in all three groups. Although the untreated and CBZ control groups were indistinguishable from each other with respect to the principal-component analysis (PCA) score plots of the subjects, a distinct boundary was apparent between the VPA and each of the control groups. Interindividual variability was observed in the V...
The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) plaster for knee osteoarthritis among Japanese patients. An open-labeled, randomized, controlled, multiclinic trial was performed involving outpatient clinic groups. Two comparative groups?plaster NSAIDs and oral NSAIDs?were randomly allocated. The drugs used were limited to the current top three in both groups in Japan. Treatments were assessed after four?weeks and compared with the baseline scores. Outcomes were evaluated by two psychometric measures: Japanese knee osteoarthritis measure, and pain with the visual analogue scale. The total number of patients included in the final evaluation was 165 (87 for the plaster group and 78 for the oral group). Between these two groups there were ...
Objective: Analyse the difference in school careers and secondary school qualification levels between unilateral hearing aid users and bilateral hearing aid users. Study design: Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting: Postal-based questionnaire. Participants: Names of adults known to have been fitted with unilateral or bilateral hearing aids during childhood were retrieved. This resulted in 292 names. Participants were selected using the following criteria: availability of the medical record, presence of bilateral hearing loss, completed secondary school education, normal IQ and a minimum aided word-recognition score of 70% at 10 years of age. The questionnaire was sent to 50 potential participants of whom 40 responded, resulting in two groups comprising 19 unilateral and 21 bilateral ...
Abstract Purpose: We evaluated complications of urologic laparoscopic surgery at our institution. Patients and Methods: From December 1991 to January 2009, 1017 urologic laparoscopic surgical procedures were performed in Kansai Medical University, including 277 radical prostatectomies, 13 donor nephrectomies, 74 partial nephrectomies, 158 radical nephrectomies, 55 pyeloplasties, 97 nephrouretectomies, 54 simple nephrectomies, 128 adrenalectomies, 34 varicocelectomies, and 127 other procedures. Medical records of each procedure were retrospectively evaluated. The difficulty of each procedure was classified according to the European Scoring System (ESS). Intraoperative and postoperative complications were graded according to the Satava and Clavien classifications, respectively. Results: Amon...
Objective To demonstrate clinical features of a patient subgroup presenting with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) without polycystic ovary morphology. Design Retrospective study. Setting Hospital-based IVF center. Patient(s) In the present study, 876 PCOS patients were selected from women who visited the Reproductive Medicine Center at Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, between September 2004 and October 2006. Women with PCOS were divided into two groups based on ultrasound image: group A, PCOS patients with classic polycystic ovary (n = 800); group B, PCOS patients without polycystic ovary morphology (n = 76). The following available data were analyzed in the large cohort of women: body height, weight, waistline, hip circumference, hirsutism scores, family history, serum s...
The relationship between X chromosome-linked adrenoleukodystrophy and the red/green color pigment gene cluster on Xq28 was investigated in a large kindred. The DNA in a hemizygous male showed altered restriction fragment sizes compatible with at least a deletion extending from the 5[prime] end of the color pigment genes. Segregation analysis using a DNA probe within the color pigment gene cluster showed significant linkage with adrenoleukodystrophy (logarithm of odds score of 3.19 at [theta] = 0.0). These data demonstrate linkage, rather than association, between a unique molecular rearrangement in the color pigment gene cluster and adrenoleukodystrophy. The DNA changes in this region are thus likely to be helpful for determining the location and identity of the responsible gene. 33 refs., 4 figs.
SNAP25 occurs on chromosome 20p12.2, which has been linked to schizophrenia in some samples, and recently linked to latent classes of psychotic illness in our sample. SNAP25 is crucial to synaptic functioning, may be involved in axonal growth and dendritic sprouting, and its expression may be decreased in schizophrenia. We genotyped 18 haplotype-tagging SNPs in SNAP25 in a sample of 270 Irish high-density families. Single marker and haplotype analyses were performed in FBAT and PDT. We adjusted for multiple testing by computing q values. Association was followed up in an independent sample of 657 cases and 411 controls. We tested for allelic effects on the clinical phenotype by using the method of sequential addition and 5 factor-derived scores of the OPCRIT. Nine of 18 SNPs had P values <...
