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Sample records for common-mode rejection characterization

  1. Common-mode rejection in Martin-Puplett spectrometers for astronomical observations at millimeter wavelengths.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Alessandro, Giuseppe; de Bernardis, Paolo; Masi, Silvia; Schillaci, Alessandro

    2015-11-01

    The Martin-Puplett interferometer (MPI) is a differential Fourier transform spectrometer that measures the difference between spectral brightness at two input ports. This unique feature makes the MPI an optimal zero instrument, able to detect small brightness gradients embedded in a large common background. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the common-mode rejection achievable in the MPI at millimeter wavelengths, and discuss the use of the instrument to measure the spectrum of cosmic microwave background anisotropy.

  2. Dynamical response of the Galileo Galilei on the ground rotor to test the equivalence principle: Theory, simulation, and experiment. II. The rejection of common mode forces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Comandi, G.L.; Toncelli, R.; Chiofalo, M.L.; Bramanti, D.; Nobili, A.M.

    2006-01-01

    'Galileo Galilei on the ground' (GGG) is a fast rotating differential accelerometer designed to test the equivalence principle (EP). Its sensitivity to differential effects, such as the effect of an EP violation, depends crucially on the capability of the accelerometer to reject all effects acting in common mode. By applying the theoretical and simulation methods reported in Part I of this work, and tested therein against experimental data, we predict the occurrence of an enhanced common mode rejection of the GGG accelerometer. We demonstrate that the best rejection of common mode disturbances can be tuned in a controlled way by varying the spin frequency of the GGG rotor

  3. Pulse amplifier with high 'common mode rejection'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ijlst, P.

    1987-01-01

    The input signal of a pulse amplifier contains large 'common-mode' signals which have to be suppressed. A transformer, especially constructed for this purpose, is described. It has been tried to optimize the signal to noise ratio of the pulse amplifier by means of noise analysis. (Auth.)

  4. Dynamics of Bloch oscillating transistor near bifurcation threshold and its applicability for common mode rejection capability of a differential pair BOT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarkar, Jayanta; Puska, Antti; Hassel, Juha; Hakonen, Pertti

    2014-03-01

    Bloch oscillating transistor (BOT) is mesoscopic current amplier based on a combination of a Josephson junction or a squid connected with a large resistor and a NIS junction. We have studied the dynamics of BOT near the bifurcation threshold. This is an important feature for an amplifier as this can be utilized to improve its performance characteristics. We have measured the I - V characteristics of the BOT with different base currents (IB) over a wide range of Josephson coupling energies (EJ) . The current gain (β) is found to be increasing with increasing IB and eventually diverging. We have found a record large β = 50 in our experiment. In order to determine the common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) of a differential pair BOT we have used two BOTs fabricated on the same chip. The common mode port is connected to the bases of the two BOTs and fed with varying voltages; simultaneously emitter currents of the two BOTs are recorded. In our experiment we found a 20dB of CMRR.

  5. Enhanced analogue front-end for the measurement of the high state of wide-band voltage pulses with 87 dB common-mode rejection ratio and ±0.65 ppm 1-day offset stability

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)712364; Arpaia, Pasquale; Martino, Michele

    2015-01-01

    An improved analogue front-end for measuring the high state of trapezoidal voltage pulses with transition duration of 3 μs is presented. A new measurement system, composed by a front-end and the state-of-the-art acquisition board NI PXI-5922, has been realized with improved Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR) of more than 87 dB at DC and 3-sigma stability of }0.65 ppm over 1 day. After highlighting the main design enhancements with respect to state-of-the-art solutions, the CMRR measurement is reported. The output drift due to temperature and humidity is assessed to be negligible. Finally, the worst-case repeatability is measured both with shorted-to-ground inputs and with an applied common-mode voltage of 10 V, which represents the nominal working condition.

  6. Active Disturbance Rejection Approach for Robust Fault-Tolerant Control via Observer Assisted Sliding Mode Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Cortés-Romero

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This work proposes an active disturbance rejection approach for the establishment of a sliding mode control strategy in fault-tolerant operations. The core of the proposed active disturbance rejection assistance is a Generalized Proportional Integral (GPI observer which is in charge of the active estimation of lumped nonlinear endogenous and exogenous disturbance inputs related to the creation of local sliding regimes with limited control authority. Possibilities are explored for the GPI observer assisted sliding mode control in fault-tolerant schemes. Convincing improvements are presented with respect to classical sliding mode control strategies. As a collateral advantage, the observer-based control architecture offers the possibility of chattering reduction given that a significant part of the control signal is of the continuous type. The case study considers a classical DC motor control affected by actuator faults, parametric failures, and perturbations. Experimental results and comparisons with other established sliding mode controller design methodologies, which validate the proposed approach, are provided.

  7. Development of a magnet power supply with sub-ppm ripple performance for J-PARC with a novel common-mode rejection method with an NPC inverter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koseki, K.; Kurimoto, Y.

    2014-01-01

    The mechanism that generates common-mode noise in inverter circuits, which are widely used in magnet power supplies, was evaluated by a circuit simulation. By following asymmetric operational sequences, pulsed voltage is applied to the parasitic capacitance of power cables that causes a common-mode current at each switching period of the semiconductor switches. Common-mode noise was also found to disturb the normal-mode excitation current by inducing higher frequency components in the applied voltage to the magnet. To eliminate the disturbing effect by the common-mode noise, a newly developed operational method that uses a neutral point clamped, NPC, inverter with reduced switching sequences was evaluated both by a circuit simulation and experimentally. The operational method for the NPC inverter could sufficiently reduce the common-mode noise. A high-power test operation performed using 16 bending magnets at the J-PARC facility achieved a ripple of less than 1 ppm in the excitation current

  8. Development of a magnet power supply with sub-ppm ripple performance for J-PARC with a novel common-mode rejection method with an NPC inverter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koseki, K., E-mail: kunio.koseki@kek.jp; Kurimoto, Y.

    2014-05-21

    The mechanism that generates common-mode noise in inverter circuits, which are widely used in magnet power supplies, was evaluated by a circuit simulation. By following asymmetric operational sequences, pulsed voltage is applied to the parasitic capacitance of power cables that causes a common-mode current at each switching period of the semiconductor switches. Common-mode noise was also found to disturb the normal-mode excitation current by inducing higher frequency components in the applied voltage to the magnet. To eliminate the disturbing effect by the common-mode noise, a newly developed operational method that uses a neutral point clamped, NPC, inverter with reduced switching sequences was evaluated both by a circuit simulation and experimentally. The operational method for the NPC inverter could sufficiently reduce the common-mode noise. A high-power test operation performed using 16 bending magnets at the J-PARC facility achieved a ripple of less than 1 ppm in the excitation current.

  9. Probabilistic analysis of ''common mode failures''

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Easterling, R.G.

    1978-01-01

    Common mode failure is a topic of considerable interest in reliability and safety analyses of nuclear reactors. Common mode failures are often discussed in terms of examples: two systems fail simultaneously due to an external event such as an earthquake; two components in redundant channels fail because of a common manufacturing defect; two systems fail because a component common to both fails; the failure of one system increases the stress on other systems and they fail. The common thread running through these is a dependence of some sort--statistical or physical--among multiple failure events. However, the nature of the dependence is not the same in all these examples. An attempt is made to model situations, such as the above examples, which have been termed ''common mode failures.'' In doing so, it is found that standard probability concepts and terms, such as statistically dependent and independent events, and conditional and unconditional probabilities, suffice. Thus, it is proposed that the term ''common mode failures'' be dropped, at least from technical discussions of these problems. A corollary is that the complementary term, ''random failures,'' should also be dropped. The mathematical model presented may not cover all situations which have been termed ''common mode failures,'' but provides insight into the difficulty of obtaining estimates of the probabilities of these events

  10. Self-error-rejecting photonic qubit transmission in polarization-spatial modes with linear optical elements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, YuXiao; Guo, PengLiang; Gao, ChengYan; Wang, HaiBo; Alzahrani, Faris; Hobiny, Aatef; Deng, FuGuo

    2017-12-01

    We present an original self-error-rejecting photonic qubit transmission scheme for both the polarization and spatial states of photon systems transmitted over collective noise channels. In our scheme, we use simple linear-optical elements, including half-wave plates, 50:50 beam splitters, and polarization beam splitters, to convert spatial-polarization modes into different time bins. By using postselection in different time bins, the success probability of obtaining the uncorrupted states approaches 1/4 for single-photon transmission, which is not influenced by the coefficients of noisy channels. Our self-error-rejecting transmission scheme can be generalized to hyperentangled n-photon systems and is useful in practical high-capacity quantum communications with photon systems in two degrees of freedom.

  11. Defense against common-mode failures in protection system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wyman, R.H.; Johnson, G.L.

    1998-01-01

    The introduction of digital instrumentation and control into reactor safety systems creates a heightened concern about common-mode failure. This paper discusses the concern and methods of cope with the concern. Common-mode failures have been a 'fact-of-life' in existing systems. The informal introduction of defense-in-depth and diversity (D-in-D and D) - coupled with the fact that hardware common-mode failures are often distributed in time - has allowed systems to deal with past common-mode failures. However, identical software operating in identical redundant systems presents the potential for simultaneous failure. Consequently, the use of digital systems raises the concern about common-mode failure to a new level. A more methodical approach to mitigating common-mode failure is needed to address these concerns. Purposeful introduction of D-in-D and D has been used as a defense against common-mode failure in reactor protection systems. At least two diverse systems are provided to mitigate any potential initiating event. Additionally, diverse displays and controls are provided to allow the operator to monitor plant status and manually initiate engineered safety features. A special form of common-mode failure analysis called 'defense-in-depth and diversity analysis' has been developed to identify possible common-mode failure vulnerabilities in digital systems. An overview of this analysis technique is provided. (author)

  12. Assessment of impact of borehole heat exchanger design on heat extraction/rejection efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gornov V.F.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article considers the impact of design of borehole heat exchanger (BHE as one of the main elements of a geothermal heat pump system on its efficiency in the ground heat extraction/rejection. Four BHE modifications are considered: coaxial with metal and polyethylene outside tube as well as single and double U-shaped structures of polyethylene tubes. Numerical modeling resulted to data on the efficiency of these BHE modifications for rejection heat into ground (heat pump system in cooling mode, and ground heat extraction (heat pump system in heating mode. Numerical values were obtained and BHEs were ranked according to their efficiency in both operation modes. Besides, additional calculations were made for the most common modification - double U-shaped design - in the ground heat extraction mode for various tube sizes with various wall thicknesses.

  13. An engineering approach to common mode failure analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gangloff, W.C.; Franke, T.H.

    1975-01-01

    Safety systems for nuclear reactors can be designed using standard reliability engineering techniques such that system failure due to random component faults is extremely unlikely. However, the common-mode failure where several components fail together from a common cause is not susceptible to prevention by the usual tactics. In systems where a high degree of redundancy has been employed, the actual reliability of the system in service may be limited by common-mode failures. A methodical and thorough procedure for evaluation of system vulnerability to common-mode failures is presented. This procedure was developed for use in nuclear reactor safety systems and has been applied specifically to reactor protection. The method offers a qualitative assessment of a system whereby weak points can be identified and the resistance to common-mode failure can be judged. It takes into account all factors influencing system performance including design, manufacturing, installation, operation, testing, and maintenance. It is not a guarantee or sure solution, but rather a practical tool which can provide good assurance that the probability of common-mode protection failure has been made acceptably low. (author)

  14. Defense against common-mode failures in protection system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wyman, R.H.; Johnson, G.L.

    1997-01-01

    The introduction of digital instrumentation and control into reactor safety systems creates a heightened concern about common-mode failure. This paper discusses the concern and methods to cope with the concern. Common-mode failures have been a ''fact-of-life'' in existing systems. The informal introduction of defense-in-depth and diversity (D-in-D ampersand D)-coupled with the fact that hardware common-mode failures are often distributed in time-has allowed systems to deal with past common-mode failures. However, identical software operating in identical redundant systems presents the potential for simultaneous failure. Consequently, the use of digital systems raises the concern about common-mode failure to a new level. A more methodical approach to mitigating common-mode failure is needed to address these concerns. Purposeful introduction of D-in-D ampersand D has been used as a defense against common-mode failure in reactor protection systems. At least two diverse systems are provided to mitigate any potential initiating event. Additionally, diverse displays and controls are provided to allow the operator to monitor plant status and manually initiate engineered safety features. A special form of conimon-mode failure analysis called ''defense-in-depth and diversity analysis'' has been developed to identify possible conimon-mode failure vulnerabilities in digital systems. An overview of this analysis technique is provided

  15. Variable Structure Disturbance Rejection Control for Nonlinear Uncertain Systems with State and Control Delays via Optimal Sliding Mode Surface Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Lei

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper considers the problem of variable structure control for nonlinear systems with uncertainty and time delays under persistent disturbance by using the optimal sliding mode surface approach. Through functional transformation, the original time-delay system is transformed into a delay-free one. The approximating sequence method is applied to solve the nonlinear optimal sliding mode surface problem which is reduced to a linear two-point boundary value problem of approximating sequences. The optimal sliding mode surface is obtained from the convergent solutions by solving a Riccati equation, a Sylvester equation, and the state and adjoint vector differential equations of approximating sequences. Then, the variable structure disturbance rejection control is presented by adopting an exponential trending law, where the state and control memory terms are designed to compensate the state and control delays, a feedforward control term is designed to reject the disturbance, and an adjoint compensator is designed to compensate the effects generated by the nonlinearity and the uncertainty. Furthermore, an observer is constructed to make the feedforward term physically realizable, and thus the dynamical observer-based dynamical variable structure disturbance rejection control law is produced. Finally, simulations are demonstrated to verify the effectiveness of the presented controller and the simplicity of the proposed approach.

  16. A Current-Mode Common-Mode Feedback Circuit (CMFB) with Rail-to-Rail Operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suadet, Apirak; Kasemsuwan, Varakorn

    2011-03-01

    This paper presents a current-mode common-mode feedback (CMFB) circuit with rail-to-rail operation. The CMFB is a stand-alone circuit, which can be connected to any low voltage transconductor without changing or upsetting the existing circuit. The proposed CMFB employs current mirrors, operating as common-mode detector and current amplifier to enhance the loop gain of the CMFB. The circuit employs positive feedback to enhance the output impedance and gain. The circuit has been designed using a 0.18 μm CMOS technology under 1V supply and analyzed using HSPICE with BSIM3V3 device models. A pseudo-differential amplifier using two common sources and the proposed CMFB shows rail to rail output swing (± 0.7 V) with low common-mode gain (-36 dB) and power dissipation of 390 μW.

  17. Common mode and coupled failure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, J.R.

    1975-10-01

    Based on examples and data from Abnormal Occurence Reports for nuclear reactors, a classification of common mode or coupled failures is given, and some simple statistical models are investigated. (author)

  18. Active Disturbance Rejection with Sliding Mode Control Based Course and Path Following for Underactuated Ships

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronghui Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The compound control of active-disturbance-rejection control (ADRC with sliding mode is proposed to improve the performance of the closed-loop system and deal with the constraint condition problem of a surface ship. The advantages of ADRC with sliding mode were verified by ship course control simulations. Meanwhile, to solve the path-following problem of underactuated surface ships with uncertainties of internal dynamic and external disturbances, the ADRC controller with sliding mode is introduced to steer the ship to follow the desired path. In order to overcome the cross-track error caused by wind and current, drift angle is compensated in the controller by designing a coordinate transformation equation. Simulations were performed on a nonlinear kinematics model of a training ship to validate the stability and excellent robustness of the proposed path-following controller.

  19. A common rejection module (CRM) for acute rejection across multiple organs identifies novel therapeutics for organ transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khatri, Purvesh; Roedder, Silke; Kimura, Naoyuki; De Vusser, Katrien; Morgan, Alexander A; Gong, Yongquan; Fischbein, Michael P; Robbins, Robert C; Naesens, Maarten; Butte, Atul J; Sarwal, Minnie M

    2013-10-21

    Using meta-analysis of eight independent transplant datasets (236 graft biopsy samples) from four organs, we identified a common rejection module (CRM) consisting of 11 genes that were significantly overexpressed in acute rejection (AR) across all transplanted organs. The CRM genes could diagnose AR with high specificity and sensitivity in three additional independent cohorts (794 samples). In another two independent cohorts (151 renal transplant biopsies), the CRM genes correlated with the extent of graft injury and predicted future injury to a graft using protocol biopsies. Inferred drug mechanisms from the literature suggested that two FDA-approved drugs (atorvastatin and dasatinib), approved for nontransplant indications, could regulate specific CRM genes and reduce the number of graft-infiltrating cells during AR. We treated mice with HLA-mismatched mouse cardiac transplant with atorvastatin and dasatinib and showed reduction of the CRM genes, significant reduction of graft-infiltrating cells, and extended graft survival. We further validated the beneficial effect of atorvastatin on graft survival by retrospective analysis of electronic medical records of a single-center cohort of 2,515 renal transplant patients followed for up to 22 yr. In conclusion, we identified a CRM in transplantation that provides new opportunities for diagnosis, drug repositioning, and rational drug design.

  20. The Neural Basis of Recollection Rejection: Increases in Hippocampal-Prefrontal Connectivity in the Absence of a Shared Recall-to-Reject and Target Recollection Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowman, Caitlin R; Dennis, Nancy A

    2016-08-01

    Recollection rejection or "recall-to-reject" is a mechanism that has been posited to help maintain accurate memory by preventing the occurrence of false memories. Recollection rejection occurs when the presentation of a new item during recognition triggers recall of an associated target, a mismatch in features between the new and old items is registered, and the lure is correctly rejected. Critically, this characterization of recollection rejection involves a recall signal that is conceptually similar to recollection as elicited by a target. However, previous neuroimaging studies have not evaluated the extent to which recollection rejection and target recollection rely on a common neural signal but have instead focused on recollection rejection as a postretrieval monitoring process. This study utilized a false memory paradigm in conjunction with an adapted remember-know-new response paradigm that separated "new" responses based on recollection rejection from those that were based on a lack of familiarity with the item. This procedure allowed for parallel recollection rejection and target recollection contrasts to be computed. Results revealed that, contrary to predictions from theoretical and behavioral literature, there was virtually no evidence of a common retrieval mechanism supporting recollection rejection and target recollection. Instead of the typical target recollection network, recollection rejection recruited a network of lateral prefrontal and bilateral parietal regions that is consistent with the retrieval monitoring network identified in previous neuroimaging studies of recollection rejection. However, a functional connectivity analysis revealed a component of the frontoparietal rejection network that showed increased coupling with the right hippocampus during recollection rejection responses. As such, we demonstrate a possible link between PFC monitoring network and basic retrieval mechanisms within the hippocampus that was not revealed with

  1. A study of common-mode failures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwards, G.T.; Watson, I.A.

    1979-07-01

    The purpose of the report is to investigate problems of the identification of the common failure mode (CFM) the reliability models used and the data required for their solution, particularly with regard to automatic protection systems for nuclear reactors. The available literature which was surveyed during the study is quoted and used as a basis for the main work of the study. The type of redundancy system under consideration is initially described and the types of CFM to which these systems are prone are identified before a general definition of the term 'common mode failure' is proposed. The definition and proposed classification system for CMF are based on the common cause of failure, so identifying the primary events. Defences against CFM are included and proposals for an overall strategy and detailed recommendations for design and operation are made. Common mode failures in US nuclear reactor systems, aircraft systems, and other sources including chemical plant systems are surveyed. The data indicates the importance of the human error problem in the causes of CMF in design, maintenance and operation. From a study of the collected data a redundancy sub-system model for CMF is developed which identifies three main categories of failure, non-recurrent engineering design errors, maintenance and test errors, and random interest events. The model proposed allows for the improvement in sub-system reliability where appropriate defences are applied. (author)

  2. Common mode noise in three-level DC-DC converters

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Grobler, Inus

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available that three-level buck DC-DC converters in general generate much lower common mode currents than conventional two-level buck converters. Further, reductions in common mode currents are achieved by using the improved three-level topologies that have been...

  3. Rejection of crosstalk and noise by a quasi balanced CFPI for remote ultrasound detection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reitinger, B; Berer, T; Hornhuber, C; Burgholzer, P, E-mail: bernhard.reitinger@recendt.at [Research Center for Non Destructive Testing GmbH (Recendt), Hafenstrasse 47-51, 4020 Linz (Austria)

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we show the benefits of a quasi balanced fringe hopping CFPI (confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer) with broadband CMRR (common mode rejection ratio) for remote ultrasound detection. Ultrasonic information in general lies in the phase modulation of laser light which in this case is demodulated by using the CFPI at a certain working point on a fringe. By hopping from the positive to the negative slope on the same fringe the detected ultrasonic signals are inverted. In contrary interference signals like crosstalk from the generation, ghosts, or noise correlated to pulse laser excitation are not influenced and hence get rejected by subtracting the signals from both slopes. Hence, a minimum of two measurements is needed for common mode rejection. The fringe hopping from the positive to the negative slope is done by changing the distance of the CFPI mirrors with a precise piezoelectric-stack and a fast high resolution digital controller. As only one photo-detector with a transimpedance-amplifier is needed a high CMRR can be accomplished which is not affected by the symmetry of the fringe but only by pulse to pulse energy fluctuations of the generation laser. We show that with fringe hopping and averaging the signal to noise ratio increases much faster than with averaging without fringe hopping. This is due to the correlation of the quasi-noise with the generation cycle.

  4. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) Applications to Identify Iron Sand Reject and Losses in Cement Industry : A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helia, V. N.; Wijaya, W. N.

    2017-06-01

    One of the main raw materials required in the manufacture of cement is iron sand. Data from the Procurement Department on XYZ Company shows that the number of defective iron sand (reject) fluctuates every month. Iron sand is an important raw material in the cement production process, so that the amount of iron sand reject and losses got financial and non-financial impact. This study aims to determine the most dominant activity as the cause of rejection and losses of iron sands and suggest improvements that can be made by using the approach of FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis). Data collection techniques in this study was using the method of observation, interviews, and focus group discussion (FGD) as well as the assessment of the experts to identify it. Results from this study is there are four points of the most dominant cause of the defect of iron sand (mining activities, acceptance, examination and delivery). Recommendation for overcoming these problem is presented (vendor improvement).

  5. Realization of OFCC based Transimpedance Mode Instrumentation Amplifier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neeta Pandey

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an instrumentation amplifier suitable for amplifying the current source transducer signals. It provides a voltage output. It has a high gain, common mode rejection ratio and gain independent bandwidth. It uses three Operational Floating Current Conveyors (OFCCs and four resistors. The effect of nonidealities of OFCC on performance of proposed transimpedance instrumentation amplifier (TIA is also analyzed. The proposal has been verified through SPICE simulations using CMOS based schematicThe paper presents an instrumentation amplifier suitable for amplifying the current source transducer signals. It provides a voltage output. It has a high gain, common mode rejection ratio and gain independent bandwidth. It uses three operational floating current conveyors (OFCCs and four resistors. The effect of nonidealities of OFCC on performance of proposed transimpedance instrumentation amplifier (TIA is also analyzed. The proposal has been verified through SPICE simulations using CMOS based schematic.

  6. Polarization Characterization of a Multi-Moded Feed Structure

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Polarization Characterization of a Multi-Moded Feed Structure projects characterize the polarization response of a multi-moded feed horn as an innovative...

  7. Annihilation gamma ray background characterization and rejection for a positron camera

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levin, C.S.; Tornai, M.P.; MacDonald, L.R.

    1996-01-01

    We have developed a miniature (1.2 cm 2 ) beta-ray camera prototype to assist a surgeon in locating and removing the margins of a resected tumor. When imaging positron emitting radiopharmaceuticals, annihilation gamma ray interactions in the detector can mimic those of the betas. The extent of the background contamination depends on the detector, geometry and tumor specificity of the radiopharmaceutical. We have characterized the effects that annihilation gamma rays have on positron imaging with the camera. We studied beta and gamma ray detection rates and imaging using small positron or electron sources directly exposed to the detector to simulate hot tumor remnants and a cylinder filled with 18 F to simulate annihilation background from the brain. For various ratios of phantom brain/tumor activity, a annihilation gamma rate of 1.8 cts/sec/gCi was measured in the CaF 2 (Eu) detector. We present two gamma-ray background rejection schemes that use a β-γ coincidence. Results show that the coincidence methods works with ∼99% gamma ray rejection efficiency

  8. Graft rejection by cytolytic T cells. Specificity of the effector mechanism in the rejection of allogeneic marrow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, H.; Gress, R.E.

    1990-01-01

    Cellular effector mechanisms of allograft rejection remain incompletely described. Characterizing the rejection of foreign-marrow allografts rather than solid-organ grafts has the advantage that the cellular composition of the marrow graft, as a single cell suspension, can be altered to include cellular components with differing antigen expression. Rejection of marrow grafts is sensitive to lethal doses of radiation in the mouse but resistant to sublethal levels of radiation. In an effort to identify cells mediating host resistance, lymphocytes were isolated and cloned from spleens of mice 7 days after sublethal TBI (650 cGy) and inoculation with allogeneic marrow. All clones isolated were cytolytic with specificity for MHC encoded gene products of the allogeneic marrow donor. When cloned cells were transferred in vivo into lethally irradiated (1025 cGy) recipients unable to reject allogeneic marrow, results utilizing splenic 125IUdR uptake indicated that these MHC-specific cytotoxic clones could suppress marrow proliferation. In order to characterize the effector mechanism and the ability of the clones to affect final engraftment, double donor chimeras were constructed so that 2 target cell populations differing at the MHC from each other and from the host were present in the same marrow allograft. Results directly demonstrated an ability of CTL of host MHC type to mediate graft rejection and characterized the effector mechanism as one with specificity for MHC gene products

  9. Fabrication of Compact Microstrip Line-Based Balun-Bandpass Filter with High Common-Mode Suppression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chia-Mao Chen

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A new type of balun-bandpass filter was proposed based on the traditional coupled-line theory and folded open-loop ring resonators (OLRRs configuration. For that, a new device with both filter-type and balun-type characteristics was investigated and fabricated. Both magnetic and electric coupling structures were implemented to provide high performance balun-bandpass responses. The fabricated balun-bandpass filters had a wide bandwidth more than 200 MHz and a low insertion loss less than 2.51 dB at a center frequency of 2.6 GHz. The differences between the two outputs were below 0.4 dB in magnitude and within 180 ± 7° in phase. Also, the balun-bandpass filter presented an excellent common-mode rejection ratio over 25 dB in the passband. An advanced design methodology had been adopted based on EM simulation for making these designed parameters of OLRRs, microstrip lines, and open stubs. The measured frequency responses agreed well with simulated ones.

  10. On the application of frequency selective common mode feedback for multifrequency EIT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langlois, Peter J; Wu, Yu; Bayford, Richard H; Demosthenous, Andreas

    2015-06-01

    Common mode voltages are frequently a problem in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and other bioimpedance applications. To reduce their amplitude common mode feedback is employed. Formalised analyses of both current and voltage feedback is presented in this paper for current drives. Common mode effects due to imbalances caused by the current drives, the electrode connections to the body load and the introduction of the body impedance to ground are considered. Frequency selective narrowband common mode feedback previously proposed to provide feedback stability is examined. As a step towards multifrequency applications the use of narrowband feedback is experimentally demonstrated for two simultaneous current drives. Measured results using standard available components show a reduction of 62 dB for current feedback and 31 dB for voltage feedback. Frequencies ranged from 50 kHz to 1 MHz.

  11. Co-Occurrence and Predictors of Three Commonly Occurring Behavioral Symptoms in Dementia: Agitation, Aggression, and Rejection of Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Scott Seung W; Budhathoki, Chakra; Gitlin, Laura N

    2017-05-01

    To investigate co-occurrences of agitation, aggression, and rejection of care in community-dwelling families living with dementia. Cross-sectional, secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial testing a nonpharmacological intervention to reduce behavioral symptoms. We examined frequency of occurrence of presenting behaviors at baseline and their combination. Omnibus tests compared those exhibiting combinations of behaviors on contributory factors. Multinomial logistic regression analyses examined relationships of contributory factors to combinations of behaviors. Of 272 persons with dementia (PwDs), 41 (15%) had agitation alone (Agi), 3 (1%) had aggression alone, 5 (2%) had rejection of care alone. For behavioral combinations, 65 (24%) had agitation and aggression (Agi+Aggr), 35 (13%) had agitation and rejection (Agi+Rej), 1 (0%) had aggression and rejection, and 106 (39%) had all three behaviors (All). Four behavioral subgroups (Agi, Agi+Aggr, Agi+Rej, and All) were examined. Kruskal-Wallis tests showed that there were significant group differences in PwD cognition, functional dependence, and caregiver frustration. PwDs in Agi+Rej and All were more cognitively impaired than those in Agi and Agi+Aggr. Also, caregivers in All were more frustrated than those in Agi. In logistic regression analyses, compared with Agi, greater cognitive impairment was a significant predictor of Agi+Rej and All, but not Agi+Aggr. In contrast, greater caregiver frustration was a significant predictor of Agi+Aggr and All, but not Agi+Rej. We found that agitation, aggression, and rejection are common but distinct behaviors. Combinations of these behaviors have different relationships with contributory factors, suggesting the need for targeting treatment approaches to clusters. Copyright © 2016 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Accurate mode characterization of two-mode optical fibers by in-fiber acousto-optics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcusa-Sáez, E; Díez, A; Andrés, M V

    2016-03-07

    Acousto-optic interaction in optical fibers is exploited for the accurate and broadband characterization of two-mode optical fibers. Coupling between LP 01 and LP 1m modes is produced in a broadband wavelength range. Difference in effective indices, group indices, and chromatic dispersions between the guided modes, are obtained from experimental measurements. Additionally, we show that the technique is suitable to investigate the fine modes structure of LP modes, and some other intriguing features related with modes' cut-off.

  13. Experimental characterization of Raman overlaps between mode-groups

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Erik Nicolai; Koefoed, Jacob Gade; Friis, Søren Michael Mørk

    2016-01-01

    Mode-division multiplexing has the potential to further increase data transmission capacity through optical fibers. In addition, distributed Raman amplification is a promising candidate for multi-mode signal amplification due to its desirable noise properties and the possibility of mode-equalized......Mode-division multiplexing has the potential to further increase data transmission capacity through optical fibers. In addition, distributed Raman amplification is a promising candidate for multi-mode signal amplification due to its desirable noise properties and the possibility of mode......-equalized gain. In this paper, we present an experimental characterization of the intermodal Raman intensity overlaps of a few-mode fiber using backward-pumped Raman amplification. By varying the input pump power and the degree of higher order mode-excitation for the pump and the signal in a 10km long two......-mode fiber, we are able to characterize all intermodal Raman intensity overlaps. Using these results, we perform a Raman amplification measurement and demonstrate a mode-differential gain of only 0.25dB per 10dB overall gain. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the lowest mode differential gain achieved...

  14. Comprehensive method of common-mode failure analysis for LMFBR safety systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Unione, A.J.; Ritzman, R.L.; Erdmann, R.C.

    1976-01-01

    A technique is demonstrated which allows the systematic treatment of common-mode failures of safety system performance. The technique uses log analysis in the form of fault and success trees to qualitatively assess the sources of common-mode failure and quantitatively estimate the contribution to the overall risk of system failure. The analysis is applied to the secondary control rod system of an early sized LMFBR

  15. Radionuclide diagnosis of allograft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    George, E.A.

    1982-01-01

    Interaction with one or more anatomical and physiopathological characteristics of the rejecting renal allograft is suggested by those radioagents utilized specifically for the diagnosis of allograft rejection. Rejection, the most common cause of declining allograft function, is frequently mimicked clinically or masked by other immediate or long term post transplant complications. Understanding of the anatomical pathological features and kinetics of rejection and their modification by immunosuppressive maintenance and therapy are important for the proper clinical utilization of these radioagents. Furthermore, in selecting these radionuclides, one has to consider the comparative availability, preparatory and procedural simplicity, acquisition and display techniques and the possibility of timely report. The clinical utilities of radiofibrinogen, /sup 99m/Tc sulfur colloid and 67 Ga in the diagnosis of allograft rejection have been evaluated to a variable extent in the past. The potential usefulness of the recently developed preparations of 111 In labeled autologous leukocytes and platelets are presently under investigation

  16. Stomaching rejection: Self-compassion and self-esteem moderate the impact of daily social rejection on restrictive eating behaviours among college women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beekman, Janine B; Stock, Michelle L; Howe, George W

    2017-11-01

    The present study examined whether having high self-esteem or a self-compassionate perspective help mitigate the impact of daily social rejection on negative affect and restrictive eating behaviours. Following a baseline survey assessing self-esteem and self-compassion, 121 college women completed online daily diaries for one week. Negative affect and restrictive eating behaviours. On days when women reported more rejection, they also reported higher restrictive eating behaviours and greater negative affect. Effects were moderated by self-esteem and self-compassion, such that the lower participants were in self-esteem or self-compassion, the stronger the positive relation between rejection and negative affect and restrictive eating. However, only the common humanity/isolation dimension of self-compassion significantly moderated daily effects of rejection when controlling for self-esteem. Mediated moderation results reveal different mechanisms by which self-esteem and self-compassion buffer against rejections' effects on affect and restrictive eating. Self-compassion and self-esteem influence the complex impact that social rejection has on affect and restrictive eating. More than other dimensions of self-compassion or self-esteem, remembering one's common humanity can result in a healthier response to social rejection.

  17. Common mode failures in redundancy systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watson, I.A.; Edwards, G.T.

    1978-01-01

    Difficulties are experienced in assessing the impact of common mode failures on the reliability of safety systems. The paper first covers the investigation, definition and classification of CMF based on an extensive study of the nature of CMF. This is used as a basis for analysing data from nuclear reactor safety systems and aircraft systems. Design and maintenance errors are shown to be the prdominant cause of CMF. The analysis has laid the grounds for work on relating CMF modelling and defences. (author)

  18. Should intellectual property be disseminated by "forwarding" rejected letters without permission?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, V K

    1996-08-01

    Substantive scientific letter writing is a cost-effective mode of complementing observational and experimental research. The value of such philosophically uncommitted and unsponsored well-balanced scientific activity has been relegated. Critical letter writing entails the abilities to: maintain rational scepticism; refuse to conform in order to explain data; persist in keeping common sense centre-stage; exercise logic to evaluate the biological significance of mathematical figures, including statistics, and the ability to sustain the will to share insights regarding disease mechanisms on an ostensibly lower research platform. During peer review, innovative letter writing may share the occasionally unfortunate fate of innovative research. Rejected scientific letters do not automatically lose copyright. Periodicals with high letter loads will see some valuable contributions wasted, but that is the price for maintaining autonomy in scientific publication. The scientific community is an integrated whole that must respect the rights of authors at all levels. Unauthorised forwarding of rejected letters sets the dangerous precedent of justifying unjust means.

  19. Apoptosis of acinar cells in pancreas allograft rejection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boonstra, J. G.; Wever, P. C.; Laterveer, J. C.; Bruijn, J. A.; van der Woude, F. J.; ten Berge, I. J.; Daha, M. R.

    1997-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Recently it has been recognized that apoptosis of target cells may occur during liver and kidney allograft rejection and is probably induced by infiltrating cells. Pancreas rejection is also characterized by a cellular infiltrate, however, the occurrence of apoptosis has not been

  20. Reliability model for common mode failures in redundant safety systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fleming, K.N.

    1974-12-01

    A method is presented for computing the reliability of redundant safety systems, considering both independent and common mode type failures. The model developed for the computation is a simple extension of classical reliability theory. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated with the use of an example. The probability of failure of a typical diesel-generator emergency power system is computed based on data obtained from U. S. diesel-generator operating experience. The results are compared with reliability predictions based on the assumption that all failures are independent. The comparison shows a significant increase in the probability of redundant system failure, when common failure modes are considered. (U.S.)

  1. Image rejects/retakes-radiographic challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waaler, D.; Hofmann, B.

    2010-01-01

    A general held position among radiological personnel prior to digitalisation was that the problem of image rejects/retakes should more or less vanish. However, rejects/retakes still impose several challenges within radiographic imaging; they occupy unnecessary resources, expose patients to unnecessary ionizing radiation and may also indicate suboptimal quality management. The latter is the main objective of this paper, which is based on a survey of international papers published both for screen/film and digital technology. The digital revolution in imaging seems to have reduced the percentage of image rejects/retakes from 10-15 to 3-5%. The major contribution to the decrease appears to be the dramatic reduction of incorrect exposures. At the same time, rejects/retakes due to lack of operator competence (positioning, etc.) are almost unchanged, or perhaps slightly increased (due to lack of proper technical competence, incorrect organ coding, etc.). However, the causes of rejects/retakes are in many cases defined and reported with reference to radiographers' subjective evaluations. Thus, unless radiographers share common views on image quality and acceptance criteria, objective measurements and assessments of reject/retake rates are challenging tasks. Interestingly, none of the investigated papers employs image quality parameters such as 'too much noise' as categories for rejects/retakes. Surprisingly, no reject/retake analysis seems yet to have been conducted for direct digital radiography departments. An increased percentage of rejects/retakes is related to 'digital skills' of radiographers and therefore points to areas for extended education and training. Furthermore, there is a need to investigate the inter subjectivity of radiographers' perception of, and attitude towards, both technical and clinical image quality criteria. Finally, there may be a need to validate whether reject/retake rate analysis is such an effective quality indicator as has been asserted

  2. Image rejects/retakes--radiographic challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waaler, D; Hofmann, B

    2010-01-01

    A general held position among radiological personnel prior to digitalisation was that the problem of image rejects/retakes should more or less vanish. However, rejects/retakes still impose several challenges within radiographic imaging; they occupy unnecessary resources, expose patients to unnecessary ionizing radiation and may also indicate suboptimal quality management. The latter is the main objective of this paper, which is based on a survey of international papers published both for screen/film and digital technology. The digital revolution in imaging seems to have reduced the percentage of image rejects/retakes from 10-15 to 3-5 %. The major contribution to the decrease appears to be the dramatic reduction of incorrect exposures. At the same time, rejects/retakes due to lack of operator competence (positioning, etc.) are almost unchanged, or perhaps slightly increased (due to lack of proper technical competence, incorrect organ coding, etc.). However, the causes of rejects/retakes are in many cases defined and reported with reference to radiographers' subjective evaluations. Thus, unless radiographers share common views on image quality and acceptance criteria, objective measurements and assessments of reject/retake rates are challenging tasks. Interestingly, none of the investigated papers employs image quality parameters such as 'too much noise' as categories for rejects/retakes. Surprisingly, no reject/retake analysis seems yet to have been conducted for direct digital radiography departments. An increased percentage of rejects/retakes is related to 'digital skills' of radiographers and therefore points to areas for extended education and training. Furthermore, there is a need to investigate the inter-subjectivity of radiographers' perception of, and attitude towards, both technical and clinical image quality criteria. Finally, there may be a need to validate whether reject/retake rate analysis is such an effective quality indicator as has been asserted.

  3. Common mode noise on the main Tevatron bus and associated beam emittance growth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, P.; Johnson, R.P.; Kuchnir, M.; Siergiej, D.; Wolff, D.

    1991-05-01

    Overlap of betatron tune frequencies with the power supply noise spectrum can cause transverse beam emittance growth in a storage ring. We have studied this effect for tunes near the integer, where the betatron frequency is low. By injecting noise onto the main power supply bus, it was determined that common mode noise was the dominant source of emittance growth. A noise suppression feed-back loop was then used to reduce the noise and the emittance growth. These experiments are described as are investigations of the common mode propagation along the Tevatron bus and measurements of the fields generated by common mode excitation of isolated Tevatron magnets. 3 refs., 4 figs

  4. Associations between rejection sensitivity and mental health outcomes : A meta-analytic review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gao, S.; Assink, M.; Cipriani, A.; Lin, K.

    2017-01-01

    Rejection sensitivity is a personality disposition characterized by oversensitivity to social rejection. Using a three-level meta-analytic model, 75 studies were reviewed that examined associations between rejection sensitivity and five mental health outcomes: depression, anxiety, loneliness,

  5. Donor-specific rejection: Clinical and scan correlation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, M.A.; Mehta, R.C.; Perlman, S.B.; Servilla, K.; Sollinger, H.W.; Deierhoi, M.H.; Belzer, F.O.

    1986-01-01

    All 470 scans on 132 consecutive renal transplantation patients were reviewed. Scan patterns identified included acute tubular necrosis and conventional rejection. A new pattern, donor specific rejection (DSR), was identified in 24 of 42 patients on the living related donor specific transfusion (DST) protocol. This was characterized by good perfusion and extraction but significant renal stasis of tracer. This pattern was unique to the DST recipients and improved with antirejection therapy. The clinical features (incidence, temporal onset) and severity (duration, serum creatinines) are compared in these patient populations. DSR occurs more frequently than conventional rejection but is a milder process

  6. Characterization of Rayleigh backscattering arising in various two-mode fibers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yu, Dawei; Fu, Songnian; Cao, Zizheng; Tang, Ming; Deng, Lei; Liu, Deming; Giles, I.; Koonen, T.; Okonkwo, C.

    2016-01-01

    We experimentally characterize the mode dependent characteristics of Rayleigh backscattering (RB) arising in various two-mode fibers (TMFs). With the help of an all-fiber photonic lantern, we are able to measure the RB power at individual modes. Consequently, mode dependent power distribution of RB

  7. Band rejection filter for measurement of electron cyclotron emission during electron cyclotron heating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwase, Makoto; Ohkubo, Kunizo; Kubo, Shin; Idei, Hiroshi.

    1996-05-01

    For the measurement of electron cyclotron emission from the high temperature plasma, a band rejection filter in the range of 40-60 GHz is designed to reject the 53.2 GHz signal with large amplitude from the gyrotron for the purpose of plasma electron heating. The filter developed with ten sets of three quarters-wavelength coupled by TE 111 mode of tunable resonant cavity has rejection of 50 dB and 3 dB bandwidth of 500 MHz. The modified model of Tschebysheff type for the prediction of rejection is proposed. It is confirmed that the measured rejection as a function of frequency agrees well with the experimental results for small coupling hole, and also clarified that the rejection ratio increases for the large coupling hole. (author)

  8. Rejection or selection: influence of framing in investment decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Pi-Yueh; Chiou, Wen-Bin

    2010-02-01

    According to prospect theory, reflection effects result in preferences for risk-averse choices in gain situations and risk-seeking choices in loss situations. However, relevant literature in regard to decision making has suggested that positive information receives more weight in a selection task, whereas negative information receives more weight in a rejection task. The present study examined whether the nature of a decision task (selection vs rejection) would moderate the reflection effects. Undergraduates (47 men, 49 women; M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 1.1), selected according to specific screening criteria, participated in an experimental study. Typical reflection effects were observed in both selection and rejection task conditions. More importantly, negative information (i.e., the information about probable loss in risky choice of gain situations and the information about certain loss in cautious choice of loss situations) provided in the context of a rejection task received more weight and resulted in more frequent endorsements of the cautious choice in gain situations and of the risky choice in loss situations. Hence, the findings suggest that a decision context characterized by rejection may expand the reflection effects and thereby provide important information about situations in which investment decisions occur in a context characterized by rejection.

  9. Effect of a certain class of potential common mode failures on the reliability of redundant systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Apostolakis, G.E.

    1975-11-01

    This is a theoretical investigation of the importance of common mode failures on the reliability of redundant systems. These failures are assumed to be the result of fatal shocks (e.g., from earthquakes, explosions, etc.) which occur at a constant rate. This formulation makes it possible to predict analytically results obtained in the past which showed that the probability of a common mode failure of the redundant channels of the protection system of a typical nuclear power plant was orders of magnitude larger than the probability of failure from chance failures alone. Furthermore, since most reliability analyses of redundant systems do not include potential common mode failures in the probabilistic calculations, criteria are established which can be used to decide either that the common-mode-failure effects are indeed insignificant or that such calculations are meaningless, and more sophisticated methods of analysis are required, because common mode failures cannot be ignored

  10. A comparison of assisted, resisted, and common plyometric training modes to enhance sprint and agility performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khodaei, Kazem; Mohammadi, Abbas; Badri, Neda

    2017-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of assisted, resisted and common plyometric training modes to enhance sprint and agility performance. Thirty active young males (age 20.67±1.12, height 174.83±4.69, weight 63.45±7.51) volunteered to participate in this study that 24 completed testing. The participants were randomly assigned into different groups: assisted, resisted and common plyometric exercises groups. Plyometric training involved three sessions per week for 4 weeks. The volume load of plyometric training modes was equated between the groups. The posttest was performed after 48 hours of the last training session. Between-group differences were analyzed with the ANCOVA and LSD post-hoc tests, and within-group differences were analyzed by a paired t-test. The findings of the present study indicated that 0-10-m, 20-30-m sprint time and the Illinois Agility Test time significantly decreased in the assisted and resisted plyometrics modes compared to the common plyometric training mode (P≤0.05). Also, the 0-10-m, 0-30-m sprint time and agility T-test time was significantly reduced with resisted plyometrics modes compared to the assisted and common plyometric modes (P≤0.05). There was no significant difference in the 10-20-m sprint time among the three plyometric training modes. The results of this study demonstrated that assisted and resisted plyometrics modes with elastic bands were effective methods to improve sprint and agility performance than common plyometric training in active males. Also, the resisted plyometrics mode was superior than the assisted plyometrics mode to improving sprint and agility tasks.

  11. Quantification of human error and common-mode failures in man-machine systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lisboa, J.J.

    1988-01-01

    Quantification of human performance, particularly the determination of human error, is essential for realistic assessment of overall system performance of man-machine systems. This paper presents an analysis of human errors in nuclear power plant systems when measured against common-mode failures (CMF). Human errors evaluated are improper testing, inadequate maintenance strategy, and miscalibration. The methodology presented in the paper represents a positive contribution to power plant systems availability by identifying sources of common-mode failure when operational functions are involved. It is also applicable to other complex systems such as chemical plants, aircraft and motor industries; in fact, any large man-created, man-machine system could be included

  12. Common mode voltage in case of transformerless PV inverters connected to the grid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kerekes, Tamas; Teodorescu, Remus; Liserre, Marco

    2008-01-01

    For safety reasons grid connected PV systems include galvanic isolation. In case of transformerless inverters, the leakage ground current through the parasitic capacitance of the PV panels, can reach very high values. A common-mode model based on analytical approach is introduced, used to predict...... the common-mode behavior, at frequencies lower than 50kHz, of the selected topologies and to explain the influence of system imbalance on the leakage current. It will be demonstrated that the neutral inductance has a crucial influence on the leakage current. Finally experimental results will be shown...

  13. Planar quadrature RF transceiver design using common-mode differential-mode (CMDM transmission line method for 7T MR imaging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ye Li

    Full Text Available The use of quadrature RF magnetic fields has been demonstrated to be an efficient method to reduce transmit power and to increase the signal-to-noise (SNR in magnetic resonance (MR imaging. The goal of this project was to develop a new method using the common-mode and differential-mode (CMDM technique for compact, planar, distributed-element quadrature transmit/receive resonators for MR signal excitation and detection and to investigate its performance for MR imaging, particularly, at ultrahigh magnetic fields. A prototype resonator based on CMDM method implemented by using microstrip transmission line was designed and fabricated for 7T imaging. Both the common mode (CM and the differential mode (DM of the resonator were tuned and matched at 298MHz independently. Numerical electromagnetic simulation was performed to verify the orthogonal B1 field direction of the two modes of the CMDM resonator. Both workbench tests and MR imaging experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance. The intrinsic decoupling between the two modes of the CMDM resonator was demonstrated by the bench test, showing a better than -36 dB transmission coefficient between the two modes at resonance frequency. The MR images acquired by using each mode and the images combined in quadrature showed that the CM and DM of the proposed resonator provided similar B1 coverage and achieved SNR improvement in the entire region of interest. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed CMDM method with distributed-element transmission line technique is a feasible and efficient technique for planar quadrature RF coil design at ultrahigh fields, providing intrinsic decoupling between two quadrature channels and high frequency capability. Due to its simple and compact geometry and easy implementation of decoupling methods, the CMDM quadrature resonator can possibly be a good candidate for design blocks in multichannel RF coil arrays.

  14. Evaluation of common mode failure of safety functions for limiting fault events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rezendes, J.P.; Hyde, A.W.

    2004-01-01

    The draft U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) policy on digital protection system software requires all Advanced Light Water Reactors (ALWRs) to be evaluated assuming a hypothetical common mode failure (CMF) which incapacitates the normal automatic initiation of safety functions. The System 80 + ALWR has been evaluated for such hypothetical conditions. The results show that the diverse automatic and manual protective systems in System 80 + provide ample safety performance margins relative to core coolability, offsite radiological releases. Reactor Coolant System (RCS) pressurization and containment integrity. This deterministic evaluation served to quantify the significant inherent safety margins in the System 80 + Standard Plant design even in the event of this extremely low probability scenario of a common mode failure. (author)

  15. Detecting free-mass common-mode motion induced by incident gravitational waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tobar, Michael Edmund; Suzuki, Toshikazu; Kuroda, Kazuaki

    1999-05-01

    In this paper we show that information on both the differential and common mode free-mass response to a gravitational wave can provide important information on discriminating the direction of the gravitational wave source and between different theories of gravitation. The conventional Michelson interferometer scheme only measures the differential free-mass response. By changing the orientation of the beam splitter, it is possible to configure the detector so it is sensitive to the common-mode of the free-mass motion. The proposed interferometer is an adaptation of the Fox-Smith interferometer. A major limitation to the new scheme is its enhanced sensitivity to laser frequency fluctuations over the conventional, and we propose a method of cancelling these fluctuations. The configuration could be used in parallel to the conventional differential detection scheme with a significant sensitivity and bandwidth.

  16. Characterization of a Fiber-Coupled 36-Core 3-Mode Photonic Lantern Spatial Multiplexer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rommel, Simon; Mendinueta, José Manuel Delgado; Klaus, Werner

    2017-01-01

    A fiber-coupled 108-port photonic lantern spatial-MUX is characterized with a spatially-diverse optical vector network analyzer. Insertion loss, mode-dependent losses, and time response are measured, showing significant mode mixing at a fiber splice.......A fiber-coupled 108-port photonic lantern spatial-MUX is characterized with a spatially-diverse optical vector network analyzer. Insertion loss, mode-dependent losses, and time response are measured, showing significant mode mixing at a fiber splice....

  17. Interferometric characterization of few-mode fibers (FMF) for mode-division multiplexing (MDM)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Muliar, Olena; Usuga Castaneda, Mario A.; Rottwitt, Karsten

    2015-01-01

    ), commonly used in a MDM scenario. This experimental technique requires the use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, where the reference's path length is controlled by an optical delay line. The interference between the output beams of reference and fiber under test (FUT) is recorded on a CCD camera......The rapid growth of global data traffic demands the continuous search for new technologies and systems that could increase transmission capacity in optical links and recent experiments show that to do so, it is advantageous to explore new degrees of freedom such as polarization, wavelength...... or optical modes. Mode division multiplexing (MDM) appears in this context as a promising and viable solution for such capacity increase, since it utilizes multiple spatial modes of an optical fiber as individual communication channels for data transmission. In order to evaluate its performance, a MDM system...

  18. Reject/repeat analysis and the effect prior film viewing has on a department's reject/repeat rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, P.A.; Hogg, P.

    2003-01-01

    Purpose: Achieving cost-effectiveness within the NHS is an old initiative but one that has again been highlighted by recent government policies (The New NHS-Modern and Dependable, Stationary Office, London, 1997). It has been reiterated that it is the responsibility of individual Trusts to devise means to provide such a service. Reject/repeat analyses have long been the primary tool used to assess the cost-effectiveness of radiography departments (Quality Assurance in Diagnostic Radiology, WHO, Geneva, 1982). This research paper examines an in-house initiative (viewing patients' previous films) commonly employed in other Health Trusts in order to reduce departmental repeat/reject rates. Method: Three hundred orthopaedic patients with hip, knee and ankle prostheses were included in a reject/repeat analysis. The aim was to investigate whether or not viewing patient's previous relevant radiographs would be advantageous to the practicing radiographer. This was done through an audit cycle consisting of two audit periods each lasting for 3 months. The primary audit period recorded the baseline repeat/reject rate, with the secondary audit period recording the repeat/reject rate under an experimental condition of viewing the relevant radiographs. Results: The baseline audit revealed repeat rates of 33% in orthopaedic patients with hip, knee and ankle prostheses. The availability of prior film viewing to the radiographer reduced this repeat rate to 10.6%. Conclusion: Prior film viewing dramatically reduced the department's repeat/reject rate by 22.4%. This provides scope for significant patient dose reductions as well as reducing departmental film expenses. This is an underestimated initiative and should be used appropriately in routine clinical practice

  19. Community structure analysis of rejection sensitive personality profiles: A common neural response to social evaluative threat?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kortink, Elise D; Weeda, Wouter D; Crowley, Michael J; Gunther Moor, Bregtje; van der Molen, Melle J W

    2018-06-01

    Monitoring social threat is essential for maintaining healthy social relationships, and recent studies suggest a neural alarm system that governs our response to social rejection. Frontal-midline theta (4-8 Hz) oscillatory power might act as a neural correlate of this system by being sensitive to unexpected social rejection. Here, we examined whether frontal-midline theta is modulated by individual differences in personality constructs sensitive to social disconnection. In addition, we examined the sensitivity of feedback-related brain potentials (i.e., the feedback-related negativity and P3) to social feedback. Sixty-five undergraduate female participants (mean age = 19.69 years) participated in the Social Judgment Paradigm, a fictitious peer-evaluation task in which participants provided expectancies about being liked/disliked by peer strangers. Thereafter, they received feedback signaling social acceptance/rejection. A community structure analysis was employed to delineate personality profiles in our data. Results provided evidence of two subgroups: one group scored high on attachment-related anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, whereas the other group scored high on attachment-related avoidance and low on fear of negative evaluation. In both groups, unexpected rejection feedback yielded a significant increase in theta power. The feedback-related negativity was sensitive to unexpected feedback, regardless of valence, and was largest for unexpected rejection feedback. The feedback-related P3 was significantly enhanced in response to expected social acceptance feedback. Together, these findings confirm the sensitivity of frontal midline theta oscillations to the processing of social threat, and suggest that this alleged neural alarm system behaves similarly in individuals that differ in personality constructs relevant to social evaluation.

  20. Development of enhanced sulfur rejection processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoon, R.H.; Luttrell, G.H.; Adel, G.T.; Richardson, P.E.

    1996-03-01

    Research at Virginia Tech led to the development of two complementary concepts for improving the removal of inorganic sulfur from many eastern U.S. coals. These concepts are referred to as Electrochemically Enhanced Sulfur Rejection (EESR) and Polymer Enhanced Sulfur Rejection (PESR) processes. The EESR process uses electrochemical techniques to suppress the formation of hydrophobic oxidation products believed to be responsible for the floatability of coal pyrite. The PESR process uses polymeric reagents that react with pyrite and convert floatable middlings, i.e., composite particles composed of pyrite with coal inclusions, into hydrophilic particles. These new pyritic-sulfur rejection processes do not require significant modifications to existing coal preparation facilities, thereby enhancing their adoptability by the coal industry. It is believed that these processes can be used simultaneously to maximize the rejection of both well-liberated pyrite and composite coal-pyrite particles. The project was initiated on October 1, 1992 and all technical work has been completed. This report is based on the research carried out under Tasks 2-7 described in the project proposal. These tasks include Characterization, Electrochemical Studies, In Situ Monitoring of Reagent Adsorption on Pyrite, Bench Scale Testing of the EESR Process, Bench Scale Testing of the PESR Process, and Modeling and Simulation.

  1. Review: The transcripts associated with organ allograft rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halloran, Philip F; Venner, Jeffery M; Madill-Thomsen, Katelynn S; Einecke, Gunilla; Parkes, Michael D; Hidalgo, Luis G; Famulski, Konrad S

    2018-04-01

    The molecular mechanisms operating in human organ transplant rejection are best inferred from the mRNAs expressed in biopsies because the corresponding proteins often have low expression and short half-lives, while small non-coding RNAs lack specificity. Associations should be characterized in a population that rigorously identifies T cell-mediated (TCMR) and antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). This is best achieved in kidney transplant biopsies, but the results are generalizable to heart, lung, or liver transplants. Associations can be universal (all rejection), TCMR-selective, or ABMR-selective, with universal being strongest and ABMR-selective weakest. Top universal transcripts are IFNG-inducible (eg, CXCL11 IDO1, WARS) or shared by effector T cells (ETCs) and NK cells (eg, KLRD1, CCL4). TCMR-selective transcripts are expressed in activated ETCs (eg, CTLA4, IFNG), activated (eg, ADAMDEC1), or IFNG-induced macrophages (eg, ANKRD22). ABMR-selective transcripts are expressed in NK cells (eg, FGFBP2, GNLY) and endothelial cells (eg, ROBO4, DARC). Transcript associations are highly reproducible between biopsy sets when the same rejection definitions, case mix, algorithm, and technology are applied, but exact ranks will vary. Previously published rejection-associated transcripts resemble universal and TCMR-selective transcripts due to incomplete representation of ABMR. Rejection-associated transcripts are never completely rejection-specific because they are shared with the stereotyped response-to-injury and innate immunity. © 2017 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

  2. Characterization of oil shale residue and rejects from Irati Formation by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cogo, S.L.; Brinatti, A.M.; Saab, S.C. [Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, PR (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica; Simoes, M.L.; Martin-Neto, L. [Embrapa Instrumentacao Agropecuaria, Sao Carlos, SP (Brazil); Rosa, J.A. [IAPAR - Unidade Regional de Pesquisa, Ponta Grossa, PR (Brazil); Mascarenhas, Y. P. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Carlos, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica

    2009-03-15

    In this study, sedimentary organic matter of oil shale rejects, calschist, shale fine and the so called retorted shale from Irati formation was characterized. EPR was used to analyse the samples regarding loss of signal in g = 2:003 associated to the organic free radical with the calcined samples and washing with hydrogen peroxide. The radical signal was detected in all samples, however, for the calschist and shale fine samples another signal was identified at g = 2:000 which disappeared when the sample was heated at 400 deg C. Hydrogen peroxide washing was also performed and it was noted that after washing the signal appeared around g = 2:000 for all samples, including retorted shale, which might be due to the quartz E1 defect. (author)

  3. Corneal Graft Rejection: Incidence and Risk Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Baradaran-Rafii

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available

    PURPOSE: To determine the incidence and risk factors of late corneal graft rejection after penetrating keratoplasty (PKP. METHODS: Records of all patients who had undergone PKP from 2002 to 2004 without immunosuppressive therapy other than systemic steroids and with at least one year of follow up were reviewed. The role of possible risk factors such as demographic factors, other host factors, donor factors, indications for PKP as well as type of rejection were evaluated. RESULTS: During the study period, 295 PKPs were performed on 286 patients (176 male, 110 female. Mean age at the time of keratoplasty was 38±20 (range, 40 days to 90 years and mean follow up period was 20±10 (range 12-43 months. Graft rejection occurred in 94 eyes (31.8% at an average of 7.3±6 months (range, 20 days to 39 months after PKP. The most common type of rejection was endothelial (20.7%. Corneal vascularization, regrafting, anterior synechiae, irritating sutures, active inflammation, additional anterior segment procedures, history of trauma, uncontrolled glaucoma, prior graft rejection, recurrence of herpetic infection and eccentric grafting increased the rate of rejection. Patient age, donor size and bilateral transplantation had no significant influence on graft rejection. CONCLUSION: Significant risk factors for corneal graft rejection include

  4. Common-mode Voltage Reduction in a Motor Drive System with a Power Factor Correction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adabi, J.; Boora, A.A.; Zare, F.

    2012-01-01

    Common-mode voltage generated by a power converter in combination with parasitic capacitive couplings is a potential source of shaft voltage in an AC motor drive system. In this study, a three-phase motor drive system supplied with a single-phase AC-DC diode rectifier is investigated in order...... to reduce shaft voltage in a three-phase AC motor drive system. In this topology, the AC-DC diode rectifier influences the common-mode voltage generated by the inverter because the placement of the neutral point is changing in different rectifier circuit states. A pulse width modulation technique...

  5. A Pilot Study of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Acute Liver Allograft Rejection

    OpenAIRE

    Shi, Ming; Liu, Zhenwen; Wang, Ying; Xu, Rounan; Sun, Yanling; Zhang, Min; Yu, Xi; Wang, Hongbo; Meng, Lingzhan; Su, Haibin; Jin, Lei; Wang, Fu‐Sheng

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Acute allograft rejection remains common after liver transplantation despite modern immunosuppressive agents. In addition, the long‐term side effects of these regimens, including opportunistic infections, are challenging. This study evaluated the safety and clinical feasibility of umbilical cord‐derived mesenchymal stem cell (UC‐MSC) therapy in liver transplant patients with acute graft rejection. Twenty‐seven liver allograft recipients with acute rejection were randomly assigned int...

  6. Conduction Losses and Common Mode EMI Analysis on Bridgeless Power Factor Correction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Qingnan; Andersen, Michael Andreas E.; Thomsen, Ole Cornelius

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, a review of Bridgeless Boost power factor correction (PFC) converters is presented at first. Performance comparison on conduction losses and common mode electromagnetic interference (EMI) are analyzed between conventional Boost PFC converter and members of Bridgeless PFC family...

  7. The common mode failures analysis of the redundent system with dependent human error

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, M.K.; Chang, S.H.

    1983-01-01

    Common mode failures (CMFs) have been a serious concern in the nuclear power plant. Thereis a broad category of the failure mechanisms that can cause common mode failures. This paper is a theoretical investigation of the CMFs on the unavailability of the redundent system. It is assumed that the total CMFs consist of the potential CMFs and the dependent human error CMFs. As the human error dependency is higher, the total CMFs are more effected by the dependent human error. If the human error dependence is lower, the system unavailability strongly depends on the potential CMFs, rather than the mechanical failure or the dependent human error. And it is shown that the total CMFs are dominant factor to the unavailability of the redundent system. (Author)

  8. A model of acute renal allograft rejection in outbred Yorkshire piglets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lassiter, Randi; Wang, Youli; Fang, Xuexiu; Winn, Matt; Ghaffari, Arina; Ho, Chak-Sum; Helman, Sandra; Jajosky, Ryan; Kleven, Daniel; Stanley Nahman, N; Merchen, Todd D

    2017-06-01

    Pigs represent a desirable animal model for the study of rejection in kidney transplantation with inbred Yucatan miniature swine (YMS) the most commonly studied strain due to well defined swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) genotypes. However, limitations to YMS may include cost and availability. Outbred Yorkshire pigs are widely available and significantly cheaper than YMS. Recent advances in SLA genotyping have allowed its application to outbred strains. On this basis, we theorized that Yorkshire pigs would be a viable alternative to YMS for the study of rejection in kidney transplantation. To address this question, we performed auto (Auto) and allotransplants (Allo) in 24 Yorkshire pigs, and assessed SLA genotypes and acute rejection after 72h. At sacrifice, and when compared to autotransplants, allotransplants had significant elevations in serum creatinine (8.4±1.3 vs 2.8±2.0mg/dL for Allo vs autotransplants, respectively) and BUN (61±9 vs 19.2±15mg/dL for Allo vs autotransplants, respectively). Warm ischemia times between the two groups did not differ (24±2.3 vs 26.4±1.4min for Auto vs Allo, respectively). There were 16 distinct SLA haplotypes identified from pigs undergoing allotransplantion, no matched donor-recipient pairs, and all allografts demonstrated rejection. Type IIA cellular rejection (Banff) was the most common. One allograft demonstrated hyperacute rejection due a blood group incompatibility. Histologically, the expression of regulatory Tcells and dendritic cells was increased in allografts. These data suggest that Yorkshire pigs may be a useful model for the study of acute rejection in experimental kidney transplantation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  9. Rejection Sensitivity Moderates the Impact of Rejection on Self-Concept Clarity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayduk, Özlem; Gyurak, Anett; Luerssen, Anna

    2014-01-01

    Self-concept clarity (SCC) refers to the extent to which self-knowledge is clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable. Research shows that SCC can be undermined by failures in valued goal domains. Because preventing rejection is an important self-relevant goal for people high in rejection sensitivity (RS), it is hypothesized here that failures to attain this goal would cause them to experience diminished SCC. Study 1, an experimental study, showed that high-RS people’s SCC was undermined following rejection but not following an aversive experience unrelated to rejection. Study 2, a daily diary study of couples in relationships, used occurrence of partner conflicts to operationalize rejection. Replicating the findings in Study 1, having a conflict on any given diary day predicted a greater reduction in the SCC of high- compared to low-RS people on the following day. The implications for understanding the conditions under which rejection negatively affects the self-concept are discussed. PMID:19713567

  10. A strategy for minimizing common mode human error in executing critical functions and tasks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beltracchi, L.; Lindsay, R.W.

