Perceived emotion suppression and culture: Effects on psychological well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Heewon; Kim, Young-Hoon

2018-04-03

Whether the negative effects of emotion suppression on psychological well-being are applicable cross-culturally is a long-debated topic. The present study attempted to shed light on this debate, focusing on the effects of perceived emotion suppression and examining the psychological processes leading from perceived emotion suppression to lower psychological well-being. We used a scale manipulation to lead 196 American and 213 Chinese participants to perceive themselves as having suppressed their emotions to a greater or lesser extent and then measured their life satisfaction. As expected, both the American and Chinese participants reported lower life satisfaction in the high-suppression condition than in the low-suppression condition; this negative effect was mediated by positive affect and moderated by self-esteem. Specifically, perceived high emotion suppression decreased positive affect, which in turn led to lower well-being. This effect was observed only for those with low self-esteem, but the patterns and mechanisms were consistent cross-culturally. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

Effective suppression of bystander effects by DMSO treatment of irradiated CHO cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashino, Genro; Prise, K.M.; Suzuki, Keiji

2007-01-01

Evidence is accumulating that irradiated cells produce some signals which interact with non-exposed cells in the same population via a bystander effect. Here, we examined whether dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is effective in suppressing radiation induced bystander effects in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and repair deficient xrs5 cells. When 1 Gy-irradiated CHO cells were treated with 0.5% DMSO for 1 hr before irradiation, the induction of micronuclei in irradiated cells was suppressed to 80% of that in non-treated irradiated cells. The suppressive effect of DMSO on the formation of bystander signals was examined and the results demonstrated that 0.5% DMSO treatment of irradiated cells completely suppressed the induction of micronuclei by the bystander effect in non-irradiated cells. It is suggested that irradiated cells ceased signal formation for bystander effects by the action of DMSO. To determine the involvement of reactive oxygen species on the formation of bystander signals, we examined oxidative stress levels using the 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) staining method in irradiated populations. The results showed that the treatment of irradiated cells with 0.5% DMSO did not suppress oxidative stress levels. These results suggest that the prevention of oxidative stress is independent of the suppressive effect of DMSO on the formation of the bystander signal in irradiated cells. It is suggested that increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) in irradiated cells is not a substantial trigger of a bystander signal. (author)

[Autologous regulatory T cells can suppress the proliferation of lymphoma cell line in vitro].

Science.gov (United States)

Ying, Zhi-Tao; Guo, Jun; Ren, Jun; Kong, Yan; Yuan, Zhi-Hong; Liu, Xi-Juan; Zhang, Chen; Zheng, Wen; Song, Yu-Qin; Zhang, Yun-Tao; Zhu, Jun

2009-06-01

This study was aimed to investigate the suppressive effect of regulatory T (Treg) cells on the T cell lymphoma EL4 cell line and to explore its mechanism. C57BL/6 Mouse Treg cells were isolated by MACS (magnetic cell sorting). The purity and the expression of Foxp3 were detected by flow cytometry. The suppressive effect of sorted Treg cells on EL4 cells was detected by MTT assay. The secretion of TGF-beta1 and IL-10 was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells could be successfully isolated by MACS with the purity reaching 91.6% and the expression level of Foxp3 was 78.9%. The ratio of viable cells was more than 95%. Regulatory T cells could suppress the proliferation of EL4 cells effectively in the presence of antigen presenting cells (APCs). And the suppressive effect was most significant at 1:1 ratio. In addition, the suppression still existed without APCs. TGF-beta1 and IL-10 could not be detected by ELISA. It is concluded that the Treg cells can suppress T lymphoma cell in vitro. The suppressive effect of Treg cells works in dose-dependent manner, but not in cytokine-dependent manner. The mechanism of this suppression may take effect through cell-cell contact.

Reduced visual surround suppression in schizophrenia shown by measuring contrast detection thresholds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ignacio eSerrano-Pedraza

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Visual perception in schizophrenia is attracting a broad interest given the deep knowledge that we have about the visual system in healthy population. In visual science it is known that the visibility of a grating located in the visual periphery is impaired by the presence of a surrounding grating of the same spatial frequency and orientation. Previous studies have suggested abnormal visual surround suppression in patients with schizophrenia. Given that schizophrenia patients have cortical alterations including hypofunction of NMDA receptors and reduced concentration of GABA neurotransmitter, which affect lateral inhibitory connections, then they should perform better than controls in visual suppression tasks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring contrast detection thresholds using a new stimulus configuration. We tested two groups: 21 schizophrenia patients and 24 healthy subjects. Thresholds were obtained using Bayesian staircases in a 4AFC detection task where the target was a grating within a 3 deg Butterworth window that appeared in one of four possible positions at 5 deg eccentricity. We compared three conditions, a target with no surround (NS, b target on top of a surrounding grating of 20 deg diameter and 25% contrast with same spatial frequency and orthogonal orientation (OS, and c target on top of a surrounding grating with parallel (same orientation (PS. Our results show significantly lower thresholds for controls than for patients in NS and OS conditions. We also found significant lower suppression ratios PS/NS in patients. Our results support the hypothesis that inhibitory lateral connections in early visual cortex are impaired in schizophrenia patients.

Modic type 1 changes. Detection performance of fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive MRI sequences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Finkenstaedt, Tim; Andreisek, Gustav [University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland). Inst. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology; Del Grande, Filippo [Ospedale Regionale di Lugano (Switzerland). Inst. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology; Bolog, Nicolae [Phoenix Diagnostic Clinic, Bucharest (Romania); Ulrich, Nils; Tok, Sina [Schulthess Clinic, Zurich (Switzerland). Dept. of Neurosurgery; Kolokythas, Orpheus [Kantonsspital Winterthur (Switzerland). Inst. for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine; Steurer, Johann [University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland). Horten Center for Patient Oriented Research and Knowledge Transfer; Winklhofer, Sebastian [University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland). Inst. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology; University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland). Dept. of Neuroradiology; Collaboration: LSOS Study Group

2018-02-15

To assess the performance of fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive MRI sequences compared to T1-weighted (T1w) / T2w sequences for the detection of Modic 1 end-plate changes on lumbar spine MRI. Sagittal T1w, T2w, and fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive MRI images of 100 consecutive patients (consequently 500 vertebral segments; 52 female, mean age 74 ± 7.4 years; 48 male, mean age 71 ± 6.3 years) were retrospectively evaluated. We recorded the presence (yes/no) and extension (i.e., Likert-scale of height, volume, and end-plate extension) of Modic I changes in T1w/T2w sequences and compared the results to fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive sequences (McNemar/Wilcoxon-signed-rank test). Fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive sequences revealed significantly more Modic I changes compared to T1w/T2w sequences (156 vs. 93 segments, respectively; p < 0.001). The extension of Modic I changes in fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive sequences was significantly larger compared to T1w/T2w sequences (height: 2.53 ± 0.82 vs. 2.27 ± 0.79, volume: 2.35 ± 0.76 vs. 2.1 ± 0.65, end-plate: 2.46 ± 0.76 vs. 2.19 ± 0.81), (p < 0.05). Modic I changes that were only visible in fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive sequences but not in T1w/T2w sequences were significantly smaller compared to Modic I changes that were also visible in T1w/T2w sequences (p < 0.05). In conclusion, fat-suppressed fluid-sensitive MRI sequences revealed significantly more Modic I end-plate changes and demonstrated a greater extent compared to standard T1w/T2w imaging.

Deconstructing continuous flash suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Eunice; Blake, Randolph

2012-03-08

In this paper, we asked to what extent the depth of interocular suppression engendered by continuous flash suppression (CFS) varies depending on spatiotemporal properties of the suppressed stimulus and CFS suppressor. An answer to this question could have implications for interpreting the results in which CFS influences the processing of different categories of stimuli to different extents. In a series of experiments, we measured the selectivity and depth of suppression (i.e., elevation in contrast detection thresholds) as a function of the visual features of the stimulus being suppressed and the stimulus evoking suppression, namely, the popular "Mondrian" CFS stimulus (N. Tsuchiya & C. Koch, 2005). First, we found that CFS differentially suppresses the spatial components of the suppressed stimulus: Observers' sensitivity for stimuli of relatively low spatial frequency or cardinally oriented features was more strongly impaired in comparison to high spatial frequency or obliquely oriented stimuli. Second, we discovered that this feature-selective bias primarily arises from the spatiotemporal structure of the CFS stimulus, particularly within information residing in the low spatial frequency range and within the smooth rather than abrupt luminance changes over time. These results imply that this CFS stimulus operates by selectively attenuating certain classes of low-level signals while leaving others to be potentially encoded during suppression. These findings underscore the importance of considering the contribution of low-level features in stimulus-driven effects that are reported under CFS.

Effect of vitamin D status on chick kidney proteins: detection of a 45-kilodalton mitochondrial protein suppressed by vitamin D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kain, S.R.; Kamrath, K.S.; Henry, H.L.

1988-01-01

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis along with L-[ 35 S]methionine radiolabeling studies were used to examine the effect of chronic vitamin D status on the composition and relative abundance of chick kidney proteins. Comparison of silver-stained gels revealed no extensive differences in either the electrophoretic mobility or the amounts of kidney proteins present in the mitochondrial fraction from vitamin D-replete and vitamin D-deficient chicks. A similar result was obtained in studies with L-[ 35 S]methionine-labeled proteins. Vitamin D deficiency specifically elevated levels of a 45-kilodalton mitochondrial protein (pI 5.0 to 5.5) by approximately 5- to 12-fold relative to amounts present in vitamin D-replete tissue. This protein could not be detected in postmitochondrial supernatant fractions and was only faintly visible in crude kidney homogenates. The specificity of the observed suppression of this 45-kilodalton protein by vitamin D suggests that it may play an important role in renal functions influenced by the vitamin D endocrine system

Saccadic spike potentials in gamma-band EEG: characterization, detection and suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Keren, Alon S; Yuval-Greenberg, Shlomit; Deouell, Leon Y

2010-02-01

Analysis of high-frequency (gamma-band) neural activity by means of non-invasive EEG is gaining increasing interest. However, we have recently shown that a saccade-related spike potential (SP) seriously confounds the analysis of EEG induced gamma-band responses (iGBR), as the SP eludes traditional EEG artifact rejection methods. Here we provide a comprehensive profile of the SP and evaluate methods for its detection and suppression, aiming to unveil true cerebral gamma-band activity. The SP appears consistently as a sharp biphasic deflection of about 22 ms starting at the saccade onset, with a frequency band of approximately 20-90 Hz. On the average, larger saccades elicit higher SP amplitudes. The SP amplitude gradually changes from the extra-ocular channels towards posterior sites with the steepest gradients around the eyes, indicating its ocular source. Although the amplitude and the sign of the SP depend on the choice of reference channel, the potential gradients remain the same and non-zero for all references. The scalp topography is modulated almost exclusively by the direction of saccades, with steeper gradients ipsilateral to the saccade target. We discuss how the above characteristics impede attempts to remove these SPs from the EEG by common temporal filtering, choice of different references, or rejection of contaminated trials. We examine the extent to which SPs can be reliably detected without an eye tracker, assess the degree to which scalp current density derivation attenuates the effect of the SP, and propose a tailored ICA procedure for minimizing the effect of the SP. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Proton density-weighted MR imaging of the knee: fat suppression versus without fat suppression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, So-Yeon; Kim, Sun Ki [Catholic University of Korea, Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Jee, Won-Hee [Catholic University of Korea, Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Catholic University of Korea, Diagnostic Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jung-Man [Catholic University of Korea, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2011-02-15

To prospectively evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of proton density-weighted imaging with and without fat suppression for detecting meniscal tears. The study involved 48 patients who underwent arthroscopy less than 3 months after proton density-weighted imaging with and without fat suppression. Sagittal images were independently reviewed by two radiologists for the presence of meniscal tears. Medial and lateral menisci were separately analyzed in terms of anterior horn, body, and posterior horn. Interobserver agreement was assessed using {kappa} coefficients. The McNemar test was used to determine any differences between the two methods in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Arthroscopy findings were used as the diagnostic reference standard. Arthroscopy revealed 71 tears involving 85 meniscal segments: 34 medial meniscal segments and 51 lateral meniscal segments. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each radiologist were 95% (81/85), 92% (186/203), and 93% (267/288), and 93% (79/85), 93% (189/203), and 93% (268/288) when using fat-suppressed proton density-weighted imaging, and 91% (77/85), 93% (189/203), and 92% (266/288), and 91% (77/85), 93% (188/203), and 92% (265/288) when using proton density-weighted imaging without fat suppression, respectively. Interobserver agreement for meniscal tears was very high with proton-weighted imaging with ({kappa} = 0.87) or without ({kappa} = 0.86) fat suppression. There were no significant differences for detection of medial meniscal tears when using proton density-weighted imaging with or without fat suppression for both readers (p > 0.05). Fat-suppressed proton density-weighted imaging can replace proton density-weighted imaging without fat suppression for the detection of meniscal tears. (orig.)

Proton density-weighted MR imaging of the knee: fat suppression versus without fat suppression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, So-Yeon; Kim, Sun Ki; Jee, Won-Hee; Kim, Jung-Man

2011-01-01

To prospectively evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of proton density-weighted imaging with and without fat suppression for detecting meniscal tears. The study involved 48 patients who underwent arthroscopy less than 3 months after proton density-weighted imaging with and without fat suppression. Sagittal images were independently reviewed by two radiologists for the presence of meniscal tears. Medial and lateral menisci were separately analyzed in terms of anterior horn, body, and posterior horn. Interobserver agreement was assessed using κ coefficients. The McNemar test was used to determine any differences between the two methods in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Arthroscopy findings were used as the diagnostic reference standard. Arthroscopy revealed 71 tears involving 85 meniscal segments: 34 medial meniscal segments and 51 lateral meniscal segments. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each radiologist were 95% (81/85), 92% (186/203), and 93% (267/288), and 93% (79/85), 93% (189/203), and 93% (268/288) when using fat-suppressed proton density-weighted imaging, and 91% (77/85), 93% (189/203), and 92% (266/288), and 91% (77/85), 93% (188/203), and 92% (265/288) when using proton density-weighted imaging without fat suppression, respectively. Interobserver agreement for meniscal tears was very high with proton-weighted imaging with (κ = 0.87) or without (κ = 0.86) fat suppression. There were no significant differences for detection of medial meniscal tears when using proton density-weighted imaging with or without fat suppression for both readers (p > 0.05). Fat-suppressed proton density-weighted imaging can replace proton density-weighted imaging without fat suppression for the detection of meniscal tears. (orig.)

Speckle Suppression by Weighted Euclidean Distance Anisotropic Diffusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fengcheng Guo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available To better reduce image speckle noise while also maintaining edge information in synthetic aperture radar (SAR images, we propose a novel anisotropic diffusion algorithm using weighted Euclidean distance (WEDAD. Presented here is a modified speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD method, which constructs a new edge detection operator using weighted Euclidean distances. The new edge detection operator can adaptively distinguish between homogenous and heterogeneous image regions, effectively generate anisotropic diffusion coefficients for each image pixel, and filter each pixel at different scales. Additionally, the effects of two different weighting methods (Gaussian weighting and non-linear weighting of de-noising were analyzed. The effect of different adjustment coefficient settings on speckle suppression was also explored. A series of experiments were conducted using an added noise image, GF-3 SAR image, and YG-29 SAR image. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can not only significantly suppress speckle, thus improving the visual effects, but also better preserve the edge information of images.

Self-initiated coping with Tourette's syndrome: Effect of tic suppression on QOL.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuda, Natsumi; Kono, Toshiaki; Nonaka, Maiko; Fujio, Miyuki; Kano, Yukiko

2016-02-01

Because of the semi-voluntary nature of tics, patients with Tourette' syndrome (TS) often report self-initiated coping with tics. Our goals were to understand the experiences of self-initiated coping with tics by individuals with TS (e.g., suppression frequency, suppression ability, and side effects of tic suppression), and investigate the effects of tic control on quality of life (QOL). One hundred participants with TS (38 children and 62 adults) answered a questionnaire concerning tic control, QOL, and other clinical characteristics. Fifty-eight percent of the participants always or frequently tried to suppress tics daily. In contrast, over 90% felt uncomfortable or incomplete when they suppressed tics and needed concentration or extra effort to suppress them. Thirty-four percent could suppress tics for less than one minute and 65% could suppress tics for less than 10min. Higher subjective satisfaction with tic control was positively correlated with life satisfaction and QOL. Individuals with TS often attempt self-initiated coping in their daily lives, especially through tic suppression, despite experiencing subjective discomfort and being aware that the duration of tic suppression is often limited. Moreover, it was found that their subjective satisfaction with tic control and effective tic suppression might have a positive influence on their life satisfaction and QOL. Thus, self-initiated coping with tics is vital for improving the QOL of individuals with TS and intervention aimed at enhancing subjective satisfaction with tic control could help manage TS. Copyright © 2015 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Usefulness of combined fat- and fluid-suppressed SPIR-FLAIR images in optic neurits : Comparison with fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hye Yeon; Son, Seok Hyun; Eun, Choong Ki; Han, Sang Suk

2001-01-01

To compare the usefulness of combined fat- and fluid-suppressed selective partial inversion recovery-fluid attenuated inversion recovery(SPIR-FLAIR) images in the detection of high signal intensity of the optic nerve in optic neuritis with that of fat-suppressed selective partial inversion recovery(SPIR) or short inversion time inversion recovery(STIR) images. Two radiologists independently analyzed randomly mixed MR images of 16 lesions in 14 patients (M:F=7:7; mean age, 40 years) in whom optic neuritis had been clinically diagnosed. All subjects underwent both SPIR-FLAIR and fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR imaging, in a blind fashion. In order to evaluate the optic nerve, coronal images perpendicular to its long axis were obtained. The detection rate of high signal intensity of the optic nerve, the radiologists preferred imaging sequences, and intersubject consistency of detection were evaluated. 'High signal intensity' was defined as the subjective visual evaluation of increased signal intensity compared with that of the contralateral optic nerve or that of white matter. The mean detection rate of high signal intensity of the optic nerve was 90% for combined fat- and fluid-suppressed SPIR-FLAIR images, and 59% for fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR images. In all cases in which the signal intensity observed on SPIR-FLAIR images was normal, that on fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR images was also normal. The radiologists preferred the contrast properties of SPIR-FLAIR to those of fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR images. In the diagnosis of optic neuritis using MRI, combined fat- and fluid-suppressed SPIR-FLAIR images were more useful for the detection of high signal intensity of the optic nerve than fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR images. For the evaluation of optic neuritis, combined fat- and fluid-suppressed SPIR-FLAIR imaging is superior to fat-suppressed SPIR or STIR imaging

Effects of thought suppression on episodic memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Rassin, E; Merckelbach, H; Muris, P

1997-11-01

Subjects were shown a short film fragment. Following this, one group of subjects (n = 26) was instructed to suppress their thoughts about the film, while the other group (n = 24) received no instructions. After 5 hrs subjects returned to the laboratory and completed a questionnaire testing their memory about the film. Results showed that suppression subjects reported a higher frequency of thoughts about the film than control subjects. No evidence was obtained for Wegner, Quillian, and Houston's (1996; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 680-691) claim that suppression has an undermining effect on memory for chronology. Possible causes for the differences between the results as obtained by Wegner et al., and those found in the present study are discussed. These causes may pertain to the experimental design, but also to differences in emotional impact of the stimulus material that was used in both studies.

Effect of Thyrotropin Suppression Therapy on Bone in Thyroid Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Papaleontiou, Maria; Hawley, Sarah T; Haymart, Megan R

2016-02-01

The thyroid cancer incidence is rising. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists regarding the degree and duration of thyrotropin suppression therapy. Also, its potential skeletal effects remain a concern to physicians caring for thyroid cancer patients. We conducted a review of published data to evaluate existing studies focusing on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy in thyroid cancer patients. A systematic search of the PubMed, Ovid/Medline, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases was conducted. The retained studies were evaluated for methodological quality, and the study populations were categorized into premenopausal women, postmenopausal women, and men. Twenty-five pertinent studies were included. Seven studies were longitudinal and 18 were cross-sectional. Of the 25 included studies, 13 were assigned an excellent methodological quality score. Three of 5 longitudinal studies and 3 of 13 cross-sectional studies reported decreased bone mineral density (BMD) in premenopausal women; 2 of 4 longitudinal studies and 5 of 13 cross-sectional studies reported decreased BMD in postmenopausal women. The remaining studies showed no effect on BMD. The only longitudinal study of men showed bone mass loss; however, cross-sectional studies of men did not demonstrate a similar effect. Studies to date have yielded conflicting results on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy and a knowledge gap remains, especially for older adults and men. Existing data should be cautiously interpreted because of the variable quality and heterogeneity. Identifying groups at risk of adverse effects from thyrotropin suppression therapy will be instrumental to providing focused and tailored thyroid cancer treatment. The standard treatment for thyroid cancer includes total thyroidectomy with or without radioactive iodine ablation, often followed by thyrotropin suppression therapy. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists

Suppression and enhancement of non-native molecules within biological systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, E.A. [Surface Analysis Research Centre, CEAS, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: e.jones@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk; Lockyer, N.P. [Surface Analysis Research Centre, CEAS, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD (United Kingdom); Vickerman, J.C. [Surface Analysis Research Centre, CEAS, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD (United Kingdom)

2006-07-30

With the aim of evaluating the potential of SIMS to provide molecular information from small molecules within biological systems, here we investigate the effect of different biological compounds as they act as matrices. The results highlight the fact that the chemical environment of a molecule can have a significant effect on its limit of detection. This has implications for the imaging of drugs and xenobiotics in tissue sections and other biological matrices. A 1:1 mixture of the organic acid 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone and the dipeptide valine-valine demonstrates that almost complete suppression of the [M + H]{sup +} ion of one compound can be caused by the presence of a compound of higher proton affinity. The significance of this is highlighted when two similar drug molecules, atropine (a neutral molecule) and ipratropium bromide (a quaternary nitrogen containing salt) are mixed with brain homogenate. The atropine [M + H]{sup +} ion shows significant suppression whilst the [M - Br]{sup +} of ipratopium bromide is detected at an intensity that can be rationalised by its decreased surface concentration. By investigating the effect of two abundant tissue lipids, cholesterol and dipalmitoylphosphatidyl choline (DPPC), on the atropine [M + H]{sup +} signal detected in mixtures with these lipids we see that the DPPC has a strong suppressing effect, which may be attributed to gas phase proton transfer.

SUPPRESSION OF DIELECTRONIC RECOMBINATION DUE TO FINITE DENSITY EFFECTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolić, D.; Gorczyca, T. W.; Korista, K. T.; Ferland, G. J.; Badnell, N. R.

2013-01-01

We have developed a general model for determining density-dependent effective dielectronic recombination (DR) rate coefficients in order to explore finite-density effects on the ionization balance of plasmas. Our model consists of multiplying by a suppression factor those highly-accurate total zero-density DR rate coefficients which have been produced from state-of-the-art theoretical calculations and which have been benchmarked by experiment. The suppression factor is based upon earlier detailed collision-radiative calculations which were made for a wide range of ions at various densities and temperatures, but used a simplified treatment of DR. A general suppression formula is then developed as a function of isoelectronic sequence, charge, density, and temperature. These density-dependent effective DR rate coefficients are then used in the plasma simulation code Cloudy to compute ionization balance curves for both collisionally ionized and photoionized plasmas at very low (n e = 1 cm –3 ) and finite (n e = 10 10 cm –3 ) densities. We find that the denser case is significantly more ionized due to suppression of DR, warranting further studies of density effects on DR by detailed collisional-radiative calculations which utilize state-of-the-art partial DR rate coefficients. This is expected to impact the predictions of the ionization balance in denser cosmic gases such as those found in nova and supernova shells, accretion disks, and the broad emission line regions in active galactic nuclei.

Effect of Soil Moisture and a Surfactant on Entomopathogenic Nematode Suppression of the Pecan Weevil, Curculio caryae

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro-Ilan, David I.; Cottrell, Ted E.; Brown, Ian; Gardner, Wayne A.; Hubbard, Robert K.; Wood, Bruce W.

2006-01-01

Our overall goal was to investigate several aspects of pecan weevil, Curculio caryae, suppression with entomopathogenic nematodes. Specifically, our objectives were to: 1) determine optimum moisture levels for larval suppression, 2) determine suppression of adult C. caryae under field conditions, and 3) measure the effects of a surfactant on nematode efficacy. In the laboratory, virulence of Heterorhabditis megidis (UK211) and Steinernema carpocapsae (All) were tested in a loamy sand at gravimetric water contents of negative 0.01, 0.06, 0.3, 1.0, and 15 bars. Curculio caryae larval survival decreased as moisture levels increased. The nematode effect was most pronounced at –0.06 bars. At –0.01 bars, larval survival was ≤5% regardless of nematode presence, thus indicating that intense irrigation alone might reduce C. caryae populations. Overall, our results indicated no effect of a surfactant (Kinetic) on C. caryae suppression with entomopathogenic nematodes. In a greenhouse test, C. caryae larval survival was lower in all nematode treatments compared with the control, yet survival was lower in S. carpocapsae (Italian) and S. riobrave (7–12) treatments than in S. carpocapsae (Agriotos), S. carpocapsae (Mexican), and S. riobrave (355) treatments (survival was reduced to approximately 20% in the S. riobrave [7–12] treatment). A mixture of S. riobrave strains resulted in intermediate larval survival. In field experiments conducted over two consecutive years, S. riobrave (7–12) applications resulted in no observable control, and, although S. carpocapsae (Italian) provided some suppression, treatment effects were generally only detectable one day after treatment. Nematode strains possessing both high levels of virulence and a greater ability to withstand environmental conditions in the field need to be developed and tested. PMID:19259466

Suppressive effects of coffee on the SOS responses induced by UV and chemical mutagens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obana, Hirotaka; Nakamura, Sei-ichi; Tanaka, Ryou-ichi

1986-01-01

SOS-inducing activity of UV or chemical mutagens was strongly suppressed by instant coffee in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002. As decaffeinated instant coffee showed a similarly strong suppressive effect, it would seem that caffeine, a known inhibitor of SOS responses, is not responsible for the effect observed. The suppression was also shown by freshly brewed coffee extracts. However, the suppression was absent in green coffee-bean extracts. These results suggest that coffee contains some substance(s) which, apart from caffeine, suppresses SOS-inducing activity of UV or chemical mutagens and that the suppressive substance(s) are produced by roasting coffee beans. (Auth.)

Attention modulates sensory suppression during back movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hulle, Lore; Juravle, Georgiana; Spence, Charles; Crombez, Geert; Van Damme, Stefaan

2013-06-01

Tactile perception is often impaired during movement. The present study investigated whether such sensory suppression also occurs during back movements, and whether this would be modulated by attention. In two tactile detection experiments, participants simultaneously engaged in a movement task, in which they executed a back-bending movement, and a perceptual task, consisting of the detection of subtle tactile stimuli administered to their upper or lower back. The focus of participants' attention was manipulated by raising the probability that one of the back locations would be stimulated. The results revealed that tactile detection was suppressed during the execution of the back movements. Furthermore, the results of Experiment 2 revealed that when the stimulus was always presented to the attended location, tactile suppression was substantially reduced, suggesting that sensory suppression can be modulated by top-down attentional processes. The potential of this paradigm for studying tactile information processing in clinical populations is discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of mixed and single crops on disease suppressiveness of soils

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hiddink, G.A.; Termorshuizen, A.J.; Raaijmakers, J.M.; Bruggen, van A.H.C.

2005-01-01

The effect of mixed cropping on disease suppressiveness of soils was tested for two cropping systems, Brussels sprouts¿barley and triticale¿white clover. Disease suppressiveness of field soils was evaluated in bioassays for the soilborne pathogens Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini,

Effect of Thyrotropin Suppression Therapy on Bone in Thyroid Cancer Patients

OpenAIRE

Papaleontiou, Maria; Hawley, Sarah T.; Haymart, Megan R.

2015-01-01

Background. The thyroid cancer incidence is rising. Despite current guidelines, controversy exists regarding the degree and duration of thyrotropin suppression therapy. Also, its potential skeletal effects remain a concern to physicians caring for thyroid cancer patients. We conducted a review of published data to evaluate existing studies focusing on the skeletal effects of thyrotropin suppression therapy in thyroid cancer patients. Materials and Methods. A systematic search of the PubMed, O...

The effect of titrated fentanyl on suppressed cough reflex in healthy adult volunteers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, H E; Shaw, G M; Brett, C N; Greenwood, F M; Huckabee, M L

2016-05-01

Cough suppression is part of the pharmacodynamic profile of opioids. We investigated the impact of clinical doses of fentanyl on suppressing the cough reflex. Thirteen volunteers received 2 μg.kg(-1) of fentanyl in a divided administration protocol. Three minutes after each administration and at 10 min intervals during washout, suppressed cough reflex testing with nebulised citric acid was performed and compared with fentanyl effect-site concentration. Mean (SD) citric acid concentration provoking cough increased from 0.5 (0.28) mol.l(-1) at baseline to 1.2 (0.50) mol.l(-1) after 2 μg.kg(-1) of fentanyl (p = 0.01). Mean (SD) fentanyl effect-site concentration after the final dose of fentanyl was 1.89 (0.05) ng.ml(-1) . A strong positive correlation was found between suppressed cough reflex thresholds and fentanyl effect-site concentrations during both fentanyl administration and washout phases of the study (r(2) = 0.79, p = 0.01). The mean (SD) length of time for return of suppressed cough response was 44.6 (18.8) min. Clinically relevant doses of fentanyl produced cough reflex suppression in healthy volunteers. © 2016 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Molecular mechanisms for sweet-suppressing effect of gymnemic acids.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanematsu, Keisuke; Kusakabe, Yuko; Shigemura, Noriatsu; Hirokawa, Takatsugu; Nakamura, Seiji; Imoto, Toshiaki; Ninomiya, Yuzo

2014-09-12

Gymnemic acids are triterpene glycosides that selectively suppress taste responses to various sweet substances in humans but not in mice. This sweet-suppressing effect of gymnemic acids is diminished by rinsing the tongue with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD). However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the sweet-suppressing effect of gymnemic acids and the interaction between gymnemic acids versus sweet taste receptor and/or γ-CD. To investigate whether gymnemic acids directly interact with human (h) sweet receptor hT1R2 + hT1R3, we used the sweet receptor T1R2 + T1R3 assay in transiently transfected HEK293 cells. Similar to previous studies in humans and mice, gymnemic acids (100 μg/ml) inhibited the [Ca(2+)]i responses to sweet compounds in HEK293 cells heterologously expressing hT1R2 + hT1R3 but not in those expressing the mouse (m) sweet receptor mT1R2 + mT1R3. The effect of gymnemic acids rapidly disappeared after rinsing the HEK293 cells with γ-CD. Using mixed species pairings of human and mouse sweet receptor subunits and chimeras, we determined that the transmembrane domain of hT1R3 was mainly required for the sweet-suppressing effect of gymnemic acids. Directed mutagenesis in the transmembrane domain of hT1R3 revealed that the interaction site for gymnemic acids shared the amino acid residues that determined the sensitivity to another sweet antagonist, lactisole. Glucuronic acid, which is the common structure of gymnemic acids, also reduced sensitivity to sweet compounds. In our models, gymnemic acids were predicted to dock to a binding pocket within the transmembrane domain of hT1R3. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Suppressed visual looming stimuli are not integrated with auditory looming signals: Evidence from continuous flash suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Moors, Pieter; Huygelier, Hanne; Wagemans, Johan; de-Wit, Lee; van Ee, Raymond

2015-01-01

Previous studies using binocular rivalry have shown that signals in a modality other than the visual can bias dominance durations depending on their congruency with the rivaling stimuli. More recently, studies using continuous flash suppression (CFS) have reported that multisensory integration influences how long visual stimuli remain suppressed. In this study, using CFS, we examined whether the contrast thresholds for detecting visual looming stimuli are influenced by a congruent auditory stimulus. In Experiment 1, we show that a looming visual stimulus can result in lower detection thresholds compared to a static concentric grating, but that auditory tone pips congruent with the looming stimulus did not lower suppression thresholds any further. In Experiments 2, 3, and 4, we again observed no advantage for congruent multisensory stimuli. These results add to our understanding of the conditions under which multisensory integration is possible, and suggest that certain forms of multisensory integration are not evident when the visual stimulus is suppressed from awareness using CFS.

Power suppressed operators and gauge invariance in soft-collinear effective theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, Christian W.; Pirjol, Dan; Stewart, Iain W.

2003-01-01

The form of collinear gauge invariance for power suppressed operators in the soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) is discussed. Using a field redefinition we show that it is possible to make any power suppressed ultrasoft-collinear operators invariant under the original leading order gauge transformations. Our manipulations avoid gauge fixing. The Lagrangians to O(λ 2 ) are given in terms of these new fields. We then give a simple procedure for constructing power suppressed soft-collinear operators in SCET II by using an intermediate theory SCET I

Effects of mindfulness, reappraisal, and suppression on sad mood and cognitive resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Keng, Shian-Ling; Tan, Elysia Li Yan; Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A; Smoski, Moria J

2017-04-01

The present study investigated the relative effects of mindfulness, reappraisal and suppression in reducing sadness, and the extent to which implementation of these strategies affects cognitive resources in a laboratory context. A total of 171 Singaporean undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to receive brief training in mindfulness, reappraisal, or suppression prior to undergoing a sad mood induction. Individual adherence to Asian cultural values was assessed as a potential moderator of strategy effectiveness. Participants rated their mood and completed a Color-Word Stroop task before and after mood regulation instructions. Analyses using multi-level modelling showed that the suppression condition caused less robust declines in sadness over time compared to mindfulness. There was also a nonsignificant trend in which mindfulness was associated with greater sadness recovery compared to reappraisal. Suppression resulted in lower average sadness compared to mindfulness among those high on Asian cultural values, but not those low on Asian cultural values. Both mindfulness and reappraisal buffered against increases in Stroop interference from pre-to post-regulation compared to suppression. The findings highlight the advantage of mindfulness as a strategy effective not only in the regulation of sad mood, but also in the preservation of cognitive resources in the context of mood regulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Autonomous Forest Fire Detection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Breejen, E. den; Breuers, M.; Cremer, F.; Kemp, R.A.W.; Roos, M.; Schutte, K.; Vries, J.S. de

1998-01-01

Forest fire detection is a very important issue in the pre-suppression process. Timely detection allows the suppression units to reach the fire in its initial stages and this will reduce the suppression costs considerably. The autonomous forest fire detection principle is based on temporal contrast

Techniques for Clutter Suppression in the Presence of Body Movements during the Detection of Respiratory Activity through UWB Radars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Lazaro

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the feasibility of tracking the chest wall movement of a human subject during respiration from the waveforms recorded using an impulse-radio (IR ultra-wideband radar. The paper describes the signal processing to estimate sleep apnea detection and breathing rate. Some techniques to solve several problems in these types of measurements, such as the clutter suppression, body movement and body orientation detection are described. Clutter suppression is achieved using a moving averaging filter to dynamically estimate it. The artifacts caused by body movements are removed using a threshold method before analyzing the breathing signal. The motion is detected using the time delay that maximizes the received signal after a clutter removing algorithm is applied. The periods in which the standard deviations of the time delay exceed a threshold are considered macro-movements and they are neglected. The sleep apnea intervals are detected when the breathing signal is below a threshold. The breathing rate is determined from the robust spectrum estimation based on Lomb periodogram algorithm. On the other hand the breathing signal amplitude depends on the body orientation respect to the antennas, and this could be a problem. In this case, in order to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio, multiple sensors are proposed to ensure that the backscattered signal can be detected by at least one sensor, regardless of the direction the human subject is facing. The feasibility of the system is compared with signals recorded by a microphone.

Suppressing effects of glucan on micronuclei induced by Co60 in mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chorvatovicova, D.

1991-01-01

The effects of glucan on the frequency of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes of A/Ph mouse bone marrow induced by Co 60 irradiation were examined. Suppressing effect of three glucan derivatives was statistically significant (P 3 substituent (DS 0.89). Intraperitoneal application of glucan has to be done earlier than one hour after irradiation. The suppressive effects of glucans can be explained by their ability to trap OH radicals and so decrease the clastogenic effect of irradiation. The results may be useful for therapeutic application of glucan with radiation therapy. (orig.) [de

LC-MS/MS signal suppression effects in the analysis of pesticides in complex environmental matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, B K; Hercules, D M; Gusev, A I

2001-02-01

The application of LC separation and mobile phase additives in addressing LC-MS/MS matrix signal suppression effects for the analysis of pesticides in a complex environmental matrix was investigated. It was shown that signal suppression is most significant for analytes eluting early in the LC-MS analysis. Introduction of different buffers (e.g. ammonium formate, ammonium hydroxide, formic acid) into the LC mobile phase was effective in improving signal correlation between the matrix and standard samples. The signal improvement is dependent on buffer concentration as well as LC separation of the matrix components. The application of LC separation alone was not effective in addressing suppression effects when characterizing complex matrix samples. Overloading of the LC column by matrix components was found to significantly contribute to analyte-matrix co-elution and suppression of signal. This signal suppression effect can be efficiently compensated by 2D LC (LC-LC) separation techniques. The effectiveness of buffers and LC separation in improving signal correlation between standard and matrix samples is discussed.

Microlens Array/Pinhole Mask to Suppress Starlight for Direct Exoplanet Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Neil

Direct imaging of habitable exoplanets is a key priority of NASA’s Astrophysics roadmap, “Enduring Quests, Daring Visions.” A coronagraphic starlight suppression system situated on a large space telescope offers a viable path to achieving this goal. This type of instrument is central to both the LUVOIR and HabEx mission concepts currently under study for the 2020 Decadal Survey. To directly image an Earth-like exoplanet, an instrument must be sensitive to objects ten billion times dimmer than their parent star. Advanced coronagraphs are designed to modify the shape of the star’s image so that it does not overwhelm the planet's light. Coronagraphs are complex to design and fabricate, tend to sacrifice a significant portion of the exoplanet light entering the telescope, and are highly sensitive to errors in the telescope. The proposed work reduces the demands on the coronagraph and its sensitivity to errors in the telescope, by changing how we implement optics in the spectrograph following the coronagraph. Through optical analysis and modeling, we have found that a microlens array with a specially arranged pattern of pinholes can suppress residual starlight in the scientific image after the coronagraph by more than two orders of magnitude. This added layer of starlight rejection could be used to relax the extreme observatory stability requirements for exo-Earth imaging applications, for example shifting the wavefront stability requirement from a few picometers to a few nanometers. Ultimately this translates to the instrument detecting and spectrally characterizing more exoplanets than a conventional coronagraph system. This microlens/pinhole concept is also compatible with starshadebased starlight suppression systems. The proposed microlens/pinhole device is entirely passive and augments the performance of existing coronagraph designs, while potentially reducing their cost and risk for mission implementation. Our APRA proposal would support a testbed

Focal Suppression of Distractor Sounds by Selective Attention in Auditory Cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Zachary P; David, Stephen V

2018-01-01

Auditory selective attention is required for parsing crowded acoustic environments, but cortical systems mediating the influence of behavioral state on auditory perception are not well characterized. Previous neurophysiological studies suggest that attention produces a general enhancement of neural responses to important target sounds versus irrelevant distractors. However, behavioral studies suggest that in the presence of masking noise, attention provides a focal suppression of distractors that compete with targets. Here, we compared effects of attention on cortical responses to masking versus non-masking distractors, controlling for effects of listening effort and general task engagement. We recorded single-unit activity from primary auditory cortex (A1) of ferrets during behavior and found that selective attention decreased responses to distractors masking targets in the same spectral band, compared with spectrally distinct distractors. This suppression enhanced neural target detection thresholds, suggesting that limited attention resources serve to focally suppress responses to distractors that interfere with target detection. Changing effort by manipulating target salience consistently modulated spontaneous but not evoked activity. Task engagement and changing effort tended to affect the same neurons, while attention affected an independent population, suggesting that distinct feedback circuits mediate effects of attention and effort in A1. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Suppressive effects of a polymer sodium silicate solution on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mohsen

2015-10-21

Oct 21, 2015 ... suppressive effects of sodium silicate in the polymer form were confirmed against powdery mildew and ... crops (such as rice) controls diseases and could reduce ... negative charge and sodium ions with a positive charge.

Pressure suppressing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naito, Makoto.

1980-01-01

Purpose: To prevent the pressure in the reactor container from excessively increasing even when vapor leaks from the dry well to a space of the suppression chamber, without passing though the suppression pool at the time of loss of coolant accident. Constitution: When vapor of a high temperature and a high pressure at the time of loss of coolant accident flows from the dry well to the suppression chamber without passing through suppression pool water, vapor dose not condense with pool water, and therefore the pressure within the chamber abnormally increases. For this reason, this abnormal pressure is detected by a pressure detector thereby to start the operations of a blower and a pump. By starting the blower, the pressure in the dry well becomes lower than the pressure in the chamber, and vapor entirely passes through the pool water and entirely condenses with the pool water. By starting the pump, the pool water is sprayed over the space of the chamber, and vapor in the space is condensed. (Yoshino, Y.)

Detection of Amide and Aromatic Proton Resonances of Human Brain Metabolites Using Localized Correlated Spectroscopy Combined with Two Different Water Suppression Schemes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajakumar Nagarajan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the J-coupling connectivity network between the amide, aliphatic, and aromatic proton resonances of metabolites in human brain using two-dimensional (2D localized correlated spectroscopy (L-COSY. Two different global water suppression techniques were combined with L-COSY, one before and another after localizing the volume of interest (VOI. Phantom solutions containing several cerebral metabolites at physiological concentrations were evaluated initially for sequence optimization. Nine healthy volunteers were scanned using a 3T whole body MRI scanner. The VOI for 2D L-COSY was placed in the right occipital white/gray matter region. The 2D cross and diagonal peak volumes were measured for several metabolites such as N-acetyl aspartate (NAA, creatine (Cr, free choline (Ch, glutamate/glutamine (Glx, aspartate (Asp, myo-inositol (mI, GABA, glutathione (GSH, phosphocholine (PCh, phosphoethanolamine (PE, tyrosine (Tyr, lactate (Lac, macromolecules (MM and homocarnosine (Car. Using the pre-water suppression technique with L-COSY, the above mentioned metabolites were clearly identifiable and the relative ratios of metabolites were calculated. In addition to detecting multitude of aliphatic resonances in the high field region, we have demonstrated that the amide and aromatic resonances can also be detected using 2D L-COSY by pre water suppression more reliably than the post-water suppression.

Consequences of stereotype suppression and internal suppression motivation : A self-regulation approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gordijn, Ernestine H; Hindriks, Inge; Koomen, W; Dijksterhuis, Ap; van Knipppenberg, A.

The present research studied the effects of suppression of stereotypes on subsequent stereotyping. Moreover, the moderating influence of motivation to suppress stereotypes was examined. The first three experiments showed that suppression of stereotypes leads to the experience of engaging in

Suppressive versus augmenting effect of the same pretreatment regimen in two murine tumor systems with distinct effector mechanisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujiwara, Hiromi; Hamaoka, Toshiyuki; Kitagawa, Masayasu

1978-01-01

The effect of presensitization with x-irradiated tumor cells on the development of host's immune resistance against the tumor-associated transplantation antigens (TATA) was investigated in two syngeneic tumor systems with distinct effector mechanisms. When X5563 plasmacytoma, to which immune resistance was mediated exclusively by killer T lymphocytes, was intravenously inoculated into syngeneic C3H/He mice with lower number after 7000 R x-irradiation, the mice failed to exhibit any protective immunity against the subsequent challenge with viable tumor cells. Moreover, these mice lost their capability to develop any immune resistance even after an appropriate immunization procedure. The immunodepression induced by such a pretreatment regimen was specific for X5563 tumor. While no suppressor cell activity was detected in the above pretreated mice, serum factor(s) from these mice was virtually responsible for this suppression. When the serum factor mediating this tumor-specific suppression was fractionated on the Sephadex G-200 column, the suppressive activity was found in albumin-corresponding fraction, free of any immunoglobulin component. In contrast, in MM102 mammary tumor system, in which immune resistance is solely mediated by tumor-specific antibody, the pretreatment with x-irradiated MM102 cells augmented the induction of anti-tumor immunity. These results indicate that while tumor antigens given in the form of x-irradiated tumor cells suppress the induction of killer T cell-mediated immunity in one system, the same presensitization regimen of tumor antigens augments the antibody-mediated immunity in another system, thus giving a divergent effect on the distinct effector mechanisms of syngeneic tumor immunity. (author)

Pavlovian conditioning of shock-induced suppression of lymphocyte reactivity: acquisition, extinction, and preexposure effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Lysle, D T; Cunnick, J E; Fowler, H; Rabin, B S

1988-01-01

Recent research has indicated that physical stressors, such as electric shock, can suppress immune function in rats. The present study investigated whether a nonaversive stimulus that had been associated with electric shock would also impair immune function. Presentation of that conditioned stimulus (CS) by itself produced a pronounced suppression of lymphocyte proliferation in response to the nonspecific mitogens, Concanavalin-A (ConA) and Phytohemagglutinin (PHA). In further evidence of a conditioning effect, the suppression was attenuated by extinction and preexposure manipulations that degraded the associative value of the CS. These results indicate that a psychological or learned stressor can suppress immune reactivity independently of the direct effect of physically aversive stimulation or of ancillary changes in dietary and health-related habits.

[The effect of Toll-like receptor 4 in nicotine suppressing the osteogenic potential of periodontal ligament stem cells].

Science.gov (United States)

Luan, Yan; Deqin, Yang

2017-08-01

Objective To explore the impact of nicotine on proliferation and osteogenic capability of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs), and the role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in nicotine, suppressing the osteogenic capability of PDLSCs. Methods PDLSCs were cultured in vitro, and the flow cytometer was used to identify the surface antigen markers of PDLSCs. WST-1 was used to detect the proliferation ability of PDLSCs, which were stimulated by different concentrations of nicotine. Alizarin red staining was used to observe the formation of mineralized nodules after PDLSCs stimulation with different concentrations of nicotine. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the change in osteogenic potential of PDLSCs stimulated by nicotine, after TAK-242, and with the inhibitor of TLR4. Results PDLSCs expressed mesenchymal stem cell-associated markers CD90 and CD105. When the concentration of nicotine was 10⁻⁴ mol·L⁻¹, the PDLSC proliferation could be suppressed after 3 d compared with the control group (Pnicotine suppressed the PDLSCs (PNicotine suppresses the proliferation and osteogenic capability of PDLSCs, which may be regulated by TLR4.

Effect of heating on the suppression of tearing modes in tokamaks.

Science.gov (United States)

Classen, I G J; Westerhof, E; Domier, C W; Donné, A J H; Jaspers, R J E; Luhmann, N C; Park, H K; van de Pol, M J; Spakman, G W; Jakubowski, M W

2007-01-19

The suppression of (neoclassical) tearing modes is of great importance for the success of future fusion reactors like ITER. Electron cyclotron waves can suppress islands, both by driving noninductive current in the island region and by heating the island, causing a perturbation to the Ohmic plasma current. This Letter reports on experiments on the TEXTOR tokamak, investigating the effect of heating, which is usually neglected. The unique set of tools available on TEXTOR, notably the dynamic ergodic divertor to create islands with a fully known driving term, and the electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic to provide detailed 2D electron temperature information, enables a detailed study of the suppression process and a comparison with theory.

Detection of Moving Targets Using Soliton Resonance Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Kulikov, Igor K.; Zak, Michail

2013-01-01

The objective of this research was to develop a fundamentally new method for detecting hidden moving targets within noisy and cluttered data-streams using a novel "soliton resonance" effect in nonlinear dynamical systems. The technique uses an inhomogeneous Korteweg de Vries (KdV) equation containing moving-target information. Solution of the KdV equation will describe a soliton propagating with the same kinematic characteristics as the target. The approach uses the time-dependent data stream obtained with a sensor in form of the "forcing function," which is incorporated in an inhomogeneous KdV equation. When a hidden moving target (which in many ways resembles a soliton) encounters the natural "probe" soliton solution of the KdV equation, a strong resonance phenomenon results that makes the location and motion of the target apparent. Soliton resonance method will amplify the moving target signal, suppressing the noise. The method will be a very effective tool for locating and identifying diverse, highly dynamic targets with ill-defined characteristics in a noisy environment. The soliton resonance method for the detection of moving targets was developed in one and two dimensions. Computer simulations proved that the method could be used for detection of singe point-like targets moving with constant velocities and accelerations in 1D and along straight lines or curved trajectories in 2D. The method also allows estimation of the kinematic characteristics of moving targets, and reconstruction of target trajectories in 2D. The method could be very effective for target detection in the presence of clutter and for the case of target obscurations.

Regularized Adaptive Notch Filters for Acoustic Howling Suppression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gil-Cacho, Pepe; van Waterschoot, Toon; Moonen, Marc

2009-01-01

In this paper, a method for the suppression of acoustic howling is developed, based on adaptive notch filters (ANF) with regularization (RANF). The method features three RANFs working in parallel to achieve frequency tracking, howling detection and suppression. The ANF-based approach to howling...

The effects of suppressing intrusive thoughts on dream content, dream distress and psychological parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Kröner-Borowik, Tana; Gosch, Stefanie; Hansen, Kathrin; Borowik, Benjamin; Schredl, Michael; Steil, Regina

2013-10-01

Suppressing unwanted thoughts can lead to an increased occurrence of the suppressed thought in dreams. This is explainable by the ironic control theory, which theorizes why the suppression of thoughts might make them more persistent. The present study examined the influence of thought suppression on dream rebound, dream distress, general psychiatric symptomatology, depression, sleep quality and perceived stress. Thirty healthy participants (good sleepers) were investigated over a period of 1 week. Half were instructed to suppress an unwanted thought 5 min prior to sleep, whereas the other half were allowed to think of anything at all. Dream content was assessed through a dream diary. Independent raters assessed whether or not the dreams were related to the suppressed target thought. The results demonstrated increased target-related dreams and a tendency to have more distressing dreams in the suppression condition. Moreover, the data imply that thought suppression may lead to significantly increased general psychiatric symptomatology. No significant effects were found for the other secondary outcomes. © 2013 European Sleep Research Society.

Value of fat-suppressed PD-weighted TSE-sequences for detection of anterior and posterior cruciate ligament lesions-Comparison to arthroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaefer, Fritz K.W.; Schaefer, Philipp J.; Brossmann, Joachim; Frahm, Christian; Muhle, Claus; Hilgert, Ralf Erik; Heller, Martin; Jahnke, Thomas

2006-01-01

Objective: To evaluate fat-suppressed (FS) proton-density-weighted (PDw) turbo spin-echo (TSE) magnetic resonance imaging for the detection of anterior and posterior cruciate ligament lesions in comparison to arthroscopy. Materials and methods: In a prospective study 31 knee joints were imaged on a 1.5 T MR scanner (Vision[reg], Siemens, Erlangen) prior to arthroscopy using following sequences: (a) sagittal FS-PDw/T2w TSE (TR/TE: 4009/15/105 ms); (b) sagittal PDw/T2w TSE (TR/TE:3800/15/105 ms). Further imaging parameters: slice thickness 3 mm, FOV 160 mm, matrix 256 x 256. A total of 62 anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments (ACL/PCL) were evaluated, standard of reference was arthroscopy. Sensitivity, specificity, positive (ppv) and negative predictive value (npv) and accuracy were calculated. Results: Twenty-one cruciate ligament ruptures were detected in arthroscopy, 19 ACL- and 2 PCL-ruptures (on MRI 34/124, 25/62 ACL, 9/62 PCL lesions). For all four sequences in the 31 patients with arthroscopic correlation sensitivity, specificity, ppv, npv and accuracy were 86%, 98%, 95%, 93% and 94% for detection of tears, and 84%, 100%, 100%, 80% and 90% for ACL-ruptures respectively. The two PCL-ruptures were true positive in all sequences, one intact PCL was diagnosed as torn (false positive). Conclusions: Fat-suppressed PDw/T2w TSE-MR sequences are comparable to PDw TSE sequences for the detection of ACL/PCL-lesions

Suppressing effects of glucan on micronuclei induced by Co sup 60 in mice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chorvatovicova, D. (Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava (Czechoslovakia). Inst. of Ecobiology)

1991-10-01

The effects of glucan on the frequency of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes of A/Ph mouse bone marrow induced by Co{sup 60} irradiation were examined. Suppressing effect of three glucan derivatives was statistically significant (P<0.01) by intravenous application of glucan one hour after irradiation. The most expressive effect was obvious by K{sub 3} substituent (DS 0.89). Intraperitoneal application of glucan has to be done earlier than one hour after irradiation. The suppressive effects of glucans can be explained by their ability to trap OH radicals and so decrease the clastogenic effect of irradiation. The results may be useful for therapeutic application of glucan with radiation therapy. (orig.).

The polaroid suppression test in a pediatric population with ophthalmologic disorders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pott, JWR; Kingma, C; Verhoeff, K; Grootendorst, RJ; de Faber, JTHN

Purpose: The Polaroid suppression test (PST) is a new method for early detection of amblyogenic factors by screening for suppression. The apparatus can elicit suppression with the use of Polaroid filters. The aim of the present study was to examine a population of children with known ophthalmologic

An analysis of suppressing migratory effect on human urinary bladder cancer cell line by silencing of snail-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi, Shima; Mansoori, Behzad; Mohammadi, Ali; Davoudian, Sadaf; Musavi Shenas, Seyed Mohammad Hossein; Shajari, Neda; Majidi, Jafar; Baradaran, Behzad

2017-12-01

Snail-1 actively participates in tumor progression, invasion, and migration. Targeting snail-1 expression can suppress the EMT process in cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of snail1 silencing on urinary bladder cancer. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to detect snail-1 and other related metastatic genes expression following siRNA knockdown in urinary bladder cancer EJ-138 cells. The protein level of snail1 was assessed by Western blot. MTT and TUNEL assays were assessed to understand if snail-1 had survival effects on EJ-138 cells. Scratch wound healing assay measured cell motility effects after snail1 suppression. The significant silencing of snail-1 reached 60pmol siRNA in a 48-h post-transfection. The result of scratch assay showed that snail-1 silencing significantly decreased Vimentin, MMPs, and CXCR4 expression; however, expression of E-cadherin was induced. The cell death assay indicated that snail-1 played the crucial role in bladder cancer survival rate. These results propose that snail-1 plays a major role in the progression and migration of urinary bladder cancer, and can be a potential therapeutic target for target therapy of invasive urinary bladder cancer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Background suppression of infrared small target image based on inter-frame registration

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Xiubo; Xue, Bindang

2018-04-01

We propose a multi-frame background suppression method for remote infrared small target detection. Inter-frame information is necessary when the heavy background clutters make it difficult to distinguish real targets and false alarms. A registration procedure based on points matching in image patches is used to compensate the local deformation of background. Then the target can be separated by background subtraction. Experiments show our method serves as an effective preliminary of target detection.

Chondromalacia patellae: fat-suppressed MR imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, P M; Demlow, T A; Szumowski, J; Quinn, S F

1994-11-01

To evaluate the accuracy of fat-suppressed magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in diagnosing chondromalacia patellae. Seventy-one patients underwent fat-suppressed MR imaging and arthroscopy of the patellofemoral compartment. Findings were classified as early or advanced chondromalacia or as normal and were correlated with arthroscopic findings. Early and advanced stages of chondromalacia patellae were reliably detected, with positive predictive values of 85% and 92%, respectively. Specificity in early stages was 94% and in late stages was 98%. However, the overall accuracies did not differ substantially from those reported in studies that did not use fat-suppressed imaging. Axial, fat-suppressed MR imaging accurately depicts changes caused by chondromalacia patellae. Early stages can be seen as intrasubstance changes of increased signal intensity. Results of this study suggest a high degree of specificity in excluding both early and advanced changes.

Reducing confounding and suppression effects in TCGA data: an integrated analysis of chemotherapy response in ovarian cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsu Fang-Han

2012-10-01

detected subsequently using classical statistical approaches and enrichment analysis. Conclusions The proposed procedure for the reduction of confounding and suppression effects and the semi-supervised clustering method are essential steps to identify genes associated with the chemotherapeutic response.

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart Wwww... - Test Method for Determining Vapor Suppressant Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... premise of this method is to compare laminate samples made with vapor suppressant additive and made... additives. The effectiveness of a specific vapor suppressant and resin mixture is determined by comparing... ±.01g with digital output, such as an RS-232 bi-directional interface 13 for use with automatic data...

Why expressive suppression does not pay? Cognitive costs of negative emotion suppression: The mediating role of subjective tense-arousal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szczygieł Dorota

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to contribute to a broader understanding of the cognitive consequences of expressive suppression. Specifically, we examined whether the deteriorating effect of expressive suppression on cognitive functioning is caused by tense arousal enhanced by suppression. Two experiments were performed in order to test this prediction. In both studies we tested the effect of expressive suppression on working memory, as measured with a backwards digit-span task (Study 1, N = 43 and anagram problem-solving task (Study 2, N = 60. In addition, in Study 2 we tested whether expressive suppression degrades memory of the events that emerged during the period of expressive suppression. Both studies were conducted in a similar design: Participants watched a film clip which evoked negative emotions (i.e. disgust in Study 1 and a combination of sadness and anxiety in Study 2 under the instruction to suppress those negative emotions or (in the control condition to simply watch the film. The results of these experiments lead to three conclusions. First, the results reveal that expressive suppression degrades memory of the events that emerged during the period of expressive suppression and leads to poorer performance on working memory tasks, as measured with a backwards digit-span task and anagram problem-solving task. Second, the results indicate that expressive suppression leads to a significant increase in subjective tense arousal. Third, the results support our prediction that expressive suppression decreases cognitive performance through its effects on subjective tense arousal. The results of the Study 1 show that tense arousal activated during expressive suppression of disgust fully mediates the negative effect of suppression on working memory as measured with a backwards digit-span task. The results of Study 2 reveal that subjective tense arousal elicited while suppressing sadness and anxiety mediates both the effect of suppression on

Suppression of AC railway power-line interference in ECG signals recorded by public access defibrillators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dotsinsky Ivan

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Public access defibrillators (PADs are now available for more efficient and rapid treatment of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. PADs are used normally by untrained people on the streets and in sports centers, airports, and other public areas. Therefore, automated detection of ventricular fibrillation, or its exclusion, is of high importance. A special case exists at railway stations, where electric power-line frequency interference is significant. Many countries, especially in Europe, use 16.7 Hz AC power, which introduces high level frequency-varying interference that may compromise fibrillation detection. Method Moving signal averaging is often used for 50/60 Hz interference suppression if its effect on the ECG spectrum has little importance (no morphological analysis is performed. This approach may be also applied to the railway situation, if the interference frequency is continuously detected so as to synchronize the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC for introducing variable inter-sample intervals. A better solution consists of rated ADC, software frequency measuring, internal irregular re-sampling according to the interference frequency, and a moving average over a constant sample number, followed by regular back re-sampling. Results The proposed method leads to a total railway interference cancellation, together with suppression of inherent noise, while the peak amplitudes of some sharp complexes are reduced. This reduction has negligible effect on accurate fibrillation detection. Conclusion The method is developed in the MATLAB environment and represents a useful tool for real time railway interference suppression.

Suppression of AC railway power-line interference in ECG signals recorded by public access defibrillators.