This paper assesses farming eco-efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques. Eco-efficiency scores at both farm and environmental pressure-specific levels are computed for a sample of Spanish farmers operating in the rain-fed agricultural system of Campos County. The determinants of eco-efficiency are then studied using truncated regression and bootstrapping techniques. We contribute to previous literature in this field of research by including information on slacks in the assessment of the potential environmental pressure reductions in a DEA framework. Our results reveal that farmers are quite eco-inefficient, with very few differences emerging among specific environmental pressures. Moreover, eco-inefficiency is closely related to technical inefficiencies in the managemen...
Analysis of the pattern of the chromosomal localization of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) is necessary for comprehensively understanding their functions. The chromosomal localization of QTLs controlling milk production traits has been studied in cattle chromosomes. The distribution of QTLs between chromosomes has proved to be binomial. Their distribution along each chromosome was, in general, uniform, except for the QTLs controlling the somatic cell score (SCS), which tended towards telomeric location. However, there are chromosomes either enriched with or particularly poor in QTLs. The QTL distribution patters are the most similar for the milk yield (M) and milk protein yield (P) and for milk fat yield (F) and milk fat content (%F). The pattern of the SCS QTLs stands out among those of ot...
Abstract Objective. Anti-TNF-a antibodies has been suggested to modulate regulatory T cell (Treg) percentages in rheumatoid arthritis, but results from studies of Crohn's disease (CD) are conflicting. We investigated dynamic changes of circulating Tregs in CD during treatment with the anti-TNF-a-antibody adalimumab (Humira, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Emdrupvej 28C, DK-2100 Copenhagen). Material and methods. Blood samples from 26 CD patients were analysed using flow cytometry before and 1 and 26 weeks after initiation of adalimumab treatment to determine the percentage of Tregs among CD4++ T cells. Results. In spite of a significant decline in disease activity scores and biochemical markers of inflammation, during the first week of treatment, we did not observe early modulating effects of ada...
Managing service quality is vital to retain customer satisfaction and augment revenues for any business organization. Often it is difficult to assess service quality due to lack of quantifiable measures and limited data. In this paper, we present a hybrid approach based on SERVQUAL and fuzzy TOPSIS for evaluating service quality of urban transportation systems. The proposed approach consists of three steps. The first step involves development of a SERVQUAL based questionnaire to collect data for measuring transportation service quality. The participants provide linguistic assessments to rate the service quality criteria and the alternatives. In step 2, the linguistic ratings are combined through fuzzy TOPSIS to generate an overall performance score for each alternative. The alternative wit...
Summary Background:- Cholinesterase inhibitors form the mainstay of treatment for persons with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer-s disease (AD). The rivastigmine patch may increase compliance and the proportion of patients maintaining an efficacious dose compared with oral cholinesterase inhibitors. Objective:- To investigate the proportion of patients who reached and maintained the target rivastigmine patch dose compared with the target rivastigmine capsule dose reported in clinical trials. Methods:- This was a multicentre, 24-week, open-label study in persons with probable AD and a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of --10 and --26. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients (ITT population) treated with 9.5-mg/24-h rivastigmine patch for at least 8-weeks at week 24. Secondary ...
A borehole televiewer (BHTV) logging was conducted to investigate cracks in bored wells. The logging process shoots ultrasonic waves onto bore walls and utilizes reflection waves from the bore walls. If the bores are filled with muddy water, or the ultrasonic waves can pass through even if vinyl chloride tubes have been inserted after excavation, the state of the bore walls can be investigated in principle. Conventional optical scanners are, however, incapable of making this investigation. The BHTV logging can be used for identifying lithofacies from reflection intensities from bore walls (it depends on sound impedance of rocks), not to speak of finding cracks. As a result of making logging upon setting time windows from 105 to 145 {mu} sec in a bored well inserted with a vinyl chloride tube, cracks in the bore wall were identified clearly through the vinyl chloride tube. If the ...
