Expert system application for prioritizing preventive actions for shift work: shift expert.

Science.gov (United States)

Esen, Hatice; Hatipoğlu, Tuğçen; Cihan, Ahmet; Fiğlali, Nilgün

2017-09-19

Shift patterns, work hours, work arrangements and worker motivations have increasingly become key factors for job performance. The main objective of this article is to design an expert system that identifies the negative effects of shift work and prioritizes mitigation efforts according to their importance in preventing these negative effects. The proposed expert system will be referred to as the shift expert. A thorough literature review is conducted to determine the effects of shift work on workers. Our work indicates that shift work is linked to demographic variables, sleepiness and fatigue, health and well-being, and social and domestic conditions. These parameters constitute the sections of a questionnaire designed to focus on 26 important issues related to shift work. The shift expert is then constructed to provide prevention advice at the individual and organizational levels, and it prioritizes this advice using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process model, which considers comparison matrices provided by users during the prioritization process. An empirical study of 61 workers working on three rotating shifts is performed. After administering the questionnaires, the collected data are analyzed statistically, and then the shift expert produces individual and organizational recommendations for these workers.

Trophic niche and habitat shifts of sympatric Gerreidae.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, J A A; Barletta, M; Dantas, D V; Lima, A R A; Costa, M F

2014-11-01

The diet and mouth growth rates of three Gerreidae species (Eugerres brasilianus, Eucinostomus melanopterus and Diapterus rhombeus) were assessed at different ontogenetic phases (juveniles, sub-adults and adults) in order to detect allometric growth, and whether they are related to habitat and seasonal changes in the Goiana Estuary, north-east Brazil. The importance of each prey for each ontogenetic phase was described using the index of relative importance. The three species showed seasonal ontogenetic shifts in diet and allometric growth of mouth morphology. They also had an exclusively zoobenthic diet, comprising mainly Polychaeta, Copepoda, Ostracoda, Gastropoda and Bivalvia. Mouth development showed a possible influence on diet changes for E. melanopterus. Significant interactions (P < 0·01) were detected among seasons, areas and ontogenetic phases for the most important prey for E. brasilianus and E. melanopterus. Diet overlaps are evidence of intra and interspecific competition among gerreids for specific prey. A conceptual model of the competition and seasonal diet shifts among ontogenetic phases of gerreids is given. The sediment ingested due to the feeding mechanisms of Gerreidae species could also partially explain the ingestion of synthetic items observed for all ontogenetic phases, which indicates one of a myriad effects of human activities (e.g. artisanal fishery) in this estuary. © 2014 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

The parachute morphology as equilibrium morphology of vesicle-polymer hybrids?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jung, M.; Hubert, D.H.W.; Herk, van A.M.; German, A.L.

2000-01-01

Polymerisation in vesicles leads to novel polymer colloid morphologies. Two morphologies are currently reported: the triple-shell and the parachute morphology. The termodynamic analysis of these two morphologies, presented here, stresses the importance of considering interfacial energies between

Importance of circulating IGF-1 for normal cardiac morphology, function and post infarction remodeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Scharin Täng, M; Redfors, B; Lindbom, M; Svensson, J; Ramunddal, T; Ohlsson, C; Shao, Y; Omerovic, E

2012-12-01

IGF-1 plays an important role in cardiovascular homeostasis, and plasma levels of IGF-1 correlate inversely with systolic function in heart failure. It is not known to what extent circulating IGF-1 secreted by the liver and local autocrine/paracrine IGF-1 expressed in the myocardium contribute to these beneficial effects on cardiac function and morphology. In the present study, we used a mouse model of liver-specific inducible deletion of the IGF-1 gene (LI-IGF-1 -/- mouse) in an attempt to evaluate the importance of circulating IGF-I on cardiac morphology and function under normal and pathological conditions, with an emphasis on its regulatory role in myocardial phosphocreatine metabolism. Echocardiography was performed in LI-IGF-1 -/- and control mice at rest and during dobutamine stress, both at baseline and post myocardial infarction (MI). High-energy phosphate metabolites were compared between LI-IGF-1 -/- and control mice at 4 weeks post MI. We found that LI-IGF-1 -/- mice had significantly greater left ventricular dimensions at baseline and showed a greater relative increase in cardiac dimensions, as well as deterioration of cardiac function, post MI. Myocardial creatine content was 17.9% lower in LI-IGF-1 -/- mice, whereas there was no detectable difference in high-energy nucleotides. These findings indicate an important role of circulating IGF-1 in preserving cardiac structure and function both in physiological settings and post MI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variations in Transverse Foramina of Cervical Vertebrae: Morphology & Clinical Importance

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Vaishakhi Gonsai

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate variations in transverse foramina in the cervical vertebrae and its morphological and clinical importance. Materials and Method : The variations in the number and size of transverse foramina was studied in total 200 human dried cervical vertebrae, which were taken from the Department of Anatomy, B.J.Medical College, Ahmedabad. All the vertebrae were observed for variation in number and size of transverse foramina. Results: Out of 200 cervical vertebrae, complete double transverse foramina were observed in 40 vertebrae (20%, among them unilateral double foramina were found in 31 vertebrae (15.5% and the bilateral double foramina were found in 9 vertebrae (4.5%. Incomplete double transverse foramina were observed in 22 vertebrae (11%, among them unilateral double foramina were found in 16 vertebrae (8% and bilateral double foramina were observed in 6 vertebrae (3%. Conclusion: Complete unilateral double transverse foramina of cervical vertebrae were more common than bilateral. Also unilateral small size transverse foramina of cervical vertebrae were also common. This variation is important for the neurosurgeon during cervical surgery. Under such condition the course of the vertebral artery may be distorted. It is also useful for Radiologist during CT and MRI scan.

The relative importance of fluid and kinetic frequency shifts of an electron plasma wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winjum, B. J.; Fahlen, J.; Mori, W. B.

2007-01-01

The total nonlinear frequency shift of a plasma wave including both fluid and kinetic effects is estimated when the phase velocity of the wave is much less than the speed of light. Using a waterbag or fluid model, the nonlinear frequency shift due to harmonic generation is calculated for an arbitrary shift in the wavenumber. In the limit where the wavenumber does not shift, the result is in agreement with previously published work [R. L. Dewar and J. Lindl, Phys. Fluids 15, 820 (1972); T. P. Coffey, ibid. 14, 1402 (1971)]. This shift is compared to the kinetic shift of Morales and O'Neil [G. J. Morales and T. M. O'Neil, Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 417 (1972)] for wave amplitudes and values of kλ D of interest to Raman backscatter of a laser driver in inertial confinement fusion

The relative importance of fluid and kinetic frequency shifts of an electron plasma wave

Science.gov (United States)

Winjum, B. J.; Fahlen, J.; Mori, W. B.

2007-10-01

The total nonlinear frequency shift of a plasma wave including both fluid and kinetic effects is estimated when the phase velocity of the wave is much less than the speed of light. Using a waterbag or fluid model, the nonlinear frequency shift due to harmonic generation is calculated for an arbitrary shift in the wavenumber. In the limit where the wavenumber does not shift, the result is in agreement with previously published work [R. L. Dewar and J. Lindl, Phys. Fluids 15, 820 (1972); T. P. Coffey, Phys. Fluids 14, 1402 (1971)]. This shift is compared to the kinetic shift of Morales and O'Neil [G. J. Morales and T. M. O'Neil, Phys. Rev. Lett. 28, 417 (1972)] for wave amplitudes and values of kλD of interest to Raman backscatter of a laser driver in inertial confinement fusion.

Shift systems in nuclear power plants - aspects for planning, shift systems, utility practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grauf, E.

1986-01-01

This lecture contains the most important aspects of shift structure and shift organisation. The criteria for shift planning involving essential tasks, duties, laws and regulations, medical aspects, social aspects, will be presented. In the Federal Republic of Germany some basic models were established, which will be shown and explained with special reference to the number of teams, size of shift crews and absence regulations. Moreover, the lecture will deal with rotation systems and provisions for the transfer of shift responsibilities. By example of a utility plant commissioning time scale (1300 MW PWR) the practice of shift installations will be shown as well as the most important points of education and training. Within this compass the criteria and requirements for training and education of operational personnel in the Federal Republic of Germany will also be touched. (orig.)

Morphologic and Morphometric Analysis of Lingula in Localizing Mandibular Foramen with its Surgical Importance

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Phalguni Srimani

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Morphologic and morphometric evaluation of mandible is clinically important. Considering the close relationship of lingula with neurovascular structures entering through mandibular foramen, lingula is often used as an important bony landmark during oral and maxillofacial surgical approach and inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia. Inadequate anatomical knowledge may result various intra operative complications like haemorrhge, fractures and nerve injury. Also, structural variations of lingula followed by inaccurate localization of mandibular foramen have been implicated as causative factor for unsuccessful inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia. Aim: To determine morphological and morphometric variations related to lingula of mandible in localizing mandibular foramen and to compare the results with similar type of osteological studies performed earlier on different population group. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 36 adult dry human mandibles on both sides to categorize lingula according to its various shapes and determine the location of lingula based on surrounding mandibular landmarks by using Vernier caliper as 5 distances from tip of lingula as follows: i to anterior border of ramus of mandible; ii to posterior border of ramus of mandible; iii to centre of mandibular notch; iv to the alveolar socket of second molar tooth; and v to the base of mandible. The present study also indicated bilingual distance between tips of lingula of both sides. Data collected were analyzed statistically. Results: The most common shape of lingula was observed as triangular (51.39% followed by truncated (23.61%, then nodular (20.83% and assimilated (4.17% as least prevalent type. The average distances of tip of lingula from anterior and posterior borders of ramus of mandible were 18.21±1.50 mm and 16.33±1.21 mm respectively. On average, the tip of lingula was situated at 18.17±1.51 mm, 33.40±2.11 mm and 32.07±2.68 mm

Probability and Surprisal in Auditory Comprehension of Morphologically Complex Words

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balling, Laura Winther; Baayen, R. Harald

2012-01-01

Two auditory lexical decision experiments document for morphologically complex words two points at which the probability of a target word given the evidence shifts dramatically. The first point is reached when morphologically unrelated competitors are no longer compatible with the evidence. Adapt...

The role of habitat shift in the evolution of lizard morphology: evidence from tropical Tropidurus

Science.gov (United States)

Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P.; Zani, Peter A.; Titus, Tom A.

1997-01-01

We compared morphology of two geographically close populations of the tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus to test the hypothesis that habitat structure influences the evolution of morphology and ecology at the population level. T. hispidus isolated on a rock outcrop surrounded by tropical forest use rock crevices for refuge and appear dorsoventrally compressed compared with those in open savanna. A principal components analysis revealed that the populations were differentially distributed along an axis representing primarily three components of shape: body width, body height, and hind-leg length. Morphological divergence was supported by a principal components analysis of size-free morphological variables. Mitochondrial DNA sequences of ATPase 6 indicate that these populations are closely related relative to other T. hispidus, the rock outcrop morphology and ecology are derived within T. hispidus, and morphological and ecological divergence has occurred more rapidly than genetic divergence. This suggests that natural selection can rapidly adjust morphology and ecology in response to a recent history of exposure to habitats differing in structure, a result heretofore implied from comparative studies among lizard species. PMID:9108063

The role of habitat shift in the evolution of lizard morphology: evidence from tropical Tropidurus.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitt, L J; Caldwell, J P; Zani, P A; Titus, T A

1997-04-15

We compared morphology of two geographically close populations of the tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus to test the hypothesis that habitat structure influences the evolution of morphology and ecology at the population level. T. hispidus isolated on a rock outcrop surrounded by tropical forest use rock crevices for refuge and appear dorsoventrally compressed compared with those in open savanna. A principal components analysis revealed that the populations were differentially distributed along an axis representing primarily three components of shape: body width, body height, and hind-leg length. Morphological divergence was supported by a principal components analysis of size-free morphological variables. Mitochondrial DNA sequences of ATPase 6 indicate that these populations are closely related relative to other T. hispidus, the rock outcrop morphology and ecology are derived within T. hispidus, and morphological and ecological divergence has occurred more rapidly than genetic divergence. This suggests that natural selection can rapidly adjust morphology and ecology in response to a recent history of exposure to habitats differing in structure, a result heretofore implied from comparative studies among lizard species.