Science.gov (United States)

Dotsinsky, Ivan

2005-11-26

Public access defibrillators (PADs) are now available for more efficient and rapid treatment of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. PADs are used normally by untrained people on the streets and in sports centers, airports, and other public areas. Therefore, automated detection of ventricular fibrillation, or its exclusion, is of high importance. A special case exists at railway stations, where electric power-line frequency interference is significant. Many countries, especially in Europe, use 16.7 Hz AC power, which introduces high level frequency-varying interference that may compromise fibrillation detection. Moving signal averaging is often used for 50/60 Hz interference suppression if its effect on the ECG spectrum has little importance (no morphological analysis is performed). This approach may be also applied to the railway situation, if the interference frequency is continuously detected so as to synchronize the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) for introducing variable inter-sample intervals. A better solution consists of rated ADC, software frequency measuring, internal irregular re-sampling according to the interference frequency, and a moving average over a constant sample number, followed by regular back re-sampling. The proposed method leads to a total railway interference cancellation, together with suppression of inherent noise, while the peak amplitudes of some sharp complexes are reduced. This reduction has negligible effect on accurate fibrillation detection. The method is developed in the MATLAB environment and represents a useful tool for real time railway interference suppression.

Polarity Specific Suppression Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Tinnitus

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Kathleen Joos

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in the absence of an external auditory stimulus and affects 10–15% of the Western population. Previous studies have demonstrated the therapeutic effect of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS over the left auditory cortex on tinnitus loudness, but the effect of this presumed excitatory stimulation contradicts with the underlying pathophysiological model of tinnitus. Therefore, we included 175 patients with chronic tinnitus to study polarity specific effects of a single tDCS session over the auditory cortex (39 anodal, 136 cathodal. To assess the effect of treatment, we used the numeric rating scale for tinnitus loudness and annoyance. Statistical analysis demonstrated a significant main effect for tinnitus loudness and annoyance, but for tinnitus annoyance anodal stimulation has a significantly more pronounced effect than cathodal stimulation. We hypothesize that the suppressive effect of tDCS on tinnitus loudness may be attributed to a disrupting effect of ongoing neural hyperactivity, independent of the inhibitory or excitatory effects and that the reduction of annoyance may be induced by influencing adjacent or functionally connected brain areas involved in the tinnitus related distress network. Further research is required to explain why only anodal stimulation has a suppressive effect on tinnitus annoyance.

Effective Suppression of Methane Emission by 2-Bromoethanesulfonate during Rice Cultivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Waghmode, Tatoba R; Haque, Md Mozammel; Kim, Sang Yoon; Kim, Pil Joo

2015-01-01

2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES) is a structural analogue of coenzyme M (Co-M) and potent inhibitor of methanogenesis. Several studies confirmed, BES can inhibit CH4 prodcution in rice soil, but the suppressing effectiveness of BES application on CH4 emission under rice cultivation has not been studied. In this pot experiment, different levels of BES (0, 20, 40 and 80 mg kg-1) were applied to study its effect on CH4 emission and plant growth during rice cultivation. Application of BES effectively suppressed CH4 emission when compared with control soil during rice cultivation. The CH4 emission rates were significantly (Price cultivation. A rice plant growth and yield parameters were not affected by BES application. The maximum CH4 reduction (49% reduction over control) was found at 80 mg kg-1 BES application during rice cultivation. It is, therefore, concluded that BES could be a suitable soil amendment for reducing CH4 emission without affecting rice plant growth and productivity during rice cultivation.

Compressibility and rotation effects on transport suppression in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshizawa, A.

1996-01-01

Compressibility and rotation effects on turbulent transports in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows under arbitrary mean field are investigated using a Markovianized two-scale statistical approach. Some new aspects of MHD turbulence are pointed out in close relation to plasma compressibility. Special attention is paid to the turbulent electromotive force, which plays a central role in the generation of magnetic and velocity fluctuations. In addition to plasma rotation, the interaction between compressibility and magnetic fields is shown to bring a few factors suppressing MHD fluctuations and, eventually, density and temperature transports, even in the presence of steep mean density and temperature gradients. This finding is discussed in the context of the turbulence-suppression mechanism in the tokamak close-quote s high-confinement modes. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

The Calculation and Design of Fire suppression system in the proton accelerator research center

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeon, G. P.; Kim, J. Y.; Cho, J. H.; Min, Y. S.; Mun, K. J.; Cho, J. S.; Nam, J. M.; Park, S. S.; Joo, H. G.

2010-01-01

The fire protection system is composed of various fire suppression systems and fire detection and alarm systems. The primary function of the fire protection system is to protect life and property from a fire through detecting fires quickly and suppressing those fires that occur. In this paper, we described the fire suppression system only. The fire suppression system capacity for fire hydrant, the water mist system, sprinkler system and clean agent system is calculated and designed in compliance with the applicable Korean Acts that are applicable to fire protection and the NFSC code

Alamethicin Suppresses Methanogenesis and Promotes Acetogenesis in Bioelectrochemical Systems

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Xiuping; Siegert, Michael; Yates, Matthew D.; Logan, Bruce E.

2015-01-01

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems with mixed cultures often generate a variety of gaseous and soluble chemicals. Methane is the primary end product in mixed-culture MES because it is the thermodynamically most favorable reduction product of CO2. Here, we show that the peptaibol alamethicin selectively suppressed the growth of methanogens in mixed-culture MES systems, resulting in a shift of the solution and cathode communities to an acetate-producing system dominated by Sporomusa, a known acetogenic genus in MES systems. Archaea in the methane-producing control were dominated by Methanobrevibacter species, but no Archaea were detected in the alamethicin-treated reactors. No methane was detected in the mixed-culture reactors treated with alamethicin over 10 cycles (∼ 3 days each). Instead, acetate was produced at an average rate of 115 nmol ml(-1) day(-1), similar to the rate reported previously for pure cultures of Sporomusa ovata on biocathodes. Mixed-culture control reactors without alamethicin generated methane at nearly 100% coulombic recovery, and no acetate was detected. These results show that alamethicin is effective for the suppression of methanogen growth in MES systems and that its use enables the production of industrially relevant organic compounds by the inhibition of methanogenesis.

Alamethicin Suppresses Methanogenesis and Promotes Acetogenesis in Bioelectrochemical Systems

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Xiuping

2015-03-27

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) systems with mixed cultures often generate a variety of gaseous and soluble chemicals. Methane is the primary end product in mixed-culture MES because it is the thermodynamically most favorable reduction product of CO2. Here, we show that the peptaibol alamethicin selectively suppressed the growth of methanogens in mixed-culture MES systems, resulting in a shift of the solution and cathode communities to an acetate-producing system dominated by Sporomusa, a known acetogenic genus in MES systems. Archaea in the methane-producing control were dominated by Methanobrevibacter species, but no Archaea were detected in the alamethicin-treated reactors. No methane was detected in the mixed-culture reactors treated with alamethicin over 10 cycles (∼ 3 days each). Instead, acetate was produced at an average rate of 115 nmol ml(-1) day(-1), similar to the rate reported previously for pure cultures of Sporomusa ovata on biocathodes. Mixed-culture control reactors without alamethicin generated methane at nearly 100% coulombic recovery, and no acetate was detected. These results show that alamethicin is effective for the suppression of methanogen growth in MES systems and that its use enables the production of industrially relevant organic compounds by the inhibition of methanogenesis.

The Biodistribution and Immune Suppressive Effects of Breast Cancer-Derived Exosomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Shu Wen; Sceneay, Jaclyn; Lima, Luize Goncalves; Wong, Christina S F; Becker, Melanie; Krumeich, Sophie; Lobb, Richard J; Castillo, Vanessa; Wong, Ke Ni; Ellis, Sarah; Parker, Belinda S; Möller, Andreas

2016-12-01

Small membranous secretions from tumor cells, termed exosomes, contribute significantly to intercellular communication and subsequent reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. Here, we use optical imaging to determine that exogenously administered fluorescently labeled exosomes derived from highly metastatic murine breast cancer cells distributed predominantly to the lung of syngeneic mice, a frequent site of breast cancer metastasis. At the sites of accumulation, exosomes were taken up by CD45 + bone marrow-derived cells. Subsequent long-term conditioning of naïve mice with exosomes from highly metastatic breast cancer cells revealed the accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in the lung and liver. This favorable immune suppressive microenvironment was capable of promoting metastatic colonization in the lung and liver, an effect not observed from exosomes derived from nonmetastatic cells and liposome control vesicles. Furthermore, we determined that breast cancer exosomes directly suppressed T-cell proliferation and inhibited NK cell cytotoxicity, and hence likely suppressed the anticancer immune response in premetastatic organs. Together, our findings provide novel insight into the tissue-specific outcomes of breast cancer-derived exosome accumulation and their contribution to immune suppression and promotion of metastases. Cancer Res; 76(23); 6816-27. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

New EDTA determination method based on ion chromatography with suppressed conductimetric detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyoergy Patzay; Yahya Ramadan; Csilla Tonko

2014-01-01

A novel direct method for the determination of EDTA in alkaline radioactive evaporator residue solution was developed and validated based on ion chromatography with suppressed conductimetric detection and anion exchange columns (A Supp 4, 4 mm × 250 mm and A Supp 5, 4 mm × 150 mm). The yttrium-EDTA complex resulted one single chromatographic peak in the eluent and allowed the correct determination of EDTA in an alkaline, high concentration radioactive waste water. Depending on coexisting substances, suitable eluent is 10.0 mM carbonate buffer/pH 10.6 or 10.75 (t R ,Y-EDTA = 7.01 and 6.4 min, respectively). For 10.0 mM carbonate buffer/pH 10.6 and isocratic flow rate of 1.0 cm 3 /min, a linear calibration curve was obtained from 5 to 40 mg/dm 3 (r > 0.999) EDTA. Good resolution was achieved from commonly coexisting anions (chloride, nitrite, nitrate, sulphate, phosphate, bromide and citrate). The developed simple ion chromatographic method was applied for the assay of EDTA in various radioactive alkaline solutions. (author)

Effects of Fire Suppression Agents and Weathering in the Analysis of Fire Debris by HS-MS eNose

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Barbara Falatová

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In arson attacks the detection of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs at fire scenes provides key evidence since ignitable liquids, such as gasoline, are commonly used to initiate the fire. In most forensic laboratories gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is employed for the analysis of ILRs. When a fire occurs, suppression agents are used to extinguish the fire and, before the scene is investigated, the samples at the scene are subjected to a variety of processes such as weathering, which can significantly modify the chemical composition and thus lead to erroneous conclusions. In order to avoid this possibility, the application of chemometric tools that help the analyst to extract useful information from data is very advantageous. The study described here concerned the application of a headspace-mass spectrometry electronic nose (HS-MS eNose combined with chemometric tools to determine the presence/absence of gasoline in weathered fire debris samples. The effect of applying two suppression agents (Cafoam Aquafoam AF-6 and Pyro-chem PK-80 Powder and delays in the sampling time (from 0 to 48 h were studied. It was found that, although the suppression systems affect the mass spectra, the HS-MS eNose in combination with suitable pattern recognition chemometric tools, such as linear discriminant analysis, is able to identify the presence of gasoline in any of the studied situations (100% correct classification.

Suppression of in vitro cell-mediated lympholysis generation by alloactivated lymphocytes. Examination of radioresistant suppressive activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orosz, C.G.; Ferguson, R.M.

1986-01-01

We investigated the radioresistant (1000 rads) suppression of CML generation mediated by alloactivated murine splenocytes. Suppressive cells were generated in MLCs by stimulation of (A X 6R)F1 splenocytes with irradiated C57BL/10 splenocytes. Suppressive cells could lyse targets bearing H-2b alloantigens, but would not lyse parental B10.T(6R) or B10.A targets. Suppressive activity was detected by including the alloactivated (A X 6R)F1 cells in B10.T(6R) anti-B10.A(1R) MLCs. Relative to the suppressive (A X 6R)F1 cells, the B10.A(1R) lymphocytes display both parental and suppressor-inducing alloantigens. In the absence of a suppressive population, B10.A(1R) stimulators cause B10.T(6R) splenocytes to generate cytolytic activity specific for both H-2Db (suppressor-inducing) and H-2Kk (suppressor-borne) target determinants. The irradiated, alloactivated (A X 6R)F1 cells decrease the H-2Db-specific CML generated in this system, thus mediating apparent antigen-specific suppression. However, cytolytic activity concomitantly generated in the same culture against the unrelated H-2Kk target determinants is similarly reduced by the (A X 6R)F1 cells. Thus, radioresistant suppression by alloactivated splenocytes is not necessarily antigen-specific. The irradiated (A X 6R)F1 cells would not suppress the generation of H-2Kk-specific CTL in B10.T(6R) anti-B10.A MLCs. Hence, the irradiated (A X 6R)F1 cells can impede CML generation against third-party alloantigens if, and only if, those alloantigens are coexpressed with suppressor-inducing alloantigens on the stimulator cells in suppressed MLCs. Similar results were also obtained using a different histoincompatible lymphocyte combination

Suppressive effects of ketamine on macrophage functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang Yi; Chen, T.-L.; Sheu, J.-R.; Chen, R.-M.

2005-01-01

Ketamine is an intravenous anesthetic agent. Clinically, induction of anesthesia with ketamine can cause immunosuppression. Macrophages play important roles in host defense. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the effects of ketamine on macrophage functions and its possible mechanism using mouse macrophage-like Raw 264.7 cells as the experimental model. Exposure of macrophages to 10 and 100 μM ketamine, which correspond to 0.1 and 1 times the clinically relevant concentration, for 1, 6, and 24 h had no effect on cell viability or lactate dehydrogenase release. When the administered concentration reached 1000 μM, ketamine caused a release of lactate dehydrogenase and cell death. Ketamine, at 10 and 100 μM, did not affect the chemotactic activity of macrophages. Administration of 1000 μM ketamine in macrophages resulted in a decrease in cell migration. Treatment of macrophages with ketamine reduced phagocytic activities. The oxidative ability of macrophages was suppressed by ketamine. Treatment with lipopolysaccharide induced TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 mRNA in macrophages. Administration of ketamine alone did not influence TNF-α, IL-1β, or IL-6 mRNA production. Meanwhile, cotreatment with ketamine and lipopolysaccharide significantly inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 mRNA levels. Exposure to ketamine led to a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential. However, the activity of mitochondrial complex I NADH dehydrogenase was not affected by ketamine. This study shows that a clinically relevant concentration of ketamine (100 μM) can suppress macrophage function of phagocytosis, its oxidative ability, and inflammatory cytokine production possibly via reduction of the mitochondrial membrane potential instead of direct cellular toxicity

The effect of articulatory suppression on implicit and explicit false memory in the DRM paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Damme, Ilse; Menten, Jan; d'Ydewalle, Gery

2010-11-01

Several studies have shown that reliable implicit false memory can be obtained in the DRM paradigm. There has been considerable debate, however, about whether or not conscious activation of critical lures during study is a necessary condition for this. Recent findings have revealed that articulatory suppression prevents subsequent false priming in an anagram task (Lovden & Johansson, 2003). The present experiment sought to replicate and extend these findings to an implicit word stem completion task, and to additionally investigate the effect of articulatory suppression on explicit false memory. Results showed an inhibitory effect of articulatory suppression on veridical memory, as well as on implicit false memory, whereas the level of explicit false memory was heightened. This suggests that articulatory suppression did not merely eliminate conscious lure activation, but had a more general capacity-delimiting effect. The drop in veridical memory can be attributed to diminished encoding of item-specific information. Superficial encoding also limited the spreading of semantic activation during study, which inhibited later false priming. In addition, the lack of item-specific and phenomenological details caused impaired source monitoring at test, resulting in heightened explicit false memory.

Suppression sours sacrifice: emotional and relational costs of suppressing emotions in romantic relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Impett, Emily A; Kogan, Aleksandr; English, Tammy; John, Oliver; Oveis, Christopher; Gordon, Amie M; Keltner, Dacher

2012-06-01

What happens when people suppress their emotions when they sacrifice for a romantic partner? This multimethod study investigates how suppressing emotions during sacrifice shapes affective and relationship outcomes. In Part 1, dating couples came into the laboratory to discuss important romantic relationship sacrifices. Suppressing emotions was associated with emotional costs for the partner discussing his or her sacrifice. In Part 2, couples participated in a 14-day daily experience study. Within-person increases in emotional suppression during daily sacrifice were associated with decreases in emotional well-being and relationship quality as reported by both members of romantic dyads. In Part 3, suppression predicted decreases in relationship satisfaction and increases in thoughts about breaking up with a romantic partner 3 months later. In the first two parts of the study, authenticity mediated the costly effects of suppression. Implications for research on close relationships and emotion regulation are discussed.

Skin effect suppression for Cu/CoZrNb multilayered inductor

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Noriyuki; Endo, Yasushi; Yamaguchi, Masahiro

2012-04-01

The Cu/Co85Zr3Nb12 multilayer is studied as a conductor of a spiral inductor to suppress the skin effect at the 5 GHz range (matches IEEE 802.11 a standard) using negative-permeability in CoZrNb films beyond the ferromagnetic resonance frequency. The skin effect suppression becomes remarkable when the thickness of Cu in each period of the multilayer, tCu, is less than the skin depth of Cu at the targeting frequency. For the 5 GHz operation, tCu ≤ 750 nm. The resistance of the Cu/CoZrNb multilayered spiral inductor decreases as much as 8.7%, while keeping the same inductance of 1.1 nH as that of a similar air core. Accordingly, Q = 16. Therefore, the proposed method can contribute to realize a high-Q spiral inductor. We also study the potentially applicable frequency of this method. Given a soft magnetic material with Ms = 105 emu/cc and Hk = 5 Oe, the method can be applied at 700 MHz, the lowermost carrier frequency band for the 4th generation cellular phone system.

Onset and duration of ejaculatory suppression effect of tamsulosin in goat

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Sakdichod Kimsakulvech

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The duration of ejaculatory suppression of alpha adrenoceptor antagonist (tamsulosin, TAM was investigated in goats. Five males were injected intramuscularly with TAM 80 μg/kg (179.8 nmol/kg. Semen was collected using an artificial vagina with estrous female goats and the semen quality and libido score were evaluated at 1, 3, 6 and 9 h post TAM injection. Two replicates were carried out in the study. Heart rates were also measured before the injection and at 30 min before semen collection. The results showed that the libido score was not affected by TAM. At 1 h post injection, the highest percentage of suppressed ejaculation (80% was recorded and this effect was maintained for up to 3 h post injection (60%. Thereafter the percentage of suppressed ejaculation was significantly decreased (p < 0.05 at 6 h (20% and ejaculation was completely recovered at 9 h post injection. The semen characteristics of the collectable semen, semen volume and number of spermatozoa were lowest at 1 h and 3 h, thereafter they suddenly increased at 6 h and the significantly highest peak was noted at 9 h post injection. TAM injection suppressed goat ejaculation within 1 h and the duration was maintained up to 3 h post injection.

Effective suppression of thermoelectric voltage in nonlocal spin-valve measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Ariki, Taisei; Nomura, Tatsuya; Ohnishi, Kohei; Kimura, Takashi

2017-06-01

We demonstrate that the background signal in the nonlocal spin-valve measurement can be sufficiently suppressed by optimizing the electrode design of the lateral spin valve. A relatively long length scale of heat propagation produces spin-independent thermoelectric signals under the combination of the Peltier and Seebeck effects. These unfavorable signals can be reduced by mixing the Peltier effects in two transparent ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic junctions. Proper understanding of the contribution from the heat current in no spin-current area is a key for effective reduction of the spin-independent background signal.

[Suppressive Effects of Extract of Cedar Wood on Heat-induced Expression of Cellular Heat Shock Protein].

Science.gov (United States)

Miyakoshi, Junji; Matsubara, Eri; Narita, Eijiro; Koyama, Shin; Shimizu, Yoko; Kawai, Shuichi

2018-01-01

 In recent years, highly antimicrobial properties of cedar heartwood essential oil against the wood-rotting fungi and pathogenic fungi have been reported in several papers. Antimicrobial properties against oral bacteria by hinokitiol contained in Thujopsis have been also extensively studied. The relation of naturally derived components and human immune system has been studied in some previous papers. In the present study, we focused on Japanese cedar, which has the widest artificial afforestation site in the country among various tree species. Extract oil was obtained from mixture of sapwood and heartwood of about 40-year cedar grown in Oguni, Kumamoto, Japan. We examined the influence of extract components from Japanese cedar woods on the expression of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) during heating, and on the micronucleus formation induced by the treatment of bleomycin as a DNA damaging agent. Cell lines used in this study were human fetal glial cells (SVGp12) and human glioma cells (MO54). Remarkable suppression of the Hsp70 expression induced by heating at 43°C was detected by the treatment of cedar extract in both SVGp12 and MO54 cells. We also found that cedar extract had an inhibitory tendency to reduce the micronucleus formation induced by bleomycin. From these results, the extract components from Japanese cedar woods would have an inhibitory effect of the stress response as a suppression of the heat-induced Hsp70 expression, and might have a reductive effect on carcinogenicity.

Multifaceted effects of synthetic TLR2 ligand and Legionella pneumophilia on Treg-mediated suppression of T cell activation

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Sutmuller Roger PM

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Regulatory T cells (Treg play a crucial role in maintaining immune homeostasis and self-tolerance. The immune suppressive effects of Tregs should however be limited in case effective immunity is required against pathogens or cancer cells. We previously found that the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2 agonist, Pam3CysSK4, directly stimulated Tregs to expand and temporarily abrogate their suppressive capabilities. In this study, we evaluate the effect of Pam3CysSK4 and Legionella pneumophila, a natural TLR2 containing infectious agent, on effector T (Teff cells and dendritic cells (DCs individually and in co-cultures with Tregs. Results TLR2 agonists can directly provide a co-stimulatory signal inducing enhanced proliferation and cytokine production of naive CD4+ Teff cells. With respect to cytokine production, DCs appear to be most sensitive to low amounts of TLR agonists. Using wild type and TLR2-deficient cells in Treg suppression assays, we accordingly show that all cells (e.g. Treg, Teff cells and DCs contributed to overcome Treg-mediated suppression of Teff cell proliferation. Furthermore, while TLR2-stimulated Tregs readily lost their ability to suppress Teff cell proliferation, cytokine production by Teff cells was still suppressed. Similar results were obtained upon stimulation with TLR2 ligand containing bacteria, Legionella pneumophila. Conclusions These findings indicate that both synthetic and natural TLR2 agonists affect DCs, Teff cells and Treg directly, resulting in multi-modal modulation of Treg-mediated suppression of Teff cells. Moreover, Treg-mediated suppression of Teff cell proliferation is functionally distinct from suppression of cytokine secretion.

An anti-Compton suppression Ge-telescope detection system for quality control of nuclear waste packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agosteo, S.; Para, A. Foglio; Chabalier, B.; Huot, N.; Graf, U.; Ravazzani, A.; Schillebeeckx, P.; Kekki, T.; Tanner, V.; Tiitta, A.

2001-01-01

An anti-Compton suppression system is studied for the quality control of radioactive waste packages by nondestructive assay. The main objective is the reduction of the detection limit of actinides in the packages. The optimization of a final device is based on Monte Carlo simulations (MCNP and FLUKA) validated by experiments using a prototype consisting of a Ge-telescope detector surrounded by a NaI detector. The validation reveals that most of the discrepancies between experimental and simulated data are due to an incomplete description of the experimental conditions. After fine-tuning of the input file the uncertainties on the simulated full-energy peak efficiency are reduced to less than 5%. Also the total detector response for mono-energetic photons and real waste, including the photon interactions within the drum, can be simulated satisfactorily

Thyroid suppression test with dextrothyroxine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenthal, D.; Fridman, J.; Ribeiro, H.B.

1978-01-01

The classic thyroid suppression test with triiodothyronine (l-T 3 ) has been shown to be efficient as an auxiliary method in the diagnosis of thyroid diseases, but should not be performed on elderly patients or on those with heart disease or a tendency to tachycardia. Since these subjects seem able to support a short period of dextro-thyronine (d-T 4 ) feeding, we compared the effect of d-T 4 and l-T 3 on the 24 hours thyroid uptake in euthyroid and hyperthyroid subjects. After basal radio-iodine uptake determination, 99 patients without hyperthyroidism and 27 with Graves' disease were randomly divided in 2 groups; one received 100μg of l-T 3 per day and the other 4 mg of d-T 4 per day, both groups being treated for a period of 10 days. At the end of this suppression period the 24 hours radio-iodine uptake was measured again and the percentual suppression index (S.I.) calculated. Since the comparison of the two groups showed no difference between the suppressive effect of l-T 3 and d-T 4 in euthyroid subjects, while dextro-thyronine, as levo-triiodothyronine, did not suppress the 24 hours uptake of hyperthyroid patients, l-T 3 or d-T 4 can be used interchangeably to test thyroid suppressibility. In the euthyroid subjects the normal range for the post-suppression uptake was 0-17.1% and for the suppression index 54,7.100% [pt

Effective Suppression of Methane Emission by 2-Bromoethanesulfonate during Rice Cultivation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Waghmode, Tatoba R.; Haque, Md Mozammel; Kim, Sang Yoon; Kim, Pil Joo

2015-01-01

2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES) is a structural analogue of coenzyme M (Co-M) and potent inhibitor of methanogenesis. Several studies confirmed, BES can inhibit CH4 prodcution in rice soil, but the suppressing effectiveness of BES application on CH4 emission under rice cultivation has not been studied.

Suppress to feel and remember less: Neural correlates of explicit and implicit emotional suppression on perception and memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Katsumi, Yuta; Dolcos, Sanda

2018-02-09

Available evidence suggests that emotion regulation can modulate both immediate (emotional experience) and long-term (episodic memory) effects of emotion, and that both explicit and implicit forms may be effective. However, neural mechanisms by which explicit and implicit emotional suppression affect these phenomena remain unclear, particularly regarding their effects on memory. In this study, participants rated the emotional content of negative and neutral images, following explicit (verbal instructions) or implicit (priming) induction of emotional suppression goals, during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants' memory for the images was tested one week later. Behaviorally, explicit suppression reduced emotional ratings of negative images, whereas both explicit and implicit suppression reduced subsequent memory. At the neural level, the engagement of explicit suppression was uniquely associated with decreased activity in the amygdala (AMY), during emotional ratings, and in the AMY and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), during successful encoding. Although both explicit and implicit suppression diminished functional connectivity between these regions and the hippocampus (HC) linked to successful encoding, explicit suppression was uniquely associated with interference with AMY-HC interactions, which no longer predicted subsequent memory for the explicitly-suppressed items. Overall, these findings advance our understanding of the common and dissociable mechanisms of explicit and implicit emotional suppression on perception and memory, and suggest their impact on both bottom-up and top-down mechanisms involved in emotion-cognition interactions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aging and repeated thought suppression success.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ann E Lambert

Full Text Available Intrusive thoughts and attempts to suppress them are common, but while suppression may be effective in the short-term, it can increase thought recurrence in the long-term. Because intentional suppression involves controlled processing, and many aspects of controlled processing decline with age, age differences in thought suppression outcomes may emerge, especially over repeated thought suppression attempts as cognitive resources are expended. Using multilevel modeling, we examined age differences in reactions to thought suppression attempts across four thought suppression sequences in 40 older and 42 younger adults. As expected, age differences were more prevalent during suppression than during free monitoring periods, with younger adults indicating longer, more frequent thought recurrences and greater suppression difficulty. Further, younger adults' thought suppression outcomes changed over time, while trajectories for older adults' were relatively stable. Results are discussed in terms of older adults' reduced thought recurrence, which was potentially afforded by age-related changes in reactive control and distractibility.

miR-644a Inhibits Cellular Proliferation and Invasion via Suppression of CtBP1 in Gastric Cancer Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yingchao; Yan, Xiaoni; Ren, Li; Li, Yang

2018-01-19

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one of the most important mechanisms in the metastasis of various cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). In this study, we explored the putative significance of miR-644a and its role in EMT-mediated metastasis of GC. We first detected the expression of miR-644a in a cohort of 107 GC tissues using quantitative RT-PCR. The expression of miR-644a was suppressed in GC tissues and was associated with a later clinical stage and tumor metastasis. Restoring the expression of miR-644a could significantly suppress the migration and invasion of HGC-27 and SGC-7901 cells, which might be correlated to its suppressive effect on the EMT process. We also found that carboxyl-terminal-binding protein 1 (CtBP1) was a putative target gene of miR-644a in GC and might be involved in the suppressive effect. Collectively, through targeting CtBP1-mediated suppression of the EMT process, miR-644a might suppress the tumor metastasis of GC cells.

An improved AE detection method of rail defect based on multi-level ANC with VSS-LMS

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xin; Cui, Yiming; Wang, Yan; Sun, Mingjian; Hu, Hengshan

2018-01-01

In order to ensure the safety and reliability of railway system, Acoustic Emission (AE) method is employed to investigate rail defect detection. However, little attention has been paid to the defect detection at high speed, especially for noise interference suppression. Based on AE technology, this paper presents an improved rail defect detection method by multi-level ANC with VSS-LMS. Multi-level noise cancellation based on SANC and ANC is utilized to eliminate complex noises at high speed, and tongue-shaped curve with index adjustment factor is proposed to enhance the performance of variable step-size algorithm. Defect signals and reference signals are acquired by the rail-wheel test rig. The features of noise signals and defect signals are analyzed for effective detection. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing with the previous study, and different filter lengths are investigated to obtain a better noise suppression performance. Meanwhile, the detection ability of the proposed method is verified at the top speed of the test rig. The results clearly illustrate that the proposed method is effective in detecting rail defects at high speed, especially for noise interference suppression.

Basolateral amygdalar D2 receptor activation is required for the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Tzeng, Wen-Yu; Cherng, Chian-Fang G; Yu, Lung; Wang, Ching-Yi

2017-01-01

The presence of companions renders decreases in cocaine-stimulated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) magnitude. Limbic systems are widely believed to underlie the modulation of accumbal dopamine release and cocaine conditioning. Thus, this study aimed to assess whether intact basolateral nucleus of amygdala (BLA), dorsal hippocampus (DH), and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) is required for the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Three cage mates, serving as companions, were arranged to house with the experimental mice in the cocaine conditioning compartment throughout the cocaine conditioning sessions. Approximately 1week before the conditioning procedure, intracranial ibotenic acid infusions were done in an attempt to cause excitotoxic lesions targeting bilateral BLA, DH and DLS. Albeit their BLA, DH, and DLS lesions, the lesioned mice exhibited comparable cocaine-induced CPP magnitudes compared to the intact and sham lesion controls. Bilateral BLA, but not DH or DLS, lesions abolished the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Intact mice receiving intra-BLA infusion of raclopride, a selective D2 antagonist, 30min prior to the cocaine conditioning did not exhibit the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Intra-BLA infusion of Sch23390, a selective D1 antagonist, did not affect the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the CPP. These results, taken together, prompt us to conclude that the intactness of BLA is required for the companions-exerted suppressive effect on the cocaine-induced CPP. Importantly, activation of D2 receptor in the BLA is required for such suppressive effect on the CPP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determination of anionic surfactants during wastewater recycling process by ion pair chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, L. H.; Judkins, J. E.; Garland, J. L.; Sager, J. C. (Principal Investigator)

2000-01-01

A direct approach utilizing ion pairing reversed-phase chromatography coupled with suppressed conductivity detection was developed to monitor biodegradation of anionic surfactants during wastewater recycling through hydroponic plant growth systems and fixed-film bioreactors. Samples of hydroponic nutrient solution and bioreactor effluent with high concentrations (up to 120 mS electrical conductance) of inorganic ions can be analyzed without pretreatment or interference. The presence of non-ionic surfactants did not significantly affect the analysis. Dynamic linear ranges for tested surfactants [Igepon TC-42, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate and sodium alkyl (C10-C16) ether sulfate] were 2 to approximately 500, 1 to approximately 500, 2.5 to approximately 550 and 3.0 to approximately 630 microg/ml, respectively.

Effect of plant spacing on weed suppression and yield of fluted ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of plant spacing on weed suppression yield and economic benefit of fluted pumpkin (Telfeiria occidentalis Hook F). The experiment was carried out at the Department of Crop and Soil Science Demonstration Plot, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria ...

The Effect of Learning Disability on Contralateral Suppression of Otoacoustic Emissions in Primary Students

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Saeid Sarough Farahani

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: One of the most significant complaints of children with learning disability (LD is difficulty in understanding speech in the presence of background noise. Different studies have shown that the medial olivocochlear bundle(MOCB may play a role in hearing in noise. The MOCB function can be evaluated by the contralateral suppression of tone burst evoked otoacoustic emissions (TBEOAEs.The aim of the present study was to evaluate frequency specifications of MOCB by the contralateral suppression of TBEOAEs at 1,2,3 and 4 KHz in response to contralateral white noise in LD students. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 34 LD students aged 7-11 years and 31 normal students matched for age.The contralateral suppression of TBEOAEs was evaluated by comparing TBEOAEs amplitudes with and without contralateral white noise. Results: In the absence of noise there was no significant difference between TBEOAEs amplitudes of two groups. In the presence of noise significant decrease was seen in TBEOAEs amplitudes at 1,2,3 and 4 KHz in both groups. In LD students the amount of this decrement at 1,2 and 4 KHz was lower than in the normal students. Conclusion: A significant diminished suppression effect at 1,2 and 4 KHz in LD students indicates that at these frequency regions MOCB function was reduced. Therefore it suggests that the assessment of MOCB by evaluating the suppression effect of TBEOAEs included in the test battery approach used in the diagnostic of LD students.

Appetite suppressing effect of Spinacia oleracea in rats: Involvement of the short term satiety signal cholecystokinin.

Science.gov (United States)

Panda, Vandana; Shinde, Priyanka

2017-06-01

Spinacia oleracea (spinach) is a green leafy vegetable rich in antioxidant phyto-constituents such as flavonoids, polyphenols, carotenoids and vitamins. Fruits and vegetables rich in flavonoids are known to prevent weight gain by inducing satiety. The present study evaluates the appetite suppressing effect of a flavonoid rich extract of the spinach leaf (SOE) in rats. HPTLC of SOE was performed for detecting flavonoids. Rats were administered SOE (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg, p. o) and fluoxetine (6 mg/kg i. p) as a pre-meal for 14 days. Food intake and weight gain was observed daily during the treatment period. Serum levels of the short term satiety signals cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucose were measured on the 7th and 14thdays at different time points after start of meal to study the satiety inducing effect of SOE. HPTLC showed the presence of 14 flavonoids in SOE. SOE and fluoxetine treated rats showed a significant reduction in food intake and weight gain when compared with the normal control rats. On the 7th day of treatment, peak CCK levels were reached in 30 min after start of meal in fluoxetine treated rats and in 60 min in the remaining rats. On the 14th day, CCK peaking was observed in 30 min after start of meal in the fluoxetine as well as SOE 400 mg/kg treated rats. Peak glucose levels in all treatment groups were obtained in 60 min after start of feeding on both days of the study. It maybe concluded that SOE exhibited a promising appetite suppressing effect by inducing a quicker than normal release of CCK, thus eliciting an early onset of satiety in rats. This effect may be due to its high flavonoid content. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Massive-training artificial neural network (MTANN) for reduction of false positives in computer-aided detection of polyps: Suppression of rectal tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Kenji; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Naeppi, Janne; Dachman, Abraham H.

2006-01-01

One of the limitations of the current computer-aided detection (CAD) of polyps in CT colonography (CTC) is a relatively large number of false-positive (FP) detections. Rectal tubes (RTs) are one of the typical sources of FPs because a portion of a RT, especially a portion of a bulbous tip, often exhibits a cap-like shape that closely mimics the appearance of a small polyp. Radiologists can easily recognize and dismiss RT-induced FPs; thus, they may lose their confidence in CAD as an effective tool if the CAD scheme generates such ''obvious'' FPs due to RTs consistently. In addition, RT-induced FPs may distract radiologists from less common true positives in the rectum. Therefore, removal RT-induced FPs as well as other types of FPs is desirable while maintaining a high sensitivity in the detection of polyps. We developed a three-dimensional (3D) massive-training artificial neural network (MTANN) for distinction between polyps and RTs in 3D CTC volumetric data. The 3D MTANN is a supervised volume-processing technique which is trained with input CTC volumes and the corresponding ''teaching'' volumes. The teaching volume for a polyp contains a 3D Gaussian distribution, and that for a RT contains zeros for enhancement of polyps and suppression of RTs, respectively. For distinction between polyps and nonpolyps including RTs, a 3D scoring method based on a 3D Gaussian weighting function is applied to the output of the trained 3D MTANN. Our database consisted of CTC examinations of 73 patients, scanned in both supine and prone positions (146 CTC data sets in total), with optical colonoscopy as a reference standard for the presence of polyps. Fifteen patients had 28 polyps, 15 of which were 5-9 mm and 13 were 10-25 mm in size. These CTC cases were subjected to our previously reported CAD scheme that included centerline-based segmentation of the colon, shape-based detection of polyps, and reduction of FPs by use of a Bayesian neural network based on geometric and texture

Serum thyrotropin (TSH) levels in patients with suppressed pituitary function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasavada, P.; Chen, I.; Maxon, H.; Barnes, E.; Sperling, M.

1984-01-01

The diagnosis of borderline hyperthyroidism is difficult. A sensitive radioimmunoassay capable of detecting subnormal levels of serum TSH may be of value in confirming this diagnosis because of the suppressed pituitary function in this disease state. This sensitive assay may also be useful in monitoring the suppression of pituitary function in thyroid cancer patients receiving thyroid hormone therapy. A sensitive radioimmunoassay capable of detecting serum TSH levels as low as 0.25 μU/m1 with coefficients of variation less than 17.2% was used to measure serum TSH levels in 80 healthy subjects, 44 hyperthyroid patients, and 25 athyrotic thyroid cancer patients on daily suppressive doses of thyroxine. All healthy subjects had detectable TSH levels with a mean value of 1.17 and two standard deviation ranges of 0.41 - 2.70 μU/m1 (lognormal distribution). Although the mean +-1 SEM value of 0.63 +- 0.003 μUm1 for hyperthyroid patients and 0.76 +- 0.08 μU/ml for thyroid cancer patients were significantly lower than that of healthy subjects (t-test, p<0.05), subnormal levels of serum TSH were found in only 28.6% (12/42) and 24% (6/25) of hyperthyroid and thyroid cancer patients, respectively. TSH stimulation tests performed in 6 of the cancer patients all gave suppressed responses. Because of considerable overlap, serum TSH levels alone cannot distinguish hyperthyroidsm from euthyroidism. However, a sensitive TSH radioimmunoassay such as the one described here may be of value in evaluating the extent of pituitary suppression in thyroid cancer therapy

Alleviation of response suppression to conditioned aversive stimuli by lesions of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle.

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Tsaltas, E; Gray, J A; Fillenz, M

1984-08-01

Rats with neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal ascending noradrenergic bundle (DB) were compared with sham-operated (SH) controls on the acquisition, steady state and extinction of response suppression maintained by a classical (conditioned suppression) or an instrumental (discriminated punishment) contingency. DB lesions interfered neither with the acquisition of the reference response of sucrose-rewarded barpressing nor with unconditioned responding to the overhead flashing light subsequently used as a signal of shock. The acquisition of discriminated response suppression was also unaffected by the lesion under both types of contingency. However, once discriminated suppression had stabilized, both the conditioned and the discriminative stimulus used were significantly less effective in maintaining suppression in DB animals than in SH controls provided that low intensity footshock (0.2 mA) was used as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Upon increase of UCS intensity (to 0.5 mA) normal suppression was observed in the DB group under both contingencies. Extinction of the classical contingency reinstated the difference between DB and SH performance: DB lesion resulted in significantly faster extinction of fear. In contrast, extinction of the discriminated punishment contingency was unaffected by the lesion, although generalized response suppression dissipated faster in the DB than in the SH animals trained under this condition. Our results offer no support for the reinforcement hypothesis of DB function (normal acquisition of barpressing and of discriminated suppression of barpressing); mixed support (greater initial generalization of suppression in DB animals) and contradiction (more rapid extinction of conditioned suppression in DB animals) for the attentional hypothesis; and weak support (reduced suppression and more rapid extinction of suppression in DB animals, but only within limited experimental parameters) for the anxiety hypothesis of DB function. Hence none of

Effect of curd suppression in a milk replacer on physiological ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effect of curd suppression in a milk replacer on physiological parameters in calves. I. Digestibility of ... Body mass-gain (kg) and efficiency of feed conversion (kg dry matter intake/kg gain) over the 28-day experimental period were respectively 7,3 and 1,8 (WM); 7,3 and 1,8 (NWM); 4,3 and 3,9 (CM) and 4,9 and 2,9 (NCM).

Visual awareness suppression by pre-stimulus brain stimulation; a neural effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Christianne; Goebel, Rainer; Sack, Alexander T

2012-01-02

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has established the functional relevance of early visual cortex (EVC) for visual awareness with great temporal specificity non-invasively in conscious human volunteers. Many studies have found a suppressive effect when TMS was applied over EVC 80-100 ms after the onset of the visual stimulus (post-stimulus TMS time window). Yet, few studies found task performance to also suffer when TMS was applied even before visual stimulus presentation (pre-stimulus TMS time window). This pre-stimulus TMS effect, however, remains controversially debated and its origin had mainly been ascribed to TMS-induced eye-blinking artifacts. Here, we applied chronometric TMS over EVC during the execution of a visual discrimination task, covering an exhaustive range of visual stimulus-locked TMS time windows ranging from -80 pre-stimulus to 300 ms post-stimulus onset. Electrooculographical (EoG) recordings, sham TMS stimulation, and vertex TMS stimulation controlled for different types of non-neural TMS effects. Our findings clearly reveal TMS-induced masking effects for both pre- and post-stimulus time windows, and for both objective visual discrimination performance and subjective visibility. Importantly, all effects proved to be still present after post hoc removal of eye blink trials, suggesting a neural origin for the pre-stimulus TMS suppression effect on visual awareness. We speculate based on our data that TMS exerts its pre-stimulus effect via generation of a neural state which interacts with subsequent visual input. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modified Single Photo-diode (MSPD) Detection Technique for SAC-OCDMA System

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulqader, Sarah G.; Fadhil, Hilal A.; Aljunid, S. A.

2015-03-01

In this paper, a new detection technique called modified single photo-diode (MSPD) detection for SAC-OCDMA system is proposed. The proposed system based on the single photo-diode (SPD) detection technique. The new detection technique is proposed to overcome the limitation of phase-induced intensity noise (PIIN) in SPD detection technique. However, the proposed detection is based on an optical hard limiter (OHL) followed by a SPD and a low-pass filter (LPF) in order to suppress the phase intensity noise (PIIN) at the receiver side. The results show that the MSPD detection based on OHL has a good performance even when the transmission distance is long, which is different from the case of SPD detection technique. Therefore, the MSPD detection technique is shown to be effective to improve the bit error rate (BER<10-9) and to suppress the noise in the practical optical fiber network.

Complex suppression patterns distinguish between major energy loss effects in Quark–Gluon Plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Djordjevic, Magdalena, E-mail: magda@ipb.ac.rs

2016-12-10

Interactions of high momentum partons with Quark–Gluon Plasma created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions provide an excellent tomography tool for this new form of matter. Recent measurements for charged hadrons and unidentified jets at the LHC show an unexpected flattening of the suppression curves at high momentum, exhibited when either momentum or the collision centrality is changed. Furthermore, a limited data available for B probes indicate a qualitatively different pattern, as nearly the same flattening is exhibited for the curves corresponding to two opposite momentum ranges. We here show that the experimentally measured suppression curves are well reproduced by our theoretical predictions, and that the complex suppression patterns are due to an interplay of collisional, radiative energy loss and the dead-cone effect. Furthermore, for B mesons, we predict that the uniform flattening of the suppression indicated by the limited dataset is in fact valid across the entire span of the momentum ranges, which will be tested by the upcoming experiments. Overall, the study presented here, provides a rare opportunity for pQCD theory to qualitatively distinguish between the major energy loss mechanisms at the same (nonintuitive) dataset.

Peripheral and central mediators of lipopolysaccharide induced suppression of defensive rage behavior in the cat.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatt, S; Bhatt, R S; Zalcman, S S; Siegel, A

2009-11-10

Based upon recent findings in our laboratory that cytokines microinjected into the medial hypothalamus or periaqueductal gray (PAG) powerfully modulate defensive rage behavior in cat, the present study determined the effects of peripherally released cytokines following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge upon defensive rage. The study involved initial identification of the effects of peripheral administration of LPS upon defensive rage by electrical stimulation from PAG and subsequent determination of the peripheral and central mechanisms governing this process. The results revealed significant elevation in response latencies for defensive rage from 60 to 300 min, post LPS injection, with no detectable signs of sickness behavior present at 60 min. In contrast, head turning behavior elicited by stimulation of adjoining midbrain sites was not affected by LPS administration, suggesting a specificity of the effects of LPS upon defensive rage. Direct administration of LPS into the medial hypothalamus had no effect on defensive rage, suggesting that the effects of LPS were mediated by peripheral cytokines rather than by any direct actions upon hypothalamic neurons. Complete blockade of the suppressive effects of LPS by peripheral pretreatment with an Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) antibody but not with an anti- interleukin-1 (IL-1) antibody demonstrated that the effects of LPS were mediated through TNF-alpha rather than through an IL-1 mechanism. A determination of the central mechanisms governing LPS suppression revealed that pretreatment of the medial hypothalamus with PGE(2) or 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonists each completely blocked the suppressive effects of LPS, while microinjections of a TNF-alpha antibody into the medial hypothalamus were ineffective. Microinjections of -Iodo-N-[2-[4-(methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-N-(2-pyridinyl) benzamide monohydrochloride (p-MPPI) into lateral hypothalamus (to test for anatomical specificity) had no effect upon

Quantum-mechanical suppression of bremsstrahlung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker-Szendy, R.; Keller, L.; Niemi, G.; Perl, M.; Rochester, L. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Anthony, P. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)]|[Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Bosted, P. [American Univ., Washington, DC (United States); Cavalli-Sforza, M.; Kelley, L.; Klein, S. [Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)] [and others

1994-12-01

The authors have studied quantum-mechanical suppression of bremsstrahlung of low-energy 1-500 MeV photons from high-energy 25 GeV electrons. They have measured the LPM effect, where multiple scattering of the radiating electron destroys coherence required for the emission of low-energy photons, and the dielectric effect, where the emitted photon traveling in the radiator medium interferes with itself. For the experiment, the collaboration developed a novel method of extracting a parasitic low-intensity high-energy electron beam into the fixed target area during normal SLC operation of the accelerator. The results agree quantitatively with Migdal`s calculation of the LPM effect. Surface effects, for which there is no satisfactory theoretical prediction, are visible at low photon energies. For very thin targets, the suppression disappears, as expected. Preliminary results on dielectric suppression of bremsstrahlung are in qualitative agreement with the expectation.

Suppressing my memories by listening to yours: The effect of socially triggered context-based prediction error on memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlasceanu, Madalina; Drach, Rae; Coman, Alin

2018-05-03

The mind is a prediction machine. In most situations, it has expectations as to what might happen. But when predictions are invalidated by experience (i.e., prediction errors), the memories that generate these predictions are suppressed. Here, we explore the effect of prediction error on listeners' memories following social interaction. We find that listening to a speaker recounting experiences similar to one's own triggers prediction errors on the part of the listener that lead to the suppression of her memories. This effect, we show, is sensitive to a perspective-taking manipulation, such that individuals who are instructed to take the perspective of the speaker experience memory suppression, whereas individuals who undergo a low-perspective-taking manipulation fail to show a mnemonic suppression effect. We discuss the relevance of these findings for our understanding of the bidirectional influences between cognition and social contexts, as well as for the real-world situations that involve memory-based predictions.

Linewidth-tolerant real-time 40-Gbit/s 16-QAM self-homodyne detection using a pilot carrier and ISI suppression based on electronic digital processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Moriya; Kamio, Yukiyoshi; Miyazaki, Tetsuya

2010-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate linewidth-tolerant real-time 40-Gbit/s(10-Gsymbol/s) 16-quadrature amplitude modulation. We achieved bit-error rates of noise canceling capability provided by self-homodyne detection using a pilot carrier. Pre-equalization based on digital signal processing was employed to suppress intersymbol interference caused by the limited-frequency bandwidth of electrical components.

Robust Detection of Moving Human Target in Foliage-Penetration Environment Based on Hough Transform

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P. Lei

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Attention has been focused on the robust moving human target detection in foliage-penetration environment, which presents a formidable task in a radar system because foliage is a rich scattering environment with complex multipath propagation and time-varying clutter. Generally, multiple-bounce returns and clutter are additionally superposed to direct-scatter echoes. They obscure true target echo and lead to poor visual quality time-range image, making target detection particular difficult. Consequently, an innovative approach is proposed to suppress clutter and mitigate multipath effects. In particular, a clutter suppression technique based on range alignment is firstly applied to suppress the time-varying clutter and the instable antenna coupling. Then entropy weighted coherent integration (EWCI algorithm is adopted to mitigate the multipath effects. In consequence, the proposed method effectively reduces the clutter and ghosting artifacts considerably. Based on the high visual quality image, the target trajectory is detected robustly and the radial velocity is estimated accurately with the Hough transform (HT. Real data used in the experimental results are provided to verify the proposed method.

Semantic Congruency in Audiovisual Integration as Revealed by the Continuous Flash Suppression Paradigm

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Yung-Hao Yang

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Despite several demonstrations of crossmodal semantic-congruency effect, it remains controversial as to whether it is a genuine perceptual phenomenon or instead it actually results from post-perceptual response bias such as decision or strategies (de Gelder and Bertelson, 2003. Here we combine the invisible stimuli with sounds to exclude the participants' awareness of the relation between visual and auditory stimuli. We render the visual events invisible by adopting the continuous flash suppression paradigm (Tsuchiya and Koch, 2005 in which the dynamic high-contrast visual patches were presented in one eye to suppress the target that was presented in the other eye. The semantic congruency between visual and auditory stimuli was manipulated and participants had to detect any parts of visual target. The results showed that the time needed to detect the visual target (ie, the release from suppression was faster when it was accompanied by a semantically congruent sound than with an incongruent one. This study therefore demonstrates genuine multisensory integration at the semantic level. Furthermore, it also extends from previous studies with neglect blindsight patients (eg, de Gelder, Pourtois, and Weiskrantz, 2002 to normal participants based on their unawareness of the relation between visual and auditory information.

The flavonol epicatechin reverses the suppressive effects of a stressor on long-term memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Knezevic, Bogdan; Lukowiak, Ken

2014-11-15

Learning and subsequent memory formation are influenced by both environmental and lifestyle factors, such as stress and diet. Epicatechin, a plant flavonol found in cocoa, red wine and green tea enhances long-term memory (LTM) formation in Lymnaea. By contrast, an ecologically relevant stressor, low-calcium pond water, suppresses LTM formation. We tested the hypothesis that epicatechin overcomes the suppressive effects of the stressor on LTM formation in the continued presence of the stressor. Snails trained in low-calcium pond water exhibit learning but not LTM. Epicatechin (15 mg l(-1)) in control pond water enhances LTM formation. When epicatechin was added to the low-calcium pond water an enhanced LTM similar to that seen in control pond water was observed. Thus, a naturally occurring bioactive plant compound was able to overcome the suppressive effects of an ecologically relevant stressor on LTM formation. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Molecular mechanism of intracellular lipid accumulation: Suppressive effect of PycnogenolR in liver cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shoichiro Ikuyama

2013-09-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTCells are physiologically ready to accumulate lipids such as triacylglycerides in the cytoplasm.Five classes of perilipin (PLIN family proteins are known to be involved in the process of intracellular lipid accumulation. PLIN2 is expressed ubiquitously including adipocytes, hepatocytes and macrophages. Over-expression of PLIN2 is demonstrated in the lesions of fatty liver diseases and atherosclerosis. Suppression of PLIN2 expression prevents from developing these pathological conditions in animal models, suggesting that PLIN2 could be a therapeutic target molecule for excessive intracellular lipid accumulation which leads to various metabolic derangements. The PLIN2 gene promoter has two important cis-acting elements in close proximity:AP-1 element which mediates inflammatory signals and PPRE which mediates free fatty acid effect. In NMuLi mouse liver cells, FFA such as oleic acid requires both functional AP-1 and PPRE simultaneously to stimulate the promoter activity, indicating the presence of intimate interaction of inflammatory and metabolic signals on this gene. PycnogenolR, French maritime pine bark extracts, suppressed the oleic acid-induced PLIN2 expression and lipid accumulation in NMuLi cells. We found that PycnogenolR did not suppress the PLIN2 promoter activity or AP-1 binding to DNA. Instead, PycnogenolRfacilitates the PLIN2 mRNA degradation, leading to suppression of lipid accumulation. This effect seems to be independent of antioxidant effect of PycnogenolR.We raise the idea that PLIN2 is a putative target molecule for prevention of pathological condition induced by excessive lipid accumulation, and this class of natural compounds could be putative therapeutic modalities.Key words: PycnogenolR, lipid droplet, perilipin, fatty liver disease

Organization and effectivity of works on dust suppressing in the special zone of the Chernobyl' NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimin, S.A.; Krapchatov, V.P.; Nad''yarnykh, G.V.; Komarov, V.I.; Andreev, Yu.B.; Samojlenko, Yu.N.

1989-01-01

In 1988 three methods of dust suppressing were used: regular watering of roads, chemical treatment of roadsides and dusting sections of area, long-time biologochemical fixation of open sections of area, including sowing with grass and simultaneous treatment by dust-suppressing compositions. Preliminary treatment of objects by polymeric compositions was an effective action to reduce dust-raising. 3 refs.; 3 figs

Suppressive effect on HeLa cells proliferation by phenothiazine derivatives alone and combining with ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Yuqian; Wang Lin; Sui Jianli; Bai Bei; Zhou Pingkun; Yan Yuqiu; Sun Weijian

2006-01-01

Objective: To examine the antiproliferative effects of phenothiazine derivatives (PTZDs) alone on HeLa cells and in combination with ionizing radiation. Methods: MTT and colony-forming method were used to evaluate the proliferation activity and cellular radiosensitivity of HeLa cells. Results: We compared the antiproliferative effects of six phenothiazine derivatives, and found that the derivatives α-chloro-N-dimethylamine phenothiazine (PTZD2), α-triflumethyl-N-α(dimethylamine ethyl) phenothiazine (PTZD3) and α-chloro-N-(dimethylamine ethyl) phenothiazine (PTZD5) showed a significant antiproliferative effect at concentration of 10 μmol/L. HeLa cells proliferation was completely suppressed when treated with PTZDs of 40-50 μmol/L. PTZD2/PTZD3 and cobalt-60 gamma-irradiation showed synergistic suppressive effect on proliferation of HeLa cells. The enhancement ratios of 10 μmol/L PTZD3 combination with 2 Gy and 4 Gy irradiations were 3.5 and 1.8, respectively. The maximum synergistic suppressive effect was observed when cells administered with PTZD3 at 18 h before being irradiated. Conclusion: Phenothiazine derivatives show antiproliferations on HeLa cells, and differ in degrees. The synergistic anticancer effect could be obtained by combining phenothiazine derivatives with radiotherapy. (authors)

Robust Small Target Co-Detection from Airborne Infrared Image Sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Jingli; Wen, Chenglin; Liu, Meiqin

2017-09-29

In this paper, a novel infrared target co-detection model combining the self-correlation features of backgrounds and the commonality features of targets in the spatio-temporal domain is proposed to detect small targets in a sequence of infrared images with complex backgrounds. Firstly, a dense target extraction model based on nonlinear weights is proposed, which can better suppress background of images and enhance small targets than weights of singular values. Secondly, a sparse target extraction model based on entry-wise weighted robust principal component analysis is proposed. The entry-wise weight adaptively incorporates structural prior in terms of local weighted entropy, thus, it can extract real targets accurately and suppress background clutters efficiently. Finally, the commonality of targets in the spatio-temporal domain are used to construct target refinement model for false alarms suppression and target confirmation. Since real targets could appear in both of the dense and sparse reconstruction maps of a single frame, and form trajectories after tracklet association of consecutive frames, the location correlation of the dense and sparse reconstruction maps for a single frame and tracklet association of the location correlation maps for successive frames have strong ability to discriminate between small targets and background clutters. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed small target co-detection method can not only suppress background clutters effectively, but also detect targets accurately even if with target-like interference.

Emotion regulation and the temporal dynamics of emotions: Effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on emotional inertia.

Science.gov (United States)

Koval, Peter; Butler, Emily A; Hollenstein, Tom; Lanteigne, Dianna; Kuppens, Peter

2015-01-01

The tendency for emotions to be predictable over time, labelled emotional inertia, has been linked to low well-being and is thought to reflect impaired emotion regulation. However, almost no studies have examined how emotion regulation relates to emotional inertia. We examined the effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on the inertia of behavioural, subjective and physiological measures of emotion. In Study 1 (N = 111), trait suppression was associated with higher inertia of negative behaviours. We replicated this finding experimentally in Study 2 (N = 186). Furthermore, in Study 2, instructed suppressors and reappraisers both showed higher inertia of positive behaviours, and reappraisers displayed higher inertia of heart rate. Neither suppression nor reappraisal were associated with the inertia of subjective feelings in either study. Thus, the effects of suppression and reappraisal on the temporal dynamics of emotions depend on the valence and emotional response component in question.

Thought Suppression Research Methods: Paradigms, Theories, Methodological Concerns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niczyporuk Aneta

2016-12-01

Full Text Available It is hard to provide an unequivocal answer to the question of whether or not thought suppression is effective. Two thought suppression paradigms - the “white bear” paradigm and the think/no-think paradigm - give mixed results. Generally, “white bear” experiments indicate that thought suppression is counterproductive, while experiments in the think/no-think paradigm suggest that it is possible to effectively suppress a thought. There are also alternative methods used to study thought suppression, for instance the directed forgetting paradigm or the Stroop task. In the article, I describe the research methods used to explore thought suppression efficacy. I focus on the “white bear” and the think/no-think paradigms and discuss theories proposed to explain the results obtained. I also consider the internal and external validity of the methods used.

Suppressing Unwanted Autobiographical Memories Reduces Their Automatic Influences: Evidence From Electrophysiology and an Implicit Autobiographical Memory Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaoqing; Bergström, Zara M; Bodenhausen, Galen V; Rosenfeld, J Peter

2015-07-01

The present study investigated the extent to which people can suppress unwanted autobiographical memories in a memory-detection context involving a mock crime. Participants encoded sensorimotor-rich memories by enacting a lab-based crime (stealing a ring) and received instructions to suppress memory of the crime in order to evade guilt detection in a brain-wave-based concealed-information test. Aftereffects of suppression on automatic memory processes were measured in an autobiographical Implicit Association Test. Results showed that suppression attenuated brain-wave activity (the P300) associated with crime-relevant memory retrieval, which rendered waveforms from innocent and guilty participants indistinguishable. However, the two groups could nevertheless be discriminated via the late-posterior-negative slow wave, which may reflect the need to monitor response conflict arising between voluntary suppression and automatic recognition processes. Finally, extending recent findings that suppression can impair implicit memory processes, we provide novel evidence that suppression reduces automatic cognitive biases often associated with actual autobiographical memories. © The Author(s) 2015.