The process operation of the hot wall vapor deposition method, formation of dry organic thin film and the control of molecular arrangement were described. This equipment included a substrate on the upper end of the hot wall tube and the vapor source at the lower end. The remarkable features are the hot wall tube which plays the role to hold vaporizing molecules to the high temperature and to transport molecules, and the flip flop mechanism which gives some idle period for the molecular vaporization by shutter closing. Several experiments were carried out by using stearic acid and by changing the distance S from the upper end of hot wall quartz tube to the substrate, the furnace temperature T{sub f} and the substrate temperature T{sub s}. When T{sub f} is equal to or less than the melting point of stearic acid, molectles are preferentialy made to vertical arrangement. In the case of T{sub f} more than ...
A magnetic measuring technique, which sorts out defects according to a distribution function n, was used to study the influence of electron irradiation on 50-50 NiFe. The distribution function is determined in terms of the maximum force f/subm/ that a defect can exert on a forward moving domain wall, or equivalently, the range z_0, which is the distance the mean position of the wall may move past the defect before the wall snaps free from the pinning action of the defect. The range and maximum force are related by a spring constant k, viz., f/subm/=kz_0. The quantity n (z_0) dz_0 gives the number of defects per unit volume having a range between z_0 and z_0+dz_0. Distribution functions were determined before and after electron irradiation. The irradiation was for 100 min with 18-MeV electrons with a dose of 1.1times10"1"7 e/cm"2. Following irradiation, there was a substantial decrease in the number of short-range defects ...
The aim of this study was to compare multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) findings between cases of sclerosing cholangitis with autoimmune pancreatitis (SC-AIP) and infiltrative extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IEC). We retrospectively assessed MDCT findings from 16 IEC cases and 13 SC-AIP cases. MDCT findings were analyzed with regard to location, length, wall thickness, contour, stricture wall enhancement pattern, proximal duct diameter, and the presence of diffuse concentric thickening in the proximal duct and gallbladder wall thickness. Stricture length, stricture wall thickness, and proximal duct diameter were significantly smaller for SC-AIP than for IEC: 19.3#+-#8.7 vs. 31.8#+-#12.0 mm (P=0.004), 2.1#+-#1.3 vs. 4.1#+-#1.3 mm (P<0.001), and 9.2#+-#3.9 vs. 13.3#+-#5.0 mm (P=0.012), respectively. SC-AIP was correlated with stricture location in both the intrapancreatic and hilar hepatic ...
The wind unit working wheel has 4 radial rectangular frames arranged in two vertical planes which are perpendicular to each other. In the planes limited by the frames, on loop hinges with limiting supports, there are flat blades. When the working wheel rotates under the influence of wind pressure, the blades automatically occupy a vertical or horizontal (wind vane) position depending on the direction of blade motion and the direction of wind velocity.
Tunneling spectroscopy of normal-insulator-superconductor junction is investigated theoretically. In anisotropic superconductors, differently from the case of isotropic superconductor, the effective pair potentials felt by quasiparticles depend on the direction of their motion. By taking this effect into account, it is shown that the conductance spectra strongly depend on the crystal orientation. Using Green`s function method, local density of states (LDOS) in superconductor is also calculated. The close relation between conductance spectra and LDOS is presented. The calculation is compared with experimental spectra of high-{Tc} superconductors.
The nuclear shapes of transitional Mo isotopes are calculated by means of a model based on the cranking approximation and the Strutinksy method. The recent experimental results of the high-spin spectroscopy and lifetime measurement of [sup 87]Mo are studied in detail and explained by the evolution of the [gamma]-deformation with the quasiparticle configurations. The shape calculations with the modified-harmonic-oscillator potential give a critical neutron number N [>=] 47 for the spherical shape of the Mo isotopes. (orig.)
The nuclear shapes of transitional Mo isotopes are calculated by means of a model based on the cranking approximation and the Strutinksy method. The recent experimental results of the high-spin spectroscopy and lifetime measurement of "8"7Mo are studied in detail and explained by the evolution of the #gamma#-deformation with the quasiparticle configurations. The shape calculations with the modified-harmonic-oscillator potential give a critical neutron number N #>=# 47 for the spherical shape of the Mo isotopes. (orig.).
This paper extends the development of a new formulation of the theory of tachyons to encompass the dynamics of tachyons. Energy and momentum are discussed along with the proper mass of a tachyon. The transformation of force in extended relativity (ER) is derived. Acceleration in ER is also discussed, as well as the relationship between force and acceleration. Two simple examples relating to the motion of a charged tachyon are discussed, followed by a brief explanation of why tachyons cannot emit Cerenkov radiation in a vacuum. 13 refs., 3 figs.