Cooperative dialogues during the shift change-over. Importance for the safety and reliability of production systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grusenmeyer, C.

1997-01-01

During shift changeover, verbal communications between operators constitute a means of cooperating in order to continue actions and to carry out the process. The present study was aimed at analyzing verbal exchanges and consequently the role of this work phase. The paper proposes a method of analyzing verbal exchanges This method allows to follow the development of dialogues step by step and enables the operators' representation to be described as the dialogues unfolds. Dialogues observed in two industrial settings (paper manufacturing and nuclear power plant) are analyzed in two complementary ways. The analysis of the content of verbal exchanges (categorization) shows that these exchanges can be very different depending on the work situation (process state, work organization, last shift of the incoming operator...). More precise dialogues analyses show, in some cases, the construction by the operators of a shared functional representation. They consequently emphasize the importance of these exchanges for collective work. The results point out that these exchanges during shift changeover are not only an information transfer allowing actions related to the production process to be continued. They also allow cooperative problem solving and improvement of operators' expertise. On this basis, propositions related to the improvement of this work phase are made. (authors)

Shift Work Disorder and Mental and Physical Effects of Shift Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pinar Guzel Ozdemir

2018-03-01

Full Text Available With the growing prevalence of shift work all over the the world, the relationship between the daily lives of irregular lifestyles and rhythms is being investigated for those working as shift workers and their families. The effect of shift work on physical and mental health is a very important field of research in recent years. The onset and persistence of medical complications in shift workers includes impaired synchronization between work schedule rhythms and circadian clock. In this context, studies have been carried out showing the increased risk of sleep-wake disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and cardiovascular diseases. There is little information about the actual frequency, effect on health and treatment of shift work disorder, known as circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Shift work disorder includes insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness related with the work schedule. The aim of this rewiev, mentioning about the physical and mental effects of shift work, and to provide information about the diagnosis, clinic and treatment methods of shift-work disorder.

Comparison of sleep disturbances in shift workers and people working with a fixed shift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohreh Yazdi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Different types of sleep disturbances can have a serious negative effect on a person’s ability, function and overall well-being. One of the most important issues that can result in sleep disturbances are occupational causes, the most important among them is shift work. The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of sleep disturbances between shift work and non-shift workers. Material and Methods: This study was designed as a case-control study in 196 shift workers and 204 non-shift workers in a textile factory. The data were collected by using a comprehensive questionnaire including Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index questionnaire, Berlin Questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Insomnia Severity Index and Restless Leg Syndrome Questionnaire. Data analyses were carried out using the SPSS software version 13 by student's t-test, Chi square and multiple logistic regressions. Results: The duration of night sleep in shift workers was less than day workers (p<0.001. Prevalence of poor sleep quality and insomnia were higher in shift workers significantly than non shift workers (p<0.001, OR=2.3 95% CI: 1.7-2.9. The most prevalent type of insomnia was problems in initiating sleep (P=0.022, OR=2.2 95% CI: 1.5-3.2. There was no difference in the prevalence of excessive day-time sleepiness, restless leg syndrome, snoring, obstructive sleep apnea and different types of parasomnias between two groups. Conclusion: Reduced length of sleep and higher prevalence of poor sleep quality and insomnia in shift workers emphasizes the importance of serious attention to sleep disorders in shift workers.

Identification of major and minor QTL for ecologically important morphological traits in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jun; Shikano, Takahito; Leinonen, Tuomas; Cano, José Manuel; Li, Meng-Hua; Merilä, Juha

2014-04-16

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping studies of Pacific three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) have uncovered several genomic regions controlling variability in different morphological traits, but QTL studies of Atlantic sticklebacks are lacking. We mapped QTL for 40 morphological traits, including body size, body shape, and body armor, in a F2 full-sib cross between northern European marine and freshwater three-spined sticklebacks. A total of 52 significant QTL were identified at the 5% genome-wide level. One major QTL explaining 74.4% of the total variance in lateral plate number was detected on LG4, whereas several major QTL for centroid size (a proxy for body size), and the lengths of two dorsal spines, pelvic spine, and pelvic girdle were mapped on LG21 with the explained variance ranging from 27.9% to 57.6%. Major QTL for landmark coordinates defining body shape variation also were identified on LG21, with each explaining ≥15% of variance in body shape. Multiple QTL for different traits mapped on LG21 overlapped each other, implying pleiotropy and/or tight linkage. Thus, apart from providing confirmatory data to support conclusions born out of earlier QTL studies of Pacific sticklebacks, this study also describes several novel QTL of both major and smaller effect for ecologically important traits. The finding that many major QTL mapped on LG21 suggests that this linkage group might be a hotspot for genetic determinants of ecologically important morphological traits in three-spined sticklebacks.

SEM and HRTEM study of porous silicon--relationship between fabrication, morphology and optical properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dian, J.; Macek, A.; Niznansky, D.; Nemec, I.; Vrkoslav, V.; Chvojka, T.; Jelinek, I.

2004-01-01

We studied the dependence of porous silicon (PS) morphology on fabrication conditions and the link between morphology, porosity and optical properties. P-type (1 0 0) silicon wafers with resistivity of 10 Ω cm were electrochemically etched in a HF:ethanol:water mixture at various HF concentrations and current densities. Porosity and thickness of the samples were determined gravimetrically. Detailed information about evolution of porous silicon layer morphology with variation of preparation conditions was obtained by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the presence of silicon nanoparticles was confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Decrease of the mean size of silicon nanoparticles with increasing porous silicon porosity was revealed in a monotonous blue shift of photoluminescence (PL) maximum in room temperature photoluminescence spectra of studied samples. This blue shift is consistent with quantum confinement model of photoluminescence mechanism. We observed that total porosity of porous films cannot fully explain observed photoluminescence behavior and correct interpretation of the blue shift of photoluminescence spectra requires detailed knowledge of porous silicon morphology

Cryptic species as a window into the paradigm shift of the species concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Fišer, Cene; Robinson, Christopher T; Malard, Florian

2018-02-01

The species concept is the cornerstone of biodiversity science, and any paradigm shift in the delimitation of species affects many research fields. Many biologists now are embracing a new "species" paradigm as separately evolving populations using different delimitation criteria. Individual criteria can emerge during different periods of speciation; some may never evolve. As such, a paradigm shift in the species concept relates to this inherent heterogeneity in the speciation process and species category-which is fundamentally overlooked in biodiversity research. Cryptic species fall within this paradigm shift: they are continuously being reported from diverse animal phyla but are poorly considered in current tests of ecological and evolutionary theory. The aim of this review is to integrate cryptic species in biodiversity science. In the first section, we address that the absence of morphological diversification is an evolutionary phenomenon, a "process" counterpart to the long-studied mechanisms of morphological diversification. In the next section regarding taxonomy, we show that molecular delimitation of cryptic species is heavily biased towards distance-based methods. We also stress the importance of formally naming of cryptic species for better integration into research fields that use species as units of analysis. Finally, we show that incorporating cryptic species leads to novel insights regarding biodiversity patterns and processes, including large-scale biodiversity assessments, geographic variation in species distribution and species coexistence. It is time for incorporating multicriteria species approaches aiming to understand speciation across space and taxa, thus allowing integration into biodiversity conservation while accommodating for species uncertainty. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Morphology of sustentaculum tali: Biomechanical importance and correlation with angular dimensions of the talus.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahato, Niladri Kumar

2011-12-01

The talus and the calcaneus share the bulk of load transmitted from the leg to the skeleton of the foot. The present study analyses the inter-relationship between the superior articular surface and the angular dimensions of the talus with the morphology of the sustentaculum tali. Identification of possible relationships between different angular parameters of the talus morphology and the sustentaculum tali in context of load transmission through the foot. One articular surface and three angular parameters at the junction of the head and the body were measured from dried human talar bones. Corresponding calcaneal samples were measured for four dimensions at the sustentaculum tali. Correlation and regression statistical values between parameters were worked out and analysed. Several parameters within the talus demonstrated significant correlations amongst themselves. The neck vertical angle showed a strong correlation with the articulating surface area below the head of the talus. The inter-relationship between articular and angular parameters within the talus demonstrates strong correlation for certain parameters. Data presented in the study may be helpful to adjust calcaneal and talar screw placement techniques, prosthesis designing and bio-mechanical studies at this important region. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Neotropical plant morphology].

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-García, Blanca; Mendoza, Aniceto

2002-01-01

An analysis on plant morphology and the sources that are important to the morphologic interpretations is done. An additional analysis is presented on all published papers in this subject by the Revista de Biología Tropical since its foundation, as well as its contribution to the plant morphology development in the neotropics.

Trophic convergence drives morphological convergence in marine tetrapods.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Neil P; Motani, Ryosuke

2015-01-01

Marine tetrapod clades (e.g. seals, whales) independently adapted to marine life through the Mesozoic and Caenozoic, and provide iconic examples of convergent evolution. Apparent morphological convergence is often explained as the result of adaptation to similar ecological niches. However, quantitative tests of this hypothesis are uncommon. We use dietary data to classify the feeding ecology of extant marine tetrapods and identify patterns in skull and tooth morphology that discriminate trophic groups across clades. Mapping these patterns onto phylogeny reveals coordinated evolutionary shifts in diet and morphology in different marine tetrapod lineages. Similarities in morphology between species with similar diets-even across large phylogenetic distances-are consistent with previous hypotheses that shared functional constraints drive convergent evolution in marine tetrapods.

Josephson shift registers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Przybysz, J.X.

1989-01-01

This paper gives a review of Josephson shift register circuits that were designed, fabricated, or tested, with emphasis on work in the 1980s. Operating speed is most important, since it often limits system performance. Older designs used square-wave clocks, but most modern designs use offset sine waves, with either two or three phases. Operating margins and gate bias uniformity are key concerns. The fastest measured Josephson shift register operated at 2.3 GHz, which compares well with a GaAs shift register that consumes 250 times more power. The difficulties of high-speed testing have prevented many Josephson shift registers from being operated at their highest speeds. Computer simulations suggest that 30-GHz operation is possible with current Nb/Al 2 O 3 /Nb technology. Junctions with critical current densities near 10 kA/cm 2 would make 100-GHz shift registers feasible

Shifted Independent Component Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørup, Morten; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard; Hansen, Lars Kai

2007-01-01

Delayed mixing is a problem of theoretical interest and practical importance, e.g., in speech processing, bio-medical signal analysis and financial data modelling. Most previous analyses have been based on models with integer shifts, i.e., shifts by a number of samples, and have often been carried...