The polaroid suppression test in a pediatric population with ophthalmologic disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Pott, Jan Willem R; Kingma, C; Verhoeff, K; Grootendorst, R J; de Faber, J T H N

2003-04-01

The Polaroid suppression test (PST) is a new method for early detection of amblyogenic factors by screening for suppression. The apparatus can elicit suppression with the use of Polaroid filters. The aim of the present study was to examine a population of children with known ophthalmologic disorders using the PST to determine the rate of false-negative results of the PST. Six hundred four children, varying in age between 3 and 15 years (mean, 7.9) were examined using the PST. Ophthalmologic disorders ranged from strabismus and amblyopia to refractive disorders. Mean testing time for the PST was 43 seconds. The PST could not be administered to 34 children (5.6%); 443 children (73.3%) had abnormal results; and 127 children (22.2%) showed no suppression. The suppression in constant strabismus was detected in almost all cases. The sensitivity for accommodative forms of strabismus was lower, but amblyopia was never missed in these cases. In children with normal eye alignment, only 2.7% with an interocular acuity difference of more than 0.1 logMAR had no suppression. Of all 119 children with clinical defined amblyopia, only 1 (0.8%) did not have suppression. Overall sensitivity of the PST for strabismus and/or abnormal interocular acuity difference was 96.2% and specificity was 41.1%. The PST has great potential as a visual screening tool in young children. Only few children with amblyogenic factors were missed. Thus, the test can differentiate those children at risk for amblyopia from normally sighted children. Because specificity is lower, all children showing suppression with the PST in a screening situation should have further examination by the health care worker before being referred to the ophthalmologist.

Effective Suppression of Methane Emission by 2-Bromoethanesulfonate during Rice Cultivation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatoba R Waghmode

Full Text Available 2-bromoethanesulfonate (BES is a structural analogue of coenzyme M (Co-M and potent inhibitor of methanogenesis. Several studies confirmed, BES can inhibit CH4 prodcution in rice soil, but the suppressing effectiveness of BES application on CH4 emission under rice cultivation has not been studied. In this pot experiment, different levels of BES (0, 20, 40 and 80 mg kg-1 were applied to study its effect on CH4 emission and plant growth during rice cultivation. Application of BES effectively suppressed CH4 emission when compared with control soil during rice cultivation. The CH4 emission rates were significantly (P<0.001 decreased by BES application possibly due to significant (P<0.001 reduction of methnaogenic biomarkers like Co-M concentration and mcrA gene copy number (i.e. methanogenic abunadance. BES significantly (P<0.001 reduced methanogen activity, while it did not affect soil dehydrogenase activity during rice cultivation. A rice plant growth and yield parameters were not affected by BES application. The maximum CH4 reduction (49% reduction over control was found at 80 mg kg-1 BES application during rice cultivation. It is, therefore, concluded that BES could be a suitable soil amendment for reducing CH4 emission without affecting rice plant growth and productivity during rice cultivation.

Regulatory Eosinophils Suppress T Cells Partly through Galectin-10.

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Lingblom, Christine; Andersson, Jennie; Andersson, Kerstin; Wennerås, Christine

2017-06-15

Eosinophils have the capacity to regulate the function of T cell subsets. Our aim was to test the hypothesis of the existence of a regulatory subset of eosinophils. Human eosinophils were incubated with T cells that were stimulated with allogeneic leukocytes or CD3/CD28 cross-linking. After 2 d of coculture, 11% of the eosinophils gained CD16 expression. A CD16 hi subset of eosinophils, encompassing 1-5% of all eosinophils, was also identified in the blood of healthy subjects. FACS sorting showed that these CD16 hi eosinophils were significantly stronger suppressors of T cell proliferation than were conventional CD16 neg eosinophils. Human eosinophils contain stores of the immunoregulatory protein galectin-10. We found that Ab-mediated neutralization of galectin-10 partially abrogated the suppressive function of the eosinophils. Moreover, recombinant galectin-10 by itself was able to suppress T cell proliferation. Finally, we detected galectin-10-containing immune synapses between eosinophils and lymphocytes. To conclude, we describe a subset of suppressive eosinophils expressing CD16 that may escape detection because CD16-based negative selection is the standard procedure for the isolation of human eosinophils. Moreover, we show that galectin-10 functions as a T cell-suppressive molecule in eosinophils. Copyright © 2017 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Singular and combined effects of thought suppression and anxiety induction on frequency of threatening thoughts: An experimental investigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cougle, J.R.; Smits, J.A.J.; Lee, H.J.; Powers, M.B.; Telch, M.J.

2005-01-01

The suppression of unwanted thoughts has been hypothesized to play an important role in the maintenance of clinical disorders such as OCD and PTSD. The present study sought to examine the singular and combined effects of thought suppression instructions and anxiety induction (as induced by an

Suppression of the initial transient in Monte Carlo criticality simulations; Suppression du regime transitoire initial des simulations Monte-Carlo de criticite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richet, Y

2006-12-15

Criticality Monte Carlo calculations aim at estimating the effective multiplication factor (k-effective) for a fissile system through iterations simulating neutrons propagation (making a Markov chain). Arbitrary initialization of the neutron population can deeply bias the k-effective estimation, defined as the mean of the k-effective computed at each iteration. A simplified model of this cycle k-effective sequence is built, based on characteristics of industrial criticality Monte Carlo calculations. Statistical tests, inspired by Brownian bridge properties, are designed to discriminate stationarity of the cycle k-effective sequence. The initial detected transient is, then, suppressed in order to improve the estimation of the system k-effective. The different versions of this methodology are detailed and compared, firstly on a plan of numerical tests fitted on criticality Monte Carlo calculations, and, secondly on real criticality calculations. Eventually, the best methodologies observed in these tests are selected and allow to improve industrial Monte Carlo criticality calculations. (author)

Dopamine agonist suppression of rapid-eye-movement sleep is secondary to sleep suppression mediated via limbic structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miletich, R.S.

1985-01-01

The effects of pergolide, a direct dopamine receptor agonist, on sleep and wakefulness, motor behavior and 3 H-spiperone specific binding in limbic structures and striatum in rats was studied. The results show that pergolide induced a biphasic dose effect, with high doses increasing wakefulness and suppressing sleep while low dose decreased wakefulness, but increased sleep. It was shown that pergolide-induced sleep suppression was blocked by α-glupenthixol and pimozide, two dopamine receptor antagonists. It was further shown that pergolide merely delayed the rebound resulting from rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep deprivation, that dopamine receptors stimulation had no direct effect on the period, phase or amplitude of the circadian rhythm of REM sleep propensity and that there was no alteration in the coupling of REM sleep episodes with S 2 episodes. Rapid-eye-movement sleep deprivation resulted in increased sensitivity to the pergolide-induced wakefulness stimulation and sleep suppression and pergolide-induced motor behaviors of locomotion and head bobbing. 3 H-spiperone specific binding to dopamine receptors was shown to be altered by REM sleep deprivation in the subcortical limbic structures. It is concluded that the REM sleep suppressing action of dopamine receptor stimulation is secondary to sleep suppression per se and not secondary to a unique effect on the REM sleep. Further, it is suggested that the wakefulness stimulating action of dopamine receptor agonists is mediated by activation of the dopamine receptors in the terminal areas of the mesolimbocortical dopamine projection system

Effect of gastric acid suppressants and prokinetics on peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Ji Eun; Koh, Seong-Joon; Chun, Jaeyoung; Kim, Ji Won; Kim, Byeong Gwan; Lee, Kook Lae; Im, Jong Pil; Kim, Joo Sung; Jung, Hyun Chae

2014-01-01

AIM: To investigate the effect of gastric acid suppressants and prokinetics on peritonitis development in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective study. The medical records of 398 PD patients were collected from January 2000 to September 2012 and analyzed to compare patients with at least one episode of peritonitis (peritonitis group, group A) to patients who never had peritonitis (no peritonitis group, group B). All peritonitis episodes were analyzed to compare peritonitis caused by enteric organisms and peritonitis caused by non-enteric organisms. RESULTS: Among the 120 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 61 patients had at least one episode of peritonitis and 59 patients never experienced peritonitis. Twenty-four of 61 patients (39.3%) in group A and 15 of 59 patients (25.4%) in group B used gastric acid suppressants. Only the use of H2-blocker (H2B) was associated with an increased risk of PD-related peritonitis; the use of proton pump inhibitors, other antacids, and prokinetics was not found to be a significant risk factor for PD-related peritonitis. A total of 81 episodes of peritonitis were divided into enteric peritonitis (EP) or non-enteric peritonitis, depending on the causative organism, and gastric acid suppressants and prokinetics did not increase the risk of EP in PD patients. CONCLUSION: The use of H2B showed a trend for an increased risk of overall PD-related peritonitis, although further studies are required to clarify the effects of drugs on PD-related peritonitis. PMID:25057226

A Range Ambiguity Suppression Processing Method for Spaceborne SAR with Up and Down Chirp Modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Xuejiao; Qiu, Xiaolan; Han, Bing; Ding, Chibiao; Lei, Bin; Chen, Qi

2018-05-07

Range ambiguity is one of the factors which affect the SAR image quality. Alternately transmitting up and down chirp modulation pulses is one of the methods used to suppress the range ambiguity. However, the defocusing range ambiguous signal can still hold the stronger backscattering intensity than the mainlobe imaging area in some case, which has a severe impact on visual effects and subsequent applications. In this paper, a novel hybrid range ambiguity suppression method for up and down chirp modulation is proposed. The method can obtain the ambiguity area image and reduce the ambiguity signal power appropriately, by applying pulse compression using a contrary modulation rate and CFAR detecting method. The effectiveness and correctness of the approach is demonstrated by processing the archive images acquired by Chinese Gaofen-3 SAR sensor in full-polarization mode.

hTERT peptide fragment GV1001 demonstrates radioprotective and antifibrotic effects through suppression of TGF‑β signaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Shin, Ki-Hyuk; Kim, Sangjae; Shon, Won-Jun; Kim, Reuben H; Park, No-Hee; Kang, Mo K

2018-06-01

GV1001 is a 16‑amino acid peptide derived from the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) protein (616‑626; EARPALLTSRLRFIPK), which lies within the reverse transcriptase domain. Originally developed as an anticancer vaccine, GV1001 demonstrates diverse cellular effects, including anti‑inflammatory, tumor suppressive and antiviral effects. In the present study, the radioprotective and antifibrotic effects of GV1001 were demonstrated through suppressing transforming growth factor‑β (TGF‑β) signaling. Proliferating human keratinocytes underwent premature senescence upon exposure to ionizing radiation (IR), however, treatment of cells with GV1001 allowed the cells to proliferate and showed a reduction in senescent phenotype. GV1001 treatment notably increased the levels of Grainyhead‑like 2 and phosphorylated (p‑)Akt (Ser473), and reduced the activation of p53 and the level of p21/WAF1 in irradiated keratinocytes. It also markedly suppressed the level of TGF‑β signaling molecules, including p‑small mothers against decapentaplegic (Smad)2/3 and Smad4, and TGF‑β target genes, including zinc finger E‑box binding homeobox 1, fibronectin, N‑cadharin and Snail, in irradiated keratinocytes. Furthermore, GV1001 suppressed TGF‑β signaling in primary human fibroblasts and inhibited myofibroblast differentiation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that GV1001 suppressed the binding of Smad2 on the promoter regions of collagen type III α1 chain (Col3a1) and Col1a1. In a dermal fibrosis model in vivo, GV1001 treatment notably reduced the thickness of fibrotic lesions and the synthesis of Col3a1. These data indicated that GV1001 ameliorated the IR‑induced senescence phenotype and tissue fibrosis by inhibiting TGF‑β signaling and may have therapeutic effects on radiation‑induced tissue damage.

An Investigation of Tic Suppression and the Rebound Effect in Tourette's Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Meidinger, Amy L.; Miltenberger, Raymond G.; Himle, Michael; Omvig, Matthew; Trainor, Casey; Crosby, Ross

2005-01-01

Many patients, parents of children with Tourettes disorder, and professionals have suggested that following a period of suppression, tics will rebound to a rate that will exceed the average rate of occurrence. At present, there are no empirical data to support or refute such an effect. This experiment utilized an A-B-A design with replication to…

The impact of nevirapine- versus protease inhibitor-based regimens on virological markers of HIV-1 persistence during seemingly suppressive ART.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiselinova, Maja; Anna, Maria; Malatinkova, Eva; Vervish, Karen; Beloukas, Apostolos; Messiaen, Peter; Bonczkowski, Pawel; Trypsteen, Wim; Callens, Steven; Verhofstede, Chris; De Spiegelaere, Ward; Vandekerckhove, Linos

2014-01-01

The source and significance of residual plasma HIV-1 RNA detection during suppressive ART remain controversial. It has been proposed that nevirapine (NVP)-based regimens achieve a greater HIV-1 RNA suppression than regimens containing a protease inhibitor (PI). The aim of this study was to compare the effect of receiving NVP- vs PI-based ART on the virological markers of HIV persistence in peripheral blood. The study population comprised 161 HIV-1 infected patients receiving either NVP-based (n=81) or PI-based (n=80) ART and showing a HIV-1 RNA load stably suppressed ART, with median (IQR) levels of 5 (3-6) and 5 (3-8) copies/mL, respectively. HIV-1 RNA detection was associated with shorter duration of suppressive ART regardless of treatment arm (p=0.007), and lower CD4 nadir (p=0.015). HIV-1 DNA levels were median 282 (120-484) and 213 (87-494) copies/106 PBMCs in the two groups respectively, and were lowest (ART HIV-1 RNA load (p=0.0001). In this comprehensive characterization of patients on long-term suppressive ART, we did not observe evidence for a greater suppressive activity of NVP-based over PI-based therapy on plasma and intracellular markers of virus persistence. Overall excellent correlation was observed between the markers, allowing the identification of a subset of treated patients with low HIV-1 expression as an important cohort for future HIV cure studies.

Dopamine agonist suppression of rapid-eye-movement sleep is secondary to sleep suppression mediated via limbic structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miletich, R.S.

1985-01-01

The effects of pergolide, a direct dopamine receptor agonist, on sleep and wakefulness, motor behavior and /sup 3/H-spiperone specific binding in limbic structures and striatum in rats was studied. The results show that pergolide induced a biphasic dose effect, with high doses increasing wakefulness and suppressing sleep while low dose decreased wakefulness, but increased sleep. It was shown that pergolide-induced sleep suppression was blocked by ..cap alpha..-glupenthixol and pimozide, two dopamine receptor antagonists. It was further shown that pergolide merely delayed the rebound resulting from rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep deprivation, that dopamine receptors stimulation had no direct effect on the period, phase or amplitude of the circadian rhythm of REM sleep propensity and that there was no alteration in the coupling of REM sleep episodes with S/sub 2/ episodes. Rapid-eye-movement sleep deprivation resulted in increased sensitivity to the pergolide-induced wakefulness stimulation and sleep suppression and pergolide-induced motor behaviors of locomotion and head bobbing. /sup 3/H-spiperone specific binding to dopamine receptors was shown to be altered by REM sleep deprivation in the subcortical limbic structures. It is concluded that the REM sleep suppressing action of dopamine receptor stimulation is secondary to sleep suppression per se and not secondary to a unique effect on the REM sleep. Further, it is suggested that the wakefulness stimulating action of dopamine receptor agonists is mediated by activation of the dopamine receptors in the terminal areas of the mesolimbocortical dopamine projection system.

Suppressive effects of 3-bromopyruvate on the proliferation and the motility of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomizawa, Minoru; Shinozaki, Fuminobu; Motoyoshi, Yasufumi; Sugiyama, Takao; Yamamoto, Shigenori; Ishige, Naoki

2016-01-01

The compound 3-bromopyruvate (3BP) is an analogue of pyruvate, which is the final product of glycolysis that enters the citric acid cycle. The present study aimed to investigate the suppressive effects of 3BP on the proliferation and motility of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. HLF and PLC/PRF/5 cells were cultured with 3BP and subjected to an MTS assay. Apoptosis was analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Cell motility was analyzed using a scratch assay. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to determine the expression levels of cyclin D1 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)9. Proliferation of both cell lines was significantly suppressed by 3BP at 100 µM (P<0.05). The expression level of cyclin D1 was decreased after 3BP treatment at 100 µM in both cell lines (P<0.05). Pyknotic nuclei were observed in the cells cultured with 3BP at 100 µM. These results revealed that 3BP suppressed cell proliferation, decreased the expression of cyclin D1, and induced apoptosis in HCC cells. 3BP significantly suppressed motility in both cell lines (P<0.05). The expression level of MMP9 was significantly decreased (P<0.05). 3BP suppressed the proliferation and motility of HCC cells by decreasing the expression of cyclin D1 and MMP9.

Aliphatic long chain quaternary ammonium compounds analysis by ion-pair chromatography coupled with suppressed conductivity and UV detection in lysing reagents for blood cell analysers.

Science.gov (United States)

Giovannelli, D; Abballe, F

2005-08-26

A method has been developed which allows simultaneous determination of three linear alkyl trimethylammonium salts. Dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride, tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide and hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride are widely used as main active ingredients of lysing reagents for blood cell analyzers which perform white blood cells differential determination into two or more sub-populations by impedance analysis. The ion-pair on styrene-divinyl benzene chromatographic phase looks like a suitable, reliable and long term stable tool for separation of such quaternary compounds. The detection based on suppressed conductivity was chosen because of the lack of significance chromophores. A micromembrane suppressor device compatible with high solvent concentration (up to 80%) was used in order to minimize the conductivity background before the detection. In the present work we show how the chemical post column derivatization makes the alkyl chain detectable also by UV direct detection at 210 nm.

Conditioned suppression of sexual behavior in stallions and reversal with diazepam.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonnell, S M; Kenney, R M; Meckley, P E; Garcia, M C

1985-06-01

Sexual behavior dysfunction unaccompanied by detectable physical or endocrine abnormality is an important cause of reproductive failure among domestic stallions. Several authors have suggested that such dysfunction may be psychogenic, related to negative experience associated with intense handling and training. An experimental model of experience-related dysfunction was developed by exposing pony stallions to erection-contingent aversive conditioning. This resulted in rapid, specific suppression of sexual arousal and response similar to spontaneously occurring dysfunction. Subsequently, treatment with a CNS-active benzodiazepine derivative (diazepam) reversed these effects.

Comprehensive Effects of Suppression of MicroRNA-383 in Human Bone-Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Treating Spinal Cord Injury

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Guo-Jun Wei

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Transplantation of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs promotes neural cell regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI. Recently, we showed that suppression of microRNA-383 (miR-383 in MSCs increased the protein levels of glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF, resulting in improved therapeutic effects on SCI. However, the overall effects of miR-383 suppression in MSCs on SCI therapy were not determined yet. Here, we addressed this question. Methods: We used bioinformatics tools to predict all miR-383-targeting genes, confirmed the functional bindings in a dual luciferase reporter assay. The effects of alteration of candidate genes in MSCs on cell proliferation were analyzed by MTT assay and by Western blotting for PCNA. The effects on angiogenesis were assessed by HUVEC assay. The effects on SCI in vivo were analyzed by transplantation of the modified MSCs into nude rats that underwent SCI. Results: Suppression of miR-383 in MSCs not only upregulated GDNF protein, but also increased vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A and cyclin-dependent kinase 19 (CDK19, two other miR-383 targets. MiR-383-suppression-induced increases in CDK19 resulted in a slight but significant increase in MSC proliferation, while miR-383-suppression-induced increases in VEGF-A resulted in a slight but significant increase in MSC-mediated angiogenesis. Conclusions: Upregulation of CDK19 and VEGF-A by miR-383 suppression in MSCs further improve the therapeutic potential of MSCs in treating SCI in rats.

Young women's attitudes toward continuous use of oral contraceptives: the effect of priming positive attitudes toward menstruation on women's willingness to suppress menstruation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Jennifer Gorman; Chrisler, Joan C; Couture, Samantha

2008-08-01

The present study investigated American women's attitudes toward menstrual suppression and the effect of priming attitudes toward menstruation on women's willingness to suppress menstruation. One hundred college women randomly were assigned to either a positive priming group or a negative priming group. The positive priming group first completed the menstrual joy questionnaire (MJQ) followed by a willingness to suppress menstruation (WSM) questionnaire, the beliefs and attitudes toward menstruation (BATM) questionnaire, the menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ), and a demographic questionnaire. The negative priming group completed, in the following order: the MDQ, WSM, BATM, MJQ, and demographics. Priming affected women's reports of positive cycle-related changes on the MDQ, but not women's willingness to suppress menstruation. Higher scores on the MJQ, positive attitudes toward menstrual suppression, and previous oral contraceptive (OC) use were predictors of women's willingness to suppress menstruation. Women's primary source of information about menstrual suppression was "media," and their primary concern was "safety." Thus, researchers should continue to investigate the long-term effects of continuous OC use and to analyze information about menstrual suppression in the popular press.

Error-dependent modulation of speech-induced auditory suppression for pitch-shifted voice feedback

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larson Charles R

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The motor-driven predictions about expected sensory feedback (efference copies have been proposed to play an important role in recognition of sensory consequences of self-produced motor actions. In the auditory system, this effect was suggested to result in suppression of sensory neural responses to self-produced voices that are predicted by the efference copies during vocal production in comparison with passive listening to the playback of the identical self-vocalizations. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs were recorded in response to upward pitch shift stimuli (PSS with five different magnitudes (0, +50, +100, +200 and +400 cents at voice onset during active vocal production and passive listening to the playback. Results Results indicated that the suppression of the N1 component during vocal production was largest for unaltered voice feedback (PSS: 0 cents, became smaller as the magnitude of PSS increased to 200 cents, and was almost completely eliminated in response to 400 cents stimuli. Conclusions Findings of the present study suggest that the brain utilizes the motor predictions (efference copies to determine the source of incoming stimuli and maximally suppresses the auditory responses to unaltered feedback of self-vocalizations. The reduction of suppression for 50, 100 and 200 cents and its elimination for 400 cents pitch-shifted voice auditory feedback support the idea that motor-driven suppression of voice feedback leads to distinctly different sensory neural processing of self vs. non-self vocalizations. This characteristic may enable the audio-vocal system to more effectively detect and correct for unexpected errors in the feedback of self-produced voice pitch compared with externally-generated sounds.

Error-dependent modulation of speech-induced auditory suppression for pitch-shifted voice feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Behroozmand, Roozbeh; Larson, Charles R

2011-06-06

The motor-driven predictions about expected sensory feedback (efference copies) have been proposed to play an important role in recognition of sensory consequences of self-produced motor actions. In the auditory system, this effect was suggested to result in suppression of sensory neural responses to self-produced voices that are predicted by the efference copies during vocal production in comparison with passive listening to the playback of the identical self-vocalizations. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to upward pitch shift stimuli (PSS) with five different magnitudes (0, +50, +100, +200 and +400 cents) at voice onset during active vocal production and passive listening to the playback. Results indicated that the suppression of the N1 component during vocal production was largest for unaltered voice feedback (PSS: 0 cents), became smaller as the magnitude of PSS increased to 200 cents, and was almost completely eliminated in response to 400 cents stimuli. Findings of the present study suggest that the brain utilizes the motor predictions (efference copies) to determine the source of incoming stimuli and maximally suppresses the auditory responses to unaltered feedback of self-vocalizations. The reduction of suppression for 50, 100 and 200 cents and its elimination for 400 cents pitch-shifted voice auditory feedback support the idea that motor-driven suppression of voice feedback leads to distinctly different sensory neural processing of self vs. non-self vocalizations. This characteristic may enable the audio-vocal system to more effectively detect and correct for unexpected errors in the feedback of self-produced voice pitch compared with externally-generated sounds.

Instructions to suppress semantic memory enhances or has no effect on P300 in a concealed information test (CIT).

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenfeld, J Peter; Ward, Anne; Drapekin, Jesse; Labkovsky, Elena; Tullman, Samuel

2017-03-01

The present study investigated the extent to which people can suppress semantic memory as indexed with the P300 ERP and the autobiographical implicit association test (aIAT). In EXP 1, participants (22) were run in a counterbalanced repeated measures study in both simply knowledgeable (SK) and knowledgeable with suppression (SP) conditions. A P300-based, concealed information test ("Complex Trial Protocol"; CTP) with a 50/50 Target/Nontarget (T/NT) ratio was given both with and without instructions to suppress semantic memories. The results showed increased P300s to probe name stimuli, reduced (but still high positive) aIAT d-scores, and increased simple reaction times to all stimuli used in ERP tests in the SP condition. EXP 2 was similar, but with SP and SK in two separate groups, and a 20/80 T/NT ratio. Again, ERP and aIAT results failed to show a suppression effect for semantic memory. The behavioral data suggest some task demand effects under suppression instructions, and that EXP 1 was more demanding than EXP 2. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Charmonium formation and suppression in nuclear matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Jiajun; Wang Jia; Zhuang Chao; Zhuang Pengfei

2005-01-01

The coupling Schroedinger equations describing the evolution of cc-bar states in nuclear matter are analytically and systematically solved via perturbation method, and the correlation between charmonium formation and nuclear absorption is investigated. After calculating J/Ψ and Ψ' suppression in nucleon-nucleus collisions and comparing with experiment data, it is found that the formation time effect plays an important rule in charmonium suppression, especially in Ψ' suppression. (authors)

The Analysis and Suppression of the spike noise in vibrator record

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, H.; Jiang, T.; Xu, X.; Ge, L.; Lin, J.; Yang, Z.

2013-12-01

During the seismic exploration with vibrator, seismic recording systems have often been affected by random spike noise in the background, which leads to strong data distortions as a result of the cross-correlation processing of the vibrator method. Partial or total loss of the desired seismic information is possible if no automatic spike reduction is available in the field prior to correlation of the field record. Generally speaking, original record of vibrator is uncorrelated data, in which the signal is non-wavelet form. In order to obtain the seismic record similar to explosive source, the signal of uncorrelated data needs to use the correlation algorithm to compress into wavelet form. The correlation process results in that the interference of spike in correlated data is not only being suppressed, but also being expanded. So the spike noise suppression of vibrator is indispensable. According to numerical simulation results, the effect of spike in the vibrator record is mainly affected by the amplitude and proportional points in the uncorrelated record. When the spike noise ratio in uncorrelated record reaches 1.5% and the average amplitude exceeds 200, it will make the SNR(signal-to-noise ratio) of the correlated record lower than 0dB, so that it is difficult to separate the signal. While the amplitude and ratio is determined by the intensity of background noise. Therefore, when the noise level is strong, in order to improve SNR of the seismic data, the uncorrelated record of vibrator need to take necessary steps to suppress spike noise. For the sake of reducing the influence of the spike noise, we need to make the detection and suppression of spike noise process for the uncorrelated record. Because vibrator works by inputting sweep signal into the underground long time, ideally, the peak and valley values of each trace have little change. On the basis of the peak and valley values, we can get a reference amplitude value. Then the spike can be detected and

Quantifying the influence of previously burned areas on suppression effectiveness and avoided exposure: A case study of the Las Conchas Fire

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew P. Thompson; Patrick Freeborn; Jon D. Rieck; Dave Calkin; Julie W. Gilbertson-Day; Mark A. Cochrane; Michael S. Hand

2016-01-01

We present a case study of the Las Conchas Fire (2011) to explore the role of previously burned areas (wildfires and prescribed fires) on suppression effectiveness and avoided exposure. Methodological innovations include characterisation of the joint dynamics of fire growth and suppression activities, development of a fire line effectiveness framework, and...

A Range Ambiguity Suppression Processing Method for Spaceborne SAR with Up and Down Chirp Modulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuejiao Wen

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Range ambiguity is one of the factors which affect the SAR image quality. Alternately transmitting up and down chirp modulation pulses is one of the methods used to suppress the range ambiguity. However, the defocusing range ambiguous signal can still hold the stronger backscattering intensity than the mainlobe imaging area in some case, which has a severe impact on visual effects and subsequent applications. In this paper, a novel hybrid range ambiguity suppression method for up and down chirp modulation is proposed. The method can obtain the ambiguity area image and reduce the ambiguity signal power appropriately, by applying pulse compression using a contrary modulation rate and CFAR detecting method. The effectiveness and correctness of the approach is demonstrated by processing the archive images acquired by Chinese Gaofen-3 SAR sensor in full-polarization mode.

Legacy effects of anaerobic soil disinfestation on soil bacterial community composition and production of pathogen-suppressing volatiles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maaike evan Agtmaal

2015-07-01

Full Text Available There is increasing evidence that microbial volatiles (VOCs play an important role in natural suppression of soil-borne diseases, but little is known on the factors that influence production of suppressing VOCs. In the current study we examined whether a stress-induced change in soil microbial community composition would affect the production by soils of VOCs suppressing the plant-pathogenic oomycete Pythium. Using pyrosequencing of 16S ribosomal gene fragments we compared the composition of bacterial communities in sandy soils that had been exposed to anaerobic disinfestation (AD, a treatment used to kill harmful soil organisms, with the composition in untreated soils. Three months after the AD treatment had been finished, there was still a clear legacy effect of the former anaerobic stress on bacterial community composition with a strong increase in relative abundance of the phylum Bacteroidetes and a significant decrease of the phyla Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes, Nitrospirae, Chloroflexi and Chlorobi. This change in bacterial community composition coincided with loss of production of Pythium suppressing soil volatiles (VOCs and of suppression of Pythium impacts on Hyacinth root development. One year later, the composition of the bacterial community in the AD soils was reflecting that of the untreated soils. In addition, both production of Pythium-suppressing VOCs and suppression of Pythium in Hyacinth bioassays had returned to the levels of the untreated soil. GC/MS analysis identified several VOCs, among which compounds known to be antifungal, that were produced in the untreated soils but not in the AD soils. These compounds were again produced 15 months after the AD treatment. Our data indicate that soils exposed to a drastic stress can temporarily lose pathogen suppressive characteristics and that both loss and return of these suppressive characteristics coincides with shifts in the soil bacterial community composition. Our data are

Curcumin inhibits bladder cancer stem cells by suppressing Sonic Hedgehog pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dengdian; Kong, Xiaochuan; Li, Yuan; Qian, Weiwei; Ma, Jiaxing; Wang, Daming; Yu, Dexin; Zhong, Caiyun

2017-11-04

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) is responsible for the recurrence of human cancers. Thus, targeting CSCs is considered to be a valid way for human cancer treatment. Curcumin is a major component of phytochemicals that exerts potent anticancer activities. However, the effect of curcumin on bladder cancer stem cells (BCSCs) remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of curcumin suppressing bladder cancer stem cells. In this study, UM-UC-3 and EJ cells were cultured in serum-free medium (SFM) to form cell spheres that was characterized as BCSCs. Then cell spheres were separately treated with different concentrations of curcumin and purmorphamine. Cell cycle analysis were used to determine the percentage of cells in different phases. Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR analysis were used to detect the expression of relative molecules. Immunofluorescence staining analysis were also utilized to measure the protein level of CD44. We found that CSC markers, including CD44, CD133, ALDH1-A1, OCT-4 and Nanog, were obviously highly expressed in cell spheres. Moreover, we observed that curcumin reduced the cell spheres formation, decreased the expression of CSC markers, suppressed cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. We also found that curcumin inhibited the activation of Shh pathway, while the inhibitory effects of curcumin on BCSCs could be weakened by upregulation of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway. Altogether, these data suggested that curcumin inhibited the activities of BCSCs through suppressing Shh pathway, which might be an effective chemopreventive agent for bladder cancer intervention. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier

Science.gov (United States)

Raj, Nirmal; Tanedo, Philip; Yu, Hai-Bo

2018-02-01

Neutron stars capture dark matter efficiently. The kinetic energy transferred during capture heats old neutron stars in the local galactic halo to temperatures detectable by upcoming infrared telescopes. We derive the sensitivity of this probe in the framework of effective operators. For dark matter heavier than a GeV, we find that neutron star heating can set limits on the effective operator cutoff that are orders of magnitude stronger than possible from terrestrial direct detection experiments in the case of spin-dependent and velocity-suppressed scattering.

Cell-mediated immune suppression effect of rocket kerosene through dermal exposure in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing-xin XU

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Objective　To study the effect of cell-mediated immune suppression effect of rocket kerosene (RK through dermal application in mice. Methods　Skin delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH was used to observe the relation of the RK amount the skin exposed and the cellular immune inhibitory function. Different amount of the undiluted fuel was smeared directly onto the dorsal skin of mice. Mice in negative and positive control groups were treated with acetone. After the last exposure, all the mice except those in negative control group were allergized by evenly smearing with 1% dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB solution on their dorsum. Five days after allergy, 1% DNFB solution was smeared onto right ear of all mice to stimulate the allergic reaction. Twenty-four hours after attack, the auricle swelling, spleen index and thymus index in corresponding mice were determined. In the first series of experiments, different dosages of RK were applied once, and the ICR mice were randomly divided into negative control group, positive control group and experimental group (0.5ml/kg.BW×1, 1ml/kg.BW×1 and 2ml/kg.BW×1 group. In the second series of experiments, the certain and same dosage of RK was applied for different times, and the ICR mice were randomly divided into negative control group, positive control group and experimental group (0.5ml/kg.BW×1, 0.5mL/kg.BW×2, 0.5ml/kg.BW×3, 0.5ml/kg.BW×4 and 0.5mL/kg.BW×5 group. In the third series of experiments, the different dosages of RK were applied more than once, and the ICR mice were randomly divided into negative control group, positive control group and experimental group (0.5ml/kg.BW×5, 1ml/kg.BW×5 and 2ml/kg.BW×5 group. Lymphocyte proliferation experiment in vitrowas conducted to observe the persistent time of the cell-mediated immune suppression in mice by RK dermal exposure. The lymphocyte proliferation induced by concanavalin A (Con A was analyzed by MTT assay, and T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+ and CD

Suppression Effects of Betaine-Enriched Spinach on Hyperhomocysteinemia Induced by Guanidinoacetic Acid and Choline Deficiency in Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Qun Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Betaine is an important natural component of rich food sources, especially spinach. Rats were fed diets with betaine or spinach powder at the same level of betaine for 10 days to investigate the dose-dependent effects of spinach powder supplementation on hyperhomocysteinemia induced by guanidinoacetic acid (GAA addition and choline deprivation. The GAA-induced hyperhomocysteinemia in rats fed 25% casein diet (25C was significantly suppressed by supplementation with betaine or spinach, and it was completely suppressed by taking 11.0% spinach supplementation. The choline deprivation-induced enhancement of plasma homocysteine concentration in rats fed 25% soybean protein diet (25S was markedly suppressed by 3.82% spinach. Supplementation with betaine or spinach partially prevented the effects of GAA on hepatic concentrations of methionine metabolites. The decrease in activity of betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (BHMT and cystathionine β-synthase (CBS in GAA-induced hyperhomocysteinemia was recovered by supplementation with betaine or spinach. Supplementation with betaine or spinach did not affect BHMT activity, whereas it partially restored CBS activity in choline-deprived 25S. The results indicated that betaine or spinach could completely suppress the hyperhomocysteinemia induced by choline deficiency resulting from stimulating the homocysteine removal by both remethylation and cystathionine formation.

Cross-orientation masking in human color vision: application of a two-stage model to assess dichoptic and monocular sources of suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yeon Jin; Gheiratmand, Mina; Mullen, Kathy T

2013-05-28

Cross-orientation masking (XOM) occurs when the detection of a test grating is masked by a superimposed grating at an orthogonal orientation, and is thought to reveal the suppressive effects mediating contrast normalization. Medina and Mullen (2009) reported that XOM was greater for chromatic than achromatic stimuli at equivalent spatial and temporal frequencies. Here we address whether the greater suppression found in binocular color vision originates from a monocular or interocular site, or both. We measure monocular and dichoptic masking functions for red-green color contrast and achromatic contrast at three different spatial frequencies (0.375, 0.75, and 1.5 cpd, 2 Hz). We fit these functions with a modified two-stage masking model (Meese & Baker, 2009) to extract the monocular and interocular weights of suppression. We find that the weight of monocular suppression is significantly higher for color than achromatic contrast, whereas dichoptic suppression is similar for both. These effects are invariant across spatial frequency. We then apply the model to the binocular masking data using the measured values of the monocular and interocular sources of suppression and show that these are sufficient to account for color binocular masking. We conclude that the greater strength of chromatic XOM has a monocular origin that transfers through to the binocular site.

MicroRNA-98 Suppress Warburg Effect by Targeting HK2 in Colon Cancer Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Weimin; Huang, Yijiao; Pan, Qi; Xiang, Pei; Xie, Nanlan; Yu, Hao

2017-03-01

Warburg effect is a hallmark of cancer cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRs) could regulate such metabolic reprograming. Aberrant expression of miR-98 has been observed in many types of cancers. However, its functions and significance in colon cancer remain largely elusive. To investigate miR-98 expression and the biological functions in colon cancer progression. miR-98 expression levels were determined by quantitative RT-PCR in 215 cases of colon cancer samples. miR-98 mimic or inhibitor was used to test the biological functions in SW480 and HCT116 cells, followed by cell proliferation assay, lactate production, glucose uptake, and cellular ATP levels assay and extracellular acidification rates measurement. Western blot and luciferase assay were used to identify the target of miR-98. miR-98 was significantly down-regulated in colon cancer tissues compared to adjacent colon tissues and acted as a suppressor for Warburg effect in cancer cells. miR-98 inhibited glycolysis by directly targeting hexokinase 2, or HK2, illustrating a novel pathway to mediate Warburg effect of cancer cells. In vitro experiments further indicated that HK2 was involved in miR-98-mediated suppression of glucose uptake, lactate production, and cell proliferation. In addition, we detected HK2 expression in colon cancer tissues and found that the expressions of miR-98 and HK2 were negatively correlated. miR-98 acts as tumor suppressor gene and inhibits Warburg effect in colon cancer cells, which provided potential targets for clinical treatments.

Compton suppression gamma ray spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landsberger, S.; Iskander, F.Y.; Niset, M.; Heydorn, K.

2002-01-01

In the past decade there have been many studies to use Compton suppression methods in routine neutron activation analysis as well as in the traditional role of low level gamma ray counting of environmental samples. On a separate path there have been many new PC based software packages that have been developed to enhance photopeak fitting. Although the newer PC based algorithms have had significant improvements, they still suffer from being effectively used in weak gamma ray lines in natural samples or in neutron activated samples that have very high Compton backgrounds. We have completed a series of experiments to show the usefulness of Compton suppression. As well we have shown the pitfalls when using Compton suppression methods for high counting deadtimes as in the case of neutron activated samples. We have also investigated if counting statistics are the same both suppressed and normal modes. Results are presented in four separate experiments. (author)

Buried object detection in GPR images

Science.gov (United States)

Paglieroni, David W; Chambers, David H; Bond, Steven W; Beer, W. Reginald

2014-04-29

A method and system for detecting the presence of subsurface objects within a medium is provided. In some embodiments, the imaging and detection system operates in a multistatic mode to collect radar return signals generated by an array of transceiver antenna pairs that is positioned across the surface and that travels down the surface. The imaging and detection system pre-processes the return signal to suppress certain undesirable effects. The imaging and detection system then generates synthetic aperture radar images from real aperture radar images generated from the pre-processed return signal. The imaging and detection system then post-processes the synthetic aperture radar images to improve detection of subsurface objects. The imaging and detection system identifies peaks in the energy levels of the post-processed image frame, which indicates the presence of a subsurface object.

Small lung cancers: improved detection by use of bone suppression imaging--comparison with dual-energy subtraction chest radiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Feng; Engelmann, Roger; Pesce, Lorenzo L; Doi, Kunio; Metz, Charles E; Macmahon, Heber

2011-12-01

To determine whether use of bone suppression (BS) imaging, used together with a standard radiograph, could improve radiologists' performance for detection of small lung cancers compared with use of standard chest radiographs alone and whether BS imaging would provide accuracy equivalent to that of dual-energy subtraction (DES) radiography. Institutional review board approval was obtained. The requirement for informed consent was waived. The study was HIPAA compliant. Standard and DES chest radiographs of 50 patients with 55 confirmed primary nodular cancers (mean diameter, 20 mm) as well as 30 patients without cancers were included in the observer study. A new BS imaging processing system that can suppress the conspicuity of bones was applied to the standard radiographs to create corresponding BS images. Ten observers, including six experienced radiologists and four radiology residents, indicated their confidence levels regarding the presence or absence of a lung cancer for each lung, first by using a standard image, then a BS image, and finally DES soft-tissue and bone images. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate observer performance. The average area under the ROC curve (AUC) for all observers was significantly improved from 0.807 to 0.867 with BS imaging and to 0.916 with DES (both P chest radiographs. Further improvements can be achieved by use of DES radiography but with the requirement for special equipment and a potential small increase in radiation dose. © RSNA, 2011.

M2 FILTER FOR SPECKLE NOISE SUPPRESSION IN BREAST ULTRASOUND IMAGES

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E.S. Samundeeswari

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Breast cancer, commonly found in women is a serious life threatening disease due to its invasive nature. Ultrasound (US imaging method plays an effective role in screening early detection and diagnosis of Breast cancer. Speckle noise generally affects medical ultrasound images and also causes a number of difficulties in identifying the Region of Interest. Suppressing speckle noise is a challenging task as it destroys fine edge details. No specific filter is designed yet to get a noise free BUS image that is contaminated by speckle noise. In this paper M2 filter, a novel hybrid of linear and nonlinear filter is proposed and compared to other spatial filters with 3×3 kernel size. The performance of the proposed M2 filter is measured by statistical quantity parameters like MSE, PSNR and SSI. The experimental analysis clearly shows that the proposed M2 filter outperforms better than other spatial filters by 2% high PSNR values with regards to speckle suppression.

Fast spin-echo T2-weighted MR imaging of tongue cancer; the value of fat-suppression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Zu Byoung; Na, Dong Gyu; Ryoo, Jae Wook; Kim, Kyeong Ah; Byun, Hong Sik; Baek, Chung Whan; Son, Yong Ik

2000-01-01

To compare the diagnostic efficacy of fast spin-echo (FSE) T2-weighted MR imaging with and without fat suppression. Twelve patients (7 men and 5 women; mean age, 48 years) with pathologically proven cancer of the tongue were included in this study. In all of these, FSE T2-weighted MR images with and without fat suppression were obtained in the same imaging planes before surgery or biopsy. Two radiologists visually compared the images thus obtained in terms of detection, extent, and conspicuity of the tumor, and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of each tumor was also calculated. In all patients, both imaging modalities were equal in terms of tumor detection. In 4 of 12(33%), the extent of the tumor was greater with fat suppression, while in eight (67%), it was almost the same both with and without. In ten patients (83%), the tumor was more conspicuous with fat suppression, and percentage CNRs were significantly higher with fat suppression than without (180±70% and 113±61%, respectively; p=0.02). For the evaluation of patients with tongue cancer, fat-suppressed FSE T2-weighted MR imaging is superior to its conventional equivalent

Optimization of a Compton-suppression system by escape-peak ratio

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niu, H.; Chao, J.H.; Wu, S.-C.

1996-01-01

A Compton-suppression system consisting of an HPGe central detector surrounded by eight BGO scintillators in an annular geometry was assembled. This system is dedicated to in-beam γ-ray measurements. The ratios of full-energy to single-escape peak and full-energy of double-escape peak, at γ-rays of 2754, 4443 and 6130 keV, were used to derive associated suppression factors in order to optimize detection conditions of the system. The suppression factors derived both from the escape peak ratios and the corresponding peak-to-Compton ratios of the γ-ray spectra are compared and discussed. This optimization technique may be of great significance for analyzing complicated spectra, where high-energy γ-rays are considered for analytical use. (Author)

A new method to evaluate the weed-suppressing effect of mulches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arentoft, B. W.; Ali, A.; Streibig, Jens Carl

2013-01-01

To suppress weeds in an apple (Malus sp.) orchard, we placed spruce (Picea spp.) bark mulch and cocoa (Theobroma cacao) husk mulch for 3 months in thicknesses of 0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 cm. To assess the development of weed cover, an innovative use of log-logistic dose–response models was applied...... (ED50 and ED90) differed significantly within and between mulch types. In all except one instance, the cocoa mulch was superior in suppressing weeds. This method was useful for the evaluation, but further research is needed to give a more general conclusion about the suppression ability of the two...

Water structure versus radical scavenger theories as explanations for the suppressive effects of DMSO and related compounds on radiation-induced transformation in vitro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kennedy, A.R.; Symons, M.C.

1987-05-01

We report here that dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO): suppresses radiation-induced transformation in vitro, even when DMSO treatments begin as late as 10 days post-irradiation (when cells are in the confluent, stationary phase of growth); inhibits the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) enhancement of radiation-induced transformation in vitro; does not affect the expression of transformed cells as foci (when surrounded by non-transformed cells); and may be affecting radiation-induced transformation through its solvent properties (i.e. the Water Structure theory), while its effects on the TPA enhancement of radiation transformation may be mediated by its free radical scavenging abilities. DMSO, dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethylacetamide (DMA) are similar solvents which are all very effective in their ability to suppress radiation-induced transformation in vitro (at concentrations in the cellular media down to 0.01%). As DMSO is known to be an extremely effective OH. free-radical scavenging agent, while DMF and DMA are not as efficient at scavenging free radicals, our results suggest that properties other than free-radical scavenging ability may be important in the suppressive effects of these compounds on radiation-induced transformation in vitro. It is known that low concentrations of such basic aprotic solvents modify water structure so as to suppress the protic (H-bond donor) reactivity of water and enhance its basic (H-bond receptor) reactivity. These reactivity changes may well be responsible for the effects noted above. DMSO, DMF and DMA are also capable of suppressing the TPA enhancement of radiation transformation (at concentrations of the compounds of 0.1% or higher). For this effect, the ability of these compounds to scavenge OH. shows a general correlation with their ability to suppress the TPA enhancement of transformation, suggesting that the Radical Scavenger theory may explain the ability of DMSO to suppress promotion in vitro.

Baicalein and U0126 suppress bladder cancer proliferation via ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

RT-PCR) and western blot. Results: Baicalein and U0126 suppressed bladder cancer cell T24 proliferation by blocking cell cycle in G0~G1 phase. TUNEL and Annexin V/PI detection showed both baicalein and U0126 induced T24 cell ...

Extra source implantation for suppression floating-body effect in partially depleted SOI MOSFETs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Jing; Luo Jiexin; Wu Qingqing; Chai Zhan; Huang Xiaolu; Wei Xing; Wang Xi

2012-01-01

Silicon-on-insulate (SOI) MOSFETs offer benefits over bulk competitors for fully isolation and smaller junction capacitance. The performance of partially depleted (PD) SOI MOSFETs, though, is not good enough. Since the body is floating, the extra holes (for nMOSFETs) in this region accumulate, causing body potential arise, which of course degrades the performance of the device. How to suppress the floating-body effect becomes critical. There are mainly two ways for the goal. One is to employ body-contact structures, and the other SiGe source/drain structures. However, the former consumes extra area, not welcomed in the state-of-the-art chips design. The latter is not compatible with the traditional CMOS technology. Finding a structure both saving area and compatible technology is the most urgent for PD SOI MOSFETs. Recently, we have developed a new structure with extra heavy boron implantation in the source region for PD SOI nMOSFETs. It consumes no extra area and is also compatible with CMOS technology. The device is found to be free of kink effect in simulation, which implies the floating-body effect is greatly suppressed. In addition, the mechanisms of the kink-free, as well as the impact of different implanting conditions are interpreted.

Usefulness of fat suppression MR imagings for head and neck cancers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitagawa, Yoshimasa; Ishii, Yasuo; Morihiro, Hironori; Ogasawara, Toshiyuki

1996-01-01

Large amounts of fat and complex anatomy make the head and neck region one of the more challenging areas for MR imagings. The high signal intensity of fat on T1 weighted images (T1W1) has limited the utility of Gd-DTPA in imaging of head and neck lesions. The contrast enhanced lesions may have T1W1 signal intensity similar to fat, which results in diagnostic difficulty. A fat suppression technique used in conjunction with Gd-DTPA ensures that enhancing lesions will not be obscured by high signal from the surrounding fat or by chemical shift artifact. We evaluated the role or chemical shift imagings for fat suppression in the depiction of 15 patients with head and neck cancers. Gd-DTPA-enhanced fat suppression T1W1 were compared with conventional pre and postcontrast T1- and T2W1 using a four-point grading system (Grade 0-3) in detecting and defining the extent of primary lesions and lymphnodes. Gd-DTPA-enhanced fat suppression T1W1 (average score 2.93) which had a score of 3 in 14 patients, were superior to conventional T1W1 (0.73), postcontrast T1W1 (1.80) and T2W1 (1.67). Gd-DTPA enhanced fat suppression T1W1 were particularly beneficial in the detection of central necrosis or extracapsular invasion of neck lymphnodes as well as in defining the extent of tumor invasion to fat-containing areas such as bone marrow or cheek. Our data suggested that fat suppression technique was extremely useful to delineate the primary tumors and regional lymphnodes without increasing scan time or image postprocessing. (author)

Infrared video based gas leak detection method using modified FAST features

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Min; Hong, Hanyu; Huang, Likun

2018-03-01

In order to detect the invisible leaking gas that is usually dangerous and easily leads to fire or explosion in time, many new technologies have arisen in the recent years, among which the infrared video based gas leak detection is widely recognized as a viable tool. However, all the moving regions of a video frame can be detected as leaking gas regions by the existing infrared video based gas leak detection methods, without discriminating the property of each detected region, e.g., a walking person in a video frame may be also detected as gas by the current gas leak detection methods.To solve this problem, we propose a novel infrared video based gas leak detection method in this paper, which is able to effectively suppress strong motion disturbances.Firstly, the Gaussian mixture model(GMM) is used to establish the background model.Then due to the observation that the shapes of gas regions are different from most rigid moving objects, we modify the Features From Accelerated Segment Test (FAST) algorithm and use the modified FAST (mFAST) features to describe each connected component. In view of the fact that the statistical property of the mFAST features extracted from gas regions is different from that of other motion regions, we propose the Pixel-Per-Points (PPP) condition to further select candidate connected components.Experimental results show that the algorithm is able to effectively suppress most strong motion disturbances and achieve real-time leaking gas detection.

Allowing a wildfire to burn: estimating the effect on future fire suppression costs

Science.gov (United States)

Rachel M. Houtman; Claire A. Montgomery; Aaron R. Gagnon; David E. Calkin; Thomas G. Dietterich; Sean McGregor; Mark Crowley

2013-01-01

Where a legacy of aggressive wildland fire suppression has left forests in need of fuel reduction, allowing wildland fire to burn may provide fuel treatment benefits, thereby reducing suppression costs from subsequent fires. The least-cost-plus-net-value-change model of wildland fire economics includes benefits of wildfire in a framework for evaluating suppression...

Differences in the effects of host suppression on the adoptive immunotherapy of subcutaneous and visceral tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, A.E.; Shu, S.Y.; Chou, T.; Lafreniere, R.; Rosenberg, S.A.

1986-01-01

A syngeneic transplantable sarcoma induced in C57BL/6 mice, MCA 105, was used in studies to examine host suppression on the adoptive immunotherapy of established intradermal and experimentally induced pulmonary and hepatic metastases. Fresh immune splenocytes were generated from mice immunized to the MCA 105 tumor by a mixture of viable tumor cells and Corynebacterium parvum. The adoptive immunotherapy of intradermal MCA 105 tumor with immune cells required prior immunosuppression of the recipient by sublethal irradiation with 500 R or T-cell depletion. The effect of whole-body sublethal irradiation appeared to eliminate a systemic host suppression mechanism, since partialbody irradiation involving the tumor-bearing area did not permit successful immunotherapy. Host irradiation was not required to achieve successful immunotherapy of experimentally induced pulmonary or hepatic metastases. In nonirradiated recipients bearing both intradermal and pulmonary tumors, host suppression did not affect the function of transferred immune cells to induce regression of pulmonary metastases. Thus, suppression of adoptive immunotherapy appears to be relevant to tumors confined to the skin and subcutaneous tissue but not to tumor in visceral sites, such as the lung and liver

LArGe: active background suppression using argon scintillation for the GERDA 0νββ-experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agostini, M.; Budjas, D.; Schoenert, S.; Barnabe-Heider, M.; Cattadori, C.; Gangapshev, A.; Gusev, K.; Heisel, M.; Smolnikov, A.; Junker, M.; Klimenko, A.; Lubashevskiy, A.; Pelczar, K.; Zuzel, G.

2015-01-01

LArGe is a GERDA low-background test facility to study novel background suppression methods in a low-background environment, for future application in the GERDA experiment. Similar to GERDA, LArGe operates bare germanium detectors submersed into liquid argon (1 m 3 , 1.4tons), which in addition is instrumented with photomultipliers to detect argon scintillation light. The scintillation signals are used in anti-coincidence with the germanium detectors to effectively suppress background events that deposit energy in the liquid argon. The background suppression efficiency was studied in combination with a pulse shape discrimination (PSD) technique using a BEGe detector for various sources, which represent characteristic backgrounds to GERDA. Suppression factors of a few times 10 3 have been achieved. First background data of LArGe with a coaxial HPGe detector (without PSD) yield a background index of (0.12 - 4.6) x 10 -2 cts/(keV kg year) (90 % C.L.), which is at the level of GERDA Phase I. Furthermore, for the first time we monitor the natural 42 Ar abundance (parallel to GERDA), and have indication for the 2νββ-decay in natural germanium. These results show the effectivity of an active liquid argon veto in an ultra-low background environment. As a consequence, the implementation of a liquid argon veto in GERDA Phase II is pursued. (orig.)

LArGe: active background suppression using argon scintillation for the Gerda 0ν β β -experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Agostini, M.; Barnabé-Heider, M.; Budjáš, D.; Cattadori, C.; Gangapshev, A.; Gusev, K.; Heisel, M.; Junker, M.; Klimenko, A.; Lubashevskiy, A.; Pelczar, K.; Schönert, S.; Smolnikov, A.; Zuzel, G.

2015-10-01

LArGe is a Gerda low-background test facility to study novel background suppression methods in a low-background environment, for future application in the Gerda experiment. Similar to Gerda, LArGe operates bare germanium detectors submersed into liquid argon (1 m^3, 1.4 tons), which in addition is instrumented with photomultipliers to detect argon scintillation light. The scintillation signals are used in anti-coincidence with the germanium detectors to effectively suppress background events that deposit energy in the liquid argon. The background suppression efficiency was studied in combination with a pulse shape discrimination (PSD) technique using a BEGe detector for various sources, which represent characteristic backgrounds to Gerda. Suppression factors of a few times 10^3 have been achieved. First background data of LArGe with a coaxial HPGe detector (without PSD) yield a background index of (0.12-4.6)× 10^{-2} cts/(keV kg year) (90 % C.L.), which is at the level of Gerda Phase I. Furthermore, for the first time we monitor the natural ^{42}Ar abundance (parallel to Gerda), and have indication for the 2ν β β -decay in natural germanium. These results show the effectivity of an active liquid argon veto in an ultra-low background environment. As a consequence, the implementation of a liquid argon veto in Gerda Phase II is pursued.

LArGe: active background suppression using argon scintillation for the GERDA 0νββ-experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agostini, M.; Budjas, D.; Schoenert, S. [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Munich (Germany); Barnabe-Heider, M. [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Munich (Germany); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Cattadori, C. [Universita degli Studi di Milano, Milan (Italy); INFN, Milan (Italy); Gangapshev, A. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Institut for Nuclear Research, Moscow (Russian Federation); Gusev, K. [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Munich (Germany); Joint Institut for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); National Research Center Kurchatov Institut, Moscow (Russian Federation); Heisel, M.; Smolnikov, A. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Junker, M. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi (Italy); Klimenko, A.; Lubashevskiy, A. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Joint Institut for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Pelczar, K. [Jagellonian University, Cracow (Poland); Zuzel, G. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Jagellonian University, Cracow (Poland)

2015-10-15

LArGe is a GERDA low-background test facility to study novel background suppression methods in a low-background environment, for future application in the GERDA experiment. Similar to GERDA, LArGe operates bare germanium detectors submersed into liquid argon (1 m{sup 3}, 1.4tons), which in addition is instrumented with photomultipliers to detect argon scintillation light. The scintillation signals are used in anti-coincidence with the germanium detectors to effectively suppress background events that deposit energy in the liquid argon. The background suppression efficiency was studied in combination with a pulse shape discrimination (PSD) technique using a BEGe detector for various sources, which represent characteristic backgrounds to GERDA. Suppression factors of a few times 10{sup 3} have been achieved. First background data of LArGe with a coaxial HPGe detector (without PSD) yield a background index of (0.12 - 4.6) x 10{sup -2} cts/(keV kg year) (90 % C.L.), which is at the level of GERDA Phase I. Furthermore, for the first time we monitor the natural {sup 42}Ar abundance (parallel to GERDA), and have indication for the 2νββ-decay in natural germanium. These results show the effectivity of an active liquid argon veto in an ultra-low background environment. As a consequence, the implementation of a liquid argon veto in GERDA Phase II is pursued. (orig.)

CONDITIONS FOR CSR MICROBUNCHING GAIN SUPPRESSION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsai, Cheng Ying [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Douglas, David R. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Li, Rui [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Tennant, Christopher D. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); di Mitri, Simone [Elettra–Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

2016-05-01

The coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) of a high brightness electron beam traversing a series of dipoles, such as transport arcs, may result in phase space degradation. On one hand, the CSR can perturb electron transverse motion in dispersive regions along the beamline, causing emittance growth. On the other hand, the CSR effect on the longitudinal beam dynamics could result in microbunching gain enhancement. For transport arcs, several schemes have been proposed* to suppress the CSR-induced emittance growth. Similarly, several scenarios have been introduced** to suppress CSR-induced microbunching gain, which however mostly aim for linac-based machines. In this paper we try to provide sufficient conditions for suppression of CSR-induced microbunching gain along a transport arc, analogous to*. Several example lattices are presented, with the relevant microbunching analyses carried out by our semi-analytical Vlasov solver***. The simulation results show that lattices satisfying the proposed conditions indeed have microbunching gain suppressed. We expect this analysis can shed light on lattice design approach that could suppress the CSR-induced microbunching gain.

Optimization of L-shaped tunneling field-effect transistor for ambipolar current suppression and Analog/RF performance enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Cong; Zhao, Xiaolong; Zhuang, Yiqi; Yan, Zhirui; Guo, Jiaming; Han, Ru

2018-03-01

L-shaped tunneling field-effect transistor (LTFET) has larger tunnel area than planar TFET, which leads to enhanced on-current ION . However, LTFET suffers from severe ambipolar behavior, which needs to be further optimized for low power and high-frequency applications. In this paper, both hetero-gate-dielectric (HGD) and lightly doped drain (LDD) structures are introduced into LTFET for suppression of ambipolarity and improvement of analog/RF performance of LTFET. Current-voltage characteristics, the variation of energy band diagrams, distribution of band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) generation and distribution of electric field are analyzed for our proposed HGD-LDD-LTFET. In addition, the effect of LDD on the ambipolar behavior of LTFET is investigated, the length and doping concentration of LDD is also optimized for better suppression of ambipolar current. Finally, analog/RF performance of HGD-LDD-LTFET are studied in terms of gate-source capacitance, gate-drain capacitance, cut-off frequency, and gain bandwidth production. TCAD simulation results show that HGD-LDD-LTFET not only drastically suppresses ambipolar current but also improves analog/RF performance compared with conventional LTFET.

Suppression of the initial transient in Monte Carlo criticality simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richet, Y.