The general relativistic version is developed for Robertson's discussion of the Poynting-Robertson effect that he based on special relativity and Newtonian gravity for point radiation sources like stars. The general relativistic model uses a test radiation field of photons in outward radial motion with zero angular momentum in the equatorial plane of the exterior Schwarzschild or Kerr spacetime.
A flutter-motion equation is presently derived for a 2D composite sandwich panel considering the total lateral displacement of the plate as the sum of the displacement due to bending of the plate, and that which is due to shear deformation at the core. The effects of core thickness and stacking sequence of the faces on the flutter boundary of the plate are discussed; it is shown that the sandwich panel greatly improves the flutter boundary over that of a composite laminate panel, provided it has sufficient core thickness.
The effect on an oscillator moving in a medium produced by that part of the radiative force which does not perform work but creates and angular moment is considered. It is shown that the radiative torque turns the dipole toward the axis along which it is moving. Near the axis of motion the dipole executes small oscilltions. The frequency of the oscillations is determined. This effect leads to spontaneous alignment of the dipole moments on moving through the medium. The feasibility of observing the effect experimentally is discussed.
The motions of a classical free spinning point particle are extended to include the range of superluminal velocities. There is no formal change in the constraint-dependent functional relationship between observable mass and spin, i.e., trajectory, accompanying this extension. However, the theory now permits the specification, for superluminal velocities, of a linearly rising trajectory and naturally yields tachyon confinement. Therefore, unlike their subluminal counterparts, these tachyons can be considered candidates for elementary particle constituents.
In calculating the strengths of depolarizing resonances it may be convenient to reformulate the equations of spin motion in a coordinate system based on the actual trajectory of the particle, as introduced by Kondratenko, rather than the conventional one based on a reference orbit. It is shown that resonance strengths calculated by the conventional and the revised formalisms are identical. Resonances induced by radiofrequency dipoles or solenoids are also treated; with rf dipoles it is essential to consider not only the direct effect of the dipole but also the contribution from oscillations induced by it.
Most diffusion phenomena in solids can be understood (or sometimes misunderstood) on a purely classical model. For light interstitials (hydrogen isotopes, the positive muon, and potentially He) there may be anomalous temperature dependences, and isotope effects, and anomalous response to electric fields and temperature gradients. Some of these anomalies are quantal in origin, and will be discussed. (author).
In this study, a probabilistic seismic risk analysis of the Wolsung NPP containment building was performed by a seismic hazard analysis and a seismic fragility analysis based on the nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses. The conventional seismic fragility analysis of the safety related structures in a NPP have been performed by using the linear elastic analysis results. The probabilistic seismic risk of the containment building was 5.19e-8.
In this study, a probabilistic seismic risk analysis of the Wolsung NPP containment building was performed by a seismic hazard analysis and a seismic fragility analysis based on the nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses. The conventional seismic fragility analysis of the safety related structures in a NPP have been performed by using the linear elastic analysis results. The probabilistic seismic risk of the containment building was 5.19e-8.
Resistance exercise has been widely reported to have positive rehabilitation effects for patients with neuromuscular and orthopaedic conditions. This paper presents an optimal design of magneto-rheological fluid dampers for variable resistance exercise devices. Adaptive controls for regulating the resistive force or torque of the device as well as the joint motion are presented. The device provides both isometric and isokinetic strength training for various human joints.
A n-time generalization of Newton's law (of universal gravitation) formula in N =n + d + 1-dimensional space-time is conjectured. This formula implies a relation for effective N-dimensional gravitational constant G_{eff} = G cos^2 \\theta, where \\theta is the angle between the direction of motion of two particles in n-dimensional time manifold R^n.
Orbital elements are derived from new spectroscopic and photometric observations. The masses and radii are inconsistent with evolutionary tracks for single stars, but neither star fills its Roche lobe. Analysis of the circumstellar Balmer emission lines indicates that the primary is surrounded by an extensive, highly flattened disk of nonuniform density. The velocity gradient in the disk is steeper than that expected from Keplerian motion.