Morphology-Dependent Properties of Cu/CeO2 Catalysts for the Water-Gas Shift Reaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhibo Ren

2017-02-01

Full Text Available CeO2 nanooctahedrons, nanorods, and nanocubes were prepared by the hydrothermal method and were then used as supports of Cu-based catalysts for the water-gas shift (WGS reaction. The chemical and physical properties of these catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD, transmission electron microscopy (TEM, N2 adsorption/desorption, UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR and in situ diffuse reflectance infra-red fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS techniques. Characterization results indicate that the morphology of the CeO2 supports, originating from the selective exposure of different crystal planes, has a distinct impact on the dispersion of Cu and the catalytic properties. The nanooctahedron CeO2 catalyst (Cu-CeO2-O showed the best dispersion of Cu, the largest amount of moderate copper oxide, and the strongest Cu-support interaction. Consequently, the Cu-CeO2-O catalyst exhibited the highest CO conversion at the temperature range of 150–250 °C when compared with the nanocube and nanorod Cu-CeO2 catalysts. The optimized Cu content of the Cu-CeO2-O catalysts is 10 wt % and the CO conversion reaches 91.3% at 300 °C. A distinctive profile assigned to the evolution of different types of carbonate species was observed in the 1000–1800 cm−1 region of the in situ DRIFTS spectra and a particular type of carbonate species was identified as a potential key reaction intermediate at low temperature.

Regulatory Shifts in Plastid Transcription Play a Key Role in Morphological Conversions of Plastids during Plant Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Liebers, Monique; Grübler, Björn; Chevalier, Fabien; Lerbs-Mache, Silva; Merendino, Livia; Blanvillain, Robert; Pfannschmidt, Thomas

2017-01-01

Plastids display a high morphological and functional diversity. Starting from an undifferentiated small proplastid, these plant cell organelles can develop into four major forms: etioplasts in the dark, chloroplasts in green tissues, chromoplasts in colored flowers and fruits and amyloplasts in roots. The various forms are interconvertible into each other depending on tissue context and respective environmental condition. Research of the last two decades uncovered that each plastid type contains its own specific proteome that can be highly different from that of the other types. Composition of these proteomes largely defines the enzymatic functionality of the respective plastid. The vast majority of plastid proteins is encoded in the nucleus and must be imported from the cytosol. However, a subset of proteins of the photosynthetic and gene expression machineries are encoded on the plastid genome and are transcribed by a complex transcriptional apparatus consisting of phage-type nuclear-encoded RNA polymerases and a bacterial-type plastid-encoded RNA polymerase. Both types recognize specific sets of promoters and transcribe partly over-lapping as well as specific sets of genes. Here we summarize the current knowledge about the sequential activity of these plastid RNA polymerases and their relative activities in different types of plastids. Based on published plastid gene expression profiles we hypothesize that each conversion from one plastid type into another is either accompanied or even preceded by significant changes in plastid transcription suggesting that these changes represent important determinants of plastid morphology and protein composition and, hence, the plastid type.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2007-01-01

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

Morphologic and Molecular Characterization of a Strain of Zika Virus Imported into Guangdong, China.

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Shufen Li

Full Text Available The recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV disease have caused worldwide concerns. Guangdong province is one of the commercial centers in China and communicates frequently with the epidemic areas. To date, 65.2% of the ZIKV infection cases in China were imported via port of entry in Guangdong. The continuous surveillance of imported cases is crucial for the prevention and control of potential ZIKV infection outbreak in China. In this study, a strain of ZIKV was isolated from the serum of a 6-year-old child returning from Venezuela. The morphology of the ZIKV was analyzed in vivo and in vitro by electron microscopy, and clusters of virus particles were found in the loose cytoplasmic membrane structures. The genomic sequence of the isolated ZIKV was determined, and the alignment and phylogenetic analysis identified one unique amino acid substitution occurring in the non-structural protein 4B (NS4B, and the isolated virus belonged to the Asian lineage.

Achieving excellence on shift through teamwork

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, L.

1988-01-01

Anyone familiar with the nuclear industry realizes the importance of operators. Operators can achieve error-free plant operations, i.e., excellence on shift through teamwork. As a shift supervisor (senior reactor operator/shift technical advisor) the author went through the plant's first cycle of operations with no scrams and no equipment damaged by operator error, having since changed roles (and companies) to one of assessing plant operations. This change has provided the opportunity to see objectively the importance of operators working together and of the team building and teamwork that contribute to the shift's success. This paper uses examples to show the effectiveness of working together and outlines steps for building a group of operators into a team

Chemical shift homology in proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potts, Barbara C.M.; Chazin, Walter J.

1998-01-01

The degree of chemical shift similarity for homologous proteins has been determined from a chemical shift database of over 50 proteins representing a variety of families and folds, and spanning a wide range of sequence homologies. After sequence alignment, the similarity of the secondary chemical shifts of C α protons was examined as a function of amino acid sequence identity for 37 pairs of structurally homologous proteins. A correlation between sequence identity and secondary chemical shift rmsd was observed. Important insights are provided by examining the sequence identity of homologous proteins versus percentage of secondary chemical shifts that fall within 0.1 and 0.3 ppm thresholds. These results begin to establish practical guidelines for the extent of chemical shift similarity to expect among structurally homologous proteins

Degradation modeling and experiment of electro-hydraulic shift valve in contamination circumstances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Liu

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this article, a degradation assessment model has been proposed for electro-hydraulic shift valve in power-shift steering transmission. Our work is motivated by the failure mechanism of abrasive wear with a mathematic model. Abrasive wear will consecutively enlarge the clearance between the friction pairs. It is an overwhelming wear mechanism in the degradation of shift valve within serious contaminated fluid. Herein, a mathematic model is proposed by considering particle morphology and abrasion theory. Such model has been verified for its applicability and accuracy through comparison between the theoretical and experimental results.

First report of changes in leukocyte morphology in response to inflammatory conditions in Asian and African elephants (Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole I Stacy

Full Text Available Although the hematology of healthy elephants has been well-described, published information on hematological changes during disease is limited. The objective of this study was to describe qualitative morphological changes in the leukocytes of Asian and African elephants (Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana diagnosed with a variety of inflammatory conditions. Twenty-five of 27 elephants had morphological changes in their leukocytes, although only 16 of these had a concurrent inflammatory leukogram. Morphological changes included heterophil left-shifting with or without concurrent dysgranulopoiesis, toxicity, or hypersegmentation, reactive lymphocytes, plasma cells, and/or vacuolated monocytes. Although the observed leukocyte morphological changes are non-specific, their early recognition upon blood film evaluation may provide important, clinically-relevant information, particularly if the leukogram is normal. This case series is the first description of qualitative morphological changes in the leukocytes of elephants in association with inflammation.

The role of habitat shift in the evolution of lizard morphology: evidence from tropical Tropidurus

OpenAIRE

Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P.; Zani, Peter A.; Titus, Tom A.

1997-01-01

We compared morphology of two geographically close populations of the tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus to test the hypothesis that habitat structure influences the evolution of morphology and ecology at the population level. T. hispidus isolated on a rock outcrop surrounded by tropical forest use rock crevices for refuge and appear dorsoventrally compressed compared with those in open savanna. A principal components analysis revealed that the populations were differentially distributed alo...

Habitat shifts in the evolutionary history of a Neotropical flycatcher lineage from forest and open landscapes

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Christidis Les

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Little is known about the role ecological shifts play in the evolution of Neotropical radiations that have colonized a variety of environments. We here examine habitat shifts in the evolutionary history of Elaenia flycatchers, a Neotropical bird lineage that lives in a range of forest and open habitats. We evaluate phylogenetic relationships within the genus based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data, and then employ parsimony-based and Bayesian methods to reconstruct preferences for a number of habitat types and migratory behaviour throughout the evolutionary history of the genus. Using a molecular clock approach, we date the most important habitat shifts. Results Our analyses resolve phylogenetic relationships among Elaenia species and confirm several species associations predicted by morphology while furnishing support for other taxon placements that are in conflict with traditional classification, such as the elevation of various Elaenia taxa to species level. While savannah specialism is restricted to one basal clade within the genus, montane forest was invaded from open habitat only on a limited number of occasions. Riparian growth may have been favoured early on in the evolution of the main Elaenia clade and subsequently been deserted on several occasions. Austral long-distance migratory behaviour evolved on several occasions. Conclusion Ancestral reconstructions of habitat preferences reveal pronounced differences not only in the timing of the emergence of certain habitat preferences, but also in the frequency of habitat shifts. The early origin of savannah specialism in Elaenia highlights the importance of this habitat in Neotropical Pliocene and late Miocene biogeography. While forest in old mountain ranges such as the Tepuis and the Brazilian Shield was colonized early on, the most important colonization event of montane forest was in conjunction with Pliocene Andean uplift. Riparian habitats may have

Importance Rat Liver Morphology and Vasculature in Surgical Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Vdoviaková, Katarína; Vdoviaková, Katarína; Petrovová, Eva; Krešáková, Lenka; Maloveská, Marcela; Teleky, Jana; Jenčová, Janka; Živčák, Jozef; Jenča, Andrej

2016-12-02

BACKGROUND The laboratory rat is one of the most popular experimental models for the experimental surgery of the liver. The objective of this study was to investigate the morphometric parameters, physiological data, differences in configuration of liver lobes, biliary system, and vasculature (arteries, veins, and lymphatic vessels) of the liver in laboratory rats. In addition, this study supports the anatomic literature and identified similarities and differences with human and other mammals. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty laboratory rats were dissected to prepare corrosion casts of vascular system specimens (n=20), determine the lymph vessels and lymph nodes (n=10), and for macroscopic anatomical dissection (n=10) of the rat liver. The results are listed in percentages. The anatomical nomenclature of the liver morphology, its arteries, veins, lymph nodes, and lymphatic vessels are in accordance with Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria. RESULTS We found many variations in origin, direction, and division of the arterial, venous, and lymphatic systems in rat livers, and found differences in morphometric parameters compared to results reported by other authors. The portal vein was formed by 4 tributaries in 23%, by 3 branches in 64%, and by 2 tributaries in 13%. The liver lymph was drained to the 2 different lymph nodes. The nomenclature and morphological characteristics of the rat liver vary among authors. CONCLUSIONS Our results may be useful for the planing of experimental surgery and for cooperation with other investigation methods to help fight liver diseases in human populations.

Well-Defined Cyclic Triblock Terpolymers: A Missing Piece of the Morphology Puzzle

KAUST Repository

Polymeropoulos, George

2016-10-27

Two well-defined cyclic triblock terpolymers, missing pieces of the terpolymer morphology puzzle, consisting of poly(isoprene), polystyrene, and poly(2-vinylpyridine), were synthesized by combining the Glaser coupling reaction with anionic polymerization. An α,ω-dihydroxy linear triblock terpolymer (OH-PI1,4-b-PS-b-P2VP-OH) was first synthesized followed by transformation of the OH to alkyne groups by esterification with pentynoic acid and cyclization by Glaser coupling. The size exclusion chromatography (SEC) trace of the linear terpolymer precursor was shifted to lower elution time after cyclization, indicating the successful synthesis of the cyclic terpolymer. Additionally, the SEC trace of the cyclic terpolymer produced, after cleavage of the ester groups, shifted again practically to the position corresponding to the linear precursor. The first exploratory results on morphology showed the tremendous influence of the cyclic structure on the morphology of terpolymers. © 2016 American Chemical Society.