2006-12-01

Criticality Monte Carlo calculations aim at estimating the effective multiplication factor (k-effective) for a fissile system through iterations simulating neutrons propagation (making a Markov chain). Arbitrary initialization of the neutron population can deeply bias the k-effective estimation, defined as the mean of the k-effective computed at each iteration. A simplified model of this cycle k-effective sequence is built, based on characteristics of industrial criticality Monte Carlo calculations. Statistical tests, inspired by Brownian bridge properties, are designed to discriminate stationarity of the cycle k-effective sequence. The initial detected transient is, then, suppressed in order to improve the estimation of the system k-effective. The different versions of this methodology are detailed and compared, firstly on a plan of numerical tests fitted on criticality Monte Carlo calculations, and, secondly on real criticality calculations. Eventually, the best methodologies observed in these tests are selected and allow to improve industrial Monte Carlo criticality calculations. (author)

Dynamic telomerase gene suppression via network effects of GSK3 inhibition.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan E Bilsland

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Telomerase controls telomere homeostasis and cell immortality and is a promising anti-cancer target, but few small molecule telomerase inhibitors have been developed. Reactivated transcription of the catalytic subunit hTERT in cancer cells controls telomerase expression. Better understanding of upstream pathways is critical for effective anti-telomerase therapeutics and may reveal new targets to inhibit hTERT expression.In a focused promoter screen, several GSK3 inhibitors suppressed hTERT reporter activity. GSK3 inhibition using 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime suppressed hTERT expression, telomerase activity and telomere length in several cancer cell lines and growth and hTERT expression in ovarian cancer xenografts. Microarray analysis, network modelling and oligonucleotide binding assays suggested that multiple transcription factors were affected. Extensive remodelling involving Sp1, STAT3, c-Myc, NFkappaB, and p53 occurred at the endogenous hTERT promoter. RNAi screening of the hTERT promoter revealed multiple kinase genes which affect the hTERT promoter, potentially acting through these factors. Prolonged inhibitor treatments caused dynamic expression both of hTERT and of c-Jun, p53, STAT3, AR and c-Myc.Our results indicate that GSK3 activates hTERT expression in cancer cells and contributes to telomere length homeostasis. GSK3 inhibition is a clinical strategy for several chronic diseases. These results imply that it may also be useful in cancer therapy. However, the complex network effects we show here have implications for either setting.

Suppression of tunnel modes of hydrogen in α-Mn by elastic stresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonov, V.E.; Fedotov, V.K.; Glazkov, V.P.; Somenkov, V.A.; Kozlenko, D.P.; Savenko, B.N.

2002-01-01

By means of inelastic incoherent scattering of neutrons one investigated into behavior of hydrogen tunnel mode in MnH 0.04 and MnH 0.07 under high pressure values in sapphire anvils. Peak of inelastic scattering relevant to hydrogen tunnelling in a two-hole potential was determined to vanish at 0.8 GPa pressure under quasi-hydrostatic mode and to survive with no visible changes under standard hydrostatics. The detected effect of suppression of tunnel modes by inhomogeneous elastic stresses is explained by interruption of levels in neighboring holes by static shifts [ru

Inverter-Current-Feedback Resonance-Suppression Method for LCL-Type DG System to Reduce Resonance-Frequency Offset and Grid-Inductance Effect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Leming; Zhou, Xiaoping; Chen, Yandong

2018-01-01

For the LCL-type grid-connected distributed generation system, the grid-current-feedback active damping (GCFAD) methods have a conflict between the resonance-suppression ability and harmonic-currents amplification. For this, an inverter-current-feedback reso-nance-suppression (ICFRS) method without...... additional sensors is proposed to reduce resonance-frequency offset and grid-inductance effect due to its unattenuated damping characteristic under high-frequency bandwidth. By analyzing two types of equivalent impedance models of ICFRS and GCFAD with a high-pass filter (HPF), GCFAD can suppress...

Suppression of radiation-induced in vitro carcinogenesis by ascorbic acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tauchi, Hiroshi; Sawada, Shozo

1993-01-01

The effects of ascorbic acid on radiation-induced in vitro carcinogenesis have been reported using neoplastic transformation system of C3H 10T1/2 cells. In these reports, no suppressive effect on X-ray-induced transformation was observed with 6 weeks' administration of ascorbic acid (daily addition for 5 days per week) by Kennedy (1984), whereas apparent suppression was observed with daily addition for 7 days by Yasukawa et al (1989). We have tested the effects of ascorbic acid on 60 Co gamma-ray or 252 Cf fission neutron-induced transformation in Balb/c 3T3 cells. The transformation induced by both types of radiations was markedly suppressed when ascorbic acid was daily added to the medium during first 8 days of the post-irradiation period. If ascorbic acid was added for a total of 8 days but with a day's interruption in the middle, the suppression of transformation was decreased. These results suggest that continuous presence of ascorbic acid for a certain number of days is needed to suppress radiation-induced transformation. Since ascorbic acid also suppressed the promotion of radiation-induced transformation by TPA when both chemicals were added together into the medium, ascorbic acid might act on the promotion stage of transformation. Therefore, the effect of ascorbic acid on the distribution of protein kinase C activity was also investigated, and possible mechanisms of suppression of radiation-induced transformation by ascorbic acid will be discussed. (author)

Quantifying the effect of crop spatial arrangement on weed suppression using functional-structural plant modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Evers, Jochem B; Bastiaans, Lammert

2016-05-01

Suppression of weed growth in a crop canopy can be enhanced by improving crop competitiveness. One way to achieve this is by modifying the crop planting pattern. In this study, we addressed the question to what extent a uniform planting pattern increases the ability of a crop to compete with weed plants for light compared to a random and a row planting pattern, and how this ability relates to crop and weed plant density as well as the relative time of emergence of the weed. To this end, we adopted the functional-structural plant modelling approach which allowed us to explicitly include the 3D spatial configuration of the crop-weed canopy and to simulate intra- and interspecific competition between individual plants for light. Based on results of simulated leaf area development, canopy photosynthesis and biomass growth of the crop, we conclude that differences between planting pattern were small, particularly if compared to the effects of relative time of emergence of the weed, weed density and crop density. Nevertheless, analysis of simulated weed biomass demonstrated that a uniform planting of the crop improved the weed-suppression ability of the crop canopy. Differences in weed suppressiveness between planting patterns were largest with weed emergence before crop emergence, when the suppressive effect of the crop was only marginal. With simultaneous emergence a uniform planting pattern was 8 and 15 % more competitive than a row and a random planting pattern, respectively. When weed emergence occurred after crop emergence, differences between crop planting patterns further decreased as crop canopy closure was reached early on regardless of planting pattern. We furthermore conclude that our modelling approach provides promising avenues to further explore crop-weed interactions and aid in the design of crop management strategies that aim at improving crop competitiveness with weeds.

Burst suppression probability algorithms: state-space methods for tracking EEG burst suppression

Science.gov (United States)

Chemali, Jessica; Ching, ShiNung; Purdon, Patrick L.; Solt, Ken; Brown, Emery N.

2013-10-01

Objective. Burst suppression is an electroencephalogram pattern in which bursts of electrical activity alternate with an isoelectric state. This pattern is commonly seen in states of severely reduced brain activity such as profound general anesthesia, anoxic brain injuries, hypothermia and certain developmental disorders. Devising accurate, reliable ways to quantify burst suppression is an important clinical and research problem. Although thresholding and segmentation algorithms readily identify burst suppression periods, analysis algorithms require long intervals of data to characterize burst suppression at a given time and provide no framework for statistical inference. Approach. We introduce the concept of the burst suppression probability (BSP) to define the brain's instantaneous propensity of being in the suppressed state. To conduct dynamic analyses of burst suppression we propose a state-space model in which the observation process is a binomial model and the state equation is a Gaussian random walk. We estimate the model using an approximate expectation maximization algorithm and illustrate its application in the analysis of rodent burst suppression recordings under general anesthesia and a patient during induction of controlled hypothermia. Main result. The BSP algorithms track burst suppression on a second-to-second time scale, and make possible formal statistical comparisons of burst suppression at different times. Significance. The state-space approach suggests a principled and informative way to analyze burst suppression that can be used to monitor, and eventually to control, the brain states of patients in the operating room and in the intensive care unit.

Optogenetic and pharmacological suppression of spatial clusters of face neurons reveal their causal role in face gender discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Afraz, Arash; Boyden, Edward S; DiCarlo, James J

2015-05-26

Neurons that respond more to images of faces over nonface objects were identified in the inferior temporal (IT) cortex of primates three decades ago. Although it is hypothesized that perceptual discrimination between faces depends on the neural activity of IT subregions enriched with "face neurons," such a causal link has not been directly established. Here, using optogenetic and pharmacological methods, we reversibly suppressed the neural activity in small subregions of IT cortex of macaque monkeys performing a facial gender-discrimination task. Each type of intervention independently demonstrated that suppression of IT subregions enriched in face neurons induced a contralateral deficit in face gender-discrimination behavior. The same neural suppression of other IT subregions produced no detectable change in behavior. These results establish a causal link between the neural activity in IT face neuron subregions and face gender-discrimination behavior. Also, the demonstration that brief neural suppression of specific spatial subregions of IT induces behavioral effects opens the door for applying the technical advantages of optogenetics to a systematic attack on the causal relationship between IT cortex and high-level visual perception.

Visual short-term memory load suppresses temporo-parietal junction activity and induces inattentional blindness.

Science.gov (United States)

Todd, J Jay; Fougnie, Daryl; Marois, René

2005-12-01

The right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is critical for stimulus-driven attention and visual awareness. Here we show that as the visual short-term memory (VSTM) load of a task increases, activity in this region is increasingly suppressed. Correspondingly, increasing VSTM load impairs the ability of subjects to consciously detect the presence of a novel, unexpected object in the visual field. These results not only demonstrate that VSTM load suppresses TPJ activity and induces inattentional blindness, but also offer a plausible neural mechanism for this perceptual deficit: suppression of the stimulus-driven attentional network.

Use of high-dose, twice-yearly albendazole and ivermectin to suppress Wuchereria bancrofti microfilarial levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Dembele, Benoit; Coulibaly, Yaya I; Dolo, Housseini; Konate, Siaka; Coulibaly, Siaka Y; Sanogo, Dramane; Soumaoro, Lamine; Coulibaly, Michel E; Doumbia, Salif Seriba; Diallo, Abdallah A; Traore, Sekou F; Diaman Keita, Adama; Fay, Michael P; Nutman, Thomas B; Klion, Amy D

2010-12-01

Annual mass treatment with albendazole and ivermectin is the mainstay of current strategies to interrupt transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti in Africa. More-effective microfilarial suppression could potentially reduce the time necessary to interrupt transmission, easing the economic burden of mass treatment programs in countries with limited resources. To determine the effect of increased dose and frequency of albendazole-ivermectin treatment on microfilarial clearance, 51 W. bancrofti microfilaremic residents of an area of W. bancrofti endemicity in Mali were randomized to receive 2 doses of annual, standard-dose albendazole-ivermectin therapy (400 mg and 150 μg/kg; n = 26) or 4 doses of twice-yearly, increased-dose albendazole-ivermectin therapy (800 mg and 400 μg/kg; n = 25). Although microfilarial levels decreased significantly after therapy in both groups, levels were significantly lower in the high-dose, twice-yearly group at 12, 18, and 24 months. Furthermore, there was complete clearance of detectable microfilariae at 12 months in the 19 patients in the twice-yearly therapy group with data available at 12 months, compared with 9 of 21 patients in the annual therapy group (P < .001, by Fisher's exact test). This difference between the 2 groups was sustained at 18 and 24 months, with no detectable microfilariae in the patients receiving twice-yearly treatment. Worm nests detectable by ultrasonography and W. bancrofti circulating antigen levels, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, were decreased to the same degree in both groups at 24 months, compared with baseline. These findings suggest that increasing the dosage and frequency of albendazole-ivermectin treatment enhances suppression of microfilariae but that this effect may not be attributable to improved adulticidal activity.

The effects of psychoeducation on thought-action fusion, thought suppression, and responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Marino-Carper, Teresa; Negy, Charles; Burns, Gillian; Lunt, Rachael A

2010-09-01

The current study examined the effects of a psychoeducational intervention designed to target thought-action fusion (TAF) on TAF, thought suppression, and responsibility cognitions. 139 undergraduate students (25 male; 114 female) who were relatively high in TAF with respect to their peers served as participants. Immediately following intervention, individuals who had received psychoeducation regarding TAF reported significantly lower morality TAF scores than individuals who had received psychoeducation regarding thoughts in general and individuals in the control group. At the two-week follow-up assessment, the likelihood TAF scores of those who had received psychoeducation regarding TAF were significantly lower than those of the control group. In addition, the group that received psychoeducation regarding TAF was the only group that did not experience a significant increase in thought suppression from baseline to post-intervention, and was also the only group to experience an increase in both frequency of and belief in low-responsibility thoughts from baseline to follow-up. Implications are discussed. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis and suppression of passive noise in surface microseismic data

Science.gov (United States)

Forghani-Arani, Farnoush

Surface microseismic surveys are gaining popularity in monitoring the hydraulic fracturing process. The effectiveness of these surveys, however, is strongly dependent on the signal-to-noise ratio of the acquired data. Cultural and industrial noise generated during hydraulic fracturing operations usually dominate the data, thereby decreasing the effectiveness of using these data in identifying and locating microseismic events. Hence, noise suppression is a critical step in surface microseismic monitoring. In this thesis, I focus on two important aspects in using surface-recorded microseismic seismic data: first, I take advantage of the unwanted surface noise to understand the characteristics of these noise and extract information about the propagation medium from the noise; second, I propose effective techniques to suppress the surface noise while preserving the waveforms that contain information about the source of microseisms. Automated event identification on passive seismic data using only a few receivers is challenging especially when the record lengths span over long durations of time. I introduce an automatic event identification algorithm that is designed specifically for detecting events in passive data acquired with a small number of receivers. I demonstrate that the conventional STA/LTA (Short-term Average/Long-term Average) algorithm is not sufficiently effective in event detection in the common case of low signal-to-noise ratio. With a cross-correlation based method as an extension of the STA/LTA algorithm, even low signal-to-noise events (that were not detectable with conventional STA/LTA) were revealed. Surface microseismic data contains surface-waves (generated primarily from hydraulic fracturing activities) and body-waves in the form of microseismic events. It is challenging to analyze the surface-waves on the recorded data directly because of the randomness of their source and their unknown source signatures. I use seismic interferometry to extract

Value of Fat-Suppressed Proton-Density-Weighted Turbo Spin-Echo Sequences in Detecting Meniscal Lesions: Comparison with Arthroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaefer, F.K.W.; Schaefer, P.J.; Brossmann, J.; Frahm, C.; Hilgert, R.E.; Heller, M.; Jahnke, T.

2006-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate fat-suppressed (FS) proton-density-weighted (PDw) turbo spin-echo (TSE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to arthroscopy in the detection of meniscal lesions. Material and Methods: In a prospective study, 31 knee joints were imaged on a 1.5T MR scanner before arthroscopy using the following sequences: (a) coronal and sagittal FS-PDw TSE (TR/TE: 4009/15 ms); (b) coronal T1w SE (TR/TE: 722/20 ms), and sagittal PDw TSE (TR/TE: 3800/15 ms). Other imaging parameters were: slice thickness 3 mm, FOV 160 mm, matrix 256x256. A total of 186 meniscal regions (62 menisci; anterior horn, body, posterior horn) were evaluated. Standard of reference was arthroscopy. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (npv), positive predictive value (ppv), and accuracy were calculated. Results: Arthroscopically, meniscal lesions were detected in 55/186 segments (35 medial and 20 lateral meniscal lesions). Sensitivity, specificity, npv, ppv, and accuracy for combination of coronal and sagittal FS PDw TSE were 91.4%, 98.3%, 95%, 97%, and 93.5% for the medial meniscus, and 90%, 98.6%, 97.3%, 94.7%, and 96.8% for the lateral. The results were comparable to the combination of coronal T1w SE and sagittal PDw TSE for the medial (88.6%, 98.3%, 93.4%, 96.9%, 91.4%) and the lateral (90%, 95.9%, 97.2%, 85.7%, 92.5%) meniscus. Conclusion: FS PDw TSE-MR sequences are an excellent alternative for the detection of meniscal lesions in comparison with diagnostic arthroscopy

HDAC6 inhibition suppresses chondrosarcoma by restoring the expression of primary cilia.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Wei; Guo, Fengjing; Cheng, Weiting; Zhang, Jiaming; Huang, Junming; Wang, Rui; Ma, Zhongxi; Xu, Kai

2017-07-01

Chondrosarcoma is a bone tumor characterized by the secretion of a cartilage-like extracellular matrix. It has been proved to lack extracellular sensor primary cilia. This study aimed to illustrate a feasible therapeutic method for chondrosarcoma by regulating primary cilia assembly through inhibiting histone deacetylases 6 (HDAC6) activation. In order to detect the interaction between primary cilia and HDAC6 in human chondrosarcoma, Tubastatin A and small interfering RNA (siRNA) were used to inhibit the endogenous expression of HDAC6. Cell viability test and Transwell assay were applied to evaluate the effects of malignant biological properties. Primary cilia staining and related proteins were detected. The abnormal expression of HDAC6 and cilia intraflagellar transport protein 88 (IFT88) was found in chondrosarcoma tissues. The inhibition of HDAC6 could downregulate the proliferation of chondrosarcoma cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner and suppress the invasion capacity of tumor cells. Besides, the downregulation of HDAC6 exhibited a negative effect on the proliferation of relevant proteins but a positive effect on the primary cilia-related expression of IFT88 and acetylated α-tubulin. Primary cilia restoration could be observed after HDAC6 siRNA transfection. The Aurora A-HDAC6 cascade was involved in regulating primary cilia resorption by affecting α-tubulin deacetylation and Tubastatin A could inhibit chondrosarcoma cell growth in vivo. These results indicate that restricting HDAC6 can restore primary cilia assembly accompanied with suppressed chondrosarcoma cell proliferation and invasion capacities. Thus, promoting primary cilia restoration by targeting HDAC6 may be a feasible potential therapeutic method for chondro-sarcoma treatment.

Suppression of irradiation effects in gold-doped silicon detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McPherson, M.; Sloan, T.; Jones, B.K.

1997-01-01

Two sets of silicon detectors were irradiated with 1 MeV neutrons to different fluences and then characterized. The first batch were ordinary p-i-n photodiodes fabricated from high-resistivity (400 Ω cm) silicon, while the second batch were gold-doped powder diodes fabricated from silicon material initially of low resistivity (20 Ω cm). The increase in reverse leakage current after irradiation was found to be more in the former case than in the latter. The fluence dependence of the capacitance was much more pronounced in the p-i-n diodes than in the gold-doped diodes. Furthermore, photo current generation by optical means was less in the gold doped devices. All these results suggest that gold doping in silicon somewhat suppresses the effects of neutron irradiation. (author)

Effects of long-term acid suppressants with ranitidine and omeprazole on gastric mucosa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P C Alexander

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background and objectives: Proton pump inhibitors are used widely for gastroesophageal reflux disease and ulcer type dyspepsia. Majority of the patients require long term medication. H2 receptor antagonist are also used for relief of symptoms. Though tachyphylaxis has been reported, symptom response is seen with long term use. The aim of the present study was to study the effects of long-term acid suppressants on gastric antral histology. Methods: Patients who received long-term acid suppressants such as ranitidine and omeprazole for gastroesophageal reflux disease or dyspepsia were included. All of them had an antral biopsy for histology and H. pylori status at baseline, at 6 months and 12 months. Patients on acid suppressants for less than a year or on long-term non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs were excluded from the study. The grading of gastritis was classified as chronic active gastritis, atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia. Results: Thirty patients received ranitidine and 28 omeprazole. In H. pylori positive group, the median duration of ranitidine and omeprazole were 3 years (1.5 to 8 years and 4 years (1 to 10 years respectively. Two thirds of patients had chronic active gastritis (ranitidine: 35.5%; omeprazole:26.6%; 10 had gastric atrophy (ranitidine: 6.6%; omeprazole:15.5% and 7 had intestinal metaplasia (ranitidine4.4%; omeprazole11.1%. Four of the 10 patients on omeprazole showed progression of histology as against only one of the 13 patients on ranitidine at one year of follow up. In omeprazole pylori negative patients, the median duration of ranitidine and omeprazole was 2.5 years (range 1 to 6 years and 3 years (range 2 to 7 years respectively. Irrespective of the acid suppressants, the baseline histology was either chronic active gastritis (78.5% or gastric atrophy (21.5%. None had intestinal metaplasia. Also there was no progression in histology staging during the follow up. Conclusions: Long-term acid

Enhanced J/psi suppression due to gluon depletion

OpenAIRE

Hwa, R. C.; Pisut, J.; Pisutova, N.

1997-01-01

The nonlinear effect of gluon depletion in the collision of large nuclei can be large. It is due to multiple scatterings among comoving partons initiated by primary scattering of partons in the colliding nuclei. The effect can give rise to substantial suppression of $J/\\psi$ production in very large nuclei, even if the linear depletion effect is insignificant for the collisions of nuclei of smaller sizes. This mechanism offers a natural explanation of the enhanced suppression in the Pb-Pb dat...

Suppression of inflammatory immune responses in celiac disease by experimental hookworm infection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry J McSorley

Full Text Available We present immunological data from two clinical trials where the effect of experimental human hookworm (Necator americanus infection on the pathology of celiac disease was evaluated. We found that basal production of Interferon- (IFN-γ and Interleukin- (IL-17A from duodenal biopsy culture was suppressed in hookworm-infected participants compared to uninfected controls. Increased levels of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells in the circulation and mucosa are associated with active celiac disease. We show that this accumulation also occurs during a short-term (1 week oral gluten challenge, and that hookworm infection suppressed the increase of circulating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells during this challenge period. When duodenal biopsies from hookworm-infected participants were restimulated with the immunodominant gliadin peptide QE65, robust production of IL-2, IFN-γ and IL-17A was detected, even prior to gluten challenge while participants were strictly adhering to a gluten-free diet. Intriguingly, IL-5 was produced only after hookworm infection in response to QE65. Thus we hypothesise that hookworm-induced TH2 and IL-10 cross-regulation of the TH1/TH17 inflammatory response may be responsible for the suppression of these responses during experimental hookworm infection.

Comparative Metatranscriptomics of Wheat Rhizosphere Microbiomes in Disease Suppressive and Non-suppressive Soils for Rhizoctonia solani AG8

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Helen L. Hayden

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The soilborne fungus Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group (AG 8 is a major pathogen of grain crops resulting in substantial production losses. In the absence of resistant cultivars of wheat or barley, a sustainable and enduring method for disease control may lie in the enhancement of biological disease suppression. Evidence of effective biological control of R. solani AG8 through disease suppression has been well documented at our study site in Avon, South Australia. A comparative metatranscriptomic approach was applied to assess the taxonomic and functional characteristics of the rhizosphere microbiome of wheat plants grown in adjacent fields which are suppressive and non-suppressive to the plant pathogen R. solani AG8. Analysis of 12 rhizosphere metatranscriptomes (six per field was undertaken using two bioinformatic approaches involving unassembled and assembled reads. Differential expression analysis showed the dominant taxa in the rhizosphere based on mRNA annotation were Arthrobacter spp. and Pseudomonas spp. for non-suppressive samples and Stenotrophomonas spp. and Buttiauxella spp. for the suppressive samples. The assembled metatranscriptome analysis identified more differentially expressed genes than the unassembled analysis in the comparison of suppressive and non-suppressive samples. Suppressive samples showed greater expression of a polyketide cyclase, a terpenoid biosynthesis backbone gene (dxs and many cold shock proteins (csp. Non-suppressive samples were characterised by greater expression of antibiotic genes such as non-heme chloroperoxidase (cpo which is involved in pyrrolnitrin synthesis, and phenazine biosynthesis family protein F (phzF and its transcriptional activator protein (phzR. A large number of genes involved in detoxifying reactive oxygen species (ROS and superoxide radicals (sod, cat, ahp, bcp, gpx1, trx were also expressed in the non-suppressive rhizosphere samples most likely in response to the infection of wheat

Effect of successive cauliflower plantings and Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-1 inoculations on disease suppressiveness of a suppressive and a conducive soil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postma, J.; Scheper, R.W.A.; Schilder, M.T.

2010-01-01

Disease suppressiveness against Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-1 in cauliflower was studied in two marine clay soils with a sandy loam texture. The soils had a different cropping history. One soil had a long-term (40 years) cauliflower history and was suppressive, the other soil was conducive and came from

Nociceptor sensory neurons suppress neutrophil and γδ T cell responses in bacterial lung infections and lethal pneumonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Baral, Pankaj; Umans, Benjamin D; Li, Lu; Wallrapp, Antonia; Bist, Meghna; Kirschbaum, Talia; Wei, Yibing; Zhou, Yan; Kuchroo, Vijay K; Burkett, Patrick R; Yipp, Bryan G; Liberles, Stephen D; Chiu, Isaac M

2018-05-01

Lung-innervating nociceptor sensory neurons detect noxious or harmful stimuli and consequently protect organisms by mediating coughing, pain, and bronchoconstriction. However, the role of sensory neurons in pulmonary host defense is unclear. Here, we found that TRPV1 + nociceptors suppressed protective immunity against lethal Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia. Targeted TRPV1 + -neuron ablation increased survival, cytokine induction, and lung bacterial clearance. Nociceptors suppressed the recruitment and surveillance of neutrophils, and altered lung γδ T cell numbers, which are necessary for immunity. Vagal ganglia TRPV1 + afferents mediated immunosuppression through release of the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Targeting neuroimmunological signaling may be an effective approach to treat lung infections and bacterial pneumonia.

Effective noise-suppressed and artifact-reduced reconstruction of SPECT data using a preconditioned alternating projection algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Si; Xu, Yuesheng, E-mail: yxu06@syr.edu [Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Computational Science, School of Mathematics and Computational Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China); Zhang, Jiahan; Lipson, Edward [Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244 (United States); Krol, Andrzej; Feiglin, David [Department of Radiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York 13210 (United States); Schmidtlein, C. Ross [Department of Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065 (United States); Vogelsang, Levon [Carestream Health, Rochester, New York 14608 (United States); Shen, Lixin [Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Computational Science, School of Mathematics and Computational Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China and Department of Mathematics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244 (United States)

2015-08-15

square errors (MSEs), and report the convergence speed and computation time. Results: HOTV-PAPA yields the best signal-to-noise ratio, followed by TV-PAPA and TV-OSL/GPF-EM. The local spatial resolution of HOTV-PAPA is somewhat worse than that of TV-PAPA and TV-OSL. Images reconstructed using HOTV-PAPA have the lowest local noise power spectrum (LNPS) amplitudes, followed by TV-PAPA, TV-OSL, and GPF-EM. The LNPS peak of GPF-EM is shifted toward higher spatial frequencies than those for the three other methods. The PAPA-type methods exhibit much lower ensemble noise, ensemble voxel variance, and image roughness. HOTV-PAPA performs best in these categories. Whereas images reconstructed using both TV-PAPA and TV-OSL are degraded by severe staircase artifacts; HOTV-PAPA substantially reduces such artifacts. It also converges faster than the other three methods and exhibits the lowest overall reconstruction error level, as measured by MSE. Conclusions: For high-noise simulated SPECT data, HOTV-PAPA outperforms TV-PAPA, GPF-EM, and TV-OSL in terms of hot lesion detectability, noise suppression, MSE, and computational efficiency. Unlike TV-PAPA and TV-OSL, HOTV-PAPA does not create sizable staircase artifacts. Moreover, HOTV-PAPA effectively suppresses noise, with only limited loss of local spatial resolution. Of the four methods, HOTV-PAPA shows the best lesion detectability, thanks to its superior noise suppression. HOTV-PAPA shows promise for clinically useful reconstructions of low-dose SPECT data.

Effective noise-suppressed and artifact-reduced reconstruction of SPECT data using a preconditioned alternating projection algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Si; Xu, Yuesheng; Zhang, Jiahan; Lipson, Edward; Krol, Andrzej; Feiglin, David; Schmidtlein, C. Ross; Vogelsang, Levon; Shen, Lixin

2015-01-01

square errors (MSEs), and report the convergence speed and computation time. Results: HOTV-PAPA yields the best signal-to-noise ratio, followed by TV-PAPA and TV-OSL/GPF-EM. The local spatial resolution of HOTV-PAPA is somewhat worse than that of TV-PAPA and TV-OSL. Images reconstructed using HOTV-PAPA have the lowest local noise power spectrum (LNPS) amplitudes, followed by TV-PAPA, TV-OSL, and GPF-EM. The LNPS peak of GPF-EM is shifted toward higher spatial frequencies than those for the three other methods. The PAPA-type methods exhibit much lower ensemble noise, ensemble voxel variance, and image roughness. HOTV-PAPA performs best in these categories. Whereas images reconstructed using both TV-PAPA and TV-OSL are degraded by severe staircase artifacts; HOTV-PAPA substantially reduces such artifacts. It also converges faster than the other three methods and exhibits the lowest overall reconstruction error level, as measured by MSE. Conclusions: For high-noise simulated SPECT data, HOTV-PAPA outperforms TV-PAPA, GPF-EM, and TV-OSL in terms of hot lesion detectability, noise suppression, MSE, and computational efficiency. Unlike TV-PAPA and TV-OSL, HOTV-PAPA does not create sizable staircase artifacts. Moreover, HOTV-PAPA effectively suppresses noise, with only limited loss of local spatial resolution. Of the four methods, HOTV-PAPA shows the best lesion detectability, thanks to its superior noise suppression. HOTV-PAPA shows promise for clinically useful reconstructions of low-dose SPECT data

Analysis of the effects of pair production for the suppressed clover detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kshetri, R.

2014-01-01

Full energy peak, single escape peak and double escape peak areas have been extracted for an escape suppressed clover detector. Results have been obtained for the single crystal and addback modes of operation as well as the active and passive suppression cases at several gamma energies. We have compared the ratio of single escape peak areas in addback mode with that of single crystal mode to study if the single escape peak gains or loses counts due to addback mode. Detailed analysis has been performed for quantifying the advantages of using addback mode and active suppression. Comparison is made for different types of clover detectors with different volumes

Diagnosis of occlusive arterial disease and assessment of IVR with fat-suppressed gadolinium-enhanced three-dimensional MR angiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amano, Yasuo; Gemma, Kazuhito; Kawamata, Hiroshi; Okajima, Yuhji; Watari, Jun; Kumazaki, Tatsuo [Nippon Medical School, Tokyo (Japan); Maki, Toshio; Tsuchihashi, Toshio

1996-10-01

Fat-suppressed gadolinium-enhanced three-dimensional MR angiography (FS-CE-3D-MRA) was performed to make a diagnosis of occlusive arterial disease and evaluate the effectiveness of IVR treatment for it. FS-CE-3D-MRA delineated stenosis of common iliac arteries, which was confirmed by X-ray angiography. FS-CE-3D-MRA also detected ulcerated plaque and arterial wall irregularity. The effectiveness of IVR as atherectomy and stent placement was accurately assessed with FS-CE-3D-MRA. FS-CE-3D-MRA was useful in evaluating occlusive arterial disease with short examination times and high spatial resolution, although iliac circumflexial arteries were not detected by this technique. (author)

Research on Strong Clutter Suppression for Gaofen-3 Dual-Channel SAR/GMTI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingjie Zheng

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR, moving targets are almost buried in ground clutter due to the wide clutter Doppler spectrum and the restricted pulse repetition frequency (PRF, which increases the difficulty of moving target detection. Clutter suppression is one of the key issues in the spaceborne SAR moving target indicator operation. In this paper, we describe the clutter suppression principle and analyze the influence of amplitude and phase error on clutter suppression. In the following, a novel dual-channel SAR clutter suppression algorithm is proposed, which is suitable for the Gaofen-3(GF-3 SAR sensor. The proposed algorithm consists of three technique steps, namely adaptive two-dimensional (2D channel calibration, refined amplitude error correction and refined phase error correction. After channel error is corrected by these procedures, the clutter component, especially a strong clutter component, can be well suppressed. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by GF-3 SAR real data which demonstrates the ground moving-target indication (GMTI capability of GF-3 SAR sensor.

Regional Extent of Peripheral Suppression in Amblyopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Babu, Raiju J; Clavagnier, Simon; Bobier, William R; Thompson, Benjamin; Hess, Robert F

2017-04-01

Previously, we have mapped amblyopic eye suppression within the central 20° of the visual field and observed a gradient of suppression that is strongest in central vision and weakens with increasing eccentricity. In this study, using a large dichoptic display, we extend our novel suppression mapping approach further into the periphery (from 20°-60°) to assess whether suppression continues to decline with eccentricity or plateaus. Sixteen participants with amblyopia (10 with strabismus, 6 with anisometropia without strabismus; mean age: 37.9 ± 11 years) and six normal observers (mean age: 28.3 ± 5 years) took part. The visual stimulus (60° diameter), viewed from 57 cm, was composed of four concentric annuli (5° radius) with alternate contrast polarities starting from an eccentricity of 10°. Each annulus was divided into eight sectors subtending 45° of visual angle. Participants adjusted the contrast of a single sector presented to the fellow eye to match the perceived contrast of the remaining stimulus elements that were presented to the amblyopic eye. A matching contrast that was lower in the fellow eye than the amblyopic eye indicated suppression. Patients with strabismus exhibited significantly stronger interocular suppression than controls across all eccentricities (P = 0.01). Patients with anisometropia did not differ from controls (P = 0.58). Suppression varied significantly with eccentricity (P = 0.005) but this effect did not differ between patient groups (P = 0.217). In amblyopia, suppression is present beyond the central 10° in patients with strabismus. Suppression becomes weaker at greater eccentricities and this may enable peripheral fusion that could be used by binocular treatment methods.

Effect of postpartum suppression of ovulation on uterine involution in dairy cows

OpenAIRE

Heppelmann, M; Brömmling, A; Weinert, M; Piechotta, M; Wrenzycki, C; Bollwein, H

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of time of first postpartum ovulation after calving on uterine involution in dairy cows with and without uterine puerperal disease. Transvaginal follicular puncture (FP) of follicles >6 mm suppressed ovulation and development of a CL until Day 42 after calving. Fifty-three lactating Holstein Friesian cows (3.4 ± 1.2 years old, parity 2.5 ± 1.0 [median ± mean absolute deviation]) were divided into groups on the basis of the presence (UD...

Dual-Material Gate Approach to Suppression of Random-Dopant-Induced Characteristic Fluctuation in 16 nm Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yiming; Lee, Kuo-Fu; Yiu, Chun-Yen; Chiu, Yung-Yueh; Chang, Ru-Wei

2011-04-01

In this work, we explore for the first time dual-material gate (DMG) and inverse DMG devices for suppressing the random-dopant (RD)-induced characteristic fluctuation in 16 nm metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (MOSFET) devices. The physical mechanism of suppressing the characteristic fluctuation of DMG devices is observed and discussed. The achieved improvement in suppressing the RD-induced threshold voltage, on-state current, and off-state current fluctuations are 28, 12.3, and 59%, respectively. To further suppress the fluctuations, an approach that combines the DMG method and channel-doping-profile engineering is also advanced and explored. The results of our study show that among the suppression techniques, the use of the DMG device with an inverse lateral asymmetric channel-doping-profile has good immunity to fluctuation.

Suppressive effect of AMP-activated protein kinase on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in retinal pigment epithelial cells.

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Ryo Matoba

Full Text Available The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE cells plays a central role in the development of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK, a key regulator of energy homeostasis, on the EMT in RPE cells. In this study, EMT-associated formation of cellular aggregates was induced by co-stimulation of cultured ARPE-19 cells with tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α (10 ng/ml and transforming growth factor (TGF-β2 (5 ng/ml. 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR, a potent activator of AMPK, significantly suppressed TNF-α and TGF-β2-induced cellular aggregate formation (p < 0.01. Dipyridamole almost completely reversed the suppressive effect of AICAR, whereas 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine restored aggregate formation by approximately 50%. AICAR suppressed the downregulation of E-cadherin and the upregulation of fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin by TNF-α and TGF-β2. The levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2, MMP-9, interleukin-6, and vascular endothelial growth factor were significantly decreased by AICAR. Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin pathways, but not the Smad pathway, was inhibited by AICAR. These findings indicate that AICAR suppresses the EMT in RPE cells at least partially via activation of AMPK. AMPK is a potential target molecule for the prevention and treatment of PVR, so AICAR may be a promising candidate for PVR therapy.

Oroxin B selectively induces tumor-suppressive ER stress and concurrently inhibits tumor-adaptive ER stress in B-lymphoma cells for effective anti-lymphoma therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Ping; Fu, Shilong; Cao, Zhifei; Liao, Huaidong; Huo, Zihe; Pan, Yanyan; Zhang, Gaochuan; Gao, Aidi; Zhou, Quansheng

2015-01-01

Cancer cells have both tumor-adaptive and -suppressive endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress machineries that determine cell fate. In malignant tumors including lymphoma, constant activation of tumor-adaptive ER stress and concurrent reduction of tumor-suppressive ER stress favors cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. Current ER stress-based anti-tumor drugs typically activate both tumor-adaptive and -suppressive ER stresses, resulting in low anti-cancer efficacy; hence, selective induction of tumor-suppressive ER stress and inhibition of tumor-adaptive ER stress are new strategies for novel anti-cancer drug discovery. Thus far, specific tumor-suppressive ER stress therapeutics have remained absent in clinical settings. In this study, we explored unique tumor-suppressive ER stress agents from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Oroxylum indicum, and found that a small molecule oroxin B selectively induced tumor-suppressive ER stress in malignant lymphoma cells, but not in normal cells, effectively inhibited lymphoma growth in vivo, and significantly prolonged overall survival of lymphoma-xenografted mice without obvious toxicity. Mechanistic studies have revealed that the expression of key tumor-adaptive ER-stress gene GRP78 was notably suppressed by oroxin B via down-regulation of up-stream key signaling protein ATF6, while tumor-suppressive ER stress master gene DDIT3 was strikingly activated through activating the MKK3-p38 signaling pathway, correcting the imbalance between tumor-suppressive DDIT3 and tumor-adaptive GRP78 in lymphoma. Together, selective induction of unique tumor-suppressive ER stress and concurrent inhibition of tumor-adaptive ER stress in malignant lymphoma are new and feasible approaches for novel anti-lymphoma drug discovery and anti-lymphoma therapy. - Highlights: • Oroxin B selectively induces tumor-suppressive ER stress in B-lymphoma cells. • Oroxin B significantly prolonged overall survival of lymphoma-xenografted mice. �

Oroxin B selectively induces tumor-suppressive ER stress and concurrently inhibits tumor-adaptive ER stress in B-lymphoma cells for effective anti-lymphoma therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Ping; Fu, Shilong; Cao, Zhifei; Liao, Huaidong; Huo, Zihe; Pan, Yanyan; Zhang, Gaochuan; Gao, Aidi; Zhou, Quansheng, E-mail: zhouqs@suda.edu.cn

2015-10-15

Cancer cells have both tumor-adaptive and -suppressive endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress machineries that determine cell fate. In malignant tumors including lymphoma, constant activation of tumor-adaptive ER stress and concurrent reduction of tumor-suppressive ER stress favors cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. Current ER stress-based anti-tumor drugs typically activate both tumor-adaptive and -suppressive ER stresses, resulting in low anti-cancer efficacy; hence, selective induction of tumor-suppressive ER stress and inhibition of tumor-adaptive ER stress are new strategies for novel anti-cancer drug discovery. Thus far, specific tumor-suppressive ER stress therapeutics have remained absent in clinical settings. In this study, we explored unique tumor-suppressive ER stress agents from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Oroxylum indicum, and found that a small molecule oroxin B selectively induced tumor-suppressive ER stress in malignant lymphoma cells, but not in normal cells, effectively inhibited lymphoma growth in vivo, and significantly prolonged overall survival of lymphoma-xenografted mice without obvious toxicity. Mechanistic studies have revealed that the expression of key tumor-adaptive ER-stress gene GRP78 was notably suppressed by oroxin B via down-regulation of up-stream key signaling protein ATF6, while tumor-suppressive ER stress master gene DDIT3 was strikingly activated through activating the MKK3-p38 signaling pathway, correcting the imbalance between tumor-suppressive DDIT3 and tumor-adaptive GRP78 in lymphoma. Together, selective induction of unique tumor-suppressive ER stress and concurrent inhibition of tumor-adaptive ER stress in malignant lymphoma are new and feasible approaches for novel anti-lymphoma drug discovery and anti-lymphoma therapy. - Highlights: • Oroxin B selectively induces tumor-suppressive ER stress in B-lymphoma cells. • Oroxin B significantly prolonged overall survival of lymphoma-xenografted mice. �

Hemispheric Asymmetries in Repetition Enhancement and Suppression Effects in the Newborn Brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchon, Camillia; Nazzi, Thierry; Gervain, Judit

2015-01-01

The repeated presentation of stimuli typically attenuates neural responses (repetition suppression) or, less commonly, increases them (repetition enhancement) when stimuli are highly complex, degraded or presented under noisy conditions. In adult functional neuroimaging research, these repetition effects are considered as neural correlates of habituation. The development and respective functional significance of these effects in infancy remain largely unknown. This study investigates repetition effects in newborns using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and specifically the role of stimulus complexity in evoking a repetition enhancement vs. a repetition suppression response, following up on Gervain et al. (2008). In that study, abstract rule-learning was found at birth in cortical areas specific to speech processing, as evidenced by a left-lateralized repetition enhancement of the hemodynamic response to highly variable speech sequences conforming to a repetition-based ABB artificial grammar, but not to a random ABC grammar. Here, the same paradigm was used to investigate how simpler stimuli (12 different sequences per condition as opposed to 140), and simpler presentation conditions (blocked rather than interleaved) would influence repetition effects at birth. Results revealed that the two grammars elicited different dynamics in the two hemispheres. In left fronto-temporal areas, we reproduce the early perceptual discrimination of the two grammars, with ABB giving rise to a greater response at the beginning of the experiment than ABC. In addition, the ABC grammar evoked a repetition enhancement effect over time, whereas a stable response was found for the ABB grammar. Right fronto-temporal areas showed neither initial discrimination, nor change over time to either pattern. Taken together with Gervain et al. (2008), this is the first evidence that manipulating methodological factors influences the presence or absence of neural repetition enhancement effects in

Hemispheric Asymmetries in Repetition Enhancement and Suppression Effects in the Newborn Brain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camillia Bouchon

Full Text Available The repeated presentation of stimuli typically attenuates neural responses (repetition suppression or, less commonly, increases them (repetition enhancement when stimuli are highly complex, degraded or presented under noisy conditions. In adult functional neuroimaging research, these repetition effects are considered as neural correlates of habituation. The development and respective functional significance of these effects in infancy remain largely unknown.This study investigates repetition effects in newborns using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and specifically the role of stimulus complexity in evoking a repetition enhancement vs. a repetition suppression response, following up on Gervain et al. (2008. In that study, abstract rule-learning was found at birth in cortical areas specific to speech processing, as evidenced by a left-lateralized repetition enhancement of the hemodynamic response to highly variable speech sequences conforming to a repetition-based ABB artificial grammar, but not to a random ABC grammar.Here, the same paradigm was used to investigate how simpler stimuli (12 different sequences per condition as opposed to 140, and simpler presentation conditions (blocked rather than interleaved would influence repetition effects at birth.Results revealed that the two grammars elicited different dynamics in the two hemispheres. In left fronto-temporal areas, we reproduce the early perceptual discrimination of the two grammars, with ABB giving rise to a greater response at the beginning of the experiment than ABC. In addition, the ABC grammar evoked a repetition enhancement effect over time, whereas a stable response was found for the ABB grammar. Right fronto-temporal areas showed neither initial discrimination, nor change over time to either pattern.Taken together with Gervain et al. (2008, this is the first evidence that manipulating methodological factors influences the presence or absence of neural repetition enhancement

Theoretical status of J/ψ suppression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavin, S.

1993-03-01

High energy heavy ion collisions are expected to produce hadron densities far beyond the density in nuclei, ρ 0 = 0.16 fm -3 . Remarkably, no single measurement from the AGS and SPS light ion programs with projectiles A ≤ 32 stands out as unambiguous evidence of these extreme densities. To separate the high density signals from the background effects that result, e.g. from scattering with primary nucleons, careful systematic studies of hadron-nucleus, hA, and nucleus-nucleus, AB, data are needed. In this talk the author surveys the ongoing systematic study of the most notorious case in point -- J/ψ suppression. In principle, measurements of J/ψ suppression provide a probe of the densities obtained in AB collisions that is also sensitive to quark gluon plasma production. The latest results from SPS experiment NA38 reported by A. Romana in these proceedings show that the ratio of cross sections in the dimuon channel B μμ σ ψ /σ cont is reduced by a factor 0.50 ± 0.05 in central S+U compared to minimum bias pU collisions at 200 AGeV. This is precisely the sort of suppression that one expects if high densities are obtained. On the other hand, a target-mass dependence suggestive of this suppression is found in hA collisions where high densities are not expected. At 200 GeV, NA38 finds that B μμ σ ψ /σ cont falls to 0.84 ± 0.08 in pU compared to pCu. The hA suppression in this kinematic regime is likely due to a combination of nuclear effects: nucleon absorption and shadowing

Usefulness of fat-suppressed Gd-enhanced MR imaging of tongue cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, Shumei; Fuchihata, Hajime; Yoon, Sukja; Furukawa, Souhei; Kawai, Tadahiko; Kishino, Mitsunobu

1999-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of the fat suppression technique for magnetic resonance imaging of oral tongue cancer. One hundred and fourteen patients underwent both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). All patients were clinically diagnosed as having oral tongue cancer shown to be squamous cell carcinoma histopathologically. We used two types of CT and six types of MRI scanning: plain CT, contrast enhanced CT, conventional T1w, conventional PDw, conventional T2w, fat-suppressed (FATS) T1w, Gd-enhanced conventional T1w, and Gd-enhanced FATS T1w images. The focus of our study was Gd-enhanced FATS T1w imaging. Tumor detection rates were as follows: Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI, 86.8%; conventional T2w MRI, 71.9%; conventional PDw MRI, 65.8%; Gd-enhanced conventional T1w MRI, 47.4%; contrast enhanced CT, 36.8%; T1w MRI, 20.2%; CT, 10.5%. There were 59 cases in which tumors were detected by Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI but not detected by contrast enhanced CT. Gd-enhanced FATS T1w MRI was the best for the tumor detection and Gd-enhanced conventional T1w MRI was not useful in the diagnosis of the tongue cancer. CT imaging must not be the first choice for tumor detection in tongue cancer patients. (author)

Temporal suppression and augmentation of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verhulst, Sarah; Harte, James; Dau, Torsten

2008-01-01

This study investigates and models temporal suppression of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs). This suppression-effect is created when a suppressor-click is presented close in time to a test-click. The analysis was carried out for short time-frames of short- and long-latency CEOAEs...... suppression is present in all CEOAEs for inter-click intervals (ICIs) less than 8 ms. The long-latency CEOAEs showed augmentation (i.e., negative suppression) for ICIs of 6-7 ms which was not reported for the short-latency CEOAE at these ICIs. A phenomenological approach is adopted here to explain both...

Suppressed Belief

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Moran’s revised conception of conscious belief requires us to reconceptualise suppressed belief. The work of Merleau-Ponty offers a way to do this. His account of motor-skills allows us to understand suppressed beliefs as pre-reflective ways of dealing with the world.

Effects of Three Fire-Suppressant Foams on the Germination and Physiological Responses of Plants

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Uhram; Mun, Saeromi; Waldman, Bruce; Lee, Eun Ju

2014-10-01

Suppressant foams used to fight forest fires may leave residual effects on surviving biota that managers need to consider prior to using them. We examined how three fire-suppressant foams (FSFs) (Forexpan S, Phos-Chek-WD881, and Silv-ex) affected seed germination and physiological responses of three plant species. Exposure to FSFs, whether in diluted concentrations or those typical in the field, reduced final germination percentages of seeds grown in petri dishes and within growth chambers. However, the FSFs did not cause total germination failure in any treatment. Inhibition of germination increased with longer exposure times, but only to diluted FSF solutions. Unlike in the laboratory experiments, none of the three FSFs affected seedling emergence when tested in field conditions. Further, we found no evidence of long-term phytotoxic effects on antioxidant enzyme activity nor chlorophyll content of the plant saplings. Therefore, although the three FSFs showed evidence of phytotoxicity to plants in laboratory tests, their actual impact on terrestrial ecosystems may be minimal. We suggest that the benefits of using these FSFs to protect plants in threatened forest ecosystems outweigh their minor risks.

Leptin Suppresses Mouse Taste Cell Responses to Sweet Compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Ryusuke; Noguchi, Kenshi; Shigemura, Noriatsu; Jyotaki, Masafumi; Takahashi, Ichiro; Margolskee, Robert F; Ninomiya, Yuzo

2015-11-01

Leptin is known to selectively suppress neural and behavioral responses to sweet-tasting compounds. However, the molecular basis for the effect of leptin on sweet taste is not known. Here, we report that leptin suppresses sweet taste via leptin receptors (Ob-Rb) and KATP channels expressed selectively in sweet-sensitive taste cells. Ob-Rb was more often expressed in taste cells that expressed T1R3 (a sweet receptor component) than in those that expressed glutamate-aspartate transporter (a marker for Type I taste cells) or GAD67 (a marker for Type III taste cells). Systemically administered leptin suppressed taste cell responses to sweet but not to bitter or sour compounds. This effect was blocked by a leptin antagonist and was absent in leptin receptor-deficient db/db mice and mice with diet-induced obesity. Blocking the KATP channel subunit sulfonylurea receptor 1, which was frequently coexpressed with Ob-Rb in T1R3-expressing taste cells, eliminated the effect of leptin on sweet taste. In contrast, activating the KATP channel with diazoxide mimicked the sweet-suppressing effect of leptin. These results indicate that leptin acts via Ob-Rb and KATP channels that are present in T1R3-expressing taste cells to selectively suppress their responses to sweet compounds. © 2015 by the American Diabetes Association. Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered.

MR diffusion weighted imaging with background signal suppression in breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Ming; Zhang Bing; Zhou Zhengyang; Yu Haiping; Yuan Lei; Zhu Bin

2009-01-01

Objective: To explore the feasibility of echo planar imaging with short time inversion recovery (STIR-EPI) diffusion weighted imaging with background signal (DWIBS) suppression in breast cancer. Methods: The diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)with background suppression (b=800 mm 2 /s) was performed in 26 patients with breast cancer. Apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) of all lesions were measured and compared. 3D maximum intensity projection (3D-MIP)and reverse black and white technique were used to show the lesions. DWI and DWIBS were performed and compared for the detection of breast cancer. Randomized blocks analysis of variance was used for the ADC values in different breast tissues, the ADC values in breast cancer and benign lesion were compared using t test. The paired chi square test was used for the detection rate of breast cancer in two different imaging methods. Results: Most of the breast cancers were hyperintense on DWI (b=800 mm 2 /s). The ADC value of cancer tissue was (0.93±0.25) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, tumor necrosis was (2.06±0.17) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s, normal breast tissue was (1.92±0.23) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s and metastatic lymph node was (1.10±0.14) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s and the differences were statistically significant between two structures (P 2 =8.307, P 2 = 12.235, P -3 mm 2 /s and benign lesion (2.15±0.53) x 10 -3 mm 2 /s had significant statistical differences (t=8.626,P<0.05). Conclusion: Diffusion weighted MRI with background suppression can detect more lesions than DWI and can be potentially applied for the detection of the breast cancer combining the ADC value. (authors)

Development of noise-suppressed detector for single ion hit system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakai, Takuro; Hamano, Tsuyoshi; Suda, Tamotsu; Hirao, Toshio; Kamiya, Tomihiro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Takasaki, Gunma (Japan). Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment

1997-03-01

A noise-suppressed detector for single ion detection has been developed, and combined with the heavy ion microbeam apparatus. This detector consists of a pair of micro channel plates (MCP`s) and a very thin carbon foil. The detection signal is formed by the coincidence of the signals from these MCP`s, so that this detector and the coincidence measurement unit can reduce miscounting in the circuit. The detection efficiency for 15 MeV heavy ions was evaluated to be comparable to that of a silicon surface-barrier detector (SSD) and the miscounting rate was 4 orders lower than the noise rate of a single MCP. The rise time of the detection signal was also estimated. (author)

Effects of Contrast Agent and Outer Volume Saturation Bands on Water Suppression and Shimming of Hepatic Single-Volume Proton MR Spectroscopy at 3.0T

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Xu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To determine whether administration of gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA and whether placement of the outer volume saturation bands significantly affect shimming and water suppression on hepatic MR spectroscopic prescanning. Method. Region of interest (ROI of 2 cm × 2 cm × 2 cm was carefully positioned in the region of the middle portion of the right hepatic lobe. 32 patients were examined before and after administration of Gd-DTPA with and without outer-volume saturation bands. Linewidths (Full-Width Half-Maximum (FWHM and water suppression were obtained. A paired t-test for comparison of means was used. Results. (1 The group with the outer volume saturation bands demonstrated slightly better water suppression effect than the group without outer volume saturation bands before administration. (2 The group with the outer volume saturation bands demonstrated better water suppression effect than the group without outer volume saturation bands after administration. (3 Both shimming and water suppression effectswere decreased on enhanced MR spectroscopic prescanning (all P<0.05. Conclusions. Placement of the outer volume saturation bands is helpful to improve water suppression both before and after contrast agent administration. Gd-DTPA exerts a slightly adverse effect (a statistically significant but clinically unimportant on magnetic resonance spectroscopic prescanning at 3T.

The effect of cepharanthin on the hemopoietic suppression by X-ray irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Masaharu; Kawasaki, Seiji; Sacho, Masanori; Awai, Michiyasu; Ono, Minoru; Sadahira, Yoshito.

1989-01-01

The effects of cepharanthin on the suppression of hemopoiesis by X-ray irradiation were studied. A whole body X-irradiation (3 Gy) induced decrease of leucocyte count, nucleated cell count of bone marrow, myeloid stem cell count (CFU-C), and spleen weight. Oral administration of cepharanthin (25 mg/kg BW or 50 mg/kg BW) tended to decrease these damage on hemopoiesis, and increased spleen weight on 5th day after irradiation. Histological examinations revealed that the administration of cepharanthin accerelated the hemopoietic recovery in the red pulp of spleen. (author)

New fat suppression RF pulse with shorter duration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Kojiro; Ukai, Hiroyuki

2010-01-01

The fat suppression radio frequency pulse currently employed for MRI, which selectively saturates the frequency of the fat, has the narrow-band frequency characteristics. Therefore, the application duration for the pulse employed tends to be prolonged. In the present study, we designed a new fat suppression radiofrequency (RF) pulse using the Laguerre function in order to shorten the duration for fat suppression RF pulse and conducted an evaluation with the clinical equipment. The length of the RF pulse that we created allowed to reduce the duration by 47.3% compared with that employed for the clinical equipment. In addition, in the MR imaging evaluation, the new pulse was confirmed to have the fat suppression effect equivalent to that employed for the clinical equipment. (author)

Emotion suppression, emotional eating, and eating behavior among parent-adolescent dyads.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrer, Rebecca A; Green, Paige A; Oh, April Y; Hennessy, Erin; Dwyer, Laura A

2017-10-01

Emotion suppression may lead to ironic increases in emotional experience. More important, suppression is a transactional process, creating stress and disrupting interactions for the suppressor and those in social interactions with individuals who are suppressing emotion. However, no research has examined the behavioral consequences of emotion suppression in close relationships. We examine the possibility that emotion suppression will predict eating behaviors as a secondary emotion regulatory strategy among 1,556 parent-adolescent dyads (N = 3,112), consistent with evidence suggesting that suppression influences eating at the individual-level. Actor-partner interdependence models and structural equation modeling demonstrate that one's own emotion suppression was associated with emotional eating; greater consumption of hedonic-low nutrient, high energy dense-foods; and lower consumption of fruits and vegetables (actor effects). One's partner's emotion suppression was also independently associated with one's own emotional eating; lower consumption of fruits and vegetables; and greater consumption of hedonic foods (partner effects), although this association was most consistent for adolescents' suppression and parents' eating (compared with the converse). These analyses suggest that dyadic emotion regulatory processes have implications on eating behavior. Moreover, analyses suggest that emotion suppression has potential implications on eating behaviors of others within close relationships with a suppressor, consistent with the notion that emotion regulation is a transactional process. These findings suggest that interventions to improve eating habits of parents and their adolescent children should consider dyadic emotion regulatory processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Abnormal Grain Growth Suppression in Aluminum Alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Hales, Stephen J. (Inventor); Claytor, Harold Dale (Inventor); Alexa, Joel A. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

The present invention provides a process for suppressing abnormal grain growth in friction stir welded aluminum alloys by inserting an intermediate annealing treatment ("IAT") after the welding step on the article. The IAT may be followed by a solution heat treatment (SHT) on the article under effectively high solution heat treatment conditions. In at least some embodiments, a deformation step is conducted on the article under effective spin-forming deformation conditions or under effective superplastic deformation conditions. The invention further provides a welded article having suppressed abnormal grain growth, prepared by the process above. Preferably the article is characterized with greater than about 90% reduction in area fraction abnormal grain growth in any friction-stir-welded nugget.

Interocular suppression in amblyopia for global orientation processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jiawei; Huang, Pi-Chun; Hess, Robert F

2013-04-22

We developed a dichoptic global orientation coherence paradigm to quantify interocular suppression in amblyopia. This task is biased towards ventral processing and allows comparison with two other techniques-global motion processing, which is more dorsally biased, and binocular phase combination, which most likely reflects striate function. We found a similar pattern for the relationship between coherence threshold and interocular contrast curves (thresholds vs. interocular contrast ratios or TvRs) in our new paradigm compared with those of the previous dichoptic global motion coherence paradigm. The effective contrast ratios at balance point (where the signals from the two eyes have equal weighting) in our new paradigm were larger than those of the dichoptic global motion coherence paradigm but less than those of the binocular phase combination paradigm. The measured effective contrast ratios in the three paradigms were also positively correlated with each other, with the two global coherence paradigms having the highest correlation. We concluded that: (a) The dichoptic global orientation coherence paradigm is effective in quantifying interocular suppression in amblyopia; and (b) Interocular suppression, while sharing a common suppression mechanism at the early stage in the pathway (e.g., striate cortex), may have additional extra-striate contributions that affect both dorsal and ventral streams differentially.

Oncogenic roles of TOPK and MELK, and effective growth suppression by small molecular inhibitors in kidney cancer cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Taigo; Inoue, Hiroyuki; Imoto, Seiya; Tamada, Yoshinori; Miyamoto, Takashi; Matsuo, Yo; Nakamura, Yusuke; Park, Jae-Hyun

2016-04-05

T-lymphokine-activated killer cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) and maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) have been reported to play critical roles in cancer cell proliferation and maintenance of stemness. In this study, we investigated possible roles of TOPK and MELK in kidney cancer cells and found their growth promotive effect as well as some feedback mechanism between these two molecules. Interestingly, the blockade of either of these two kinases effectively caused downregulation of forkhead box protein M1 (FOXM1) activity which is known as an oncogenic transcriptional factor in various types of cancer cells. Small molecular compound inhibitors against TOPK (OTS514) and MELK (OTS167) effectively suppressed the kidney cancer cell growth, and the combination of these two compounds additively worked and showed the very strong growth suppressive effect on kidney cancer cells. Collectively, our results suggest that both TOPK and MELK are promising molecular targets for kidney cancer treatment and that dual blockade of OTS514 and OTS167 may bring additive anti-tumor effects with low risk of side effects.

Radiation effluent suppression system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Atsushi.

1992-01-01

In a radiation release suppression system upon accident, an electromotive valve, a pneumatic operation valve or a manual operation valve is disposed to gas ventilation pipelines which are extended from both of a dry well and a wet well of a reactor container to a stuck. In addition, a combination filter of a metal fiber filter made of stainless steel etc. and an activated carbon fiber filter is disposed in the midway of pipelines in a reactor building. With such a constitution, the inside of the container can be depressurized (prevention of ruptures) and the amount of radioactive substances released to circumstances is remarkably suppressed by the effect of radioactive substance capturing effect of the metal fiber filter made of stainless steel etc. disposed in the vent pipe in the container and a radioactive substance capturing effect by the combination filter of the metal fiber filter made of stainless steel, etc. and the activated carbon fiber filter disposed in the gas ventilation pipelines even upon occurrence of an accident exceeding design basis. Systems can be simplified and minimized, and cost down can also be attained. (N.H.)

