Endocrine-disrupting chemicals and public health protection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zoeller, R Thomas; Brown, T R; Doan, L L

2012-01-01

An endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) is an exogenous chemical, or mixture of chemicals, that can interfere with any aspect of hormone action. The potential for deleterious effects of EDC must be considered relative to the regulation of hormone synthesis, secretion, and actions and the variabili...

Telemedicine in the acute health setting: A disruptive innovation for specialists (an example from stroke).

Science.gov (United States)

Bagot, Kathleen L; Cadilhac, Dominique A; Vu, Michelle; Moss, Karen; Bladin, Christopher F

2015-12-01

Telemedicine is a disruptive innovation within health care settings as consultations take place via audio-visual technology rather than traditional face-to-face. Specialist perceptions and experiences of providing audio-visual consultations in emergency situations, however, are not well understood. The aim of this exploratory study was to describe the experience of medical specialists providing acute stroke decision-making support via telemedicine. Data from the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine (VST) programme were used. The experiences of specialists providing an acute clinical telemedicine service to rural emergency departments were explored, drawing on disruptive innovation theory. Document analysis of programme consultation records, meeting minutes and in-depth individual interviews with three neurologists were analysed using triangulation. Since February 2014, 269 stroke telemedicine consultations with 12 neurologists have occurred. Retention on the roster has varied between 1 and >4 years. Overall, neurologists reported benefits of participation, as they were addressing health equity gaps for rural patients. Negative effects were the unpredictability of consultations impacting on their personal life, the mixed level of experience of colleagues initiating the consult and not knowing patient outcomes since follow-up communication was not routine. Insights into workforce experience and satisfaction were identified to inform strategies to support specialists to adapt to the disruptive innovation of telemedicine. © The Author(s) 2015.

Digital Transformation and Disruption of the Health Care Sector: Internet-Based Observational Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrmann, Maximilian; Boehme, Philip; Mondritzki, Thomas; Ehlers, Jan P; Kavadias, Stylianos; Truebel, Hubert

2018-03-27

Digital innovation, introduced across many industries, is a strong force of transformation. Some industries have seen faster transformation, whereas the health care sector only recently came into focus. A context where digital corporations move into health care, payers strive to keep rising costs at bay, and longer-living patients desire continuously improved quality of care points to a digital and value-based transformation with drastic implications for the health care sector. We tried to operationalize the discussion within the health care sector around digital and disruptive innovation to identify what type of technological enablers, business models, and value networks seem to be emerging from different groups of innovators with respect to their digital transformational efforts. From the Forbes 2000 and CBinsights databases, we identified 100 leading technology, life science, and start-up companies active in the health care sector. Further analysis identified projects from these companies within a digital context that were subsequently evaluated using the following criteria: delivery of patient value, presence of a comprehensive and distinctive underlying business model, solutions provided, and customer needs addressed. Our methodological approach recorded more than 400 projects and collaborations. We identified patterns that show established corporations rely more on incremental innovation that supports their current business models, while start-ups engage their flexibility to explore new market segments with notable transformations of established business models. Thereby, start-ups offer higher promises of disruptive innovation. Additionally, start-ups offer more diversified value propositions addressing broader areas of the health care sector. Digital transformation is an opportunity to accelerate health care performance by lowering cost and improving quality of care. At an economic scale, business models can be strengthened and disruptive innovation models

Economic Disruption and Childhood Obesity: Distraction, Disconnection, Displacement of Children's Health, and a Need for Social Change

Science.gov (United States)

Balog, Joseph E.

2015-01-01

Using and adopting Simon Szreter's framework on how economic growth had a deleterious effect on children's health during the Industrial Revolution, this article presents a parallel argument that economic growth, in modern times, also has disrupted the lives of our children expressed by increasing rates of childhood obesity. A comprehensive…

Telehealth: seven strategies to successfully implement disruptive technology and transform health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwamm, Lee H

2014-02-01

"Telehealth" refers to the use of electronic services to support a broad range of remote services, such as patient care, education, and monitoring. Telehealth must be integrated into traditional ambulatory and hospital-based practices if it is to achieve its full potential, including addressing the six domains of care quality defined by the Institute of Medicine: safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable. Telehealth is a disruptive technology that appears to threaten traditional health care delivery but has the potential to reform and transform the industry by reducing costs and increasing quality and patient satisfaction. This article outlines seven strategies critical to successful telehealth implementation: understanding patients' and providers' expectations, untethering telehealth from traditional revenue expectations, deconstructing the traditional health care encounter, being open to discovery, being mindful of the importance of space, redesigning care to improve value in health care, and being bold and visionary.

Disruptive coloration in woodland camouflage: evaluation of camouflage effectiveness due to minor disruptive patches

Science.gov (United States)

Selj, Gorm K.; Heinrich, Daniela H.

2016-10-01

We present results from an observer based photosimulation study of generic camouflage patterns, intended for military uniforms, where three near-identical patterns have been compared. All the patterns were prepared with similar effective color, but were different in how the individual pattern patches were distributed throughout the target. We did this in order to test if high contrast (black) patches along the outline of the target would enhance the survivability when exposed to human observers. In the recent years it has been shown that disruptive coloration in the form of high contrast patches are capable of disturbing an observer by creating false edges of the target and consequently enhance target survivability. This effect has been shown in different forms in the Animal Kingdom, but not to the same extent in camouflaged military targets. The three patterns in this study were i) with no disruptive preference, ii) with a disruptive patch along the outline of the head and iii) with a disruptive patch on the outline of one of the shoulders. We used a high number of human observers to assess the three targets in 16 natural (woodland) backgrounds by showing images of one of the targets at the time on a high definition pc screen. We found that the two patterns that were thought to have a minor disruptive preference to the remaining pattern were more difficult to detect in some (though not all) of the 16 scenes and were also better in overall performance when all the scenes were accounted for.

Disruption effects on the beam size measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raimondi, P.; Decker, F.J.; Chen, P.

1995-06-01

At the SLC Final Focus with higher currents and smaller beam sizes, the disruption parameter D{sub y} is close to one and so the pinch effect should produce a luminosity enhancement. Since a flat beam-beam function is fit to deflection scan data to measure the beam size, disruption can affect the measurement. Here the authors discuss the quantitative effects of disruption for typical SLC beam parameters. With 3.5 10{sup 10} particles per pulse, bunch length of 0.8 mm and beam sizes of 2.1 {mu}m horizontally and 0.55 {mu}m vertically, the measured vertical size can be as much as 25% bigger than the real one. Furthermore during the collision the spot size actually decrease, producing an enhancement factor H{sub D} of about 1.25. This would yield to a true luminosity which is 1.6 times that which is estimated from the beam-beam deflection fit.

Disruption effects on the beam size measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimondi, P.; Decker, F.J.; Chen, P.

1995-01-01

At the SLC Final Focus with higher currents and smaller beam sizes, the disruption parameter D y is close to one and so the pinch effect should produce a luminosity enhancement. Since a flat beam-beam function is fit to deflection scan data to measure the beam size, disruption can affect the measurement. Here the authors discuss the quantitative effects of disruption for typical SLC beam parameters. With 3.5 10 10 particles per pulse, bunch length of 0.8 mm and beam sizes of 2.1 μm horizontally and 0.55 μm vertically, the measured vertical size can be as much as 25% bigger than the real one. Furthermore during the collision the spot size actually decrease, producing an enhancement factor H D of about 1.25. This would yield to a true luminosity which is 1.6 times that which is estimated from the beam-beam deflection fit

Disruption effects from the collision of quasi-flat beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Pisin.

1993-04-01

The disruption effects from the collision of round beams and flat beams in linear colliders have been studied in the past, and has by now been well understood. In practice, however, in the current SLC running condition and in several designs of the next generation linear colliders, the quasi-flat beam geometries are expected. Namely, the beam aspect ratio R ≡ σ x /σ y > 1, but not infinitely large. In this regime the disruption effects in both x and y dimensions should be carefully included in order to properly describe the beam-beam interaction phenomena. In this paper we investigate two major disruption effects for the quasi-flat beam regime: The luminosity enhancement factor and the effective beamstrahlung. Computer simulations are employed and simple scaling laws are deduced

Cost-effective strategy to mitigate transportation disruptions in supply chain

Science.gov (United States)

Albertzeth, G.; Pujawan, I. N.

2018-04-01

Supply chain disruptions have gained significant attention by scholars. But, even though transportation plays a central role in supply chain, only few studies address transportation disruptions. This research demonstrates a real case of an order delivery process from a focal company (FC) to a single distributor, where transportation disruptions stochastically occurs. Considering the possibility of sales loss during the disruption duration, we proposed a redundant stock, flexible route, and combined flexibility-redundancy (ReFlex) as mitigation strategies and a base case as a risk acceptance strategy. The objective is to find out the best strategy that promotes cost-effectiveness against transportation disruptions. To fulfill this objective, we use simulation modeling and cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) as our research method. We simulate the delivery process of 5 brands using each strategy to produce two different responses: loss of sales percentage and the incurred costs. Next, using these responses, we evaluate and compare the cost-effectiveness ratio of each strategy using CEA. We found that redundant stock gave the best effectiveness on all brands, ReFlex as the second best, while flexible route gave the least effectiveness. Finally, we recommend which strategy should be applied based on the decision maker willingness to pay.

Natural and Professional Help during Marital Disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Toro, Paul A.; Zax, Melvin

Although few people bring their psychological problems to mental health professionals, research in the area of 'natural' help is rudimentary. To investigate the process and effectiveness of natural professional groups in helping individuals experiencing marital disruption, 42 helpers (14 mental health professionals, 14 divorce lawyers, and 14…

Reproductive endocrine-disrupting effects of triclosan: Population exposure, present evidence and potential mechanisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Cai-Feng; Tian, Ying

2015-01-01

Triclosan has been used as a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent for over 40 years worldwide. Increasing reports indicate frequent detection and broad exposure to triclosan in the natural environment and the human body. Current laboratory studies in various species provide strong evidence for its disrupting effects on the endocrine system, especially reproductive hormones. Multiple modes of action have been suggested, including disrupting hormone metabolism, displacing hormones from hormone receptors and disrupting steroidogenic enzyme activity. Although epidemiological studies on its effects in humans are mostly negative but conflicting, which is typical of much of the early evidence on the toxicity of EDCs, overall, the evidence suggests that triclosan is an EDC. This article reviews human exposure to triclosan, describes the current evidence regarding its reproductive endocrine-disrupting effects, and discusses potential mechanisms to provide insights for further study on its endocrine-disrupting effects in humans. - Highlights: • Triclosan is widely detected in human urine, blood and breast milk. • Laboratory studies suggest reproductive endocrine-disrupting effects of triclosan. • Laboratory studies suggest estrogenic properties of triclosan. • There are three potential mechanisms regarding the estrogenic effect of triclosan. • Prospective epidemiological studies on vulnerable populations are needed. - This review summarizes current evidence on human exposure to triclosan, and its reproductive endocrine-disrupting effects and potential mechanisms.

Disrupting the Industry with Play

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Henrik Hautop

2016-01-01

or two ago. This is significantly disrupting the industry in several market sectors. This paper describes the components of the playware and embodied artificial intelligence research that has led to disruption in the industrial robotics sector, and which points to the next disruption of the health care...

Hydrogeologic effects of natural disruptive events on nuclear waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, S.N.

1980-06-01

Some possible hydrogeologic effects of disruptive events that may affect repositories for nuclear waste are described. A very large number of combinations of natural events can be imagined, but only those events which are judged to be most probable are covered. Waste-induced effects are not considered. The disruptive events discussed above are placed into four geologic settings. Although the geology is not specific to given repository sites that have been considered by other agencies, the geology has been generalized from actual field data and is, therefore, considered to be physically reasonable. The geologic settings considered are: (1) interior salt domes of the Gulf Coast, (2) bedded salt of southeastern New Mexico, (3) argillaceous rocks of southern Nevanda, and (4) granitic stocks of the Basin and Range Province. Log-normal distributions of permeabilities of rock units are given for each region. Chapters are devoted to: poresity and permeability of natural materials, regional flow patterns, disruptive events (faulting, dissolution of rock forming minerals, fracturing from various causes, rapid changes of hydraulic regimen); possible hydrologic effects of disruptive events; and hydraulic fracturing

Managing Disruptive Physician Behavior: First Steps for Designing an Effective Online Resource

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek Puddester

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Interviews with physician leaders from hospitals in a mid-sized Ontario City were conducted to determine their needs with regard to managing disruptive physician behaviour. These findings were used to inform the design of a two-day skill-development workshop for physician leaders on disruptive behaviour. The workshop was evaluated using a modified version of the Learner Experience Feedback Form, which was built to align with W(eLearn, http://www.ennovativesolution.com/WeLearn/ a framework developed to guide the design, delivery, development, and evaluation of online interprofessional courses and programs (MacDonald, Stodel, Thompson, & Casimiro, 2009. The surveys gathered information related to the content, media, service, structure, and outcomes of the workshop. The findings from the focus group interviews and workshop evaluation identify physician leaders’ needs with regard to disruptive behavior and were used to inform the design of the world’s first Online Physician Health and Wellness Resource http://www.ephysicianhealth.com/ an open access learning resources currently being used globally, in 91 countries. The resource was the recipient of the winner of the International Business/Professional 2010 International eLearning Award. The findings demonstrated the importance of conducting a needs analysis and using a framework to guide the design, delivery and evaluation of effective online healthcare education.

A case for change: disruption in academic medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahn, Marc J; Maurer, Ralph; Wartman, Steven A; Sachs, Benjamin P

2014-09-01

Disruptive technologies allow less expensive and more efficient processes to eventually dominate a market sector. The academic health center's tripartite mission of education, clinical care, and research is threatened by decreasing revenues and increasing expenses and is, as a result, ripe for disruption. The authors describe current disruptive technologies that threaten traditional operations at academic health centers and provide a prescription not only to survive, but also to prosper, in the face of disruptive forces.

Economic disruption and childhood obesity: distraction, disconnection, displacement of children's health, and a need for social change.

Science.gov (United States)

Balog, Joseph E

2015-04-01

Using and adopting Simon Szreter's framework on how economic growth had a deleterious effect on children's health during the Industrial Revolution, this article presents a parallel argument that economic growth, in modern times, also has disrupted the lives of our children expressed by increasing rates of childhood obesity. A comprehensive perspective is presented that describes how economic growth in postindustrial United States has distracted our nation's attention away from a public health's concern for the health of children and social justice. The new normal of childhood obesity represents a disconnection from the harmful reality of childhood obesity and displaces the value of childhood health too far behind adult's pursuits of utility. To provide children a fair opportunity to health, and to help children secure their own future liberty and utility, children need to be able to achieve "just levels" of health that would ordinarily exist if remediable injustices that threaten health were reasonably addressed and eliminated. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

Hydrologic effects of natural disruptive events on nuclear repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, S.N.

1979-01-01

This report describes some possible hydrogeologic effects of disruptive events which may affect repositories for nuclear waste. The report concentrates on the effects of natural events which are judged to be most probable

Endotherapy is effective for pancreatic ductal disruption: A dual center experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Rohit; Papachristou, Georgios I; Slivka, Adam; Easler, Jeffrey J; Chennat, Jennifer; Malin, Jessica; Herman, Justin B; Laique, Sobia N; Hayat, Umar; Ooi, Yinn Shaung; Rabinovitz, Mordechai; Yadav, Dhiraj; Siddiqui, Ali A

2016-01-01

Pancreatic duct (PD) disruptions occur as a result of different etiologies and can be managed medically, endoscopically, or surgically. The aim of this study was to provide an evaluation on the efficacy of endotherapy for treatment of PD disruption in a large cohort of patients and identify factors that predict successful treatment outcome. We retrospectively evaluated consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) for transpapillary pancreatic stent placement for PD disruption from 2008 to 2013 at two tertiary referral institutions. PD disruption was defined as extravasation of contrast from the pancreatic duct as seen on ERP. Therapeutic success was defined by resolution of PD leak on ERP, clinical, and/or imaging evaluation. We evaluated 107 patients (58% male, mean age 53 years) with PD disruption. Etiologies of PD disruption were acute pancreatitis (36%), post-operative (31%), chronic pancreatitis (29%), and trauma (4%). PD disruption was successfully bridged by a stent in 45 (44%) patients. Two patients developed post-sphincterotomy bleeding, two had stent migration, and two patients died as a result of post-ERP related complications. Placement of a PD stent was successful in 103/107 (96%) patients. Therapeutic success was achieved in 80/107 (75%) patients. Non-acute pancreatitis etiologies and absence of complete duct disruption were independent predictors of therapeutic success. Endoscopic therapy using a transpapillary stent for PD disruption is safe and effective. Absence of complete duct disruption and non-AP etiologies determine a favorable endoscopic outcome. Published by Elsevier India Pvt Ltd.

Assessment of the endocrine-disrupting effects of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in in vitro models.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Quan; Wang, Jinghua; Zhu, Jianqiang; Liu, Jing; Zhang, Jianyun; Zhao, Meirong

2016-09-01

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), which are candidate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) according to the Stockholm Convention, are of great concern because of their persistent bioaccumulation, long-range transport and potential adverse health effects. However, data on the endocrine-disrupting effects of SCCPs remain scarce. In this study, we first adopted two in vitro models (reporter gene assays and H295R cell line) to investigate the endocrine-disrupting effects of three SCCPs (C10-40.40%, C10-66.10% and C11-43.20%) via receptor mediated and non-receptor mediated pathway. The dual-luciferase reporter gene assay revealed that all test chemicals significantly induced estrogenic effects, which were mediated by estrogen receptor α (ERα), in the following order: C11-43.20%>C10-66.10%>C10-40.40%. Notably, C10-40.40% and C10-66.10% also demonstrated remarkable anti-estrogenic activities. Only C11-43.20% showed glucocorticoid receptor-mediated (GR) antagonistic activity, with a RIC20 value of 2.6×10(-8)mol/L. None of the SCCPs showed any agonistic or antagonistic activities against thyroid receptor β (TRβ). Meanwhile, all test SCCPs stimulated the secretion of 17β-estradiol (E2). Both C10-66.10% and C11-43.20% increased the production of cortisol at a high level in H295R cell lines. In order to explore the possible mechanism underlying the endocrine-disrupting effects of SCCPs through the non-receptor pathway, the mRNA levels of 9 steroidogenic genes were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). StAR, 17βHSD, CYP11A1, CYP11B1, CYP19 and CYP21 were upregulated in a concentration-dependent manner by all chemicals. The data provided here emphasized that comprehensive assessments of the health and ecological risks of emerging contaminants, such as SCCPs, are of great concern and should be investigated further. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Family Disruption on Children's Personality Development: Evidence from British Longitudinal Data

OpenAIRE

Prevoo, Tyas; ter Weel, Bas

2014-01-01

This research documents the effects of different forms of family disruptions - measured by separation, divorce and death - on personality development of British children included in the 1970 British Cohort Study. There are statistically significant correlations between family disruptions prior to the age of 16 and personality development in early childhood. Parental divorce has the largest negative effect on a child's personality development. Family disruptions have smaller effects on persona...

Modeling of thermal effects on TIBER II divertor during plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruhn, M.L.; Perkins, L.J.

1987-01-01

Mapping the disruption power flow from the mid-plane of the TIBER Engineering Test Reactor to its divertor and calculating the resulting thermal effects are accomplished through the modification and coupling of three presently existing computer codes. The resulting computer code TADDPAK (Thermal Analysis Divertor during Disruption PAcKage) provides three-dimensional graphic presentations of time and positional dependent thermal effects on a poloidal cross section of the double-null-divertor configured reactor. These thermal effects include incident heat flux, surface temperature, vaporization rate, total vaporization, and melting depth. The dependence of these thermal effects on material choice, disruption pulse shape, and the characteristic thickness of the plasma scrape-off layer is determined through parametric analysis with TADDPAK. This computer code is designed to be a convenient, rapid, and user-friendly modeling tool which can be easily adapted to most tokamak double-null-divertor reactor designs

Disruptive Innovation Can Prevent the Next Pandemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, Affan T; Ferland, Lisa; Hood-Cree, Robert; Shaffer, Loren; McNabb, Scott J N

2015-01-01

Public health surveillance (PHS) is at a tipping point, where the application of novel processes, technologies, and tools promise to vastly improve efficiency and effectiveness. Yet twentieth century, entrenched ideology and lack of training results in slow uptake and resistance to change. The term disruptive innovation - used to describe advances in technology and processes that change existing markets - is useful to describe the transformation of PHS. Past disruptive innovations used in PHS, such as distance learning, the smart phone, and field-based laboratory testing have outpaced older services, practices, and technologies used in the traditional classroom, governmental offices, and personal communication, respectively. Arguably, the greatest of these is the Internet - an infrastructural innovation that continues to enable exponential benefits in seemingly limitless ways. Considering the Global Health Security Agenda and facing emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats, evolving environmental and behavioral risks, and ever changing epidemiologic trends, PHS must transform. Embracing disruptive innovation in the structures and processes of PHS can be unpredictable. However, it is necessary to strengthen and unlock the potential to prevent, detect, and respond.

The effect of music on repetitive disruptive vocalizations of persons with dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Casby, J A; Holm, M B

1994-10-01

This study examined the effect of classical music and favorite music on the repetitive disruptive vocalizations of long-term-care facility (LTCF) residents with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). Three subjects diagnosed with DAT who had a history of repetitive disruptive vocalizations were selected for the study. Three single-subject withdrawal designs (ABA, ACA, and ABCA) were used to assess subjects' repetitive disruptive vocalizations during each phase: no intervention (A); relaxing, classical music (B); and favorite music (C). Classical music and favorite music significantly decreased the number of vocalizations in two of the three subjects (p < .05). These findings support a method that was effective in decreasing the disruptive vocalization pattern common in those with DAT in the least restrictive manner, as mandated by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987.

Indirect Effects of Functional Communication Training on Non-Targeted Disruptive Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Schieltz, Kelly M.; Wacker, David P.; Harding, Jay W.; Berg, Wendy K.; Lee, John F.; Padilla Dalmau, Yaniz C.; Mews, Jayme; Ibrahimovic, Muska

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of functional communication training (FCT) on the occurrence of non-targeted disruptive behavior. The 10 participants were preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities who engaged in both destructive (property destruction, aggression, self-injury) and disruptive (hand flapping,…

Chronic disruptive pain in emerging adults with and without chronic health conditions and the moderating role of psychiatric disorders: Evidence from a population-based cross-sectional survey in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Qadeer, Rana A; Shanahan, Lilly; Ferro, Mark A

2017-10-01

There has been a growth in the proportion of emerging adults vulnerable to pain-related sequelae of chronic health conditions (CHCs). Given the paucity of research during this important developmental period, this study investigated the association between CHCs and chronic disruptive pain among emerging adults and the extent to which psychiatric disorders moderate this association. Data come from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey - Mental Health (CCHS-MH). This cross-sectional survey included 5987 participants that were 15-30 years of age and self-reported their CHCs (n=2460, 41%) and the extent to which pain impacted daily functioning using items from the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI 3). Group comparisons between respondents with CHCs and healthy controls were made using chi-square tests. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed from ordinal logistic regression models adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Product-term interactions between CHCs and psychiatric disorders were included in the models to explore moderating effects. All analyses were weighted to maintain representativeness of the study sample to the Canadian population. The mean age of participants was 23.5 (SE 0.1) years and 48% were female. Compared to healthy controls, a greater proportion of participants with CHCs reported having chronic pain (20.3% vs. 4.5%, pmoderate the association between CHCs and chronic disruptive pain. Specifically, the probability of chronic disruptive pain was higher for emerging adults without CHCs and with alcohol or drug disorders; however, among participants with CHCs, probability was higher for those without these disorders. There is a robust association between CHCs and chronic disruptive pain. The moderating effects suggest that alcohol or drug disorders are especially harmful for emerging adults without CHCs and contribute to higher levels of chronic disruptive pain; however, among those with CHCs, alcohol and illicit drugs

Digital disruption ?syndromes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Clair; Staib, Andrew

2017-05-18

The digital transformation of hospitals in Australia is occurring rapidly in order to facilitate innovation and improve efficiency. Rapid transformation can cause temporary disruption of hospital workflows and staff as processes are adapted to the new digital workflows. The aim of this paper is to outline various types of digital disruption and some strategies for effective management. A large tertiary university hospital recently underwent a rapid, successful roll-out of an integrated electronic medical record (EMR). We observed this transformation and propose several digital disruption "syndromes" to assist with understanding and management during digital transformation: digital deceleration, digital transparency, digital hypervigilance, data discordance, digital churn and post-digital 'depression'. These 'syndromes' are defined and discussed in detail. Successful management of this temporary digital disruption is important to ensure a successful transition to a digital platform. What is known about this topic? Digital disruption is defined as the changes facilitated by digital technologies that occur at a pace and magnitude that disrupt established ways of value creation, social interactions, doing business and more generally our thinking. Increasing numbers of Australian hospitals are implementing digital solutions to replace traditional paper-based systems for patient care in order to create opportunities for improved care and efficiencies. Such large scale change has the potential to create transient disruption to workflows and staff. Managing this temporary disruption effectively is an important factor in the successful implementation of an EMR. What does this paper add? A large tertiary university hospital recently underwent a successful rapid roll-out of an integrated electronic medical record (EMR) to become Australia's largest digital hospital over a 3-week period. We observed and assisted with the management of several cultural, behavioural and

Contaminant mixtures and repoductive health: Developmental toxicity effects in rats after mixed exposure to environmentally relevant endocrine disrupting chemicals, with focus on effects in females

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Pernille Rosenskjold; Christiansen, Sofie; Hass, Ulla

proposed that a similar syndrome, called the ovarian dysgenesis syndrome (ODS), exists for females. This syndrome encompasses alterations in reproductive development caused by chemical exposure in sensitive windows of development that may result in fecundity impairments, gravid diseases, gynecological...... disorders or later onset adult diseases. However, experimental evidence on the effects of developmental exposure to environmentally relevant endocrine disrupting chemicals in females has been missing attention. Since chemical exposure can affect female reproductive development it is important to investigate......, mixtures were modeled based on high end human intakes, and the project involved two developmental mixture studies in rats, called Contamed 1 and 2. In these studies 13 chemicals where data on in vivo endocrine disrupting effects and information on human exposures was available, were selected. The tested...

Recent Advances on Endocrine Disrupting Effects of UV Filters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaying Wang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Ultraviolet (UV filters are used widely in cosmetics, plastics, adhesives and other industrial products to protect human skin or products against direct exposure to deleterious UV radiation. With growing usage and mis-disposition of UV filters, they currently represent a new class of contaminants of emerging concern with increasingly reported adverse effects to humans and other organisms. Exposure to UV filters induce various endocrine disrupting effects, as revealed by increasing number of toxicological studies performed in recent years. It is necessary to compile a systematic review on the current research status on endocrine disrupting effects of UV filters toward different organisms. We therefore summarized the recent advances on the evaluation of the potential endocrine disruptors and the mechanism of toxicity for many kinds of UV filters such as benzophenones, camphor derivatives and cinnamate derivatives.

Disruptive Innovation Can Prevent the Next Pandemic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Affan eShaikh

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Public health surveillance (PHS is at a tipping point, where the application of novel processes, technologies, and tools promise to vastly improve efficiency and effectiveness. Yet 20th-century, entrenched ideology and lack of training results in slow uptake and resistance to change. The term disruptive innovation – used to describe advances in technology and processes that change existing markets, is useful to describe the transformation of PHS. Past disruptive innovations used in PHS, such as distance learning, the smart phone, and field-based laboratory testing have outpaced older services, practices, and technologies used in the traditional classroom, governmental offices, and personal communication, respectively. Arguably, the greatest of these is the Internet – an infrastructural innovation that continues to enable exponential benefits in seemingly limitless ways. Considering the Global Health Security Agenda and facing emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats, evolving environmental and behavioral risks, and ever changing epidemiologic trends, PHS must transform. Embracing disruptive innovation in the structures and processes of PHS can be unpredictable. However it is necessary to strengthen and unlock the potential to prevent, detect, and respond.

Intellectual Disability Modifies Gender Effects on Disruptive Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Einfeld, Stewart L.; Gray, Kylie M.; Ellis, Louise A.; Taffe, John; Emerson, Eric; Tonge, Bruce J.; Horstead, Sian K.

2010-01-01

In typically developing children, boys are more commonly diagnosed than girls with disruptive behavior disorders, namely, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. For children with intellectual disability (ID), the evidence for this gender effect is less clear. In this report we examine gender…

Disruptive innovation in academic medical centers: balancing accountable and academic care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Daniel; Chen, Christopher; Ackerly, D Clay

2015-05-01

Numerous academic medicine leaders have argued that academic referral centers must prepare for the growing importance of accountability-driven payment models by adopting population health initiatives. Although this shift has merit, execution of this strategy will prove significantly more problematic than most observers have appreciated. The authors describe how successful implementation of an accountable care health strategy within a referral academic medical center (AMC) requires navigating a critical tension: The academic referral business model, driven by tertiary-level care, is fundamentally in conflict with population health. Referral AMCs that create successful value-driven population health systems within their organizations will in effect disrupt their own existing tertiary care businesses. The theory of disruptive innovation suggests that balancing the push and pull of academic and accountable care within a single organization is achievable. However, it will require significant shifts in resource allocation and changes in management structure to enable AMCs to make the inherent difficult choices and trade-offs that will ensue. On the basis of the theories of disruptive innovation, the authors present recommendations for how academic health systems can successfully navigate these issues as they transition toward accountability-driven care.

Parametric analysis of the thermal effects on the divertor in tokamaks during plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruhn, M.L.

1988-04-01

Plasma disruptions are an ever present danger to the plasma-facing components in today's tokamak fusion reactors. This threat results from our lack of understanding and limited ability to control this complex phenomenon. In particular, severe energy deposition occurs on the divertor component of the double-null configured tokamak reactor during such disruptions. A hybrid computational model developed to estimate and graphically illustrate global thermal effects of disruptions on the divertor plates is described in detail. The quasi-two-dimensional computer code, TADDPAK (Thermal Analysis Divertor during Disruptions PAcKage), is used to conduct parametric analysis for the TIBER II Tokamak Engineering Test Reactor Design. The dependence of these thermal effects on divertor material choice, disruption pulse length, disruption pulse shape, and the characteristic thickness of the plasma scrape-off layer is investigated for this reactor design. Results and conclusions from this analysis are presented. Improvements to this model and issues that require further investigation are discussed. Cursory analysis for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is also presented in the appendix. 75 refs., 49 figs., 10 tabs

Computation of electromagnetic effects in a tokamak due to a plasma disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1989-01-01

To model the consequences of a plasma disruption in a tokamak one must combine a code that computes the detailed MHD behavior of the plasma with one that treats the three-dimensional features of the conducting toroidal components around the plasma. The NET (Next European Torus) Team have undertaken a treatment of electromagnetic effects from plasma disruptions using both open loop and closed loop integration of codes. In America, workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory have looked at plasma disruption effects on the ITER blanket using the codes TSC and EDDYNET. Results show how the forces on a blanket segment depend on the number and size of the segments and on the gap between them. 9 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Criteria for endocrine disrupters: report from the Danish centre on Endocrine Disrupters (CEHOS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holbech, Henrik; Bjerregaard, Poul; Hass, Ulla

health and the environment. A number of issues relevant for the development of criteria for EDs were considered such as definition, potency, lead effects, specificity and relevance for humans and the environment. The proposed criteria divide substances into three categories dependent on the available...... and the main purpose of the Centre is to build and gather new knowledge on endocrine disrupters (EDs) with focus on information needed for the preventive work of the regulatory authorities. The aim of the report was to propose scientific criteria for the identification of ED substances of concern for human...

Mechanistic evaluation of endocrine disrupting chemicals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taxvig, Camilla

BACKGROUND: This PhD project is part of the research area concerning effects of endocrine disrupters at the National Food Institute at DTU in Denmark. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have proved to be important for improper development of the male reproductive organs and subsequent for the ...... metabolising system using liver S9 mixtures or hepatic rat microsomes could be a convenient method for the incorporation of metabolic aspects into in vitro testing for endocrine disrupting effects.......BACKGROUND: This PhD project is part of the research area concerning effects of endocrine disrupters at the National Food Institute at DTU in Denmark. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have proved to be important for improper development of the male reproductive organs and subsequent......, to be able to detect effects and predict mixture effects. In addition, a new hypothesis have emerge concerning a potential role of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, and the development of obesity and obesity related diseases. AIM: This PhD project aimed to gain more information regarding...

Designing Endocrine Disruption Out of the Next Generation of Chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Schug, T T; Abagyan, R; Blumberg, B; Collins, T J; Crews, D; DeFur, P L; Dickerson, S M; Edwards, T M; Gore, A C; Guillette, L J; Hayes, T; Heindel, J J; Moores, A; Patisaul, H B; Tal, T L; Thayer, K A; Vandenberg, L N; Warner, J; Watson, C S; Saal, F S Vom; Zoeller, R T; O'Brien, K P; Myers, J P

2013-01-01

A central goal of green chemistry is to avoid hazard in the design of new chemicals. This objective is best achieved when information about a chemical's potential hazardous effects is obtained as early in the design process as feasible. Endocrine disruption is a type of hazard that to date has been inadequately addressed by both industrial and regulatory science. To aid chemists in avoiding this hazard, we propose an endocrine disruption testing protocol for use by chemists in the design of new chemicals. The Tiered Protocol for Endocrine Disruption (TiPED) has been created under the oversight of a scientific advisory committee composed of leading representatives from both green chemistry and the environmental health sciences. TiPED is conceived as a tool for new chemical design, thus it starts with a chemist theoretically at "the drawing board." It consists of five testing tiers ranging from broad in silico evaluation up through specific cell- and whole organism-based assays. To be effective at detecting endocrine disruption, a testing protocol must be able to measure potential hormone-like or hormone-inhibiting effects of chemicals, as well as the many possible interactions and signaling sequellae such chemicals may have with cell-based receptors. Accordingly, we have designed this protocol to broadly interrogate the endocrine system. The proposed protocol will not detect all possible mechanisms of endocrine disruption, because scientific understanding of these phenomena is advancing rapidly. To ensure that the protocol remains current, we have established a plan for incorporating new assays into the protocol as the science advances. In this paper we present the principles that should guide the science of testing new chemicals for endocrine disruption, as well as principles by which to evaluate individual assays for applicability, and laboratories for reliability. In a 'proof-of-principle' test, we ran 6 endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that act via

Differential Effectiveness of Interdependent and Dependent Group Contingencies in Reducing Disruptive Classroom Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Hartman, Kelsey; Gresham, Frank

2016-01-01

Disruptive behavior in the classroom negatively affects all students' academic engagement, achievement, and behavior. Group contingencies have been proven effective in reducing disruptive behavior as part of behavior interventions in the classroom. The Good Behavior Game is a Tier 1 classwide intervention that utilizes an interdependent group…

Hazard-ranking of agricultural pesticides for chronic health effects in Yuma County, Arizona.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugeng, Anastasia J; Beamer, Paloma I; Lutz, Eric A; Rosales, Cecilia B

2013-10-01

With thousands of pesticides registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it not feasible to sample for all pesticides applied in agricultural communities. Hazard-ranking pesticides based on use, toxicity, and exposure potential can help prioritize community-specific pesticide hazards. This study applied hazard-ranking schemes for cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive/developmental toxicity in Yuma County, Arizona. An existing cancer hazard-ranking scheme was modified, and novel schemes for endocrine disruption and reproductive/developmental toxicity were developed to rank pesticide hazards. The hazard-ranking schemes accounted for pesticide use, toxicity, and exposure potential based on chemical properties of each pesticide. Pesticides were ranked as hazards with respect to each health effect, as well as overall chronic health effects. The highest hazard-ranked pesticides for overall chronic health effects were maneb, metam-sodium, trifluralin, pronamide, and bifenthrin. The relative pesticide rankings were unique for each health effect. The highest hazard-ranked pesticides differed from those most heavily applied, as well as from those previously detected in Yuma homes over a decade ago. The most hazardous pesticides for cancer in Yuma County, Arizona were also different from a previous hazard-ranking applied in California. Hazard-ranking schemes that take into account pesticide use, toxicity, and exposure potential can help prioritize pesticides of greatest health risk in agricultural communities. This study is the first to provide pesticide hazard-rankings for endocrine disruption and reproductive/developmental toxicity based on use, toxicity, and exposure potential. These hazard-ranking schemes can be applied to other agricultural communities for prioritizing community-specific pesticide hazards to target decreasing health risk. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hazard-Ranking of Agricultural Pesticides for Chronic Health Effects in Yuma County, Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Sugeng, Anastasia J.; Beamer, Paloma I.; Lutz, Eric A.; Rosales, Cecilia B.

2013-01-01

With thousands of pesticides registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it not feasible to sample for all pesticides applied in agricultural communities. Hazard-ranking pesticides based on use, toxicity, and exposure potential can help prioritize community-specific pesticide hazards. This study applied hazard-ranking schemes for cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive/developmental toxicity in Yuma County, Arizona. An existing cancer hazard-ranking scheme was modified, and novel schemes for endocrine disruption and reproductive/developmental toxicity were developed to rank pesticide hazards. The hazard-ranking schemes accounted for pesticide use, toxicity, and exposure potential based on chemical properties of each pesticide. Pesticides were ranked as hazards with respect to each health effect, as well as overall chronic health effects. The highest hazard-ranked pesticides for overall chronic health effects were maneb, metam sodium, trifluralin, pronamide, and bifenthrin. The relative pesticide rankings were unique for each health effect. The highest hazard-ranked pesticides differed from those most heavily applied, as well as from those previously detected in Yuma homes over a decade ago. The most hazardous pesticides for cancer in Yuma County, Arizona were also different from a previous hazard-ranking applied in California. Hazard-ranking schemes that take into account pesticide use, toxicity, and exposure potential can help prioritize pesticides of greatest health risk in agricultural communities. This study is the first to provide pesticide hazard-rankings for endocrine disruption and reproductive/developmental toxicity based on use, toxicity, and exposure potential. These hazard-ranking schemes can be applied to other agricultural communities for prioritizing community-specific pesticide hazards to target decreasing health risk. PMID:23783270

Characterizing Community-Based Mental Health Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Disruptive Behavior Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Brookman-Frazee, Lauren I.; Taylor, Robin; Garland, Ann F.

2010-01-01

This study describes the characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with disruptive behavior problems served in community-based mental health clinics, characterizes psychotherapy process and outcome, and examines differences between children with ASD and a non-ASD comparison group. Results indicate that children with ASD…

Energy disruptions, interfirm price effects and the aggregate economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huntington, Hillard G.

2003-01-01

In an economy with many imperfect competitors (monopolistic competition), firms that pass through higher oil prices during a disruption will affect the demand for firms in other industries. Firms that charge higher prices for their final product will include the effect on their own final product in their private decisions but will exclude the effect on the final products of other firms. Although a pecuniary externality, these actions will reduce society's welfare, unlike the case of a perfectly competitive market. This situation creates a societal risk that is much wider than an externality in any single market. Policy interest shifts from one of punishing Persian Gulf oil producers to one of cushioning an industrialized economy from sudden disruptions caused by political and military conflicts. Although the value of reducing oil use depends upon a number of unknown parameters with wide distributions, a representative numerical example suggests that it may approach 5 US dollars per barrel. (Author)

Internal disruption in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuvshinov, B.N.; Savrukhin, P.V.

1990-01-01

A review of results of experimental and theoretical investigations of internal disruption in tokamaks is given. Specific features of various types of saw-tooth oscillations are described and their classification is performed. Theoretical models of the process of development of internal disruption instability are discussed. Effect of internal disruption on parameters of plasma, confined in tokamak, is considered. Scalings of period and amplitude of saw-tooth oscillations, as well as version radius are presented. Different methods for stabilizing instability of internal disruption are described

Internal disruptions in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuvshinov, B.N.; Savrukhin, P.V.

1990-01-01

Experimental and theoretical studies of the phenomenon of internal disruptions in tokamaks are reviewed. A classification scheme is introduced and the features of different types of sawtooth oscillations are described. A theoretical model for the development of the internal disruption instability is discussed. The effect of internal disruptions on the parameters of plasma confined in tokamaks is discussed. Scaling laws for the period and amplitude of sawtooth oscillations, as well as for the inversion radius, are presented. Different methods of stabilizing the internal disruption instability are described

Sleep and circadian disruption and incident breast cancer risk: An evidence-based and theoretical review.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuelsson, Laura B; Bovbjerg, Dana H; Roecklein, Kathryn A; Hall, Martica H

2018-01-01

Opportunities for restorative sleep and optimal sleep-wake schedules are becoming luxuries in industrialized cultures, yet accumulating research has revealed multiple adverse health effects of disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythms, including increased risk of breast cancer. The literature on breast cancer risk has focused largely on adverse effects of night shift work and exposure to light at night (LAN), without considering potential effects of associated sleep disruptions. As it stands, studies on breast cancer risk have not considered the impact of both sleep and circadian disruption, and the possible interaction of the two through bidirectional pathways, on breast cancer risk in the population at large. We review and synthesize this literature, including: 1) studies of circadian disruption and incident breast cancer; 2) evidence for bidirectional interactions between sleep and circadian systems; 3) studies of sleep and incident breast cancer; and 4) potential mechanistic pathways by which interrelated sleep and circadian disruption may contribute to the etiology of breast cancer. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of sleep disruption and high fat intake on glucose metabolism in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Jacqueline M; Barf, R Paulien; Opp, Mark R

2016-06-01

Poor sleep quality or quantity impairs glycemic control and increases risk of disease under chronic conditions. Recovery sleep may offset adverse metabolic outcomes of accumulated sleep debt, but the extent to which this occurs is unclear. We examined whether recovery sleep improves glucose metabolism in mice subjected to prolonged sleep disruption, and whether high fat intake during sleep disruption exacerbates glycemic control. Adult male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to 18-h sleep fragmentation daily for 9 days, followed by 1 day of recovery. During sleep disruption, one group of mice was fed a high-fat diet (HFD) while another group was fed standard laboratory chow. Insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance were assessed by insulin and glucose tolerance testing at baseline, after 3 and 7 days of sleep disruption, and at the end of the protocol after 24h of undisturbed sleep opportunity (recovery). To characterize changes in sleep architecture that are associated with sleep debt and recovery, we quantified electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings during sleep fragmentation and recovery periods from an additional group of mice. We now report that 9 days of 18-h daily sleep fragmentation significantly reduces rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) and non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS). Mice respond with increases in REMS, but not NREMS, during the daily 6-h undisturbed sleep opportunity. However, both REMS and NREMS increase significantly during the 24-h recovery period. Although sleep disruption alone has no effect in this protocol, high fat feeding in combination with sleep disruption impairs glucose tolerance, effects that are reversed by recovery sleep. Insulin sensitivity modestly improves after 3 days of sleep fragmentation and after 24h of recovery, with significantly greater improvements in mice exposed to HFD during sleep disruption. Improvements in both glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity are associated with NREMS rebound, raising the possibility that this

Biomarkers used in Environmental Health with focus on Endocrine Disrupters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krüger, Tanja; Ghisari, Mandana; Long, Manhai

2012-01-01

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds that either mimic or block endogenous hormones and can disrupt the normal function of the body. Bio-monitoring is the assessment of internal doses of EDCs and has been used for decades to provide information about exposures to chemicals giving...

Dissociating Effects of Global SWS Disruption and Healthy Aging on Waking Performance and Daytime Sleepiness

Science.gov (United States)

Groeger, John A.; Stanley, Neil; Deacon, Stephen; Dijk, Derk-Jan

2014-01-01

Study Objective: To contrast the effects of slow wave sleep (SWS) disruption and age on daytime functioning. Design: Daytime functioning was contrasted in three age cohorts, across two parallel 4-night randomized groups (baseline, two nights of SWS disruption or control, recovery sleep). Setting: Sleep research laboratory. Participants: 44 healthy young (20-30 y), 35 middle-aged (40-55 y), and 31 older (66-83 y) men and women. Interventions: Acoustic stimulation contingent on appearance of slow waves. Measurements and Results: Cognitive performance was assessed before sleep latency tests at five daily time-points. SWS disruption resulted in less positive affect, slower or impaired information processing and sustained attention, less precise motor control, and erroneous implementation, rather than inhibition, of well-practiced actions. These performance impairments had far smaller effect sizes than the increase in daytime sleepiness and differed from baseline to the same extent for each age group. At baseline, younger participants performed better than older participants across many cognitive domains, with largest effects on executive function, response time, sustained attention, and motor control. At baseline, the young were sleepier than other age groups. Conclusions: SWS has been considered a potential mediator of age-related decline in performance, although the effects of SWS disruption on daytime functioning have not been quantified across different cognitive domains nor directly compared to age-related changes in performance. The data imply that two nights of SWS disruption primarily leads to an increase in sleepiness with minor effects on other aspects of daytime functioning, which are different from the substantial effects of age. Citation: Groeger JA, Stanley N, Deacon S, Dijk DJ. Dissociating effects of global sws disruption and healthy aging on waking performance and daytime sleepiness. SLEEP 2014;37(6):1127-1142. PMID:24882908

GAIA - A New Approach To Decision Making on Climate Disruption Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, L. J.; Weiss, M.; Schaefer, R. K.; Swartz, W. H.; Nix, M.; Strong, S. B.; Fountain, G. H.; Babin, S. M.; Pikas, C. K.; Parker, C. L.; Global Assimilation of InformationAction

2011-12-01

GAIA - the Global Assimilation of Information for Action program - provides a broadly extensible framework for enabling the development of a deeper understanding of the issues associated with climate disruption. The key notion of GAIA is that the global climate problem is so complex that a "system engineering" approach is needed in order to make it understandable. The key tenet of system engineering is to focus on requirements and to develop a cost-effective process for satisfying those requirements. To demonstrate this approach we focused first on the impact of climate disruption on public health. GAIA is described in some detail on our website (http://gaia.jhuapl.edu). Climate disruption is not just a scientific problem; one of the key issues that our community has is that of translating scientific results into knowledge that can be used to make informed decisions. In order to support decision makers we have to understand their issues and how to communicate with them. In this talk, we describe how we have built a community of interest that combines subject matter experts from diverse communities (public health, climate change, government, public policy, industry, etc) with policy makers and representatives from industry to develop, on a "level playing field", an understanding of each other's points of view and issues. The first application of this technology was the development of a workshop on Climate, Climate Change and Public Health held April 12-14, 2011. This paper describes our approach to going beyond the workshop environment to continue to engage the decision maker's community in a variety of ways that translate abstract scientific data into actionable information. Key ideas we will discuss include the development of social media, simulations of global/national/local environments affected by climate disruption, and visualizations of the monetary and health impacts of choosing not to address mitigation or adaptation to climate disruption.

Longer-Term Mental and Behavioral Health Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tonya Cross Hansel

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Mental health issues are a significant concern after technological disasters such as the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill; however, there is limited knowledge about the long-term effects of oil spills. The study was part of a larger research effort to improve understanding of the mental and behavioral health effects of the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. Data were collected immediately following the spill and the same individuals were resampled again after the second anniversary (n = 314. The results show that mental health symptoms of depression, serious mental illness and posttraumatic stress have not statistically decreased, and anxiety symptoms were statistically equivalent to immediate symptoms. Results also showed that the greatest effect on anxiety is related to the extent of disruption to participants’ lives, work, family, and social engagement. This study supports lessons learned following the Exxon Valdez spill suggesting that mental health effects are long term and recovery is slow. Elevated symptoms indicate the continued need for mental health services, especially for individuals with high levels of disruption resulting in increased anxiety. Findings also suggest that the longer-term recovery trajectories following the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill do not fall within traditional disaster recovery timelines.

Effects of plasma disruption events on ITER first wall materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardella, A.; Gorenflo, H.; Lodato, A.; Ioki, K.; Raffray, R.

2000-01-01

In ITER, plasma disruption events may occur producing large fast thermal transients on plasma facing materials. Particularly important for the integrity of the first wall (FW) are relatively 'long' duration off-normal events such as plasma vertical displacement events (VDE) and runaway electrons (RE). An analytical methodology has been developed to specifically assess the effect of these events on FW plasma facing materials. For the typical energy densities and event duration expected for the primary and baffle FW, some melting and evaporation of the FW armor will occur without the beneficial effect of vapor shielding, and the metallic heat sink may also be damaged due to over-heating. The method is able to calculate the amount of melted and evaporated material, taking into account the evolution of the evaporated and melted layer and to evaluate possible effects of local temporary loss of cooling. The method has been used to analyze the effects of VDE and RE events for ITER, to study recent disruption simulation experiments and to benchmark experimental and analytical results

Circadian Rhythm and Sleep Disruption: Causes, Metabolic Consequences, and Countermeasures

Science.gov (United States)

Skene, Debra J.; Arendt, Josephine; Cade, Janet E.; Grant, Peter J.; Hardie, Laura J.

2016-01-01

Circadian (∼24-hour) timing systems pervade all kingdoms of life and temporally optimize behavior and physiology in humans. Relatively recent changes to our environments, such as the introduction of artificial lighting, can disorganize the circadian system, from the level of the molecular clocks that regulate the timing of cellular activities to the level of synchronization between our daily cycles of behavior and the solar day. Sleep/wake cycles are intertwined with the circadian system, and global trends indicate that these, too, are increasingly subject to disruption. A large proportion of the world's population is at increased risk of environmentally driven circadian rhythm and sleep disruption, and a minority of individuals are also genetically predisposed to circadian misalignment and sleep disorders. The consequences of disruption to the circadian system and sleep are profound and include myriad metabolic ramifications, some of which may be compounded by adverse effects on dietary choices. If not addressed, the deleterious effects of such disruption will continue to cause widespread health problems; therefore, implementation of the numerous behavioral and pharmaceutical interventions that can help restore circadian system alignment and enhance sleep will be important. PMID:27763782

Circadian Rhythm and Sleep Disruption: Causes, Metabolic Consequences, and Countermeasures.

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, Gregory D M; Skene, Debra J; Arendt, Josephine; Cade, Janet E; Grant, Peter J; Hardie, Laura J

2016-12-01

Circadian (∼24-hour) timing systems pervade all kingdoms of life and temporally optimize behavior and physiology in humans. Relatively recent changes to our environments, such as the introduction of artificial lighting, can disorganize the circadian system, from the level of the molecular clocks that regulate the timing of cellular activities to the level of synchronization between our daily cycles of behavior and the solar day. Sleep/wake cycles are intertwined with the circadian system, and global trends indicate that these, too, are increasingly subject to disruption. A large proportion of the world's population is at increased risk of environmentally driven circadian rhythm and sleep disruption, and a minority of individuals are also genetically predisposed to circadian misalignment and sleep disorders. The consequences of disruption to the circadian system and sleep are profound and include myriad metabolic ramifications, some of which may be compounded by adverse effects on dietary choices. If not addressed, the deleterious effects of such disruption will continue to cause widespread health problems; therefore, implementation of the numerous behavioral and pharmaceutical interventions that can help restore circadian system alignment and enhance sleep will be important.

Disruptive Effects of Contingent Food on High-Probability Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Frank-Crawford, Michelle A.; Borrero, John C.; Nguyen, Linda; Leon-Enriquez, Yanerys; Carreau-Webster, Abbey B.; DeLeon, Iser G.

2012-01-01

The delivery of food contingent on 10 s of consecutive toy engagement resulted in a decrease in engagement and a corresponding increase in other responses that had been previously reinforced with food. Similar effects were not observed when tokens exchangeable for the same food were delivered, suggesting that engagement was disrupted by the…

Effect of disruptions on plasma-facing components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilligan, J.G.; Bourham, M.A.; Tucker, E.C.