Stress tolerance and biocontrol performance of the yeast antagonist, Candida diversa, change with morphology transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guangkun; Chi, Mengshan; Chen, Huizhen; Sui, Yuan; Li, Yan; Liu, Yongsheng; Zhang, Xiaojing; Sun, Zhiqiang; Liu, Guoqing; Wang, Qi; Liu, Jia

2016-02-01

As an eco-friendly management method, biological control of postharvest diseases, utilizing antagonistic yeasts, is a research topic receiving considerable attention. Detailed knowledge on the biology of yeast antagonists is crucial when considering their potential application and development as biocontrol products. Changes in the growth form, such as single-cell to pseudohyphae, have been associated with the mode of action in postharvest biocontrol yeasts. In this study, the antagonistic yeast, Candida diversa, reversibly shifted from a single-cell morphology on yeast peptone dextrose (YPD) medium with 2 % agar to a pseudohyphal morphology on YPD with 0.3 % agar. The tolerance of the pseudohyphal form to heat and oxidative stresses, as well as the biocontrol efficacy against Botrytis cinerea on apple and kiwifruit stored at 25 and 4 °C, was significantly higher as compared to the single-cell form. This study provides new information on the ability of C. diversa to change its morphology and the impact of the morphology shift on stress tolerance and biocontrol performance.

Insomnia in shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallières, Annie; Azaiez, Aïda; Moreau, Vincent; LeBlanc, Mélanie; Morin, Charles M

2014-12-01

Shift work disorder involves insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness associated with the work schedule. The present study examined the impact of insomnia on the perceived physical and psychological health of adults working on night and rotating shift schedules compared to day workers. A total of 418 adults (51% women, mean age 41.4 years), including 51 night workers, 158 rotating shift workers, and 209 day workers were selected from an epidemiological study. An algorithm was used to classify each participant of the two groups (working night or rotating shifts) according to the presence or absence of insomnia symptoms. Each of these individuals was paired with a day worker according to gender, age, and income. Participants completed several questionnaires measuring sleep, health, and psychological variables. Night and rotating shift workers with insomnia presented a sleep profile similar to that of day workers with insomnia. Sleep time was more strongly related to insomnia than to shift work per se. Participants with insomnia in the three groups complained of anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and reported consuming equal amounts of sleep-aid medication. Insomnia also contributed to chronic pain and otorhinolaryngology problems, especially among rotating shift workers. Work productivity and absenteeism were more strongly related to insomnia. The present study highlights insomnia as an important component of the sleep difficulties experienced by shift workers. Insomnia may exacerbate certain physical and mental health problems of shift workers, and impair their quality of life. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Morphological Change of Silver Nanoparticles in Water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Peng; Wang Rong-Yao; Jin Jing-Yang; Xu Le; Shi Qing-Fan

2012-01-01

The solvent-induced morphological change of silver nanoparticles is studied with a combination of optical spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). By using the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy arising from Ag nanoparticles, an in-situ investigation of the spectral changes is carried out before, during and after exposure of Ag island films to water. Combining with the morphological observations by AFM, we sort out the morphological and dielectric contributions to the water-induced LSPR changes. Our results demonstrate that a slight morphological change induced by water contact can result in an apparent blue shift of the LSPR spectral maximum. Furthermore, it is found that this structural change leads to a higher sensitivity of the Ag island films in response to the change in the external dielectric environment. This solvent-induced morphological change, and consequently the modification of the LSPR of the metal nanoparticles, may have significant impact in the applications of solvent-involved plasmon sensors, such as chemical/biological sensing and single-molecule spectroscopy. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

Fossil mice and rats show isotopic evidence of niche partitioning and change in dental ecomorphology related to dietary shift in Late Miocene of Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Yuri; Jacobs, Louis L; Cerling, Thure E; Uno, Kevin T; Ferguson, Kurt M; Flynn, Lawrence J; Patnaik, Rajeev

2013-01-01

Stable carbon isotope analysis in tooth enamel is a well-established approach to infer C3 and C4 dietary composition in fossil mammals. The bulk of past work has been conducted on large herbivorous mammals. One important finding is that their dietary habits of fossil large mammals track the late Miocene ecological shift from C3 forest and woodland to C4 savannah. However, few studies on carbon isotopes of fossil small mammals exist due to limitations imposed by the size of rodent teeth, and the isotopic ecological and dietary behaviors of small mammals to climate change remain unknown. Here we evaluate the impact of ecological change on small mammals by fine-scale comparisons of carbon isotope ratios (δ(13)C) with dental morphology of murine rodents, spanning 13.8 to ∼2.0 Ma, across the C3 to C4 vegetation shift in the Miocene Siwalik sequence of Pakistan. We applied in-situ laser ablation GC-IRMS to lower first molars and measured two grazing indices on upper first molars. Murine rodents yield a distinct, but related, record of past ecological conditions from large herbivorous mammals, reflecting available foods in their much smaller home ranges. In general, larger murine species show more positive δ(13)C values and have higher grazing indices than smaller species inhabiting the same area at any given age. Two clades of murine rodents experienced different rates of morphological change. In the faster-evolving clade, the timing and trend of morphological innovations are closely tied to consumption of C4 diet during the vegetation shift. This study provides quantitative evidence of linkages among diet, niche partitioning, and dental morphology at a more detailed level than previously possible.

Fossil Mice and Rats Show Isotopic Evidence of Niche Partitioning and Change in Dental Ecomorphology Related to Dietary Shift in Late Miocene of Pakistan

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Yuri; Jacobs, Louis L.; Cerling, Thure E.; Uno, Kevin T.; Ferguson, Kurt M.; Flynn, Lawrence J.; Patnaik, Rajeev

2013-01-01

Stable carbon isotope analysis in tooth enamel is a well-established approach to infer C3 and C4 dietary composition in fossil mammals. The bulk of past work has been conducted on large herbivorous mammals. One important finding is that their dietary habits of fossil large mammals track the late Miocene ecological shift from C3 forest and woodland to C4 savannah. However, few studies on carbon isotopes of fossil small mammals exist due to limitations imposed by the size of rodent teeth, and the isotopic ecological and dietary behaviors of small mammals to climate change remain unknown. Here we evaluate the impact of ecological change on small mammals by fine-scale comparisons of carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) with dental morphology of murine rodents, spanning 13.8 to ∼2.0 Ma, across the C3 to C4 vegetation shift in the Miocene Siwalik sequence of Pakistan. We applied in-situ laser ablation GC-IRMS to lower first molars and measured two grazing indices on upper first molars. Murine rodents yield a distinct, but related, record of past ecological conditions from large herbivorous mammals, reflecting available foods in their much smaller home ranges. In general, larger murine species show more positive δ13C values and have higher grazing indices than smaller species inhabiting the same area at any given age. Two clades of murine rodents experienced different rates of morphological change. In the faster-evolving clade, the timing and trend of morphological innovations are closely tied to consumption of C4 diet during the vegetation shift. This study provides quantitative evidence of linkages among diet, niche partitioning, and dental morphology at a more detailed level than previously possible. PMID:23936324

Fossil mice and rats show isotopic evidence of niche partitioning and change in dental ecomorphology related to dietary shift in Late Miocene of Pakistan.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuri Kimura

Full Text Available Stable carbon isotope analysis in tooth enamel is a well-established approach to infer C3 and C4 dietary composition in fossil mammals. The bulk of past work has been conducted on large herbivorous mammals. One important finding is that their dietary habits of fossil large mammals track the late Miocene ecological shift from C3 forest and woodland to C4 savannah. However, few studies on carbon isotopes of fossil small mammals exist due to limitations imposed by the size of rodent teeth, and the isotopic ecological and dietary behaviors of small mammals to climate change remain unknown. Here we evaluate the impact of ecological change on small mammals by fine-scale comparisons of carbon isotope ratios (δ(13C with dental morphology of murine rodents, spanning 13.8 to ∼2.0 Ma, across the C3 to C4 vegetation shift in the Miocene Siwalik sequence of Pakistan. We applied in-situ laser ablation GC-IRMS to lower first molars and measured two grazing indices on upper first molars. Murine rodents yield a distinct, but related, record of past ecological conditions from large herbivorous mammals, reflecting available foods in their much smaller home ranges. In general, larger murine species show more positive δ(13C values and have higher grazing indices than smaller species inhabiting the same area at any given age. Two clades of murine rodents experienced different rates of morphological change. In the faster-evolving clade, the timing and trend of morphological innovations are closely tied to consumption of C4 diet during the vegetation shift. This study provides quantitative evidence of linkages among diet, niche partitioning, and dental morphology at a more detailed level than previously possible.

Species interactions in an Andean bird–flowering plant network: phenology is more important than abundance or morphology

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Oscar Gonzalez

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Biological constraints and neutral processes have been proposed to explain the properties of plant–pollinator networks. Using interactions between nectarivorous birds (hummingbirds and flowerpiercers and flowering plants in high elevation forests (i.e., “elfin” forests of the Andes, we explore the importance of biological constraints and neutral processes (random interactions to explain the observed species interactions and network metrics, such as connectance, specialization, nestedness and asymmetry. In cold environments of elfin forests, which are located at the top of the tropical montane forest zone, many plants are adapted for pollination by birds, making this an ideal system to study plant–pollinator networks. To build the network of interactions between birds and plants, we used direct field observations. We measured abundance of birds using mist-nets and flower abundance using transects, and phenology by scoring presence of birds and flowers over time. We compared the length of birds’ bills to flower length to identify “forbidden interactions”—those interactions that could not result in legitimate floral visits based on mis-match in morphology. Diglossa flowerpiercers, which are characterized as “illegitimate” flower visitors, were relatively abundant. We found that the elfin forest network was nested with phenology being the factor that best explained interaction frequencies and nestedness, providing support for biological constraints hypothesis. We did not find morphological constraints to be important in explaining observed interaction frequencies and network metrics. Other network metrics (connectance, evenness and asymmetry, however, were better predicted by abundance (neutral process models. Flowerpiercers, which cut holes and access flowers at their base and, consequently, facilitate nectar access for other hummingbirds, explain why morphological mis-matches were relatively unimportant in this system. Future

Tropical secondary forests regenerating after shifting cultivation in the Philippines uplands are important carbon sinks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukul, Sharif A; Herbohn, John; Firn, Jennifer

2016-03-08

In the tropics, shifting cultivation has long been attributed to large scale forest degradation, and remains a major source of uncertainty in forest carbon accounting. In the Philippines, shifting cultivation, locally known as kaingin, is a major land-use in upland areas. We measured the distribution and recovery of aboveground biomass carbon along a fallow gradient in post-kaingin secondary forests in an upland area in the Philippines. We found significantly higher carbon in the aboveground total biomass and living woody biomass in old-growth forest, while coarse dead wood biomass carbon was higher in the new fallow sites. For young through to the oldest fallow secondary forests, there was a progressive recovery of biomass carbon evident. Multivariate analysis indicates patch size as an influential factor in explaining the variation in biomass carbon recovery in secondary forests after shifting cultivation. Our study indicates secondary forests after shifting cultivation are substantial carbon sinks and that this capacity to store carbon increases with abandonment age. Large trees contribute most to aboveground biomass. A better understanding of the relative contribution of different biomass sources in aboveground total forest biomass, however, is necessary to fully capture the value of such landscapes from forest management, restoration and conservation perspectives.