    1992-01-01

    Human error in execution of critical functions and tasks can be costly. The Three Mile Island and the Chernobyl Accidents are examples of results from human error in the nuclear industry. There are similar errors that could no doubt be cited from other industries. This paper discusses a strategy to minimize common mode human error in the execution of critical functions and tasks. The strategy consists of the use of human redundancy, and also diversity in human cognitive behavior: skill-, rule-, and knowledge-based behavior. The authors contend that the use of diversity in human cognitive behavior is possible, and it minimizes common mode error

  11. Synchronised PWM Schemes for Three-level Inverters with Zero Common-mode Voltage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oleschuk, Valentin; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2002-01-01

    This paper presents results of analysis and comparison of novel synchronised schemes of pulsewidth modulation (PWM), applied to three-level voltage source inverters with control algorithms providing elimination of the common-mode voltage. The proposed approach is based on a new strategy of digital...

  12. Utilizing foreign operating experience to derive reliability data - especially for common mode failures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bongartz, R.; Hennings, W.; Meessen, H.

    1987-11-01

    Failure rates for common mode failures of redundant components of the same design are derived from abnormal occurrences in safety systems of US nuclear power stations for use on a national level. The available raw data of interest for pumps and valves (processed Licensee Event Reports) are progressively re-evaluated and checked for transferability of German conditions. Most of the common mode failures (CMF) experienced affected only part of the redundancies; the homogeneous Marshall-Olkin model is therefore used to determine failure rates for both partial and total failures of redundant components. Some few results based on zero failure statistics and a small data base (four-train systems) seem to be too conservative. On the whole, however, the application of the data determined here does not provide any unrealistically high system unavailabilities. (orig.) [de

  13. Few-mode fiber, splice and SDM component characterization by spatially-diverse optical vector network analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rommel, Simon; Mendinueta, José Manuel Delgado; Klaus, Werner

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel ...... in the few-mode multi-core fiber and their impact on system IL and MDL are analyzed, finding splices to cause significant mode-mixing and to be non-negligible in system capacity analysis.......This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel...... photonic lantern spatial multiplexer, coupled to a 36-core 3-mode fiber, is experimentally demonstrated, extracting the full impulse response and complex transfer function matrices as well as insertion loss (IL) and mode-dependent loss (MDL) data. Moreover, the mode-mixing behavior of fiber splices...

  14. Compensatory deficits following rejection: the role of social anxiety in disrupting affiliative behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mallott, Michael A; Maner, Jon K; DeWall, Nathan; Schmidt, Norman B

    2009-01-01

    Managing perceived or actual social rejection is an important facet of meeting basic needs for affiliation. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by significant distress and debilitation relating to affiliation and recent work suggests higher levels of social anxiety symptoms may adversely affect responses to social rejection. This study examined emotional and behavioral responding to a social rejection stressor to explore whether social anxiety moderates the effects of social rejection on prosocial compensatory behaviors. Individuals (N=37) evaluated on social anxiety symptoms were assigned to either a social rejection condition or control condition. Consistent with expectation, rejection promoted renewed interest in connecting with sources of positive social interaction among participants low in social anxiety. Participants with higher levels of social anxiety, however, failed to react to rejection in a positive or prosocial manner and exhibited some evidence of negative social responses. Such differential compensatory responding could have important implications for the genesis, maintenance, and treatment of SAD.

  15. Vortex beam characterization in terms of Hypergeometric- Gaussian modes

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Sephton, Bereneice C

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available in Optics: The 100th OSA Annual Meeting and Exhibit/Laser Science XXXII , 17-21 October 2016, Rochester Riverside Convention Center, Rochester, New York United States Vortex beam characterization in terms of Hypergeometric- Gaussian modes Sephton...

  16. Urban Space as the Commons - New Modes for Urban Space Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ondrejicka, Vladimir; Finka, Maros; Husar, Milan; Jamecny, Lubomir

    2017-12-01

    The significant growing of urban population, globalization of social-ecological systems, fuzzification of spatial structures, the diversity of actors in spatial development, their power and interest in using the resources including space, especially in high-density urban areas. Spatial development is connected with a high concentration of economic activities and population in urban systems. In many cases very rapid processes of urbanization and suburbanization approach natural spatial/territorial limits, such as carrying capacity of land, transport and infrastructural systems, absorption capacities of recipients and others [1]. Growing shortage of space and problems in their accessibility (physical, functional, etc.) leads to growing tension and conflicts among the actors/users of urban spaces and represent the initial phase of space deprivations processes. There is a parallel with “tragedy of commons” as defined by Hardin [2] and was reinterpreted by many other academics and researchers. Urban space can be clearly interpreted as the commons or commons good for their community of users and relevant actors, so innovative governance modes overlapping defined “tragedy of commons” representing a possible approach for a new concept of urban public spaces management. This paper presents a possible new approach to the management of urban spaces reflecting the current challenges in spatial development based on the theory of commons and innovative governance modes. The new approach is built on innovations in institutional regimes, the algorithm of decision-making and economic expression and interpretation of quality of the space. The theory of the commons as the base source for this approach has been broadly proved in practice and Elinor Ostrom as the author of this theory [3-5] was awarded by Nobel Prize in 2009.

  17. Characterization of pseudosingle bunch kick-and-cancel operational mode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, C.; Robin, D. S.; Steier, C.; Portmann, G.

    2015-12-01

    Pseudosingle-bunch kick-and-cancel (PSB-KAC) is a new operational mode at the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that provides full timing and repetition rate control for single x-ray pulse users while being fully transparent to other users of synchrotron radiation light. In this operational mode, a single electron bunch is periodically displaced from a main bunch train by a fast kicker magnet with a user-on-demand repetition rate, creating a single x-ray pulse to be matched to a typical laser excitation pulse rate. This operational mode can significantly improve the signal to noise ratio of single x-ray pulse experiments and drastically reduce dose-induced sample damage rate. It greatly expands the capabilities of synchrotron light sources to carry out dynamics and time-of-flight experiments. In this paper, we carry out extensive characterizations of this PSB-KAC mode both numerically and experimentally. This includes the working principle of this mode, resonance conditions and beam stability, experimental setups, and diagnostic tools and measurements.

  18. Characterization of pseudosingle bunch kick-and-cancel operational mode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Sun

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Pseudosingle-bunch kick-and-cancel (PSB-KAC is a new operational mode at the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that provides full timing and repetition rate control for single x-ray pulse users while being fully transparent to other users of synchrotron radiation light. In this operational mode, a single electron bunch is periodically displaced from a main bunch train by a fast kicker magnet with a user-on-demand repetition rate, creating a single x-ray pulse to be matched to a typical laser excitation pulse rate. This operational mode can significantly improve the signal to noise ratio of single x-ray pulse experiments and drastically reduce dose-induced sample damage rate. It greatly expands the capabilities of synchrotron light sources to carry out dynamics and time-of-flight experiments. In this paper, we carry out extensive characterizations of this PSB-KAC mode both numerically and experimentally. This includes the working principle of this mode, resonance conditions and beam stability, experimental setups, and diagnostic tools and measurements.

  19. Lung allograft rejection in the rat. I. Accelerated rejection caused by graft lymphocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prop, J.; Nieuwenhuis, P.; Wildevuur, C.R.

    1985-01-01

    To find out to what extent rejection of lungs differs from that of other organs, functional rejection of lung allografts was studied in five combinations of inbred rat strains. Rejection could be monitored accurately by perfusion scintigraphy, and equally well by chest roentgenography. The rejection of lung grafts was found to proceed remarkably fast, when compared with heart grafts, in combinations with strong RT1-incompatibilities. This accelerated rejection pattern could be converted into rejection at a normal pace by pretreatment of the donor with 10 Gy roentgen irradiation one day before transplantation. Donor pretreatment depleted the lung graft's bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) of lymphocytes. When grafts were depleted of all other passenger cells as well--by retransplantation from a cyclosporine-treated intermediate host--they showed an even more reduced immunogenicity, probably because of the loss of donor-type dendritic cells. These results indicate that lymphocytes from the BALT of lung grafts are capable of accelerating the rejection response

  20. Foreign egg retention by avian hosts in repeated brood parasitism : Why do rejecters accept?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moskat, Csaba; Hauber, Mark E.; Elek, Zoltan; Gommers, Moniek; Ban, Miklos; Groenewoud, Frank; Versluijs, Tom S. L.; Hoetz, Christiaan W. A.; Komdeur, Jan

    Great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) are frequently parasitized by egg-mimetic common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) in Hungary, and these hosts reject about a third of parasitic eggs. The timing of parasitism is important, in that the probability of rejection decreases with advancing breeding

  1. Common mode frequency instability in internally phase-locked terahertz quantum cascade lasers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanke, M C; Grine, A D; Fuller, C T; Nordquist, C D; Cich, M J; Reno, J L; Lee, Mark

    2011-11-21

    Feedback from a diode mixer integrated into a 2.8 THz quantum cascade laser (QCL) was used to phase lock the difference frequencies (DFs) among the Fabry-Perot (F-P) longitudinal modes of a QCL. Approximately 40% of the DF power was phase locked, consistent with feedback loop bandwidth of 10 kHz and phase noise bandwidth ~0.5 MHz. While the locked DF signal has ≤ 1 Hz linewidth and negligible drift over ~30 min, mixing measurements between two QCLs and between a QCL and molecular gas laser show that the common mode frequency stability is no better than a free-running QCL. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  2. N Reactor thermal plume characterization during Pu-only mode of operation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ecker, R.M.; Thompson, F.L.; Whelan, G.

    1983-04-01

    Pacific Northwest Laboratories (PNL) performed field and modeling studies -from March 1982 through June 1983 to characterize the thermal plume from the N Reactor heated water outfall while the N Reactor operated in the Pu-only mode. Part 1 of this report deals with the field studies conducted to characterize the N Reactor thermal plume while in the Pu-only mode of operation. It includes a description of the study area, a description of field tasks and procedures, and data collection results and discussion. Part 2 describes the computer simulation of the thermal plume under different flow conditions and the calibration of the model used. It includes a description of the computer model and the assumptions on which it is based, a presentation of the input data used in this application, and a discussion of modeling results. Because the field studies were restricted by the NPOES permit variance to the spring months when high Columbia River flows prevail the mathematical modeling of the N Reactor thermal plume while the reactor operates in the Pu-only mode is instrumental in characterizing the plume during low Columbia River flows.

  3. Prostanoids modulate inflammation and alloimmune responses during graft rejection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P.N. Rocha

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Acute rejection of a transplanted organ is characterized by intense inflammation within the graft. Yet, for many years transplant researchers have overlooked the role of classic mediators of inflammation such as prostaglandins and thromboxane (prostanoids in alloimmune responses. It has been demonstrated that local production of prostanoids within the allograft is increased during an episode of acute rejection and that these molecules are able to interfere with graft function by modulating vascular tone, capillary permeability, and platelet aggregation. Experimental data also suggest that prostanoids may participate in alloimmune responses by directly modulating T lymphocyte and antigen-presenting cell function. In the present paper, we provide a brief overview of the alloimmune response, of prostanoid biology, and discuss the available evidence for the role of prostaglandin E2 and thromboxane A2 in graft rejection.

  4. Active disturbance rejection controller for chemical reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Both, Roxana; Dulf, Eva H.; Muresan, Cristina I.

    2015-01-01

    In the petrochemical industry, the synthesis of 2 ethyl-hexanol-oxo-alcohols (plasticizers alcohol) is of high importance, being achieved through hydrogenation of 2 ethyl-hexenal inside catalytic trickle bed three-phase reactors. For this type of processes the use of advanced control strategies is suitable due to their nonlinear behavior and extreme sensitivity to load changes and other disturbances. Due to the complexity of the mathematical model an approach was to use a simple linear model of the process in combination with an advanced control algorithm which takes into account the model uncertainties, the disturbances and command signal limitations like robust control. However the resulting controller is complex, involving cost effective hardware. This paper proposes a simple integer-order control scheme using a linear model of the process, based on active disturbance rejection method. By treating the model dynamics as a common disturbance and actively rejecting it, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) can achieve the desired response. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method

  5. Active disturbance rejection controller for chemical reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Both, Roxana; Dulf, Eva H.; Muresan, Cristina I., E-mail: roxana.both@aut.utcluj.ro [Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400114 Cluj-Napoca (Romania)

    2015-03-10

    In the petrochemical industry, the synthesis of 2 ethyl-hexanol-oxo-alcohols (plasticizers alcohol) is of high importance, being achieved through hydrogenation of 2 ethyl-hexenal inside catalytic trickle bed three-phase reactors. For this type of processes the use of advanced control strategies is suitable due to their nonlinear behavior and extreme sensitivity to load changes and other disturbances. Due to the complexity of the mathematical model an approach was to use a simple linear model of the process in combination with an advanced control algorithm which takes into account the model uncertainties, the disturbances and command signal limitations like robust control. However the resulting controller is complex, involving cost effective hardware. This paper proposes a simple integer-order control scheme using a linear model of the process, based on active disturbance rejection method. By treating the model dynamics as a common disturbance and actively rejecting it, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) can achieve the desired response. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  6. In-line femtosecond common-path interferometer in reflection mode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandezon, J; Rampnoux, J-M; Dilhaire, S; Audoin, B; Guillet, Y

    2015-10-19

    An innovative method to perform femtosecond time-resolved interferometry in reflection mode is proposed. The experiment consists in the combined use of a pump-probe setup and of a fully passive in-line femtosecond common-path interferometer. The originality of this interferometer relies on the use of a single birefringent crystal first to generate a pair of phase-locked pulses and second to recombine them to interfere. As predicted by analytical modeling, this interferometer measures the temporal derivative of the ultrafast changes of the complex optical reflection coefficient of the sample. Working conditions are illustrated through picosecond opto-acoustic experiments on a thin film.

  7. Few-mode fiber, splice and SDM component characterization by spatially-diverse optical vector network analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rommel, Simon; Mendinueta, José Manuel Delgado; Klaus, Werner; Sakaguchi, Jun; Olmos, Juan José Vegas; Awaji, Yoshinari; Monroy, Idelfonso Tafur; Wada, Naoya

    2017-09-18

    This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel photonic lantern spatial multiplexer, coupled to a 36-core 3-mode fiber, is experimentally demonstrated, extracting the full impulse response and complex transfer function matrices as well as insertion loss (IL) and mode-dependent loss (MDL) data. Moreover, the mode-mixing behavior of fiber splices in the few-mode multi-core fiber and their impact on system IL and MDL are analyzed, finding splices to cause significant mode-mixing and to be non-negligible in system capacity analysis.

  8. Intranasal leech (hirudiniasis) common mode of presentation and sites of lodgment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, K.A.; Rafique, A.; Rafique, A.; Babur, S.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To assess the common mode of presentation and sites of lodgment in cases of nasal leech infestation. Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in the ENT Department of Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital (CMH) Muzaffarabad from 10th Jan 2010 to 15th Feb 2012. Patients and Methods: After getting informed consent, total of 70 cases that fulfilled the inclusion criteria i.e patients irrespective of age and gender with a positive history of epistaxis and use of spring water for daily utilities and especially after exclusion of other known causes for epistaxis were included in this study. A thorough history followed by ENT examination including nasal endoscopy was carried out in each case and site of lodgment of leech documented. This was followed by removal of leech from nose. Results: The commonest mode of presentation of nasal leech was epistaxis (54.28%) and the commonest site of lodgment of leech was under the inferior turbinate (inferior meatus) (82.86%). Conclusion: This rare cause of epistaxis should be kept in mind once all other common causes are excluded especially if the patient belongs to low socioeconomic group and using fresh spring water for their consumption. A thorough search in the region of inferior meatus should be under taken aided by nasal endoscope if available. (author)

  9. Detailed phase matching characterization of inter-modal four-wave mixing in a two-mode fiber

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Friis, Søren Michael Mørk; Jung, Y.; Begleris, I.

    2016-01-01

    We experimentally characterize the phase matching properties of two inter-modal four-wave mixing processes in a graded index fiber guiding the LP01 and LP11 mode-groups.......We experimentally characterize the phase matching properties of two inter-modal four-wave mixing processes in a graded index fiber guiding the LP01 and LP11 mode-groups....

  10. Practices for Identifying and Rejecting Hemolyzed Specimens Are Highly Variable in Clinical Laboratories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howanitz, Peter J; Lehman, Christopher M; Jones, Bruce A; Meier, Frederick A; Horowitz, Gary L

    2015-08-01

    Hemolysis is an important clinical laboratory quality attribute that influences result reliability. To determine hemolysis identification and rejection practices occurring in clinical laboratories. We used the College of American Pathologists Survey program to distribute a Q-Probes-type questionnaire about hemolysis practices to Chemistry Survey participants. Of 3495 participants sent the questionnaire, 846 (24%) responded. In 71% of 772 laboratories, the hemolysis rate was less than 3.0%, whereas in 5%, it was 6.0% or greater. A visual scale, an instrument scale, and combination of visual and instrument scales were used to identify hemolysis in 48%, 11%, and 41% of laboratories, respectively. A picture of the hemolysis level was used as an aid to technologists' visual interpretation of hemolysis levels in 40% of laboratories. In 7.0% of laboratories, all hemolyzed specimens were rejected; in 4% of laboratories, no hemolyzed specimens were rejected; and in 88% of laboratories, some specimens were rejected depending on hemolysis levels. Participants used 69 different terms to describe hemolysis scales, with 21 terms used in more than 10 laboratories. Slight and moderate were the terms used most commonly. Of 16 different cutoffs used to reject hemolyzed specimens, moderate was the most common, occurring in 30% of laboratories. For whole blood electrolyte measurements performed in 86 laboratories, 57% did not evaluate the presence of hemolysis, but for those that did, the most common practice in 21 laboratories (24%) was centrifuging and visually determining the presence of hemolysis in all specimens. Hemolysis practices vary widely. Standard assessment and consistent reporting are the first steps in reducing interlaboratory variability among results.

  11. Relationship between natriuretic peptides and inflammation: proteomic evidence obtained during acute cellular cardiac allograft rejection in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meirovich, Yael F; Veinot, John P; de Bold, Mercedes L Kuroski; Haddad, Haissam; Davies, Ross A; Masters, Roy G; Hendry, Paul J; de Bold, Adolfo J

    2008-01-01

    Cardiac natriuretic peptides (NPs) atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) are polypeptide hormones secreted by the heart. Previously, we found that BNP, but not ANF, plasma levels may increase during an acute cellular cardiac allograft rejection episode. In vitro, the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) produced a selective increase of BNP gene expression and secretion. Other pro-inflammatory cytokines had no such effects. We identified cytokines associated with the selective upregulation of BNP during cardiac allograft rejection using a proteomics approach to measure 120 cytokines and related substances in the plasma of 16 transplant patients before, during and after an acute rejection episode. The values obtained were correlated with BNP plasma levels. Cytokines identified as being significantly related to BNP plasma levels were tested in neonatal rat ventricular cardiocytes in culture for their ability to selectively promote BNP secretion. The signaling pathway related to this phenomenon was pharmacologically characterized. Regulated-on-activation, normal T-expressed and secreted (RANTES), neutrophil-activating protein-2 (NAP-2) and insulin growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) had significant correlations with BNP plasma levels during Grade 3A (Grade 2 revised [2R]) or above rejection as diagnosed by endomyocardial biopsy score according to the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) grading system. In rat neonatal ventricular cardiocyte cultures, IGFBP-1 and RANTES were capable of promoting BNP, but not ANF secretion, as observed in rejecting patients. The BNP-promoting secretion activity of the identified cytokines was abolished by SB203580, a specific p38 MAP kinase inhibitor. This work shows that cytokines other than pro-inflammatory cytokines correlate with BNP plasma levels observed during acute cardiac allograft rejection, and that

  12. Probabilistic evaluation of multiple failures for steam generators tubes by common mode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bloch, M.; Pierrey, J.L.; Dussarte, D.

    1987-11-01

    The reactor safety can be affected when systems or components are subject to phenomena conducting at a wear nontake in account in the conception. This paper presents a methodology which takes in account the non simultaneous failures resulting of this situation. To illustrate this purpose, we give an evaluation of risk of multiple failures for steam generators tubes by common mode (stress corrosion) when the reactor is in normal operation [fr

  13. Understanding Rejection between First-and-Second-Grade Elementary Students through Reasons Expressed by Rejecters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García Bacete, Francisco J; Carrero Planes, Virginia E; Marande Perrin, Ghislaine; Musitu Ochoa, Gonzalo

    2017-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this research was to obtain the views of young children regarding their reasons for rejecting a peer. Method: To achieve this goal, we conducted a qualitative study in the context of theory building research using an analysis methodology based on Grounded Theory. The collected information was extracted through semi-structured individual interviews from a sample of 853 children aged 6 from 13 urban public schools in Spain. Results: The children provided 3,009 rejection nominations and 2,934 reasons for disliking the rejected peers. Seven reason categories emerged from the analysis. Four categories refer to behaviors of the rejected children that have a cost for individual peers or peer group such as: direct aggression, disturbance of wellbeing, problematic social and school behaviors and dominance behaviors. A further two categories refer to the identities arising from the preferences and choices of rejected and rejecter children and their peers: personal identity expressed through preferences and disliking, and social identity expressed through outgroup prejudices. The "no-behavior or no-choice" reasons were covered by one category, unfamiliarity. In addition, three context categories were found indicating the participants (interpersonal-group), the impact (low-high), and the subjectivity (subjective-objective) of the reason. Conclusion: This study provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive taxonomy of reasons for rejection that contributes to enrich the theoretical knowledge and improve interventions for preventing and reducing peer rejection.

  14. Characterization of a Common-Gate Amplifier Using Ferroelectric Transistors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Mitchell; Sayyah, Rana; MacLeod, Todd C.; Ho, Fat D.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, the empirical data collected through experiments performed using a FeFET in the common-gate amplifier circuit is presented. The FeFET common-gate amplifier was characterized by varying all parameters in the circuit, such as load resistance, biasing of the transistor, and input voltages. Due to the polarization of the ferroelectric layer, the particular behavior of the FeFET common-gate amplifier presents interesting results. Furthermore, the differences between a FeFET common-gate amplifier and a MOSFET common-gate amplifier are examined.

  15. Rejection index for pressure tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitchell, A.B.; Meneley, D.

    1989-10-01

    The objective of the present study was to establish a set of criteria (or Rejection Index) which could be used to decide whether a zirconium-2 1/2 w/o niobium pressure tube in a CANDU reactor should be removed from service due to in-service degradation. A critique of key issues associated with establishing a realistic rejection index was prepared. Areas of uncertainty in available information were identified and recommendations for further analysis and laboratory testing made. A Rejection Index based on the following limits has been recommended: 1) Limits related to design intent and normal operation: any garter spring must remain within the tolerance band specified for its design location; the annulus gas system must normally be operated in a circulating mode with a procedure in place for purging to prevent accumulation of deuterium. It must remain sensitive to leaks into any part of the systems; and pressure tube dimensions and distortions must be limited to maintain the fuel channels within the original design intent; 2) Limits related to defect tolerance: adequate time margins between occurrence of a leaking crack and unstable failure must be demonstrated for all fuel channels; long lap-type flaws are unacceptable; crack-like defects of any size are unacceptable; and score marks, frat marks and other defects with contoured profiles must fall below certain depth, length and stress intensity limits; and 3) Limits related to property degradation: at operating temperature each pressure tube must be demonstrated to have a critical length in excess of a stipulated value; the maximum equivalent hydrogen level in any pressure tube should not exceed a limit which should be defined taking into account the known history of that tube; the maximum equivalent hydrogen level in any rolled joint should not exceed a limit which is presently recommended as 200 ppm equivalent hydrogen; and the maximum diametral creep strain should be limited to less than 5%

  16. ‘Healthy’ identities? : Revisiting rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models among voluntary and forced immigrants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bobowik, Magdalena; Martinovic, Borja; Basabe, Nekane; Barsties, Lisa S.; Wachter, Gusta

    2017-01-01

    Rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models propose that low-status groups identify with their in-group and disidentify with a high-status out-group in response to rejection by the latter. Our research tests these two models simultaneously among multiple groups of foreign-born

  17. Experimental Evaluation of Interference Rejection Combining for 5G small cells,

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Assefa, Dereje; Berardinelli, Gilberto; Tavares, Fernando Menezes Leitão

    2015-01-01

    The Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) receiver can significantly boost the network throughput in scenarios characterized by dense uncoordinated deployment of small cells, as targeted by future 5th generation (5G) radio access technology. This paper presents an experimental study...

  18. Study of the impact of board orientation on radiated emissions due to common-mode currents on attached cables

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Morten; Hubing, Todd H.; Jensen, Kim

    2016-01-01

    Common-mode current on attached cables is a typical source for radiated emission. Several models have been made for conversion of the intended differential signal to unwanted common-mode current on cables. In this paper we refine a method for identifying the radiation sources arising from a long...... microstrip. This method is used to show that the radiated emission from a PCB with attached cable(s) caused by a long trace depends on whether the trace is facing up or down with different result for voltage and current sources....

  19. Does contrast between eggshell ground and spot coloration affect egg rejection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dainson, Miri; Hauber, Mark E; López, Analía V; Grim, Tomáš; Hanley, Daniel

    2017-08-01

    Obligate avian brood parasitic species impose the costs of incubating foreign eggs and raising young upon their unrelated hosts. The most common host defence is the rejection of parasitic eggs from the nest. Both egg colours and spot patterns influence egg rejection decisions in many host species, yet no studies have explicitly examined the role of variation in spot coloration. We studied the American robin Turdus migratorius, a blue-green unspotted egg-laying host of the brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater, a brood parasite that lays non-mimetic spotted eggs. We examined host responses to model eggs with variable spot coloration against a constant robin-mimetic ground colour to identify patterns of rejection associated with perceived contrast between spot and ground colours. By using avian visual modelling, we found that robins were more likely to reject eggs whose spots had greater chromatic (hue) but not achromatic (brightness) contrast. Therefore, egg rejection decision rules in the American robin may depend on the colour contrast between parasite eggshell spot and host ground coloration. Our study also suggests that egg recognition in relation to spot coloration, like ground colour recognition, is tuned to the natural variation of avian eggshell spot colours but not to unnatural spot colours.

  20. Entanglement of two-mode Gaussian states: characterization and experimental production and manipulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laurat, Julien [Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Case 74, Universite Pierre et Marie curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05 (France); Keller, Gaelle [Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Case 74, Universite Pierre et Marie curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05 (France); Oliveira-Huguenin, Jose Augusto [Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Case 74, Universite Pierre et Marie curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05 (France); Fabre, Claude [Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Case 74, Universite Pierre et Marie curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05 (France); Coudreau, Thomas [Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Case 74, Universite Pierre et Marie curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05 (France); Laboratoire Materiaux et Phenomenes Quantiques, Case 7021, Universite Denis Diderot, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris cedex 05 (France); Serafini, Alessio [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E R Caianiello' , Universita di Salerno (Italy); CNR-Coherentia, Gruppo di Salerno (Italy); and INFN Sezione di Napoli-Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081 Baronissi (Saudi Arabia) (Italy); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Adesso, Gerardo [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E R Caianiello' , Universita di Salerno (Italy); CNR-Coherentia, Gruppo di Salerno (Italy); and INFN Sezione di Napoli-Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081 Baronissi (Saudi Arabia) (Italy); Illuminati, Fabrizio [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E R Caianiello' , Universita di Salerno (Italy) and CNR-Coherentia, Gruppo di Salerno (Italy) and INFN Sezione di Napoli-Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Via S Allende, 84081 Baronissi (SA) (Italy)

    2005-12-01

    A powerful theoretical structure has emerged in recent years on the characterization and quantification of entanglement in continuous-variable systems. After reviewing this framework, we will illustrate it with an original set-up based on a type-II OPO (optical parametric oscillator) with adjustable mode coupling. Experimental results allow a direct verification of many theoretical predictions and provide a sharp insight into the general properties of two-mode Gaussian states and entanglement resource manipulation.

  1. Entanglement of two-mode Gaussian states: characterization and experimental production and manipulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laurat, Julien; Keller, Gaelle; Oliveira-Huguenin, Jose Augusto; Fabre, Claude; Coudreau, Thomas; Serafini, Alessio; Adesso, Gerardo; Illuminati, Fabrizio

    2005-01-01

    A powerful theoretical structure has emerged in recent years on the characterization and quantification of entanglement in continuous-variable systems. After reviewing this framework, we will illustrate it with an original set-up based on a type-II OPO (optical parametric oscillator) with adjustable mode coupling. Experimental results allow a direct verification of many theoretical predictions and provide a sharp insight into the general properties of two-mode Gaussian states and entanglement resource manipulation

  2. Labor market position after a rejection of a disability pension application: a register-based cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laaksonen, Mikko; Gould, Raija; Liukko, Jyri

    2017-08-17

    To study labor market positions of rejected disability pension applicants and to examine which characteristics predict ending up in these positions after the rejection. Nationwide Finnish register data was used to describe employment, unemployment and disability pension trajectories of rejected applicants (n = 5740) from four years before to four years after the rejection. Demographic, occupational and health-related determinants of labor market position after the rejection were examined among those employed and not employed at the time of the rejection. The proportion of the employed steeply decreased and that of unemployed increased before the rejection of a disability pension application. Four years after the rejection, 30% of the rejected applicants were employed, 24% were unemployed and 30% received disability pension. Employment at the time of the rejection, younger age, shorter unemployment history, public sector employment and milder work disability increased future employment. Manual work, public sector employment and previous long-term unemployment predicted future unemployment. Apart from higher age, associations with receiving disability pension were relatively weak. For many rejected disability pension applicants return to work is challenging. Special efforts should be targeted to support the remaining work ability and to promote employment opportunities of the rejected applicants. Implications for Rehabilitation Employment, unemployment and receiving disability pension were equally common labor market positions four years after the rejection. Rejected DP applicants with unemployment history need special efforts to increase their employability. As a disability pension application, even if rejected, clearly indicates some degree of work ability problems, rehabilitation should be targeted at this time point to support employment.

  3. Characterization of distinct Arctic aerosol accumulation modes and their sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lange, R.; Dall'Osto, M.; Skov, H.; Nøjgaard, J. K.; Nielsen, I. E.; Beddows, D. C. S.; Simo, R.; Harrison, R. M.; Massling, A.

    2018-06-01

    In this work we use cluster analysis of long term particle size distribution data to expand an array of different shorter term atmospheric measurements, thereby gaining insights into longer term patterns and properties of Arctic aerosol. Measurements of aerosol number size distributions (9-915 nm) were conducted at Villum Research Station (VRS), Station Nord in North Greenland during a 5 year record (2012-2016). Alongside this, measurements of aerosol composition, meteorological parameters, gaseous compounds and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity were performed during different shorter occasions. K-means clustering analysis of particle number size distributions on daily basis identified several clusters. Clusters of accumulation mode aerosols (main size modes > 100 nm) accounted for 56% of the total aerosol during the sampling period (89-91% during February-April, 1-3% during June-August). By association to chemical composition, cloud condensation nuclei properties, and meteorological variables, three typical accumulation mode aerosol clusters were identified: Haze (32% of the time), Bimodal (14%) and Aged (6%). In brief: (1) Haze accumulation mode aerosol shows a single mode at 150 nm, peaking in February-April, with highest loadings of sulfate and black carbon concentrations. (2) Accumulation mode Bimodal aerosol shows two modes, at 38 nm and 150 nm, peaking in June-August, with the highest ratio of organics to sulfate concentrations. (3) Aged accumulation mode aerosol shows a single mode at 213 nm, peaking in September-October and is associated with cloudy and humid weather conditions during autumn. The three aerosol clusters were considered alongside CCN concentrations. We suggest that organic compounds, that are likely marine biogenic in nature, greatly influence the Bimodal cluster and contribute significantly to its CCN activity. This stresses the importance of better characterizing the marine ecosystem and the aerosol-mediated climate effects in the

  4. Comparison of coaxial higher order mode couplers for the CERN Superconducting Proton Linac study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Papke

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Higher order modes (HOMs may affect beam stability and refrigeration requirements of superconducting proton linacs such as the Superconducting Proton Linac, which is studied at CERN. Under certain conditions beam-induced HOMs can accumulate sufficient energy to destabilize the beam or quench the superconducting cavities. In order to limit these effects, CERN considers the use of coaxial HOM couplers on the cutoff tubes of the 5-cell superconducting cavities. These couplers consist of resonant antennas shaped as loops or probes, which are designed to couple to potentially dangerous modes while sufficiently rejecting the fundamental mode. In this paper, the design process is presented and a comparison is made between various designs for the high-beta SPL cavities, which operate at 704.4 MHz. The rf and thermal behavior as well as mechanical aspects are discussed. In order to verify the designs, a rapid prototype for the favored coupler was fabricated and characterized on a low-power test-stand.

  5. Comparison of coaxial higher order mode couplers for the CERN Superconducting Proton Linac study

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2085329; Gerigk, Frank; Van Rienen, Ursula

    2017-01-01

    Higher order modes (HOMs) may affect beam stability and refrigeration requirements of superconducting proton linacs such as the Superconducting Proton Linac, which is studied at CERN. Under certain conditions beam-induced HOMs can accumulate sufficient energy to destabilize the beam or quench the superconducting cavities. In order to limit these effects, CERN considers the use of coaxial HOM couplers on the cutoff tubes of the 5-cell superconducting cavities. These couplers consist of resonant antennas shaped as loops or probes, which are designed to couple to potentially dangerous modes while sufficiently rejecting the fundamental mode. In this paper, the design process is presented and a comparison is made between various designs for the high-beta SPL cavities, which operate at 704.4 MHz. The rf and thermal behavior as well as mechanical aspects are discussed. In order to verify the designs, a rapid prototype for the favored coupler was fabricated and characterized on a low-power test-stand.

  6. Coaxial higher-order mode damper employing a high-pass filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Y.W.; Jiang, X.

    1997-01-01

    Two different types of coaxial higher-order mode (HOM) dampers have been investigated for the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring cavities: e-probe dampers and h-loop dampers. Realization of the h-loop dampers has been difficult because the loop antenna couples not only to the HOMs but also to the accelerating mode and results in loss of Q at the fundamental frequency. Previously, a first-order fundamental rejection filter was tested with unsatisfactory rejection characteristics. This problem can be overcome by using a higher-order high-pass filter between the loop and the matched load. Prototype dampers have been fabricated and tested in a storage ring single-cell cavity and the damping characteristic was analyzed

  7. Appearance-based rejection sensitivity: implications for mental and physical health, affect, and motivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Lora E

    2007-04-01

    Appearance-Based Rejection Sensitivity (Appearance-RS) is a personality-processing system characterized by anxious concerns and expectations about being rejected based on one's physical attractiveness. People differ in their sensitivity to rejection based on appearance, with consequences for mental and physical health, self-esteem, affect, and feelings of belonging. Study 1 describes the development and validation of the Appearance-RS scale, its relation to personality variables and to health-related outcomes. Study 2 provides experimental evidence that high Appearance-RS people feel more alone and rejected when asked to think about negative aspects of their appearance. Finally, Study 3 tests ways to reduce the negative effects of receiving an appearance threat among high Appearance-RS participants. Specifically, high Appearance-RS participants who engaged in self-affirmation (thought of their personal strengths) or received a secure attachment prime (thought of a close, caring relationship) were buffered from the negative effects of an appearance threat on subsequent state self-esteem and mood.

  8. A rejection mechanism in 2D bounded confidence provides more conformity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huet, S.; Deffuant, G.; Jager, W.

    This paper explores the dynamics of attitude change in two dimensions resulting from social interaction. We add a rejection mechanism into the 2D bounded confidence (BC) model proposed by Deffuant et al. (2001). Individuals are characterized by two-dimensional continuous attitudes, each associated

  9. Application of empirical mode decomposition method for characterization of random vibration signals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Setyamartana Parman

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Characterization of finite measured signals is a great of importance in dynamical modeling and system identification. This paper addresses an approach for characterization of measured random vibration signals where the approach rests on a method called empirical mode decomposition (EMD. The applicability of proposed approach is tested in one numerical and experimental data from a structural system, namely spar platform. The results are three main signal components, comprising: noise embedded in the measured signal as the first component, first intrinsic mode function (IMF called as the wave frequency response (WFR as the second component and second IMF called as the low frequency response (LFR as the third component while the residue is the trend. Band-pass filter (BPF method is taken as benchmark for the results obtained from EMD method.

  10. Total lymphoid irradiation in the treatment of early or recurrent heart transplant rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salter, Susan P.; Salter, Merle M.; Kirklin, James K.; Bourge, Robert C.; Naftel, David C.

    1995-01-01

    Purpose: Recurrent acute cardiac allograft rejection is an important cause of repeat hospitalization and a major mode of mortality, particularly during the 6 months immediately following transplant. Total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) has been shown experimentally to induce a state of partial tolerance when administered prior to transplantation. Anecdotal reports of clinical experience have also suggested efficacy of TLI in treatment of recurrent cardiac rejection. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TLI for treatment of early or recurrent heart transplant rejection. Materials and Methods: Between January 1990 and June 1992, 49 patients postallograft cardiac transplant were given courses of TLI for treatment of early or recurrent rejection after conventional therapy with Methylprednisolone, antithymocyte globulin, OKT3, and methotrexate. Two patients failed to complete their therapy and were not evaluated. Two other patients received a second TLI course, making a total of 49 courses delivered. Indications for TLI were early rejection (n = 5), recurrent rejection (n = 38), and recurrent rejection with vasculitis (n = 6). The dose goal of the TLI protocol was 8 Gy in 10 fractions given twice weekly. Three separate fields were used to encompass all major lymph node-bearing areas. The actual mean dose was 7 Gy (range 2.4-8.4 Gy), and the duration of treatment was 8 to 106 days. These variations were secondary to leukopenia or thrombocytopenia. Results: The mean posttransplant follow-up is 15 ± 1.2 months (maximum 27 months). Among patients initiating TLI within 1 month posttransplant (n = 15), the rejection frequency decreased from 1.83 episodes/patient/month pre-TLI to 0.13 episodes/patient/month post-TLI (p < 0.0001). For those who began TLI 1-3 months after transplant (n = 21), rejection decreased from 1.43 to 0.10 episodes/patient/month (p < 0.0001). When TLI was started more than 3 months posttransplant (n = 11), the pre-TLI and post

  11. Mode locking and mode competition in a nonequilibrium solid-state condensate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eastham, P. R.

    2008-01-01

    A trapped polariton condensate with continuous pumping and decay is analyzed using a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii model. Whereas an equilibrium condensate is characterized by a macroscopic occupation of a ground state, here the steady states take more general forms. Some are characterized by a large population in an excited state; others by large populations in several states, which may overlap spatially. In the latter case, the highly populated states synchronize to a common frequency above a critical density. At intermediate densities, they can drive condensation in other trap modes by parametric scattering. Estimates for the critical density of the synchronization transition are consistent with experiments

  12. The Lived Experience of Psoriasis Patients from Social Stigma and Rejection: A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorbanibirgani, Alireza; Fallahi-Khoshknab, Masoud; Zarea, Kourosh; Abedi, Heidarali

    2016-07-01

    Psoriasis is a common, chronic skin disease that causes challenges such as stigma and labeling from both the community and individuals due to its effects on appearance. The objective of this study was to describe and explain the social stigma and rejection experienced by patients with psoriasis. The present research is a qualitative study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach conducted among psoriasis patients referring to the dermatology clinic and ward of Imam Khomeini hospital in Ahvaz, Iran between June and December 2014. In this study, 15 patients with psoriasis were selected by purposeful sampling, and they were asked to express their experience of stigma and rejection. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, and Diekelmann and colleagues' method was used for data analysis. After analysis of interviews, four themes were extracted: lack of social support, unrealistic and inappropriate labeling, rejection and isolation, and feeling of absurdity and futility. These can be indicative of the patients' experience from social stigma and rejection phenomena. Patients' experiences of stigma and rejection phenomena indicated that all aspects of their lives are affected. Moreover, these findings highlight the significance of stigma and rejection concepts in providing better care to these patients.

  13. Optimization of a photon rejecter to separate electronic noise in a photon-counting detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Hyo-Min; Choi, Yu-Na; Lee, Seung-Wan; Lee, Young-Jin; Ryu, Hyun-Ju; Kim, Hee-Joung

    2012-01-01

    Photon-counting-based X-ray imaging technology provides the capability to count individual photons and to characterize photon energies. The cadmium telluride (CdTe)-based photon-counting detector is limited in capability, however, under a high X-ray flux. A photon rejecter composed of aluminum, for example, can reduce this limitation by modulating the incident number of photons. In addition to this function, the optimal photon rejecter can separate electronic noise, which degrades image quality. The aim of this work was to optimize a photon rejecter for high-quality image acquisition by removing electronic noise from the actual pulse signal. The images and spectra were acquired using a micro-focus X-ray source with a CdTe-based photon-counting detector. We acquired data with various types of photon-rejecter materials composed of aluminum (Al) and iodine at three different tube voltages (50, 70, and 90 kVp). A phantom composed of high-atomic-number materials was imaged to evaluate the efficiency of the photon rejecter. Photon rejecters composed of 1-mm Al, 10-mm Al, and a combination of 10-mm Al and iodine provided optimum capability at 50, 70, and 90 kVp, respectively. Each optimal combination of photon-rejecter material and voltage effectively separated electronic noise from the actual pulse signal and gave the highest contrast-to-noise ratio for materials on the image. These optimized types of photon rejecters can effectively discriminate electronic noise and improve image quality at different tube voltages.

  14. Mode II Interlaminar Fracture Toughness and Fatigue Characterization of a Graphite Epoxy Composite Material

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Brien, T. Kevin; Johnston, William M.; Toland, Gregory J.

    2010-01-01

    Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness and delamination onset and growth characterization data were generated for IM7/8552 graphite epoxy composite materials from two suppliers for use in fracture mechanics analyses. Both the fracture toughness testing and the fatigue testing were conducted using the End-notched Flexure (ENF) test. The ENF test for mode II fracture toughness is currently under review by ASTM as a potential standard test method. This current draft ASTM protocol was used as a guide to conduct the tests on the IM7/8552 material. This report summarizes the test approach, methods, procedures and results of this characterization effort.

  15. Preemptive scheduling with rejection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoogeveen, H.; Skutella, M.; Woeginger, Gerhard

    2003-01-01

    We consider the problem of preemptively scheduling a set of n jobs on m (identical, uniformly related, or unrelated) parallel machines. The scheduler may reject a subset of the jobs and thereby incur job-dependent penalties for each rejected job, and he must construct a schedule for the remaining

  16. Preemptive scheduling with rejection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoogeveen, J.A.; Skutella, M.; Woeginger, G.J.; Paterson, M.

    2000-01-01

    We consider the problem of preemptively scheduling a set of n jobs on m (identical, uniformly related, or unrelated) parallel machines. The scheduler may reject a subset of the jobs and thereby incur job-dependent penalties for each rejected job, and he must construct a schedule for the remaining

  17. Characterization of the fetal blood transcriptome and proteome in maternal anti-fetal rejection: evidence of a distinct and novel type of human fetal systemic inflammatory response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Joonho; Romero, Roberto; Chaiworapongsa, Tinnakorn; Dong, Zhong; Tarca, Adi L; Xu, Yi; Chiang, Po Jen; Kusanovic, Juan Pedro; Hassan, Sonia S; Yeo, Lami; Yoon, Bo Hyun; Than, Nandor Gabor; Kim, Chong Jai

    2013-10-01

    The human fetus is able to mount a systemic inflammatory response when exposed to microorganisms. This stereotypic response has been termed the 'fetal inflammatory response syndrome' (FIRS), defined as an elevation of fetal plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6). FIRS is frequently observed in patients whose preterm deliveries are associated with intra-amniotic infection, acute inflammatory lesions of the placenta, and a high rate of neonatal morbidity. Recently, a novel form of fetal systemic inflammation, characterized by an elevation of fetal plasma CXCL10, has been identified in patients with placental lesions consistent with 'maternal anti-fetal rejection'. These lesions include chronic chorioamnionitis, plasma cell deciduitis, and villitis of unknown etiology. In addition, positivity for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) panel-reactive antibodies (PRA) in maternal sera can also be used to increase the index of suspicion for maternal anti-fetal rejection. The purpose of this study was to determine (i) the frequency of pathologic lesions consistent with maternal anti-fetal rejection in term and spontaneous preterm births; (ii) the fetal serum concentration of CXCL10 in patients with and without evidence of maternal anti-fetal rejection; and (iii) the fetal blood transcriptome and proteome in cases with a fetal inflammatory response associated with maternal anti-fetal rejection. Maternal and fetal sera were obtained from normal term (n = 150) and spontaneous preterm births (n = 150). A fetal inflammatory response associated with maternal anti-fetal rejection was diagnosed when the patients met two or more of the following criteria: (i) presence of chronic placental inflammation; (ii) ≥80% of maternal HLA class I PRA positivity; and (iii) fetal serum CXCL10 concentration >75th percentile. Maternal HLA PRA was analyzed by flow cytometry. The concentrations of fetal CXCL10 and IL-6 were determined by ELISA. Transcriptome analysis was undertaken after the extraction of total RNA

  18. LATE RENAL GRAFT REJECTION: PATHOLOGY AND PROGNOSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E.S. Stolyarevich

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Rejection has always been one of the most important cause of late renal graft dysfunction. Aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of different clinico-pathological variants of rejection that cause late graft dysfunction, and evaluate their impact on long-term outcome. Materials and methods. This is a retrospective study that analyzed 294 needle core biopsy specimens from 265 renal transplant recipients with late (48,8 ± 46,1 months after transplantation allograft dysfunction caused by late acute rejection (LAR, n = 193 or chronic rejection (CR, n = 78 or both (n = 23. C4d staining was performed by immunofl uorescence (IF on frozen sections using a standard protocol. Results. Peritubular capillary C4d deposition was identifi ed in 36% samples with acute rejection and in 62% cases of chronic rejection (including 67% cases of transplant glomerulopathy, and 50% – of isolated chronic vasculopathy. 5-year graft survival for LAR vs CR vs their combination was 47, 13 and 25%, respectively. The outcome of C4d– LAR was (p < 0,01 better than of C4d+ acute rejection: at 60 months graft survival for diffuse C4d+ vs C4d− was 33% vs 53%, respectively. In cases of chronic rejection C4d+ vs C4d– it was not statistically signifi cant (34% vs 36%. Conclusion. In long-term allograft biopsy C4d positivity is more haracteristic for chronic rejection than for acute rejection. Only diffuse C4d staining affects the outcome. C4d– positivity is associated with worse allograft survival in cases of late acute rejection, but not in cases of chronic rejection

  19. Characterization of Mode 1 and Mode 2 delamination growth and thresholds in graphite/peek composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Roderick H.; Murri, Gretchen B.

    1988-01-01

    Composite materials often fail by delamination. The onset and growth of delamination in AS4/PEEK, a tough thermoplastic matrix composite, was characterized for mode 1 and mode 2 loadings, using the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and the End Notched Flexure (ENF) test specimens. Delamination growth per fatigue cycle, da/dN, was related to strain energy release rate, G, by means of a power law. However, the exponents of these power laws were too large for them to be adequately used as a life prediction tool. A small error in the estimated applied loads could lead to large errors in the delamination growth rates. Hence strain energy release rate thresholds, G sub th, below which no delamination would occur were also measured. Mode 1 and 2 threshold G values for no delamination growth were found by monitoring the number of cycles to delamination onset in the DCB and ENF specimens. The maximum applied G for which no delamination growth had occurred until at least 1,000,000 cycles was considered the threshold strain energy release rate. Comments are given on how testing effects, facial interference or delamination front damage, may invalidate the experimental determination of the constants in the expression.

  20. Ex Vivo Model of Human Penile Transplantation and Rejection: Implications for Erectile Tissue Physiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sopko, Nikolai A; Matsui, Hotaka; Lough, Denver M; Miller, Devin; Harris, Kelly; Kates, Max; Liu, Xiaopu; Billups, Kevin; Redett, Richard; Burnett, Arthur L; Brandacher, Gerald; Bivalacqua, Trinity J

    2017-04-01

    Penile transplantation is a potential treatment option for severe penile tissue loss. Models of human penile rejection are lacking. Evaluate effects of rejection and immunosuppression on cavernous tissue using a novel ex vivo mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) model. Cavernous tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 10 patients undergoing penile prosthesis operations and PBMCs from a healthy volunteer were obtained. Ex vivo MLRs were prepared by culturing cavernous tissue for 48h in media alone, in media with autologous PBMCs, or in media with allogenic PBMCs to simulate control, autotransplant, and allogenic transplant conditions with or without 1μM cyclosporine A (CsA) or 20nM tacrolimus (FK506) treatment. Rejection was characterized by PBMC flow cytometry and gene expression transplant array. Cavernous tissues were evaluated by histomorphology and myography to assess contraction and relaxation. Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance and unpaired Student t test. Flow cytometry and tissue array demonstrated allogenic PBMC activation consistent with rejection. Rejection impaired cavernous tissue physiology and was associated with cellular infiltration and apoptosis. CsA prevented rejection but did not improve tissue relaxation. CsA treatment impaired relaxation in tissues cultured without PBMCs compared with media and FK506. Study limitations included the use of penile tissue with erectile dysfunction and lack of cross-matching data. This model could be used to investigate the effects of penile rejection and immunosuppression. Additional studies are needed to optimize immunosuppression to prevent rejection and maximize corporal tissue physiology. This report describes a novel ex vivo model of human penile transplantation rejection. Tissue rejection impaired erectile tissue physiology. This report suggests that cyclosporin A might hinder corporal physiology and that other immunosuppressant agents, such as FK506, might be better suited

  1. 7 CFR 58.136 - Rejected milk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Rejected milk. 58.136 Section 58.136 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Milk § 58.136 Rejected milk. A plant shall reject specific milk from a producer if the milk fails to...

  2. Design Method of Active Disturbance Rejection Variable Structure Control System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun-jie Wu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Based on lines cluster approaching theory and inspired by the traditional exponent reaching law method, a new control method, lines cluster approaching mode control (LCAMC method, is designed to improve the parameter simplicity and structure optimization of the control system. The design guidelines and mathematical proofs are also given. To further improve the tracking performance and the inhibition of the white noise, connect the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC method with the LCAMC method and create the extended state observer based lines cluster approaching mode control (ESO-LCAMC method. Taking traditional servo control system as example, two control schemes are constructed and two kinds of comparison are carried out. Computer simulation results show that LCAMC method, having better tracking performance than the traditional sliding mode control (SMC system, makes the servo system track command signal quickly and accurately in spite of the persistent equivalent disturbances and ESO-LCAMC method further reduces the tracking error and filters the white noise added on the system states. Simulation results verify the robust property and comprehensive performance of control schemes.

  3. A complete dc characterization of a constant-frequency, clamped-mode, series-resonant converter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Fu-Sheng; Lee, Fred C.

    1988-01-01

    The dc behavior of a clamped-mode series-resonant converter is characterized systematically. Given a circuit operating condition, the converter's mode of operation is determined and various circuit parameters are calculated, such as average inductor current (load current), rms inductor current, peak capacitor voltage, rms switch currents, average diode currents, switch turn-on currents, and switch turn-off currents. Regions of operation are defined, and various circuit characteristics are derived to facilitate the converter design.

  4. Questionnaire investigation to clarify the occurrence rate and characteristics of maternal rejection behavior in Japanese black cattle (Bos taurus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohari, Daisuke; Takakura, Azusa

    2017-12-01

    We conducted a questionnaire investigation among breeding farmers to clarify the actual conditions of maternal rejection in Japanese Black cattle. We asked keeping experience of maternal rejective cows and compared occurrence patterns, rejective behavior manners, birth assistance methods, colostrum feeding method for calves, parity and rearing conditions of the cows. We found that 24% of the farms had kept rejective cows and 6% of the cows in these farms indicated maternal rejections. The most common occurrence pattern was 'Occurred from the first birth (65.6%)' and behavior manner was performing no maternal grooming with aggressive behavior (75%). Almost all the farmers assisted in each parturition (P cattle was approximately 6% and many of the rejective cows continuously performed no maternal grooming with aggressive behavior. © 2017 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  5. Analysis on influence of guide vanes closure laws of pump-turbine on load rejection transient process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Z.; Bi, H. L.; Huang, Q. S.; Li, Z. J.; Wang, Z. W.

    2013-12-01

    In load rejection transient process, the sudden shut down of guide vanes may cause units speed rise and a sharp increase in water hammer pressure of diversion system, which endangers the safety operation of the power plant. Adopting reasonable guide vane closure law is a kind of economic and effective measurement to reduce the water hammer pressure and limit rotational speed increases. In this paper, combined with Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station plant A, the load rejection condition under different guide vanes closure laws is calculated and the key factor of guide vanes closure laws on the impact of the load rejection transition process is analyzed. The different inflection points, which are the closure modes, on the impact of unit speed change, water level fluctuation of surge tank, and the pressure fluctuation of volute inlet and draft tube inlet are further discussed. By compared with the calculation results, a reasonable guide vanes inflection point position can be determined according to security requirements and a reasonable guide vanes closure law can be attained to effectively coordinate the unit speed rise and the rapid pressure change in the load rejection transient process.

  6. MR imaging of renal transplant rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanna, S.; Helenon, O.; Legendre, C.; Chichie, J.F.; Di Stefano, D.; Kreis, H.; Moreau, J.F.; Hopital Necker, 75 - Paris

    1991-01-01

    The results of 62 consecutive MR examinations were correlated with the subsequent clinical course and histologic results. Twenty-six cases of rejection showed a marked diminution of cortico-medullary differentiation (CMD). The renal parenchymal vascular pattern and visibility of renal sinus fat were not markedly altered in rejection and there was no difference between normal and rejected allograft shape. The ability of MR imaging to diagnose renal transplant rejection is only based on CMD, which, however, is non-specific. In 2 cases of severe rejection, T2 weighted images showed an abnormal signal intensity of the cortex due to renal infarction. Our preliminary results in 8 patients with Gd-DOTA injection showed 2 cases with necrosis seen as areas with absent contrast enhancement. This technique seems to be promising in the detection of perfusion defects. (orig.)

  7. European consumers' acceptance and rejection of novel beef technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Barcellos, Marcia Dutra; Kügler, Jens Oliver; Grunert, Klaus G.

    As part of ProSafeBeef, an integrated research project funded by the European Commission, the present qualitative study was carried out with European consumers to obtain insights into their acceptance or rejection of eight selected novel beef production and processing technologies, identified here...... capital cities: Madrid, Paris, Berlin and London. A common and translated topic guide was developed prior to the field work. A ranking exercise was applied, where the participants classified the technologies into accepted, neutral or rejected concepts, after discussing the perceived benefits and risks...... in society, global warming crisis, disease outbreaks and degradation of the environment are shaping consumers' opinion in regard to food production. There was a severe criticism about too much intervention in food and a strong desire to keep food and beef processing as simple and natural as possible....

  8. Renal stone characterization using high resolution imaging mode on a photon counting detector CT system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrero, A.; Gutjahr, R.; Henning, A.; Kappler, S.; Halaweish, A.; Abdurakhimova, D.; Peterson, Z.; Montoya, J.; Leng, S.; McCollough, C.

    2017-03-01

    In addition to the standard-resolution (SR) acquisition mode, a high-resolution (HR) mode is available on a research photon-counting-detector (PCD) whole-body CT system. In the HR mode each detector consists of a 2x2 array of 0.225 mm x 0.225 mm subpixel elements. This is in contrast to the SR mode that consists of a 4x4 array of the same subelements, and results in 0.25 mm isotropic resolution at iso-center for the HR mode. In this study, we quantified ex vivo the capabilities of the HR mode to characterize renal stones in terms of morphology and mineral composition. Forty pure stones - 10 uric acid (UA), 10 cystine (CYS), 10 calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) and 10 apatite (APA) - and 14 mixed stones were placed in a 20 cm water phantom and scanned in HR mode, at radiation dose matched to that of routine dual-energy stone exams. Data from micro CT provided a reference for the quantification of morphology and mineral composition of the mixed stones. The area under the ROC curve was 1.0 for discriminating UA from CYS, 0.89 for CYS vs COM and 0.84 for COM vs APA. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the percent UA in mixed stones was 11.0% with a medium-sharp kernel and 15.6% with the sharpest kernel. The HR showed qualitatively accurate characterization of stone morphology relative to micro CT.

  9. Perceived parental acceptance/rejection, some family characteristics and conduct disorder in adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostić, Jelena; Nešić, Milkica; Stanković, Miodrag; Zikić, Olivera

    2014-10-01

    Conduct disorder is characterized by repetitive and persistent presence of dissocial, aggressive and defiant behavioral patterns, thus represents important public issue with comprehensive and far-reaching consequences both for the individual and society. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in sociodemographic family characteristics and the prominence of parental acceptance/rejection dimensions in groups of adolescents with and without conduct disorder, as well as to examine the connection between parental acceptance/rejection dimensions and externalizing symptoms in the group of adolescents with conduct disorder. This research was conducted on 134 adolescents, aged 15 to 18, using the Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ child), Youth Self-Report (YSR), and a questionnaire constructed for the purpose of this survey. The results showed that the number of adolescents with conduct disorder coming from divorced families was significandy higher than from complete families (44.8% vs 13.4%, respectively; p disorders compared to the controls (31.3% vs 8.9%; respectively; p = 0.001). The perceived rejection dimension and the total index of maternal acceptance/rejection were significantly higher in adolescents with conduct disorder than in those with no such disorder (132.30 ± 38.05 vs 93.91 ± 26.29 respectively; p conduct disorder and severe perceived maternal and paternal rejection showed a significantly higher average score on the subscale of externalizing symptoms (14.55 ± 4.45 and 13.27 + 5.05) compared to adolescents with conduct disorder and lower total index of parental acceptance/rejection (8.32 ± 5.05 and 8.28 ± 5.08). The results suggest that adolescents with conduct disorder perceive their parents as more rejecting and less warm and supportive compared to adolescents without conduct disorder. The perception of significant and severe parental rejection was associated with a significantly higher averaged score on the subscale

  10. Common Ground with "A Common Faith": Dewey's Idea of the "Religious"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baurain, Bradley

    2011-01-01

    In "A Common Faith", Dewey rejects organized religion and belief in the supernatural, instead arguing for an authentically "religious" attitude which this interpretive essay analyzes in terms of four propositions: (1) Knowledge is unified. (2) Knowledge is democratic. (3) The pursuit of moral ideals requires moral faith. (4) The authority for…

  11. Characterization of Mode I and Mode II delamination growth and thresholds in AS4/PEEK composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Roderick H.; Murri, Gretchen Bostaph

    1990-01-01

    Composite materials often fail by delamination. The onset and growth of delamination in AS4/PEEK, a tough thermoplastic matrix composite, was characterized for mode 1 and mode 2 loadings, using the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and the End Notched Flexure (ENF) test specimens. Delamination growth per fatigue cycle, da/dN, was related to strain energy release rate, G, by means of a power law. However, the exponents of these power laws were too large for them to be adequately used as a life prediction tool. A small error in the estimated applied loads could lead to large errors in the delamination growth rates. Hence strain energy release rate thresholds, G sub th, below which no delamination would occur were also measured. Mode 1 and 2 threshold G values for no delamination growth were found by monitoring the number of cycles to delamination onset in the DCB and ENF specimens. The maximum applied G for which no delamination growth had occurred until at least 1,000,000 cycles was considered the threshold strain energy release rate. Comments are given on how testing effects, facial interference or delamination front damage, may invalidate the experimental determination of the constants in the expression.

  12. CMV driven CD8(+) T-cell activation is associated with acute rejection in lung transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roux, Antoine; Mourin, Gisèle; Fastenackels, Solène; Almeida, Jorge R; Iglesias, Maria Candela; Boyd, Anders; Gostick, Emma; Larsen, Martin; Price, David A; Sacre, Karim; Douek, Daniel C; Autran, Brigitte; Picard, Clément; Miranda, Sandra de; Sauce, Delphine; Stern, Marc; Appay, Victor

    2013-07-01

    Lung transplantation is the definitive treatment for terminal respiratory disease, but the associated mortality rate is high. Acute rejection of the transplanted lung is a key determinant of adverse prognosis. Furthermore, an epidemiological relationship has been established between the occurrence of acute lung rejection and cytomegalovirus infection. However, the reasons for this association remain unclear. Here, we performed a longitudinal characterization of CMV-specific T-cell responses and immune activation status in the peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of forty-four lung transplant patients. Acute rejection was associated with high levels of cellular activation in the periphery, reflecting strong CMV-specific CD8(+) T-cell activity post-transplant. Peripheral and lung CMV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses were very similar, and related to the presence of CMV in the transplanted organ. These findings support that activated CMV-specific CD8(+) T-cells in the lung may play a role in promoting acute rejection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. The significance of parenchymal changes of acute cellular rejection in predicting chronic liver graft rejection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gouw, ASH; van den Heuvel, MC; van den Berg, AP; Slooff, NJH; de Jong, KP; Poppema, S

    2002-01-01

    Background. Chronic rejection (CR) in liver allografts shows a rapid onset and progressive course, leading to graft failure within the first year after transplantation. Most cases are preceded by episodes of acute cellular rejection (AR), but histological features predictive for the transition

  14. Preventing Rejection

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... After the transplant Preventing rejection Post-transplant medications Types of immunosuppressants Switching immunosuppressants Side effects Other medications Generic and brand name drugs Post-transplant tests Infections and immunity Lifestyle changes Health concerns Back to work or ...

  15. 'The Unhealthy Other': How vaccine rejecting parents construct the vaccinating mainstream.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attwell, Katie; Smith, David T; Ward, Paul R

    2018-03-14

    To address the phenomenon of vaccine hesitancy and rejection, researchers increasingly recognise the need to engage with the social context of parents' decision-making. This study examines how vaccine rejecting parents socially construct the vaccinating mainstream in opposition to themselves. We analyse qualitative data from interviews with parents in Adelaide, South Australia. Applying insights from Social Identity Theory (SIT), we show how these parents bolster their own sense of identity and self-belief by employing a discourse that casts vaccinators as an Unhealthy Other. We demonstrate how the parents identify vaccination as a marker of parental conformity to the 'toxic practices of mass industrial society', linking it to other ways in which membership of the consumerist mainstream requires individuals to 'neglect their health.' This is explored through themes of appearance, diet, (over) consumption of pharmaceuticals, inadequate parenting values and wilful or misguided ignorance. This construction of the Unhealthy Other elevates the self-concept of vaccine hesitant and rejecting parents, who see themselves as part of an enlightened, but constantly besieged, group of healthy and virtuous parents. It is common for the vaccinating mainstream to present vaccine hesitant and rejecting parents as a group subject to epistemic closure, groupthink, confirmation bias and over-confidence in their own expertise. However, vaccine hesitant and rejecting parents also see mainstream society as a group-a much larger one-subject to the same problems. We suggest the need to mitigate the 'groupness' of vaccination and non-vaccination by extending the practice of vaccination to recognisable practitioners of holistic health. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Design of a Miniaturized X-Band Diplexer Based on Novel One-Third-Mode Substrate Integrated Resonator Filters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hao; Kang, Wei; Wu, Wen

    2017-12-01

    In this paper, a miniaturized diplexer designed with two novel one-third-mode substrate integrated resonator (OTMSIR) filters has been presented. The one-third triangular resonator cavity with two transmission zeros (TZs) and two transmission poles is investigated. TZs are implemented by taking cross couplings of lower order modes in this design. The diplexer is then obtained by integrating two different sizes of OTMSIR filters with a common T-junction structure. A X-band diplexer operating at 10 GHz and 11.5 GHz is designed on a substrate with a dielectric constant of 3.55 to verify the above design concept. This novel structure features more compact size, better transmission performance, higher out of band rejection and easier integration compared with other circuits. A good agreement is obtained between the simulations and the measured results.