1995-01-01

Erosion of plasma-facing components during disruptions is a limiting factor in the design of large tokamaks like ITER. During a disruption, much of the stored thermal energy of the plasma will be dumped onto divertor plates, resulting in local heat fluxes, which may exceed 100 GW/m 2 over a period of about 0.1--1.0 msec. Melted and/or vaporized material is produced which is redistributed in the divertor region. Simulation of disruption damage is summarized from code results and from experimental exposure of materials to high heat-flux plasmas in plasma guns. In the US several codes have been used to predict both melt/vaporization and heat transfer on surfaces as well as energy and momentum transport in the vapor/plasma shield produced at the surface

Tracking Effects of Problematic Social Networking on Adolescent Psychopathology: The Mediating Role of Sleep Disruptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Vernon, Lynette; Modecki, Kathryn L; Barber, Bonnie L

2017-01-01

Concerns are growing about adolescents' problematic social networking and possible links to depressed mood and externalizing behavior. Yet there remains little understanding of underlying processes that may account for these associations, including the mediating role of sleep disruption. This study tests this putative mediating process and examines change in problematic social networking investment and disrupted sleep, in relation to change in depressed mood and externalizing behavior. A sample of 874 students (41% male; 57.2% Caucasian; baseline M age = 14.4 years) from 27 high schools were surveyed. Participants' problematic social networking, sleep disruption, and psychopathology (depressed mood, externalizing behaviors) were measured annually over 3 years. Longitudinal mediation was tested using latent trajectories of problematic social networking use, sleep disruption, and psychopathology. Both problematic social networking and sleep disruption underwent positive linear growth over time. Adolescents who increasingly invested in social networking reported increased depressed mood, with around 53% of this association explained by the indirect effect of increased sleep disruptions. Further, adolescents who increasingly invested in social networking also reported increased externalizing behavior; some of this relation was explained (13%) via increased sleep disruptions. However an alternative model in which increased externalizing was associated with increased social networking, mediated by sleep disruptions, indicated a reciprocal relation of similar magnitude. It is important for parents, teachers, and psychologists to minimize the negative effects of social networking on adolescents' psychopathology. Interventions should potentially target promoting healthy sleep habits through reductions in social networking investment and rescheduling usage away from bedtime.

Endothelial disruptive proinflammatory effects of nicotine and e-cigarette vapor exposures.

Science.gov (United States)

Schweitzer, Kelly S; Chen, Steven X; Law, Sarah; Van Demark, Mary; Poirier, Christophe; Justice, Matthew J; Hubbard, Walter C; Kim, Elena S; Lai, Xianyin; Wang, Mu; Kranz, William D; Carroll, Clinton J; Ray, Bruce D; Bittman, Robert; Goodpaster, John; Petrache, Irina

2015-07-15

The increased use of inhaled nicotine via e-cigarettes has unknown risks to lung health. Having previously shown that cigarette smoke (CS) extract disrupts the lung microvasculature barrier function by endothelial cell activation and cytoskeletal rearrangement, we investigated the contribution of nicotine in CS or e-cigarettes (e-Cig) to lung endothelial injury. Primary lung microvascular endothelial cells were exposed to nicotine, e-Cig solution, or condensed e-Cig vapor (1-20 mM nicotine) or to nicotine-free CS extract or e-Cig solutions. Compared with nicotine-containing extract, nicotine free-CS extract (10-20%) caused significantly less endothelial permeability as measured with electric cell-substrate impedance sensing. Nicotine exposures triggered dose-dependent loss of endothelial barrier in cultured cell monolayers and rapidly increased lung inflammation and oxidative stress in mice. The endothelial barrier disruptive effects were associated with increased intracellular ceramides, p38 MAPK activation, and myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation, and was critically mediated by Rho-activated kinase via inhibition of MLC-phosphatase unit MYPT1. Although nicotine at sufficient concentrations to cause endothelial barrier loss did not trigger cell necrosis, it markedly inhibited cell proliferation. Augmentation of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) signaling via S1P1 improved both endothelial cell proliferation and barrier function during nicotine exposures. Nicotine-independent effects of e-Cig solutions were noted, which may be attributable to acrolein, detected along with propylene glycol, glycerol, and nicotine by NMR, mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography, in both e-Cig solutions and vapor. These results suggest that soluble components of e-Cig, including nicotine, cause dose-dependent loss of lung endothelial barrier function, which is associated with oxidative stress and brisk inflammation.

Simulating economic effects of disruptions in the telecommunications infrastructure.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cox, Roger Gary; Barton, Dianne Catherine; Reinert, Rhonda K.; Eidson, Eric D.; Schoenwald, David Alan

2004-01-01

CommAspen is a new agent-based model for simulating the interdependent effects of market decisions and disruptions in the telecommunications infrastructure on other critical infrastructures in the U.S. economy such as banking and finance, and electric power. CommAspen extends and modifies the capabilities of Aspen-EE, an agent-based model previously developed by Sandia National Laboratories to analyze the interdependencies between the electric power system and other critical infrastructures. CommAspen has been tested on a series of scenarios in which the communications network has been disrupted, due to congestion and outages. Analysis of the scenario results indicates that communications networks simulated by the model behave as their counterparts do in the real world. Results also show that the model could be used to analyze the economic impact of communications congestion and outages.

Possible endocrine disrupting effects of parabens and their metabolites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boberg, Julie; Taxvig, Camilla; Christiansen, Sofie

2010-01-01

Parabens are preservatives used in a wide range of cosmetic products, including products for children, and some are permitted in foods. However, there is concern for endocrine disrupting effects. This paper critically discusses the conclusions of recent reviews and original research papers...... and provides an overview of studies on toxicokinetics. After dermal uptake, parabens are hydrolyzed and conjugated and excreted in urine. Despite high total dermal uptake of paraben and metabolites,little intact paraben can be recovered in blood and urine. Paraben metabolites may play a role in the endocrine...... disruption seen in experimental animals and studies are needed to determine human levels of parabens and metabolites. Overall, the estrogenic burden of parabens and their metabolites in blood may exceed the action of endogenous estradiol in childhood and the safety margin for propylparaben is very low when...

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kricka, Larry J

2016-08-01

Several emerging or disruptive technologies can be identified that might, at some point in the future, displace established laboratory medicine technologies and practices. These include increased automation in the form of robots, 3-D printing, technology convergence (e.g., plug-in glucose meters for smart phones), new point-of-care technologies (e.g., contact lenses with sensors, digital and wireless enabled pregnancy tests) and testing locations (e.g., Retail Health Clinics, new at-home testing formats), new types of specimens (e.g., cell free DNA), big biology/data (e.g., million genome projects), and new regulations (e.g., for laboratory developed tests). In addition, there are many emerging technologies (e.g., planar arrays, mass spectrometry) that might find even broader application in the future and therefore also disrupt current practice. One interesting source of disruptive technology may prove to be the Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize, currently in its final stages.

Do Thyroid Disrupting Chemicals Influence Foetal Development during Pregnancy?

Science.gov (United States)

Hartoft-Nielsen, Marie-Louise; Boas, Malene; Bliddal, Sofie; Rasmussen, Åase Krogh; Main, Katharina; Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla

2011-01-01

Maternal euthyroidism during pregnancy is crucial for normal development and, in particular, neurodevelopment of the foetus. Up to 3.5 percent of pregnant women suffer from hypothyroidism. Industrial use of various chemicals—endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)—has been shown to cause almost constant exposure of humans with possible harmful influence on health and hormone regulation. EDCs may affect thyroid hormone homeostasis by different mechanisms, and though the effect of each chemical seems scarce, the added effects may cause inappropriate consequences on, for example, foetal neurodevelopment. This paper focuses on thyroid hormone influence on foetal development in relation to the chemicals suspected of thyroid disrupting properties with possible interactions with maternal thyroid homeostasis. Knowledge of the effects is expected to impact the general debate on the use of these chemicals. However, more studies are needed to elucidate the issue, since human studies are scarce. PMID:21918727

Disruptions in the TFTR tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janos, A.; Fredrickson, E.D.; McGuire, K.; Batha, S.H.; Bell, M.G.; Bitter, M.; Budny, R.; Bush, C.E.; Efthimion, P.C.; Hawryluk, R.J.; Hill, K.W.; Hosea, J.; Jobes, F.C.; Johnson, D.W.; Levinton, F.; Mansfield, D.; Meade, D.; Medley, S.S.; Monticello, D.; Mueller, D.; Nagayama, Y.; Owens, D.K.; Park, H.; Park, W.; Post, D.E.; Schivell, J.; Strachan, J.D.; Taylor, G.; Ulrickson, M.; Goeler, S. von; Wilfrid, E.; Wong, K.L.; Yamada, M.; Young, K.M.; Zarnstorff, M.C.; Zweben, S.J.; Drake, J.F.; Kleva, R.G.; Fleischmann, H.H.

1993-03-01

For a successful reactor, it will be useful to predict the occurrence of disruptions and to understand disruption effects including how a plasma disrupts onto the wall and how reproducibly it does so. Studies of disruptions on TFTR at both high-β pol and high-density have shown that, in both types, a fast growing m/n=1/1 mode plays an important role. In highdensity disruptions, a newly observed fast m/n = 1/1 mode occurs early in the thermal decay phase. For the first time in TFTR q-profile measurements just prior to disruptions have been made. Experimental studies of heat deposition patterns on the first wall of TFTR due to disruptions have provided information on MHD phenomena prior to or during the disruption, how the energy is released to the wall, and the reproducibility of the heat loads from disruptions. This information is important in the design of future devices such as ITER. Several new processes of runaway electron generation are theoretically suggested and their application to TFTR and ITER is considered, together with a preliminary assessment of x-ray data from runaways generated during disruptions

Childhood family disruptions and adult well-being: the differential effects of divorce and parental death.

Science.gov (United States)

Mack, K Y

2001-01-01

This study draws on attachment theory and social learning theory and uses data from the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the differential effects of childhood family disruptions on adult well-being. Comparisons are made between adults who experienced parental divorce, adults who experienced parental death, and adults who were raised in intact families (N = 4,341). The present study differs from previous research by making direct comparisons between different family disruption groups, assessing the effects of family disruptions that occur before age 19, and including multiple measures of adult well-being as dependent variables. Consistent with hypotheses and inferences made from comparisons with adults from intact families, adults who experienced parental divorce report lower levels of parent-child relationship quality, higher levels of self-confidence, and lower levels of depression than adults who experienced parental death during childhood. Therefore, studies that fail to take type of childhood family disruption into account will lead to inaccurate and misleading conclusions about the effects of these experiences on adult outcomes.

Direct and indirect endocrine disruption : aromatase and estrogen receptor-mediated processes in breast cancer development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heneweer, Marjoke

2005-01-01

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been defined by the World Health Organization as: “exogenous substances or mixtures that alters function(s) of the endocrine system and causes adverse health effects in an intact organism, or its progeny, or (sub)populations”. Synthetic, as well as,

Major disruption process in tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurita, Gen-ichi; Azumi, Masafumi; Tuda, Takashi; Takizuka, Tomonori; Tsunematsu, Toshihide; Tokuda, Shinji; Itoh, Kimitaka; Takeda, Tatsuoki

1981-11-01

The major disruption in a cylindrical tokamak is investigated by using the multi-helicity code, and the destabilization of the 3/2 mode by the mode coupling with the 2/1 mode is confirmed. The evolution of the magnetic field topology caused by the major disruption is studied in detail. The effect of the internal disruption on the 2/1 magnetic island width is also studied. The 2/1 magnetic island is not enhanced by the flattening of the q-profile due to the internal disruption. (author)

Human exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals: effects on the male and female reproductive systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sifakis, Stavros; Androutsopoulos, Vasilis P; Tsatsakis, Aristeidis M; Spandidos, Demetrios A

2017-04-01

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) comprise a group of chemical compounds that have been examined extensively due to the potential harmful effects in the health of human populations. During the past decades, particular focus has been given to the harmful effects of EDCs to the reproductive system. The estimation of human exposure to EDCs can be broadly categorized into occupational and environmental exposure, and has been a major challenge due to the structural diversity of the chemicals that are derived by many different sources at doses below the limit of detection used by conventional methodologies. Animal and in vitro studies have supported the conclusion that endocrine disrupting chemicals affect the hormone dependent pathways responsible for male and female gonadal development, either through direct interaction with hormone receptors or via epigenetic and cell-cycle regulatory modes of action. In human populations, the majority of the studies point towards an association between exposure to EDCs and male and/or female reproduction system disorders, such as infertility, endometriosis, breast cancer, testicular cancer, poor sperm quality and/or function. Despite promising discoveries, a causal relationship between the reproductive disorders and exposure to specific toxicants is yet to be established, due to the complexity of the clinical protocols used, the degree of occupational or environmental exposure, the determination of the variables measured and the sample size of the subjects examined. Future studies should focus on a uniform system of examining human populations with regard to the exposure to specific EDCs and the direct effect on the reproductive system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of light therapy on depression and sleep disruption in older adults in a long-term care facility.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Mann-Chian; Sung, Huei-Chuan; Lee, Wen-Li; Smith, Graeme D

2015-10-01

This study aims to evaluate the effect of light therapy on depression and sleep disruption in older adults residing in a long-term care facility. Psychological morbidity is a problem commonly seen in older adults residing in long-term care facilities. Limited research has addressed the effect of light therapy on depression in this population. A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design was used. Thirty-four participants in the experimental group received light therapy by sitting in front of a 10000-lux light box 30 min in the morning, three times a week for 4 weeks. Thirty-one participants in the control group received routine care without light therapy. Depression was measured by Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form at baseline and week 4. After receiving 4 weeks of light therapy, the mean depression score in the experimental group decreased from 7.24 (SD3.42) at pretest to 5.91 (SD 3.40) at posttest, and had a significant reduction (t = 2.22, P = 0.03). However, there was no significant difference in depression score and sleep disruption between the experimental group and control group. Light therapy might have the potential to reduce depressive symptoms and sleep disruption and may be a viable intervention to improve mental health of older adults in the long-term care facilities. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Disruption Physics and Mitigation on DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whyte, D.G.; Humphreys, D.A.; Kellman, A.G.

2005-01-01

The contributions of the DIII-D tokamak toward the understanding and control of disruptions are reviewed. Disruptions are found to be deterministic, and the underlying causes of disruption can therefore be predicted and avoided. With sufficiently rapid detection, possible damage from disruptions can be mitigated using an understanding of disruption phenomenology and plasma physics. Regimes of high β are readily available in DIII-D and provide access to relatively high energy density disruptions, despite DIII-D's moderate magnetic field and size. DIII-D, with all-graphite wall armor and wall conditioning between discharges, has proven highly resilient to the deleterious effects that disruptions can have on plasma operations. Simultaneously, exploitation and adaptation of DIII-D's extensive core and edge plasma diagnostic set have allowed for unique plasma measurements during disruptions. These measurements have tied into the development of several physical models used to understand aspects of disruptions, such as magnetohydrodynamic growth at the disruption onset, radiation energy balance through the thermal quench, and halo currents during the current quench. Based on this fundamental understanding, DIII-D has developed techniques to mitigate the harmful effects of disruptions by radiative dissipation of the plasma energy and extrapolated these techniques for possible use on larger devices like ITER

Endocrine-disrupting effects and reproductive toxicity of low dose MCLR on male frogs (Rana nigromaculata) in vivo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, Xiuying; Cai, Chenchen; Wang, Jia; Gao, Nana; Zhang, Hangjun, E-mail: zhanghangjun@gmail.com

2014-10-15

Highlights: • Low-dose MCLR (1 μg/L) elicits a potential ecological effect on amphibian populations. • MCLR can induce abnormal sperm morphologies and activities on male frogs. • MCLR can induce a decrease in serum testosterone and an increase in serum estradiol of male frogs. • MCLR can increase SF-1 protein levels and decrease P450 aromatase levels in the gonads of frogs. - Abstract: Toxic cyanobacterial blooms are potential global threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health. The World Health Organization has set a provisional guideline limit of 1 μg/L microcystin-LR (MCLR) in freshwater. However, MCLR concentrations in several water bodies have exceeded this level. Despite this recommended human safety standard, MCLR-induced endocrine-disrupting effects and reproductive toxicity on male frog (Rana nigromaculata) were demonstrated in this study. Results showed that sperm motility and sperm count were significantly and negatively correlated with exposure time and concentration. By contrast, abnormal sperm rate was positively correlated with both parameters. Ultrastructural observation results revealed abnormal sperm morphologies, vacuoles in spermatogenic cells, cell dispersion, incomplete cell structures, and deformed nucleoli. These results indicated that MCLR could induce toxic effects on the reproductive system of frogs, significantly decrease testosterone content, and rapidly increase estradiol content. Prolonged exposure and increased concentration enhanced the relative expression levels of P450 aromatase and steroidogenic factor 1; thus, endocrine function in frogs was disrupted. This study is the first to demonstrate in vivo MCLR toxicity in the reproductive system of male R. nigromaculata. This study provided a scientific basis of the global decline in amphibian populations.

Endocrine-disrupting effects and reproductive toxicity of low dose MCLR on male frogs (Rana nigromaculata) in vivo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, Xiuying; Cai, Chenchen; Wang, Jia; Gao, Nana; Zhang, Hangjun

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Low-dose MCLR (1 μg/L) elicits a potential ecological effect on amphibian populations. • MCLR can induce abnormal sperm morphologies and activities on male frogs. • MCLR can induce a decrease in serum testosterone and an increase in serum estradiol of male frogs. • MCLR can increase SF-1 protein levels and decrease P450 aromatase levels in the gonads of frogs. - Abstract: Toxic cyanobacterial blooms are potential global threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health. The World Health Organization has set a provisional guideline limit of 1 μg/L microcystin-LR (MCLR) in freshwater. However, MCLR concentrations in several water bodies have exceeded this level. Despite this recommended human safety standard, MCLR-induced endocrine-disrupting effects and reproductive toxicity on male frog (Rana nigromaculata) were demonstrated in this study. Results showed that sperm motility and sperm count were significantly and negatively correlated with exposure time and concentration. By contrast, abnormal sperm rate was positively correlated with both parameters. Ultrastructural observation results revealed abnormal sperm morphologies, vacuoles in spermatogenic cells, cell dispersion, incomplete cell structures, and deformed nucleoli. These results indicated that MCLR could induce toxic effects on the reproductive system of frogs, significantly decrease testosterone content, and rapidly increase estradiol content. Prolonged exposure and increased concentration enhanced the relative expression levels of P450 aromatase and steroidogenic factor 1; thus, endocrine function in frogs was disrupted. This study is the first to demonstrate in vivo MCLR toxicity in the reproductive system of male R. nigromaculata. This study provided a scientific basis of the global decline in amphibian populations

Protein differential expression induced by endocrine disrupting compounds in a terrestrial isopod.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemos, M.F.L.; Esteves, A.C.; Samyn, B.; Timperman, I.; van Beeumen, J.; Correia, A.D.; van Gestel, C.A.M.; Soares, A.M.V.M.

2010-01-01

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been studied due to their impact on human health and increasing awareness of their impact on wildlife species. Studies concerning the organ-specific molecular effects of EDC in invertebrates are important to understand the mechanisms of action of this class

Microalgal cell disruption via ultrasonic nozzle spraying.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, M; Yuan, W

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to understand the effect of operating parameters, including ultrasound amplitude, spraying pressure, nozzle orifice diameter, and initial cell concentration on microalgal cell disruption and lipid extraction in an ultrasonic nozzle spraying system (UNSS). Two algal species including Scenedesmus dimorphus and Nannochloropsis oculata were evaluated. Experimental results demonstrated that the UNSS was effective in the disruption of microalgal cells indicated by significant changes in cell concentration and Nile red-stained lipid fluorescence density between all treatments and the control. It was found that increasing ultrasound amplitude generally enhanced cell disruption and lipid recovery although excessive input energy was not necessary for best results. The effect of spraying pressure and nozzle orifice diameter on cell disruption and lipid recovery was believed to be dependent on the competition between ultrasound-induced cavitation and spraying-generated shear forces. Optimal cell disruption was not always achieved at the highest spraying pressure or biggest nozzle orifice diameter; instead, they appeared at moderate levels depending on the algal strain and specific settings. Increasing initial algal cell concentration significantly reduced cell disruption efficiency. In all UNSS treatments, the effectiveness of cell disruption and lipid recovery was found to be dependent on the algal species treated.

Understanding disruptions in tokamaksa)

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharov, Leonid E.; Galkin, Sergei A.; Gerasimov, Sergei N.; contributors, JET-EFDA

2012-05-01

This paper describes progress achieved since 2007 in understanding disruptions in tokamaks, when the effect of plasma current sharing with the wall was introduced into theory. As a result, the toroidal asymmetry of the plasma current measurements during vertical disruption event (VDE) on the Joint European Torus was explained. A new kind of plasma equilibria and mode coupling was introduced into theory, which can explain the duration of the external kink 1/1 mode during VDE. The paper presents first results of numerical simulations using a free boundary plasma model, relevant to disruptions.

The Association of Telomere Length With Family Violence and Disruption

Science.gov (United States)

Mabile, Emily; Brett, Zoë H.; Esteves, Kyle; Jones, Edward; Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A.; Theall, Katherine P.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: To enhance the understanding of biological mechanisms connecting early adversity and negative health, we examine the association between family interpersonal violence and disruption and telomere length in youth. These specific exposures were selected because of their established links with negative health consequences across the life-course. METHODS: Children, age 5 to 15, were recruited from the greater New Orleans area, and exposure to family disruption and violence was assessed through caregiver report. Telomere length, from buccal cell DNA (buccal telomere length [bTL]), was determined by using monochrome multiplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The association between bTL and adversity exposure was tested (n = 80). RESULTS: Cumulative exposure to interpersonal violence and family disruption was correlated with bTL. Controlling for other sociodemographic factors, bTL was significantly shorter in children with higher exposure to family violence and disruption. Witnessing family violence exerted a particularly potent impact. A significant gender interaction was found (β = −0.0086, SE = 0.0031, z test= −2.79, P = .0053) and analysis revealed the effect only in girls. CONCLUSIONS: bTL is a molecular biomarker of adversity and allostatic load that is detectable in childhood. The present results extend previous studies by demonstrating that telomeres are sensitive to adversity within the overarching family domain. These findings suggest that the family ecology may be an important target for interventions to reduce the biological impact of adversity in the lives of children. PMID:24936002

The association of telomere length with family violence and disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Drury, Stacy S; Mabile, Emily; Brett, Zoë H; Esteves, Kyle; Jones, Edward; Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A; Theall, Katherine P

2014-07-01

To enhance the understanding of biological mechanisms connecting early adversity and negative health, we examine the association between family interpersonal violence and disruption and telomere length in youth. These specific exposures were selected because of their established links with negative health consequences across the life-course. Children, age 5 to 15, were recruited from the greater New Orleans area, and exposure to family disruption and violence was assessed through caregiver report. Telomere length, from buccal cell DNA (buccal telomere length [bTL]), was determined by using monochrome multiplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The association between bTL and adversity exposure was tested (n = 80). Cumulative exposure to interpersonal violence and family disruption was correlated with bTL. Controlling for other sociodemographic factors, bTL was significantly shorter in children with higher exposure to family violence and disruption. Witnessing family violence exerted a particularly potent impact. A significant gender interaction was found (β = -0.0086, SE = 0.0031, z test= -2.79, P = .0053) and analysis revealed the effect only in girls. bTL is a molecular biomarker of adversity and allostatic load that is detectable in childhood. The present results extend previous studies by demonstrating that telomeres are sensitive to adversity within the overarching family domain. These findings suggest that the family ecology may be an important target for interventions to reduce the biological impact of adversity in the lives of children. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Disruption of Circadian Rhythms by Light During Day and Night.

Science.gov (United States)

Figueiro, Mariana G

2017-06-01

This study aims to discuss possible reasons why research to date has not forged direct links between light at night, acute melatonin suppression or circadian disruption, and risks for disease. Data suggest that irregular light-dark patterns or light exposures at the wrong circadian time can lead to circadian disruption and disease risks. However, there remains an urgent need to: (1) specify light stimulus in terms of circadian rather than visual response; (2) when translating research from animals to humans, consider species-specific spectral and absolute sensitivities to light; (3) relate the characteristics of photometric measurement of light at night to the operational characteristics of the circadian system; and (4) examine how humans may be experiencing too little daytime light, not just too much light at night. To understand the health effects of light-induced circadian disruption, we need to measure and control light stimulus during the day and at night.

Disruption studies in ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pautasso, G.

2002-01-01

Disruption generate large thermal and mechanical stresses on the tokamak components. For a future reactor disruptions have a significant impact on the design since all loading conditions must be analyzed in accordance with stricter design criteria (due to safety or difficult maintenance). Therefore the uncertainties affecting the predicted stresses must be reduced as much as possible with a more comprehensive set of measurements and analyses in this generation of experimental machines, and avoidance/ predictive methods must be developed further. The study of disruptions on ASDEX Upgrade is focused on these subjects, namely on: (1) understanding the physical mechanisms leading to this phenomenon and learning to avoid it or to predict its occurrence (with neural networks, for example) and to mitigate its effects; (2) analyzing the effects of disruptions on the machine to determine the functional dependence of the thermal and mechanical loads upon the discharge parameters. This allows to dimension or reinforce the machine components to withstand these loads and to extrapolate them to tokamaks still in the design phase; (3) learning to mitigate the consequence of disruptions. (author)

Endocrine disruptive effects in vitro of conazole antifungals used as pesticides and pharmaceutical

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærstad, Mia Birkhøj; Taxvig, Camilla; Nellemann, Christine Lydia

2010-01-01

Widely used conazole antifungals were tested for endocrine disruptive effects using a panel of in vitro assays. They all showed endocrine disrupting potential and ability to act via several different mechanisms. Overall the imidazoles (econazole, ketoconazole, miconazole, prochloraz) were more...... inhibition of enzymes involved in the conversion of progesterone to testosterone. Prochloraz was most potent followed by econazole~miconazole>ketoconazole>tebuconazole>epoxiconazole>propiconazole. In the MCF-7 cell proliferation assay, the conazoles showed anti-estrogenic effect, including aromatase...... inhibition, since they inhibited the response induced by both 17β-estradiol (miconazole>econazole~ketoconazole>prochloraz>tebuconazole>epoxiconazole>propiconazole) and testosterone (econazole>miconazole>prochloraz>ketoconazole>tebuconazole>epoxiconazole>propiconazole). The triazoles were anti...

CUMULATIVE DEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTERS: SYNERGY OR ADDITIVITY?

Science.gov (United States)

Exposure to chemicals with hormonal activity during critical developmental periods can disrupt reproductive function and development. Within the last decade, several classes of pesticides and toxic substances have been shown to disrupt differentiation of the male rat reproductive...

Effects of Disruption Risks on Biorefinery Location Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun Bai

2015-02-01

Full Text Available While ever-growing bio-ethanol production poses considerable challenges to the bioenergy supply chain, the risk of refinery operation disruptions further compromises the efficiency and reliability of the energy supply system. This paper applies discrete and continuous reliable facility location models to the design of reliable bio-ethanol supply chains so that the system can hedge against potential operational disruptions. The discrete model is shown to be suitable for obtaining the exact optimality for small or moderate instances, while the continuous model has superior computational tractability for large-scale applications. The impacts of both site-independent and dependent disruptions (i.e., due to flooding are analyzed in empirical case study for the State of Illinois (one of the main biomass supply states in the U.S.. The reliable solution is compared with a deterministic solution under the same setting. It is found that refinery disruptions, especially those site-dependent ones, affect both optimal refinery deployment and the supply chain cost. Sensitivity analysis is also conducted to show how refinery failure probability and fixed cost (for building biorefineries affect optimal supply chain configuration and the total expected system cost.

Endocrine disrupting compounds in drinking water supply system and human health risk implication.

Science.gov (United States)

Wee, Sze Yee; Aris, Ahmad Zaharin

2017-09-01

To date, experimental and epidemiological evidence of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) adversely affecting human and animal populations has been widely debated. Notably, human health risk assessment is required for risk mitigation. The lack of human health risk assessment and management may thus unreliably regulate the quality of water resources and efficiency of treatment processes. Therefore, drinking water supply systems (DWSSs) may be still unwarranted in assuring safe access to potable drinking water. Drinking water supply, such as tap water, is an additional and crucial route of human exposure to the health risks associated with EDCs. A holistic system, incorporating continuous research in DWSS monitoring and management using multi-barrier approach, is proposed as a preventive measure to reduce human exposure to the risks associated with EDCs through drinking water consumption. The occurrence of EDCs in DWSSs and corresponding human health risk implications are analyzed using the Needs, Approaches, Benefits, and Challenges (NABC) method. Therefore, this review may act as a supportive tool in protecting human health and environmental quality from EDCs, which is essential for decision-making regarding environmental monitoring and management purposes. Subsequently, the public could have sustainable access to safer and more reliable drinking water. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of terrorism on adult mental health: a public health preparedness approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sameera S. Karnik

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Terrorism is a disruptive man-made disaster event challenging human health and wellbeing. It is a hostile activity which brings about much casualty, even death. It not only causes physical casualties but also brings about psychological morbidity and can lead to long term mental disorders. The effects of terrorist attacks on people’s psychological health covers a wide range such as acute stress symptoms to long term disorders like Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD. The psychological disorder due to traumatic distress is treated with psychotherapies such as psychosocial intervention, psychological debriefing, psychological first aid care, psychological counseling services, and psychoeducation. Government is supporting state and local public health departments to develop efficient public health preparedness planning programs in case of emergency situations. There are some newer approaches working towards enhancing health security and managing responses to a psychological impact of a disaster event like a terrorist attack.

Aggregate formation affects ultrasonic disruption of microalgal cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Lee, Duu-Jong; Lai, Juin-Yih

2015-12-01

Ultrasonication is a cell disruption process of low energy efficiency. This study dosed K(+), Ca(2+) and Al(3+) to Chlorella vulgaris cultured in Bold's Basal Medium at 25°C and measured the degree of cell disruption under ultrasonication. Adding these metal ions yielded less negatively charged surfaces of cells, while with the latter two ions large and compact cell aggregates were formed. The degree of cell disruption followed: control=K(+)>Ca(2+)>Al(3+) samples. Surface charges of cells and microbubbles have minimal effects on the microbubble number in the proximity of the microalgal cells. Conversely, cell aggregates with large size and compact interior resist cell disruption under ultrasonication. Staining tests revealed high diffusional resistance of stains over the aggregate interior. Microbubbles may not be effective generated and collapsed inside the compact aggregates, hence leading to low cell disruption efficiencies. Effective coagulation/flocculation in cell harvesting may lead to adverse effect on subsequent cell disruption efficiency. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Disruptive Effect of Think Aloud

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Janni; Yssing, Carsten

Thinking Aloud Thinking Aloud is the most commonly used technique used to test users´ interaction with computers. The assumption is that Think Aloud gives access to what goes on in the users´ minds. However, interfaces are multi modal and play heavily on user´s visual perception. Reflecting upon...... Think Aloud (TA), we ask the question: what happens when users are required to verbalise their visual perceptions and interactions? We argue that TA may have a disruptive effect, suggesting that other techniques be considered. With a theoretical distinction between focal and subsidiary awareness...... and a focus on the sense making process, we develop a frame for test of user´s visual interaction which rely on the coordination between hand/mouse and eye/cursor.Author Keywords: Think Aloud, visual perception, interaction, test...

Physiological and Molecular Effects of in vivo and ex vivo Mild Skin Barrier Disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfannes, Eva K B; Weiss, Lina; Hadam, Sabrina; Gonnet, Jessica; Combardière, Béhazine; Blume-Peytavi, Ulrike; Vogt, Annika

2018-01-01

The success of topically applied treatments on skin relies on the efficacy of skin penetration. In order to increase particle or product penetration, mild skin barrier disruption methods can be used. We previously described cyanoacrylate skin surface stripping as an efficient method to open hair follicles, enhance particle penetration, and activate Langerhans cells. We conducted ex vivo and in vivo measurements on human skin to characterize the biological effect and quantify barrier disruption-related inflammation on a molecular level. Despite the known immunostimulatory effects, this barrier disruption and hair follicle opening method was well accepted and did not result in lasting changes of skin physiological parameters, cytokine production, or clinical side effects. Only in ex vivo human skin did we find a discrete increase in IP-10, TGF-β, IL-8, and GM-CSF mRNA. The data underline the safety profile of this method and demonstrate that the procedure per se does not cause substantial inflammation or skin damage, which is also of interest when applied to non-invasive sampling of biomarkers in clinical trials. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: PREPUBERTAL EXPOSURES AND EFFECTS ON SEXUAL MATURATION AND THYROID FUNCTION IN THE MALE RAT. A FOCUS ON THE EDSTAC RECOMMENDATIONS. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTER SCREENING AND TESTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Science.gov (United States)

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: prepubertal exposures and effects on sexual maturation and thyroid function in the male rat. A focus on the EDSTAC recommendations. Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Advisory Committee.Stoker TE, Parks LG, Gray LE, Cooper RL.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals: harmful substances and how to test them

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olea-Serrano Nicolás

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an analysis of the opinions of different groups from: scientists, international regulatory bodies, non-governmental organizations and industry; with an interest in the problem of identifying chemical substances with endocrine disrupting activity. There is also discussion of the consequences that exposure to endocrine disruptors may have for human health, considering concrete issues related to: the estimation of risk; the tests that must be used to detect endocrine disruption; the difficulties to establish an association between dose, time of exposure, individual susceptibility, and effect; and the attempts to create a census of endocrine disruptors. Finally, it is proposed that not all hormonal mimics should be included under the single generic denomination of endocrine disruptors.

Overview of core disruptive accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marchaterre, J.F.

1977-01-01

An overview of the analysis of core-disruptive accidents is given. These analyses are for the purpose of understanding and predicting fast reactor behavior in severe low probability accident conditions, to establish the consequences of such conditions and to provide a basis for evaluating consequence limiting design features. The methods are used to analyze core-disruptive accidents from initiating event to complete core disruption, the effects of the accident on reactor structures and the resulting radiological consequences are described

Survey of disruption causes at JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Vries, P.C.; Johnson, M.F.; Alper, B.; Hender, T.C.; Riccardo, V.; Buratti, P.; Koslowski, H.R.

2011-01-01

A survey has been carried out into the causes of all 2309 disruptions over the last decade of JET operations. The aim of this survey was to obtain a complete picture of all possible disruption causes, in order to devise better strategies to prevent or mitigate their impact. The analysis allows the effort to avoid or prevent JET disruptions to be more efficient and effective. As expected, a highly complex pattern of chain of events that led to disruptions emerged. It was found that the majority of disruptions had a technical root cause, for example due to control errors, or operator mistakes. These bring a random, non-physics, factor into the occurrence of disruptions and the disruption rate or disruptivity of a scenario may depend more on technical performance than on physics stability issues. The main root cause of JET disruptions was nevertheless due to neo-classical tearing modes that locked, closely followed in second place by disruptions due to human error. The development of more robust operational scenarios has reduced the JET disruption rate over the last decade from about 15% to below 4%. A fraction of all disruptions was caused by very fast, precursorless unpredictable events. The occurrence of these disruptions may set a lower limit of 0.4% to the disruption rate of JET. If one considers on top of that human error and all unforeseen failures of heating or control systems this lower limit may rise to 1.0% or 1.6%, respectively.

Rapid, portable detection of endocrine disrupting chemicals through ligand-nuclear hormone receptor interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, J Porter; Schinn, Song-Min; Jones, Matthew D; Bundy, Bradley C

2017-12-04

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) are structurally diverse compounds that can interact with nuclear hormone receptors, posing significant risk to human and ecological health. Unfortunately, many conventional biosensors have been too structure-specific, labor-intensive or laboratory-oriented to detect broad ranges of EDC effectively. Recently, several technological advances are providing more rapid, portable, and affordable detection of endocrine-disrupting activity through ligand-nuclear hormone receptor interactions. Here, we overview these recent advances applied to EDC biosensors - including cell lyophilization, cell immobilization, cell-free systems, smartphone-based signal detection, and improved competitive binding assays.

The US federal framework for research on endocrine disrupters and an analysis of research programs supported during fiscal year 1996

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, L.W.; DeRosa, C.; Kavlock, R.J.; Lucier, G.; Mac, M.J.; Melillo, J.; Melnick, R.L.; Sinks, T.; Walton, B.T.

1998-01-01

The potential health and ecological effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals has become a high visibility environmental issue. The 1990s have witnessed a growing concern, both on the part of the scientific community and the public, that environmental chemicals may be causing widespread effects in humans and in a variety of fish and wildlife species. This growing concern led the Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) of the National Science and Technology Council to identify the endocrine disrupter issue as a major research initiative in early 1995 and subsequently establish an ad hoc Working Group on Endocrine Disrupters. The objectives of the working group are to 1) develop a planning framework for federal research related to human and ecological health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals; 2) conduct an inventory of ongoing federal research programs; and 3) identify research gaps and develop a coordinated interagency plan to address priority research needs. This communication summarizes the activities of the federal government in defining a common framework for planning an endocrine disrupter research program and in assessing the status of the current effort. After developing the research framework and compiling an inventory of active research projects supported by the federal government in fiscal year 1996, the CENR working group evaluated the current federal effort by comparing the ongoing activities with the research needs identified in the framework. The analysis showed that the federal government supports considerable research on human health effects, ecological effects, and exposure assessment, with a predominance of activity occurring under human health effects. The analysis also indicates that studies on reproductive development and carcinogenesis are more prevalent than studies on neurotoxicity and immunotoxicity, that mammals (mostly laboratory animals) are the main species under study, and that chlorinated dibenzodioxins and

Modeling of thermal effects on TIBER II [Tokamak Ignition/Burn Experimental Reactor] divertor during plasma disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruhn, M.L.; Perkins, L.J.

1987-01-01

Mapping the disruption power flow from the mid-plane of the TIBER Engineering Test Reactor to its divertor and calculating the resulting thermal effects are accomplished through the modification and coupling of three presently existing computer codes. The resulting computer code TADDPAK (Thermal Analysis Divertor during Disruption PAcKage) provides three-dimensional graphic presentations of time and positional dependent thermal effects on a poloidal cross section of the double-null-divertor configured reactor. These thermal effects include incident heat flux, surface temperature, vaporization rate, total vaporization, and melting depth. The dependence of these thermal effects on material choice, disruption pulse shape, and the characteristic thickness of the plasma scrape-off layer is determined through parametric analysis with TADDPAK. This computer code is designed to be a convenient, rapid, and user-friendly modeling tool which can be easily adapted to most tokamak double-null-divertor reactor designs. 14 refs

The magnetic vapour shield effect at divertor plates during plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piazza, G.; Goel, B.; Hoebel, W.; Wuerz, H.; Landman, I.

1995-01-01

Hard disruptions in a TOKAMAK cause a large thermal load on the divertor plates with an instantaneous ablation of a part of the heated material. The produced vapour cloud screens the plasma facing component from the direct interaction with the disrupting plasma (vapour shield effect). In order to quantify the damage to the divertor the magneto-hydrodynamic behaviour of the expanding vapour cloud has been investigated using an extended version of the 1-dimensional Lagrangian hydrodynamic code KATACO. Modelling of the magnetic field effects on the expanding plasma takes into account that the magnetic field is oblique to the divertor (1 1/2 dimensional model). The ''Radiation Heat Conduction Approximation'' has been used for describing the radiative energy transport. In this paper results are presented assuming graphite as divertor material, irradiated with a proton beam of an energy density of 12MJ/m 2 and a duration of 100μs. (orig.)

Contribution of the Endocrine Perspective in the Evaluation of Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bourguignon, Jean-Pierre; Juul, Anders; Franssen, Delphine

2016-01-01

Debate makes science progress. In the field of endocrine disruption, endocrinology has brought up findings that substantiate a specific perspective on the definition of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), the role of the endocrine system and the endpoints of hormone and EDC actions among other...... issues. This paper aims at discussing the relevance of the endocrine perspective with regard to EDC effects on pubertal timing. Puberty involves particular sensitivity to environmental conditions. Reports about the advancing onset of puberty in several countries have led to the hypothesis...

Longitudinal association between marital disruption and child BMI and obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Arkes, Jeremy

2012-08-01

This research examines whether family disruptions (i.e., divorces and separation) contribute to children's weight problems. The sample consists of 7,299 observations for 2,333 children, aged 5-14, over the 1986-2006 period, from a US representative sample from the Child and Young Adult Survey accompanying the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The study uses individual-fixed-effects models in a longitudinal framework to compare children's BMI and weight problems before and after a disruption. Furthermore, besides doing a before-after comparison for children, the study also estimates the effects at various periods relative to the disruption in order to examine whether children are affected before the disruption and whether any effects change as time passes from the disruption, as some effects may be temporary or slow to develop. Despite having a larger sample than the previous studies, the results provide no evidence that, on average, children's BMI and BMI percentile scores (measured with continuous outcomes) are affected before the disruption, after the disruption, and as time passes from the disruption, relative to a baseline period a few years before the disruption. However, children experiencing a family disruption do have an increased risk of obesity (having a BMI percentile score of 95 or higher) in the two years leading up to the disruption as well as after the disruption, and as time passes from the disruption.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: associated disorders and mechanisms of action.

Science.gov (United States)

De Coster, Sam; van Larebeke, Nicolas

2012-01-01

The incidence and/or prevalence of health problems associated with endocrine-disruption have increased. Many chemicals have endocrine-disrupting properties, including bisphenol A, some organochlorines, polybrominated flame retardants, perfluorinated substances, alkylphenols, phthalates, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkylphenols, solvents, and some household products including some cleaning products, air fresheners, hair dyes, cosmetics, and sunscreens. Even some metals were shown to have endocrine-disrupting properties. Many observations suggesting that endocrine disruptors do contribute to cancer, diabetes, obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and infertility are listed in this paper. An overview is presented of mechanisms contributing to endocrine disruption. Endocrine disruptors can act through classical nuclear receptors, but also through estrogen-related receptors, membrane-bound estrogen-receptors, and interaction with targets in the cytosol resulting in activation of the Src/Ras/Erk pathway or modulation of nitric oxide. In addition, changes in metabolism of endogenous hormones, cross-talk between genomic and nongenomic pathways, cross talk with estrogen receptors after binding on other receptors, interference with feedback regulation and neuroendocrine cells, changes in DNA methylation or histone modifications, and genomic instability by interference with the spindle figure can play a role. Also it was found that effects of receptor activation can differ in function of the ligand.

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Associated Disorders and Mechanisms of Action

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sam De Coster

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The incidence and/or prevalence of health problems associated with endocrine-disruption have increased. Many chemicals have endocrine-disrupting properties, including bisphenol A, some organochlorines, polybrominated flame retardants, perfluorinated substances, alkylphenols, phthalates, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkylphenols, solvents, and some household products including some cleaning products, air fresheners, hair dyes, cosmetics, and sunscreens. Even some metals were shown to have endocrine-disrupting properties. Many observations suggesting that endocrine disruptors do contribute to cancer, diabetes, obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and infertility are listed in this paper. An overview is presented of mechanisms contributing to endocrine disruption. Endocrine disruptors can act through classical nuclear receptors, but also through estrogen-related receptors, membrane-bound estrogen-receptors, and interaction with targets in the cytosol resulting in activation of the Src/Ras/Erk pathway or modulation of nitric oxide. In addition, changes in metabolism of endogenous hormones, cross-talk between genomic and nongenomic pathways, cross talk with estrogen receptors after binding on other receptors, interference with feedback regulation and neuroendocrine cells, changes in DNA methylation or histone modifications, and genomic instability by interference with the spindle figure can play a role. Also it was found that effects of receptor activation can differ in function of the ligand.

Do Thyroid Disrupting Chemicals Influence Foetal Development during Pregnancy?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartoft-Nielsen, Marie-Louise; Boas, Malene; Bliddal, Sofie

2011-01-01

Maternal euthyroidism during pregnancy is crucial for normal development and, in particular, neurodevelopment of the foetus. Up to 3.5 percent of pregnant women suffer from hypothyroidism. Industrial use of various chemicals-endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)-has been shown to cause almost...... constant exposure of humans with possible harmful influence on health and hormone regulation. EDCs may affect thyroid hormone homeostasis by different mechanisms, and though the effect of each chemical seems scarce, the added effects may cause inappropriate consequences on, for example, foetal...

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder in a Community Mental Health Clinic: Prevalence, Comorbidity and Correlates.

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Andrew J; Youngstrom, Eric A; Youngstrom, Jennifer K; Findling, Robert L

2016-03-01

The revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. (DSM-5) added a new diagnosis of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) to depressive disorders. This study examines the prevalence, comorbidity, and correlates of the new disorder, with a particular focus on its overlap with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), with which DMDD shares core symptoms. Data were obtained from 597 youth 6-18 years of age who participated in a systematic assessment of symptoms offered to all intakes at a community mental health center (sample accrued from July 2003 to March 2008). Assessment included diagnostic, symptomatic, and functional measures. DMDD was diagnosed using a post-hoc definition from item-level ratings on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children that closely matches the DSM-5 definition. Caregivers rated youth on the Child Behavior Checklist. Approximately 31% of youth met the operational definition of DMDD, and 40% had Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) diagnoses of ODD. Youth with DMDD almost always had ODD (odds ratio [OR] = 53.84) and displayed higher rates of comorbidity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder than youth without DMDD. Caregivers of youth with DMDD reported more symptoms of aggressive behavior, rule-breaking, social problems, anxiety/depression, attention problems, and thought problems than all other youth without DMDD. Compared with youth with ODD, youth with DMDD were not significantly different in terms of categorical or dimensional approaches to comorbidity and impairment. The new diagnosis of DMDD might be common in community mental health clinics. Youth with DMDD displayed more severe symptoms and poorer functioning than youth without DMDD. However, DMDD almost entirely overlaps with ODD and youth with DMDD were not significantly different than youth with ODD. These findings raise concerns

Thigmotaxis Mediates Trail Odour Disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Stringer, Lloyd D; Corn, Joshua E; Sik Roh, Hyun; Jiménez-Pérez, Alfredo; Manning, Lee-Anne M; Harper, Aimee R; Suckling, David M

2017-05-10

Disruption of foraging using oversupply of ant trail pheromones is a novel pest management application under investigation. It presents an opportunity to investigate the interaction of sensory modalities by removal of one of the modes. Superficially similar to sex pheromone-based mating disruption in moths, ant trail pheromone disruption lacks an equivalent mechanistic understanding of how the ants respond to an oversupply of their trail pheromone. Since significant compromise of one sensory modality essential for trail following (chemotaxis) has been demonstrated, we hypothesised that other sensory modalities such as thigmotaxis could act to reduce the impact on olfactory disruption of foraging behaviour. To test this, we provided a physical stimulus of thread to aid trailing by Argentine ants otherwise under disruptive pheromone concentrations. Trail following success was higher using a physical cue. While trail integrity reduced under continuous over-supply of trail pheromone delivered directly on the thread, provision of a physical cue in the form of thread slightly improved trail following and mediated trail disruption from high concentrations upwind. Our results indicate that ants are able to use physical structures to reduce but not eliminate the effects of trail pheromone disruption.

Putative effects of endocrine disrupters on pubertal development in the human

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Teilmann, Grete; Juul, Anders; Skakkebaek, Niels E

2002-01-01

-called endocrine disrupters. Precocious puberty has been described in several case reports of accidental exposure to oestrogenic compounds in cosmetic products, food and pharmaceuticals. Local epidemics of premature thelarche have also been suggested to be linked to endocrine disrupters. Children adopted from...... developing countries to industrialized countries often develop precocious puberty. Not only precocious puberty, but also delayed puberty can, theoretically, be associated with exposure to endocrine disrupters. While it is very plausible that endocrine disrupters may disturb pubertal development...

MHD stability, operational limits and disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The present physics understandings of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of tokamak plasmas, the threshold conditions for onset of MHD instability, and the resulting operational limits on attainable plasma pressure (beta limit) and density (density limit), and the consequences of plasma disruption and disruption related effects are reviewed and assessed in the context of their application to a future DT burning reactor prototype tokamak experiment such as ITER. The principal considerations covered within the MHD stability and beta limit assessments are (i) magnetostatic equilibrium, ideal MHD stability and the resulting ideal MHD beta limit; (ii) sawtooth oscillations and the coupling of sawtooth activity to other types of MHD instability; (iii) neoclassical island resistive tearing modes and the corresponding limits on beta and energy confinement; (iv) wall stabilization of ideal MHD instabilities and resistive wall instabilities; (v) mode locking effects of non-axisymmetric error fields; (vi) edge localized MHD instabilities (ELMs, etc.); and (vii) MHD instabilities and beta/pressure gradient limits in plasmas with actively modified current and magnetic shear profiles. The principal considerations covered within the density limit assessments are (i) empirical density limits; (ii) edge power balance/radiative density limits in ohmic and L-mode plasmas; and (iii) edge parameter related density limits in H-mode plasmas. The principal considerations covered in the disruption assessments are (i) disruption causes, frequency and MHD instability onset; (ii) disruption thermal and current quench characteristics; (iii) vertical instabilities (VDEs), both before and after disruption, and plasma and in-vessel halo currents; (iv) after disruption runaway electron formation, confinement and loss; (v) fast plasma shutdown (rapid externally initiated dissipation of plasma thermal and magnetic energies); (vi) means for disruption avoidance and disruption effect mitigation; and

Bridging the gap between academic research and regulatory health risk assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Beronius, Anna; Hanberg, Annika; Zilliacus, Johanna; Rudén, Christina

2014-12-01

Regulatory risk assessment is traditionally based primarily on toxicity studies conducted according to standardized and internationally validated test guidelines. However, health risk assessment of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is argued to rely on the efficient integration of findings from academic research. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of current developments to facilitate the use of academic research in regulatory risk assessment of chemicals and how certain aspects of study design and reporting are particularly important for the risk assessment process. By bridging the gap between academic research and regulatory health risk assessment of EDCs, scientific uncertainty in risk assessment conclusions can be reduced, allowing for better targeted policy decisions for chemical risk reduction. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Shiftwork-Mediated Disruptions of Circadian Rhythms and Sleep Homeostasis Cause Serious Health Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suliman Khan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Shiftwork became common during the last few decades with the growing demands of human life. Despite the social inactivity and irregularity in habits, working in continuous irregular shifts causes serious health issues including sleep disorders, psychiatric disorders, cancer, and metabolic disorders. These health problems arise due to the disruption in circadian clock system, which is associated with alterations in genetic expressions. Alteration in clock controlling genes further affects genes linked with disorders including major depression disorder, bipolar disorder, phase delay and phase advance sleep syndromes, breast cancer, and colon cancer. A diverse research work is needed focusing on broad spectrum changes caused by jet lag in brain and neuronal system. This review is an attempt to motivate the researchers to conduct advanced studies in this area to identify the risk factors and mechanisms. Its goal is extended to make the shift workers aware about the risks associated with shiftwork.

Estrogen-related receptor gamma disruption of source water and drinking water treatment processes extracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Na; Jiang, Weiwei; Rao, Kaifeng; Ma, Mei; Wang, Zijian; Kumaran, Satyanarayanan Senthik

2011-01-01

Environmental chemicals in drinking water can impact human health through nuclear receptors. Additionally, estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) are vulnerable to endocrine-disrupting effects. To date, however, ERR disruption of drinking water potency has not been reported. We used ERRgamma two-hybrid yeast assay to screen ERRgamma disrupting activities in a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) located in north China and in source water from a reservoir, focusing on agonistic, antagonistic, and inverse agonistic activity to 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT). Water treatment processes in the DWTP consisted of pre-chlorination, coagulation, coal and sand filtration, activated carbon filtration, and secondary chlorination processes. Samples were extracted by solid phase extraction. Results showed that ERRgamma antagonistic activities were found in all sample extracts, but agonistic and inverse agonistic activity to 4-OHT was not found. When calibrated with the toxic equivalent of 4-OHT, antagonistic effluent effects ranged from 3.4 to 33.1 microg/L. In the treatment processes, secondary chlorination was effective in removing ERRgamma antagonists, but the coagulation process led to significantly increased ERRgamma antagonistic activity. The drinking water treatment processes removed 73.5% of ERRgamma antagonists. To our knowledge, the occurrence of ERRgamma disruption activities on source and drinking water in vitro had not been reported previously. It is vital, therefore, to increase our understanding of ERRy disrupting activities in drinking water.