Thickness-dependent blue shift in the excitonic peak of conformally grown ZnO:Al on ion-beam fabricated self-organized Si ripples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basu, T.; Kumar, M.; Som, T., E-mail: tsom@iopb.res.in [Institute of Physics, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar 751 005 (India); Nandy, S. [CENIMAT, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica 2829 516 (Portugal); Satpati, B. [Surface Physics and Material Science Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata 700 064 (India); Saini, C. P.; Kanjilal, A. [Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh 201 314 (India)

2015-09-14

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films of thicknesses 5,10, 15, 20, and 30 nm were deposited on 500 eV argon ion-beam fabricated nanoscale self-organized rippled-Si substrates at room temperature and are compared with similar films deposited on pristine-Si substrates (without ripples). It is observed that morphology of self-organized AZO films is driven by the underlying substrate morphology. For instance, for pristine-Si substrates, a granular morphology evolves for all AZO films. On the other hand, for rippled-Si substrates, morphologies having chain-like arrangement (anisotropic in nature) are observed up to a thickness of 20 nm, while a granular morphology evolves (isotropic in nature) for 30 nm-thick film. Photoluminescence studies reveal that excitonic peaks corresponding to 5–15 nm-thick AZO films, grown on rippled-Si templates, show a blue shift of 8 nm and 3 nm, respectively, whereas the peak shift is negligible for 20-nm thick film (with respect to their pristine counter parts). The observed blue shifts are substantiated by diffuse reflectance study and attributed to quantum confinement effect, associated with the size of the AZO grains and their spatial arrangements driven by the anisotropic morphology of underlying rippled-Si templates. The present findings will be useful for making tunable AZO-based light-emitting devices.

NaGd(MoO4)2 nanocrystals with diverse morphologies: controlled synthesis, growth mechanism, photoluminescence and thermometric properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Anming; Xu, Dekang; Lin, Hao; Yang, Shenghong; Shao, Yuanzhi; Zhang, Yueli

2016-08-10

Pure tetragonal phase, uniform and well-crystallized sodium gadolinium molybdate (NaGd(MoO4)2) nanocrystals with diverse morphologies, e.g. nanocylinders, nanocubes and square nanoplates have been selectively synthesized via oleic acid-mediated hydrothermal method. The phase, structure, morphology and composition of the as-synthesized products are studied. Contents of both sodium molybdate and oleic acid of the precursor solutions are found to affect the morphologies of the products significantly, and oleic acid plays a key role in the morphology-controlled synthesis of NaGd(MoO4)2 nanocrystals with diverse morphologies. Growth mechanism of NaGd(MoO4)2 nanocrystals is proposed based on time-dependent morphology evolution and X-ray diffraction analysis. Morphology-dependent down-shifting photoluminescence properties of NaGd(MoO4)2: Eu(3+) nanocrystals, and upconversion photoluminescence properties of NaGd(MoO4)2: Yb(3+)/Er(3+) and Yb(3+)/Tm(3+) nanoplates are investigated in detail. Charge transfer band in the down-shifting excitation spectra shows a slight blue-shift, and the luminescence intensities and lifetimes of Eu(3+) are decreased gradually with the morphology of the nanocrystals varying from nanocubes to thin square nanoplates. Upconversion energy transfer mechanisms of NaGd(MoO4)2: Yb(3+)/Er(3+), Yb(3+)/Tm(3+) nanoplates are proposed based on the energy level scheme and power dependence of upconversion emissions. Thermometric properties of NaGd(MoO4)2: Yb(3+)/Er(3+) nanoplates are investigated, and the maximum sensitivity is determined to be 0.01333 K(-1) at 285 K.

Methodological aspects of shift-work research.

Science.gov (United States)

Knutsson, Anders

2004-01-01

A major issue in shift-work research is to understand the possible ways in which shift work can impact performance and health. Nearly all body functions, from those of the cellular level to those of the entire body, are circadian rhythmic. Disturbances of these rhythms as well as the social consequences of odd work hours are of importance for the health and well-being of shift workers. This article reviews a number of common methodological issues which are of relevance to epidemiological studies in this area of research. It discusses conceptual problems regarding the use of the term "shift work," and it underscores the need to develop models that explain the mechanisms of disease in shift workers.

Work shifts in Emergency Medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Recupero

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Emergency Medicine is known as a high stress specialty. The adverse effect of constantly rotating shifts is the single most important reason given for premature attrition from the field. In this work problems tied with night shift work will be taken into account and some solutions to reduce the impact of night work on the emergency physicians will be proposed.

From Morphology to Neural Information: The Electric Sense of the Skate

Science.gov (United States)

Camperi, Marcelo; Tricas, Timothy C; Brown, Brandon R

2007-01-01

Morphology typically enhances the fidelity of sensory systems. Sharks, skates, and rays have a well-developed electrosense that presents strikingly unique morphologies. Here, we model the dynamics of the peripheral electrosensory system of the skate, a dorsally flattened batoid, moving near an electric dipole source (e.g., a prey organism). We compute the coincident electric signals that develop across an array of the skate's electrosensors, using electrodynamics married to precise morphological measurements of sensor location, infrastructure, and vector projection. Our results demonstrate that skate morphology enhances electrosensory information. Not only could the skate locate prey using a simple population vector algorithm, but its morphology also specifically leads to quick shifts in firing rates that are well-suited to the demonstrated bandwidth of the electrosensory system. Finally, we propose electrophysiology trials to test the modeling scheme. PMID:17571918

From morphology to neural information: the electric sense of the skate.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Camperi

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Morphology typically enhances the fidelity of sensory systems. Sharks, skates, and rays have a well-developed electrosense that presents strikingly unique morphologies. Here, we model the dynamics of the peripheral electrosensory system of the skate, a dorsally flattened batoid, moving near an electric dipole source (e.g., a prey organism. We compute the coincident electric signals that develop across an array of the skate's electrosensors, using electrodynamics married to precise morphological measurements of sensor location, infrastructure, and vector projection. Our results demonstrate that skate morphology enhances electrosensory information. Not only could the skate locate prey using a simple population vector algorithm, but its morphology also specifically leads to quick shifts in firing rates that are well-suited to the demonstrated bandwidth of the electrosensory system. Finally, we propose electrophysiology trials to test the modeling scheme.

Transcriptional Alterations of Virulence-Associated Genes in Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL-Producing Uropathogenic Escherichia coli during Morphologic Transitions Induced by Ineffective Antibiotics

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Isak Demirel

2017-06-01

Full Text Available It is known that an ineffective antibiotic treatment can induce morphological shifts in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC but the virulence properties during these shifts remain to be studied. The present study examines changes in global gene expression patterns and in virulence factor-associated genes in an extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL-producing UPEC (ESBL019 during the morphologic transitions induced by an ineffective antibiotic and in the presence of human primary bladder epithelial cells. Microarray results showed that the different morphological states of ESBL019 had significant transcriptional alterations of a large number of genes (Transition; 7%, Filamentation; 32%, and Reverted 19% of the entities on the array. All three morphological states of ESBL019 were associated with a decreased energy metabolism, altered iron acquisition systems and altered adhesion expression. In addition, genes associated with LPS synthesis and bacterial motility was also altered in all the morphological states. Furthermore, the transition state induced a significantly higher release of TNF-α from bladder epithelial cells compared to all other morphologies, while the reverted state was unable to induce TNF-α release. Our findings show that the morphological shifts induced by ineffective antibiotics are associated with significant transcriptional virulence alterations in ESBL-producing UPEC, which may affect survival and persistence in the urinary tract.

Morphological aspects of poly-organic impact of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation in experiment

OpenAIRE

TASHPULATOVA GUZAL ALIEVNA; MAVLYAN-HODZHAEV RAVSHAN SHUKHRATOVICH

2015-01-01

The impact of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RFEMR) on morphological responses of some organs of experimental animals has been studied. The RFEMR effect was shown to manifest itself by pathological changes in the structure of the majority of organs and tissues with the critical impact of the micro-vascular bed impairment on not only morphological, metabolic but also many other homeostasis shifts that occurred.

Analytic matrix elements with shifted correlated Gaussians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fedorov, D. V.

2017-01-01

Matrix elements between shifted correlated Gaussians of various potentials with several form-factors are calculated analytically. Analytic matrix elements are of importance for the correlated Gaussian method in quantum few-body physics.......Matrix elements between shifted correlated Gaussians of various potentials with several form-factors are calculated analytically. Analytic matrix elements are of importance for the correlated Gaussian method in quantum few-body physics....

Tax shifting in long-term gas sales contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asche, Frank; Osmundsen, Petter; Tveteraas, Ragnar

2002-01-01

Producers or consumers faced with an increase in taxes are usually able to shift parts of it to other levels in the value chain. We examine who are actually bearing the burden of increased taxes on natural gas in the EU-area - consumers or exporters. Strategic trade policy and cross-border consumer tax shifting are of particular interest, as the EU-area increasingly is a net importer of gas. Traditional tax incidence theory presumes spot markets. Natural gas in the EU-area, however, is to a large extent regulated by incomplete long-term contracts. Still, spot market forces could be indicative for tax shifting, by determining the ex post bargaining power in contract renegotiations. By examining tax shifting in gas sales data we test whether this is the case. To investigate tax incidence, we estimate natural gas demand elasticities for the household sector in EU countries as well as a reduced form import equation. We test whether gas import prices, which are predominantly determined by long-term contracts, have been influenced by end-user tax shifts. (author)

A cell shrinkage artefact in growth plate chondrocytes with common fixative solutions: importance of fixative osmolarity for maintaining morphology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MY Loqman

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The remarkable increase in chondrocyte volume is a major determinant in the longitudinal growth of mammalian bones. To permit a detailed morphological study of hypertrophic chondrocytes using standard histological techniques, the preservation of normal chondrocyte morphology is essential. We noticed that during fixation of growth plates with conventional fixative solutions, there was a marked morphological (shrinkage artifact, and we postulated that this arose from the hyper-osmotic nature of these solutions. To test this, we fixed proximal tibia growth plates of 7-day-old rat bones in either (a paraformaldehyde (PFA; 4%, (b glutaraldehyde (GA; 2% with PFA (2% with ruthenium hexamine trichloride (RHT; 0.7%, (c GA (2% with RHT (0.7%, or (d GA (1.3% with RHT (0.5% and osmolarity adjusted to a ‘physiological’ level of ~280mOsm. Using conventional histological methods, confocal microscopy, and image analysis on fluorescently-labelled fixed and living chondrocytes, we then quantified the extent of cell shrinkage and volume change. Our data showed that the high osmolarity of conventional fixatives caused a shrinkage artefact to chondrocytes. This was particularly evident when whole bones were fixed, but could be markedly reduced if bones were sagittally bisected prior to fixation. The shrinkage artefact could be avoided by adjusting the osmolarity of the fixatives to the osmotic pressure of normal extracellular fluids (~280mOsm. These results emphasize the importance of fixative osmolarity, in order to accurately preserve the normal volume/morphology of cells within tissues.

Endemic palm species shed light on habitat shifts and the assembly of the Cerrado and Restinga floras.