  17. PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE / REJECTION AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS WITH AND WITHOUT DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orhideja ŠURBANOVSKA

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction This paper analyzes the parental acceptance or rejection and the emotional intelligence among adolescents with and without delinquent behavior. Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to explore the differences between parents’ acceptance/rejection (by mother and father, respectively and the emotional intelligence among adolescentswith and without delinquent behavior, as well as the correlation between parents’ acceptance/rejection (by mother and father, respectively and the emotional intelligence among minors with delinquent behavior. Methods: The survey was conducted on two groups of adolescents, that is, 30 respondents serving a prison sentence for minors and/or have been imposed an educational measure of referral to an Educational and Correctional Facility aged 14 to 18, and 40 respondents that are secondary school students at the same age. In this research, the terms minors and adolescents both refer to persons aged 14-18 years. All respondents were males. The following measuring instruments were used: Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire and a Questionnaire for Measuring Emotional Intelligence – 45. Results: Minors with and without delinquent behavior differ considerably in terms of perceiving parental acceptance (by the mother and by the father, aggressiveness, neglect and undifferentiated rejection. The feeling of being rejected by the parents is more common among minors with delinquent behavior than in those without such behavior. Furthermore, minors with delinquent behavior have lower emotional intelligence compared with their peers without delinquent behavior. Positive associations were found between parental acceptance and emotional intelligence. Conclusion: Minors with delinquent behavior have experienced lower acceptance and higher rejection from the parents and have lower emotional intelligence than their peers without delinquent behavior. In general, parental acceptance is associated with

  18. CARDIAC TRANSPLANT REJECTION AND NON-INVASIVE COMON CAROTID ARTERY WALL FUNCTIONAL INDICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. O. Shevchenko

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Allograft rejection would entail an increase in certain blood biomarkers and active substances derived from activated inflammatory cells which could influence entire vascular endothelial function and deteriorate arterial wall stiffness. We propose that carotid wall functional indices measured with non-invasive ultrasound could we valuable markers of the subclinical cardiac allograft rejection. Aim. Our goal was to analyze the clinical utility of functional common carotid wall (CCW variables measured with high-resolution Doppler ultrasound as a non-invasive screening tool for allograft rejection in cardiac transplant patients (pts. Methods. One hundred and seventy one pts included 93 cardiac recipients, 30 dilated cardiomyopathy waiting list pts, and 48 stable coronary artery disease (SCAD pts without decompensated heart failure were included. Along with resistive index (Ri, pulsative index (Pi, and CCW intima-media thickness (IMT, CCW rigidity index (iRIG was estimated using empirical equation. Non-invasive evaluation was performed in cardiac transplant recipients prior the endomyo- cardial biopsy. Results. Neither of Ri, Pi, or CCW IMT were different in studied subgroups. iRIG was signifi- cantly lower in SCAD pts when compared to the dilated cardiomyopathy subgroup. The later had similar values with cardiac transplant recipients without rejection. Antibody-mediated and cellular rejection were found in 22 (23.7% and 17 (18.3% cardiac recipients, respectively. Mean iRIG in pts without rejection was significantly lower in comparison to antibody-mediated rejection and cell-mediated (5514.7 ± 2404.0 vs 11856.1 ± 6643.5 and 16071.9 ± 10029.1 cm/sec2, respectively, p = 0.001. Area under ROC for iRIG was 0.90 ± 0.03 units2. Analysis showed that iRIG values above estimated treshold 7172 cm/sec2 suggested relative risk of any type of rejection 17.7 (95%CI = 6.3–49.9 sensitivity 80.5%, specificity – 81.1%, negative predictive value – 84

  19. The heart-break of social rejection versus the brain wave of social acceptance

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Molen, Maurits W.; Sahibdin, Priya P.; Franken, Ingmar H. A.

    2014-01-01

    The effect of social rejection on cardiac and brain responses was examined in a study in which participants had to decide on the basis of pictures of virtual peers whether these peers would like them or not. Physiological and behavioral responses to expected and unexpected acceptance and rejection were compared. It was found that participants expected that about 50% of the virtual judges gave them a positive judgment. Cardiac deceleration was strongest for unexpected social rejection. In contrast, the brain response was strongest to expected acceptance and was characterized by a positive deflection peaking around 325 ms following stimulus onset and the observed difference was maximal at fronto-central positions. The cardiac and electro-cortical responses were not related. It is hypothesized that these differential response patterns might be related to earlier described differential involvement of the dorsal and ventral portion of the anterior cingulate cortex. PMID:23887821

  20. Heterosexual Rejection and Mate Choice: A Sociometer Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin eZHANG

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies about the effects of social rejection on individuals’ social behaviors have produced mixed results and tend to study mating behaviors from a static point of view. However, mate selection in essence is a dynamic process, and therefore sociometer theory opens up a new perspective for studying mating and its underlying practices. Based on this theory and using self-perceived mate value in the relationship between heterosexual rejection and mate choice as a mediating role, this current study examined the effects of heterosexual rejection on mate choice in two experiments. Results showed that heterosexual rejection significantly reduced self-perceived mate value, expectation, and behavioral tendencies, while heterosexual acceptance indistinctively increased these measures. Self-perceived mate value did not serve as a mediator in the relationship between heterosexual rejection and mate expectation, but it mediated the relationship between heterosexual rejection and mating behavior tendencies towards potential objects. Moreover, individuals evaded both rejection and irrelevant people when suffering from rejection.

  1. Using the phase shift to asymptotically characterize the dipolar mixed modes in post-main-sequence stars

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jiang, C.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Cunha, M.

    2018-01-01

    from the eigenvalue condition for mixed modes as a tool to characterize dipolar mixed modes from the theoretical as well as the practical point of view. Unlike the coupling strength, whose variation in a given star is very small over the relevant frequency range, the phase shifts vary significantly...

  2. Hazards of X-ray diagnosis: Between rejection and exaggeration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rausch, L.

    1982-01-01

    The exaggeration and rejection of radiological protection has become a problem during the last decade. This has given rise to controversies which have occupied the scientific world and the public (eg. nuclear energy, low-dose debates, disputes over mammography). The observed deviations from interrationally accepted standard values overstep the domain of constructive and critical furtherance of the state of scientific knowledge. Extreme views are commonly represented by a biased choice of references, one-sided interpretation of available data or clearly false argumentation. Rejection and exaggeration are frequently practised by groups of people whose aims are non-scientific. The giudelines of leading international organisations (eg. UNSCEAR and ICRP) represent a consensus of opinion of numerous nations with extensive radiation research programmes but with entirely different social systems. For this reason it is likely that this consensus reflects most plausibly the assumptions of the present time. (orig.) [de

  3. Double-differential recording and AGC using microcontrolled variable gain ASIC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rieger, Robert; Deng, Shin-Liang

    2013-01-01

    Low-power wearable recording of biopotentials requires acquisition front-ends with high common-mode rejection for interference suppression and adjustable gain to provide an optimum signal range to a cascading analogue-to-digital stage. A microcontroller operated double-differential (DD) recording setup and automatic gain control circuit (AGC) are discussed which reject common-mode interference and provide tunable gain, thus compensating for imbalance and variation in electrode interface impedance. Custom-designed variable gain amplifiers (ASIC) are used as part of the recording setup. The circuit gain and balance is set by the timing of microcontroller generated clock signals. Measured results are presented which confirm that improved common-mode rejection is achieved compared to a single differential amplifier in the presence of input network imbalance. Practical measured examples further validate gain control suitable for biopotential recording and power-line rejection for wearable ECG and EMG recording. The prototype front-end consumes 318 μW including amplifiers and microcontroller.

  4. Social Causes and Consequences of Rejection Sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    London, Bonita; Downey, Geraldine; Bonica, Cheryl; Paltin, Iris

    2007-01-01

    Predictions from the Rejection Sensitivity (RS) model concerning the social causes and consequences of RS were examined in a longitudinal study of 150 middle school students. Peer nominations of rejection, self-report measures of anxious and angry rejection expectations, and social anxiety, social withdrawal, and loneliness were assessed at two…

  5. Renal and urinary levels of endothelial protein C receptor correlate with acute renal allograft rejection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lionel Lattenist

    Full Text Available The Endothelial Protein C Receptor (EPCR is expressed on leukocytes, on endothelium of large blood vessels and to a lesser extent on capillaries. Membrane bound EPCR plays an important role in the activation of protein C which has anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects. After cleavage by a protease EPCR is also found as a soluble protein. Acute rejection of kidney allografts can be divided in T-cell-mediated rejection (TCMR and antibody-mediated (ABMR rejection. The latter is characterized by strong activation of coagulation. Currently no reliable non-invasive biomarkers are available to monitor rejection. Renal biopsies were available from 81 renal transplant patients (33 without rejection, 26 TCMR and 22 ABMR, we had access to mRNA material, matched plasma and urine samples for a portion of this cohort. Renal EPCR expression was assessed by RT-PCR and immunostaining. Plasma and urine sEPCR levels were measured by ELISA. ABMR patients showed higher levels of EPCR mRNA than TCMR patients. EPCR expression on glomeruli was significantly elevated in ABMR patients than in TCMR or control patients. In the peritubular capillaries EPCR expression was higher in ABMR patients than in control patients. EPCR expression was higher in tubules and arteries of rejection patients than in control patients. Plasma sEPCR levels did not differ. Urine sEPCR levels were more elevated in the ABMR group than in patients with TCMR or without rejection. ROC analysis demonstrated that urinary sEPCR is appropriate to discriminate between ABMR patients and TCMR or control patients. We conclude that urinary sEPCR could be a novel non-invasive biomarker of antibody mediated rejection in renal transplantation.

  6. Peer Group Rejection and Children's Outgroup Prejudice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesdale, Drew; Durkin, Kevin; Maass, Anne; Kiesner, Jeff; Griffiths, Judith; Daly, Josh; McKenzie, David

    2010-01-01

    Two simulation studies examined the effect of peer group rejection on 7 and 9 year old children's outgroup prejudice. In Study 1, children (n = 88) pretended that they were accepted or rejected by their assigned group, prior to competing with a lower status outgroup. Results indicated that rejected versus accepted children showed increased…

  7. Modelling and characterization of the roof tile-shaped modes of AlN-based cantilever resonators in liquid media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruiz-Díez, V; Hernando-García, J; Toledo, J; Manzaneque, T; Sánchez-Rojas, J L; Kucera, M; Pfusterschmied, G; Schmid, U

    2016-01-01

    In this work, roof tile-shaped modes of MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) cantilever resonators with various geometries and mode orders are analysed. These modes can be efficiently excited by a thin piezoelectric film and a properly designed top electrode. The electrical and optical characterization of the resonators are performed in liquid media and the device performance is evaluated in terms of quality factor, resonant frequency and motional conductance. A quality factor as high as 165 was measured in isopropanol for a cantilever oscillating in the seventh order roof tile-shaped mode at 2 MHz. To support the results of the experimental characterization, a 2D finite element method simulation model is presented and studied. An analytical model for the estimation of the motional conductance was also developed and validated with the experimental measurements. (paper)

  8. The heart-break of social rejection versus the brain wave of social acceptance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Veen, Frederik M; van der Molen, Maurits W; Sahibdin, Priya P; Franken, Ingmar H A

    2014-09-01

    The effect of social rejection on cardiac and brain responses was examined in a study in which participants had to decide on the basis of pictures of virtual peers whether these peers would like them or not. Physiological and behavioral responses to expected and unexpected acceptance and rejection were compared. It was found that participants expected that about 50% of the virtual judges gave them a positive judgment. Cardiac deceleration was strongest for unexpected social rejection. In contrast, the brain response was strongest to expected acceptance and was characterized by a positive deflection peaking around 325 ms following stimulus onset and the observed difference was maximal at fronto-central positions. The cardiac and electro-cortical responses were not related. It is hypothesized that these differential response patterns might be related to earlier described differential involvement of the dorsal and ventral portion of the anterior cingulate cortex. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Risk of renal allograft rejection following angiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heideman, M.; Claes, G.; Nilson, A.E.

    1976-01-01

    In a retrospective study of 173 immediately functioning primary kidney transplants, correlation between angiography and renal allograft rejection was studied during the first 14 days. It was found that rejection was more frequent in kidneys undergoing angiography than in those not undergoing angiography. It was also found that in kidneys undergoing angiography an overwhelming number of the rejections started the day after angiography. These differences in rejection frequency could not be explained by differences in HLA matching or the origin of the kidneys. These findings suggest a possible connection indicating that the angiography might elicit an acute rejection episode. A possible mechanism for starting this reaction might be activation of the complement system which was found in 50 percent of the patients undergoing angiography in peripheral blood and in 100 percent when studied in vitro

  10. New approaches to the prevention of organ allograft rejection and tolerance induction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagley, Jessamyn; Tian, Chaorui; Iacomini, John

    2007-07-15

    The therapeutic use of organ allograft transplantation is dependent on the discovery and clinical application of immunologic strategies to blunt the immune response and prevent graft rejection. It was the discovery of powerful immunotherapeutics such as cyclosporine A and rapamycin that has allowed for the widespread use of organ transplantation to treat organ failure. However, despite the attainment of impressive survival rates 1 year after organ transplantation, a significant number of organ allografts are lost to immune-mediated chronic rejection. Furthermore, significant morbidity and mortality can be associated with the use of currently available immunosuppressive regimens. Thus, the development of novel approaches to prevent of organ allograft rejection remains extremely important. Here we discuss two promising and novel avenues of research. First, the discovery and characterization of naturally occurring immune inhibitory signals have led to recent research aimed at exploiting these pathways to induce peripheral tolerance to alloantigen. Furthermore, we discuss new approaches to the induction of donor-specific tolerance by induction of molecular chimerism and the transfer of alloantigen-expressing mature T cells.

  11. Using Compton scattering for random coincidence rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolstein, M.; Chmeissani, M.

    2016-01-01

    The Voxel Imaging PET (VIP) project presents a new approach for the design of nuclear medicine imaging devices by using highly segmented pixel CdTe sensors. CdTe detectors can achieve an energy resolution of ≈ 1% FWHM at 511 keV and can be easily segmented into submillimeter sized voxels for optimal spatial resolution. These features help in rejecting a large part of the scattered events from the PET coincidence sample in order to obtain high quality images. Another contribution to the background are random events, i.e., hits caused by two independent gammas without a common origin. Given that 60% of 511 keV photons undergo Compton scattering in CdTe (i.e. 84% of all coincidence events have at least one Compton scattering gamma), we present a simulation study on the possibility to use the Compton scattering information of at least one of the coincident gammas within the detector to reject random coincidences. The idea uses the fact that if a gamma undergoes Compton scattering in the detector, it will cause two hits in the pixel detectors. The first hit corresponds to the Compton scattering process. The second hit shall correspond to the photoelectric absorption of the remaining energy of the gamma. With the energy deposition of the first hit, one can calculate the Compton scattering angle. By measuring the hit location of the coincident gamma, we can construct the geometric angle, under the assumption that both gammas come from the same origin. Using the difference between the Compton scattering angle and the geometric angle, random events can be rejected.

  12. Modelling and characterization of colliding-pulse mode-locked (CPM) quantum well lasers. [MPS1

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bischoff, Svend; Brorson, S.D.; Franck, T.

    1996-01-01

    A theoretical and experimental study of passive colliding pulse mode-locked quantum well lasers is presented. The theoretical model for the gain dynamics is based on semi-classical density matrixequations. The gain dynamics are characterized exp...

  13. An Investigation of Digital Instrumentation and Control System Failure Modes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korsah, Kofi; Cetiner, Mustafa Sacit; Muhlheim, Michael David; Poore, Willis P. III

    2010-01-01

    A study sponsored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission study was conducted to investigate digital instrumentation and control (DI and C) systems and module-level failure modes using a number of databases both in the nuclear and non-nuclear industries. The objectives of the study were to obtain relevant operational experience data to identify generic DI and C system failure modes and failure mechanisms, and to obtain generic insights, with the intent of using results to establish a unified framework for categorizing failure modes and mechanisms. Of the seven databases studied, the Equipment Performance Information Exchange database was found to contain the most useful data relevant to the study. Even so, the general lack of quality relative to the objectives of the study did not allow the development of a unified framework for failure modes and mechanisms of nuclear I and C systems. However, an attempt was made to characterize all the failure modes observed (i.e., without regard to the type of I and C equipment under consideration) into common categories. It was found that all the failure modes identified could be characterized as (a) detectable/preventable before failures, (b) age-related failures, (c) random failures, (d) random/sudden failures, or (e) intermittent failures. The percentage of failure modes characterized as (a) was significant, implying that a significant reduction in system failures could be achieved through improved online monitoring, exhaustive testing prior to installation, adequate configuration control or verification and validation, etc.

  14. Shaping the spectra of the line-to-line voltage using signal injection in the common mode voltage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathe, Laszlo; Rasmussen, Peter Omand; Pedersen, John Kim

    2009-01-01

    A drawback of Pulse Width Modulation in electrical drives is the high harmonic content of the line to line voltages, which gives rise to Electro-Magnetic Interference and acoustic noise. By injection of a signal into the common mode voltage, the fundamental is not affected, but new frequency...

  15. 111-Indium-labelled platelets for diagnosis of acute kidney transplant rejection and monitoring of prostacyclin anti-rejection treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leithner, C.; Pohanka, E.; Schwarz, M.; Sinzinger, H.; Syre, G.

    1984-01-01

    33 patients were examined daily under a gamma camera after weekly injections of 111-In-labelled autologous platelets over a period of at least 4 weeks after transplantation. A group of 33 patients with long-term stable and well-functioning grafts served as controls. By means of a computerized recording technique, platelet trapping in the graft was measured and expressed as platelet-uptake index (PUI). The method worked well for the early diagnosis of acute rejection signified by an increase in PUI, accompanied by a shortening of platelet half life (t/2). 6 patients suffering from acute rejection received infusions of prostacyclin in addition to conventional high-dose methylprednisolone therapy. In 4 cases the PUI decreased again and an improvement in graft function was observed. Prostacyclin infusion treatment was applied also in 12 patients with histologically-proven chronic transplant rejection. Decreased platelet consumption by the graft and a temporary improvement in transplant function were achieved. We suggest that prostacyclin could enrich the possibilities of anti-rejection treatment by providing a tool for the suppression of platelet trapping in the graft. The platelet scan served as a useful method for the early detection of acute rejection, as well as the monitoring of prostacyclin anti-rejection treatment. (Autor)

  16. Rejection Sensitivity, Jealousy, and the Relationship to Interpersonal Aggression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Anna M; Russell, Gemma

    2018-07-01

    The development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships lead individuals to risk rejection in the pursuit of acceptance. Some individuals are predisposed to experience a hypersensitivity to rejection that is hypothesized to be related to jealous and aggressive reactions within interpersonal relationships. The current study used convenience sampling to recruit 247 young adults to evaluate the relationship between rejection sensitivity, jealousy, and aggression. A mediation model was used to test three hypotheses: Higher scores of rejection sensitivity would be positively correlated to higher scores of aggression (Hypothesis 1); higher scores of rejection sensitivity would be positively correlated to higher scores of jealousy (Hypothesis 2); jealousy would mediate the relationship between rejection sensitivity and aggression (Hypothesis 3). Study results suggest a tendency for individuals with high rejection sensitivity to experience higher levels of jealousy, and subsequently have a greater propensity for aggression, than individuals with low rejection sensitivity. Future research that substantiates a link between hypersensitivity to rejection, jealousy, and aggression may provide an avenue for prevention, education, or intervention in reducing aggression within interpersonal relationships.

  17. Thallium kinetics in rat cardiac transplant rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barak, J.H.; LaRaia, P.J.; Boucher, C.A.; Fallon, J.T.; Buckley, M.J.

    1988-01-01

    Cardiac transplant rejection is a very complex process involving both cellular and vascular injury. Recently, thallium imaging has been used to assess acute transplant rejection. It has been suggested that changes in thallium kinetics might be a sensitive indicator of transplant rejection. Accordingly, thallium kinetics were assessed in vivo in acute untreated rat heterotopic (cervical) transplant rejection. Male Lewis rats weighing 225-250 g received heterotopic heart transplants from syngeneic Lewis rats (group A; n = 13), or allogeneic Brown Norway rats (group B; n = 11). Rats were imaged serially on the 2nd and the 7th postoperative days. Serial cardiac thallium content was determined utilizing data collected every 150 sec for 2 hr. The data were fit to a monoexponential curve and the decay rate constant (/sec) derived. By day 7 all group B hearts had histological evidence of severe acute rejection, and demonstrated decreased global contraction. Group A hearts showed normal histology and contractility. However, thallium uptakes and washout of the two groups were the same. Peak thallium uptake of group B was +/- 3758 1166 counts compared with 3553 +/- 950 counts in the control group A (P = 0.6395); The 2-hr percentage of washout was 12.1 +/- 1.04 compared with 12.1 +/- 9.3 (P = 1.0000); and the decay constant was -0.00002065 +/- 0.00001799 compared with -0.00002202 +/- 0.00001508 (P = 0.8409). These data indicate that in vivo global thallium kinetics are preserved during mild-to-severe acute transplant rejection. These findings suggest that the complex cellular and extracellular processes of acute rejection limit the usefulness of thallium kinetics in the detection of acute transplant rejection

  18. Dual Z-Source Inverter With Three-Level Reduced Common-Mode Switching

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Feng; Loh, Poh Chiang; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents the design of a dual Z-source inverter that can be used with either a single dc source or two isolated dc sources. Unlike traditional inverters, the integration of a properly designed Z-source network and semiconductor switches to the proposed dual inverter allows buck......-boost power conversion to be performed over a wide modulation range, with three-level output waveforms generated. The connection of an additional transformer to the inverter ac output also allows all generic wye-or delta-connected loads with three-wire or four-wire configuration to be supplied by the inverter....... Modulationwise, the dual inverter can be controlled using a carefully designed carrier-based pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) scheme that will always ensure balanced voltage boosting of the Z-source network while simultaneously achieving reduced common-mode switching. Because of the omission of dead-time delays...

  19. Limbic justice--amygdala involvement in immediate rejection in the Ultimatum Game.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarina Gospic

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Imaging studies have revealed a putative neural account of emotional bias in decision making. However, it has been difficult in previous studies to identify the causal role of the different sub-regions involved in decision making. The Ultimatum Game (UG is a game to study the punishment of norm-violating behavior. In a previous influential paper on UG it was suggested that frontal insular cortex has a pivotal role in the rejection response. This view has not been reconciled with a vast literature that attributes a crucial role in emotional decision making to a subcortical structure (i.e., amygdala. In this study we propose an anatomy-informed model that may join these views. We also present a design that detects the functional anatomical response to unfair proposals in a subcortical network that mediates rapid reactive responses. We used a functional MRI paradigm to study the early components of decision making and challenged our paradigm with the introduction of a pharmacological intervention to perturb the elicited behavioral and neural response. Benzodiazepine treatment decreased the rejection rate (from 37.6% to 19.0% concomitantly with a diminished amygdala response to unfair proposals, and this in spite of an unchanged feeling of unfairness and unchanged insular response. In the control group, rejection was directly linked to an increase in amygdala activity. These results allow a functional anatomical detection of the early neural components of rejection associated with the initial reactive emotional response. Thus, the act of immediate rejection seems to be mediated by the limbic system and is not solely driven by cortical processes, as previously suggested. Our results also prompt an ethical discussion as we demonstrated that a commonly used drug influences core functions in the human brain that underlie individual autonomy and economic decision making.

  20. Cell-Free DNA and Active Rejection in Kidney Allografts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloom, Roy D; Bromberg, Jonathan S; Poggio, Emilio D; Bunnapradist, Suphamai; Langone, Anthony J; Sood, Puneet; Matas, Arthur J; Mehta, Shikha; Mannon, Roslyn B; Sharfuddin, Asif; Fischbach, Bernard; Narayanan, Mohanram; Jordan, Stanley C; Cohen, David; Weir, Matthew R; Hiller, David; Prasad, Preethi; Woodward, Robert N; Grskovic, Marica; Sninsky, John J; Yee, James P; Brennan, Daniel C

    2017-07-01

    Histologic analysis of the allograft biopsy specimen is the standard method used to differentiate rejection from other injury in kidney transplants. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a noninvasive test of allograft injury that may enable more frequent, quantitative, and safer assessment of allograft rejection and injury status. To investigate this possibility, we prospectively collected blood specimens at scheduled intervals and at the time of clinically indicated biopsies. In 102 kidney recipients, we measured plasma levels of dd-cfDNA and correlated the levels with allograft rejection status ascertained by histology in 107 biopsy specimens. The dd-cfDNA level discriminated between biopsy specimens showing any rejection (T cell-mediated rejection or antibody-mediated rejection [ABMR]) and controls (no rejection histologically), P rejection at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 61% and 84%, respectively. The AUC for discriminating ABMR from samples without ABMR was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.97). Positive and negative predictive values for ABMR at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 44% and 96%, respectively. Median dd-cfDNA was 2.9% (ABMR), 1.2% (T cell-mediated types ≥IB), 0.2% (T cell-mediated type IA), and 0.3% in controls ( P =0.05 for T cell-mediated rejection types ≥IB versus controls). Thus, dd-cfDNA may be used to assess allograft rejection and injury; dd-cfDNA levels rejection (T cell-mediated type ≥IB or ABMR) and levels >1% indicate a probability of active rejection. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

  1. Switched-capacitor multiply-by-two amplifier with reduced capacitor mismatches sensitivity and full swing sample signal common-mode voltage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Xinnan; Yao Suying; Xu Jiangtao; Nie Kaiming

    2012-01-01

    A switched-capacitor amplifier with an accurate gain of two that is insensitive to component mismatch is proposed. This structure is based on associating two sets of two capacitors in cross series during the amplification phase. This circuit permits the common-mode voltage of the sample signal to reach full swing. Using the charge-complement technique, the proposed amplifier can reduce the impact of parasitic capacitors on the gain accuracy effectively. Simulation results show that as sample signal common-mode voltage changes, the difference between the minimum and maximum gain error is less than 0.03%. When the capacitor mismatch is increased from 0 to 0.2%, the gain error is deteriorated by 0.00015%. In all simulations, the gain of amplifier is 69 dB. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  2. Peer victimization and peer rejection during early childhood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godleski, Stephanie A.; Kamper, Kimberly E.; Ostrov, Jamie M.; Hart, Emily J.; Blakely-McClure, Sarah J.

    2014-01-01

    Objective The development and course of the subtypes of peer victimization is a relatively understudied topic despite the association of victimization with important developmental and clinical outcomes. Moreover, understanding potential predictors, such as peer rejection and emotion regulation, in early childhood may be especially important to elucidate possible bi-directional pathways between relational and physical victimization and rejection. The current study (N = 97) was designed to explore several gaps and limitations in the peer victimization and peer rejection literature. In particular, the prospective associations between relational and physical victimization and peer rejection over the course of 3.5 months during early childhood (i.e., 3- to 5- years-old) were investigated in an integrated model. Method The study consisted of 97 (42 girls) preschool children recruited from four early childhood schools in the northeast of the US. Using observations, research assistant report and teacher report, relational and physical aggression, relational and physical victimization, peer rejection, and emotion regulation were measured in a short-term longitudinal study. Path analyses were conducted to test the overall hypothesized model. Results Peer rejection was found to predict increases in relational victimization. In addition, emotion regulation was found to predict decreases in peer rejection and physical victimization. Conclusions Implications for research and practice are discussed, including teaching coping strategies for peer rejection and emotional distress. PMID:25133659

  3. Victimization, social anxiety, and body dysmorphic concerns: appearance-based rejection sensitivity as a mediator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavell, Cassie H; Zimmer-Gembeck, Melanie J; Farrell, Lara J; Webb, Haley

    2014-09-01

    Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by extreme preoccupation with perceived deficits in physical appearance, and sufferers experience severe impairment in functioning. Previous research has indicated that individuals with BDD are high in social anxiety, and often report being the victims of appearance-based teasing. However, there is little research into the possible mechanisms that might explain these relationships. The current study examined appearance-based rejection sensitivity as a mediator between perceived appearance-based victimization, social anxiety, and body dysmorphic symptoms in a sample of 237 Australian undergraduate psychology students. Appearance-based rejection sensitivity fully mediated the relationship between appearance-based victimization and body dysmorphic symptoms, and partially mediated the relationship between social anxiety and body dysmorphic symptoms. Findings suggest that individuals high in social anxiety or those who have a history of more appearance-based victimization may have a bias towards interpreting further appearance-based rejection, which may contribute to extreme appearance concerns such as BDD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Understanding maladaptive responses to rejection: Aggression with an audience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeBono, Amber; Layton, Rebekah L; Freeman, Nicholas; Muraven, Mark

    2017-01-01

    Logically, responding aggressively to rejection is maladaptive because one is unlikely to seek a relationship with an aggressor. We predict that when concealed, the illogical aggressive response to rejection is more likely, whereas when the rejected individuals' aggressive responses are perceived as public, the aggressive acts may be reduced. Participants were rejected by others (Experiment 1) or were either accepted or rejected during an online ball-tossing game (Experiment 2) and were then given an opportunity to aggress publicly or privately. Across experiments, when the opportunity to aggress was made public, rejected participants exhibited less aggressive behavior. When concerned about the perception of their public aggressive responses by others, rejected individuals' aggressive responses diminished compared with those whose actions were private. Crucially, this extended to aggression visible only to neutral others, suggesting that effects cannot solely be due to fear of retribution.

  5. Predicting outcome of acute kidney transplant rejection using

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rekers, Niels Vincent

    2014-01-01

    Acute kidney transplant rejection is an important risk factors for adverse graft outcome. Once diagnosed, it remains difficult to predict the risk of graft loss and the response to anti-rejection treatment. The aim of this thesis was to identify biomarkers during acute rejection, which predict the

  6. Evaluation of load rejection to house load test at 50% power for UCN 3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Chang Gyun; Sohn, Suk Whun; Sohn, Jong Joo; Seo, Jong Tae; Lee, Sang Keun; Kim, Yong Sung; Nam, Kyu Won; Jung, Yang Mook; Chae, Kyeong Sik; Koh, Bum Jae; Oh, Chul Sung; Park, Hee Chool

    1998-01-01

    The Load Rejection to House Load test at 50% power was successfully performed during the UCN 3 PAT period. In this test, all plant control systems automatically controlled the plant from 50% power to house load operation mode. The KISPAC code, which was used in the performance analysis during the design process of UCN 3 and 4, predictions of the test agreed with the measured data demonstrating the validity of the code as well as completeness of the plant design

  7. Three-Level Inverters with Common-Mode Voltage Cancellation Based on Synchronous Pulsewidth Modulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oleschuk, Valentin; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2002-01-01

    A novel method of direct synchronous pulse-width modulation (PWM) is disseminated to three-level voltage source inverters with control algorithms with elimination of the common-mode voltages in three-phase drive systems with PWM. It provides smooth pulses-ratio changing and a quarter-wave symmetry...... of the voltage waveforms during the whole control range including overmodulation. Continuous, discontinuous and "direct-direct" schemes of synchronous PWM with both algebraic and trigonometric control functions have been analysed and compared. Simulations give the behaviour of the proposed methods and show some...... advantages of synchronous PWM in comparison with asynchronous at low ratios between the switching frequency and fundamental frequency....

  8. Multi-Mode Operation for On-line Uninterruptible Power Supply System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lu, Jinghang; Savaghebi, Mehdi; Golestan, Saeed

    2018-01-01

    To enhance the robustness and disturbance rejection ability of an on-line uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system, an Internal Model Control (IMC)-based DC-link voltage regulation method is proposed in this paper. Furthermore, the multi-mode operations of the on-line UPS system are investigated...

  9. Prevalence and characteristics of foal rejection in Arabian mares.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juarbe-Díaz, S V; Houpt, K A; Kusunose, R

    1998-09-01

    Separate surveys of Thoroughbred, Paint, and Arabian mare owners revealed a higher than expected rate of foal rejection in Arabian mares. A behavioural history form was submitted by owners of foal rejecting and nonrejecting Arabian mares, and maternal behaviour and management practices compared. Four generation pedigrees of rejecting and nonrejecting Arabian mares were also examined. Foal rejecting mares were more likely to avoid, threaten, squeal at, chase, bite, and kick their foals post partum than nonrejecting mares. Nonrejecting mares were more likely to lick, nicker and defend their foals post partum than rejecting mares. No statistically significant relationship was found between foal rejection and the type of breeding method (natural vs. artificial insemination), the presence of people at birth, the presence of nearby horses at birth, or assistance of the first nursing bout. The presence at least once of 1 of 2 related sires was statistically higher in the pedigrees of rejecting vs. nonrejecting mares. Inherited and learned or environmental factors are likely to affect the expression of foal rejection behaviour.

  10. Exploiting Reject Option in Classification for Social Discrimination Control

    KAUST Repository

    Kamiran, Faisal

    2017-09-29

    Social discrimination is said to occur when an unfavorable decision for an individual is influenced by her membership to certain protected groups such as females and minority ethnic groups. Such discriminatory decisions often exist in historical data. Despite recent works in discrimination-aware data mining, there remains the need for robust, yet easily usable, methods for discrimination control. In this paper, we utilize reject option in classification, a general decision theoretic framework for handling instances whose labels are uncertain, for modeling and controlling discriminatory decisions. Specifically, this framework permits a formal treatment of the intuition that instances close to the decision boundary are more likely to be discriminated in a dataset. Based on this framework, we present three different solutions for discrimination-aware classification. The first solution invokes probabilistic rejection in single or multiple probabilistic classifiers while the second solution relies upon ensemble rejection in classifier ensembles. The third solution integrates one of the first two solutions with situation testing which is a procedure commonly used in the court of law. All solutions are easy to use and provide strong justifications for the decisions. We evaluate our solutions extensively on four real-world datasets and compare their performances with previously proposed discrimination-aware classifiers. The results demonstrate the superiority of our solutions in terms of both performance and flexibility of applicability. In particular, our solutions are effective at removing illegal discrimination from the predictions.

  11. Characterization of the porosity distribution in the upper part of the karst Biscayne aquifer using common offset ground penetrating radar, Everglades National Park, Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mount, Gregory J.; Comas, Xavier; Cunningham, Kevin J.

    2014-07-01

    The karst Biscayne aquifer is characterized by a heterogeneous spatial arrangement of porosity and hydraulic conductivity, making conceptualization difficult. The Biscayne aquifer is the primary source of drinking water for millions of people in south Florida; thus, information concerning the distribution of karst features that concentrate the groundwater flow and affect contaminant transport is critical. The principal purpose of the study was to investigate the ability of two-dimensional ground penetrating radar (GPR) to rapidly characterize porosity variability in the karst Biscayne aquifer in south Florida. An 800-m-long GPR transect of a previously investigated area at the Long Pine Key Nature Trail in Everglades National Park, collected in fast acquisition common offset mode, shows hundreds of diffraction hyperbolae. The distribution of diffraction hyperbolae was used to estimate electromagnetic (EM) wave velocity at each diffraction location and to assess both horizontal and vertical changes in velocity within the transect. A petrophysical model (complex refractive index model or CRIM) was used to estimate total bulk porosity. A set of common midpoint surveys at selected locations distributed along the common-offset transect also were collected for comparison with the common offsets and were used to constrain one-dimensional (1-D) distributions of porosity with depth. Porosity values for the saturated Miami Limestone ranged between 25% and 41% for common offset GPR surveys, and between 23% and 39% for common midpoint GPR surveys. Laboratory measurements of porosity in five whole-core samples from the saturated part of the aquifer in the study area ranged between 7.1% and 41.8%. GPR estimates of porosity were found to be valid only under saturated conditions; other limitations are related to the vertical resolution of the GPR signal and the volume of the material considered by the measurement methodology. Overall, good correspondence between GPR estimates and

  12. Laughter as a social rejection cue: Influence of prior explicit experience of social rejection on cardiac signs of "freezing".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lackner, Helmut K; Reiter-Scheidl, Katharina; Aydin, Nilüfer; Perchtold, Corinna M; Weiss, Elisabeth M; Papousek, Ilona

    2018-06-01

    The study aimed at investigating the immediate cardiac effect of the sudden perception of other people's laughter after experimentally manipulating healthy participants' proneness to experience laughter as a cue of social threat. We expected that participants would show cardiac signs of freezing (i.e., sustained heart rate deceleration immediately after perception of the laughter) after prior social rejection but not or less so after prior acceptance, due to an increased bias to perceive the ambiguous social signal as a cue of social threat and rejection after rejection had been primed. Contrary to expectations, the perception of other people's laughter elicited a decelerative (freezing) response regardless of whether it was preceded by the experience of social rejection or acceptance. The response was prolonged in participants who had been accepted beforehand compared to those who had been rejected. The findings indicate that, given a relevant social context, other people's laughter can be a powerful cue of social threat and rejection also in healthy individuals. Prolonged heart rate deceleration after an ambiguous social signal may facilitate the processing of significant social information in the socially threatening situation. The study adds to the literature rendering the course of the immediate transient heart rate response a useful tool in social rejection research. Additionally, the findings suggested that in some cases the further progress of transient heart rate changes in more extended time-windows (about 30 s) may provide additional relevant information about the processing of social cues. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Characterization and Evaluation of 600 V Range Devices for Active Power Factor Correction in Boundary and Continuous Conduction Modes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hernandez Botella, Juan Carlos; Petersen, Lars Press; Andersen, Michael A. E.

    2015-01-01

    Traditional characterization of semiconductors switching dynamics is performed based on clamped inductive load measurements using the double pulse tester (DPT) configuration. This approach is valid for converters operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM), however in boundary conduction mode...

  14. Characterization of a pixelated CdTe Timepix detector operated in ToT mode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Billoud, T.; Leroy, C.; Papadatos, C.; Roux, J.S.; Pichotka, M.; Pospisil, S.

    2017-01-01

    A 1 mm thick CdTe sensor bump-bonded to a Timepix readout chip operating in Time-over-Threshold (ToT) mode has been characterized in view of possible applications in particle and medical physics. The CdTe sensor layer was segmented into 256 × 256 pixels, with a pixel pitch of 55  μm. This CdTe Timepix device, of ohmic contact type, has been exposed to alpha-particles and photons from an 241 Am source, photons from a 137 Cs source, and protons of different energies (0.8–10 MeV) delivered by the University of Montreal Tandem Accelerator. The device was irradiated on the negatively biased backside electrode. An X-ray per-pixel calibration commonly used for this type of detector was done and its accuracy and resolution were assessed and compared to those of a 300  μm thick silicon Timepix device. The electron mobility-lifetime product (μ e τ e ) of CdTe for protons of low energy has been obtained from the Hecht equation. Possible polarization effects have been also investigated. Finally, information about the homogeneity of the detector was obtained from X-ray irradiation.

  15. Detection of cardiac transplant rejection with radiolabeled lymphocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergmann, S.R.; Lerch, R.A.; Carlson, E.M.; Saffitz, J.E.; Sobel, B.E.

    1982-01-01

    To determine whether rejections of cardiac transplants could be detected specifically and non-invasively by lymphocytes labeled with indium-111 (111In), we studied 36 allogeneic and 14 isogeneic heterotopic cardiac transplants in rats. Allogeneic grafts accumulated autologous 111In-lymphocytes, detectable scintigraphically 24 hours after i.v. injection of the labeled cells. At the time of peak histologic rejection, the allogeneic grafts accumulated 92. +/- 4.8 times more activity than the native hearts (determined by well counting). The tissue-to-blood ratio in the rejecting transplants was 3.7 +/- 2.2; total uptake by the graft was 2.9 +/- 2.1% of the injected dose. Autoradiography confirmed that graft radioactivity was associated with labeled lymphocytes. In contrast, isogeneic grafts showed no signs of rejection and did not accumulate radioactivity. Because conventionally isolated and labeled lymphocytes are often contaminated with platelets, we prepared both 111In-platelets and purified 111In-lymphocytes for use in additional experiments. Allogeneic grafts accumulated platelets and purified lymphocytes independently. Thus, deposition of immunologically active cells in the rejecting graft representing specific pathophysiologic events can be detected. The results suggest that rejection of cardiac transplants can be detected noninvasively, potentially facilitating objective early clinical detection of rejection and titration of antirejection therapy

  16. High-testosterone men reject low ultimatum game offers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnham, Terence C

    2007-09-22

    The ultimatum game is a simple negotiation with the interesting property that people frequently reject offers of 'free' money. These rejections contradict the standard view of economic rationality. This divergence between economic theory and human behaviour is important and has no broadly accepted cause. This study examines the relationship between ultimatum game rejections and testosterone. In a variety of species, testosterone is associated with male seeking dominance. If low ultimatum game offers are interpreted as challenges, then high-testosterone men may be more likely to reject such offers. In this experiment, men who reject low offers ($5 out of $40) have significantly higher testosterone levels than those who accept. In addition, high testosterone levels are associated with higher ultimatum game offers, but this second finding is not statistically significant.

  17. 21 CFR 1230.47 - Rejected containers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rejected containers. 1230.47 Section 1230.47 Food... FEDERAL CAUSTIC POISON ACT Imports § 1230.47 Rejected containers. (a) In all cases where the containers... notification to the importer that the containers must be exported under customs supervision within 3 months...

  18. Image rejects in general direct digital radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hofmann, Bjørn; Rosanowsky, Tine Blomberg; Jensen, Camilla; Wah, Kenneth Hong Ching

    2015-01-01

    The number of rejected images is an indicator of image quality and unnecessary imaging at a radiology department. Image reject analysis was frequent in the film era, but comparably few and small studies have been published after converting to digital radiography. One reason may be a belief that rejects have been eliminated with digitalization. To measure the extension of deleted images in direct digital radiography (DR), in order to assess the rates of rejects and unnecessary imaging and to analyze reasons for deletions, in order to improve the radiological services. All exposed images at two direct digital laboratories at a hospital in Norway were reviewed in January 2014. Type of examination, number of exposed images, and number of deleted images were registered. Each deleted image was analyzed separately and the reason for deleting the image was recorded. Out of 5417 exposed images, 596 were deleted, giving a deletion rate of 11%. A total of 51.3% were deleted due to positioning errors and 31.0% due to error in centering. The examinations with the highest percentage of deleted images were the knee, hip, and ankle, 20.6%, 18.5%, and 13.8% respectively. The reject rate is at least as high as the deletion rate and is comparable with previous film-based imaging systems. The reasons for rejection are quite different in digital systems. This falsifies the hypothesis that digitalization would eliminates rejects. A deleted image does not contribute to diagnostics, and therefore is an unnecessary image. Hence, the high rates of deleted images have implications for management, training, education, as well as for quality

  19. Image rejects in general direct digital radiography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, Bjørn; Rosanowsky, Tine Blomberg; Jensen, Camilla; Wah, Kenneth Hong Ching

    2015-10-01

    The number of rejected images is an indicator of image quality and unnecessary imaging at a radiology department. Image reject analysis was frequent in the film era, but comparably few and small studies have been published after converting to digital radiography. One reason may be a belief that rejects have been eliminated with digitalization. To measure the extension of deleted images in direct digital radiography (DR), in order to assess the rates of rejects and unnecessary imaging and to analyze reasons for deletions, in order to improve the radiological services. All exposed images at two direct digital laboratories at a hospital in Norway were reviewed in January 2014. Type of examination, number of exposed images, and number of deleted images were registered. Each deleted image was analyzed separately and the reason for deleting the image was recorded. Out of 5417 exposed images, 596 were deleted, giving a deletion rate of 11%. A total of 51.3% were deleted due to positioning errors and 31.0% due to error in centering. The examinations with the highest percentage of deleted images were the knee, hip, and ankle, 20.6%, 18.5%, and 13.8% respectively. The reject rate is at least as high as the deletion rate and is comparable with previous film-based imaging systems. The reasons for rejection are quite different in digital systems. This falsifies the hypothesis that digitalization would eliminates rejects. A deleted image does not contribute to diagnostics, and therefore is an unnecessary image. Hence, the high rates of deleted images have implications for management, training, education, as well as for quality.

  20. Specimen rejection in laboratory medicine: Necessary for patient safety?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dikmen, Zeliha Gunnur; Pinar, Asli; Akbiyik, Filiz

    2015-01-01

    The emergency laboratory in Hacettepe University Hospitals receives specimens from emergency departments (EDs), inpatient services and intensive care units (ICUs). The samples are accepted according to the rejection criteria of the laboratory. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the sample rejection ratios according to the types of pre-preanalytical errors and collection areas. The samples sent to the emergency laboratory were recorded during 12 months between January to December, 2013 in which 453,171 samples were received and 27,067 specimens were rejected. Rejection ratios was 2.5% for biochemistry tests, 3.2% for complete blood count (CBC), 9.8% for blood gases, 9.2% for urine analysis, 13.3% for coagulation tests, 12.8% for therapeutic drug monitoring, 3.5% for cardiac markers and 12% for hormone tests. The most frequent rejection reasons were fibrin clots (28%) and inadequate volume (9%) for biochemical tests. Clotted samples (35%) and inadequate volume (13%) were the major causes for coagulation tests, blood gas analyses and CBC. The ratio of rejected specimens was higher in the EDs (40%) compared to ICUs (30%) and inpatient services (28%). The highest rejection ratio was observed in neurology ICU (14%) among the ICUs and internal medicine inpatient service (10%) within inpatient clinics. We detected an overall specimen rejection rate of 6% in emergency laboratory. By documentation of rejected samples and periodic training of healthcare personnel, we expect to decrease sample rejection ratios below 2%, improve total quality management of the emergency laboratory and promote patient safety.

  1. Sliding-Mode Control to Compensate PVT Variations in Dual Core Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pourshaghaghi, H.R.; Fatemi, S.H.; Pineda de Gyvez, J.

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel robust sliding-mode controller for stabilizing supply voltage and clock frequency of dual core processors determined by dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) methods in the presence of systematic and random variations. We show that maximum rejection for

  2. Corneal allograft rejection: Risk factors, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dua Harminder

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent advances in corneal graft technology, including donor tissue retrieval, storage and surgical techniques, have greatly improved the clinical outcome of corneal grafts. Despite these advances, immune mediated corneal graft rejection remains the single most important cause of corneal graft failure. Several host factors have been identified as conferring a "high risk" status to the host. These include: more than two quadrant vascularisation, with associated lymphatics, which augment the afferent and efferent arc of the immune response; herpes simplex keratitis; uveitis; silicone oil keratopathy; previous failed (rejected grafts; "hot eyes"; young recipient age; and multiple surgical procedures at the time of grafting. Large grafts, by virtue of being closer to the host limbus, with its complement of vessels and antigen-presenting Langerhans cells, also are more susceptible to rejection. The diagnosis of graft rejection is entirely clinical and in its early stages the clinical signs could be subtle. Graft rejection is largely mediated by the major histocompatibility antigens, minor antigens and perhaps blood group ABO antigens and some cornea-specific antigens. Just as rejection is mediated by active immune mediated events, the lack of rejection (tolerance is also sustained by active immune regulatory mechanisms. The anterior chamber associated immune deviation (ACAID and probably, conjunctiva associated lymphoid tissue (CALT induced mucosal tolerance, besides others, play an important role. Although graft rejection can lead to graft failure, most rejections can be readily controlled if appropriate management is commenced at the proper time. Topical steroids are the mainstay of graft rejection management. In the high-risk situations however, systemic steroids, and other immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporin and tacrolimus (FK506 are of proven benefit, both for treatment and prevention of rejection.

  3. Interferometric characterization of few-mode fibers (FMF) for mode-division multiplexing (MDM)

    OpenAIRE

    Muliar, Olena; Usuga Castaneda, Mario A.; Rottwitt, Karsten; Lægsgaard, Jesper

    2015-01-01

    The rapid growth of global data traffic demands the continuous search for new technologies and systems that could increase transmission capacity in optical links and recent experiments show that to do so, it is advantageous to explore new degrees of freedom such as polarization, wavelength or optical modes. Mode division multiplexing (MDM) appears in this context as a promising and viable solution for such capacity increase, since it utilizes multiple spatial modes of an optical fiber as indi...

  4. Diagnosis of cardiac allograft rejection with MR imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soulen, R.L.; Fraser, C.D.; Hutchins, G.M.; Baumgartner, W.A.; Reitz, B.A.

    1987-01-01

    Serial MR images and endomyocardial biopsy specimens of heterotopic cervical cardiac allotransplants were obtained in six dogs during 2 weeks of immunosuppression followed by 1 week without such therapy. A surface coil and gated spin-echo technique were used. Myocardial intensity (MI) measurements and histopathologic interpretations were performed independently. All six dogs showed a decrease in MI between their first and second MR studies, while showing no rejection. One dog had no rejection and died; in five dogs studies gated to every other beat showed progressive increase in MI that correlated significantly with increasing rejection, though absolute MI values did not correlated with a specific biopsy score. Severe rejection also caused overt increase in myocardial mass. The MI in the early postoperative period may reflect reperfusion injury. Absolute intensity values cannot predict rejection. Serial studies in transplant patients may prove clinically useful

  5. ADAPTIVE METHODS FOR STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS VIA NATURAL EMBEDDINGS AND REJECTION SAMPLING WITH MEMORY.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rackauckas, Christopher; Nie, Qing

    2017-01-01

    Adaptive time-stepping with high-order embedded Runge-Kutta pairs and rejection sampling provides efficient approaches for solving differential equations. While many such methods exist for solving deterministic systems, little progress has been made for stochastic variants. One challenge in developing adaptive methods for stochastic differential equations (SDEs) is the construction of embedded schemes with direct error estimates. We present a new class of embedded stochastic Runge-Kutta (SRK) methods with strong order 1.5 which have a natural embedding of strong order 1.0 methods. This allows for the derivation of an error estimate which requires no additional function evaluations. Next we derive a general method to reject the time steps without losing information about the future Brownian path termed Rejection Sampling with Memory (RSwM). This method utilizes a stack data structure to do rejection sampling, costing only a few floating point calculations. We show numerically that the methods generate statistically-correct and tolerance-controlled solutions. Lastly, we show that this form of adaptivity can be applied to systems of equations, and demonstrate that it solves a stiff biological model 12.28x faster than common fixed timestep algorithms. Our approach only requires the solution to a bridging problem and thus lends itself to natural generalizations beyond SDEs.

  6. ERROR VS REJECTION CURVE FOR THE PERCEPTRON

    OpenAIRE

    PARRONDO, JMR; VAN DEN BROECK, Christian

    1993-01-01

    We calculate the generalization error epsilon for a perceptron J, trained by a teacher perceptron T, on input patterns S that form a fixed angle arccos (J.S) with the student. We show that the error is reduced from a power law to an exponentially fast decay by rejecting input patterns that lie within a given neighbourhood of the decision boundary J.S = 0. On the other hand, the error vs. rejection curve epsilon(rho), where rho is the fraction of rejected patterns, is shown to be independent ...

  7. Rejection of Bromide and Bromate Ions by a Ceramic Membrane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moslemi, Mohammadreza; Davies, Simon H; Masten, Susan J

    2012-12-01

    Effects of pH and the addition of calcium chloride (CaCl(2)) on bromate (BrO(3) (-)) and bromide (Br(-)) rejection by a ceramic membrane were investigated. Rejection of both ions increased with pH. At pH 8, the rejection of BrO(3) (-) and Br(-) was 68% and 63%, respectively. Donnan exclusion appears to play an important role in determining rejection of BrO(3) (-) and Br(-). In the presence of CaCl(2), rejection of BrO(3) (-) and Br(-) ions was greatly reduced, confirming the importance of electrostatic interactions in determining rejection of BrO(3) (-) and Br(-). The effect of Ca(2+) is so pronounced that in most natural waters, rejection of both BrO(3) (-) and Br(-) by the membrane would be extremely small.

  8. Polymorphisms in STAT4 increase the risk of acute renal allograft rejection in the Chinese population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, H; Zhou, Q; Chen, Z M; Chen, W Q; Wang, M M; Chen, J H

    2011-05-01

    Recently, the signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) gene have been associated with multiple autoimmune diseases. Taking into consideration that the different autoimmune diseases may share some common pathogenetic pathways, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism on acute allograft rejection. The present case-control study included 453 renal allograft recipients and 378 sex matched healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using a PCR based discrimination assay for the rs7574865 STAT4 SNP. No evidence of association was found between health controls and renal transplant recipients for the G/T or T/T genotype and wild type G/G. (p=0.431, two-tailed χ(2); OR=0.894, 95% CI=0.677-1.181). But among the transplant recipients, the G/T or T/T genotype was more common in transplant rejectors (acute allograft rejection) than nonrejectors who had mostly wild-type G/G genotype (p=0.003, two-tailed χ(2); OR=0.542, 95% CI=0.361-0.815). We also found a trend that the frequency of G/T or T/T genotype was also relatively more in the acute cellular mediated rejection than antibody mediated ones (p=0.049, two-tailed χ(2); OR=0.466, 95% CI=0.216-1.003). Thus, our data suggest that the rs7574865 STAT4 SNP is a genetic susceptibility variant for acute renal allograft rejection in the Chinese population. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  9. Memory Distortion and Its Avoidance: An Event-Related Potentials Study on False Recognition and Correct Rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cadavid, Sara; Beato, Maria Soledad

    2016-01-01

    Memory researchers have long been captivated by the nature of memory distortions and have made efforts to identify the neural correlates of true and false memories. However, the underlying mechanisms of avoiding false memories by correctly rejecting related lures remains underexplored. In this study, we employed a variant of the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm to explore neural signatures of committing and avoiding false memories. ERP were obtained for True recognition, False recognition, Correct rejection of new items, and, more importantly, Correct rejection of related lures. With these ERP data, early-frontal, left-parietal, and late right-frontal old/new effects (associated with familiarity, recollection, and monitoring processes, respectively) were analysed. Results indicated that there were similar patterns for True and False recognition in all three old/new effects analysed in our study. Also, False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures activities seemed to share common underlying familiarity-based processes. The ERP similarities between False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures disappeared when recollection processes were examined because only False recognition presented a parietal old/new effect. This finding supported the view that actual false recollections underlie false memories, providing evidence consistent with previous behavioural research and with most ERP and neuroimaging studies. Later, with the onset of monitoring processes, False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures waveforms presented, again, clearly dissociated patterns. Specifically, False recognition and True recognition showed more positive going patterns than Correct rejection of related lures signal and Correct rejection of new items signature. Since False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures triggered familiarity-recognition processes, our results suggest that deciding which items are studied is based more on recollection

  10. Memory Distortion and Its Avoidance: An Event-Related Potentials Study on False Recognition and Correct Rejection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Cadavid

    Full Text Available Memory researchers have long been captivated by the nature of memory distortions and have made efforts to identify the neural correlates of true and false memories. However, the underlying mechanisms of avoiding false memories by correctly rejecting related lures remains underexplored. In this study, we employed a variant of the Deese/Roediger-McDermott paradigm to explore neural signatures of committing and avoiding false memories. ERP were obtained for True recognition, False recognition, Correct rejection of new items, and, more importantly, Correct rejection of related lures. With these ERP data, early-frontal, left-parietal, and late right-frontal old/new effects (associated with familiarity, recollection, and monitoring processes, respectively were analysed. Results indicated that there were similar patterns for True and False recognition in all three old/new effects analysed in our study. Also, False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures activities seemed to share common underlying familiarity-based processes. The ERP similarities between False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures disappeared when recollection processes were examined because only False recognition presented a parietal old/new effect. This finding supported the view that actual false recollections underlie false memories, providing evidence consistent with previous behavioural research and with most ERP and neuroimaging studies. Later, with the onset of monitoring processes, False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures waveforms presented, again, clearly dissociated patterns. Specifically, False recognition and True recognition showed more positive going patterns than Correct rejection of related lures signal and Correct rejection of new items signature. Since False recognition and Correct rejection of related lures triggered familiarity-recognition processes, our results suggest that deciding which items are studied is based more on

  11. A Longitudinal Study of Rejecting and Autonomy-Restrictive Parenting, Rejection Sensitivity, and Socioemotional Symptoms in Early Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Susan L; Gembeck, Melanie J Zimmer; Rudolph, Julia; Nesdale, Drew

    2015-08-01

    Rejection sensitivity (RS) has been defined as the tendency to readily perceive and overreact to interpersonal rejection. The primary aim of this study was to test key propositions of RS theory, namely that rejecting experiences in relationships with parents are antecedents of early adolescents' future RS and symptomatology. We also expanded this to consider autonomy-restrictive parenting, given the importance of autonomy in early adolescence. Participants were 601 early adolescents (age 9 to 13 years old, 51% boys) from three schools in Australia. Students completed questionnaires at school about parent and peer relationships, RS, loneliness, social anxiety, and depression at two times with a 14-month lag between assessments. Parents also reported on adolescents' difficulties at Time 1 (T1). It was anticipated that more experience of parental rejection, coercion, and psychological control would be associated with adolescents' escalating RS and symptoms over time, even after accounting for peer victimisation, and that RS would mediate associations between parenting and symptoms. Structural equation modelling supported these hypotheses. Parent coercion was associated with adolescents' increasing symptoms of social anxiety and RS over time, and parent psychological control was associated with increasing depressive symptoms over time. Indirect effects via RS were also found, with parent rejection and psychological control linked to higher T1 RS, which was then associated with increasing loneliness and RS. Lastly, in a separate model, peer victimisation and RS, but not parenting practices, were positively associated with concurrent parent reports of adolescents' difficulties.

  12. Evaluation of Load Rejection to house load test at 50% power for UCN 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Chang Gyun; Sohn, Suk Whun; Sohn, Jong Joo; Seo, Jong Tae; Lee, Sang Keun [Korea Power Engineering Company, Inc., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Yong Sung; Nam, Kyu Won; Jung, Yang Mook; Chae, Kyeong Sik; Koh, Bum Jae; Oh, Chul Sung; Park, Hee Chool [Korea Electric Power Corporation, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-12-31

    The Load Rejection to House Load test at 50% power was successfully performed during the UCN 3 PAT period. In this test, all plant control systems automatically controlled the plant from 50% power to house load operation mode. The KISPAC code, which was used in the performance analysis during the design process of UCN 3 and 4, predictions of the test agreed with the measured data demonstrating the validity of the code as well as the completeness of the plant design. 3 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab. (Author)

  13. Evaluation of Load Rejection to house load test at 50% power for UCN 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Chang Gyun; Sohn, Suk Whun; Sohn, Jong Joo; Seo, Jong Tae; Lee, Sang Keun [Korea Power Engineering Company, Inc., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Yong Sung; Nam, Kyu Won; Jung, Yang Mook; Chae, Kyeong Sik; Koh, Bum Jae; Oh, Chul Sung; Park, Hee Chool [Korea Electric Power Corporation, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1998-12-31

    The Load Rejection to House Load test at 50% power was successfully performed during the UCN 3 PAT period. In this test, all plant control systems automatically controlled the plant from 50% power to house load operation mode. The KISPAC code, which was used in the performance analysis during the design process of UCN 3 and 4, predictions of the test agreed with the measured data demonstrating the validity of the code as well as the completeness of the plant design. 3 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab. (Author)

  14. Uptake of myocardial imaging agents by rejected hearts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergsland, J.; Carr, E.A.; Carroll, M.; Wright, J.W.; Feldman, M.J.; Massucci, J.; Bhayana, J.N.; Gona, J.M.

    1985-01-01

    Technetium 99 m pyrophosphate, Gallium 67 and Thallium 201 uptakes were measured in heterotopically transplanted rat hearts. Five days after transplantation, Technetium 99 m pyrophosphate, and Gallium 67 uptakes were significantly higher in allogeneic grafts than in syngeneic grafts. At an early stage of rejection (three days after transplantation), only Technetium 99 m pyrophosphate uptake in the left ventricle of allogeneic grafts showed a significant difference (p less than 0.04). At five days, Thallium 201 uptake was significantly lower in allo- than syngeneic grafts. There was a positive correlation between radionuclide uptake and histologic degree of rejection for Technetium 99 m pyrophosphate and Gallium 67 while Thallium 201 uptake correlated negatively. Analysis of variance revealed that hearts with no or minimal rejection had statistically different uptakes than hearts with mild to moderate rejection. These results suggest that uptake of imaging agents might be useful in the diagnosis of rejection of the transplanted heart

  15. Comparison of Sociometrically High Visibility Rejected and Low Visibility Rejected Children on Teacher, Parent, and Self-Rating Measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neighbor, Jonelle C.

    The study looked at differences between groups of children identified as high visibility rejected (HVR) and low visibility rejected (LVR) on a sociometric measure with 952 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. Questionnaires were analyzed to determine the number of positive and negative nominations from peers received by each child. HVR…

  16. Prediction of acute cardiac rejection using radionuclide techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novitzky, D.; Bonioszczuk, J.; Cooper, D.K.C.; Isaacs, S.; Rose, A.G.; Smith, J.A.; Uys, C.J.; Barnard, C.N.; Fraser, R.

    1984-01-01

    Radionuclide scanning of the donor left ventricle using technetium-99m-labelled red cells was used to monitor acute rejection after heterotopic heart transplantation and compared with histopathological evidence of rejection obtained at examination of an endomyocardial biopsy specimen. The ejection fraction and end-diastolic, end-systolic and stroke volumes were calculated at each examination; an equation was derived from these data to predict the degree of acute rejection, using histopathological examination of endomyocardial biopsy specimens as criteria of the presence and severity of rejection. A highly significant multiple correlation between radionuclide scanning parameters and endomyocardial biopsy was found. The advantages of non-invasive radionuclide scanning over the invasive procedure of endomyocardial biopsy are discussed

  17. Highly coherent free-running dual-comb chip platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hébert, Nicolas Bourbeau; Lancaster, David G; Michaud-Belleau, Vincent; Chen, George Y; Genest, Jérôme

    2018-04-15

    We characterize the frequency noise performance of a free-running dual-comb source based on an erbium-doped glass chip running two adjacent mode-locked waveguide lasers. This compact laser platform, contained only in a 1.2 L volume, rejects common-mode environmental noise by 20 dB thanks to the proximity of the two laser cavities. Furthermore, it displays a remarkably low mutual frequency noise floor around 10  Hz 2 /Hz, which is enabled by its large-mode-area waveguides and low Kerr nonlinearity. As a result, it reaches a free-running mutual coherence time of 1 s since mode-resolved dual-comb spectra are generated even on this time scale. This design greatly simplifies dual-comb interferometers by enabling mode-resolved measurements without any phase lock.

  18. Antibody-Mediated Rejection in a Blood Group A-Transgenic Mouse Model of ABO-Incompatible Heart Transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motyka, Bruce; Fisicaro, Nella; Wang, Szu-I; Kratochvil, Annetta; Labonte, Katrina; Tao, Kesheng; Pearcey, Jean; Marshall, Thuraya; Mengel, Michael; Sis, Banu; Fan, Xiaohu; dʼApice, Anthony J F; Cowan, Peter J; West, Lori J

    2016-06-01

    ABO-incompatible (ABOi) organ transplantation is performed owing to unremitting donor shortages. Defining mechanisms of antibody-mediated rejection, accommodation, and tolerance of ABOi grafts is limited by lack of a suitable animal model. We report generation and characterization of a murine model to enable study of immunobiology in the setting of ABOi transplantation. Transgenesis of a construct containing human A1- and H-transferases under control of the ICAM-2 promoter was performed in C57BL/6 (B6) mice. A-transgenic (A-Tg) mice were assessed for A-antigen expression by histology and flow cytometry. B6 wild-type (WT) mice were sensitized with blood group A-human erythrocytes; others received passive anti-A monoclonal antibody and complement after heart transplant. Serum anti-A antibodies were assessed by hemagglutination. "A-into-O" transplantation (major histocompatibility complex syngeneic) was modeled by transplanting hearts from A-Tg mice into sensitized or nonsensitized WT mice. Antibody-mediated rejection was assessed by morphology/immunohistochemistry. A-Tg mice expressed A-antigen on vascular endothelium and other cells including erythrocytes. Antibody-mediated rejection was evident in 15/17 A-Tg grafts in sensitized WT recipients (median titer, 1:512), with 2 showing hyperacute rejection and rapid cessation of graft pulsation. Hyperacute rejection was observed in 8/8 A-Tg grafts after passive transfer of anti-A antibody and complement into nonsensitized recipients. Antibody-mediated rejection was not observed in A-Tg grafts transplanted into nonsensitized mice. A-Tg heart grafts transplanted into WT mice with abundant anti-A antibody manifests characteristic features of antibody-mediated rejection. These findings demonstrate an effective murine model to facilitate study of immunologic features of ABOi transplantation and to improve potential diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

  19. Allorecognition pathways in transplant rejection and tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Jason M; Bolton, Eleanor M; Bradley, J Andrew; Pettigrew, Gavin J

    2013-10-27

    With the advent of cellular therapies, it has become clear that the success of future therapies in prolonging allograft survival will require an intimate understanding of the allorecognition pathways and effector mechanisms that are responsible for chronic rejection and late graft loss.Here, we consider current understanding of T-cell allorecognition pathways and discuss the most likely mechanisms by which these pathways collaborate with other effector mechanisms to cause allograft rejection. We also consider how this knowledge may inform development of future strategies to prevent allograft rejection.Although both direct and indirect pathway CD4 T cells appear active immediately after transplantation, it has emerged that indirect pathway CD4 T cells are likely to be the dominant alloreactive T-cell population late after transplantation. Their ability to provide help for generating long-lived alloantibody is likely one of the main mechanisms responsible for the progression of allograft vasculopathy and chronic rejection.Recent work has suggested that regulatory T cells may be an effective cellular therapy in transplantation. Given the above, adoptive therapy with CD4 regulatory T cells with indirect allospecificity is a rational first choice in attempting to attenuate the development and progression of chronic rejection; those with additional properties that enable inhibition of germinal center alloantibody responses hold particular appeal.