Multi-class of endocrine disrupting compounds in aquaculture ecosystems and health impacts in exposed biota.

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, Nur Afifah Hanun; Wee, Sze Yee; Aris, Ahmad Zaharin

2017-12-01

Fishes are a major protein food source for humans, with a high economic value in the aquaculture industry. Because endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been introduced into aquatic ecosystems, the exposure of humans and animals that depend on aquatic foods, especially fishes, should be seriously considered. EDCs are emerging pollutants causing global concern because they can disrupt the endocrine system in aquatic organisms, mammals, and humans. These pollutants have been released into the environment through many sources, e.g., wastewater treatment plants, terrestrial run-off (industrial activities, pharmaceuticals, and household waste), and precipitation. The use of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and fertilizers for maintaining and increasing fish health and growth also contributes to EDC pollution in the water body. Human and animal exposure to EDCs occurs via ingestion of contaminated matrices, especially aquatic foodstuffs. This paper aims to review human EDC exposure via fish consumption. In respect to the trace concentration of EDCs in fish, types of instrument and clean-up method are of great concerns. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effective Governance in the Era of Disruptive Changes in Business Illustrated by the Tata Capital Framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Caspar; Sherman, David; Haraszuk, Anni

2015-01-01

Identifying, assessing, managing, and containing risks is a fundamental responsibility of business and ‘business as usual’ in 2015. The question is: How can businesses be effectively governed in an era of disruptive changes while managing risks of business? This article explores – through the case...... example of Tata Capital, part of the Indian, global conglomerate Tata Group – how to effectively govern in an environment of disruptive forces impacting business while managing risk seen from an audit committee and internal audit perspective. Effective governance through regular evaluation of internal...

Pulp and paper mill effluent treatments have differential endocrine-disrupting effects on rainbow trout.

Science.gov (United States)

Orrego, Rodrigo; Guchardi, John; Hernandez, Victor; Krause, Rachelle; Roti, Lucia; Armour, Jeffrey; Ganeshakumar, Mathumai; Holdway, Douglas

2009-01-01

Endocrine disruption (ED) effects due to pulp and paper mill effluents extracts involving different industrial procedures and effluent treatments (nontreated, primary, and secondary treated) were evaluated using immature triploid rainbow trout in a pulse-exposure toxicity experiment. The protocol involved the use of intraperitoneal injection of mill extracts (solid-phase extraction [SPE]) corrected for individual fish weight and included several laboratory standards (steroidal hormones and phytosterols). Biological endpoints at two different levels of biological organization were analyzed (molecular and individual organism). Results indicated that nonsignificant changes were observed in the individual physiological indices represented by condition factor, liver somatic index, and gonad somatic index during the experiment. Significant induction of liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity was observed between different effluent treatments and experimental controls. Significant endocrine-disrupting effects at the reproductive level were observed in all effluent treatments involving significant increments in plasma vitellogenin (VTG) levels. Fish exposed to untreated effluent extracts had significantly higher VTG levels compared to fish exposed to primary and secondary treatment effluent extracts, indicating a decrease of the estrogenic effect due to the effluent treatment. The present study has shown that for the Chilean pulp and paper mill SPE extracts evaluated, an endocrine disruption effect was induced in immature triploid rainbow, reaffirming the significant estrogenic effects demonstrated previously in laboratory and field experiments.

The disruption management model.

Science.gov (United States)

McAlister, James

2011-10-01

Within all organisations, business continuity disruptions present a set of dilemmas that managers may not have dealt with before in their normal daily duties. The disruption management model provides a simple but effective management tool to enable crisis management teams to stay focused on recovery in the midst of a business continuity incident. The model has four chronological primary headlines, which steer the team through a quick-time crisis decision-making process. The procedure facilitates timely, systematic, rationalised and justified decisions, which can withstand post-event scrutiny. The disruption management model has been thoroughly tested within an emergency services environment and is proven to significantly support clear and concise decision making in a business continuity context.

Sleep disruption in chronic rhinosinusitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahdavinia, Mahboobeh; Schleimer, Robert P; Keshavarzian, Ali

2017-05-01

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common disease of the upper airways and paranasal sinuses with a marked decline in quality of life (QOL). CRS patients suffer from sleep disruption at a significantly higher proportion (60 to 75%) than in the general population (8-18 %). Sleep disruption in CRS causes decreased QOL and is linked to poor functional outcomes such as impaired cognitive function and depression. Areas covered: A systematic PubMed/Medline search was done to assess the results of studies that have investigated sleep and sleep disturbances in CRS. Expert commentary: These studies reported sleep disruption in most CRS patients. The main risk factors for sleep disruption in CRS include allergic rhinitis, smoking, and high SNOT-22 total scores. The literature is inconsistent with regard to the prevalence of sleep-related disordered breathing (e.g. obstructive sleep apnea) in CRS patients. Although nasal obstruction is linked to sleep disruption, the extent of sleep disruption in CRS seems to expand beyond that expected from physical blockage of the upper airways alone. Despite the high prevalence of sleep disruption in CRS, and its detrimental effects on QOL, the literature contains a paucity of studies that have investigated the mechanisms underlying this major problem in CRS.

A hierarchical testing strategy for micropollutants in drinking water regarding their potential endocrine-disrupting effects-towards health-related indicator values.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuckelkorn, Jochen; Redelstein, Regine; Heide, Timon; Kunze, Jennifer; Maletz, Sibylle; Waldmann, Petra; Grummt, Tamara; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Hollert, Henner

2018-02-01

In Germany, micropollutants that (may) occur in drinking water are assessed by means of the health-related indicator value (HRIV concept), developed by the German Federal Environment Agency. This concept offers five threshold values (≤ 0.01 to ≤ 3 μg l -1 ) depending on availability and completeness of data regarding genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and germ cell-damaging potential. However, the HRIV concept is yet lacking integration of endocrine disruptors as one of the most prominent toxicological concerns in water bodies, including drinking water. Thresholds and proposed bioassays hence urgently need to be defined. Since endocrine disruption of ubiquitary chemicals as pharmaceuticals, industrial by-products, or pesticides is a big issue in current ecotoxicology, the aim of this study was to explore endocrine effects, i.e., estrogenic and androgenic effects, as an important, additional toxicological mode of action for the HRIV concept using a hierarchical set of well-known but improved bioassays. Results indicate that all of the 13 tested substances, industrial chemicals and combustion products (5), pharmaceuticals and medical agents (4), and pesticides and metabolites (4), have no affinity to the estrogen and androgen receptor in human U2OS cells without metabolic activation, even when dosed at their water solubility limit, while in contrast some of these substances showed estrogenic effects in the RYES assay, as predicted in pre-test QSAR analysis. Using a specifically developed S9-mix with the U2OS cells, those micropollutants, i.e., Benzo[a]pyrene, 2,4-Dichlorophenol, 3,3-Dichlorbenzidin, 3,4-Dichloranilin, and diclofenac, they show estrogenic effects at the same concentration range as for the yeast cells. Three of the drinking water-relevant chemicals, i.e., atrazine, tributyltin oxide, and diclofenac, caused effects on hormone production in the H295R assay, which can be correlated with changes in the expression of steroidogenic genes. One chemical, 17

Early Life Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Childhood Obesity and Neurodevelopment

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Joseph M.

2017-01-01

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may increase the risk of childhood diseases by disrupting hormonally mediated processes critical for growth and development during gestation, infancy, or childhood. The fetus, infant, and child may have enhanced sensitivity to environmental stressors like EDCs due to rapid development and greater exposure to some EDCs that results from their developmentally appropriate behavior, anatomy, and physiology. This review summarizes epidemiological studies examining the relations of early-life exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, triclosan, and perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) with childhood neurobehavioral disorders and obesity. The available epidemiological evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to several of these ubiquitous EDCs is associated with adverse neurobehavior (BPA and phthalates) and excess adiposity or increased risk of obesity/overweight (PFAS). Quantifying the effects of EDC mixtures, improving EDC exposure assessment, reducing bias from confounding, identifying periods of heightened vulnerability, and elucidating the presence and nature of sexually dimorphic EDC effects would result in stronger inferences from epidemiological studies. Ultimately, better estimates of the causal effects of EDC exposures on child health could help identify susceptible sub-populations and lead to public health interventions to reduce these exposures. PMID:27857130

Immune System: An Emerging Player in Mediating Effects of Endocrine Disruptors on Metabolic Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Bansal, Amita; Henao-Mejia, Jorge; Simmons, Rebecca A

2018-01-01

The incidence of metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes and obesity continues to increase. In addition to the well-known contributors to these disorders, such as food intake and sedentary lifestyle, recent research in the exposure science discipline provides evidence that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A and phthalates via multiple routes (e.g., food, drink, skin contact) also contribute to the increased risk of metabolic disorders. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can disrupt any aspect of hormone action. It is becoming increasingly clear that EDCs not only affect endocrine function but also adversely affect immune system function. In this review, we focus on human, animal, and in vitro studies that demonstrate EDC exposure induces dysfunction of the immune system, which, in turn, has detrimental effects on metabolic health. These findings highlight how the immune system is emerging as a novel player by which EDCs may mediate their effects on metabolic health. We also discuss studies highlighting mechanisms by which EDCs affect the immune system. Finally, we consider that a better understanding of the immunomodulatory roles of EDCs will provide clues to enhance metabolic function and contribute toward the long-term goal of reducing the burden of environmentally induced diabetes and obesity. Copyright © 2018 Endocrine Society.

Effects of the Endocrine-Disrupting Chemical DDT on Self-Renewal and Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Strong, Amy L.; Shi, Zhenzhen; Strong, Michael J.; Miller, David F.B.; Rusch, Douglas B.; Buechlein, Aaron M.; Flemington, Erik K.; McLachlan, John A.; Nephew, Kenneth P.

2014-01-01

Background: Although the global use of the endocrine-disrupting chemical DDT has decreased, its persistence in the environment has resulted in continued human exposure. Accumulating evidence suggests that DDT exposure has long-term adverse effects on development, yet the impact on growth and differentiation of adult stem cells remains unclear. Objectives: Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exposed to DDT were used to evaluate the impact on stem cell biology. Methods: We assessed DDT-treated MSCs for self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation potential. Whole genome RNA sequencing was performed to assess gene expression in DDT-treated MSCs. Results: MSCs exposed to DDT formed fewer colonies, suggesting a reduction in self-renewal potential. DDT enhanced both adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation, which was confirmed by increased mRNA expression of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), lipoprotein lipase (LpL), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), leptin, osteonectin, core binding factor 1 (CBFA1), and FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog (c-Fos). Expression of factors in DDT-treated cells was similar to that in estrogen-treated MSCs, suggesting that DDT may function via the estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated pathway. The coadministration of ICI 182,780 blocked the effects of DDT. RNA sequencing revealed 121 genes and noncoding RNAs to be differentially expressed in DDT-treated MSCs compared with controls cells. Conclusion: Human MSCs provide a powerful biological system to investigate and identify the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of environmental agents on stem cells and human health. MSCs exposed to DDT demonstrated profound alterations in self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, and gene expression, which may partially explain the homeostatic imbalance and increased cancer incidence among those exposed to long-term EDCs. Citation: Strong AL, Shi Z, Strong MJ, Miller DF, Rusch DB, Buechlein AM, Flemington EK

Investigating Disruption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundgaard, Stine Schmieg; Rosenstand, Claus Andreas Foss

This book shares knowledge collected from 2015 and onward within the Consortium for Digital Disruption anchored at Aalborg University (www.dd.aau.dk). Evidenced by this publication, the field of disruptive innovation research has gone through several stages of operationalizing the theory. In recent...... years, researchers are increasingly looking back towards the origins of the theory in attempts to cure it from its most obvious flaws. This is especially true for the use of the theory in making predictions about future disruptions. In order to continue to develop a valuable theory of disruption, we...... find it useful to first review what the theory of disruptive innovation initially was, how it has developed, and where we are now. A cross section of disruptive innovation literature has been reviewed in order to form a general foundation from which we might better understand the changing world...

A path forward in the debate over health impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoeller, R Thomas; Bergman, Åke; Becher, Georg; Bjerregaard, Poul; Bornman, Riana; Brandt, Ingvar; Iguchi, Taisen; Jobling, Susan; Kidd, Karen A; Kortenkamp, Andreas; Skakkebaek, Niels E; Toppari, Jorma; Vandenberg, Laura N

2014-12-22

Several recent publications reflect debate on the issue of "endocrine disrupting chemicals" (EDCs), indicating that two seemingly mutually exclusive perspectives are being articulated separately and independently. Considering this, a group of scientists with expertise in basic science, medicine and risk assessment reviewed the various aspects of the debate to identify the most significant areas of dispute and to propose a path forward. We identified four areas of debate. The first is about the definitions for terms such as "endocrine disrupting chemical", "adverse effects", and "endocrine system". The second is focused on elements of hormone action including "potency", "endpoints", "timing", "dose" and "thresholds". The third addresses the information needed to establish sufficient evidence of harm. Finally, the fourth focuses on the need to develop and the characteristics of transparent, systematic methods to review the EDC literature. Herein we identify areas of general consensus and propose resolutions for these four areas that would allow the field to move beyond the current and, in our opinion, ineffective debate.

Network Formation under the Threat of Disruption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoyer, B.

2013-01-01

The studies in this thesis are focused on the impact the presence of a network disruptor has on network formation models. In particular, we build two theoretical models to study the effect of network disruption on network formation and test the effect network disruption has on equilibrium selection

Disruption mitigation studies in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, P.L.; Kellman, A.G.; Evans, T.E.

1999-01-01

Data on the discharge behavior, thermal loads, halo currents, and runaway electrons have been obtained in disruptions on the DIII-D tokamak. These experiments have also evaluated techniques to mitigate the disruptions while minimizing runaway electron production. Experiments injecting cryogenic impurity killer pellets of neon and argon and massive amounts of helium gas have successfully reduced these disruption effects. The halo current generation, scaling, and mitigation are understood and are in good agreement with predictions of a semianalytic model. Results from killer pellet injection have been used to benchmark theoretical models of the pellet ablation and energy loss. Runaway electrons are often generated by the pellets and new runaway generation mechanisms, modifications of the standard Dreicer process, have been found to explain the runaways. Experiments with the massive helium gas puff have also effectively mitigated disruptions without the formation of runaway electrons that can occur with killer pellets

Management of disruptive behaviour within nursing work environments: a comprehensive systematic review of the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers-Clark, Catherine; Pearce, Susanne; Cameron, Michelle

2009-01-01

methods as well as opinion based papers were considered for this systematic review.Types of outcomes - Outcomes were assessed in relation to the effect of interventions on patient safety and quality of care, quality of team work and work environment, levels of job satisfaction and nursing staff morale as well as levels of staff retention. Searches were conducted including any published and unpublished material, including grey literature, in the English language. A search of CINAHL, Medline, Medline-in Process, PsychINFO, Emerald and TRIP was undertaken using specifically defined terms and synonyms. Scirus, OpenSIGLE and Google Scholar were also searched. A search of electronic dissertations via Dissertation Abstracts was undertaken. Each paper was assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological quality prior to inclusion in the review using an appropriate critical appraisal instrument from the System for the Unified Management, Assessment and Review of Information' (SUMARI) developed by JBI. Data was identified as quantitative or qualitative data or opinion based and data extraction tools developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute were used to extract the data, where possible. Where this was not possible, findings were presented in narrative form. Data were synthesised according to their methodological approach. Qualitative data were pooled using the QARI instrument and a set of statements were developed that represented a broader overview of a specific aggregation RESULTS: A total of 24 papers, descriptive quantitative, qualitative and textual in approach, were included in the review. The majority of the papers were textual, with a variety of expert opinion provided in relation to managing disruptive clinician behaviour. Comprehensive review of the literature identified that there has been very little research evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to manage disruptive clinician behaviour in nursing, or more broadly within the health care system. A handful

Disruption studies on ASDEX upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pautasso, G.; Egorov, S.; Finken, K.H.

2003-01-01

Disruptions generate large thermal and mechanical stresses on the tokamak components and are occasionally responsible for damages to the machine. For a future reactor disruptions have a significant impact on the design since all loading conditions must be analyzed in accordance with stricter design criteria (due to safety or difficult maintenance). Therefore the uncertainties affecting the predicted stresses must be reduced as much as possible with a more comprehensive set of measurements and analyses in this generation of experimental machines, and avoidance/predictive methods must be developed further. Disruption studies on ASDEX Upgrade are focused on these subjects, namely on: (1) understanding the physical mechanisms leading to this phenomenon in order to learn to avoid it or to predict its occurrence and to mitigate its effects; (2) analyzing the effects of disruptions on the machine to determine the functional dependence of the thermal and mechanical loads upon the discharge parameters. This allows, firstly, to dimension or reinforce the machine components to withstand these loads and, secondly, to extrapolate them to tokamaks still in the design phase; (3) learning to mitigate the consequence of disruptions, i.e. thermal loads, mechanical forces and runaways with injection of impurity pellets or gas. This paper is focused on most recent results concerning points, i.e. on the analysis of the degree of asymmetry of the forces and on the use of impurity puff for mitigation

Female reproductive disorders: the roles of endocrine-disrupting compounds and developmental timing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crain, D.A.; Janssen, S.J.; Edwards, T.M.

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the possible role of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) on female reproductive disorders emphasizing developmental plasticity and the complexity of endocrine-dependent ontogeny of reproductive organs. Declining conception rates and the high incidence of female reproducti...... reproductive dysfunction together with tools to assess the specific exposures and methods to block their effects. This review of the EDC literature as it relates to female health provides an important platform on which women's health can be improved Udgivelsesdato: 2008/10...

Effects of physical and mental health on relationship satisfaction: a dyadic, longitudinal examination of couples facing prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Kaile M; Ranby, Krista W; Wooldridge, Jennalee S; Robertson, Cary; Lipkus, Isaac M

2016-08-01

Prostate cancer may affect quality of life in men diagnosed as well as their spouses. Changes in health may disrupt the couple's relationship functioning which disrupts recovery. This study examined how mental and physical health relates to relationship satisfaction for couples at diagnosis through the year following treatment. Patients with stage I-II prostate cancer and their spouses (N = 159 couples) were recruited from a urology clinic and completed questionnaires at diagnosis, 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months post prostatectomy on demographics, mental and physical health quality of life, and relationship satisfaction. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model was employed to examine effects of each partners' mental and physical health on their own and their partner's relationship satisfaction. Patients and spouses had declined mental and physical health at 1 month post-surgery. Health improved at 6 and 12 months but did not fully return to pre-surgery levels. Actor effects showed that patient's physical health consistently predicted own relationship satisfaction. Both patient's and spouse's mental health consistently related to their own relationship satisfaction. Partner effects showed that patient's and spouse's physical health had an effect on each other's relationship satisfaction at 1 month. Spouse's mental health predicted patient's relationship satisfaction throughout the year following treatment. The effects of patient and spouse mental and physical health quality of life on their own as well as their partner's relationship satisfaction differed across time which will inform psychosocial interventions for couples with prostate cancer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The disruptive effects of mastitis on reproduction and fertility in dairy cows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Wolfenson

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Mastitis (intramammary infection causes the deterioration of ovarian follicular responses in cows, resulting in low fertility. The shortterm, acute clinical form of mastitis has a time-dependent disruptive effect on conception rate. It effectively lowers conception rate if events occur mainly 10 days before to 30 days after artificial insemination. Long-term subclinical mastitis is widely spread in commercial herds. Although it is less severe than clinical mastitis, its long-term nature causes a more pronounced decrease in conception rate. Even mild elevation of somatic cell count in subclinical cows significantly lowers conception rate. Disrupted follicular responses include depression of steroid production in the preovulatory follicle associated with low and delayed preovulatory luteinizing hormone surge, resulting in delayed ovulation in onethird of subclinical cows. Mastitis, clinical and subclinical, also impairs oocyte competence, reflected in low production of blastocysts. The corpus luteum seems to be insensitive to mastitis, possible due to the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs when mastitis is first diagnosed.

Digital Disruption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosenstand, Claus Andreas Foss

det digitale domæne ud over det niveau, der kendetegner den nuværende debat, så præsenteres der ny viden om digital disruption. Som noget nyt udlægges Clayton Christens teori om disruptiv innovation med et særligt fokus på små organisationers mulighed for eksponentiel vækst. Specielt udfoldes...... forholdet mellem disruption og den stadig accelererende digitale udvikling i konturerne til ny teoridannelse om digital disruption. Bogens undertitel ”faretruende og fascinerende forandringer” peger på, at der er behov for en nuanceret debat om digital disruption i modsætning til den tone, der er slået an i...... videre kalder et ”disruption-råd”. Faktisk er rådet skrevet ind i 2016 regeringsgrundlaget for VLK-regeringen. Disruption af organisationer er ikke et nyt fænomen; men hastigheden, hvormed det sker, er stadig accelererende. Årsagen er den globale mega-trend: Digitalisering. Og derfor er specielt digital...

Global dual-sourcing strategy: is it effective in mitigating supply disruption?

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Mustaffa, Nurakmal

2015-01-01

Most firms are still failing to think strategically and systematically about managing supply disruption risk and most of the supply chain management efforts are focused on reducing supply chain operation costs rather than managing disruption. Some innovative firms have taken steps to implement supply chain risk management (SCRM). Inventory management is part of SCRM because supply disruptions negatively affect the reliability of deliveries from suppliers and the costs associate...

β limit disruptions in the TFTR tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fredrickson, E.D.; McGuire, K.; Janos, A.; Bell, M.; Budny, R.V.; Bush, C.E.; Manickam, J.; Mynick, H.; Nazikian, R.; Taylor, G.

1994-11-01

A disruptive β limit (β = plasma pressure/magnetic pressure) is observed in high performance plasmas in TFTR. The MHD character of these disruptions differs substantially from the disruptions in high density plasmas (density limit disruptions) on TFTR. The high β disruptions can occur with less than a milliseconds warning in the form of a fast growing precursor. The precursor appears to be an external kink or internal (m,n)=(1,1) kink strongly coupled through finite β effects and toroidal terms to higher m components. It does not have the open-quote cold bubble close-quote structure found in density limit disruptions. There is also no evidence for a change in the internal inductance, i.e., a major reconnection of the flux, at the time of the thermal quench

TRIENNIAL REPRODUCTION SYMPOSIUM: Environmental programming of reproduction during fetal life: Effects of intrauterine position and the endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol A.

Science.gov (United States)

Vom Saal, F S

2016-07-01

During critical periods in fetal life, there is an increased vulnerability to perturbations in endocrine function due to environmental factors. Small shifts in concentrations of hormones that regulate the differentiation of organs, such as estradiol and testosterone, can have permanent effects on morphology, enzymatic activity, and hormone receptors in tissues as well as neurobehavioral effects. These changes can lead to effects throughout life, including impacting the risk for various diseases (referred to as the Developmental Origins of Adult Health and Disease hypothesis). The intrauterine position phenomenon concerns the consequence for fetuses of randomly implanting next to embryos of the same or opposite sex. An intrauterine position next to males vs. females results in small differences in serum testosterone and estradiol during fetal life that are associated with marked effects on life history (such as lifetime fecundity) in both males and females born in litters (mice, rats, gerbils, rabbits, and swine) as well as human twins. Research with mice subsequently demonstrated that a very small experimental change in fetal serum estradiol levels altered organogenesis and caused permanent changes in organ function. Taken together, these findings led to the hypothesis that environmental chemicals that mimic or antagonize hormone action (e.g., endocrine disrupting chemicals) could also be causing harm at very low exposures (the "low dose" hypothesis) within the range of exposure of humans, domesticated animals, and wildlife. There is now extensive evidence from experimental laboratory animals, sheep, and humans that fetal exposure to very low (presumably safe) doses of the endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA), which exhibits estrogenic activity, can cause permanent changes that can increase the risk of a wide array of diseases. The reasons that federal regulatory agencies are ignoring the massive literature showing adverse effects of BPA and other

Disrupted Sleep : From Molecules to Cognition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Someren, Eus J W; Cirelli, Chiara; Dijk, Derk-Jan; Van Cauter, Eve; Schwartz, Sophie; Chee, Michael W L

2015-01-01

UNLABELLED: Although the functions of sleep remain to be fully elucidated, it is clear that there are far-reaching effects of its disruption, whether by curtailment for a single night, by a few hours each night over a long period, or by disruption in sleep continuity. Epidemiological and

Disruption?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2016-01-01

This is a short video on the theme disruption and entrepreneurship. It takes the form of an interview with John Murray......This is a short video on the theme disruption and entrepreneurship. It takes the form of an interview with John Murray...

Disruptive technology disorder: A past, present, and future neurologic syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Donald F

2017-07-25

Based upon an analysis of 6 major historical technological advances over the last 150 years, a new syndrome, disruptive technology disorder (DTD), is introduced. DTD describes the human health ailments that accompany the implementation of disruptive technologies. Elevator sickness, railway spine, and bicycle face are representative examples. Though the underlying causative disruptive technologies may differ, many neurologic symptoms (headache, dizziness, weakness) are common to multiple DTDs. Born of technology-driven societal change, DTDs manifest as a complex interplay between biological and psychological symptoms. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

Effects of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake on Women's Reproductive Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Behrman, Julia Andrea; Weitzman, Abigail

2016-03-01

This article explores the effects of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on women's reproductive health, using geocoded data from the 2005 and 2012 Haiti Demographic and Health Surveys. We use geographic variation in the destructiveness of the earthquake to conduct a difference-in-difference analysis. Results indicate that heightened earthquake intensity reduced use of injectables-the most widely used modern contraceptive method in Haiti-and increased current pregnancy and current unwanted pregnancy. Analysis of impact pathways suggests that severe earthquake intensity significantly increased women's unmet need for family planning and reduced their access to condoms. The earthquake also affected other factors that influence reproductive health, including women's ability to negotiate condom use in their partnerships. Our findings highlight how disruptions to health care services following a natural disaster can have negative consequences for women's reproductive health. © 2016 The Population Council, Inc.

Disrupted Sleep: From Molecules to Cognition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Someren, E.J.; Cirelli, C.; Dijk, D.J.; Van Cauter, E.; Schwartz, S.; Chee, M.W.L.

2015-01-01

Although the functions of sleep remain to be fully elucidated, it is clear that there are far-reaching effects of its disruption, whether by curtailment for a single night, by a few hours each night over a long period, or by disruption in sleep continuity. Epidemiological and experimental studies of

Effects of triazole fungicides on androgenic disruption and CYP3A4 enzyme activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Xuan; Pan, Liumeng; Wang, Jiaying; Lu, Liping; Yan, Weilin; Zhu, Yanye; Xu, Yiwen; Guo, Ming; Zhuang, Shulin

2017-03-01

Triazole fungicides are widely used as broad-spectrum fungicides, non-steroidal antiestrogens and for various industrial applications. Their residues have been frequently detected in multiple environmental and human matrices. The increasingly reported toxicity incidents have led triazole fungicides as emerging contaminants of environmental and public health concern. However, whether triazole fungicides behave as endocrine disruptors by directly mimicking environmental androgens/antiandrogens or exerting potential androgenic disruption indirectly through the inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzyme activity is yet an unresolved question. We herein evaluated five commonly used triazole fungicides including bitertanol, hexaconazole, penconazole, tebuconazole and uniconazole for the androgenic and anti-androgenic activity using two-hybrid recombinant human androgen receptor (AR) yeast bioassay and comparatively evaluated their effects on enzymatic activity of CYP3A4 by P450-Glo™ CYP3A4 bioassay. All five fungicides showed moderate anti-androgenic activity toward human AR with the IC 50 ranging from 9.34 μM to 79.85 μM. The anti-androgenic activity remained no significant change after the metabolism mediated by human liver microsomes. These fungicides significantly inhibited the activity of CYP3A4 at the environmental relevant concentrations and the potency ranks as tebuconazole > uniconazole > hexaconazole > penconazole > bitertanol with the corresponding IC 50 of 0.81 μM, 0.93 μM, 1.27 μM, 2.22 μM, and 2.74 μM, respectively. We found that their anti-androgenic activity and the inhibition potency toward CYP3A4 inhibition was significantly correlated (R 2 between 0.83 and 0.97, p pesticides and structurally similar chemicals should fully consider potential androgenic disrupting effects and the influences on the activity of CYP450s. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in teleosts and amphibians: Endocrine disruption and its consequences to natural populations

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, J.A.; Patino, R.

2011-01-01

Teleosts and pond-breeding amphibians may be exposed to a wide variety of anthropogenic, waterborne contaminants that affect the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Because thyroid hormone is required for their normal development and reproduction, the potential impact of HPT-disrupting contaminants on natural teleost and amphibian populations raises special concern. There is laboratory evidence indicating that persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, pharmaceutical and personal care products, agricultural chemicals, and aerospace products may alter HPT activity, development, and reproduction in teleosts and amphibians. However, at present there is no evidence to clearly link contaminant-induced HPT alterations to impairments in teleost or amphibian population health in the field. Also, with the exception of perchlorate for which laboratory studies have shown a direct link between HPT disruption and adverse impacts on development and reproductive physiology, little is known about if or how other HPT-disrupting contaminants affect organismal performance. Future field studies should focus on establishing temporal associations between the presence of HPT-disrupting chemicals, the occurrence of HPT alterations, and adverse effects on development and reproduction in natural populations; as well as determining how complex mixtures of HPT contaminants affect organismal and population health. ?? 2010 Elsevier Inc.

The hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid axis in teleosts and amphibians: Endocrine disruption and its consequences to natural populations

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, J.A.; Patino, Reynaldo

2011-01-01

Teleosts and pond-breeding amphibians may be exposed to a wide variety of anthropogenic, waterborne contaminants that affect the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Because thyroid hormone is required for their normal development and reproduction, the potential impact of HPT-disrupting contaminants on natural teleost and amphibian populations raises special concern. There is laboratory evidence indicating that persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, pharmaceutical and personal care products, agricultural chemicals, and aerospace products may alter HPT activity, development, and reproduction in teleosts and amphibians. However, at present there is no evidence to clearly link contaminant-induced HPT alterations to impairments in teleost or amphibian population health in the field. Also, with the exception of perchlorate for which laboratory studies have shown a direct link between HPT disruption and adverse impacts on development and reproductive physiology, little is known about if or how other HPT-disrupting contaminants affect organismal performance. Future field studies should focus on establishing temporal associations between the presence of HPT-disrupting chemicals, the occurrence of HPT alterations, and adverse effects on development and reproduction in natural populations; as well as determining how complex mixtures of HPT contaminants affect organismal and population health.

Glutathione-Disrupted Biofilms of Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains Exhibit an Enhanced Antibiotic Effect and a Novel Biofilm Transcriptome

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Theerthankar; Ibugo, Amaye; Buckle, Edwina; Manefield, Mike; Manos, Jim

2016-01-01

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections result in high morbidity and mortality rates for individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF), with premature death often occurring. These infections are complicated by the formation of biofilms in the sputum. Antibiotic therapy is stymied by antibiotic resistance of the biofilm matrix, making novel antibiofilm strategies highly desirable. Within P. aeruginosa biofilms, the redox factor pyocyanin enhances biofilm integrity by intercalating with extracellular DNA. The antioxidant glutathione (GSH) reacts with pyocyanin, disrupting intercalation. This study investigated GSH disruption by assaying the physiological effects of GSH and DNase I on biofilms of clinical CF isolates grown in CF artificial sputum medium (ASMDM+). Confocal scanning laser microscopy showed that 2 mM GSH, alone or combined with DNase I, significantly disrupted immature (24-h) biofilms of Australian epidemic strain (AES) isogens AES-1R and AES-1M. GSH alone greatly disrupted mature (72-h) AES-1R biofilms, resulting in significant differential expression of 587 genes, as indicated by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis. Upregulated systems included cyclic diguanylate and pyoverdine biosynthesis, the type VI secretion system, nitrate metabolism, and translational machinery. Biofilm disruption with GSH revealed a cellular physiology distinct from those of mature and dispersed biofilms. RNA-seq results were validated by biochemical and quantitative PCR assays. Biofilms of a range of CF isolates disrupted with GSH and DNase I were significantly more susceptible to ciprofloxacin, and increased antibiotic effectiveness was achieved by increasing the GSH concentration. This study demonstrated that GSH, alone or with DNase I, represents an effective antibiofilm treatment when combined with appropriate antibiotics, pending in vivo studies. PMID:27161630

Emerging and Disruptive Technologies

OpenAIRE

Kricka, Larry J.

2016-01-01

Several emerging or disruptive technologies can be identified that might, at some point in the future, displace established laboratory medicine technologies and practices. These include increased automation in the form of robots, 3-D printing, technology convergence (e.g., plug-in glucose meters for smart phones), new point-of-care technologies (e.g., contact lenses with sensors, digital and wireless enabled pregnancy tests) and testing locations (e.g., Retail Health Clinics, new at-home test...

Comparison of methods for calculating the health costs of endocrine disrupters: a case study on triclosan.

Science.gov (United States)

Prichystalova, Radka; Fini, Jean-Baptiste; Trasande, Leonardo; Bellanger, Martine; Demeneix, Barbara; Maxim, Laura

2017-06-09

Socioeconomic analysis is currently used in the Europe Union as part of the regulatory process in Regulation Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), with the aim of assessing and managing risks from dangerous chemicals. The political impact of the socio-economic analysis is potentially high in the authorisation and restriction procedures, however, current socio-economic analysis dossiers submitted under REACH are very heterogeneous in terms of methodology used and quality. Furthermore, the economic literature is not very helpful for regulatory purposes, as most published calculations of health costs associated with chemical exposures use epidemiological studies as input data, but such studies are rarely available for most substances. The quasi-totality of the data used in the REACH dossiers comes from toxicological studies. This paper assesses the use of the integrated probabilistic risk assessment, based on toxicological data, for the calculation of health costs associated with endocrine disrupting effects of triclosan. The results are compared with those obtained using the population attributable fraction, based on epidemiological data. The results based on the integrated probabilistic risk assessment indicated that 4894 men could have reproductive deficits based on the decreased vas deferens weights observed in rats, 0 cases of changed T 3 levels, and 0 cases of girls with early pubertal development. The results obtained with the Population Attributable Fraction method showed 7,199,228 cases of obesity per year, 281,923 girls per year with early pubertal development and 88,957 to 303,759 cases per year with increased total T 3 hormone levels. The economic costs associated with increased BMI due to TCS exposure could be calculated. Direct health costs were estimated at €5.8 billion per year. The two methods give very different results for the same effects. The choice of a toxicological-based or an epidemiological-based method in the

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Disease Susceptibility

Science.gov (United States)

Schug, Thaddeus T.; Janesick, Amanda; Blumberg, Bruce; Heindel, Jerrold J.

2011-01-01

Environmental chemicals have significant impacts on biological systems. Chemical exposures during early stages of development can disrupt normal patterns of development and thus dramatically alter disease susceptibility later in life. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body's endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic and immune effects in humans. A wide range of substances, both natural and man-made, are thought to cause endocrine disruption, including pharmaceuticals, dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, DDT and other pesticides, and components of plastics such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. EDCs are found in many everyday products– including plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food additives, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. EDCs interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, activity, or elimination of natural hormones. This interference can block or mimic hormone action, causing a wide range of effects. This review focuses on the mechanisms and modes of action by which EDCs alter hormone signaling. It also includes brief overviews of select disease endpoints associated with endocrine disruption. PMID:21899826

Disruption mitigation on Tore Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, G.; Sourd, F.; Saint-Laurent, F.; Bucalossi, J.; Eriksson, L.G.

2004-01-01

During disruptions, the plasma energy is lost on the first wall within 1 ms, forces up to hundred tons are applied to the structures and kA of electrons are accelerated up to 50 MeV (runaway electrons). Already sources of concern in present day tokamaks, extrapolation to ITER shows the necessity of mitigation procedures, to avoid serious damages to in-vessel components. Massive gas injection was proposed, and encouraging tests have been done on Textor and DIII-D. Similar experiments where performed on Tore Supra, with the goal to validate their effect on runaway electrons, observed during the majority of disruptions. 0.1 mole of helium was injected within 5 ms in ohmic plasmas, up to 1.2 MA, either stable, or in a pre-disruptive phase (argon puffing). Beneficial effects where obtained: reduction of the current fall rate and eddy currents, total disappearance of runaway electrons and easy recovery for the next pulse, without noticeable helium pollution of following plasmas. Analysis of the 4 ms period between injection and disruption indicates that to reach these goals, one need to inject enough helium to keep it only partially ionised. It corresponds to 0.1 g for Tore Supra, and extrapolate to hundreds of grams for ITER. (authors)

Disruption mitigation on Tore Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, G.; Sourd, F.; Saint-Laurent, F.; Bucalossi, J.; Eriksson, L.G.

2005-01-01

During disruptions, the plasma energy is lost on the first wall within 1 ms, forces up to hundred tons are applied to the structures and kA of electrons are accelerated up to 50 MeV (runaway electrons). Already sources of concern in present day tokamaks, extrapolation to ITER shows the necessity of mitigation procedures, to avoid serious damages to in-vessel components. Massive gas injection was proposed, and encouraging tests have been done on Textor and DIII-D. Similar experiments where performed on Tore Supra, with the goal to validate their effect on runaway electrons, observed during the majority of disruptions. 0.1 mole of helium was injected within 5 ms in ohmic plasmas, up to 1.2 MA, either stable, or in a pre-disruptive phase (argon puffing). Beneficial effects where obtained: reduction of the current fall rate and eddy currents, total disappearance of runaway electrons and easy recovery for the next pulse, without noticeable helium pollution of following plasmas. Analysis of the 4 ms period between injection and disruption indicates that to reach these goals, one need to inject enough helium to keep it only partially ionised. It correspond to 0.1 g for Tore Supra, and extrapolate to hundred's of grams for ITER. (author)

Putative effects of endocrine disrupters on pubertal development in the human

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Teilmann, Grete; Juul, Anders; Skakkebaek, Niels E

2002-01-01

developing countries to industrialized countries often develop precocious puberty. Not only precocious puberty, but also delayed puberty can, theoretically, be associated with exposure to endocrine disrupters. While it is very plausible that endocrine disrupters may disturb pubertal development...

The Relative Ineffectiveness of Criminal Network Disruption

Science.gov (United States)

Duijn, Paul A. C.; Kashirin, Victor; Sloot, Peter M. A.

2014-01-01

Researchers, policymakers and law enforcement agencies across the globe struggle to find effective strategies to control criminal networks. The effectiveness of disruption strategies is known to depend on both network topology and network resilience. However, as these criminal networks operate in secrecy, data-driven knowledge concerning the effectiveness of different criminal network disruption strategies is very limited. By combining computational modeling and social network analysis with unique criminal network intelligence data from the Dutch Police, we discovered, in contrast to common belief, that criminal networks might even become ‘stronger’, after targeted attacks. On the other hand increased efficiency within criminal networks decreases its internal security, thus offering opportunities for law enforcement agencies to target these networks more deliberately. Our results emphasize the importance of criminal network interventions at an early stage, before the network gets a chance to (re-)organize to maximum resilience. In the end disruption strategies force criminal networks to become more exposed, which causes successful network disruption to become a long-term effort. PMID:24577374

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in mixture and obesity, diabetes and related metabolic disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Le Magueresse-Battistoni, Brigitte; Labaronne, Emmanuel; Vidal, Hubert; Naville, Danielle

2017-01-01

Obesity and associated metabolic disorders represent a major societal challenge in health and quality of life with large psychological consequences in addition to physical disabilities. They are also one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Although, different etiologic factors including excessive food intake and reduced physical activity have been well identified, they cannot explain the kinetics of epidemic evolution of obesity and diabetes with prevalence rates reaching pandemic proportions. Interestingly, convincing data have shown that environmental pollutants, specifically those endowed with endocrine disrupting activities, could contribute to the etiology of these multifactorial metabolic disorders. Within this review, we will recapitulate characteristics of endocrine disruption. We will demonstrate that metabolic disorders could originate from endocrine disruption with a particular focus on convincing data from the literature. Eventually, we will present how handling an original mouse model of chronic exposition to a mixture of pollutants allowed demonstrating that a mixture of pollutants each at doses beyond their active dose could induce substantial deleterious effects on several metabolic end-points. This proof-of-concept study, as well as other studies on mixtures of pollutants, stresses the needs for revisiting the current threshold model used in risk assessment which does not take into account potential effects of mixtures containing pollutants at environmental doses, e.g., the real life exposure. Certainly, more studies are necessary to better determine the nature of the chemicals to which humans are exposed and at which level, and their health impact. As well, research studies on substitute products are essential to identify harmless molecules. PMID:28588754

Using mobile health technology to improve behavioral skill implementation through homework in evidence-based parenting intervention for disruptive behavior disorders in youth: study protocol for intervention development and evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chacko, Anil; Isham, Andrew; Cleek, Andrew F; McKay, Mary M

2016-01-01

Disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) (oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD)) are prevalent, costly, and oftentimes chronic psychiatric disorders of childhood. Evidence-based interventions that focus on assisting parents to utilize effective skills to modify children's problematic behaviors are first-line interventions for the treatment of DBDs. Although efficacious, the effects of these interventions are often attenuated by poor implementation of the skills learned during treatment by parents, often referred to as between-session homework. The multiple family group (MFG) model is an evidence-based, skills-based intervention model for the treatment of DBDs in school-age youth residing in urban, socio-economically disadvantaged communities. While data suggest benefits of MFG on DBD behaviors, similar to other skill-based interventions, the effects of MFG are mitigated by the poor homework implementation, despite considerable efforts to support parents in homework implementation. This paper focuses on the study protocol for the development and preliminary evaluation of a theory-based, smartphone mobile health (mHealth) application (My MFG) to support homework implementation by parents participating in MFG. This paper describes a study design proposal that begins with a theoretical model, uses iterative design processes to develop My MFG to support homework implementation in MFG through a series of pilot studies, and a small-scale pilot randomised controlled trial to determine if the intervention can demonstrate change (preliminary efficacy) of My MFG in outpatient mental health settings in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. This preliminary study aims to understand the implementation of mHealth methods to improve the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions in routine outpatient mental health care settings for youth with disruptive behavior and their families. Developing methods to augment the benefits of evidence

Uptake of chemicals from indoor air: Pathways and health effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bekö, Gabriel

2016-01-01

Building occupants are exposed to manufactured chemicals. Exposure in the indoor environment can occur via non-dietary ingestion (e.g. indoor dust), inhalation and dermal absorption including dermal uptake directly from air. The extent of dermal uptake from air has been previously studied...... for volatile organic compounds (VOC). Not much is however known about its role for semivolatile organics (SVOC) and therefore this exposure pathway is often neglected in exposure assessments. Dermal uptake received attention with regards to contact transfer from contaminated surfaces. Recent modeling efforts...... intake from inhalation. Further experiments have been conducted with nicotine and the results are similar. Some of the SVOCs present indoors may have adverse health effects or are categorized as potential endocrine-disrupting compounds. It has been suggested that the health effects of a chemical may...

Parents’ Education, Personality, and Their Children’s Disruptive Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Purwati

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The aims of this study were (1 to understand the effects of parents' education and personality aspects on child disruptive behavior, (2 to know the correlation between the parents' personality aspects (N-Deference, N-Succorance, NDominance and N-Aggression and the children' disruptive behavior. A quantitative approach to the correlational design was employed. Three variables were studied, namely parents' education and personality as the independent variables and child disruptive behavior as the independent variable. The applied instruments are questionnaires, (2 personality test (EPPS, and (3 observation with time and interval samplings approach. The population is from Magelang, Indonesia, while the participants are 100 children at the age of 5 – 7 years and their parents. The results show that (1 there are some effects of parents' education and personality on child disruptive behavior, and (2 aggressive aspects of the parents' personality gave great effects on child disruptive behavior, followed by the succorance, deference, and at the lowest level, the dominance aspects

Mechanical algal disruption for efficient biodiesel extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Krehbiel, Joel David

Biodiesel from algae provides several benefits over current biodiesel feedstocks, but the energy requirements of processing algae into a useable fuel are currently so high as to be prohibitive. One route to improving this is via disruption of the cells prior to lipid extraction, which can significantly increase energy recovery. Unfortunately, several obvious disruption techniques require more energy than can be gained. This dissertation examines the use of microbubbles to improve mechanical disruption of algal cells using experimental, theoretical, and computational methods. New laboratory experiments show that effective ultrasonic disruption of algae is achieved by adding microbubbles to an algal solution. The configuration studied flows the solution through a tube and insonifies a small section with a high-pressure ultrasound wave. Previous biomedical research has shown effective cell membrane damage on animal cells with similar methods, but the present research is the first to extend such study to algal cells. Results indicate that disruption increases with peak negative pressure between 1.90 and 3.07 MPa and with microbubble concentration up to 12.5 x 107 bubbles/ml. Energy estimates of this process suggest that it requires only one-fourth the currently most-efficient laboratory-scale disruption process. Estimates of the radius near each bubble that causes disruption (i.e. the disruption radius) suggest that it increases with peak negative pressure and is near 9--20 microm for all cases tested. It is anticipated that these procedures can be designed for better efficiency and efficacy, which will be facilitated by identifying the root mechanisms of the bubble-induced disruption. We therefore examine whether bubble expansion alone creates sufficient cell deformation for cell rupture. The spherically-symmetric Marmottant model for bubble dynamics allows estimation of the flow regime under experimental conditions. Bubble expansion is modeled as a point source of

Maternal and Early-Life Circadian Disruption Have Long-Lasting Negative Consequences on Offspring Development and Adult Behavior in Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Smarr, Benjamin L; Grant, Azure D; Perez, Luz; Zucker, Irving; Kriegsfeld, Lance J

2017-06-12

Modern life involves chronic circadian disruption through artificial light and these disruptions are associated with numerous mental and physical health maladies. Because the developing nervous system is particularly vulnerable to perturbation, we hypothesized that early-life circadian disruption would negatively impact offspring development and adult function. Pregnant mice were subjected to chronic circadian disruption from the time of uterine implantation through weaning. To dissociate in utero from postnatal effects, a subset of litters was cross-fostered at birth from disrupted dams to control dams and vice versa. Postnatal circadian disruption was associated with reduced adult body mass, social avoidance, and hyperactivity. In utero disruption resulted in more pronounced social avoidance and hyperactivity, phenotypes not abrogated by cross-fostering to control mothers. To examine whether circadian disruption affects development by acting as an early life stressor, we examined birthweight, litter size, maternal cannibalism, and epigenetic modifications. None of these variables differed between control and disrupted dams, or resembled patterns seen following early-life stress. Our findings indicate that developmental chronic circadian disruption permanently affects somatic and behavioral development in a stage-of-life-dependent manner, independent of early life stress mechanisms, underscoring the importance of temporal structure during development, both in utero and early postnatal life.

Erosion products in disruption simulation experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Safronov, V.; Arkhipov, N.; Bakhtin, V.; Barsuk, V.; Kurkin, S.; Mironova, E.; Toporkov, D.; Vasenin, S.; Zhitlukhin, A.; Arkhipov, I.; Werle, H.; Wuerz, H.

1998-01-01

Erosion of divertor materials under tokamak disruption event presents a serious problem of ITER technology. Erosion restricts the divertor lifetime and leads to production of redeposited layers of the material retaining large amount of tritium, which is a major safety issue for future fusion reactor. Since ITER disruptive heat loads are not achievable in existing tokamaks, material erosion is studied in special simulation experiments. Till now the simulation experiments have focused mainly on investigation of shielding effect and measurement of erosion rate. In the present work the properties of eroded and redeposited graphite are studied under condition typical for hard ITER disruption. (author)

Why looking at social media at work disrupts your concentration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendricks, Vincent Fella; Wiewiura, Joachim Schmidt

2016-01-01

You might have heard of the bystander-effect, but what about the Pinball-effect, which disrupts your attention on important tasks?......You might have heard of the bystander-effect, but what about the Pinball-effect, which disrupts your attention on important tasks?...

On the rumors about the silent spring: review of the scientific evidence linking occupational and environmental pesticide exposure to endocrine disruption health effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cocco Pierluigi

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Occupational exposure to some pesticides, and particularly DBCP and chlordecone, may adversely affect male fertility. However, apart from the therapeutic use of diethylstilbestrol, the threat to human reproduction posed by "endocrine disrupting" environmental contaminants has not been supported by epidemiological evidence thus far. As it concerns other endocrine effects described in experimental animals, only thyroid inhibition following occupational exposure to amitrole and mancozeb has been confirmed in humans. Cancer of the breast, endometrium, ovary, prostate, testis, and thyroid are hormone-dependent, which fostered research on the potential risk associated with occupational and environmental exposure to the so-called endocrine-disrupting pesticides. The most recent studies have ruled out the hypothesis of DDT derivatives as responsible for excess risks of cancer of the reproductive organs. Still, we cannot exclude a role for high level exposure to o,p'-DDE, particularly in post-menopausal ER+ breast cancer. On the other hand, other organochlorine pesticides and triazine herbicides require further investigation for a possible etiologic role in some hormone-dependent cancers.

Late effects of early exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals in rats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boberg, Julie; Hass, Ulla

2017-01-01

Endocrine disrupting compounds may interfere with tissues at critical developmental stages and give rise to cancer later in life. This talk will focus on early-life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals which is associated with increased risk for carcinogenesis in mammary and prostate glands...

Disruptions in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wesson, J.A.; Gill, R.D.; Hugon, M.

1989-01-01

In JET, both high density and low-q operation are limited by disruptions. The density limit disruptions are caused initially by impurity radiation. This causes a contraction of the plasma temperature profile and leads to an MHD unstable configuration. There is evidence of magnetic island formation resulting in minor disruptions. After several minor disruptions, a major disruption with a rapid energy quench occurs. This event takes place in two stages. In the first stage there is a loss of energy from the central region. In the second stage there is a more rapid drop to a very low temperature, apparently due to a dramatic increase in impurity radiation. The final current decay takes place in the resulting cold plasma. During the growth of the MHD instability the initially rotating mode is brought to rest. This mode locking is believed to be due to an electromagnetic interaction with the vacuum vessel and external magnetic field asymmetries. The low-q disruptions are remarkable for the precision with which they occur at q ψ = 2. These disruptions do not have extended precursors or minor disruptions. The instability grows and locks rapidly. The energy quench and current decay are generally similar to those of the density limit. (author). 43 refs, 35 figs, 3 tabs

Pesticides Provoke Endocrine Disruption A Review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aly, M.A.S.

2006-01-01

Increasing numbers of environmental chemicals,including pesticides, have the ability to produce endocrine disruption by various mechanisms. such substances may affect hormone secretion from an endocrine gland and may alter the rate of hormone elimination from the body. environmental chemicals may also disrupt regulatory feedback mechanisms that exist between two endocrine organs; or may interact with a hormone receptor either by mimicking or antagonizing the actions of the natural hormone. these chemicals are referred to endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDC's). EDC's act to alter the blood hormone levels or the subsequent action of hormones . the use of radioimmunoassay(RIA) constitutes a superior and unrivalled tool for the determination and quantification of hormones.the endocrine system participates in virtually all important functions of an organism, such as sexual differentiation before birth, sexual maturation during puberty, reproduction in adulthood, growth, metabolism, digestion, cardiovascular function and excretion. hormones are also implicated in the etiology of certain cancers of hormone- dependent tissues, such as those of the breast, uterus, and prostate gland. therefore, endocrine disruption can potentially produce widespread effects. scientists should not stick to the past belief which presumes that pesticides have limited effect on some hormones. A paradigm shift in which a wider vision of understanding of the wholesome complex effects of pesticides on the whole body rather than a narrow limited understanding should take place

Disruptions and Their Mitigation in TEXTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finken, K.H.; Jaspers, R.; Kraemer-Flecken, A.; Savtchkov, A.; Lehnen, M.; Waidmann, G.