University research group with research areas: * Land based and submersible autonomous robots, (UUVs: AUVs and ROVs); * Controllers, electronics, sensor design and fusion, motion control; * Guidance and navigation of underwater vehicles; * AI, neural networks, fuzzy logic, subsumption control, behaviour based control; * Optical fibre and ultrasonic sensors for proximal object detection; * Robot arm control, visual servoing; * Imaging sonar applications; * Simulator development: UUV simulator; imaging sonar simulator; Aircraft/flight simulator.
Considering the radial motion of a test particle in the Schwarzschild field in the hypothesis of local rotational invariance, the authors discuss the conditions to be satisfied by a physically acceptable model of broken SO(3,1) symmetry, and shown in particular that to preserve causality a breaking, even infinitesimal, makes necessarily impenetrable the interior of the Schwarzschild sphere.
The loop quantum cosmology 'improved dynamics' of the Bianchi type IX model are studied. The action of the Hamiltonian constraint operator is obtained via techniques developed for the Bianchi type I and type II models, no new input is required. It is shown that the big bang and big crunch singularities are resolved by quantum gravity effects. We also present effective equations which provide quantum geometry corrections to the classical equations of motion.
The transverse light clock, in uniform translatory motion, is usually adopted to prove the necessity of the relativistic time dilation, according to the invariance of the velocity of the light, while the former postulate of the Special Relativity is respected by the symmetrical behavior of the clock. In this paper it is instead demonstrated that the behavior of the moving longitudinal light clock must involve unusual Lorentz distortions of the space, travelled by the light, to respect both the postulates of the Special Relativity.
The role of Killing and Killing-Yano tensors for studying the geodesic motion of the particle and the superparticle in a curved background is reviewed. Additionally the Papadopoulos list [74] for Killing-Yano tensors in G structures is reproduced by studying the torsion types these structures admit. The Papadopoulos list deals with groups G appearing in the Berger classification, and we enlarge the list by considering additional G structures which are not of the Berger type. Possible applications of these results are outlined.
It is shown that a sufficient condition for a model describing the motion of a particle on a coset space to possess a Fundamental Poisson bracket Relation, and consequently charges in involution, is that it must be a symmetric space. The conditions, a Hamiltonian, or any functions of the canonical variables, has to satisfy in order to commute with these charges, are studied. It is show that, for the case of the noncompact symmetric spaces, these conditions lead to an algebraic structure which lays an important role in the construction of conserved quantities.
In scattering of channeled particles by point defects and in emission of gamma rays in the spontaneous-radiation spectral region conditions are attained where the momentum transferred to the defect is taken up by the crystal as a whole. This leads to coherent and interference effects in the radiation from the crystal defects. When the longitudinal momentum transferred is zero, an induced radiation effect appears in the transitions between the states of transverse motion.
Using the experimentally determined cutoff energies of the muon-electron and the pion-electron conversion curves in a tachyon-bradyon model of the electron and the muon, the magnetic moments of these particles have been derived and found to be the Bohr magnetons identically. The tachyons, being bound to the bradyons and unable to drop below the speed of light, cause the bradyons to revolve in an orbit. It is this orbital motion of the charged bradyons that generates the magnetic moments.
The workshop focused on strategies for promoting and developing engineering level transonic flutter prediction techniques. The technology of transonic aerodynamics is currently undergoing rapid development. Significant progress is being made to solve the inherently nonlinear equations describing unsteady motions of wings in transonic flow, while the availability of reliable and efficient computational methods will greatly enhance the ability to predict the aeroelastic behavior of modern aircraft operating under transonic flow conditions.
Friction opposes tooth motion whenever sliding mechanics is employed. Understanding what friction is and how to manage it is of paramount importance to the successful practitioner. In this article, the coefficients of friction are summarized between different arch wire-bracket couples as a function of material, geometric, and external parameters. From this vantage point, friction can then be evaluated within the context of other factors that affect sliding-binding and notching. PMID:9573878
We propose and construct a new type of extended superconformal algebra (ESA) based on the super Toda field theory. Both in the N = 1 ESA and in the N = 2 ESA, an arbitrary value of the central charge is allowed in contrast with the previously known super W-algebra. The generators of ESA are interpreted as the constants of motion in the super Toda field theory. (orig.).