  20. Graft rejection after hematopoietic cell transplantation with nonmyeloablative conditioning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Masmas, T.N.; Petersen, S.L.; Madsen, H.O.

    2008-01-01

    over time. The storage temperature of the apheresis products was identified as a risk factor for rejection. Storage of the apheresis products at 5 degrees C diminished the risk of rejection. Low donor T cell chimerism at Day +14 significantly increased the risk of rejection. Seven patients were...

  1. Synchronised Voltage Space Vector Modulation for Three-level Inverters with Common-mode Voltage Elimination

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oleschuk, Valentin; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2002-01-01

    A novel method of direct synchronous pulse-width modulation (PWM) is disseminated to three-level voltage source inverters with control algorithms with elimination of the common-mode voltages in three-phase drive systems with PWM. It provides smooth pulses-ratio changing and a quarter-wave symmetry...... of the voltage waveforms during the whole control range including overmodulation. Continuous, discontinuous and "direct-direct" schemes of synchronous PWM with both algebraic and trigonometric control functions have been analysed and compared. Simulations give the behaviour of the proposed methods and show some...... advantages of synchronous PWM in comparison with asynchronous at low ratios between the switching frequency and fundamental frequency....

  2. Repair of pathology of structure with mortar to reject the red ceramics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santana, Claudeir de Souza; Santos, Juzelia

    2010-01-01

    The aim of this research is the use of the reject of red ceramic from an industry of bricks and tiles from the region of Cuiaba as mortar for repair of structural pathology, looking for their application to replace the sand and gravel in the process. The mortar produced restores a park bench made of concrete which seat was made of red ceramic and legs of soil-cement bricks. The reject of red ceramic used is from an industry in the region of Cuiaba, discarded at the end of the production process, ground in an appropriate granulometry to simulate a generic type of sand and gravel. Grinding processes were developed and various granulometric curves were drawned. The aggregates produced were characterized from the deposit until the final grinding according to ABNT norms in force, the specific area by BET, was used for microanalysis X-ray diffraction. ABNT standards were used to characterize and compare the results. The mortar produced proved to be adequate for the proposal restoration, it was consistent and cohesive. It was concluded that the mortar produced with recycled aggregate of red ceramic can be used in structural restoration in civil construction to replace the natural aggregate, with cost and environmental benefits. (author)

  3. "Science" Rejects Postmodernism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    St. Pierre, Elizabeth Adams

    2002-01-01

    The National Research Council report, "Scientific Research in Education," claims to present an inclusive view of sciences in responding to federal attempts to legislate educational research. This article asserts that it narrowly defines science as positivism and methodology as quantitative, rejecting postmodernism and omitting other theories. Uses…

  4. High-testosterone men reject low ultimatum game offers

    OpenAIRE

    Burnham, Terence C

    2007-01-01

    The ultimatum game is a simple negotiation with the interesting property that people frequently reject offers of ‘free’ money. These rejections contradict the standard view of economic rationality. This divergence between economic theory and human behaviour is important and has no broadly accepted cause. This study examines the relationship between ultimatum game rejections and testosterone. In a variety of species, testosterone is associated with male seeking dominance. If low ultimatum game...

  5. Spatially Multiplexed Micro-Spectrophotometry in Bright Field Mode for Thin Film Characterization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valerio Pini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Thickness characterization of thin films is of primary importance in a variety of nanotechnology applications, either in the semiconductor industry, quality control in nanofabrication processes or engineering of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS because small thickness variability can strongly compromise the device performance. Here, we present an alternative optical method in bright field mode called Spatially Multiplexed Micro-Spectrophotometry that allows rapid and non-destructive characterization of thin films over areas of mm2 and with 1 μm of lateral resolution. We demonstrate an accuracy of 0.1% in the thickness characterization through measurements performed on four microcantilevers that expand an area of 1.8 mm2 in one minute of analysis time. The measured thickness variation in the range of few tens of nm translates into a mechanical variability that produces an error of up to 2% in the response of the studied devices when they are used to measure surface stress variations.

  6. Computed tomography dosimeter utilizing a radiochromic film and an optical common-mode rejection: characterization and calibration of the GafChromic XRCT film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohuchi, H.; Abe, M.

    2008-01-01

    Gafchromic XRCT radiochromic film is a self-developing high sensitivity radiochromic film product which can be used for assessment of delivered radiation doses which could match applications such as computed tomography (CT) dosimetry. The film automatically changes color upon irradiation changing from amber to dark greenish-black depending on the level of exposure. The absorption spectra of Gafchromic XRCT radiochromic film as measured with reflectance spectrophotometry have been investigated to analyse the dosimetry characteristics of the film. Results show two main absorption peaks produced from irradiation located at around 630 nm and 580 nm. We employed a commercially available, optical flatbed scanner for digitization of the film and image analysis software to determine the response of the XRCT films to ionizing radiation. The two dose response curves as a function of delivered dose ranging from 1.069 to 119.7 mGy for tube voltages of 80, 100, and 120 kV X-ray beams and from films scanned 24 hrs after exposure are obtained. One represents the net optical density obtained with the conventional analysis way using only red component and another shows the net reduced OD with the optical CMR scheme, which we developed, using red and green components. The measured ODs obtained with the optical CMR scheme show a good consistency among four samples and all values show an improved consistency with a second-order polynomial fit less than 1 mGy, while those with the conventional analysis exhibited a large discrepancy among four samples and did not show a consistency with a second-order polynomial fit less than 1 mGy. This result combined with its energy independence from 80 kV to 120 kV X-ray energy range provides a unique enhancement in dosimetric measurement capabilities such as the acquisition of high-spatial resolution and calibrated radiation dose profiles over currently available dosimetry films for CT applications. (author)

  7. Modeling and Analysis of the Common Mode Voltage in a Cascaded H-Bridge Electronic Power Transformer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun Yang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Electronic power transformers (EPTs have been identified as emerging intelligent electronic devices in the future smart grid, e.g., the Energy Internet, especially in the application of renewable energy conversion and management. Considering that the EPT is directly connected to the medium-voltage grid, e.g., a10 kV distribution system, and its cascaded H-bridges structure, the common mode voltage (CMV issue will be more complex and severe. The CMV will threaten the insulation of the entire EPT device and even produce common mode current. This paper investigates the generated mechanism and characteristics of the CMV in a cascaded H-bridge EPT (CHB-EPT under both balanced and fault grid conditions. First, the CHB-EPT system is introduced. Then, a three-phase simplified circuit model of the high-voltage side of the EPT system is presented. Combined with a unipolar modulation strategy and carrier phase shifting technology by rigorous mathematical analysis and derivation, the EPT internal CMV and its characteristics are obtained. Moreover, the influence of the sinusoidal pulse width modulation dead time is considered and discussed based on analytical calculation. Finally, the simulation results are provided to verify the validity of the aforementioned model and the analysis results. The proposed theoretical analysis method is also suitable for other similar cascaded converters and can provide a useful theoretical guide for structural design and power density optimization.

  8. Physical characterization of diesel exhaust nucleation mode particles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lahde, T.

    2013-11-01

    An increasing concern of the adverse health effects of aerosol particles is forcing the combustion engine industry to develop engines with lower particle emissions. The industry has put most of their efforts into soot control and has achieved a significant reduction in diesel exhaust particle mass. Nevertheless, it is not clear that the large particles, dominating the mass, cause the harmfulness of the exhaust particles in the biological interaction. Nowadays, the harmful potential of diesel exhaust particles often connects with the particle surface area, and the view has turned to particle number below 100 nm size range. Unfortunately, the achieved low exhaust particle mass does not necessarily imply a low particle number. This text focuses on the physical characteristics of diesel exhaust nucleation model particles. The volatility characteristics and the electrical charge state of the particles are studied first. Second, the relation between the nonvolatile nucleation mode emissions and the soot, the nitrogen oxide (NO{sub x}) emissions and the engine parameters are covered. The nucleation mode particles had distinctively different physical characteristics with different after-treatment systems. The nucleation mode was volatile and electrically neutral with a diesel particle filter after-treatment system. Without an after-treatment system or with an after-treatment system with low particle removal efficiency, the nucleation mode was partly nonvolatile and included an electrical charge. The difference suggests different formation routes for the nucleation particles with different after-treatment systems. The existence of the nonvolatile nucleation mode particles also affected the soot mode charge state. The soot charge state was positively biased when the nonvolatile nucleation mode was detected but slightly negatively biased when the nonvolatile nucleation mode was absent. The nonvolatile nucleation mode was always negatively biased. This electrical charge

  9. Characterization of mixed mode crack opening in concrete

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Jonas Sejersbøl; Poulsen, Peter Noe; Olesen, John Forbes

    2012-01-01

    components of the mixed mode displacement are measured using a custom made orthogonal gauge, and the measurements are used directly as the closed loop control signals. A double notch, concrete specimen is used for the crack investigation. The tests are divided into two steps, a pure Mode I opening step......In real concrete structures cracks often open in mixed mode after their initiation. To capture the direct material behavior of a mixed mode crack opening a stiff biaxial testing machine, capable of imposing both normal and shear loads on a given crack area, has been applied. The opening and sliding......, where a macro crack is initiated in the specimen followed by the mixed mode opening step. The high stiffness of the set-up together with the closed control loop ensures a stable crack initiation followed by a controllable mixed mode opening. The deep notches result in a plane crack, only influenced...

  10. The role of CD8+ T cells during allograft rejection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Bueno

    2002-11-01

    Full Text Available Organ transplantation can be considered as replacement therapy for patients with end-stage organ failure. The percent of one-year allograft survival has increased due, among other factors, to a better understanding of the rejection process and new immunosuppressive drugs. Immunosuppressive therapy used in transplantation prevents activation and proliferation of alloreactive T lymphocytes, although not fully preventing chronic rejection. Recognition by recipient T cells of alloantigens expressed by donor tissues initiates immune destruction of allogeneic transplants. However, there is controversy concerning the relative contribution of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to allograft rejection. Some animal models indicate that there is an absolute requirement for CD4+ T cells in allogeneic rejection, whereas in others CD4-depleted mice reject certain types of allografts. Moreover, there is evidence that CD8+ T cells are more resistant to immunotherapy and tolerance induction protocols. An intense focal infiltration of mainly CD8+CTLA4+ T lymphocytes during kidney rejection has been described in patients. This suggests that CD8+ T cells could escape from immunosuppression and participate in the rejection process. Our group is primarily interested in the immune mechanisms involved in allograft rejection. Thus, we believe that a better understanding of the role of CD8+ T cells in allograft rejection could indicate new targets for immunotherapy in transplantation. Therefore, the objective of the present review was to focus on the role of the CD8+ T cell population in the rejection of allogeneic tissue.

  11. A reconfigurable frequency-selective surface for dual-mode multi-band filtering applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majidzadeh, Maryam; Ghobadi, Changiz; Nourinia, Javad

    2017-03-01

    A reconfigurable single-layer frequency-selective surface (FSS) with dual-mode multi-band modes of operation is presented. The proposed structure is printed on a compact 10 × 10 mm2 FR4 substrate with the thickness of 1.6 mm. A simple square loop is printed on the front side while another one along with two defected vertical arms is deployed on the backside. To realise the reconfiguration, two pin diodes are embedded on the backside square loop. Suitable insertion of conductive elements along with pin diodes yields in dual-mode multi-band rejection of applicable in service frequency ranges. The first operating mode due to diodes' 'ON' state provides rejection of 2.4 GHz WLAN in 2-3 GHz, 5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN and X band in 5-12 GHz, and a part of Ku band in 13.9-16 GHz. In diodes 'OFF' state, the FSS blocks WLAN in 4-7.3 GHz, X band in 8-12.7 GHz as well as part of Ku band in 13.7-16.7 GHz. As well, high attenuation of incident waves is observed by a high shielding effectiveness (SE) in the blocked frequency bands. Also, a stable behaviour against different polarisations and angles of incidence is obtained. Comprehensive studies are conducted on a fabricated prototype to assess its performance from which encouraging results are obtained.

  12. One-way mode transmission in one-dimensional phononic crystal plates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xuefeng; Zou, Xinye; Liang, Bin; Cheng, Jianchun

    2010-12-01

    We investigate theoretically the band structures of one-dimensional phononic crystal (PC) plates with both antisymmetric and symmetric structures, and show how unidirectional transmission behavior can be obtained for either antisymmetric waves (A modes) or symmetric waves (S modes) by exploiting mode conversion and selection in the linear plate systems. The theoretical approach is illustrated for one PC plate example where unidirectional transmission behavior is obtained in certain frequency bands. Employing harmonic frequency analysis, we numerically demonstrate the one-way mode transmission for the PC plate with finite superlattice by calculating the steady-state displacement fields under A modes source (or S modes source) in forward and backward direction, respectively. The results show that the incident waves from A modes source (or S modes source) are transformed into S modes waves (or A modes waves) after passing through the superlattice in the forward direction and the Lamb wave rejections in the backward direction are striking with a power extinction ratio of more than 1000. The present structure can be easily extended to two-dimensional PC plate and efficiently encourage practical studies of experimental realization which is believed to have much significance for one-way Lamb wave mode transmission.

  13. Acute appendicitis mistaken as acute rejection in renal transplant recipients.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Talwalkar N

    1994-01-01

    Full Text Available Case histories of 2 renal transplant recipients are reported who had presenting features of fever, leukocytosis and pain/tenderness over right iliac fossa and were diagnosed to be due to acute appendicitis rather than more commonly suspected acute rejection episode which has very similar features. Diagnosis of acute appendicitis was suspected on the basis of rectal examination and later confirmed by laparotomy. The purpose of this communication is to emphasize the need for proper diagnosis in patient with such presentation; otherwise wrong treatment may be received.

  14. Total lymphoid irradiation for treatment of intractable cardiac allograft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunt, S.A.; Strober, S.; Hoppe, R.T.; Stinson, E.B.

    1991-01-01

    The ability of postoperative total lymphoid irradiation to reverse otherwise intractable cardiac allograft rejection was examined in a group of 10 patients in whom conventional rejection therapy (including pulsed steroids and monoclonal or polyclonal anti-T-cell antibody therapy) had failed to provide sustained freedom from rejection. Follow-up periods range from 73 to 1119 days since the start of total lymphoid irradiation. No patient died or sustained serious morbidity because of the irradiation. Three patients have had no further rejection (follow-up periods, 105 to 365 days). Two patients died--one in cardiogenic shock during the course of total lymphoid irradiation, the other with recurrent rejection caused by noncompliance with his medical regimen. Total lymphoid irradiation appears to be a safe and a moderately effective immunosuppressive modality for 'salvage' therapy of cardiac allograft rejection unresponsive to conventional therapy

  15. Three distinct modes of intron dynamics in the evolution of eukaryotes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmel, Liran; Wolf, Yuri I; Rogozin, Igor B; Koonin, Eugene V

    2007-07-01

    Several contrasting scenarios have been proposed for the origin and evolution of spliceosomal introns, a hallmark of eukaryotic genes. A comprehensive probabilistic model to obtain a definitive reconstruction of intron evolution was developed and applied to 391 sets of conserved genes from 19 eukaryotic species. It is inferred that a relatively high intron density was reached early, i.e., the last common ancestor of eukaryotes contained >2.15 introns/kilobase, and the last common ancestor of multicellular life forms harbored approximately 3.4 introns/kilobase, a greater intron density than in most of the extant fungi and in some animals. The rates of intron gain and intron loss appear to have been dropping during the last approximately 1.3 billion years, with the decline in the gain rate being much steeper. Eukaryotic lineages exhibit three distinct modes of evolution of the intron-exon structure. The primary, balanced mode, apparently, operates in all lineages. In this mode, intron gain and loss are strongly and positively correlated, in contrast to previous reports on inverse correlation between these processes. The second mode involves an elevated rate of intron loss and is prevalent in several lineages, such as fungi and insects. The third mode, characterized by elevated rate of intron gain, is seen only in deep branches of the tree, indicating that bursts of intron invasion occurred at key points in eukaryotic evolution, such as the origin of animals. Intron dynamics could depend on multiple mechanisms, and in the balanced mode, gain and loss of introns might share common mechanistic features.

  16. The sight of an adult brood parasite near the nest is an insufficient cue for a honeyguide host to reject foreign eggs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Wenfei; Horrocks, Nicholas P C; Spottiswoode, Claire N

    2015-07-01

    Hosts of brood-parasitic birds typically evolve anti-parasitism defences, including mobbing of parasitic intruders at the nest and the ability to recognize and reject foreign eggs from their clutches. The Greater Honeyguide Indicator indicator is a virulent brood parasite that punctures host eggs and kills host young, and accordingly, a common host, the Little Bee-eater Merops pusillus frequently rejects entire clutches that have been parasitized. We predicted that given the high costs of accidentally rejecting an entire clutch, and that the experimental addition of a foreign egg is insufficient to induce this defence, Bee-eaters require the sight of an adult parasite near the nest as an additional cue for parasitism before they reject a clutch. We found that many Little Bee-eater parents mobbed Greater Honeyguide dummies while ignoring barbet control dummies, showing that they recognized them as a threat. Surprisingly, however, neither a dummy Honeyguide nor the presence of a foreign egg, either separately or in combination, was sufficient to stimulate egg rejection.

  17. A common mode of origin of power laws in models of market and earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharyya, Pratip; Chatterjee, Arnab; Chakrabarti, Bikas K.

    2007-07-01

    We show that there is a common mode of origin for the power laws observed in two different models: (i) the Pareto law for the distribution of money among the agents with random-saving propensities in an ideal gas-like market model and (ii) the Gutenberg-Richter law for the distribution of overlaps in a fractal-overlap model for earthquakes. We find that the power laws appear as the asymptotic forms of ever-widening log-normal distributions for the agents’ money and the overlap magnitude, respectively. The identification of the generic origin of the power laws helps in better understanding and in developing generalized views of phenomena in such diverse areas as economics and geophysics.

  18. Local graft irradiation in renal transplant rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamura, Masashi; Kataoka, Masaaki; Itoh, Hisao

    1990-01-01

    From 1977 to 1988, of 142 renal transplantations, seven recipients (4.9%) received local graft irradiation following rejective reaction refractory to antirejection medical managements. Concurrent with the administration of pulsed high dose methylprednisolone and other antirejection medical managements, the graft was irradiated with a total dose of 6.0 Gy-150 cGy per fraction every other day at the midplane of the graft using two opposing portals of 4MX Linac. The fields were defined by palpation and echography. All patients had improvements in serum creatinine on the 10th day after beginning the irradiation. Four patients with peripheral lymphocytosis during the irradiation combined with pulsed high dose methylprednisolone improved in renal functions. On the other hand, out of 3 patients with lymphcytopenic changes, in two the transplanted graft was removed due to deteriorations, and the other patient is currently suffering from chronic rejection. Local graft irradiation can be useful in maintaining a rejective graft and reversing its functions in some patients whose rejective reaction failed to respond to the antirejection medical managements. (author)

  19. Modeling rejection immunity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaetano Andrea De

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Transplantation is often the only way to treat a number of diseases leading to organ failure. To overcome rejection towards the transplanted organ (graft, immunosuppression therapies are used, which have considerable side-effects and expose patients to opportunistic infections. The development of a model to complement the physician’s experience in specifying therapeutic regimens is therefore desirable. The present work proposes an Ordinary Differential Equations model accounting for immune cell proliferation in response to the sudden entry of graft antigens, through different activation mechanisms. The model considers the effect of a single immunosuppressive medication (e.g. cyclosporine, subject to first-order linear kinetics and acting by modifying, in a saturable concentration-dependent fashion, the proliferation coefficient. The latter has been determined experimentally. All other model parameter values have been set so as to reproduce reported state variable time-courses, and to maintain consistency with one another and with the experimentally derived proliferation coefficient. Results The proposed model substantially simplifies the chain of events potentially leading to organ rejection. It is however able to simulate quantitatively the time course of graft-related antigen and competent immunoreactive cell populations, showing the long-term alternative outcomes of rejection, tolerance or tolerance at a reduced functional tissue mass. In particular, the model shows that it may be difficult to attain tolerance at full tissue mass with acceptably low doses of a single immunosuppressant, in accord with clinical experience. Conclusions The introduced model is mathematically consistent with known physiology and can reproduce variations in immune status and allograft survival after transplantation. The model can be adapted to represent different therapeutic schemes and may offer useful indications for the optimization of

  20. MF/UF rejection and fouling potential of algal organic matter from bloom-forming marine and freshwater algae

    KAUST Repository

    Villacorte, Loreen O.

    2015-07-01

    Pretreatment with microfiltration (MF) or ultrafiltration (UF) membranes has been proposed for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants to address operational issues associated with algal blooms. Here, we investigated the MF/UF rejection and fouling potential of algal organic matter (AOM) released by common species of bloom-forming marine (Alexandrium tamarense and Chaetoceros affinis) and freshwater (Microcystis sp.) algae. Batch culture monitoring of the three algal species illustrated varying growth pattern, cell concentration, AOM released and membrane fouling potential. The high membrane fouling potential of the cultures can be directly associated (R2>0.85) with AOM such as transparent exopolymer particle (TEP) while no apparent relationship with algal cell concentration was observed. The AOM comprised mainly biopolymers (e.g., polysaccharides and proteins) and low molecular weight organic compounds (e.g., humic-like substances). The former were largely rejected by MF/UF membranes while the latter were poorly rejected. MF (0.4μm and 0.1μm pore size) rejected 14%-56% of biopolymers while conventional UF (100kDa) and tight UF (10kDa) rejected up to 83% and 97%, respectively. The retention of AOM resulted in a rapid increase in trans-membrane pressure (δP) over time, characterised by pore blocking followed by cake filtration with enhanced compression as illustrated by an exponential progression of δP. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

  1. Eosinophil count, allergies, and rejection in pediatric heart transplant recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arbon, Kate S; Albers, Erin; Kemna, Mariska; Law, Sabrina; Law, Yuk

    2015-08-01

    Allograft rejection and long-term immunosuppression remain significant challenges in pediatric heart transplantation. Pediatric recipients are known to have fewer rejection episodes and to develop more allergic conditions than adults. A T-helper 2 cell dominant phenotype, manifested clinically by allergies and an elevated eosinophil count, may be associated with immunologic quiescence in transplant recipients. This study assessed whether the longitudinal eosinophil count and an allergic phenotype were associated with freedom from rejection. This single-center, longitudinal, observational study included 86 heart transplant patients monitored from 1994 to 2011. Post-transplant biannual complete blood counts, allergic conditions, and clinical characteristics related to rejection risk were examined. At least 1 episode of acute cellular rejection (ACR) occurred in 38 patients (44%), antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) occurred in 11 (13%), and 49 patients (57%) were diagnosed with an allergic condition. Patients with ACR or AMR had a lower eosinophil count compared with non-rejectors (p = 0.011 and p = 0.022, respectively). In the multivariable regression analysis, the presence of panel reactive antibodies to human leukocyte antigen I (p = 0.014) and the median eosinophil count (p = 0.011) were the only independent covariates associated with AMR. Eosinophil count (p = 0.010) and female sex (p = 0.009) were independent risk factors for ACR. Allergic conditions or young age at transplant were not protective from rejection. This study demonstrates a novel association between a high eosinophil count and freedom from rejection. Identifying a biomarker for low rejection risk may allow a reduction in immunosuppression. Further investigation into the role of the T-helper 2 cell phenotype and eosinophils in rejection quiescence is warranted. Copyright © 2015 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Rejection of micropollutants by clean and fouled forward osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

    2011-12-01

    As forward osmosis (FO) gains attention as an efficient technology to improve wastewater reclamation processes, it is fundamental to determine the influence of fouling in the rejection of emerging contaminants (micropollutants). This study focuses on the rejection of 13 selected micropollutants, spiked in a secondary wastewater effluent, by a FO membrane, using Red Sea water as draw solution (DS), differentiating the effects on the rejection caused by a clean and fouled membrane. The resulting effluent was then desalinated at low pressure with a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, to produce a high quality permeate and determine the rejection with a coupled forward osmosis - low pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) system. When considering only FO with a clean membrane, the rejection of the hydrophilic neutral compounds was between 48.6% and 84.7%, for the hydrophobic neutrals the rejection ranged from 40.0% to 87.5%, and for the ionic compounds the rejections were between 92.9% and 96.5%. With a fouled membrane, the rejections were between 44.6% and 95.2%, 48.7%-91.5% and 96.9%-98.6%, respectively. These results suggest that, except for the hydrophilic neutral compounds, the rejection of the micropollutants is increased by the presence of a fouling layer, possibly due to the higher hydrophilicity of the FO fouled membrane compared to the clean one, the increased adsorption capacity of hydrophilic compounds and reduced mass transport capacity, membrane swelling, and the higher negative charge of the membrane surface, related to the foulants composition, mainly NOM acids (carboxylic radicals) and polysaccharides or polysaccharide-like substances. However, when coupled with RO, the rejections in both cases increased above 96%. The coupled FO-LPRO system was an effective double barrier against the selected micropollutants. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

  3. Rejection of micropollutants by clean and fouled forward osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Li, Zhenyu; Amy, Gary L.

    2011-01-01

    As forward osmosis (FO) gains attention as an efficient technology to improve wastewater reclamation processes, it is fundamental to determine the influence of fouling in the rejection of emerging contaminants (micropollutants). This study focuses on the rejection of 13 selected micropollutants, spiked in a secondary wastewater effluent, by a FO membrane, using Red Sea water as draw solution (DS), differentiating the effects on the rejection caused by a clean and fouled membrane. The resulting effluent was then desalinated at low pressure with a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane, to produce a high quality permeate and determine the rejection with a coupled forward osmosis - low pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) system. When considering only FO with a clean membrane, the rejection of the hydrophilic neutral compounds was between 48.6% and 84.7%, for the hydrophobic neutrals the rejection ranged from 40.0% to 87.5%, and for the ionic compounds the rejections were between 92.9% and 96.5%. With a fouled membrane, the rejections were between 44.6% and 95.2%, 48.7%-91.5% and 96.9%-98.6%, respectively. These results suggest that, except for the hydrophilic neutral compounds, the rejection of the micropollutants is increased by the presence of a fouling layer, possibly due to the higher hydrophilicity of the FO fouled membrane compared to the clean one, the increased adsorption capacity of hydrophilic compounds and reduced mass transport capacity, membrane swelling, and the higher negative charge of the membrane surface, related to the foulants composition, mainly NOM acids (carboxylic radicals) and polysaccharides or polysaccharide-like substances. However, when coupled with RO, the rejections in both cases increased above 96%. The coupled FO-LPRO system was an effective double barrier against the selected micropollutants. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

  4. Complement and hyper acute rejection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Al-Rabia Mohammed

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Organ transplantation has been a major development in clinical medicine but its success has been marred by the immune system′s capacity to respond to "non-self" cells and tissues. A full molecular understanding of this mechanism and the myriad triggers for immune rejection is yet to be elucidated. Consequently, immunosuppressive drugs remain the mainstay of post-transplant ma-nagement; however, these interventions have side effects such as increased incidence of cancer, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders, susceptibility to infection if not managed appro-priately and the inconvenience to the patient of lifelong treatment. Novel therapeutic approaches based on molecular understanding of immunological processes are thus needed in this field. The notion that factors influencing successful transplants might be of use as therapeutic approaches is both scientifically and medically appealing. Recent developments in the understanding of successful transplants are expected to provide new opportunities for safer transplantation. This article reviews the present understanding of the molecular basis of rejection and the role of complement in this process as well as the possibility of generating "intelligent" therapy that better target crucial components of hyper-acute rejections.

  5. Antimyosin imaging in cardiac transplant rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, L.L.; Cannon, P.J.

    1991-01-01

    Fab fragments of antibodies specific for cardiac myosin have been labeled with indium-111 and injected intravenously into animals and into patients with heart transplants. The antibodies, developed by Khaw, Haber, and co-workers, localize in cardiac myocytes that have been damaged irreversibly by ischemia, myocarditis, or the rejection process. After clearance of the labeled antibody from the cardiac blood pool, planar imaging or single photon emission computed tomography is performed. Scintigrams reveal the uptake of the labeled antimyosin in areas of myocardium undergoing transplant rejection. In animal studies, the degree of antimyosin uptake appears to correlate significantly with the degree of rejection assessed at necropsy. In patients, the correlation between scans and pathologic findings from endomyocardial biopsy is not as good, possibly because of sampling error in the endomyocardial biopsy technique. The scan results at 1 year correlate with either late complications (positive) or benign course (negative). Current limitations of the method include slow blood clearance, long half-life of indium-111, and hepatic uptake. Overcoming these limitations represents a direction for current research. It is possible that from these efforts a noninvasive approach to the diagnosis and evaluation of cardiac transplantation may evolve that will decrease the number of endomyocardial biopsies required to evaluate rejection. This would be particularly useful in infants and children. 31 references

  6. Effect of quartz sand replacement by agate rejects in triaxial porcelain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Correia, Sivaldo L.; Dienstmann, Gracieli; Folgueras, Marilena V.; Segadaes, Ana M.

    2009-01-01

    The ceramics industry, given the high volume of materials processed, stands as one of the largest consumers of natural raw materials but has also the capacity and potential to make significant contributions to solving environmental problems associated with other industries rejects. This work investigates the effects of quartz sand replacement by agate rejects (scrap) in a traditional triaxial porcelain composition. The study was carried out using the design of experiments (DoE) method. Characterization results were used to calculate statistically significant and valid regression equations, relating dried and fired body properties with clay, feldspar and agate scrap contents in the unfired mixture. The regression models were then discussed against X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy results and used simultaneously to delimit the combinations of those three raw materials most adequate to produce a porcelainized stoneware floor tile with specified properties. Thus, an alternative use of an otherwise waste material is proposed, which can be translated into economic benefits and an important and welcome relief on environmental and waste disposal concerns

  7. Graft rejection as a Th1-type process amenable to regulation by donor Th2-type cells through an interleukin-4/STAT6 pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mariotti, Jacopo; Foley, Jason; Ryan, Kaitlyn; Buxhoeveden, Nicole; Kapoor, Veena; Amarnath, Shoba; Fowler, Daniel H

    2008-12-01

    Graft rejection has been defined as the mirror image of graft-versus-host disease, which is biologically characterized primarily as a Th1-type process. As such, we reasoned that graft rejection would represent a Th1 response amenable to Th2 modulation. Indeed, adoptive transfer of host Th1-type cells mediated rejection of fully MHC-disparate murine bone marrow allografts more effectively than host Th2-type cells. Furthermore, STAT1-deficient host T cells did not differentiate into Th1-type cells in vivo and failed to mediate rejection. We next hypothesized that donor Th2 cell allograft augmentation would prevent rejection by modulation of the host Th1/Th2 balance. In the setting of donor Th2 cell therapy, host-anti-donor allospecific T cells acquired Th2 polarity, persisted posttransplantation, and did not mediate rejection. Abrogation of rejection required donor Th2 cell IL-4 secretion and host T-cell STAT6 signaling. In conclusion, T cell-mediated marrow graft rejection primarily resembles a Th1-type process that can be abrogated by donor Th2 cell therapy that promotes engraftment through a novel mechanism whereby cytokine polarization is transferred to host T cells.

  8. New gas-filled mode of the large-acceptance spectrometer VAMOS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmitt, C.; Rejmund, M.; Navin, A.; Lecornu, B.; Jacquot, B.; France, G. de; Lemasson, A.; Shrivastava, A.; Greenlees, P.; Uusitalo, J.; Subotic, K.; Gaudefroy, L.; Theisen, Ch.; Sulignano, B.; Dorvaux, O.; Stuttge, L.

    2010-01-01

    A new gas-filled operation mode of the large-acceptance spectrometer VAMOS at GANIL is reported. A beam rejection factor greater than 10 10 is obtained for the 40 Ca+ 150 Sm system at 196 MeV. The unprecedented transmission efficiency for the evaporation residues produced in this reaction is estimated to be around 80% for αx n channels and above 95% for x ny p channels. A detailed study of the performance of the gas-filled VAMOS and future developments are discussed. This new operation mode opens avenues to explore the potential of fusion reactions in various kinematics.

  9. Structural Decoupling and Disturbance Rejection in a Distillation Column

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bahar, Mehrdad; Jantzen, Jan; Commault, C.

    1996-01-01

    Introduction, distillation column model, input-output decoupling, disturbance rejection, concluding remarks, references.......Introduction, distillation column model, input-output decoupling, disturbance rejection, concluding remarks, references....

  10. THE DIAGNOSIS OF LIVER ALLOGRAFT ACUTE REJECTION IN LIVER BIOPSIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Shkalova

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We performed histological examination of 80 liver allograft biopsies, the diagnosis of acute rejection was proved in 34 cases. Histological changes in liver biopsies in different grades of acute rejection were estimated according to Banff classification 1995, 1997 and were compared with current literature data. The article deals with the question of morphological value of grading acute rejection on early and late, also we analyze changes in treat- ment tactics after morphological verification of liver allograft acute rejection

  11. Building gene expression profile classifiers with a simple and efficient rejection option in R.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benso, Alfredo; Di Carlo, Stefano; Politano, Gianfranco; Savino, Alessandro; Hafeezurrehman, Hafeez

    2011-01-01

    The collection of gene expression profiles from DNA microarrays and their analysis with pattern recognition algorithms is a powerful technology applied to several biological problems. Common pattern recognition systems classify samples assigning them to a set of known classes. However, in a clinical diagnostics setup, novel and unknown classes (new pathologies) may appear and one must be able to reject those samples that do not fit the trained model. The problem of implementing a rejection option in a multi-class classifier has not been widely addressed in the statistical literature. Gene expression profiles represent a critical case study since they suffer from the curse of dimensionality problem that negatively reflects on the reliability of both traditional rejection models and also more recent approaches such as one-class classifiers. This paper presents a set of empirical decision rules that can be used to implement a rejection option in a set of multi-class classifiers widely used for the analysis of gene expression profiles. In particular, we focus on the classifiers implemented in the R Language and Environment for Statistical Computing (R for short in the remaining of this paper). The main contribution of the proposed rules is their simplicity, which enables an easy integration with available data analysis environments. Since in the definition of a rejection model tuning of the involved parameters is often a complex and delicate task, in this paper we exploit an evolutionary strategy to automate this process. This allows the final user to maximize the rejection accuracy with minimum manual intervention. This paper shows how the use of simple decision rules can be used to help the use of complex machine learning algorithms in real experimental setups. The proposed approach is almost completely automated and therefore a good candidate for being integrated in data analysis flows in labs where the machine learning expertise required to tune traditional

  12. Non-clairvoyant weighted flow time scheduling with rejection penalty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chan, Ho-Leung; Chan, Sze-Hang; Lam, Tak-Wah

    2012-01-01

    is defined as the weighted flow time of the job plus the penalty if it is rejected before completion. Previous work on minimizing the total user cost focused on the clairvoyant single-processor setting [BBC+03,CLL11] and has produced O(1)-competitive online algorithm for jobs with arbitrary weights...... algorithm has to decide job rejection and determine the order and speed of job execution. It is interesting to study the tradeoff between the above-mentioned user cost and energy. This paper gives two O(1)-competitive non-clairvoyant algorithms for minimizing the user cost plus energy on a single processor......This paper initiates the study of online scheduling with rejection penalty in the non-clairvoyant setting, i.e., the size (processing time) of a job is not assumed to be known at its release time. In the rejection penalty model, jobs can be rejected with a penalty, and the user cost of a job...

  13. Rechazo y retrasplante corneal Corneal rejection and re-transplantation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel O Mokey Castellanos

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Se efectuó una investigación observacional análítica retrospectiva, sobre los transplantes corneales efectuados en el Servicio de Oftalmología del Hospital "Hermanos Ameijeiras. Rechazaron 76 pacientes, que se compararon con un control de 89 pacientes, que en un período similar no tuvieron rechazo. El queratocono fue la afección corneal que predominó. El primer lugar en los rechazos correspondió a queratoherpes (43,5 %. El menor índice de rechazo fue para el queratocono (8,8 %. Se analizó la multiplicidad de rechazos; y fue frecuente que se presentara un solo rechazo, aunque sí hubo congruencia entre el número de rechazos y la necesidad de retrasplantes. Se encontró que los resultados de la conducta médica o quirúrgica se relacionaban con la causa. Se calcula un índice de supervivencia (Kaplan-Meier, que concluye que en los primeros dos años existe menos posibilidad de aparición de rechazoAn retrospective observational analytical research was conducted on corneal transplants performed at Ophthalmological Service in “Hermanos Ameijeiras” hospital . Seventy six patients had graft rejection and were compared to a control group of 89 patients that did not present rejection in the same period of time. Keratoconus was the prevailing corneal problem. The highest rejection rate corresponded to keratoherpes (43,5% whereas the lowest rate was for keratoconus (8,8%. Multiplicity of rejections was analyzed and it was found that mostly one graft rejection occured, but number of rejections was associated with the need of re-transplantation. It was found that the results of medical or surgical performance were related to the cause of graft rejection. A survival index (Kaplan-Meier was estimated, which showed that occurence of graf rejection is less probable in the first two years

  14. Endothelial chimerism and vascular sequestration protect pancreatic islet grafts from antibody-mediated rejection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chien-Chia; Pouliquen, Eric; Broisat, Alexis; Andreata, Francesco; Racapé, Maud; Bruneval, Patrick; Kessler, Laurence; Ahmadi, Mitra; Bacot, Sandrine; Saison-Delaplace, Carole; Marcaud, Marina; Van Huyen, Jean-Paul Duong; Loupy, Alexandre; Villard, Jean; Demuylder-Mischler, Sandrine; Morelon, Emmanuel; Tsai, Meng-Kun; Kolopp-Sarda, Marie-Nathalie; Koenig, Alice; Mathias, Virginie; Ghezzi, Catherine; Dubois, Valerie; Defrance, Thierry

    2017-01-01

    Humoral rejection is the most common cause of solid organ transplant failure. Here, we evaluated a cohort of 49 patients who were successfully grafted with allogenic islets and determined that the appearance of donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSAs) did not accelerate the rate of islet graft attrition, suggesting resistance to humoral rejection. Murine DSAs bound to allogeneic targets expressed by islet cells and induced their destruction in vitro; however, passive transfer of the same DSAs did not affect islet graft survival in murine models. Live imaging revealed that DSAs were sequestrated in the circulation of the recipients and failed to reach the endocrine cells of grafted islets. We used murine heart transplantation models to confirm that endothelial cells were the only accessible targets for DSAs, which induced the development of typical microvascular lesions in allogeneic transplants. In contrast, the vasculature of DSA-exposed allogeneic islet grafts was devoid of lesions because sprouting of recipient capillaries reestablished blood flow in grafted islets. Thus, we conclude that endothelial chimerism combined with vascular sequestration of DSAs protects islet grafts from humoral rejection. The reduced immunoglobulin concentrations in the interstitial tissue, confirmed in patients, may have important implications for biotherapies such as vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. PMID:29202467

  15. Mammographic image reject rate analysis and cause – A National Maltese Study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mercieca, N.; Portelli, J.L.; Jadva-Patel, H.

    2017-01-01

    Mammography is used as a first-line investigation in the detection of breast cancer and imaging is required to be of optimal quality and achieved without adverse effects on the health of individuals. Repeated images come at a cost in terms of radiation dose, discomfort to clients and unnecessary financial burdens. No studies investigating mammography quality in Malta had been previously undertaken. Hence, this research aimed to investigate whether mammography is being performed at an acceptable level, through the investigation of reject rates. Quantitative methodology was used to collect data from eight participating mammography units, which were utilising screen film (SFM), computed radiography (CR) and direct digital mammography (DDM). Data relating to the total number of images performed, rejects and causes was prospectively collected over two weeks, resulting in a sample of 2291 images. All units were also asked to answer a questionnaire which provided other data that could be used for analysis. The national mammography reject rate was found to be 2.62%; within the 3% acceptable range. Individual rates' analysis revealed unacceptably high or low reject rates in some units. Positioning was the main reject cause. No significant difference in rejection was found between different types of mammography units or radiographers' experience. Alternatively, radiographers' qualifications, employment conditions and use of rejection criteria were proven to affect reject rates. Whilst on a national level, images are being rejected at an acceptable rate, individual units revealed suboptimal rates; at the cost of extra radiation, added discomfort and financial burden. - Highlights: • The national reject rate complied with the European Guidelines. • Reject rates in different units were found to vary. • Positioning was the commonest cause for repeats. • The equipment used and radiographers' experience did not affect reject rates. • Qualifications

  16. Indium-labeled platelet uptake in rejecting renal transplants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chandler, S.T.; Buckels, J.; Hawker, R.J.; Smith, N.; Barnes, A.D.; McCollum, C.N.

    1983-01-01

    The uptake of 111 In autologous platelets in transplanted kidneys was measured in 16 patients shortly after operation. Each patient was then observed for two years. When transplant radioactivity had increased, despite treatment for acute rejection, the kidney was ultimately lost because of rejection

  17. Balancing rejection and infection with respect to age, race, and gender: clues acquired from 17 years of cardiac transplantation data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, James F; Pamboukian, Salpy V; Tallaj, José A; Naftel, David C; Myers, Susan L; Foushee, Margaret T; Brown, Robert N; Pajaro, Octavio E; McGiffin, David C; Kirklin, James K

    2010-09-01

    Donor and recipient risk factors for rejection and infection have been well characterized. The contribution of demographic factors, especially age at the time of transplantation to morbidity and mortality due to rejection and infection, is much less well understood. Using parametric hazard analysis and multivariate risk-factor equations for infection and rejection events, we quantitatively determined the relationship of fundamental demographic variables (age, race and gender) to infection and rejection. These analyses were conducted with respect to date of transplant and age at the time of transplantation. The patient group consisted of all primary heart transplants performed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the years 1990 to 2007 (n = 526). Risk factors for rejection within 12 months post-transplantation were date of transplant (p < 0.0001) and age at the time of transplantation (young adults 10 to 30 years of age, p < 0.0001). Risk factors for infection were date of transplant (p < 0.0001) and age at the time of transplantation (young children and older adults, p < 0.0001). There were three immunosuppressive eras in 1990 to 2007. Notably, although the proportion of patients experiencing rejection and infection events decreased during each successive immunosuppressive era, the relative relationship of infection to rejection, as well as age at the time of transplantation, remained similar into the most recent era. The maximal frequency of rejection events and rejection death occurred among patients transplanted at ages 10 to 30 years. Conversely, the frequency of infection events was minimal within the same group. In the oldest and youngest patients receiving transplants, infection was the predominant cause of death and rates of rejection events decreased. These data show that evolving immunosuppressive strategies have successfully reduced rejection and infection frequencies, and those patients transplanted at 30 to 60 years of age have the lowest

  18. The perfect storm: HLA antibodies, complement, FcγRs, and endothelium in transplant rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Kimberly A; Valenzuela, Nicole M; Reed, Elaine F

    2015-05-01

    The pathophysiology of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in solid organ transplants is multifaceted and predominantly caused by antibodies directed against polymorphic donor human leukocyte antigens (HLAs). Despite the clearly detrimental impact of HLA antibodies (HLA-Abs) on graft function and survival, the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of AMR remain a challenge. The histological manifestations of AMR reflect the signatures of HLA-Ab-triggered injury, specifically endothelial changes, recipient leukocytic infiltrate, and complement deposition. We review the interconnected mechanisms of HLA-Ab-mediated injury that might synergize in a 'perfect storm' of inflammation. Characterization of antibody features that are critical for effector functions may help to identify HLA-Abs that are more likely to cause rejection. We also highlight recent advances that may pave the way for new, more effective therapies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Perceived childhood paternal acceptance-rejection among adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hussain, S.; Alvi, T.; Zeeshan, A.; Nadeem, S.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To determine the childhood perceptual difference of paternal acceptance-rejection between those having psychological disorders and non-clinical population during adulthood. Study Design: Comparative study. Place and Duration of Study: Karwan-e-Hayat, Psychiatric Care and Rehabilitation Centre, Keamari, Karachi, Pakistan, from January to August 2011. Methodology: To test our hypotheses, 69 participants were selected from Karwan-e-Hayat Psychiatric Care and Rehabilitation Centre, Karachi on the basis of purposive sampling technique and 79 from Karachi city on the basis of convenient sampling technique. To measure their perceived paternal acceptance-rejection during childhood, Adult Parental acceptance-rejection questionnaire (PARQ)/control: father-short form (Urdu translation) was administered. The statistical analysis of data was done with the predictive analytics software (PASW). Results: One hundred and forty eight (78 males and 70 females) participants with mean age of 31.28 +- 9.54 years were included. Out of them 69 (40 males and 29 females) were clinical cases of depression, mania and psychosis with mean age of 33.26 +- 9.51 years. Seventy nine (38 males and 41 females) were normal individuals with mean age of 29.54 +- 9.29 years of the demographics corresponding to the clinical population. Independent t-test revealed a significant difference in perceived childhood father acceptance-rejection between clinical and non-clinical population (p < 0.05) and significant gender difference (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The studied clinical population and male participants perceived to be more rejected by their father during their childhood than non-clinical population and female participants. (author)

  20. Rejection of Organic Micropollutants by Clean and Fouled Nanofiltration Membranes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lifang Zhu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The rejection of organic micropollutants, including three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs and three phthalic acid esters (PAEs, by clean and fouled nanofiltration membranes was investigated in the present study. The rejection of organic micropollutants by clean NF90 membranes varied from 87.9 to more than 99.9%, while that of NF270 membranes ranged from 32.1 to 92.3%. Clear time-dependence was observed for the rejection of hydrophobic micropollutants, which was attributed to the adsorption of micropollutants on the membrane. Fouling with humic acid had a negligible influence on the rejection of organic micropollutants by NF90 membranes, while considerable effects were observed with NF270 membranes, which are significantly looser than NF90 membranes. The observed enhancement in the rejection of organic micropollutants by fouled NF270 membranes was attributed to pore blocking, which was a dominating fouling mechanism for loose NF membranes. Changes in the ionic strength (from 10 to 20 mM reduced micropollutant rejection by both fouled NF membranes, especially for the rejection of dimethyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate by NF270 membranes (from 65.8 to 25.0% for dimethyl phthalate and 75.6 to 33.3% for diethyl phthalate.

  1. Status of the COMPASS tokamak and characterization of the first H-mode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pánek, R.; Adámek, J.; Aftanas, M.; Bílková, P.; Böhm, P.; Brochard, F.; Cahyna, P.; Cavalier, J.; Dejarnac, R.; Dimitrova, M.; Grover, O.; Harrison, J.; Háček, P.; Havlíček, J.; Havránek, A.; Horáček, J.; Hron, M.; Imríšek, M.; Janky, F.; Kirk, A.; Komm, M.; Kovařík, K.; Krbec, J.; Kripner, L.; Markovič, T.; Mitošinková, K.; Mlynář, J.; Naydenkova, D.; Peterka, M.; Seidl, J.; Stöckel, J.; Štefániková, E.; Tomeš, M.; Urban, J.; Vondráček, P.; Varavin, M.; Varju, J.; Weinzettl, V.; Zajac, J.; the COMPASS Team

    2016-01-01

    This paper summarizes the status of the COMPASS tokamak, its comprehensive diagnostic equipment and plasma scenarios as a baseline for the future studies. The former COMPASS-D tokamak was in operation at UKAEA Culham, UK in 1992-2002. Later, the device was transferred to the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IPP AS CR), where it was installed during 2006-2011. Since 2012 the device has been in a full operation with Type-I and Type-III ELMy H-modes as a base scenario. This enables together with the ITER-like plasma shape and flexible NBI heating system (two injectors enabling co- or balanced injection) to perform ITER relevant studies in different parameter range to the other tokamaks (ASDEX-Upgrade, DIII-D, JET) and to contribute to the ITER scallings. In addition to the description of the device, current status and the main diagnostic equipment, the paper focuses on the characterization of the Ohmic as well as NBI-assisted H-modes. Moreover, Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) are categorized based on their frequency dependence on power density flowing across separatrix. The filamentary structure of ELMs is studied and the parallel heat flux in individual filaments is measured by probes on the outer mid-plane and in the divertor. The measurements are supported by observation of ELM and inter-ELM filaments by an ultra-fast camera.

  2. NOTE - Characterization of genetic variability among common bean genotypes by morphological descriptors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marilene Santos de Lima

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to characterize the genetic variability in 100 genotypes of the Active Germplasm Bank of common bean of the Federal University of Viçosa, by morphological descriptors, classify them in groups of genetic similarity and to identify the degree of relevance of descriptors of genetic divergence. The genotypes were evaluated based on 22 quantitative and qualitative morphological descriptors. The highyielding genotypes V 7936, Gold Gate, LM 95103904, 1829 S 349 Venezuela, and PF 9029975, CNFC 9454 andFe 732015, with upright growth, have potential for use as parents in common bean breeding programs. By genetic divergence analysis, the genotypes were clustered in eight groups of genetic dissimilarity. By methods of principal components, 9 of the 22 descriptors were eliminated, for being redundant or little variable, suggesting that 10-20 morphological descriptors can be used in studies of characterization of genetic variation.

  3. Outside advantage: can social rejection fuel creative thought?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sharon H; Vincent, Lynne C; Goncalo, Jack A

    2013-08-01

    Eminently creative people working in fields as disparate as physics and literature refer to the experience of social rejection as fuel for creativity. Yet, the evidence of this relationship is anecdotal, and the psychological process that might explain it is as yet unknown. We theorize that the experience of social rejection may indeed stimulate creativity but only for individuals with an independent self-concept. In 3 studies, we show that individuals who hold an independent self-concept performed more creatively after social rejection relative to inclusion. We also show that this boost in creativity is mediated by a differentiation mind-set, or salient feelings of being different from others. Future research might investigate how the self-concept--for example, various cultural orientations-may shape responses to social rejection by mitigating some of the negative consequences of exclusion and potentially even motivating creative exploration. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. Diagnosis of Rejection by Analyzing Ventricular Late Potentials in Heart Transplant Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vítor Nogueira Mendes

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Heart transplant rejection originates slow and fragmented conduction. Signal-averaged ECG (SAECG is a stratification method in the risk of rejection. Objective: To develop a risk score for rejection, using SAECG variables. Methods: We studied 28 transplant patients. First, we divided the sample into two groups based on the occurrence of acute rejection (5 with rejection and 23 without. In a second phase, we divided the sample considering the existence or not of rejection in at least one biopsy performed on the follow-up period (rejection pm1: 18 with rejection and 10 without. Results: On conventional ECG, the presence of fibrosis was the only criterion associated with acute rejection (OR = 19; 95% CI = 1.65-218.47; p = 0.02. Considering the rejection pm1, an association was found with the SAECG variables, mainly with RMS40 (OR = 0.97; 95% CI = 0.87-0.99; p = 0.03 and LAS40 (OR = 1.06; 95% IC = 1.01-1.11; p = 0.03. We formulated a risk score including those variables, and evaluated its discriminative performance in our sample. The presence of fibrosis with increasing of LAS40 and decreasing of RMS40 showed a good ability to distinguish between patients with and without rejection (AUC = 0.82; p < 0.01, assuming a cutoff point of sensitivity = 83.3% and specificity = 60%. Conclusion: The SAECG distinguished between patients with and without rejection. The usefulness of the proposed risk score must be demonstrated in larger follow-up studies.

  5. Fate of Manuscripts Rejected From the Red Journal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holliday, Emma B.; Yang, George; Jagsi, Reshma; Hoffman, Karen E.; Bennett, Katherine Egan; Grace, Calley; Zietman, Anthony L.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate characteristics associated with higher rates of acceptance for original manuscripts submitted for publication to the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (IJROBP) and describe the fate of rejected manuscripts. Methods and Materials: Manuscripts submitted to the IJROBP from May 1, 2010, to August 31, 2010, and May 1, 2012, to August 31, 2012, were evaluated for author demographics and acceptance status. A PubMed search was performed for each IJROBP-rejected manuscript to ascertain whether the manuscript was ultimately published elsewhere. The Impact Factor of the accepting journal and the number of citations of the published manuscript were also collected. Results: Of the 500 included manuscripts, 172 (34.4%) were accepted and 328 (65.6%) were rejected. There was no significant difference in acceptance rates according to gender or degree of the submitting author, but there were significant differences seen based on the submitting author's country, rank, and h-index. On multivariate analysis, earlier year submitted (P<.0001) and higher author h-index (P=.006) remained significantly associated with acceptance into the IJROBP. Two hundred thirty-five IJROBP-rejected manuscripts (71.7%) were ultimately published in a PubMed-listed journal as of July 2014. There were no significant differences in any submitting author characteristics. Journals accepting IJROBP-rejected manuscripts had a lower median [interquartile range] 2013 impact factor compared with the IJROBP (2.45 [1.53-3.71] vs 4.176). The IJROBP-rejected manuscripts ultimately published elsewhere had a lower median [interquartile range] number of citations (1 [0-4] vs 6 [2-11]; P<.001), which persisted on multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The acceptance rate for manuscripts submitted to the IJROBP is approximately one-third, and approximately 70% of rejected manuscripts are ultimately published in other PubMed-listed journals, but these ultimate

  6. Action against Kruemmel rejected

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1976-01-01

    In its verdict dated September 2nd, 1976 - 10 A 211/74 -, the administrative court of Schleswig-Holstein at Schleswig has rejected with costs the action of a plaintiff resident in Hessen concerning the contestation of the 2nd partial licence for the erection of a nuclear power station at Kruemmel near Hamburg. The verdict is not subject to appeal. Furthermore, the administrative court of Schleswig-Holstein at Schleswig, in its verdict dated September 2nd, 1976 - 10 A 214/74 - has rejected with costs the actions of eight plaintiffs living in Hamburg and surroundings, concerning the contestation of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd partial licence for the erection of a nuclear power station at Kruemmel near Hamburg. An appeal against this verdict has been lodged at the higher administrative court at Lueneburg. The main gounds for the two judgments are given in full text. (orig./HP) [de

  7. A type I interferon signature characterizes chronic antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rascio, Federica; Pontrelli, Paola; Accetturo, Matteo; Oranger, Annarita; Gigante, Margherita; Castellano, Giuseppe; Gigante, Maddalena; Zito, Anna; Zaza, Gianluigi; Lupo, Antonio; Ranieri, Elena; Stallone, Giovanni; Gesualdo, Loreto; Grandaliano, Giuseppe

    2015-09-01

    Chronic antibody-mediated rejection (CAMR) represents the main cause of kidney graft loss. To uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying this condition, we characterized the molecular signature of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and, separately, of CD4(+) T lymphocytes isolated from CAMR patients, compared to kidney transplant recipients with normal graft function and histology. We enrolled 29 patients with biopsy-proven CAMR, 29 stable transplant recipients (controls), and 8 transplant recipients with clinical and histological evidence of interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy. Messenger RNA and microRNA profiling of PBMCs and CD4(+) T lymphocytes was performed using Agilent microarrays in eight randomly selected patients per group from CAMR and control subjects. Results were evaluated statistically and by functional pathway analysis (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) and validated in the remaining subjects. In PBMCs, 45 genes were differentially expressed between the two groups, most of which were up-regulated in CAMR and were involved in type I interferon signalling. In the same patients, 16 microRNAs were down-regulated in CAMR subjects compared to controls: four were predicted modulators of six mRNAs identified in the transcriptional analysis. In silico functional analysis supported the involvement of type I interferon signalling. To further confirm this result, we investigated the transcriptomic profiles of CD4(+) T lymphocytes in an independent group of patients, observing that the activation of type I interferon signalling was a specific hallmark of CAMR. In addition, in CAMR patients, we detected a reduction of circulating BDCA2(+) dendritic cells, the natural type I interferon-producing cells, and their recruitment into the graft along with increased expression of MXA, a type I interferon-induced protein, at the tubulointerstitial and vascular level. Finally, interferon alpha mRNA expression was significantly increased in CAMR compared to control

  8. The sight of an adult brood parasite near the nest is an insufficient cue for a honeyguide host to reject foreign eggs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Wenfei; Horrocks, Nicholas P C; Spottiswoode, Claire N

    2015-01-01

    Hosts of brood-parasitic birds typically evolve anti-parasitism defences, including mobbing of parasitic intruders at the nest and the ability to recognize and reject foreign eggs from their clutches. The Greater Honeyguide Indicator indicator is a virulent brood parasite that punctures host eggs and kills host young, and accordingly, a common host, the Little Bee-eater Merops pusillus frequently rejects entire clutches that have been parasitized. We predicted that given the high costs of accidentally rejecting an entire clutch, and that the experimental addition of a foreign egg is insufficient to induce this defence, Bee-eaters require the sight of an adult parasite near the nest as an additional cue for parasitism before they reject a clutch. We found that many Little Bee-eater parents mobbed Greater Honeyguide dummies while ignoring barbet control dummies, showing that they recognized them as a threat. Surprisingly, however, neither a dummy Honeyguide nor the presence of a foreign egg, either separately or in combination, was sufficient to stimulate egg rejection. PMID:26300559

  9. Experimental shifts in egg-nest contrasts do not alter egg rejection responses in an avian host-brood parasite system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hauber, Mark E; Aidala, Zachary; Igic, Branislav; Shawkey, Matthew D; Moskát, Csaba

    2015-09-01

    Obligate brood parasitic birds exploit their hosts to provide care for unrelated young in the nest. Potential hosts can reduce the cost of parasitism by rejecting foreign eggs from the nest. Observational, comparative, and experimental studies have concluded that most hosts use the coloration and patterning of eggshells to discriminate between own and foreign eggs in the nest. However, an alternative hypothesis is that birds use the colour contrasts between eggshells and the nest lining to identify parasitic eggs (egg-nest contrast hypothesis). In support of this hypothesis, we found that the avian perceivable chromatic contrasts between dyed eggs and unmanipulated nest linings significantly and negatively covaried with the rejection rates of different dyed eggs of the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus, a frequently parasitized host of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus. To experimentally test whether egg-nest contrasts influence rejection, we reciprocally dyed both eggs and the nest lining of this host species with one of two colours: orange and green. Contrary to the egg-nest contrast hypothesis, host rejection patterns in response to dyed eggs were not altered by dyeing nests, relative to unmanipulated control eggs and nests. In turn, experimental egg colour was the only significant predictor of egg rejection rate. Our results demonstrate that egg-nest contrast is a collateral, not a causal factor in egg rejection, and confirm the conclusions of previous studies that hosts can rely on the parasitic egg's appearance itself to recognize the foreign egg in the nest.

  10. Correlated Sources in Distributed Networks--Data Transmission, Common Information Characterization and Inferencing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wei

    2011-01-01

    Correlation is often present among observations in a distributed system. This thesis deals with various design issues when correlated data are observed at distributed terminals, including: communicating correlated sources over interference channels, characterizing the common information among dependent random variables, and testing the presence of…

  11. Dual-Mode Combustor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trefny, Charles J (Inventor); Dippold, Vance F (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A new dual-mode ramjet combustor used for operation over a wide flight Mach number range is described. Subsonic combustion mode is usable to lower flight Mach numbers than current dual-mode scramjets. High speed mode is characterized by supersonic combustion in a free-jet that traverses the subsonic combustion chamber to a variable nozzle throat. Although a variable combustor exit aperture is required, the need for fuel staging to accommodate the combustion process is eliminated. Local heating from shock-boundary-layer interactions on combustor walls is also eliminated.

  12. The suitability of common compressibility equations for characterizing plasticity of diverse powders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Shubhajit; Sun, Changquan Calvin

    2017-10-30

    The analysis of powder compressibility data yields useful information for characterizing compaction behavior and mechanical properties of powders, especially plasticity. Among the many compressibility equations proposed in powder compaction research, the Heckel equation and the Kawakita equation are the most commonly used, despite their known limitations. Systematic evaluation of the performance in analyzing compressibility data suggested the Kuentz-Leuenberger equation is superior to both the Heckel equation and the Kawakita equation for characterizing plasticity of powders exhibiting a wide range of mechanical properties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Multiquadrant Subtenon Triamcinolone Injection for Acute Corneal Graft Rejection: A Case Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunali Goyal

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: We report a case of reversal of an acute corneal graft rejection following multiquadrant subtenon triamcinolone injection. Case Presentation: A 19-year-old woman who had acute corneal graft rejection failed to show resolution of the graft rejection after standard treatment with systemic, intravenous, and topical steroids. The graft rejection, however, responded to injection of triamcinolone in multiple subtenon quadrants. Conclusions: For corneal graft rejection, multiquadrant subtenon triamcinolone injections may be a safe adjunct to systemic treatment.

  14. Plasma Modes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubin, D. H. E.

    This chapter explores several aspects of the linear electrostatic normal modes of oscillation for a single-species non-neutral plasma in a Penning trap. Linearized fluid equations of motion are developed, assuming the plasma is cold but collisionless, which allow derivation of the cold plasma dielectric tensor and the electrostatic wave equation. Upper hybrid and magnetized plasma waves in an infinite uniform plasma are described. The effect of the plasma surface in a bounded plasma system is considered, and the properties of surface plasma waves are characterized. The normal modes of a cylindrical plasma column are discussed, and finally, modes of spheroidal plasmas, and finite temperature effects on the modes, are briefly described.

  15. コモンセントロイド配置によるCMOS OTAのCMRR改善効果の評価

    OpenAIRE

    澤本, 岳秀; 桑原, 浩一; 谷本, 洋; 原口, 大; SAWAMOTO, Takehide; KUWAHARA, Koichi; TANIMOTO, Hiroshi; HARAGUCHI, Masaru

    2010-01-01

    Common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) deviation due to mismatching among MOS transistors in feedforward type OTA has been evaluated for chips fabricated with and without common-centroid layout technique. The mesured common-mode voltage gain (CMVG) data for 10 samples are evaluated by averaged CMVG and its relative variation to input common-mode dc bias point. The results clearly indicate the effectiveness of the common-centroid layout for an OTA in OTA in an 0.15 μm CMOS process to have better C...

  16. A protocol for arguing about rejections in negotiation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Prakken, Henry; van Veenen, J.; Parsons, S; Maudet, N; Moraitis, P; Rahwan,

    2006-01-01

    One form of argument-based negotiation is when agents argue about why an offer was rejected. If an agent can state a reason for a rejection of an offer, the negotiation process may become more efficient since the other agent can take this reason into account when making new offers. Also, if a reason

  17. Prosthesis rejection in acquired major upper-limb amputees: a population-based survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Østlie, Kristin; Lesjø, Ingrid Marie; Franklin, Rosemary Joy; Garfelt, Beate; Skjeldal, Ola Hunsbeth; Magnus, Per

    2012-07-01

    To estimate the rates of primary and secondary prosthesis rejection in acquired major upper-limb amputees (ULAs), to describe the most frequently reported reasons for rejection and to estimate the influence of background factors on the risk of rejection. Cross-sectional study analysing population-based questionnaire data (n = 224). Effects were analysed by logistic regression analyses and Cox regression analyses. Primary prosthesis rejection was found in 4.5% whereas 13.4% had discontinued prosthesis use. The main reasons reported for primary non-wear were a perceived lack of need and discrepancies between perceived need and the prostheses available. The main reasons reported for secondary prosthesis rejection were dissatisfaction with prosthetic comfort, function and control. Primary prosthesis rejection was more likely in ULAs amputated at high age and in ULAs with proximal amputations. Secondary prosthesis rejection was more likely in proximal ULAs and in women. Clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of rejection in proximal ULAs, elderly ULAs and in women. Emphasising individual needs will probably facilitate successful prosthetic fitting. Improved prosthesis quality and individualised prosthetic training may increase long-term prosthesis use. Further studies of the effect of prosthetic training and of the reasons for rejection of different prosthetic types are suggested.

  18. Brain Region-Dependent Rejection of Neural Precursor Cell Transplants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Fainstein

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The concept of CNS as an immune-privileged site has been challenged by the occurrence of immune surveillance and allogeneic graft rejection in the brain. Here we examined whether the immune response to allogeneic neural grafts is determined by the site of implantation in the CNS. Dramatic regional differences were observed between immune responses to allogeneic neural precursor/stem cell (NPC grafts in the striatum vs. the hippocampus. Striatal grafts were heavily infiltrated with IBA-1+ microglia/macrophages and CD3+ T cells and completely rejected. In contrast, hippocampal grafts exhibited milder IBA-1+ cell infiltration, were not penetrated efficiently by CD3+ cells, and survived efficiently for at least 2 months. To evaluate whether the hippocampal protective effect is universal, astrocytes were then transplanted. Allogeneic astrocyte grafts elicited a vigorous rejection process from the hippocampus. CD200, a major immune-inhibitory signal, plays an important role in protecting grafts from rejection. Indeed, CD200 knock out NPC grafts were rejected more efficiently than wild type NPCs from the striatum. However, lack of CD200 expression did not elicit NPC graft rejection from the hippocampus. In conclusion, the hippocampus has partial immune-privilege properties that are restricted to NPCs and are CD200-independent. The unique hippocampal milieu may be protective for allogeneic NPC grafts, through host-graft interactions enabling sustained immune-regulatory properties of transplanted NPCs. These findings have implications for providing adequate immunosuppression in clinical translation of cell therapy.