2005-01-01

Disruptions remain a major concern for tokamak devices, particularly for large machines. The critical issues are the induced (halo) currents and the resulting forces, the excessive heating of exposed surfaces by the instantaneous power release, and the possible occurrence of highly energetic runaway electrons. The key topics of the investigations on TEXTOR in the recent years concerned (a) the power deposition pattern recorded by a fast infrared scanner, (b) the runaway generation measured by synchrotron radiation in the infrared spectral region, (c) method development for 'healing' discharges that are going to disrupt, and (d) massive gas puffing for mitigating the adverse effects of disruptions

Application of the Disruption Predictor Feature Developer to developing a machine-portable disruption predictor

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Matthew; Tang, William; Feibush, Eliot

2016-10-01

Plasma disruptions pose a major threat to the operation of tokamaks which confine a large amount of stored energy. In order to effectively mitigate this damage it is necessary to predict an oncoming disruption with sufficient warning time to take mitigative action. Machine learning approaches to this problem have shown promise but require further developments to address (1) the need for machine-portable predictors and (2) the availability of multi-dimensional signal inputs. Here we demonstrate progress in these two areas by applying the Disruption Predictor Feature Developer to data from JET and NSTX, and discuss topics of focus for ongoing work in support of ITER. The author is also supported under the Fulbright U.S. Student Program as a graduate student in the department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[Climate changes, floods, and health consequences].

Science.gov (United States)

Michelozzi, Paola; de' Donato, Francesca

2014-02-01

In the European Region, floods are the most common natural disaster, causing extensive damage and disruption. In Italy, it has been estimated that over 68% of municipalities are at high hydrogeological risk and with the recent intense rainfall events local populations have been facing severe disruptions. The health consequences of floods are wide ranging and are dependent upon the vulnerability of the environment and the local population. Health effects can be a direct or indirect consequence of flooding. The immediate health impacts of floods include drowning, heart attacks, injuries and hypothermia. The indirect effects include, injuries and infections, water-borne infectious disease, mental health problems, respiratory disease and allergies in both the medium and long term after a flood. Future efforts should be addressed to integrate health preparedness and prevention measures into emergency flood plans and hydrological warning systems.

Effects of deferoxamine on blood-brain barrier disruption after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanjiang Li

Full Text Available Blood brain barrier (BBB disruption is a key mechanism of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH-induced brain injury. This study examined the mechanism of iron-induced BBB disruption after SAH and investigated the potential therapeutic effect of iron chelation on SAH. Male adult Sprague-Dawley rats had an endovascular perforation of left internal carotid artery bifurcation or sham operation. The rats were treated with deferoxamine (DFX or vehicle (100mg/kg for a maximum of 7 days. Brain edema, BBB leakage, behavioral and cognitive impairment were examined. In SAH rat, the peak time of brain edema and BBB impairment in the cortex was at day 3 after SAH. SAH resulted in a significant increase in ferritin expression in the cortex. The ferritin positive cells were colocalized with endothelial cells, pericytes, astrocytes, microglia and neurons. Compared with vehicle, DFX caused less ferritin upregulation, brain water content, BBB impairment, behavioral and cognitive deficits in SAH rats. The results suggest iron overload could be a therapeutic target for SAH induced BBB damage.

Substances that disrupt thyroid hormone biosynthesis (in Romanian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pap, Andreea

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Endocrine disrupters are natural or synthetic chemical substances that have the possibility to alter the endocrine functions leading to serious metabolic changes especially in newborns. The accumulation and persistence over long periods of time became a priority in terms of health and environment. The mechanism of action is represented by blocking, mimicking or modifying the effects of thyroid hormones. In this review, the main purpose was to determine what effects have the endocrine disruptors on the thyroid gland, especially on the thyroid hormone biosynthesis and setting the stage involved by it. We focused on the action of perchlorates, phthalates, BPC, PDPEs, soy, isoflavones, nitrates, thiocyanates, bisphenol A and triclorsan and came to the conclusion that their intervention can result in either hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.

Circadian Disruption Changes Gut Microbiome Taxa and Functional Gene Composition.

Science.gov (United States)

Deaver, Jessica A; Eum, Sung Y; Toborek, Michal

2018-01-01

Disrupted circadian rhythms and alterations of the gut microbiome composition were proposed to affect host health. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify whether these events are connected and if circadian rhythm disruption by abnormal light-dark (LD) cycles affects microbial community gene expression and host vulnerability to intestinal dysfunction. Mice were subjected to either a 4-week period of constant 24-h light or of normal 12-h LD cycles. Stool samples were collected at the beginning and after the circadian rhythm disruption. A metatranscriptomic analysis revealed an increase in Ruminococcus torques , a bacterial species known to decrease gut barrier integrity, and a decrease in Lactobacillus johnsonii , a bacterium that helps maintain the intestinal epithelial cell layer, after circadian rhythm disruption. In addition, genes involved in pathways promoting host beneficial immune responses were downregulated, while genes involved in the synthesis and transportation of the endotoxin lipopolysaccharide were upregulated in mice with disrupted circadian cycles. Importantly, these mice were also more prone to dysfunction of the intestinal barrier. These results further elucidate the impact of light-cycle disruption on the gut microbiome and its connection with increased incidence of disease in response to circadian rhythm disturbances.

Strategy development for anticipating and handling a disruptive technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Stephen

2006-10-01

The profession of radiology has greatly benefited from the introduction of new imaging technologies throughout its history. Therefore, it would seem reasonable for radiologists to believe that the emergence of a new imaging technology can generally be foreseen with sufficient advance notice to allow the appropriate levels of time, effort, and money to be devoted toward incorporating it into radiology practice. However, in his seminal work, Christiansen characterized a new form of technologic innovation, known as "disruptive technology," whose emergence often heralds the replacement of market leaders in an industry by competitors who are quicker in adopting and deploying the new technology. This article briefly describes the phenomenon of disruptive technology and addresses the challenges that organizations face in dealing with disruptive technology. The article raises 4 questions about the future of radiology: (1) Are health care and radiology vulnerable to disruptive technology? (2) What kinds of change may be in store for the radiology profession? (3) Can the radiology profession prepare itself to recognize and respond to a disruptive innovation among a group of new imaging technologies? and (4) How should a radiology organization decide whether to invest significant resources in a potentially disruptive technology? This article addresses these questions by reviewing key insights from leading "gurus" in the fields of competitive strategy and technology management and applying them to radiology. This illustrates how and why (despite past successes) the radiology profession may still have a blind spot in recognizing and handling disruptive technologies.

Oral Gingival Cell Cigarette Smoke Exposure Induces Muscle Cell Metabolic Disruption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea C. Baeder

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Cigarette smoke exposure compromises health through damaging multiple physiological systems, including disrupting metabolic function. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of oral gingiva in mediating the deleterious metabolic effects of cigarette smoke exposure on skeletal muscle metabolic function. Using an in vitro conditioned medium cell model, skeletal muscle cells were incubated with medium from gingival cells treated with normal medium or medium containing suspended cigarette smoke extract (CSE. Following incubation of muscle cells with gingival cell conditioned medium, muscle cell mitochondrial respiration and insulin signaling and action were determined as an indication of overall muscle metabolic health. Skeletal muscle cells incubated with conditioned medium of CSE-treated gingival cells had a profound reduction in mitochondrial respiration and respiratory control. Furthermore, skeletal muscle cells had a greatly reduced response in insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation and glycogen synthesis. Altogether, these results provide a novel perspective on the mechanism whereby cigarette smoke affects systemic metabolic function. In conclusion, we found that oral gingival cells treated with CSE create an altered milieu that is sufficient to both disrupted skeletal muscle cell mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity.

Childhood family disruption and adult height: is there a mediating role of puberty?

OpenAIRE

Sheppard, P; Garcia, JR; Sear, R

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Childhood family background is known to be associated with child growth and development, including the onset of puberty, but less is known about the influence of childhood family disruption on outcomes in later life. Given the associations between early family disruption and childhood development, we predicted that there may be long-term health-relevant consequences of childhood disruption. METHODOLOGY: Using data from a large U.S. interview sample (n=16,207), we te...

Overvoltage protection for magnetic system during disruption in tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Ming; Li, Xiaolong; He, Yang; Zhang, Jun; Chen, Zhongyong; Yu, Kexun

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We investigate the way to limit the plasma disruption overvoltage by using the MOVs. • An overvoltage model of plasma disruption is introduced. • The overvoltage protection scheme has been verified by disruption experiments. • The overvoltage during plasma disruption can be limited to 330 V. - Abstract: During a plasma disruption the magnetic flux in the tokamak changes rapidly, which in most cases will cause high-voltage surges among the magnetic systems and may bring severe damage to the components if there is no overvoltage protection. This paper investigates the way to limit the plasma disruption overvoltage and absorb the energy with the use of metal oxide varistors (MOVs). An overvoltage model of plasma disruption is introduced which can be used for the simulation of plasma disruption and the analysis of the overvoltage. The effectiveness of the overvoltage protection system is validated with disruption experiments. It shows that by optimizing the varistors voltage, the overvoltage during plasma disruption can be limited to an ideal low value. Now the overvoltage protection system has been deployed in J-TEXT tokamak and serves well for daily experiments.

The Effect of Supply Disruptions on Customer Service Levels: a Case for Delivering Fertilizer Products using Maritime Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Siswanto, N.; Kurniawati, U.; Wiratno, S. E.; Rusdiansyah, A.

2018-04-01

Delivering a product to customers can have a series of activities. It starts with the production of the product and then transporting it to the customers. However, uncontrollable and undesirable chance of disruption can occur during the delivery either at the production facility/supply side or in the process of transporting the product. Many researches has been conducting in the process of delivering the product. However not many considers these disruptions, although the disruptions has negative impacts on company such as reduce the profit, produce unbalanced inventory, and affect its reputation. This research will focus on the effect of supply disruption on customer service levels in the maritime transportation problem in order to maintain inventory level both in the supply and destination warehouses during predetermined planning horizon. The system considered consists of one loading port and two discharge ports for distributing one product. By using discrete event simulation, the result showed that supply disruption affects unbalanced inventory in the destination warehouses so that it will also influence company’s service level. The results show that there is a significant decreasing both in delivery service level, about 14%, and production service level, about 15% when the disruption occurs. A scenario to increase production rate is simulated to improved the service level.

Disruptions in Tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bondeson, A.

1987-01-01

This paper discusses major and minor disruptions in Tokamaks. A number of models and numerical simulations of disruptions based on resistive MHD are reviewed. A discussion is given of how disruptive current profiles are correlated with the experimentally known operational limits in density and current. It is argued that the q a =2 limit is connected with stabilization of the m=2/n=1 tearing mode for a approx.< 2.7 by resistive walls and mode rotation. Experimental and theoretical observations indicate that major disruptions usually occur in at least two phases, first a 'predisruption', or loss of confinement in the region 1 < q < 2, leaving the q approx.= 1 region almost unaffected, followed by a final disruption of the central part, interpreted here as a toroidal n = 1 external kink mode. (author)

Childhood family disruption and adult height: is there a mediating role of puberty?

Science.gov (United States)

Sheppard, Paula; Garcia, Justin R; Sear, Rebecca

2015-11-24

Childhood family background is known to be associated with child growth and development, including the onset of puberty, but less is known about the influence of childhood family disruption on outcomes in later life. Given the associations between early family disruption and childhood development, we predicted that there may be long-term health-relevant consequences of childhood disruption. Using data from a large US interview sample (n = 16 207), we test if death or divorce of parents, at different childhood periods, was associated with adult stature, and whether age at puberty mediated this relationship, for men and women. RESULTS MEN: : parental death and divorce during early childhood was associated with shorter adult height, and later puberty. Later puberty was associated with shorter adult height. Path analyses demonstrated that the relationship between parental divorce and height was completely mediated by age at puberty; although parental death was only partially mediated by age at puberty. WOMEN: the father's death during early childhood was associated with earlier puberty, which was in turn associated with shorter adult stature. The relationship between paternal death and height is entirely mediated by age at puberty; no evidence of a direct relationship between childhood family disruption and adult height. Early childhood familial disruption is associated with shorter height for men, and is partially mediated by later puberty. For women, the relationship between father's death, and height was completely mediated by earlier puberty. These findings indicate that disruption during childhood can have long-reaching health repercussions, particularly for boys. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.

Time-dependent analysis of the resistivity of post-disruption tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakhtiari, M.; Whyte, D. G.

2006-01-01

The effect of neutrals on plasma resistivity due to electron-neutral collisions is studied with respect to its effect on tokamak disruptions. The resistivity of the tokamak plasma after the thermal quench is critical in determining the current quench rate, the plasma temperature, and runaway electron generation in tokamaks through the electric field, all features which are important for mitigating the damaging effect of disruptions. It is shown that the plasma resistivity during tokamak disruptions is a time-dependent parameter which may vary with disruption time scales due to the increasing fraction of neutrals. However the effect of neutrals on resistivity is found to be small for the expected neutral fraction, mostly due to power balance considerations between radiation and Ohmic heating in the plasma

Environmental analysis of endocrine disrupting effects from hydrocarbon contaminants in the ecosystem. 1997 annual progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

'The overall objective of the basic research grant is to characterize the potential of common hydrocarbon contaminants in ecosystems to act as endocrine disruptors. The three major lines of research include (1) a biotechnology based screening system to identify potential hormone mimics and antagonists; (2) an animal screening system to identify biomarkers of endocrine effects. and (3) a literature review to identify compounds at a variety of DOE sites that need to be examined for endocrine disrupting effects. By relating results obtained from this research project to contamination problems at various DOE sites. CBR will provide data and information on endocrine disrupting contaminants to DOE for consideration in risk analyses for determining clean-up levels and priorities needed at the sites.'

Universal versus tailored solutions for alleviating disruptive behavior in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Berman-Kishony, Talia; Shvarts, Shifra

2015-01-01

Disruptive behavior among hospital staff can negatively affect quality of care. Motivated by a standard on disruptive behavior issued by The Joint Commission (LD 3.10), as well as the desire to improve patient care, minimize liability, and improve staff retention, hospitals are setting policies to prevent and resolve disruptive behaviors. However, it is unknown whether uniform conflict management tools are equally effective among different hospital settings. We surveyed residents and nurses to identify similarities and differences among hospital departments in the antecedents, characteristics, and outcomes of disruptive behaviors, and in the effectiveness of conflict management tools. We used a quantitative questionnaire-based assessment to examine conflict perceptions in eight different hospital departments at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel. Most participants (89 %) reported witnessing disruptive behavior either directly or in other parties; the most significant causes were identified as intense work, miscommunication, and problematic personalities. The forms of these behaviors, however, varied significantly between departments, with some more prone to expressed conflicts, while others were characterized by hidden disruptive behaviors. These outcomes were correlated by the antecedents to disruptive behavior, which in turn affected the effectiveness of alleviating strategies and tools. Some tools, such as processes for evaluating complaints, teamwork and conflict management courses, and introducing a behavioral mission statement, are effective across many antecedents. Other tools, however, are antecedent-specific, falling into two principal categories: tools directly removing a specific problem and tools that offer a way to circumvent the problem. Conflict resolution tools and strategies, based on residents and nurse perceptions, may be more effective if tailored to the specific situation, rather than using a "one-size-fits-all" approach.

The Effect of Personal Financing Disruptions on Entrepreneurship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanspal, Tobin

by entrepreneurs during operations affectthe survival of their firms. Variation in personal wealth and debt financing stem fromthe solvency of retail banking institutions following the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Ifind that retail bank disruptions reduce personal borrowing and increase the rate offirm exit...

High trait anxiety: a challenge for disrupting fear memory reconsolidation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Soeter, M.; Kindt, M.

2013-01-01

Disrupting reconsolidation may be promising in the treatment of anxiety disorders but the fear-reducing effects are thus far solely demonstrated in the average organism. A relevant question is whether disrupting fear memory reconsolidation is less effective in individuals who are vulnerable to

Disruptive change and the reconfiguration of innovation ecosystems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dedehayir, Ozgur; Ortt, J.R.; Seppänen, Marko

2017-01-01

This conceptual paper extends the traditional view of disruptive change, which considers the effects of rivalry between an incumbent and new entrant firm, by examining the impact of disruption upon the ‘innovation ecosystem’ in its entirety – the group of organisations that collaborate in

Adenosine AA Receptor Antagonists Do Not Disrupt Rodent Prepulse Inhibition: An Improved Side Effect Profile in the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carina J. Bleickardt

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Parkinson's disease (PD is characterized by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Current treatments for PD focus on dopaminergic therapies, including L-dopa and dopamine receptor agonists. However, these treatments induce neuropsychiatric side effects. Psychosis, characterized by delusions and hallucinations, is one of the most serious such side effects. Adenosine A2A receptor antagonism is a nondopaminergic treatment for PD with clinical and preclinical efficacy. The present studies assessed A2A antagonists SCH 412348 and istradefylline in rodent prepulse inhibition (PPI, a model of psychosis. Dopamine receptor agonists pramipexole (0.3–3 mg/kg, pergolide (0.3–3 mg/kg, and apomorphine (0.3–3 mg/kg significantly disrupted PPI; ropinirole (1–30 mg/kg had no effect; L-dopa (100–300 mg/kg disrupted rat but not mouse PPI. SCH 412348 (0.3–3 mg/kg did not disrupt rodent PPI; istradefylline (0.1–1 mg/kg marginally disrupted mouse but not rat PPI. These results suggest that A2A antagonists, unlike dopamine agonists, have an improved neuropsychiatric side effect profile.

Planetary health: protecting human health on a rapidly changing planet.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Samuel S

2018-12-23

The impact of human activities on our planet's natural systems has been intensifying rapidly in the past several decades, leading to disruption and transformation of most natural systems. These disruptions in the atmosphere, oceans, and across the terrestrial land surface are not only driving species to extinction, they pose serious threats to human health and wellbeing. Characterising and addressing these threats requires a paradigm shift. In a lecture delivered to the Academy of Medical Sciences on Nov 13, 2017, I describe the scale of human impacts on natural systems and the extensive associated health effects across nearly every dimension of human health. I highlight several overarching themes that emerge from planetary health and suggest advances in the way we train, reward, promote, and fund the generation of health scientists who will be tasked with breaking out of their disciplinary silos to address this urgent constellation of health threats. I propose that protecting the health of future generations requires taking better care of Earth's natural systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disruption-induced poloidal currents in the tokamak wall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pustovitov, V.D.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Induction effects during disruptions and rapid transient events in tokamaks. • Plasma-wall electromagnetic interaction. • Flux-conserving evolution of plasma equilibrium. • Poloidal current induced in the vacuum vessel wall in a tokamak. • Complete analytical derivations and estimates. - Abstract: The poloidal current induced in the tokamak wall during fast transient events is analytically evaluated. The analysis is based on the electromagnetic relations coupled with plasma equilibrium equations. The derived formulas describe the consequences of both thermal and current quenches. In the final form, they give explicit dependence of the wall current on the plasma pressure and current. A comparison with numerical results of Villone et al. [F. Villone, G. Ramogida, G. Rubinacci, Fusion Eng. Des. 93, 57 (2015)] for IGNITOR is performed. Our analysis confirms the importance of the effects described there. The estimates show that the disruption-induced poloidal currents in the wall should be necessarily taken into account in the studies of disruptions and disruption mitigation in ITER.

Disruption-induced poloidal currents in the tokamak wall

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pustovitov, V.D., E-mail: Pustovitov_VD@nrcki.ru [National Research Centre ‘Kurchatov Institute’, Pl. Kurchatova 1, Moscow 123182 (Russian Federation); National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Kashirskoe sh. 31, Moscow 115409, Russia (Russian Federation)

2017-04-15

Highlights: • Induction effects during disruptions and rapid transient events in tokamaks. • Plasma-wall electromagnetic interaction. • Flux-conserving evolution of plasma equilibrium. • Poloidal current induced in the vacuum vessel wall in a tokamak. • Complete analytical derivations and estimates. - Abstract: The poloidal current induced in the tokamak wall during fast transient events is analytically evaluated. The analysis is based on the electromagnetic relations coupled with plasma equilibrium equations. The derived formulas describe the consequences of both thermal and current quenches. In the final form, they give explicit dependence of the wall current on the plasma pressure and current. A comparison with numerical results of Villone et al. [F. Villone, G. Ramogida, G. Rubinacci, Fusion Eng. Des. 93, 57 (2015)] for IGNITOR is performed. Our analysis confirms the importance of the effects described there. The estimates show that the disruption-induced poloidal currents in the wall should be necessarily taken into account in the studies of disruptions and disruption mitigation in ITER.

Efficient gene replacements in ku70 disruption strain of Aspergillus chevalieri var. intermedius

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingqing Huang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aspergillus chevalieri var. intermedius is a dominant filamentous fungal species in Fuzhuan tea and is associated with the quality and health benefits of this tea. The sexual or asexual reproduction of this fungus depends on the osmotic pressure of the tea. Efforts to enhance the beneficial effects of A. chevalieri var. intermedius are hampered by difficulties in disrupting its genes. To address this issue, we identified the A. chevalieri var. intermedius homolog (Acku70 of human Ku70 and generated an Acku70 disruption strain (ΔAcku70, aiming to improve the gene replacement efficiency. ΔAcku70 grew at a slightly lower rate in vitro than the wild-type strain; however, the two strains exhibited similar sensitivity to temperature, osmotic pressure and the effects of ethyl methane sulphonate and H2O2. The replacement efficiency of veA and flbA dramatically increased in ΔAcku70 compared to that in the wild type. The efficiency of flbA replacement increased from 2.6% to 80%, whereas the frequency of veA disruption increased from 15.2% to 83.9% and from 30.8% to 86.8%. Thus, ΔAcku70 is suitable for use as a type strain for large-scale functional genomic analysis of A. chevalieri var. intermedius.

Effects of sigma(1) receptor ligand, MS-377 on apomorphine- or phencyclidine-induced disruption of prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, S; Yamauchi, K; Hisatomi, S; Annoh, N; Tanaka, M

2000-08-25

To evaluate the antipsychotic property of a sigma(1) receptor ligand, (R)-(+)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-¿4-(2-methoxyethyl)piperazin-1-yl¿ methyl-2-pyrrolidinone-L-tartrate (MS-377), an antagonistic effect of MS-377 on the disruption of prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle by apomorphine or phencyclidine (PCP) was investigated in rats. MS-377 antagonized the PCP-induced disruption of PPI. The ED(50) value of MS-377 for this effect was 0.66 mg/kg. In contrast, apomorphine-induced disruption of PPI was not attenuated by MS-377. These data indicate that the PCP-induced disruption of PPI in rats would be, at least partially, mediated by sigma receptors and MS-377 could be a novel anti-psychotic agent with clinical efficacy for the sensorimotor-gating deficit in schizophrenia.

Plasma-material interaction under simulated disruption conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arkhipov, N.I.; Bakhtin, V.P.; Safronov, V.M.; Toporkov, D.A.; Vasenin, S.G.; Wurz, H.; Zhitlukhin, A.M.

1995-01-01

Sudden evaporation of divertor plate surface under high heat load during tokamak plasma disruption instantaneously produces a vapor shield. The cloud of vaporized material prevents the divertor plates from the bulk of incoming energy flux and thus reduces the further material erosion. Dynamics and effectiveness of the vapor shield are studied experimentally at the 2MK-200 facility under simulated disruption conditions. (orig.)

Wound Disruption Following Colorectal Operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Moghadamyeghaneh, Zhobin; Hanna, Mark H; Carmichael, Joseph C; Mills, Steven; Pigazzi, Alessio; Nguyen, Ninh T; Stamos, Michael J

2015-12-01

Postoperative wound disruption is associated with high morbidity and mortality. We sought to identify the risk factors and outcomes of wound disruption following colorectal resection. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database was used to examine the clinical data of patients who underwent colorectal resection from 2005 to 2013. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors of wound disruption. We sampled a total of 164,297 patients who underwent colorectal resection. Of these, 2073 (1.3 %) had wound disruption. Patients with wound disruption had significantly higher mortality (5.1 vs. 1.9 %, AOR: 1.46, P = 0.01). The highest risk of wound disruption was seen in patients with wound infection (4.8 vs. 0.9 %, AOR: 4.11, P disruption such as chronic steroid use (AOR: 1.71, P disruption compared to open surgery (AOR: 0.61, P disruption occurs in 1.3 % of colorectal resections, and it correlates with mortality of patients. Wound infection is the strongest predictor of wound disruption. Chronic steroid use, obesity, severe COPD, prolonged operation, non-elective admission, and serum albumin level are strongly associated with wound disruption. Utilization of the laparoscopic approach may decrease the risk of wound disruption when possible.

Towards an internationally harmonized test method for reproductive and developmental effects of endocrine disrupters in marine copepods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kusk, Kresten Ole; Wollenberger, Leah

2007-01-01

with marine copepods (Acartia tonsa, Nitocra spinipes, Tisbe battagliai, and Amphiascus tenuiremis). The present paper gives an overview on the endocrine system of crustaceans with special emphasis on development and reproduction, which are targets for endocrine disruption, and reviews available methods......New and updated methods to detect and characterize endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are urgently needed for the purpose of environmental risk assessment since these substances are often not detected using existing chronic toxicity tests. Numerous reports on the effects of EDCs on crustacean...... development and reproduction have been published and the development of life-cycle tests with crustaceans has been prioritized within the OECD work program for endocrine disrupter testing and assessment. As a result, Sweden, and Denmark initiated a proposal for development of a full life-cycle test...

Tidal Disruption Events from Eccentric Nuclear Disks

Science.gov (United States)

Wernke, Heather N.; Madigan, Ann-Marie

2018-04-01

Stars that get too close to a supermassive black hole are in danger of being tidally disrupted. Stellar two-body relaxation is commonly assumed to be the main driver of these events. Recent work has shown, however, that secular gravitational torques from eccentric nuclear disks can push stars to extreme eccentricities at much higher rates than predicted by two-body relaxation. This work did not include the effects of general relativity, however, which could quench secular torques via rapid apsidal precession. Here we show that, for a star in danger of disruption, general relativity acts on a timescale of less than an orbital period. This short timescale means that general relativity does not have enough time to have a major effect on the orbit. When driven by secular torques from eccentric nuclear disks, tidal disruption event rates are not affected by general relativity.

Disruptive effects of light pollution on sleep in free-living birds: Season and/or light intensity-dependent?

Science.gov (United States)

Raap, Thomas; Sun, Jiachen; Pinxten, Rianne; Eens, Marcel

2017-11-01

Light pollution or artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasing anthropogenic environmental pollutant posing an important potential threat for wildlife. Evidence of its effects on animal physiology and behaviour is accumulating. However, in order to effectively mitigate light pollution it is important to determine which factors contribute to the severity of effects of ALAN. In this experimental study we explored whether there are seasonal-dependent effects of ALAN on sleep in free-living great tits (Parus major), an important model species. Additionally, we looked at whether light intensity determined the severity of effects of ALAN on sleep. We therefore exposed animals to artificial light inside the nest box (3lx) in December (winter) and February (pre-breeding season). Results from February were compared with the results from a previous study in February, using a lower light intensity (1.6lx). We found little evidence for a season-dependent response. Effects of ALAN hardly differed between high and low light intensity. ALAN disrupted sleep with as main effect a decrease in sleep duration (≈-40min) as animals woke up earlier (≈-24min). However, compared to a natural dark situation sleep onset was delayed by high but not by low light intensity of ALAN. Our study underlines earlier found disruptive effects of ALAN on sleep of free-living animals. While we found no conclusive evidence for seasonal or light intensity-dependent effects of ALAN, additional experimental work using lower light intensities might show such differences. Examining potential management options is crucial in mitigating disruptive effects of light pollution, which will be an important focus for future studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detecting the effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of thyroid hormone disrupting compounds on amphibian development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gutleb, A.C.

2006-01-01

Persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs have been hypothesized to contribute to the observed global decline of amphibian populations. Thyroid hormone (TH) disruption is one of the possible mechanisms for effects of xenobiotics on amphibian development. In addition to the important functions

Disruptive event analysis: volcanism and igneous intrusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowe, B.M.

1980-08-01

An evaluation is made of the disruptive effects of volcanic activity with respect to long term isolation of radioactive waste through deep geologic storage. Three major questions are considered. First, what is the range of disruption effects of a radioactive waste repository by volcanic activity. Second, is it possible, by selective siting of a repository, to reduce the risk of disruption by future volcanic activity. And third, can the probability of repository disruption by volcanic activity be quantified. The main variables involved in the evaluation of the consequences of repository disruption by volcanic activity are the geometry of the magma-repository intersection (partly controlled by depth of burial) and the nature of volcanism. Potential radionuclide dispersal by volcanic transport within the biosphere ranges in distance from several kilometers to global. Risk from the most catastrophic types of eruptions can be reduced by careful site selection to maximize lag time prior to the onset of activity. Certain areas or volcanic provinces within the western United States have been sites of significant volcanism and should be avoided as potential sites for a radioactive waste repository. Examples of projection of future sites of active volcanism are discussed for three areas of the western United States. Probability calculations require two types of data: a numerical rate or frequency of volcanic activity and a numerical evaluation of the areal extent of volcanic disruption for a designated region. The former is clearly beyond the current state of art in volcanology. The latter can be approximated with a reasonable degree of satisfaction. In this report, simplified probability calculations are attempted for areas of past volcanic activity

Recollecting positive and negative autobiographical memories disrupts working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Richard J; Schaefer, Alexandre; Falcon, Thomas

2014-09-01

The present article reports two experiments examining the impact of recollecting emotionally valenced autobiographical memories on subsequent working memory (WM) task performance. Experiment 1 found that negatively valenced recollection significantly disrupted performance on a supra-span spatial WM task. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these findings to a verbal WM task (digit recall), and found that both negative and positive autobiographical recollections had a detrimental effect on verbal WM. In addition, we observed that these disruptive effects were more apparent on early trials, immediately following autobiographical recollection. Overall, these findings show that both positive and negative affect can disrupt WM when the mood-eliciting context is based on autobiographical memories. Furthermore, these results indicate that the emotional disruption of WM can take place across different modalities of WM (verbal and visuo-spatial). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parents' Education, Personality, and Their Children's Disruptive Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Purwati; Japar, Muhammad

2017-01-01

The aims of this study were (1) to understand the effects of parents' education and personality aspects on child disruptive behavior, (2) to know the correlation between the parents' personality aspects (N-Deference, N-Succorance, N-Dominance and N-Aggression) and the children' disruptive behavior. A quantitative approach to the correlational…

Protective effect of taurine on the light-induced disruption of isolated frog rod outer segments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasantes-Morales, H.; Ademe, R.M.; Quesada, O.

1981-01-01

Isolated frog rod outer segments (ROS) incubated in a Krebs-bicarbonate medium, and illuminated for 2 h, show a profound alteration in their structure. This is characterized by distention of discs, vesiculation, and a marked swelling. The light-induced ROS disruption requires the presence of bicarbonate and sodium chloride. Replacement of bicarbonate by TRIS or HEPES protects ROS structure. Also, substitution of sodium chloride by sucrose or choline chloride maintains unaltered the ROS structure. Deletion of calcium, magnesium, or phosphate does not modify the effect produced by illumination. An increased accumulation of labeled bicarbonate and tritiated water is observed in illuminated ROS, as compared with controls in the dark. The presence of taurine, GABA, or glycine, at concentrations of 5-25 mM, effectively counteracts the light-induced ROS disruption. Taurine (25 mM) reduces labeled bicarbonate and tritiated water levels to those observed in the dark incubated ROS

Marital disruption is associated with shorter salivary telomere length in a probability sample of older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Whisman, Mark A; Robustelli, Briana L; Sbarra, David A

2016-05-01

Marital disruption (i.e., marital separation, divorce) is associated with a wide range of poor mental and physical health outcomes, including increased risk for all-cause mortality. One biological intermediary that may help explain the association between marital disruption and poor health is accelerated cellular aging. This study examines the association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length in a United States probability sample of adults ≥50 years of age. Participants were 3526 individuals who participated in the 2008 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. Telomere length assays were performed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) on DNA extracted from saliva samples. Health and lifestyle factors, traumatic and stressful life events, and neuroticism were assessed via self-report. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between predictor variables and salivary telomere length. Based on their marital status data in the 2006 wave, people who were separated or divorced had shorter salivary telomeres than people who were continuously married or had never been married, and the association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length was not moderated by gender or neuroticism. Furthermore, the association between marital disruption and salivary telomere length remained statistically significant after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic variables, neuroticism, cigarette use, body mass, traumatic life events, and other stressful life events. Additionally, results revealed that currently married adults with a history of divorce evidenced shorter salivary telomeres than people who were continuously married or never married. Accelerated cellular aging, as indexed by telomere shortening, may be one pathway through which marital disruption is associated with morbidity and mortality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Rat α-Fetoprotein Binding Activity Prediction Model to Facilitate Assessment of the Endocrine Disruption Potential of Environmental Chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Huixiao; Shen, Jie; Ng, Hui Wen; Sakkiah, Sugunadevi; Ye, Hao; Ge, Weigong; Gong, Ping; Xiao, Wenming; Tong, Weida

2016-03-25

Endocrine disruptors such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), diethylstilbestrol (DES) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) are agents that interfere with the endocrine system and cause adverse health effects. Huge public health concern about endocrine disruptors has arisen. One of the mechanisms of endocrine disruption is through binding of endocrine disruptors with the hormone receptors in the target cells. Entrance of endocrine disruptors into target cells is the precondition of endocrine disruption. The binding capability of a chemical with proteins in the blood affects its entrance into the target cells and, thus, is very informative for the assessment of potential endocrine disruption of chemicals. α-fetoprotein is one of the major serum proteins that binds to a variety of chemicals such as estrogens. To better facilitate assessment of endocrine disruption of environmental chemicals, we developed a model for α-fetoprotein binding activity prediction using the novel pattern recognition method (Decision Forest) and the molecular descriptors calculated from two-dimensional structures by Mold² software. The predictive capability of the model has been evaluated through internal validation using 125 training chemicals (average balanced accuracy of 69%) and external validations using 22 chemicals (balanced accuracy of 71%). Prediction confidence analysis revealed the model performed much better at high prediction confidence. Our results indicate that the model is useful (when predictions are in high confidence) in endocrine disruption risk assessment of environmental chemicals though improvement by increasing number of training chemicals is needed.

On the avalanche generation of runaway electrons during tokamak disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martín-Solís, J. R.; Loarte, A.; Lehnen, M.

2015-01-01

A simple zero dimensional model for a tokamak disruption is developed to evaluate the avalanche multiplication of a runaway primary seed during the current quench phase of a fast disruptive event. Analytical expressions for the plateau runaway current, the energy of the runaway beam, and the runaway energy distribution function are obtained allowing the identification of the parameters dominating the formation of the runaway current during disruptions. The effect of the electromagnetic coupling to the vessel and the penetration of the external magnetic energy during the disruption current quench as well as of the collisional dissipation of the runaway current at high densities are investigated. Current profile shape effects during the formation of the runaway beam are also addressed by means of an upgraded one-dimensional model

[Technological convergence will quickly generate disruptive innovations in oncology].

Science.gov (United States)

Coucke, Ph A

2016-06-01

Convergence between information and communication technology and recent developments in medical care will totally change the health care sector. The way we perform diagnosis, treatment and follow-up will undergo disruptive changes in a very near future. We intend to highlight this statement by a limited selection of examples of radical innovations, especially in the field of oncology. To be totally disruptive and to illustrate the concept of "lateral power" - especially cognitive distribution - the list of references is only made up of internet links. Anyone - patients included - can easily and instantly access to this information everywhere.

Heat load material studies: Simulated tokamak disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gahl, J.M.; McDonald, J.M.; Zakharov, A.; Tserevitinov, S.; Barabash, V.; Guseva, M.

1991-01-01

It is clear that an improved understanding of the effects of tokamak disruptions on plasma facing component materials is needed for the ITER program. very large energy fluxes are predicted to be deposited in ITER and could be very damaging to the machine. During 1991, Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico conducted cooperative tokamak disruption simulation experiments at several Soviet facilities. These facilities were located at the Efremov Institute in Leningrad, the Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute (Troisk and Moscow) and the Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Soviet Adademy of Sciences in Moscow. Erosion of graphite from plasma stream impact is seen to be much less than that observed with laser or electron beams with similar energy fluxes. This, along with other data obtained, seem to suggest that the ''vapor shielding'' effect is a very important phenomenon in the study of graphite erosion during tokamak disruption

A Literature Review On Multimodal Freight Transportation Planning Under Disruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Rosyida, E. E.; Santosa, B.; Pujawan, I. N.

2018-04-01

This paper reviews publication that focuses on multimodal freight transportation planning under disruptions. In this paper, disruptions are specified by the level of the disruptions occurs and the scope of its effect. This becomes an important distinction since the cause and effect that may occur at different levels. The failure to make this distinction has implications for how we understand and manage. The reviewed papers include those that develop framework, model, and technical procedure for freight transportation. Finally, we provide an outlook of future research directions on the domain of transportation planning.

EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS. PHTHALATES AND BISPHENOL A

OpenAIRE

SHAHVIRDI, Leila; GÜLTEKIN, Timur

2018-01-01

Obesity is defined as a case in which body-mass index isover 30. Obesity and Metabolic disorders are increasing health problem inrecent days. Endocrine disruptings are synthetic or natural substance damagingbody's normal physiological functions by imitating or preventing hormones. Theyshow their effects by increasing the metabolism of endogen peptidic orsteroidal hormones; or activating or deactivating the receptors onhypothalamus, adiposis tissue, liver and the other tissues. They can b...

Exposure to modern, widespread environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals and their effect on the reproductive potential of women: an overview of current epidemiological evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Karwacka, Anetta; Zamkowska, Dorota; Radwan, Michał; Jurewicz, Joanna

2017-07-31

Growing evidence indicates that exposure to widespread, environmental contaminants called endocrine disruptors (EDCs) negatively affects animal and human reproductive health and has been linked to several diseases including infertility. This review aims to evaluate the impact of environmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals [phthalates, parabens, triclosan, bisphenol A (BPA), organochlorine (PCBs) and perfluorinated (PFCs) compounds] on the reproductive potential among women, by reviewing most recently published literature. Epidemiological studies focusing on EDCs exposure and reproductive potential among women for the last 16 years were identified by a search of the PUBMED, MEDLINE, EBSCO and TOXNET literature databases. The results of the presented studies show that exposure to EDCs impacts the reproductive potential in women, measured by ovarian reserve and by assisted reproductive technology outcomes. Exposure to environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals decrease: (i) oestradiol levels (BPA); (ii) anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations (PCBs); (iii) antral follicle count (BPA, parabens, phthalates); (iv) oocyte quality (BPA, triclosan, phthalates, PCBs); (v) fertilization rate (PFCs, PCBs); (vi) implantation (BPA, phthalates, PCBs); (vii) embryo quality (triclosan, PCBs, BPA); (viii) rate of clinical pregnancy and live births (parabens, phthalates). The studies were mostly well-designed and used prospective cohorts with the exposure assessment based on the biomarker of exposure. Considering the suggested health effects, more epidemiological data is urgently needed to confirm the presented findings.

Study of runaway current generation following disruptions in KSTAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Z Y; Kim, W C; Yu, Y W; England, A C; Yoo, J W; Hahn, S H; Yoon, S W; Lee, K D; Oh, Y K; Kwak, J G; Kwon, M

2013-01-01

The high fraction of runaway current conversion following disruptions has an important effect on the first wall for next-generation tokamaks. Because of the potentially severe consequences of a large full current runaway beam on the first wall in an unmitigated disruption, runaway suppression is given a high priority. The behavior of runaway currents both in spontaneous disruptions and in D 2 massive gas injection (MGI) shutdown experiments is investigated in the KSTAR tokamak. The experiments in KSTAR show that the toroidal magnetic field threshold, B T >2 T, for runaway generation is not absolute. A high fraction of runaway current conversion following spontaneous disruptions is observed at a much lower toroidal magnetic field of B T = 1.3 T. A dedicated fast valve for high-pressure gas injection with 39.7 bar is developed for the study of disruptions. A study of runaway current parameters shows that the conversion efficiency of pre-disruptive plasma currents into runaway current can reach over 80% both in spontaneous disruptions and in D 2 MGI shutdown experiments in KSTAR. (paper)

Childhood obesity and endocrine disrupting chemicals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Taek Kim

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The prevalence of obesity around the world has increased sharply. Strong evidence has emerged over the last decades that human exposure to numerous endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs is the cause of obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases. Many EDCs are manmade chemicals that are released into the environment. EDCs are exogenous compounds that interfere with hormonal regulation and normal endocrine systems, thereby affecting the health of animals and humans. The number of chemicals belonging to EDCs is increasing and some of them are very stable; they persist in the environment (persistent organic pollutants. Although they are banned, their concentrations have been continuously increasing over time. This review gives a brief introduction to common EDCs, and evidence of harmful effects of EDCs on obesity-related diseases; we focus in particular on EDCs’ role in causing mitochondrial dysfunction.

Disruptive innovation for social change.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Clayton M; Baumann, Heiner; Ruggles, Rudy; Sadtler, Thomas M

2006-12-01

Countries, organizations, and individuals around the globe spend aggressively to solve social problems, but these efforts often fail to deliver. Misdirected investment is the primary reason for that failure. Most of the money earmarked for social initiatives goes to organizations that are structured to support specific groups of recipients, often with sophisticated solutions. Such organizations rarely reach the broader populations that could be served by simpler alternatives. There is, however, an effective way to get to those underserved populations. The authors call it "catalytic innovation." Based on Clayton Christensen's disruptive-innovation model, catalytic innovations challenge organizational incumbents by offering simpler, good-enough solutions aimed at underserved groups. Unlike disruptive innovations, though, catalytic innovations are focused on creating social change. Catalytic innovators are defined by five distinct qualities. First, they create social change through scaling and replication. Second, they meet a need that is either overserved (that is, the existing solution is more complex than necessary for many people) or not served at all. Third, the products and services they offer are simpler and cheaper than alternatives, but recipients view them as good enough. Fourth, they bring in resources in ways that initially seem unattractive to incumbents. And fifth, they are often ignored, put down, or even encouraged by existing organizations, which don't see the catalytic innovators' solutions as viable. As the authors show through examples in health care, education, and economic development, both nonprofit and for-profit groups are finding ways to create catalytic innovation that drives social change.

BINARY DISRUPTION BY MASSIVE BLACK HOLES: HYPERVELOCITY STARS, S STARS, AND TIDAL DISRUPTION EVENTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bromley, Benjamin C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, 115 S 1400 E, Rm 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Kenyon, Scott J.; Geller, Margaret J.; Brown, Warren R., E-mail: bromley@physics.utah.edu, E-mail: skenyon@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: mgeller@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: wbrown@cfa.harvard.edu [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2012-04-20

We examine whether disrupted binary stars can fuel black hole growth. In this mechanism, tidal disruption produces a single hypervelocity star (HVS) ejected at high velocity and a former companion star bound to the black hole. After a cluster of bound stars forms, orbital diffusion allows the black hole to accrete stars by tidal disruption at a rate comparable to the capture rate. In the Milky Way, HVSs and the S star cluster imply similar rates of 10{sup -5} to 10{sup -3} yr{sup -1} for binary disruption. These rates are consistent with estimates for the tidal disruption rate in nearby galaxies and imply significant black hole growth from disrupted binaries on 10 Gyr timescales.

Cumulative Effects of Mothers' Risk and Promotive Factors on Daughters' Disruptive Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

van der Molen, Elsa; Hipwell, Alison E.; Vermeiren, Robert; Loeber, Rolf

2012-01-01

Little is known about the ways in which the accumulation of maternal factors increases or reduces risk for girls' disruptive behavior during preadolescence. In the current study, maternal risk and promotive factors and the severity of girls' disruptive behavior were assessed annually among girls' ages 7-12 in an urban community sample (N = 2043).…

An in vitro investigation of endocrine disrupting effects of the mycotoxin alternariol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frizzell, Caroline; Ndossi, Doreen; Kalayou, Shewit; Eriksen, Gunnar S.; Verhaegen, Steven; Sørlie, Morten; Elliott, Christopher T.; Ropstad, Erik; Connolly, Lisa

2013-01-01

Alternariol (AOH) is a mycotoxin commonly produced by Alternaria alternata on a wide range of foods. Few studies to date have been performed to evaluate the effects of AOH on endocrine activity. The present study makes use of in vitro mammalian cellular based assays and gene expression to investigate the ability of AOH to act as an endocrine disruptor by various modes of action. Reporter gene assays (RGAs), incorporating natural steroid hormone receptors for oestrogens, androgens, progestagens and glucocorticoids were used to identify endocrine disruption at the level of nuclear receptor transcriptional activity, and the H295R steroidogenesis assay was used to assess endocrine disruption at the level of gene expression and steroid hormone production. AOH exhibited a weak oestrogenic response when tested in the oestrogen responsive RGA and binding of progesterone to the progestagen receptor was shown to be synergistically increased in the presence of AOH. H295R cells when exposed to 0.1–1000 ng/ml AOH, did not cause a significant change in testosterone and cortisol hormones but exposure to 1000 ng/ml (3.87 μM) AOH resulted in a significant increase in estradiol and progesterone production. In the gene expression study following exposure to 1000 ng/ml (3.87 μM) AOH, only one gene NR0B1 was down-regulated, whereas expression of mRNA for CYP1A1, MC2R, HSD3B2, CYP17, CYP21, CYP11B2 and CYP19 was up-regulated. Expression of the other genes investigated did not change significantly. In conclusion AOH is a weak oestrogenic mycotoxin that also has the ability to interfere with the steroidogenesis pathway. - Highlights: • Alternariol was investigated for endocrine disrupting activity. • Reporter gene assays and the H295R steroidogenesis assay have been used. • An oestrogenic effect of alternariol was observed. • This can lead to an increase in expression of the progesterone receptor. • Alternariol is capable of modulating hormone production and gene expression

An in vitro investigation of endocrine disrupting effects of the mycotoxin alternariol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frizzell, Caroline [Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen' s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Ndossi, Doreen [Section of Experimental Biomedicine, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo (Norway); Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro (Tanzania, United Republic of); Kalayou, Shewit [Section of Experimental Biomedicine, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo (Norway); Mekelle University College of Veterinary Medicine, Mekelle (Ethiopia); Eriksen, Gunnar S. [Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Oslo (Norway); Verhaegen, Steven [Section of Experimental Biomedicine, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo (Norway); Sørlie, Morten [Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås (Norway); Elliott, Christopher T. [Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen' s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Ropstad, Erik [Section of Experimental Biomedicine, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo (Norway); Connolly, Lisa, E-mail: l.connolly@qub.ac.uk [Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen' s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

2013-08-15

Alternariol (AOH) is a mycotoxin commonly produced by Alternaria alternata on a wide range of foods. Few studies to date have been performed to evaluate the effects of AOH on endocrine activity. The present study makes use of in vitro mammalian cellular based assays and gene expression to investigate the ability of AOH to act as an endocrine disruptor by various modes of action. Reporter gene assays (RGAs), incorporating natural steroid hormone receptors for oestrogens, androgens, progestagens and glucocorticoids were used to identify endocrine disruption at the level of nuclear receptor transcriptional activity, and the H295R steroidogenesis assay was used to assess endocrine disruption at the level of gene expression and steroid hormone production. AOH exhibited a weak oestrogenic response when tested in the oestrogen responsive RGA and binding of progesterone to the progestagen receptor was shown to be synergistically increased in the presence of AOH. H295R cells when exposed to 0.1–1000 ng/ml AOH, did not cause a significant change in testosterone and cortisol hormones but exposure to 1000 ng/ml (3.87 μM) AOH resulted in a significant increase in estradiol and progesterone production. In the gene expression study following exposure to 1000 ng/ml (3.87 μM) AOH, only one gene NR0B1 was down-regulated, whereas expression of mRNA for CYP1A1, MC2R, HSD3B2, CYP17, CYP21, CYP11B2 and CYP19 was up-regulated. Expression of the other genes investigated did not change significantly. In conclusion AOH is a weak oestrogenic mycotoxin that also has the ability to interfere with the steroidogenesis pathway. - Highlights: • Alternariol was investigated for endocrine disrupting activity. • Reporter gene assays and the H295R steroidogenesis assay have been used. • An oestrogenic effect of alternariol was observed. • This can lead to an increase in expression of the progesterone receptor. • Alternariol is capable of modulating hormone production and gene expression.

Production control and supplier selection under demand disruptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianzhe Chen

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the effects of demand disruptions on production control and supplier selection in a three-echelon supply chain system. The customer demand is modeled as a jump-diffusion process in a continuous-time setting. A two-number production-inventory policy is implemented in the production control model for the manufacturer. The objective is to minimize the long-term average total cost consisting of backlog cost, holding cost, switching cost, and ordering cost. The simulated annealing method is applied to search the optimal critical switching values. Furthermore, an improved analytical hierarchy process (AHP is proposed to select the best supplier, based on quantitative factors such as the optimal long-term total cost obtained through the simulated annealing method under demand disruptions and qualitative factors such as quality and service. Numerical studies are conducted to demonstrate the effects of demand disruptions in the face of various risk scenarios. Managerial insights from simulation results are provided as well. Our approaches can be implemented as the “stress test” for companies in front of various supply chain disruption scenarios.

Social Networks in Later Life: Weighing Positive and Negative Effects on Health and Well-Being.

Science.gov (United States)

Rook, Karen S

2015-02-01

Social networks provide a mix of positive and negative experiences. Network members can provide help in times of need and day-to-day companionship, but they can also behave in ways that are inconsiderate, hurtful, or intrusive. Researchers must grapple with these dualities in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of how social network ties affect health and well-being. This article provides an overview of research that has examined the health-related effects of positive and negative aspects of social network involvement. If focuses on later life, a time when risks for declining health and for the loss or disruption of social relationships increase.

Statistical analysis of JET disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanga, A.; Johnson, M.F.

1991-07-01

In the operation of JET and of any tokamak many discharges are terminated by a major disruption. The disruptive termination of a discharge is usually an unwanted event which may cause damage to the structure of the vessel. In a reactor disruptions are potentially a very serious problem, hence the importance of studying them and devising methods to avoid disruptions. Statistical information has been collected about the disruptions which have occurred at JET over a long span of operations. The analysis is focused on the operational aspects of the disruptions rather than on the underlining physics. (Author)

Disruptions in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiman, A.; Taylor, P.; Kellman, A.; LaHaye, R.

1996-01-01

We report on the results of a statistical analysis of the DIII-D disruption data base, and on an examination of a selected subset of the shots to determine the likely causes of disruptions. The statistical analysis focuses on the dependence of the disruption rate on key dimensionless parameters. We find that the disruption frequency is high at modest values of the parameters, and that it can be relatively low at operational limits. For example, the disruption frequency in an ITER relevant regime (β N /l i ∼ 2, 3 G > 0.6, where n G is the Greenwald limit) is approximately 23%. For this range of q, the disruption frequency rises only modestly to about 35% at the β limit, consistent with previous observations of a soft β limit for this q regime. For the range 6 95 G G < .9) in all q regimes we have studied. The location of the minimum moves to higher density with increasing q

Disruption model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murray, J.G.; Bronner, G.