Science.gov (United States)

Bacon, Christine D; Moraes R, Monica; Jaramillo, Carlos; Antonelli, Alexandre

2017-05-01

Species expansions into new habitats are often associated with physiological adaptations, for instance when rain forest lineages colonize dry habitats. Although such shifts have been documented for the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado), little is known about the biogeographic origin of species occupying an extreme South American habitat type, the coastal dunes (Restinga). We examined the formation of this poorly known, endangered habitat by reconstructing the evolutionary history of two endemic species. Due to the proposed recency and uniqueness of this habitat, we hypothesized that Restinga species of the palm genus Allagoptera to be recently evolved and to present derived morphological characters. To detect habit shifts in absolute time, we used one plastid and nine nuclear genes to reconstruct the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of Allagoptera. We used light microscopy and stable isotope analysis to explore whether morphological adaptations occurred concomitantly with habitat shifts. Phylogenetic relationships were well supported and we found ancestral lineages of Allagoptera to be widely distributed throughout habitats that are currently occupied by extant species. Over the last ca. 7Ma Allagoptera has shifted its preference to increasingly dry habitats. Coincident with the colonization of the Cerrado and Restinga, morphological adaptations also evolved, including subterranean stems that are fire-resistant and long underground stem and root systems that facilitate water access. We did not find differences in metabolic pathway or modifications to pollen morphology when compared to other palm lineages. Assuming that the evolutionary history of Allagoptera is indicative of the habitat in which it occurs, our results infer a recent origin for Cerrado species. Although little is known about the formation of the Restinga habitat, our results also suggest a longer history than currently proposed; with an origin of Restinga habitats dating back to the Late Pliocene

Morphological estimators on Sunyaev-Zel'dovich maps of MUSIC clusters of galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Cialone, Giammarco; De Petris, Marco; Sembolini, Federico; Yepes, Gustavo; Baldi, Anna Silvia; Rasia, Elena

2018-06-01

The determination of the morphology of galaxy clusters has important repercussions for cosmological and astrophysical studies of them. In this paper, we address the morphological characterization of synthetic maps of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect for a sample of 258 massive clusters (Mvir > 5 × 1014 h-1 M⊙ at z = 0), extracted from the MUSIC hydrodynamical simulations. Specifically, we use five known morphological parameters (which are already used in X-ray) and two newly introduced ones, and we combine them in a single parameter. We analyse two sets of simulations obtained with different prescriptions of the gas physics (non-radiative and with cooling, star formation and stellar feedback) at four red shifts between 0.43 and 0.82. For each parameter, we test its stability and efficiency in discriminating the true cluster dynamical state, measured by theoretical indicators. The combined parameter is more efficient at discriminating between relaxed and disturbed clusters. This parameter had a mild correlation with the hydrostatic mass (˜0.3) and a strong correlation (˜0.8) with the offset between the SZ centroid and the cluster centre of mass. The latter quantity is, thus, the most accessible and efficient indicator of the dynamical state for SZ studies.

Origin and evolution of Petrocosmea (Gesneriaceae) inferred from both DNA sequence and novel findings in morphology with a test of morphology-based hypotheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Zhi-Jing; Lu, Yuan-Xue; Li, Chao-Qun; Dong, Yang; Smith, James F; Wang, Yin-Zheng

2015-07-03

Petrocosmea Oliver (Gesneriaceae) currently comprises 38 species with four non-nominate varieties, nearly all of which have been described solely from herbarium specimens. However, the dried specimens have obscured the full range of extremely diverse morphological variation that exists in the genus and has resulted in a poor subgeneric classification system that does not reflect the evolutionary history of this group. It is important to develop innovative methods to find new morphological traits and reexamine and reevaluate the traditionally used morphological data based on new hypothesis. In addition, Petrocosmea is a mid-sized genus but exhibits extreme diverse floral variants. This makes the genus of particular interest in addressing the question whether there are any key factors that is specifically associated with their evolution and diversification. Here we present the first phylogenetic analyses of the genus based on dense taxonomic sampling and multiple genes combined with a comprehensive morphological investigation. Maximum-parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of molecular data from two nuclear DNA and six cpDNA regions support the monophyly of Petrocosmea and recover five major clades within the genus, which is strongly corroborated by the reconstruction of ancestral states for twelve new morphological characters directly observed from living material. Ancestral area reconstruction shows that its most common ancestor was likely located east and southeast of the Himalaya-Tibetan plateau. The origin of Petrocosmea from a potentially Raphiocarpus-like ancestor might have involved a series of morphological modifications from caulescent to acaulescent habit as well as from a tetrandrous flower with a long corolla-tube to a diandrous flower with a short corolla-tube, also evident in the vestigial caulescent habit and transitional floral form in clade A that is sister to the remainder of the genus. Among the five clades in Petrocosmea, the

Homeotic shift at the dawn of the turtle evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Szczygielski, Tomasz

2017-04-01

All derived turtles are characterized by one of the strongest reductions of the dorsal elements among Amniota, and have only 10 dorsal and eight cervical vertebrae. I demonstrate that the Late Triassic turtles, which represent successive stages of the shell evolution, indicate that the shift of the boundary between the cervical and dorsal sections of the vertebral column occurred over the course of several million years after the formation of complete carapace. The more generalized reptilian formula of at most seven cervicals and at least 11 dorsals is thus plesiomorphic for Testudinata. The morphological modifications associated with an anterior homeotic change of the first dorsal vertebra towards the last cervical vertebra in the Triassic turtles are partially recapitulated by the reduction of the first dorsal vertebra in crown-group Testudines, and they resemble the morphologies observed under laboratory conditions resulting from the experimental changes of Hox gene expression patterns. This homeotic shift hypothesis is supported by the, unique to turtles, restriction of Hox-5 expression domains, somitic precursors of scapula, and brachial plexus branches to the cervical region, by the number of the marginal scute-forming placodes, which was larger in the Triassic than in modern turtles, and by phylogenetic analyses.

REST-FRAME UV VERSUS OPTICAL MORPHOLOGIES OF GALAXIES USING SERSIC PROFILE FITTING: THE IMPORTANCE OF MORPHOLOGICAL K-CORRECTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rawat, Abhishek; Wadadekar, Yogesh; De Mello, Duilia

2009-01-01

We show a comparison of the rest-frame UV morphologies of a sample of 162 intermediate-redshift (z median = 1.02) galaxies with their rest-frame optical morphologies. We select our sample from the deepest near-UV image obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2; F300W) as part of the parallel observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign overlapping with the HST/ACS Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey data set. We perform single-component Sersic fits in both WFPC2/F300W (rest-frame UV) and ACS/F850LP (rest-frame optical) bands and deduce that the Sersic index n is estimated to be smaller in the rest-frame UV compared to the rest-frame optical, leading to an overestimation of the number of merger candidates by ∼40%-100% compared to the rest-frame optical depending upon the cutoff in n employed for identifying merger candidates. This effect seems to be dominated by galaxies with low values of n(F300W) ≤ 0.5 that have a value of n(F850LP) ∼ 1.0. We argue that these objects are probably clumpy star-forming galaxies or minor mergers, both of which are essentially contaminants, if one is interested in identifying major mergers. In addition, we also find evidence that the axis ratio b/a is lower, i.e., ellipticity (1 - b/a) is higher in rest-frame UV compared to the rest-frame optical. Moreover, we find that in the rest-frame UV, the number of high ellipticity (e ≥ 0.8) objects are higher by a factor of ∼2.8 compared to the rest-frame optical. This indicates that the reported dominance of elongated morphologies among high-z Lyman Break Galaxies might just be a bias related to the use of rest-frame UV data sets in high-z studies.

Physiological, morphological and allocational plasticity in understory deciduous trees: importance of plant size and light availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Delagrange, Sylvain; Messier, Christian; Lechowicz, Martin J; Dizengremel, Pierre

2004-07-01

In a 4-year study, we investigated changes in leaf physiology, crown morphology and whole-tree biomass allocation in seedlings and saplings of shade-tolerant sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and intermediate shade-tolerant yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) growing in natural understory light (0.5 to 35% of full sunlight) or in understory light reduced by 50% with shade nets to simulate the effect of gap closure. Leaf physiological parameters were mainly influenced by the light gradient, whereas crown morphological and whole-tree allocational parameters were mainly influenced by tree size. No single physiological, morphological or allocational trait was identified that could explain the difference in shade tolerance between the species. Yellow birch had higher growth rates, biomass allocation to branches and leaf physiological plasticity and lower crown morphological plasticity in unmodified understory light than sugar maple. Sugar maple did not display significant physiological plasticity, but showed variation with tree size in both crown morphology and whole-tree biomass allocation. When sugar maple was small, a greater proportion of whole-tree biomass was allocated to roots. However, physiological differences between the species decreased with decreasing light and most morphological and allocational differences tended to disappear with increasing tree size, suggesting that many species differences in shade-tolerance are expressed mainly during the seedling stage. Understory trees of both species survived for 4 years under shade nets, possibly because of higher plasticity when small and the use of stored reserves when taller. Copyright 2004 Heron Publishing

Paradigm Shifts in Ophthalmic Diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebag, J; Sadun, Alfredo A; Pierce, Eric A

2016-08-01

Future advances in ophthalmology will see a paradigm shift in diagnostics from a focus on dysfunction and disease to better measures of psychophysical function and health. Practical methods to define genotypes will be increasingly important and non-invasive nanotechnologies are needed to detect molecular changes that predate histopathology. This is not a review nor meant to be comprehensive. Specific topics have been selected to illustrate the principles of important paradigm shifts that will influence the future of ophthalmic diagnostics. It is our impression that future evaluation of vision will go beyond visual acuity to assess ocular health in terms of psychophysical function. The definition of disease will incorporate genotype into what has historically been a phenotype-centric discipline. Non-invasive nanotechnologies will enable a paradigm shift from disease detection on a cellular level to a sub-cellular molecular level. Vision can be evaluated beyond visual acuity by measuring contrast sensitivity, color vision, and macular function, as these provide better insights into the impact of aging and disease. Distortions can be quantified and the psychophysical basis of vision can be better evaluated than in the past by designing tests that assess particular macular cell function(s). Advances in our understanding of the genetic basis of eye diseases will enable better characterization of ocular health and disease. Non-invasive nanotechnologies can assess molecular changes in the lens, vitreous, and macula that predate visible pathology. Oxygen metabolism and circulatory physiology are measurable indices of ocular health that can detect variations of physiology and early disease. This overview of paradigm shifts in ophthalmology suggests that the future will see significant improvements in ophthalmic diagnostics. The selected topics illustrate the principles of these paradigm shifts and should serve as a guide to further research and development. Indeed

The importance of metadata to assess information content in digital reconstructions of neuronal morphology.

Science.gov (United States)

Parekh, Ruchi; Armañanzas, Rubén; Ascoli, Giorgio A

2015-04-01

Digital reconstructions of axonal and dendritic arbors provide a powerful representation of neuronal morphology in formats amenable to quantitative analysis, computational modeling, and data mining. Reconstructed files, however, require adequate metadata to identify the appropriate animal species, developmental stage, brain region, and neuron type. Moreover, experimental details about tissue processing, neurite visualization and microscopic imaging are essential to assess the information content of digital morphologies. Typical morphological reconstructions only partially capture the underlying biological reality. Tracings are often limited to certain domains (e.g., dendrites and not axons), may be incomplete due to tissue sectioning, imperfect staining, and limited imaging resolution, or can disregard aspects irrelevant to their specific scientific focus (such as branch thickness or depth). Gauging these factors is critical in subsequent data reuse and comparison. NeuroMorpho.Org is a central repository of reconstructions from many laboratories and experimental conditions. Here, we introduce substantial additions to the existing metadata annotation aimed to describe the completeness of the reconstructed neurons in NeuroMorpho.Org. These expanded metadata form a suitable basis for effective description of neuromorphological data.

Associations of rotational shift work and night shift status with hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Manohar, Sandhya; Thongprayoon, Charat; Cheungpasitporn, Wisit; Mao, Michael A; Herrmann, Sandra M

2017-10-01

The reported risks of hypertension (HTN) in rotating shift and night shift workers are controversial. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the association between shift work status and HTN. A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Database from inception through October 2016. Studies that reported odds ratios (OR) comparing the risk of HTN in shift workers were included. A prespecified subgroup analysis by rotating shift and night shift statuses were also performed. Pooled OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method. The protocol for this study is registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews; no. CRD42016051843. Twenty-seven observational studies (nine cohort and 18 cross-sectional studies) with a total of 394 793 individuals were enrolled. The pooled ORs of HTN in shift workers in cohort and cross-sectional studies were 1.31 (95% CI, 1.07-1.60) and 1.10 (95% CI, 1.00-1.20), respectively. When meta-analysis was restricted only to cohort studies in rotating shift, the pooled OR of HTN in rotating shift workers was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.08-1.67). The data regarding night shift and HTN in cohort studies was limited. The pooled OR of HTN in night shift workers in cross-sectional studies was 1.07 (95% CI, 0.85-1.35). Based on the findings of our meta-analysis, shiftwork status may play an important role in HTN, as there is a significant association between rotating shift work and HTN. However, there is no significant association between night shift status and risk of HTN.