Adaptive cancellation of geomagnetic background noise for magnetic anomaly detection using coherence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Dunge; Xu, Xin; Huang, Chao; Zhu, Wanhua; Liu, Xiaojun; Fang, Guangyou; Yu, Gang

2015-01-01

Magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) is an effective method for the detection of ferromagnetic targets against background magnetic fields. Currently, the performance of MAD systems is mainly limited by the background geomagnetic noise. Several techniques have been developed to detect target signatures, such as the synchronous reference subtraction (SRS) method. In this paper, we propose an adaptive coherent noise suppression (ACNS) method. The proposed method is capable of evaluating and detecting weak anomaly signals buried in background geomagnetic noise. Tests with real-world recorded magnetic signals show that the ACNS method can excellently remove the background geomagnetic noise by about 21 dB or more in high background geomagnetic field environments. Additionally, as a general form of the SRS method, the ACNS method offers appreciable advantages over the existing algorithms. Compared to the SRS method, the ACNS algorithm can eliminate the false target signals and represents a noise suppressing capability improvement of 6.4 dB. The positive outcomes in terms of intelligibility make this method a potential candidate for application in MAD systems. (paper)

Perillyl alcohol suppresses antigen-induced immune responses in the lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imamura, Mitsuru; Sasaki, Oh; Okunishi, Katsuhide; Nakagome, Kazuyuki; Harada, Hiroaki; Kawahata, Kimito; Tanaka, Ryoichi; Yamamoto, Kazuhiko; Dohi, Makoto

2014-01-01

Highlights: •Perillyl alcohol (POH) is an isoprenoid which inhibits the mevalonate pathway. •We examined whether POH suppresses immune responses with a mouse model of asthma. •POH treatment during sensitization suppressed Ag-induced priming of CD4 + T cells. •POH suppressed airway eosinophila and cytokine production in thoracic lymph nodes. -- Abstract: Perillyl alcohol (POH) is an isoprenoid which inhibits farnesyl transferase and geranylgeranyl transferase, key enzymes that induce conformational and functional changes in small G proteins to conduct signal production for cell proliferation. Thus, it has been tried for the treatment of cancers. However, although it affects the proliferation of immunocytes, its influence on immune responses has been examined in only a few studies. Notably, its effect on antigen-induced immune responses has not been studied. In this study, we examined whether POH suppresses Ag-induced immune responses with a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. POH treatment of sensitized mice suppressed proliferation and cytokine production in Ag-stimulated spleen cells or CD4 + T cells. Further, sensitized mice received aerosolized OVA to induce allergic airway inflammation, and some mice received POH treatment. POH significantly suppressed indicators of allergic airway inflammation such as airway eosinophilia. Cytokine production in thoracic lymph nodes was also significantly suppressed. These results demonstrate that POH suppresses antigen-induced immune responses in the lung. Considering that it exists naturally, POH could be a novel preventive or therapeutic option for immunologic lung disorders such as asthma with minimal side effects

Landiolol suppression of electrical storm of torsades de pointes in patients with congenital long-QT syndrome type 2 and myocardial ischemia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryota Kitajima, MD

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A 76-year-old man who had been diagnosed with long-QT syndrome type 2 had frequent syncopal attacks. The electrocardiogram was monitored, and frequent torsades de pointes (TdP was detected despite administration of conventional medications: oral propranolol, verapamil, intravenous magnesium sulfate, verapamil, and lidocaine. In contrast, 2 μg/kg/min landiolol could completely suppress TdP. Subsequently, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator was placed, and he was diagnosed with silent myocardial ischemia using myocardial perfusion scintigraphy and coronary angiography. This is the first case report wherein landiolol effectively suppressed TdP due to long-QT syndrome with silent myocardial ischemia.

Immunologic mechanism of the suppressive effect of low dose radiation on thymic lymphoma induced by radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiujuan; Yang Ying; Li Xiuyi; Liu Shuzheng

1999-01-01

To study immunologic mechanism of the suppressive effect of low dose radiation (LDR) on thymic lymphoma (TL) induced by high dose radiation (HDR). The authors adopted the model that C57BL/6J mice were administered whole body irradiation with 1.75 Gy X-rays one time every week for 4 weeks to induce TL. It was examined that splenic NK cytotoxic activity, IL-2 and γ-IFN secretion activity, peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis and its TNF-α secretion activity in mice with different dose 1 month after irradiation. The results showed that all the immunologic functions mentioned above in mice given 75 mGy 12 h before 1.75 Gy every time were higher than that in mice given only 1.75 Gy, and approached to the sham-irradiation mice. It suggested that the suppressive effect of LDR on TL induced by HDR may be related to the adaptive response induced by LDR and decreasing immunological functions damage caused by HDR

Large scale power suppression in a multifield landscape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanco-Pillado, Jose J.; Frazer, Jonathan; Sousa, Kepa; Dias, Mafalda

2015-01-01

Power suppression of the cosmic microwave background on the largest observable scales could provide valuable clues about the particle physics underlying inflation. Here we consider the prospect of power suppression in the context of the multifield landscape. Based on the assumption that our observable universe emerges from a tunnelling event and that the relevant features originate purely from inflationary dynamics, we find that the power spectrum not only contains information on single-field dynamics, but also places strong constraints on all scalar fields present in the theory. We find that the simplest single-field models giving rise to power suppression do not generalise to multifield models in a straightforward way, as the resulting superhorizon evolution of the curvature perturbation tends to erase any power suppression present at horizon crossing. On the other hand, multifield effects do present a means of generating power suppression which to our knowledge has so far not been considered. We propose a mechanism to illustrate this, which we dub flume inflation

Large scale power suppression in a multifield landscape

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blanco-Pillado, Jose J.; Frazer, Jonathan; Sousa, Kepa [Department of Theoretical Physics, Bizkaiako Campusa/Campus de Bizkaia, Posta Kodea 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain); Dias, Mafalda, E-mail: josejuan.blanco@ehu.es, E-mail: m.dias@sussex.ac.uk, E-mail: j.frazer@ucl.ac.uk, E-mail: kepa.sousa@ehu.es [Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Maths and Physical Sciences, University of Sussex, Pevensey II Building, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH (United Kingdom)

2015-08-01

Power suppression of the cosmic microwave background on the largest observable scales could provide valuable clues about the particle physics underlying inflation. Here we consider the prospect of power suppression in the context of the multifield landscape. Based on the assumption that our observable universe emerges from a tunnelling event and that the relevant features originate purely from inflationary dynamics, we find that the power spectrum not only contains information on single-field dynamics, but also places strong constraints on all scalar fields present in the theory. We find that the simplest single-field models giving rise to power suppression do not generalise to multifield models in a straightforward way, as the resulting superhorizon evolution of the curvature perturbation tends to erase any power suppression present at horizon crossing. On the other hand, multifield effects do present a means of generating power suppression which to our knowledge has so far not been considered. We propose a mechanism to illustrate this, which we dub flume inflation.

Fenofibrate suppressed proliferation and migration of human neuroblastoma cells via oxidative stress dependent of TXNIP upregulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Su, Cunjin; Shi, Aiming; Cao, Guowen [Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004 (China); Tao, Tao [Department of Urology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009 (China); Chen, Ruidong [Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004 (China); Hu, Zhanhong; Shen, Zhu; Tao, Hong; Cao, Bin [Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004 (China); Hu, Duanmin, E-mail: hudmsdfey@sina.com [Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004 (China); Bao, Junjie, E-mail: baojjsdfey@sina.com [Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004 (China)

2015-05-15

There are no appropriate drugs for metastatic neuroblastoma (NB), which is the most common extra-cranial solid tumor for childhood. Thioredoxin binding protein (TXNIP), the endogenous inhibitor of ROS elimination, has been identified as a tumor suppressor in various solid tumors. It reported that fenofibrate exerts anti-tumor effects in several human cancer cell lines. However, its detail mechanisms remain unclear. The present study assessed the effects of fenofibrate on NB cells and investigated TXNIP role in its anti-tumor mechanisms. We used MTT assay to detect cells proliferation, starch wound test to investigate cells migration, H{sub 2}DCF-DA to detect intracellular ROS, siRNA to interfere TXNIP and peroxisome proliferator-androgen receptor-alpha (PPAR-α) expression, western blot to determine protein levels, flow cytometry to analyze apoptosis. Fenofibrate suppressed proliferation and migration of NB cells, remarkably increased intracellular ROS, upregulated TXNIP expression, promoted cell apoptosis. Furthermore, inhibition of TXNIP expression attenuated anti-tumor effects of fenofibrate, while inhibition of PPAR-α had no influences. Our results indicated the anti-tumor role of fenofibrate on NB cells by exacerbating oxidative stress and inducing apoptosis was dependent on the upregulation of TXNIP. - Highlights: • We found that fenofibrate suppressed proliferation and migration of NB cells. • We found that fenofibrate remarkably increased intracellular ROS, upregulated TXNIP expression, and promoted cell apoptosis. • Inhibition of TXNIP expression attenuated anti-tumor effects of fenofibrate, while inhibition of PPAR-α had no influences. • Our results indicated the anti-tumor role of fenofibrate on NB cells was dependent on the upregulation of TXNIP.

Chromatic induction from surrounding stimuli under perceptual suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Horiuchi, Koji; Kuriki, Ichiro; Tokunaga, Rumi; Matsumiya, Kazumichi; Shioiri, Satoshi

2014-11-01

The appearance of colors can be affected by their spatiotemporal context. The shift in color appearance according to the surrounding colors is called color induction or chromatic induction; in particular, the shift in opponent color of the surround is called chromatic contrast. To investigate whether chromatic induction occurs even when the chromatic surround is imperceptible, we measured chromatic induction during interocular suppression. A multicolor or uniform color field was presented as the surround stimulus, and a colored continuous flash suppression (CFS) stimulus was presented to the dominant eye of each subject. The subjects were asked to report the appearance of the test field only when the stationary surround stimulus is invisible by interocular suppression with CFS. The resulting shifts in color appearance due to chromatic induction were significant even under the conditions of interocular suppression for all surround stimuli. The magnitude of chromatic induction differed with the surround conditions, and this difference was preserved regardless of the viewing conditions. The chromatic induction effect was reduced by CFS, in proportion to the magnitude of chromatic induction under natural (i.e., no-CFS) viewing conditions. According to an analysis with linear model fitting, we revealed the presence of at least two kinds of subprocesses for chromatic induction that reside at higher and lower levels than the site of interocular suppression. One mechanism yields different degrees of chromatic induction based on the complexity of the surround, which is unaffected by interocular suppression, while the other mechanism changes its output with interocular suppression acting as a gain control. Our results imply that the total chromatic induction effect is achieved via a linear summation of outputs from mechanisms that reside at different levels of visual processing.

Motion analysis of wheelchair propulsion movements in hemiplegic patients: effect of a wheelchair cushion on suppressing posterior pelvic tilt.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawada, Kyohei; Matsuda, Tadamitsu; Takanashi, Akira; Miyazima, Shigeki; Yamamoto, Sumiko

2015-03-01

[Purpose] This study sought to ascertain whether, in hemiplegic patients, the effect of a wheelchair cushion to suppress pelvic posterior tilt when initiating wheelchair propulsion would continue in subsequent propulsions. [Subjects] Eighteen hemiplegic patients who were able to propel a wheelchair in a seated position participated in this study. [Methods] An adjustable wheelchair was fitted with a cushion that had an anchoring function, and a thigh pad on the propulsion side was removed. Propulsion movements from the seated position without moving through three propulsion cycles were measured using a three-dimensional motion analysis system, and electromyography was used to determine the angle of pelvic posterior tilt, muscle activity of the biceps femoris long head, and propulsion speed. [Results] Pelvic posterior tilt could be suppressed through the three propulsion cycles, which served to increase propulsion speed. Muscle activity of the biceps femoris long head was highest when initiating propulsion and decreased thereafter. [Conclusion] The effect of the wheelchair cushion on suppressing pelvic posterior tilt continued through three propulsion cycles.

Simultaneous Determination of Chelating Agents by Ion-Suppression and Ion-Pair Chromatography in Wastewater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodi, Alain; Bouscarel, Maelle

2008-01-01

This article describes two methods for analysing chelating agents found in nuclear waste. First, ion-suppression chromatography using an anion exchange stationary phase and mobile phase consisting of a nitric acid solution and pure water gradient. UV detection was performed at 330 nm after the reaction with a post-column reagent composed of iron nitrate in perchloric acid. Secondly, ion-pair chromatography with a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of nitric acid, tetra-butyl-ammonium hydrogeno-sulphate, tetra-butyl-ammonium hydroxide and iron chloride. A reversed-phase material was used as a stationary phase and detection was performed by direct measurement of the UV absorption at 260 nm. The quantification limits were lower for ion-pair chromatography than for ion-suppression chromatography. Both methods were easy to implement and allow a multi-element separation in less than 30 min with low detection limits. (authors)

Simultaneous Determination of Chelating Agents by Ion-Suppression and Ion-Pair Chromatography in Wastewater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dodi, Alain; Bouscarel, Maelle [Commissariat a l' energie atomique - C.E.A, Centre d' Etude de Cadarache, Laboratoire d' Analyses Radiochimiques et Chimiques, St Paul lez Durance (France)

2008-07-01

This article describes two methods for analysing chelating agents found in nuclear waste. First, ion-suppression chromatography using an anion exchange stationary phase and mobile phase consisting of a nitric acid solution and pure water gradient. UV detection was performed at 330 nm after the reaction with a post-column reagent composed of iron nitrate in perchloric acid. Secondly, ion-pair chromatography with a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of nitric acid, tetra-butyl-ammonium hydrogeno-sulphate, tetra-butyl-ammonium hydroxide and iron chloride. A reversed-phase material was used as a stationary phase and detection was performed by direct measurement of the UV absorption at 260 nm. The quantification limits were lower for ion-pair chromatography than for ion-suppression chromatography. Both methods were easy to implement and allow a multi-element separation in less than 30 min with low detection limits. (authors)

Hybrid PD and effective multi-mode positive position feedback control for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lou, Jun-qiang; Wei, Yan-ding; Yang, Yi-ling; Xie, Feng-ran

2015-01-01

A hybrid control strategy for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator is presented in this paper. It consists of a proportional derivative controller to realize motion control, and an effective multi-mode positive position feedback (EMPPF) controller to suppress the multi-mode vibration. Rather than treat each mode equally as the standard multi-mode PPF, the essence of the EMPPF is that control forces of different modes are applied according to the mode parameters of the respective modes, so the vibration modes with less vibration energy receive fewer control forces. Stability conditions for the close loop system are established through stability analysis. Optimal parameters of the EMPPF controller are obtained using the method of root locus analysis. The performance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by simulation and experiments. Experimental results show that the first two vibration modes of the manipulator are effectively suppressed. The setting time of the setup descends approximately 55%, reaching 3.12 s from 5.67 s. (paper)

Hybrid PD and effective multi-mode positive position feedback control for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Lou, Jun-qiang; Wei, Yan-ding; Yang, Yi-ling; Xie, Feng-ran

2015-03-01

A hybrid control strategy for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator is presented in this paper. It consists of a proportional derivative controller to realize motion control, and an effective multi-mode positive position feedback (EMPPF) controller to suppress the multi-mode vibration. Rather than treat each mode equally as the standard multi-mode PPF, the essence of the EMPPF is that control forces of different modes are applied according to the mode parameters of the respective modes, so the vibration modes with less vibration energy receive fewer control forces. Stability conditions for the close loop system are established through stability analysis. Optimal parameters of the EMPPF controller are obtained using the method of root locus analysis. The performance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by simulation and experiments. Experimental results show that the first two vibration modes of the manipulator are effectively suppressed. The setting time of the setup descends approximately 55%, reaching 3.12 s from 5.67 s.

Suppressive immunoregulatory effects of three antidepressants via inhibition of the nuclear factor-κB activation assessed using primary macrophages of carp (Cyprinus carpio)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, Wenhui; Wu, Minghong; Liu, Shuai; Chen, Bei; Pan, Chenyuan; Yang, Ming; Wang, Ke-Jian

2017-01-01

Antidepressants, having been applied for the treatment of major depressive disorder and other conditions for decades, are among the most commonly detected human pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. This study evaluated the immunotoxicity of acute exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of amitriptyline, fluoxetine and mianserin using an in vitro primary macrophage model isolated from red common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and also explored their potential mechanisms of action. A potential suppressive immunoregulatory effect of antidepressant exposure was suggested based on the observed suppressive effects on oxidative stress parameters, bactericidal activity, NO production, and NO synthase activity, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression, and a significant stimulatory effect on anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 and interferon cytokine gene expression and ATPase activities in macrophages after 6 h-exposure to three individual antidepressants and a combination thereof. Notably, we also found these effects were significantly associated with a corresponding decrease in nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity after antidepressants exposure, and the NF-κB antagonist significantly restrained the effects of antidepressants on gene expression of cytokines, indicating that antidepressants could alter the response of various immune-associated components via the inhibition of NF-κB. Moreover, time-dependent lethal concentrations of three antidepressants on primary macrophages were firstly determined at mg/L levels, and the synergetic effects of antidepressant mixtures were suggested and in particular, for some parameters including total antioxidant capacity and cytokine genes expression, they could be significantly affected by antidepressants exposure at concentrations as low as 10 ng/L, which together thereby revealed the potential risk of antidepressants to aquatic life. - Highlights: • Three different antidepressants all have immunoregulatory

Suppressive immunoregulatory effects of three antidepressants via inhibition of the nuclear factor-κB activation assessed using primary macrophages of carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiu, Wenhui [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China); School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055 (China); Wu, Minghong; Liu, Shuai [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Chen, Bei [State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China); Pan, Chenyuan [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Yang, Ming, E-mail: mingyang@shu.edu.cn [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Wang, Ke-Jian, E-mail: wkjian@xmu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005 (China)

2017-05-01

Antidepressants, having been applied for the treatment of major depressive disorder and other conditions for decades, are among the most commonly detected human pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. This study evaluated the immunotoxicity of acute exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of amitriptyline, fluoxetine and mianserin using an in vitro primary macrophage model isolated from red common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and also explored their potential mechanisms of action. A potential suppressive immunoregulatory effect of antidepressant exposure was suggested based on the observed suppressive effects on oxidative stress parameters, bactericidal activity, NO production, and NO synthase activity, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression, and a significant stimulatory effect on anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 and interferon cytokine gene expression and ATPase activities in macrophages after 6 h-exposure to three individual antidepressants and a combination thereof. Notably, we also found these effects were significantly associated with a corresponding decrease in nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity after antidepressants exposure, and the NF-κB antagonist significantly restrained the effects of antidepressants on gene expression of cytokines, indicating that antidepressants could alter the response of various immune-associated components via the inhibition of NF-κB. Moreover, time-dependent lethal concentrations of three antidepressants on primary macrophages were firstly determined at mg/L levels, and the synergetic effects of antidepressant mixtures were suggested and in particular, for some parameters including total antioxidant capacity and cytokine genes expression, they could be significantly affected by antidepressants exposure at concentrations as low as 10 ng/L, which together thereby revealed the potential risk of antidepressants to aquatic life. - Highlights: • Three different antidepressants all have immunoregulatory

Dexamethasone suppression test

Science.gov (United States)

DST; ACTH suppression test; Cortisol suppression test ... During this test, you will receive dexamethasone. This is a strong man-made (synthetic) glucocorticoid medicine. Afterward, your blood is drawn ...

Deconstructing continuous flash suppression

OpenAIRE

Yang, Eunice; Blake, Randolph

2012-01-01

In this paper, we asked to what extent the depth of interocular suppression engendered by continuous flash suppression (CFS) varies depending on spatiotemporal properties of the suppressed stimulus and CFS suppressor. An answer to this question could have implications for interpreting the results in which CFS influences the processing of different categories of stimuli to different extents. In a series of experiments, we measured the selectivity and depth of suppression (i.e., elevation in co...

Planck-suppressed operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Assassi, Valentin; Baumann, Daniel; Green, Daniel; McAllister, Liam

2014-01-01

We show that the recent Planck limits on primordial non-Gaussianity impose strong constraints on light hidden sector fields coupled to the inflaton via operators suppressed by a high mass scale Λ. We study a simple effective field theory in which a hidden sector field is coupled to a shift-symmetric inflaton via arbitrary operators up to dimension five. Self-interactions in the hidden sector lead to non-Gaussianity in the curvature perturbations. To be consistent with the Planck limit on local non-Gaussianity, the coupling to any hidden sector with light fields and natural cubic couplings must be suppressed by a very high scale Λ > 10 5 H. Even if the hidden sector has Gaussian correlations, nonlinearities in the mixing with the inflaton still lead to non-Gaussian curvature perturbations. In this case, the non-Gaussianity is of the equilateral or orthogonal type, and the Planck data requires Λ > 10 2 H

Isotope and fast ions turbulence suppression effects: Consequences for high-β ITER plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, J.; Görler, T.; Jenko, F.

2018-05-01

The impact of isotope effects and fast ions on microturbulence is analyzed by means of non-linear gyrokinetic simulations for an ITER hybrid scenario at high beta obtained from previous integrated modelling simulations with simplified assumptions. Simulations show that ITER might work very close to threshold, and in these conditions, significant turbulence suppression is found from DD to DT plasmas. Electromagnetic effects are shown to play an important role in the onset of this isotope effect. Additionally, even external ExB flow shear, which is expected to be low in ITER, has a stronger impact on DT than on DD. The fast ions generated by fusion reactions can additionally reduce turbulence even more although the impact in ITER seems weaker than in present-day tokamaks.

Efflux inhibitor suppresses Streptococcus mutans virulence properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Huihui; Liu, Jia; Ling, Junqi

2017-04-01

It is well established that efflux pumps play important roles in bacterial pathogenicity and efflux inhibitors (EIs) have been proved to be effective in suppressing bacterial virulence properties. However, little is known regarding the EI of Streptococcus mutans, a well-known caries-inducing bacterium. In this study, we identified the EI of S. mutans through ethidium bromide efflux assay and investigated how EI affected S. mutans virulence regarding the cariogenicity and stress response. Results indicated that reserpine, the identified EI, suppressed acid tolerance, mutacin production and transformation efficiency of S. mutans, and modified biofilm architecture and extracellular polysaccharide distribution. Suppressed glycosyltransferase activity was also noted after reserpine exposure. The data from quantitative real-time-PCR demonstrated that reserpine significantly altered the expression profile of quorum-sensing and virulence-associated genes. These findings suggest that reserpine represents a promising adjunct anticariogenic agent in that it suppresses virulence properties of S. mutans. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mechanism of immune suppression by ultraviolet irradiation in vivo. I. Evidence for the existence of a unique photoreceptor in skin and its role in photoimmunology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Fabo, E.C.; Noonan, F.P.

1983-01-01

UV irradiation of mice causes a systemic immune alteration that can be detected either by suppression of the immunologic rejection of UV-induced tumors, or by suppression of contact hypersensitivity (CHS). Suppression of these two immunologic responses has similar photobiologic characteristics and in both cases is associated with the generation of antigen-specific suppressor T cells. To identify whether a specific photoreceptor for this effect exists, the relative wavelength effectiveness (action spectrum) was determined for the UV-induced suppression of CHS. Narrow bands of UV (half bandwidth 3 nm) were used at 10 wavelengths from 250 to 320 nm to obtain dose-response curves. The action spectrum derived from the dose-response curves has a maximum between 260 and 270 nm, a shoulder at 280-290 nm, and declines steadily to approximately 3% of maximum at 320 nm. The finding of such a clearly defined wavelength dependence implies the presence of a specific photoreceptor for this effect. Removing the stratum corneum by tape stripping before UV irradiation prevented the suppression of CHS using 254-nm radiation, suggesting the photoreceptor is superficially located in the skin. The hypothesis is advanced that the photoreceptor for systemic UV-induced immunosuppression of contact hypersensitivity may be urocanic acid. As such, it may also play a role in UV-induced carcinogenesis via the production of tumor-specific suppressor cells

Electrostatic system of background suppression under detection of low-intensive ion beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubrovin, M.M.; Belyaev, V.A.

2002-01-01

Paper describes electrostatic system to suppress background at recording of low-intensive particle fluxes with transverse cross section exceeding the area of detector inlet aperture. Electrostatic system comprises 5 electrodes ensuring such spatial distribution of electrostatic field that enables accumulation of beam all ions with 30 x 40 mm 2 cross section at inlet aperture of secondary electron multiplier (SEM) with 9 mm diameter. In this case, ion trajectories prior to enter SEM are turned by 180 deg thus essentially improving signal/background ratio [ru

Promotion or suppression of glucose isomerization in subcritical aqueous straight- and branched-chain alcohols.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Da-Ming; Kobayashi, Takashi; Adachi, Shuji

2015-01-01

The influence of water-miscible alcohols (methanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, and t-butyl alcohol) on the isomerization of glucose to fructose and mannose was investigated under subcritical aqueous conditions (180-200 °C). Primary and secondary alcohols promoted the conversion and isomerization of glucose to afford fructose and mannose with high and low selectivity, respectively. On the other hand, the decomposition (side-reaction) of glucose was suppressed in the presence of the primary and secondary alcohols compared with that in subcritical water. The yield of fructose increased with increasing concentration of the primary and secondary alcohols, and the species of the primary and secondary alcohols tested had little effect on the isomerization behavior of glucose. In contrast, the isomerization of glucose was suppressed in subcritical aqueous t-butyl alcohol. Both the conversion of glucose and the yield of fructose decreased with increasing concentration of t-butyl alcohol. In addition, mannose was not detected in reactions using subcritical aqueous t-butyl alcohol.

53BP1 loss suppresses the radiosensitizing effect of icotinib hydrochloride in colorectal cancer cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ai; Yao, Jing; Liu, Tao; Lin, Zhenyu; Zhang, Sheng; Zhang, Tao; Ma, Hong

2018-04-01

This study aimed to investigate the influence of the expression of P53-binding protein 1 (53BP1), a key component in DNA damage repair pathways, on the radiosensitizing effect of icotinib hydrochloride in colorectal cancer and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this influence. Real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to verify the gene-knockout effect of 53BP1 small hairpin RNA (ShRNA), and colony formation assay was employed to investigate the influence of 53BP1 downregulation on the radiosensitizing effect of icotinib hydrochloride in HCT116 cells. Cell apoptosis, cell cycle distributions, and histone H2AX (γ-H2AX) fluorescence foci after 53BP1 knockdown were evaluated. Relative protein expression in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM)-checkpoint kinase-2 (CHK2)-P53 pathway was measured by Western blot analysis to unravel the molecular mechanisms linking the pathway to the above phenomena. Icotinib hydrochloride increased the radiosensitivity of HCT116 cells; however, this effect was suppressed by the downregulation of 53BP1 expression, a change that inhibited cell apoptosis, increased the percentage of HCT116 cells arrested in S-phase and inhibited the protein expression of key molecules in the ATM-CHK2-P53 apoptotic pathway. Our studies confirmed that the loss of 53BP1 serves as a negative regulator of the radiosensitizing effect of icotinib in part by suppressing the ATM-CHK2-P53 apoptotic pathway.

Screening for suppression in young children: the Polaroid Suppression test

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pott, J.W.R.; Oosterveen, DK; Van Hof-van Duin, J

1998-01-01

Background: Assessment of monocular visual impairment during screening of young children is often hampered by lack of cooperation. Because strabismus, amblyopia, or anisometropia may lead to monocular suppression during binocular viewing conditions, a test was developed to screen far suppression in

Cortisol suppresses radiation transformation in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, A.R.

1985-01-01

It is reported that 10 -7 M cortisol has a significant suppressive effect on radiation-induced transformation in vitro in C3H10T 1/2 cells. Previously reported data showed a significant enhancing effect for similar experiments performed with cortisone. Thus, these two structurally similar glucocorticoid hormones have opposite effects on transformation induced by ionizing radiation. (author)

Comparative Microbiome Analysis of a Fusarium Wilt Suppressive Soil and a Fusarium Wilt Conducive Soil From the Châteaurenard Region

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Katarzyna Siegel-Hertz

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Disease-suppressive soils are soils in which specific soil-borne plant pathogens cause only limited disease although the pathogen and susceptible host plants are both present. Suppressiveness is in most cases of microbial origin. We conducted a comparative metabarcoding analysis of the taxonomic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities from suppressive and non-suppressive (conducive soils as regards Fusarium wilts sampled from the Châteaurenard region (France. Bioassays based on Fusarium wilt of flax confirmed that disease incidence was significantly lower in the suppressive soil than in the conducive soil. Furthermore, we succeeded in partly transferring Fusarium wilt-suppressiveness to the conducive soil by mixing 10% (w/w of the suppressive soil into the conducive soil. Fungal diversity differed significantly between the suppressive and conducive soils. Among dominant fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs affiliated to known genera, 17 OTUs were detected exclusively in the suppressive soil. These OTUs were assigned to the Acremonium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Clonostachys, Fusarium, Ceratobasidium, Mortierella, Penicillium, Scytalidium, and Verticillium genera. Additionally, the relative abundance of specific members of the bacterial community was significantly higher in the suppressive and mixed soils than in the conducive soil. OTUs found more abundant in Fusarium wilt-suppressive soils were affiliated to the bacterial genera Adhaeribacter, Massilia, Microvirga, Rhizobium, Rhizobacter, Arthrobacter, Amycolatopsis, Rubrobacter, Paenibacillus, Stenotrophomonas, and Geobacter. Several of the fungal and bacterial genera detected exclusively or more abundantly in the Fusarium wilt-suppressive soil included genera known for their activity against F. oxysporum. Overall, this study supports the potential role of known fungal and bacterial genera in Fusarium wilt suppressive soils from Châteaurenard and pinpoints new bacterial and fungal

Perillyl alcohol suppresses antigen-induced immune responses in the lung

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Imamura, Mitsuru; Sasaki, Oh; Okunishi, Katsuhide; Nakagome, Kazuyuki; Harada, Hiroaki; Kawahata, Kimito; Tanaka, Ryoichi; Yamamoto, Kazuhiko [Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan); Dohi, Makoto, E-mail: mdohi-tky@umin.ac.jp [Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan); Institute of Respiratory Immunology, Shibuya Clinic for Respiratory Diseases and Allergology, Tokyo (Japan)

2014-01-03

Highlights: •Perillyl alcohol (POH) is an isoprenoid which inhibits the mevalonate pathway. •We examined whether POH suppresses immune responses with a mouse model of asthma. •POH treatment during sensitization suppressed Ag-induced priming of CD4{sup +} T cells. •POH suppressed airway eosinophila and cytokine production in thoracic lymph nodes. -- Abstract: Perillyl alcohol (POH) is an isoprenoid which inhibits farnesyl transferase and geranylgeranyl transferase, key enzymes that induce conformational and functional changes in small G proteins to conduct signal production for cell proliferation. Thus, it has been tried for the treatment of cancers. However, although it affects the proliferation of immunocytes, its influence on immune responses has been examined in only a few studies. Notably, its effect on antigen-induced immune responses has not been studied. In this study, we examined whether POH suppresses Ag-induced immune responses with a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. POH treatment of sensitized mice suppressed proliferation and cytokine production in Ag-stimulated spleen cells or CD4{sup +} T cells. Further, sensitized mice received aerosolized OVA to induce allergic airway inflammation, and some mice received POH treatment. POH significantly suppressed indicators of allergic airway inflammation such as airway eosinophilia. Cytokine production in thoracic lymph nodes was also significantly suppressed. These results demonstrate that POH suppresses antigen-induced immune responses in the lung. Considering that it exists naturally, POH could be a novel preventive or therapeutic option for immunologic lung disorders such as asthma with minimal side effects.

Beneficial effect of TRAIL on HIV burden, without detectable immune consequences.

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Brett D Shepard

2008-08-01

Full Text Available During uncontrolled HIV disease, both TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL and TRAIL receptor expression are increased. Enhanced TRAIL sensitivity is due to TRAIL receptor up-regulation induced by gp120. As a result of successful antiretroviral therapy TRAIL is down-regulated, and there are fewer TRAIL-sensitive cells. In this setting, we hypothesized that all cells that contain virus, including those productively- and latently-infected, have necessarily been "primed" by gp120 and remain TRAIL-sensitive, whereas uninfected cells remain relatively TRAIL-resistant.We evaluated the immunologic and antiviral effects of TRAIL in peripheral blood lymphocytes collected from HIV-infected patients with suppressed viral replication. The peripheral blood lymphocytes were treated with recombinant TRAIL or an equivalent amount of bovine serum albumin as a negative control. Treated cells were then analyzed by quantitative flow cytometry, ELISPOT for CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell function, and limiting dilution microculture for viral burden. Alterations in the cytokine milieu of treated cells were assessed with a multiplex cytokine assay. Treatment with recombinant TRAIL in vitro reduced viral burden in lymphocytes collected from HIV-infected patients with suppressed viral load. TRAIL treatment did not alter the cytokine milieu of treated cells. Moreover, treatment with recombinant TRAIL had no adverse effect on either the quantity or function of immune cells from HIV-infected patients with suppressed viral replication.TRAIL treatment may be an important adjunct to antiretroviral therapy, even in patients with suppressed viral replication, perhaps by inducing apoptosis in cells with latent HIV reservoirs. The absence of adverse effect on the quantity or function of immune cells from HIV-infected patients suggests that there is not a significant level of "bystander death" in uninfected cells.

In vitro effect of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol to stimulate somatostatin release and block that of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone by suppression of the release of prostaglandin E2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rettori, V.; Aguila, M.C.; McCann, S.M.; Gimeno, M.F.; Franchi, A.M.

1990-01-01

Previous in vivo studies have shown that Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal active ingredient in marijuana, can suppress both luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) secretion after its injection into the third ventricle of conscious male rats. The present studies were deigned to determine the mechanism of these effects. Various doses of THC were incubated with either stalk median eminence fragments (MEs) or mediobasal hypothalamic (MBH) fragments in vitro. Although THC (10 nM) did not alter basal release of LH-releasing hormone (LHRH) from MEs in vitro, it completely blocked the stimulatory action of dopamine or nonrepinephrine on LHRH release. The effective doses to block LHRH release were associated with a blockade of synthesis and release of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) from MBH in vitro. In contrast to the suppressive effect of THC on LHRH release, somatostatin release from MEs was enhanced in a dose-related manner with a minimal effective dose of 1 nM. Since PGE 2 suppresses somatostatin release, this enhancement may also be related to the suppressive effect of THC on PGE 2 synthesis and release. The authors speculate that these actions are mediated by the recently discovered THC receptors in the tissue. The results indicate that the suppressive effect of THC on LH release is mediated by a blockade of LHRH release, whereas the suppressive effect of the compound on growth hormone release is mediated, at least in part, by a stimulation of somatostatin release

Stimulus-specific suppression preserves information in auditory short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Linke, Annika C; Vicente-Grabovetsky, Alejandro; Cusack, Rhodri

2011-08-02

Philosophers and scientists have puzzled for millennia over how perceptual information is stored in short-term memory. Some have suggested that early sensory representations are involved, but their precise role has remained unclear. The current study asks whether auditory cortex shows sustained frequency-specific activation while sounds are maintained in short-term memory using high-resolution functional MRI (fMRI). Investigating short-term memory representations within regions of human auditory cortex with fMRI has been difficult because of their small size and high anatomical variability between subjects. However, we overcame these constraints by using multivoxel pattern analysis. It clearly revealed frequency-specific activity during the encoding phase of a change detection task, and the degree of this frequency-specific activation was positively related to performance in the task. Although the sounds had to be maintained in memory, activity in auditory cortex was significantly suppressed. Strikingly, patterns of activity in this maintenance period correlated negatively with the patterns evoked by the same frequencies during encoding. Furthermore, individuals who used a rehearsal strategy to remember the sounds showed reduced frequency-specific suppression during the maintenance period. Although negative activations are often disregarded in fMRI research, our findings imply that decreases in blood oxygenation level-dependent response carry important stimulus-specific information and can be related to cognitive processes. We hypothesize that, during auditory change detection, frequency-specific suppression protects short-term memory representations from being overwritten by inhibiting the encoding of interfering sounds.

Conscious Access to Suppressed Threatening Information Is Modulated by Working Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dong; Wang, Li; Wang, Ying; Jiang, Yi

2016-11-01

Previous research has demonstrated that emotional information processing can be modulated by what is being held in working memory (WM). Here, we showed that such content-based WM effects can occur even when the emotional information is suppressed from conscious awareness. Using the delayed-match-to-sample paradigm in conjunction with continuous flash suppression, we found that suppressed threatening (fearful and angry) faces emerged from suppression faster when they matched the emotional valence of WM contents than when they did not. This effect cannot be explained by perceptual priming, as it disappeared when the faces were only passively viewed and not held in WM. Crucially, such an effect is highly specific to threatening faces but not to happy or neutral faces. Our findings together suggest that WM can modulate nonconscious emotion processing, which highlights the functional association between nonconsciously triggered emotional processes and conscious emotion representation. © The Author(s) 2016.

Context shapes social judgments of positive emotion suppression and expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalokerinos, Elise K; Greenaway, Katharine H; Casey, James P

2017-02-01

It is generally considered socially undesirable to suppress the expression of positive emotion. However, previous research has not considered the role that social context plays in governing appropriate emotion regulation. We investigated a context in which it may be more appropriate to suppress than express positive emotion, hypothesizing that positive emotion expressions would be considered inappropriate when the valence of the expressed emotion (i.e., positive) did not match the valence of the context (i.e., negative). Six experiments (N = 1,621) supported this hypothesis: when there was a positive emotion-context mismatch, participants rated targets who suppressed positive emotion as more appropriate, and evaluated them more positively than targets who expressed positive emotion. This effect occurred even when participants were explicitly made aware that suppressing targets were experiencing mismatched emotion for the context (e.g., feeling positive in a negative context), suggesting that appropriate emotional expression is key to these effects. These studies are among the first to provide empirical evidence that social costs to suppression are not inevitable, but instead are dependent on context. Expressive suppression can be a socially useful emotion regulation strategy in situations that call for it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Robust suppression of nonstationary power-line interference in electrocardiogram signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Guojun; Zeng, Xiaopin; Zhou, Yu; Liu, Guojin; Zhou, Xichuan; Zhou, Xiaona

2012-01-01

It is a challenge to suppress time-varying power-line interference (PLI) with various levels in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Most previous attempts of tracking and suppressing the nonstationary PLI signal are based on the least-squares (LS) algorithm. This makes these methods susceptible to QRS complex in suppressing a low-level PLI signal which is frequently coupled in battery-operated ECG equipment. To address the limitation of LS-based methods, this study presents a robust PLI suppression system based on a robust extension of the Kalman filter. In addition, we used an improved version of empirical mode decomposition to further attenuate the QRS complex. Experiments show that our system could effectively suppress the PLI while preserving meaningful ECG components at various interference levels. (paper)

MR imaging of the knee using fat suppression technique: a preliminary report

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Suh, Jin Suck; Kim, Mi Hye; Cho, Jae Hyun; Park, Chang Yun; Lee, Yeon Hee [Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Yong Soo [Inje University College of Medicine, Kimhae (Korea, Republic of)

1994-03-15

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of fat suppression technique for MR imaging of the knee. Twenty-eight knees of 26 patients were imaged at a 1.5 T MR system. Sagittal and coronal T2-weighted spin echo imaged (SET2) and sagittal fat suppression SET2(FSSE) were obtained in all cases. We used a chemical shift imaging method for fat suppression. We compared FSSE with SET2 in terms of the conspicuity of lesions of menisci, cruciate ligaments, cartilage, bone and soft tissue of the knee. Meniscal lesions were detected on FSSE and SET2 as well. FSSE depicted the lesion more conspicuously in 6 cases. For the depiction of ACL tear, SET2 was superior to FSSE in 5 cases. FSSE was better for the visualization of the normal structure of cartilage and it also depicted the cartilaginous lesions more conspicuously in 3 cases. Though bone bruise could be detected on both techniques, FSSE was better. FSSE could provide the improved delineation of menisci, cartilage, bone bruise and other soft tissues except the injuries of anterior cruciate ligament. Although FSSE is a reliable method, it can not replace SET2. It may be used as a complemental method in the imaging of the knee.

Distracted by the Unthought - Suppression and Reappraisal of Mind Wandering under Stereotype Threat.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Carolin; Martiny, Sarah E; Schmader, Toni

2015-01-01

Previous research has found that subtle reminders of negative stereotypes about one's group can lead individuals to underperform on stereotype-relevant tests (e.g., women in math, ethnic minorities on intelligence tests). This so called stereotype threat effect can contribute to systematic group differences in performance that can obscure the true abilities of certain social groups and thereby sustain social inequalities. In the present study, we examined processes underlying stereotype threat effects on women's math performance, specifically focusing on the role of suppression of mind wandering (i.e., task-irrelevant thinking) in stereotype threat (ST) and no threat (NT) situations. Based on a process model of stereotype threat effects on performance, we hypothesized that women under stereotype threat spontaneously suppress mind wandering, and that this suppression impairs performance. An alternative regulation strategy that prevents suppression (i.e., reappraising task-irrelevant thoughts as normal) was predicted to prevent stereotype threat effects on performance. We manipulated stereotype threat (ST vs. NT) and cognitive regulation strategy (suppression, reappraisal, or no strategy) and measured women's performance on a math and a concentration task (N = 113). We expected three groups to perform relatively more poorly: Those in ST with either no strategy or suppression and those in NT with a suppression strategy. We tested the performance of these groups against the remaining three groups hypothesized to perform relatively better: those in NT with no strategy or reappraisal and those in ST with reappraisal. The results showed the expected pattern for participants' math performance, but not for concentration achievement. This pattern suggests that ineffective self-regulation by suppressing mind wandering can at least partly explain stereotype threat effects on performance, whereas a reappraisal strategy can prevent this impairment. We discuss implications for

Suppression of exchange bias effect in maghemite nanoparticles functionalized with H{sub 2}Y

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guivar, Juan A. Ramos, E-mail: juan.ramos5@unmsm.edu.pe [Faculty of Physical Sciences, National University of San Marcos, P. O. Box 14-0149, Lima, 14 Peru (Peru); Morales, M.A. [Departamento de Física Teórica e Experimental, UFRN, Natal, RN, 59078-970 Brazil (Brazil); Litterst, F. Jochen [Institut für Physik der Kondensierten Materie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, 38110 Germany (Germany)

2016-12-15

The structural, vibrational, morphological and magnetic properties of maghemite (γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) nanoparticles functionalized with polar molecules EDTA(or H{sub 4}Y) and H{sub 2}Y are reported. The samples were functionalized before and after total synthesis of γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanoparticles. The molecules are anchored on the monodentate mode on the nanoparticles surface. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the formation of maghemite nanoparticles with small diameter of 4 nm for the sample functionalized upon synthesis and 7.6 and 6.9 nm for the samples functionalized with EDTA and H{sub 2}Y after the formation of nanoparticles. Exchange bias phenomena were observed in some of the samples functionalized with EDTA at temperatures below 70 K. The presence of the bias effect was discussed in terms of the formation of a thin layer of a secondary phase like lepidocrocite, and the absence of this effect was explained in terms of the chemisorption of carboxylic groups from EDTA which suppressed the canting. Studies of Mössbauer spectroscopy as a function of temperature showed slow relaxation effects and allowed discussion of the secondary phase. In the M–T curves a maximum around 116 K was associated with this secondary phase also in agreement with the Mössbauer studies. The dynamic properties were studied by AC susceptibility, the out of phase signal revealed a spin glass like regime below 36.5 K. - Highlights: • Coprecipitation in alkaline medium was used for the synthesis of EDTA functionalized small maghemite nanoparticles. • Exchange bias effect was observed due to a thin layer of lepidocrocite like second phase. • The sample coprecipitated in a weak base did not show exchange bias effect. • The bias effect is discussed in terms of suppression of canting due to chemisorption of carboxylic groups from EDTA.

Frozen with fear: Conditioned suppression in a virtual reality model of human anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Allcoat, Devon; Greville, W James; Newton, Philip M; Dymond, Simon

2015-09-01

Freezing-like topographies of behavior are elicited in conditioned suppression tasks whereby appetitive behavior is reduced by presentations of an aversively conditioned threat cue relative to a safety cue. Conditioned suppression of operant behavior by a Pavlovian threat cue is an established laboratory model of quantifying the response impairment seen in anxiety disorders. Little is known however about how different response topographies indicative of conditioned suppression are elicited in humans. Here, we refined a novel virtual reality (VR) paradigm in which presentations of a threat cue of unpredictable duration occurred while participants performed an operant response of shooting and destroying boxes searching for hidden gold. The VR paradigm detected significant suppression of response topographies (shots, hits and breaks) for a Pavlovian threat cue relative to a safety cue and novel cue presentations. Implications of the present findings for translational research on appetitive and aversive conflict in anxiety disorders are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of Al2O3 Nano-Structure Functional Film on a Cellulose Insulation Polymer Surface and Its Space Charge Suppression Effect

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Jian Hao

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Cellulose insulation polymer (paper/pressboard has been widely used in high voltage direct current (HVDC transformers. One of the most challenging issues in the insulation material used for HVDC equipment is the space charge accumulation. Effective ways to suppress the space charge injection/accumulation in insulation material is currently a popular research topic. In this study, an aluminium oxide functional film was deposited on a cellulose insulation pressboard surface using reactive radio frequency (RF magnetron sputtering. The sputtered thin film was characterized by the scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM/EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, and X-ray diffraction (XRD. The influence of the deposited functional film on the dielectric properties and the space charge injection/accumulation behaviour was investigated. A preliminary exploration of the space charge suppression effect is discussed. SEM/EDS, XPS, and XRD results show that the nano-structured Al2O3 film with amorphous phase was successfully fabricated onto the fibre surface. The cellulose insulation pressboard surface sputtered by Al2O3 film has lower permittivity, conductivity, and dissipation factor values in the lower frequency (<103 Hz region. The oil-impregnated sputtered pressboard presents an apparent space-charge suppression effect. Compared with the pressboard sputtered with Al2O3 film for 90 min, the pressboard sputtered with Al2O3 film for 60 min had a better space charge suppression effect. Ultra-small Al2O3 particles (<10 nm grew on the surface of the larger nanoparticles. The nano-structured Al2O3 film sputtered on the fibre surface could act as a functional barrier layer for suppression of the charge injection and accumulation. This study offers a new perspective in favour of the application of insulation pressboard with a nano-structured function surface against space charge injection/accumulation in HVDC equipment.

The neural basis of suppression and amblyopia in strabismus.

Science.gov (United States)

Sengpiel, F; Blakemore, C

1996-01-01

The neurophysiological consequences of artificial strabismus in cats and monkeys have been studied for 30 years. However, until very recently no clear picture has emerged of neural deficits that might account for the powerful interocular suppression that strabismic humans experience, nor for the severe amblyopia that is often associated with convergent strabismus. Here we review the effects of squint on the integrative capacities of the primary visual cortex and propose a hypothesis about the relationship between suppression and amblyopia. Most neurons in the visual cortex of normal cats and monkeys can be excited through either eye and show strong facilitation during binocular stimulation with contours of similar orientation in the two eyes. But in strabismic animals, cortical neurons tend to fall into two populations of monocularly excitable cells and exhibit suppressive binocular interactions that share key properties with perceptual suppression in strabismic humans. Such interocular suppression, if prolonged and asymmetric (with input from the squinting eye habitually suppressed by that from the fixating eye), might lead to neural defects in the representation of the deviating eye and hence to amblyopia.

Temporal suppression of long-latency click-evoked otoacoustic emissions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verhulst, Sarah; Harte, James; Dau, Torsten

2007-01-01

A comprehensive set of results from double click suppression experiments on otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) have been presented by Hine and Thornton (2002) and Kapadia and Lutman (2000). They found that suppression of a click-evoked otoacoustic emission (CEOAE) varied with the timing and level...... subjects showed that the nonlinear suppression effect remained on the long-latency CEOAE, indicating that both SOAEs and CEOAEs originate from the same cochlear nonlinearities, as earlier suggested by Kemp and Chum (1980). The apparent similar origin of both types of emissions implies that the same...

Effects of cytokine-suppressive anti-inflammatory drugs on inflammatory activation in ex vivo human and ovine fetal membranes.

Science.gov (United States)

Stinson, Lisa F; Ireland, Demelza J; Kemp, Matthew W; Payne, Matthew S; Stock, Sarah J; Newnham, John P; Keelan, Jeffrey A

2014-03-01

Intrauterine infection and inflammation are responsible for the majority of early (PTBs). Anti-inflammatory agents, delivered intra-amniotically together with antibiotics, may be an effective strategy for preventing PTB. In this study, the effects of four cytokine-suppressive anti-inflammatory drugs (CSAIDs: N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), SB239063, TPCA-1 and NEMO binding domain inhibitor (NBDI)) were assessed on human and ovine gestational membrane inflammation. Full-thickness membranes were collected from healthy, term, human placentas delivered by Caesarean section (n=5). Using a Transwell model, they were stimulated ex vivo with γ-irradiation-killed Escherichia coli applied to the amniotic face. Membranes from near-term, ovine placentas were stimulated in utero with lipopolysaccharide, Ureaplasma parvum or saline control and subjected to explant culture. The effects of treatment with CSAIDs or vehicle (1% DMSO) on accumulation of PGE2 and cytokines (human interleukin 6 (IL6), IL10 and TNFα; ovine IL8 (oIL8)) were assessed in conditioned media at various time points (3-20  h). In human membranes, the IKKβ inhibitor TPCA-1 (7  μM) and p38 MAPK inhibitor SB239063 (20  μM) administered to the amniotic compartment were the most effective in inhibiting accumulation of cytokines and PGE2 in the fetal compartment. NAC (10  mM) inhibited accumulation of PGE2 and IL10 only; NBDI (10  μM) had no significant effect. In addition to the fetal compartment, SB239063 also exerted consistent and significant inhibitory effects in the maternal compartment. TPCA-1 and SB239063 suppressed oIL8 production, while all CSAIDs tested suppressed ovine PGE2 production. These results support the further investigation of intra-amniotically delivered CSAIDs for the prevention of inflammation-mediated PTB.

Hepatitis B virus X protein suppresses caveolin-1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating DNA methylation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Jun; Lu, Qian; Dong, Jiahong; Li, Xiaowu; Ma, Kuansheng; Cai, Lei

2012-01-01

To understand the molecular mechanisms of caveolin-1 downregulation by hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx). The DNA methylation status of the caveolin-1 promoter was examined by nested methylation-specific PCR of 33 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples. The SMMC-7721 hepatoma cell line was transfected with a recombinant HBx adenoviral vector, and the effects of HBx protein on caveolin-1 expression and promoter methylation were examined and confirmed by sequencing. A reporter gene containing the caveolin-1 promoter region was constructed, and the effects of HBx on the transcriptional activity of the promoter were also studied. Methylation of the caveolin-1 promoter was detected in 84.8% (28/33) of HBV-infected HCC samples. Expression of caveolin-1 was significantly downregulated (P = 0.022), and multiple CpG sites in the promoter region of caveolin-1 were methylated in SMMC-7721 cells after HBx transfection. Transfected HBx significantly suppressed caveolin-1 promoter activity (P = 0.001). HBx protein induces methylation of the caveolin-1 promoter region and suppresses its expression

Low Dose Suppression of Neoplastic Transformation in Vitro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

John Leslie Redpath

2012-05-01

This grant was to study the low dose suppression of neoplastic transformation in vitro and the shape of the dose-response curve at low doses and dose-rates of ionizing radiation. Previous findings had indicated a suppression of transformation at dose <10cGy of low-LET radiation when delivered at high dose-rate. The present study indicates that such suppression extends out to doses in excess of 100cGy when the dose (from I-125 photons) is delivered at dose-rates as low as 0.2 mGy/min and out to in excess of {approx}25cGy the highest dose studied at the very low dose-rate of 0.5 mGy/day. We also examined dose-rate effects for high energy protons (which are a low-LET radiation) and suppression was evident below {approx}10cGy for high dose-rate delivery and at least out to 50cGy for low dose-rate (20cGy/h) delivery. Finally, we also examined the effect of low doses of 1 GeV/n iron ions (a high-LET radiation) delivered at high dose-rate on transformation at low doses and found a suppression below {approx}10cGy that could be attributable to an adaptive response in bystander cells induced by the associated low-LET delta rays. These results have implications for cancer risk assessment at low doses.

In vitro induced regulatory T cells are unique from endogenous regulatory T cells and effective at suppressing late stages of ongoing autoimmunity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thanh-Long M Nguyen

Full Text Available Strategies to boost the numbers and functions of regulatory T cells (Tregs are currently being tested as means to treat autoimmunity. While Tregs have been shown to be effective in this role, strategies to manipulate Tregs to effectively suppress later stages of ongoing diseases need to be established. In this study, we evaluated the ability of TGF-β-induced Tregs (iTregs specific for the major self-antigen in autoimmune gastritis to suppress established autoimmune gastritis in mice. When transferred into mice during later stages of disease, iTregs demethylated the Foxp3 promoter, maintained Foxp3 expression, and suppressed effector T cell proliferation. More importantly, these iTregs were effective at stopping disease progression. Untreated mice had high numbers of endogenous Tregs (enTregs but these were unable to stop disease progression. In contrast, iTregs, were found in relatively low numbers in treated mice, yet were effective at stopping disease progression, suggesting qualitative differences in suppressor functions. We identified several inhibitory receptors (LAG-3, PD-1, GARP, and TNFR2, cytokines (TGF-β1 and IL12p35, and transcription factors (IRF4 and Tbet expressed at higher levels by iTregs compared to enTregs isolated form mice with ongoing disease, which likely accounts for superior suppressor ability in this disease model. These data support efforts to use iTregs in therapies to treat establish autoimmunity, and show that iTregs are more effective than enTregs at suppressing inflammation in this disease model.

Suppression of charmonium production in hadron gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faustov, R.N.; Vasilevskaya, I.G.

1991-01-01

The problem of J/ψ charmonium production suppression under heavy ion collisions is investigated. The processes of charmonium disintegration in hadron gas are considered: π+J/ψ → π+c+c-bar and ρ+J/ψ → D+D. Based on the results obtained one can assume that charmonium disintegration contribution to J/ψ production suppression under collisions with gas hadrons and the contribution conditioned by the production of quark-gluon plasma, appear to be the effects of similar order of magnitude

Computer-aided detection of lung nodules in digital chest radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giger, M.L.; Doi, K.; MacMahon, H.M.

1986-01-01

The authors are developing an automated method to detect lung nodules by eliminating the ''camouflaging: effect of the lung background. In order to increase the conspicuity of the nodules, we created, from a single chest radiograph, two images: one in which the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the nodule is maximized and another in which that S/N is suppressed. The difference between these two processed images was subjected to feature-extraction technique in order to isolate the nodules. The detection accuracy of the computer-aided detection scheme, as compared with unaided radiologists' performance, was determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis

Microwave bio-sensor based on symmetrical split ring resonator with spurline filters for therapeutic goods detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rammah A Alahnomi

Full Text Available A novel symmetrical split ring resonator (SSRR based microwave sensor with spurline filters for detecting and characterizing the properties of solid materials has been developed. Due to the weak perturbation in the interaction of material under test (MUT and planar microwave sensor, spurline filters were embedded to the SSRR microwave sensor which effectively enhanced Q-factor with suppressing the undesired harmonic frequency. The spurline filter structures force the presented sensor to resonate at a fundamental frequency of 2.2 GHz with the capabilities of suppressing rejected harmonic frequency and miniaturization in circuit size. A wide bandwidth rejection is achieved by using double spurlines filters with high Q-factor achievement (up to 652.94 compared to single spurline filter. The new SSRR sensor with spurline filters displayed desired properties such as high sensitivity, accuracy, and performance with a 1.3% typical percentage error in the measurement results. Furthermore, the sensor has been successfully applied for detecting and characterizing solid materials (such as Roger 5880, Roger 4350, and FR4 and evidently demonstrated that it can suppress the harmonic frequency effectively. This novel design with harmonic suppression is useful for various applications such as food industry (meat, fruit, vegetables, biological medicine (derived from proteins and other substances produced by the body, and Therapeutic goods (antiseptics, vitamins, anti-psychotics, and other medicines.

Suppressing magnetization exchange effects in stimulated-echo diffusion experiments.

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Pagès, Guilhem; Dvinskikh, Sergey V; Furó, István

2013-09-01

Exchange of nuclear magnetization between spin pools, either by chemical exchange or by cross-relaxation or both, has a significant influence on the signal attenuation in stimulated-echo-type pulsed field gradient experiments. Hence, in such cases the obtained molecular self-diffusion coefficients can carry a large systematic error. We propose a modified stimulated echo pulse sequence that contains T2-filters during the z-magnetization store period. We demonstrate, using a common theoretical description for chemical exchange and cross-relaxation, that these filters suppress the effects of exchange on the diffusional decay in that frequent case where one of the participating spin pools is immobile and exhibits a short T2. We demonstrate the performance of this experiment in an agarose/water gel. We posit that this new experiment has advantages over other approaches hitherto used, such as that consisting of measuring separately the magnetization exchange rate, if suitable by Goldman-Shen type experiments, and then correcting for exchange effects within the framework of a two-site exchange model. We also propose experiments based on selective decoupling and applicable in systems with no large T2 difference between the different spin pools. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tetrahydrobiopterin Has a Glucose-Lowering Effect by Suppressing Hepatic Gluconeogenesis in an Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase–Dependent Manner in Diabetic Mice

Science.gov (United States)

Abudukadier, Abulizi; Fujita, Yoshihito; Obara, Akio; Ohashi, Akiko; Fukushima, Toru; Sato, Yuichi; Ogura, Masahito; Nakamura, Yasuhiko; Fujimoto, Shimpei; Hosokawa, Masaya; Hasegawa, Hiroyuki; Inagaki, Nobuya

2013-01-01

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) dysfunction induces insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is an essential cofactor of eNOS that regulates eNOS activity. In the diabetic state, BH4 is oxidized to 7,8-dihydrobiopterin, which leads to eNOS dysfunction owing to eNOS uncoupling. The current study investigates the effects of BH4 on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in diabetic mice. Single administration of BH4 lowered fasting blood glucose levels in wild-type mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes and alleviated eNOS dysfunction by increasing eNOS dimerization in the liver of these mice. Liver has a critical role in glucose-lowering effects of BH4 through suppression of hepatic gluconeogenesis. BH4 activated AMP kinase (AMPK), and the suppressing effect of BH4 on gluconeogenesis was AMPK-dependent. In addition, the glucose-lowering effect and activation of AMPK by BH4 did not appear in mice with STZ-induced diabetes lacking eNOS. Consecutive administration of BH4 in ob/ob mice ameliorated glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. Taken together, BH4 suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis in an eNOS-dependent manner, and BH4 has a glucose-lowering effect as well as an insulin-sensitizing effect in diabetic mice. BH4 has potential in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. PMID:23649519

The Technology of Suppressing Harmonics with Complex Neural Network is Applied to Microgrid

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Li, Zhan-Ying; Wang, Yan-ping; Li, Yang; Zong, Ke-yong

2018-03-01

According to the traits of harmonics in microgrid, a new CANN controller which combines BP and RBF neural network is proposed to control APF to detect and suppress harmonics. This controller has the function of current prediction. By simulation in Matlab / Simulink, this design can shorten the delay time nearly 0.02s (a power supply current cycle) in comparison with the traditional controller based on ip-iq method. The new controller also has higher compensation accuracy and better dynamic tracking traits, it can greatly suppress the harmonics and improve the power quality.