1982-07-01

Calculations of disruption time and energy dissipation have been obtained by simulating the plasma as an electrical conducting loop that varies in resistivity, current density, major radius. The calculations provide results which are in good agreement with experimental observations. It is believed that this approach allows engineering designs for disruptions to be completed in large tokamaks such as INTOR or FED

Effectiveness of the Incredible Years parent training to modify disruptive and prosocial child behavior: a meta-analytic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Menting, Ankie T A; Orobio de Castro, Bram; Matthys, Walter

2013-12-01

The present meta-analytic review examined effectiveness of the Incredible Years parent training (IYPT) regarding disruptive and prosocial child behavior, and aimed to explain variability in intervention outcomes. Fifty studies, in which an intervention group receiving the IYPT was compared to a comparison group immediately after intervention, were included in the analyses. Results showed that the IYPT is an effective intervention. Positive effects for distinct outcomes and distinct informants were found, including a mean effect size of d=.27 concerning disruptive child behavior across informants. For parental report, treatment studies were associated with larger effects (d=.50) than indicated (d=.20) and selective (d=.13) prevention studies. Furthermore, initial severity of child behavior revealed to be the strongest predictor of intervention effects, with larger effects for studies including more severe cases. Findings indicate that the IYPT is successful in improving child behavior in a diverse range of families, and that the parent program may be considered well-established. © 2013.

Friend or foe? Decoding the facilitative and disruptive effects of emotion on working memory in younger and older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda eTruong

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A growing body of work on emotion-cognition interactions has revealed both facilitative and disruptive effects of emotion on working memory in younger adults. These differing effects may vary by the goal relevancy of emotion within a task. Additionally, it is possible that these emotional effects would be larger for older adults, considering findings of preserved emotional processing with age. To test these hypotheses, the current study examined the effects of emotional content and aging on working memory for target information in the presence of distraction. Thirty-six younger (ages 18-29 and 36 older adults (ages 65-87 completed a delayed-response working memory task. Participants viewed two target words intermixed with two distracter words, and then judged whether a subsequently presented probe word was one of the target words. The emotional content (valence and arousal of targets and distracters was systematically manipulated. Results indicated that emotional targets facilitated working memory in both age groups. In contrast, emotional distracters disrupted performance. Negative distracters were particularly disruptive for older adults, but younger adults did not show an emotional interference effect. These findings help clarify discrepancies in the literature and contribute to the sparse research on emotional working memory in older adults.

Prophylactic effect of rebamipide on aspirin-induced gastric lesions and disruption of tight junctional protein zonula occludens-1 distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Takahiro; Yoshida, Norimasa; Nakabe, Nami; Isozaki, Yutaka; Kajikawa, Hirokazu; Takagi, Tomohisa; Handa, Osamu; Kokura, Satoshi; Ichikawa, Hiroshi; Naito, Yuji; Matsui, Hirofumi; Yoshikawa, Toshikazu

2008-03-01

Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are known to induce gastroduodenal complications such as ulcer, bleeding, and dyspepsia. In this study, we examined the prophylactic effect of rebamipide, an anti-ulcer agent with free-radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory effect, on acidified aspirin-induced gastric mucosal injury in rats. In addition, we investigated the mucosal barrier functions disrupted by aspirin. Oral administration of acidified aspirin resulted in linear hemorrhagic erosions with increasing myeloperoxidase activity and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance concentrations in the gastric mucosa. Rebamipide suppressed these acidified aspirin-induced gastric lesions and inflammatory changes significantly, and its protective effect was more potent in the case of repeated (twice daily for 3 days) treatment than single treatment before aspirin administration. Immunostaining of zonula occludens (ZO)-1, one of the tight junctional proteins, was strengthened in rat gastric mucosa after repeated administration of rebamipide. In addition, aspirin induced the increasing transport of fluorescine isothiocyanate-labeled dextrans with localized disruption and decreased expression of ZO-1 protein on rat gastric mucosal cell line RGM-1. Rebamipide effectively prevented aspirin-induced permeability changes and disruption of ZO-1 distribution. These results suggest that rebamipide protects against aspirin-induced gastric mucosal lesions by preserving gastric epithelial cell-to cell integrity in addition to the anti-inflammatory effects.

The mass disruption of Jupiter Family comets

Science.gov (United States)

Belton, Michael J. S.

2015-01-01

I show that the size-distribution of small scattered-disk trans-neptunian objects when derived from the observed size-distribution of Jupiter Family comets (JFCs) and other observational constraints implies that a large percentage (94-97%) of newly arrived active comets within a range of 0.2-15.4 km effective radius must physically disrupt, i.e., macroscopically disintegrate, within their median dynamical lifetime. Additional observational constraints include the numbers of dormant and active nuclei in the near-Earth object (NEO) population and the slope of their size distributions. I show that the cumulative power-law slope (-2.86 to -3.15) of the scattered-disk TNO hot population between 0.2 and 15.4 km effective radius is only weakly dependent on the size-dependence of the otherwise unknown disruption mechanism. Evidently, as JFC nuclei from the scattered disk evolve into the inner Solar System only a fraction achieve dormancy while the vast majority of small nuclei (e.g., primarily those with effective radius <2 km) break-up. The percentage disruption rate appears to be comparable with that of the dynamically distinct Oort cloud and Halley type comets (Levison, H.F., Morbidelli, A., Dones, L., Jedicke, R., Wiegert, P.A., Bottke Jr., W.F. [2002]. Science 296, 2212-2215) suggesting that all types of comet nuclei may have similar structural characteristics even though they may have different source regions and thermal histories. The typical disruption rate for a 1 km radius active nucleus is ∼5 × 10-5 disruptions/year and the dormancy rate is typically 3 times less. We also estimate that average fragmentation rates range from 0.01 to 0.04 events/year/comet, somewhat above the lower limit of 0.01 events/year/comet observed by Chen and Jewitt (Chen, J., Jewitt, D.C. [1994]. Icarus 108, 265-271).

Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (DBD) Rating Scale for Attention ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This is the first normative values and charts for the screening of ADHD based on the disruptive behavior disorder screening questionnaire for children in Nigeria. The use of these charts and norms will no doubt make the identification of these children easier especially at the community level and strengthen the School health ...

Thyroid-disrupting chemicals and brain development: an update

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bilal B Mughal

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This review covers recent findings on the main categories of thyroid hormone–disrupting chemicals and their effects on brain development. We draw mostly on epidemiological and experimental data published in the last decade. For each chemical class considered, we deal with not only the thyroid hormone–disrupting effects but also briefly mention the main mechanisms by which the same chemicals could modify estrogen and/or androgen signalling, thereby exacerbating adverse effects on endocrine-dependent developmental programmes. Further, we emphasize recent data showing how maternal thyroid hormone signalling during early pregnancy affects not only offspring IQ, but also neurodevelopmental disease risk. These recent findings add to established knowledge on the crucial importance of iodine and thyroid hormone for optimal brain development. We propose that prenatal exposure to mixtures of thyroid hormone–disrupting chemicals provides a plausible biological mechanism contributing to current increases in the incidence of neurodevelopmental disease and IQ loss.

Late-life effects on rat reproductive system after developmental exposure to mixtures of endocrine disrupters.

Science.gov (United States)

Isling, Louise Krag; Boberg, Julie; Jacobsen, Pernille Rosenskjold; Mandrup, Karen Riiber; Axelstad, Marta; Christiansen, Sofie; Vinggaard, Anne Marie; Taxvig, Camilla; Kortenkamp, Andreas; Hass, Ulla

2014-01-01

This study examined late-life effects of perinatal exposure of rats to a mixture of endocrine-disrupting contaminants. Four groups of 14 time-mated Wistar rats were exposed by gavage from gestation day 7 to pup day 22 to a mixture of 13 anti-androgenic and estrogenic chemicals including phthalates, pesticides, u.v.-filters, bisphenol A, parabens, and the drug paracetamol. The groups received vehicle (control), a mixture of all 13 chemicals at 150-times (TotalMix150) or 450-times (TotalMix450) high-end human exposure, or 450-times a mixture of nine predominantly anti-androgenic chemicals (AAMix450). Onset of puberty and estrous cyclicity at 9 and 12 months of age were assessed. Few female offspring showed significantly regular estrus cyclicity at 12 months of age in the TotalMix450 and AAMix450 groups compared with controls. In 19-month-old male offspring, epididymal sperm counts were lower than controls, and in ventral prostate an overrepresentation of findings related to hyperplasia was observed in exposed groups compared with controls, particularly in the group dosed with anti-androgens. A higher incidence of pituitary adenoma at 19 months of age was found in males and females in the AAMix450 group. Developmental exposure of rats to the highest dose of a human-relevant mixture of endocrine disrupters induced adverse effects late in life, manifested as earlier female reproductive senescence, reduced sperm counts, higher score for prostate atypical hyperplasia, and higher incidence of pituitary tumors. These delayed effects highlight the need for further studies on the role of endocrine disrupters in hormone-related disorders in aging humans.

Consequences of family disruption on children's educational outcomes in Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Fiona; Sigle-Rushton, Wendy; Kravdal, Øystein

2009-08-01

Using high-quality data from Norwegian population registers, we examine the relationship between family disruption and children's educational outcomes. We distinguish between disruptions caused by parental divorce and paternal death and, using a simultaneous equation model, pay particular attention to selection bias in the effect of divorce. We also allow for the possibility that disruption may have different effects at different stages of a child's educational career. Our results suggest that selection on time-invariant maternal characteristics is important and works to overstate the effects of divorce on a child's chances of continuing in education. Nevertheless, the experience of marital breakdown during childhood is associated with lower levels of education, and the effect weakens with the child's age at disruption. The effects of divorce are most pronounced for the transitions during or just beyond the high school level. In models that do not allow for selection, children who experienced a father's death appear less disadvantaged than children whose parents divorced. After we control for selection, however differences in the educational qualifications of children from divorced and bereaved families narrow substantially and, at mean ages of divorce, are almost non-existent.

Effects of artificial light at night on human health: A literature review of observational and experimental studies applied to exposure assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, YongMin; Ryu, Seung-Hun; Lee, Byeo Ri; Kim, Kyung Hee; Lee, Eunil; Choi, Jaewook

2015-01-01

It has frequently been reported that exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) may cause negative health effects, such as breast cancer, circadian phase disruption and sleep disorders. Here, we reviewed the literature assessing the effects of human exposure to ALAN in order to list the health effects of various aspects of ALAN. Several electronic databases were searched for articles, published through August 2014, related to assessing the effects of exposure to ALAN on human health; these also included the details of experiments on such exposure. A total of 85 articles were included in the review. Several observational studies showed that outdoor ALAN levels are a risk factor for breast cancer and reported that indoor light intensity and individual lighting habits were relevant to this risk. Exposure to artificial bright light during the nighttime suppresses melatonin secretion, increases sleep onset latency (SOL) and increases alertness. Circadian misalignment caused by chronic ALAN exposure may have negative effects on the psychological, cardiovascular and/or metabolic functions. ALAN also causes circadian phase disruption, which increases with longer duration of exposure and with exposure later in the evening. It has also been reported that shorter wavelengths of light preferentially disturb melatonin secretion and cause circadian phase shifts, even if the light is not bright. This literature review may be helpful to understand the health effects of ALAN exposure and suggests that it is necessary to consider various characteristics of artificial light, beyond mere intensity.

Power loading on the first wall during disruptions in TFTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janos, A.; Fredrickson, E.D.; McGuire, K.M.; Nagayama, Y.; Owens, D.K.; Wilfrid, E.

1992-01-01

Heating of the first wall of TFTR due to disruptions is investigated experimentally using an extensive array of thermocouples. By comparing results from discharges with and without disruptions, we extract effects due to the disruption alone. Disruptions preferentially heat the same areas which are heated during discharges without disruptions. Hot areas are inward protrusions or regions unshielded by neighboring areas. Peaking factors in the toroidal direction, defined as peak temperature divided by average toroidal temperature, as a function of poloidal angle, are calculated. For nondisruptive discharges, the peaking factor varies between 2 and 4. For the disruptive portion of a discharge only, the peaking factor near the midplane, where most of the energy is deposited, ranges from 3 to 5. Further away from the midplane, the peaking factor can reach 28, although the heat load is less in that region. (orig.)

Fokker-Planck simulation of runaway electron generation in disruptions with the hot-tail effect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nuga, H., E-mail: nuga@p-grp.nucleng.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Fukuyama, A. [Department of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 615-8540 (Japan); Yagi, M. [National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan)

2016-06-15

To study runaway electron generation in disruptions, we have extended the three-dimensional (two-dimensional in momentum space; one-dimensional in the radial direction) Fokker-Planck code, which describes the evolution of the relativistic momentum distribution function of electrons and the induced toroidal electric field in a self-consistent manner. A particular focus is placed on the hot-tail effect in two-dimensional momentum space. The effect appears if the drop of the background plasma temperature is sufficiently rapid compared with the electron-electron slowing down time for a few times of the pre-quench thermal velocity. It contributes to not only the enhancement of the primary runaway electron generation but also the broadening of the runaway electron distribution in the pitch angle direction. If the thermal energy loss during the major disruption is assumed to be isotropic, there are hot-tail electrons that have sufficiently large perpendicular momentum, and the runaway electron distribution becomes broader in the pitch angle direction. In addition, the pitch angle scattering also yields the broadening. Since the electric field is reduced due to the burst of runaway electron generation, the time required for accelerating electrons to the runaway region becomes longer. The longer acceleration period makes the pitch-angle scattering more effective.

The Googlization of health research : From disruptive innovation to disruptive ethics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sharon, Tamar

2016-01-01

Consumer-oriented mobile technologies offer new ways of capturing multidimensional health data, and are increasingly seen as facilitators of medical research. This has opened the way for large consumer tech companies, like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook, to enter the space of health research,

Designing reliable supply chain network with disruption risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Bozorgi Amiri

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Although supply chains disruptions rarely occur, their negative effects are prolonged and severe. In this paper, we propose a reliable capacitated supply chain network design (RSCND model by considering random disruptions in both distribution centers and suppliers. The proposed model determines the optimal location of distribution centers (DC with the highest reliability, the best plan to assign customers to opened DCs and assigns opened DCs to suitable suppliers with lowest transportation cost. In this study, random disruption occurs at the location, capacity of the distribution centers (DCs and suppliers. It is assumed that a disrupted DC and a disrupted supplier may lose a portion of their capacities, and the rest of the disrupted DC's demand can be supplied by other DCs. In addition, we consider shortage in DCs, which can occur in either normal or disruption conditions and DCs, can support each other in such circumstances. Unlike other studies in the extent of literature, we use new approach to model the reliability of DCs; we consider a range of reliability instead of using binary variables. In order to solve the proposed model for real-world instances, a Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II is applied. Preliminary results of testing the proposed model of this paper on several problems with different sizes provide seem to be promising.

Symposium on disruptive instabilities at Garching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lackner, K.

1979-01-01

The phenomenon of disruptive instabilities was investigated with a special care at the IPP at Garching. After lectures and panel sessions it appears suitable, to subdivide the disruptive phenomena into four classes: 1. The internal disruption (the socalled saw-tooth oscillators). 2. the socalled reconnection disruptions. 3. The large disruptions. 4. The small disruptions. The four appearance forms of the phenomena are briefly explained. (GG) [de

An investigation of endocrine disrupting effects and toxic mechanisms modulated by benzo[a]pyrene in female scallop Chlamys farreri

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tian, Shuangmei; Pan, Luqing, E-mail: panlq@ouc.edu.cn; Sun, Xiaohua

2013-11-15

Highlights: •B[a]P disturbed progesterone, 17β-estradiol and testosterone production in scallop. •B[a]P inhibited 3β-HSD, CYP17 and 17β-HSD expression after a 10-day exposure. •B[a]P of lower dose elevated AHR-CYP1A expression but high dose B[a]P inhibited them. •ER and vitellogenin transcription was consistent with AHR after B[a]P exposure. •B[a]P exposure induced relatively developmental delay and impairment of ovary. -- Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the endocrine disrupting effects induced by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and explore the underlying mechanisms in mollusks. In this study, sexually mature female Chlamys farreri were exposed to benzo[a]pyrene for 10 days at four different concentrations as 0, 0.025, 0.5 and 10 μg/L. Sex steroids were identified and quantified by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) method and results showed that exposure to B[a]P exerts great suppression on 17β-estradiol, testosterone production and disrupts progesterone levels in ovary. Transcription of genes were detected and measured by real-time RT-PCR. It showed that at day 10 B[a]P inhibited 3β-HSD, CYP17 and 17β-HSD mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner, which suggests that they could be potential targets of B[a]P that disrupt steroidogenic machinery. Moreover, 0.025 μg/L B[a]P activated transcription of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), AHR nuclear translocator (ARNT), CYP1A1 and estrogen receptor (ER), while 10 μg/L B[a]P suppressed all of them. The consistency of their responses to B[a]P exposure implies that AHR action may be involved in invertebrate CYP regulation and ER transcription despite of unknown mechanisms. Additionally, B[a]P exposure could induce ovarian impairment and developmental delay in C. farreri. Overall, sensitivity of C. farreri to endocrine disruption and toxicity suggests that C. farreri is a suitable species for study of endocrine-disrupting effects in marine invertebrates. This study will form a

An investigation of endocrine disrupting effects and toxic mechanisms modulated by benzo[a]pyrene in female scallop Chlamys farreri

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian, Shuangmei; Pan, Luqing; Sun, Xiaohua

2013-01-01

Highlights: •B[a]P disturbed progesterone, 17β-estradiol and testosterone production in scallop. •B[a]P inhibited 3β-HSD, CYP17 and 17β-HSD expression after a 10-day exposure. •B[a]P of lower dose elevated AHR-CYP1A expression but high dose B[a]P inhibited them. •ER and vitellogenin transcription was consistent with AHR after B[a]P exposure. •B[a]P exposure induced relatively developmental delay and impairment of ovary. -- Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the endocrine disrupting effects induced by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and explore the underlying mechanisms in mollusks. In this study, sexually mature female Chlamys farreri were exposed to benzo[a]pyrene for 10 days at four different concentrations as 0, 0.025, 0.5 and 10 μg/L. Sex steroids were identified and quantified by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) method and results showed that exposure to B[a]P exerts great suppression on 17β-estradiol, testosterone production and disrupts progesterone levels in ovary. Transcription of genes were detected and measured by real-time RT-PCR. It showed that at day 10 B[a]P inhibited 3β-HSD, CYP17 and 17β-HSD mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner, which suggests that they could be potential targets of B[a]P that disrupt steroidogenic machinery. Moreover, 0.025 μg/L B[a]P activated transcription of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), AHR nuclear translocator (ARNT), CYP1A1 and estrogen receptor (ER), while 10 μg/L B[a]P suppressed all of them. The consistency of their responses to B[a]P exposure implies that AHR action may be involved in invertebrate CYP regulation and ER transcription despite of unknown mechanisms. Additionally, B[a]P exposure could induce ovarian impairment and developmental delay in C. farreri. Overall, sensitivity of C. farreri to endocrine disruption and toxicity suggests that C. farreri is a suitable species for study of endocrine-disrupting effects in marine invertebrates. This study will form a

Social memory in the rat: circadian variation and effect of circadian rhythm disruption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijmers, L.G.J.E.; Leus, I.E.; Burbach, J.P.H.; Spruijt, B.M.; Ree, van J.M.

2001-01-01

Disruption of circadian rhythm can impair long-term passive avoidance memory of rats and mice. The present study investigated whether disruption of circadian rhythm can also impair social memory of male rats. Social memory was assessed using the social discrimination test, in which a short-term

Disruptive behaviour in the perioperative setting: a contemporary review.

Science.gov (United States)

Villafranca, Alexander; Hamlin, Colin; Enns, Stephanie; Jacobsohn, Eric

2017-02-01

enforced, regular performance feedback, and clinician coaching/remediation as required. Disruptive behaviour remains a part of operating room culture, with many associated deleterious effects. There is a widely accepted view that disruptive behaviour can lead to increased patient morbidity and mortality. This is mechanistically plausible, but more rigorous studies are required to confirm the effects and estimate their magnitude. An important measure that individual clinicians can take is to monitor and control their own behaviour, including their responses to disruptive behaviour.

Disruptions in large value payment systems: an experimental approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbink, K.; Bosman, R.; Heijmans, R.; van Winden, F.

2010-01-01

This experimental study investigates the behaviour of banks in a large value payment system. More specifically,we look at 1) the reactions of banks to disruptions in the payment system, 2) the way in which the history of disruptions affects the behaviour of banks (path dependency) and 3) the effect

Disruptions in large value payment systems: An experimental approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbink, K.; Bosman, R.; Heijmans, R.; van Winden, F.; Hellqvist, M.; Laine, T.

2012-01-01

This experimental study investigates the behaviour of banks in a large value payment system. More specifically, we look at 1) the reactions of banks to disruptions in the payment system, 2) the way in which the history of disruptions affects the behaviour of banks (path dependency) and 3) the effect

Disruptive Pupils and Teacher Stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunham, Jack

1981-01-01

Teachers have identified a number of stress situations in their work with disruptive children: insecurity due to student unpredictability, doubting their effectiveness, frustrated attempts at communication with other professionals, and feelings of isolation and limited social relationships (expressed by residential workers). (CT)

Statistical analysis of disruptions in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Vries, P.C.; Johnson, M.F.; Segui, I.

2009-01-01

The disruption rate (the percentage of discharges that disrupt) in JET was found to drop steadily over the years. Recent campaigns (2005-2007) show a yearly averaged disruption rate of only 6% while from 1991 to 1995 this was often higher than 20%. Besides the disruption rate, the so-called disruptivity, or the likelihood of a disruption depending on the plasma parameters, has been determined. The disruptivity of plasmas was found to be significantly higher close to the three main operational boundaries for tokamaks; the low-q, high density and β-limit. The frequency at which JET operated close to the density-limit increased six fold over the last decade; however, only a small reduction in disruptivity was found. Similarly the disruptivity close to the low-q and β-limit was found to be unchanged. The most significant reduction in disruptivity was found far from the operational boundaries, leading to the conclusion that the improved disruption rate is due to a better technical capability of operating JET, instead of safer operations close to the physics limits. The statistics showed that a simple protection system was able to mitigate the forces of a large fraction of disruptions, although it has proved to be at present more difficult to ameliorate the heat flux.

Improvements in disruption prediction at ASDEX Upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aledda, R., E-mail: raffaele.aledda@diee.unica.it; Cannas, B., E-mail: cannas@diee.unica.it; Fanni, A., E-mail: fanni@diee.unica.it; Pau, A., E-mail: alessandro.pau@diee.unica.it; Sias, G., E-mail: giuliana.sias@diee.unica.it

2015-10-15

Highlights: • A disruption prediction system for AUG, based on a logistic model, is designed. • The length of the disruptive phase is set for each disruption in the training set. • The model is tested on dataset different from that used during the training phase. • The generalization capability and the aging of the model have been tested. • The predictor performance is compared with the locked mode detector. - Abstract: In large-scale tokamaks disruptions have the potential to create serious damage to the facility. Hence disruptions must be avoided, but, when a disruption is unavoidable, minimizing its severity is mandatory. A reliable detection of a disruptive event is required to trigger proper mitigation actions. To this purpose machine learning methods have been widely studied to design disruption prediction systems at ASDEX Upgrade. The training phase of the proposed approaches is based on the availability of disrupted and non-disrupted discharges. In literature disruptive configurations were assumed appearing into the last 45 ms of each disruption. Even if the achieved results in terms of correct predictions were good, it has to be highlighted that the choice of such a fixed temporal window might have limited the prediction performance. In fact, it generates confusing information in cases of disruptions with disruptive phase different from 45 ms. The assessment of a specific disruptive phase for each disruptive discharge represents a relevant issue in understanding the disruptive events. In this paper, the Mahalanobis distance is applied to define a specific disruptive phase for each disruption, and a logistic regressor has been trained as disruption predictor. The results show that enhancements on the achieved performance on disruption prediction are possible by defining a specific disruptive phase for each disruption.

Improvements in disruption prediction at ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aledda, R.; Cannas, B.; Fanni, A.; Pau, A.; Sias, G.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A disruption prediction system for AUG, based on a logistic model, is designed. • The length of the disruptive phase is set for each disruption in the training set. • The model is tested on dataset different from that used during the training phase. • The generalization capability and the aging of the model have been tested. • The predictor performance is compared with the locked mode detector. - Abstract: In large-scale tokamaks disruptions have the potential to create serious damage to the facility. Hence disruptions must be avoided, but, when a disruption is unavoidable, minimizing its severity is mandatory. A reliable detection of a disruptive event is required to trigger proper mitigation actions. To this purpose machine learning methods have been widely studied to design disruption prediction systems at ASDEX Upgrade. The training phase of the proposed approaches is based on the availability of disrupted and non-disrupted discharges. In literature disruptive configurations were assumed appearing into the last 45 ms of each disruption. Even if the achieved results in terms of correct predictions were good, it has to be highlighted that the choice of such a fixed temporal window might have limited the prediction performance. In fact, it generates confusing information in cases of disruptions with disruptive phase different from 45 ms. The assessment of a specific disruptive phase for each disruptive discharge represents a relevant issue in understanding the disruptive events. In this paper, the Mahalanobis distance is applied to define a specific disruptive phase for each disruption, and a logistic regressor has been trained as disruption predictor. The results show that enhancements on the achieved performance on disruption prediction are possible by defining a specific disruptive phase for each disruption.

Kinetic and collision process effects on magnetic structures in pre-disruption phase of tokamak plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farshi, Esmaeil [Kyushu Univ., Advanced Energy Engineering Sciences, Kasuga, Fukuoka (Japan); Goudarzi, Shervin [AEOI, Plasma Physics Department, Tehran (Iran); Amrollahi, Reza [K-N Toosi Univ. of Technology, Tehran (Iran); Sato, Kohnosuke [Kyushu Univ., Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kasuga, Fukuoka (Japan)

2001-07-01

Oscillations of the parallel and perpendicular neutral fluxes that are observed during pre-disruption stage in recent experiments, show possibility of a structure in pre-disruption phase of tokamak plasmas. This structure oscillates simultaneously with the m=2 mode until the damping of this mode. The perpendicular component of this structure is greater than the parallel one. From other side, there are a good correlation between MHD activity and behavior of charge exchange neutrals, and an enough good correlation between time behavior of charge exchange flux with high energy and OV line radiation in pre-disruption phase. These may witness possibility of a mechanism of losses-excitation of inner transition with help of heavy particles in pre-disruption phase. This mechanism plays an important role in magnetic structures in pre-disruption phase. (author)

Kinetic and collision process effects on magnetic structures in pre-disruption phase of tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farshi, Esmaeil; Goudarzi, Shervin; Amrollahi, Reza; Sato, Kohnosuke

2001-01-01

Oscillations of the parallel and perpendicular neutral fluxes that are observed during pre-disruption stage in recent experiments, show possibility of a structure in pre-disruption phase of tokamak plasmas. This structure oscillates simultaneously with the m=2 mode until the damping of this mode. The perpendicular component of this structure is greater than the parallel one. From other side, there are a good correlation between MHD activity and behavior of charge exchange neutrals, and an enough good correlation between time behavior of charge exchange flux with high energy and OV line radiation in pre-disruption phase. These may witness possibility of a mechanism of losses-excitation of inner transition with help of heavy particles in pre-disruption phase. This mechanism plays an important role in magnetic structures in pre-disruption phase. (author)

Supply Chain Disruptions Theory and Practice of Managing Risk

CERN Document Server

Mehrotra, Anuj; Ray, Saibal

2012-01-01

One of the most critical issues facing supply chain managers in today’s globalized and highly uncertain business environments is how to deal proactively with disruptions that might affect the complicated supply networks characterizing modern enterprises. Supply Chain Disruptions: Theory and Practice of Managing Risk presents a state-of the-art perspective on this particular issue. Supply Chain Disruptions: Theory and Practice of Managing Risk demonstrates that effective management of supply disruptions necessitates both strategic and tactical measures – the former involving optimal design of supply networks; the latter involving inventory, finance and demand management. It shows that managers ought to use all available levers at their disposal throughout the supply network – like sourcing and pricing strategies, providing financial subsidies, encouraging information sharing and incentive alignment between supply chain partners – in order to tackle supply disruptions. The editors combine up-to-date aca...

Can we effectively degrade microcystins? - Implications on human health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de la Cruz, Armah A; Antoniou, Maria; Hiskia, Anastasia

2011-01-01

leading to the disruption of cascade of events important in the regulation and control of cellular processes. Covalent binding of microcystins with phosphatases is thought to be responsible for the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of microcystins. In addition, microcystins can trigger oxidative stress......Microcystins are cyclic heptapeptide toxins produced by a number of genera of cyanobacteria. They are ubiquitous in bodies of water worldwide and pose significant hazard to human, plant, and animal health. Microcystins are primarily hepatotoxins known to inhibit serine-threonine phosphatases...... harmful bloom events. Combination of conventional and advanced oxidation technologies can potentially remove 100% of microcystins in water even in turbid conditions. This review covers selected treatment technologies to degrade microcystins in water....

The effects of host obscuration on searches for tidal disruption events

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Nathaniel; Mushotzky, Richard; Gezari, Suvi; van Velzen, Sjoert

2018-01-01

Tidal disruptions of stars by super-massive black holes (TDEs) offer opportunities to learn about black hole demographics and stellar dynamics. However, matching the observed TDE rate to that predicted by theory has remained a challenge, as most surveys to-date have found fewer flares than expected. Some of this discrepancy may relate to nuclear obscuration in host galaxies. This includes the effects of dust at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths, and the effects of neutral gas at x-ray wavelengths. I will discuss procedures to correct the observed TDE rate within existing and upcoming surveys to the intrinsic per-galaxy rate by accounting for host obscuration. I will also discuss how reddening might affect TDE selection criteria, and I will make predictions for the population of infrared TDE light echoes.

Disruption prediction at JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milani, F.

1998-12-01

The sudden loss of the plasma magnetic confinement, known as disruption, is one of the major issue in a nuclear fusion machine as JET (Joint European Torus). Disruptions pose very serious problems to the safety of the machine. The energy stored in the plasma is released to the machine structure in few milliseconds resulting in forces that at JET reach several Mega Newtons. The problem is even more severe in the nuclear fusion power station where the forces are in the order of one hundred Mega Newtons. The events that occur during a disruption are still not well understood even if some mechanisms that can lead to a disruption have been identified and can be used to predict them. Unfortunately it is always a combination of these events that generates a disruption and therefore it is not possible to use simple algorithms to predict it. This thesis analyses the possibility of using neural network algorithms to predict plasma disruptions in real time. This involves the determination of plasma parameters every few milliseconds. A plasma boundary reconstruction algorithm, XLOC, has been developed in collaboration with Dr. D. O'Brien and Dr. J. Ellis capable of determining the plasma wall/distance every 2 milliseconds. The XLOC output has been used to develop a multilayer perceptron network to determine plasma parameters as l i and q ψ with which a machine operational space has been experimentally defined. If the limits of this operational space are breached the disruption probability increases considerably. Another approach for prediction disruptions is to use neural network classification methods to define the JET operational space. Two methods have been studied. The first method uses a multilayer perceptron network with softmax activation function for the output layer. This method can be used for classifying the input patterns in various classes. In this case the plasma input patterns have been divided between disrupting and safe patterns, giving the possibility of

Comprehensive model for disruption erosion in a reactor environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Konkashbaev, I.

1995-01-01

A comprehensive disruption erosion model which takes into account the interplay of major physical processes during plasma-material interaction has been developed. The model integrates with sufficient detail and in a self-consistent way, material thermal evolution response, plasma-vapor interaction physics, vapor hydrodynamics and radiation transport in order to realistically simulate the effects of a plasma disruption on plasma-facing components. Candidate materials such as beryllium and carbon have been analyzed. The dependence of the net erosion rate on disruption physics and various parameters was analyzed and is discussed. ((orig.))

The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing: the disruptive effects of attention to the hands in skilled typewriting.

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Gordon D; Crump, Matthew J C

2009-10-01

Everyone knows that attention to the details disrupts skilled performance, but little empirical evidence documents this fact. We show that attention to the hands disrupts skilled typewriting. We had skilled typists type words preceded by cues that told them to type only the letters assigned to one hand or to type all of the letters. Cuing the hands disrupted performance markedly, slowing typing and increasing the error rate (Experiment 1); these deleterious effects were observed even when no keystrokes were actually inhibited (Experiment 3). However, cuing the same letters with colors was not disruptive (Experiment 2). We account for the disruption with a hierarchical control model, in which an inner loop controls the hands and an outer loop controls what is typed. Typing letters using only one hand requires the outer loop to monitor the inner loop's output; the outer loop slows inner-loop cycle time to increase the likelihood of inhibiting responses with the unwanted hand. This produces the disruption.

High trait anxiety: a challenge for disrupting fear memory reconsolidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Soeter, Marieke; Kindt, Merel

2013-01-01

Disrupting reconsolidation may be promising in the treatment of anxiety disorders but the fear-reducing effects are thus far solely demonstrated in the average organism. A relevant question is whether disrupting fear memory reconsolidation is less effective in individuals who are vulnerable to develop an anxiety disorder. By collapsing data from six previous human fear conditioning studies we tested whether trait anxiety was related to the fear-reducing effects of a pharmacological agent targeting the process of memory reconsolidation--n = 107. Testing included different phases across three consecutive days each separated by 24 h. Fear responding was measured by the eye-blink startle reflex. Disrupting the process of fear memory reconsolidation was manipulated by administering the β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol HCl either before or after memory retrieval. Trait anxiety uniquely predicted the fear-reducing effects of disrupting memory reconsolidation: the higher the trait anxiety, the less fear reduction. Vulnerable individuals with the propensity to develop anxiety disorders may need higher dosages of propranolol HCl or more retrieval trials for targeting and changing fear memory. Our finding clearly demonstrates that we cannot simply translate observations from fundamental research on fear reduction in the average organism to clinical practice.

Endocrine-disrupting activity of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and adverse health outcomes after prenatal exposure in male mice

Science.gov (United States)

Kassotis, Christopher D.; Klemp, Kara C.; Vu, Danh C.; Lin, Chung-Ho; Meng, Chun-Xia; Besch-Williford, Cynthia L.; Pinatti, Lisa; Zoeller, R. Thomas; Drobnis, Erma Z.; Balise, Victoria D.; Isiguzo, Chiamaka J.; Williams, Michelle A.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Nagel, Susan C.

2015-01-01

Oil and natural gas operations have been shown to contaminate surface and ground water with endocrine-disrupting chemicals. In the current study, we fill several gaps in our understanding of the potential environmental impacts related to this process. We measured the endocrine-disrupting activities of 24 chemicals used and/or produced by oil and gas operations for five nuclear receptors using a reporter gene assay in human endometrial cancer cells. We also quantified the concentration of 16 of these chemicals in oil and gas wastewater samples. Finally, we assessed reproductive and developmental outcomes in male C57BL/6J mice after the prenatal exposure to a mixture of these chemicals. We found that 23 commonly used oil and natural gas operation chemicals can activate or inhibit the estrogen, androgen, glucocorticoid, progesterone, and/or thyroid receptors, and mixtures of these chemicals can behave synergistically, additively, or antagonistically in vitro. Prenatal exposure to a mixture of 23 oil and gas operation chemicals at 3, 30, and 300 μg/kg · d caused decreased sperm counts and increased testes, body, heart, and thymus weights and increased serum testosterone in male mice, suggesting multiple organ system impacts. Our results suggest possible adverse developmental and reproductive health outcomes in humans and animals exposed to potential environmentally relevant levels of oil and gas operation chemicals.

Enzymatic cell disruption of microalgae biomass in biorefinery processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Demuez, Marie; Mahdy, Ahmed; Tomás-Pejó, Elia; González-Fernández, Cristina; Ballesteros, Mercedes

2015-10-01

When employing biotechnological processes for the procurement of biofuels and bio-products from microalgae, one of the most critical steps affecting economy and yields is the "cell disruption" stage. Currently, enzymatic cell disruption has delivered effective and cost competitive results when compared to mechanical and chemical cell disruption methods. However, the introduction of enzymes implies additional associated cost within the overall process. In order to reduce this cost, autolysis of microalgae is proposed as alternative enzymatic cell disruption method. This review aims to provide the state of the art of enzymatic cell disruption treatments employed in biorefinery processes and highlights the use of endopeptidases. During the enzymatic processes of microalgae life cycle, some lytic enzymes involved in cell division and programmed cell death have been proven useful in performing cell lysis. In this context, the role of endopeptidases is emphasized. Mirroring these natural events, an alternative cell disruption approach is proposed and described with the potential to induce the autolysis process using intrinsic cell enzymes. Integrating induced autolysis within biofuel production processes offers a promising approach to reduce overall global costs and energetic input associated with those of current cell disruption methods. A number of options for further inquiry are also discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effects Of Disruptive Technology On Project Interdiction

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

state of the art in personal privacy and anonymity is changing every day [11], [12]. 6 Disruptive technologies like cryptology and the blockchain ...only parties to be threatened by implementations of blockchain technology. Brooklyn-based software developer ConsenSys aims to provide the same...services as Google, utilizing a distributed network of computers that synchronizes information exchange via a blockchain implementation known as Ethereum

Epistatic and Independent Effects on Schizophrenia-Related Phenotypes Following Co-disruption of the Risk Factors Neuregulin-1 × DISC1.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Tuathaigh, Colm M P; Fumagalli, Fabio; Desbonnet, Lieve; Perez-Branguli, Francesc; Moloney, Gerard; Loftus, Samim; O'Leary, Claire; Petit, Emilie; Cox, Rachel; Tighe, Orna; Clarke, Gerard; Lai, Donna; Harvey, Richard P; Cryan, John F; Mitchell, Kevin J; Dinan, Timothy G; Riva, Marco A; Waddington, John L

2017-01-01

Few studies have addressed likely gene × gene (ie, epistatic) interactions in mediating risk for schizophrenia. Using a preclinical genetic approach, we investigated whether simultaneous disruption of the risk factors Neuregulin-1 (NRG1) and Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) would produce a disease-relevant phenotypic profile different from that observed following disruption to either gene alone. NRG1 heterozygotes exhibited hyperactivity and disruption to prepulse inhibition, both reversed by antipsychotic treatment, and accompanied by reduced striatal dopamine D2 receptor protein expression, impaired social cognition, and altered glutamatergic synaptic protein expression in selected brain areas. Single gene DISC1 mutants demonstrated a disruption in social cognition and nest-building, altered brain 5-hydroxytryptamine levels and hippocampal ErbB4 expression, and decreased cortical expression of the schizophrenia-associated microRNA miR-29b. Co-disruption of DISC1 and NRG1, indicative of epistasis, evoked an impairment in sociability and enhanced self-grooming, accompanied by changes in hypothalamic oxytocin/vasopressin gene expression. The findings indicate specific behavioral correlates and underlying cellular pathways downstream of main effects of DNA variation in the schizophrenia-associated genes NRG1 and DISC1. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Gender differences in sleep disruption and fatigue on quality of life among persons with ostomies.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, Carol M; Grant, Marcia; Wendel, Christopher; Hornbrook, Mark C; Herrinton, Lisa J; McMullen, Carmit; Krouse, Robert S

2009-08-15

The aim of this study is to examine differences in sleep disruption and fatigue of men and women colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors with intestinal ostomies and associated health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Participants in this cross-sectional study of long-term (> 5 years) CRC survivors received care at Kaiser Permanente. Measures included the City of Hope QOL Ostomy questionnaire with narrative comments for ostomy-related "greatest challenges." The Short Form-36 Version 2 (SF-36v2) health survey provided physical (PCS) and mental composite scale (MCS) scores to examine generic HR-QOL. The "sleep disruption" and "fatigue" items from the ostomy questionnaire (scale from 0 to 10 with higher scores indicating better HR-QOL) were dependent variables, while independent variables included age, ethnicity, education, partnered status, body mass index, and time since surgery. Data were analyzed using chi-square for nominal variables, Student t-tests for continuous variables, and logistic regression with significance set at p ostomy-specific measure, women (n = 118) compared to men (n = 168) reported more sleep disruption (p ostomy-associated fear of or actual leakage during sleep. Although women CRC survivors with ostomies report more sleep disruption and fatigue, which is reflected in their reduced physical and mental health scores on the SF-36v2 compared to men with ostomies, their stated reasons for disrupted sleep are similar to their male counterparts. These findings can provide a foundation for gender-relevant ostomy interventions to improve sleep and HR-QOL in this patient population.

Health effect predictions from the Chernobyl accident for the Bulgarian population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasilev, G.

1992-01-01

Contamination of Bulgaria's territory from atmospheric transfer of radioactive products released by the disrupted Chernobylsk reactor is discussed. The mean effective doses derived are given. To predict health implications for the population use was made of the risk coefficients and approaches proposed in ICRP Publication 60 (1990). As regards stochastic effects, estimations indicated: 1) cancer with fatal outcome: a total of 363 cases occurring over 50 to 70 years (the lifetime of a generation); 2) nonfatal (curable) cancer: a total of 107 cases; 3) serious heritable effects: a total of 80 cases. Calculations of radiation doses involved two major assumptions: at the time of the accident people were continuously staying at their permanent place of residence; they were mostly consuming food of local origin. The predicted health consequences are of a probabilistic nature and serve to make comparative evaluations with other sources of radiation exposure, and as guides for epidemiologic studies. It is such studies that will enable to evaluate the harm actually incurred at the time of Chernobyl accident. (author)

Endocrine disrupting activities and immunomodulatory effects in lymphoblastoid cell lines of diclofenac, 4-hydroxydiclofenac and paracetamol.

Science.gov (United States)

Klopčič, Ivana; Markovič, Tijana; Mlinarič-Raščan, Irena; Dolenc, Marija Sollner

2018-05-16

A critical literature review reveals that knowledge of side effects of pharmaceuticals diclofenac and paracetamol is extremely important because of their widespread use and occurrence in the environment. In order to delineate whether these compounds have endocrine activity and influence on the immune system, we assessed the potential endocrine disrupting and immunomodulatory activities of: diclofenac (DIC), its metabolite 4-hydroxydiclofenac (4-HD) and paracetamol (PAR). Herein, we report on their impact on estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR), glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and thyroid hormone receptor (TR). The endocrine disrupting effects were assessed in vitro in MDA-kb2 and GH3.TRE-Luc cell lines and by the XenoScreen YES/YAS assay. Moreover, binding affinity to nuclear receptors (GR and AR) was also measured. Immunomodulatory properties of the compounds were evaluated in lymphoblastoid cell lines. All the tested compounds showed endocrine disrupting and immunomodulatory activities. The results revealed that both DIC and its metabolite 4-HD exhibited significant estrogenic, anti-androgenic (in YAS assay), (anti)-androgenic, (anti)-glucocorticoid and anti-thyroid hormonal activities (in luciferase reporter gene assays). DIC showed direct binding to the GR, while its metabolite 4-HD to the GR and AR. Only metabolite 4-HD showed estrogenic, androgenic (in YAS assay) and thyroid-hormonal activities. PAR had anti-androgenic activity and anti-thyroid hormonal activity. PAR displayed GR agonist activity with competition to its receptor and agonistic activity to AR. All of the compounds significantly modulated pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokine production in lymphoblastoid cell lines and were thus proven immunomodulatory. The study is useful in determining toxicological effects and contributes to the knowledge of possible side effects of diclofenac, its metabolite and paracetamol. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Maternal Characteristics Predicting Young Girls’ Disruptive Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

van der Molen, Elsa; Hipwell, Alison E.; Vermeiren, Robert; Loeber, Rolf

2011-01-01

Little is known about the relative predictive utility of maternal characteristics and parenting skills on the development of girls’ disruptive behavior. The current study used five waves of parent and child-report data from the ongoing Pittsburgh Girls Study to examine these relationships in a sample of 1,942 girls from age 7 to 12 years. Multivariate Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses indicated that European American race, mother’s prenatal nicotine use, maternal depression, maternal conduct problems prior to age 15, and low maternal warmth explained unique variance. Maladaptive parenting partly mediated the effects of maternal depression and maternal conduct problems. Both current and early maternal risk factors have an impact on young girls’ disruptive behavior, providing support for the timing and focus of the prevention of girls’ disruptive behavior. PMID:21391016

Characteristics of low-q disruptions in PBX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaye, S.M.; Jahns, G.L.; Morris, A.W.

1988-06-01

The results of this study indicate that even within the relatively narrow low-q/sub /psi// operating space, there is a continuum in the characteristics of the low-q/sub /psi// disruptions with a primary dependence on the value of . While the ideal external kink instability may give rise to the growing oscillations that lead up to the ultimate disruption, the instabilities are weighted towards the edge only at the lowest-q/sub /psi// (≤ 3) and highest . At even slightly higher q/sub /psi//, the oscillations are also seen, at the same frequency, in the interior of the plasma. The results further indicate that effects outside the scope of ideal MHD theory may play a significant role in low-q/sub /psi// disruptions. 34 refs., 19 figs

Metabolic disruption in context: Clinical avenues for synergistic perturbations in energy homeostasis by endocrine disrupting chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Sargis, Robert M

2015-01-01

The global epidemic of metabolic disease is a clear and present danger to both individual and societal health. Understanding the myriad factors contributing to obesity and diabetes is essential for curbing their decades-long expansion. Emerging data implicate environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The phenylsulfamide fungicide and anti-fouling agent tolylfluanid (TF) was recently added to the list of EDCs promoting metabolic dysfunction. Dietary exposure to this novel metabolic disruptor promoted weight gain, increased adiposity, and glucose intolerance as well as systemic and cellular insulin resistance. Interestingly, the increase in body weight and adipose mass was not a consequence of increased food consumption; rather, it may have resulted from disruptions in diurnal patterns of energy intake, raising the possibility that EDCs may promote metabolic dysfunction through alterations in circadian rhythms. While these studies provide further evidence that EDCs may promote the development of obesity and diabetes, many questions remain regarding the clinical factors that modulate patient-specific consequences of EDC exposure, including the impact of genetics, diet, lifestyle, underlying disease, pharmacological treatments, and clinical states of fat redistribution. Currently, little is known regarding the impact of these factors on an individual's susceptibility to environmentally-mediated metabolic disruption. Advances in these areas will be critical for translating EDC science into the clinic to enable physicians to stratify an individual's risk of developing EDC-induced metabolic disease and to provide direction for treating exposed patients.

Monitoring-induced disruption in skilled typewriting.

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, Kristy M; Logan, Gordon D

2013-10-01

It is often disruptive to attend to the details of one's expert performance. The current work presents four experiments that utilized a monitor to report protocol to evaluate the sufficiency of three accounts of monitoring-induced disruption. The inhibition hypothesis states that disruption results from costs associated with preparing to withhold inappropriate responses. The dual-task hypothesis states that disruption results from maintaining monitored information in working memory. The implicit-explicit hypothesis states that disruption results from explicitly monitoring details of performance that are normally implicit. The findings suggest that all three hypotheses are sufficient to produce disruption, but inhibition and dual-task costs are not necessary. Experiment 1 showed that monitoring to report was disruptive even when there was no requirement to inhibit. Experiment 2 showed that maintaining information in working memory caused some disruption but much less than monitoring to report. Experiment 4 showed that monitoring to inhibit was more disruptive than monitoring to report, suggesting that monitoring is more disruptive when it is combined with other task requirements, such as inhibition. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Disruptive Intelligence - How to gather Information to deal with disruptive innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vriens, D.J.; Solberg Søilen, K.

2014-01-01

Disruptive innovations are innovations that have the capacity to transform a whole business into one with products that are more accessible and affordable (cf. Christensen et al. 2009). As Christensen et al. argue no business is immune to such disruptive innovations. If these authors are right, it

Circadian Rhythm Disruption Promotes Lung Tumorigenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Papagiannakopoulos, Thales; Bauer, Matthew R; Davidson, Shawn M; Heimann, Megan; Subbaraj, Lakshmipriya; Bhutkar, Arjun; Bartlebaugh, Jordan; Vander Heiden, Matthew G; Jacks, Tyler

2016-08-09

Circadian rhythms are 24-hr oscillations that control a variety of biological processes in living systems, including two hallmarks of cancer, cell division and metabolism. Circadian rhythm disruption by shift work is associated with greater risk for cancer development and poor prognosis, suggesting a putative tumor-suppressive role for circadian rhythm homeostasis. Using a genetically engineered mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma, we have characterized the effects of circadian rhythm disruption on lung tumorigenesis. We demonstrate that both physiologic perturbation (jet lag) and genetic mutation of the central circadian clock components decreased survival and promoted lung tumor growth and progression. The core circadian genes Per2 and Bmal1 were shown to have cell-autonomous tumor-suppressive roles in transformation and lung tumor progression. Loss of the central clock components led to increased c-Myc expression, enhanced proliferation, and metabolic dysregulation. Our findings demonstrate that both systemic and somatic disruption of circadian rhythms contribute to cancer progression. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The endocrine disruption properties of an adipose contaminant mixture extracted from East Greenland polar bears studied in the H295R cell line

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjorth, R.; Letcher, R. J.; Blair, D.

been well described and especially the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is recognized as being one of the most contaminated species in the Arctic. The present study investigated the in vitro endocrine disruptive effects of the POP mixture found in adipose tissue from 10 East Greenland polar bears collected...... (dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione). These results demonstrated comprehensive in vitro effects of POPs extracted from polar bear adipose tissue on key elements in the steroidogenesis, and identifies disruption of CYP17 activity as a mode of action. A POP-induced interference with CYP17 can potentially explain...... previously observed hormone levels in polar bears and could pose a risk to their reproductive health....

Politisk disruption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tække, Jesper

2018-01-01

Dette blogindlæg giver en kort analyse af hvordan de sociale medier ved at give en ny tid har åbnet for den disruption af de politiske processer som især Trump stå som et eksempel på.......Dette blogindlæg giver en kort analyse af hvordan de sociale medier ved at give en ny tid har åbnet for den disruption af de politiske processer som især Trump stå som et eksempel på....

Robust Optimization of Fourth Party Logistics Network Design under Disruptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Fourth Party Logistics (4PL network faces disruptions of various sorts under the dynamic and complex environment. In order to explore the robustness of the network, the 4PL network design with consideration of random disruptions is studied. The purpose of the research is to construct a 4PL network that can provide satisfactory service to customers at a lower cost when disruptions strike. Based on the definition of β-robustness, a robust optimization model of 4PL network design under disruptions is established. Based on the NP-hard characteristic of the problem, the artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA and the genetic algorithm (GA are developed. The effectiveness of the algorithms is tested and compared by simulation examples. By comparing the optimal solutions of the 4PL network for different robustness level, it is indicated that the robust optimization model can evade the market risks effectively and save the cost in the maximum limit when it is applied to 4PL network design.

Analyzing the concept of disruptive behavior in healthcare work: an integrative review*

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberta Meneses Oliveira

Full Text Available Abstract OBJECTIVE To analyze the concept of disruptive behavior in healthcare work. METHOD An integrative review carried out in the theoretical phase of a qualitative research substantiated by the theoretical framework of the Hybrid Model of Concept Development. The search for articles was conducted in the CINAHL, LILACS, PsycINFO, PubMed and SciVerse Scopus databases in 2013. RESULTS 70 scientific articles answered the guiding question and lead to attributes of disruptive behavior, being: incivility, psychological violence and physical/sexual violence; with their main antecedents (intrapersonal, interpersonal and organizational being: personality characteristics, stress and work overload; and consequences of: workers' moral/mental distress, compromised patient safety, labor loss, and disruption of communication, collaboration and teamwork. CONCLUSION Analysis of the disruptive behavior concept in healthcare work showed a construct in its theoretical stage that encompasses different disrespectful conduct adopted by health workers in the hospital context, which deserve the attention of leadership for better recognition and proper handling of cases and their consequences.