Irrespective of supersymmetry, it is interesting to understand the special properties of theories admitting duality rotations. The Lagrangian of such a theory is not invariant under the transformations, nor does it change by a total derivative, but it transforms in a particular way which implies that the system of the equations of motion is invariant and that observables, such as the energy momentum tensor and therefore the total energy and momentum, are invariant. The main results of a recent paper on the properties of theories admitting duality rotations written in collaboration with M. K. Gaillard (1981) are described.
The paper presents a sequential procedure for coordinated stabilization of a multimachine power system with arbitrary complexity of the system model. The most effective machine to be equipped with a power system stabilizer is identified using eigenvalue analysis. The selection is based on the sensitivity of critical eigenvalues to increases in the coefficient of a damping term which is inserted in each equation of motion, in succession. The method is applied to a three-machine system and simulation studies show appreciable improvements in the small disturbance stability of the system.
We propose a dynamical model for business cycle based on an optimal DI model. In the model there exists a conserved quantity, which corresponds to the total energy in a dynamical system. We found that the business cycle with the period 6 or 7 years is nicely reproduced, since the model predicts a periodic motion in the conservative system.
This paper describes the effects of motion of beam components (quads, rf cavities and dipoles) on the beam and considers the properties of a compensation system from the perspective of users. The system departs from standard practice in considering active perturbation of the electron beam to verify beam corrections. The effects of local closed orbit perturbations to direct undulator beams at different experimental setups are also considered.
The effect of finite gyroradius on the current diffusive ballooning mode is examined. Starting from the reduced MHD equations including turbulent transports, coupling with drift motion and finite gyroradius effect of ions, we derive a ballooning mode equation with complex transport coefficients. The eigenfrequency, saturation level and thermal diffusivity are evaluated numerically from the marginal stability condition. Preliminary results of their parameter dependence is presented. (author)
Angular wave functions are investigated which describe the motion of two electrons in the field of a nucleus at fixed equal distances from electrons to the nucleus. Calculation methods are considered that include matching of power series and expansion in series of Legendre polynomials. Asymptotic properties of solutions at small large distances are determined.
In ab initio molecular dynamics, whenever information about the potential energy surface is needed for integrating the equations of motion, it is computed 'on the fly' using electronic structure calculations. For Born-Oppenheimer methods, the electronic structure calculations are converged, whereas in the extended Lagrangian approach the electronic structure is propagated along with the nuclei. Some recent advances for both approaches are discussed.
Using the reduced WZNW formulation we analyse the classical W-orbit content of the space of classical solutions of the A_2 Toda theory. We define the quantized Toda field as a periodic primary field of the W-algebra satisfying the quantized equations of motion. We show that this local operator can be constructed consistently only in Hilbert space consisting of the representation corresponding to the minimal models of the W-algebra. (orig.).
In robotics inverse dynamics is a standard control concept for highly nonlinear multibody systems. It is shown, however, that inverse dynamics results in a high energy demand. Therefore, linear energy efficient state feedback controllers are designed in a way that a performance index representing the energy consumption is minimized. At the same time inequality constraints such as control error and limited input variables have to be met. For the control design an analytical solution by pole placement is presented as well as a numerical controller optimization. This control design includes small motions in the neighborhood of the operating point. Then, linear controllers are tested with respect to control error and energy consumption when undergoing large displacement motion. It is shown that linear state feedback can only save energy if large control errors are accepted. Therefore, nonlinear systems are optimized as a whole by implementation of ...
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of diabetic myocardial damage (suspected myocardial damage; SMD) diagnosed by [sup 201]Tl-SPECT and diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (AN) on myocardial MIBG uptake in patients with NIDDM. Eighty-seven diabetic patients divided into four subgroups: 23 with SMD (+) AN (+); 19 with SMD (+) AN (-); 27 with SMD (-) AN (+); 18 with SMD (-) AN (-), and 10 controls were studied. Both planar and SPECT images were taken at 30 minutes (early) and 3 hours (delayed) after [sup 123]I-MIBG injection. The heart to mediastinum uptake ratio (H/M) and washout ratio of [sup 123]I-MIBG (WR) were obtained from both planar images. Similarly, the difference between the [sup 201]Tl image and the [sup 123]I-MIBG image in the total uptake score (TUS) was taken as the difference in the total uptake score ([Delta]TUS) representing cardiac sympathetic denervation without SMD. On both early and delayed planar ...