  19. Is the bitter rejection response always adaptive?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glendinning, J I

    1994-12-01

    The bitter rejection response consists of a suite of withdrawal reflexes and negative affective responses. It is generally assumed to have evolved as a way to facilitate avoidance of foods that are poisonous because they usually taste bitter to humans. Using previously published studies, the present paper examines the relationship between bitterness and toxicity in mammals, and then assesses the ecological costs and benefits of the bitter rejection response in carnivorous, omnivorous, and herbivorous (grazing and browsing) mammals. If the bitter rejection response accurately predicts the potential toxicity of foods, then one would expect the threshold for the response to be lower for highly toxic compounds than for nontoxic compounds. The data revealed no such relationship. Bitter taste thresholds varied independently of toxicity thresholds, indicating that the bitter rejection response is just as likely to be elicited by a harmless bitter food as it is by a harmful one. Thus, it is not necessarily in an animal's best interest to have an extremely high or low bitter threshold. Based on this observation, it was hypothesized that the adaptiveness of the bitter rejection response depends upon the relative occurrence of bitter and potentially toxic compounds in an animal's diet. Animals with a relatively high occurrence of bitter and potentially toxic compounds in their diet (e.g., browsing herbivores) were predicted to have evolved a high bitter taste threshold and tolerance to dietary poisons. Such an adaptation would be necessary because a browser cannot "afford" to reject all foods that are bitter and potentially toxic without unduly restricting its dietary options. At the other extreme, animals that rarely encounter bitter and potentially toxic compounds in their diet (e.g., carnivores) were predicted to have evolved a low bitter threshold. Carnivores could "afford" to utilize such a stringent rejection mechanism because foods containing bitter and potentially

  20. The arcuate artery in renal transplants: An insensitive indicator of rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McIntire, J.N.; Angtuaco, T.L.; Boyd, C.; Flanigan, W.J.

    1987-01-01

    The authors performed 65 duplex US examinations in 28 patients within 2 years of transplantation. During this time 15 episodes of rejection were diagnosed by US and confirmed clinically. Of the remaining 50 examinations, 14 showed negligible or absent diastolic flow (suggesting rejection) in the arcuate arteries with normal diastolic flow in the main renal, segmental, and interlobar branches. No other criteria for rejection were present in these patients. It is concluded that the arcuate artery is an insensitive indicator of transplant rejection

  1. Rejection as a call to arms: inter-racial hostility and support for political action as outcomes of race-based rejection in majority and minority groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barlow, Fiona Kate; Sibley, Chris G; Hornsey, Matthew J

    2012-03-01

    Both majority and minority group members fear race-based rejection, and respond by disparaging the groups that they expect will reject them. It is not clear, however, how this process differs in minority and majority groups. Using large representative samples of White (N= 4,618) and Māori (N= 1,163) New Zealanders, we found that perceptions of race-based rejection predicted outgroup negativity in both groups, but in different ways and for different reasons. For White (but not Māori) New Zealanders, increased intergroup anxiety partially mediated the relationship between cognitions of rejection and outgroup negativity. Māori who expected to be rejected on the basis of their race reported increased ethnic identification and, in part through this, increased support for political action benefiting their own group. This finding supports collective-action models of social change in historically disadvantaged minority groups. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

  2. Preventing Allograft Rejection by Targeting Immune Metabolism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen-Fang Lee

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Upon antigen recognition and co-stimulation, T lymphocytes upregulate the metabolic machinery necessary to proliferate and sustain effector function. This metabolic reprogramming in T cells regulates T cell activation and differentiation but is not just a consequence of antigen recognition. Although such metabolic reprogramming promotes the differentiation and function of T effector cells, the differentiation of regulatory T cells employs different metabolic reprogramming. Therefore, we hypothesized that inhibition of glycolysis and glutamine metabolism might prevent graft rejection by inhibiting effector generation and function and promoting regulatory T cell generation. We devised an anti-rejection regimen involving the glycolytic inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG, the anti-type II diabetes drug metformin, and the inhibitor of glutamine metabolism 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON. Using this triple-drug regimen, we were able to prevent or delay graft rejection in fully mismatched skin and heart allograft transplantation models.

  3. Online probabilistic operational safety assessment of multi-mode engineering systems using Bayesian methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Yufei; Chen, Maoyin; Zhou, Donghua

    2013-01-01

    In the past decades, engineering systems become more and more complex, and generally work at different operational modes. Since incipient fault can lead to dangerous accidents, it is crucial to develop strategies for online operational safety assessment. However, the existing online assessment methods for multi-mode engineering systems commonly assume that samples are independent, which do not hold for practical cases. This paper proposes a probabilistic framework of online operational safety assessment of multi-mode engineering systems with sample dependency. To begin with, a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is used to characterize multiple operating modes. Then, based on the definition of safety index (SI), the SI for one single mode is calculated. At last, the Bayesian method is presented to calculate the posterior probabilities belonging to each operating mode with sample dependency. The proposed assessment strategy is applied in two examples: one is the aircraft gas turbine, another is an industrial dryer. Both examples illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method

  4. Quantification of the occurrence of common-mode faults in highly reliable protective systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aitken, A.

    1978-10-01

    The report first covers the investigation, definition and classification of common mode failure (CMF) based on an extensive study of the nature of CMF. A new classification of CMF is proposed, based on possible causes of failures. This is used as a basis for analysing data from reported failures of reactor safety systems and aircraft systems. Design and maintenance errors are shown to be predominant cause of CMF. The estimated CMF rates for the highly reliable nuclear power plant automatic protection system (APS) and for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) are 2.8.10 -2 CMF/sub-system-year and 3.3.10 -2 CMF/sub-system-year respectively. For comparison, the data from the aircraft accident records have shown a CMF rate for total flight control system (FCS), 2.1.10 -5 CMF/sub-system-year. The analysis has laid the grounds for work on relating CMF modelling and defences

  5. Differentially Fed Metal Frame Antenna With Common Mode Suppression for Biomedical Smartband Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Li-Jie; Duan, Zhu

    2018-04-01

    This paper proposes a differentially fed metal frame antenna for biomedical smartband applications. It occupies a planar area of 40 × 20 mm, operating at 2.45-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band. The proposed antenna is composed of an external metal frame and an internal metal box acting as ground for electronics. Through a differential feeding to two copper strips located between the metal frame and the metal box, a rectangular ring slot is excited with common mode suppression capability. The antenna prototype is designed in free space, and then adapted to on-body scenario for both repeater and transmitter cases. Additionally, the proposed differential feeding is modified to the traditional single port, demonstrating the half-size miniaturization technique. Finally, the simulated results are verified by measurement. The proposed antenna's simple structure and satisfactory performance makes it a perfect candidate for future medical smartband applications, monitoring the physiological parameters of humans for health-care purposes.

  6. Phenomenology’s Rejects: Religion after Derrida’s Denegations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alvis Jason W.

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Religion, as well as any individuals’ volitionally chosen ‟worldview,” generally get conceived solely in affirmative terms of value. ‟Religion” has been conceptualized almost solely on the terms of axiology: as the experience of ‟the greatest” holiness (Otto, the purely valuable sacred (Eliade; the most ‟ultimate concern” (Tillich; the symbols accepted to order life (Geertz, or the binding of oneself to deep value (Müller. Yet there are limitations of such axiomatic thinking, limitations that can be exemplified through an interpretation of Derrida’s ‟globolatinization,” which he described as a system of thought that promotes a universalism of pseudo or petit-valuations, and punishes those resistant and inflexible to them in the name of toleration. This essay investigates what happens when this ‟axiomatic” register (i.e. a reduction to a set of values gets displaced in order to conceptualize religion also in terms of the nonvaluable or ‟rejected.” Rejection entails the paradox that what is rejected often speaks to a deeper reality of what in fact is desired. Thus, what we reject usually says infinitely more about us than what we claim to value and affirm. This essay interprets Derrida’s essay ‟How to Avoid Speaking: Denials” alongside his ‟Faith and Knowledge” in order to offer a Derridean conception of religion on the terms of a rejection that amounts to a double-affirmation or de-negation.

  7. Friendship quantity and quality as predictors of rejection sensitivity in adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela Šeboková

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The current study examines friendship quality and quantity as unique predictors of rejection sensitivity in adolescents. The purpose of the study was to analyze whether the unique contributions of friendship quality and quantity differ in adolescent boys and girls. Rejection sensitivity is conceptualized as the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive and intensively react to social rejection. That is why rejection sensitivity is considered to be a cognitive-affective mechanism which leads to increase of internalizing problems in children and adolescents (loneliness, social anxiety, depression.... Friendship variables have been found to predict the level of internalizing problems in adolescents. Little to no research, however, has examined friendship quality and quantity as predictors of level of rejection sensitivity. Participants in this study were 184 students (98 girls and 86 boys, aged from 13 to 16 (M=13.83, SD=1. Adolescents completed measures assessing number of their friends, quality of best friendship (self-report questionnaire Friendship qualities scale, Bukowski, Hoza, Boivin, 1994 and rejection sensitivity (self-report questionnaire Rejection sensitivity scale, Downey, Feldman, 1996. Regression analysis indicated that friendship features (companionship, balance, help, security, closeness, friendship quantity and overall friendship quality are significant unique predictors of sensitivity rejection in adolescents with. Results suggest that adolescents with higher number of and higher quality friendships have lower concerns about the possibility and expectation of rejection, which can lead to minimizing the risk of development of internalizing problems. However, only a small proportion of variance was accounted for in rejection sensitivity by the friendship variables (small to medium effect size. This suggests that different kind of peer relationships (peer acceptance, popularity, peer victimization make unique, differential

  8. Explaining the paradoxical rejection-aggression link: the mediating effects of hostile intent attributions, anger, and decreases in state self-esteem on peer rejection-induced aggression in youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reijntjes, Albert; Thomaes, Sander; Kamphuis, Jan H; Bushman, Brad J; de Castro, Bram Orobio; Telch, Michael J

    2011-07-01

    People are strongly motivated to feel accepted by others. Yet when faced with acute peer rejection they often aggress against the very peers they desire acceptance from, which may lead to further rejection. The present experiment tests three potential mediators of aggressive responses to acute peer rejection in the critical developmental stage of early adolescence. Participants (N=185, M(age)=11.5 years) completed personal profiles that were allegedly evaluated online by peers. After receiving negative or neutral peer feedback, participants could aggress against the same peers who had evaluated them. Rejected participants attributed more hostile intent to the peers, were angrier, showed a greater reduction in state self-esteem, and were more aggressive. Mediational analyses showed that hostile intent attributions mediated the acute peer rejection-aggression relationship, whereas increases in anger and decreases in state self-esteem did not. Thus, acute peer rejection evokes hostile intent attributions that, in turn, lead to aggressive reactions. © 2011 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc

  9. Performance characteristics of a glowplug assisted low heat rejection diesel engine using ethanol

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karthikeyan, B.; Srithar, K. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamilnadu 625 015 (India)

    2011-01-15

    Conventional diesel engines with ethanol as fuel are associated with problems due to high self-ignition temperature of the fuel. The hot surface ignition method, wherein a part of the injected fuel is made to touch an electrically heated hot surface (glowplug) for ignition, is an effective way of utilizing ethanol in conventional diesel engines. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of thermal insulation on ethanol fueled compression ignition engine. One of the important ethanol properties to be considered in the high compression ratio engine is the long ignition delay of the fuel, normally characterized by lower cetane number. In the present study, the ignition delay was controlled by partial insulation of the combustion chamber (low heat rejection engine) by plasma spray coating of yttria stabilized zirconia for a thickness of 300 {mu}m. Experiments were carried out on the glowplug assisted engine with and without insulation in order to find out the possible benefits of combustion chamber insulation in ethanol and diesel operation. Highest brake thermal efficiency of 32% was obtained with ethanol fuel by insulating the combustion chamber. Emissions of the unburnt hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxides were higher than that of diesel. But the smoke intensity and was less than that of diesel engine. Volumetric efficiency of the engine was reduced by a maximum of 9% in LHR mode of operation. (author)

  10. Insights from computational modeling in inflammation and acute rejection in limb transplantation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dolores Wolfram

    Full Text Available Acute skin rejection in vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA is the major obstacle for wider adoption in clinical practice. This study utilized computational modeling to identify biomarkers for diagnosis and targets for treatment of skin rejection. Protein levels of 14 inflammatory mediators in skin and muscle biopsies from syngeneic grafts [n = 10], allogeneic transplants without immunosuppression [n = 10] and allografts treated with tacrolimus [n = 10] were assessed by multiplexed analysis technology. Hierarchical Clustering Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Random Forest Classification and Multinomial Logistic Regression models were used to segregate experimental groups. Based on Random Forest Classification, Multinomial Logistic Regression and Hierarchical Clustering Analysis models, IL-4, TNF-α and IL-12p70 were the best predictors of skin rejection and identified rejection well in advance of histopathological alterations. TNF-α and IL-12p70 were the best predictors of muscle rejection and also preceded histopathological alterations. Principal Component Analysis identified IL-1α, IL-18, IL-1β, and IL-4 as principal drivers of transplant rejection. Thus, inflammatory patterns associated with rejection are specific for the individual tissue and may be superior for early detection and targeted treatment of rejection.

  11. Acute antibody-mediated rejection in pancreas and kidney transplantation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kort, Hanneke de

    2013-01-01

    In this thesis, acute rejection after kidney, simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPKT), and islets of Langerhans transplantation was addressed. The focus is on acute antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) after transplantation and on a potential strategy using cellular immune modulation to prevent acute

  12. [Rejecting or prioritizing life? The ambiguities of AIDS biopolitics in Uruguay].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reihling, Hanspeter

    2010-06-01

    The biopolitics of aids in Uruguay could be seen between two big poles: the investment and the rejection of life. The productive mode can be expressed in the treatment of children who contracted HIV through mother to child transmission. For these children the infection in many cases becomes an asset until they reach adolescence. Except of some efforts of forced detention and mandatory testing, the public health system as well as NGOs show little interest in assisting adolescence infected or affected by HIV/aids. This is the result of a moral economy which marks people who are able to transmit the virus sexually or who have contracted it through sexual intercourse. Especially HIV positive mothers are seen as irresponsible and dangerous in contraposition to their "pure" offspring. However, this moral discourse hardly takes into account the larger social and economic context in which those mothers contracted the virus and as they faced Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). The life history of an adolescent boy will be told in order to reflect upon the modes of inclusion and exclusion of people living with HIV/aids since the beginning of the epidemic in Uruguay. Although the case is not representative, it identifies dynamics within the Uruguayan health system which are difficult to discern through conventional statistical methods.

  13. Redox-Dependent Inflammation in Islet Transplantation Rejection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessie M. Barra

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in the progressive destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells inside the islets of Langerhans. The loss of this vital population leaves patients with a lifelong dependency on exogenous insulin and puts them at risk for life-threatening complications. One method being investigated to help restore insulin independence in these patients is islet cell transplantation. However, challenges associated with transplant rejection and islet viability have prevented long-term β-cell function. Redox signaling and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS by recipient immune cells and transplanted islets themselves are key players in graft rejection. Therefore, dissipation of ROS generation is a viable intervention that can protect transplanted islets from immune-mediated destruction. Here, we will discuss the newly appreciated role of redox signaling and ROS synthesis during graft rejection as well as new strategies being tested for their efficacy in redox modulation during islet cell transplantation.

  14. Redox-Dependent Inflammation in Islet Transplantation Rejection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barra, Jessie M.; Tse, Hubert M.

    2018-01-01

    Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in the progressive destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells inside the islets of Langerhans. The loss of this vital population leaves patients with a lifelong dependency on exogenous insulin and puts them at risk for life-threatening complications. One method being investigated to help restore insulin independence in these patients is islet cell transplantation. However, challenges associated with transplant rejection and islet viability have prevented long-term β-cell function. Redox signaling and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by recipient immune cells and transplanted islets themselves are key players in graft rejection. Therefore, dissipation of ROS generation is a viable intervention that can protect transplanted islets from immune-mediated destruction. Here, we will discuss the newly appreciated role of redox signaling and ROS synthesis during graft rejection as well as new strategies being tested for their efficacy in redox modulation during islet cell transplantation. PMID:29740396

  15. Evaluating the impacts of membrane type, coating, fouling, chemical properties and water chemistry on reverse osmosis rejection of seven nitrosoalklyamines, including NDMA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinle-Darling, Eva; Zedda, Marco; Plumlee, Megan H; Ridgway, Harry F; Reinhard, Martin

    2007-09-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) treatment has been found to be effective for a wide range of organics but generally small, polar, uncharged molecules such as N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) can be poorly rejected. The rejection of seven N-nitrosoalkylamines with molecular masses in the range of 78-158Da, including NDMA, N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosomethylethylamine (NMEA), N-nitrosodipropylamine (NDPA), N-nitrosodibutylamine (NDBA), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPyr), N-nitrosopiperidine (NPip) by three commercial brackish-water reverse osmosis membranes was studied in flat-sheet cells under cross-flow conditions. The membranes used were ESPA3 (Hydranautics), LFC3 (Hydranautics) and BW-30 (Dow/Filmtec), commonly used in water reuse applications. The effects of varying ionic strength and pH, dip-coating membranes with PEBAX 1657, a hydrophilic polymer, and artificial fouling with alginate on nitrosamine rejection were quantified. Rejection in deionized (DI) water increased with molecular mass from 56 to 70% for NDMA, to 80-91% for NMEA, 89-97% for NPyr, 92-98% for NDEA, and to beyond the detection limits for NPip, NDPA and NDBA. For the nitrosamines with quantifiable transmission, linear correlations (r(2)>0.97) were found between the number of methyl groups and the log(transmission), with factor 0.35 to 0.55 decreases in transmission per added methyl group. A PEBAX coating lowered the ESPA3 rejection of NDMA by 11% but increased the LFC3 and BW30 rejection by 6% and 15%, respectively. Artificially fouling ESPA3 membrane coupons with 170g/m(2) alginate decreased the rejection of NDMA by 18%. A feed concentration of 100mM NaCl decreased rejection of NDMA by 15% and acidifying the DI water feed to pH=3 decreased the rejection by 5%, whereas increasing the pH to 10 did not have a significant (p<0.05) effect.

  16. Anxious and angry rejection sensitivity, social withdrawal, and retribution in high and low ambiguous situations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmer-Gembeck, Melanie J; Nesdale, Drew

    2013-02-01

    Rejection sensitivity (RS) is a tendency to expect, perceive, and overreact to rejection. Our objective was to examine whether anxious and angry RS have specific associations with negative social reactions, and whether responses are intensified in situations of high rejection ambiguity. In two studies, youth (N = 464 and N = 371) reported their RS and anticipated responses to social scenarios. In Study 1, all scenarios portrayed overt rejection events. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to conditions portraying overt or ambiguous rejection. Greater rejection expectation was associated with more negative reactions to rejection. Moreover, as expected, anxiety about rejection was uniquely associated with withdrawal, and anger about rejection was uniquely associated with retribution (i.e., reactive aggression). In the second study, RS persons responded more negatively than others to both overt and high ambiguous rejections, but retribution was intensified among participants high in rejection expectation when rejection was ambiguous, and withdrawal was intensified among participants high in anxious RS in overt rejection situations. Consistent with the revised RS model, there are different patterns of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors in response to high and low ambiguous rejection events, which are heightened in youth sensitive to rejection. © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Behavioral and Personality Predictors of Acceptance and Rejection in University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Bartholomeu

    Full Text Available Abstract: Acceptance and rejection in the group are related to both personality characteristics and social skills and most studies focus on children instead of college students. The objective of this study was to investigate whether acceptance and rejection would be more associated with personality tendencies, specifically socialization or social skills. We collected data from 187 college students attending the Physical Education (67% and Psychology (32% courses. The instruments were the sociometric test, the Factorial Scale of Socialization and the Social Skills Inventory. A moderating effect of gender in the relationship between assertiveness and acceptance and rejection to go out on college was observed. Social skills were better predictors of acceptance and social rejection in the university group.

  18. Three mode Er3+ ring-doped fiber amplifier for mode-division multiplexed transmission

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jung, Y.; Kang, Q.; Sleiffer, V.A.J.M.; Inan, B.; Kuschnerov, M.; Veljanovski, V.; Corbett, B.; Winfield, R.; Li, Z.; Teh, P.S.; Dhar, A.; Sahu, J.K.; Poletti, F.; Alam, S.U.; Richardson, D.J.

    2013-01-01

    We successfully fabricate three-mode erbium doped fiber with a confined Er3+ doped ring structure and experimentally characterize the amplifier performance with a view to mode-division multiplexed (MDM) transmission. The differential modal gain was effectively mitigated by controlling the relative

  19. A multi-mode operation control strategy for flexible microgrid based on sliding-mode direct voltage and hierarchical controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qinjin; Liu, Yancheng; Zhao, Youtao; Wang, Ning

    2016-03-01

    Multi-mode operation and transient stability are two problems that significantly affect flexible microgrid (MG). This paper proposes a multi-mode operation control strategy for flexible MG based on a three-layer hierarchical structure. The proposed structure is composed of autonomous, cooperative, and scheduling controllers. Autonomous controller is utilized to control the performance of the single micro-source inverter. An adaptive sliding-mode direct voltage loop and an improved droop power loop based on virtual negative impedance are presented respectively to enhance the system disturbance-rejection performance and the power sharing accuracy. Cooperative controller, which is composed of secondary voltage/frequency control and phase synchronization control, is designed to eliminate the voltage/frequency deviations produced by the autonomous controller and prepare for grid connection. Scheduling controller manages the power flow between the MG and the grid. The MG with the improved hierarchical control scheme can achieve seamless transitions from islanded to grid-connected mode and have a good transient performance. In addition the presented work can also optimize the power quality issues and improve the load power sharing accuracy between parallel VSIs. Finally, the transient performance and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme are evaluated by theoretical analysis and simulation results. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Changes in the action potential and transient outward potassium current in cardiomyocytes during acute cardiac rejection in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Wenqi; Jia, Yixin; Zheng, Shuai; Li, Yan; Han, Jie; Meng, Xu

    2017-01-01

    Acute cardiac rejection contributes to the changes in the electrophysiological properties of grafted hearts. However, the electrophysiological changes of cardiomyocytes during acute cardiac rejection are still unknown. An understanding of the electrophysiological mechanisms of cardiomyocytes could improve the diagnosis and treatment of acute cardiac rejection. So it is important to characterize the changes in the action potential ( AP ) and the transient outward potassium current ( I to ) in cardiomyocytes during acute cardiac rejection. Heterotopic heart transplantation was performed in allogeneic [Brown Norway (BN)-to-Lewis] and isogeneic (BN-to-BN) rats. Twenty models were established in each group. Ten recipients were sacrificed at the 2nd day and the other ten recipients were sacrificed at the 4 th day after the operation in each group. Histopathological examinations of the grafted hearts were performed in half of the recipients in each group randomly. The other half of the grafted hearts were excised rapidly and enzymatically dissociated to obtain single cardiomyocytes. The AP and I to current were recorded using the whole cell patch-clamp technique. Forty grafted hearts were successfully harvested and used in experiments. Histologic examination showed mild rejection at the 2 nd day and moderate rejection at the 4 th day in the allogeneic group after cardiac transplantation, while no evidence of histologic lesions of rejection were observed in the isogeneic group. Compared with the isogeneic group, the action potential duration ( APD ) of cardiomyocytes in the allogeneic group was significantly prolonged ( APD 90 was 49.28±5.621 mV in the isogeneic group and 88.08±6.445 mV in the allogeneic group at the 2 nd day, P=0.0016; APD 90 was 59.34±5.183 mV in the isogeneic group and 104.0±9.523 mV in the allogeneic group at the 4 th day, P=0.0064). The current density of I to was significantly decreased at the 4 th day after cardiac transplantation. The APD of

  1. Sub-THz spectroscopic characterization of vibrational modes in artificially designed DNA monocrystal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sizov, Igor; Rahman, Masudur; Gelmont, Boris; Norton, Michael L.; Globus, Tatiana

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Sub-THz spectroscopy is used to characterize artificially designed DNA monocrystal. • Results are obtained using a novel near field, RT, frequency domain spectrometer. • Narrow resonances of 0.1 cm −1 width in absorption spectra of crystal are observed. • Signature measured between 310 and 490 GHz is reproducible and well resolved. • Absorption pattern is explained in part by simulation results from dsDNA fragment. - Abstract: Sub-terahertz (sub-THz) vibrational spectroscopy is a new spectroscopic branch for characterizing biological macromolecules. In this work, highly resolved sub-THz resonance spectroscopy is used for characterizing engineered molecular structures, an artificially designed DNA monocrystal, built from a short DNA sequence. Using a recently developed frequency domain spectroscopic instrument operating at room temperature with high spectral and spatial resolution, we demonstrated very intense and specific spectral lines from a DNA crystal in general agreement with a computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of a short double stranded DNA fragment. The spectroscopic signature measured in the frequency range between 310 and 490 GHz is rich in well resolved and reproducible spectral features thus demonstrating the capability of THz resonance spectroscopy to be used for characterizing custom macromolecules and structures designed and implemented via nanotechnology for a wide variety of application domains. Analysis of MD simulation indicates that intense and narrow vibrational modes with atomic movements perpendicular (transverse) and parallel (longitudinal) to the long DNA axis coexist in dsDNA, with much higher contribution from longitudinal vibrations

  2. Radiation therapy treatment of acute refractory renal allograft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godinez, J.; Thisted, R.A.; Woodle, E.S.; Thistlethwaite, J.R.; Powers, C.; Haraf, D.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the use of radiotherapy to preserve the renal graft in patients with recurrent graft rejection that failed to respond to medical treatment and identify risk factors to predict the probability of graft loss. Material and Methods: Between June 1989 and December 1995, 53 renal graft recipients were treated at our institution after experiencing several episodes of rejection. Rejection was defined as an unexplained, consecutive, daily rise in serum creatinine. Each episode was confirmed with renal biopsy. Patients who experienced rejection were initially treated with solu medrol bolus and prednisone. Patients with steroid-resistant or recurrent rejection received OKT3, polyclonal antilymphocyte antibody, FK506, or mycophenolate mofetil. Those who failed to respond to medical treatment were referred for radiotherapy. Treatment consisted of a dose of 600 cGy given in 3 or 4 fractions using 6 MV photons, AP or AP/PA. All patients underwent ultrasound kidney localization; a 2 cm margin was given around the kidney. Results: Median follow-up from the date of transplant to the last follow-up was 22 months (range 1-83 months), the median time from the date of transplant to the initiation of radiotherapy was 3 months, and the median time from the initiation of radiotherapy to the last follow up was 10 months (range 0.1 to 64 months). Of these 34 men and 19 women, median age of 3), Ninety-one percent were cadaveric transplant recipients., human leukocyte antigen matching on HLA-A and HLA-B (zero antigens in 26 patients/one or two shared antigens in 27 patients), HLA-DR locus (zero antigens in 34 patients/one or two shared antigens in 19 patients), transplant panel-reactive antibodies at transplantation (median PRA-Curr of 3% and median PRA-Max of 8%), number of acute rejection episodes, interval from the date of the transplant to the first rejection (median 1 month, range 5 days to 68 months), serum creatinine levels at the time of the first

  3. Pain Processing after Social Exclusion and Its Relation to Rejection Sensitivity in Borderline Personality Disorder.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melanie Bungert

    Full Text Available There is a general agreement that physical pain serves as an alarm signal for the prevention of and reaction to physical harm. It has recently been hypothesized that "social pain," as induced by social rejection or abandonment, may rely on comparable, phylogenetically old brain structures. As plausible as this theory may sound, scientific evidence for this idea is sparse. This study therefore attempts to link both types of pain directly. We studied patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD because BPD is characterized by opposing alterations in physical and social pain; hyposensitivity to physical pain is associated with hypersensitivity to social pain, as indicated by an enhanced rejection sensitivity.Twenty unmedicated female BPD patients and 20 healthy participants (HC, matched for age and education played a virtual ball-tossing game (cyberball, with the conditions for exclusion, inclusion, and a control condition with predefined game rules. Each cyberball block was followed by a temperature stimulus (with a subjective pain intensity of 60% in half the cases. The cerebral responses were measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The Adult Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire was used to assess rejection sensitivity.Higher temperature heat stimuli had to be applied to BPD patients relative to HCs to reach a comparable subjective experience of painfulness in both groups, which suggested a general hyposensitivity to pain in BPD patients. Social exclusion led to a subjectively reported hypersensitivity to physical pain in both groups that was accompanied by an enhanced activation in the anterior insula and the thalamus. In BPD, physical pain processing after exclusion was additionally linked to enhanced posterior insula activation. After inclusion, BPD patients showed reduced amygdala activation during pain in comparison with HC. In BPD patients, higher rejection sensitivity was associated with lower activation differences during

  4. Cleaning results of new and fouled nanofiltration membrane characterized by contact angle, updated DSPM, flux and salts rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Amoudi, Ahmed; Williams, Paul; Al-Hobaib, A.S.; Lovitt, Robert W.

    2008-01-01

    In membrane process industries, membrane cleaning is one of the most important concerns from both economical and scientific points of view. Though cleaning is important to recover membrane performance, an inappropriate selection of cleaning agents may result into unsatisfactory cleaning or irreparable membrane. In this study the cleaning performance has been studied with measurements of membrane contact angle, Updated Donnan steric partitioning pore model (UDSPM) and salt rejection as well as flux measurement. Thin film nanofiltration (NF) membranes such as DK, HL and DL provided by GE Osmonics are used in this study. Tests were carried out with virgin DK, HL and DL as well as fouled DK membranes. Several cleaning agents were investigated; some of them were analytical grade such as HCl, NaOH and others such as SDS, mix agents were commercial grade agents that are already in use in commercial plants. Contact angle, DSPM and salt rejection as well as flux of virgin and fouled membranes before and after chemical cleaning were measured and compared. The contact angle measurements with and without chemical cleaning of different virgin and fouled membranes revealed very interesting results which may be used to characterise the membrane surface cleanliness. The contact angle results revealed that the cleaning agents are found to modify membrane surface properties (hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity) of the treated and untreated virgin and fouled membranes. The details of these results were also investigated and are reported in the paper. However, UDSPM method did not give any valuable information about pore size of the untreated and treated NF membranes. The salt rejection level of monovalent and divalent ions before and after cleaning by high and low pH cleaning agents is also investigated and is reported in the paper

  5. Cleaning results of new and fouled nanofiltration membrane characterized by contact angle, updated DSPM, flux and salts rejection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Amoudi, Ahmed [Centre for complex fluids processing, Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre, School of Engineering, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP (United Kingdom) and Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Saline Water Desalination Research Institute Staff (Saudi Arabia)], E-mail: 310981@swan.ac.uk; Williams, Paul [Centre for complex fluids processing, Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre, School of Engineering, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP (United Kingdom); Al-Hobaib, A.S. [Institute of Atomic Energy Research, King Abdulaziz City for Science And Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442 (Saudi Arabia); Lovitt, Robert W. [Centre for complex fluids processing, Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre, School of Engineering, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP (United Kingdom)

    2008-04-30

    In membrane process industries, membrane cleaning is one of the most important concerns from both economical and scientific points of view. Though cleaning is important to recover membrane performance, an inappropriate selection of cleaning agents may result into unsatisfactory cleaning or irreparable membrane. In this study the cleaning performance has been studied with measurements of membrane contact angle, Updated Donnan steric partitioning pore model (UDSPM) and salt rejection as well as flux measurement. Thin film nanofiltration (NF) membranes such as DK, HL and DL provided by GE Osmonics are used in this study. Tests were carried out with virgin DK, HL and DL as well as fouled DK membranes. Several cleaning agents were investigated; some of them were analytical grade such as HCl, NaOH and others such as SDS, mix agents were commercial grade agents that are already in use in commercial plants. Contact angle, DSPM and salt rejection as well as flux of virgin and fouled membranes before and after chemical cleaning were measured and compared. The contact angle measurements with and without chemical cleaning of different virgin and fouled membranes revealed very interesting results which may be used to characterise the membrane surface cleanliness. The contact angle results revealed that the cleaning agents are found to modify membrane surface properties (hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity) of the treated and untreated virgin and fouled membranes. The details of these results were also investigated and are reported in the paper. However, UDSPM method did not give any valuable information about pore size of the untreated and treated NF membranes. The salt rejection level of monovalent and divalent ions before and after cleaning by high and low pH cleaning agents is also investigated and is reported in the paper.

  6. Higher boron rejection with a new TFC forward osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Li, Zhenyu; Sarp, Sarper; Park, Y. G.; Amy, Gary L.; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

    2014-01-01

    Due to the stringent limits for boron in drinking and irrigation water, water treatment facilities have to incur additional treatment to remove boron down to a safe concentration. Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane technology that may reduce the energy required to remove boron present in seawater. In direct FO desalination hybrid systems, fresh water is recovered from seawater using a recoverable draw solution, FO membranes are expected to show high boron rejection. This study focuses on determining the boron rejection capabilities of a new generation thin-film composite (TFC) FO membrane compared to a first generation cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane. The effects of water permeate flux, membrane structure, draw solute charge, and reverse solute flux on boron rejection were determined. For TFC and CTA FO membranes, experiments showed that when similar operating conditions are applied (e.g. membrane type and draw solute type) boron rejection decreases with increase in permeate flux. Reverse draw solute flux and membrane fouling have no significant impact on boron rejection. Compared to the first generation CTA FO membrane operated at the same conditions, the TFC FO membrane showed a 40% higher boron rejection capability and a 20% higher water flux. This demonstrates the potential for boron removal for new generation TFC FO membranes. © 2014 © 2014 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  7. Higher boron rejection with a new TFC forward osmosis membrane

    KAUST Repository

    Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

    2014-07-17

    Due to the stringent limits for boron in drinking and irrigation water, water treatment facilities have to incur additional treatment to remove boron down to a safe concentration. Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane technology that may reduce the energy required to remove boron present in seawater. In direct FO desalination hybrid systems, fresh water is recovered from seawater using a recoverable draw solution, FO membranes are expected to show high boron rejection. This study focuses on determining the boron rejection capabilities of a new generation thin-film composite (TFC) FO membrane compared to a first generation cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane. The effects of water permeate flux, membrane structure, draw solute charge, and reverse solute flux on boron rejection were determined. For TFC and CTA FO membranes, experiments showed that when similar operating conditions are applied (e.g. membrane type and draw solute type) boron rejection decreases with increase in permeate flux. Reverse draw solute flux and membrane fouling have no significant impact on boron rejection. Compared to the first generation CTA FO membrane operated at the same conditions, the TFC FO membrane showed a 40% higher boron rejection capability and a 20% higher water flux. This demonstrates the potential for boron removal for new generation TFC FO membranes. © 2014 © 2014 Balaban Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  8. 15 CFR 700.13 - Acceptance and rejection of rated orders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... order and transmit the acceptance or rejection in writing (hard copy), or in electronic format, within... rejection, pursuant to paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, in writing (hard copy) or electronic format...

  9. Theoretical analysis and modeling of Thickness-Expansion Mode (TEM) sensors for fluid characterization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elvira, Luis; Resa, Pablo; Castro, Pedro

    2013-03-01

    In this paper, the principles of Thickness-Expansion Mode (TEM) resonators for the characterization of fluids are described. From the measurement of the resonance parameters of a TEM piezoelectric transducer, the compressional acoustic impedance of gases and liquids can be determined. Since the propagation of mechanical waves into the fluid is not necessary, information in a wide range of frequencies can be obtained. Alternatively, these sensors can be driven in combination with other ultrasonic techniques to simultaneously determine the density, speed of sound and viscosity of samples. Some potential applications include the probe monitoring of processes and the characterization of fluids under harsh conditions. The main experimental criteria for the design and construction of high-resolution impedance meters (such as piezoelectric material, protective coating or thermal response) have been studied using equivalent electrical circuit modeling and finite element analysis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Optimal control for an M^X/G/1/N+1 queue with two service modes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ridder, A.A.N.; Nobel, R.D.; Krishnan, G.S.S.; Anita, R.; Lakshmi, R.S.; Kumar, M.S.; Bonato, A.; Grana, M.

    2014-01-01

    A finite-buffer queueing model is considered with batch Poisson input and controllable service rate. A batch that upon arrival does not fit in the unoccupied places of the buffer is partially rejected. A decision to change the service mode can be made at service completion epochs only, and vacation

  11. A Comparison of Coolant Options for Brayton Power Conversion Heat Rejection Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siamidis, John; Mason, Lee

    2006-01-01

    This paper describes potential heat rejection design concepts for Brayton power conversion systems. Brayton conversion systems are currently under study by NASA for Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) and surface power applications. The Brayton Heat Rejection Subsystem (HRS) must dissipate waste heat generated by the power conversion system due to inefficiencies in the thermal-to-electric conversion process. Sodium potassium (NaK) and H2O are two coolant working fluids that have been investigated in the design of a pumped loop and heat pipe space HRS. In general NaK systems are high temperature (300 to 1000 K) low pressure systems, and H2O systems are low temperature (300 to 600 K) high pressure systems. NaK is an alkali metal with health and safety hazards that require special handling procedures. On the other hand, H2O is a common fluid, with no health hazards and no special handling procedures. This paper compares NaK and H2O for the HRS pumped loop coolant working fluid. A detailed excel analytical model, HRS O pt, was developed to evaluate the various HRS design parameters. It is capable of analyzing NaK or H2O coolant, parallel or series flow configurations, and numerous combinations of other key parameters (heat pipe spacing, diameter and radial flux, radiator facesheet thickness, fluid duct system pressure drop, system rejected power, etc.) of the HRS. This paper compares NaK against water for the HRS coolant working fluid with respect to the relative mass, performance, design and implementation issues between the two fluids

  12. 48 CFR 814.404-2 - Rejection of individual bids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Rejection of individual... Rejection of individual bids. (a) When a contracting officer finds a bid that is being considered for an... nonresponsive an individual bid that is not in compliance with the Government's bid acceptance time, since...

  13. Nonlinear PCA: characterizing interactions between modes of brain activity.

    OpenAIRE

    Friston, K; Phillips, J; Chawla, D; Büchel, C

    2000-01-01

    This paper presents a nonlinear principal component analysis (PCA) that identifies underlying sources causing the expression of spatial modes or patterns of activity in neuroimaging time-series. The critical aspect of this technique is that, in relation to conventional PCA, the sources can interact to produce (second-order) spatial modes that represent the modulation of one (first-order) spatial mode by another. This nonlinear PCA uses a simple neural network architecture that embodies a spec...

  14. Effects of composite mango ( Mangifera indica ) fruit reject meal on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Effects of composite mango ( Mangifera indica ) fruit reject meal on growth performance, digestibility and economics of production of rabbits. ... The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of mango fruit reject ... HOW TO USE AJOL.

  15. CMB Polarization B-mode Delensing with SPTpol and Herschel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Manzotti, A.; et al.

    2017-01-16

    We present a demonstration of delensing the observed cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode polarization anisotropy. This process of reducing the gravitational-lensing generated B-mode component will become increasingly important for improving searches for the B modes produced by primordial gravitational waves. In this work, we delens B-mode maps constructed from multi-frequency SPTpol observations of a 90 deg$^2$ patch of sky by subtracting a B-mode template constructed from two inputs: SPTpol E-mode maps and a lensing potential map estimated from the $\\textit{Herschel}$ $500\\,\\mu m$ map of the CIB. We find that our delensing procedure reduces the measured B-mode power spectrum by 28% in the multipole range $300 < \\ell < 2300$; this is shown to be consistent with expectations from theory and simulations and to be robust against systematics. The null hypothesis of no delensing is rejected at $6.9 \\sigma$. Furthermore, we build and use a suite of realistic simulations to study the general properties of the delensing process and find that the delensing efficiency achieved in this work is limited primarily by the noise in the lensing potential map. We demonstrate the importance of including realistic experimental non-idealities in the delensing forecasts used to inform instrument and survey-strategy planning of upcoming lower-noise experiments, such as CMB-S4.

  16. Family and community rejection and a Congolese led mediation intervention to reintegrate rejected survivors of sexual violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohli, Anjalee; Tosha, Maphie; Ramazani, Paul; Safari, Octave; Bachunguye, Richard; Zahiga, Isaya; Iragi, Aline; Glass, Nancy

    2013-01-01

    Our purpose in this study is to describe the multiple and inter-related health, economic, and social reasons for rejection and to provide an example of a Congolese-led family mediation program to reintegrate survivors into their families. We conducted this study in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and included two focus group discussions and twenty-seven interviews. Rejection extends beyond physical dislocation to include economic and social aspects. Family mediation is a process requiring knowledge of traditions and norms. Understanding the context of rejection and supporting promising local reintegration efforts will likely improve health, economic, and social outcomes for the survivor, her family, and her community.

  17. Refusals and Rejections: Designing Messages to Serve Multiple Goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saeki, Mimako; O'Keefe, Barbara J.

    1994-01-01

    Tests a rational model of the elaboration of themes found in rejection messages, using Japanese and American participants. Finds partial support for the initial rational model but notes two key revisions: identifies two new themes in rejection messages and suggests substantial differences in the way Americans and Japanese elaborate themes to serve…

  18. Experimental Verification of a Harmonic-Rejection Mixing Concept using Blind Interference Canceling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moseley, N.A.; Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Nauta, Bram

    2008-01-01

    Abstract—This paper presents the first practical experiments on a harmonic rejection downconverter, which offers up to 75 dB of harmonic rejection, without an RF filter. The downconverter uses a two-stage approach; the first stage is an analog multipath/ multi-phase harmonic rejection mixer followed

  19. Performance evaluation of an all-fiber image-reject homodyne coherent Doppler wind lidar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abari, Cyrus F.; Pedersen, Anders Tegtmeier; Dellwik, Ebba

    2015-01-01

    The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the near-zero wind velocity measurement performance of two separate 1.5 µm all-fiber coherent Doppler lidars (CDLs). The performance characterization is carried out through the presentation of the results from two separate atmospheric field campaigns....... In one campaign, a recently developed continuous wave (CW) CDL benefiting from an image-reject front-end was deployed. The other campaign utilized a different CW CDL, benefiting from a heterodyne receiver with intermediate-frequency (IF) sampling. In both field campaigns the results are compared against...

  20. Delayed allogeneic skin graft rejection in CD26-deficient mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Xiangli; Zhang, Kai; Daniel, Peter; Wisbrun, Natali; Fuchs, Hendrik; Fan, Hua

    2018-03-23

    Organ transplantation is an effective therapeutic tool for treating many terminal diseases. However, one of the biggest challenges of transplantation is determining how to achieve the long-term survival of the allogeneic or xenogeneic transplant by, for example, preventing transplant rejection. In the current study, CD26 gene-knockout mice were used to investigate the potential role of CD26/dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPPIV) in allogeneic skin graft rejection by tail-skin transplantation. Compared with wild-type (CD26 +/+ ) counterparts, CD26 -/- mice showed reduced necrosis of grafts and delayed graft rejection after skin transplantation. Concentrations of serum IgG, including its subclasses IgG1 and IgG2a, were significantly reduced in CD26 -/- mice during graft rejection. Moreover, after allogeneic skin transplantation, the secretion levels of the cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-6, IL-4, and IL-13 were significantly reduced, whereas the level of the cytokine IL-10 was increased in the serum of CD26 -/- mice compared with that in the serum of CD26 +/+ mice. Additionally, the concentration of IL-17 in serum and the percentage of cells secreting IL-17 in mouse peripheral blood lymphocytes (MPBLs) were both significantly lower, while the percentage of regulatory T cells (Tregs) was significantly higher in MPBLs of CD26 -/- mice than in those of CD26 +/+ mice. Furthermore, a lower percentage of CD8 + T cells in MPBLs and fewer infiltrated macrophages and T cells in graft tissues of CD26 -/- mice were detected during graft rejection. These results indicate that CD26 is involved in allogeneic skin graft rejection and provides another hint that CD26 deficiency leads to less rejection due to lower activation and proliferation of host immune cells.

  1. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF REJECTION AFTER SIMULTANEOUS PANCREAS-KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Lei Yang; Yong-feng Liu; Shu-rong Liu; Gang Wu; Jia-lin Zhang; Yi-man Meng; Shao-wei Shong; Gui-chen Li

    2005-01-01

    Objective To explore methods of preventing and reversing rejection after simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) tran splantation. Methods Seventeen patients underwent SPK transplantation from September 1999 to September 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. Immunosuppression was achieved by a triple drug regimen consisting of cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofteil (MMF), and steroids. Three patients were treated with anti-CD3 monoclone antibody (OKT3, 5 mg· d-1) for induction therapy for a mean period of 5-7 days. One patients received IL-2 receptor antibodies (daclizumab) in a dose of 1 mg· kg-1 on the day of transplant and the 5th day posttransplant. One patient was treated with both OKT3 and daclizumab for induction. Results No primary non-functionality of either kidney or pancreas occurred in this series of transplantations. Function of all the kidney grafts recovered within 2 to 4 days after transplantation. The level of serum creatinine was 94 ± 11 μmol/L on the 7th day posttransplant. One patient experienced the accelerated rejection, resulting in the resection of the pancreas and kidney grafts because of the failure of conservative therapy. The incidence of the first rejection episodes at 3 months was 47.1% (8/17). Only the kidney was involved in 35.3% (6/17); and both the pancreas and kidney were involved in 11.8% (2/17). All these patients received a high-dose pulse of methylprednisone (0.5 g·d-1) for 3 days. OKT3 (0.5 mg·d-1) was administered for 7-10 days in two patients with both renal and pancreas rejection. All the grafts were successfully rescued. Conclusion Rejection, particularly acute rejection, is the major cause influencing graft function in SPK transplantation. Monitoring renal function and pancreas exocrine secretion, and reasonable application of immunosuppressants play important roles in the diagnosis and treatment of rejection.

  2. The stylar 120 kDa glycoprotein is required for S-specific pollen rejection in Nicotiana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hancock, C Nathan; Kent, Lia; McClure, Bruce A

    2005-09-01

    S-RNase participates in at least three mechanisms of pollen rejection. It functions in S-specific pollen rejection (self-incompatibility) and in at least two distinct interspecific mechanisms of pollen rejection in Nicotiana. S-specific pollen rejection and rejection of pollen from Nicotiana plumbaginifolia also require additional stylar proteins. Transmitting-tract-specific (TTS) protein, 120 kDa glycoprotein (120K) and pistil extensin-like protein III (PELP III) are stylar glycoproteins that bind S-RNase in vitro and are also known to interact with pollen. Here we tested whether these glycoproteins have a direct role in pollen rejection. 120K shows the most polymorphism in size between Nicotiana species. Larger 120K-like proteins are often correlated with S-specific pollen rejection. Sequencing results suggest that the polymorphism primarily reflects differences in glycosylation, although indels also occur in the predicted polypeptides. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we suppressed expression of 120K to determine if it is required for S-specific pollen rejection. Transgenic SC N. plumbaginifolia x SI Nicotiana alata (S105S105 or SC10SC10) hybrids with no detectable 120K were unable to perform S-specific pollen rejection. Thus, 120K has a direct role in S-specific pollen rejection. However, suppression of 120K had no effect on rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen. In contrast, suppression of HT-B, a factor previously implicated in S-specific pollen rejection, disrupts rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen. Thus, S-specific pollen rejection and rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen are mechanistically distinct, because they require different non-S-RNase factors.

  3. T-regulatory cells in chronic rejection versus stable grafts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Wedaie, Fatima; Farid, Eman; Tabbara, Khaled; El-Agroudy, Amgad E; Al-Ghareeb, Sumaya M

    2015-04-01

    Studying regulatory T cells in kidney allograft acceptance versus chronic rejection may help in the understanding of more mechanisms of immune tolerance and, in the future, may enable clinicians to induce immune tolerance and decrease the use of immunosuppressive drugs. The aim of the current study was to evaluate regulatory T cells in kidney transplant patients with stable graft versus transplant with biopsy-proven chronic rejection. The 3 groups that were studied included: kidney transplanted patients with no rejection episodes (n = 43); transplanted patients with biopsy-proven renal rejection (n = 27); and healthy age-matched nontransplanted individuals as controls (n = 42).The percentage of regulatory T cells (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+) in blood was determined by flow cytometry. The regulatory T cell percentage was significantly lower in chronic rejection patients than control or stable graft groups. No significant difference was observed in regulatory T cell percentage between the stable graft and control groups. In the stable graft group, patients on rapamycin had a significantly higher regulatory T cell percentage than patients on cyclosporine. No effect of donor type, infection, or duration after transplant was observed on regulatory T cell percentage. The results of the current study are consistent with previous studies addressing the function of regulatory T cells in inducing immunotolerance after kidney transplant. Considering the established role of regulatory T cells in graft maintenance and our observation of high regulatory T cell percentage in patients receiving rapamycin than cyclosporine, we recommend including rapamycin when possible in immunosuppressive protocols. The findings from the current study on the chronic rejection group support ongoing research of having treatment with regulatory T cells, which may constitute a novel, efficient antirejection therapy in the future.

  4. 48 CFR 14.404-2 - Rejection of individual bids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Rejection of individual... of individual bids. (a) Any bid that fails to conform to the essential requirements of the invitation... total price of the bid, but the prices for individual line items as well. (g) Any bid may be rejected if...

  5. Mini-cavity plasma core reactors for dual-mode space nuclear power/propulsion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chow, S.

    1976-01-01

    A mini-cavity plasma core reactor is investigated for potential use in a dual-mode space power and propulsion system. In the propulsive mode, hydrogen propellant is injected radially inward through the reactor solid regions and into the cavity. The propellant is heated by both solid driver fuel elements surrounding the cavity and uranium plasma before it is exhausted out the nozzle. The propellant only removes a fraction of the driver power, the remainder is transferred by a coolant fluid to a power conversion system, which incorporates a radiator for heat rejection. In the power generation mode, the plasma and propellant flows are shut off, and the driver elements supply thermal power to the power conversion system, which generates electricity for primary electric propulsion purposes

  6. Bone marrow-derived T lymphocytes responsible for allograft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Senjanovic, M.; Marusic, M.

    1984-01-01

    Lethally irradiated mice reconstituted with syngeneic bone marrow cells were grafted with allogeneic skin grafts 6-7 weeks after irradiation and reconstitution. Mice with intact thymuses rejected the grafts whereas the mice thymectomized before irradiation and reconstitution did not. Thymectomized irradiated mice (TIR mice) reconstituted with bone marrow cells from donors immune to the allografts rejected the grafts. Bone marrow cells from immunized donors, pretreated with Thy 1.2 antibody and C', did not confer immunity to TIR recipients. To determine the number of T lymphocytes necessary for the transfer of immunity by bone marrow cells from immunized donors, thymectomized irradiated mice were reconstituted with nonimmune bone marrow cells treated with Thy 1.2 antibody and C' and with various numbers of splenic T lymphocytes from nonimmune and immune donors. Allogeneic skin graft rejection was obtained with 10(6) nonimmune or 10(4) immune T cells. The effect of immune T cells was specific: i.e., immune T cells accelerated only rejection of the relevant skin grafts whereas against a third-party skin grafts acted as normal T lymphocytes

  7. Information about radiographic films rejects of dental x-rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cezimbra, M.R.; Bernarsiuk, M.E.; Bauer V, E.

    1996-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to qualify and quantify the number of dental x-ray films rejected in a Porto Alegre clinic. As we analyzed the captured data, it was concluded that, our of 1066 peri-apical films, we had a total percentage of 4.5% in relation to the total of the exams made. This 4.5% consists of the following rejects: placement, patient movement, technical errors, diaphragm, too much clarity in the result, double exposure, prolongation, shortness, darkened for not have been shot, superposed film. Because of that, the rejection, due to the bad placement of the film, is the one with the larger percentage value, i.e., 1.22% of the 4.5%. With the knowledge of the types of rejects and their causes, it was possible to correct some sources of systematic errors minimizing the repetition of the exams, saving costs, time and diminishing the ionizing radiation exposure for the patient, odontologist and his technical staff, which will be proved. (authors). 4 refs., 1 tab

  8. Failure to diagnose cardiac treatment rejection with Tc99m-PYP images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKillop, J.H.; McDougall, I.R.; Goris, M.L.; Mason, J.W.; Reitz, B.A.

    1981-01-01

    The possibility of diagnosing transplant rejection using Tc-99m-PYP imaging was examined in 12 cardiac transplant recipients. Two patients were studied on two occasions. The presence or absence of active rejection was established by endomyocardial biopsy. The intensity and pattern of myocardial uptake of the tracer did not differ significantly in the two patients studied at the time of rejection compared to the remainder. It is concluded that a single Tc-99m-PYP study cannot be used to diagnose cardiac transplant rejection

  9. Acute Hepatic Allograft Rejection in Pediatric Recipients: Effective Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehghani, S M; Shahramian, I; Afshari, M; Bahmanyar, M; Ataollahi, M; Sargazi, A

    2018-01-01

    Acute cellular rejection (ACR), a reversible process, can affect the graft survival. To evaluate the relation between ACR and clinical factors in recipients of allograft liver transplantation. 47 recipients of liver were consecutively enrolled in a retrospective study. Their information were retrieved from their medical records and analyzed. Of the 47 recipients, 38 (81%) experienced acute rejection during 24 months of the transplantation. None of the studied factors for occurring transplant rejection, i.e ., blood groups, sex, age, familial history of disease, receiving drugs and blood products, type of donor, Child score, and Child class, was not found to be significant. During a limited follow-up period, we did not find any association between ACR and suspected risk factors.

  10. Study of Background Rejection Systems for the IXO Mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurent, Philippe; Limousin, O.; Tatischeff, V.

    2009-01-01

    The scientific performances of the IXO mission will necessitate a very low detector background level. This will imply thorough background simulations, and efficient background rejection systems. It necessitates also a very good knowledge of the detectors to be shielded. In APC, Paris, and CEA, Saclay, we got experience on these activities by conceiving and optimising in parallel the high energy detector and the active and passive background rejection system of the Simbol-X mission. Considering that this work may be naturally extended to other X-ray missions, we have initiated with CNES a R&D project on the study of background rejection systems mainly in view the IXO project. We will detail this activity in the poster.

  11. Sensitivity of scintigraphy with 111In-lymphocytes for detection of cardiac allograft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisenberg, S.B.; Eisen, H.J.; Sobel, B.E.; Bergmann, S.R.; Bolman, R.M. III

    1988-01-01

    We recently demonstrated the feasibility of noninvasive detection of cardiac allograft rejection after administration of indium-111-labeled lymphocytes. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of the technique, as well as its value for delineating the severity of rejection, we studied 16 dogs with heterotopic thoracic cardiac allografts. Five animals were evaluated while exposed to immunosuppressive agents. Animals were scanned sequentially after administration of 100-400 microCi of indium-111-labeled autologous lymphocytes. Myocardial lymphocyte infiltration was expressed as the indium excess (IE), defined as the ratio of indium activity of the transplant or native heart compared with that in blood. Scintigraphic results were compared with characteristics of simultaneously obtained endomyocardial biopsies. Among 17 biopsy documented episodes of rejection, 16 were detected scintigraphically. Among 18 biopsies with no evidence of rejection, scintigraphy was uniformly negative. Thus, the sensitivity and specificity of scintigraphy were 94 and 100%, respectively. Biopsies graded as showing no rejection were associated with an IE of 0.3 +/- 0.5 (+/- SD); those graded as mild, 2.8 +/- 1.7; those as moderate, 10.7 +/- 7.2; and those graded as indicative of severe rejection, 14.2 +/- 4.5. Thus, scintigraphy with indium-111-labeled lymphocytes sensitively and specifically detects cardiac allograft rejection and delineates the intensity of the rejection process. It should be useful clinically for assessing potential allograft rejection noninvasively

  12. Egg rejection behavior in a population exposed to parasitism: Village Weavers on Hispaniola

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruz, A.; Prather, J.W.; Wiley, J.W.; Weaver, P.F.

    2008-01-01

    In contrast to African Village Weavers (Ploceus cucullatus) that are parasitized by Diederik Cuckoos (Chrysococcyx caprius), introduced weavers on Hispaniola existed without parasitism for at least 2 centuries until the arrival of the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) in the 1970s. Cruz and Wiley (1989) found that Hispaniolan weavers had a lower rejection rate of foreign eggs than African populations. Subsequently, Robert and Sorci (1999) and Lahti (2005, 2006) found that acceptance of dissimilar eggs is not characteristic of the species throughout its Hispaniolan range. In 1999-2002, we studied egg rejection in Hispaniolan weavers on a broad regional scale. Rejection increased as experimental eggs became increasingly different from the host eggs. Rejection rates for mimetic eggs, different color eggs, different-spotting eggs, and cowbird eggs was 23.2%, 33.3%, 61.5%, and 85.3%, respectively, with higher rejection of cowbird eggs in areas where cowbirds were observed. Although rejection is likely to have a genetic component, the differences could be due to phenotypic plasticity. Plasticity in egg rejection may be expected, given the potential cost of rejection and the spatiotemporal distribution of cowbirds. Thus, egg rejection has not necessarily decreased in Hispaniolan weavers, but it may act in a plastic manner, increasing where cowbirds are present. ?? The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved.

  13. Crosslinked cellulose thin film composite nanofiltration membranes with zero salt rejection

    KAUST Repository

    Puspasari, Tiara

    2015-05-14

    We report a new synthetic route of fabricating regenerated cellulose nanofiltration membranes. The membranes are composite membranes with a thin selective layer of cellulose, which was prepared by regeneration of trimethylsilyl cellulose (a hydrophobic cellulose derivative) film followed by crosslinking. Filtration experiments using mixtures of sugar and sodium chloride showed that solutes above 300 Da were highly rejected whereas practically no rejection was observed for NaCl. This is a big advantage for a complete desalination as the existing commercial nanofiltration membranes typically exhibit NaCl rejection in the range of 30–60%. Membranes with zero NaCl rejection are required for recovery and purification applications in food, chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

  14. Increase of peripheral Th17 lymphocytes during acute cellular rejection in liver transplant recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Hua; Li, Li-Xin; Han, Dong-Dong; Kou, Jian-Tao; Li, Ping; He, Qiang

    2012-12-15

    Although many human inflammatory and autoimmune diseases were previously considered to be mediated by T helper type 1 (Th1) cells, the recently described Th17 cells play dominant roles in several of these diseases. We and others speculated that allograft rejection after organ transplantation may also involve Th17 cells. Episodes of acute rejection occur in 30% of liver transplants. This study aimed to determine the frequency of circulating Th17 cells in patients who had received liver transplants for benign end-stage liver disease and to identify any association between acute rejection episodes and levels of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood. A prospective study compared Th17 cells from 76 consecutive benign end-stage liver disease patients who had undergone orthotopic liver transplantation from 2007 to 2011 with those from 20 age-matched healthy individuals. Peripheral blood samples were collected at different time points within one year after transplant. Blood samples and liver biopsies were also collected at the diagnosis of acute rejection. Percentages of circulating CD4+IL-17+ cells were measured by flow cytometry. The transplant patients were classified into two groups: a rejection group consisting of 17 patients who had an episode of acute rejection, and a non-rejection group comprising the remaining 59 patients with no acute rejection episodes. Percentages of circulating Th17 cells were compared between the two groups and controls. The levels of circulating CD4+IL-17+ T cells in the rejection group were higher during acute rejection than those in the non-rejection group (2.56+/-0.43% versus 1.79+/-0.44%, Pblood was positively correlated with the rejection activity index (r=0.79, P=0.0002). Circulating Th17 cells may be useful as a surrogate marker for predicting acute rejection in liver transplant recipients.

  15. Energy distributions in a diesel engine using low heat rejection (LHR) concepts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Tingting; Caton, Jerald A.; Jacobs, Timothy J.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Altering coolant temperature was employed to devise low heat rejection concept. • The energy distributions at different engine coolant temperatures were analyzed. • Raising coolant temperature yields improvements in fuel conversion efficiency. • The exhaust energy is highly sensitive to the variations in exhaust temperature. • Effects of coolant temperature on mechanical efficiency were examined. - Abstract: The energy balance analysis is recognized as a useful method for aiding the characterization of the performance and efficiency of internal combustion (IC) engines. Approximately one-third of the total fuel energy is converted to useful work in a conventional IC engine, whereas the major part of the energy input is rejected to the exhaust gas and the cooling system. The idea of a low heat rejection (LHR) engine (also called “adiabatic engine”) was extensively developed in the 1980s due to its potential in improving engine thermal efficiency via reducing the heat losses. In this study, the LHR operating condition is implemented by increasing the engine coolant temperature (ECT). Experimentally, the engine is overcooled to low ECTs and then increased to 100 °C in an effort to get trend-wise behavior without exceeding safe ECTs. The study then uses an engine simulation of the conventional multi-cylinder, four-stroke, 1.9 L diesel engine operating at 1500 rpm to examine the five cases having different ECTs. A comparison between experimental and simulation results show the effects of ECT on fuel conversion efficiency. The results demonstrate that increasing ECT yields slight improvements in net indicated fuel conversion efficiency, with larger improvements observed in brake fuel conversion efficiency.

  16. Rejection thresholds in solid chocolate-flavored compound coating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harwood, Meriel L; Ziegler, Gregory R; Hayes, John E

    2012-10-01

    Classical detection thresholds do not predict liking, as they focus on the presence or absence of a sensation. Recently however, Prescott and colleagues described a new method, the rejection threshold, where a series of forced choice preference tasks are used to generate a dose-response function to determine hedonically acceptable concentrations. That is, how much is too much? To date, this approach has been used exclusively in liquid foods. Here, we determined group rejection thresholds in solid chocolate-flavored compound coating for bitterness. The influences of self-identified preferences for milk or dark chocolate, as well as eating style (chewers compared to melters) on rejection thresholds were investigated. Stimuli included milk chocolate-flavored compound coating spiked with increasing amounts of sucrose octaacetate, a bitter and generally recognized as safe additive. Paired preference tests (blank compared to spike) were used to determine the proportion of the group that preferred the blank. Across pairs, spiked samples were presented in ascending concentration. We were able to quantify and compare differences between 2 self-identified market segments. The rejection threshold for the dark chocolate preferring group was significantly higher than the milk chocolate preferring group (P= 0.01). Conversely, eating style did not affect group rejection thresholds (P= 0.14), although this may reflect the amount of chocolate given to participants. Additionally, there was no association between chocolate preference and eating style (P= 0.36). Present work supports the contention that this method can be used to examine preferences within specific market segments and potentially individual differences as they relate to ingestive behavior. This work makes use of the rejection threshold method to study market segmentation, extending its use to solid foods. We believe this method has broad applicability to the sensory specialist and product developer by providing a

  17. Pharmacologic strategies in the prevention and treatment of corneal transplant rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabbara, Khalid F

    2008-06-01

    Corneal transplantation remains one of the most successful organ transplantation procedures in humans. The unique structure of the cornea, with its absence of blood vessels and corneal lymphatic, allows the survival of corneal allograft. Recent advances in sutures, storage media, microsurgical instrumentation, and new pharmacological strategies have greatly improved the success of corneal transplantation and the prevention of corneal allograft rejection. Our strategies in the management and prevention of corneal graft rejection can modify and improve the survival of corneal allografts. Preoperative evaluation, understanding the risk factors, and management of ocular surface disorders may greatly improve the survival of the corneal transplant. Early recognition of corneal allograft rejection and aggressive treatment may improve the survival of the corneal graft. Furthermore, patients who undergo corneal transplantation should be maintained under close ophthalmic surveillance and patients should be informed to report immediately whenever symptoms of corneal graft rejection occur. The mainstay of therapy is topical corticosteroids. In severe cases, periocular, intravenous, and oral corticosteroids therapy can be rendered. New therapeutic modalities such as cyclosporine, tacrolimus, daclizumab, mycophenolate mofetil, leflunomide, rapamycin, and others may prove to be of help in the prevention and treatment of corneal graft rejection. Early recognition of corneal graft rejection and prompt treatment are mandatory for the successful survival of the corneal allograft.

  18. Design and numerical optimization of a mode multiplexer based on few-mode fiber couplers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Yiwei; Fu, Songnian; Liu, Hai; Zhang, Hailiang; Tang, Ming; Liu, Deming; Shum, P

    2013-01-01

    Mode division multiplexing (MDM) transmission based on few-mode fibers (FMFs) appears to be an alternative solution for overcoming the capacity limit of single-mode fibers (SMFs). A FMF coupler-based mode division multiplexer/demultiplexer (MMUX/DeMMUX) is proposed and theoretically investigated after the fabricated FMF is characterized. MMUXs/DeMMUXs with a mode contrast ratio (MCR) of more than 20 dB can be obtained for two-mode multiplexing and three-mode multiplexing over a wavelength span of 60 and 10 nm, respectively. We numerically verify the proposed MMUX/DeMMUX which has the advantages of high MCR, easy fabrication and maintenance, and low wavelength dependence. (paper)

  19. Automation and heat transfer characterization of immersion mode spectroscopy for analysis of ice nucleating particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beall, Charlotte M.; Stokes, M. Dale; Hill, Thomas C.; DeMott, Paul J.; DeWald, Jesse T.; Prather, Kimberly A.