Further morphological evidence on South African earliest Homo lower postcanine dentition: Enamel thickness and enamel dentine junction.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Lei; Dumoncel, Jean; de Beer, Frikkie; Hoffman, Jakobus; Thackeray, John Francis; Duployer, Benjamin; Tenailleau, Christophe; Braga, José

2016-07-01

The appearance of the earliest members of the genus Homo in South Africa represents a key event in human evolution. Although enamel thickness and enamel dentine junction (EDJ) morphology preserve important information about hominin systematics and dietary adaptation, these features have not been sufficiently studied with regard to early Homo. We used micro-CT to compare enamel thickness and EDJ morphology among the mandibular postcanine dentitions of South African early hominins (N = 30) and extant Homo sapiens (N = 26), with special reference to early members of the genus Homo. We found that South African early Homo shows a similar enamel thickness distribution pattern to modern humans, although three-dimensional average and relative enamel thicknesses do not distinguish australopiths, early Homo, and modern humans particularly well. Based on enamel thickness distributions, our study suggests that a dietary shift occurred between australopiths and the origin of the Homo lineage. We also observed that South African early Homo postcanine EDJ combined primitive traits seen in australopith molars with derived features observed in modern human premolars. Our results confirm that some dental morphological patterns in later Homo actually occurred early in the Homo lineage, and highlight the taxonomic value of premolar EDJ morphology in hominin species. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shift Colors

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Publications & News Shift Colors Pages default Sign In NPC Logo Banner : Shift Colors Search Navy Personnel Command > Reference Library > Publications & News > Shift Colors Top Link Bar Navy Personnel Library Expand Reference Library Quick Launch Shift Colors Shift Colors Archives Mailing Address How to

BROCAS APHASIA - A SYNTACTIC AND/OR A MORPHOLOGICAL DISORDER - A CASE-STUDY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BASTIAANSE, R

The patient described here suffers from Broca's aphasia without a comprehension disorder. She is unique, since she has two speech styles available and she shifts between them spontaneously. One style is characterized by a mild syntactic disorder and the other by a quite severe morphological and

Applications Associated With Morphological Analysis And Generation In Natural Language Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neha Yadav

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Natural Language Processing is one of the most developing fields in research area. In most of the applications related to the Natural Language Processing findings of the Morphological Analysis and Morphological Generation can be considered very important. As morphological study is the technique to recognise a word and its output can be used on later on stages .Keeping in view this importance this paper describes how Morphological Analysis and Morphological Generation can be proved as an important part of various Natural Language Processing fields such as Spell checker Machine Translation etc.

Lanthanide shift reagents, binding, shift mechanisms and exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boer, J.W.M. de

1977-01-01

Paramagnetic lanthanide shift reagents, when added to a solution of a substrate, induce shifts in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of the substrate molecules. The induced shifts contain information about the structure of the shift reagent substrate complex. The structural information, however, may be difficult to extract because of the following effects: (1) different complexes between shift reagent and substrate may be present in solution, e.g. 1:1 and 1:2 complexes, and the shift observed is a weighed average of the shifts of the substrate nuclei in the different complexes; (2) the Fermi contact interaction, arising from the spin density at the nucleus, contributes to the induced shift; (3) chemical exchange effects may complicate the NMR spectrum. In this thesis, the results of an investigation into the influence of these effects on the NMR spectra of solutions containing a substrate and LSR are presented. The equations describing the pseudo contact and the Fermi contact shift are derived. In addition, it is shown how the modified Bloch equations describing the effect of the chemical exchange processes occurring in the systems studied can be reduced to the familiar equations for a two-site exchange case. The binding of mono- and bifunctional ethers to the shift reagent are reported. An analysis of the induced shifts is given. Finally, the results of the experiments performed to study the exchange behavior of dimethoxyethane and heptafluorodimethyloctanedionato ligands are presented

Eruptive viscosity and volcano morphology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Posin, S.B.; Greeley, R.

1988-01-01

Terrestrial central volcanoes formed predominantly from lava flows were classified as shields, stratovolcanoes, and domes. Shield volcanoes tend to be large in areal extent, have convex slopes, and are characterized by their resemblance to inverted hellenic war shields. Stratovolcanoes have concave slopes, whereas domes are smaller and have gentle convex slopes near the vent that increase near the perimeter. In addition to these differences in morphology, several other variations were observed. The most important is composition: shield volcanoes tend to be basaltic, stratovolcanoes tend to be andesitic, and domes tend to be dacitic. However, important exceptions include Fuji, Pico, Mayon, Izalco, and Fuego which have stratovolcano morphologies but are composed of basaltic lavas. Similarly, Ribkwo is a Kenyan shield volcano composed of trachyte and Suswa and Kilombe are shields composed of phonolite. These exceptions indicate that eruptive conditions, rather than composition, may be the primary factors that determine volcano morphology. The objective of this study is to determine the relationships, if any, between eruptive conditions (viscosity, erupted volume, and effusion rate) and effusive volcano morphology. Moreover, it is the goal of this study to incorporate these relationships into a model to predict the eruptive conditions of extraterrestrial (Martian) volcanoes based on their morphology

Tilt shift determinations with spatial-carrier phase-shift method in temporal phase-shift interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Qian; Wang, Yang; He, Jianguo; Ji, Fang; Wang, Baorui

2014-01-01

An algorithm is proposed to deal with tilt-shift errors in temporal phase-shift interferometry (PSI). In the algorithm, the tilt shifts are detected with the spatial-carrier phase-shift (SCPS) method and then the tilt shifts are applied as priori information to the least-squares fittings of phase retrieval. The algorithm combines the best features of the SCPS and the temporal PSI. The algorithm could be applied to interferograms of arbitrary aperture without data extrapolation for the Fourier transform is not involved. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The statistics of simulation results show a satisfied accuracy in detecting tilt-shift errors. Comparisons of the measurements with and without environmental vibration show that the proposed algorithm could compensate tilt-shift errors and retrieve wavefront phase accurately. The algorithm provides an approach to retrieve wavefront phase for the temporal PSI in vibrating environment. (paper)

Rotating shift work associated with obesity in men from northeastern Ontario

OpenAIRE

Anne Grundy; Michelle Cotterchio; Victoria A. Kirsh; Victoria Nadalin; Nancy Lightfoot; Nancy Kreiger

2017-01-01

Introduction: While some studies have suggested associations between shift work and obesity, few have been population-based or considered multiple shift schedules. Since obesity is linked with several chronic health conditions, understanding which types of shift work influence obesity is important and additional work with more detailed exposure assessment of shift work is warranted. Methods: Using multivariate polytomous logistic regression, we investigated the associations between shift work...

Morphological and quantitative analyses on features of asymmetric mandible with X-ray CT images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayashi, Masaki; Isshiki, Yasushige; Nishikawa, Keiichi [Tokyo Dental Coll., Chiba (Japan)

2001-09-01

Biomechanical disproportion of the mandible causes morphological and quantitative changes in the bone and induces jaw deformities. The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of the biomechanical disproportion on the structure and quality of the mandible, using spiral X-ray CT images. Subjects were 11 patients with mandibular asymmetry requiring orthognathic surgery. Lateral and vertical shift angles of the mandible against the maxilla were determined mathematically from the coordinates of structural reference points in 3-dimensional orthogonal coordinate systems as indices of the deformity degree. Several properties concerning thickness and CT value of mandibular cortical bone were measured as indices of the morphological and quantitative changes in mandibular cortical bone. Occlusal force was also measured using a pressure sensitive film as an index of biomechanical disproportion. Asymmetric indices of them were calculated from data of the left and right sides. The Pearson's correlation coefficients were obtained for these data. As a result, the mandible tended to shift laterally toward the side where the occlusal force at the second molar region was stronger and also to shift upward on that side. At the central incisor region of the laterally shifted side, CT values were relatively decreased. At the lateral incisor region, cortical bone density was relatively increased. At the first bicuspid region and the posterior tooth regions, cortical bone thickness was relatively decreased. (author)

Morphological and quantitative analyses on features of asymmetric mandible with X-ray CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Masaki; Isshiki, Yasushige; Nishikawa, Keiichi

2001-01-01

Biomechanical disproportion of the mandible causes morphological and quantitative changes in the bone and induces jaw deformities. The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of the biomechanical disproportion on the structure and quality of the mandible, using spiral X-ray CT images. Subjects were 11 patients with mandibular asymmetry requiring orthognathic surgery. Lateral and vertical shift angles of the mandible against the maxilla were determined mathematically from the coordinates of structural reference points in 3-dimensional orthogonal coordinate systems as indices of the deformity degree. Several properties concerning thickness and CT value of mandibular cortical bone were measured as indices of the morphological and quantitative changes in mandibular cortical bone. Occlusal force was also measured using a pressure sensitive film as an index of biomechanical disproportion. Asymmetric indices of them were calculated from data of the left and right sides. The Pearson's correlation coefficients were obtained for these data. As a result, the mandible tended to shift laterally toward the side where the occlusal force at the second molar region was stronger and also to shift upward on that side. At the central incisor region of the laterally shifted side, CT values were relatively decreased. At the lateral incisor region, cortical bone density was relatively increased. At the first bicuspid region and the posterior tooth regions, cortical bone thickness was relatively decreased. (author)

Assessment of the pivot shift using inertial sensors

OpenAIRE

Zaffagnini, Stefano; Signorelli, Cecilia; Grassi, Alberto; Yue, Han; Raggi, Federico; Urrizola, Francisco; Bonanzinga, Tommaso; Marcacci, Maurilio

2016-01-01

The pivot shift test is an important clinical tool used to assess the stability of the knee following an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Previous studies have shown that significant variability exists in the performance and interpretation of this manoeuvre. Accordingly, a variety of techniques aimed at standardizing and quantifying the pivot shift test have been developed. In recent years, inertial sensors have been used to measure the kinematics of the pivot shift. The goal o...

Scandinavian Object Shift and Optimality Theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engels, Eva; Vikner, Sten

This study presents an account of object shift, a word order phenomenon found in most of the Scandinavian languages where an object occurs unexpectedly to the left and not to the right of a sentential adverbial. The book examines object shift across many of the Scandinavian languages and dialects...... and original observations, this book is an important addition to the fields of phonology, optimality theory and theoretical syntax......., and analyses the variation, for example whether object shift is optional or obligatory, whether it applies only to pronouns or other objects as well, and whether it applies to adverbials. The authors show that optimality theory, traditionally used in phonology, is a useful framework for accounting...

The impact of shift work on intensive care nurses' lives outside work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Hanne Irene; Larsen, Jette West; Thomsen, Tina Damgaard

2018-01-01

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine how shift work affects intensive care nurses' lives outside work. BACKGROUND: Shift work is unavoidable for many nurses. When attempting to minimise negative effects of shift work it is important to identify areas which affect nurses working shifts. DESIGN: A cross...... subsequently to plan interventions aimed at decreasing the negative effects. Interventions may include nurses having increased influence on their work schedules and education in sleep hygiene and dietary habits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.......AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine how shift work affects intensive care nurses' lives outside work. BACKGROUND: Shift work is unavoidable for many nurses. When attempting to minimise negative effects of shift work it is important to identify areas which affect nurses working shifts. DESIGN: A cross......-sectional study. METHODS: A questionnaire survey among Danish intensive care nurses concerning experiences with shift work and family life, spare time activities, sleep and health. RESULTS: A total of 114 nurses (88%) participated. Shift work was found to influence the opportunities for spare time activities...