Therapeutic effects of a novel tylophorine analog, NK-007, on collagen-induced arthritis through suppressing tumor necrosis factor α production and Th17 cell differentiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Ti; Li, Yangguang; Wu, Meng; Sun, Xiaolin; Bao, Xiucong; Lin, Yuquan; Hao, Jianlei; Han, Lin; Cao, Guangchao; Wang, Ziwen; Liu, Yuxiu; Wu, Zhenzhou; Hong, Zhangyong; Wang, Puyue; Zhao, Liqing; Li, Zhanguo; Wang, Qingmin; Yin, Zhinan

2012-09-01

To analyze the effects of a novel compound, NK-007, on the prevention and treatment of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and the underlying mechanisms. We determined the effect of NK-007 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-triggered tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) production by murine splenocytes and a macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, intracellular cytokine staining, and Western blotting. The LPS-boosted CIA model was adopted, and NK-007 or vehicle was administered at different time points after immunization. Mice were monitored for clinical severity of arthritis, and joint tissues were used for histologic examination, cytokine detection, and immunohistochemical staining. Finally, stability of TNFα production and Th17 cell differentiation were studied using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry. NK-007 significantly suppressed LPS-induced TNFα production in vitro. Administration of NK-007 completely blocked CIA development and delayed its progression. Furthermore, treatment with NK-007 at the onset of arthritis significantly inhibited the progress of joint inflammation. Administration of NK-007 also suppressed production of TNFα, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-17A in the joint and reduced percentages of IL-17+ cells among CD4+ and γ/δ T cells in draining lymph nodes. We further demonstrated that NK-007 acted on the stability of TNFα messenger RNA and reduced Th17 cell differentiation. In addition, it significantly inhibited levels of IL-6 and IL-17A in human coculture assay. For its effects on the development and progression of CIA and for its therapeutic effect on CIA, NK-007 has great potential to be a therapeutic agent for human rheumatoid arthritis. Copyright © 2012 by the American College of Rheumatology.

Effects of lesions of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle on conditioned suppression to a CS and to a contextual background stimulus.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsaltas, E; Schugens, M M; Gray, J A

1989-01-01

The aim of the experiment was to determine whether the dorsal noradrenergic bundle (DB) plays a role in conditioning to context. Rats received either bilateral lesions of the DB by local injection of 6-hydroxydopamine, vehicle injections only, or sham operations. All animals were then trained to barpress for food on a variable interval (VI) schedule. Two 5-min intrusion periods were superimposed on the VI baseline during each session. An 'envelope' stimulus (flashing light) was on throughout each intrusion period. In addition, embedded in the two intrusion periods of each session, there occurred 8 presentations of a 'punctate' conditioned stimulus (CS) (a 15-s clicker), and 8 presentations of a 0.5-s footshock. Within each surgical condition rats were randomly allocated to one of three conditioning groups, receiving 100%, 50% or 0% temporal association between CS and shock. Conditioning to the punctate CS and to the context provided by the envelope stimulus was assessed by the degree of suppression of the barpress response relative to the VI baseline. Responding was most suppressed in the punctate CS in the 100 and 50% conditions, and most suppressed in the envelope stimulus in the 0% condition. DB lesions released response suppression to the punctate CS, had no effect on suppression to the envelope stimulus, and reduced sensitivity to CS-shock probability as measured by response suppression during the punctate CS. These results confirm previous reports that DB lesions alleviate response suppression to shock-associated cues, identify some of the parameters that affect this phenomenon, but fail to support a role for the DB in contextual conditioning.

Suppression of pool fires with HRC-125 in a simulated engine nacelle.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keyser, David R. (INS, Inc., Lexington Park, MD); Hewson, John C.

2007-06-01

CFD simulations are conducted to predict the distribution of fire suppressant in an engine nacelle and to predict the suppression of pool fires by the application of this suppressant. In the baseline configuration, which is based on an installed system, suppressant is injected through four nozzles at a rate fast enough to suppress all simulated pool fires. Variations that reduce the mass of the suppression system (reducing the impact of the suppression system on meeting mission needs) are considered, including a reduction in the rate of suppressant injection, a reduction in the mass of suppressant and a reduction in the number of nozzles. In general, these variations should work to reduce the effectiveness of the suppression system, but the CFD results point out certain changes that have negligible impact, at least for the range of phenomena considered here. The results are compared with measurements where available. Comparisons with suppressant measurements are reasonable. A series of twenty-three fire suppression tests were conducted to check the predictions. The pre-test predictions were generally successful in identifying the range of successful suppression tests. In two separate cases, each where one nozzle of the suppression system was capped, the simulation results did indicate a failure to suppress for a condition where the tests indicated successful suppression. When the test-suppressant discharge rate was reduced by roughly 25%, the tests were in agreement with the predictions. That is, the simulations predict a failure to suppress slightly before observed in these cases.

Hearing aid noise suppression and working memory function

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Rosa-Linde; Neher, Tobias; Wagener, Kirsten C.

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Research findings concerning the relation between benefit from hearing aid (HA) noise suppression and working memory function are inconsistent. The current study thus investigated the effects of three noise suppression algorithms on auditory working memory and the relation with reading span.DESIGN: Using a computer simulation of bilaterally fitted HAs, four settings were tested: (1) unprocessed, (2) directional microphones, (3) single-channel noise reduction and (4) binaural cohere...

Wing rock suppression using forebody vortex control

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, T. T.; Ong, L. Y.; Suarez, C. J.; Malcolm, G. N.

1991-01-01

Static and free-to-roll tests were conducted in a water tunnel with a configuration that consisted of a highly-slender forebody and 78-deg sweep delta wings. Flow visualization was performed and the roll angle histories were obtained. The fluid mechanisms governing the wing rock of this configuration were identified. Different means of suppressing wing rock by controlling the forebody vortices using small blowing jets were also explored. Steady blowing was found to be capable of suppressing wing rock, but significant vortex asymmetries had to be induced at the same time. On the other hand, alternating pulsed blowing on the left and right sides of the forebody was demonstrated to be potentially an effective means of suppressing wing rock and eliminating large asymmetric moments at high angles of attack.

Suppressing the QCD axion abundance by hidden monopoles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawasaki, Masahiro

2015-11-01

We study the Witten effect of hidden monopoles on the QCD axion dynamics, and show that its abundance as well as isocurvature perturbations can be significantly suppressed if there is a sufficient amount of hidden monopoles. When the hidden monopoles make up a significant fraction of dark matter, the Witten effect suppresses the abundance of axion with the decay constant smaller than 10 12 GeV. The cosmological domain wall problem of the QCD axion can also be avoided, relaxing the upper bound on the decay constant when the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is spontaneously broken after inflation.

Suppressing effect of low-dose ionizing radiation on incidence of type I diabetes of NOD mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomura, T.; Makino, N.; Oda, T.; Sakai, K.

2002-01-01

In the present study we examined the effects of 0.5 Gy of ionizing radiation, given acutely or chronically, on the incidence of type I diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice was examined. NOD mice are characterized by a progressive loss of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas by autoimmune mechanisms. The results suggest that the suppressive effects on the onset of he diabetes by the low dose irradiation are explain by the induction of the antioxidative activity

Suppression of Poxvirus Replication by Resveratrol.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Shuai; Realegeno, Susan; Pant, Anil; Satheshkumar, Panayampalli S; Yang, Zhilong

2017-01-01

Poxviruses continue to cause serious diseases even after eradication of the historically deadly infectious human disease, smallpox. Poxviruses are currently being developed as vaccine vectors and cancer therapeutic agents. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol stilbenoid found in plants that has been shown to inhibit or enhance replication of a number of viruses, but the effect of resveratrol on poxvirus replication is unknown. In the present study, we found that resveratrol dramatically suppressed the replication of vaccinia virus (VACV), the prototypic member of poxviruses, in various cell types. Resveratrol also significantly reduced the replication of monkeypox virus, a zoonotic virus that is endemic in Western and Central Africa and causes human mortality. The inhibitory effect of resveratrol on poxviruses is independent of VACV N1 protein, a potential resveratrol binding target. Further experiments demonstrated that resveratrol had little effect on VACV early gene expression, while it suppressed VACV DNA synthesis, and subsequently post-replicative gene expression.

Suppression of Poxvirus Replication by Resveratrol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuai Cao

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Poxviruses continue to cause serious diseases even after eradication of the historically deadly infectious human disease, smallpox. Poxviruses are currently being developed as vaccine vectors and cancer therapeutic agents. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol stilbenoid found in plants that has been shown to inhibit or enhance replication of a number of viruses, but the effect of resveratrol on poxvirus replication is unknown. In the present study, we found that resveratrol dramatically suppressed the replication of vaccinia virus (VACV, the prototypic member of poxviruses, in various cell types. Resveratrol also significantly reduced the replication of monkeypox virus, a zoonotic virus that is endemic in Western and Central Africa and causes human mortality. The inhibitory effect of resveratrol on poxviruses is independent of VACV N1 protein, a potential resveratrol binding target. Further experiments demonstrated that resveratrol had little effect on VACV early gene expression, while it suppressed VACV DNA synthesis, and subsequently post-replicative gene expression.

Adaptive suppression of passive intermodulation in digital satellite transceivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu TIAN

2017-06-01

Full Text Available For the performance issues of satellite transceivers suffering passive intermodulation interference, a novel and effective digital suppression algorithm is presented in this paper. In contrast to analog approaches, digital passive intermodulation (PIM suppression approaches can be easily reconfigured and therefore are highly attractive for future satellite communication systems. A simplified model of nonlinear distortion from passive microwave devices is established in consideration of the memory effect. The multiple high-order PIM products falling into the receiving band can be described as a bilinear predictor function. A suppression algorithm based on a bilinear polynomial decorrelated adaptive filter is proposed for baseband digital signal processing. In consideration of the time-varying characteristics of passive intermodulation, this algorithm can achieve the rapidness of online interference estimation and low complexity with less consumption of resources. Numerical simulation results show that the algorithm can effectively compensate the passive intermodulation interference, and achieve a high signal-to-interference ratio gain.

JAK-inhibitor tofacitinib suppresses interferon alfa production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells and inhibits arthrogenic and antiviral effects of interferon alfa.

Science.gov (United States)

Boor, Patrick P C; de Ruiter, Petra E; Asmawidjaja, Patrick S; Lubberts, Erik; van der Laan, Luc J W; Kwekkeboom, Jaap

2017-10-01

Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor that is effective for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and shows encouraging therapeutic effects in several other autoimmune diseases. A prominent adverse effect of tofacitinib therapy is the increased risk of viral infections. Despite its advanced stage of clinical development, the modes of action that mediate the beneficial and adverse effects of tofacitinib in autoimmune diseases remain unclear. Interferon alfa (IFNα) produced by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) is critically involved in the pathogenesis of many systemic autoimmune diseases and in immunity to viral infections. Using in vitro culture models with human cells, we studied the effects of tofacitinib on PDC survival and IFNα production, and on arthrogenic and antiviral effects of IFNα. Tofacitinib inhibited the expression of antiapoptotic BCL-A1 and BCL-XL in human PDC and induced PDC apoptosis. TLR7 stimulation upregulated the levels of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family members and prevented the induction of PDC apoptosis by tofacitinib. However, tofacitinib robustly inhibited the production of IFNα by toll like receptor-stimulated PDC. In addition, tofacitinib profoundly suppressed IFNα-induced upregulation of TLR3 on synovial fibroblasts, thereby inhibiting their cytokine and protease production in response to TLR3 ligation. Finally, tofacitinib counteracted the suppressive effects of IFNα on viral replication. Tofacitinib inhibits PDC survival and IFNα production and suppresses arthrogenic and antiviral effects of IFNα signaling. Inhibition of the IFNα pathway at 2 levels may contribute to the beneficial effects of tofacitinib in autoimmune diseases and explain the increased viral infection rates observed during tofacitinib treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Suppressive effects of 17β-estradiol on tributyltin-induced neuronal injury via Akt activation and subsequent attenuation of oxidative stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishihara, Yasuhiro; Fujitani, Noriko; Kawami, Tomohito; Adachi, Chika; Ishida, Atsuhiko; Yamazaki, Takeshi

2014-03-18

Neuroactive steroids are reported to protect neurons from various harmful compounds; however, the protective mechanisms remain largely unclear. In this study, we examined the suppressive effects of 17β-estradiol (E2) on tributyltin (TBT)-induced neurotoxicity. Organotypic hippocampal slices were prepared from neonatal rats and then cultured. Cell death was assayed by propidium iodide uptake. Levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined by dihydroethidium staining. Protein phosphorylation was evaluated by immunoblotting. Pretreatment of the slices with E2 dose-dependently attenuated the neuronal injury induced by TBT. An estrogen receptor antagonist, ICI182,780 abrogated these neuroprotective effects. The de novo protein synthesis inhibitors actinomycin D and cycloheximide showed no effects on the neuroprotective mechanism, indicating that a nongenomic pathway acting via the estrogen receptor may be involved in the neuroprotection conferred by E2. E2 suppressed the ROS production and lipid peroxidation induced by TBT, and these effects were almost completely canceled by ICI182,780. TBT decreased Akt phosphorylation, and this reduction was suppressed by E2. An Akt inhibitor, triciribine, attenuated the decreases in both the ROS production and neuronal injury mediated by E2. E2 enhances the phosphorylation of Akt, thereby attenuating the oxidative stress and subsequent neuronal injury induced by TBT. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Iron-chelating agents never suppress Fenton reaction but participate in quenching spin-trapped radicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Linxiang; Abe, Yoshihiro; Kanagawa, Kiyotada; Shoji, Tomoko; Mashino, Tadahiko; Mochizuki, Masataka; Tanaka, Miho; Miyata, Naoki

2007-01-01

Hydroxyl radical formation by Fenton reaction in the presence of an iron-chelating agent such as EDTA was traced by two different assay methods; an electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trapping method with 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO), and high Performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-fluorescence detection with terephthalic acid (TPA), a fluorescent probe for hydroxyl radicals. From the ESR spin-trapping measurement, it was observed that EDTA seemed to suppress hydroxyl radical formation with the increase of its concentration. On the other hand, hydroxyl radical formation by Fenton reaction was not affected by EDTA monitored by HPLC assay. Similar inconsistent effects of other iron-chelating agents such as nitrylotriacetic acid (NTA), diethylenetriamine penta acetic acid (DTPA), oxalate and citrate were also observed. On the addition of EDTA solution to the reaction mixture 10 min after the Fenton reaction started, when hydroxyl radical formation should have almost ceased but the ESR signal of DMPO-OH radicals could be detected, it was observed that the DMPO-OH· signal disappeared rapidly. With the simultaneous addition of Fe(II) solution and EDTA after the Fenton reaction ceased, the DMPO-OH· signal disappeared more rapidly. The results indicated that these chelating agents should enhance the quenching of [DMPO-OH]· radicals by Fe(II), but they did not suppress Fenton reaction by forming chelates with iron ions

Suppressing bullfrog larvae with carbon dioxide

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Jackson A.; Ray, Andrew; Sepulveda, Adam J.; Watten, Barnaby J.; Densmore, Christine L.; Layhee, Megan J.; Mark Abbey-Lambert,; ,

2014-01-01

Current management strategies for the control and suppression of the American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus = Rana catesbeiana Shaw) and other invasive amphibians have had minimal effect on their abundance and distribution. This study evaluates the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) on pre- and prometamorphic Bullfrog larvae. Bullfrogs are a model organism for evaluating potential suppression agents because they are a successful invader worldwide. From experimental trials we estimated that the 24-h 50% and 99% lethal concentration (LC50 and LC99) values for Bullfrog larvae were 371 and 549 mg CO2/L, respectively. Overall, larvae that succumbed to experimental conditions had a lower body condition index than those that survived. We also documented sublethal changes in blood chemistry during prolonged exposure to elevated CO2. Specifically, blood pH decreased by more than 0.5 pH units after 9 h of exposure and both blood partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and blood glucose increased. These findings suggest that CO2 treatments can be lethal to Bullfrog larvae under controlled laboratory conditions. We believe this work represents the necessary foundation for further consideration of CO2 as a potential suppression agent for one of the most harmful invaders to freshwater ecosystems.

Subjective duration distortions mirror neural repetition suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Pariyadath, Vani; Eagleman, David M

2012-01-01

Subjective duration is strongly influenced by repetition and novelty, such that an oddball stimulus in a stream of repeated stimuli appears to last longer in duration in comparison. We hypothesize that this duration illusion, called the temporal oddball effect, is a result of the difference in expectation between the oddball and the repeated stimuli. Specifically, we conjecture that the repeated stimuli contract in duration as a result of increased predictability; these duration contractions, we suggest, result from decreased neural response amplitude with repetition, known as repetition suppression. Participants viewed trials consisting of lines presented at a particular orientation (standard stimuli) followed by a line presented at a different orientation (oddball stimulus). We found that the size of the oddball effect correlates with the number of repetitions of the standard stimulus as well as the amount of deviance from the oddball stimulus; both of these results are consistent with a repetition suppression hypothesis. Further, we find that the temporal oddball effect is sensitive to experimental context--that is, the size of the oddball effect for a particular experimental trial is influenced by the range of duration distortions seen in preceding trials. Our data suggest that the repetition-related duration contractions causing the oddball effect are a result of neural repetition suppression. More generally, subjective duration may reflect the prediction error associated with a stimulus and, consequently, the efficiency of encoding that stimulus. Additionally, we emphasize that experimental context effects need to be taken into consideration when designing duration-related tasks.

Subjective duration distortions mirror neural repetition suppression.

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Vani Pariyadath

Full Text Available Subjective duration is strongly influenced by repetition and novelty, such that an oddball stimulus in a stream of repeated stimuli appears to last longer in duration in comparison. We hypothesize that this duration illusion, called the temporal oddball effect, is a result of the difference in expectation between the oddball and the repeated stimuli. Specifically, we conjecture that the repeated stimuli contract in duration as a result of increased predictability; these duration contractions, we suggest, result from decreased neural response amplitude with repetition, known as repetition suppression.Participants viewed trials consisting of lines presented at a particular orientation (standard stimuli followed by a line presented at a different orientation (oddball stimulus. We found that the size of the oddball effect correlates with the number of repetitions of the standard stimulus as well as the amount of deviance from the oddball stimulus; both of these results are consistent with a repetition suppression hypothesis. Further, we find that the temporal oddball effect is sensitive to experimental context--that is, the size of the oddball effect for a particular experimental trial is influenced by the range of duration distortions seen in preceding trials.Our data suggest that the repetition-related duration contractions causing the oddball effect are a result of neural repetition suppression. More generally, subjective duration may reflect the prediction error associated with a stimulus and, consequently, the efficiency of encoding that stimulus. Additionally, we emphasize that experimental context effects need to be taken into consideration when designing duration-related tasks.

Dietary Sodium Suppresses Digestive Efficiency via the Renin-Angiotensin System.

Science.gov (United States)

Weidemann, Benjamin J; Voong, Susan; Morales-Santiago, Fabiola I; Kahn, Michael Z; Ni, Jonathan; Littlejohn, Nicole K; Claflin, Kristin E; Burnett, Colin M L; Pearson, Nicole A; Lutter, Michael L; Grobe, Justin L

2015-06-11

Dietary fats and sodium are both palatable and are hypothesized to synergistically contribute to ingestive behavior and thereby obesity. Contrary to this hypothesis, C57BL/6J mice fed a 45% high fat diet exhibited weight gain that was inhibited by increased dietary sodium content. This suppressive effect of dietary sodium upon weight gain was mediated specifically through a reduction in digestive efficiency, with no effects on food intake behavior, physical activity, or resting metabolism. Replacement of circulating angiotensin II levels reversed the effects of high dietary sodium to suppress digestive efficiency. While the AT1 receptor antagonist losartan had no effect in mice fed low sodium, the AT2 receptor antagonist PD-123,319 suppressed digestive efficiency. Correspondingly, genetic deletion of the AT2 receptor in FVB/NCrl mice resulted in suppressed digestive efficiency even on a standard chow diet. Together these data underscore the importance of digestive efficiency in the pathogenesis of obesity, and implicate dietary sodium, the renin-angiotensin system, and the AT2 receptor in the control of digestive efficiency regardless of mouse strain or macronutrient composition of the diet. These findings highlight the need for greater understanding of nutrient absorption control physiology, and prompt more uniform assessment of digestive efficiency in animal studies of energy balance.

A Randomized Trial of Comparing the Efficacy of Two Neurofeedback Protocols for Treatment of Clinical and Cognitive Symptoms of ADHD: Theta Suppression/Beta Enhancement and Theta Suppression/Alpha Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arash Mohagheghi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Neurofeedback (NF is an adjuvant or alternative therapy for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD. This study intended to compare the efficacy of two different NF protocols on clinical and cognitive symptoms of ADHD. Materials and Methods. In this clinical trial, sixty children with ADHD aged 7 to 10 years old were randomly grouped to receive two different NF treatments (theta suppression/beta enhancement protocol and theta suppression/alpha enhancement protocol. Clinical and cognitive assessments were conducted prior to and following the treatment and also after an eight-week follow-up. Results. Both protocols alleviated the symptoms of ADHD in general (p<0.001, hyperactivity (p<0.001, inattention (p<0.001, and omission errors (p<0.001; however, they did not affect the oppositional and impulsive scales nor commission errors. These effects were maintained after an eight-week intervention-free period. The only significant difference between the two NF protocols was that high-frequency alpha enhancement protocol performed better in suppressing omission errors (p<0.001. Conclusion. The two NF protocols with theta suppression/beta enhancement and theta suppression/alpha enhancement have considerable and comparable effect on clinical symptoms of ADHD. Alpha enhancement protocol was more effective in suppressing omission errors.

Fire Source Accessibility of Water Mist Fire Suppression Improvement through Flow Method Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Jun Ho; Kim, Hyeong Taek; Kim, Yun Jung; Park, Mun Hee [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

Recently, nuclear power plants set CO{sub 2} fire suppression system. However it is hard to establish and to maintain and it also has difficulties performing function test. Therefore, it needs to develop a new fire suppression system to replace the existing CO{sub 2} fire suppression systems in nuclear power plant. In fact, already, there exist alternatives - gas fire suppression system or clean fire extinguishing agent, but it is hard to apply because it requires a highly complicated plan. However, water mist fire suppression system which has both water system and gas system uses small amount of water and droplet, so it is excellent at oxygen displacement and more suitable for nuclear power plant because it can avoid second damage caused by fire fighting water. This paper explains about enclosure effect of water mist fire suppression. And it suggests a study direction about water mist fire source approach improvement and enclosure effect improvement, using flow method control of ventilation system. Water mist fire suppression can be influenced by various variable. And flow and direction of ventilation system are important variable. Expectations of the plan for more fire source ventilation system is as in the following. It enhances enclosure effects of water mists, so it improves extinguish performance. Also the same effect as a inert gas injection causes can be achieved. Lastly, it is considered that combustible accessibility of water mists will increase because of descending air currents.

'Water Structure' versus 'Radical Scavenger' theories as explanations for the suppressive effects of DMSO and related compounds on radiation-induced transformation in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, A.R.; Symons, M.C.R.

1987-01-01

We report here that dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO): (i) suppresses radiation-induced transformation in vitro, even when DMSO treatments begin as late as 10 days post-irradiation; (ii) inhibits the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) enhancement of radiation-induced transformation in vitro; (iii) does not affect the expression of transformed cells as foci (when surrounded by non-transformed cells); and (iv) may be affecting radiation-induced transformation through its solvent properties (i.e. the 'Water Structure' theory), while its effects on the TPA enhancement of radiation transformation may be mediated by its free radical scavenging abilities. DMSO, dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethylacetamide (DMA) are similar solvents which are all very effective in their ability to suppress radiation-induced transformation in vitro. As DMSO is known to be an extremely effective OH free-radical scavenging agent, while DMF and DMA are not as efficient at scavenging free radicals, our results suggest that properties other than free-radical scavenging ability may be important in the suppressive effects of these compounds on radiation-induced transformation in vitro. (author)

MicroRNA-214 Suppresses Gluconeogenesis by Targeting Activating Transcriptional Factor 4*

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Kai; Zhang, Jin; Yu, Junjie; Liu, Bin; Guo, Yajie; Deng, Jiali; Chen, Shanghai; Wang, Chunxia; Guo, Feifan

2015-01-01

Although the gluconeogenesis pathway is already a target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, the potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in gluconeogenesis remains unclear. Here, we investigated the physiological functions of miR-214 in gluconeogenesis. The expression of miR-214 was suppressed by glucagon via protein kinase A signaling in primary hepatocytes, and miR-214 was down-regulated in the livers of fasted, high fat diet-induced diabetic and leptin receptor-mutated (db/db) mice. The overexpression of miR-214 in primary hepatocytes suppressed glucose production, and silencing miR-214 reversed this effect. Gluconeogenesis was suppressed in the livers of mice injected with an adenovirus expressing miR-214 (Ad-miR-214). Additionally, Ad-miR-214 alleviated high fat diet-induced elevation of gluconeogenesis and hyperglycemia. Furthermore, we found that activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a reported target of miR-214, can reverse the suppressive effect of miR-214 on gluconeogenesis in primary hepatocytes, and this suppressive effect was blocked in liver-specific ATF4 knock-out mice. ATF4 regulated gluconeogenesis via affecting forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) transcriptional activity. Finally, liver-specific miR-214 transgenic mice exhibited suppressed gluconeogenesis and reduced expression of ATF4, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and glucose-6-phosphatase in liver. Taken together, our results suggest that the miR-214-ATF4 axis is a novel pathway for the regulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis. PMID:25657009

Suppressive and enhancing effects in early visual cortex during illusory shape perception: A comment on.

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Moors, Pieter

2015-01-01

In a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging study, Kok and de Lange (2014) observed that BOLD activity for a Kanizsa illusory shape stimulus, in which pacmen-like inducers elicit an illusory shape percept, was either enhanced or suppressed relative to a nonillusory control configuration depending on whether the spatial profile of BOLD activity in early visual cortex was related to the illusory shape or the inducers, respectively. The authors argued that these findings fit well with the predictive coding framework, because top-down predictions related to the illusory shape are not met with bottom-up sensory input and hence the feedforward error signal is enhanced. Conversely, for the inducing elements, there is a match between top-down predictions and input, leading to a decrease in error. Rather than invoking predictive coding as the explanatory framework, the suppressive effect related to the inducers might be caused by neural adaptation to perceptually stable input due to the trial sequence used in the experiment.

Suppressive effects of primed eosinophils on single epicutaneous sensitization through regulation of dermal dendritic cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jing-Yi; Ta, Yng-Cun; Liu, I-Lin; Chen, Hsi-Wen; Wang, Li-Fang

2016-07-01

Eosinophils are multifunctional innate immune cells involved in many aspects of innate and adaptive immunity. Epicutaneous sensitization with protein allergen is an important sensitization route for atopic dermatitis. In this study, using a murine single protein-patch model, we show that eosinophils of a primed status accumulate in draining lymph nodes following single epicutaneous sensitization. Further, depletion of eosinophils results in enhancement of the induced Th1/Th2 immune responses, whereas IL-5-induced hypereosinophilia suppresses these responses. Mechanistically, primed eosinophils cause a reduction in the numbers and activation status of dermal dendritic cells in draining lymph nodes. Collectively, these results demonstrate that primed eosinophils exert suppressive effects on single epicutaneous sensitization through regulation of dermal dendritic cells. Thus, these findings highlight the critical roles of eosinophils in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis with important clinical implications for the prevention of allergen sensitization. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Suppression secondary electrons from target surface under pulsed ion beams bombardment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Zhen; Peng Yufei; Long Jidong; Lan Chaohui; Dong Pan; Shi Jinshui

2012-01-01

The producing mechanism of secondary electrons from target surface under ion beams bombardment is discussed. Several methods to suppress the secondary electrons in special vacuum devices and their advantages and disadvantages are introduced. The ways of using self-bias and curved surface target are proposed and verified in the experiment. The results show that the secondary electrons can be effectively suppressed when the self-bias is larger than 80 V. The secondary electron yield decreases by using curved surface target instead of flat target. The secondary electron yield calculated from the experimental data is about 0.67, which is slightly larger than the value (0.58) from the literature due to the impurities of the ion beam and target surface. The effect of suppressing the electron countercurrent by the self-bias method is analyzed. The result shows that the self-bias method can not only suppress the secondary electrons from target surface under ion beams bombardment, but also suppress the electron countercurrent resulting from the instability of the pulsed power source. (authors)

Protective effect of Lycium Barbarum polysaccharides on dextromethorphan-induced mood impairment and neurogenesis suppression.

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Po, Kevin Kai-Ting; Leung, Joseph Wai-Hin; Chan, Jackie Ngai-Man; Fung, Timothy Kai-Hang; Sánchez-Vidaña, Dalinda Isabel; Sin, Emily Lok-Lam; So, Kwok-Fai; Lau, Benson Wui-Man; Siu, Andrew Man-Hong

2017-09-01

Dextromethorphan (DXM) is one of the common drugs abused by adolescents. It is the active ingredient found in cough medicine which is used for suppressing cough. High dosage of DXM can induce euphoria, dissociative effects and even hallucinations. Chronic use of DXM may also lead to depressive-related symptoms. Lycium barbarum, commonly known as wolfberry, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of ageing-related neurodegenerative diseases. A recent study has shown the potential beneficial effect of Lycium barbarum to reduce depression-like behavior. In the present study, we investigated the role of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) to alleviate DXM-induced emotional distress. Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups (n=6 per group), including the normal control (vehicles only), DXM-treated group (40 mg/kg DXM), LBP-treated group (1 mg/kg LBP) and DXM+ LBP-treated group (40 mg/kg DXM and 1 mg/kg LBP). After two-week treatment, the DXM-treated group showed increased depression-like and social anxiety-like behaviors in the forced swim test and social interaction test respectively. On the other hand, the adverse behavioral effects induced by DXM were reduced by LBP treatment. Histological results showed that LBP treatment alone did not promote hippocampal neurogenesis when compared to the normal control, but LBP could lessen the suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis induced by DXM. The findings provide insights for the potential use of wolfberry as an adjunct treatment option for alleviating mood disturbances during rehabilitation of cough syrup abusers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Security-enhanced chaos communication with time-delay signature suppression and phase encryption.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Chenpeng; Jiang, Ning; Lv, Yunxin; Wang, Chao; Li, Guilan; Lin, Shuqing; Qiu, Kun

2016-08-15

A security-enhanced chaos communication scheme with time delay signature (TDS) suppression and phase-encrypted feedback light is proposed, in virtue of dual-loop feedback with independent high-speed phase modulation. We numerically investigate the property of TDS suppression in the intensity and phase space and quantitatively discuss security of the proposed system by calculating the bit error rate of eavesdroppers who try to crack the system by directly filtering the detected signal or by using a similar semiconductor laser to synchronize the link signal and extract the data. The results show that TDS embedded in the chaotic carrier can be well suppressed by properly setting the modulation frequency, which can keep the time delay a secret from the eavesdropper. Moreover, because the feedback light is encrypted, without the accurate time delay and key, the eavesdropper cannot reconstruct the symmetric operation conditions and decode the correct data.

Distracted by the Unthought – Suppression and Reappraisal of Mind Wandering under Stereotype Threat

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Carolin; Martiny, Sarah E.; Schmader, Toni

2015-01-01

Previous research has found that subtle reminders of negative stereotypes about one’s group can lead individuals to underperform on stereotype-relevant tests (e.g., women in math, ethnic minorities on intelligence tests). This so called stereotype threat effect can contribute to systematic group differences in performance that can obscure the true abilities of certain social groups and thereby sustain social inequalities. In the present study, we examined processes underlying stereotype threat effects on women’s math performance, specifically focusing on the role of suppression of mind wandering (i.e., task-irrelevant thinking) in stereotype threat (ST) and no threat (NT) situations. Based on a process model of stereotype threat effects on performance, we hypothesized that women under stereotype threat spontaneously suppress mind wandering, and that this suppression impairs performance. An alternative regulation strategy that prevents suppression (i.e., reappraising task-irrelevant thoughts as normal) was predicted to prevent stereotype threat effects on performance. We manipulated stereotype threat (ST vs. NT) and cognitive regulation strategy (suppression, reappraisal, or no strategy) and measured women’s performance on a math and a concentration task (N = 113). We expected three groups to perform relatively more poorly: Those in ST with either no strategy or suppression and those in NT with a suppression strategy. We tested the performance of these groups against the remaining three groups hypothesized to perform relatively better: those in NT with no strategy or reappraisal and those in ST with reappraisal. The results showed the expected pattern for participants’ math performance, but not for concentration achievement. This pattern suggests that ineffective self-regulation by suppressing mind wandering can at least partly explain stereotype threat effects on performance, whereas a reappraisal strategy can prevent this impairment. We discuss

Contribution of Ruminal Fungi, Archaea, Protozoa, and Bacteria to the Methane Suppression Caused by Oilseed Supplemented Diets.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shaopu; Giller, Katrin; Kreuzer, Michael; Ulbrich, Susanne E; Braun, Ueli; Schwarm, Angela

2017-01-01

Dietary lipids can suppress methane emission from ruminants, but effects are variable. Especially the role of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa in mediating the lipid effects is unclear. In the present in vitro study, archaea, fungi and protozoa were selectively inhibited by specific agents. This was fully or almost fully successful for fungi and protozoa as well as archaeal activity as determined by the methyl-coenzyme M reductase alpha subunit gene. Five different microbial treatments were generated: rumen fluid being intact (I), without archaea (-A), without fungi (-F), without protozoa (-P) and with bacteria only (-AFP). A forage-concentrate diet given alone or supplemented with crushed full-fat oilseeds of either safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius ) or poppy ( Papaver somniferum ) or camelina ( Camelina sativa ) at 70 g oil kg -1 diet dry matter was incubated. This added up to 20 treatments with six incubation runs per treatment. All oilseeds suppressed methane emission compared to the non-supplemented control. Compared to the non-supplemented control, -F decreased organic matter (OM) degradation, and short-chain fatty acid concentration was greater with camelina and safflower seeds. Methane suppression per OM digested in -F was greater with camelina seeds (-12 vs.-7% with I, P = 0.06), but smaller with poppy seeds (-4 vs. -8% with I, P = 0.03), and not affected with safflower seeds. With -P, camelina seeds decreased the acetate-to-propionate ratio and enhanced the methane suppression per gram dry matter (18 vs. 10% with I, P = 0.08). Hydrogen recovery was improved with -P in any oilseeds compared to non-supplemented control. No methane emission was detected with the -A and -AFP treatments. In conclusion, concerning methanogenesis, camelina seeds seem to exert effects only on archaea and bacteria. By contrast, with safflower and poppy seeds methane was obviously reduced mainly through the interaction with protozoa or archaea associated with protozoa. This

Understanding the social effects of emotion regulation: the mediating role of authenticity for individual differences in suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

English, Tammy; John, Oliver P

2013-04-01

Individuals differ in the strategies they use to regulate their emotions (e.g., suppression, reappraisal), and these regulatory strategies can differentially influence social outcomes. However, the mechanisms underlying these social effects remain to be specified. We examined one potential mediator that arises directly from emotion-regulatory effort (expression of positive emotion), and another mediator that does not involve emotion processes per se, but instead results from the link between regulation and self-processes (subjective inauthenticity). Across three studies, only inauthenticity mediated the link between habitual use of suppression and poor social functioning (lower relationship satisfaction, lower social support). These findings replicated across individuals socialized in Western and East Asian cultural contexts, younger and older adults, when predicting social functioning concurrently and a decade later, and even when broader adjustment was controlled. Thus, the social costs of suppression do not seem to be due to reduced positive emotion expression but rather the incongruence between inner-self and outer-behavior. Reappraisal was not consistently related to social functioning. Implications of these findings for emotion processes, self processes, and interpersonal relationships are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Using unplanned fires to help suppressing future large fires in Mediterranean forests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrián Regos

Full Text Available Despite the huge resources invested in fire suppression, the impact of wildfires has considerably increased across the Mediterranean region since the second half of the 20th century. Modulating fire suppression efforts in mild weather conditions is an appealing but hotly-debated strategy to use unplanned fires and associated fuel reduction to create opportunities for suppression of large fires in future adverse weather conditions. Using a spatially-explicit fire-succession model developed for Catalonia (Spain, we assessed this opportunistic policy by using two fire suppression strategies that reproduce how firefighters in extreme weather conditions exploit previous fire scars as firefighting opportunities. We designed scenarios by combining different levels of fire suppression efficiency and climatic severity for a 50-year period (2000-2050. An opportunistic fire suppression policy induced large-scale changes in fire regimes and decreased the area burnt under extreme climate conditions, but only accounted for up to 18-22% of the area to be burnt in reference scenarios. The area suppressed in adverse years tended to increase in scenarios with increasing amounts of area burnt during years dominated by mild weather. Climate change had counterintuitive effects on opportunistic fire suppression strategies. Climate warming increased the incidence of large fires under uncontrolled conditions but also indirectly increased opportunities for enhanced fire suppression. Therefore, to shift fire suppression opportunities from adverse to mild years, we would require a disproportionately large amount of area burnt in mild years. We conclude that the strategic planning of fire suppression resources has the potential to become an important cost-effective fuel-reduction strategy at large spatial scale. We do however suggest that this strategy should probably be accompanied by other fuel-reduction treatments applied at broad scales if large-scale changes in fire

Using unplanned fires to help suppressing future large fires in Mediterranean forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Regos, Adrián; Aquilué, Núria; Retana, Javier; De Cáceres, Miquel; Brotons, Lluís

2014-01-01

Despite the huge resources invested in fire suppression, the impact of wildfires has considerably increased across the Mediterranean region since the second half of the 20th century. Modulating fire suppression efforts in mild weather conditions is an appealing but hotly-debated strategy to use unplanned fires and associated fuel reduction to create opportunities for suppression of large fires in future adverse weather conditions. Using a spatially-explicit fire-succession model developed for Catalonia (Spain), we assessed this opportunistic policy by using two fire suppression strategies that reproduce how firefighters in extreme weather conditions exploit previous fire scars as firefighting opportunities. We designed scenarios by combining different levels of fire suppression efficiency and climatic severity for a 50-year period (2000-2050). An opportunistic fire suppression policy induced large-scale changes in fire regimes and decreased the area burnt under extreme climate conditions, but only accounted for up to 18-22% of the area to be burnt in reference scenarios. The area suppressed in adverse years tended to increase in scenarios with increasing amounts of area burnt during years dominated by mild weather. Climate change had counterintuitive effects on opportunistic fire suppression strategies. Climate warming increased the incidence of large fires under uncontrolled conditions but also indirectly increased opportunities for enhanced fire suppression. Therefore, to shift fire suppression opportunities from adverse to mild years, we would require a disproportionately large amount of area burnt in mild years. We conclude that the strategic planning of fire suppression resources has the potential to become an important cost-effective fuel-reduction strategy at large spatial scale. We do however suggest that this strategy should probably be accompanied by other fuel-reduction treatments applied at broad scales if large-scale changes in fire regimes are to be

Vent clearing analysis of a Mark III pressure suppression containment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quintana, R.

1979-01-01

An analysis of the vent clearing transient in a Mark III pressure suppression containment after a hypothetical LOCA is carried out. A two-dimensional numerical model solving the transient fluid dynamic equations is used. The geometry of the pressure suppression pool is represented and the pressure and velocity fields in the pool are obtained from the moment the LOCA occurs until the first vent in the drywell wall clears. The results are compared to those obtained with the one-diemensional model used for containment design, with special interest on two-dimensional effects. Some conclusions concerning the effect of the water discharged into the suppression pool through the vents on submerged structures are obtained. Future improvements to the model are suggested. (orig.)

Amphetamine and cocaine suppress social play behavior in rats through distinct mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Achterberg, E J Marijke; Trezza, Viviana; Siviy, Stephen M; Schrama, Laurens; Schoffelmeer, Anton N M; Vanderschuren, Louk J M J

2014-04-01

Social play behavior is a characteristic form of social behavior displayed by juvenile and adolescent mammals. This social play behavior is highly rewarding and of major importance for social and cognitive development. Social play is known to be modulated by neurotransmitter systems involved in reward and motivation. Interestingly, psychostimulant drugs, such as amphetamine and cocaine, profoundly suppress social play, but the neural mechanisms underlying these effects remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the pharmacological underpinnings of amphetamine- and cocaine-induced suppression of social play behavior in rats. The play-suppressant effects of amphetamine were antagonized by the alpha-2 adrenoreceptor antagonist RX821002 but not by the dopamine receptor antagonist alpha-flupenthixol. Remarkably, the effects of cocaine on social play were not antagonized by alpha-2 noradrenergic, dopaminergic, or serotonergic receptor antagonists, administered either alone or in combination. The effects of a subeffective dose of cocaine were enhanced by a combination of subeffective doses of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine, the dopamine reuptake inhibitor GBR12909, and the noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine. Amphetamine, like methylphenidate, exerts its play-suppressant effect through alpha-2 noradrenergic receptors. On the other hand, cocaine reduces social play by simultaneous increases in dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin neurotransmission. In conclusion, psychostimulant drugs with different pharmacological profiles suppress social play behavior through distinct mechanisms. These data contribute to our understanding of the neural mechanisms of social behavior during an important developmental period, and of the deleterious effects of psychostimulant exposure thereon.

Variation in plant defense suppresses herbivore performance

Science.gov (United States)

Pearse, Ian; Paul, Ryan; Ode, Paul J.

2018-01-01

Defensive variability of crops and natural systems can alter herbivore communities and reduce herbivory. However, it is still unknown how defense variability translates into herbivore suppression. Nonlinear averaging and constraints in physiological tracking (also more generally called time-dependent effects) are the two mechanisms by which defense variability might impact herbivores. We conducted a set of experiments manipulating the mean and variability of a plant defense, showing that defense variability does suppress herbivore performance and that it does so through physiological tracking effects that cannot be explained by nonlinear averaging. While nonlinear averaging predicted higher or the same herbivore performance on a variable defense than on an invariable defense, we show that variability actually decreased herbivore performance and population growth rate. Defense variability reduces herbivore performance in a way that is more than the average of its parts. This is consistent with constraints in physiological matching of detoxification systems for herbivores experiencing variable toxin levels in their diet and represents a more generalizable way of understanding the impacts of variability on herbivory. Increasing defense variability in croplands at a scale encountered by individual herbivores can suppress herbivory, even if that is not anticipated by nonlinear averaging.

PGE2 suppresses NK activity in vivo directly and through adrenal hormones: Effects that cannot be reflected by ex-vivo assessment of NK cytotoxicity

Science.gov (United States)

Meron, G.; Tishler, Y.; Shaashua, L.; Rosenne, E.; Levi, B.; Melamed, R.; Gotlieb, N.; Matzner, P.; Sorski, L.; Ben-Eliyahu, S.

2013-01-01

Surgery can suppress in vivo levels of NK cell cytotoxicity (NKCC) through various mechanisms, including catecholamine-, glucocorticoid (CORT)-, and prostaglandin (PG)-mediated responses. However, PGs are synthesized locally following tissue damage, driving proinflammatory and CORT responses, while their systemic levels are often unaffected. Thus, we herein studied the role of adrenal factors in mediating in vivo effects of PGs on NKCC, using adrenalectomized and sham-operated F344 rats subjected to surgery or PGE2 administration. In vivo and ex-vivo approaches were employed, based on intravenous administration of the NK-sensitive MADB106 tumor line, and based on ex-vivo assessment of YAC-1 and MADB106 target-line lysis. Additionally, in vitro studies assessed the kinetics of the impact of epinephrine, CORT, and PGE2 on NKCC. The results indicated that suppression of NKCC by epinephrine and PGE2 are short lasting, and cannot be evident when these compounds are removed from the in vitro assay milieu, or in the context of ex-vivo assessment of NKCC. In contrast, the effects of CORT are long-lasting and are reflected in both conditions even after its removal. Marginating-pulmonary NKCC was less susceptible to suppression than circulating NKCC, when tested against the xenogeneic YAC-1 target line, but not against the syngeneic MADB106 line, which seems to involve different cytotoxicity mechanisms. Overall, these findings indicate that elevated systemic PG levels can directly suppress NKCC in vivo, but following laparotomy adrenal hormones mediate most of the effects of endogenously-released PGs. Additionally, the ex-vivo approach seems limited in reflecting the short-lasting NK-suppressive effects of catecholamines and PGs. PMID:23153554

PGE2 suppresses NK activity in vivo directly and through adrenal hormones: effects that cannot be reflected by ex vivo assessment of NK cytotoxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Meron, G; Tishler, Y; Shaashua, L; Rosenne, E; Levi, B; Melamed, R; Gotlieb, N; Matzner, P; Sorski, L; Ben-Eliyahu, S

2013-02-01

Surgery can suppress in vivo levels of NK cell cytotoxicity (NKCC) through various mechanisms, including catecholamine-, glucocorticoid (CORT)-, and prostaglandin (PG)-mediated responses. However, PGs are synthesized locally following tissue damage, driving proinflammatory and CORT responses, while their systemic levels are often unaffected. Thus, we herein studied the role of adrenal factors in mediating in vivo effects of PGs on NKCC, using adrenalectomized and sham-operated F344 rats subjected to surgery or PGE(2) administration. In vivo and ex vivo approaches were employed, based on intravenous administration of the NK-sensitive MADB106 tumor line, and based on ex vivo assessment of YAC-1 and MADB106 target-line lysis. Additionally, in vitro studies assessed the kinetics of the impact of epinephrine, CORT, and PGE(2) on NKCC. The results indicated that suppression of NKCC by epinephrine and PGE(2) are short lasting, and cannot be evident when these compounds are removed from the in vitro assay milieu, or in the context of ex vivo assessment of NKCC. In contrast, the effects of CORT are long-lasting and are reflected in both conditions even after its removal. Marginating-pulmonary NKCC was less susceptible to suppression than circulating NKCC, when tested against the xenogeneic YAC-1 target line, but not against the syngeneic MADB106 line, which seems to involve different cytotoxicity mechanisms. Overall, these findings indicate that elevated systemic PG levels can directly suppress NKCC in vivo, but following laparotomy adrenal hormones mediate most of the effects of endogenously-released PGs. Additionally, the ex vivo approach seems limited in reflecting the short-lasting NK-suppressive effects of catecholamines and PGs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Benzodiazepine temazepam suppresses the transient auditory 40-Hz response amplitude in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Jääskeläinen, I P; Hirvonen, J; Saher, M; Pekkonen, E; Sillanaukee, P; Näätänen, R; Tiitinen, H

1999-06-18

To discern the role of the GABA(A) receptors in the generation and attentive modulation of the transient auditory 40-Hz response, the effects of the benzodiazepine temazepam (10 mg) were studied in 10 healthy social drinkers, using a double-blind placebo-controlled design. Three hundred Hertz standard and 330 Hz rare deviant tones were presented to the left, and 1000 Hz standards and 1100 Hz deviants to the right ear of the subjects. Subjects attended to a designated ear and were to detect deviants therein while ignoring tones to the other. Temazepam significantly suppressed the amplitude of the 40-Hz response, the effect being equal for attended and non-attended tone responses. This suggests involvement of GABA(A) receptors in transient auditory 40-Hz response generation, however, not in the attentive modulation of the 40-Hz response.

Mode of ATM-dependent suppression of chromosome translocation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamauchi, Motohiro, E-mail: motoyama@nagasaki-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523 (Japan); Suzuki, Keiji; Oka, Yasuyoshi; Suzuki, Masatoshi; Kondo, Hisayoshi; Yamashita, Shunichi [Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523 (Japan)

2011-12-09

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We addressed how ATM suppresses frequency of chromosome translocation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We found ATM/p53-dependent G1 checkpoint suppresses translocation frequency. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We found ATM and DNA-PKcs function in a common pathway to suppress translocation. -- Abstract: It is well documented that deficiency in ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein leads to elevated frequency of chromosome translocation, however, it remains poorly understood how ATM suppresses translocation frequency. In the present study, we addressed the mechanism of ATM-dependent suppression of translocation frequency. To know frequency of translocation events in a whole genome at once, we performed centromere/telomere FISH and scored dicentric chromosomes, because dicentric and translocation occur with equal frequency and by identical mechanism. By centromere/telomere FISH analysis, we confirmed that chemical inhibition or RNAi-mediated knockdown of ATM causes 2 to 2.5-fold increase in dicentric frequency at first mitosis after 2 Gy of gamma-irradiation in G0/G1. The FISH analysis revealed that ATM/p53-dependent G1 checkpoint suppresses dicentric frequency, since RNAi-mediated knockdown of p53 elevated dicentric frequency by 1.5-fold. We found ATM also suppresses dicentric occurrence independently of its checkpoint role, as ATM inhibitor showed additional effect on dicentric frequency in the context of p53 depletion and Chk1/2 inactivation. Epistasis analysis using chemical inhibitors revealed that ATM kinase functions in the same pathway that requires kinase activity of DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) to suppress dicentric frequency. From the results in the present study, we conclude that ATM minimizes translocation frequency through its commitment to G1 checkpoint and DNA double-strand break repair pathway that requires kinase activity of DNA-PKcs.

HIV-1 viral escape in cerebrospinal fluid of subjects on suppressive antiretroviral treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Edén, Arvid; Fuchs, Dietmar; Hagberg, Lars; Nilsson, Staffan; Spudich, Serena; Svennerholm, Bo; Price, Richard W; Gisslén, Magnus

2010-12-15

Occasional cases of viral escape in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) despite suppression of plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA have been reported. We investigated CSF viral escape in subjects treated with commonly used antiretroviral therapy regimens in relation to intrathecal immune activation and central nervous system penetration effectiveness (CPE) rank. Sixty-nine neurologically asymptomatic subjects treated with antiretroviral therapy >6 months and plasma HIV-1 RNA penetration effectiveness rank was not a significant predictor of detectable CSF virus or CSF neopterin levels. Viral escape in CSF is more common than previously reported, suggesting that low-grade central nervous system infection may continue in treated patients. Although these findings need extension in longitudinal studies, they suggest the utility of monitoring CSF responses, as new treatment combinations and strategies modify clinical practice.

An automatic algorithm for blink-artifact suppression based on iterative template matching: application to single channel recording of cortical auditory evoked potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Valderrama, Joaquin T.; de la Torre, Angel; Van Dun, Bram

2018-02-01

Objective. Artifact reduction in electroencephalogram (EEG) signals is usually necessary to carry out data analysis appropriately. Despite the large amount of denoising techniques available with a multichannel setup, there is a lack of efficient algorithms that remove (not only detect) blink-artifacts from a single channel EEG, which is of interest in many clinical and research applications. This paper describes and evaluates the iterative template matching and suppression (ITMS), a new method proposed for detecting and suppressing the artifact associated with the blink activity from a single channel EEG. Approach. The approach of ITMS consists of (a) an iterative process in which blink-events are detected and the blink-artifact waveform of the analyzed subject is estimated, (b) generation of a signal modeling the blink-artifact, and (c) suppression of this signal from the raw EEG. The performance of ITMS is compared with the multi-window summation of derivatives within a window (MSDW) technique using both synthesized and real EEG data. Main results. Results suggest that ITMS presents an adequate performance in detecting and suppressing blink-artifacts from a single channel EEG. When applied to the analysis of cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs), ITMS provides a significant quality improvement in the resulting responses, i.e. in a cohort of 30 adults, the mean correlation coefficient improved from 0.37 to 0.65 when the blink-artifacts were detected and suppressed by ITMS. Significance. ITMS is an efficient solution to the problem of denoising blink-artifacts in single-channel EEG applications, both in clinical and research fields. The proposed ITMS algorithm is stable; automatic, since it does not require human intervention; low-invasive, because the EEG segments not contaminated by blink-artifacts remain unaltered; and easy to implement, as can be observed in the Matlab script implemeting the algorithm provided as supporting material.

Detecting fine scratches on smooth surfaces with multiscale wavelet representation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Li; Wan, Yan; Yao, Ming; Xu, Bugao

2012-01-01

This paper presents a set of image-processing algorithms for automatic detection of fine scratches on smooth surfaces, such as automobile paint surfaces. The scratches to be detected have random directions, inconspicuous gray levels and background noise. The multiscale wavelet transform was used to extract texture features, and a controlled edge fusion model was employed to merge the detailed (horizontal, vertical and diagonal) wavelet coefficient maps. Based on the fused detail map, multivariate statistics were applied to synthesize features in multiple scales and directions, and an optimal threshold was set to separate scratches from the background. The experimental results of 24 automobile paint surface showed that the presented algorithms can effectively suppress background noise and detect scratches accurately. (paper)

Hearing aid noise suppression and working memory function

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neher, Tobias; Wagener, Kirsten C.; Fischer, Rosa-Linde

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Research findings concerning the relation between benefit from hearing aid (HA) noise suppression and working memory function are inconsistent. The current study thus investigated the effects of three noise suppression algorithms on auditory working memory and the relation with reading......-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement. Auditory working memory was assessed at +6 dB SNR using listening span and N-back paradigms. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty experienced HA users ages 55-80 with large differences in reading span. RESULTS: For the listening span measurements, there was an influence of HA setting....... CONCLUSIONS: HA noise suppression may affect the recognition and recall of speech at positive SNRs, irrespective of individual reading span. Future work should improve the reliability of the auditory working memory measurements....

Cooling Effect Analysis of Suppressing Coal Spontaneous Ignition with Heat Pipe

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yaping; Zhang, Shuanwei; Wang, Jianguo; Hao, Gaihong

2018-05-01

Suppression of spontaneous ignition of coal stockpiles was an important issue for safe utilization of coal. The large thermal energy from coal spontaneous ignition can be viewed as the latent energy source to further utilize for saving energy purpose. Heat pipe was the more promising way to diffuse effectively concentrated energy of the coal stockpile, so that retarding coal spontaneous combustion was therefore highly desirable. The cooling mechanism of the coal with heat pipe was pursued. Based on the research result, the thermal energy can be transported from the coal seam to the surface continuously with the use of heat pipe. Once installed the heat pipes will work automatically as long as the coal oxidation reaction was happened. The experiment was indicated that it can significantly spread the high temperature of the coal pile.

Suppression of stratified explosive interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meeks, M.K.; Shamoun, B.I.; Bonazza, R.; Corradini, M.L. [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics

1998-01-01

Stratified Fuel-Coolant Interaction (FCI) experiments with Refrigerant-134a and water were performed in a large-scale system. Air was uniformly injected into the coolant pool to establish a pre-existing void which could suppress the explosion. Two competing effects due to the variation of the air flow rate seem to influence the intensity of the explosion in this geometrical configuration. At low flow rates, although the injected air increases the void fraction, the concurrent agitation and mixing increases the intensity of the interaction. At higher flow rates, the increase in void fraction tends to attenuate the propagated pressure wave generated by the explosion. Experimental results show a complete suppression of the vapor explosion at high rates of air injection, corresponding to an average void fraction of larger than 30%. (author)

[Effects of sucralfate and acid-suppressive drugs on preventing ventilator- associated pneumonia of mechanically ventilated patients: a meta-analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

He, Hongli; Hu, Shuling; Chen, Qihong; Liu, Ling; Huang, Yingzi; Yang, Yi; Qiu, Haibo

2014-01-01

To evaluate the effect of sucralfate and acid-suppressive drugs on preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in mechanically ventilated patients. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which studied the effect of sucralfate and acid-suppressive drugs on the incidence of VAP in mechanically ventilated patients, were searched from PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library during January 1966 to March 2013 via manual and computer retrieval. All related data were extracted. Meta analysis was conducted using the statistical software RevMan 5.2 and the quality of the RCTs was strictly evaluated with the methods recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. A total of 15 RCTs involving 1315 patients in the sucralfate group and 1568 patients in the acid-suppressive drug group were included in this study. The incidence of VAP was significantly reduced in the sucralfate group (RR = 0.81, 95%CI 0.7-0.95, P = 0.008), while no difference was found between the two groups in the incidence of stress-related gastrointestinal bleeding (RR = 0.96, 95%CI 0.59-1.58, P = 0.88). No statistical difference was found in the days on ventilator, duration of ICU stay and ICU mortality in the two groups (all P values > 0.05). In patients with mechanical ventilation, sucralfate could decrease the incidence of VAP, while has no such effect on the stress-related gastrointestinal bleeding, the days on ventilator, duration of ICU stay and ICU mortality.

Disgust and Suppression of the Visual Cortex: Lateralization Effects?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moon Wilton

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Research has shown that unlike other threat emotions, disgust does not evoke a typical sympathetic fight or flight response. Rather, disgust induces a parasympathetic response. A recent EEG study has demonstrated that this inhibitory reaction is also present in neuronal systems. Disgust stimuli elicited diminished Visual Event Related Potential (VERP amplitude in comparison to neutral and fear stimuli at P1 in the posterior Oz electrode (Kruesmark and Li, 2011 J Neurosci 31 (9, 3429–3434. In order to investigate whether VERPs were sensitive to different domains of disgust, we presented participants with random sequence of neutral, sociomoral, mutilation, and contamination images derived from the IAPS database. EEG results indicated no significant effect at Oz contrary to prior research. The results did, however, demonstrate lateralization effects. Whilst no differences were found between the disgust conditions themselves, the left P1 potential for all the disgust conditions was significantly attenuated compared to neutral. Conversely, this effect did not occur in the right posterior electrodes. In a second study, we presented the different disgust images in blocks in order to investigate the role of anticipation. Again, the left sided P1 was attenuated compared to neutral; however, on the right, mutilation elicited significantly greater P1 amplitude than did all other conditions. The results suggest suppressed visual processing for disgust elicitors in the left posterior regions and heightened activity for mutilation stimuli in the right, when mutilation was expected. These results may reflect a lateralized approach-avoidance mechanism, which begins as early as 125 ms after stimulus onset.

An Unsupervised Change Detection Method Using Time-Series of PolSAR Images from Radarsat-2 and GaoFen-3.

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Liu, Wensong; Yang, Jie; Zhao, Jinqi; Shi, Hongtao; Yang, Le

2018-02-12

The traditional unsupervised change detection methods based on the pixel level can only detect the changes between two different times with same sensor, and the results are easily affected by speckle noise. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to detect change based on time-series data from different sensors. Firstly, the overall difference image of the time-series PolSAR is calculated by omnibus test statistics, and difference images between any two images in different times are acquired by R j test statistics. Secondly, the difference images are segmented with a Generalized Statistical Region Merging (GSRM) algorithm which can suppress the effect of speckle noise. Generalized Gaussian Mixture Model (GGMM) is then used to obtain the time-series change detection maps in the final step of the proposed method. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we carried out the experiment of change detection using time-series PolSAR images acquired by Radarsat-2 and Gaofen-3 over the city of Wuhan, in China. Results show that the proposed method can not only detect the time-series change from different sensors, but it can also better suppress the influence of speckle noise and improve the overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient.

MicroRNA-214 suppresses gluconeogenesis by targeting activating transcriptional factor 4.