    2017-07-01

    Ice nucleating particles (INPs) influence cloud properties and can affect the overall precipitation efficiency. Developing a parameterization of INPs in global climate models has proven challenging. More INP measurements - including studies of their spatial distribution, sources and sinks, and fundamental freezing mechanisms - must be conducted in order to further improve INP parameterizations. In this paper, an immersion mode INP measurement technique is modified and automated using a software-controlled, real-time image stream designed to leverage optical changes of water droplets to detect freezing events. For the first time, heat transfer properties of the INP measurement technique are characterized using a finite-element-analysis-based heat transfer simulation to improve accuracy of INP freezing temperature measurement. The heat transfer simulation is proposed as a tool that could be used to explain the sources of bias in temperature measurements in INP measurement techniques and ultimately explain the observed discrepancies in measured INP freezing temperatures between different instruments. The simulation results show that a difference of +8.4 °C between the well base temperature and the headspace gas results in an up to 0.6 °C stratification of the aliquot, whereas a difference of +4.2 °C or less results in a thermally homogenous water volume within the error of the thermal probe, ±0.2 °C. The results also show that there is a strong temperature gradient in the immediate vicinity of the aliquot, such that without careful placement of temperature probes, or characterization of heat transfer properties of the water and cooling environment, INP measurements can be biased toward colder temperatures. Based on a modified immersion mode technique, the Automated Ice Spectrometer (AIS), measurements of the standard test dust illite NX are reported and compared against six other immersion mode droplet assay techniques featured in Hiranuma et al. (2015) that used

  20. Characterization of distinct Arctic aerosol accumulation modes and their sources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lange, R.; Dall'Osto, M.; Skov, H.

    2018-01-01

    -August). By association to chemical composition, cloud condensation nuclei properties, and meteorological variables, three typical accumulation mode aerosol clusters were identified: Haze (32% of the time), Bimodal (14%) and Aged (6%). In brief: (1) Haze accumulation mode aerosol shows a single mode at 150 nm, peaking...

  1. Endothelial cell chimerism associated with graft rejection after human lung transplantation.

    OpenAIRE

    Ratajczak , Philippe; Murata , Hideyuki; Meignin , Véronique; Groussard , Odile; Fournier , Michel; Socié , Gérard; Mal , Hervé; Janin , Anne

    2008-01-01

    International audience; Endotheliitis is a major sign of graft rejection. Recipient-derived endothelial cells found in two series of liver and kidney transplants were related to graft rejection. Here, we assessed the presence and the number of chimeric endothelial cells in lung transplants, and their relation with graft rejection. In six males grafted with female lungs out of 193 lung transplantations, endothelial chimerism was studied by combined XY-fluorescent in situ hybridization with CD3...

  2. Line-up member similarity influences the effectiveness of a salient rejection option for eyewitnesses

    OpenAIRE

    Bruer, Kaila C.; Fitzgerald, Ryan J.; Therrien, Natalie M.; Price, Heather L.

    2015-01-01

    Visually salient line-up rejection options have not been systematically studied with adult eyewitnesses. We explored the impact of using a non-verbal, salient rejection option on adults' identification accuracy for line-ups containing low- or high-similarity fillers. The non-verbal, salient rejection option had minimal impact on accuracy in low-similarity line-ups, but in high-similarity line-ups its inclusion increased correct rejections for target-absent line-ups as well as incorrect reject...

  3. Analysis of Turbine Load Rejection for APR1400 using SPACE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Sang Jin; Park, Chan Eok; Choi, Jong Ho; Lee, Gyu Cheon [KEPCO Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd., Deajeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    Turbine Load Rejection event is one of the Performance Related Design Basis Event (PRDBE) that can be stabilized using plant control systems without any safety system actuation. The initiation of the event is turbine load rejection from 100% to 5% in 0.019 seconds. The NSSS control systems of APR1400 is composed of the Power Control System (PCS) and the Process-Component Control System (P-CCS). The PCS includes Reactor Regulating System (RRS), Reactor Power Cutback System (RPCS) and Digital Rod Control System (DRCS). The P-CCS includes the Pressurizer Pressure Control System (PPCS), the Pressurizer Level Control System (PLCS), the Feedwater Control System (FWCS) and the Steam Bypass Control System (SBCS). Turbine load rejection results in the increase of secondary pressure due to sudden blocking of steam flow to turbine. Then the Reactor Coolant System (RCS) cooling through steam generators is decreased rapidly and the RCS temperature will be increased. Turbine load rejection is a typical event to test NSSS control systems since it requires the automatic response of all major NSSS control systems. It is shown that the NSSS control systems of APR1400 have the capability to stabilize the plant without any safety system actuation for turbine load rejection event. This analysis results show that SPACE code has the capability to analyze the turbine load rejection event. However, further validation is necessary for other PRDBEs such as Two Main Feedwater Pumps Trip, Turbine Load Step Change and Turbine Load Ramp Down (5%/min) to verify the capability of SPACE for the full range of performance analyses.

  4. Analysis of Turbine Load Rejection for APR1400 using SPACE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sang Jin; Park, Chan Eok; Choi, Jong Ho; Lee, Gyu Cheon

    2016-01-01

    Turbine Load Rejection event is one of the Performance Related Design Basis Event (PRDBE) that can be stabilized using plant control systems without any safety system actuation. The initiation of the event is turbine load rejection from 100% to 5% in 0.019 seconds. The NSSS control systems of APR1400 is composed of the Power Control System (PCS) and the Process-Component Control System (P-CCS). The PCS includes Reactor Regulating System (RRS), Reactor Power Cutback System (RPCS) and Digital Rod Control System (DRCS). The P-CCS includes the Pressurizer Pressure Control System (PPCS), the Pressurizer Level Control System (PLCS), the Feedwater Control System (FWCS) and the Steam Bypass Control System (SBCS). Turbine load rejection results in the increase of secondary pressure due to sudden blocking of steam flow to turbine. Then the Reactor Coolant System (RCS) cooling through steam generators is decreased rapidly and the RCS temperature will be increased. Turbine load rejection is a typical event to test NSSS control systems since it requires the automatic response of all major NSSS control systems. It is shown that the NSSS control systems of APR1400 have the capability to stabilize the plant without any safety system actuation for turbine load rejection event. This analysis results show that SPACE code has the capability to analyze the turbine load rejection event. However, further validation is necessary for other PRDBEs such as Two Main Feedwater Pumps Trip, Turbine Load Step Change and Turbine Load Ramp Down (5%/min) to verify the capability of SPACE for the full range of performance analyses

  5. Perception of Parental Acceptance and Rejection among Swedish University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitahara, Michio

    1987-01-01

    Results of administering the Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Personality Assessment Questionnaires to 71 Swedish university students showed significant relationships between various forms of parental rejection in childhood and negative personality assessment of the self as an adult. Females showed more dependence and emotional instability than…

  6. EEG asymmetry in borderline personality disorder and depression following rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beeney, Joseph E; Levy, Kenneth N; Gatzke-Kopp, Lisa M; Hallquist, Michael N

    2014-04-01

    Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) share numerous features, including dysphoric affect, irritability, suicidality, and a heightened sensitivity to perceived interpersonal rejection. However, these disorders are associated with divergent profiles of reactivity to rejection: Individuals with MDD are more likely to respond with withdrawal and isolation, and those with BPD appear to respond with increased approach behaviors and greater hostility. Potential mechanisms underlying these divergent patterns of response have not been elaborated. The goal of the present study was to assess whether prefrontal cortical asymmetry is associated with these behavioral profiles. EEG alpha activity was recorded at baseline and after individuals with BPD, MDD and healthy controls (HCs) participated in a rejection task. Although no differences were found at baseline, results demonstrated that following rejection, individuals with BPD showed greater left cortical activation, consistent with approach motivation, whereas those with MDD showed greater right cortical activation, consistent with withdrawal motivation. HCs evidenced a more balanced cortical profile, as hypothesized. Although BPD and MDD are highly comorbid, are easily confused, and are phenomenologically similar in a number of ways, individuals with these two disorders respond in very different ways to perceived rejection. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

  7. [B-type natriuretic peptide assessment in the diagnosis of rejection after pediatric heart transplant].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sylos, Cristina de; Azeka, Estela; Kajita, Luis; Benvenutti, Luis; Strunz, Célia Cassaro; Branco, Klébia Castello; Riso, Arlindo Almeida; Tanamati, Carla; Jatene, Marcelo; Barbero-Marcial, Miguel

    2009-03-01

    Rejection is one of the major causes of mortality following pediatric heart transplant. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been studied as a method for the diagnosis of acute rejection, especially in adult patients undergoing heart transplant. To correlate serum BNP levels with acute rejection as diagnosed by endomyocardial biopsy in patients of the pediatric heart transplant group. A total of 50 BNP samples were collected from 33 children in the postoperative period of heart transplant, and data on age, gender, skin color, blood group, immune panel, follow-up time after transplant, functional class, immunosuppressive regimen used and number of rejections were analyzed. Thirty three children with median age of 10.13 years were analyzed; of these, 54% were females and 78% were Caucasians. BNP levels were determined at a mean time from transplant of 4.25 years. Nine episodes of rejection were diagnosed in eight patients (27%) by means of endomyocardial biopsy; of these, three were grade 3A, five were grade 2, and one had humoral rejection. At the moment of biopsy, most patients were asymptomatic. The mean serum BNP level was 77.18 pg/ml, with 144.22 pg/ml in the group with rejection and 62.46 pg/ml in the group without rejection, with p = 0.02. Asymptomatic children can present acute rejection in the postoperative period of heart transplant. Serum BNP levels show a statistically significant difference in the group with rejection and thus can be an additional method in the diagnosis of cardiac rejection.

  8. Prediction of the rejection of organic compounds (neutral and ionic) by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes using neural networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ammi, Yamina; Khaouane, Latifa; Hanini, Salah [University of Medea, Medea (Algeria)

    2015-11-15

    This work investigates the use of neural networks in modeling the rejection processes of organic compounds (neutral and ionic) by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. Three feed-forward neural network (NN) models, characterized by a similar structure (eleven neurons for NN1 and NN2 and twelve neurons for NN3 in the input layer, one hidden layer and one neuron in the output layer), are constructed with the aim of predicting the rejection of organic compounds (neutral and ionic). A set of 956 data points for NN1 and 701 data points for NN2 and NN3 were used to test the neural networks. 80%, 10%, and 10% of the total data were used, respectively, for the training, the validation, and the test of the three models. For the most promising neural network models, the predicted rejection values of the test dataset were compared to measured rejections values; good correlations were found (R= 0.9128 for NN1, R=0.9419 for NN2, and R=0.9527 for NN3). The root mean squared errors for the total dataset were 11.2430% for NN1, 9.0742% for NN2, and 8.2047% for NN3. Furthermore, the comparison between the predicted results and QSAR models shows that the neural network models gave far better.

  9. Donor-specific alloreactive T cells can be quantified from whole blood, and may predict cellular rejection after renal transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Michaela; Leyking, Sarah; Schäfer, Marco; Elsäßer, Julia; Janssen, Martin; Mihm, Janine; van Bentum, Kai; Fliser, Danilo; Sester, Martina; Sester, Urban

    2017-07-01

    Preformed cellular alloreactivity can exist prior to transplantation and may contribute to rejection. Here, we used a rapid flow-cytometric whole-blood assay to characterize the extent of alloreactive T cells among 1491 stimulatory reactions from 61 renal transplant candidates and 75 controls. The role of preformed donor-specific alloreactive T cells in cellular rejection was prospectively analyzed in 21 renal transplant recipients. Alloreactive CD8 + T cells were more frequent than respective CD4 + T cells, and these levels were stable over time. CD8 + T cells were effector-memory T cells largely negative for expression of CD27, CD62L, and CCR7, and were susceptible to steroid and calcineurin inhibitor inhibition. Alloreactivity was more frequent in samples with higher number of HLA mismatches. Moreover, the percentage of individuals with alloreactive T cells was higher in transplant candidates than in controls. Among transplant candidates, 5/61 exhibited alloreactive CD8 + T cells against most stimulators, 23/61 toward a limited number of stimulators, and 33/61 did not show any alloreactivity. Among 21 renal transplant recipients followed prospectively, one had donor-specific preformed T-cell alloreactivity. She was the only patient who developed cellular rejection posttransplantation. In conclusion, donor-specific alloreactive T cells may be rapidly quantified from whole blood, and may predict cellular rejection after transplantation. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Prediction of the rejection of organic compounds (neutral and ionic) by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes using neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ammi, Yamina; Khaouane, Latifa; Hanini, Salah

    2015-01-01

    This work investigates the use of neural networks in modeling the rejection processes of organic compounds (neutral and ionic) by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. Three feed-forward neural network (NN) models, characterized by a similar structure (eleven neurons for NN1 and NN2 and twelve neurons for NN3 in the input layer, one hidden layer and one neuron in the output layer), are constructed with the aim of predicting the rejection of organic compounds (neutral and ionic). A set of 956 data points for NN1 and 701 data points for NN2 and NN3 were used to test the neural networks. 80%, 10%, and 10% of the total data were used, respectively, for the training, the validation, and the test of the three models. For the most promising neural network models, the predicted rejection values of the test dataset were compared to measured rejections values; good correlations were found (R= 0.9128 for NN1, R=0.9419 for NN2, and R=0.9527 for NN3). The root mean squared errors for the total dataset were 11.2430% for NN1, 9.0742% for NN2, and 8.2047% for NN3. Furthermore, the comparison between the predicted results and QSAR models shows that the neural network models gave far better.

  11. Rejection of class I MHC-deficient haemopoietic cells by irradiated MHC-matched mice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bix, M.; Nanshih Liao; Raulet, D.; Zijlstra, M.; Loring, J.; Jaenisch, R.

    1991-01-01

    Irradiated MHC-heterozygous mice often reject bone marrow cells transplanted from one of the homozygous parental strains, a phenomenon ('hybrid resistance') that appears to violate the laws of transplantation. Rejection of parental and allogeneic marrow cells also differs from conventional T cell-mediated rejection mechanisms as it is effected by NK1.1 + cells. To account for the unusual specificity of bone marrow rejection, it has been proposed that NK1.1 + cells destroy marrow cells that fail to express the full complement of self MHC class I (MHC-I) molecules. We show here that NK1.1 + cells in normal mice reject haemopoietic transplants from mice that are deficient for normal cell-surface MHC-I expression because of a targeted mutation in the β 2 -microglobulin gene. These findings demonstrate that deficient expression of MHC-I molecules renders marrow cells susceptible to rejection. (author)

  12. Social exclusion in middle childhood: rejection events, slow-wave neural activity, and ostracism distress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowley, Michael J; Wu, Jia; Molfese, Peter J; Mayes, Linda C

    2010-01-01

    This study examined neural activity with event-related potentials (ERPs) in middle childhood during a computer-simulated ball-toss game, Cyberball. After experiencing fair play initially, children were ultimately excluded by the other players. We focused specifically on “not my turn” events within fair play and rejection events within social exclusion. Dense-array ERPs revealed that rejection events are perceived rapidly. Condition differences (“not my turn” vs. rejection) were evident in a posterior ERP peaking at 420 ms consistent, with a larger P3 effect for rejection events indicating that in middle childhood rejection events are differentiated in <500 ms. Condition differences were evident for slow-wave activity (500-900 ms) in the medial frontal cortical region and the posterior occipital-parietal region, with rejection events more negative frontally and more positive posteriorly. Distress from the rejection experience was associated with a more negative frontal slow wave and a larger late positive slow wave, but only for rejection events. Source modeling with Geosouce software suggested that slow-wave neural activity in cortical regions previously identified in functional imaging studies of ostracism, including subgenual cortex, ventral anterior cingulate cortex, and insula, was greater for rejection events vs. “not my turn” events. © 2010 Psychology Press

  13. Modeling of RO/NF membrane rejections of PhACs and organic compounds: a statistical analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Amy

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Rejections of pharmaceutical compounds (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, Clofibric acid, Naproxen, Primidone, Phenacetin and organic compounds (Dichloroacetic acid, Trichloroacetic acid, Chloroform, Bromoform, Trichloroethene, Perchloroethene, Carbontetrachloride, Carbontetrabromide by NF (Filmtec, Saehan and RO (Filmtec, Saehan, Toray, Koch membranes were studied. Chloroform presented the lowest rejection due to small molar volume, equivalent width and length. Diclofenac and Primidone showed high rejections related to high molar volume and length. Dichloroacetic acid and Trichloroacetic acid presented good rejections caused by charge exclusion instead of steric hindrance mechanism influencing rejection. Bromoform and Trichloroethene showed low rejections due to small length and equivalent width. Carbontetrabromide, Perchloroethene and Carbontetrachloride with higher equivalent width than BF and TCE presented better rejections. A qualitative analysis of variables using Principal Component Analysis was successfully implemented for reduction of physical-chemical compound properties that influence membrane rejection of PhACs and organic compounds. Properties such as dipole moment, molar volume, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, molecular length and equivalent width were found to be important descriptors for simulation of membrane rejection. For membranes used in the experiments, we may conclude that charge repulsion was an important mechanism of rejection for ionic compounds. After analysis with Multiple Linear Regression, we also may conclude that membrane rejection of neutral compounds was well predicted by molar volume, length, equivalent width, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity and dipole moment. Molecular weight was a poor descriptor variable for rejection modelling. We were able to provide acceptable statistical significance for important results.

  14. Soluble CD30 and HLA antibodies as potential risk factors for kidney transplant rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slavcev, Antonij; Lácha, Jiri; Honsová, Eva; Sajdlová, Helena; Lodererová, Alena; Vitko, Stefan; Skibová, Jelena; Striz, Ilja

    2005-06-01

    Recent literary data suggest that high pre- and post-transplant serum levels of the soluble CD30 (sCD30) molecule may be a risk factor for acute rejection and worse prognosis of the transplanted kidney. The aim of our study was to correlate the concentrations of sCD30 and the presence of HLA antibodies as defined by flow cytometry and ELISA with the clinical course and graft prognosis after transplantation. One hundred and seventeen kidney transplant patients were included into the study. The incidence of rejection episodes, graft function and graft survival for up to 1 year post-transplant were evaluated. Soluble CD30 levels before transplantation were virtually the same in patients who experienced rejection and in non-rejecting patients. In both patient groups, a significant decrease of sCD30 was detected 2 weeks after transplantation (104.4 U/ml before vs. 37.0 U/ml post-transplant, P sCD30 between rejecting and non-rejecting patients. Patients without rejection had lower sCD30 values (31.2 U/ml post-transplant) compared to patients who experienced rejection episodes (62.9 U/ml), P antigens and elevated concentrations of sCD30 shortly after transplantation were associated with increased risk for acute rejection in the first post-transplant year. Measurement of soluble CD30 after transplantation, taken into consideration with the presence of HLA class II antibodies, might be helpful for evaluating the potential risk for acute rejection.

  15. Kin Rejection: Social Signals, Neural Response and Perceived Distress During Social Exclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sreekrishnan, Anirudh; Herrera, Tania A.; Wu, Jia; Borelli, Jessica L.; White, Lars O.; Rutherford, Helena J. V.; Mayes, Linda C.; Crowley, Michael J.

    2014-01-01

    Across species, kin bond together to promote survival. We sought to understand the dyadic effect of exclusion by kin (as opposed to non-kin strangers) on brain activity of the mother and her child and their subjective distress. To this end, we probed mother-child relationships with a computerized ball-toss game Cyberball. When excluded by one another, rather than by a stranger, both mothers and children exhibited a significantly pronounced frontal P2. Moreover, upon kin-rejection versus stranger-rejection, both mothers and children showed incremented left frontal positive slow waves for rejection events. Children reported more distress upon exclusion than their own mothers. Similar to past work, relatively augmented negative frontal slow wave activity predicted greater self-reported ostracism distress. This effect, generalized to the P2, was limited to mother or child- rejection by kin, with comparable magnitude of effect across kin identity (mothers vs. children). For both mothers and children, the frontal P2 peak was significantly pronounced for kin-rejection versus stranger rejection. Taken together, our results document the rapid categorization of social signals as kin-relevant and the specificity of early and late neural markers for predicting felt ostracism. PMID:24909389

  16. Comparison of simulated and measured response of load rejection on A hydro power plant model with mixed mode nonlinear controller

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Babunski, Darko; Tuneski, Atanasko; Zaev, Emil [Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, ' Ss. Cyril and Methodius' University, Skopje (Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of)

    2014-07-01

    Revised Hydro Power Plant model of the IEEE working group recommended converted to state space model is used for simulation of transient response of hydro turbine, and verification was made using measurements of transients from real Hydro Power Plant (HPP). Nonlinear mixed model controller was designed and implemented into complete HPP simulation model and compared with PID with real parameters used in HPP, and with adjusted PID parameters with consideration of smallest frequency error. Verification of performance of the model was made comparing model response with measured load rejection, which is worst case of HPP operation. (Author)

  17. Thermal characterization of phacoemulsification probes operated in axial and torsional modes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zacharias, Jaime

    2015-01-01

    To analyze temperature increases and identify potential sources of heat generated when sleeved and sleeveless phacoemulsification probes were operated in axial and torsional modes using the Infiniti Vision System with the Ozil torsional handpiece. Phacodynamics Laboratory, Pasteur Ophthalmic Clinic, Santiago, Chile. Experimental study. Two computer-controlled thermal transfer systems were developed to evaluate the contribution of internal metal stress and tip-to-sleeve friction on heat generation during phacoemulsification using axial and torsional ultrasound modalities. Both systems incorporated infrared thermal imaging and used a black-body film to accurately capture temperature measurements. Axial mode was consistently associated with greater temperature increases than torsional mode whether tips were operated with or without sleeves. In tests involving bare tips, axial mode and torsional mode peaked at 51.7°C and 34.2°C, respectively. In an example using sleeved tips in which a 30.0 g load was applied for 1 second, temperatures for axial mode reached 45°C and for torsional mode, 38°C. Friction between the sleeved probe and the incisional wall contributed more significantly to the temperature increase than internal metal stress regardless of the mode used. In all experiments, the temperature increase observed with axial mode was greater than that observed with torsional mode, even when conditions such as power or amplitude and flow rate were varied. Tip-to-sleeve friction was a more dominant source of phaco probe heating than internal metal stress. The temperature increase due to internal metal stress was greater with axial mode than with torsional mode. Dr. Zacharias received research funding from Alcon Laboratories, Inc., to conduct this study. He has no financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned. Copyright © 2015 ASCRS and ESCRS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Sociocultural Influence and Appearance-Based Rejection Sensitivity among College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Lora E.; DiRaddo, Ann Marie; Calogero, Rachel M.

    2009-01-01

    The present research examined the influence of parents, peers, and the media in predicting college students' Appearance-based Rejection Sensitivity (Appearance-RS)--the degree to which individuals anxiously expect to be rejected based on their physical appearance. Given that women are socialized to be more appearance-focused than men, women were…

  19. The Impact of an Electronic Ordering System on Blood Bank Specimen Rejection Rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forest, Stefanie K; Shirazi, Maryam; Wu-Gall, Charlotte; Stotler, Brie A

    2017-01-01

    To evaluate the impact that an electronic ordering system has on the rate of rejection of blood type and screen testing samples and the impact on the number of ABO blood-type discrepancies over a 4-year period. An electronic ordering system was implemented in May 2011. Rejection rates along with reasons for rejection were tracked between January 2010 and December 2013. A total of 40,104 blood samples were received during this period, of which 706 (1.8%) were rejected for the following reasons: 382 (54.0%) unsigned samples, 235 (33.0%) mislabeled samples, 57 (8.0%) unsigned requisitions, 18 (2.5%) incorrect tubes, and 14 (1.9%) ABO discrepancies. Of the samples, 2.5% were rejected in the year prior to implementing the electronic ordering system compared with 1.2% in the year following implementation ( P  blood sample rejection. © American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  20. Common-Mode Voltage Reduction of Three-to-Five Phase Indirect Matrix Converters with Zero-Current Vector Modulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Guanguan; Yang, Jian; Yang, Yongheng

    2017-01-01

    In order to reduce the Common-Mode Voltage (CMV) in three-to-five phase indirect matrix converters, three improved Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) methods are proposed and discussed. The improved modulation schemes are achieved by reorganizing zero vectors from the inversion stage......) in the inversion stage, which results in a large amount of third-order harmonics in output currents. In addition, the method that utilizes two adjacent active current vectors (ACVs) and the method that uses two non-adjacent ACVs in the rectification stage have the same CMV peak value. By contrast, the latter...... achieves a lower Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) level of the output currents. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods....

  1. Peripheral blood transcriptome sequencing reveals rejection-relevant genes in long-term heart transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yan; Zhang, Haibo; Xiao, Xue; Jia, Yixin; Wu, Weili; Liu, Licheng; Jiang, Jun; Zhu, Baoli; Meng, Xu; Chen, Weijun

    2013-10-03

    Peripheral blood-based gene expression patterns have been investigated as biomarkers to monitor the immune system and rule out rejection after heart transplantation. Recent advances in the high-throughput deep sequencing (HTS) technologies provide new leads in transcriptome analysis. By performing Solexa/Illumina's digital gene expression (DGE) profiling, we analyzed gene expression profiles of PBMCs from 6 quiescent (grade 0) and 6 rejection (grade 2R&3R) heart transplant recipients at more than 6 months after transplantation. Subsequently, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was carried out in an independent validation cohort of 47 individuals from three rejection groups (ISHLT, grade 0,1R, 2R&3R). Through DGE sequencing and qPCR validation, 10 genes were identified as informative genes for detection of cardiac transplant rejection. A further clustering analysis showed that the 10 genes were not only effective for distinguishing patients with acute cardiac allograft rejection, but also informative for discriminating patients with renal allograft rejection based on both blood and biopsy samples. Moreover, PPI network analysis revealed that the 10 genes were connected to each other within a short interaction distance. We proposed a 10-gene signature for heart transplant patients at high-risk of developing severe rejection, which was found to be effective as well in other organ transplant. Moreover, we supposed that these genes function systematically as biomarkers in long-time allograft rejection. Further validation in broad transplant population would be required before the non-invasive biomarkers can be generally utilized to predict the risk of transplant rejection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Resilience and rejection sensitivity mediate long-term outcomes of parental divorce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaan, Violetta K; Vögele, Claus

    2016-11-01

    Increasing divorce rates leave more and more children to deal with the separation of their parents. Recent research suggests that children of divorced parents more often experience psychological and physical symptoms than children of non-divorced parents. The processes that mediate the relationship between parental divorce and ill-health, however, are still elusive. This study investigated the mediating role of psychological factors such as resilience and rejection sensitivity on the long-term consequences of parental divorce in young adults. One hundred and ninety-nine participants (mean age 22.3 years) completed an online survey, including measures of mental health, childhood trauma, resilience, and rejection sensitivity. Participants with divorced parents (33 %) reported increased levels of psychological symptoms, childhood trauma, rejection sensitivity, and lower levels of resilience. The association between parental divorce and mental health was fully mediated by resilience, rejection sensitivity, and childhood trauma. The mediation model explained up to 44 % of the total variance in mental health symptoms. Resilience and rejection sensitivity are crucial factors for successful coping with the experience of parental separation. Prevention programs that help to boost children's resilience might help to reduce the long-term effects of parental divorce on their attachment style (e.g., rejection sensitivity), thereby improving their mental health on the long run. Furthermore, the results call for parental awareness and counseling to target and reduce the observed increased level of childhood trauma. Limitations concern the cross-sectional and retrospective design of the study.

  3. Interfacial characterization of flexible hybrid electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Najafian, Sara; Amirkhizi, Alireza V.; Stapleton, Scott

    2018-03-01

    Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHEs) are the new generation of electronics combining flexible plastic film substrates with electronic devices. Besides the electrical features, design improvements of FHEs depend on the prediction of their mechanical and failure behavior. Debonding of electronic components from the flexible substrate is one of the most common and critical failures of these devices, therefore, the experimental determination of material and interface properties is of great importance in the prediction of failure mechanisms. Traditional interface characterization involves isolated shear and normal mode tests such as the double cantilever beam (DCB) and end notch flexure (ENF) tests. However, due to the thin, flexible nature of the materials and manufacturing restrictions, tests mirroring traditional interface characterization experiments may not always be possible. The ideal goal of this research is to design experiments such that each mode of fracture is isolated. However, due to the complex nonlinear nature of the response and small geometries of FHEs, design of the proper tests to characterize the interface properties can be significantly time and cost consuming. Hence numerical modeling has been implemented to design these novel characterization experiments. This research involves loading case and specimen geometry parametric studies using numerical modeling to design future experiments where either shear or normal fracture modes are dominant. These virtual experiments will provide a foundation for designing similar tests for many different types of flexible electronics and predicting the failure mechanism independent of the specific FHE materials.

  4. Role of Soluble ST2 as a Marker for Rejection after Heart Transplant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Ga Yeon; Choi, Jin-Oh; Ju, Eun-Seon; Lee, Yoo-Jung; Jeon, Eun-Seok

    2016-11-01

    Endomyocardial biopsy is obligatory during the first year after heart transplant (HTx) for the surveillance of acute rejection. Previous attempts using cardiac biomarkers for the detection of rejection failed to show enough evidence to substitute endomyocardial biopsy. Therefore, this study sought the possibility of using soluble ST2 (sST2), a novel cardiovascular marker, as a surrogate marker for acute allograft rejection after HTx. A total of 494 blood samples acquired at the time of endomyocardial biopsy were analyzed in 67 HTx cases from September 2006 to August 2014. Significant rejection was defined as International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant (ISHLT) score ≥2R and humoral rejection accompanied by hemodynamic instability. Twenty cases of HTx with 22 blood samples showed significant rejection in endomyocardial biopsy at 4.0 (2.0-9.0) months after HTx. The level of sST2 showed positive correlation with cardiac troponin I, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (all prejection) (p=0.003). However, when we studied within-subject effects of sST2 using a mixed model, the sST2 level according to the predefined time point was not different according to the presence of significant rejection (p for interaction=0.94). Although sST2 is known as a promising predictor for cardiovascular events, its role in HTx patients to predict acute allograft rejection seems to be limited.

  5. Evaluation of renal allograft rejection by Doppler sonography and MR imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steinberg, H.V.; Nelson, R.C.; Murphy, F.B.; Baumgartner, B.R.; Bourke, E.; Delaney, V.B.; Whelchel, J.B.; Bernardino, M.E.

    1986-01-01

    The authors prospectively studies the efficacy of Doppler sonography and MR imaging in evaluating renal allografts, with specific attention to transplant rejection. Based on study findings, we were unable to make a statement with respect to the appearance or accuracy of diagnosing cyclosporin toxicity or acute tubular necrosis by either modality due to concomitant rejection in the few patients so afflicted. Moreover, the ability to predict and diagnose the presence or absence of allograft rejection was not affected by different serum creatinine values. Most important, however, Doppler sonography was shown to be superior to MR imaging in evaluating for allograft rejection, as evidenced by its higher sensitivity (100% vs. 71%), specificity (88% vs. 75%), and accuracy (96% vs. 73%). Thus, because of its low cost and ease of accessibility, Doppler sonography should become the primary modality for renal transplant screening

  6. Gene-Based Multiclass Cancer Diagnosis with Class-Selective Rejections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jrad, Nisrine; Grall-Maës, Edith; Beauseroy, Pierre

    2009-01-01

    Supervised learning of microarray data is receiving much attention in recent years. Multiclass cancer diagnosis, based on selected gene profiles, are used as adjunct of clinical diagnosis. However, supervised diagnosis may hinder patient care, add expense or confound a result. To avoid this misleading, a multiclass cancer diagnosis with class-selective rejection is proposed. It rejects some patients from one, some, or all classes in order to ensure a higher reliability while reducing time and expense costs. Moreover, this classifier takes into account asymmetric penalties dependant on each class and on each wrong or partially correct decision. It is based on ν-1-SVM coupled with its regularization path and minimizes a general loss function defined in the class-selective rejection scheme. The state of art multiclass algorithms can be considered as a particular case of the proposed algorithm where the number of decisions is given by the classes and the loss function is defined by the Bayesian risk. Two experiments are carried out in the Bayesian and the class selective rejection frameworks. Five genes selected datasets are used to assess the performance of the proposed method. Results are discussed and accuracies are compared with those computed by the Naive Bayes, Nearest Neighbor, Linear Perceptron, Multilayer Perceptron, and Support Vector Machines classifiers. PMID:19584932

  7. Hybrid pulse pile-up rejection system as applied to Rutherford backscattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boie, R.A.; Wildnauer, K.R.

    1977-01-01

    The problems of pulse on pulse pile-up and noise limited pile-up rejectors are considered in detail for Rutherford backscattering spectra. The forms of these spectra allow the distortions from pile-up and the residual pile-up after rejection to be understood via a simple model. Extended calculations allow us to predict the effects quite accurately. A new pile-up rejection system is described. The ''linear'' rejection method is implemented with peak stretchers and advantageously combined with an event counting rejector to provide a versatile high performance system

  8. Crosslinked cellulose thin film composite nanofiltration membranes with zero salt rejection

    KAUST Repository

    Puspasari, Tiara; Neelakanda, Pradeep; Peinemann, Klaus-Viktor

    2015-01-01

    advantage for a complete desalination as the existing commercial nanofiltration membranes typically exhibit NaCl rejection in the range of 30–60%. Membranes with zero NaCl rejection are required for recovery and purification applications in food, chemical

  9. Research on rejection performance of reverse osmosis to nickel in simulated radioactive wastewater

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kong Jinsong; Wang Xiaowei

    2013-01-01

    In order to reveal the rejection performance of the reverse osmosis applied in the radioactive wastewater treatment, treatment experiments were carried out on a pilot reverse osmosis equipment using wastewater containing nickel nuclide. Results showed that the rejection ratio of reverse osmosis to nickel was almost not affected by the operation pressure and the ratio of reclaiming, and had no direct relation with the salt rejection ratio. The ratio of nickel rejection reached 95% in the experiment condition and could meet the requirement on the disposal of radioactive wastewater produced by nuclear powered installations. (authors)

  10. Research on rejection performance of reverse osmosis to cobalt in simulated radioactive wastewater

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kong Jinsong; Tian Yanjie

    2012-01-01

    In order to reveal the rejection performance of the reverse osmosis applied in the radioactive wastewater treatment, treatment experiments were carried out on a pilot reverse osmosis equipment using wastewater containing cobalt nuclide. Results showed that the rejection ratio of reverse osmosis to cobalt was almost not affected by the operation pressure and the ratio of reclaiming, and had no direct relation with the salt rejection ratio. The ratio of cobalt rejection reached 90% in the experiment condition and could meet the requirement on the disposal of radioactive wastewater produced by nuclear powered installations. (authors)

  11. Effectiveness of a social relations intervention program for aggressive and nonaggressive, rejected children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lochman, J E; Coie, J D; Underwood, M K; Terry, R

    1993-12-01

    A sample of 52 Black aggressive, rejected and nonaggressive, rejected children were randomly assigned to receive a social relations intervention or to be in a nonintervention control group. The school-based intervention for fourth-grade children focused on positive social skill training and cognitive-behavioral strategies to promote deliberate, nonimpulsive problem solving. At both the post-treatment and the 1-year follow-up assessments, the social relations intervention was found to be effective only with the aggressive, rejected children. Implications for the importance of assessing subtypes of rejected children are discussed.

  12. 18 CFR 35.5 - Rejection of material submitted for filing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rejection of material submitted for filing. 35.5 Section 35.5 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY... that fails to comply with this Part may be rejected by the Director of the Office of Energy Market...

  13. Self-esteem moderates neuroendocrine and psychological responses to interpersonal rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Máire B; Collins, Nancy L

    2010-03-01

    In this study, the authors investigated self-esteem as a moderator of psychological and physiological responses to interpersonal rejection and tested an integrative model detailing the mechanisms by which self-esteem may influence cognitive, affective, and physiological responses. Seventy-eight participants experienced an ambiguous interpersonal rejection (or no rejection) from an opposite sex partner in the context of an online dating interaction. Salivary cortisol was assessed at 5 times, and self-reported cognitive and affective responses were assessed. Compared with those with high self-esteem, individuals with low self-esteem responded to rejection by appraising themselves more negatively, making more self-blaming attributions, exhibiting greater cortisol reactivity, and derogating the rejector. Path analysis indicated that the link between low self-esteem and increased cortisol reactivity was mediated by self-blame attributions; cortisol reactivity, in turn, mediated the link between low self-esteem and increased partner derogation. Discussion centers on the role of self-esteem as part of a broader psychobiological system for regulating and responding to social threat and on implications for health outcomes.

  14. Acute Hepatic Allograft Rejection in Pediatric Recipients: Independent Factors

    OpenAIRE

    Dehghani, S. M.; Shahramian, I.; Afshari, M.; Bahmanyar, M.; Ataollahi, M.; Sargazi, A.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Acute cellular rejection (ACR) has a reversible effect on graft and its survival. Objective: To evaluate the relation between ACR and clinical factors in recipients of liver transplant allografts. Methods: 47 consecutive liver recipients were retrospectively studied. Their data were extracted from records and analyzed. Results: 38 (81%) of the 47 recipients experienced ACR during a 24-month follow-up. The rate of rejection was associated with none of the studied factors—recipient’...

  15. Reject analysis: A comparison of radiographer and radiologist perceptions of image quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mount, J.

    2016-01-01

    This study explores the potential differences in perceptions of image quality between radiographers and radiologists in a large UK hospital and the subsequent impact this has on image rejection. Image rejection, while sometimes necessary, often leads to an increased radiation dose to the patient due to the need to repeat. Moreover, this translates into increased waiting times, departmental costs, and lower patient satisfaction. Adopting a mixed methods approach, this paper first seeks to quantify the differences in radiographer and radiologist perceptions and second establish the underlying causes of such differences through a quantitative and qualitative investigation respectively. Using a standardized psychometric scale of a GP lateral knee, the study reveals significant differences in the perceptions of quality and rejection rates between radiographers and radiologists driven by a conflict in the evaluation criteria used. The study has significant implications for improving departmental performance and proposes a potential solution for reducing reject rates and image repeats. - Highlights: • Significant differences are found to exist in perceptions of image quality. • Differences in perceptions of image quality directly influence reject rates. • Radiographers judge images on technical criteria. • Radiologists judge images on diagnostic criteria. • Results suggest better communication could reduce reject rates.

  16. A small asparagine-rich protein required for S-allele-specific pollen rejection in Nicotiana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClure, B; Mou, B; Canevascini, S; Bernatzky, R

    1999-11-09

    Although S-locus RNases (S-RNases) determine the specificity of pollen rejection in self-incompatible (SI) solanaceous plants, they alone are not sufficient to cause S-allele-specific pollen rejection. To identify non-S-RNase sequences that are required for pollen rejection, a Nicotiana alata cDNA library was screened by differential hybridization. One clone, designated HT, hybridized strongly to RNA from N. alata styles but not to RNA from Nicotiana plumbaginifolia, a species known to lack one or more factors necessary for S-allele-specific pollen rejection. Sequence analysis revealed a 101-residue ORF including a putative secretion signal and an asparagine-rich domain near the C terminus. RNA blot analysis showed that the HT-transcript accumulates in the stigma and style before anthesis. The timing of HT-expression lags slightly behind S(C10)-RNase in SI N. alata S(C10)S(C10) and is well correlated with the onset of S-allele-specific pollen rejection in the style. An antisense-HT construct was prepared to test for a role in pollen rejection. Transformed (N. plumbaginifolia x SI N. alata S(C10)S(C10)) hybrids with reduced levels of HT-protein continued to express S(C10)-RNase but failed to reject S(C10)-pollen. Control hybrids expressing both S(C10)-RNase and HT-protein showed a normal S-allele-specific pollen rejection response. We conclude that HT-protein is directly implicated in pollen rejection.

  17. Utilization Of Diets Containing Cashew-Nut Reject Meal By Weaner ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A trial was conducted to assess the performance and digestibility of weaner pigs fed diets containing cashew nut reject meal (CNM). A control diet was formulated without cashew nut reject meal while two other diets were also formulated to contain either 50g or 100g/kg diet. The CNM replaced soybean meal in the control ...

  18. The role of conspiracist ideation and worldviews in predicting rejection of science.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephan Lewandowsky

    Full Text Available Among American Conservatives, but not Liberals, trust in science has been declining since the 1970's. Climate science has become particularly polarized, with Conservatives being more likely than Liberals to reject the notion that greenhouse gas emissions are warming the globe. Conversely, opposition to genetically-modified (GM foods and vaccinations is often ascribed to the political Left although reliable data are lacking. There are also growing indications that rejection of science is suffused by conspiracist ideation, that is the general tendency to endorse conspiracy theories including the specific beliefs that inconvenient scientific findings constitute a "hoax."We conducted a propensity weighted internet-panel survey of the U.S. population and show that conservatism and free-market worldview strongly predict rejection of climate science, in contrast to their weaker and opposing effects on acceptance of vaccinations. The two worldview variables do not predict opposition to GM. Conspiracist ideation, by contrast, predicts rejection of all three scientific propositions, albeit to greatly varying extents. Greater endorsement of a diverse set of conspiracy theories predicts opposition to GM foods, vaccinations, and climate science.Free-market worldviews are an important predictor of the rejection of scientific findings that have potential regulatory implications, such as climate science, but not necessarily of other scientific issues. Conspiracist ideation, by contrast, is associated with the rejection of all scientific propositions tested. We highlight the manifold cognitive reasons why conspiracist ideation would stand in opposition to the scientific method. The involvement of conspiracist ideation in the rejection of science has implications for science communicators.

  19. Prediction of acute cardiac rejection by changes in left ventricular volumes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novitzky, D.; Cooper, D.K.; Boniaszczuk, J.

    1988-01-01

    Sixteen patients underwent heart transplantation (11 orthotopic, five heterotopic). Monitoring for acute rejection was by both endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) and multigated equilibrium blood pool scanning with technetium 99m-labelled red blood cells. From the scans information was obtained on left ventricular volumes (stroke, end-diastolic, and end-systolic), ejection fraction, and heart rate. Studies (208) were made in the 16 patients. There was a highly significant correlation between the reduction in stroke volume and end-diastolic volume (and a less significant correlation in end-systolic volume) and increasing acute rejection seen on EMB. Heart rate and ejection fraction did not correlate with the development of acute rejection. Correlation of a combination of changes in stroke volume and end-diastolic volume with EMB showed a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 96%. Radionuclide scanning is therefore a useful noninvasive tool for monitoring acute rejection

  20. STEADY-STATE HEAT REJECTION RATES FOR A COAXIAL BOREHOLE HEAT EXCHANGER DURING PASSIVE AND ACTIVE COOLING DETERMINED WITH THE NOVEL STEP THERMAL RESPONSE TEST METHOD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marija Macenić

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available At three locations in Zagreb, classical and extended thermal response test (TRT was conducted on installed coaxial heat exchangers. With classic TR test, thermogeological properties of the ground and thermal resistance of the borehole were determined at each location. It is seen that thermal conductivity of the ground varies, due to difference in geological profile of the sites. In addition, experimental research of steady-state thermal response step test (SSTRST was carried out to determine heat rejection rates for passive and active cooling in steady state regime. Results showed that heat rejection rate is only between 8-11 W/m, which indicates that coaxial system is not suitable for passive cooling demands. Furthermore, the heat pump in passive cooling mode uses additional plate heat exchanger where there is additional temperature drop of working fluid by approximately 1,5 °C. Therefore, steady-state rejection rate for passive cooling is even lower for a real case project. Coaxial heat exchanger should be always designed for an active cooling regime with an operation of a heat pump compressor in a classical vapour compression refrigeration cycle.

  1. Ultrafiltration of protein solutions; the role of protein association in rejection and osmotic pressure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, G.B.; Hanemaaijer, J.H.; Smolders, C.A.

    1987-01-01

    The monomer-dimer equilibrium of the protein β-lactoglobulin under neutral conditions appears to influence the rejection and the osmotic pressure build-up, both phenomena closely related to ultrafiltration. Rejection measurements indicate different rejections for the β-lactoglobulin monomers and

  2. Electrically evoked compound action potentials artefact rejection by independent component analysis: procedure automation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akhoun, Idrick; McKay, Colette; El-Deredy, Wael

    2015-01-15

    Independent-components-analysis (ICA) successfully separated electrically-evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) from the stimulation artefact and noise (ECAP-ICA, Akhoun et al., 2013). This paper shows how to automate the ECAP-ICA artefact cancellation process. Raw-ECAPs without artefact rejection were consecutively recorded for each stimulation condition from at least 8 intra-cochlear electrodes. Firstly, amplifier-saturated recordings were discarded, and the data from different stimulus conditions (different current-levels) were concatenated temporally. The key aspect of the automation procedure was the sequential deductive source categorisation after ICA was applied with a restriction to 4 sources. The stereotypical aspect of the 4 sources enables their automatic classification as two artefact components, a noise and the sought ECAP based on theoretical and empirical considerations. The automatic procedure was tested using 8 cochlear implant (CI) users and one to four stimulus electrodes. The artefact and noise sources were successively identified and discarded, leaving the ECAP as the remaining source. The automated ECAP-ICA procedure successfully extracted the correct ECAPs compared to standard clinical forward masking paradigm in 22 out of 26 cases. ECAP-ICA does not require extracting the ECAP from a combination of distinct buffers as it is the case with regular methods. It is an alternative that does not have the possible bias of traditional artefact rejections such as alternate-polarity or forward-masking paradigms. The ECAP-ICA procedure bears clinical relevance, for example as the artefact rejection sub-module of automated ECAP-threshold detection techniques, which are common features of CI clinical fitting software. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. Reward, addiction, and emotion regulation systems associated with rejection in love.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Helen E; Brown, Lucy L; Aron, Arthur; Strong, Greg; Mashek, Debra

    2010-07-01

    Romantic rejection causes a profound sense of loss and negative affect. It can induce clinical depression and in extreme cases lead to suicide and/or homicide. To begin to identify the neural systems associated with this natural loss state, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study 10 women and 5 men who had recently been rejected by a partner but reported they were still intensely "in love." Participants alternately viewed a photograph of their rejecting beloved and a photograph of a familiar, individual, interspersed with a distraction-attention task. Their responses while looking at their rejecter included love, despair, good, and bad memories, and wondering why this happened. Activation specific to the image of the beloved occurred in areas associated with gains and losses, craving and emotion regulation and included the ventral tegmental area (VTA) bilaterally, ventral striatum, medial and lateral orbitofrontal/prefrontal cortex, and cingulate gyrus. Compared with data from happily-in-love individuals, the regional VTA activation suggests that mesolimbic reward/survival systems are involved in romantic passion regardless of whether one is happily or unhappily in love. Forebrain activations associated with motivational relevance, gain/loss, cocaine craving, addiction, and emotion regulation suggest that higher-order systems subject to experience and learning also may mediate the rejection reaction. The results show activation of reward systems, previously identified by monetary stimuli, in a natural, endogenous, negative emotion state. Activation of areas involved in cocaine addiction may help explain the obsessive behaviors associated with rejection in love.

  4. Parental alignments and rejection: an empirical study of alienation in children of divorce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Janet R

    2003-01-01

    This study of family relationships after divorce examined the frequency and extent of child-parent alignments and correlates of children's rejection of a parent, these being basic components of the controversial idea of "parental alienation syndrome." The sample consisted of 215 children from the family courts and general community two to three years after parental separation. The findings indicate that children's attitudes toward their parents range from positive to negative, with relatively few being extremely aligned or rejecting. Rejection of a parent has multiple determinants, with both the aligned and rejected parents contributing to the problem, in addition to vulnerabilities within children themselves.

  5. Evaluation of posttransplantation soluble CD30 for diagnosis of acute renal allograft rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelzl, Steffen; Opelz, Gerhard; Daniel, Volker; Wiesel, Manfred; Süsal, Caner

    2003-02-15

    Posttransplantation measurement of soluble CD30 (sCD30) may be useful for identifying kidney graft recipients at risk of impending graft rejection in the early posttransplantation period. We measured plasma sCD30 levels and evaluated the levels in relation to the diagnosis of rejection. Receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated that on posttransplantation days 3 to 5, sCD30 allowed a differentiation of recipients who subsequently developed acute allograft rejection (n=25) from recipients with an uncomplicated course (n=20, Pacute tubular necrosis in the absence of rejection (n=11, P=0.001) (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.85, specificity 91%, sensitivity 72%). sCD30 measured on posttransplantation days 3 to 5 offers a noninvasive means for differentiating patients with impending acute allograft rejection from patients with an uncomplicated course or with acute tubular necrosis.

  6. Exceptional ion rejection ability of directional solvent for non-membrane desalination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rish, Daniel [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Department of Civil Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Luo, Shirui; Kurtz, Brien [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Luo, Tengfei, E-mail: tluo@nd.edu [Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States); Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 (United States)

    2014-01-13

    The recently demonstrated directional solvent extraction (DSE) is promising for very low temperature, membrane-free water desalination. In this paper, we combine atomistic simulations and experimental validation to demonstrate that the currently used directional solvent, decanoic acid, can reject all major salt ions in seawater, with very high rejection rates. The salinities of the DSE recovered water show that ion rejection rates are ∼98%–99%—similar to those of the best reverse osmosis membranes. Our test also shows that the DSE process can desalt seawater to produce fresh water that meets drinking water standards.

  7. Exceptional ion rejection ability of directional solvent for non-membrane desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rish, Daniel; Luo, Shirui; Kurtz, Brien; Luo, Tengfei

    2014-01-01

    The recently demonstrated directional solvent extraction (DSE) is promising for very low temperature, membrane-free water desalination. In this paper, we combine atomistic simulations and experimental validation to demonstrate that the currently used directional solvent, decanoic acid, can reject all major salt ions in seawater, with very high rejection rates. The salinities of the DSE recovered water show that ion rejection rates are ∼98%–99%—similar to those of the best reverse osmosis membranes. Our test also shows that the DSE process can desalt seawater to produce fresh water that meets drinking water standards

  8. Rejection Sensitivity Mediates the Relationship between Social Anxiety and Body Dysmorphic Concerns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Angela; Asnaani, Anu; Gutner, Cassidy; Cook, Courtney; Wilhelm, Sabine; Hofmann, Stefan G.

    2011-01-01

    The goal of this study was to examine the role of rejection sensitivity in the relationship between social anxiety and body dysmorphic concerns. To test our hypothesis that rejection sensitivity mediates the link between social anxiety and body dysmorphic concerns, we administered self-report questionnaires to 209 student volunteers. Consistent with our prediction, rejection sensitivity partially mediated the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and body dysmorphic concerns. The implications of the overlap between these constructs are discussed. PMID:21741203

  9. The Role of Tissue-Resident Donor T Cells in Rejection of Clinical Face Transplants

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-01

    cells contribute to VCA rejection, and that pathogenic T cells (both donor and recipient-derived) are detectable in blood during rejection to serve as...AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-1-0760 TITLE: The role of tissue-resident donor T cells in rejection of clinical face transplants PRINCIPAL...AND SUBTITLE The role of tissue-resident donor T cells in rejection of clinical face transplants 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-16-1

  10. Lymphocele: a possible relationship with acute cellular rejection in kidney transplantation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Aurélio Silva Lipay

    1999-11-01

    Full Text Available CONTEXT: The incidence of lymphocele after renal transplantation varies between 0.6 and 18% of cases, and many factors have been associated to its etiology. Cellular rejection of the kidney allograft has been described as a possible causal factor of lymphocele. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the possible relationship between lymphocele and acute cellular rejection. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: A referral hospital center. SAMPLE: 170 patients submitted to kidney transplantation from March 1992 to January 1997. A standard technique for renal transplantation was used. RESULTS: Of the 19 patients that developed lymphocele, 16 presented at least one episode of acute cell rejection (84%, and were treated with methylprednisolone. The relation between lymphocele and rejection was statistically significant (p = 0.04. Treatment of lymphocele consisted of peritoneal marsupialization in 3 patients (15.3%, percutaneous drainage in 7 (36.8%, laparascopic marsupialization in 2 (10.5%, and conservative treatment in 7 patients (36.8%. Evolution was favorable in 15 patients (78.9%, 1 patient (5.3% died due to a cause unrelated to lymphocele, and 3 (15.8% lost the graft due to immunological factors. The average follow-up period was 24.5 months. CONCLUSION: The high incidence of acute cell rejection in patients with lymphocele suggests a possible causal relationship between both conditions.

  11. Transcriptome-based identification and characterization of genes commonly responding to five different insecticides in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yue; Kim, Kyungmun; Kwon, Deok Ho; Jeong, In Hong; Clark, J Marshall; Lee, Si Hyeock

    2018-01-01

    When the 3rd instar larvae of the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella, were pretreated with sublethal doses (LC 10 ) and then subsequently exposed to lethal doses (LC 50 ) of chlorantraniliprole, cypermethrin, dinotefuran, indoxacarb and spinosad via leaf dipping, their tolerance to insecticides was significantly enhanced. To identify genes that commonly respond to the treatment of different insecticides and are responsible for the tolerance enhancement, transcriptomic profiles of larvae treated with sublethal doses of the five insecticides were compared with that of untreated control. A total of 117,181 transcripts with a mean length of 662bp were generated by de novo assembly, of which 35,329 transcripts were annotated. Among them, 125, 143, 182, 215 and 149 transcripts were determined to be up-regulated whereas 67, 45, 60, 60 and 38 genes were down-regulated following treatments with chlorantraniliprole, cypermethrin, dinotefuran, indoxacarb and spinosad, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed little differences in their GO profiles between treatments with different insecticides except for spinosad. Finally, the DEGs commonly responding to all insecticides were selected for further characterization, and some of their over-transcription levels were confirmed by quantitative PCR. The most notable examples of commonly responding over-transcribed genes were two cytochrome P450 genes (Cyp301a1 and Cyp9e2) and nine cuticular protein genes. In contrast, several genes composing the mitochondrial energy generation system were significantly down-regulated in all treated larvae. Considering the distinct structure and mode of action of the five insecticides tested, the differentially expressed genes identified in this study appear to be involved in general chemical defense at the initial stage of intoxication. Their possible roles in the tolerance/resistance development were discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier

  12. Problematic Social Situations for Peer-Rejected Students in the First Year of Elementary School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Jorge Martín-Antón

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examined the social situations that are problematic for peer-rejected students in the first year of elementary school. For this purpose, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the Taxonomy of Problematic Social Situations for Children (TOPS, Dodge et al., 1985 in 169 rejected pupils, identified from a sample of 1457 first-grade students (ages 5-7 enrolled in 62 classrooms of elementary school. For each rejected student, another student of average sociometric status of the same gender was selected at random from the same classroom (naverage = 169. The model for the rejected students showed a good fit, and was also invariant in the group of average students. Four types of situations were identified in which rejected students have significantly more difficulties than average students. They are, in descending order: (a respect for authority and rules, (b being disadvantaged, (c prosocial and empathic behavior, and (d response to own success. Rejected boys have more problems in situations of prosociability and empathy than girls. The implications concerning the design of specific programs to prevent and reduce early childhood rejection in the classroom are discussed.

  13. Multi-Scale Pixel-Based Image Fusion Using Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveed ur Rehman

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available A novel scheme to perform the fusion of multiple images using the multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD algorithm is proposed. Standard multi-scale fusion techniques make a priori assumptions regarding input data, whereas standard univariate empirical mode decomposition (EMD-based fusion techniques suffer from inherent mode mixing and mode misalignment issues, characterized respectively by either a single intrinsic mode function (IMF containing multiple scales or the same indexed IMFs corresponding to multiple input images carrying different frequency information. We show that MEMD overcomes these problems by being fully data adaptive and by aligning common frequency scales from multiple channels, thus enabling their comparison at a pixel level and subsequent fusion at multiple data scales. We then demonstrate the potential of the proposed scheme on a large dataset of real-world multi-exposure and multi-focus images and compare the results against those obtained from standard fusion algorithms, including the principal component analysis (PCA, discrete wavelet transform (DWT and non-subsampled contourlet transform (NCT. A variety of image fusion quality measures are employed for the objective evaluation of the proposed method. We also report the results of a hypothesis testing approach on our large image dataset to identify statistically-significant performance differences.

  14. Heat Rejection from a Variable Conductance Heat Pipe Radiator Panel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaworske, D. A.; Gibson, M. A.; Hervol, D. S.

    2012-01-01

    A titanium-water heat pipe radiator having an innovative proprietary evaporator configuration was evaluated in a large vacuum chamber equipped with liquid nitrogen cooled cold walls. The radiator was manufactured by Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT), Lancaster, PA, and delivered as part of a Small Business Innovative Research effort. The radiator panel consisted of five titanium-water heat pipes operating as thermosyphons, sandwiched between two polymer matrix composite face sheets. The five variable conductance heat pipes were purposely charged with a small amount of non-condensable gas to control heat flow through the condenser. Heat rejection was evaluated over a wide range of inlet water temperature and flow conditions, and heat rejection was calculated in real-time utilizing a data acquisition system programmed with the Stefan-Boltzmann equation. Thermography through an infra-red transparent window identified heat flow across the panel. Under nominal operation, a maximum heat rejection value of over 2200 Watts was identified. The thermal vacuum evaluation of heat rejection provided critical information on understanding the radiator s performance, and in steady state and transient scenarios provided useful information for validating current thermal models in support of the Fission Power Systems Project.

  15. Explaining the paradoxical rejection-aggression link: the mediating effects of hostile intent attributions, anger, and decreases in state self-esteem on peer rejection-induced aggression in youth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reijntjes, A.; Thomaes, S.; Kamphuis, J.H.; Bushman, B.J.; Orobio de Castro, B.; Telch, M.J.

    2011-01-01

    People are strongly motivated to feel accepted by others. Yet when faced with acute peer rejection they often aggress against the very peers they desire acceptance from, which may lead to further rejection. The present experiment tests three potential mediators of aggressive responses to acute peer

  16. Explaining the paradoxical rejection-aggression link: The mediating effects of hostile intent attributions, anger, and decreases in state self-esteem on peer rejection-induced aggression in youth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reijntjes, A.H.A.; Thomaes, S.C.E.; Kamphuis, J.H.; Bushman, B. J.; Orobio de Castro, B.; Telch, M.J.

    2011-01-01

    People are strongly motivated to feel accepted by others. Yet when faced with acute peer rejection they often aggress against the very peers they desire acceptance from, which may lead to further rejection. The present experiment tests three potential mediators of aggressive responses to acute peer

  17. CD16+ Monocytes and Skewed Macrophage Polarization toward M2 Type Hallmark Heart Transplant Acute Cellular Rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Bosch, Thierry P P; Caliskan, Kadir; Kraaij, Marina D; Constantinescu, Alina A; Manintveld, Olivier C; Leenen, Pieter J M; von der Thüsen, Jan H; Clahsen-van Groningen, Marian C; Baan, Carla C; Rowshani, Ajda T

    2017-01-01

    During acute heart transplant rejection, infiltration of lymphocytes and monocytes is followed by endothelial injury and eventually myocardial fibrosis. To date, no information is available on monocyte-macrophage-related cellular shifts and their polarization status during rejection. Here, we aimed to define and correlate monocyte-macrophage endomyocardial tissue profiles obtained at rejection and time points prior to rejection, with corresponding serial blood samples in 25 heart transplant recipients experiencing acute cellular rejection. Additionally, 33 healthy individuals served as control. Using histology, immunohistochemistry, confocal laser scan microscopy, and digital imaging expression of CD14, CD16, CD56, CD68, CD80, and CD163 were explored to define monocyte and macrophage tissue profiles during rejection. Fibrosis was investigated using Sirius Red stainings of rejection, non-rejection, and 1-year biopsies. Expression of co-stimulatory and migration-related molecules on circulating monocytes, and production potential for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were studied using flow cytometry. At tissue level, striking CD16+ monocyte infiltration was observed during rejection ( p  rejection compared to barely present CD68+CD80+ M1 macrophages. Rejection was associated with severe fibrosis in 1-year biopsies ( p  rejection status, decreased frequencies of circulating CD16+ monocytes were found in patients compared to healthy individuals. Rejection was reflected by significantly increased CD54 and HLA-DR expression on CD16+ monocytes with retained cytokine production potential. CD16+ monocytes and M2 macrophages hallmark the correlates of heart transplant acute cellular rejection on tissue level and seem to be associated with fibrosis in the long term.

  18. A novel dual mode neutron-gamma imager

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cooper, Robert Lee; Gerling, Mark; Brennan, James S.; Mascarenhas, Nicholas; Mrowka, Stanley; Marleau, Peter

    2010-01-01

    The Neutron Scatter Camera (NSC) can image fission sources and determine their energy spectra at distances of tens of meters and through significant thicknesses of intervening materials in relatively short times (1). We recently completed a 32 element scatter camera and will present recent advances made with this instrument. A novel capability for the scatter camera is dual mode imaging. In normal neutron imaging mode we identify and image neutron events using pulse shape discrimination (PSD) and time of flight in liquid scintillator. Similarly gamma rays are identified from Compton scatter in the front and rear planes for our segmented detector. Rather than reject these events, we show it is possible to construct a gamma-ray image by running the analysis in a 'Compton mode'. Instead of calculating the scattering angle by the kinematics of elastic scatters as is appropriate for neutron events, it can be found by the kinematics of Compton scatters. Our scatter camera has not been optimized as a Compton gamma-ray imager but is found to work reasonably. We studied imaging performance using a Cs137 source. We find that we are able to image the gamma source with reasonable fidelity. We are able to determine gamma energy after some reasonable assumptions. We will detail the various algorithms we have developed for gamma image reconstruction. We will outline areas for improvement, include additional results and compare neutron and gamma mode imaging.

  19. Peer Rejection and Internalizing Behavior: The Mediating Role of Peer Victimization in Preschool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metin Aslan, Özge

    2018-05-23

    The author examined the relationship among peer rejection, peer victimization, and internalizing behaviors. The author hypothesized that physical and relational victimization would have a different indirect effect on the relationship between peer rejection and internalizing behaviors. Participants were 94 preschool children (37 girls; average age 49.97 months) from two university preschools located in the northern part of the United States. The results indicated that internalizing behaviors predicted the mediating variables only regarding relational victimization. Relational victimization indirectly affected the association between peer rejection and internalizing behaviors. The study provides evidence of the mediating effect of victimization behaviors on the relationship among peer rejection, victimization, and internalizing behaviors.