To evaluate the predictive factors for treatment response and prognostic factors affecting survival outcomes after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma. Medical records of forty two patients with histologically confirmed analsquamous cell carcinoma, who had complete CCRT between 1993 and 2008, were reviewed retrospectively. Median age was 61.5 years (39-89 years), and median radiotherapy (RT) dose was 50.4 Gy (30.0-64.0 Gy). A total of 36 patients had equal to or less than T2 stage (85.7%). Fourteen patients (33.3%) showed regional nodal metastasis, 36 patients (85.7%) were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus mitomycin, and the remaining patients were treated by 5-FU plus cisplatinum. The median follow--up time was 62 months (2-202 months).The 5-year overall survival, locoregional relapse-free survival, disease-free survival, and colostomy-free survival rates were 86.0%, 71.7%, 71.7%, 78.2%, respectively. Regarding overall survival, the ...
Quality of education is a determining factor in a nation's competitiveness. Although Mexico has made tremendous progress toward achieving universal basic education, school quality has not kept pace with enrollment increases, especially in rural areas. Innovations at the federal and state levels to raise the quality of basic education in Mexico include decentralizing the education system, thereby giving the states more control over education, and creating the Carrera Magisterial, a program of incentives and professional development for teachers. The first part of this paper shows that early in their professional lives, teachers in basic public schools are better paid than other comparable groups. The second part of the paper analyzes determinants of student achievement. Findings show that short-term teacher posts had a negative impact on learning achievement. Pedagogical efforts and teacher answers to student questions were highly correlated with greater learning achievement. Students ...
Coronary angiography provides anatomical information whereas thellium myocardial scintigraphy measures resistive tissue perfusion. Because of this fundamental difference. The authors question the validity of using coronary angiography as the gold standard to judge thellium myocardial scintigraphy. The authors studied 20 patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary angioplasty who fulfilled the following criteria: (1) history of chest pain; (2) angiographically significant single vessel disease (>50% stenosis); (3) no prior myocardial infarction. All patients underwent maximal exercise thallium single photon emission computed tomography (T1-SPECT). Tl-SPECT was scored visually according to a 0 to 3 scale (0=absent uptake; 1=markedly decreased uptake; 2=minimally decreased uptake; 3=normal uptake). Translesional gradient and percent stenosis were measured before and after angioplasty. The authors found that significant linear relationship exists between ...
Qualitative technetium Tc 99m bone scintigraphy using phosphate compounds and gallium 67 scintigraphy were described as a helpful means in diagnosing necrotizing external otitis (NEO). They were, however, claimed to be nonspecific. Quantitative Tc 99m methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy and gallium 67 scintigraphy were performed in eight patients with NEO and in 20 patients with severe external otitis, in order to prove usefulness of scintigraphy in the diagnosis of NEO. Ratios of lesion to nonlesion for bone scintigraphy were 1.67 {plus minus} 0.16 in patients with NEO and 1.08 {plus minus} 0.09 in patients with severe external otitis, and for gallium 67 scintigraphy they were 1.35 {plus minus} 0.24 in NEO patients and 1.05 {plus minus} 0.03 in patients with severe external otitis. There was no difference in uptake between diabetic patients with severe external otitis and nondiabetic patients. The scintigraphic studies were also evaluated using a qualitative ...
The changes in quality of irradiated spices, i.e., nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), black pepper and white pepper (Piper nigrum) stored in different indigenous packaging materials were evaluated. Packaging materials used were tin cans; tin can lined with polypropylene film, tin can lined with wrapping paper, woven polypropylene bag and woven polypropylene bag lined with polypropylene film. Packaging in woven polypropylene bag could cause significant changes in a_w-values and moisture contents of the spices. In the tin can, no significant change was found during storage. By applying a polypropylene film liner inside the plastic bag, the changes could be retarded. The other parameters observed, i.e. total plate count, total mould and yeast count and organoleptic scores of the samples were not significantly affected by the packaging method. A dose of 5 kGy could reduce the microbial load of the spices by about 2-3 log cycles. A significant decrease in a_w-value and ...