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Li, Kai; Zhang, Jin; Yu, Junjie; Liu, Bin; Guo, Yajie; Deng, Jiali; Chen, Shanghai; Wang, Chunxia; Guo, Feifan

2015-03-27

Although the gluconeogenesis pathway is already a target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, the potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in gluconeogenesis remains unclear. Here, we investigated the physiological functions of miR-214 in gluconeogenesis. The expression of miR-214 was suppressed by glucagon via protein kinase A signaling in primary hepatocytes, and miR-214 was down-regulated in the livers of fasted, high fat diet-induced diabetic and leptin receptor-mutated (db/db) mice. The overexpression of miR-214 in primary hepatocytes suppressed glucose production, and silencing miR-214 reversed this effect. Gluconeogenesis was suppressed in the livers of mice injected with an adenovirus expressing miR-214 (Ad-miR-214). Additionally, Ad-miR-214 alleviated high fat diet-induced elevation of gluconeogenesis and hyperglycemia. Furthermore, we found that activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a reported target of miR-214, can reverse the suppressive effect of miR-214 on gluconeogenesis in primary hepatocytes, and this suppressive effect was blocked in liver-specific ATF4 knock-out mice. ATF4 regulated gluconeogenesis via affecting forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) transcriptional activity. Finally, liver-specific miR-214 transgenic mice exhibited suppressed gluconeogenesis and reduced expression of ATF4, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and glucose-6-phosphatase in liver. Taken together, our results suggest that the miR-214-ATF4 axis is a novel pathway for the regulation of hepatic gluconeogenesis. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Kefiran suppresses antigen-induced mast cell activation.

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Furuno, Tadahide; Nakanishi, Mamoru

2012-01-01

Kefir is a traditional fermented milk beverage produced by kefir grains in the Caucasian countries. Kefiran produced by Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens in kefir grains is an exopolysaccharide having a repeating structure with glucose and galactose residues in the chain sequence and has been suggested to exert many health-promoting effects such as immunomodulatory, hypotensive, hypocholesterolemic activities. Here we investigated the effects of kefiran on mast cell activation induced by antigen. Pretreatment with kefiran significantly inhibited antigen-induced Ca(2+) mobilization, degranulation, and tumor necrosis factor-α production in bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) in a dose-dependent manner. The phosphorylation of Akt, glycogen synthase kinase 3β, and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) after antigen stimulation was also suppressed by pretreatment of BMMCs with kefiran. These findings indicate that kefiran suppresses mast cell degranulation and cytokine production by inhibiting the Akt and ERKs pathways, suggesting an anti-inflammatory effect for kefiran.

Habitat Management to Suppress Pest Populations: Progress and Prospects.

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Gurr, Geoff M; Wratten, Steve D; Landis, Douglas A; You, Minsheng

2017-01-31

Habitat management involving manipulation of farmland vegetation can exert direct suppressive effects on pests and promote natural enemies. Advances in theory and practical techniques have allowed habitat management to become an important subdiscipline of pest management. Improved understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships means that researchers now have a firmer theoretical foundation on which to design habitat management strategies for pest suppression in agricultural systems, including landscape-scale effects. Supporting natural enemies with shelter, nectar, alternative prey/hosts, and pollen (SNAP) has emerged as a major research topic and applied tactic with field tests and adoption often preceded by rigorous laboratory experimentation. As a result, the promise of habitat management is increasingly being realized in the form of practical worldwide implementation. Uptake is facilitated by farmer participation in research and is made more likely by the simultaneous delivery of ecosystem services other than pest suppression.

Enhancing nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) signature detection leveraging interference suppression algorithms

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DeBardelaben, James A.; Miller, Jeremy K.; Myrick, Wilbur L.; Miller, Joel B.; Gilbreath, G. Charmaine; Bajramaj, Blerta

2012-06-01

Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) is a radio frequency (RF) magnetic spectroscopic technique that has been shown to detect and identify a wide range of explosive materials containing quadrupolar nuclei. The NQR response signal provides a unique signature of the material of interest. The signal is, however, very weak and can be masked by non-stationary RF interference (RFI) and thermal noise, limiting detection distance. In this paper, we investigate the bounds on the NQR detection range for ammonium nitrate. We leverage a low-cost RFI data acquisition system composed of inexpensive B-field sensing and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software-defined radios (SDR). Using collected data as RFI reference signals, we apply adaptive filtering algorithms to mitigate RFI and enable NQR detection techniques to approach theoretical range bounds in tactical environments.

Tyr phosphatase-mediated P-ERK inhibition suppresses senescence in EIA + v-raf transformed cells, which, paradoxically, are apoptosis-protected in a MEK-dependent manner.

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De Vitis, Stefania; Sonia Treglia, Antonella; Ulianich, Luca; Turco, Stefano; Terrazzano, Giuseppe; Lombardi, Angela; Miele, Claudia; Garbi, Corrado; Beguinot, Francesco; Di Jeso, Bruno

2011-02-01

Activation of the Ras-Raf-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway causes not only proliferation and suppression of apoptosis but also the antioncogenic response of senescence. How these contrasting effects are reconciled to achieve cell transformation and cancer formation is poorly understood. In a system of two-step carcinogenesis (dedifferentiated PC EIA, transformed PC EIA-polyoma-middle T [PC EIA + Py] and PC EIA-v-raf [PC EIA + raf] cells], v-raf cooperated with EIA by virtue of a strong prosurvival effect, not elicited by Py-middle T, evident toward serum-deprivation-and H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis was detected by DNA fragmentation and annexin V staining. The prosurvival function of v-raf was, in part, mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK)-dependent, as shown by pharmacological MEK inhibition. The MEK-dependent antiapoptotic effect of v-raf was exerted despite a lower level of P-ERK1/2 in EIA + raf cells with respect to EIA + Py/EIA cells, which was dependent on a high tyrosine phosphatase activity, as shown by orthovanadate blockade. An ERK1/2 tyrosine phosphatase was likely involved. The high tyrosine phosphatase activity was instrumental to the complete suppression of senescence, detected by β-galactosidase activity, because tyrosine phosphatase blockade induced senescence in EIA + raf but not in EIA + Py cells. High tyrosine phosphatase activity and evasion from senescence were confirmed in an anaplastic thyroid cancer cell line. Therefore, besides EIA, EIA + raf cells suppress senescence through a new mechanism, namely, phosphatase-mediated P-ERK1/2 inhibition, but, paradoxically, retain the oncogenic effects of the Raf-ERK pathway. We propose that the survival effect of Raf is not a function of absolute P-ERK1/2 levels at a given time but is rather dynamically dependent on greater variations after an apoptotic stimulus.

Tyr Phosphatase-Mediated P-ERK Inhibition Suppresses Senescence in EIA + v-raf Transformed Cells, Which, Paradoxically, Are Apoptosis-Protected in a MEK-Dependent Manner

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefania De Vitis

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Activation of the Ras-Raf-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK pathway causes not only proliferation and suppression of apoptosis but also the antioncogenic response of senescence. How these contrasting effects are reconciled to achieve cell transformation and cancer formation is poorly understood. In a system of two-step carcinogenesis (dedifferentiated PC EIA, transformed PC EIA-polyoma-middle T [PC EIA + Py] and PC EIA-v-raf [PC EIA + raf] cells], v-raf cooperated with EIA by virtue of a strong prosurvival effect, not elicited by Py-middle T, evident toward serum-deprivation-and H2O2-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis was detected by DNA fragmentation and annexin V staining. The prosurvival function of v-raf was, in part, mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK-dependent, as shown by pharmacological MEK inhibition. The MEK-dependent antiapoptotic effect of v-raf was exerted despite a lower level of P-ERK1/2 in EIA + raf cells with respect to EIA + Py/EIA cells, which was dependent on a high tyrosine phosphatase activity, as shown by orthovanadate blockade. An ERK1/2 tyrosine phosphatase was likely involved. The high tyrosine phosphatase activity was instrumental to the complete suppression of senescence, detected by β-galactosidase activity, because tyrosine phosphatase blockade induced senescence in EIA + raf but not in EIA + Py cells. High tyrosine phosphatase activity and evasion from senescence were confirmed in an anaplastic thyroid cancer cell line. Therefore, besides EIA, EIA + raf cells suppress senescence through a new mechanism, namely, phosphatase-mediated P-ERK1/2 inhibition, but, paradoxically, retain the oncogenic effects of the Raf-ERK pathway. We propose that the survival effect of Raf is not a function of absolute P-ERK1/2 levels at a given time but is rather dynamically dependent on greater variations after an apoptotic stimulus.

Fighting food temptations: the modulating effects of short-term cognitive reappraisal, suppression and up-regulation on mesocorticolimbic activity related to appetitive motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Siep, Nicolette; Roefs, Anne; Roebroeck, Alard; Havermans, Remco; Bonte, Milene; Jansen, Anita

2012-03-01

The premise of cognitive therapy is that one can overcome the irresistible temptation of highly palatable foods by actively restructuring the way one thinks about food. Testing this idea, participants in the present study were instructed to passively view foods, up-regulate food palatability thoughts, apply cognitive reappraisal (e.g., thinking about health consequences), or suppress food palatability thoughts and cravings. We examined whether these strategies affect self-reported food craving and mesocorticolimbic activity as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. It was hypothesized that cognitive reappraisal would most effectively inhibit the mesocorticolimbic activity and associated food craving as compared to suppression. In addition, it was hypothesized that suppression would lead to more prefrontal cortex activity, reflecting the use of more control resources, as compared to cognitive reappraisal. Self-report results indicated that up-regulation increased food craving compared to the other two conditions, but that there was no difference in craving between the suppression and cognitive reappraisal strategy. Corroborating self-report results, the neuroimaging results showed that up-regulation increased activity in important regions of the mesocorticolimbic circuitry, including the ventral tegmental area, ventral striatum, operculum, posterior insular gyrus, medial orbitofrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Contrary to our hypothesis, suppression more effectively decreased activity in the core of the mesocorticolimbic circuitry (i.e., ventral tegmental area and ventral striatum) compared to cognitive reappraisal. Overall, the results support the contention that appetitive motivation can be modulated by the application of short-term cognitive control strategies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Robust and unobtrusive algorithm based on position independence for step detection

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Qiu, KeCheng; Li, MengYang; Luo, YiHan

2018-04-01

Running is becoming one of the most popular exercises among the people, monitoring steps can help users better understand their running process and improve exercise efficiency. In this paper, we design and implement a robust and unobtrusive algorithm based on position independence for step detection under real environment. It applies Butterworth filter to suppress high frequency interference and then employs the projection based on mathematics to transform system to solve the problem of unknown position of smartphone. Finally, using sliding window to suppress the false peak. The algorithm was tested for eight participants on the Android 7.0 platform. In our experiments, the results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve desired effect in spite of device pose.

Resveratrol suppresses IGF-1 induced human colon cancer cell proliferation and elevates apoptosis via suppression of IGF-1R/Wnt and activation of p53 signaling pathways

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Radhakrishnan Sridhar

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Obesity is a global phenomenon and is associated with various types of cancer, including colon cancer. There is a growing interest for safe and effective bioactive compounds that suppress the risk for obesity-promoted colon cancer. Resveratrol (trans-3, 4', 5,-trihydroxystilbene, a stilbenoid found in the skin of red grapes and peanuts suppresses many types of cancers by regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis through a variety of mechanisms, however, resveratrol effects on obesity-promoted colon cancer are not clearly established. Methods We investigated the anti-proliferative effects of resveratrol on HT-29 and SW480 human colon cancer cells in the presence and absence of insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1; elevated during obesity and elucidated the mechanisms of action using IGF-1R siRNA in HT-29 cells which represents advanced colon carcinogenesis. Results Resveratrol (100-150 μM exhibited anti-proliferative properties in HT-29 cells even after IGF-1 exposure by arresting G0/G1-S phase cell cycle progression through p27 stimulation and cyclin D1 suppression. Treatment with resveratrol suppressed IGF-1R protein levels and concurrently attenuated the downstream Akt/Wnt signaling pathways that play a critical role in cell proliferation. Targeted suppression of IGF-1R using IGF-1R siRNA also affected these signaling pathways in a similar manner. Resveratrol treatment induced apoptosis by activating tumor suppressor p53 protein, whereas IGF-1R siRNA treatment did not affect apoptosis. Our data suggests that resveratrol not only suppresses cell proliferation by inhibiting IGF-1R and its downstream signaling pathways similar to that of IGF-1R siRNA but also enhances apoptosis via activation of the p53 pathway. Conclusions For the first time, we report that resveratrol suppresses colon cancer cell proliferation and elevates apoptosis even in the presence of IGF-1 via suppression of IGF-1R/Akt/Wnt signaling pathways and

Resveratrol suppresses IGF-1 induced human colon cancer cell proliferation and elevates apoptosis via suppression of IGF-1R/Wnt and activation of p53 signaling pathways

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanamala, Jairam; Reddivari, Lavanya; Radhakrishnan, Sridhar; Tarver, Chris

2010-01-01

Obesity is a global phenomenon and is associated with various types of cancer, including colon cancer. There is a growing interest for safe and effective bioactive compounds that suppress the risk for obesity-promoted colon cancer. Resveratrol (trans-3, 4', 5,-trihydroxystilbene), a stilbenoid found in the skin of red grapes and peanuts suppresses many types of cancers by regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis through a variety of mechanisms, however, resveratrol effects on obesity-promoted colon cancer are not clearly established. We investigated the anti-proliferative effects of resveratrol on HT-29 and SW480 human colon cancer cells in the presence and absence of insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1; elevated during obesity) and elucidated the mechanisms of action using IGF-1R siRNA in HT-29 cells which represents advanced colon carcinogenesis. Resveratrol (100-150 μM) exhibited anti-proliferative properties in HT-29 cells even after IGF-1 exposure by arresting G 0 /G 1 -S phase cell cycle progression through p27 stimulation and cyclin D1 suppression. Treatment with resveratrol suppressed IGF-1R protein levels and concurrently attenuated the downstream Akt/Wnt signaling pathways that play a critical role in cell proliferation. Targeted suppression of IGF-1R using IGF-1R siRNA also affected these signaling pathways in a similar manner. Resveratrol treatment induced apoptosis by activating tumor suppressor p53 protein, whereas IGF-1R siRNA treatment did not affect apoptosis. Our data suggests that resveratrol not only suppresses cell proliferation by inhibiting IGF-1R and its downstream signaling pathways similar to that of IGF-1R siRNA but also enhances apoptosis via activation of the p53 pathway. For the first time, we report that resveratrol suppresses colon cancer cell proliferation and elevates apoptosis even in the presence of IGF-1 via suppression of IGF-1R/Akt/Wnt signaling pathways and activation of p53, suggesting its potential role as a

The role of suppression in amblyopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jingrong; Thompson, Benjamin; Lam, Carly S Y; Deng, Daming; Chan, Lily Y L; Maehara, Goro; Woo, George C; Yu, Minbin; Hess, Robert F

2011-06-13

This study had three main goals: to assess the degree of suppression in patients with strabismic, anisometropic, and mixed amblyopia; to establish the relationship between suppression and the degree of amblyopia; and to compare the degree of suppression across the clinical subgroups within the sample. Using both standard measures of suppression (Bagolini lenses and neutral density [ND] filters, Worth 4-Dot test) and a new approach involving the measurement of dichoptic motion thresholds under conditions of variable interocular contrast, the degree of suppression in 43 amblyopic patients with strabismus, anisometropia, or a combination of both was quantified. There was good agreement between the quantitative measures of suppression made with the new dichoptic motion threshold technique and measurements made with standard clinical techniques (Bagolini lenses and ND filters, Worth 4-Dot test). The degree of suppression was found to correlate directly with the degree of amblyopia within our clinical sample, whereby stronger suppression was associated with a greater difference in interocular acuity and poorer stereoacuity. Suppression was not related to the type or angle of strabismus when this was present or the previous treatment history. These results suggest that suppression may have a primary role in the amblyopia syndrome and therefore have implications for the treatment of amblyopia.

Distinguishing among potential mechanisms of singleton suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaspelin, Nicholas; Luck, Steven J

2018-04-01

Previous research has revealed that people can suppress salient stimuli that might otherwise capture visual attention. The present study tests between 3 possible mechanisms of visual suppression. According to first-order feature suppression models , items are suppressed on the basis of simple feature values. According to second-order feature suppression models , items are suppressed on the basis of local discontinuities within a given feature dimension. According to global-salience suppression models , items are suppressed on the basis of their dimension-independent salience levels. The current study distinguished among these models by varying the predictability of the singleton color value. If items are suppressed by virtue of salience alone, then it should not matter whether the singleton color is predictable. However, evidence from probe processing and eye movements indicated that suppression is possible only when the color values are predictable. Moreover, the ability to suppress salient items developed gradually as participants gained experience with the feature that defined the salient distractor. These results are consistent with first-order feature suppression models, and are inconsistent with the other models of suppression. In other words, people primarily suppress salient distractors on the basis of their simple features and not on the basis of salience per se. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

In vitro effect of. Delta. sup 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol to stimulate somatostatin release and block that of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone by suppression of the release of prostaglandin E sub 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rettori, V.; Aguila, M.C.; McCann, S.M. (Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (United States)); Gimeno, M.F.; Franchi, A.M. (Centro de Estudios Farmacologicos y de Principios Naturales, Buenos Aires (Argentina))

1990-12-01

Previous in vivo studies have shown that {Delta}{sup 9}-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal active ingredient in marijuana, can suppress both luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) secretion after its injection into the third ventricle of conscious male rats. The present studies were deigned to determine the mechanism of these effects. Various doses of THC were incubated with either stalk median eminence fragments (MEs) or mediobasal hypothalamic (MBH) fragments in vitro. Although THC (10 nM) did not alter basal release of LH-releasing hormone (LHRH) from MEs in vitro, it completely blocked the stimulatory action of dopamine or nonrepinephrine on LHRH release. The effective doses to block LHRH release were associated with a blockade of synthesis and release of prostaglandin E{sub 2} (PGE{sub 2}) from MBH in vitro. In contrast to the suppressive effect of THC on LHRH release, somatostatin release from MEs was enhanced in a dose-related manner with a minimal effective dose of 1 nM. Since PGE{sub 2} suppresses somatostatin release, this enhancement may also be related to the suppressive effect of THC on PGE{sub 2} synthesis and release. The authors speculate that these actions are mediated by the recently discovered THC receptors in the tissue. The results indicate that the suppressive effect of THC on LH release is mediated by a blockade of LHRH release, whereas the suppressive effect of the compound on growth hormone release is mediated, at least in part, by a stimulation of somatostatin release.

Out of mind, out of sight: perceptual consequences of memory suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyungmi; Yi, Do-Joon

2013-04-01

In the present study, the effect of memory suppression on subsequent perceptual processing of visual objects was examined within a modified think/no-think paradigm. Suppressing memories of visual objects significantly impaired subsequent perceptual identification of those objects when they were briefly encountered (Experiment 1) and when they were presented in noise (Experiment 2), relative to performance on baseline items for which participants did not undergo suppression training. However, in Experiment 3, when perceptual identification was performed on mirror-reversed images of to-be-suppressed objects, no impairment was observed. These findings, analogous to those showing forgetting of suppressed words in long-term memory, suggest that suppressing memories of visual objects might be mediated by direct inhibition of perceptual representations, which, in turn, impairs later perception of them. This study provides strong support for the role of inhibitory mechanisms in memory control and suggests a tight link between higher-order cognitive operations and perceptual processing.

Suppression of period-doubling and nonlinear parametric effects in periodically perturbed systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bryant, P.; Wiesenfeld, K.

1986-01-01

We consider the effect on a generic period-doubling bifurcation of a periodic perturbation, whose frequency ω 1 is near the period-doubled frequency ω 0 /2. The perturbation is shown to always suppress the bifurcation, shifting the bifurcation point and stabilizing the behavior at the original bifurcation point. We derive an equation characterizing the response of the system to the perturbation, analysis of which reveals many interesting features of the perturbed bifurcation, including (1) the scaling law relating the shift of the bifurcation point and the amplitude of the perturbation, (2) the characteristics of the system's response as a function of bifurcation parameter, (3) parametric amplification of the perturbation signal including nonlinear effects such as gain saturation and a discontinuity in the response at a critical perturbation amplitude, (4) the effect of the detuning (ω 1 -ω 0 /2) on the bifurcation, and (5) the emergence of a closely spaced set of peaks in the response spectrum. An important application is the use of period-doubling systems as small-signal amplifiers, e.g., the superconducting Josephson parametric amplifier

Effects of seeding rate and poultry litter on weed suppression from a rolled cereal rye cover crop

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Growing enough cover crop biomass to adequately suppress weeds is one of the primary challenges in reduced-tillage systems that rely on mulch-based weed suppression. We investigated two approaches to increasing cereal rye biomass for improved weed suppression: (1) increasing soil fertility and (2) i...

Alpha-band rhythm suppression during memory recall reflecting memory performance.

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Yokosawa, Koichi; Kimura, Keisuke; Chitose, Ryota; Momiki, Takuya; Kuriki, Shinya

2016-08-01

Alpha-band rhythm is thought to be involved in memory processes, similarly to other spontaneous brain rhythms. Ten right-handed healthy volunteers participated in our proposed sequential short-term memory task that provides a serial position effect in accuracy rate. We recorded alpha-band rhythms by magnetoencephalography during performance of the task and observed that the amplitude of the rhythm was suppressed dramatically in the memory recall period. The suppressed region was estimated to be in the occipital lobe, suggesting that alpha-band rhythm is suppressed by activation of the occipital attentional network. Additionally, the alpha-band suppression reflected accuracy rate, that is, the amplitude was suppressed more when recalling items with higher accuracy rate. The sensors with a significant correlation between alpha-band amplitude and accuracy rate were located widely from the frontal to occipital regions mainly in the right hemisphere. The results suggests that alpha-band rhythm is involved in memory recall and can be index of memory performance.

MicroRNA-101 mediates the suppressive effect of laminar shear stress on mTOR expression in vascular endothelial cells

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Chen, Kui; Fan, Wendong; Wang, Xing; Ke, Xiao [Division of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080 (China); Wu, Guifu, E-mail: eecpchina@yahoo.com.cn [Key Laboratory on Assisted Circulation, Ministry of Health, Guangzhou 510080 (China); Hu, Chengheng, E-mail: huchenghengpci@yahoo.com.cn [Division of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080 (China)

2012-10-12

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Laminar shear stress upregulates miR-101 expression in vascular endothelial cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer miR-101 represses mTOR expression through a specific 3 Prime UTR binding site. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Overexpression of miR-101 inhibits G1/S transition and endothelial cell proliferation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Blockade of miR-101 attenuates the suppressive effect of laminar flow on mTOR expression. -- Abstract: Shear stress associated with blood flow plays an important role in regulating gene expression and cell function in endothelial cells (ECs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved, small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of target genes by binding to the mRNA 3 Prime -untranslated region (3 Prime UTR) at the posttranscriptional level involved in diverse cellular processes. This study demonstrates that microRNA-101 in response to laminar shear stress (LSS) is involved in the flow regulation of gene expression in ECs. qRT-PCR analysis showed that miR-101 expression was significantly upregulated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to 12 dyn/cm{sup 2} laminar shear stress for 12 h. We found that transfection of miR-101 significantly decreased the luciferase activity of plasmid reporter containing the 3 Prime UTR of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) gene. Western analysis revealed that the protein level of mTOR was significantly reduced in ECs transfected with miR-101. Furthermore, miR-101 overexpression induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition and suppressed endothelial cell proliferation. Finally, transfection of miR-101 inhibitors attenuated the suppressive effects of LSS on mTOR expression, which identified the efficacy of loss-of-function of miR-101 in laminar flow-treated ECs. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that upregulation of miR-101 in response to LSS contributes to the suppressive effects of LSS on mTOR expression and EC

Generalization of conditioned suppression during salicylate-induced phantom auditory perception in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, J F; Jastreboff, P J

1991-01-01

Tonal frequency generalization was examined in a total of 114 pigmented male rats, 60 of which were tested under the influence of salicylate-induced phantom auditory perception, introduced before or after lick suppression training. Thirty control subjects received saline injections, and the remaining 24 subjects served as noninjected controls of tonal background effects on generalization. Rats were continuously exposed to background noise alone or with a superimposed tone. Offset of background noise alone (Experiment I), or combined with onset or continuation of the tone (Experiments II and III) served as the conditioned stimulus (CS). In Experiment I, tone presentations were introduced only after suppression training. Depending on the time of salicylate introduction, a strong and differential influence on generalization gradients was observed, which is consistent with subjects' detection of salicylate-induced, high-pitched sound. Moreover, when either 12- or 3 kHz tones were introduced before or after Pavlovian training to mimic salicylate effects in 24 rats, the distortions in generalization gradients resembled trends obtained from respective salicylate injected groups. Experiments II and III were aimed at evaluating the masking effect of salicylate-induced phantom auditory perception on external sounds, with a 5- or a 10-kHz tone imposed continuously on the noise or presented only during the CS. Tests of tonal generalization to frequencies ranging from 4- to 11- kHz showed that in this experimental context salicylate-induced perception did not interfere with the dominant influence of external tones, a result that further strengthens the conclusion of Experiment I.

Targeting CXCR4 reverts the suppressive activity of T-regulatory cells in renal cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Santagata, Sara; Napolitano, Maria; D'Alterio, Crescenzo; Desicato, Sonia; Maro, Salvatore Di; Marinelli, Luciana; Fragale, Alessandra; Buoncervello, Maria; Persico, Francesco; Gabriele, Lucia; Novellino, Ettore; Longo, Nicola; Pignata, Sandro; Perdonà, Sisto; Scala, Stefania

2017-09-29

With the intent to identify biomarkers in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) the functional status of T-regulatory cells (Tregs) was investigated in primary RCC. Tregs were isolated from tumoral-(TT), peritumoral tissue-(PT) and peripheral blood-(PB) of 42 primary RCC patients and function evaluated through effector T cells (Teff) proliferation, cytokines release and demethylation of Treg Specific Region (TSDR). The highest value of Tregs was detected in TT with the uppermost amount of effector-Tregs-(CD4 + CD25 hi FOXP3 hi CD45RA - ). PB-RCC Tregs efficiently suppress Teff proliferation compared to healthy donor (HD)-Tregs and, at the intrapatient evaluation, TT-derived Tregs were the most suppressive. Higher demethylation TSDR was detected in TT- and PB-RCC Tregs vs HD-Tregs ( P <0,001). CXCR4 is highly expressed on Tregs, thus we wished to modulate Tregs function through CXCR4 inhibition. CXCR4 antagonism, elicited by a new peptidic antagonist, Peptide-R29, efficiently reversed Tregs suppression of Teff proliferation. Thus Tregs functional evaluation precisely reflects Tregs status and may be a reliable biomarker of tumoral immune response. In addition, treatment with CXCR4 antagonist, impairing Tregs function, could improve the anticancer immune response, in combination with conventional therapy and/or immunotherapy such as checkpoints inhibitors.

Turbulence and Cavitation Suppression by Quaternary Ammonium Salt Additives.

Science.gov (United States)

Naseri, Homa; Trickett, Kieran; Mitroglou, Nicholas; Karathanassis, Ioannis; Koukouvinis, Phoevos; Gavaises, Manolis; Barbour, Robert; Diamond, Dale; Rogers, Sarah E; Santini, Maurizio; Wang, Jin

2018-05-16

We identify the physical mechanism through which newly developed quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) deposit control additives (DCAs) affect the rheological properties of cavitating turbulent flows, resulting in an increase in the volumetric efficiency of clean injectors fuelled with diesel or biodiesel fuels. Quaternary ammonium surfactants with appropriate counterions can be very effective in reducing the turbulent drag in aqueous solutions, however, less is known about the effect of such surfactants in oil-based solvents or in cavitating flow conditions. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations show that in traditional DCA fuel compositions only reverse spherical micelles form, whereas reverse cylindrical micelles are detected by blending the fuel with the QAS additive. Moreover, experiments utilising X-ray micro computed tomography (micro-CT) in nozzle replicas, quantify that in cavitation regions the liquid fraction is increased in the presence of the QAS additive. Furthermore, high-flux X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) measurements identify a flow stabilization effect in the region of vortex cavitation by the QAS additive. The effect of the formation of cylindrical micelles is reproduced with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations by including viscoelastic characteristics for the flow. It is demonstrated that viscoelasticity can reduce turbulence and suppress cavitation, and subsequently increase the injector's volumetric efficiency.

Limited role of murine ATM in oncogene-induced senescence and p53-dependent tumor suppression.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejo Efeyan

Full Text Available Recent studies in human fibroblasts have provided a new general paradigm of tumor suppression according to which oncogenic signaling produces DNA damage and this, in turn, results in ATM/p53-dependent cellular senescence. Here, we have tested this model in a variety of murine experimental systems. Overexpression of oncogenic Ras in murine fibroblasts efficiently induced senescence but this occurred in the absence of detectable DNA damage signaling, thus suggesting a fundamental difference between human and murine cells. Moreover, lung adenomas initiated by endogenous levels of oncogenic K-Ras presented abundant senescent cells, but undetectable DNA damage signaling. Accordingly, K-Ras-driven adenomas were also senescent in Atm-null mice, and the tumorigenic progression of these lesions was only modestly accelerated by Atm-deficiency. Finally, we have examined chemically-induced fibrosarcomas, which possess a persistently activated DNA damage response and are highly sensitive to the activity of p53. We found that the absence of Atm favored genomic instability in the resulting tumors, but did not affect the persistent DNA damage response and did not impair p53-dependent tumor suppression. All together, we conclude that oncogene-induced senescence in mice may occur in the absence of a detectable DNA damage response. Regarding murine Atm, our data suggest that it plays a minor role in oncogene-induced senescence or in p53-dependent tumor suppression, being its tumor suppressive activity probably limited to the maintenance of genomic stability.

Diagnostic performance of calcification-suppressed coronary CT angiography using rapid kilovolt-switching dual-energy CT.

Science.gov (United States)

Yunaga, Hiroto; Ohta, Yasutoshi; Kaetsu, Yasuhiro; Kitao, Shinichiro; Watanabe, Tomomi; Furuse, Yoshiyuki; Yamamoto, Kazuhiro; Ogawa, Toshihide

2017-07-01

Multi-detector-row computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) plays an important role in the assessment of patients with suspected coronary artery disease. However, MDCTA tends to overestimate stenosis in calcified coronary artery lesions. The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of calcification-suppressed material density (MD) images produced by using a single-detector single-source dual-energy computed tomography (ssDECT). We enrolled 67 patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease who underwent ssDECT with rapid kilovolt-switching (80 and 140 kVp). Coronary artery stenosis was evaluated on the basis of MD images and virtual monochromatic (VM) images. The diagnostic performance of the two methods for detecting coronary artery disease was compared with that of invasive coronary angiography as a reference standard. We evaluated 239 calcified segments. In all the segments, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy for detecting significant stenosis were respectively 88%, 88%, 75%, 95% and 88% for the MD images, 91%, 71%, 56%, 95% and 77% for the VM images. PPV was significantly higher on the MD images than on the VM images (P < 0.0001). Calcification-suppressed MD images improved PPV and diagnostic performance for calcified coronary artery lesions. • Computed tomography angiography tends to overestimate stenosis in calcified coronary artery. • Dual-energy CT enables us to suppress calcification of coronary artery lesions. • Calcification-suppressed material density imaging reduces false-positive diagnosis of calcified lesion.

DEPTOR-related mTOR suppression is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action in human liver cancer cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obara, Akio; Fujita, Yoshihito; Abudukadier, Abulizi; Fukushima, Toru; Oguri, Yasuo; Ogura, Masahito; Harashima, Shin-ichi; Hosokawa, Masaya; Inagaki, Nobuya, E-mail: inagaki@metab.kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2015-05-15

Metformin, one of the most commonly used drugs for patients with type 2 diabetes, recently has received much attention regarding its anti-cancer action. It is thought that the suppression of mTOR signaling is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action. Although liver cancer is one of the most responsive types of cancer for reduction of incidence by metformin, the molecular mechanism of the suppression of mTOR in liver remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling and cell proliferation using human liver cancer cells. Metformin suppressed phosphorylation of p70-S6 kinase, and ribosome protein S6, downstream targets of mTOR, and suppressed cell proliferation. We found that DEPTOR, an endogenous substrate of mTOR suppression, is involved in the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling and cell proliferation in human liver cancer cells. Metformin increases the protein levels of DEPTOR, intensifies binding to mTOR, and exerts a suppressing effect on mTOR signaling. This increasing effect of DEPTOR by metformin is regulated by the proteasome degradation system; the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling and cell proliferation is in a DEPTOR-dependent manner. Furthermore, metformin exerts a suppressing effect on proteasome activity, DEPTOR-related mTOR signaling, and cell proliferation in an AMPK-dependent manner. We conclude that DEPTOR-related mTOR suppression is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action in liver, and could be a novel target for anti-cancer therapy. - Highlights: • We elucidated a novel pathway of metformin's anti-cancer action in HCC cells. • DEPTOR is involved in the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling. • Metformin increases DEPTOR protein levels via suppression of proteasome activity. • DEPTOR-related mTOR suppression is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action.

DEPTOR-related mTOR suppression is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action in human liver cancer cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obara, Akio; Fujita, Yoshihito; Abudukadier, Abulizi; Fukushima, Toru; Oguri, Yasuo; Ogura, Masahito; Harashima, Shin-ichi; Hosokawa, Masaya; Inagaki, Nobuya

2015-01-01

Metformin, one of the most commonly used drugs for patients with type 2 diabetes, recently has received much attention regarding its anti-cancer action. It is thought that the suppression of mTOR signaling is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action. Although liver cancer is one of the most responsive types of cancer for reduction of incidence by metformin, the molecular mechanism of the suppression of mTOR in liver remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling and cell proliferation using human liver cancer cells. Metformin suppressed phosphorylation of p70-S6 kinase, and ribosome protein S6, downstream targets of mTOR, and suppressed cell proliferation. We found that DEPTOR, an endogenous substrate of mTOR suppression, is involved in the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling and cell proliferation in human liver cancer cells. Metformin increases the protein levels of DEPTOR, intensifies binding to mTOR, and exerts a suppressing effect on mTOR signaling. This increasing effect of DEPTOR by metformin is regulated by the proteasome degradation system; the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling and cell proliferation is in a DEPTOR-dependent manner. Furthermore, metformin exerts a suppressing effect on proteasome activity, DEPTOR-related mTOR signaling, and cell proliferation in an AMPK-dependent manner. We conclude that DEPTOR-related mTOR suppression is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action in liver, and could be a novel target for anti-cancer therapy. - Highlights: • We elucidated a novel pathway of metformin's anti-cancer action in HCC cells. • DEPTOR is involved in the suppressing effect of metformin on mTOR signaling. • Metformin increases DEPTOR protein levels via suppression of proteasome activity. • DEPTOR-related mTOR suppression is involved in metformin's anti-cancer action

Resonantly enhanced nonlinear optics in semiconductor quantum wells: An application to sensitive infrared detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yelin, S.F.; Hemmer, P.R.

2002-01-01

A novel class of coherent nonlinear optical phenomena, involving induced transparency in semiconductor quantum wells, is considered in the context of a particular application to sensitive long-wavelength infrared detection. It is shown that the strongest decoherence mechanisms can be suppressed or mitigated, resulting in substantial enhancement of nonlinear optical effects in semiconductor quantum wells

A Comparison of Urge Intensity and the Probability of Tic Completion During Tic Freely and Tic Suppression Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Specht, Matt W; Nicotra, Cassandra M; Kelly, Laura M; Woods, Douglas W; Ricketts, Emily J; Perry-Parrish, Carisa; Reynolds, Elizabeth; Hankinson, Jessica; Grados, Marco A; Ostrander, Rick S; Walkup, John T

2014-03-01

Tic-suppression-based treatments (TSBTs) represent a safe and effective treatment option for Chronic Tic Disorders (CTDs). Prior research has demonstrated that treatment naive youths with CTDs have the capacity to safely and effectively suppress tics for prolonged periods. It remains unclear how tic suppression is achieved. The current study principally examines how effective suppression is achieved and preliminary correlates of the ability to suppress tics. Twelve youths, ages 10 to 17 years, with moderate-to-marked CTDs participated in an alternating sequence of tic freely and reinforced tic suppression conditions during which urge intensity and tic frequency were frequently assessed. Probability of tics occurring was half as likely following high-intensity urges during tic suppression (31%) in contrast to low-intensity urges during tic freely conditions (60%). Age was not associated with ability to suppress. Intelligence indices were associated with or trended toward greater ability to suppress tics. Attention difficulties were not associated with ability to suppress but were associated with tic severity. In contrast to our "selective suppression" hypothesis, we found participants equally capable of suppressing their tics regardless of urge intensity during reinforced tic suppression. Tic suppression was achieved with an "across-the-board" effort to resist urges. Preliminary data suggest that ability to suppress may be associated with general cognitive variables rather than age, tic severity, urge severity, and attention. Treatment naive youths appear to possess a capacity for robust tic suppression. TSBTs may bolster these capacities and/or enable their broader implementation, resulting in symptom improvement. © The Author(s) 2014.

The effects of aging on conflict detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucci, Giuliana; Berchicci, Marika; Spinelli, Donatella; Taddei, Francesco; Di Russo, Francesco

2013-01-01

Several cognitive changes characterize normal aging; one change regards inhibitory processing and includes both conflict monitoring and response suppression. We attempted to segregate these two aspects within a Go/No-go task, investigating three age categories. Accuracy, response times and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The ERP data were analyzed, and the Go and No-go trials were separated; in addition, the trials were organized in repeat trials (in which the subjects repeated the action delivered in the previous trial) and switch trials (in which the subjects produced a response opposite to the previous response). We assumed that the switch trials conveyed more conflict than the repeat trials. In general, the behavioral data and slower P3 latencies confirmed the well-known age-related speed/accuracy trade-off. The novel analyses of the repeat vs. switch trials indicated that the age-related P3 slowing was significant only for the high conflict condition; the switch-P3 amplitude increased only in the two older groups. The 'aging switch effect' on the P3 component suggests a failure in the conflict conditions and likely contributes to a generalized dysfunction. The absence of either a switch effect in the young group and the P3 slowing in middle-aged group indicate that switching was not particularly demanding for these participants. The N2 component was less sensitive to the repeat/switch manipulation; however, the subtractive waves also enhanced the age effects in this earlier time window. The topographic maps showed other notable age effects: the frontal No-go N2 was nearly undetectable in the elderly; in the identical time window, a large activity in the posterior and prefrontal scalp regions was observed. Moreover, the prefrontal activity showed a negative correlation with false alarms. These results suggest that the frontal involvement during action suppression becomes progressively dysfunctional with aging, and additional activity was required

The effects of aging on conflict detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuliana Lucci

Full Text Available Several cognitive changes characterize normal aging; one change regards inhibitory processing and includes both conflict monitoring and response suppression. We attempted to segregate these two aspects within a Go/No-go task, investigating three age categories. Accuracy, response times and event-related potentials (ERPs were recorded. The ERP data were analyzed, and the Go and No-go trials were separated; in addition, the trials were organized in repeat trials (in which the subjects repeated the action delivered in the previous trial and switch trials (in which the subjects produced a response opposite to the previous response. We assumed that the switch trials conveyed more conflict than the repeat trials. In general, the behavioral data and slower P3 latencies confirmed the well-known age-related speed/accuracy trade-off. The novel analyses of the repeat vs. switch trials indicated that the age-related P3 slowing was significant only for the high conflict condition; the switch-P3 amplitude increased only in the two older groups. The 'aging switch effect' on the P3 component suggests a failure in the conflict conditions and likely contributes to a generalized dysfunction. The absence of either a switch effect in the young group and the P3 slowing in middle-aged group indicate that switching was not particularly demanding for these participants. The N2 component was less sensitive to the repeat/switch manipulation; however, the subtractive waves also enhanced the age effects in this earlier time window. The topographic maps showed other notable age effects: the frontal No-go N2 was nearly undetectable in the elderly; in the identical time window, a large activity in the posterior and prefrontal scalp regions was observed. Moreover, the prefrontal activity showed a negative correlation with false alarms. These results suggest that the frontal involvement during action suppression becomes progressively dysfunctional with aging, and additional

Suppressive effects of lysozyme on polyphosphate-mediated vascular inflammatory responses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Jiwoo [College of Pharmacy, CMRI, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, BK21 Plus KNU Multi-Omics Based Creative Drug Research Team, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566 (Korea, Republic of); Ku, Sae-Kwang [Department of Anatomy and Histology, College of Korean Medicine, Daegu Haany University, Gyeongsan 38610 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Suyeon [College of Pharmacy, CMRI, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, BK21 Plus KNU Multi-Omics Based Creative Drug Research Team, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566 (Korea, Republic of); Bae, Jong-Sup, E-mail: baejs@knu.ac.kr [College of Pharmacy, CMRI, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, BK21 Plus KNU Multi-Omics Based Creative Drug Research Team, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-10

Lysozyme, found in relatively high concentration in blood, saliva, tears, and milk, protects us from the ever-present danger of bacterial infection. Previous studies have reported proinflammatory responses of endothelial cells to the release of polyphosphate(PolyP). In this study, we examined the anti-inflammatory responses and mechanisms of lysozyme and its effects on PolyP-induced septic activities in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and mice. The survival rates, septic biomarker levels, behavior of human neutrophils, and vascular permeability were determined in PolyP-activated HUVECs and mice. Lysozyme suppressed the PolyP-mediated vascular barrier permeability, upregulation of inflammatory biomarkers, adhesion/migration of leukocytes, and activation and/or production of nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6. Furthermore, lysozyme demonstrated protective effects on PolyP-mediated lethal death and the levels of the related septic biomarkers. Therefore, these results indicated the therapeutic potential of lysozyme on various systemic inflammatory diseases, such as sepsis or septic shock. -- Highlights: •PolyP is shown to be an important mediator of vascular inflammation. •Lysozyme inhibited PolyP-mediated hyperpermeability. •Lysozyme inhibited PolyP-mediated septic response. •Lysozyme reduced PolyP-induced septic mortality.

Suppressive effects of lysozyme on polyphosphate-mediated vascular inflammatory responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Jiwoo; Ku, Sae-Kwang; Lee, Suyeon; Bae, Jong-Sup

2016-01-01

Lysozyme, found in relatively high concentration in blood, saliva, tears, and milk, protects us from the ever-present danger of bacterial infection. Previous studies have reported proinflammatory responses of endothelial cells to the release of polyphosphate(PolyP). In this study, we examined the anti-inflammatory responses and mechanisms of lysozyme and its effects on PolyP-induced septic activities in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and mice. The survival rates, septic biomarker levels, behavior of human neutrophils, and vascular permeability were determined in PolyP-activated HUVECs and mice. Lysozyme suppressed the PolyP-mediated vascular barrier permeability, upregulation of inflammatory biomarkers, adhesion/migration of leukocytes, and activation and/or production of nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6. Furthermore, lysozyme demonstrated protective effects on PolyP-mediated lethal death and the levels of the related septic biomarkers. Therefore, these results indicated the therapeutic potential of lysozyme on various systemic inflammatory diseases, such as sepsis or septic shock. -- Highlights: •PolyP is shown to be an important mediator of vascular inflammation. •Lysozyme inhibited PolyP-mediated hyperpermeability. •Lysozyme inhibited PolyP-mediated septic response. •Lysozyme reduced PolyP-induced septic mortality.

Cycloheximide and 4-OH-TEMPO suppress chloramphenicol-induced apoptosis in RL-34 cells via the suppression of the formation of megamitochondria.

Science.gov (United States)

Karbowski, M; Kurono, C; Wozniak, M; Ostrowski, M; Teranishi, M; Soji, T; Wakabayashi, T

1999-02-04

Toxic effects of chloramphenicol, an antibiotic inhibitor of mitochondrial protein synthesis, on rat liver derived RL-34 cell line were completely blocked by a combined treatment with substances endowed with direct or indirect antioxidant properties. A stable, nitroxide free radical scavenger, 4-hydroxy-2,2,6, 6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, and a protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, suppressed in a similar manner the following manifestations of the chloramphenicol cytotoxicity: (1) Oxidative stress state as evidenced by FACS analysis of cells loaded with carboxy-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and Mito Tracker CMTH2MRos; (2) megamitochondria formation detected by staining of mitochondria with MitoTracker CMXRos under a laser confocal microscopy and electron microscopy; (3) apoptotic changes of the cell detected by the phase contrast microscopy, DNA laddering analysis and cell cycle analysis. Since increases of ROS generation in chloramphenicol-treated cells were the first sign of the chloramphenicol toxicity, we assume that oxidative stress state is a mediator of above described alternations of RL-34 cells including MG formation. Pretreatment of cells with cycloheximide or 4-hydroxy-2,2, 6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, which is known to be localized into mitochondria, inhibited the megamitochondria formation and succeeding apoptotic changes of the cell. Protective effects of cycloheximide, which enhances the expression of Bcl-2 protein, may further confirm our hypothesis that the megamitochondria formation is a cellular response to an increased ROS generation and raise a possibility that antiapoptotic action of the drug is exerted via the protection of the mitochondria functions.

Spironolactone induces apoptosis in human mononuclear cells. Association between apoptosis and cytokine suppression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Martin; Sønder, S U; Nersting, J

2006-01-01

Spironolactone (SPIR) has been described to suppress accumulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Here, the suppression of TNF-alpha in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mononuclear cell cultures was confirmed. However, SPIR was also found to induce apoptosis, prompting the investigations...... of a possible association between the two effects: The apoptosis-inducing and the cytokine-suppressive effects of SPIR correlated with regard to the effective concentration range. Also, pre-incubation experiments demonstrated a temporal separation of the two effects of ... preceding apoptosis. An association between the two effects was also seen when testing several SPIR analogues. Contrary to TNF-alpha, the levels of IL-1beta increased in SPIR-treated cultures. However, the amount of IL-1beta in the supernatants depended upon the order of SPIR and LPS addition, as IL-1beta...

Length, Lexicality, and Articulatory Suppression in Immediate Recall: Evidence against the Articulatory Loop

Science.gov (United States)

Romani, C.; McAlpine, S.; Olson, A.; Tsouknida, E.; Martin, R.

2005-01-01

Influential models of short-term memory have attributed the fact that short words are recalled better than longer words in serial recall (the length effect) to articulatory rehearsal. Crucial for this link is the finding that the length effect disappears under articulatory suppression. We show, instead, that, under suppression, the length effect…

Compton suppression spectrometry for analysis of short-lived neutron activation products in foods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, D.L.; Cunningham, W.C.

2008-01-01

Compton suppression spectrometry was used to analyze foods for elements with short-lived neutron activation products (half-lives of about 2 minutes to 1.5 days). Analysis conditions were optimized to provide quality assurance analyses for iodine in FDA's Total Diet Study. Iodine mass fractions (0.075 to 2.03 mg/kg) were measured in 19 of 42 foods analyzed, with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.03 to 1.4 mg/kg, mostly depending on NaCl content. LODs were lowered by up to a factor of 2 for 16 elements. Suppression factors ranged from about 2 to 8 over the energy range 400 to 3200 keV. (author)

T1 pseudohyperintensity on fat-suppressed MRI: A potential diagnostic pitfall

Science.gov (United States)

Huynh, Tuan N.; Johnson, D. Thor; Poder, Liina; Joe, Bonnie N.; Webb, Emily M.; Coakley, Fergus V.

2011-01-01

MRI findings in two patients with misleading T1 hyperintensity seen only on fat-suppressed images are presented, one with a renal cell carcinoma that was misinterpreted as a hemorrhagic cyst and the other with an ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma that was misinterpreted as a complicated endometrioma. The apparent T1 hyperintensity on fat suppressed images in these cases was likely due to varying perception of image signal dependent on local contrast, an optical effect known as the checker-shadow illusion. T1 pseudohyperintensity should be considered when apparently high T1 signal intensity is seen only on fat-suppressed images; review of non fat-suppressed images may help prevent an erroneous diagnoses of blood-containing lesions. PMID:21765301

Compton suppression gamma-counting: The effect of count rate

Science.gov (United States)

Millard, H.T.

1984-01-01

Past research has shown that anti-coincidence shielded Ge(Li) spectrometers enhanced the signal-to-background ratios for gamma-photopeaks, which are situated on high Compton backgrounds. Ordinarily, an anti- or non-coincidence spectrum (A) and a coincidence spectrum (C) are collected simultaneously with these systems. To be useful in neutron activation analysis (NAA), the fractions of the photopeak counts routed to the two spectra must be constant from sample to sample to variations must be corrected quantitatively. Most Compton suppression counting has been done at low count rate, but in NAA applications, count rates may be much higher. To operate over the wider dynamic range, the effect of count rate on the ratio of the photopeak counts in the two spectra (A/C) was studied. It was found that as the count rate increases, A/C decreases for gammas not coincident with other gammas from the same decay. For gammas coincident with other gammas, A/C increases to a maximum and then decreases. These results suggest that calibration curves are required to correct photopeak areas so quantitative data can be obtained at higher count rates. ?? 1984.

Enhancing or suppressing the spin Hall effect of light in layered nanostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luo Hailu; Ling Xiaohui; Zhou Xinxing; Shu Weixing; Wen Shuangchun; Fan Dianyuan [Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Opto-Electronic Devices of Ministry of Education, College of Information Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China)

2011-09-15

The spin Hall effect (SHE) of light in layered nanostructures is investigated theoretically in this paper. A general propagation model describing the spin-dependent transverse splitting of wave packets in the SHE of light is established from the viewpoint of classical electrodynamics. We show that the transverse displacement of the wave-packet centroid can be tuned to either a negative or a positive value, or even zero, by just adjusting the structure parameters, suggesting that the SHE of light in layered nanostructures can be enhanced or suppressed in a desired way. The inherent physics behind this interesting phenomenon is attributed to the optical Fabry-Perot resonance. We believe that these findings will open the possibility for developing new nanophotonic devices.

Determination of sulphite in wines using suppressed ion chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshikawa, Kenji; Uekusa, Yuki; Sakuragawa, Akio

2015-05-01

Suppressed ion chromatography with the use of a conductivity detector was developed for the determination of sulphite ions in wine samples. When a mixed solution of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, and acetone was used as the mobile phase, simultaneous determination of eight inorganic anions (i.e., fluoride, chloride, nitrite, nitrate, sulphite, phosphate, sulphate, and thiosulphate) was completed in approximately 25 min. Linearity, reproducibility, and detection limits were determined for the proposed method. In the case of sulphite detection, a linear calibration curve with a good correlation coefficient of 0.9992 was obtained from the peak height of sulphite with a relative standard deviation (n = 6) 1.48%. In addition, the detection limit of sulphite was 0.27 mg/L at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Further, the developed method was applied for the determination of sulphite contained in several wine samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Suppressed serum prolactin in sinoaortic-denervated rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, N.; Melmed, S.; Morris, M.

1987-01-01

The authors investigated the effect of arterial baroreceptor deafferentation on serum and pituitary prolactin (PRL) and on catecholamines in median eminence (ME) and anterior and posterior pituitaries. Male Wistar rats were sinoaortic denervated (SAD) or sham operated (SO). Three days after surgery serum prolactin, measured by radioimmunoassay, was suppressed in SAD rats, and dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) concentrations, measured by radioenzymatic or high-performance liquid chromatography electron capture methods, were significantly reduced in ME of SAD rats. Simultaneously, anterior pituitary of SAD rats had significant increases in both catecholamines, whereas posterior pituitary showed no changes. Four hours after surgery serum PRL was also reduced in SAD rats, but no changes in ME catecholamines were found. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate were measured before and after injection of bromocriptine in SAD and SO rats 3 days after surgery. Bromocriptine markedly suppressed serum PRL in both groups and reduced MAP from 144 +/- 10 to 84 +/- 5 and from 116 +/- 2 to 99 +/- 3 in SAD and SO rats, respectively; heart rate was reduced in SAD rats. They conclude that the SAD rat is a model of hypertension with suppressed serum PRL and that interruption of arterial baroreceptor nerves suppresses PRL secretion probably by modulating tuberoinfundibular turnover of catecholamines

Design and evaluation of noise suppression sheet for GHz band utilizing magneto-elastic effect

Science.gov (United States)

Igarashi, Toshiyuki; Kondo, Koichi; Yoshida, Shigeyoshi

2017-12-01

Feasibility of realizing a noise suppression sheet (NSS) coping with the low SHF band such as the 5 GHz band was investigated, which was composed of soft magnetic metal flakes dispersed in a polymer. For suppressing noises, the higher frequency one of the bimodal frequency dispersion (lower frequency one: Dispersion DII, higher frequency one: Dispersion DIII) seen in the imaginary permeability (μ″; magnetic loss component) spectrum of the NSS was aimed to utilize. Referring to the previous finding that Dispersion DIII is originated from a magneto-elastic effect, several magnetic composite sheets were prepared using various alloy flakes with different saturation magnetostriction (λs), and their frequency (fr(DIII)) and magnitude (μ″(DIII)) of Dispersion DIII were investigated. It was found that the NSS containing flakes with higher λs exhibited higher fr(DIII) and higher μ″(DIII)/μ″(DII), which was ratio of μ″(DIII) to the magnitude of Dispersion DII (μ″(DII)). The fr(DIII) for the NSS having the highest λs containing Fe-Co alloy flake reached 7.45 GHz and μ″ in the 5 GHz band was approximately twice as high as the conventional NSS containing Fe-Si-Al alloy flake. For transmission attenuation power ratio (Rtp) when an NSS was placed on a microstrip line with characteristic impedance of 50 Ω, NSS with larger fr(DIII)2 · μ″(DIII) ∝ Ms2 (Ms: saturation magnetization), which theoretically gave the frequency limit of imaginary permeability for a thin film, exhibited larger Rtp in the low SHF band. These results suggested that an NSS containing a magnetic flake material with both large λs and Ms was suitable for suppressing low SHF band noises.

Suppression of back-to-back hadron pairs at forward rapidity in d+Au collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV.

Science.gov (United States)

Adare, A; Afanasiev, S; Aidala, C; Ajitanand, N N; Akiba, Y; Al-Bataineh, H; Alexander, J; Angerami, A; Aoki, K; Apadula, N; Aramaki, Y; Atomssa, E T; Averbeck, R; Awes, T C; Azmoun, B; Babintsev, V; Bai, M; Baksay, G; Baksay, L; Barish, K N; Bassalleck, B; Basye, A T; Bathe, S; Baublis, V; Baumann, C; Bazilevsky, A; Belikov, S; Belmont, R; Bennett, R; Berdnikov, A; Berdnikov, Y; Bhom, J H; Blau, D S; Bok, J S; Boyle, K; Brooks, M L; Buesching, H; Bumazhnov, V; Bunce, G; Butsyk, S; Campbell, S; Caringi, A; Chen, C-H; Chi, C Y; Chiu, M; Choi, I J; Choi, J B; Choudhury, R K; Christiansen, P; Chujo, T; Chung, P; Chvala, O; Cianciolo, V; Citron, Z; Cole, B A; Conesa del Valle, Z; Connors, M; Csanád, M; Csörgo, T; Dahms, T; Dairaku, S; Danchev, I; Das, K; Datta, A; David, G; Dayananda, M K; Denisov, A; Deshpande, A; Desmond, E J; Dharmawardane, K V; Dietzsch, O; Dion, A; Donadelli, M; Drapier, O; Drees, A; Drees, K A; Durham, J M; Durum, A; Dutta, D; D'Orazio, L; Edwards, S; Efremenko, Y V; Ellinghaus, F; Engelmore, T; Enokizono, A; En'yo, H; Esumi, S; Fadem, B; Fields, D E; Finger, M; Finger, M; Fleuret, F; Fokin, S L; Fraenkel, Z; Frantz, J E; Franz, A; Frawley, A D; Fujiwara, K; Fukao, Y; Fusayasu, T; Garishvili, I; Glenn, A; Gong, H; Gonin, M; Goto, Y; Granier de Cassagnac, R; Grau, N; Greene, S V; Grim, G; Grosse Perdekamp, M; Gunji, T; Gustafsson, H-Å; Haggerty, J S; Hahn, K I; Hamagaki, H; Hamblen, J; Han, R; Hanks, J; Haslum, E; Hayano, R; He, X; Heffner, M; Hemmick, T K; Hester, T; Hill, J C; Hohlmann, M; Holzmann, W; Homma, K; Hong, B; Horaguchi, T; Hornback, D; Huang, S; Ichihara, T; Ichimiya, R; Ikeda, Y; Imai, K; Inaba, M; Isenhower, D; Ishihara, M; Issah, M; Isupov, A; Ivanischev, D; Iwanaga, Y; Jacak, B V; Jia, J; Jiang, X; Jin, J; Johnson, B M; Jones, T; Joo, K S; Jouan, D; Jumper, D S; Kajihara, F; Kamin, J; Kang, J H; Kapustinsky, J; Karatsu, K; Kasai, M; Kawall, D; Kawashima, M; Kazantsev, A V; Kempel, T; Khanzadeev, A; Kijima, K M; Kikuchi, J; Kim, A; Kim, B I; Kim, D J; Kim, E J; Kim, Y-J; Kinney, E; Kiss, Á; Kistenev, E; Kochenda, L; Komkov, B; Konno, M; Koster, J; Král, A; Kravitz, A; Kunde, G J; Kurita, K; Kurosawa, M; Kwon, Y; Kyle, G S; Lacey, R; Lai, Y S; Lajoie, J G; Lebedev, A; Lee, D M; Lee, J; Lee, K B; Lee, K S; Leitch, M J; Leite, M A L; Li, X; Lichtenwalner, P; Liebing, P; Linden Levy, L A; Liška, T; Litvinenko, A; Liu, H; Liu, M X; Love, B; Lynch, D; Maguire, C F; Makdisi, Y I; Malakhov, A; Malik, M D; Manko, V I; Mannel, E; Mao, Y; Masui, H; Matathias, F; McCumber, M; McGaughey, P L; Means, N; Meredith, B; Miake, Y; Mibe, T; Mignerey, A C; Miki, K; Milov, A; Mitchell, J T; Mohanty, A K; Moon, H J; Morino, Y; Morreale, A; Morrison, D P; Moukhanova, T V; Murakami, T; Murata, J; Nagamiya, S; Nagle, J L; Naglis, M; Nagy, M I; Nakagawa, I; Nakamiya, Y; Nakamura, K R; Nakamura, T; Nakano, K; Nam, S; Newby, J; Nguyen, M; Nihashi, M; Nouicer, R; Nyanin, A S; Oakley, C; O'Brien, E; Oda, S X; Ogilvie, C A; Oka, M; Okada, K; Onuki, Y; Oskarsson, A; Ouchida, M; Ozawa, K; Pak, R; Pantuev, V; Papavassiliou, V; Park, I H; Park, S K; Park, W J; Pate, S F; Pei, H; Peng, J-C; Pereira, H; Peresedov, V; Peressounko, D Yu; Petti, R; Pinkenburg, C; Pisani, R P; Proissl, M; Purschke, M L; Qu, H; Rak, J; Ravinovich, I; Read, K F; Reygers, K; Riabov, V; Riabov, Y; Richardson, E; Roach, D; Roche, G; Rolnick, S D; Rosati, M; Rosen, C A; Rosendahl, S S E; Rukoyatkin, P; Ružička, P; Sahlmueller, B; Saito, N; Sakaguchi, T; Sakashita, K; Samsonov, V; Sano, S; Sato, T; Sawada, S; Sedgwick, K; Seele, J; Seidl, R; Seto, R; Sharma, D; Shein, I; Shibata, T-A; Shigaki, K; Shimomura, M; Shoji, K; Shukla, P; Sickles, A; Silva, C L; Silvermyr, D; Silvestre, C; Sim, K S; Singh, B K; Singh, C P; Singh, V; Slunečka, M; Soltz, R A; Sondheim, W E; Sorensen, S P; Sourikova, I V; Stankus, P W; Stenlund, E; Stoll, S P; Sugitate, T; Sukhanov, A; Sziklai, J; Takagui, E M; Taketani, A; Tanabe, R; Tanaka, Y; Taneja, S; Tanida, K; Tannenbaum, M J; Tarafdar, S; Taranenko, A; Themann, H; Thomas, D; Thomas, T L; Togawa, M; Toia, A; Tomášek, L; Torii, H; Towell, R S; Tserruya, I; Tsuchimoto, Y; Vale, C; Valle, H; van Hecke, H W; Vazquez-Zambrano, E; Veicht, A; Velkovska, J; Vértesi, R; Virius, M; Vrba, V; Vznuzdaev, E; Wang, X R; Watanabe, D; Watanabe, K; Watanabe, Y; Wei, F; Wei, R; Wessels, J; White, S N; Winter, D; Woody, C L; Wright, R M; Wysocki, M; Yamaguchi, Y L; Yamaura, K; Yang, R; Yanovich, A; Ying, J; Yokkaichi, S; You, Z; Young, G R; Younus, I; Yushmanov, I E; Zajc, W A; Zhou, S; Zolin, L

2011-10-21

Back-to-back hadron pair yields in d+Au and p+p collisions at √s(NN)=200 GeV were measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Rapidity separated hadron pairs were detected with the trigger hadron at pseudorapidity |η|back-to-back hadron pairs in d+Au collisions with small impact parameters is observed to be suppressed by a factor of 10 relative to p+p collisions. The kinematics of these pairs is expected to probe partons in the Au nucleus with a low fraction x of the nucleon momenta, where the gluon densities rise sharply. The observed suppression as a function of nuclear thickness, p(T), and η points to cold nuclear matter effects arising at high parton densities. © 2011 American Physical Society

[Punish or cherish: p53, metabolism and tumor suppression].