  20. PERTUMBUHAN TANAMAN JAGUNG (Zea mays, L. VARIETAS BISI-2 PADA PASIR REJECT DAN PASIR ASLI DI PANTAI TRISIK KULONPROGO (The Growth of Maize Crop (Zea mays L. BISI-2 Variety on Rejected and non Rejected Sand at Pantai Trisik Kulon Progo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diah Ekowati

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRAK Lahan pasir di pesisir Kabupaten Kulon Progo yang sekarang ditanami berbagai komoditi pertanian seperti cabe, semangka, jagung akan ditambang untuk diekstrak mineral besinya. Rencananya setelah diekstrak mineral besinya, pasir sisa (pasir reject akan dikembalikan sebagai material reklamasi untuk dapat ditanami kembali. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh perbedaan media tanam berupa pasir reject dan pasir asli serta dosis pupuk kandang dan pupuk NPK pada pertumbuhan tanaman jagung (Zea mays L. varietas BISI-2 di Pantai Trisik Kulon Progo. Dosis pupuk yang diberikan ialah 0 Kg pupuk kandang dan 0 g NPK (kontrol; 0 Kg pupuk kandang dan 75 g NPK; 2,5 Kg pupuk kandang dan 0 g NPK; 1,25 Kg pupuk kandang dan 112,5 g NPK; 2,5 Kg pupuk kandang dan 75 g pupuk NPK; dan 3,75 Kg pupuk kandang dan 37,5 g NPK. Parameter yang diamati pada penelitian ini adalah tinggi tanaman, jumlah daun, berat kering tajuk, waktu berbunga, jumlah tongkol, berat tongkol, panjang tongkol, dan diameter tongkol. Data yang diperoleh diuji dengan analisis variansi (Anava dan uji lanjut dengan Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa rerata tinggi, jumlah daun, berat kering tajuk, jumlah tongkol, berat tongkol, panjang tongkol dan diameter tongkol tanaman jagung pada pasir reject lebih tinggi daripada pasir asli sedangkan rerata waktu berbunga tanaman jagung pada pasir reject lebih lama daripada pasir asli. Selain itu, hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pertumbuhan vegetatif tanaman jagung paling optimal diperoleh pada dosis 1,25 Kg pupuk kandang dan 112,5 g pupuk NPK sedangkan pertumbuhan generatif tanaman jagung paling optimal diperoleh pada dosis 3,75 Kg pupuk kandang dan 37,5 g pupuk NPK.   ABSTRACT Sand in the coastal District of Kulon Progo land which is now planted with various agricultural commodities such as pepper, watermelon, corn, will be mined to extract its iron minerals. In the mining plan, after the iron

  1. Implementation and rejection of industrial steam system energy efficiency measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Therkelsen, Peter; McKane, Aimee

    2013-01-01

    Steam systems consume approximately one third of energy applied at US industrial facilities. To reduce energy consumption, steam system energy assessments have been conducted on a wide range of industry types over the course of 5 years through the Energy Savings Assessment (ESA) program administered by the US Department of Energy (US DOE). ESA energy assessments result in energy efficiency measure recommendations that are given potential energy and energy cost savings and potential implementation cost values. Saving and cost metrics that measure the impact recommended measures will have at facilities, described as percentages of facility baseline energy and energy cost, are developed from ESA data and used in analyses. Developed savings and cost metrics are examined along with implementation and rejection rates of recommended steam system energy efficiency measures. Based on analyses, implementation of steam system energy efficiency measures is driven primarily by cost metrics: payback period and measure implementation cost as a percentage of facility baseline energy cost (implementation cost percentage). Stated reasons for rejecting recommended measures are primarily based upon economic concerns. Additionally, implementation rates of measures are not only functions of savings and cost metrics, but time as well. - Highlights: ► We examine uptake/rejection of industrial steam system energy efficiency measures. ► We examine metrics that correspond to uptake/rejection of recommended measures. ► We examine barriers hindering steam system energy efficiency measure implementation. ► Uptake/rejection of steam measures is linked to potential cost metrics. ► Increased uptake of measures and uptake of more costly measures increases with time

  2. Mutual best friendship involvement, best friends' rejection sensitivity, and psychological maladaptation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowker, Julie C; Thomas, Katelyn K; Norman, Kelly E; Spencer, Sarah V

    2011-05-01

    Rejection sensitivity (RS) refers to the tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to experiences of possible rejection. RS is a clear risk factor for psychological maladaptation during early adolescence. However, there is growing evidence of significant heterogeneity in the psychological correlates of RS. To investigate when RS poses the greatest psychological risk during early adolescence, this study examines mutual best friendship involvement (or lack thereof) and the best friends' RS as potential moderators of the associations between RS and psychological difficulties. Participants were 150 7th grade students (58 boys; M age = 13.05 years) who nominated their best friends, and reported on their RS, social anxiety, and self-esteem. Results from a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that mutual best friendship involvement and best friends' RS were both significant moderators when fear of negative evaluation (a type of social anxiety) served as the dependent variable. The association between RS and fear of negative evaluation was stronger for adolescents without mutual best friends than adolescents with mutual best friends. In addition, the association between RS and fear of negative evaluation was the strongest for adolescents whose best friends were highly rejection sensitive (relative to adolescents whose best friends were moderately or low in RS). Findings highlight the importance of considering best friendships in studies of RS and strongly suggest that, although having mutual best friendships may be protective for rejection sensitive adolescents, having a rejection sensitive best friend may exacerbate difficulties. The significance of friends in the lives of rejection sensitive adolescents is discussed as well as possible applied implications of the findings and study limitations.

  3. Immune function surveillance: association with rejection, infection and cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heikal, N M; Bader, F M; Martins, T B; Pavlov, I Y; Wilson, A R; Barakat, M; Stehlik, J; Kfoury, A G; Gilbert, E M; Delgado, J C; Hill, H R

    2013-01-01

    Rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), and infection are significant causes of mortality in heart transplantation recipients. Assessing the immune status of a particular patient remains challenging. Although endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) and angiography are effective for the identification of rejection and CAV, respectively, these are expensive, invasive, and may have numerous complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the immune function and assess its utility in predicting rejection, CAV, and infection in heart transplantation recipients. We prospectively obtained samples at the time of routine EMB and when clinically indicated for measurement of the ImmuKnow assay (IM), 12 cytokines and soluble CD30 (sCD30). EMB specimens were evaluated for acute cellular rejection, and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). CAV was diagnosed by the development of angiographic coronary artery disease. Infectious episodes occurring during the next 30 days after testing were identified by the presence of positive bacterial or fungal cultures and/or viremia that prompted treatment with antimicrobials. We collected 162 samples from 56 cardiac transplant recipients. There were 31 infection episodes, 7 AMR, and 4 CAV cases. The average IM value was significantly lower during infection, (P = .04). Soluble CD30 concentrations showed significantly positive correlation with infection episodes, (P = .001). Significant positive correlation was observed between interleukin-5(IL-5) and AMR episodes (P = .008). Tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-8 showed significant positive correlation with CAV (P = .001). Immune function monitoring appears promising in predicting rejection, CAV, and infection in cardiac transplantation recipients. This approach may help in more individualized immunosuppression and it may also minimize unnecessary EMBs and cardiac angiographies. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  4. Drugs in development for prophylaxis of rejection in kidney-transplant recipients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanders ML

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Marion Lee Sanders,1 Anthony James Langone2 1Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 2Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA Abstract: Transplantation is the preferred treatment option for individuals with end-stage renal disease. Individuals who undergo transplantation must chronically be maintained on an immunosuppression regimen for rejection prophylaxis to help ensure graft survival. Current rejection prophylaxis consists of using a combination of calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, antimetabolite agents, and/or corticosteroids. These agents have collectively improved the short-term outcomes of renal transplantation, but improvements in late/chronic graft loss and recipient survival have lagged significantly behind challenging the field of transplantation to develop novel prophylactic agents. There have been several clinical trials conducted within the last 5 years in an attempt to bring such novel agents to the commercial market. These trials have resulted in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA approval of extended-release tacrolimus, as well as belatacept, which has the potential to replace calcineurin inhibitors for rejection prophylaxis. Other trials have focused on the development of novel calcineurin inhibitors (voclosporin, costimulation blockade (ASKP1240 and alefacept, kinase inhibitors (tofacitinib and sotrastaurin, and inhibitors of leukocyte migration (efalizumab. While these later agents have not been FDA-approved for use in transplantation, they remain noteworthy, as these agents explore pathways not previously targeted for allograft-rejection prophylaxis. The purpose of this review was to consolidate available clinical trial data with regard to the recent developments in rejection prophylaxis in kidney transplantation. Keywords: rejection, prophylaxis, immunosuppression

  5. Output Feedback Finite-Time Stabilization of Systems Subject to Hölder Disturbances via Continuous Fractional Sliding Modes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aldo-Jonathan Muñoz-Vázquez

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The problem of designing a continuous control to guarantee finite-time tracking based on output feedback for a system subject to a Hölder disturbance has remained elusive. The main difficulty stems from the fact that such disturbance stands for a function that is continuous but not necessarily differentiable in any integer-order sense, yet it is fractional-order differentiable. This problem imposes a formidable challenge of practical interest in engineering because (i it is common that only partial access to the state is available and, then, output feedback is needed; (ii such disturbances are present in more realistic applications, suggesting a fractional-order controller; and (iii continuous robust control is a must in several control applications. Consequently, these stringent requirements demand a sound mathematical framework for designing a solution to this control problem. To estimate the full state in finite-time, a high-order sliding mode-based differentiator is considered. Then, a continuous fractional differintegral sliding mode is proposed to reject Hölder disturbances, as well as for uncertainties and unmodeled dynamics. Finally, a homogeneous closed-loop system is enforced by means of a continuous nominal control, assuring finite-time convergence. Numerical simulations are presented to show the reliability of the proposed method.

  6. EEG Asymmetry in Borderline Personality Disorder and Depression Following Rejection

    OpenAIRE

    Beeney, Joseph E.; Levy, Kenneth N.; Gatzke-Kopp, Lisa M.; Hallquist, Michael N.

    2013-01-01

    Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) share numerous features including dysphoric affect, irritability, suicidality, and a heightened sensitivity to perceived interpersonal rejection. However, these disorders are associated with divergent profiles of reactivity to rejection; individuals with MDD are more likely to respond with withdrawal and isolation, and those with BPD appear to respond with increased approach behaviors and greater hostility. Potential me...

  7. A new rejection of moral expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowley, Christopher

    2005-01-01

    There seem to be two clearly-defined camps in the debate over the problem of moral expertise. On the one hand are the "Professionals", who reject the possibility entirely, usually because of the intractable diversity of ethical beliefs. On the other hand are the "Ethicists", who criticise the Professionals for merely stipulating science as the most appropriate paradigm for discussions of expertise. While the subject matter and methodology of good ethical thinking is certainly different from that of good clinical thinking, they argue, this is no reason for rejecting the possibility of a distinctive kind of expertise in ethics, usually based on the idea of good justification. I want to argue that both are incorrect, partly because of the reasons given by one group against the other, but more importantly because both neglect what is most distinctive about ethics: that it is personal in a very specific way, without collapsing into relativism.

  8. Marginality and Social Rejection in Amiri Baraka's Slave Ship

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Hammad Abed

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Marginality and social rejection are the most influential matters exploited by Baraka to intentionally criticize the American society.  More often than not, these two matters have become the scenes of major or minor acts of humiliation and dehumanization that threaten to violate the ethical rules of living. This paper aims at investigating the impact of marginality and social rejection on a number of black characters in Baraka's Slave Ship who are brought to America to be sold as commodities. It is divided into two sections and conclusion. Section one deals with Amiri Baraka’s dramatic thought and experience of marginality within the American society. The textual analysis of Slave Ship is investigated in section two. The significance of the study lies in its textual exploration of the impact of marginality and social rejection in subverting the American dream of democracy, freedom, and equality in Baraka’s Slave Ship.

  9. Transition from L mode to high ion temperature mode in CHS heliotron/torsatron plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ida, K.; Osakabe, M.; Tanaka, K.

    2001-01-01

    A high ion temperature mode (high T i mode) is observed for neutral beam heated plasmas in the Compact Helical System (CHS) Heliotron/torsatron. The high T i mode plasma is characterized by a high central ion temperature, T i (0), and is associated with a peaked electron density profile produced by neutral beam fueling with low wall recycling. Transition from L mode to high T i mode has been studied in CHS. The central ion temperature in the high T i mode discharges reaches to 1 keV which is 2.5 times higher than that in the L mode discharges. The ion thermal diffusivity is significantly reduced by a factor of more than 2-3 in the high T i mode plasma. The ion loss cone is observed in neutral particle flux in the energy range of 1-6 keV with a narrow range of pitch angle (90±10 degree) in the high T i mode. However, the degradation of ion energy confinement due to this loss cone is negligible. (author)

  10. Recent progress in the applications of layer-by-layer assembly to the preparation of nanostructured ion-rejecting water purification membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanyal, Oishi; Lee, Ilsoon

    2014-03-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) are the two dominant membrane separation processes responsible for ion rejection. While RO is highly efficient in removal of ions it needs a high operating pressure and offers very low selectivity between ions. Nanofiltration on the other hand has a comparatively low operating pressure and most commercial membranes offer selectivity in terms of ion rejection. However in many nanofiltration operations rejection of monovalent ions is not appreciable. Therefore a high flux high rejection membrane is needed that can be applied to water purification systems. One such alternative is the usage of polyelectrolyte multilayer membranes that are prepared by the deposition of alternately charged polyelectrolytes via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly method. LbL is one of the most common self-assembly techniques and finds application in various areas. It has a number of tunable parameters like deposition conditions, number of bilayers deposited etc. which can be manipulated as per the type of application. This technique can be applied to make a nanothin membrane skin which gives high rejection and at the same time allow a high water flux across it. Several research groups have applied this highly versatile technique to prepare membranes that can be employed for water purification. Some of these membranes have shown better performance than the commercial nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. These membranes have the potential to be applied to various different aspects of water treatment like water softening, desalination and recovery of certain ions. Besides the conventional method of LbL technique other alternative methods have also been suggested that can make the technique fast, more efficient and thereby make it more commercially acceptable.

  11. Geometric characterization of separability and entanglement in pure Gaussian states by single-mode unitary operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adesso, Gerardo; Giampaolo, Salvatore M.; Illuminati, Fabrizio

    2007-10-01

    We present a geometric approach to the characterization of separability and entanglement in pure Gaussian states of an arbitrary number of modes. The analysis is performed adapting to continuous variables a formalism based on single subsystem unitary transformations that has been recently introduced to characterize separability and entanglement in pure states of qubits and qutrits [S. M. Giampaolo and F. Illuminati, Phys. Rev. A 76, 042301 (2007)]. In analogy with the finite-dimensional case, we demonstrate that the 1×M bipartite entanglement of a multimode pure Gaussian state can be quantified by the minimum squared Euclidean distance between the state itself and the set of states obtained by transforming it via suitable local symplectic (unitary) operations. This minimum distance, corresponding to a , uniquely determined, extremal local operation, defines an entanglement monotone equivalent to the entropy of entanglement, and amenable to direct experimental measurement with linear optical schemes.

  12. Geometric characterization of separability and entanglement in pure Gaussian states by single-mode unitary operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adesso, Gerardo; Giampaolo, Salvatore M.; Illuminati, Fabrizio

    2007-01-01

    We present a geometric approach to the characterization of separability and entanglement in pure Gaussian states of an arbitrary number of modes. The analysis is performed adapting to continuous variables a formalism based on single subsystem unitary transformations that has been recently introduced to characterize separability and entanglement in pure states of qubits and qutrits [S. M. Giampaolo and F. Illuminati, Phys. Rev. A 76, 042301 (2007)]. In analogy with the finite-dimensional case, we demonstrate that the 1xM bipartite entanglement of a multimode pure Gaussian state can be quantified by the minimum squared Euclidean distance between the state itself and the set of states obtained by transforming it via suitable local symplectic (unitary) operations. This minimum distance, corresponding to a, uniquely determined, extremal local operation, defines an entanglement monotone equivalent to the entropy of entanglement, and amenable to direct experimental measurement with linear optical schemes

  13. Reviewing the pathogenesis of antibody-mediated rejection and renal graft pathology after kidney transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morozumi, Kunio; Takeda, Asami; Otsuka, Yasuhiro; Horike, Keiji; Gotoh, Norihiko; Narumi, Shunji; Watarai, Yoshihiko; Kobayashi, Takaaki

    2016-07-01

    The clinicopathological context of rejection after kidney transplantation was well recognized. Banff conferences greatly contributed to elucidate the pathogenesis and to establish the pathologic criteria of rejection after kidney transplantation. The most important current problem of renal transplantation is de novo donor-specific antibody (DSA) production leading chronic rejection and graft loss. Microvascular inflammation is considered as a reliable pathological marker for antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in the presence of DSA. Electron microscopic study allowed us to evaluate early changes in peritubular capillaries in T-lymphocyte mediated rejection and transition to antibody-mediated rejection. Severe endothelial injuries with edema and activated lymphocyte invaded into subendothelial space with early multi-layering of peritubular capillary basement membrane suggest T-lymphocyte mediated rejection induce an unbounded chain of antibody-mediated rejection. The risk factors of AMR after ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation are important issues. Anti-ABO blood type antibody titre of IgG excess 32-fold before transplant operation is the only predictable factor for acute AMR. Characteristics of chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (CAAMR) are one of the most important problems. Light microscopic findings and C4d stain of peritubular capillary and glomerular capillary are useful diagnostic criteria of CAAMR. Microvascular inflammation, double contour of glomerular capillary and thickening of peritubular capillary basement are good predictive factors of the presence of de novo DSA. C4d stain of linear glomerular capillary is a more sensitive marker for CAAMR than positive C4d of peritubular capillary. Early and sensitive diagnostic attempts of diagnosing CAAMR are pivotal to prevent chronic graft failure. © 2016 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.

  14. Microscale characterization of the viscoelastic properties of hydrogel biomaterials using dual-mode ultrasound elastography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Xiaowei; Stegemann, Jan P; Deng, Cheri X

    2016-05-01

    Characterization of the microscale mechanical properties of biomaterials is a key challenge in the field of mechanobiology. Dual-mode ultrasound elastography (DUE) uses high frequency focused ultrasound to induce compression in a sample, combined with interleaved ultrasound imaging to measure the resulting deformation. This technique can be used to non-invasively perform creep testing on hydrogel biomaterials to characterize their viscoelastic properties. DUE was applied to a range of hydrogel constructs consisting of either hydroxyapatite (HA)-doped agarose, HA-collagen, HA-fibrin, or preosteoblast-seeded collagen constructs. DUE provided spatial and temporal mapping of local and bulk displacements and strains at high resolution. Hydrogel materials exhibited characteristic creep behavior, and the maximum strain and residual strain were both material- and concentration-dependent. Burger's viscoelastic model was used to extract characteristic parameters describing material behavior. Increased protein concentration resulted in greater stiffness and viscosity, but did not affect the viscoelastic time constant of acellular constructs. Collagen constructs exhibited significantly higher modulus and viscosity than fibrin constructs. Cell-seeded collagen constructs became stiffer with altered mechanical behavior as they developed over time. Importantly, DUE also provides insight into the spatial variation of viscoelastic properties at sub-millimeter resolution, allowing interrogation of the interior of constructs. DUE presents a novel technique for non-invasively characterizing hydrogel materials at the microscale, and therefore may have unique utility in the study of mechanobiology and the characterization of hydrogel biomaterials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Acetylcholinesterase in Biofouling Species: Characterization and Mode of Action of Cyanobacteria-Derived Antifouling Agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almeida, Joana R; Freitas, Micaela; Cruz, Susana; Leão, Pedro N; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Cunha, Isabel

    2015-07-24

    Effective and ecofriendly antifouling (AF) compounds have been arising from naturally produced chemicals. The objective of this study is to use cyanobacteria-derived agents to investigate the role of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity as an effect and/or mode of action of promising AF compounds, since AChE inhibitors were found to inhibit invertebrate larval settlement. To pursue this objective, in vitro quantification of AChE activity under the effect of several cyanobacterial strain extracts as potential AF agents was performed along with in vivo AF (anti-settlement) screening tests. Pre-characterization of different cholinesterases (ChEs) forms present in selected tissues of important biofouling species was performed to confirm the predominance of AChE, and an in vitro AF test using pure AChE activity was developed. Eighteen cyanobacteria strains were tested as source of potential AF and AChE inhibitor agents. Results showed effectiveness in selecting promising eco-friendly AF agents, allowing the understanding of the AF biochemical mode of action induced by different compounds. This study also highlights the potential of cyanobacteria as source of AF agents towards invertebrate macrofouling species.

  16. Acetylcholinesterase in Biofouling Species: Characterization and Mode of Action of Cyanobacteria-Derived Antifouling Agents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joana R. Almeida

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Effective and ecofriendly antifouling (AF compounds have been arising from naturally produced chemicals. The objective of this study is to use cyanobacteria-derived agents to investigate the role of acetylcholinesterase (AChE activity as an effect and/or mode of action of promising AF compounds, since AChE inhibitors were found to inhibit invertebrate larval settlement. To pursue this objective, in vitro quantification of AChE activity under the effect of several cyanobacterial strain extracts as potential AF agents was performed along with in vivo AF (anti-settlement screening tests. Pre-characterization of different cholinesterases (ChEs forms present in selected tissues of important biofouling species was performed to confirm the predominance of AChE, and an in vitro AF test using pure AChE activity was developed. Eighteen cyanobacteria strains were tested as source of potential AF and AChE inhibitor agents. Results showed effectiveness in selecting promising eco-friendly AF agents, allowing the understanding of the AF biochemical mode of action induced by different compounds. This study also highlights the potential of cyanobacteria as source of AF agents towards invertebrate macrofouling species.

  17. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca (Apocynaceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabat, Susan M; Dick, Christopher W; Hunter, Mark D

    2010-05-01

    Microsatellite primers were developed for the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca L., to assist in genet identification and the analysis of spatial genetic structure. Using an enrichment cloning protocol, eight microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized in a Michigan population of A. syriaca. The primers amplified di- and trinucleotide repeats with 4-13 alleles per locus. The primers will be useful for studies of clonality and gene flow in natural populations.

  18. Resonant Mode Reduction in Radiofrequency Volume Coils for Ultrahigh Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoliang Zhang

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available In a multimodal volume coil, only one mode can generate homogeneous Radiofrequency (RF field for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The existence of other modes may increase the volume coil design difficulties and potentially decreases coil performance. In this study, we introduce common-mode resonator technique to high and ultrahigh field volume coil designs to reduce the resonant mode while maintain the homogeneity of the RF field. To investigate the design method, the common-mode resonator was realized by using a microstrip line which was split along the central to become a pair of parallel transmission lines within which common-mode currents exist. Eight common-mode resonators were placed equidistantly along the circumference of a low loss dielectric cylinder to form a volume coil. Theoretical analysis and comparison between the 16-strut common-mode volume coil and a conventional 16-strut volume coil in terms of RF field homogeneity and efficiency was performed using Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD method at 298.2 MHz. MR imaging experiments were performed by using a prototype of the common-mode volume coil on a whole body 7 Tesla scanner. FDTD simulation results showed the reduced number of resonant modes of the common-mode volume coil over the conventional volume coil, while the RF field homogeneity of the two type volume coils was kept at the same level. MR imaging of a water phantom and a kiwi fruit showing the feasibility of the proposed method for simplifying the volume coil design is also presented.

  19. 21 CFR 111.170 - What requirements apply to rejected components, packaging, and labels, and to rejected products...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What requirements apply to rejected components... supplement? 111.170 Section 111.170 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CURRENT GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE IN...

  20. Posttransplant soluble CD30 as a predictor of acute renal allograft rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamali, Koosha; Abbasi, Mohammad Amin; Farokhi, Babak; Abbasi, Ata; Fallah, Parvane; Seifee, Mohammad Hasan; Ghadimi, Naime; Rezaie, Alireza R

    2009-12-01

    Recent results have indicated that high prerenal and postrenal transplant soluble CD30 levels may be associated with an increased acute rejection and graft loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using serum sCD30 as a marker for predicting acute graft rejection. In this prospective study,we analyzed clinical data of 80 patients, whose pretransplant and posttransplant serum levels of sCD30 were detected by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Eight patients developed acute rejection, 7 patients showed delayed graft function, and 65 recipients experienced an uncomplicated course group. The patients were followed for 12 months, and there were no deaths. Preoperative sCD30 levels of 3 groups were 96.2 -/+ 32.5, 80.2 -/+ 28.3, and 76.8 -/+ 29.8 U/mL (P = .28). After transplant, a significant decrease in the sCD30 level was detected in 3 groups on day 14 posttransplant (P sCD30 levels of acute rejection group remained significantly higher than delayed graft function and nonrejecting patients (28.3 -/+ 5.2, 22.1 -/+ 3.2, and 19.8 -/+ 4.7 U/mL) (P = .02). Positive panel reactive antibody was not statistically different among groups (P = .05). Also, hemodialysis did not affect sCD30 levels (P = .05). Receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated that the sCD30 level on day 14 posttransplant could discriminate patients who subsequently suffered acute allograft rejection (area under receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.95). According to receiver operating characteristic curve, 20 U/mL may be the optimal operational cutoff level to predict impending graft rejection (specificity 93.8%, sensitivity 83.3%). Measurement of the soluble CD30 level on day 14 after transplant might offer a noninvasive means for recognizing patients at risk of acute graft rejection during the early posttransplant period.

  1. Design and characterization of 16-mode PANDA polarization-maintaining few-mode ring-core fiber for spatial division multiplexing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yuan; Zhao, Yongli; Yu, Xiaosong; Han, Jiawei; Zhang, Jie

    2017-11-01

    A PANDA polarization-maintaining few-mode ring-core fiber (PM-FM-RCF) structure with two air holes around the ring core is proposed. The relative mode multiplicity factor (RMMF) is defined to evaluate the spatial efficiency of the designed PM-FM-RCF. The performance analysis and comparison of the proposed PANDA PM-FM-RCFs considering three different types of step-index profiles are detailed. Through modal characteristic analysis and numerical simulation, the PM-FM-RCF with a lower refractive index difference (Δnoi=1.5%) between the ring core and the inner central circle can support up to 16 polarization modes with large RMMF at C-band, which shows the optimum modal properties compared with the PM-FM-RCF with higher Δnoi. All the supported polarization modes are effectively separated from their adjacent polarization modes with effective refractive index differences (Δn) larger than 10-4, which also show relatively small chromatic dispersion (-20 to 25 ps/nm/km), low attenuation (<1.4 dB/km), and small bending radius (˜8 mm) over the C-band. The designed PM-FM-RCF can be compatible with standard single-mode fibers and applied in multiple-input multiple-output-free spatial division multiplexing optical networks for short-reach optical interconnection.

  2. RNaseI from Escherichia coli cannot substitute for S-RNase in rejection of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia pollen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beecher, B; Murfett, J; McClure, B A

    1998-03-01

    Unilateral incompatibility often occurs between self-incompatible (SI) species and their self-compatible (SC) relatives. For example, SI Nicotiana alata rejects pollen from SC N. plumbaginifolia, but the reciprocal pollination is compatible. This interspecific pollen rejection system closely resembles intraspecific S-allele-specific pollen rejection. However, the two systems differ in degree of specificity. In SI, rejection is S-allele-specific, meaning that only a single S-RNase causes rejection of pollen with a specific S genotype. Rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen is less specific, occurring in response to almost any S-RNase. Here, we have tested whether a non-S-RNase can cause rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen. The Escherichia coli rna gene encoding RNAseI was engineered for expression in transgenic (N. plumbaginifolia x SC N. alata) hybrids. Expression levels and pollination behavior of hybrids expressing E. coli RNaseI were compared to controls expressing SA2-RNase from N. alata. Immunoblot analysis and RNase activity assays showed that RNaseI and SA2-RNase were expressed at comparable levels. However, expression of SA2-RNase caused rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen, whereas expression of RNaseI did not. Thus, in this system, RNase activity alone is not sufficient for rejection of N. plumbaginifolia pollen. The results suggest that S-RNases may be specially adapted to function in pollen rejection.

  3. High pre-transplant soluble CD30 levels are predictive of the grade of rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajakariar, Ravindra; Jivanji, Naina; Varagunam, Mira; Rafiq, Mohammad; Gupta, Arun; Sheaff, Michael; Sinnott, Paul; Yaqoob, M M

    2005-08-01

    In renal transplantation, serum soluble CD30 (sCD30) levels in graft recipients are associated with increased rejection and graft loss. We investigated whether pre-transplant sCD30 concentrations are predictive of the grade of rejection. Pre-transplant sera of 51 patients with tubulointerstitial rejection (TIR), 16 patients with vascular rejection (VR) and an age-matched control group of 41 patients with no rejection (NR) were analyzed for sCD30. The transplant biopsies were immunostained for C4d. The median sCD30 level was significantly elevated in the group with VR (248 Units (U)/mL, range: 92-802) when compared with TIR (103 U/mL, range: 36-309, psCD30 levels compared to NR. Based on C4d staining, a TH2 driven process, the median sCD30 levels were significantly raised in C4d+ patients compared with C4d- group (177 U/mL vs. 120 U/mL, psCD30 levels measured at time of transplantation correlate with the grade of rejection. High pre-transplant levels are associated with antibody-mediated rejection which carries a poorer prognosis. sCD30 could be another tool to assess immunological risk prior to transplantation and enable a patient centered approach to immunosuppression.

  4. Collective Lyapunov modes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takeuchi, Kazumasa A; Chaté, Hugues

    2013-01-01

    We show, using covariant Lyapunov vectors in addition to standard Lyapunov analysis, that there exists a set of collective Lyapunov modes in large chaotic systems exhibiting collective dynamics. Associated with delocalized Lyapunov vectors, they act collectively on the trajectory and hence characterize the instability of its collective dynamics. We further develop, for globally coupled systems, a connection between these collective modes and the Lyapunov modes in the corresponding Perron–Frobenius equation. We thereby address the fundamental question of the effective dimension of collective dynamics and discuss the extensivity of chaos in the presence of collective dynamics. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘Lyapunov analysis: from dynamical systems theory to applications’. (paper)

  5. Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Trentacosta, Christopher J.; Shaw, Daniel S.

    2007-01-01

    The present study examined relations among maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and early adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 231 low-income mothers and their sons with longitudinal assessments from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficu...

  6. Remembering rejection: specificity and linguistic styles of autobiographical memories in borderline personality disorder and depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenbach, Charlotte; Renneberg, Babette

    2015-03-01

    High levels of rejection sensitivity are assumed to be the result of early and prolonged experiences of rejection. Aim of this study was to investigate autobiographical memories of rejection in clinical samples high in rejection sensitivity (Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD, and Major Depressive Disorder, MDD) and to identify group differences in the quality of the memories. Memories of rejection were retrieved using an adapted version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; five positive cue words, five cue words referring to rejection). Specificity of memories and linguistic word usage was analyzed in 30 patients with BPD, 27 patients with MDD and 30 healthy controls. Patients with BPD retrieved less specific memories compared to the healthy control group, whereas patients with MDD did not differ from controls in this regard. The group difference was no longer significant when controlling for rejection sensitivity. Linguistic analysis indicated that compared to both other groups, patients with BPD showed a higher self-focus, used more anger-related words, referred more frequently to social environments, and rated memories of rejection as more relevant for today's life. Clinical symptoms were not assessed in the control group. Moreover, the written form of the AMT might reduce the total number of specific memories. The level of rejection sensitivity influenced the specificity of the retrieved memories. Analysis of linguistic styles revealed specific linguistic patterns in BPD compared to non-clinical as well as depressed participants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Magnetorheological dampers in shear mode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wereley, N M; Cho, J U; Choi, Y T; Choi, S B

    2008-01-01

    In this study, three types of shear mode damper using magnetorheological (MR) fluids are theoretically analyzed: linear, rotary drum, and rotary disk dampers. The damping performance of these shear mode MR dampers is characterized in terms of the damping coefficient, which is the ratio of the equivalent viscous damping at field-on status to the damping at field-off status. For these three types of shear mode MR damper, the damping coefficient or dynamic range is derived using three different constitutive models: the Bingham–plastic, biviscous, and Herschel–Bulkley models. The impact of constitutive behavior on shear mode MR dampers is theoretically presented and compared

  8. International diffusion of gains from biotechnology and the European Union's common agricultural policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meijl, van H.; Tongeren, van F.W.

    2004-01-01

    This paper analyses the impact of adopting or rejecting genetically modified (GM) crops in the European Union, taking into account the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In this paper the productivity impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) differs across crops, taking factor biased

  9. PHOSPHATES REMOVAL FROM REJECT WATER FROM DIGESTION OF SLUDGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elżbieta Sperczyńska

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the research work was to evaluate if coagulants used on technical scale are useful in phosphates removal from reject water. Effectiveness of phosphorus compounds removal from reject water from digestion of sewage sludge was examined. Selected prehydrolysed alkaline aluminium polychlorides were used. The results were compared to the ones obtained with aluminium sulphate. Reject water from digestion of sewage sludge form WWTP of 100 000 PE were examined. Commercial agents – prehydrolysed PAX 18, PAX XL10, PAX-XL1905 as well as aluminium sulphate were used. Various doses of coagulants: 0.7; 1.0; 1.5 – time higher than stoichiometric dose were applied. Stoichiometric dose was calculated based on chemical reaction of insoluble aluminium phosphate formation. Concentrations of Kiejdahl nitrogen (891 mgNKj/dm3, phosphates (125 mgPO43-/dm3 and organic compounds - COD (592 mgO2/dm3 in reject water were very high. The effectiveness of coagulation process increased as the doses of chemical agents increased. The most effective doses were the highest ones used during the experiment. The most effective agent was PAX 18 (96% removal efficiency. As the phosphates concentration decreased COD content declined simultaneously. Maximum COD removal (47% was obtained when highly alkaline PAX XL 1905 was used. Use of the lowest dose of Al2(SO43 allowed for 50% phosphates removal, whereas the lowest dose of PAX 18 decreased phosphates concentration by 83%.

  10. Characterization of Structural and Pigmentary Colors in Common Emigrant (Catopsilia Pomona) Butterfly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghate, Ekata; Kulkarni, G. R.; Bhoraskar, S. V.; Adhi, K. P.

    2011-01-01

    Study of structural colors in case of insects and butterflies is important for their biomimic and biophotonics applications. Structural color is the color which is produced by physical structures and their interaction with light while pigmentary color is produced by absorption of light by pigments. Common Emigrant butterfly is widely distributed in India. It is of moderate size with wing span of about 60-80 mm. The wings are broadly white with yellow or sulphur yellow coloration at places as well as few dark black patches. It belongs to family Pieridae. A study of structural color in case of Common Emigrant butterfly has been carried out in the present work. The characterization of wing color was performed using absorption spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopic study of the wings of Common Emigrant butterfly showed that three different types of scales are present on the wing surface dorsally. Diffracting structures are present in certain parts of the surfaces of the various scales. Bead like structures are embedded in the intricate structures of the scales. Absorption spectra revealed that a strong absorption peak is seen in the UV-range. Crystalline structure of beads was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction analysis.

  11. Cultural and ethnic differences in the acceptance or rejection of liposuction instrumentation entrance marks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Field, Lawrence M

    2007-01-01

    The acceptance of visible marks on the skin as a result of surgical procedures varies by the necessity of the procedure (ie, cosmetic or not) and by the cultural interpretation of those sequelae. As liposuction has become the most commonly performed major cosmetic procedure in the US, and perhaps throughout the world, the visible stigmata resulting from the surgical invasion may be of major consequence to some while they remain of little or no consequence to others. This article explores the national, cultural, racial, and ethnic variations in the acceptance or rejection of visible marks on the skin in several parts of world.

  12. Early and late humoral rejection: a clinicopathologic entity in two times.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Péfaur, J; Díaz, P; Panace, R; Salinas, P; Fiabane, A; Quinteros, N; Chea, R; Naranjo, E; Wurgaft, A; Beltran, E; Elgueta, S; Wegmann, M E; Gajardo, J G; Contreras, L

    2008-11-01

    Humoral rejection is an important cause of early and late graft loss. The late variant is difficult to diagnose and treat. There is a close correlation between sclerosing nephropathy and anti-HLA antibodies. We analyzed 113 renal allograft recipients between August 2004 and April 2007. Acute humoral rejection was defined as acute graft dysfunction in presence of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) detected by flow panel reactive antibodies (PRA) and/or C4d positive pericapilary tubules (PTC) detected histopathologically by immunofluorescent or immunoperoxidase at less than 3 months postransplantation. Late humoral rejection was defined as dysfunction occurring after 3 months postransplantation with histopathologic glomerulopathy or vasculopathy and positive C4d PTC. We included all patients who were diagnosed with early or late graft dysfunction and underwent biopsy, all of which were examined for C4d. Four patients had acute humoral rejection treated with IVIG or plasmapheresis. The patient and graft survivals were 100% and serum creatinine averaged 1.7 mg/dL. Three recipients experienced late humoral rejection at 3 to 10 years posttransplantation All received high-dose IVIG; one also was treated with thymoglobulin. Immunosuppression was switched to tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroids. Only one patient recovered renal function; the others returned to dialysis. Among seven patients only one had an actual PRA (>20%) and three showed 10% to 20%. However, six had a positive historical PRA of 10% to 50%. In conclusion, Recognition of acute humoral rejection has contributed to graft rescue by controlling alloantibody production through new specific immunosuppressive therapies in contrast with the clinical response to acute therapy, treatment of a chronic entity has shown poor outcomes, probably because antibody mediated chronic graft damage is already present when the late diagnosis is established by biopsy.

  13. Characterizing delamination of fibre composites by mixed mode cohesive laws

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Bent F.; Jacobsen, Torben K.

    2009-01-01

    A novel method is used for the determination of mixed mode cohesive laws and bridging laws for the characterisation of crack bridging in composites. The approach is based on an application of the J integral. The obtained cohesive laws were found to possess high peak stress values. Mixed mode...

  14. Kidney graft rejection studies with labeled platelets and lymphocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin-Comin, J.

    1986-01-01

    The usefulness of In-111-labelled platelets and lymphocyte scintigraphy in acute kidney graft rejection is evaluated in 155 patients. Blood cells were labelled with 100-150 uCi of In-111-oxine and reinjected. Subsequently patients were scanned once daily from 2 hours post-reinjection up to a week. The graft/contralateral area activity ratio was calculated in all scans. It is concluded that In-111-labelled platelets scintigraphy is nowadays the method of choice for acute kidney graft rejection diagnosis, especially in patients under cyclosporine immunosuppression. (author)

  15. Gene-Based Multiclass Cancer Diagnosis with Class-Selective Rejections

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nisrine Jrad

    2009-01-01

    rejection scheme. The state of art multiclass algorithms can be considered as a particular case of the proposed algorithm where the number of decisions is given by the classes and the loss function is defined by the Bayesian risk. Two experiments are carried out in the Bayesian and the class selective rejection frameworks. Five genes selected datasets are used to assess the performance of the proposed method. Results are discussed and accuracies are compared with those computed by the Naive Bayes, Nearest Neighbor, Linear Perceptron, Multilayer Perceptron, and Support Vector Machines classifiers.

  16. Role of Soluble ST2 as a Marker for Rejection after Heart Transplant

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Ga Yeon; Choi, Jin-Oh; Ju, Eun-Seon; Lee, Yoo-Jung; Jeon, Eun-Seok

    2016-01-01

    Background and Objectives Endomyocardial biopsy is obligatory during the first year after heart transplant (HTx) for the surveillance of acute rejection. Previous attempts using cardiac biomarkers for the detection of rejection failed to show enough evidence to substitute endomyocardial biopsy. Therefore, this study sought the possibility of using soluble ST2 (sST2), a novel cardiovascular marker, as a surrogate marker for acute allograft rejection after HTx. Subjects and Methods A total of 4...

  17. Position statement. The right to accept or reject an assignment. American Nurses Association.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996-01-01

    The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that nurses should reject assignment that puts patients or themselves in serious, immediate jeopardy. ANA supports the nurses obligation to reject an assignment in these situations even where there is not a specific legal protection for rejecting such an assignment. The professional obligations to the nurse to safeguard clients are grounded in the ethical norms of the profession, the Standards of Clinical Nursing Practice and state nurse practice acts.

  18. Face/core interface fracture characterization of mixed mode bending sandwich specimens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quispitupa, Amilcar; Berggreen, Christian; Carlsson, L.A.

    2011-01-01

    and PVC H45, H100 and H250 foam core materials were evaluated. A methodology to perform precracking on fracture specimens in order to achieve a sharp and representative crack front is outlined. The mixed mode loading was controlled in the mixed mode bending (MMB) test rig by changing the loading......Debonding of the core from the face sheets is a critical failure mode in sandwich structures. This paper presents an experimental study on face/core debond fracture of foam core sandwich specimens under a wide range of mixed mode loading conditions. Sandwich beams with E‐glass fibre face sheets...... application point (lever arm distance). Finite element analysis was performed to determine the mode‐mixity at the crack tip. The results showed that the face/core interface fracture toughness increased with increased mode II loading. Post failure analysis of the fractured specimens revealed that the crack...

  19. Film reject analysis and image quality in diagnostic Radiology Department of a Teaching hospital in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Owusu-Banahene

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Patients usually undergo repeated X-ray examinations after their initial X-ray radiographs are rejected due to poor image quality. This subjects the patients to an excess radiation exposure and extra cost and necessitates the need to investigate the causes of reject. The use of reject analysis as part of the overall quality assurance programs in clinical radiography and radiology services is vital in the evaluation of image quality of a well-established practice. It is shown that, in spite of good quality control maintained by the Radiology Department of a Teaching hospital in Ghana, reject analysis performed on a number of radiographic films developed indicated 14.1% reject rate against 85.9% accepted films. The highest reject rate was 57.1 ± 0.7% which occurs in cervical spine and the lowest was7.7 ± 0.5% for lumbar spine. The major factors contributing to film rejection were found to be over exposure and patient positioning in cervical spine examinations. The most frequent examination was chest X-ray which accounts for about 42.2% of the total examinations. The results show low reject rates by considering the factors for radiographic rejection analysis in relation to both equipment functionality and film development in the facility.

  20. Beneficial Immune Effects of Myeloid-Related Proteins in Kidney Transplant Rejection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rekers, N. V.; Bajema, I. M.; Mallat, M. J. K.; Petersen, B.; Anholts, J. D. H.; Swings, G. M. J. S.; van Miert, P. P. M. C.; Kerkhoff, C.; Roth, J.; Popp, D.; van Groningen, M. C.; Baeten, D.; Goemaere, N.; Kraaij, M. D.; Zandbergen, M.; Heidt, S.; van Kooten, C.; de Fijter, J. W.; Claas, F. H. J.; Eikmans, M.

    2016-01-01

    Acute rejection is a risk factor for inferior long-term kidney transplant survival. Although T cell immunity is considered the main effector in clinical acute rejection, the role of myeloid cells is less clear. Expression of S100 calcium-binding protein A8 (S100A8) and S100A9 was evaluated in 303

  1. "I'm worth more than that": trait positivity predicts increased rejection of unfair financial offers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunn, Barnaby D; Makarova, Dasha; Evans, David; Clark, Luke

    2010-12-08

    Humans react strongly to unfairness, sometimes rejecting inequitable proposals even if this sacrifices personal financial gain. Here we explored whether emotional dispositions--trait tendencies to experience positive or negative feelings--shape the rejection of unfair financial offers. Participants played an Ultimatum Game, where the division of a sum of money is proposed and the player can accept or reject this offer. Individuals high in trait positivity and low in trait negativity rejected more unfair offers. These relationships could not be explained by existing accounts which argue that rejection behaviour results from a failure to regulate negative emotions, or serves to arbitrate social relationships and identity. Instead, the relationship between dispositional affect and rejection behaviour may be underpinned by perceived self worth, with those of a positive disposition believing that they are "worth more than that" and those of a negative disposition resigning themselves to "taking the crumbs from under the table".

  2. Entropy-Based Clutter Rejection for Intrawall Diagnostics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raffaele Solimene

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The intrawall diagnostic problem of detecting localized inhomogeneities possibly present within the wall is addressed. As well known, clutter arising from masonry structure can impair detection of embedded scatterers due to high amplitude reflections that wall front face introduces. Moreover, internal multiple reflections also can make it difficult ground penetrating radar images (radargramms interpretation. To counteract these drawbacks, a clutter rejection method, properly tailored on the wall features, is mandatory. To this end, here we employ a windowing strategy based on entropy measures of temporal traces “similarity.” Accordingly, instants of time for which radargramms exhibit entropy values greater than a prescribed threshold are “silenced.” Numerical results are presented in order to show the effectiveness of the entropy-based clutter rejection algorithm. Moreover, a comparison with the standard average trace subtraction is also included.

  3. Performance Evaluation of Air-Based Heat Rejection Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hannes Fugmann

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available On the basis of the Number of Transfer Units (NTU method a functional relation between electric power for fans/pumps and effectiveness in dry coolers and wet cooling towers is developed. Based on this relation, a graphical presentation method of monitoring and simulation data of heat rejection units is introduced. The functional relation allows evaluating the thermodynamic performance of differently sized heat rejection units and comparing performance among them. The method is used to evaluate monitoring data of dry coolers of different solar cooling field projects. The novelty of this approach is that performance rating is not limited by a design point or standardized operating conditions of the heat exchanger, but is realizable under flexible conditions.

  4. Nonlinear dynamic analysis of D α signals for type I edge localized modes characterization on JET with a carbon wall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannas, Barbara; Fanni, Alessandra; Murari, Andrea; Pisano, Fabio; Contributors, JET

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of type-I ELM time-series from the JET tokamak, the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment, have been investigated. The dynamic analysis has been focused on the detection of nonlinear structure in D α radiation time series. Firstly, the method of surrogate data has been applied to evaluate the statistical significance of the null hypothesis of static nonlinear distortion of an underlying Gaussian linear process. Several nonlinear statistics have been evaluated, such us the time delayed mutual information, the correlation dimension and the maximal Lyapunov exponent. The obtained results allow us to reject the null hypothesis, giving evidence of underlying nonlinear dynamics. Moreover, no evidence of low-dimensional chaos has been found; indeed, the analysed time series are better characterized by the power law sensitivity to initial conditions which can suggest a motion at the ‘edge of chaos’, at the border between chaotic and regular non-chaotic dynamics. This uncertainty makes it necessary to further investigate about the nature of the nonlinear dynamics. For this purpose, a second surrogate test to distinguish chaotic orbits from pseudo-periodic orbits has been applied. In this case, we cannot reject the null hypothesis which means that the ELM time series is possibly pseudo-periodic. In order to reproduce pseudo-periodic dynamical properties, a periodic state-of-the-art model, proposed to reproduce the ELM cycle, has been corrupted by a dynamical noise, obtaining time series qualitatively in agreement with experimental time series.

  5. On the Temporal Variability of Low-Mode Internal Tides in the Deep Ocean

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, Richard D.; Zaron, E. D.

    2010-01-01

    In situ measurements of internal tides are typically characterized by high temporal variability, with strong dependence on stratification, mesoscale eddies, and background currents commonly observed. Thus, it is surprising to find phase-locked internal tides detectable by satellite altimetry. An important question is how much tidal variability is missed by altimetry. We address this question in several ways. We subset the altimetry by season and find only very small changes -- an important exception being internal tides in the South China Sea where we observe strong seasonal dependence. A wavenumber-domain analysis confirms that throughout most of the global ocean there is little temporal variability in altimetric internal-tide signals, at least in the first baroclinic mode, which is the mode that dominates surface elevation. The analysis shows higher order modes to be significantly more variable. The results of this study have important practical implications for the anticipated SWOT wide-swath altimeter mission, for which removal of internal tide signals is critical for observing non-tidal submesoscale phenomena.

  6. Common characterization of variability and forecast errors of variable energy sources and their mitigation using reserves in power system integration studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Menemenlis, N.; Huneault, M. [IREQ, Varennes, QC (Canada); Robitaille, A. [Dir. Plantif. de la Production Eolienne, Montreal, QC (Canada). HQ Production; Holttinen, H. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT (Finland)

    2012-07-01

    This In this paper we define and characterize the two random variables, variability and forecast error, over which uncertainty in power systems operations is characterized and mitigated. We show that the characterization of both these variables can be carried out with the same mathematical tools. Furthermore, this common characterization of random variables lends itself to a common methodology for the calculation of non-contingency reserves required to mitigate their effects. A parallel comparison of these two variables demonstrates similar inherent statistical properties. They depend on imminent conditions, evolve with time and can be asymmetric. Correlation is an important factor when aggregating individual wind farm characteristics in forming the distribution of the total wind generation for imminent conditions. (orig.)

  7. Adaptation of Rejection Algorithms for a Radar Clutter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Popov

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the algorithms for adaptive rejection of a radar clutter are synthesized for the case of a priori unknown spectral-correlation characteristics at wobbulation of a repetition period of the radar signal. The synthesis of algorithms for the non-recursive adaptive rejection filter (ARF of a given order is reduced to determination of the vector of weighting coefficients, which realizes the best effectiveness index for radar signal extraction from the moving targets on the background of the received clutter. As the effectiveness criterion, we consider the averaged (over the Doppler signal phase shift improvement coefficient for a signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR. On the base of extreme properties of the characteristic numbers (eigennumbers of the matrices, the optimal vector (according to this criterion maximum is defined as the eigenvector of the clutter correlation matrix corresponding to its minimal eigenvalue. The general type of the vector of optimal ARF weighting coefficients is de-termined and specific adaptive algorithms depending upon the ARF order are obtained, which in the specific cases can be reduced to the known algorithms confirming its authenticity. The comparative analysis of the synthesized and known algorithms is performed. Significant bene-fits are established in clutter rejection effectiveness by the offered processing algorithms compared to the known processing algorithms.

  8. CD28 Family and Chronic Rejection: “To Belatacept...and Beyond!”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcos V. Silva

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Kidneys are one of the most frequently transplanted human organs. Immunosuppressive agents may prevent or reverse most acute rejection episodes; however, the graft may still succumb to chronic rejection. The immunological response involved in the chronic rejection process depends on both innate and adaptive immune response. T lymphocytes have a pivotal role in chronic rejection in adaptive immune response. Meanwhile, we aim to present a general overview on the state-of-the-art knowledge of the strategies used for manipulating the lymphocyte activation mechanisms involved in allografts, with emphasis on T-lymphocyte costimulatory and coinhibitory molecules of the B7-CD28 superfamily. A deeper understanding of the structure and function of these molecules improves both the knowledge of the immune system itself and their potential action as rejection inducers or tolerance promoters. In this context, the central role played by CD28 family, especially the relationship between CD28 and CTLA-4, becomes an interesting target for the development of immune-based therapies aiming to increase the survival rate of allografts and to decrease autoimmune phenomena. Good results obtained by the recent development of abatacept and belatacept with potential clinical use aroused better expectations concerning the outcome of transplanted patients.

  9. Trajectories of Italian Children's Peer Rejection: Associations with Aggression, Prosocial Behavior, Physical Attractiveness, and Adolescent Adjustment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Giunta, Laura; Pastorelli, Concetta; Thartori, Eriona; Bombi, Anna Silvia; Baumgartner, Emma; Fabes, Richard A; Martin, Carol Lynn; Enders, Craig K

    2017-12-08

    In the present study, the predictors and outcomes associated with the trajectories of peer rejection were examined in a longitudinal sample of Italian children (338 boys, 269 girls) ages 10 to 14 years. Follow-up assessments included 60% of the original sample at age 16-17. Low, medium, and high rejection trajectory groups were identified using growth mixture models. Consistent with previous studies, we found that (a) being less prosocial and more physically aggressive at age 10 was characteristic of those children with the high rejection trajectory; (b) being less attractive was related to higher peer rejection from age 10 to 14; and (c) boys with a high rejection trajectory showed high levels of delinquency and anxiety-depression and low levels of academic aspiration at age 16-17, whereas girls with a high rejection trajectory showed low levels of academic aspiration and social competence at age 16-17. Our findings indicate the detrimental consequences of peer rejection on children's development and adjustment and shed light on the mechanisms that contribute to maintaining or worsening (e.g., being attractive, prosocial, and aggressive) a child's negative status (e.g., being rejected) within his or her peer group over time.

  10. Description and characterization of the ACRR's programmable transient rod withdrawal mode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boldt, K.R.; Sullivan, W.H.; Kefauver, H.L.

    1980-01-01

    To satisfy experiment needs for Sandia's Advanced Reactor Safety Program, a programmable Transient Rod Withdrawal (TRW) mode has been developed for the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR). The programmable mode is a modification of the existing continuous-withdrawal TRW mode and permits speed and direction changes during the pulse sequence. Basically, a TRW operation is similar to a routine pulse operation except that transient rods are mechanically withdrawn rather than pneumatically fired. Being a pulse-type operation, the TRW mode complies with pulse-mode safety system settings. Control system interlocks prevent the pneumatic firing of rods in the TRW mode. The hardware for the programmable TRW mode includes three ACRR transient rods, the ACRR timer, two rod programmers, a minicomputer and a summing circuit for position indication. Each ACRR transient rod is mechanically driven by a stepping motor (rated torque at 4.24 joules) and is capable of a maximum TRW speed of 26.7 centimeters/ second. The maximum reactivity insertion rate is $2.45/second with a transient rod bank worth of $3.00 and $3.47/second with a bank worth of $4.25, which is expected to be installed soon. The ACRR timer is a multifunctional timer used in all operating modes of the reactor. In the programmable TRW mode, the timer starts the rod programmers and drops regulating rods to terminate the operation. Programmed withdrawal capability is provided by one of two rod programmers (a hardwire-based unit and a microprocessor-based unit). The hardwire unit has eight intervals in which speed, direction and distance are selected by switches on the front panel. The microprocessor-based unit has the capability of 64 intervals in which speed, direction, and distance or time can be specified. Programming this unit is accomplished from the front panel or by inputting data from an HP-9845. minicomputer via a digital I/O interface. Self-test programs in the software provide a continual check of an operating

  11. "I'm worth more than that": trait positivity predicts increased rejection of unfair financial offers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barnaby D Dunn

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Humans react strongly to unfairness, sometimes rejecting inequitable proposals even if this sacrifices personal financial gain. Here we explored whether emotional dispositions--trait tendencies to experience positive or negative feelings--shape the rejection of unfair financial offers. Participants played an Ultimatum Game, where the division of a sum of money is proposed and the player can accept or reject this offer. Individuals high in trait positivity and low in trait negativity rejected more unfair offers. These relationships could not be explained by existing accounts which argue that rejection behaviour results from a failure to regulate negative emotions, or serves to arbitrate social relationships and identity. Instead, the relationship between dispositional affect and rejection behaviour may be underpinned by perceived self worth, with those of a positive disposition believing that they are "worth more than that" and those of a negative disposition resigning themselves to "taking the crumbs from under the table".

  12. Adaptive Control Using Residual Mode Filters Applied to Wind Turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frost, Susan A.; Balas, Mark J.

    2011-01-01

    Many dynamic systems containing a large number of modes can benefit from adaptive control techniques, which are well suited to applications that have unknown parameters and poorly known operating conditions. In this paper, we focus on a model reference direct adaptive control approach that has been extended to handle adaptive rejection of persistent disturbances. We extend this adaptive control theory to accommodate problematic modal subsystems of a plant that inhibit the adaptive controller by causing the open-loop plant to be non-minimum phase. We will augment the adaptive controller using a Residual Mode Filter (RMF) to compensate for problematic modal subsystems, thereby allowing the system to satisfy the requirements for the adaptive controller to have guaranteed convergence and bounded gains. We apply these theoretical results to design an adaptive collective pitch controller for a high-fidelity simulation of a utility-scale, variable-speed wind turbine that has minimum phase zeros.

  13. COTRANSA simulation of Chinshan unit one generator load rejection test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, C.H.

    1984-01-01

    A simulation of the plant behavior during a BWR generator load rejection transient using Exxon Nuclear Company's COTRANSA code is presented in this paper. The results are compared to measurements obtained by Taiwan Power Company during a generator load rejection transient, initiated at full power condition, which was one of the Chinshan Unit 1 initial cycle startup tests. Good agreement between the COTRANSA predicted and the measured values, indicates that the COTRANSA code can simulate this transient satisfactorily

  14. Neutral Pion Rejection at L2 using the CMS Endcap Preshower

    CERN Document Server

    Kyriakis, Aristotelis; Loukas, Demetrios; Mousa, Jehad; Seez, Christopher

    1999-01-01

    Applying a general Artificial Neural Network approach, we have examined the possibility of neutral pion rejection at the Level 2 Trigger stage ( L2) principally using information from the CMS Endcap Preshower. We have studied both pion/photon and pion/electron discrimination. For L2 the hope was to achieve some useful pion/electron discrimination for a high electron efficiency. For a single electron/photon efficiency of 95% the results show that no useful rejection of neutral pions against electrons/photons can be obtained using this algorithm alone, due to the presence of tracker material. If the efficiency is lowered or information from the tracker is available, the rejection can increase dramatically. This will be the case for off-line analyses.

  15. Characterization of peeling modes in a low aspect ratio tokamak

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bongard, M. W.; Thome, K. E.; Barr, J. L.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Redd, A. J.; Schlossberg, D. J.

    2014-11-01

    Peeling modes are observed at the plasma edge in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment under conditions of high edge current density (Jedge ˜ 0.1 MA m-2) and low magnetic field (B ˜ 0.1 T) present at near-unity aspect ratio. Their macroscopic properties are measured using external Mirnov coil arrays, Langmuir probes and high-speed visible imaging. The modest edge parameters and short pulse lengths of Pegasus discharges permit direct measurement of the internal magnetic field structure with an insertable array of Hall-effect sensors, providing the current profile and its temporal evolution. Peeling modes generate coherent, edge-localized electromagnetic activity with low toroidal mode numbers n ⩽ 3 and high poloidal mode numbers, in agreement with theoretical expectations of a low-n external kink structure. Coherent MHD fluctuation amplitudes are found to be strongly dependent on the experimentally measured Jedge/B peeling instability drive, consistent with theory. Peeling modes nonlinearly generate ELM-like, field-aligned filamentary structures that detach from the edge and propagate radially outward. The KFIT equilibrium code is extended with an Akima spline profile parameterization and an improved model for induced toroidal wall current estimation to obtain a reconstruction during peeling activity with its current profile constrained by internal Hall measurements. It is used to test the analytic peeling stability criterion and numerically evaluate ideal MHD stability. Both approaches predict instability, in agreement with experiment, with the latter identifying an unstable external kink.

  16. Soluble CD30 for the prediction and detection of kidney transplant rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arjona, Alvaro

    2009-09-01

    Although safer and more effective immunosuppressants as well as enhanced immunosuppressive protocols are continuously being developed in order to increase graft survival, they come at the steep price of drug-related complications and important side effects. In addition, the value of panel reactive antibodies determination, which at present is the single most used indicator of an increased risk of transplant rejection, is now being reevaluated. Therefore, effective tailoring of immunosuppressive therapy minimizing the above-mentioned pitfalls requires the existence of dependable biomarkers that adequately monitor rejection risk both before and after transplantation. Here we review the data yielded by studies assessing the usefulness of measuring soluble CD30 levels (sCD30) in kidney transplant rejection. These data collectively show that sCD30 serum content has a considerable predictive/diagnostic value for acute rejection of renal grafts, particularly when measured a few days after transplantation. Copyright 2009 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved.

  17. Early Subretinal Allograft Rejection Is Characterized by Innate Immune Activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennelly, Kevin P; Holmes, Toby M; Wallace, Deborah M; O'Farrelly, Cliona; Keegan, David J

    2017-06-09

    Successful subretinal transplantation is limited by considerable early graft loss despite pharmacological suppression of adaptive immunity. We postulated that early innate immune activity is a dominant factor in determining graft survival and chose a nonimmunosuppressed mouse model of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell transplantation to explore this. Expression of almost all measured cytokines by DH01 RPE cells increased significantly following graft preparation, and the neutrophil chemoattractant KC/GRO/CINC was most significantly increased. Subretinal allografts of DH01 cells (C57BL/10 origin) into healthy, nonimmunosuppressed C57BL/6 murine eyes were harvested and fixed at 1, 3, 7, and 28 days postoperatively and subsequently cryosectioned and stained. Graft cells were detected using SV40 large T antigen (SV40T) immunolabeling and apoptosis/necrosis by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL). Sections were also immunolabeled for macrophage (CD11b and F4/80), neutrophil (Gr1 Ly-6G), and T-lymphocyte (CD3-ɛ) infiltration. Images captured with an Olympus FV1000 confocal microscope were analyzed using the Imaris software. The proportion of the subretinal bolus comprising graft cells (SV40T+) was significantly (p < 0.001) reduced between postoperative day (POD) 3 (90 ± 4%) and POD 7 (20 ± 7%). CD11b+, F4/80+, and Gr1 Ly-6G+ cells increased significantly (p < 0.05) from POD 1 and predominated over SV40T+ cells by POD 7. Colabeling confocal microscopic analysis demonstrated graft engulfment by neutrophils and macrophages at POD 7, and reconstruction of z-stacked confocal images confirmed SV40T inside Gr1 Ly-6G+ cells. Expression of CD3-ɛ was low and did not differ significantly between time points. By POD 28, no graft cells were detectable and few inflammatory cells remained. These studies reveal, for the first time, a critical role for innate immune mechanisms early in subretinal graft rejection. The future success

  18. Determination of hyperacute kidney rejection in different xenogeneic system by 133xenon washout technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welter, H.; Schmidt, K.R.; Pfeifer, K.J.; Hammer, C.; Chaussy, C.

    1980-01-01

    1. 133 Xenon washout technique is suitable for studying all stages of xenogeneic kidney rejection. 2. Follow-up studies allow differentiation between kidney rejection and kidneys in shock. 3. Changes of intrarenal blood flow distribution correlate with the histologic changes caused by rejection. 4. Total blood flow measurements employing 133 xenon washout yield 10-20% lower values compared with venous outflow measurements. 5. Graft rejection in the xenogeneic cat-dog system can be significantly delayed by ALG pretreatment. 6. The beneficial effect of blood transfusion described in different clinical and experimental studies could not be found after pretreatment of dogs with fox red blood cells. (orig.)

  19. Prefrontal recruitment during social rejection predicts greater subsequent self-regulatory imbalance and impairment: neural and longitudinal evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chester, David S; DeWall, C Nathan

    2014-11-01

    Social rejection impairs self-regulation, yet the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unknown. The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) facilitates self-regulation and plays a robust role in regulating the distress of social rejection. However, recruiting this region's inhibitory function during social rejection may come at a self-regulatory cost. As supported by prominent theories of self-regulation, we hypothesized that greater rVLPFC recruitment during rejection would predict a subsequent self-regulatory imbalance that favored reflexive impulses (i.e., cravings), which would then impair self-regulation. Supporting our hypotheses, rVLPFC activation during social rejection was associated with greater subsequent nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation and lesser functional connectivity between the NAcc and rVLPFC to appetitive cues. Over seven days, the effect of daily felt rejection on daily self-regulatory impairment was exacerbated among participants who showed a stronger rVLPFC response to social rejection. This interactive effect was mirrored in the effect of daily felt rejection on heightened daily alcohol cravings. Our findings suggest that social rejection likely impairs self-regulation by recruiting the rVLPFC, which then tips the regulatory balance towards reward-based impulses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Long-term results of total lymphoid irradiation in the treatment of cardiac allograft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolden, Suzanne L.; Tate, David J.; Hunt, Sharon A.; Strober, Samuel; Hoppe, Richard T.

    1997-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the short and long-term effects of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) in the treatment of cardiac transplant rejection. Methods and Materials: Between 1986 and 1995, 48 courses of TLI were delivered to 47 cardiac transplant patients. In 37 patients, TLI was administered for intractable allograft rejection despite conventional therapy while 10 patients received TLI prophylactically. The prescribed radiation dose was 8 Gy in 0.8 Gy fractions twice weekly to mantle and inverted-Y plus spleen fields. Postirradiation follow-up ranged from 6 months to 9.1 years, with a mean of 3.1 years. Results: The actual mean dose was 7.3 Gy delivered over a mean of 39 days. Fifty-six percent of patients required treatment delay or abbreviation because of thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, infection, or unrelated problems. In patients treated for intractable rejection, rejection rates dropped from 0.46 to 0.14 and to 0.06 episodes/patient/month before, during, and after TLI (p < 0.0001). Rejection rates continued to drop throughout follow-up. Prednisone requirements decreased from 0.41 mg/kg before treatment to 0.21 mg/kg afterward (p < 0.0001). The ratio of helper to cytotoxic-suppressor T-cells decreased during TLI from 1.33 to 0.89, and remained low at 0.44, 2-4 months after treatment. Infection rates were not increased and two patients developed malignancy. Rejection rates were high during prophylactic treatment and this protocol was abandoned. Three-year actuarial survival after irradiation was 60% for patients with intractable rejection and 70% for the prophylactic cohort. Conclusion: TLI is an effective treatment for control of intractable cardiac rejection. Episodes of rejection and steroid dosage requirements are decreased for up to 9.1 years. A possible mechanism of action is long term alteration in T-lymphocyte subsets. Patients experience transient bone marrow suppression but no increase in infection or bleeding. Long-term complications of TLI are not

  1. Design Analysis of the Mixed Mode Bending Sandwich Specimen

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Quispitupa, Amilcar; Berggreen, Christian; Carlsson, Leif A.

    2010-01-01

    A design analysis of the mixed mode bending (MMB) sandwich specimen for face–core interface fracture characterization is presented. An analysis of the competing failure modes in the foam cored sandwich specimens is performed in order to achieve face–core debond fracture prior to other failure modes...... for the chosen geometries and mixed mode loading conditions....

  2. Responder Feelings in a Three-Player Three-Option Ultimatum Game: Affective Determinants of Rejection Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hans-Rüdiger Pfister

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the role of affect and emotions in shaping the behavior of responders in the ultimatum game. A huge amount of research shows that players do not behave in an economically rational way in the ultimatum game, and emotional mechanisms have been proposed as a possible explanation. In particular, feelings of fairness, anger and envy are likely candidates as affective determinants. We introduce a three-player ultimatum game with three-options, which permits the responder to either penalize the proposer or to penalize a third party by rejecting offers. This allows for partially distinguishing rejections due to a retaliation motive driven by anger towards the proposer from rejections due to inequity aversion driven by feelings of envy towards a third party. Results from two experiments suggest that responders experience feelings of dissatisfaction and unfairness if their share is small in comparison to the proposer���s share; anger, then, may trigger rejections towards the proposer. Responders also experience dissatisfaction and envy when third party shares exceed their own shares; however, in contrast to anger, envy does not trigger rejections and is dissociated from the decision to accept or reject an offer. We conclude that acting upon anger is socially acceptable, whereas envy is not acceptable as a reason for action. Furthermore, we find that responders generally feel better after rejections, suggesting that rejections serve to regulate one’s affective state.