Towards a Disruptive Digital Platform Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazan, Erol

that digital platforms leverage on three strategic design elements (i.e., business, architecture, and technology design) to create supportive conditions for facilitating disruption. To shed light on disruptive digital platforms, I opted for payment platforms as my empirical context and unit of analysis......Digital platforms are layered modular information technology architectures that support disruption. Digital platforms are particularly disruptive, as they facilitate the quick release of digital innovations that may replace established innovations. Yet, despite their support for disruption, we have...... not fully understood how such digital platforms can be strategically designed and configured to facilitate disruption. To that end, this thesis endeavors to unravel disruptive digital platforms from the supply perspective that are grounded on strategic digital platform design elements. I suggest...

Smog induces oxidative stress and microbiota disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Tit-Yee

2017-04-01

Smog is created through the interactions between pollutants in the air, fog, and sunlight. Air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, heavy metals, nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic vapors, and particulate matters, can induce oxidative stress in human directly or indirectly through the formation of reactive oxygen species. The outermost boundary of human skin and mucous layers are covered by a complex network of human-associated microbes. The relation between these microbial communities and their human host are mostly mutualistic. These microbes not only provide nutrients, vitamins, and protection against other pathogens, they also influence human's physical, immunological, nutritional, and mental developments. Elements in smog can induce oxidative stress to these microbes, leading to community collapse. Disruption of these mutualistic microbiota may introduce unexpected health risks, especially among the newborns and young children. Besides reducing the burning of fossil fuels as the ultimate solution of smog formation, advanced methods by using various physical, chemical, and biological means to reduce sulfur and nitrogen contains in fossil fuels could lower smog formation. Additionally, information on microbiota disruption, based on functional genomics, culturomics, and general ecological principles, should be included in the risk assessment of prolonged smog exposure to the health of human populations. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Short-term and medium-term health effects of thermonuclear weapons and war on individuals and health services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lechat, M.F.

1984-01-01

In the aftermath of a thermonuclear attack a number of health problems would appear, related to the changed living conditions, lack of food, absence of sanitation, the environmental effects, and disruption of the health services. Internal irradiation by ingestion of radioactive isotopes deposited on the ground would constitute a major hazard from the fallout. In the first few weeks following the attack iodine-131 would present the greatest hazard. Its main entry into the body would be through milk from livestock grazing on pastures contaminated with fallout; milk from local cattle pasturing in open land would thus be unsuitable for consumption. There is much speculation about the possible outbreaks of communicable diseases following a nuclear attack. Infection could emerge as a major problem. It constitutes a leading cause of death in burns. In the Japanese experience acute radiation sickness was generally accompanied by infectious complications

Therapeutic effect of epidural steroid injection in patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption: a prospective case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Na Ra; Lee, Joon Woo; Chung, Sang Gi

2007-01-01

To assess the effect of the epidural steroid injection for patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption. Thirteen patients at the pain intervention clinic that received a lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injection and were suspected of having an internal disc disruption were prospectively enrolled in this study. The treatment outcome was assessed using a 5-point patient satisfaction scale (no pain, much improved, slightly improved, no effects, aggravated) two weeks after injection. A successful outcome required a patient satisfaction scale of 'much improved' or 'no pain'. All patients received follow-up for two months. Two radiologists evaluated the presence of HIZ (high intensity zone), a dark disc by MR (n 10) and a diffuse bulging disc by CT (n = 3). Nine (69%) of the 13 patients achieved a successful outcome two weeks after injection. These nine patients showed no recurrence during the two months months follow-up. Of the 22 abnormal discs demonstrated by MRI and CT, MRI showed a dark disc in six patients and HIZ in 13 patients. CT showed diffuse bulging in three discs. Nine of 10 patients showed at least one HIZ. An lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injection might be an effective tool for managing patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption

Therapeutic effect of epidural steroid injection in patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption: a prospective case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Na Ra; Lee, Joon Woo; Chung, Sang Gi [Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)] (and others)

2007-09-15

To assess the effect of the epidural steroid injection for patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption. Thirteen patients at the pain intervention clinic that received a lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injection and were suspected of having an internal disc disruption were prospectively enrolled in this study. The treatment outcome was assessed using a 5-point patient satisfaction scale (no pain, much improved, slightly improved, no effects, aggravated) two weeks after injection. A successful outcome required a patient satisfaction scale of 'much improved' or 'no pain'. All patients received follow-up for two months. Two radiologists evaluated the presence of HIZ (high intensity zone), a dark disc by MR (n 10) and a diffuse bulging disc by CT (n = 3). Nine (69%) of the 13 patients achieved a successful outcome two weeks after injection. These nine patients showed no recurrence during the two months months follow-up. Of the 22 abnormal discs demonstrated by MRI and CT, MRI showed a dark disc in six patients and HIZ in 13 patients. CT showed diffuse bulging in three discs. Nine of 10 patients showed at least one HIZ. An lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injection might be an effective tool for managing patients suspected of having an internal disc disruption.

Effects of N-acetylcysteine and imipramine in a model of acute rhythm disruption in BALB/c mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilz, Luísa K; Trojan, Yasmine; Quiles, Caroline L; Benvenutti, Radharani; Melo, Gabriela; Levandovski, Rosa; Hidalgo, Maria Paz L; Elisabetsky, Elaine

2015-03-01

Circadian rhythm disturbances are among the risk factors for depression, but specific animal models are lacking. This study aimed to characterize the effects of acute rhythm disruption in mice and investigate the effects of imipramine and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on rhythm disruption-induced changes. Mice were exposed to 12:12-hour followed by 10:10-hour light:dark cycles (LD); under the latter, mice were treated with saline, imipramine or NAC. Rhythms of rest/activity and temperature were assessed with actigraphs and iButtons, respectively. Hole-board and social preference tests were performed at the beginning of the experiment and again at the 8th 10:10 LD, when plasma corticosterone and IL-6 levels were also assessed. Actograms showed that the 10:10 LD schedule prevents the entrainment of temperature and activity rhythms for at least 13 cycles. Subsequent light regimen change activity and temperature amplitudes showed similar patterns of decline followed by recovery attempts. During the 10:10 LD schedule, activity and temperature amplitudes were significantly decreased (paired t test), an effect exacerbated by imipramine (ANOVA/SNK). The 10:10 LD schedule increased anxiety (paired t test), an effect prevented by NAC (30 mg/kg). This study identified mild but significant behavioral changes at specific time points after light regimen change. We suggest that if repeated overtime, these subtle changes may contribute to lasting behavioral disturbancess relevant to anxiety and mood disorders. Data suggest that imipramine may contribute to sustained rhythm disturbances, while NAC appears to prevent rhythm disruption-induced anxiety. Associations between sleep/circadian disturbances and the recurrence of depressive episodes underscore the relevance of potential drug-induced maintenance of disturbed rhythms.

Supply disruption cost for power network planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kjoelle, G.H.

1992-09-01

A description is given of the method of approach to calculate the total annual socio-economic cost of power supply disruption and non-supplied energy, included the utilities' cost for planning. The total socio-economic supply disruption cost is the sum of the customers' disruption cost and the utilities' cost for failure and disruption. The mean weighted disruption cost for Norway for one hour disruption is NOK 19 per kWh. The customers' annual disruption cost is calculated with basis in the specific disruption cost referred to heavy load (January) and dimensioning maximum loads. The loads are reduced by factors taking into account the time variations of the failure frequency, duration, the loads and the disruption cost. 6 refs

Just one look: Direct gaze briefly disrupts visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J Jessica; Apperly, Ian A

2017-04-01

Direct gaze is a salient social cue that affords rapid detection. A body of research suggests that direct gaze enhances performance on memory tasks (e.g., Hood, Macrae, Cole-Davies, & Dias, Developmental Science, 1, 67-71, 2003). Nonetheless, other studies highlight the disruptive effect direct gaze has on concurrent cognitive processes (e.g., Conty, Gimmig, Belletier, George, & Huguet, Cognition, 115(1), 133-139, 2010). This discrepancy raises questions about the effects direct gaze may have on concurrent memory tasks. We addressed this topic by employing a change detection paradigm, where participants retained information about the color of small sets of agents. Experiment 1 revealed that, despite the irrelevance of the agents' eye gaze to the memory task at hand, participants were worse at detecting changes when the agents looked directly at them compared to when the agents looked away. Experiment 2 showed that the disruptive effect was relatively short-lived. Prolonged presentation of direct gaze led to recovery from the initial disruption, rather than a sustained disruption on change detection performance. The present study provides the first evidence that direct gaze impairs visual working memory with a rapidly-developing yet short-lived effect even when there is no need to attend to agents' gaze.

High trait anxiety: a challenge for disrupting fear memory reconsolidation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marieke Soeter

Full Text Available Disrupting reconsolidation may be promising in the treatment of anxiety disorders but the fear-reducing effects are thus far solely demonstrated in the average organism. A relevant question is whether disrupting fear memory reconsolidation is less effective in individuals who are vulnerable to develop an anxiety disorder. By collapsing data from six previous human fear conditioning studies we tested whether trait anxiety was related to the fear-reducing effects of a pharmacological agent targeting the process of memory reconsolidation--n = 107. Testing included different phases across three consecutive days each separated by 24 h. Fear responding was measured by the eye-blink startle reflex. Disrupting the process of fear memory reconsolidation was manipulated by administering the β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol HCl either before or after memory retrieval. Trait anxiety uniquely predicted the fear-reducing effects of disrupting memory reconsolidation: the higher the trait anxiety, the less fear reduction. Vulnerable individuals with the propensity to develop anxiety disorders may need higher dosages of propranolol HCl or more retrieval trials for targeting and changing fear memory. Our finding clearly demonstrates that we cannot simply translate observations from fundamental research on fear reduction in the average organism to clinical practice.

Cell disruption for microalgae biorefineries.

Science.gov (United States)

Günerken, E; D'Hondt, E; Eppink, M H M; Garcia-Gonzalez, L; Elst, K; Wijffels, R H

2015-01-01

Microalgae are a potential source for various valuable chemicals for commercial applications ranging from nutraceuticals to fuels. Objective in a biorefinery is to utilize biomass ingredients efficiently similarly to petroleum refineries in which oil is fractionated in fuels and a variety of products with higher value. Downstream processes in microalgae biorefineries consist of different steps whereof cell disruption is the most crucial part. To maintain the functionality of algae biochemicals during cell disruption while obtaining high disruption yields is an important challenge. Despite this need, studies on mild disruption of microalgae cells are limited. This review article focuses on the evaluation of conventional and emerging cell disruption technologies, and a comparison thereof with respect to their potential for the future microalgae biorefineries. The discussed techniques are bead milling, high pressure homogenization, high speed homogenization, ultrasonication, microwave treatment, pulsed electric field treatment, non-mechanical cell disruption and some emerging technologies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reversibility of endocrine disruption in zebrafish (Danio rerio) - comparison of different effect levels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baumann, Lisa; Holbech, Henrik; Schiller, V.S.

: the androgen trenbolone binds directly and very effectively to the androgen receptor. Ethinylestradiol, a synthetic derivative of estradiol, causes feminization in wildlife and humans. The fungicide prochloraz acts as an aromatase inhibitor by direct interference with the aromatization of androgens......Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) exert effects at very low concentrations and can cause serious problems for the hormonal balance of various organisms. Exposure of wildlife to EDCs is not necessarily continuous, but may often occur in pulses. Consequently for the evaluation of the long......-term effects on populations, it is essential to know whether such EDC-related effects are reversible. Three different substances selected for different modes of action were tested for their long-term impact on sex ratio, gonadal development, vitellogenin (VTG) induction and aromatase activity in zebrafish...

A model for disruption generated runaway electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, A.J.; Campbell, R.B.

1993-01-01

One of the possible consequences of disruptions in tokamaks is the generation of runaway electrons which can impact plasma facing components and cause damage, owing to high local energy deposition. This problem becomes more serious as the machine size and plasma current increase. Since large size and high currents are characteristics of proposed future machines, control of runaway generation is an important design consideration. A lumped circuit model for disruption runaway electron generation indicates that impurity concentration and type, as well as plasma motion, can strongly influence runaway behaviour. A comparison of disruption data from several runs on JET and DIII-D with model results demonstrate the effects of impurities, and plasma motion, on runaway number density and energy. The model is also applied to the calculation of runaway currents for ITER. (author). 16 refs, 13 figs

Human exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds: Their role in reproductive systems, metabolic syndrome and breast cancer. A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Giulivo, Monica; Lopez de Alda, Miren; Capri, Ettore; Barceló, Damià

2016-11-01

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are released into the environment from different sources. They are mainly used in packaging industries, pesticides and food constituents. Clinical evidence, experimental models, and epidemiological studies suggest that EDCs have major risks for humans by targeting different organs and systems in the body (e.g. reproductive system, breast tissue, adipose tissue, pancreas, etc.). Due to the ubiquity of human exposure to these compounds the aim of this review is to describe the most recent data on the effects induced by phthalates, bisphenol A and parabens in a critical window of exposure: in utero, during pregnancy, infants, and children. The interactions and mechanisms of toxicity of EDCs in relation to human general health problems, especially those broadening the term of endocrine disruption to 'metabolic disruption', should be deeply investigated. These include endocrine disturbances, with particular reference to reproductive problems and breast, testicular and ovarian cancers, and metabolic diseases such as obesity or diabetes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plasma disruption modeling and simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.

1994-01-01

Disruptions in tokamak reactors are considered a limiting factor to successful operation and reliable design. The behavior of plasma-facing components during a disruption is critical to the overall integrity of the reactor. Erosion of plasma facing-material (PFM) surfaces due to thermal energy dump during the disruption can severely limit the lifetime of these components and thus diminish the economic feasibility of the reactor. A comprehensive understanding of the interplay of various physical processes during a disruption is essential for determining component lifetime and potentially improving the performance of such components. There are three principal stages in modeling the behavior of PFM during a disruption. Initially, the incident plasma particles will deposit their energy directly on the PFM surface, heating it to a very high temperature where ablation occurs. Models for plasma-material interactions have been developed and used to predict material thermal evolution during the disruption. Within a few microseconds after the start of the disruption, enough material is vaporized to intercept most of the incoming plasma particles. Models for plasma-vapor interactions are necessary to predict vapor cloud expansion and hydrodynamics. Continuous heating of the vapor cloud above the material surface by the incident plasma particles will excite, ionize, and cause vapor atoms to emit thermal radiation. Accurate models for radiation transport in the vapor are essential for calculating the net radiated flux to the material surface which determines the final erosion thickness and consequently component lifetime. A comprehensive model that takes into account various stages of plasma-material interaction has been developed and used to predict erosion rates during reactor disruption, as well during induced disruption in laboratory experiments

'Your whole life is lived through your teeth': biographical disruption and experiences of tooth loss and replacement.

Science.gov (United States)

Rousseau, Nikki; Steele, Jimmy; May, Carl; Exley, Catherine

2014-03-01

The experience and meaning of tooth loss and replacement has varied historically and culturally but has received relatively little attention from social scientists. Our study set out to understand these experiences in the context of the arrival of newer, dental implant treatments. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with 39 men and women who had experienced tooth loss and replacement. A thematic analysis was sensitised by previous sociological work on chronic illness, particularly Bury's notion of biographical disruption. We found that while for some individuals the loss of a tooth was relatively insignificant, for others it was devastating and disruptive. In seeking to understand this difference, the concept of biographical disruption was a helpful analytical tool. Our analysis identified two forms of disruption. The first related to the meanings of tooth loss (the neglected mouth) and denture wearing (a marker of old age). The second, embodied, disruption concerned the relationship between the self and mouth in those wearing dentures (the invaded, unreliable mouth) and could occur even where tooth loss and denture wearing had been biographically anticipated. © 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends: Extramarital Sex as a Precursor of Marital Disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Demaris, Alfred

2013-11-01

This study examines several aspects of the association between engaging in extramarital sex and the disruption of one's marriage. In particular: is there a differential effect on disruption depending on the gender of the perpetrator? Is the effect of infidelity primarily due to its negative impact on marital quality and one's resistance to divorce? Are there characteristics of marriages that condition the effect of infidelity? Panel data on 1621 respondents followed from 1980 - 2000 in the Marital Instability Over the Life Course survey were utilized to answer these questions. Interval-censored Cox regression analysis revealed several noteworthy findings. Reports of problems due to extramarital involvement were strongly related to marital disruption, even holding constant the quality of the marriage. Although men were about three times more likely to be the cheating spouse, there was no difference in the effect of an affair on the marriage according to gender of the cheater. Approximately 40% of the effect of extramarital sex on disruption is accounted for by the mediating factors. Two moderators of infidelity's positive effect on disruption were found: the effect was substantially stronger for very religious couples, but weaker when the wife was in the labor force.

Quick profile-reorganization driven by helical field perturbation for suppressing tokamak major disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, K.; Kawahata, K.; Ando, R.

1986-09-01

Disruptive behavior of magnetic field configuration leading to tokamak major disruption is found to be controlled by a mild ''mini-disruption'' which is induced by the compact external modular multipole-field coils with m = 3/n = 2 dominant helical field component in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak. This mini-disruption ergodizes the m = 2/n = 1 magnetic island quickly but mildly and then prevents the profile of electron temperature from flattening. This quick profile-reorganization is effective to avoid the two-step disruption (pre- and major disuptions) responsible for the chatastrophic current termination. (author)

A robust transfer inference algorithm for public transport journeys during disruptions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yap, M.D.; Cats, O.; van Oort, N.; Hoogendoorn, S.P.

2017-01-01

Disruptions in public transport have major impact on passengers and disproportional effects on passenger satisfaction. The availability of smart card data gives opportunities to better quantify disruption impacts on passengers’ experienced journey travel time and comfort. For this, accurate journey

Disrupt mig vel: Fire gode råd om disruption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rydén, Pernille; Ringberg, Torsten; Østergaard Jacobsen, Per

2017-01-01

Forandring. Ønsket om at være teknologisk foran, kommer ofte til at ske på bekostning af fokus på kundernes oplevelser. Lighedstegnet mellem disruption og ny teknologi er kun den halve sandhed.......Forandring. Ønsket om at være teknologisk foran, kommer ofte til at ske på bekostning af fokus på kundernes oplevelser. Lighedstegnet mellem disruption og ny teknologi er kun den halve sandhed....

The study of heat flux for disruption on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhendong; Fang, Jianan; Gong, Xianzu; Gan, Kaifu; Luo, Jiarong; Zhao, Hailin; Cui, Zhixue; Zhang, Bin; Chen, Meiwen

2016-05-01

Disruption of the plasma is one of the most dangerous instabilities in tokamak. During the disruption, most of the plasma thermal energy is lost, which causes damages to the plasma facing components. Infrared (IR) camera is an effective tool to detect the temperature distribution on the first wall, and the energy deposited on the first wall can be calculated from the surface temperature profile measured by the IR camera. This paper concentrates on the characteristics of heat flux distribution onto the first wall under different disruptions, including the minor disruption and the vertical displacement events (VDE) disruption. Several minor disruptions have been observed before the major disruption under the high plasma density in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. During the minor disruption, the heat fluxes are mainly deposited on the upper/lower divertors. The magnetic configuration prior to the minor disruption is a lower single null with the radial distance between the two separatrices in the outer midplane dRsep = -2 cm, while it changes to upper single null (dRsep = 1.4 cm) during the minor disruption. As for the VDE disruption, the spatial distribution of heat flux exhibits strong toroidal and radial nonuniformity, and the maximum heat flux received on the dome plate can be up to 11 MW/m2.

Disruptive staff interactions: a serious source of inter-provider conflict and stress in health care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Stecker, Mona; Stecker, Mark M

2014-07-01

This study sought to explore the prevalence of workplace stress, gender differences, and the relationship of workplace incivility to the experience of stress. Effects of stress on performance have been explored for many years. Work stress has been at the root of many physical and psychological problems and has even been linked to medical errors and suboptimal patient outcomes. In this study, 617 respondents completed a Provider Conflict Questionnaire (PCQ) as well as a ten-item stress survey. Work was the main stressor according to 78.2% of respondents. The stress index was moderately high, ranging between 10 and 48 (mean = 25.5). Females demonstrated a higher stress index. Disruptive behavior showed a significant positive correlation with increased stress. This study concludes that employees of institutions with less disruptive behavior exhibited lower stress levels. This finding is important in improving employee satisfaction and reducing medical errors. It is difficult to retain experienced nurses, and stress is a significant contributor to job dissatisfaction. Moreover, workplace conflict and its correlation to increased stress levels must be managed as a strategy to reduce medical errors and increase job satisfaction.

Testing the effects of safety climate and disruptive children behavior on school bus drivers performance: A multilevel model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zohar, Dov; Lee, Jin

2016-10-01

The study was designed to test a multilevel path model whose variables exert opposing effects on school bus drivers' performance. Whereas departmental safety climate was expected to improve driving safety, the opposite was true for in-vehicle disruptive children behavior. The driving safety path in this model consists of increasing risk-taking practices starting with safety shortcuts leading to rule violations and to near-miss events. The study used a sample of 474 school bus drivers in rural areas, driving children to school and school-related activities. Newly developed scales for measuring predictor, mediator and outcome variables were validated with video data taken from inner and outer cameras, which were installed in 29 buses. Results partially supported the model by indicating that group-level safety climate and individual-level children distraction exerted opposite effects on the driving safety path. Furthermore, as hypothesized, children disruption moderated the strength of the safety rule violation-near miss relationship, resulting in greater strength under high disruptiveness. At the same time, the hypothesized interaction between the two predictor variables was not supported. Theoretical and practical implications for studying safety climate in general and distracted driving in particular for professional drivers are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Present status of VDEs (Vertical Displacement Events) avoidance studies in tokamak disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Yukiharu

2001-01-01

Present knowledge on the consequences of tokamak disruption and disruption-related effects are reviewed from a viewpoint of disruption mitigation and/or avoidance. The Vertical Displacement Events (VDEs), which are frequently observed in disruptive discharges of elongated tokamaks, are described in detail with an emphasis on the close relationships between the generation of halo currents and runaway electrons. The newly found 'neutral point', at which VDEs hardly occur, is also addressed. Finally, VDE-related issues remaining to be addressed in future works are discussed. (author)

Mechanical cell disruption of Parachlorella kessleri microalgae: Impact on lipid fraction composition.

Science.gov (United States)

Clavijo Rivera, E; Montalescot, V; Viau, M; Drouin, D; Bourseau, P; Frappart, M; Monteux, C; Couallier, E

2018-05-01

Samples of nitrogen-starved Parachlorella kessleri containing intact cells (IC), cells ground by bead milling (BM), and cells subjected to high-pressure cell disruption (HPD), together with their supernatants after centrifugation, were compared for granulometry and lipid profiles. The effects of disruption on the lipid profile and organisation were evaluated. The quantity of lipids available for extraction increased with disruption, and up to 81% could be recovered in supernatants after centrifugation, but a marked reorganization occurred. The proportion of amphiphilic free fatty acids and lysophosphatidylcholine increased during disruption due to their release or owing to lipid degradation by enzymes or physical conditions. This effect was more marked in HPD than in BM. Lipids contained in the aqueous phase, after disruption and centrifugation, were enriched in unsaturated fatty acids, BM leading to larger droplets than HPD. The larger liquid lipid droplet would be easier to recover in the following downstream processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disrupting Business

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cox, Geoff; Bazzichelli, Tatiana

Disruptive Business explores some of the interconnections between art, activism and the business concept of disruptive innovation. With a backdrop of the crisis of financial capitalism, austerity cuts in the cultural sphere, the idea is to focus on potential art strategies in relation to a broken...... economy. In a perverse way, we ask whether this presents new opportunities for cultural producers to achieve more autonomy over their production process. If it is indeed possible, or desirable, what alternative business models emerge? The book is concerned broadly with business as material for reinvention...

ENHANCED TIDAL DISRUPTION RATES FROM MASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Xian; Liu, F. K.; Madau, Piero; Sesana, Alberto

2009-01-01

'Hard' massive black hole (MBH) binaries embedded in steep stellar cusps can shrink via three-body slingshot interactions. We show that this process will inevitably be accompanied by a burst of stellar tidal disruptions, at a rate that can be several orders of magnitude larger than that appropriate for a single MBH. Our numerical scattering experiments reveal that (1) a significant fraction of stars initially bound to the primary hole are scattered into its tidal disruption loss cone by gravitational interactions with the secondary hole, an enhancement effect that is more pronounced for very unequal mass binaries; (2) about 25% (40%) of all strongly interacting stars are tidally disrupted by an MBH binary of mass ratio q = 1/81 (q = 1/243) and eccentricity 0.1; and (3) two mechanisms dominate the fueling of the tidal disruption loss cone, a Kozai nonresonant interaction that causes the secular evolution of the stellar angular momentum in the field of the binary, and the effect of close encounters with the secondary hole that change the stellar orbital parameters in a chaotic way. For a hard MBH binary of 10 7 M sun and mass ratio 10 -2 , embedded in an isothermal stellar cusp of velocity dispersion σ * = 100 km s -1 , the tidal disruption rate can be as large as N-dot * ∼1 yr -1 . This is 4 orders of magnitude higher than estimated for a single MBH fed by two-body relaxation. When applied to the case of a putative intermediate-mass black hole inspiraling onto Sgr A*, our results predict tidal disruption rates N-dot * ∼0.05-0.1 yr -1 .

Will blockchain disrupt your business?

OpenAIRE

Schmeiss, Jessica

2018-01-01

Blockchain has been praised to be “the technology most likely to change the next decade of business”. The disruptive power of the blockchain technology is yet limited, says HIIG-researcher Jessica Schmeiss. Beyond the hype, there a opportunities for companies to make their current business models more cost-effective and more efficient.

Is light-at-night a health risk factor or a health risk predictor?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kantermann, Thomas; Roenneberg, Till

In 2007, the IARC (WHO) has classified "shift-work that involves circadian disruption" as potentially carcinogenic. Ample evidence leaves no doubt that shift-work is detrimental for health, but the mechanisms behind this effect are not well understood. The hormone melatonin is often considered to be

Emotions, cognitive interference, and concentration disruption in youth sport.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Paul J; Allen, Mark S; Jones, Marc V

2013-01-01

We explored the relationship between emotions, cognitive interference, concentration disruption and performance in youth sport. In study 1, 150 youth sport athletes (Mage = 13.13 years, s = 1.79) completed measures of emotion, cognitive interference, and concentration disruption for their most recently completed competition. In Study 2, 46 female rhythmic gymnasts (Mage = 10.30 years, s = 1.74) completed measures of emotion immediately before competition, and measures of cognitive interference and concentration disruption immediately after competition. Study 1 showed that anxiety and dejection were associated with more interfering thoughts and greater disruptions in concentration, whereas the effects of anger and happiness on interfering thoughts differed relative to the age of participants. Specifically, anger was associated with more interfering thoughts only in younger athletes and happiness was associated with fewer interfering thoughts only in older athletes. Study 2 showed that emotions experienced before competition were not strongly associated with cognitive interference or concentration disruption, but athletes reporting more thoughts of escape in competition were less successful in the competition as measured by objective performance scores. These findings demonstrate that emotions are important for cognitive interference and concentration disruption, and provide some initial evidence that cognitive interference is important for performance in youth sport.

A path forward in the debate over health impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zoeller, Robert T; Bergmann, Åke; Becher, Georg

2014-01-01

Several recent publications reflect debate on the issue of "endocrine disrupting chemicals" (EDCs), indicating that two seemingly mutually exclusive perspectives are being articulated separately and independently. Considering this, a group of scientists with expertise in basic science, medicine...

Art as a Means to Disrupt Routine Use of Space

OpenAIRE

Martin, K; Dalton, B; Nikolopoulou, M

2013-01-01

This paper examines the publicly visible aspects of\\ud counter-terrorism activity in pedestrian spaces as mechanisms\\ud of disruption. We discuss the objectives of counter-terrorism in\\ud terms of disruption of routine for both hostile actors and general\\ud users of public spaces, categorising the desired effects as 1)\\ud triangulation of attention; 2) creation of unexpected performance;\\ud and 3) choreographing of crowd flow. We review the\\ud potential effects of these existing forms of disr...

An assessment of disruption erosion in ITER environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Konkashbaev, I.

1994-01-01

The behavior of divertor materials during a major disruption in ITER is very important for the successful and reliable operation of the reactor. Erosion of material surfaces due to the thermal energy dump can severely limit the lifetime of the plasma facing components therefore degrading reactor economic feasibility. A comprehensive numerical model recently developed is used in this analysis in which all major physical processes taking place during plasma-material interactions are included. Models to account for material thermal evolution, plasma-vapor interaction physics, and models for hydrodynamic radiation transport in the developed vapor cloud are implemented in a self-consistent manner to realistically assess the disruption damage. The extent of the self-protection from the developed vapor cloud in front of the incoming plasma particles is critically important in determining the overall disruption lifetime. The aim of this study is to estimate the divertor lifetime for a range of reactor conditions. Candidate materials such as beryllium and graphite are both considered in this analysis. The dependence of the divertor disruption lifetime on the characteristics of plasma-vapor interaction zone for incident plasma ions and electrons is analyzed and discussed. The effect of uncertainties in reactor disruption conditions on the overall divertor erosion lifetime is also analyzed

Effects of copper on growth, metamorphosis and endocrine disruption of Bufo gargarizans larvae.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chao; Liang, Gang; Chai, Lihong; Wang, Hongyuan

2016-01-01

Chinese toad (Bufo gargarizans) tadpoles were exposed to copper (1, 6.4, 32 and 64μgL(-1) copper) from the beginning of larval period through completion of metamorphosis. We examined the effects of chronic copper exposure on mortality, growth, time to metamorphosis, tail resorption time, body size at the metamorphic climax (Gs 42) and completion of metamorphosis (Gs 46) and thyroid gland histology. In addition, type 2 and 3 iodothyronine deiodinase (Dio2 and Dio3), thyroid hormone receptors (TRα and TRβ) mRNA levels were also measured to assess disruption of TH synthesis. Our result showed that 6.4-64μgL(-1) copper concentration increased the mortality and inhibited the growth of B. gargarizans tadpoles. In addition, significant reduction in size at Gs 42 and a time delay to Gs 42 were observed at 6.4-64μgL(-1) copper treatments. Moreover, histological examinations have clearly revealed that 64μgL(-1) copper caused follicular cell hyperplasia in thyroid gland. According to real-time PCR results, exposure to 32 and 64μgL(-1) copper significantly up-regulated mRNA expression of Dio3, but down-regulated mRNA expression of TRα and TRβ mRNA level. We concluded that copper delayed amphibian metamorphosis through changing mRNA expression of Dio3, TRα and TRβ, which suggests that copper might have the endocrine-disrupting effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental Evaluation of TCP-Based DTN for Cislunar Communications in Presence of Long Link Disruption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Zhensheng

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Delay/disruption tolerant networking (DTN technology is considered a new solution to highly stressed communications in space environments. To date, little work has been done in evaluating the effectiveness and performance of the available DTN protocols when they are applied to an interplanetary Internet, especially in presence of a long link disruption. In this paper, we present an experimental investigation of the DTN architecture with a Bundle Protocol (BP running over TCP-based convergence layer (TCPCL protocol in a simulated cislunar communication environment characterized by a long link disruption. The intent of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of the TCPCL-based DTN protocol in coping with long link disruptions, through realistic file transfer experiments using a PC-based test-bed. The experiment results show that the DTN protocol is effective in handling a long link disruption experienced in data transmission accompanied by a cislunar link delay and a high BER. The performance of the DTN is most adversely affected by link disruption time in comparison to the effect of link delay and BER. For the transmissions with a very long link disruption of hours, the variations in goodput are nominal with respect to the change in cislunar link delay.

Weighing Efficiency-Robustness in Supply Chain Disruption by Multi-Objective Firefly Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tong Shu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates various supply chain disruptions in terms of scenario planning, including node disruption and chain disruption; namely, disruptions in distribution centers and disruptions between manufacturing centers and distribution centers. Meanwhile, it also focuses on the simultaneous disruption on one node or a number of nodes, simultaneous disruption in one chain or a number of chains and the corresponding mathematical models and exemplification in relation to numerous manufacturing centers and diverse products. Robustness of the design of the supply chain network is examined by weighing efficiency against robustness during supply chain disruptions. Efficiency is represented by operating cost; robustness is indicated by the expected disruption cost and the weighing issue is calculated by the multi-objective firefly algorithm for consistency in the results. It has been shown that the total cost achieved by the optimal target function is lower than that at the most effective time of supply chains. In other words, the decrease of expected disruption cost by improving robustness in supply chains is greater than the increase of operating cost by reducing efficiency, thus leading to cost advantage. Consequently, by approximating the Pareto Front Chart of weighing between efficiency and robustness, enterprises can choose appropriate efficiency and robustness for their longer-term development.

Disrupted Thalamus White Matter Anatomy and Posterior Default Mode Network Effective Connectivity in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Alderson

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Alzheimer’s disease (AD and its prodromal state amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI are characterized by widespread abnormalities in inter-areal white matter fiber pathways and parallel disruption of default mode network (DMN resting state functional and effective connectivity. In healthy subjects, DMN and task positive network interaction are modulated by the thalamus suggesting that abnormal task-based DMN deactivation in aMCI may be a consequence of impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry. Thus, this article uses a multimodal approach to assess white matter integrity between thalamus and DMN components and associated effective connectivity in healthy controls (HCs relative to aMCI patients. Twenty-six HC and 20 older adults with aMCI underwent structural, functional and diffusion MRI scanning using the high angular resolution diffusion-weighted acquisition protocol. The DMN of each subject was identified using independent component analysis (ICA and resting state effective connectivity was calculated between thalamus and DMN nodes. White matter integrity changes between thalamus and DMN were investigated with constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD tractography. Significant structural deficits in thalamic white matter projection fibers to posterior DMN components posterior cingulate cortex (PCC and lateral inferior parietal lobe (IPL were identified together with significantly reduced effective connectivity from left thalamus to left IPL. Crucially, impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry correlated with memory performance. Disrupted thalamo-cortical structure was accompanied by significant reductions in IPL and PCC cortico-cortical effective connectivity. No structural deficits were found between DMN nodes. Abnormal posterior DMN activity may be driven by changes in thalamic white matter connectivity; a view supported by the close anatomical and functional association of thalamic nuclei effected by AD pathology and

Face Inversion Disproportionately Disrupts Sensitivity to Vertical over Horizontal Changes in Eye Position

Science.gov (United States)

Crookes, Kate; Hayward, William G.

2012-01-01

Presenting a face inverted (upside down) disrupts perceptual sensitivity to the spacing between the features. Recently, it has been shown that this disruption is greater for vertical than horizontal changes in eye position. One explanation for this effect proposed that inversion disrupts the processing of long-range (e.g., eye-to-mouth distance)…

Effects of response-independent stimuli on fixed-interval and fixed-ratio performance of rats: a model for stressful disruption of cyclical eating patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Phil

2011-03-01

Binge eating is often associated with stress-induced disruption of typical eating patterns. Three experiments were performed with the aim of developing a potential model for this effect by investigating the effect of presenting response-independent stimuli on rats' lever-pressing for food reinforcement during both fixed-interval (FI) and fixed-ratio (FR) schedules of reinforcement. In Experiment 1, a response-independent brief tone (500-ms, 105-dB, broadband, noisy signal, ranging up to 16 kHz, with spectral peaks at 3 and 500 Hz) disrupted the performance on an FI 60-s schedule. Responding with the response-independent tone was more vigorous than in the absence of the tone. This effect was replicated in Experiment 2 using a within-subject design, but no such effect was noted when a light was employed as a disrupter. In Experiment 3, a 500-ms tone, but not a light, had a similar effect on rats' performance on FR schedules. This tone-induced effect may represent a release from response-inhibition produced by an aversive event. The implications of these results for modeling binge eating are discussed.

The study of heat flux for disruption on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Zhendong; Fang, Jianan; Luo, Jiarong; Cui, Zhixue; Gong, Xianzu; Gan, Kaifu; Zhao, Hailin; Zhang, Bin; Chen, Meiwen

2016-01-01

Disruption of the plasma is one of the most dangerous instabilities in tokamak. During the disruption, most of the plasma thermal energy is lost, which causes damages to the plasma facing components. Infrared (IR) camera is an effective tool to detect the temperature distribution on the first wall, and the energy deposited on the first wall can be calculated from the surface temperature profile measured by the IR camera. This paper concentrates on the characteristics of heat flux distribution onto the first wall under different disruptions, including the minor disruption and the vertical displacement events (VDE) disruption. Several minor disruptions have been observed before the major disruption under the high plasma density in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. During the minor disruption, the heat fluxes are mainly deposited on the upper/lower divertors. The magnetic configuration prior to the minor disruption is a lower single null with the radial distance between the two separatrices in the outer midplane dR_s_e_p = −2 cm, while it changes to upper single null (dR_s_e_p = 1.4 cm) during the minor disruption. As for the VDE disruption, the spatial distribution of heat flux exhibits strong toroidal and radial nonuniformity, and the maximum heat flux received on the dome plate can be up to 11 MW/m"2.

Simulating the effects of plasma disruption with a 1 MA current pulse in a coaxial test fixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Praeg, W.F.

1985-01-01

A test fixture for simulating plasma disruptions, comprising two coaxial cylinders, has been designed for use with Argonne's electromagnetic test facility FELIX. A pulsed power supply drives a half cycle sine wave current of 10 0 A through the test fixture generating fields of -1 . The coaxial structure is 140 cm long, has an outer cylinder with an OD of 78 cm and an inner cylinder with an OD of 8.3 cm. It is surrounded by the FELIX solenoid field of 1 T. This proposed upgrade of the FELIX facility should be useful for testing the effect of plasma disruption on First Wall-Blanket-Shield (FWBS) structures; a future upgrade of the solenoid field to 4 T will allow to simulate reactor conditions even better

Simulating the effects of plasma disruption with A 1 MA current pulse in a coaxial test fixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Praeg, W.F.

1985-01-01

A test fixture for simulating plasma disruptions, comprising two coaxial cylinders, has been designed for use with Argonne's electromagnetic test facility FELIX. A pulsed power supply drives a half cycle sine wave current of 10 0 A through the test fixture generating fields of -1 . The coaxial structure is 140 cm long, has an outer cylinder with an OD of 78 cm and an inner cylinder with an OD of 8.3 cm. It is surrounded by the FELIX solenoid field of 1 T. This proposed upgrade of the FELIX facility should be useful for testing the effect of plasma disruption on First Wall-Blanket-Shield (FWBS) structures; a future upgrade of the solenoid field to 4 T will allow to simulate reactor conditions even better

European medicinal and edible plants associated with subacute and chronic toxicity part I: Plants with carcinogenic, teratogenic and endocrine-disrupting effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristanc, Luka; Kreft, Samo

2016-06-01

In recent decades, the use of herbal medicines and food products has been widely embraced in many developed countries. These products are generally highly accepted by consumers who often believe that "natural" equals "safe". This is, however, an oversimplification because several botanicals have been found to contain toxic compounds in concentrations harmful to human health. Acutely toxic plants are in most cases already recognised as dangerous as a result of their traditional use, but plants with subacute and chronic toxicity are difficult or even impossible to detect by traditional use or by clinical research studies. In this review, we systematically address major issues including the carcinogenicity, teratogenicity and endocrine-disrupting effects associated with the use of herbal preparations with a strong focus on plant species that either grow natively or are cultivated in Europe. The basic information regarding the molecular mechanisms of the individual subtypes of plant-induced non-acute toxicity is given, which is followed by a discussion of the pathophysiological and clinical characteristics. We describe the genotoxic and carcinogenic effects of alkenylbenzenes, pyrrolizidine alkaloids and bracken fern ptaquiloside, the teratogenicity issues regarding anthraquinone glycosides and specific alkaloids, and discuss the human health concerns regarding the phytoestrogens and licorice consumption in detail. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Playware ABC 2: a Disruptive Technology for Global Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Henrik Hautop

2017-01-01

, anytime. The paper gives examples of how playware becomes a disruptive technology for global development, for instance in the health sector. For instance, in Tanzania doctors and community-based rehabilitation workers are constructing and combining modular playware tiles to easily create the right kind......The Playware ABC concept is used to create solutions that are usable by all kinds of users and contexts in our globalized society. In this paper, the Playware ABC can be exemplified with the development of the modular interactive tiles for health prevention and rehabilitation of anybody, anywhere...

Potential exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and selected adverse pregnancy outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bengtsson, Jessica; Thygesen, Pernille Søgaard; Kaerlev, Linda

2017-01-01

potential occupational exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) of the mother during pregnancy is associated with preterm birth and low birth weight. Methods: Pregnant women referred to an Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) in two Danish regions (Copenhagen or Aarhus) between 1984 and 2010, suspected...

Parents’ Education, Personality, and Their Children’s Disruptive Behaviour

OpenAIRE

Purwati; Muhammad Japar

2017-01-01

The aims of this study were (1) to understand the effects of parents' education and personality aspects on child disruptive behavior, (2) to know the correlation between the parents' personality aspects (N-Deference, N-Succorance, NDominance and N-Aggression) and the children' disruptive behavior. A quantitative approach to the correlational design was employed. Three variables were studied, namely parents' education and personality as the independent variables and child dis...

Utilization of Superheroes Social Skills to Reduce Disruptive and Aggressive Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

O'Handley, Roderick D.; Radley, Keith C.; Cavell, Hannah J.

2016-01-01

The current pilot study investigated the effectiveness of the Superheroes Social Skills program in decreasing disruptive and aggressive behavior of elementary-age students with high-incidence disabilities. Six students in a self-contained classroom, identified as displaying high rates of disruptive and aggressive behavior toward peers, were…

Synergetic Effects of Runaway and Disruption Induced by VDE on the First Wall Damage in HL-2A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Xianying; Yang Jinwei; Li Xu; Yuan Guoliang; Zhang Yipo

2012-01-01

The plasma facing component in HL-2A has been damaged seriously after disruption, and for this reason its operation is suspended for maintenance. The experimental phenomena and plasma configurations, calculated by the current filament code (CF-code) using the plasma parameters measured by diagnostics and the signals of the magnetic probes, confirm that the first wall is damaged by the synergetic effects of runaway electrons and disruption induced by a vertical displacement event (VDE). When the plasma column is displaced upward/downward, the strong runaway electrons normally hit the baffle plate of the MP 3 or MP 1 coil in the upper and lower divertor during the disruption, causing the baffle plates to be holed and wrinkled by the energetic runaway current, and water (for cooling or heating the baffle plates) to leak into the vacuum vessel. Another disastrous consequence is that bellows underlying the baffle plate and outside the coil of MP 3 for connecting two segments of the jacket casing pipe are punctured by arcing. The arc may be part of the halo current that forms a complete circuit. The experimental phenomena are indirect but compelling evidence for the existence of a halo current during the disruption and VDE, though the halo current has not been measured by the diagnostics in the HL-2A tokamak.

Synergetic Effects of Runaway and Disruption Induced by VDE on the First Wall Damage in HL-2A

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Xianying; Yang, Jinwei; Li, Xu; Yuan, Guoliang; Zhang, Yipo

2012-03-01

The plasma facing component in HL-2A has been damaged seriously after disruption, and for this reason its operation is suspended for maintenance. The experimental phenomena and plasma configurations, calculated by the current filament code (CF-code) using the plasma parameters measured by diagnostics and the signals of the magnetic probes, confirm that the first wall is damaged by the synergetic effects of runaway electrons and disruption induced by a vertical displacement event (VDE). When the plasma column is displaced upward/downward, the strong runaway electrons normally hit the baffle plate of the MP3 or MP1 coil in the upper and lower divertor during the disruption, causing the baffle plates to be holed and wrinkled by the energetic runaway current, and water (for cooling or heating the baffle plates) to leak into the vacuum vessel. Another disastrous consequence is that bellows underlying the baffle plate and outside the coil of MP3 for connecting two segments of the jacket casing pipe are punctured by arcing. The arc may be part of the halo current that forms a complete circuit. The experimental phenomena are indirect but compelling evidence for the existence of a halo current during the disruption and VDE, though the halo current has not been measured by the diagnostics in the HL-2A tokamak.

Chronotope Disruption as a Sensitizing Concept for Understanding Chronic Illness Narratives

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Objectives: This article aims to elaborate chronotope disruption —a changed relation to time and space— as a sensitizing concept for understanding chronic illness narratives. Methods: Sixteen men and 16 women with Type 2 diabetes were purposefully sampled. Each was interviewed about his or her experience of diabetes self-management using the biographical-narrative interview method. Transcripts were inspected for key moments defined as emotionally laden stories relevant to the purpose of the research. We present dialogically inflected discursive analysis of exemplar extracts. Results: The analysis demonstrates how the concept of chronotope disruption helps identify, and understand, important aspects of patients’ chronic illness narratives. First, we investigate how medical advice can conflict with embodied experience and how progressive bodily deterioration can provoke a reevaluation of past illness (self-mis)management. Second, the increasing temporal and spatial intrusion of chronic illness into participants’ lives is examined. Finally, we focus on the masquerade of health as an attempt to manage, hide, or deny that one is physically challenged. Conclusions: Chronotope disruption offers a useful sensitizing concept for approaching chronic illness narratives and around which to organize analytical insights and to develop practice. Chronotope analysis fills an important gap in the science through compensating current health sciences’ focus on rationality, cognition, and prospective time (prediction) with a patient-oriented focus on emotionality, embodiment, and retrospective time (nostalgia). Chronotope disruption could be used to develop practice by gaining empathic understanding of patients’ life-worlds and provides a tool to examine how new technologies change the way in which the chronically ill have “being” in the world. PMID:25197985

Unpacking Early Work Experiences of Young Adults With Rheumatic Disease: An Examination of Absenteeism, Job Disruptions, and Productivity Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Jetha, Arif; Badley, Elizabeth; Beaton, Dorcas; Fortin, Paul R; Shiff, Natalie J; Gignac, Monique A M

2015-09-01

To examine work absenteeism, job disruptions, and perceived productivity loss and factors associated with each outcome in young adults living with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and juvenile arthritis (JA). One hundred forty-three young adults, ages 18-30 years with SLE (54.5%) and JA (45.5%), completed an online survey of work experiences. Demographic, health (e.g., fatigue, disease activity), psychosocial (e.g., independence, social support), and work context (e.g., career satisfaction, job control, self-disclosure) information was collected. Participants were asked about absenteeism, job disruptions, and perceived productivity loss in the last 6 months. Log Poisson regression analyses examined factors associated with work outcomes. A majority of participants (59%) were employed and reported a well-managed health condition. Employed respondents were satisfied with their career progress and indicated moderate job control. More than 40% of participants reported absenteeism, job disruptions, and productivity loss. Greater job control and self-disclosure, and less social support, were related to a higher likelihood of absenteeism. More disease activity was related to a greater likelihood of reporting job disruptions. Lower fatigue and higher job control were associated with a reduced likelihood of a productivity loss. Young adult respondents with rheumatic disease experienced challenges with employment, including absenteeism, job disruptions, and productivity loss. While related to greater absenteeism, job control could play a role in a young person's ability to manage their health condition and sustain productive employment. Greater attention should also be paid to understanding health factors and social support in early work experiences. © 2015, American College of Rheumatology.

The association of quality of life with potentially remediable disruptions of circadian sleep/activity rhythms in patients with advanced lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Grutsch, James F; Ferrans, Carol; Wood, Patricia A; Du-Quiton, Jovelyn; Quiton, Dinah Faith T; Reynolds, Justin L; Ansell, Christine M; Oh, Eun Young; Daehler, Mary Ann; Levin, Robert D; Braun, Donald P; Gupta, Digant; Lis, Christopher G; Hrushesky, William J M

2011-05-23

Cancer patients routinely develop symptoms consistent with profound circadian disruption, which causes circadian disruption diminished quality of life. This study was initiated to determine the relationship between the severity of potentially remediable cancer-associated circadian disruption and quality of life among patients with advanced lung cancer. We concurrently investigated the relationship between the circadian rhythms of 84 advanced lung cancer patients and their quality of life outcomes as measured by the EORTC QLQ C30 and Ferrans and Powers QLI. The robustness and stability of activity/sleep circadian daily rhythms were measured by actigraphy. Fifty three of the patients in the study were starting their definitive therapy following diagnosis and thirty one patients were beginning second-line therapy. Among the patients who failed prior therapy, the median time between completing definitive therapy and baseline actigraphy was 4.3 months, (interquartile range 2.1 to 9.8 months). We found that circadian disruption is universal and severe among these patients compared to non-cancer-bearing individuals. We found that each of these patient's EORTC QLQ C30 domain scores revealed a compromised capacity to perform the routine activities of daily life. The severity of several, but not all, EORTC QLQ C30 symptom items correlate strongly with the degree of individual circadian disruption. In addition, the scores of all four Ferrans/Powers QLI domains correlate strongly with the degree of circadian disruption. Although Ferrans/Powers QLI domain scores show that cancer and its treatment spared these patients' emotional and psychological health, the QLI Health/Function domain score revealed high levels of patients' dissatisfaction with their health which is much worse when circadian disruption is severe. Circadian disruption selectively affects specific Quality of Life domains, such as the Ferrans/Powers Health/Function domain, and not others, such as EORTC QLQ C30

The association of quality of life with potentially remediable disruptions of circadian sleep/activity rhythms in patients with advanced lung cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Braun Donald P

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cancer patients routinely develop symptoms consistent with profound circadian disruption, which causes circadian disruption diminished quality of life. This study was initiated to determine the relationship between the severity of potentially remediable cancer-associated circadian disruption and quality of life among patients with advanced lung cancer. Methods We concurrently investigated the relationship between the circadian rhythms of 84 advanced lung cancer patients and their quality of life outcomes as measured by the EORTC QLQ C30 and Ferrans and Powers QLI. The robustness and stability of activity/sleep circadian daily rhythms were measured by actigraphy. Fifty three of the patients in the study were starting their definitive therapy following diagnosis and thirty one patients were beginning second-line therapy. Among the patients who failed prior therapy, the median time between completing definitive therapy and baseline actigraphy was 4.3 months, (interquartile range 2.1 to 9.8 months. Results We found that circadian disruption is universal and severe among these patients compared to non-cancer-bearing individuals. We found that each of these patient's EORTC QLQ C30 domain scores revealed a compromised capacity to perform the routine activities of daily life. The severity of several, but not all, EORTC QLQ C30 symptom items correlate strongly with the degree of individual circadian disruption. In addition, the scores of all four Ferrans/Powers QLI domains correlate strongly with the degree of circadian disruption. Although Ferrans/Powers QLI domain scores show that cancer and its treatment spared these patients' emotional and psychological health, the QLI Health/Function domain score revealed high levels of patients' dissatisfaction with their health which is much worse when circadian disruption is severe. Circadian disruption selectively affects specific Quality of Life domains, such as the Ferrans/Powers Health

Active transfer of poloidal magnetic energy during plasma disruptions in J-TEXT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Jun; Rao, Bo; Chen, Zhongyong; Li, Xiaolong; Xu, Wendi; Pan, Yuan; Yu, Kexun

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An alternative plasma disruption mitigation method by transferring partial poloidal magnetic energy out of the vacuum vessel has been presented in this paper. • This method can reduced the magnetic energy dissipated inside the vacuum vessel during disruption and mitigated the disruption damage. • This method has been experimentally verified in J-TEXT with an experiment system set up. • According to the experimental results, the magnetic energy dissipated inside the vacuum vessel during disruption can be reduced by 20% or more and the loop voltage can be reduced by 58%. - Abstract: The magnitude of the damaging effects of plasma disruptions on vacuum vessel (VV) components increases with the thermal energy and poloidal magnetic energy dissipated inside the VV. This study focuses on an alternative method, by which partial poloidal magnetic energy is transferred out of the VV. The quantity of the poloidal magnetic energy dissipated inside the VV (W_d_i_s) can be reduced with this method, and the damaging effects can be mitigated. Partial magnetic energy is transferred based on magnetic coupling by a group of energy transfer coils (ETCs) that are coupled with the plasma current. This method, which is called magnetic energy transfer (MET), has been experimentally verified in J-TEXT. W_d_i_s can be reduced by approximately 20%, and the loop voltage can be reduced by 58%. MET is established as a novel, promising, and effective plasma disruption mitigation method.