Science.gov (United States)

Albagli, Olivier

2015-10-01

The p53 gene is essential for tumor suppression, but how it does so remains unclear. Upon genotoxic or oncogenic stresses, increased p53 activity induces transient cell cycle arrest, senescence or apoptosis, the three cornerstones of the so-called triumvirate. Accordingly, it has long been thought that p53 suppresses tumorigenesis by somehow counteracting cell proliferation or survival. However, several recently described genetically modified mice indicate that p53 can suppress tumorigenesis without triggering these three responses. Rather, as an important mechanism for tumor suppression, these mutant mice point to the ability of p53 to prevent the Warburg effect, that is to dampen glycolysis and foster mitochondrial respiration. Interestingly, these metabolic functions of p53 rely, in part, on its "unstressed" (basal) expression, a feature shared by its mechanistically linked anti-oxydant function. Together, these "conservative" activities of p53 may prevent tumor initiation by promoting and maintaining a normal oxidative metabolism and hence underly the "daily" tumor suppression by p53 in most cells. Conversely, destructive activities elicited by high p53 levels and leading to senescence or apoptosis provide a shield against partially or overtly transformed cells. This last situation, although relatively infrequent throughout life, is usual in experimental settings, which could explain the disproportionally high number of data implicating the triumvirate in tumor suppression by p53. © 2015 médecine/sciences – Inserm.

Interocular suppression

Science.gov (United States)

Tuna, Ana Rita; Almeida Neves Carrega, Filipa; Nunes, Amélia Fernandes

2017-08-01

The objective of this work is to quantify the suppressive imbalance, based on the manipulation of ocular luminance, between a group of subjects with normal binocular vision and a group of subjects with amblyopia. The result reveals that there are statistically significant differences in interocular dominance between two groups, evidencing a greater suppressive imbalance in amblyopic subjects. The technique used, proved to be a simple, easy to apply and economic method, for quantified ocular dominance. It is presented as a technique with the potential to accompany subjects with a marked dominance in one of the eyes that makes fusion difficult.

Using Correlated Photons to Suppress Background Noise

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Deborah; Hockney, George; Dowling, Jonathan

2003-01-01

A proposed method of suppressing the effect of background noise in an optical communication system would exploit the transmission and reception of correlated photons at the receiver. The method would not afford any advantage in a system in which performance is limited by shot noise. However, if the performance of the system is limited by background noise (e.g., sunlight in the case of a free-space optical communication system or incoherently scattered in-band photons in the case of a fiber-optic communication system), then the proposed method could offer an advantage: the proposed method would make it possible to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) significantly greater than that of an otherwise equivalent background- noise-limited optical communication system based on the classical transmission and reception of uncorrelated photons. The figure schematically depicts a classical optical-communication system and a system according to the proposed method. In the classical system, a modulated laser beam is transmitted along an optical path to a receiver, the optics of which include a narrow-band-pass filter that suppresses some of the background noise. A photodetector in the receiver detects the laser-beam and background photons, most or all of which are uncorrelated. In the proposed system, correlated photons would be generated at the transmitter by making a modulated laser beam pass through a nonlinear parametric down-conversion crystal. The sum of frequencies of the correlated photons in each pair would equal the frequency of the incident photon from which they were generated. As in the classical system, the correlated photons would travel along an optical path to a receiver, where they would be band-pass filtered and detected. Unlike in the classical system, the photodetector in the receiver in this system would be one that intrinsically favors the detection of pairs of correlated photons over the detection of uncorrelated photons. Even though there would be no

Pressure detection device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuji, Akira.

1997-01-01

The present invention provides a pressure detection device having a function of preventing discharge of reactor water in pipelines to the outside of a system when a pipeline for detecting pressure to be connected to a reactor is failed. Namely, a fluid pressure detector is disposed at the downstream of the detection pipeline. A cylindrical member having a shrinkable inner diameter is disposed to the outer circumference at the upstream. A cylindrical member having an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the detection pipeline is disposed while restricting the movement of the detection pipeline in the inner circumferential direction. Then, it fasten the detection pipeline from the outside upon failure of the pipeline thereby enabling to suppress the flow rate of the fluid in the detection pipeline. In addition, a shape memory alloy which shrinks upon elevation of temperature is used for the cylindrical member. Then, the discharge of the fluid can be prevented automatically upon rupture of the pipeline. (I.S.)

Volatile suppressing method for radioactive iodine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohara, Atsushi; Haruguchi, Keiko.

1997-01-01

In the present invention, a metal plate is disposed above the pool water surface of a suppression chamber disposed to a reactor container in order to reduce evaporation of radioactive iodine released from a suppression pool. A metal plate is disposed above the pool water surface of the suppression chamber disposed to the reactor container. In addition, a metal plate is disposed around the space connecting a bent tube extending from a dry well to underwater of suppression pool water and a gas bent tube extending from the suppression chamber to an emergency gas processing system. Spray water is supplied for cooling the suppression chamber d as a means for cooling the metal plate. Then, among iodine released to the suppression chamber, elemental iodine liberated from the pool water is deposited on the surface of the metal plate, and the amount of iodine to be flown into and processed by an emergency gas processing system or a filter bent system can be reduced. (T.M.)

Waves of visibility: probing the depth of inter-ocular suppression with transient and sustained targets

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Lisandro eKaunitz

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In order to study non-conscious visual processing, researchers render otherwise consciously perceived images into invisible stimuli. Through the years, several psychophysical techniques have been developed for this purpose. Yet the comparison of experimental results across techniques remains a difficult task as the depth of suppression depends on the interactions between the type of stimuli and the suppression methods employed. This poses a limit to the inferences that researchers make about the extent of non-conscious processes. We investigated the mechanisms underlying inter-ocular suppression during continuous flash suppression (CFS and dichoptic visual masking using a transient onset target stimulus and a variety of stimulus / mask temporal manipulations. We show that target duration, timing of target onset, and mask frequency are key aspects of inter-ocular suppression during CFS with transient targets. The differences between our results and sustained target CFS studies suggest that two distinct mechanisms are involved in the detection of transient and prolonged target stimuli during CFS. Our results provide insight into the dynamics of CFS together with evidence for similarities between transient target CFS and dichoptic visual masking.

Melatonin exerts anti-oral cancer effect via suppressing LSD1 in patient-derived tumor xenograft models

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Cheng-Yu; Lin, Chih-Kung; Tsao, Chang-Huei; Hsieh, Cheng-Chih; Lin, Gu-Jiun; Ma, Kuo-Hsing; Shieh, Yi-Shing; Sytwu, Huey-Kang; Chen, Yuan-Wu

2017-01-01

Aberrant activation of histone lysine-specific demethylase (LSD1) increases tumorigenicity; hence, LSD1 is considered a therapeutic target for various human cancers. Although melatonin, an endogenously produced molecule, may defend against various cancers, the precise mechanism involved in its anti-oral cancer effect remains unclear. Patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDTX) models are preclinical models that can more accurately reflect human tumor biology compared with cell line xenograft models. Here, we evaluated the anticancer activity of melatonin by using LSD1-overexpressing oral cancer PDTX models. By assessing oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue arrays through immunohistochemistry, we examined whether aberrant LSD1 overexpression in OSCC is associated with poor prognosis. We also evaluated the action mechanism of melatonin against OSCC with lymphatic metastases by using the PDTX models. Our results indicated that melatonin, at pharmacological concentrations, significantly suppresses cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The observed suppression of proliferation was accompanied by the melatonin-mediated inhibition of LSD1 in oral cancer PDTXs and oral cancer cell lines. In conclusion, we determined that the beneficial effects of melatonin in reducing oral cancer cell proliferation are associated with reduced LSD1 expression in vivo and in vitro. PMID:28422711

Hypertonic Saline Suppresses NADPH Oxidase-Dependent Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation and Promotes Apoptosis

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Ajantha Nadesalingam

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Tonicity of saline (NaCl is important in regulating cellular functions and homeostasis. Hypertonic saline is administered to treat many inflammatory diseases, including cystic fibrosis. Excess neutrophil extracellular trap (NET formation, or NETosis, is associated with many pathological conditions including chronic inflammation. Despite the known therapeutic benefits of hypertonic saline, its underlying mechanisms are not clearly understood. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the effects of hypertonic saline in modulating NETosis. For this purpose, we purified human neutrophils and induced NETosis using agonists such as diacylglycerol mimetic phorbol myristate acetate (PMA, Gram-negative bacterial cell wall component lipopolysaccharide (LPS, calcium ionophores (A23187 and ionomycin from Streptomyces conglobatus, and bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. We then analyzed neutrophils and NETs using Sytox green assay, immunostaining of NET components and apoptosis markers, confocal microscopy, and pH sensing reagents. This study found that hypertonic NaCl suppresses nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH2 or NOX2-dependent NETosis induced by agonists PMA, Escherichia coli LPS (0111:B4 and O128:B12, and P. aeruginosa. Hypertonic saline also suppresses LPS- and PMA- induced reactive oxygen species production. It was determined that supplementing H2O2 reverses the suppressive effect of hypertonic saline on NOX2-dependent NETosis. Many of the aforementioned suppressive effects were observed in the presence of equimolar concentrations of choline chloride and osmolytes (d-mannitol and d-sorbitol. This suggests that the mechanism by which hypertonic saline suppresses NOX2-dependent NETosis is via neutrophil dehydration. Hypertonic NaCl does not significantly alter the intracellular pH of neutrophils. We found that hypertonic NaCl induces apoptosis while suppressing NOX2-dependent NETosis. In contrast, hypertonic

Suppression of superconductivity in Nb by IrMn in IrMn/Nb bilayers

KAUST Repository

Wu, B. L.

2013-10-10

Effect of antiferromagnet on superconductivity has been investigated in IrMn/Nb bilayers. Significant suppression of both transition temperature (Tc) and lower critical field (Hc1) of Nb is found in IrMn/Nb bilayers as compared to a single layer Nb of same thickness; the suppression effect is even stronger than that of a ferromagnet in NiFe/Nb bilayers. The addition of an insulating MgO layer at the IrMn-Nb interface nearly restores Tc to that of the single layer Nb, but Hc1 still remains suppressed. These results suggest that, in addition to proximity effect and magnetic impurity scattering, magnetostatic interaction also plays a role in suppressing superconductivity of Nb in IrMn/Nb bilayers. In addition to reduced Tc and Hc1, the IrMn layer also induces broadening in the transition temperature of Nb, which can be accounted for by a finite distribution of stray field from IrMn.

Dose-dependent suppression by ethanol of transient auditory 40-Hz response.

Science.gov (United States)

Jääskeläinen, I P; Hirvonen, J; Saher, M; Pekkonen, E; Sillanaukee, P; Näätänen, R; Tiitinen, H

2000-02-01

Acute alcohol (ethanol) challenge is known to induce various cognitive disturbances, yet the neural basis of the effect is poorly known. The auditory transient evoked gamma-band (40-Hz) oscillatory responses have been suggested to be associated with various perceptual and cognitive functions in humans; however, alcohol effects on auditory 40-Hz responses have not been investigated to date. The objective of the study was to test the dose-related impact of alcohol on auditory transient evoked 40-Hz responses during a selective-attention task. Ten healthy social drinkers ingested, in four separate sessions, 0.00, 0. 25, 0.50, or 0.75 g/kg of 10% (v/v) alcohol solution. The order of the sessions was randomized and a double-blind procedure was employed. During a selective attention task, 300-Hz standard and 330-Hz deviant tones were presented to the left ear, and 1000-Hz standards and 1100-Hz deviants to the right ear of the subjects (P=0. 425 for each standard, P=0.075 for each deviant). The subjects attended to a designated ear, and were to detect the deviants therein while ignoring tones to the other ear. The auditory transient evoked 40-Hz responses elicited by both the attended and unattended standard tones were significantly suppressed by the 0.50 and 0.75 g/kg alcohol doses. Alcohol suppresses auditory transient evoked 40-Hz oscillations already with moderate blood alcohol concentrations. Given the putative role of gamma-band oscillations in cognition, this finding could be associated with certain alcohol-induced cognitive deficits.

The efficacy of fat suppressed and gadolinium enhanced dynamic MR imaging in pancreatic adenocarcinomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabata, Toshifumi

1994-01-01

The efficacy of both fat suppressed T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging (dynamic MRI) was compared with conventional MR sequences and dynamic CT in 22 patients with histologically proven pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC). In the control group of 30 patients without pancreatic disease, the pancreas was shown as a markedly higher signal intensity on fat suppressed T1WI than on conventional MR sequences. The signal noise ratio (SNR) of the normal pancreas and the contrast noise ratio (CNR) between the normal pancreas and muscle were significantly higher on fat suppressed T1WI than the other MR sequences. In the group of PAC patients without chronic pancreatitis (n=14), CNR between the tumor and the normal pancreas significantly differed among imaging techniques, including fat suppressed T1WI, dynamic MRI, and the other conventional MR sequences. In the group of PAC with chronic pancreatitis (n=8), CNR between the tumor and the associated chronic pancreatitis was remarkably diminished on both fat suppressed T1WI and conventional T1WI; however, it was significantly higher on dynamic MRI than the other pulse sequences. The early phase of dynamic MRI clearly identified the tumors in the group of PAC. The capability of conventional T1WI and dynamic CT to demonstrate peripancreatic tumor extension was significantly higher than that of fat suppressed T1WI. In conclusion, fat suppressed T1WI and dynamic MRI were useful in detecting pancreatic carcinoma. (N.K.)

Jet suppression measurement with the ATLAS detector

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00443411; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

A hot medium with a high density of unscreened color charges is produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions. Jets are produced at the early stages of this collision and are known to become attenuated as they propagate through the hot matter. One manifestation of this energy loss is a lower yield of jets emerging from the medium than expected in the absence of medium effects. Another manifestation of the energy loss is the modification of the dijet balance and the modification of fragmentation functions. In these proceedings, the latest ATLAS results on single jet suppression, dijet suppression, and modification of the jet internal structure in \\PbPb~collisions are presented.

Smoke suppression properties of ferrite yellow on flame retardant thermoplastic polyurethane based on ammonium polyphosphate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Xilei; Jiang, Yufeng; Jiao, Chuanmei

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Smoke suppression of FeOOH on flame retardant TPU composites has been investigated. • FeOOH has excellent smoke suppression abilities for flame retardant TPU composites. • FeOOH has good ability of char formation, hence improved smoke suppression property. -- Abstract: This article mainly studies smoke suppression properties and synergistic flame retardant effect of ferrite yellow (FeOOH) on flame retardant thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites using ammonium polyphosphate (APP) as a flame retardant agent. Smoke suppression properties and synergistic flame retardant effect of FeOOH on flame retardant TPU composites were intensively investigated by smoke density test (SDT), cone calorimeter test (CCT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Remarkably, the SDT results show that FeOOH can effectively decrease the amount of smoke production with or without flame. On the other hand, the CCT data reveal that the addition of FeOOH can apparently reduce heat release rate (HRR), total heat release (THR), and total smoke release (TSR), etc. Here, FeOOH is considered to be an effective smoke suppression agent and a good synergism with APP in flame retardant TPU composites, which can greatly improve the structure of char residue realized by TGA and SEM results

Pressure suppression pool thermal mixing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cook, D.H.

1984-01-01

A model is developed and verified to describe the thermal mixing that occurs in the pressure suppression pool (PSP) of a commercial BWR. The model is designed specifically for a Mark-I containment and is intended for use in severe accident sequence analyses. The model produces space and time dependent temperature results throughout the PSP and is useful for evaluating the bulk PSP thermal mixing, the condensation effectiveness of the PSP, and the long-term containment integrity. The model is designed to accommodate single or multiple discharging T-quenchers, a PSP circumferential circulation induced by the residual heat removal system discharge, and the thermal stratification of the pool that occurs immediately after the relief valves close. The PSP thermal mixing model is verified by comparing the model predicted temperatures to experimental temperatures that were measured in an operating BWR suppression pool. The model is then used to investigate several PSP thermal mixing problems that include the time to saturate at full relief valve flow, the temperature response to a typical stuck open relief valve scenario, and the effect of operator rotation of the relief valve discharge point

Multifrequency eddy current examination for surface defects detection of hot steel products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiroshima, Tatsuo; Sakamoto, Takahide; Takahashi, Akio; Miyata, Kenichi.

1985-01-01

Multifrequency eddy current testing method using probe coils has been studied for surface defects detection in hot steel products at high temperature over the magnetic Curie point. The conventional signal processing method is not available for suppression of an undesirable signal caused by lift-off variation or unevenness in inspected surfaces, because the undesirable signal pattern is similar to a defect signal pattern. In order to suppress the undesirable signal a new dual frequency signal processing method using three phase rotators has been developed, and was applied to several hot steel inspections. The results are as follows. 1. In the rotating eddy current machine for hot steel rods, the lift-off variation signal caused by a wobble of rods or the difference between rotating center and pass center of rods can be suppressed. A long seam or crack whose depth is more than 0.5mm can be detected. 2. In the hot inspection for continuously cast slabs, the signal caused by oscillation mark whose depth is under 1 mm can be suppressed. A fine transversal crack whose depth is 2 mm can be detected. 3. In the hot inspection for round billets, the lift-off variation signal caused by oval shape can be eliminated, and a crack which is deeper than 1.5 mm can be clearly detected. The detectability of defects can be improved by the analysis of dual frequency signal pattern. (author)

Suppression of Adverse Effects of GIC Using Controlled Variable Grounding Resistor

Science.gov (United States)

Abuhussein, A.; Ali, M. H.

2016-12-01

Geomagnetically induced current (GIC) has a harmful impact on power systems, with a large footprint. Mitigation strategies for the GIC are required to protect the integrity of the power system. To date, the adverse effects of GIC are being mitigated by either operational procedures or grounding fixed capacitors (GFCs). The operational procedures are uncertain, reduce systems' reliability, and increase energy losses. On the other hand, GFCs, incur voltage spikes, increase the transformer cost substantially, and require protection circuitry. This study investigates new possible approaches to cope with GIC, by using a controlled variable grounding resistor (CVGR), without interfering with the system's normal operation. In addition, the new techniques help suppress unsymmetrical faults in the power network. The controllability of the grounding resistor is applied using three different techniques: (1) a Parallel switch that is controlled by PI regulated duty cycle, (2) a Parallel switch that is triggered by a preset values in a look-up-table (LUT), and (3) a Mechanical resistor varied by a Fuzzy logic controller (FLC). The experimental results were obtained and validated using the MATLAB/SIMULINK software. A hypothetical power system that consists of a generator, a 765kv, 500 km long transmission lines connecting between a step-up, Δ-Yn, transformer, and a step-down, Yn-Δ, transformer, is considered. The performance of the CVGR is compared with that of the GFC under the cases of GIC event and unsymmetrical faults. From the simulation results, the following points are concluded: The CVGR effectively suppresses the GIC flowing in the system. Consequently, it protects the transformers from saturation and the rest of the system from collapsing. The CVGR also reduces the voltage and power swings associated with unsymmetrical faults and blocks the zero sequence current flowing through the neutral of the transformer. The performance of the CVGR surpasses that of the GFC in

Exposure is not enough: suppressing stimuli from awareness can abolish the mere exposure effect.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel de Zilva

Full Text Available Passive exposure to neutral stimuli increases subsequent liking of those stimuli--the mere exposure effect. Because of the broad implications for understanding and controlling human preferences, the role of conscious awareness in mere exposure has received much attention. Previous studies have claimed that the mere exposure effect can occur without conscious awareness of the stimuli. In two experiments, we applied a technique new to the mere exposure literature, called continuous flash suppression, to expose stimuli for a controlled duration with and without awareness. To ensure the reliability of the awareness manipulation, awareness was monitored on a trial-by-trial basis. Our results show that under these conditions the mere exposure effect does not occur without conscious awareness. In contrast, only when participants were aware of the stimuli did exposure increase liking and recognition. Together these data are consistent with the idea that the mere exposure effect requires conscious awareness and has important implications for theories of memory and affect.

Exposure is not enough: suppressing stimuli from awareness can abolish the mere exposure effect.

Science.gov (United States)

de Zilva, Daniel; Vu, Luke; Newell, Ben R; Pearson, Joel

2013-01-01

Passive exposure to neutral stimuli increases subsequent liking of those stimuli--the mere exposure effect. Because of the broad implications for understanding and controlling human preferences, the role of conscious awareness in mere exposure has received much attention. Previous studies have claimed that the mere exposure effect can occur without conscious awareness of the stimuli. In two experiments, we applied a technique new to the mere exposure literature, called continuous flash suppression, to expose stimuli for a controlled duration with and without awareness. To ensure the reliability of the awareness manipulation, awareness was monitored on a trial-by-trial basis. Our results show that under these conditions the mere exposure effect does not occur without conscious awareness. In contrast, only when participants were aware of the stimuli did exposure increase liking and recognition. Together these data are consistent with the idea that the mere exposure effect requires conscious awareness and has important implications for theories of memory and affect.

Contribution of Ruminal Fungi, Archaea, Protozoa, and Bacteria to the Methane Suppression Caused by Oilseed Supplemented Diets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaopu Wang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Dietary lipids can suppress methane emission from ruminants, but effects are variable. Especially the role of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa in mediating the lipid effects is unclear. In the present in vitro study, archaea, fungi and protozoa were selectively inhibited by specific agents. This was fully or almost fully successful for fungi and protozoa as well as archaeal activity as determined by the methyl-coenzyme M reductase alpha subunit gene. Five different microbial treatments were generated: rumen fluid being intact (I, without archaea (–A, without fungi (–F, without protozoa (–P and with bacteria only (–AFP. A forage-concentrate diet given alone or supplemented with crushed full-fat oilseeds of either safflower (Carthamus tinctorius or poppy (Papaver somniferum or camelina (Camelina sativa at 70 g oil kg−1 diet dry matter was incubated. This added up to 20 treatments with six incubation runs per treatment. All oilseeds suppressed methane emission compared to the non-supplemented control. Compared to the non-supplemented control, –F decreased organic matter (OM degradation, and short-chain fatty acid concentration was greater with camelina and safflower seeds. Methane suppression per OM digested in –F was greater with camelina seeds (−12 vs.−7% with I, P = 0.06, but smaller with poppy seeds (−4 vs. −8% with I, P = 0.03, and not affected with safflower seeds. With –P, camelina seeds decreased the acetate-to-propionate ratio and enhanced the methane suppression per gram dry matter (18 vs. 10% with I, P = 0.08. Hydrogen recovery was improved with –P in any oilseeds compared to non-supplemented control. No methane emission was detected with the –A and –AFP treatments. In conclusion, concerning methanogenesis, camelina seeds seem to exert effects only on archaea and bacteria. By contrast, with safflower and poppy seeds methane was obviously reduced mainly through the interaction with protozoa or archaea

Desensitization of delayed-type hypersensitivity in mice: suppressive environment

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Takashi Katsura

1993-01-01

Full Text Available The systemic injection of high doses of antigen into a preimmunized animal results in transient unresponsiveness of cell-mediated immune responses. This phenomenon is known as desensitization. Serum interleukin 2 (IL-2 activity was found transiently in desensitized mice at 3 h after the antigen challenge. These mice could not reveal antigen nonspecific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH 1 d after the challenge. Specific suppression of DTH was observed at later stages. Sera from 3 h desensitized mice showed suppressive effects on DTH in preo immunized mice. Administration of recombinant IL-2 into preimmunized mice led to the failure of development of DTH to antigens. These observations suggest that IL-2 plays an important role in the suppressive environment.

Hesperetin, a Selective Phosphodiesterase 4 Inhibitor, Effectively Suppresses Ovalbumin-Induced Airway Hyperresponsiveness without Influencing Xylazine/Ketamine-Induced Anesthesia

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Chung-Hung Shih

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Hesperetin, a selective phosphodiesterase (PDE4 inhibitor, is present in the traditional Chinese medicine, “Chen Pi.” Therefore, we were interested in investigating its effects on ovalbumin- (OVA- induced airway hyperresponsiveness, and clarifying its rationale for ameliorating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. Hesperetin was revealed to have a therapeutic (PDE4H/PDE4L ratio of >11. Hesperetin (10 ~ 30 μmol/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p. dose-dependently and significantly attenuated the airway hyperresponsiveness induced by methacholine. It also significantly suppressed the increases in total inflammatory cells, macrophages, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils, and levels of cytokines, including interleukin (IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF. It dose-dependently and significantly suppressed total and OVA-specific immunoglobulin E levels in the BALF and serum. However, hesperetin did not influence xylazine/ketamine-induced anesthesia, suggesting that hesperetin has few or no emetic effects. In conclusion, the rationales for ameliorating allergic asthma and COPD by hesperetin are anti-inflammation, immunoregulation, and bronchodilation.

Neural Correlates of Direct and Indirect Suppression of Autobiographical Memories.

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Noreen, Saima; O'Connor, Akira R; MacLeod, Malcolm D

2016-01-01

Research indicates that there are two possible mechanisms by which particular target memories can be intentionally forgotten. Direct suppression, which involves the suppression of the unwanted memory directly, and is dependent on a fronto-hippocampal modulatory process, and, memory substitution, which includes directing one's attention to an alternative memory in order to prevent the unwanted memory from coming to mind, and involves engaging the caudal prefrontal cortex (cPFC) and the mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) regions. Research to date, however, has investigated the neural basis of memory suppression of relatively simple information. The aim of the current study was to use fMRI to identify the neural mechanisms associated with the suppression of autobiographical memories. In the present study, 22 participants generated memories in response to a series of cue words. In a second session, participants learnt these cue-memory pairings, and were subsequently presented with a cue word and asked either to recall (think) or to suppress (no-think) the associated memory, or to think of an alternative memory in order to suppress the original memory (memory-substitution). Our findings demonstrated successful forgetting effects in the no-think and memory substitution conditions. Although we found no activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, there was reduced hippocampal activation during direct suppression. In the memory substitution condition, however, we failed to find increased activation in the cPFC and VLPFC regions. Our findings suggest that the suppression of autobiographical memories may rely on different neural mechanisms to those established for other types of material in memory.

Neural Correlates of Direct and Indirect Suppression of Autobiographical Memories

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Saima eNoreen

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Research indicates that there are two possible mechanisms by which particular target memories can be intentionally forgotten. Direct suppression, which involves the suppression of the unwanted memory directly, and is dependent on a fronto-hippocampal modulatory process, and, memory substitution, which includes directing one's attention to an alternative memory in order to prevent the unwanted memory from coming to mind, and involves engaging the caudal prefrontal cortex (cPFC and the mid-ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC regions. Research to date, however, has investigated the neural basis of memory suppression of relatively simple information. The aim of the current study was to use fMRI to identify the neural mechanisms associated with the suppression of autobiographical memories. In the present study, 22 participants generated memories in response to a series of cue words. In a second session, participants learnt these cue-memory pairings, and were subsequently presented with a cue word and asked either to recall (think or to suppress (no-think the associated memory, or to think of an alternative memory in order to suppress the original memory (memory-substitution. Our findings demonstrated successful forgetting effects in the no-think and memory substitution conditions. Although we found no activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex there was reduced hippocampal activation during direct suppression. In the memory substitution condition, however, we failed to find increased activation in the cPFC and VLPFC regions. Our findings suggest that the suppression of autobiographical memories may rely on different neural mechanisms to those established for other types of material in memory.

A dual purpose Compton suppression spectrometer

CERN Document Server

Parus, J; Raab, W; Donohue, D

2003-01-01

A gamma-ray spectrometer with a passive and an active shield is described. It consists of a HPGe coaxial detector of 42% efficiency and 4 NaI(Tl) detectors. The energy output pulses of the Ge detector are delivered into the 3 spectrometry chains giving the normal, anti- and coincidence spectra. From the spectra of a number of sup 1 sup 3 sup 7 Cs and sup 6 sup 0 Co sources a Compton suppression factor, SF and a Compton reduction factor, RF, as the parameters characterizing the system performance, were calculated as a function of energy and source activity and compared with those given in literature. The natural background is reduced about 8 times in the anticoincidence mode of operation, compared to the normal spectrum which results in decreasing the detection limits for non-coincident gamma-rays up to a factor of 3. In the presence of other gamma-ray activities, in the range from 5 to 11 kBq, non- and coincident, the detection limits can be decreased for some nuclides by a factor of 3 to 5.7.

miR-342-3p suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation through inhibition of IGF-1R-mediated Warburg effect.

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Liu, Wenpeng; Kang, Lei; Han, Juqiang; Wang, Yadong; Shen, Chuan; Yan, Zhifeng; Tai, Yanhong; Zhao, Caiyan

2018-01-01

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a well-studied oncogenic factor that promotes cell proliferation and energy metabolism and is overexpressed in numerous cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of cancer, and drugs targeting its regulators, including IGF-1R, are being developed. However, the mechanisms of IGF-1R inhibition and the physiological significance of the IGF-1R inhibitors in cancer cells are unclear. Cell proliferation was evaluated by cell counting Kit-8 and colony formation assay. Western blot and real-time PCR were accordingly used to detect the relevant proteins, miRNA and gene expression. Luciferase reporter assays were used to illustrate the interaction between miR-342-3p and IGF-1R. The effect of miR-342-3p on glycolysis was determined by glucose uptake, ATP concentration, lactate generation, extracellular acidification rate and oxygen consumption rate assays. In vivo, subcutaneous tumor formation assay and PET were performed in nude mice. In this study, we demonstrate that by directly targeting the 3'-UTR (3'-untranslated regions) of IGF-1R, microRNA-342-3p (miR-342-3p) suppresses IGF-1R-mediated PI3K/AKT/GLUT1 signaling pathway both in vitro and in vivo. Through suppression of IGF-1R, miR-342-3p dampens glycolysis by decreasing glucose uptake, lactate generation, ATP production, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), and increasing oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in hepatoma cells. Importantly, glycolysis regulated by miR-342-3p is critical for its regulating HCC growth both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings provide clues regarding the role of miR-342-3p as a tumor suppressor in liver cancer mainly through the inhibition of IGF-1R. Targeting IGF-1R by miR-342-3p could be a potential therapeutic strategy in liver cancer.

Differences in xylogenesis between dominant and suppressed trees.

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Liu, Shushan; Li, Xiaoxia; Rossi, Sergio; Wang, Lily; Li, Wei; Liang, Eryuan; Leavitt, Steven W

2018-05-01

Most dendroecological studies focus on dominant trees, but little is known about the growing season of trees belonging to different size classes and their sensitivity to biotic factors. The objective of this study was to compare the dynamics of xylem formation between dominant and suppressed trees of Abies fabri of similar age growing in the Gongga Mountains, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, and to identify the association between xylem growth and climate. The timing and duration of xylogenesis in histological sections were investigated weekly during the 2013-2015 growing seasons. Our investigation found that timing and duration of xylogenesis varied with canopy position and its associated tree size. Xylogenesis started 6-14 days earlier, and ended 5-11 days later in dominant trees than in suppressed trees, resulting in a significantly longer growing season. Dominant trees also exhibited higher temperature sensitivity of tracheid production rate than suppressed trees. The observed differences in xylogenesis among trees suggested that competition affects tree growth by reducing the growing period in suppressed trees. Representative climate-growth relationships should involve trees of all size classes when evaluating the effects of the environment on forest dynamics. © 2018 Botanical Society of America.

High intensity signal of the posterior pituitary. A study with horizontal direction of frequency-encoding and fat suppression MR techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arslan, A.

1999-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the consistency of fat in the high intensity signals of the normal neurohypophysis and to differentiate the high signal of posterior pituitary from that of dorsum sella. Sagittal SE T1-weighted images with frequency encoding in the horizontal direction were used in order to differentiate the high signal of posterior pituitary and dorsum sella by the vertically-oriented chemical shift artifact. Material and methods: The sellae of 46 normal volunteers were imaged with a commercially available fat suppression technique and SE sequences with frequency encoding in vertical (25 cases) and horizontal (21 cases) axes. Results: The high signal intensity was absent in 9% of the normal volunteers with no predilection to any specific age group. None of the cases with posterior pituitary high intensity signals showed suppression of the signal with fat suppression technique. A fat suppression technique was helpful in documenting the hyperintensity in 7% of normal volunteers. Nineteen of the 21 (90%) cases with high signal intensity were detected by routine SE T1-weighted images, whereas 18 of the 19 (95%) cases were detected by imaging with frequency encoding in the horizontal direction. Conclusion: The high signal does not indicate the presence of fat. Fat suppression technique and a horizontal direction of frequency encoding help in differentiating the high signal of the neurohypophysis from that of dorsum sella. (orig.)

Low levels of HIV-1 RNA detected in the cerebrospinal fluid after up to 10 years of suppressive therapy are associated with local immune activation.

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Dahl, Viktor; Peterson, Julia; Fuchs, Dietmar; Gisslen, Magnus; Palmer, Sarah; Price, Richard W

2014-09-24

Though combination antiretroviral therapy reduces the concentration of HIV-1 RNA in both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) below the detection limit of clinical assays, low levels of HIV-1 RNA are frequently detectable in plasma using more sensitive assays. We examined the frequency and magnitude of persistent low-level HIV-1 RNA in CSF and its relation to the central nervous system (CNS) immune activation. CSF and plasma HIV-1 RNA were measured using the single-copy assay with a detection limit of 0.3 copies/ml in 70 CSF and 68 plasma samples from 45 treated HIV-1-infected patients with less than 40 copies/ml of HIV-1 RNA in both fluids by standard clinical assays. We also measured CSF neopterin to assess intrathecal immune activation. Theoretical drug exposure was estimated using the CNS penetration-efficacy score of treatment regimens. CSF HIV-1 RNA was detected in 12 of the 70 CSF samples (17%) taken after up to 10 years of suppressive therapy, compared to 39 of the 68 plasma samples (57%) with a median concentration of less than 0.3 copies/ml in CSF compared to 0.3 copies/ml in plasma (P < 0.0001). CSF samples with detectable HIV-1 RNA had higher CSF neopterin levels (mean 8.2 compared to 5.7 nmol/l; P = 0.0085). Patients with detectable HIV-1 RNA in CSF did not differ in pretreatment plasma HIV-1 RNA levels, nadir CD4 cell count or CNS penetration-efficacy score. Low-level CSF HIV-1 RNA and its association with elevated CSF neopterin highlight the potential for the CNS to serve as a viral reservoir and for persistent infection to cause subclinical CNS injury.

Suppressing nonlinear resonances in an impact oscillator using SMAs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sitnikova, Elena; Pavlovskaia, Ekaterina; Ing, James; Wiercigroch, Marian

2012-01-01

In this paper, we study the resonant responses of an impact oscillator with a one sided SMA motion constraint operating in the pseudoelastic regime. The effectiveness of the SMA restraint in suppressing nonlinear resonances of the impact oscillator is assessed by comparing the dynamic responses of the impact oscillator with SMA and elastic restraints. It is shown that the hysteretic behaviour of the SMA restraint provides an overall vibration reduction in the resonant frequency ranges. Due to the softening behaviour of the SMA element, the resonant frequencies for the SMA oscillator were found to be lower than for the oscillator with an elastic restraint. At each resonance, a single periodic response for the oscillator with the elastic restraint corresponds to two co-existing periodic responses of the SMA oscillator. While at the first resonance peak the emergence of one of the co-existing responses is associated with the hardening effect of the SMA restraint when the pseudoelastic force varies over a complete transformation cycle, at higher frequency resonances incomplete phase transformations in the SMA were detected for both responses. The experimental study undertaken verified the response-modification effects predicted by the numerical analysis conducted under the isothermal approximation. The experimental results showed a good quantitative correspondence with the mathematical modelling. (paper)

Synthetic triterpenoid induces 15-PGDH expression and suppresses inflammation-driven colon carcinogenesis.

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Choi, Sung Hee; Kim, Byung-Gyu; Robinson, Janet; Fink, Steve; Yan, Min; Sporn, Michael B; Markowitz, Sanford D; Letterio, John J

2014-06-01

Colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC) develops as a result of inflammation-induced epithelial transformation, which occurs in response to inflammatory cytokine-dependent downregulation of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) and subsequent suppression of prostaglandin metabolism. Agents that both enhance 15-PGDH expression and suppress cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) production may more effectively prevent CAC. Synthetic triterpenoids are a class of small molecules that suppress COX-2 as well as inflammatory cytokine signaling. Here, we found that administration of the synthetic triterpenoid 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11)-dien-C28-methyl ester (CDDO-Me) suppresses CAC in mice. In a spontaneous, inflammation-driven intestinal neoplasia model, deletion of Smad4 specifically in T cells led to progressive production of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IFN-γ, iNOS, IL-6, IL-1β; as well as activation of STAT1 and STAT3; along with suppression of 15-PGDH expression. Oral administration of CDDO-Me to mice with SMAD4-deficient T cells increased survival and suppressed intestinal epithelial neoplasia by decreasing production of inflammatory mediators and increasing expression of 15-PGDH. Induction of 15-PGDH by CDDO-Me was dose dependent in epithelial cells and was abrogated following treatment with TGF-β signaling inhibitors in vitro. Furthermore, CDDO-Me-dependent 15-PGDH induction was not observed in Smad3-/- mice. Similarly, CDDO-Me suppressed azoxymethane plus dextran sodium sulfate-induced carcinogenesis in wild-type animals, highlighting the potential of small molecules of the triterpenoid family as effective agents for the chemoprevention of CAC in humans.

Suppression of umami aftertaste by polysaccharides in soy sauce.

Science.gov (United States)

Imamura, Miho; Matsushima, Kenichiro

2013-08-01

Umami is one of 5 basic tastes that make foods savory and palatable. The umami aftertaste is a long-lasting taste sensation that is important for Japanese broth (dashi) utilized for various Japanese foods. Soy sauce is usually added when making dashi-based dishes; however, different soy sauces produce distinct effects on the umami aftertaste. In this study, we attempted to identify the substances that cause the suppression of the umami aftertaste in soy sauce by combining sensory analysis, size fractionation, chemical analysis, and enzymatic treatment. The suppressive substance was revealed to be polysaccharides with molecular weights between 44900 and 49700. The results of acid hydrolysis and enzymatic treatment suggested that the polysaccharides were cellulose. These results indicate that a type of water-soluble cellulose derived from soybean, wheat, or microorganisms has a suppressive effect on the umami aftertaste of soy sauce. Future studies should focus on developing a strategy that regulates the amount of these polysaccharides generated during soy sauce production, to maintain or enhance the umami aftertaste. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Does suppression of oscillatory synchronisation mediate some of the therapeutic effects of DBS in patients with Parkinson’s disease?

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Alexandre eEusebio

2012-07-01

Full Text Available There is growing evidence for exaggerated oscillatory neuronal synchronisation in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In particular, oscillations at around 20 Hz, in the so-called beta frequency band, relate to the cardinal symptoms of bradykinesia and rigidity. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus can significantly improve these motor impairments. Recent evidence has demonstrated reduction of beta oscillations concurrent with alleviation of PD motor symptoms, raising the possibility that suppression of aberrant activity may mediate the effects of DBS. Here we review the evidence supporting suppression of pathological oscillations during stimulation and discuss how this might underlie the efficacy of DBS. We also consider how beta activity may provide a feedback signal suitable for next generation closed loop and intelligent stimulators.

Sleep deprivation suppresses aggression in Drosophila

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Kayser, Matthew S; Mainwaring, Benjamin; Yue, Zhifeng; Sehgal, Amita

2015-01-01

Sleep disturbances negatively impact numerous functions and have been linked to aggression and violence. However, a clear effect of sleep deprivation on aggressive behaviors remains unclear. We find that acute sleep deprivation profoundly suppresses aggressive behaviors in the fruit fly, while other social behaviors are unaffected. This suppression is recovered following post-deprivation sleep rebound, and occurs regardless of the approach to achieve sleep loss. Genetic and pharmacologic approaches suggest octopamine signaling transmits changes in aggression upon sleep deprivation, and reduced aggression places sleep-deprived flies at a competitive disadvantage for obtaining a reproductive partner. These findings demonstrate an interaction between two phylogenetically conserved behaviors, and suggest that previous sleep experiences strongly modulate aggression with consequences for reproductive fitness. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07643.001 PMID:26216041

The effects of spectral tuning of evening ambient light on melatonin suppression, alertness and sleep.

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Rahman, Shadab A; St Hilaire, Melissa A; Lockley, Steven W

2017-08-01

We compared the effects of bedroom-intensity light from a standard fluorescent and a blue- (i.e., short-wavelength) depleted LED source on melatonin suppression, alertness, and sleep. Sixteen healthy participants (8 females) completed a 4-day inpatient study. Participants were exposed to blue-depleted circadian-sensitive (C-LED) light and a standard fluorescent light (FL, 4100K) of equal illuminance (50lx) for 8h prior to a fixed bedtime on two separate days in a within-subject, randomized, cross-over design. Each light exposure day was preceded by a dim light (LED conditions compared to FL 30min prior to bedtime. EEG-based correlates of alertness corroborated the reduced alertness under C-LED conditions as shown by significantly increased EEG spectral power in the delta-theta (0.5-8.0Hz) bands under C-LED as compared to FL exposure. There was no significant difference in total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE%), and slow-wave activity (SWA) between the two conditions. Unlike melatonin suppression and alertness, a significant order effect was observed on all three sleep variables, however. Individuals who received C-LED first and then FL had increased TST, SE% and SWA averaged across both nights compared to individuals who received FL first and then C-LED. These data show that the spectral characteristics of light can be fine-tuned to attenuate non-visual responses to light in humans. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of acid suppression therapy on gastroesophageal reflux and cough in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: an intervention study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilduff, Claire E; Counter, Melanie J; Thomas, Gareth A; Harrison, Nicholas K; Hope-Gill, Benjamin D

2014-01-01

Chronic cough affects more than 70 percent of patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and causes significant morbidity. Gastroesophageal reflux is the cause of some cases of chronic cough; and also has a postulated role in the aetiology of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. A high prevalence of acid; and more recently non-acid, reflux has been observed in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis cohorts. Therefore, gastroesophageal reflux may be implicated in the pathogenesis of cough in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Eighteen subjects with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis underwent 24-hour oesophageal impedance and cough count monitoring after the careful exclusion of causes of chronic cough other than gastroesophageal reflux. All 18 were then treated with high dose acid suppression therapies. Fourteen subjects underwent repeat 24-hour oesophageal impedance and cough count monitoring after eight weeks. Total reflux and acid reflux frequencies were within the normal range in the majority of this cohort. The frequencies of non-acid and proximal reflux events were above the normal range. Following high dose acid suppression therapy there was a significant decrease in the number of acid reflux events (p = 0.02), but an increase in the number of non-acid reflux events (p = 0.01). There was no change in cough frequency (p = 0.70). This study confirms that non-acid reflux is prevalent; and that proximal oesophageal reflux occurs in the majority, of subjects with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. It is the first study to investigate the effect of acid suppression therapy on gastroesophageal reflux and cough in patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. The observation that cough frequency does not improve despite verifiable reductions in oesophageal acid exposure challenges the role of acid reflux in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis associated cough. The finding that non-acid reflux is increased following the use of acid suppression therapies cautions against the widespread use

Interference Suppression Performance of Automotive UWB Radars Using Pseudo Random Sequences

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I. Pasya

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Ultra wideband (UWB automotive radars have attracted attention from the viewpoint of reducing traffic accidents. The performance of automotive radars may be degraded by interference from nearby radars using the same frequency. In this study, a scenario where two cars pass each other on a road was considered. Considering the utilization of cross-polarization, the desired-to-undesired signal power ratio (DUR was found to vary approximately from -10 to 30 dB. Different pseudo random sequences were employed for spectrum spreading the different radar signals to mitigate the interference effects. This paper evaluates the interference suppression provided by maximum length sequence (MLS and Gold sequence (GS through numerical simulations of the radar’s performance in terms of probability of false alarm and probability of detection. It was found that MLS and GS yielded nearly the same performance when the DUR is -10 dB (worst case; for example when fixing the probability of false alarm to 0.0001, the probabilities of detection were 0.964 and 0.946 respectively. The GS are more advantageous than MLS due to larger number of different sequences having the same length in GS than in MLS.

Oblique Projection Polarization Filtering-Based Interference Suppressions for Radar Sensor Networks

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Cao Bin

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The interferences coming from the radar members degrade the detection and recognition performance of the radar sensor networks (RSNs if the waveforms of the radar members are nonorthogonal. In this paper, we analyze the interferences by exploring the polarization information of the electromagnetic (EM waves. Then, we propose the oblique projection polarization filtering- (OPPF- based scheme to suppress the interferences while keeping the amplitude and phase of its own return in RSNs, even if the polarized states of the radar members are not orthogonal. We consider the cooperative RSNs environment where the polarization information of each radar member is known to all. The proposed method uses all radar members' polarization information to establish the corresponding filtering operator. The Doppler-shift and its uncertainty are independent of the polarization information, which contributes that the interferences can be suppressed without the utilization of the spatial, the temporal, the frequency, the time-delay and the Doppler-shift information. Theoretical analysis and the mathematical deduction show that the proposed scheme is a valid and simple implementation. Simulation results also demonstrate that this method can obtain a good filtering performance when dealing with the problem of interference suppressions for RSNs.

The effects of changes in object location on object identity detection: A simultaneous EEG-fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ping; Fan, Chenggui; Wang, Min; Fogelson, Noa; Li, Ling

2017-08-15

Object identity and location are bound together to form a unique integration that is maintained and processed in visual working memory (VWM). Changes in task-irrelevant object location have been shown to impair the retrieval of memorial representations and the detection of object identity changes. However, the neural correlates of this cognitive process remain largely unknown. In the present study, we aim to investigate the underlying brain activation during object color change detection and the modulatory effects of changes in object location and VWM load. To this end we used simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recordings, which can reveal the neural activity with both high temporal and high spatial resolution. Subjects responded faster and with greater accuracy in the repeated compared to the changed object location condition, when a higher VWM load was utilized. These results support the spatial congruency advantage theory and suggest that it is more pronounced with higher VWM load. Furthermore, the spatial congruency effect was associated with larger posterior N1 activity, greater activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and less suppression of the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG), when object location was repeated compared to when it was changed. The ERP-fMRI integrative analysis demonstrated that the object location discrimination-related N1 component is generated in the right SMG. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A false-alarm aware methodology to develop robust and efficient multi-scale infrared small target detection algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Moradi, Saed; Moallem, Payman; Sabahi, Mohamad Farzan

2018-03-01

False alarm rate and detection rate are still two contradictory metrics for infrared small target detection in an infrared search and track system (IRST), despite the development of new detection algorithms. In certain circumstances, not detecting true targets is more tolerable than detecting false items as true targets. Hence, considering background clutter and detector noise as the sources of the false alarm in an IRST system, in this paper, a false alarm aware methodology is presented to reduce false alarm rate while the detection rate remains undegraded. To this end, advantages and disadvantages of each detection algorithm are investigated and the sources of the false alarms are determined. Two target detection algorithms having independent false alarm sources are chosen in a way that the disadvantages of the one algorithm can be compensated by the advantages of the other one. In this work, multi-scale average absolute gray difference (AAGD) and Laplacian of point spread function (LoPSF) are utilized as the cornerstones of the desired algorithm of the proposed methodology. After presenting a conceptual model for the desired algorithm, it is implemented through the most straightforward mechanism. The desired algorithm effectively suppresses background clutter and eliminates detector noise. Also, since the input images are processed through just four different scales, the desired algorithm has good capability for real-time implementation. Simulation results in term of signal to clutter ratio and background suppression factor on real and simulated images prove the effectiveness and the performance of the proposed methodology. Since the desired algorithm was developed based on independent false alarm sources, our proposed methodology is expandable to any pair of detection algorithms which have different false alarm sources.

Pressure suppression device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizumachi, Wataru; Fukuda, Akira; Kitaguchi, Hidemi; Shimizu, Toshiaki.

1976-01-01

Object: To relieve and absorb impact wave vibrations caused by steam and non-condensed gases releasing into the pressure suppression chamber at the time of an accident. Structure: The reactor container is filled with inert gases. A safety valve attached main steam pipe is provided to permit the excessive steam to escape, the valve being communicated with the pressure suppression chamber through an exhaust pipe. In the pressure suppression chamber, a doughnut-like cylindrical outer wall is filled at its bottom with pool water to condense the high temperature vapor released through the exhaust pipe. A head portion of a vent tube which leads the exhaust pipe is positioned at the top, and a down comer and an exhaust vent tube are locked by means of steady rests. At the bottom is mounted a pressure adsorber device which adsorbs a pressure from the pool water. (Kamimura, M.)

Two-stage Keypoint Detection Scheme for Region Duplication Forgery Detection in Digital Images.

Science.gov (United States)

Emam, Mahmoud; Han, Qi; Zhang, Hongli

2018-01-01

In digital image forensics, copy-move or region duplication forgery detection became a vital research topic recently. Most of the existing keypoint-based forgery detection methods fail to detect the forgery in the smooth regions, rather than its sensitivity to geometric changes. To solve these problems and detect points which cover all the regions, we proposed two steps for keypoint detection. First, we employed the scale-invariant feature operator to detect the spatially distributed keypoints from the textured regions. Second, the keypoints from the missing regions are detected using Harris corner detector with nonmaximal suppression to evenly distribute the detected keypoints. To improve the matching performance, local feature points are described using Multi-support Region Order-based Gradient Histogram descriptor. Based on precision-recall rates and commonly tested dataset, comprehensive performance evaluation is performed. The results demonstrated that the proposed scheme has better detection and robustness against some geometric transformation attacks compared with state-of-the-art methods. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Suppression of Rabi oscillations for moving atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navarro, B.; Egusquiza, I. L.; Muga, J. G.; Hegerfeldt, G. C.

2003-01-01

The well-known laser-induced Rabi oscillations of a two-level atom are shown to be suppressed under certain conditions when the atom is entering a laser-illuminated region. For temporal Rabi oscillations the effect has two regimes: a first classical-like one, taking place at intermediate atomic velocities, and a second purely quantum case at low velocities. The classical regime is associated with the formation of incoherent internal states of the atom in the laser region, whereas in the quantum, low velocity regime the laser projects the atom onto a pure internal state that can be controlled by detuning. Spatial Rabi oscillations are only suppressed in this low velocity, quantum regime

Mastication suppresses initial gastric emptying by modulating gastric activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohmure, H; Takada, H; Nagayama, K; Sakiyama, T; Tsubouchi, H; Miyawaki, S

2012-03-01

Because various mastication-related factors influence gastric activity, the functional relationship between mastication and gastric function has not been fully elucidated. To investigate the influence of mastication on gastric emptying and motility, we conducted a randomized trial to compare the effects of mastication on gastric emptying and gastric myoelectrical activity under conditions that excluded the influences of food comminution, taste, and olfaction. A (13)C-acetate breath test with electrogastrography and electrocardiography was performed in 14 healthy men who ingested a test meal with or without chewing gum. Autonomic nerve activity was evaluated by fluctuation analysis of heart rate. Gastric emptying was significantly delayed in the 'ingestion with mastication' group. Gastric myoelectrical activity was significantly suppressed during mastication and increased gradually in the post-mastication phase. A decrease in the high-frequency power of heart rate variability was observed coincidentally with gastric myoelectrical activity suppression. These findings suggest that initial gastric emptying is suppressed by mastication, and that the suppression is caused by mastication-induced inhibition of gastric activity (UMIN Clinical Trial Registration no. UMIN000005351).

Suppression of developmental anomalies by maternal macrophages in mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomura, T.; Hata, S.; Kusafuka, T.

1990-01-01

We tested whether nonspecific tumoricidal immune cells can suppress congenital malformations by killing precursor cells destined to cause such defects. Pretreatment of pregnant ICR mice with synthetic (Pyran copolymer) and biological (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) agents significantly suppressed radiation- and chemical-induced congenital malformations (cleft palate, digit anomalies, tail anomalies, etc.). Such suppressive effects were associated with the activation of maternal macrophages by these agents, but were lost either after the disruption of activated macrophages by supersonic waves or by inhibition of their lysosomal enzyme activity with trypan blue. These results indicate that a live activated macrophage with active lysosomal enzymes can be an effector cell to suppress maldevelopment. A similar reduction by activated macrophages was observed in strain CL/Fr, which has a high spontaneous frequency of cleft lips and palates. Furthermore, Pyran-activated maternal macrophages could pass through the placenta, and enhanced urethane-induced cell killing (but not somatic mutation) in the embryo. It is likely that a maternal immunosurveillance system eliminating preteratogenic cells allows for the replacement with normal totipotent blast cells during the pregnancy to protect abnormal development

Effects of carbamazepine on dexamethasone suppression and sleep electroencephalography in borderline personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

De la Fuente, José M; Bobes, Julio; Vizuete, Coro; Mendlewicz, Julien

2002-01-01

The pathophysiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD) remains obscure, but there is mounting evidence of brain dysfunction without focal abnormality. The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and sleep electroencephalography (sleep EEG) have been studied in BPD, but the findings seem to be related to a concomitant axis I diagnosis of major depression (MD) rather than to BPD itself. There is no effective treatment for BPD. Carbamazepine (CBZ) has shown contradictory results and in a previous study, our results were negative. In this study, we investigated the effects of CBZ versus placebo on the DST and sleep EEG in a sample of 20 BPD patients without concomitant MD. CBZ given at doses that are therapeutic for epilepsy and affective disorders may have an effect on the DST and sleep EEG in BPD. CBZ significantly increased the postdexamethasone plasma cortisol values. This did not parallel MD or an increase in the Hamilton depression rating scores. CBZ also increased slow wave sleep (SWS). The mechanisms by which CBZ increased postdexamethasone plasma cortisol levels and SWS in BPD are discussed. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

How fire history, fire suppression practices and climate change affect wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lluís Brotons

Full Text Available Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain. We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape

How fire history, fire suppression practices and climate change affect wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brotons, Lluís; Aquilué, Núria; de Cáceres, Miquel; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Fall, Andrew

2013-01-01

Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape, climate and

How Fire History, Fire Suppression Practices and Climate Change Affect Wildfire Regimes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Brotons, Lluís; Aquilué, Núria; de Cáceres, Miquel; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Fall, Andrew

2013-01-01

Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape, climate and

Suppressive effect of cellulose on osmotic diarrhea caused by maltitol in healthy female subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Oku, Tsuneyuki; Hongo, Ryoko; Nakamura, Sadako

2008-08-01

Using a single-group time-series design, we determined that osmotic diarrhea caused by maltitol ingestion was suppressed by the addition of not only soluble but also insoluble dietary fiber in healthy humans. We then clarified that cellulose delayed gastric emptying in rats. Twenty-seven healthy volunteers ingested maltitol step-wise at doses of 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 g from small to large amounts. Within that range of ingested amounts, 22 out of 27 subjects experienced osmotic diarrhea from maltitol ingestion, and the minimal dose level of maltitol that induced osmotic diarrhea (MMD) was established for each subject. When 5 g of cellulose was added to the MMD, osmotic diarrhea was suppressed in 13 out of 19 subjects (68.4%), while partially hydrolyzed alginate-Na (PHA-Na), a soluble dietary fiber, suppressed osmotic diarrhea in 10 out of 20 subjects (50.0%). When a mixed solution of cellulose and maltitol was administered to rats, the gastric emptying of maltitol was significantly delayed at 30 and 60 min after administration (p=0.019, p=0.013), respectively. PHA-Na also significantly delayed gastric emptying at 30 min (p=0.013). In conclusion, cellulose can suppress the osmotic diarrhea caused by maltitol ingestion in humans and delay the gastric emptying of maltitol in rats. A new physiological property of cellulose was clarified in this study.

Non-classical polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistor with embedded block-oxide for suppressing the short channel effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Jyi-Tsong; Huang, Kuo-Dong; Hu, Shu-Fen

2008-01-01

In this paper, a polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) thin-film transistor with a block oxide enclosing body, BTFT, is fabricated and investigated. By utilizing the block-oxide structure of thin-film transistors, the BTFT is shown to suppress the short channel effect. This proposed structure is formed by burying self-aligned oxide spacers along the sidewalls of the source and drain junctions, which reduces the P–N junction area, thereby reducing the junction capacitance and leakage current. Measurements demonstrate that the BTFT eliminates the punch-through effect even down to gate lengths of 1.5 µm, whereas the conventional TFT suffers serious short channel effects at this gate length

Movement Suppression Time-Out for Undesirable Behavior in Psychotic and Severely Developmentally Delayed Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolider, Ahmos; Van Houten, Ron

1985-01-01

Effects of a movement suppression time-out, which involved punishing any movements or verbalization while a client is in the time-out area, were evaluated in four experiments. The procedure produced a larger reduction in the target behavior in all three children and effectiveness was explained in terms of suppression of self-stimulation during…

Measured and simulated performance of Compton-suppressed TIGRESS HPGe clover detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Schumaker, M. A.; Hackman, G.; Pearson, C. J.; Svensson, C. E.; Andreoiu, C.; Andreyev, A.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Bandyopadhyay, D.; Boston, A. J.; Chakrawarthy, R. S.; Churchman, R.; Drake, T. E.; Finlay, P.; Garrett, P. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hyland, B.; Jones, B.; Maharaj, R.; Morton, A. C.; Phillips, A. A.; Sarazin, F.; Scraggs, H. C.; Smith, M. B.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.; Waddington, J. C.; Watters, L. M.

2007-01-01

Tests of the performance of a 32-fold segmented HPGe clover detector coupled to a 20-fold segmented Compton-suppression shield, which form a prototype element of the TRIUMF-ISAC Gamma-Ray Escape-Suppressed Spectrometer (TIGRESS), have been made. Peak-to-total ratios and relative efficiencies have been measured for a variety of γ-ray energies. These measurements were used to validate a GEANT4 simulation of the TIGRESS detectors, which was then used to create a simulation of the full 12-detector array. Predictions of the expected performance of TIGRESS are presented. These predictions indicate that TIGRESS will be capable, for single 1 MeV γ rays, of absolute detection efficiencies of 17% and 9.4%, and peak-to-total ratios of 54% and 61% for the "high-efficiency" and "optimized peak-to-total" configurations of the array, respectively.

miR-221 suppression through nanoparticle-based miRNA delivery system for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy and its diagnosis as a potential biomarker.