  3. Noninvasive detection of rejection of transplanted hearts with indium-111-labeled lymphocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisen, H.J.; Eisenberg, S.B.; Saffitz, J.E.; Bolman, R.M. III; Sobel, B.E.; Bergmann, S.R.

    1987-01-01

    To determine whether cardiac transplant rejection can be detected noninvasively with indium-111 ( 111 In)-labeled lymphocytes, we studied 11 dogs with thoracic heterotopic cardiac transplants without immunosuppression and five dogs with transplants treated with cyclosporine (10 mg/kg/day) and prednisone (1 mg/kg/day). All were evaluated sequentially with gamma scintigraphy after administration of 150 to 350 muCi of autologous 111 In-lymphocytes. Technetium-99m-labeled red blood cells (1 to 3 mCi) were used for correction of radioactivity in the blood pool attributable to circulating labeled lymphocytes. Lymphocyte infiltration was quantified as the ratio of indium in the myocardium of the transplant or native heart compared with that in blood (indium excess, IE). Results were correlated with mechanical and electrical activity of allografts and with histologic findings in sequential biopsy specimens. In untreated dogs (n = 11), IE was 15.5 +/- 7.0 (SD) in transplanted hearts undergoing rejection and 0.4 +/- 1.1 in native hearts on the day before animals were killed. In dogs treated with cyclosporine and prednisone (n = 5), IE was minimal in allografts during the course of immunosuppression (0.8 +/- 0.4) and increased to 22.9 +/- 11.1 after immunosuppression was stopped. Scintigraphic criteria of rejection (IE greater than 2 SD above that in native hearts) correlated with results of biopsies indicative of rejection and appeared before electrophysiologic or mechanical manifestations of dysfunction. Thus infiltration of labeled lymphocytes in allografts, indicative of rejection, is detectable noninvasively by gamma scintigraphy and provides a sensitive approach potentially applicable to clinical monitoring for early detection of rejection and guidance for titration of immunosuppressive measures

  4. Culture-Based Rejection of Taboo-Infringing Imports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brice William D.

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This empirical study analyzes the cultural basis of the United States market response to imported Spanish products that seem to violate strongly-held cultural taboos. Survey responses were obtained from students in two contrasting majors, Art and Business, in two distinct cities and universities, i.e. Little Rock at the University of Arkansas, and Dominguez Hills at California State University. The study focused on a baby doll marketed to piggy-back on the new movement towards breastfeeding babies. Although accepted in its original European market, the United States media reports strong moral objections to this product among U. S. citizens. The toy was overwhelmingly rejected in some, but not all, population sub-groups. This study attempts to discern the cultural basis for product rejection by comparing responses between regions, college majors, genders and gender/major combinations. Differences in acceptance between groups are correlated with specific cultural constructs.

  5. Background rejection in NEXT using deep neural networks

    CERN Document Server

    Renner, J.

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the potential of using deep learning techniques to reject background events in searches for neutrinoless double beta decay with high pressure xenon time projection chambers capable of detailed track reconstruction. The differences in the topological signatures of background and signal events can be learned by deep neural networks via training over many thousands of events. These networks can then be used to classify further events as signal or background, providing an additional background rejection factor at an acceptable loss of efficiency. The networks trained in this study performed better than previous methods developed based on the use of the same topological signatures by a factor of 1.2 to 1.6, and there is potential for further improvement.

  6. Background rejection in NEXT using deep neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Renner, J.; Farbin, A.; Vidal, J. Muñoz; Benlloch-Rodríguez, J. M.; Botas, A.

    2017-01-01

    Here, we investigate the potential of using deep learning techniques to reject background events in searches for neutrinoless double beta decay with high pressure xenon time projection chambers capable of detailed track reconstruction. The differences in the topological signatures of background and signal events can be learned by deep neural networks via training over many thousands of events. These networks can then be used to classify further events as signal or background, providing an additional background rejection factor at an acceptable loss of efficiency. The networks trained in this study performed better than previous methods developed based on the use of the same topological signatures by a factor of 1.2 to 1.6, and there is potential for further improvement.

  7. Ventricular function during the acute rejection of heterotopic transplanted heart: Gated blood pool studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valette, H.; Bourguignon, M.H.; Desruennes, M.; Merlet, P.; Le Guludec, D.; Syrota, A.

    1991-01-01

    Twenty patients who had undergone a heterotopic heart transplant were studied prospectively to determine the relationship between rejection and ventricular dysfunction assessed from gated blood pool studies. A fully automated method for detecting ventricular edges was implemented; its success rate for the grafted left and right ventricles was 94% and 77%, respectively. The parameters, peak ejection and filling rates, were calculated pixel per pixel using a two-harmonic Fourier algorithm and then averaged over the ventricular region of interest. Peak filling and ejection rates were closely related with the severity of the rejection, while the left ventricular ejection fraction was not. Peak filling rates of both ventricles were the indices closely related to the presence of moderate rejection. Despite the low number of patients, these data suggested that gated blood pool derived indices of ventricular function are associated with ventricular dysfunction resulting from myocarditis rejection. Radionuclide ventriculography provides parametric data which are accurate and reliable for the diagnosis of rejection. (orig.)

  8. Comprehending emotional eating in obese youngsters: the role of parental rejection and emotion regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandewalle, J; Moens, E; Braet, C

    2014-04-01

    The present study examined the role of emotion regulation in the relation between parental rejection and emotional eating of obese youngsters. Participants were 110 obese youngsters between the ages of 10 and 16 years who were referred to a Belgian treatment centre for obesity. Participants completed questionnaires assessing maternal and paternal rejection, emotion regulation strategies and emotional eating during their intake at the treatment centre. Bootstrapping procedure was used to test if emotion regulation mediated the relationship between maternal and paternal rejection on the one hand and emotional eating of the youngster on the other hand. Results revealed that the use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies mediated the relation between maternal rejection and emotional eating. Paternal rejection was neither associated with the emotion regulation nor with the emotional eating of the youngster. The findings highlight the importance of assessing the emotional bond between mother and child and the emotion regulation of the youngster in the treatment of pediatric obesity.

  9. Significance of {sup 99m}Tc-tin Colloid Scan in Rejection of Transplanted Kidney

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oh, Ha Young; Kim, Seung Taik; Park, Seon Yang; Kim, Sung Yang; Lee, Myung Chul; Cho, Bo Youn; Lee, Jung Sang; Koh, Chang Soon [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1982-09-15

    Renal transplant uptake of {sup 99m}Tc-tin colloid was evaluated in 26 patients. Seventy-seven examinations were performed comparing transplant with bone marrow activity, clinical and/or pathological diagnosis. There were 13 instances of acute rejection; 7 of these exhibited slight uptake of radiocolloid in the renal transplant, 1 had marked uptake, and 5 had no evidence of uptake. There were 7 instances of chronic rejection; 5 of which demonstrated marked transplant uptake of radiocolloid, 1 had slight uptake, and 1 had no evidence of uptake. There were 2 instances of acute tubular necrosis and 55 instances of normal transplant function, but none of these exhibited transplant uptake of radiocolloid. From the result, the uptake of {sup 99m}Tc-tin colloid by renal transplant appears to signal rejection as long as the vascular supply is not severely compromised. Acute rejection may be represented by slight radiocolloid uptake, and chronic rejection by marked uptake when compared to bone marrow activity.

  10. High serum soluble CD30 does not predict acute rejection in liver transplant patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matinlauri, I; Höckerstedt, K; Isoniemi, H

    2006-12-01

    Increased pre- and posttransplantation values of soluble CD30 (sCD30) have been shown to be associated with acute kidney transplant rejection. We sought to study whether high sCD30 could predict rejection early after liver transplantation. The study population included 54 consecutive liver transplant patients, whose samples were collected before liver transplantation and at discharge, which was at a mean time of 3 weeks after transplantation. During the first 6 months posttransplantation, 22 patients experienced an acute rejection episode. Serum sCD30 concentrations were measured by an enzyme-linked immunoassay; changes in serum sCD30 levels posttransplantation were also expressed as relative values compared with pretransplantation results. Liver patients before transplantation displayed higher serum sCD30 values compared with healthy controls: mean values +/- SD were 93 +/- 58 IU/mL vs 17 +/- 8 IU/mL, respectively. At 3 weeks after transplantation the mean sCD30 concentration in liver transplant patients decreased to 59 +/- 42 IU/mL (P = .005). The mean pretransplantation serum sCD30 value was slightly lower among rejecting vs nonrejecting patients: 78 +/- 43 IU/mL vs 104 +/- 65 IU/mL (P = NS). Posttransplantation values in both groups decreased significantly: 47 +/- 34 IU/mL in patients with rejection (P = .014) vs 69 +/- 45 IU/mL in patients without rejection (P = .012). The relative value at 3 weeks posttransplantation decreased slightly more among patients with vs without rejection (70% vs 88%; NS). No correlation was found between serum sCD30 and anti-HLA class I antibodies or crossmatch positivity. In conclusion, neither pre- nor posttransplantation sCD30 levels were associated with acute rejection in liver transplant patients.

  11. Using 3D printed eggs to examine the egg-rejection behaviour of wild birds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Branislav Igic

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The coevolutionary relationships between brood parasites and their hosts are often studied by examining the egg rejection behaviour of host species using artificial eggs. However, the traditional methods for producing artificial eggs out of plasticine, plastic, wood, or plaster-of-Paris are laborious, imprecise, and prone to human error. As an alternative, 3D printing may reduce human error, enable more precise manipulation of egg size and shape, and provide a more accurate and replicable protocol for generating artificial stimuli than traditional methods. However, the usefulness of 3D printing technology for egg rejection research remains to be tested. Here, we applied 3D printing technology to the extensively studied egg rejection behaviour of American robins, Turdus migratorius. Eggs of the robin’s brood parasites, brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, vary greatly in size and shape, but it is unknown whether host egg rejection decisions differ across this gradient of natural variation. We printed artificial eggs that encompass the natural range of shapes and sizes of cowbird eggs, painted them to resemble either robin or cowbird egg colour, and used them to artificially parasitize nests of breeding wild robins. In line with previous studies, we show that robins accept mimetically coloured and reject non-mimetically coloured artificial eggs. Although we found no evidence that subtle differences in parasitic egg size or shape affect robins’ rejection decisions, 3D printing will provide an opportunity for more extensive experimentation on the potential biological or evolutionary significance of size and shape variation of foreign eggs in rejection decisions. We provide a detailed protocol for generating 3D printed eggs using either personal 3D printers or commercial printing services, and highlight additional potential future applications for this technology in the study of egg rejection.

  12. Using 3D printed eggs to examine the egg-rejection behaviour of wild birds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunez, Valerie; Voss, Henning U.; Croston, Rebecca; Aidala, Zachary; López, Analía V.; Van Tatenhove, Aimee; Holford, Mandë E.; Shawkey, Matthew D.; Hauber, Mark E.

    2015-01-01

    The coevolutionary relationships between brood parasites and their hosts are often studied by examining the egg rejection behaviour of host species using artificial eggs. However, the traditional methods for producing artificial eggs out of plasticine, plastic, wood, or plaster-of-Paris are laborious, imprecise, and prone to human error. As an alternative, 3D printing may reduce human error, enable more precise manipulation of egg size and shape, and provide a more accurate and replicable protocol for generating artificial stimuli than traditional methods. However, the usefulness of 3D printing technology for egg rejection research remains to be tested. Here, we applied 3D printing technology to the extensively studied egg rejection behaviour of American robins, Turdus migratorius. Eggs of the robin’s brood parasites, brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, vary greatly in size and shape, but it is unknown whether host egg rejection decisions differ across this gradient of natural variation. We printed artificial eggs that encompass the natural range of shapes and sizes of cowbird eggs, painted them to resemble either robin or cowbird egg colour, and used them to artificially parasitize nests of breeding wild robins. In line with previous studies, we show that robins accept mimetically coloured and reject non-mimetically coloured artificial eggs. Although we found no evidence that subtle differences in parasitic egg size or shape affect robins’ rejection decisions, 3D printing will provide an opportunity for more extensive experimentation on the potential biological or evolutionary significance of size and shape variation of foreign eggs in rejection decisions. We provide a detailed protocol for generating 3D printed eggs using either personal 3D printers or commercial printing services, and highlight additional potential future applications for this technology in the study of egg rejection. PMID:26038720

  13. A Mini HIP HOP Assay Uncovers a Central Role for Copper and Zinc in the Antifungal Mode of Action of Allicin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prescott, Thomas A K; Panaretou, Barry

    2017-05-10

    Garlic contains the organosulfur compound allicin which exhibits potent antifungal activity. Here we demonstrate the use of a highly simplified yeast chemical genetic screen to characterize its mode of action. By screening 24 validated yeast gene deletion "signature" strains for which hypersensitivity is characteristic for common antifungal modes of action, yeast lacking the high affinity Cu 2+ transporter Ctr1 was found to be hypersensitive to allicin. Focusing on transition metal related genes identified two more hypersensitive strains lacking the Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ transcription factors Mac1 and Zap1. Hypersensitivity in these strains was reversed by the addition of Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ ions, respectively. The results suggest the antifungal activity of allicin is mediated through restricted Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ uptake or inhibition of Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ metalloproteins. As certain antimicrobial modes of action are much more common than others, the approach taken here provides a useful way to identify them early on.

  14. Perceived parental rejection mediates the effects of previous ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Behavioural problems, parental rejection scores and child abuse ... evaluated by the Child Behavior Checklist (parental version), the Memories of Parental Rearing ... However, mental illness had no moderating effect on these relationships.

  15. Utility of indium-111 labelled autologous platelets in the diagnosis of renal graft rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin-Comin, J.; Roca, M.; Grino, J.M.; Paradell, C.; Caralps, A.

    1982-01-01

    The usefulness of In-111 labelled autologous platelets in the diagnosis of renal graft rejection was studied. The method is based on imaging of the graft area at 4, 24, 48 and 72 hours after the injection of the labelled cells. The study was done in 21 renal cadaveric transplant recipients: control group: four patients without evidence of rejection. No platelet uptake was observed in any of them. Study group: in 13 patients with acute rejection and 1 with chronic rejection graft tracer uptake was seen. In the 3 others with a non-immunological sudden impairment of renal function, no activity was detected in graft area. Changes in renal platelet trapping correlated with response to antirejection therapy

  16. The embodiment design of the heat rejection system for the portable life support system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuckwisch, Sue; Francois, Jason; Laughlin, Julia; Phillips, Lee; Carrion, Carlos A.

    1994-01-01

    The Portable Life Support System (PLSS) provides a suitable environment for the astronaut in the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), and the heat rejection system controls the thermal conditions in the space suit. The current PLSS sublimates water to the space environment; therefore, the system loses mass. Since additional supplies of fluid must be available on the Space Shuttle, NASA desires a closed heat rejecting system. This document presents the embodiment design for a radiative plate heat rejection system without mass transfer to the space environment. This project will transform the concept variant into a design complete with material selection, dimensions of the system, layouts of the heat rejection system, suggestions for manufacturing, and financial viability.

  17. A Novel Controller Design for the Next Generation Space Electrostatic Accelerometer Based on Disturbance Observation and Rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hongyin; Bai, Yanzheng; Hu, Ming; Luo, Yingxin; Zhou, Zebing

    2016-12-23

    The state-of-the-art accelerometer technology has been widely applied in space missions. The performance of the next generation accelerometer in future geodesic satellites is pushed to 8 × 10 - 13 m / s 2 / H z 1 / 2 , which is close to the hardware fundamental limit. According to the instrument noise budget, the geodesic test mass must be kept in the center of the accelerometer within the bounds of 56 pm / Hz 1 / 2 by the feedback controller. The unprecedented control requirements and necessity for the integration of calibration functions calls for a new type of control scheme with more flexibility and robustness. A novel digital controller design for the next generation electrostatic accelerometers based on disturbance observation and rejection with the well-studied Embedded Model Control (EMC) methodology is presented. The parameters are optimized automatically using a non-smooth optimization toolbox and setting a weighted H-infinity norm as the target. The precise frequency performance requirement of the accelerometer is well met during the batch auto-tuning, and a series of controllers for multiple working modes is generated. Simulation results show that the novel controller could obtain not only better disturbance rejection performance than the traditional Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers, but also new instrument functions, including: easier tuning procedure, separation of measurement and control bandwidth and smooth control parameter switching.

  18. A Novel Controller Design for the Next Generation Space Electrostatic Accelerometer Based on Disturbance Observation and Rejection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongyin Li

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The state-of-the-art accelerometer technology has been widely applied in space missions. The performance of the next generation accelerometer in future geodesic satellites is pushed to 8 × 10 − 13 m / s 2 / H z 1 / 2 , which is close to the hardware fundamental limit. According to the instrument noise budget, the geodesic test mass must be kept in the center of the accelerometer within the bounds of 56 pm / Hz 1 / 2 by the feedback controller. The unprecedented control requirements and necessity for the integration of calibration functions calls for a new type of control scheme with more flexibility and robustness. A novel digital controller design for the next generation electrostatic accelerometers based on disturbance observation and rejection with the well-studied Embedded Model Control (EMC methodology is presented. The parameters are optimized automatically using a non-smooth optimization toolbox and setting a weighted H-infinity norm as the target. The precise frequency performance requirement of the accelerometer is well met during the batch auto-tuning, and a series of controllers for multiple working modes is generated. Simulation results show that the novel controller could obtain not only better disturbance rejection performance than the traditional Proportional Integral Derivative (PID controllers, but also new instrument functions, including: easier tuning procedure, separation of measurement and control bandwidth and smooth control parameter switching.

  19. Mechanical detection and mode shape imaging of vibrational modes of micro and nanomechanical resonators by dynamic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paulo, A S; GarcIa-Sanchez, D; Perez-Murano, F; Bachtold, A; Black, J; Bokor, J; Esplandiu, M J; Aguasca, A

    2008-01-01

    We describe a method based on the use of higher order bending modes of the cantilever of a dynamic force microscope to characterize vibrations of micro and nanomechanical resonators at arbitrarily large resonance frequencies. Our method consists on using a particular cantilever eigenmode for standard feedback control in amplitude modulation operation while another mode is used for detecting and imaging the resonator vibration. In addition, the resonating sample device is driven at or near its resonance frequency with a signal modulated in amplitude at a frequency that matches the resonance of the cantilever eigenmode used for vibration detection. In consequence, this cantilever mode is excited with an amplitude proportional to the resonator vibration, which is detected with an external lock-in amplifier. We show two different application examples of this method. In the first one, acoustic wave vibrations of a film bulk acoustic resonator around 1.6 GHz are imaged. In the second example, bending modes of carbon nanotube resonators up to 3.1 GHz are characterized. In both cases, the method provides subnanometer-scale sensitivity and the capability of providing otherwise inaccessible information about mechanical resonance frequencies, vibration amplitude values and mode shapes

  20. Characterization of a FBG sensor interrogation system based on a mode-locked laser scheme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madrigal, Javier; Fraile-Peláez, Francisco Javier; Zheng, Di; Barrera, David; Sales, Salvador

    2017-10-02

    This paper is focused on the characterization of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system based on a fiber ring laser with a semiconductor optical amplifier as the gain medium, and an in-loop electro-optical modulator. This system operates as a switchable active (pulsed) mode-locked laser. The operation principle of the system is explained theoretically and validated experimentally. The ability of the system to interrogate an array of different FBGs in wavelength and spatial domain is demonstrated. Simultaneously, the influence of several important parameters on the performance of the interrogation technique has been investigated. Specifically, the effects of the bandwidth and the reflectivity of the FBGs, the SOA gain, and the depth of the intensity modulation have been addressed.

  1. Philosophy vs the common sense

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Chernyshov

    2017-01-01

    analysis. However, the authentic project of philosophy has not always remained faithful to itself, keeping its self-identity. A considerable part of that which now bears the name of philosophy has rather been an alienation of the original idea. Among these phenomena of the alienated philosophy, for example, we can mention a number of cases: the emergence of the philosophical paideia, political and social engineering, scholastics, and the interpretation of philosophy as a science that can (and should be directed to gaining the ultimate positive result. All these witness the alienation from the authentic philosophical tradition, degrading philosophy to the role of a «servant-maid», which eventually brought to the ultimate rejection and denial of its profundity and its values. Finally, the study considers the place that the Modern philosophy has taken in emergence of the modern and contemporary science. He states that there were a number of efforts – beginning with Rene Descartes – to create a new philosophy not upon the foundations of the love of wisdom, but upon the ones of the common sense. Although philosophers had easily recognised the falsity of this enterprise and had rejected this idea, these efforts did not pass away without effect, having caused the emergence of the modern and contemporary science, recognising as its true basis the common sense rather than any metaphysics.

  2. Research on rejection performance of reverse osmosis to manganese in simulated radioactive wastewater

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kong Jinsong; Wang Xiaowei

    2012-01-01

    In order to reveal the performance of reverse osmosis applied in the radioactive wastewater treatment, treatment experiments are carried out on a pilot RO equipment using wastewater containing manganese nuclide. Results show that the rejection ratio of RO to manganese is almost not influenced by the operation pressure and the ration of reclaiming, and has no direct relation with the salt rejection ratio. The ratio of manganese rejection is more than 95% and can meet the requirement on the disposal of radioactive wastewater produced by pressurized water reactors. (authors)

  3. Attachment Style and Rejection Sensitivity: The Mediating Effect of Self-Esteem and Worry Among Iranian College Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samira Khoshkam

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The present study evaluated the relations between anxious attachment styles and rejection sensitivity, and the potential mediating role of self-esteem and worry. A sample of 125 Iranian college students completed surveys assessing rejection sensitivity, attachment style, worry and self-esteem. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM analyses were conducted. Results show that there is a significant positive relationship between anxious attachment styles and rejection sensitivity. The study suggests that a higher score in anxious attachment styles is associated with a higher level of worry and lower level of self-esteem and it is also associated with higher level of rejection sensitivity. Furthermore, there is a positive significant relationship between worry and rejection sensitivity and there is a negative significant relationship between self-esteem and rejection sensitivity. Results indicate that self-esteem and worry mediate the relationship between anxious attachment styles and rejection sensitivity.

  4. Zero-mode waveguide nanophotonic structures for single molecule characterization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crouch, Garrison M.; Han, Donghoon; Bohn, Paul W.

    2018-05-01

    Single-molecule characterization has become a crucial research tool in the chemical and life sciences, but limitations, such as limited concentration range, inability to control molecular distributions in space, and intrinsic phenomena, such as photobleaching, present significant challenges. Recent developments in non-classical optics and nanophotonics offer promising routes to mitigating these restrictions, such that even low affinity (K D ~ mM) biomolecular interactions can be studied. Here we introduce and review specific nanophotonic devices used to support single molecule studies. Optical nanostructures, such as zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs), are usually fabricated in thin gold or aluminum films and serve to confine the observation volume of optical microspectroscopy to attoliter to zeptoliter volumes. These simple nanostructures allow individual molecules to be isolated for optical and electrochemical analysis, even when the molecules of interest are present at high concentration (µM–mM) in bulk solution. Arrays of ZMWs may be combined with optical probes such as single molecule fluorescence, single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy for distributed analysis of large numbers of single-molecule reactions or binding events in parallel. Furthermore, ZMWs may be used as multifunctional devices, for example by combining optical and electrochemical functions in a single discrete architecture to achieve electrochemical ZMWs. In this review, we will describe the optical properties, fabrication, and applications of ZMWs for single-molecule studies, as well as the integration of ZMWs into systems for chemical and biochemical analysis.

  5. Computational chemical imaging for cardiovascular pathology: chemical microscopic imaging accurately determines cardiac transplant rejection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saumya Tiwari

    Full Text Available Rejection is a common problem after cardiac transplants leading to significant number of adverse events and deaths, particularly in the first year of transplantation. The gold standard to identify rejection is endomyocardial biopsy. This technique is complex, cumbersome and requires a lot of expertise in the correct interpretation of stained biopsy sections. Traditional histopathology cannot be used actively or quickly during cardiac interventions or surgery. Our objective was to develop a stain-less approach using an emerging technology, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR spectroscopic imaging to identify different components of cardiac tissue by their chemical and molecular basis aided by computer recognition, rather than by visual examination using optical microscopy. We studied this technique in assessment of cardiac transplant rejection to evaluate efficacy in an example of complex cardiovascular pathology. We recorded data from human cardiac transplant patients' biopsies, used a Bayesian classification protocol and developed a visualization scheme to observe chemical differences without the need of stains or human supervision. Using receiver operating characteristic curves, we observed probabilities of detection greater than 95% for four out of five histological classes at 10% probability of false alarm at the cellular level while correctly identifying samples with the hallmarks of the immune response in all cases. The efficacy of manual examination can be significantly increased by observing the inherent biochemical changes in tissues, which enables us to achieve greater diagnostic confidence in an automated, label-free manner. We developed a computational pathology system that gives high contrast images and seems superior to traditional staining procedures. This study is a prelude to the development of real time in situ imaging systems, which can assist interventionists and surgeons actively during procedures.

  6. [Combined assay of soluble CD30 and hepatocyte growth factor for diagnosis of acute renal allograft rejection].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Chuan-jiang; Yu, Li-xin; Xu, Jian; Fu, Shao-jie; Deng, Wen-feng; Du, Chuan-fu; Wang, Yi-bin

    2008-02-01

    To study the value of detection of both preoperative soluble CD30 (sCD30) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) level 5 days after transplantation in the diagnosis of acute rejection of renal allograft. Preoperative serum sCD30 levels and HGF level 5 days after transplantation were determined in 65 renal-transplant recipients using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The recipients were divided according to the sCD30 levels positivity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the value of HGF level on day 5 posttransplantation for diagnosis of acute renal allograft rejection, and the value of combined assay of the sCD30 and HGF levels was also estimated. After transplantation, 26 recipients developed graft rejection and 39 had uneventful recovery without rejection. With the cut-off value of sCD30 of 120 U/ml, the positivity rate of sCD30 was significantly higher in recipients with graft rejection than in those without (61.5% vs 17.9%, Pacute rejection showed also significantly higher HGF levels on day 5 posttransplantation than those without rejection (Pacute renal allograft rejection, and at the cut-off value of 90 ug/L, the diagnostic sensitivity was 84.6% and specificity 76.9%. Evaluation of both the sCD30 and HGF levels significantly enhanced the diagnostic accuracy of acute graft rejection. Combined assay of serum sCD30 and HGF levels offers a useful means for diagnosis of acute renal allograft rejection.

  7. Edge-localized mode avoidance and pedestal structure in I-mode plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walk, J. R., E-mail: jrwalk@psfc.mit.edu; Hughes, J. W.; Hubbard, A. E.; Terry, J. L.; Whyte, D. G.; White, A. E.; Baek, S. G.; Reinke, M. L.; Theiler, C.; Churchill, R. M.; Rice, J. E. [MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 (United States); Snyder, P. B.; Osborne, T. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Dominguez, A [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543-0451 (United States); Cziegler, I. [UCSD Center for Momentum Transport and Flow Organization, La Jolla, CA 92093-0417 (United States)

    2014-05-15

    I-mode is a high-performance tokamak regime characterized by the formation of a temperature pedestal and enhanced energy confinement, without an accompanying density pedestal or drop in particle and impurity transport. I-mode operation appears to have naturally occurring suppression of large Edge-Localized Modes (ELMs) in addition to its highly favorable scalings of pedestal structure and overall performance. Extensive study of the ELMy H-mode has led to the development of the EPED model, which utilizes calculations of coupled peeling-ballooning MHD modes and kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) stability limits to predict the pedestal structure preceding an ELM crash. We apply similar tools to the structure and ELM stability of I-mode pedestals. Analysis of I-mode discharges prepared with high-resolution pedestal data from the most recent C-Mod campaign reveals favorable pedestal scalings for extrapolation to large machines—pedestal temperature scales strongly with power per particle P{sub net}/n{sup ¯}{sub e}, and likewise pedestal pressure scales as the net heating power (consistent with weak degradation of confinement with heating power). Matched discharges in current, field, and shaping demonstrate the decoupling of energy and particle transport in I-mode, increasing fueling to span nearly a factor of two in density while maintaining matched temperature pedestals with consistent levels of P{sub net}/n{sup ¯}{sub e}. This is consistent with targets for increased performance in I-mode, elevating pedestal β{sub p} and global performance with matched increases in density and heating power. MHD calculations using the ELITE code indicate that I-mode pedestals are strongly stable to edge peeling-ballooning instabilities. Likewise, numerical modeling of the KBM turbulence onset, as well as scalings of the pedestal width with poloidal beta, indicates that I-mode pedestals are not limited by KBM turbulence—both features identified with the trigger for large ELMs

  8. Electrokinetic characterization of whey protein separation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keiding, Kristian; Stougård, Anders; Christensen, Morten Lykkegaard

    Cross flow filtration of whey protein has been performed on 3 different membranes. The rejections have been determined by HPLC analysis of the feed and permeate. The pure membranes as well as the fouled membranes have been characterized by measurements of the streaming potential along the membrane...

  9. Diagnosis of cardiac allograft rejection with indium-111 labeled platelets in cyclosporin treated rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fawwaz, R.A.; Iga, C.; Hardy, M.A.; Alderson, P.O.

    1984-01-01

    Rejection of heart transplants remains difficult to diagnose. Indium-111 (In-111) labeled lymphocytes accumulate in rat cardiac allografts when recipients are treated with Cyclosporin (Cy), even in the absence of clinical rejection. This presumably occurs because of the non-specific 'interstitial infiltration' caused by Cy. This study examines the usefulness of In-111 labeled platelets in differentiating experimental cardiac allograft rejection from Cy-induced tissue changes. The authors initially examined the migration patterns of syngeneic In-111 labeled platelets in groups of Lewis recipients of ACI cardiac allografts treated with IM Cy (10mg/kg) for 6-14 days. In addition, 10 control animals were not immunosuppressed, and 10 were treated with Cy but received Lewis cardiac isografts. Syngeneic In-111 platelets were injected IV into each animal 24 hours prior to sacrifice. Three to five rats from each group were killed at 3 ,7, 14, 21 and 28 days after transplantation and the % ID/gm in the transplanted hearts and native hearts were determined and correlated with histopathology. Untreated Lewis recipients rejected ACI hearts in 6.5 +- 0.4 days while Cy prolonged allograft survival in a variable fashion. In-111 platelet accumulation correlated well with the degree of rejection determined independently by histopathology. No significant In-111 platelet accumulation was detected in non-rejecting cardiac transplants or in native hearts in Cy treated or control animals. The results suggest that In-111 labeled platelets will be an effective agent for diagnosis of cardiac rejection, even in the presence of Cy treatment

  10. Music genre recognition with risk and rejection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sturm, Bob L.

    2013-01-01

    We explore risk and rejection for music genre recognition (MGR) within the minimum risk framework of Bayesian classification. In this way, we attempt to give an MGR system knowledge that some misclassifications are worse than others, and that deferring classification to an expert may be a better...

  11. A comparative study of boron and arsenic (III) rejection from brackish water by reverse osmosis membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Teychene, Benoî t; Collet, Gaelle; Gallard, Hervé ; Croue, Jean Philippe

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to compare at lab-scale the rejection efficiency of several reverse osmosis membranes (RO) toward arsenic (III) and boron during the filtration of a synthetic brackish water. The effect of pH and operating conditions on the rejection of each RO membrane was studied. Two types of membrane were investigated: "brackish water" and "sea water" membranes. Our results showed that the metalloid rejection depends on the membrane type, pH and transmembrane pressure applied. Increasing pH above the dissociation constant (pKa) of each specie improves significantly the metalloid rejection by RO membranes, whatever the membrane type. Moreover, at identical operating conditions (pH, transmembrane pressure), results showed that the brackish water membranes have a higher water flux and exhibit lower metalloid rejection. The highest As(III) rejection value for the tested brackish water membranes was 99% obtained at pH = 9.6 and 40 bars, whereas it was found that the sea water RO membranes could highly reject As(III), more than 99%, even at low pH and low pressure (pH = 7.6 and 24 bars).Regarding Boron rejection, similar conclusions could be drawn. The sea water RO membranes exert higher removal, with a high rejection value above 96% over the tested conditions. More generally, this study showed that, whatever the operating conditions or the tested membranes, the boron and As(III) permeate concentrations are below the WHO guidelines. In addition, new data about the boron and arsenic permeability of each tested RO membrane was brought thanks to a theoretical calculation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  12. Zbtb7a induction in alveolar macrophages is implicated in anti-HLA-mediated lung allograft rejection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayak, Deepak K; Zhou, Fangyu; Xu, Min; Huang, Jing; Tsuji, Moriya; Yu, Jinsheng; Hachem, Ramsey; Gelman, Andrew E; Bremner, Ross M; Smith, Michael A; Mohanakumar, Thalachallour

    2017-07-12

    Chronic rejection significantly limits long-term success of solid organ transplantation. De novo donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) to mismatched donor human leukocyte antigen after human lung transplantation predispose lung grafts to chronic rejection. We sought to delineate mediators and mechanisms of DSA pathogenesis and to define early inflammatory events that trigger chronic rejection in lung transplant recipients and obliterative airway disease, a correlate of human chronic rejection, in mouse. Induction of transcription factor zinc finger and BTB domain containing protein 7a (Zbtb7a) was an early response critical in the DSA-induced chronic rejection. A cohort of human lung transplant recipients who developed DSA and chronic rejection demonstrated greater Zbtb7a expression long before clinical diagnosis of chronic rejection compared to nonrejecting lung transplant recipients with stable pulmonary function. Expression of DSA-induced Zbtb7a was restricted to alveolar macrophages (AMs), and selective disruption of Zbtb7a in AMs resulted in less bronchiolar occlusion, low immune responses to lung-restricted self-antigens, and high protection from chronic rejection in mice. Additionally, in an allogeneic cell transfer protocol, antigen presentation by AMs was Zbtb7a-dependent where AMs deficient in Zbtb7a failed to induce antibody and T cell responses. Collectively, we demonstrate that AMs play an essential role in antibody-induced pathogenesis of chronic rejection by regulating early inflammation and lung-restricted humoral and cellular autoimmunity. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

  13. A comparative study of boron and arsenic (III) rejection from brackish water by reverse osmosis membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Teychene, Benoît

    2013-02-01

    This study aims to compare at lab-scale the rejection efficiency of several reverse osmosis membranes (RO) toward arsenic (III) and boron during the filtration of a synthetic brackish water. The effect of pH and operating conditions on the rejection of each RO membrane was studied. Two types of membrane were investigated: "brackish water" and "sea water" membranes. Our results showed that the metalloid rejection depends on the membrane type, pH and transmembrane pressure applied. Increasing pH above the dissociation constant (pKa) of each specie improves significantly the metalloid rejection by RO membranes, whatever the membrane type. Moreover, at identical operating conditions (pH, transmembrane pressure), results showed that the brackish water membranes have a higher water flux and exhibit lower metalloid rejection. The highest As(III) rejection value for the tested brackish water membranes was 99% obtained at pH = 9.6 and 40 bars, whereas it was found that the sea water RO membranes could highly reject As(III), more than 99%, even at low pH and low pressure (pH = 7.6 and 24 bars).Regarding Boron rejection, similar conclusions could be drawn. The sea water RO membranes exert higher removal, with a high rejection value above 96% over the tested conditions. More generally, this study showed that, whatever the operating conditions or the tested membranes, the boron and As(III) permeate concentrations are below the WHO guidelines. In addition, new data about the boron and arsenic permeability of each tested RO membrane was brought thanks to a theoretical calculation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

  14. Perturbations in the Urinary Exosome in Transplant Rejection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sigdel, Tara K.; NG, Yolanda; Lee, Sangho; Nicora, Carrie D.; Qian, Weijun; Smith, Richard D.; Camp, David G.; Sarwal, Minnie M.

    2015-01-05

    Background: Urine exosomes, vesicles exocytosed into urine by all renal epithelial cell types, occur under normal physiologic and disease states. Exosome contents may mirror disease-specific proteome perturbations in kidney injury. Analysis methodologies for the exosomal fraction of the urinary proteome were developed and for comparing the urinary exosomal fraction versus unfractionated proteome for biomarker discovery. Methods: Urine exosomes were isolated by centrifugal filtration from mid-stream, second morning void, urine samples collected from kidney transplant recipients with and without biopsy matched acute rejection. The proteomes of unfractionated whole urine (Uw) and urine exosomes (Uexo) underwent mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics analysis. The proteome data were analyzed for significant differential protein abundances in acute rejection (AR). Results: Identifications of 1018 and 349 proteins, Uw and Uexo fractions, respectively, demonstrated a 279 protein overlap between the two urinary compartments with 25%(70) of overlapping proteins unique to Uexoand represented membrane bound proteins (p=9.31e-7). Of 349 urine exosomal proteins identified in transplant patients 220 were not previously identified in the normal urine exosomal fraction. Uexo proteins (11), functioning in the inflammatory / stress response, were more abundant in patients with biopsy-confirmed acute rejection, 3 of which were exclusive to Uexo. Uexo AR-specific biomarkers (8) were also detected in Uw, but since they were observed at significantly lower abundances in Uw, they were not significant for AR in Uw. Conclusions: A rapid urinary exosome isolation method and quantitative measurement of enriched Uexo proteins was applied. Urine proteins specific to the exosomal fraction were detected either in unfractionated urine (at low abundances) or by Uexo fraction analysis. Perturbed proteins in the exosomal compartment of urine collected from kidney transplant patients were

  15. Mechanisms of allograft rejection of corneal endothelium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tagawa, Y.; Silverstein, A.M.; Prendergast, R.A.

    1982-01-01

    The local intraocular graft-vs.-host (GVH) reaction, involving the destruction of the corneal endothelial cells of the rabbit host by sensitized donor lymphoid cells, has been used to study the mechanism of corneal allograft rejection. Pretreatment of donor cells with a specific mouse monoclonal hybridoma anti-T cell antibody and complement suppresses the destructive reaction, suggesting that a cellular-immune mechanism is primarily involved. Pretreatment of donor cells with mitomycin-C completely abolishes the local GVH reaction, indicating that the effector lymphocytes must undergo mitosis within the eye before they can engage in target cell destruction. Finally, studies of the local GVH reaction in irradiated leukopenic recipients or in preinflamed rabbit eyes suggest that host leukocytes may contribute nonspecifically to enhance the destructive process. These studies show that the local ocular GVH reaction may provide a useful model for the study of the mechanisms involved in the rejection of corneal allografts

  16. Patient-reported non-adherence and immunosuppressant trough levels are associated with rejection after renal transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheel, Jennifer; Reber, Sandra; Stoessel, Lisa; Waldmann, Elisabeth; Jank, Sabine; Eckardt, Kai-Uwe; Grundmann, Franziska; Vitinius, Frank; de Zwaan, Martina; Bertram, Anna; Erim, Yesim

    2017-03-29

    Different measures of non-adherence to immunosuppressant (IS) medication have been found to be associated with rejection episodes after successful transplantation. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether graft rejection after renal transplantation is associated with patient-reported IS medication non-adherence and IS trough level variables (IS trough level variability and percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels). Patient-reported non-adherence, IS trough level variability, percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels, and acute biopsy-proven late allograft rejections were assessed in 267 adult renal transplant recipients who were ≥12 months post-transplantation. The rate of rejection was 13.5%. IS trough level variability, percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels as well as patient-reported non-adherence were all significantly and positively associated with rejection, but not with each other. Logistic regression analyses revealed that only the percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels and age at transplantation remained significantly associated with rejection. Particularly, the percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels is associated with acute rejections after kidney transplantation whereas IS trough level variability and patient-reported non-adherence seem to be of subordinate importance. Patient-reported non-adherence and IS trough level variables were not correlated; thus, non-adherence should always be measured in a multi-methodological approach. Further research concerning the best combination of non-adherence measures is needed.

  17. Spectral anomaly methods for aerial detection using KUT nuisance rejection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Detwiler, R.S.; Pfund, D.M.; Myjak, M.J.; Kulisek, J.A.; Seifert, C.E.

    2015-01-01

    This work discusses the application and optimization of a spectral anomaly method for the real-time detection of gamma radiation sources from an aerial helicopter platform. Aerial detection presents several key challenges over ground-based detection. For one, larger and more rapid background fluctuations are typical due to higher speeds, larger field of view, and geographically induced background changes. As well, the possible large altitude or stand-off distance variations cause significant steps in background count rate as well as spectral changes due to increased gamma-ray scatter with detection at higher altitudes. The work here details the adaptation and optimization of the PNNL-developed algorithm Nuisance-Rejecting Spectral Comparison Ratios for Anomaly Detection (NSCRAD), a spectral anomaly method previously developed for ground-based applications, for an aerial platform. The algorithm has been optimized for two multi-detector systems; a NaI(Tl)-detector-based system and a CsI detector array. The optimization here details the adaptation of the spectral windows for a particular set of target sources to aerial detection and the tailoring for the specific detectors. As well, the methodology and results for background rejection methods optimized for the aerial gamma-ray detection using Potassium, Uranium and Thorium (KUT) nuisance rejection are shown. Results indicate that use of a realistic KUT nuisance rejection may eliminate metric rises due to background magnitude and spectral steps encountered in aerial detection due to altitude changes and geographically induced steps such as at land–water interfaces

  18. Characteristics and instabilities of mode-locked quantum-dot diode lasers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yan; Lester, Luke F; Chang, Derek; Langrock, Carsten; Fejer, M M; Kane, Daniel J

    2013-04-08

    Current pulse measurement methods have proven inadequate to fully understand the characteristics of passively mode-locked quantum-dot diode lasers. These devices are very difficult to characterize because of their low peak powers, high bandwidth, large time-bandwidth product, and large timing jitter. In this paper, we discuss the origin for the inadequacies of current pulse measurement techniques while presenting new ways of examining frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) data to provide insight into the operation of these devices. Under the assumptions of a partial coherence model for the pulsed laser, it is shown that simultaneous time-frequency characterization is a necessary and sufficient condition for characterization of mode-locking. Full pulse characterization of quantum dot passively mode-locked lasers (QD MLLs) was done using FROG in a collinear configuration using an aperiodically poled lithium niobate waveguide-based FROG pulse measurement system.

  19. A dual-mode 6-9 GHz transmitter for OFDM-UWB

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Yunfeng; Gao Ting; Li Wei; Li Ning; Ren Junyan

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a fully integrated dual-mode 6 to 9 GHz transmitter for both WiMedia and China MB-OFDM UWB applications. The proposed transmitter consists of a dual-mode I/QLPF, an up-conversion mixer, a two-stage power driver amplifier and a broadband high-speed frequency divider with LO buffers for I/Q LO carrier generation. The measurement results show that the gain ripple of the transmitter is within ±1.5/±2.8 dB from 6 to 8.7/9 GHz. The output IP3 is about +13.2 dBm, the output 1dBCP is around +2.8 dBm, and the LO leakage/sideband rejection ratio is about -35/-38 dBc. The ESD protected chip is fabricated with a TSMC 0.13 μm RFCMOS process with a die size of 1.6 x 1.3 mm 2 and the core circuit consumes only 46 mA under a 1.2 V supply. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  20. A dual-mode 6-9 GHz transmitter for OFDM-UWB

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen Yunfeng; Gao Ting; Li Wei; Li Ning; Ren Junyan, E-mail: jyren@fudan.edu.cn, E-mail: w-li@fudan.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203 (China)

    2011-05-15

    This paper presents a fully integrated dual-mode 6 to 9 GHz transmitter for both WiMedia and China MB-OFDM UWB applications. The proposed transmitter consists of a dual-mode I/QLPF, an up-conversion mixer, a two-stage power driver amplifier and a broadband high-speed frequency divider with LO buffers for I/Q LO carrier generation. The measurement results show that the gain ripple of the transmitter is within {+-}1.5/{+-}2.8 dB from 6 to 8.7/9 GHz. The output IP3 is about +13.2 dBm, the output 1dBCP is around +2.8 dBm, and the LO leakage/sideband rejection ratio is about -35/-38 dBc. The ESD protected chip is fabricated with a TSMC 0.13 {mu}m RFCMOS process with a die size of 1.6 x 1.3 mm{sup 2} and the core circuit consumes only 46 mA under a 1.2 V supply. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  1. An Audit Of Rejected Repeated X-ray Films As A Quality Assurance ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    To find out the causes, number, percentage and sizes of rejected radiographic filmswith a view of adopting measures that will reduce the rate and number of rejected films. Radiology Department of a University Teaching Hospital. Over a two-year period (1 April 2002 to 31 March 2004), the total number of x-ray films utilized ...

  2. Synthesis of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine oxalate from rejected liquid rocket propellant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mu, Xiaogang; Yang, Jingjing; Zhang, Youzhi

    2018-02-01

    The rejected liquid propellant unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) was converted to UDMH oxalate, which has commercial value. The UDMH oxalate structure and stability were investigated by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric analysis. The results indicate that UDMH oxalate has good thermal and aqueous solution stability, a melting point of 144 °C, an initial decomposition temperature of 180 °C, and a peak wavelength of UV in aqueous solution at λ = 204 nm. This disposal method of rejected UDMH is highly efficient and environmentally safe.

  3. Radiation therapy for renal transplant rejection refractory to pulse steroids and OKT3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noyes, William R.; Rodriguez, Rey; Knechtle, Stuart J.; Pirsch, John D.; Sollinger, Hans W.; D'Alessandro, Anthony M.; Chappell, Rick; Belzer, Folkert O.; Kinsella, Timothy J.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the response rate and kidney graft survival following local irradiation to the transplanted renal graft undergoing persistent rejection after medical management including pulse steroids and OKT3. The role of radiation for renal transplant rejection after failure of OKT3 has not been previously reported. Methods and Materials: From July 1, 1988 to July 1, 1994, 72 consecutive patients with kidney graft rejection were treated with local irradiation to the transplanted renal graft following failure of medical management. All patients received pulse steroids and OKT3, an anti-CD3 immunosuppressant. Patients who failed to respond to methylprednisolone and OKT3 therapy were referred for radiation therapy. The median time from the diagnosis of rejection to irradiation was 8 days. All kidney grafts received local graft irradiation to a total of 8 Gy delivered in four daily fractions. Results: Sixty (83%) patients initially responded to radiotherapy at 7 days after completion of radiotherapy, as defined by a decrease in serum creatinine. Thirty-five responding patients have not experienced a second episode of graft rejection. Overall, 43 (60%) patients have renal graft survival, with a median follow-up of 16 months (range of 6-73 months). Conclusion: It is concluded that there is a subgroup of kidney graft patients undergoing graft rejection who are refractory to pulse steroids and OKT3 therapy where irradiation may be an effective modality with high rates of response and a moderate rate of graft survival. However, a prospective, randomized trial in these medically refractory patients is needed to ascertain whether these results are clinically significant

  4. Adolescent externalizing behaviour, psychological control, and peer rejection: Transactional links and dopaminergic moderation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janssens, Annelies; Van Den Noortgate, Wim; Goossens, Luc; Verschueren, Karine; Colpin, Hilde; Claes, Stephan; Van Heel, Martijn; Van Leeuwen, Karla

    2017-09-01

    This study investigated (1) reciprocal links among parental psychological control, peer rejection, and adolescent externalizing (aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour), and (2) the moderating effect of an adolescent genetic factor (biologically informed polygenic score for dopamine signalling). Three-year longitudinal data from 1,116 adolescents (51% boys; M age = 13.79) and their parents included psychological measures (adolescent-reported psychological control, peer-reported rejection, and parent-reported aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour). Cross-lagged analyses showed bidirectional effects between psychological control and both aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour and a unidirectional effect of peer rejection on both forms of problem behaviour over time. Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed genetic moderation only for rule-breaking behaviour: for adolescents with intermediate levels of dopamine signalling significant environmental effects were present, whereas adolescent effects of rule-breaking behaviour on psychological control were significant for adolescents with both intermediate and high profiles and effects on peer rejection only for adolescents with high dopamine profiles. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Parental psychological control is related to adolescent externalizing problems. Experiencing peer rejection reinforces aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour. Single-gene studies show that dopaminergic genes influence externalizing problems directly or in interaction with the environment. What does this study add? Parental psychological control and adolescent aggressive and rule-breaking behaviour exacerbate one another longitudinally. Longitudinal associations between peer rejection and both subtypes of externalizing behaviour are unidirectional. With a polygenic approach, dopaminergic moderation is present for rule-breaking behaviour only. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  5. CD16+ Monocytes and Skewed Macrophage Polarization toward M2 Type Hallmark Heart Transplant Acute Cellular Rejection

    OpenAIRE

    van den Bosch, Thierry P. P.; Caliskan, Kadir; Kraaij, Marina D.; Constantinescu, Alina A.; Manintveld, Olivier C.; Leenen, Pieter J. M.; von der Th?sen, Jan H.; Clahsen-van Groningen, Marian C.; Baan, Carla C.; Rowshani, Ajda T.

    2017-01-01

    textabstractBackground: During acute heart transplant rejection, infiltration of lymphocytes and monocytes is followed by endothelial injury and eventually myocardial fibrosis. To date, no information is available on monocyte-macrophage-related cellular shifts and their polarization status during rejection. Here, we aimed to define and correlate monocyte-macrophage endomyocardial tissue profiles obtained at rejection and time points prior to rejection, with corresponding serial blood samples ...

  6. Rejection of unfair offers can be driven by negative emotions, evidence from modified ultimatum games with anonymity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Ning; Li, Nan; He, Xiao-Song; Sun, De-Lin; Zhang, Xiaochu; Zhang, Da-Ren

    2012-01-01

    The rejection of unfair offers can be affected by both negative emotions (e.g. anger and moral disgust) and deliberate cognitive processing of behavioral consequences (e.g. concerns of maintaining social fairness and protecting personal reputation). However, whether negative emotions are sufficient to motivate this behavior is still controversial. With modified ultimatum games, a recent study (Yamagishi T, et al. (2009) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:11520-11523) found that people reject unfair offers even when this behavior increases inequity, and even when they could not communicate to the proposers. Yamagishi suggested that rejection of unfair offers could occur without people's concerning of maintaining social fairness, and could be driven by negative emotions. However, as anonymity was not sufficiently guaranteed in Yamagishi's study, the rejection rates in their experiments may have been influenced by people's concerns of protecting personal reputation (reputational concerns) in addition to negative emotions; thus, it was unclear whether the rejection was driven by negative emotions, or by reputational concerns, or both. In the present study, with specific methods to ensure anonymity, the effect of reputational concerns was successfully ruled out. We found that in a private situation in which rejection could not be driven by reputational concerns, the rejection rates of unfair offers were significantly larger than zero, and in public situations in which rejection rates could be influenced by both negative emotions and reputational concerns, rejection rates were significantly higher than that in the private situation. These results, together with Yamagishi's findings, provided more complete evidence suggesting (a) that the rejection of unfair offers can be driven by negative emotions and (b) that deliberate cognitive processing of the consequences of the behavior can increase the rejection rate, which may benefit social cooperation.

  7. Disturbance rejection performance analyses of closed loop control systems by reference to disturbance ratio.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alagoz, Baris Baykant; Deniz, Furkan Nur; Keles, Cemal; Tan, Nusret

    2015-03-01

    This study investigates disturbance rejection capacity of closed loop control systems by means of reference to disturbance ratio (RDR). The RDR analysis calculates the ratio of reference signal energy to disturbance signal energy at the system output and provides a quantitative evaluation of disturbance rejection performance of control systems on the bases of communication channel limitations. Essentially, RDR provides a straightforward analytical method for the comparison and improvement of implicit disturbance rejection capacity of closed loop control systems. Theoretical analyses demonstrate us that RDR of the negative feedback closed loop control systems are determined by energy spectral density of controller transfer function. In this manner, authors derived design criteria for specifications of disturbance rejection performances of PID and fractional order PID (FOPID) controller structures. RDR spectra are calculated for investigation of frequency dependence of disturbance rejection capacity and spectral RDR analyses are carried out for PID and FOPID controllers. For the validation of theoretical results, simulation examples are presented. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. An audit of rejected repeated x-ray films as a quality assurance element in a radiology department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eze, K C; Omodia, N; Okegbunam, B; Adewonyi, T; Nzotta, C C

    2008-12-01

    To find out the causes, number, percentage and sizes of rejected radiographic films with a view of adopting measures that will reduce the rate and number of rejected films. Radiology Department of a University Teaching Hospital. Over a two-year period (1st April 2002 to 31st March 2004), the total number of x-ray films utilized for radiographic examinations, rejected films and sizes of rejected films were collected retrospectively from the medical record of radiology department. All the rejected films were viewed by a radiologist and three radiographers for the causes of the rejects which was arrived at by consensus. The data was analysed. A total of 15,095 films were used in the study period and 1,338 films (8.86%) were rejected or wasted. The rate of rejected films varied from 7.69% to 13.82% with average of 8.86%. The greatest cause of film rejects was radiographers' faults 547 (40.88%), followed by equipments faults 255 (19.06%), and patients' faults 250 (18.90%). The highest reject rate (13.82%) was for films used for examination of the spine (15 x 30) cm size. This is followed by 9.92% for skull (18 x 24) cm films and 8.83% for small sized films (24 x 30) cm used for paediatric patients. Of a total of 1,338 rejected films, 1276 (95.37%) additional exposure were done to obtain the basic desired diagnostic information involving 1151 patients; 885 (76.89%) of these patients needed at least one additional hospital visit to take the repeat exposure. Rejected films are not billable; patients receive additional radiation and may even come to hospital in another day for the repeat. Radiographer's work is increased as well as that of the support staff. The waiting room may be congested and waiting time increased. The cost of processing chemical and films are increased, thus if work is quantified in monetary terms, the cost of repeats is high. Rejected-repeated film analysis is cheap, simple, practicable, easy to interpret and an effective indictor of quality assurance

  9. Peer Rejection in Middle School: Subgroup Differences in Behavior, Loneliness, and Interpersonal Concerns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkhurst, Jennifer T.; Asher, Steven R.

    1992-01-01

    Studied patterns of behavior and emotional response associated with peer rejection in early adolescence. Obtained data on seventh and eighth graders' loneliness, social dissatisfaction, and concerns. The combination of aggressiveness and submissiveness with low levels of prosocial behavior was associated with peer rejection. (GLR)

  10. Comparison of the effectiveness of various procedures for the rejection of outlying results and assigning consensus values in interlaboratory programs involving determination of trace elements or radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dybczynski, R.

    1980-01-01

    Rejection of outlying results is usually necessary in the evaluation of interlaboratory comparisons, especially those involving trace elements and low-level activity measurements. The performance of several criteria (Dixon's test, Grubbs' test, coefficient of skewness test, and coefficient of kurtosis test) is described; authentic data sets from intercomparison runs on trace element or radionuclide determinations in spiked samples are used. The existence of 'masking effects' in certain cases is demonstrated. It is shown that concurrent use of all four criteria at small (0.01) or moderate (0.05) significance levels gives better results than the use of any single test. The use of all four criteria at α = 0.05 followed by calculation of overall mean and pertinent confidence limits is suggested as a general method of data handling in interlaboratory comparison. This method normally ensures good selectivity of outlier rejection while avoiding excessive rejections, and results in generally good agreement between the 'true' value and the final overall mean. The use of this approach for the establishment of recommended values in candidate reference materials is demonstrated and its advantages and limitations are discussed. The results are further compared with those obtained by other methods of data evaluation (Student's test, dominant cluster mode and gamma transformation). (Auth.)

  11. Detection of rejection of canine orthotopic cardiac allografts with indium-111 lymphocytes and gamma scintigraphy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisen, H.J.; Rosenbloom, M.; Laschinger, J.C.; Saffitz, J.E.; Cox, J.L.; Sobel, B.E.; Bolman, R.M. III; Bergmann, S.R.

    1988-01-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of detecting canine heterotopic cardiac allograft rejection scintigraphically after administration of 111In lymphocytes. To determine whether the approach is capable of detecting rejection in orthotopic cardiac transplants in which labeled lymphocytes circulating in the blood pool may reduce sensitivity, the present study was performed in which canine orthotopic cardiac transplants were evaluated in vivo. Immunosuppression was maintained with cyclosporine A (10-20 mg/kg/day) and prednisone (1 mg/kg/day) for 2 wk after transplantation. Subsequently, therapy was tapered. Five successful allografts were evaluated scintigraphically every 3 days after administration of 100-350 microCi 111In autologous lymphocytes. Correction for labeled lymphocytes circulating in the blood pool, but not actively sequestered in the allografts was accomplished by administering 3-6 mCi 99mTc autologous erythrocytes and employing a previously validated blood-pool activity correction technique. Cardiac infiltration of labeled lymphocytes was quantified as percent indium excess (%IE), scintigraphically detectable 111In in the transplant compared with that in blood, and results were compared with those of concomitantly performed endomyocardial biopsy. Scintigraphic %IE for hearts not undergoing rejection manifest histologically was 0.7 +/- 0.4. Percent IE for rejecting hearts was 6.8 +/- 4.0 (p less than 0.05). Scintigraphy detected each episode of rejection detected by biopsy. Scintigraphic criteria for rejection (%IE greater than 2 s.d. above normal) were not manifest in any study in which biopsies did not show rejection. Since scintigraphic results with 111In-labeled lymphocytes were concordant with biopsy results in orthotopic cardiac transplants, noninvasive detection of graft rejection in patients should be attainable with the approach developed

  12. Cytokine levels in pleural fluid as markers of acute rejection after lung transplantation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Priscila Cilene León Bueno de Camargo

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Our objective was to determine the levels of lactate dehydrogenase, IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF, as well as the total and differential cell counts, in the pleural fluid of lung transplant recipients, correlating those levels with the occurrence and severity of rejection. We analyzed pleural fluid samples collected from 18 patients at various time points (up to postoperative day 4. The levels of IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF tended to elevate in parallel with increases in the severity of rejection. Our results suggest that these levels are markers of acute graft rejection in lung transplant recipients.

  13. High solute rejecting membranes for reverse osmosis: Polyetheramide hydrazide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bindal, R.C.; Ramachandhran, V.; Misra, B.M.; Ramani, M.P.S.

    1991-01-01

    Synthesis of benzhydrazide polymers and determination of reverse osmosis properties of their membranes were reported earlier. Their performance was not adequate for seawater desalination or for high radioactive decontamination factors (DF). The same hydrazide polymers modified by incorporation of additional monomers with ether linkages were synthesized by low temperature polycondensation of freshly prepared m-amino benzhydrazide, p-amino benzhydrazide, and 4,4'-diamino diphenyl ether, with isophthaloyl chloride and terephthaloyl chloride in dimethyl acetamide solvent. A series of film-forming polymers prepared by altering the molar ratios of the reacting monomers were characterized in terms of percent moisture regain, inherent viscosity, solubility parameters, and interfacial sorption characteristics. Asymmetric membranes prepared from these polymer samples were characterized in terms of the pure water permeability constant and the solute transport parameter, and were tested for their reverse osmosis performance. An optimum mole ratio of reaching monomers has been identified for the synthesis of polymer and the resulting membrane offered the best performance for reverse osmosis (salt rejection as high as 99.4% for 3.5% sodium chloride solution). The incorporation of aromatic ether linkages in the polyamide benzhydrazide polymeric chains appears to alter the polar and nonpolar character of the bulk polymer, and also the membrane solution interface characteristics, resulting in enhanced solute separation. These membranes appear to be potential candidates for single-stage seawater desalination and also for a variety of industrial effluent treatment applications for significantly high DF radioactive effluent treatment

  14. Family Planning: Between Rejection And Acceptance In Islam ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Family Planning: Between Rejection And Acceptance In Islam. ... factor for health workers and policy makers to impact positively on their communities. ... who are likely to work in such communities for effective negotiation and application of ...

  15. The identification and rejection of energy-degraded events in gas ionization counters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ophel, T.R.; Fifield, L.K.; Catford, W.N.; Orr, N.A.; Woods, C.L.; Harding, A.; Clarkson, G.P.

    1988-05-01

    A common feature of the measurement of charged particles with gas detectors is the presence of a small fraction of events (∼0.1-0.2%) for which significantly less than total ionization is recorded. These events cause an energy tailing that can seriously impair the identification functions of gas detectors used either to instrument the focal plane of magnetic spectrometers or for accelerator mass spectrometry. The anomalous, energy-degraded events are shown to arise both from reactions between the incident ions and the detector gas and, more importantly from the scattering of ions by the gas. It is demonstrated that an appropriate detector configuration provides the means to reject most of the anomalous events, allowing the measurement of very low cross-section reactions without significant background interference from such events

  16. A magnetically coupled quench detector for superconducting magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaskierny, W.; Kristalinski, A.; Visser, A.T.

    1993-12-01

    This note describes a low voltage signal detector that is useful for detecting quenches or excessive lead voltages at superconducting magnets. It can also be used for other applications where it is needed to detect low level signals present on high voltage installations. The application of isolated operational amplifiers is often not practical for high voltage applications because of their limited input voltage rating, common mode rejection and sensitivity. The described detector can withstand 7.5 kV input to ground voltage. It has a typical common mode rejection of -150 dB at 60 Hz and an input sensitivity better than 1 mV. The magnetically coupled quench detector assembly is very sensitive to extremely small (order of 1 μAmp) current changes in the sense windings. The detector assembly can therefore also be referred to as a micro current detector

  17. The tempo and mode of barnacle evolution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pérez-Losada, Marcos; Harp, Margaret; Høeg, Jens T

    2008-01-01

    (outgroup) species representing almost all the Thoracica families to assess the tempo and mode of barnacle evolution. Using phylogenetic methods of maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference and 14 fossil calibrations, we found that: (1) Iblomorpha form a monophyletic group; (2......) pedunculated barnacles without shell plates (Heteralepadomorpha) are not ancestral, but have evolved, at least twice, from plated forms; (3) the ontogenetic pattern with 5-->6-->8-->12+ plates does not reflect Thoracica shell evolution; (4) the traditional asymmetric barnacles (Verrucidae) and the Balanomorpha......) the Thoracica suborders evolved since the Early Carboniferous (340mya) with the final radiation of the Sessilia in the Upper Jurassic (147mya). These results, therefore, reject many of the underlying hypotheses about character evolution in the Cirripedia Thoracica, stimulate a variety of new thoughts...

  18. B-cell-mediated strategies to fight chronic allograft rejection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali H Dalloul

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Solid organs have been transplanted for decades. Since the improvement in graft selection and in medical and surgical procedures, the likelihood of graft function after one year is now close to 90%. Nonetheless even well-matched recipients continue to need medications for the rest of their lives hence adverse side effects and enhanced morbidity. Understanding Immune rejection mechanisms, is of increasing importance since the greater use of living-unrelated donors and genetically unmatched individuals. Chronic rejection is devoted to T-cells, however the role of B-cells in rejection has been appreciated recently by the observation that B-cell depletion improve graft survival. By contrast however, B-cells can be beneficial to the grafted tissue. This protective effect is secondary to either the secretion of protective antibodies or the induction of B-cells that restrain excessive inflammatory responses, chiefly by local provision of IL-10, or inhibit effector T-cells by direct cellular interactions. As a proof of concept B-cell-mediated infectious transplantation tolerance could be achieved in animal models, and evidence emerged that the presence of such B-cells in transplanted patients correlate with a favorable outcome. Among these populations, regulatory B-cells constitute a recently described population. These cells may develop as a feedback mechanism to prevent uncontrolled reactivity to antigens and inflammatory stimuli. The difficult task for the clinician, is to quantify the respective ratios and functions of tolerant vs effector B-cells within a transplanted organ, at a given time point in order to modulate B-cell-directed therapy. Several receptors at the B-cell membrane as well as signaling molecules, can now be targeted for this purpose. Understanding the temporal expansion of regulatory B-cells in grafted patients and the stimuli that activate them will help in the future to implement specific strategies aimed at fighting chronic

  19. A False Rejection Oriented Threat Model for the Design of Biometric Authentication Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buhan, I.R.; Bazen, A.M.; Hartel, Pieter H.; Veldhuis, Raymond N.J.

    For applications like Terrorist Watch Lists and Smart Guns, a false rejection is more critical than a false acceptance. In this paper a new threat model focusing on false rejections is presented, and the 'standard' architecture of a biometric system is extended by adding components like crypto,

  20. Heterogeneity among Peer-Rejected Boys across Middle Childhood: Developmental Pathways of Social Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haselager, Gerbert J. T.; Cillessen, Antonius H. N.; Van Lieshout, Cornelius F. M.; Riksen-Walraven, J. Marianne A.; Hartup, Willard W.

    2002-01-01

    This longitudinal study identified subgroups of rejected boys with different developmental pathways of aggression and prosocial behavior during middle childhood. Four subgroups were identified associated with different patterns of sociometric acceptance and rejection over time and with social emotional adjustment in the last measurement wave.…