Parent-child interaction therapy for preschool children with disruptive behaviour problems in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrahamse, Mariëlle E; Junger, Marianne; Chavannes, E Lidewei; Coelman, Frederique J G; Boer, Frits; Lindauer, Ramón J L

2012-06-13

Persistent high levels of aggressive, oppositional and impulsive behaviours, in the early lives of children, are significant risk factors for adolescent and adult antisocial behaviour and criminal activity. If the disruptive behavioural problems of young children could be prevented or significantly reduced at an early age, the trajectory of these behavioural problems leading to adolescent delinquency and adult antisocial behaviour could be corrected. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a short-term, evidence-based, training intervention for parents dealing with preschool children, who exhibit behavioural problems. Recently, PCIT was implemented in a Dutch community mental health setting. This present study aims to examine the short-term effects of PCIT on reducing the frequency of disruptive behaviour in young children. This study is based on the data of 37 referred families. Whereby the results of which are derived from an analysis of parent reports of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), obtained during each therapeutic session. Furthermore, demographic information, extracted from client files, was also utilized. However, it must be noted that eleven families (27.5%) dropped out of treatment before the treatment protocol was completed. To investigate the development of disruptive behaviour, a non-clinical comparison group was recruited from primary schools (N = 59). The results of this study indicate that PCIT significantly reduces disruptive behaviour in children. Large effect sizes were found for both fathers and mothers reported problems (d = 1.88, d = 1.99, respectively), which is similar to American outcome studies. At post treatment, no differences were found concerning the frequency of behavioural problems of children who completed treatment and those who participated in the non-clinical comparison group. The findings of this study suggest that PCIT is potentially an effective intervention strategy for young children and their

Parent–child interaction therapy for preschool children with disruptive behaviour problems in the Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abrahamse Mariëlle E

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Persistent high levels of aggressive, oppositional and impulsive behaviours, in the early lives of children, are significant risk factors for adolescent and adult antisocial behaviour and criminal activity. If the disruptive behavioural problems of young children could be prevented or significantly reduced at an early age, the trajectory of these behavioural problems leading to adolescent delinquency and adult antisocial behaviour could be corrected. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT is a short-term, evidence-based, training intervention for parents dealing with preschool children, who exhibit behavioural problems. Recently, PCIT was implemented in a Dutch community mental health setting. This present study aims to examine the short-term effects of PCIT on reducing the frequency of disruptive behaviour in young children. Methods This study is based on the data of 37 referred families. Whereby the results of which are derived from an analysis of parent reports of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI, obtained during each therapeutic session. Furthermore, demographic information, extracted from client files, was also utilized. However, it must be noted that eleven families (27.5% dropped out of treatment before the treatment protocol was completed. To investigate the development of disruptive behaviour, a non-clinical comparison group was recruited from primary schools (N = 59. Results The results of this study indicate that PCIT significantly reduces disruptive behaviour in children. Large effect sizes were found for both fathers and mothers reported problems (d = 1.88, d = 1.99, respectively, which is similar to American outcome studies. At post treatment, no differences were found concerning the frequency of behavioural problems of children who completed treatment and those who participated in the non-clinical comparison group. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that PCIT is potentially an

Disruption of the Class IIa HDAC Corepressor Complex Increases Energy Expenditure and Lipid Oxidation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidhi Gaur

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Drugs that recapitulate aspects of the exercise adaptive response have the potential to provide better treatment for diseases associated with physical inactivity. We previously observed reduced skeletal muscle class IIa HDAC (histone deacetylase transcriptional repressive activity during exercise. Here, we find that exercise-like adaptations are induced by skeletal muscle expression of class IIa HDAC mutants that cannot form a corepressor complex. Adaptations include increased metabolic gene expression, mitochondrial capacity, and lipid oxidation. An existing HDAC inhibitor, Scriptaid, had similar phenotypic effects through disruption of the class IIa HDAC corepressor complex. Acute Scriptaid administration to mice increased the expression of metabolic genes, which required an intact class IIa HDAC corepressor complex. Chronic Scriptaid administration increased exercise capacity, whole-body energy expenditure and lipid oxidation, and reduced fasting blood lipids and glucose. Therefore, compounds that disrupt class IIa HDAC function could be used to enhance metabolic health in chronic diseases driven by physical inactivity.

Lesbian disclosure: disrupting the taken for granted.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Carol

2009-03-01

The purpose of this interpretive inquiry was to generate understandings about the experience of lesbian disclosure. The inquiry relied on Gadamerian hermeneutic and feminist philosophical thought and was situated in women's health. In a feminist understanding of women's health, experiences of health are inseparable from the everyday experiences of an embodied life and are constituted within each woman's social, material, and discursive realities.The study was informed by conversations with 15 women who self-identified as lesbian for the purpose of the inquiry, accounts of women in the media, and the researcher's reflective journals. The findings move us towards new understandings about the multiple meanings of "lesbian". "They challenge nurses to consider the binary categories of homosexual and heterosexual as inadequate signifiers for the reality of women's lives, to consider the particular arrangements of each woman's life, and to disrupt assumptions of heterosexism in order to reduce the negative impact of social exclusion, isolation, discrimination, and stigmatization as social determinants of health.

Effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on metamorphosis of a marine fish Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) in relation to thyroid disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Yifei; Zhang, Xiaona; Tian, Hua; Li, Xiang; Wang, Wei; Ru, Shaoguo

2017-06-15

This study examined the influence of environmental concentrations of Aroclor 1254 (10, 100, and 1000ng/L) on metamorphosis of Paralichthys olivaceus, and analyzed the mechanisms in relation to thyroid disruption. Results showed that 100 and 1000ng/L Aroclor 1254 delayed metamorphosis and that 1000ng/L Aroclor 1254 caused abnormal morphology. Thyroxine and triiodothyronine levels in the control group were significantly elevated at metamorphic climax, but treatment with 100 and 1000ng/L delayed the increase in thyroid hormones (THs) and retarded metamorphic processes. In larvae exposed to 1000ng/L Aroclor 1254, TH levels at metamorphic climax were significantly lower than those of the control group at the same metamorphic stage. We suggest that the effects of Aroclor 1254 on larval metamorphosis can be explained by disruption of thyroid homeostasis. These findings provide a new perspective and biological model for thyroid-disrupting chemicals (TDCs) screening and investigating interference of thyroid function by TDCs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mutualism Disruption Threatens Global Plant Biodiversity: A Systematic Review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clare E Aslan

Full Text Available As global environmental change accelerates, biodiversity losses can disrupt interspecific interactions. Extinctions of mutualist partners can create "widow" species, which may face reduced ecological fitness. Hypothetically, such mutualism disruptions could have cascading effects on biodiversity by causing additional species coextinctions. However, the scope of this problem - the magnitude of biodiversity that may lose mutualist partners and the consequences of these losses - remains unknown.We conducted a systematic review and synthesis of data from a broad range of sources to estimate the threat posed by vertebrate extinctions to the global biodiversity of vertebrate-dispersed and -pollinated plants. Though enormous research gaps persist, our analysis identified Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and global oceanic islands as geographic regions at particular risk of disruption of these mutualisms; within these regions, percentages of plant species likely affected range from 2.1-4.5%. Widowed plants are likely to experience reproductive declines of 40-58%, potentially threatening their persistence in the context of other global change stresses.Our systematic approach demonstrates that thousands of species may be impacted by disruption in one class of mutualisms, but extinctions will likely disrupt other mutualisms, as well. Although uncertainty is high, there is evidence that mutualism disruption directly threatens significant biodiversity in some geographic regions. Conservation measures with explicit focus on mutualistic functions could be necessary to bolster populations of widowed species and maintain ecosystem functions.

Breast cancer diagnosis: biographical disruption, emotional experiences and strategic management in Thai women with breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Liamputtong, Pranee; Suwankhong, Dusanee

2015-09-01

In this article we draw on Bury's theory of biographical disruption to discuss the meanings of, and emotional experiences related to, being diagnosed with breast cancer among southern Thai women. Qualitative methods, including in-depth interviewing and drawing methods, were used to collect data from 20 women with breast cancer. The women perceived breast cancer to be a rhok raai; an evil or dread disease. They believed that breast cancer would lead to death. The disruption in their biography occurred when they detected abnormalities indicating breast cancer. The women's narratives revealed their chaotic lives upon this diagnosis and the news precipitated in them shock, fear, anxiety and loss of hope. Although they experienced chaos and disruption, the women cultivated strategies that helped them cope with their experiences by accepting their fate and adhering to Buddhist beliefs and practices. Through their narratives of biographical disruption, the women in our study offer healthcare providers knowledge that could lead to an appreciation of their needs and concerns. This knowledge is crucial for health professionals who wish to provide emotional support to women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer in Thailand and elsewhere. © 2015 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Disruptive innovation as an entrepreneurial process

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chandra, Y.; Yang, S.-J.S.; Singh, P.; Prajogo, D.; O'Neill, P.; Rahman, S.

2008-01-01

Research on conditions and causal mechanisms that influence disruptive innovation has been relatively unexplored in the extant research in disruptive innovation. By re-conceptualizing disruptive innovation as an entrepreneurial process at product, firm and industry levels, this paper draws on

Automatic location of disruption times in JET

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, R.; Vega, J.; Murari, A.

2014-11-01

The loss of stability and confinement in tokamak plasmas can induce critical events known as disruptions. Disruptions produce strong electromagnetic forces and thermal loads which can damage fundamental components of the devices. Determining the disruption time is extremely important for various disruption studies: theoretical models, physics-driven models, or disruption predictors. In JET, during the experimental campaigns with the JET-C (Carbon Fiber Composite) wall, a common criterion to determine the disruption time consisted of locating the time of the thermal quench. However, with the metallic ITER-like wall (JET-ILW), this criterion is usually not valid. Several thermal quenches may occur previous to the current quench but the temperature recovers. Therefore, a new criterion has to be defined. A possibility is to use the start of the current quench as disruption time. This work describes the implementation of an automatic data processing method to estimate the disruption time according to this new definition. This automatic determination allows both reducing human efforts to locate the disruption times and standardizing the estimates (with the benefit of being less vulnerable to human errors).

Automatic location of disruption times in JET.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, R; Vega, J; Murari, A

2014-11-01

The loss of stability and confinement in tokamak plasmas can induce critical events known as disruptions. Disruptions produce strong electromagnetic forces and thermal loads which can damage fundamental components of the devices. Determining the disruption time is extremely important for various disruption studies: theoretical models, physics-driven models, or disruption predictors. In JET, during the experimental campaigns with the JET-C (Carbon Fiber Composite) wall, a common criterion to determine the disruption time consisted of locating the time of the thermal quench. However, with the metallic ITER-like wall (JET-ILW), this criterion is usually not valid. Several thermal quenches may occur previous to the current quench but the temperature recovers. Therefore, a new criterion has to be defined. A possibility is to use the start of the current quench as disruption time. This work describes the implementation of an automatic data processing method to estimate the disruption time according to this new definition. This automatic determination allows both reducing human efforts to locate the disruption times and standardizing the estimates (with the benefit of being less vulnerable to human errors).

Search and Disrupt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ørding Olsen, Anders

. However, incumbent sources engaged in capability reconfiguration to accommodate disruption improve search efforts in disruptive technologies. The paper concludes that the value of external sources is contingent on more than their knowledge. Specifically, interdependence of sources in search gives rise...... to influence from individual strategic interests on the outcomes. More generally, this points to the need for understanding the two-way influence of sources, rather than viewing external search as one-way knowledge accessing....

Safety Validation of Repeated Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption Using Focused Ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobus, Thiele; Vykhodtseva, Natalia; Pilatou, Magdalini; Zhang, Yongzhi; McDannold, Nathan

2016-02-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on the brain of multiple sessions of blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption using focused ultrasound (FUS) in combination with micro-bubbles over a range of acoustic exposure levels. Six weekly sessions of FUS, using acoustical pressures between 0.66 and 0.80 MPa, were performed under magnetic resonance guidance. The success and degree of BBB disruption was estimated by signal enhancement of post-contrast T1-weighted imaging of the treated area. Histopathological analysis was performed after the last treatment. The consequences of repeated BBB disruption varied from no indications of vascular damage to signs of micro-hemorrhages, macrophage infiltration, micro-scar formations and cystic cavities. The signal enhancement on the contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging had limited value for predicting small-vessel damage. T2-weighted imaging corresponded well with the effects on histopathology and could be used to study treatment effects over time. This study demonstrates that repeated BBB disruption by FUS can be performed with no or limited damage to the brain tissue. Copyright © 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of low-q disruptions in PBX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaye, S.M.; Morris, A.W.

1988-01-01

At low q ψ (2.3 ψ t > well below the first stability regime boundary (approx. = 2.5 μ o I p /aB t ), follows the crash of the precursor mode either immediately or with a delay of several milliseconds, with the immediate disruptions primarily occurring in the discharges with t > close to the first regime limit. The highest t > discharges also exhibit the fastest growth times and the highest level of edge MHD activity. Associated with the precursor mode crash is a loss of up to 30% of the plasma energy; thus, for non-zero delay shots, it is the crash and not the actual disruption that is the t > limiting process. The delay period is interpreted as a period during which a locked mode, consisting of several toroidal components of comparable amplitude, grows. Because of the energy loss associated with the crash, the plasma goes vertically unstable during the delay period. The results of this study indicate that even within the relatively narrow low-q ψ operating space, there is a continuum in the characteristics of the low-q ψ disruptions with a primary dependence on the value of t >. While the ideal external kink instability may give rise to the growing oscillations that lead up to the ultimate disruption, the instabilities are weighted towards the edge only at the lowest q ψ ( t >. The results of this study indicate that effects outside the scope of ideal MHD theory may play a significant role in low-q ψ disruptions. (author). 34 refs, 17 figs

Modeling plasma/material interactions during a tokamak disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Konkashbaev, I.

1994-10-01

Disruptions in tokamak reactors are still of serious concern and present a potential obstacle for successful operation and reliable design. Erosion of plasma-facing materials due to thermal energy dump during a disruption can severely limit the lifetime of these components, therefore diminishing the economic feasibility of the reactor. A comprehensive disruption erosion model which takes into account the interplay of major physical processes during plasma-material interaction has been developed. The initial burst of energy delivered to facing-material surfaces from direct impact of plasma particles causes sudden ablation of these materials. As a result, a vapor cloud is formed in front of the incident plasma particles. Shortly thereafter, the plasma particles are stopped in the vapor cloud, heating and ionizing it. The energy transmitted to the material surfaces is then dominated by photon radiation. It is the dynamics and the evolution of this vapor cloud that finally determines the net erosion rate and, consequently, the component lifetime. The model integrates with sufficient detail and in a self-consistent way, material thermal evolution response, plasma-vapor interaction physics, vapor hydrodynamics, and radiation transport in order to realistically simulate the effects of a plasma disruption on plasma-facing components. Candidate materials such as beryllium and carbon have been analyzed. The dependence of the net erosion rate on disruption physics and various parameters was analyzed and is discussed

The Effects of Extended Water Supply Disruptions on the Operations ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

kirstam

or extended water supply disruptions on the operations of small and medium enterprises ... negatively affected. The results of this study give a better perspective ... water scarcity, which has a detrimental impact on livelihoods and business. 2The incidence of ...... to make contingency plans for their production. Planning for ...

Endocrine Disruption of Vasopressin Systems and Related Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heather B. Patisaul

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs are chemicals that interfere with the organizational or activational effects of hormones. Although the vast majority of the EDC literature focuses on steroid hormone signaling related impacts, growing evidence from a myriad of species reveals that the nonapeptide hormones vasopressin (AVP and oxytocin (OT may also be EDC targets. EDCs shown to alter pathways and behaviors coordinated by AVP and/or OT include the plastics component bisphenol A (BPA, the soy phytoestrogen genistein (GEN, and various flame retardants. Many effects are sex specific and likely involve action at nuclear estrogen receptors. Effects include the elimination or reversal of well-characterized sexually dimorphic aspects of the AVP system, including innervation of the lateral septum and other brain regions critical for social and other non-reproductive behaviors. Disruption of magnocellular AVP function has also been reported in rats, suggesting possible effects on hemodynamics and cardiovascular function.

TIDAL STELLAR DISRUPTIONS BY MASSIVE BLACK HOLE PAIRS. II. DECAYING BINARIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Xian; Liu, F. K.; Sesana, Alberto; Madau, Piero

2011-01-01

Tidal stellar disruptions have traditionally been discussed as a probe of the single, massive black holes (MBHs) that are dormant in the nuclei of galaxies. We have previously used numerical scattering experiments to show that three-body interactions between bound stars in a stellar cusp and a non-evolving 'hard' MBH binary will also produce a burst of tidal disruptions, caused by a combination of the secular 'Kozai effect' and by close resonant encounters with the secondary hole. Here, we derive basic analytical scalings of the stellar disruption rates with the system parameters, assess the relative importance of the Kozai and resonant encounter mechanisms as a function of time, discuss the impact of general relativistic (GR) and extended stellar cusp effects, and develop a hybrid model to self-consistently follow the shrinking of an MBH binary in a stellar background, including slingshot ejections and tidal disruptions. In the case of a fiducial binary with primary hole mass M 1 = 10 7 M sun and mass ratio q = M 2 /M 1 = 1/81, embedded in an isothermal cusp, we derive a stellar disruption rate N-dot * ∼ 0.2 yr -1 lasting ∼3 x 10 5 yr. This rate is three orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding value for a single MBH fed by two-body relaxation, confirming our previous findings. For q 10% of the tidal-disruption events may originate in MBH binaries.

Ethnic differences in problem perception: Immigrant mothers in a parenting intervention to reduce disruptive child behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Leijten, Patty; Raaijmakers, Maartje A J; Orobio de Castro, Bram; Matthys, Walter

2016-01-01

Ethnic minority families in Europe are underrepresented in mental health care-a profound problem for clinicians and policymakers. One reason for their underrepresentation seems that, on average, ethnic minority families tend to perceive externalizing and internalizing child behavior as less problematic. There is concern that this difference in problem perception might limit intervention effectiveness. We tested the extent to which ethnic differences in problem perception exist when ethnic minority families engage in mental health service and whether lower levels of problem perception diminish parenting intervention effects to reduce disruptive child behavior. Our sample included 136 mothers of 3- to 8-year-olds (35% female) from the 3 largest ethnic groups in the Netherlands (43% Dutch; 35% Moroccan; 22% Turkish). Mothers reported on their child's externalizing and internalizing behavior and their perception of this behavior as problematic. They were then randomly assigned to the Incredible Years parenting intervention or a wait list control condition. We contrasted maternal reports of problem perception to teacher reports of the same children. Moroccan and Turkish mothers, compared with Dutch mothers, perceived similar levels of child behavior problems as less problematic, and as causing less impairment and burden. Teacher problem perception did not vary across children from different ethnic groups. Importantly, maternal problem perception did not affect parenting intervention effectiveness to reduce disruptive child behavior. Our findings suggest that ethnic differences in problem perception exist once families engage in treatment, but that lower levels of problem perception do not diminish treatment effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

European Union's strategy on endocrine disrupting chemicals and the current position of Slovenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Perharič, Lucija; Fatur, Tanja; Drofenik, Jernej

2016-06-01

In view of the European Union regulations 1107/2009 and 528/2012, which say that basic substances in plant protection and biocidal products marketed in the European Union (EU) should not have an inherent capacity to cause endocrine disruption, an initiative was started to define scientific criteria for the identification of endocrine disruptors (EDs). The objectives of the EU strategy on EDs are to protect human health and the environment, to assure the functioning of the market, and to provide clear and coherent criteria for the identification of EDs that could have broad application in the EU legislation. Policy issues were to be addressed by the Ad-hoc group of Commission Services, EU Agencies and Member States established in 2010, whereas the scientific issues were to be addressed by the Endocrine Disruptors Expert Advisory Group (ED EAG), established in 2011. The ED EAG adopted the 2002 World Health Organization (WHO) definition of endocrine disruptor and agreed that for its identification it is necessary to produce convincing evidence of a biologically plausible causal link between an adverse effect and endocrine disrupting mode of action. In 2014, the European Commission proposed four ED identification criteria options and three regulatory options, which are now being assessed for socio-economic, environmental, and health impact. Slovenia supports the establishing of identification criteria and favours option 4, according to which ED identification should be based on the WHO definition with the addition of potency as an element of hazard characterisation. As for regulatory options, Slovenia favours the risk-based rather than hazard-based regulation.

Disruption of the blood-brain barrier as the primary effect of CNS irradiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, P; Gash, D M; Hansen, J T; Nelson, D F; Williams, J P

1994-04-01

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is believed to be unique in organ microcirculation due to the 'tight junctions' which exist between endothelial cells and, some argue, the additional functional components represented by the perivascular boundary of neuroglial cells; these selectively exclude proteins and drugs from the brain parenchyma. This study was designed to examine the effects of irradiation on the BBB and determine the impact of the altered pathophysiology on the production of central nervous system (CNS) late effects such as demyelination, gliosis and necrosis. Rats, irradiated at 60 Gy, were serially sacrificed at 2, 6, 12 and 24 weeks. Magnetic resonance image analysis (MRI) was obtained prior to sacrifice with selected animals from each group. The remaining animals underwent horse-radish peroxidase (HRP) perfusion at the time of sacrifice. The serial studies showed a detectable disruption of the BBB at 2 weeks post-irradiation and this was manifested as discrete leakage; late injury seen at 24 weeks indicated diffuse vasculature leakage, severe loss of the capillary network, cortical atrophy and white matter necrosis. Reversal or repair of radiation injury was seen between 6 and 12 weeks, indicating a bimodal peak in events. Blood-brain barrier disruption is an early, readily recognizable pathophysiological event occurring after radiation injury, is detectable in vivo/in vitro by MRI and HRP studies, and appears to precede white matter necrosis. Dose response studies over a wide range of doses, utilizing both external and interstitial irradiation, are in progress along with correlative histopathologic and ultrastructural studies.

[Potential endocrine disrupting effects of bifenthrin in rats].

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Yanjun; Wang, Hengjuan; Song, Yan; Yang, Hui; Jia, Xudong; Li, Ning

2012-05-01

To study the potential endocrine disrupting effects of bifenthrin (BIF) by using uterotrophic assay and Hershberger assay. In uterotrophic assay, 60 female SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, 10 rats per group. Rats in bifenthrin-treated groups were given different doses of bifenthrin (1.47, 4.41 and 13.23 mg/kg BW by gavage for 3 consecutive days). Rats in negative control groups were given corn oil by gavage. Rats in ethinyl estradiol (EE) oral positive control groups were given EE 1.0 microg/kg BW by gavage. Rats in EE injected positive groups were given 0.6 microg/kg BW EE by subcutaneously injection while given corn oil by gavage. At necropsy, the wet and blotted uteri were weighed. The relative uteri weights were calculated, and the histology of uteri was observed. In Hershberger assay, 60 castrated male SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, with 10 rats in each group. Rats in BIF-treated groups were given different doses of BIF (1.4, 4.2 and 12.6 mg/kg BW) by gavage. Flutamide (3.0 mg/kg BW) were given to animals in the positive control group by gavage. Rats in the negative control group and testosterone propionate group were given corn oil by gavage for 10 consecutive days. Rats in all groups except the negative control group were also treated with testosterone propionate (TP, 0.2 mg/kg BW) by subcutaneous injection. At necropsy, ventral prostate (VP), seminal vesicle plus fluids and coagulating glands (SVCG), levator ani-bulbocavernosus muscle (LABC), paired Cowper's glands (COW) and the glands penis (GP), liver, kidneys, adrenals were weighed. Serum triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were determined. In uterotrophic assay, compared with the negative control group, the mean relative wet weight and relative blotted weight of uterine were increased significantly in the female rats given by BIF at 13.23 mg/kg BW for 3 days (P < 0.05). BIF resulted in a significant increase of epithelial cell heights of uteri at 4.41 and 13.23 mg/kg BW

Natural Hazards and Supply Chain Disruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Haraguchi, M.

2016-12-01

Natural hazards distress the global economy through disruptions in supply chain networks. Moreover, despite increasing investment to infrastructure for disaster risk management, economic damages and losses caused by natural hazards are increasing. Manufacturing companies today have reduced inventories and streamlined logistics in order to maximize economic competitiveness. As a result, today's supply chains are profoundly susceptible to systemic risks, which are the risk of collapse of an entire network caused by a few node of the network. For instance, the prolonged floods in Thailand in 2011 caused supply chain disruptions in their primary industries, i.e. electronic and automotive industries, harming not only the Thai economy but also the global economy. Similar problems occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, the Mississippi River floods and droughts during 2011 - 2013, and the Earthquake in Kumamoto Japan in 2016. This study attempts to discover what kind of effective measures are available for private companies to manage supply chain disruptions caused by floods. It also proposes a method to estimate potential risks using a Bayesian network. The study uses a Bayesian network to create synthetic networks that include variables associated with the magnitude and duration of floods, major components of supply chains such as logistics, multiple layers of suppliers, warehouses, and consumer markets. Considering situations across different times, our study shows desirable data requirements for the analysis and effective measures to improve Value at Risk (VaR) for private enterprises and supply chains.

Research into Mercury Exposure and Health Education in Subsistence Fish-Eating Communities of the Amazon Basin: Potential Effects on Public Health Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José G. Dórea

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The neurotoxic effects of fish-methylmercury (meHg consumed regularly are considered hazardous to fetuses and newborn infants; as a result fish consumption advisories are an important asset to control meHg exposure in affluent societies. These concerns are now part of health promotion programs for Amazon subsistence villagers. While urban dwellers in affluent societies can choose an alternative nutritious diet, traditional and subsistence communities are caught up in controversial issues and lifestyle changes with unintended health consequences. Traditional fish-eating populations of industrialized and non-industrialized regions may be exposed to different neurotoxic substances: man-made pollutants and environmentally occurring meHg. Additionally, in non-industrialized countries, pregnant women and infants are still being immunized with thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs which degrade to ethylmercury (etHg. Therefore, the complexity involving fish-meHg associated with wild-fish choices and Hg exposure derived from TCVs is difficult to disentangle and evaluate: are villagers able to distinguish exposure to differently hazardous chemical forms of Hg (inorganic, fish-meHg, and injected etHg? Is it possible that instead of helping to prevent a plausible (unperceived fish-meHg associated neurocognitive delay we may inadvertently arouse panic surrounding Hg exposure and disrupt subsistence fish-eating habits (necessary for survival and life-saving vaccination programs (required by public health authorities? These questions characterize the incompleteness of information related on the various chemical forms of Hg exposure and the need to convey messages that do not disrupt nutritional balance and disease prevention policies directed at Amazonian subsistence communities.

Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption in social jetlag and mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Russell G; Peirson, Stuart N; Wulff, Katharina; Winnebeck, Eva; Vetter, Céline; Roenneberg, Till

2013-01-01

Sleep and wake represent two profoundly different states of physiology that arise within the brain from a complex interaction between multiple neural circuits and neurotransmitter systems. These neural networks are, in turn, adjusted by three key drivers that collectively determine the duration, quality, and efficiency of sleep. Two of these drivers are endogenous, namely, the circadian system and a homeostatic hourglass oscillator, while the third is exogenous-our societal structure (social time). In this chapter, we outline the neuroscience of sleep and highlight the links between sleep, mood, cognition, and mental health. We emphasize that the complexity of sleep/wake generation and regulation makes this behavioral cycle very vulnerable to disruption and then explore this concept by examining sleep and circadian rhythm disruption (SCRD) when the exogenous and endogenous drivers of sleep are in conflict. SCRD can be particularly severe when social timing forces an abnormal pattern of sleep and wake upon our endogenous sleep biology. SCRD is also very common in mental illness, and although well known, this association is poorly understood or treated. Recent studies suggest that the generation of sleep and mental health shares overlapping neural mechanisms such that defects in these endogenous pathways result in pathologies to both behaviors. The evidence for this association is examined in some detail. We conclude this review by suggesting that the emerging understanding of the neurobiology of sleep/wake behavior, and of the health consequences of sleep disruption, will provide new ways to decrease the conflict between biological and societal timing in both the healthy and individuals with mental illness. © 2013, Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Structured Literature Review of digital disruption literature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vesti, Helle; Rosenstand, Claus Andreas Foss; Gertsen, Frank

2018-01-01

Digital disruption is a term/phenomenon frequently appearing in innovation management literature. However, no academic consensus exists as to what it entails; conceptual nor theoretical. We use the SLR-method (Structured Literature Review) to investigate digital disruption literature. A SLR......-study conducted in 2017 revealed some useful information on how disruption and digital disruption literature has developed over a specific period. However, this study was less representative of papers addressing digital disruption; which is the in-depth subject of this paper. To accommodate this, we intend...... to conduct a similar SLR-study assembling a body literature having digital disruption as the only common denominator...

Three-Dimensional Simulation of Ultrasound-Induced Microalgal Cell Disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, M; Yuan, W; Hale, Andy

2016-03-01

The three-dimensional distribution (x, y, and z) of ultrasound-induced microalgal cell disruption in a sonochemical reactor was predicted by solving the Helmholtz equation using a three-dimensional acoustic module in the COMSOL Multiphysics software. The simulated local ultrasound pressure at any given location (x, y, and z) was found to correlate with cell disruption of a freshwater alga, Scenedesmus dimorphus, represented by the change of algal cell particle/debris concentration, chlorophyll-a fluorescence density (CAFD), and Nile red stained lipid fluorescence density (LFD), which was also validated by the model reaction of potassium iodide oxidation (the Weissler reaction). Furthermore, the effect of ultrasound power intensity and processing duration on algal cell disruption was examined to address the limitation of the model.

Effect-Directed Analysis to Explore the Polar Bear Exposome: the Identification of Thyroid Hormone Disrupting Compounds in Plasma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Simon, E.; van Velzen, M.J.M.; Brandsma, S.H.; Lie, E.; Loken, K.; de Boer, J.; Bytingsvik, J.; Jenssen, B.M.; Aars, J.; Hamers, T.; Lamoree, M.H.

2013-01-01

Compounds with transthyretin (TTR)-binding potency in the blood plasma of polar bear cubs were identified with effect-directed analysis (EDA). This approach contributes to the understanding of the thyroid disrupting exposome of polar bears. The selection of these samples for in-depth EDA was based

Interpretation of the effects of electron cyclotron power absorption in pre-disruptive tokamak discharges in ASDEX Upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nowak, S.; Lazzaro, E.; Granucci, G. [Associazione Euratom-CNR sulla Fusione, IFP-CNR, Via R. Cozzi 53, 20125 Milano (Italy); Esposito, B. [Associazione Euratom-CNR sulla Fusione, CR Frascati, C.P. 65, 00044 Frascati (Italy); Maraschek, M.; Zohm, H. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, EURATOM Association, Boltzmannstr.2, 85748 Garching bei Munchen (Germany); Sauter, O.; Brunetti, D. [CRPP, Association Euratom-Confederation Suisse, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Collaboration: ASDEX Upgrade Team

2012-09-15

Tokamak disruptions are events of fatal collapse of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) confinement configuration, which cause a rapid loss of the plasma thermal energy and the impulsive release of magnetic energy and heat on the tokamak first wall components. The physics of the disruptions is very complex and non-linear, strictly associated with the dynamics of magnetic tearing perturbations. The crucial problem of the response to the effects of localized heat deposition and current driven by external (rf) sources to avoid or quench the MHD tearing instabilities has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The analysis of the conditions under which a disruption can be prevented by injection of electron cyclotron (EC) rf power, or, alternatively, may be caused by it, shows that the local EC heating can be more significant than EC current drive in ensuring neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) stability, due to two main reasons: first, the drop of temperature associated with the island thermal short circuit tends to reduce the neoclassical character of the instability and to limit the EC current drive generation; second, the different effects on the mode evolution of both the location of the power deposition relative to the island separatrix and the island shape deformation lead to less strict requirements of precise power deposition focussing. A contribution to the validation of theoretical models of the events associated with NTM is given and can be used to develop concepts for their control, relevant also for ITER-like scenarios.

Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael A Nissenbaum

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Industrial wind turbines (IWTs are a new source of noise in previously quiet rural environments. Environmental noise is a public health concern, of which sleep disruption is a major factor. To compare sleep and general health outcomes between participants living close to IWTs and those living further away from them, participants living between 375 and 1400 m (n = 38 and 3.3 and 6.6 km (n = 41 from IWTs were enrolled in a stratified cross-sectional study involving two rural sites. Validated questionnaires were used to collect information on sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI, daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Score - ESS, and general health (SF36v2, together with psychiatric disorders, attitude, and demographics. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the effect of the main exposure variable of interest (distance to the nearest IWT on various health outcome measures. Participants living within 1.4 km of an IWT had worse sleep, were sleepier during the day, and had worse SF36 Mental Component Scores compared to those living further than 1.4 km away. Significant dose-response relationships between PSQI, ESS, SF36 Mental Component Score, and log-distance to the nearest IWT were identified after controlling for gender, age, and household clustering. The adverse event reports of sleep disturbance and ill health by those living close to IWTs are supported.

Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health.

Science.gov (United States)

Nissenbaum, Michael A; Aramini, Jeffery J; Hanning, Christopher D

2012-01-01

Industrial wind turbines (IWTs) are a new source of noise in previously quiet rural environments. Environmental noise is a public health concern, of which sleep disruption is a major factor. To compare sleep and general health outcomes between participants living close to IWTs and those living further away from them, participants living between 375 and 1400 m (n = 38) and 3.3 and 6.6 km (n = 41) from IWTs were enrolled in a stratified cross-sectional study involving two rural sites. Validated questionnaires were used to collect information on sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Score - ESS), and general health (SF36v2), together with psychiatric disorders, attitude, and demographics. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the effect of the main exposure variable of interest (distance to the nearest IWT) on various health outcome measures. Participants living within 1.4 km of an IWT had worse sleep, were sleepier during the day, and had worse SF36 Mental Component Scores compared to those living further than 1.4 km away. Significant dose-response relationships between PSQI, ESS, SF36 Mental Component Score, and log-distance to the nearest IWT were identified after controlling for gender, age, and household clustering. The adverse event reports of sleep disturbance and ill health by those living close to IWTs are supported.

Evaluation of Improvement in Externalizing Behaviors and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorder: A 1-Year Follow Up Clinic-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Muratori, Pietro; Milone, Annarita; Manfredi, Azzurra; Polidori, Lisa; Ruglioni, Laura; Lambruschi, Furio; Masi, Gabriele; Lochman, John E

2017-07-01

Multi-component interventions based on cognitive behavioral principles and practices have been found effective in reducing behavioral problems in children with disruptive behavior disorders (oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder). However, it is still unclear if these interventions can affect children's callous-unemotional traits, which are predictive of subsequent antisocial behavior. Furthermore, it could be important to identify empirically supported treatment protocols for specific disorders addressed by child mental health services. The present study aimed to test the following two hypotheses: first, the Coping Power (CP) treatment program is able to reduce externalizing behaviors in children with disruptive behavior disorders treated in a mental health care unit; second, the CP program can reduce children's callous unemotional traits. The sample included 98 Italian children, 33 treated with the CP program; 37 with a less focused multi-component intervention, and 28 with child psychotherapy. The results showed that the CP program was more effective than the other two treatments in reducing aggressive behaviors. Furthermore, only the CP program was associated with a decrease in children's callous unemotional traits. The CP program was also associated with lower rate of referrals to mental health services at one-year follow-up. These findings support the importance of disseminating manualized and focused intervention programs in mental health services.

Development of Disruptive Open Access Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Terry; McConkey, Brigette

2009-01-01

Open access (OA) publication has emerged, with disruptive effects, as a major outlet for scholarly publication. OA publication is usually associated with on-line distribution and provides access to scholarly publications to anyone, anywhere--regardless of their ability to pay subscription fees or their association with an educational institution.…

Poor quality of life, depressed mood, and memory impairment may be mediated by sleep disruption in patients with Addison's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Michelle; Wolf, Pedro S A; Ross, Ian L; Thomas, Kevin G F

2015-11-01

Standard replacement therapy for Addison's disease (AD) does not restore a normal circadian rhythm. In fact, hydrocortisone replacement in AD patients likely induces disrupted sleep. Given that healthy sleep plays an important role in improving quality of life, optimizing cognition, and ensuring affect regulation, the aim of this study was to investigate whether poor quality of life, mood alterations, and memory complaints reported by AD patients are associated with their disrupted sleep patterns. Sixty patients with AD and 60 matched healthy controls completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing perceived physical and mental health (Short-Form 36), mood (Beck Depression Inventory-II), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and cognition (Cognitive Failures Questionnaire). A latent variable model revealed that although AD had a significant direct effect on quality of life, the indirect effect of sleep was significantly greater. Furthermore, although AD had no direct effect on cognitive functioning, the indirect effect of sleep was significant. The overall model showed a good fit (comparative fit index = 0.91, root mean square of approximation = 0.09, and standardized root mean square residual = 0.05). Our findings suggest that disrupted sleep, and not the disease per se, may induce poor quality of life, memory impairment, and affect dysregulation in patients with AD. We think that improving sleep architecture may improve cognitive, affective, and physical functioning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Workplace Disruption following Psychological Trauma: Influence of Incident Severity Level on Organizations' Post-Incident Response Planning and Execution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GS DeFraia

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Psychologically traumatic workplace events (known as critical incidents, which occur globally, are increasing in prevalence within the USA. Assisting employers in their response is a growing practice area for occupational medicine, occupational social work, industrial psychology and other occupational health professions. Traumatic workplace events vary greatly in their level of organizational disruption. Objective: To explore whether extent of workplace disruption influences organizations' decisions for post-incident response planning and plan execution. Methods: Administrative data mining was employed to examine practice data from a workplace trauma response unit in the USA. Bivariate analyses were conducted to test whether scores from an instrument measuring extent of workplace disruption associated with organizational decisions regarding post-incident response. Results: The more severe and disruptive the incident, the more likely organizations planned for and followed through to deliver on-site interventions. Following more severe incidents, organizations were also more likely to deliver group sessions and to complete follow-up consultations to ensure ongoing worker recovery. Conclusion: Increasing occupational health practitioners' knowledge of varying levels of organizational disruption and familiarity with a range of organizational response strategies improves incident assessment, consultation and planning, and ensures interventions delivered are consistent with the level of assistance needed on both worker and organizational levels.

Workplace Disruption following Psychological Trauma: Influence of Incident Severity Level on Organizations' Post-Incident Response Planning and Execution.

Science.gov (United States)

DeFraia, G S

2016-04-01

Psychologically traumatic workplace events (known as critical incidents), which occur globally, are increasing in prevalence within the USA. Assisting employers in their response is a growing practice area for occupational medicine, occupational social work, industrial psychology and other occupational health professions. Traumatic workplace events vary greatly in their level of organizational disruption. To explore whether extent of workplace disruption influences organizations' decisions for post-incident response planning and plan execution. Administrative data mining was employed to examine practice data from a workplace trauma response unit in the USA. Bivariate analyses were conducted to test whether scores from an instrument measuring extent of workplace disruption associated with organizational decisions regarding post-incident response. The more severe and disruptive the incident, the more likely organizations planned for and followed through to deliver on-site interventions. Following more severe incidents, organizations were also more likely to deliver group sessions and to complete follow-up consultations to ensure ongoing worker recovery. Increasing occupational health practitioners' knowledge of varying levels of organizational disruption and familiarity with a range of organizational response strategies improves incident assessment, consultation and planning, and ensures interventions delivered are consistent with the level of assistance needed on both worker and organizational levels.

Effect of irrigation disruption and biological nitrogen on growth and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In addition, the maximum (4.29 %) harvest index was obtained from irrigation disruption at third and second harvest with 9 L/ha of nitroxin application. In conclusion, lower amounts of nitrogen was needed to produced the optimal yield of seed in water deficit situation compared with non stress condition, while the nitrogen ...

Executive Summary to EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gore, A C; Chappell, V A; Fenton, S E; Flaws, J A; Nadal, A; Prins, G S; Toppari, J; Zoeller, R T

2015-12-01

This Executive Summary to the Endocrine Society's second Scientific Statement on environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) provides a synthesis of the key points of the complete statement. The full Scientific Statement represents a comprehensive review of the literature on seven topics for which there is strong mechanistic, experimental, animal, and epidemiological evidence for endocrine disruption, namely: obesity and diabetes, female reproduction, male reproduction, hormone-sensitive cancers in females, prostate cancer, thyroid, and neurodevelopment and neuroendocrine systems. EDCs such as bisphenol A, phthalates, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diethyl ethers, and dioxins were emphasized because these chemicals had the greatest depth and breadth of available information. The Statement also included thorough coverage of studies of developmental exposures to EDCs, especially in the fetus and infant, because these are critical life stages during which perturbations of hormones can increase the probability of a disease or dysfunction later in life. A conclusion of the Statement is that publications over the past 5 years have led to a much fuller understanding of the endocrine principles by which EDCs act, including nonmonotonic dose-responses, low-dose effects, and developmental vulnerability. These findings will prove useful to researchers, physicians, and other healthcare providers in translating the science of endocrine disruption to improved public health.

Disruptive event analysis: volcanism and igneous intrusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowe, B.M.

1979-01-01

Three basic topics are addressed for the disruptive event analysis: first, the range of disruptive consequences of a radioactive waste repository by volcanic activity; second, the possible reduction of the risk of disruption by volcanic activity through selective siting of a repository; and third, the quantification of the probability of repository disruption by volcanic activity

Routine Responses to Disruption of Routines

Science.gov (United States)

Guha, Mahua

2015-01-01

"Organisational routines" is a widely studied research area. However, there is a dearth of research on disruption of routines. The few studies on disruption of routines discussed problem-solving activities that are carried out in response to disruption. In contrast, this study develops a theory of "solution routines" that are a…

Market disruption, cascading effects, and economic recovery:a life-cycle hypothesis model.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sprigg, James A.

2004-11-01

This paper builds upon previous work [Sprigg and Ehlen, 2004] by introducing a bond market into a model of production and employment. The previous paper described an economy in which households choose whether to enter the labor and product markets based on wages and prices. Firms experiment with prices and employment levels to maximize their profits. We developed agent-based simulations using Aspen, a powerful economic modeling tool developed at Sandia, to demonstrate that multiple-firm economies converge toward the competitive equilibria typified by lower prices and higher output and employment, but also suffer from market noise stemming from consumer churn. In this paper we introduce a bond market as a mechanism for household savings. We simulate an economy of continuous overlapping generations in which each household grows older in the course of the simulation and continually revises its target level of savings according to a life-cycle hypothesis. Households can seek employment, earn income, purchase goods, and contribute to savings until they reach the mandatory retirement age; upon retirement households must draw from savings in order to purchase goods. This paper demonstrates the simultaneous convergence of product, labor, and savings markets to their calculated equilibria, and simulates how a disruption to a productive sector will create cascading effects in all markets. Subsequent work will use similar models to simulate how disruptions, such as terrorist attacks, would interplay with consumer confidence to affect financial markets and the broader economy.

Application of HTSC coils for mitigation of VDE during a major disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, T.; Uchimoto, T.; Miya, K.; Nakamura, Y.

1998-01-01

The authors proposed the new method to control plasma position passively with use of high Tc superconducting coils (HTSCs). HTSCs are robust against the thermal disturbance, so that they can be installed in the vicinity of plasmas. In this study, we examine that the VDEs during disruptions can be mitigated or not by using HTSC coils as a stabilizer. Shape and profile of plasmas will change considerably during a disruption, so that the linearized model cannot be applied to this problem. Tokamak Simulation Code (TSC) is employed to evaluate the stabilizing effect of HTSC during a major disruption. The configuration of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is taken as an example for numerical analyses. The result of simulations using linear model agreed with that of TSC computation. The results of the simulation show that VDEs during disruptions are mitigated due to the stabilizing effect of HTSC. The vertical instability growth rate is improved if HTSC coils are installed on the backplate. The electromagnetic forces on HTSCs during a disruption were also estimated. A design to accommodate these forces is possible without any difficulty. (author)

Sustainable Disruption Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vaaben, Bo Valdemar

The world we live in is globalized. Goods are seldom made in the place where they are used or consumed, and we do increasingly travel to other countries for either business or pleasure. In our everyday lives we rely on well-functioning global transportations systems to continue the standard...... in the same way, when operation is disrupted. Never the less, we may recall that the Suez Canal was closed due to riots in Egypt, that the fuel price was impacted by threats of closing of the Strait of Hormuz, and we do from time to time hear about acts of piracy outside the coast of Somalia. All...... papers combining disruption management and flight planning through an integrated optimization approach. An additional contribution of the thesis is to show how flexible flight speeds can be used to improve recovery from disruptions, while at the same time allowing an airline to trade off fuel costs...

Fires can benefit plants by disrupting antagonistic interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

García, Y; Castellanos, M C; Pausas, J G

2016-12-01

Fire has a key role in the ecology and evolution of many ecosystems, yet its effects on plant-insect interactions are poorly understood. Because interacting species are likely to respond to fire differently, disruptions of the interactions are expected. We hypothesized that plants that regenerate after fire can benefit through the disruption of their antagonistic interactions. We expected stronger effects on interactions with specialist predators than with generalists. We studied two interactions between two Mediterranean plants (Ulex parviflorus, Asphodelus ramosus) and their specialist seed predators after large wildfires. In A. ramosus we also studied the generalist herbivores. We sampled the interactions in burned and adjacent unburned areas during 2 years by estimating seed predation, number of herbivores and fruit set. To assess the effect of the distance to unburned vegetation we sampled plots at two distance classes from the fire perimeter. Even 3 years after the fires, Ulex plants experienced lower seed damage by specialists in burned sites. The presence of herbivores on Asphodelus decreased in burned locations, and the variability in their presence was significantly related to fruit set. Generalist herbivores were unaffected. We show that plants can benefit from fire through the disruption of their antagonistic interactions with specialist seed predators for at least a few years. In environments with a long fire history, this effect might be one additional mechanism underlying the success of fire-adapted plants.

Sleep disruption in hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients: prevalence, severity, and clinical management.

Science.gov (United States)

Jim, Heather S L; Evans, Bryan; Jeong, Jiyeon M; Gonzalez, Brian D; Johnston, Laura; Nelson, Ashley M; Kesler, Shelli; Phillips, Kristin M; Barata, Anna; Pidala, Joseph; Palesh, Oxana

2014-10-01

Sleep disruption is common among hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients, with over 50% of recipients experiencing sleep disruption pre-transplant, with up to 82% of patients experiencing moderate to severe sleep disruption during hospitalization for transplant and up to 43% after transplant. These rates of sleep disruption are substantially higher than what we see in the general population. Although sleep disruption can be distressing to patients and contribute to diminished quality of life, it is rarely discussed during clinical visits. The goal of the current review is to draw attention to sleep disruption and disorders (ie, insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome) as a clinical problem in HCT in order to facilitate patient education, intervention, and research. We identified 35 observational studies published in the past decade that examined sleep disruption or disorders in HCT. Most studies utilized a single item measure of sleep, had small sample size, and included heterogeneous samples of patients. Six studies of the effects of psychosocial and exercise interventions on sleep in HCT have reported no significant improvements. These results highlight the need for rigorous observational and interventional studies of sleep disruption and disorders in HCT recipients.. Copyright © 2014 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. All rights reserved.

Disruption and Distinctiveness in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Purcell, Wendy

2014-01-01

"Disruption"--while an evocative word triggering feelings of anxiety and perhaps even fear--also signals renewal and growth. The Higher Education (HE) sector in England has experienced some profound disruption over the years, and yet has emerged stronger and renewed in many ways. The impact of recent disruptive forces, from fees to the…

Children with disrupted attachment histories: Interventions and psychophysiological indices of effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sterkenburg Paula S

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Diagnosis and treatment of children affected by disruptions of attachment (out of home placement, multiple changes of primary caregiver is an area of considerable controversy. The possible contribution of psychobiological theories is discussed in three parts. The first part relates the attachment theoretical perspective to major psychobiological theories on the developmental associations of parent-child relationships and emotional response. The second part reviews studies of autonomic reactivity and HPA-axis activity with foster children, showing that foster children show more reactivity within physiological systems facilitating fight or flight behaviours rather than social engagement, especially foster children with atypical attachment behaviour. The third part is focused on treatment of children suffering from the consequences of disrupted attachment, based on a psychotherapy study with psychophysiological outcome measures. Implications are discussed for theory, diagnosis, and intervention.

AFM of the ultrastructural and mechanical properties of lipid-raft-disrupted and/or cold-treated endothelial cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Li; Huang, Jie; Yu, Xiaoxue; Zhou, Xiaoqing; Gan, Chaoye; Li, Ming; Chen, Yong

2014-02-01

The nonionic detergent extraction at 4 °C and the cholesterol-depletion-induced lipid raft disruption are the two widely used experimental strategies for lipid raft research. However, the effects of raft disruption and/or cold treatment on the ultrastructural and mechanical properties of cells are still unclear. Here, we evaluated the effects of raft disruption and/or cold (4 °C) treatment on these properties of living human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). At first, the cholesterol-depletion-induced raft disruption was visualized by confocal microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in combination with fluorescent quantum dots. Next, the cold-induced cell contraction and the formation of end-branched filopodia were observed by confocal microscopy and AFM. Then, the cell-surface ultrastructures were imaged by AFM, and the data showed that raft disruption and cold treatment induced opposite effects on cell-surface roughness (a significant decrease and a significant increase, respectively). Moreover, the cell-surface mechanical properties (stiffness and adhesion force) of raft-disrupted- and/or cold-treated HUVECs were measured by the force measurement function of AFM. We found that raft disruption and cold treatment induced parallel effects on cell stiffness (increase) or adhesion force (decrease) and that the combination of the two treatments caused dramatically strengthened effects. Finally, raft disruption was found to significantly impair cell migration as previously reported, whereas temporary cold treatment only caused a slight but nonsignificant decrease in cell migration performed at physiological temperature. Although the mechanisms for causing these results might be complicated and more in-depth studies will be needed, our data may provide important information for better understanding the effects of raft disruption or cold treatment on cells and the two strategies for lipid raft research.

MANAGING DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR OF STUDENTS IN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Khasinah

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article describes students’ disruptive behaviors in language classroom that may greatly affect language teaching and learning process, especially in ESL or EFL classes. Teachers should know what disruptive behavior is to enable them to deal with problems occurred in their classroom or to take preventive actions to keep their students well-behaved during the class. This can reduce the occurrence of misbehavior of students in their classroom. To prevent disruption in the classroom, teachers should establish behavioral expectations in the first day of the semester and the expectations can be based on students attendance, arrivals and departures, class participation, full English speaking, and other appropriate conducts in the syllabus and discuss them at the outset of the term. The agreement is then assigned as a learning contract or a code of conducts with which bounds the whole class. Consequently, whenever students are misbehaved, teachers and other students will directly know and recognize that the behaviors are out of the code. There are factors reasoning students to behave badly, so teachers as trouble solvers have to find appropriate strategies that are effective in helping students keep the code. Otherwise, the disruptions will escalate quickly and the problems will increase in numbers rapidly and finally, teachers will have to work very hard to avoid teaching failure and “losing face” when they cannot manage the disruption as listed in the expectation.