Stargardt`s disease (MIM 248200), originally described in 1909, is an autosomal recessive condition of childhood, characterized by a sudden and bilateral loss of central vision. Typically, it has an early onset (7 to 12 years), a rapidly progressive course and a poor final outcome. The central area of the retina (macula) displays pigmentary changes in a ring form with depigmentation and atrophy of the retinal pigmentary epithelium (RPE). Perimacular yellowish spots, termed fundus flavimaculatus, are observed in a high percentage of patients. We have recently reported the genetic mapping of Stargardt`s disease to chromosome 1p13. On the other hand, considering that fundus flavimaculatus (MIM 230100) is another form of fleck fundus disease, with a Stargardt-like retinal aspect but with a late-onset and a more progressive course, we decided to test the hypothesis of allelism between typical Stargardt`s disease and late-onset autosomal recessive fundus flavimaculatus. Significant pairwise ...
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the interobserver agreement of ultrasonographic assessment of finger and toe joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by 2 investigators with different medical backgrounds. METHODS: Ultrasonography and clinical examination were performed on 150 small joints of 30 patients with active RA. A General Electric LOGIQ 500 ultrasound unit with a 7-13-MHz linear array transducer was used. In each patient, 5 preselected small joints (second and third metacarpophalangeal, second proximal interphalangeal, first and second metatarsophalangeal) were examined independently on the same day by 2 ultrasound investigators (an experienced musculoskeletal radiologist and a rheumatologist with limited ultrasound training). Joint effusion, synovial thickening, bone erosions, and power Doppler signal were evaluated in accordance with an introduced 4-grade semiquantitative scoring system, on which the investigators had reached consensus prior to the study. ...
Stargardt`s disease is inherited as an autosomal recessive condition characterized by a juvenile macular dystrophy. Genetic linkage analysis recently assigned the disease locus to chromosome 1p21-p13 with the best estimate for location of the gene near the locus D1S435. We performed linkage analysis in 34 North American families and 2 inbred families from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with 12 highly polymorphic markers on chromosome 1p flanking D1S435 between D1S207 and D1S223 and report significant linkage for all 12 markers with no evidence for genetic heterogeneity. Two-point linkage analysis demonstrated the Stargardt`s disease locus and D1S435 are linked with a maximum lod score of 17.17 at a recombination fraction of 1%. The markers UT851, D1S188, D1S424, UT2069, and D1S236 also demonstrated recombination fractions of 1% or less with two-point lod scores of 15.86, 21.93, 16.41, 20.36, and 17.37, respectively. To characterize this region ...
Eight of 100 normotensive children who had pyelonephritic scarring secondary to urinary infection and vesicoureteric reflux were found in an earlier study to have increased plasma renin activity (PRA). Because the risk of these patients becoming hypertensive is between 10% and 20% and because renin activity may play a part in the pathogenesis of the hypertension, PRA and blood pressure were studied in 98 of the original group after five years of follow up. Two patients could not be traced, and other factors that might influence blood pressure or PRA led us to exclude 13 others, 10 of whom were girls taking oral hormonal contraceptives. Increased PRA was found in 11 of the remaining 85 patients but not in five of the eight patients with increased PRA in the first study. Of eight children identified as hypertensive in the follow up study, only three had had increased PRA five years previously. In normal children PRA decreases with age. In the initial study this tendency was less ...
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder in childhood that is known to be associated with dopamine dysregulation. In this study, we investigated dopamine transporter (DAT) density in children with ADHD using iodine-123 labelled N-(3-iodopropen-2-yl)-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-chlorophenyl) tropane ([{sup 123}I]IPT) single-photon emission tomography (SPET) and postulated that an alteration in DAT density in the basal ganglia is responsible for dopaminergic dysfunction in children with ADHD. Nine drug-naive children with ADHD and six normal children were included in the study. We performed brain SPET 2 h after the intravenous administration of [{sup 123}I]IPT and carried out both quantitative and qualitative analyses using the obtained SPET data, which were reconstructed for the assessment of the specific/non-specific DAT binding ratio in the basal ganglia. We then investigated the correlation between the severity ...