Polish Society of Endocrinology Position statement on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

Science.gov (United States)

Rutkowska, Aleksandra; Rachoń, Dominik; Milewicz, Andrzej; Ruchała, Marek; Bolanowski, Marek; Jędrzejuk, Diana; Bednarczuk, Tomasz; Górska, Maria; Hubalewska-Dydejczyk, Alicja; Kos-Kudła, Beata; Lewiński, Andrzej; Zgliczyński, Wojciech

2015-01-01

With the reference to the position statements of the Endocrine Society, the Paediatric Endocrine Society, and the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology, the Polish Society of Endocrinology points out the adverse health effects caused by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) commonly used in daily life as components of plastics, food containers, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The statement is based on the alarming data about the increase of the prevalence of many endocrine disorders such as: cryptorchidism, precocious puberty in girls and boys, and hormone-dependent cancers (endometrium, breast, prostate). In our opinion, it is of human benefit to conduct epidemiological studies that will enable the estimation of the risk factors of exposure to EDCs and the probability of endocrine disorders. Increasing consumerism and the industrial boom has led to severe pollution of the environment with a corresponding negative impact on human health; thus, there is great necessity for the biomonitoring of EDCs in Poland.

Endocrine disruptive effects of chemicals eluted from nitrile-butadiene rubber gloves using reporter gene assay systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Satoh, Kanako; Nonaka, Ryouichi; Ohyama, Ken-ichi; Nagai, Fumiko; Ogata, Akio; Iida, Mitsuru

2008-03-01

Disposable gloves made of nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) are used for contact with foodstuffs rather than polyvinyl chloride gloves containing di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), because endocrine-disruptive effects are suspected for phthalate diesters including DEHP. However, 4,4'-butylidenebis(6-t-butyl-m-cresol) (BBBC), 2,4-di-t-butylphenol, and 2,2,4-trimetyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate can be eluted from NBR gloves, and possibly also detected in food. In this study, we examined the endocrine-disrupting effects of these chemicals via androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated pathways using stably transfected reporter gene cell lines expressing AR (AR-EcoScreen system) and ER (MVLN cells), respectively. We also examined the binding activities of these chemicals to AR and ER. The IC50 value of BBBC for antagonistic androgen was in the range of 10(-6)M. The strength of inhibition was about 5 times that of a known androgen antagonist, 1,1'-(2,2-dichloroethylidene)bis[4-chlorobenzene] (p,p'-DDE), and similar to that of bisphenol A. The IC50 value of BBBC for antagonistic estrogen was in the range of 10(-6)M. These results suggest that BBBC and its structural homologue, 4,4'-thiobis(6-t-butyl-m-cresol) are androgen and estrogen antagonists. It is therefore necessary to study these chemicals in vivo, and clarify their effect on the endocrine system.

A Recovery Model for Production Scheduling: Combination of Disruption Management and Internet of Things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Jiang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It is difficult to generate the new schedule effectively for minimizing the negative impact when an unanticipated disruption occurs after a subset of tasks has been finished in production scheduling. In such cases, continuing with the original schedule may not be optimal or feasible. Based on disruption management and Internet of things (IoT, this study designs a real-time status analyzer to identify the disruption and propose a recovery model to deal with the disruption. The computational result proves that our algorithm is competitive with the existing heuristics. Furthermore, due to the tradeoff between all participators (mainly including customers, managers of production enterprise, and workers involved in production scheduling, our model is more effective than the total rescheduling and right-shift rescheduling.

Neural-net disruption predictor in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshino, R.

2003-01-01

The prediction of major disruptions caused by the density limit, the plasma current ramp-down with high internal inductance l i , the low density locked mode and the β-limit has been investigated in JT-60U. The concept of 'stability level', newly proposed in this paper to predict the occurrence of a major disruption, is calculated from nine input parameters every 2 ms by the neural network and the start of a major disruption is predicted when the stability level decreases to a certain level, the 'alarm level'. The neural network is trained in two steps. It is first trained with 12 disruptive and six non-disruptive shots (total of 8011 data points). Second, the target output data for 12 disruptive shots are modified and the network is trained again with additional data points generated by the operator. The 'neural-net disruption predictor' obtained has been tested for 300 disruptive shots (128 945 data points) and 1008 non-disruptive shots (982 800 data points) selected from nine years of operation (1991-1999) of JT-60U. Major disruptions except for those caused by the -limit have been predicted with a prediction success rate of 97-98% at 10 ms prior to the disruption and higher than 90% at 30 ms prior to the disruption while the false alarm rate is 2.1% for non-disruptive shots. This prediction performance has been confirmed for 120 disruptive shots (56 163 data points), caused by the density limit, as well as 1032 non-disruptive shots (1004 611 data points) in the last four years of operation (1999-2002) of JT-60U. A careful selection of the input parameters supplied to the network and the newly developed two-step training of the network have reduced the false alarm rate resulting in a considerable improvement of the prediction success rate. (author)

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in indoor and outdoor air

Science.gov (United States)

Rudel, Ruthann A.; Perovich, Laura J.

The past 50 years have seen rapid development of new building materials, furnishings, and consumer products and a corresponding explosion in new chemicals in the built environment. While exposure levels are largely undocumented, they are likely to have increased as a wider variety of chemicals came into use, people began spending more time indoors, and air exchange rates decreased to improve energy efficiency. As a result of weak regulatory requirements for chemical safety testing, only limited toxicity data are available for these chemicals. Over the past 15 years, some chemical classes commonly used in building materials, furnishings, and consumer products have been shown to be endocrine disrupting chemicals - that is they interfere with the action of endogenous hormones. These include PCBs, used in electrical equipment, caulking, paints and surface coatings; chlorinated and brominated flame retardants, used in electronics, furniture, and textiles; pesticides, used to control insects, weeds, and other pests in agriculture, lawn maintenance, and the built environment; phthalates, used in vinyl, plastics, fragrances, and other products; alkylphenols, used in detergents, pesticide formulations, and polystyrene plastics; and parabens, used to preserve products like lotions and sunscreens. This paper summarizes reported indoor and outdoor air concentrations, chemical use and sources, and toxicity data for each of these chemical classes. While industrial and transportation-related pollutants have been shown to migrate indoors from outdoor sources, it is expected that indoor sources predominate for these consumer product chemicals; and some studies have identified indoor sources as the predominant factor influencing outdoor ambient air concentrations in densely populated areas. Mechanisms of action, adverse effects, and dose-response relationships for many of these chemicals are poorly understood and no systematic screening of common chemicals for endocrine disrupting

Beryllium and graphite performance in ITER during a disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Ehst, D.A.; Gahl, J.

1994-01-01

Plasma disruptions are considered one of the most limiting factors for successful operation of magnetic fusion reactors. During a disruption, a sharp, rapid release of energy strikes components such as the divertor or limiter plates. Severe surface erosion and melting of these components may then occur. The amount of material eroded from both ablation and melting is important to the reactor design and component lifetime. The anticipated performance of both beryllium and graphite as plasma-facing materials during such abnormal events is analyzed and compared. Recent experimental data obtained with both plasma guns and electron beams are carefully evaluated and compared to results of analytical modeling, including vapor shielding effect. Initial results from plasma gun experiments indicate that the Be erosion rate is about five times larger than that for a graphite material under the same disruption conditions. Key differences between simulation experiments and reactor disruption on the net erosion rate, and consequently on the lifetime of the divertor plate, are discussed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of Be over graphite as a divertor plasma-facing material are discussed. ((orig.))

Beryllium and graphite performance in ITER during a disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Ehst, D.A.; Gahl, J.

1993-09-01

Plasma disruptions are considered one of the most limiting factors for successful operation of magnetic fusion reactors. During a disruption, a sharp, rapid release of energy strikes components such as the divertor or limiter plates. Severe surface erosion and melting of these components may then occur. The amount of material eroded from both ablation and melting is important to the reactor design and component lifetime. The anticipated performance of both beryllium and graphite as plasma-facing materials during such abnormal events is analyzed and compared. Recent experimental data obtained with both plasma guns and electron beams are carefully evaluated and compared to results of analytical modeling, including vapor shielding effect. Initial results from plasma gun experiments indicate that the Be erosion rate is about five times larger than that for a graphite material under the same disruption conditions. Key differences between simulation experiments and reactor disruption on the net erosion rate, and consequently on the lifetime of the divertor plate, are discussed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of Be over graphite as a divertor plasma-facing material are discussed

Bisphenol A in the aquatic environment and its endocrine-disruptive effects on aquatic organisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jeong-Hun; Asai, Daisuke; Aasi, Daisuke; Katayama, Yoshiki

2007-01-01

Bisphenol A [BPA; 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane], which is mainly used in the production of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics, is a known endocrine disruptor and is acutely toxic to aquatic organisms. Due to intensified usage of these products, exposure of organisms to BPA via several routes, such as the environment and food, has increased. The aquatic environment is an important area for the study of BPA. This report reviews the literature concerning contamination routes and degradation of BPA in the aquatic environment and its endocrine-disruptive effects on aquatic organisms.

Endocrine disrupting effects in rats perinatally exposed to a dietary relevant mixture of phytoestrogens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boberg, Julie; Mandrup, Karen; Jacobsen, Pernille Rosenskjold

2013-01-01

Dietary phytoestrogens may prevent certain human diseases, but endocrine activity has been reported in animal studies. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed perinatally to a 1-, 10- or 100-fold “high human dietary intake” mixture of 12 phytoestrogens consisting of mainly the lignan secoisolarici resinol...... genes in testis and prostate were unaffected. Decreased serum estradiol was seen in genistein-exposed dams. This study indicated adverse effects at high intake levels in rats, but does not provide evidence for risk of phytoestrogen-mediated endocrine disruption at normal human dietary consumption levels...

Modeling methodology for supply chain synthesis and disruption analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Teresa; Blackhurst, Jennifer

2004-11-01

The concept of an integrated or synthesized supply chain is a strategy for managing today's globalized and customer driven supply chains in order to better meet customer demands. Synthesizing individual entities into an integrated supply chain can be a challenging task due to a variety of factors including conflicting objectives, mismatched incentives and constraints of the individual entities. Furthermore, understanding the effects of disruptions occurring at any point in the system is difficult when working toward synthesizing supply chain operations. Therefore, the goal of this research is to present a modeling methodology to manage the synthesis of a supply chain by linking hierarchical levels of the system and to model and analyze disruptions in the integrated supply chain. The contribution of this research is threefold: (1) supply chain systems can be modeled hierarchically (2) the performance of synthesized supply chain system can be evaluated quantitatively (3) reachability analysis is used to evaluate the system performance and verify whether a specific state is reachable, allowing the user to understand the extent of effects of a disruption.

Edge enhancement improves disruptive camouflage by emphasising false edges and creating pictorial relief.

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, John; Sharman, Rebecca J; Scott-Brown, Kenneth C; Lovell, Paul George

2016-12-06

Disruptive colouration is a visual camouflage composed of false edges and boundaries. Many disruptively camouflaged animals feature enhanced edges; light patches are surrounded by a lighter outline and/or a dark patches are surrounded by a darker outline. This camouflage is particularly common in amphibians, reptiles and lepidopterans. We explored the role that this pattern has in creating effective camouflage. In a visual search task utilising an ultra-large display area mimicking search tasks that might be found in nature, edge enhanced disruptive camouflage increases crypsis, even on substrates that do not provide an obvious visual match. Specifically, edge enhanced camouflage is effective on backgrounds both with and without shadows; i.e. this is not solely due to background matching of the dark edge enhancement element with the shadows. Furthermore, when the dark component of the edge enhancement is omitted the camouflage still provided better crypsis than control patterns without edge enhancement. This kind of edge enhancement improved camouflage on all background types. Lastly, we show that edge enhancement can create a perception of multiple surfaces. We conclude that edge enhancement increases the effectiveness of disruptive camouflage through mechanisms that may include the improved disruption of the object outline by implying pictorial relief.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Induced "Pollution of Metabolic Pathways": A Case of Shifting Paradigms With Implications for Vascular Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Janardhanan, Rajiv

2018-05-14

The latter half of the twentieth century has witnessed a humongous spurt in the use of synthetic chemicals in a wide variety of industrial and agricultural applications are leading to niche specific perturbations affecting every trophic level of the ecosystems due to unmitigated environmental contamination. Despite the incremental usefulness of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as pesticides and plasticizers, their statutory impact on environmental health is assuming worrisome proportions. The EDCs can disrupt physiological homeostasis resulting in developmental and reproductive abnormalities. Both preclinical animal experiments, as well as epidemiological studies, have correlated EDC exposure with metabolic disorders such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes as well as cardiovascular health. Here we briefly review the statutory impact of EDCs on metabolic disruption as well as their impact on environmental health. Finally, difficulties pertaining to the categorization of EDC induced metabolic diseases as risk factors for global disease burden have been addressed taking into account the complexity of such interactions. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Probabilistic analysis of tokamak plasma disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanzo, D.L.; Apostolakis, G.E.

1985-01-01

An approximate analytical solution to the heat conduction equations used in modeling component melting and vaporization resulting from plasma disruptions is presented. This solution is then used to propagate uncertainties in the input data characterizing disruptions, namely, energy density and disruption time, to obtain a probabilistic description of the output variables of interest, material melted and vaporized. (orig.)

Applying a Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective to Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Implications for Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyler, Patrick M; White, Stuart F; Thompson, Ronald W; Blair, R J R

2018-02-12

A cognitive neuroscience perspective seeks to understand behavior, in this case disruptive behavior disorders (DBD), in terms of dysfunction in cognitive processes underpinned by neural processes. While this type of approach has clear implications for clinical mental health practice, it also has implications for school-based assessment and intervention with children and adolescents who have disruptive behavior and aggression. This review articulates a cognitive neuroscience account of DBD by discussing the neurocognitive dysfunction related to emotional empathy, threat sensitivity, reinforcement-based decision-making, and response inhibition. The potential implications for current and future classroom-based assessments and interventions for students with these deficits are discussed.

DISRUPTION OF CONDITIONED REWARD ASSOCIATION BY TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS

Science.gov (United States)

Danna, C.L.; Elmer, G.I.

2013-01-01

Antipsychotic drugs are broadly classified into typical and atypical compounds; they vary in their pharmacological profile however a common component is their antagonist effects at the D2 dopamine receptors (DRD2). Unfortunately, diminished DRD2 activation is generally thought to be associated with the severity of neuroleptic-induced anhedonia. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine and typical antipsychotic haloperidol in a paradigm that reflects the learned transfer of incentive motivational properties to previously neutral stimuli, namely autoshaping. In order to provide a dosing comparison to a therapeutically relevant endpoint, both drugs were tested against amphetamine-induced disruption of prepulse inhibition as well. In the autoshaping task, rats were exposed to repeated pairings of stimuli that were differentially predictive of reward delivery. Conditioned approach to the reward predictive cue (sign-tracking) and to the reward (goal-tracking) increased during repeated pairings in the vehicle treated rats. Haloperidol and olanzapine completely abolished this behavior at relatively low doses (100 μg/kg). This same dose was the threshold dose for each drug to antagonize the sensorimotor gating deficits produced by amphetamine. At lower doses (3–30 μg/kg) both drugs produced a dose-dependent decrease in conditioned approach to the reward predictive cue. There was no difference between drugs at this dose range which indicates that olanzapine disrupts autoshaping at a significantly lower proposed DRD2 receptor occupancy. Interestingly, neither drug disrupted conditioned approach to the reward at the same dose range that disrupted conditioned approach to the reward predictive cue. Thus, haloperidol and olanzapine, at doses well below what is considered therapeutically relevant, disrupts the attribution of incentive motivational value to previously neutral cues. Drug effects on this dimension of reward

The influence of plasma motion on disruption generated runaway electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russo, A.J.

1991-01-01

One of the possible consequences of disruptions is the generation of runaway electrons which can impact plasma facing components and cause damage due to high local energy deposition. This problem becomes more serious as the machine size and plasma current increases. Since large size and high currents are characteristics of proposed future machines, control of runaway generation is an important design consideration. A lumped circuit model for disruption runaway electron generation indicates that control circuitry on strongly influence runaway behavior. A comparison of disruption data from several shots on JET and D3-D with model results, demonstrate the effects of plasma motion on runaway number density and energy. 6 refs., 12 figs

Plasma membrane disruption: repair, prevention, adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

McNeil, Paul L.; Steinhardt, Richard A.

2003-01-01

Many metazoan cells inhabit mechanically stressful environments and, consequently, their plasma membranes are frequently disrupted. Survival requires that the cell rapidly repair or reseal the disruption. Rapid resealing is an active and complex structural modification that employs endomembrane as its primary building block, and cytoskeletal and membrane fusion proteins as its catalysts. Endomembrane is delivered to the damaged plasma membrane through exocytosis, a ubiquitous Ca2+-triggered response to disruption. Tissue and cell level architecture prevent disruptions from occurring, either by shielding cells from damaging levels of force, or, when this is not possible, by promoting safe force transmission through the plasma membrane via protein-based cables and linkages. Prevention of disruption also can be a dynamic cell or tissue level adaptation triggered when a damaging level of mechanical stress is imposed. Disease results from failure of either the preventive or resealing mechanisms.

The risks of innovation in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Enzmann, Dieter R

2015-04-01

Innovation in health care creates risks that are unevenly distributed. An evolutionary analogy using species to represent business models helps categorize innovation experiments and their risks. This classification reveals two qualitative categories: early and late diversification experiments. Early diversification has prolific innovations with high risk because they encounter a "decimation" stage, during which most experiments disappear. Participants face high risk. The few decimation survivors can be sustaining or disruptive according to Christensen's criteria. Survivors enter late diversification, during which they again expand, but within a design range limited to variations of the previous surviving designs. Late diversifications carry lower risk. The exception is when disruptive survivors "diversify," which amplifies their disruption. Health care and radiology will experience both early and late diversifications, often simultaneously. Although oversimplifying Christensen's concepts, early diversifications are likely to deliver disruptive innovation, whereas late diversifications tend to produce sustaining innovations. Current health care consolidation is a manifestation of late diversification. Early diversifications will appear outside traditional care models and physical health care sites, as well as with new science such as molecular diagnostics. They warrant attention because decimation survivors will present both disruptive and sustaining opportunities to radiology. Radiology must participate in late diversification by incorporating sustaining innovations to its value chain. Given the likelihood of disruptive survivors, radiology should seriously consider disrupting itself rather than waiting for others to do so. Disruption entails significant modifications of its value chain, hence, its business model, for which lessons may become available from the pharmaceutical industry's current simultaneous experience with early and late diversifications. Copyright

From Digital Disruption to Business Model Scalability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Christian; Lund, Morten; Thomsen, Peter Poulsen

2017-01-01

This article discusses the terms disruption, digital disruption, business models and business model scalability. It illustrates how managers should be using these terms for the benefit of their business by developing business models capable of achieving exponentially increasing returns to scale...... will seldom lead to business model scalability capable of competing with digital disruption(s)....... as a response to digital disruption. A series of case studies illustrate that besides frequent existing messages in the business literature relating to the importance of creating agile businesses, both in growing and declining economies, as well as hard to copy value propositions or value propositions that take...

Characterization of axisymmetric disruption dynamics toward VDE avoidance in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Y.; Yoshino, R.; Granetz, R.S.; Pautasso, G.; Gruber, O.; Jardin, S.C.

2003-01-01

Experiments and axisymmetric MHD simulations on tokamak disruptions have explicated the underlying mechanisms of Vertical Displacement Events (VDEs) and a diversity of disruption dynamics. First, the neutral point, which is known as an advantageous vertical plasma position to avoiding VDEs during the plasma current quench, is shown to be fairly insensitive to plasma shape and current profile parameters. Secondly, a rapid flattening of the plasma current profile frequently seen at thermal quench is newly clarified to play a substantial role in dragging a single null-diverted plasma vertically towards the divertor. As a consequence, the occurrence of downward-going VDEs predominates over the upward-going ones in bottom diverted discharges. This dragging effect is absent in up-down symmetric limiter discharges. These simulation results are consistent with experiments. Together with the attractive force that arises from passive shell currents and essentially vanishes at the neutral point, the dragging effect explains many details of the VDE dynamics over the whole period of the disruptive termination. (author)

Children with disrupted attachment histories: Interventions and psychophysiological indices of effects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuengel, C.; Oosterman, M.; Sterkenburg, P.S.

2009-01-01

ABSTRACT: Diagnosis and treatment of children affected by disruptions of attachment (out of home placement, multiple changes of primary caregiver) is an area of considerable controversy. The possible contribution of psychobiological theories is discussed in three parts. The first part relates the

The Climate Disruption Challenge for Water Security in a Growing World

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, L. J.; Nix, M.; Ihde, A.; MacDonald, L. H.; Parker, C.; Schaefer, R. K.; Weiss, M.; Babin, S. M.; Swartz, W. H.; Schloman, J.

2012-12-01

Climate disruption, the increasingly large and erratic departures of weather and climate from the benign conditions of the last one hundred years, is the greatest challenge to the long-term stability of world governments. Population growth, food and water security, energy supplies, and economic factors are, to some degree, within the control of governance and policy and all of these are impacted by climate disruption. Climate disruption, on the other hand, is not amenable to direct modification on the short timescales that commonly dictate governmental policy and human response. Global average temperatures will continue to increase even if there were immediate, profound changes in emission scenarios. Policy makers are faced with the very practical and immediate problem of determining what can one reasonably do to ameliorate the impact of climate disruption. The issue from a policy viewpoint is: how does one make effective policy when faced with a situation in which there are varied viewpoints in competition. How does one establish a consensus for action? What information "speaks" to policy makers? Water security is one such issue and provides an important, immediate, and tangible device to use when we examine how one can determine what policies can be effectively pursued. The Global Assimilation of Information for Action (GAIA) project creates a support environment to address the impact of climate disruption on global, national, regional, and/or local interests. The basic research community is concerned with the scientific aspects of predicting climate change in terms of environmental parameters such as rainfall, temperature and humidity while decision makers must deal with planning for a world that may be very different from the one we have grown accustomed to. Decision makers must deal with the long-term impacts on public health, agriculture, economic productivity, security, extreme weather, etc in an environment that has come to focus on short-term issues. To

3rd Annual Disruptive Technology Conference

Science.gov (United States)

2006-09-07

Panel -- The Warfighter’s Perspective The Impact of Disruptive Technologies on Joint Warfighting MG Michael Vane, USA, Vice Director for Force...Structure, Resources & Assessment, Joint Staff, J-8 Panel -- Perspectives of Change: Identifying the Emerging Commercial Disruptive Technologies Decision...Mark Lucas, Board Member OSGeo, RadiantBlue Technologies Panel -- The Search for Disruptive Technologies - a “Blue Force” Multiplier Advanced

Tidal disruption of white dwarfs by intermediate mass black holes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bode T.

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Modeling ultra-close encounters between a white dwarf and a spinning, intermediate mass black hole requires a full general relativistic treatment of gravity. This paper summarizes results from such a study. Our results show that the disruption process and prompt accretion of the debris strongly depend on the magnitude and orientation of the black hole spin. On the other hand, the late-time accretion onto the black hole follows the same decay, Ṁ ∝  t−5/3, estimated from Newtonian gravity disruption studies. The spectrum of the fallback material peaks in the soft X-rays and sustains Eddington luminosity for 1–3 yrs after the disruption. The orientation of the black hole spin has also a profound effect on how the outflowing debris obscures the central region. The disruption produces a burst of gravitational radiation with characteristic frequencies of ∼3.2 Hz and strain amplitudes of ∼10−18 for galactic intermediate mass black holes.

Disruption studies in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kellman, A.G.; Evans, T.E.; Cuthbertson, J.W.

1996-09-01

Characteristics of disruptions in the DIII-D tokamak including the current decay rate, halo current magnitude and toroidal asymmetry, and heat pulse to the divertor are described. Neon and argon pellet injection is shown to be an effective method for mitigating the halo currents and the heat pulse with a 50% reduction in both quantities achieved. The injection of these impurity pellets frequently gives rise to runaway electrons

Vaporized wall material/plasma interaction during plasma disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merrill, B.J.; Carroll, M.C.; Jardin, S.C.

1983-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a new plasma disruption model that has been developed for analyzing the consequences to the limiter/first wall structures. This model accounts for: nonequilibrium surface vaporization for the ablating structure, nonequilibrium ionization of and radiation emitted from the ablated material in the plasma, plasma particle and energy transport, and plasma electromagnetic field evolution during the disruption event. Calculations were performed for a 5 ms disruption on a stainless steel flat limiter as part of a D-shaped first wall. These results indicated that the effectiveness of the ablated wall material to shield the exposed structure is greater than predicted by earlier models, and that the rate of redeposition of the ablated wall material ions is very dramatic. Impurity transport along magnetic field lines, global plasma motion, and radiation transport in an optically thick plasma are important factors that require additional modeling. Experimental measurements are needed to verify these models

Tidal disruption of fuzzy dark matter subhalo cores

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Xiaolong; Schwabe, Bodo; Niemeyer, Jens C.; Bürger, David

2018-03-01

We study tidal stripping of fuzzy dark matter (FDM) subhalo cores using simulations of the Schrödinger-Poisson equations and analyze the dynamics of tidal disruption, highlighting the differences with standard cold dark matter. Mass loss outside of the tidal radius forces the core to relax into a less compact configuration, lowering the tidal radius. As the characteristic radius of a solitonic core scales inversely with its mass, tidal stripping results in a runaway effect and rapid tidal disruption of the core once its central density drops below 4.5 times the average density of the host within the orbital radius. Additionally, we find that the core is deformed into a tidally locked ellipsoid with increasing eccentricities until it is completely disrupted. Using the core mass loss rate, we compute the minimum mass of cores that can survive several orbits for different FDM particle masses and compare it with observed masses of satellite galaxies in the Milky Way.

Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Fan-Gang; Kong, Ying-Yee; Michalewski, Henry J; Starr, Arnold

2005-06-01

Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity were systematically studied in 21 subjects who had been clinically diagnosed with auditory neuropathy (AN), a recently defined disorder characterized by normal outer hair cell function but disrupted auditory nerve function. Neurological and electrophysical evidence suggests that disrupted auditory nerve activity is due to desynchronized or reduced neural activity or both. Psychophysical measures showed that the disrupted neural activity has minimal effects on intensity-related perception, such as loudness discrimination, pitch discrimination at high frequencies, and sound localization using interaural level differences. In contrast, the disrupted neural activity significantly impairs timing related perception, such as pitch discrimination at low frequencies, temporal integration, gap detection, temporal modulation detection, backward and forward masking, signal detection in noise, binaural beats, and sound localization using interaural time differences. These perceptual consequences are the opposite of what is typically observed in cochlear-impaired subjects who have impaired intensity perception but relatively normal temporal processing after taking their impaired intensity perception into account. These differences in perceptual consequences between auditory neuropathy and cochlear damage suggest the use of different neural codes in auditory perception: a suboptimal spike count code for intensity processing, a synchronized spike code for temporal processing, and a duplex code for frequency processing. We also proposed two underlying physiological models based on desynchronized and reduced discharge in the auditory nerve to successfully account for the observed neurological and behavioral data. These methods and measures cannot differentiate between these two AN models, but future studies using electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant might. These results not only show the unique

Radiation transport effects in divertor plasmas generated during a tokamak reactor disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, R.R.; MacFarlane, J.J.; Wang, P.

1994-01-01

Vaporization of material from tokamak divertors during disruptions is a critical issue for tokamak reactors from ITER to commercial power plants. Radiation transport from the vaporized material onto the remaining divertor surface plays an important role in the total mass loss to the divertor. Radiation transport in such a vapor is very difficult to calculate in full detail, and this paper quantifies the sensitivity of the divertor mass loss to uncertainties in the radiation transport. Specifically, the paper presents the results of computer simulations of the vaporization of a graphite coated divertor during a tokamak disruption with ITER CDA parameters. The results show that a factor of 100 change in the radiation conductivity changes the mass loss by more than a factor of two

The ergodic divertor a way to prevent major disruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallet, J.C.; Poutchy, L.; Mohamed-Benkadda, M.S.; Edery, D.; Joffrin, E.; Lecoustey, P.; Pecquet, A.L.; Samain, A.; Talvard, M.

1991-01-01

The disruptions are one of the major obstacles to present day tokamaks extrapolation to fusion reactors. We have recently proposed a piloting discharge strategy on TORE SUPRA to prevent density limit disruptions. This strategy is based on the use of the Ergodic Divertor (ED). We have observed that the ED stabilizes the m=2 n=1 tearing mode and that in deuterium discharges limited by the outboard limiter it induces a fast decrease of the plasma density. The piloting strategy is taken in three steps: 1) the approach of the density limit is detected by a threshold on the MHD activity amplitude; 2) the gas puff is switched off; 3) the ED is turned on. Then the m=2 n=1 tearing mode is stabilized the density decreases and the disruption is avoided. This strategy has already been successully tested on about 20 specific deuterium shots with 2.5< q(a)<4.5 in which the density limit is approached by ramping up the density with gas puffing. In this paper, experimental data are reported and analyzed. First, the principle of the ED and the density limit disruption phenomenology are briefly recalled. Then the ED effect on plasma density, radiated power and MHD activity are analyzed, and the piloting strategy to prevent density limit disruptions is discussed

Childhood trajectories of anxiousness and disruptiveness as predictors of suicide attempts.

Science.gov (United States)

Brezo, Jelena; Barker, Edward D; Paris, Joel; Hébert, Martine; Vitaro, Frank; Tremblay, Richard E; Turecki, Gustavo

2008-11-01

To investigate the association of childhood trajectories of anxiousness and disruptiveness with suicide attempts in early adulthood. Prospective cohort study. Public francophone schools in Quebec, Canada, from the 1986 to 1988 school years. Of 4,488 French Canadian children attending kindergarten, a representative group of 1,001 boys and 999 girls was chosen for follow-up. Of these, 1,144 individuals participated in the study during early adulthood. Suicide attempt histories by early adulthood, adjusted odds ratios (ORs) associated with membership in high- vs low-risk trajectories of anxiousness and disruptiveness, moderation (by sex), and mediation (by adolescent Axis I disorders). We observed 4 distinct developmental profiles of anxiousness and disruptiveness and a frequent co-occurrence of similar levels of these traits. In contrast to anxiousness trajectories (OR = 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.65), disruptiveness (OR = 1.80; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-3.13) and joint (OR = 1.88; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-3.37) trajectories made statistically significant contributions to suicide attempts. We found no support for mediation by adolescent anxiety/mood or disruptive disorders. Sex, however, moderated the effect of joint trajectories, increasing the risk of suicide attempts in women (OR = 3.60; Wald chi(2) = 10.93; P anxious and disruptive traits as children. Anxious-disruptive girls and disruptive boys appear to be more likely than their peers to attempt suicide by early adulthood. Preventive efforts will require more research into the possible mechanisms behind this early sex difference, ie, gene-environment interplays and nonpsychiatric mediators.

Endocrine disruption: In silico interactions between phthalate plasticizers and corticosteroid binding globulin.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheikh, Ishfaq A; Beg, Mohd A

2017-12-01

Endocrine disruption is a phenomenon when a man-made or natural compound interferes with normal hormone function in human or animal body systems. Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) have assumed considerable importance as a result of industrial activity, mass production of synthetic chemicals and environmental pollution. Phthalate plasticizers are a group of chemicals used widely and diversely in industry especially in the plastic industry, and many of the phthalate compounds have endocrine-disrupting properties. Increasing evidence indicates that steroid nuclear receptors and steroid binding proteins are the main targets of endocrine disruption. Corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) is a steroid binding protein that binds and transports cortisol in the blood circulation and is a potential target for endocrine disruption. An imbalance of cortisol in the body leads to many health problems. Induced fit docking of nine important and environmentally relevant phthalate plasticizers (DMP, BBP, DBP, DIBP, DnHP, DEHP, DINP, DnOP, DIDP) showed interactions with 10-19 amino acid residues of CBG. Comparison of the interacting residues of CBG with phthalate ligands and cortisol showed an overlapping of the majority (53-82%) of residues for each phthalate. Five of nine phthalate compounds and cortisol shared a hydrogen bonding interaction with the Arg-252 residue of CBG. Long-chain phthalates, such as DEHP, DINP, DnOP and DIDP displayed a higher binding affinity and formed a number of interactions with CBG in comparison to short-chain phthalates. The similarity in structural binding characteristics of phthalate compounds and native ligand cortisol suggested potential competitive conflicts in CBG-cortisol binding function and possible disruption of cortisol and progesterone homeostasis. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

OPTIMIZATION OF CELL DISRUPTION IN RAPHIDOCELIS SUBCAPITATA AND CHLORELLA VULGARIS FOR BIOMARKER EVALUATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adeolu Aderemi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Raphidocelis subcapitata and Chlorella vulgaris are bioassay microalgae with rigid cellulosic cell wall which can hinder the release of intracellular proteins often studied as toxicity biomarkers. Since cell disruption is necessary for recovering intracellular biomolecules in these organisms, this study investigated the efficiency of ultrasonication bath; ultrasonication probe; vortexer; and bead mill in disintegrating the microalgae for anti-oxidative enzyme extraction. The extent of cell disruption was evaluated and quantified using bright field microscopy. Disrupted algae appeared as ghosts. The greatest disintegration of the microalgae (83-99.6 % was achieved using bead mill with 0.42-0.6 mm glass beads while the other methods induced little or no disruption. The degree of cell disruption using bead mill increased with exposure time, beads-solution ratio and agitation speed while larger beads caused less disruption. Findings revealed that bead milling, with specific parameters optimized, is one of the most effective methods of disintegrating the robust algal cells.

The hexagon hypothesis: Six disruptive scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Burtles, Jim

2015-01-01

This paper aims to bring a simple but effective and comprehensive approach to the development, delivery and monitoring of business continuity solutions. To ensure that the arguments and principles apply across the board, the paper sticks to basic underlying concepts rather than sophisticated interpretations. First, the paper explores what exactly people are defending themselves against. Secondly, the paper looks at how defences should be set up. Disruptive events tend to unfold in phases, each of which invites a particular style of protection, ranging from risk management through to business continuity to insurance cover. Their impact upon any business operation will fall into one of six basic scenarios. The hexagon hypothesis suggests that everyone should be prepared to deal with each of these six disruptive scenarios and it provides them with a useful benchmark for business continuity.

Disruptive technology: new medical advances are troublesome for even the most successful health systems and innovator health companies.

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelis, Lawrence; Vaul, Joanne; Chumer, Kathleen; Faul, Maureen; Sheehan, Lisa; DeCerce, Jack

2004-01-01

An independent expert panel conducted a multi-year research/education/advocacy initiative on the impact of the new drug-eluting stent technology. They conclude that this technology represents a "tipping point" in a series of transformative drugs and medical devices, often used in combination, and recommend that healthcare decision makers develop careful, data-based strategies to avoid the disruptiveness of these medical advances.

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder: current insights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baweja R

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Raman Baweja, Susan D Mayes, Usman Hameed, James G Waxmonsky Department of Psychiatry, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA Abstract: Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD was introduced as a new diagnostic entity under the category of depressive disorders in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5. It was included in DSM-5 primarily to address concerns about the misdiagnosis and consequent overtreatment of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. DMDD does provide a home for a large percentage of referred children with severe persistent irritability that did not fit well into any DSM, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV diagnostic category. However, it has been a controversial addition to the DSM-5 due to lack of published validity studies, leading to questions about its validity as a distinct disorder. In this article, the authors discuss the diagnostic criteria, assessment, epidemiology, criticism of the diagnosis, and pathophysiology, as well as treatment and future directions for DMDD. They also review the literature on severe mood dysregulation, as described by the National Institute of Mental Health, as the scientific support for DMDD is based primarily on studies of severe mood dysregulation. Keywords: disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, persistent irritability, temper outbursts 

Reproductive Impacts of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals on Wildlife Species: Implications for Conservation of Endangered Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Tubbs, Christopher W; McDonough, Caitlin E

2018-02-15

Wildlife have proven valuable to our understanding of the potential effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on human health by contributing considerably to our understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of EDC exposure. But the threats EDCs present to populations of wildlife species themselves are significant, particularly for endangered species whose existence is vulnerable to any reproductive perturbation. However, few studies address the threats EDCs pose to endangered species owing to challenges associated with their study. Here, we highlight those barriers and review the available literature concerning EDC effects on endangered species. Drawing from other investigations into nonthreatened wildlife species, we highlight opportunities for new approaches to advance our understanding and potentially mitigate the effects of EDCs on endangered species to enhance their fertility.

Interactive effects of size, contrast, intensity and configuration of background objects in evoking disruptive camouflage in cuttlefish.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiao, Chuan-Chin; Chubb, Charles; Hanlon, Roger T

2007-07-01

Disruptive body coloration is a primary camouflage tactic of cuttlefish. Because rapid changeable coloration of cephalopods is guided visually, we can present different visual backgrounds (e.g., computer-generated, two-dimensional prints) and video record the animal's response by describing and grading its body pattern. We showed previously that strength of cuttlefish disruptive patterning depends on the size, contrast, and density of discrete light elements on a homogeneous dark background. Here we report five experiments on the interactions of these and other features. Results show that Weber contrast of light background elements is--in combination with element size--a powerful determinant of disruptive response strength. Furthermore, the strength of disruptive patterning decreases with increasing mean substrate intensity (with other factors held constant). Interestingly, when element size, Weber contrast and mean substrate intensity are kept constant, strength of disruptive patterning depends on the configuration of clusters of small light elements. This study highlights the interactions of multiple features of natural microhabitats that directly influence which camouflage pattern a cuttlefish will choose.

An overview of estrogen-associated endocrine disruption in fishes: evidence of effects on reproductive and immune physiology

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanowicz, L.R.; Blazer, V.S.

2011-01-01

Simply and perhaps intuitively defined, endocrine disruption is the abnormal modulation of normal hormonal physiology by exogenous chemicals. In fish, endocrine disruption of the reproductive system has been observed worldwide in numerous species and is known to affect both males and females. Observations of biologically relevant endocrine disruption most commonly occurs near waste water treatment plant outfalls, pulp and paper mills, and areas of high organic loading sometimes associated with agricultural practices. Estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EEDCs) have received an overwhelmingly disproportionate amount of scientific attention compared to other EDCs in recent years. In male fishes, exposure to EEDCs can lead to the induction of testicular oocytes (intersex), measurable plasma vitellogenin protein, altered sex steroid profiles, abnormal spawning behavior, skewed population sex ratios, and lessened reproductive success. Interestingly, contemporary research purports that EDCs modulate aspects of non-reproductive physiology including immune function. Here we present an overview of endocrine disruption in fishes associated with estrogenic compounds, implications of this phenomenon, and examples of EDC related research findings by our group in the Potomac River Watershed, USA.

Climate change and human health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanderson, G.

1991-01-01

Changes in the earth's climate, stemming from the greenhouse effect, are highly likely to damage human health. As well as the disruptions to food and fresh water supplies, there is the prospect of major diseases flourishing in warmer conditions, in addition the decrease in the ozone layer is causing an increased incidence of skin cancer

Isolation of industrial strains of Aspergillus oryzae lacking ferrichrysin by disruption of the dffA gene.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Hisayuki; Hatakeyama, Makoto; Sakurai, Hiroshi; Uchimiya, Hirofumi; Sato, Toshitsugu

2008-11-01

Based on studies using laboratory strains, the efficiency of gene disruption in Aspergillus oryzae, commonly known as koji mold, is low; thus, gene disruption has rarely been applied to the breeding of koji mold. To evaluate the efficiency of gene disruption in industrial strains of A. oryzae, we produced ferrichrysin biosynthesis gene (dffA) disruptants using three different industrial strains as hosts. PCR analysis of 438 pyrithiamine-resistant transformants showed dffA gene disruption efficiency of 42.9%-64.1%, which is much higher than previously reported. Analysis of the physiological characteristics of the disruptants indicated that dffA gene disruption results in hypersensitivity to hydrogen peroxide. To investigate the industrial characteristics of dffA gene disruptants, two strains were used to make rice koji and their properties were compared to those of the host strains. No differences were found between the dffA gene disruptants and the host strains, except that the disruptants did not produce ferrichrysin. Thus, this gene disruption technique is much more effective than conventional mutagenesis for A. oryzae breeding.

Mobile Technology in the Perioperative Arena: Rapid Evolution and Future Disruption.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothman, Brian S; Gupta, Rajnish K; McEvoy, Matthew D

2017-03-01

Throughout the history of medicine, physicians have relied upon disruptive innovations and technologies to improve the quality of care delivered, patient outcomes, and patient satisfaction. The implementation of mobile technology in health care is quickly becoming the next disruptive technology. We first review the history of mobile technology over the past 3 decades, discuss the impact of hardware and software, explore the rapid expansion of applications (apps), and evaluate the adoption of mobile technology in health care. Next, we discuss how technology serves as the vehicle that can transform traditional didactic learning into one that adapts to the learning behavior of the student by using concepts such as the flipped classroom, just-in-time learning, social media, and Web 2.0/3.0. The focus in this modern education paradigm is shifting from teacher-centric to learner-centric, including providers and patients, and is being delivered as context-sensitive, or semantic, learning. Finally, we present the methods by which connected health systems via mobile devices increase information collection and analysis from patients in both clinical care and research environments. This enhanced patient and provider connection has demonstrated benefits including reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions, improved perioperative health maintenance coordination, and improved care in remote and underserved areas. A significant portion of the future of health care, and specifically perioperative medicine, revolves around mobile technology, nimble learners, patient-specific information and decision-making, and continuous connectivity between patients and health care systems. As such, an understanding of developing or evaluating mobile technology likely will be important for anesthesiologists, particularly with an ever-expanding scope of practice in perioperative medicine.

Disruptive Technologies: A Credible Threat to Leading Programs in Continuing Medical Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Clayton M.; Armstrong, Elizabeth G.

1998-01-01

Disruptive technologies are simple convenient innovations that have triggered failures of some well-managed companies. They may threaten continuing medical-education programs so focused on leading-edge technology they lose sight of the very different educational needs of growing numbers of health care providers, who are turning to consultants, the…

Towards a Framework of Digital Platform Disruption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazan, Erol; Tan, Chee-Wee; Lim, Eric T. K.

2014-01-01

Digital platforms are disruptive information technology (IT) artifacts that erode conventional business logic associated with traditional market structures. This paper presents a framework for examining the disruptive potential of digital platforms whereby we postulate that the strategic interplay...... digital platforms purposely decouple platform layers, to foster open innovation and accelerate market disruption. This paper therefore represents a first concrete step aimed at unravelling the disruptive potential of digital platforms....... of governance regimes and platform layers is deterministic of whether disruptive derivatives are permitted to flourish. This framework has been employed in a comparative case study between centralized (i.e., PayPal) and decentralized (i.e., Coinkite) digital payment platforms to illustrate its applicability...

Real-time disruption handling at ASDEX upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zehetbauer, Th.; Pautasso, G.; Tichmann, C.; Egorov, S.; Lorenz, A.; Mertens, V.; Neu, G.; Raupp, G.; Treutterer, W.; Zasche, D.

2001-01-01

A neural network for prediction of disruptions has been developed at ASDEX Upgrade with the goal to mitigate or avoid these. The novel idea is to compute the remaining time-to-disruption to indicate the stability level of the discharge. The neural network has been specified, trained and then implemented within the real-time plasma control system. The current version of the system terminates the discharge with an impurity pellet when the computed time-to-disruption falls below a threshold of 80 ms. Routine operation shows that disruptions are recognized reliably. Vessel currents and forces are considerably reduced. The system will be enhanced to avoid disruptions with a soft landing initiated in time

Family members' needs and experiences of driving disruption over time following an acquired brain injury: an evolving issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Phyllis; Gustafsson, Louise; Liddle, Jacki; Fleming, Jennifer

2017-07-01

Family members often assume the role of driver for individuals who are not driving post-acquired brain injury (ABI). Given that return to driving can be unpredictable and uncertain, the impact of driving disruption on family members may vary at different stages post-injury. This study aims to understand the needs and experiences of family members over time during driving disruption following an ABI. A qualitative prospective longitudinal research design was used with semi-structured interviews at recruitment to study, 3 and 6 months later. Fourteen family members completed 41 interviews. The longitudinal data revealed four phases of driving disruption: (1) Wait and see, (2) Holding onto a quick fix, (3) No way out, and (4) Resolution and adjustment. The phases described a process of building tension and a need for support and resolution over time. Holding onto a quick fix is a pivotal phase whereby supports, such as engagement in realistic goal setting, are essential to facilitate family members' resolution of driving disruption issues. Family members who see no way out might not actively seek help and these points to a need for long-term and regular follow-ups. Future research can explore ways to support family members at these key times. Implications for rehabilitation Health professionals need to facilitate the process of fostering hope in family members to set realistic expectations of return to driving and the duration of driving disruption. It is necessary to follow-up with family members even years after ABI as the issue of driving disruption could escalate to be a crisis and family members might not actively seek help. Health professionals can consider both practical support for facilitating transport and emotional support when addressing the issue of driving disruption with family members.

Chronic photoperiod disruption does not increase vulnerability to focal cerebral ischemia in young normotensive rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Ku Mohd Noor, Ku Mastura; Wyse, Cathy; Roy, Lisa A; Biello, Stephany M; McCabe, Christopher; Dewar, Deborah

2017-11-01

Photoperiod disruption, which occurs during shift work, is associated with changes in metabolism or physiology (e.g. hypertension and hyperglycaemia) that have the potential to adversely affect stroke outcome. We sought to investigate if photoperiod disruption affects vulnerability to stroke by determining the impact of photoperiod disruption on infarct size following permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion. Adult male Wistar rats (210-290 g) were housed singly under two different light/dark cycle conditions ( n = 12 each). Controls were maintained on a standard 12:12 light/dark cycle for nine weeks. For rats exposed to photoperiod disruption, every three days for nine weeks, the lights were switched on 6 h earlier than in the previous photoperiod. T 2 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging was performed at 48 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Disruption of photoperiod in young healthy rats for nine weeks did not alter key physiological variables that can impact on ischaemic damage, e.g. blood pressure and blood glucose immediately prior to middle cerebral artery occlusion. There was no effect of photoperiod disruption on infarct size after middle cerebral artery occlusion. We conclude that any potentially adverse effect of photoperiod disruption on stroke outcome may require additional factors such as high fat/high sugar diet or pre-existing co-morbidities.

Family Disruptions

Science.gov (United States)

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Multivariate statistical models for disruption prediction at ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aledda, R.; Cannas, B.; Fanni, A.; Sias, G.; Pautasso, G.

2013-01-01

In this paper, a disruption prediction system for ASDEX Upgrade has been proposed that does not require disruption terminated experiments to be implemented. The system consists of a data-based model, which is built using only few input signals coming from successfully terminated pulses. A fault detection and isolation approach has been used, where the prediction is based on the analysis of the residuals of an auto regressive exogenous input model. The prediction performance of the proposed system is encouraging when it is applied to the same set of campaigns used to implement the model. However, the false alarms significantly increase when we tested the system on discharges coming from experimental campaigns temporally far from those used to train the model. This is due to the well know aging effect inherent in the data-based models. The main advantage of the proposed method, with respect to other data-based approaches in literature, is that it does not need data on experiments terminated with a disruption, as it uses a normal operating conditions model. This is a big advantage in the prospective of a prediction system for ITER, where a limited number of disruptions can be allowed

Δ9-THC Disrupts Gamma (γ)-Band Neural Oscillations in Humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortes-Briones, Jose; Skosnik, Patrick D; Mathalon, Daniel; Cahill, John; Pittman, Brian; Williams, Ashley; Sewell, R Andrew; Ranganathan, Mohini; Roach, Brian; Ford, Judith; D'Souza, Deepak Cyril

2015-08-01

Gamma (γ)-band oscillations play a key role in perception, associative learning, and conscious awareness and have been shown to be disrupted by cannabinoids in animal studies. The goal of this study was to determine whether cannabinoids disrupt γ-oscillations in humans and whether these effects relate to their psychosis-relevant behavioral effects. The acute, dose-related effects of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC) on the auditory steady-state response (ASSR) were studied in humans (n=20) who completed 3 test days during which they received intravenous Δ(9)-THC (placebo, 0.015, and 0.03 mg/kg) in a double-blind, randomized, crossover, and counterbalanced design. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while subjects listened to auditory click trains presented at 20, 30, and 40 Hz. Psychosis-relevant effects were measured with the Positive and Negative Syndrome scale (PANSS). Δ(9)-THC (0.03 mg/kg) reduced intertrial coherence (ITC) in the 40 Hz condition compared with 0.015 mg/kg and placebo. No significant effects were detected for 30 and 20 Hz stimulation. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between 40 Hz ITC and PANSS subscales and total scores under the influence of Δ(9)-THC. Δ(9)-THC (0.03 mg/kg) reduced evoked power during 40 Hz stimulation at a trend level. Recent users of cannabis showed blunted Δ(9)-THC effects on ITC and evoked power. We show for the first time in humans that cannabinoids disrupt γ-band neural oscillations. Furthermore, there is a relationship between disruption of γ-band neural oscillations and psychosis-relevant phenomena induced by cannabinoids. These findings add to a growing literature suggesting some overlap between the acute effects of cannabinoids and the behavioral and psychophysiological alterations observed in psychotic disorders.

The Burden of Stigma on Health and Well-Being: A Taxonomy of Concealment, Course, Disruptiveness, Aesthetics, Origin, and Peril Across 93 Stigmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Pachankis, John E; Hatzenbuehler, Mark L; Wang, Katie; Burton, Charles L; Crawford, Forrest W; Phelan, Jo C; Link, Bruce G

2018-04-01

Most individuals are stigmatized at some point. However, research often examines stigmas separately, thus underestimating the overall impact of stigma and precluding comparisons across stigmatized identities and conditions. In their classic text, Social Stigma: The Psychology of Marked Relationships, Edward Jones and colleagues laid the groundwork for unifying the study of different stigmas by considering the shared dimensional features of stigmas: aesthetics, concealability, course, disruptiveness, origin, peril. Despite the prominence of this framework, no study has documented the extent to which stigmas differ along these dimensions, and the implications of this variation for health and well-being. We reinvigorated this framework to spur a comprehensive account of stigma's impact by classifying 93 stigmas along these dimensions. With the input of expert and general public raters, we then located these stigmas in a six-dimensional space and created discrete clusters organized around these dimensions. Next, we linked this taxonomy to health and stigma-related mechanisms. This quantitative taxonomy offers parsimonious insights into the relationship among the numerous qualities of numerous stigmas and health.

Disruption modeling in support of ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bandyopadhyay, I.

2015-01-01

Plasma current disruptions and Vertical Displacement Events (VDEs) are one of the major concerns in any tokamak as they lead to large electromagnetic forces to tokamak first wall components and vacuum vessel. Their occurrence also means disruption to steady state operations of tokamaks. Thus future fusion reactors like ITER must ensure that disruptions and VDEs are minimized. However, since there is still finite probability of their occurrence, one must be able to characterize disruptions and VDEs and able to predict, for example, the plasma current quench time and halo current amplitude, which mainly determine the magnitude of the electromagnetic forces. There is a concerted effort globally to understand and predict plasma and halo current evolution during disruption in tokamaks through MHD simulations. Even though Disruption and VDEs are often 3D MHD perturbations in nature, presently they are mostly simulated using 2D axisymmetric MHD codes like the Tokamak Simulation Code (TSC) and DINA. These codes are also extensively benchmarked against experimental data in present day tokamaks to improve these models and their ability to predict these events in ITER. More detailed 3D models like M3D are only recently being developed, but they are yet to be benchmarked against experiments, as also they are massively computationally exhaustive

Impact of Endocrine Disruptions on Man: The likely Causes and Effects

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It is now common knowledge that synthetic chemicals in the environment can find access into the body of humans and wildlife, thereby mimicking the action of endogenous hormones that regulate maintenance of normal growth, metabolism and reproduction. The chemicals able to do this are known as Endocrine Disrupting ...

Axisymmetric disruption dynamics including current profile changes in the ASDEX-Upgrade tokamak