Spatially variant morphological restoration and skeleton representation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouaynaya, Nidhal; Charif-Chefchaouni, Mohammed; Schonfeld, Dan

2006-11-01

The theory of spatially variant (SV) mathematical morphology is used to extend and analyze two important image processing applications: morphological image restoration and skeleton representation of binary images. For morphological image restoration, we propose the SV alternating sequential filters and SV median filters. We establish the relation of SV median filters to the basic SV morphological operators (i.e., SV erosions and SV dilations). For skeleton representation, we present a general framework for the SV morphological skeleton representation of binary images. We study the properties of the SV morphological skeleton representation and derive conditions for its invertibility. We also develop an algorithm for the implementation of the SV morphological skeleton representation of binary images. The latter algorithm is based on the optimal construction of the SV structuring element mapping designed to minimize the cardinality of the SV morphological skeleton representation. Experimental results show the dramatic improvement in the performance of the SV morphological restoration and SV morphological skeleton representation algorithms in comparison to their translation-invariant counterparts.

Shorter Versus Longer Shift Durations to Mitigate Fatigue and Fatigue-Related Risks in Emergency Medical Services Personnel and Related Shift Workers: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-11

Background: This study comprehensively reviewed the literature on the impact of shorter versus longer shifts on critical and important outcomes for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel and related shift worker groups. Methods: Six databases (e....

Problems with the use of line shifts in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexiou, Spiros

2003-01-01

In this work a nonperturbative semiclassical treatment with proper account of penetrating collisions and monopoles is used to illustrate the relative importance of penetration, close collisions and monopoles to the line shift. The main result of this work is that shifts are very sensitive, not linear in the density and even the sign of shifts may be affected by fairly fine effects, such as small deviations from thermal behavior

Examining the Conservative Shift from Harsh Justice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joycelyn Pollock

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Recently, a political shift has been observed, in that some political conservatives are now advocating, adjusting, or abandoning draconian drug laws, including mandatory minimums, and funding diversion, re-entry, and drug programs. Vocal proponents of this movement include Grover Norquist, Rand Paul, Edwin Meese, and Mark Levin, from the Texas Public Policy Council. Any movement away from the mass incarceration that has characterized the U.S. correctional policy for the last 30 years is welcomed; however, it is important to note carefully the philosophical foundation of the conservative’s interest in shifting correctional policy. This paper explores the potential factors contributing to this philosophical shift.

Importance of Antecedent Beach and Surf-Zone Morphology to Wave Runup Predictions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

mounted at a 30° angle toward the ocean to enable viewing of the dune toe . Though angles of incidence to the water are relatively low from the laser’s...automated terrestrial laser scanner was mounted above the dune (Figure 1A) to continuously measure the free surface profile of the beach and water...maximum and mean water levels reached during storms with variations in beach and dune morphology will therefore be a good predictor of areas of the coast

Night shift work and modifiable lifestyle factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pepłońska, Beata; Burdelak, Weronika; Krysicka, Jolanta; Bukowska, Agnieszka; Marcinkiewicz, Andrzej; Sobala, Wojciech; Klimecka-Muszyńska, Dorota; Rybacki, Marcin

2014-10-01

Night shift work has been linked to some chronic diseases. Modification of lifestyle by night work may partially contribute to the development of these diseases, nevertheless, so far epidemiological evidence is limited. The aim of the study was to explore association between night shift work and lifestyle factors using data from a cross-sectional study among blue-collar workers employed in industrial plants in Łódź, Poland. The anonymous questionnaire was self-administered among 605 employees (236 women and 369 men, aged 35 or more) - 434 individuals currently working night shifts. Distribution of the selected lifestyle related factors such as smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), number of main meals and the hour of the last meal was compared between current, former, and never night shift workers. Adjusted ORs or predicted means were calculated, as a measure of the associations between night shift work and lifestyle factors, with age, marital status and education included in the models as covariates. Recreational inactivity (defined here as less than one hour per week of recreational physical activity) was associated with current night shift work when compared to never night shift workers (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.13-5.22) among men. Alcohol abstinence and later time of the last meal was associated with night shift work among women. Statistically significant positive relationship between night shift work duration and BMI was observed among men (p = 0.029). This study confirms previous studies reporting lower exercising among night shift workers and tendency to increase body weight. This finding provides important public health implication for the prevention of chronic diseases among night shift workers. Initiatives promoting physical activity addressed in particular to the night shift workers are recommended.

Night shift work and modifiable lifestyle factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beata Pepłońska

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Night shift work has been linked to some chronic diseases. Modification of lifestyle by night work may partially contribute to the development of these diseases, nevertheless, so far epidemiological evidence is limited. The aim of the study was to explore association between night shift work and lifestyle factors using data from a cross-sectional study among blue-collar workers employed in industrial plants in Łódź, Poland. Material and Methods: The anonymous questionnaire was self-administered among 605 employees (236 women and 369 men, aged 35 or more - 434 individuals currently wor­king night shifts. Distribution of the selected lifestyle related factors such as smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI, number of main meals and the hour of the last meal was compared between current, former, and never night shift workers. Adjusted ORs or predicted means were calculated, as a measure of the associations between night shift work and lifestyle factors, with age, marital status and education included in the models as covariates. Results: Recreational inactivity (defined here as less than one hour per week of recreational physical activity was associated with current night shift work when compared to never night shift workers (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.13-5.22 among men. Alcohol abstinence and later time of the last meal was associated with night shift work among women. Statistically significant positive relationship between night shift work duration and BMI was observed among men (p = 0.029. Conclusions: This study confirms previous studies reporting lower exercising among night shift workers and tendency to increase body weight. This finding provides important public health implication for the prevention of chronic diseases among night shift workers. Initiatives promoting physical activity addressed in particular to the night shift workers are recommended.

Morphology and rheology in filamentous cultivations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wucherpfennig, T; Kiep, K A; Driouch, H; Wittmann, C; Krull, R

2010-01-01

Because of their metabolic diversity, high production capacity, secretion efficiency, and capability of carrying out posttranslational modifications, filamentous fungi are widely exploited as efficient cell factories in the production of metabolites, bioactive substances, and native or heterologous proteins, respectively. There is, however, a complex relationship between the morphology of these microorganisms, transport phenomena, the viscosity of the cultivation broth, and related productivity. The morphological characteristics vary between freely dispersed mycelia and distinct pellets of aggregated biomass, every growth form having a distinct influence on broth rheology. Hence, the advantages and disadvantages for mycelial or pellet cultivation have to be balanced out carefully. Because of the still inadequate understanding of the morphogenesis of filamentous microorganisms, fungal morphology is often a bottleneck of productivity in industrial production. To obtain an optimized production process, it is of great importance to gain a better understanding of the molecular and cell biology of these microorganisms as well as the relevant approaches in biochemical engineering. In this chapter, morphology and growth of filamentous fungi are described, with special attention given to specific problems as they arise from fungal growth forms; growth and mass transfer in fungal biopellets are discussed as an example. To emphasize the importance of the flow behavior of filamentous cultivation broths, an introduction to rheology is also given, reviewing important rheological models and recent studies concerning rheological parameters. Furthermore, current knowledge on morphology and productivity in relation to the environom is outlined in the last section of this review. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Competition for FDI and Profit Shifting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Jie; Raimondos-Møller, Pascalis

When countries compete for the location of a new multinational plant they need to be aware of the profit shifting opportunities this new plant creates for the global multinational firm. By modelling explicitly the multinational’s intra-firm transactions, we show that the home market advantage...... that large countries have due to their size will be counteracted by such profit shifting opportunities. As a result of this, large countries will not be able to capitalize on their size and sustain high corporate taxes. We show that, on the basis of these profit shifting opportunities, a small country can...... easily win the location game ahead of a large country. How lenient the small country is in implementing transfer pricing regulations turns out to be an important variable in such location games....

Special training of shift personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, H.D.

1981-01-01

The first step of on-the-job training is practical observation phase in an operating Nuclear Plant, where the participants are assigned to shift work. The simulator training for operating personnel, for key personnel and, to some extent, also for maintenance personnel and specialists give the practical feeling for Nuclear Power Plant behaviour during normal and abnormal conditions. During the commissioning phase of the own Nuclear Power Plant, which is the most important practical training, the participants are integrated into the commissioning staff and assisted during their process of practical learning by special instructors. The preparation for the licensing exams is vitally important for shift personnel and special courses are provided after the first non-nuclear trial operation of the plant. Personnel training also includes performance of programmes and material for retraining, training of instructors and assistance in building up special training programmes and material as well as training centers. (orig./RW)

The effect of parity on morphological evolution among phrynosomatid lizards.

Science.gov (United States)

Oufiero, C E; Gartner, G E A

2014-11-01

The shift from egg laying to live-bearing is one of the most well-studied transitions in evolutionary biology. Few studies, however, have assessed the effect of this transition on morphological evolution. Here, we evaluated the effect of reproductive mode on the morphological evolution of 10 traits, among 108 species of phrynosomatid lizards. We assess whether the requirement for passing shelled eggs through the pelvic girdle has led to morphological constraints in oviparous species and whether long gestation times in viviparous species have led to constraints in locomotor morphology. We fit models to the data that vary both in their tempo (strength and rate of selection) and mode of evolution (Brownian or Ornstein-Uhlenbeck) and estimates of trait optima. We found that most traits are best fit by a generalized multipeak OU model, suggesting differing trait optima for viviparous vs. oviparous species. Additionally, rates (σ(2) ) of both pelvic girdle and forelimb trait evolution varied with parity; viviparous species had higher rates. Hindlimb traits, however, exhibited no difference in σ(2) between parity modes. In a functional context, our results suggest that the passage of shelled eggs constrains the morphology of the pelvic girdle, but we found no evidence of morphological constraint of the locomotor apparatus in viviparous species. Our results are consistent with recent lineage diversification analyses, leading to the conclusion that transitions to viviparity increase both lineage and morphological diversification. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Global study of holistic morphological effectors in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Godai; Wang, Yang; Kubo, Karen; Hirata, Eri; Ohnuki, Shinsuke; Ohya, Yoshikazu

2018-02-20

The size of the phenotypic effect of a gene has been thoroughly investigated in terms of fitness and specific morphological traits in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but little is known about gross morphological abnormalities. We identified 1126 holistic morphological effectors that cause severe gross morphological abnormality when deleted, and 2241 specific morphological effectors with weak holistic effects but distinctive effects on yeast morphology. Holistic effectors fell into many gene function categories and acted as network hubs, affecting a large number of morphological traits, interacting with a large number of genes, and facilitating high protein expression. Holistic morphological abnormality was useful for estimating the importance of a gene to morphology. The contribution of gene importance to fitness and morphology could be used to efficiently classify genes into functional groups. Holistic morphological abnormality can be used as a reproducible and reliable gene feature for high-dimensional morphological phenotyping. It can be used in many functional genomic applications.

Advantages of shift changeovers with meetings: ergonomic analysis of shift supervisors' activity in aircraft building.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Bris, Valérie; Barthe, Béatrice; Marquié, Jean-Claude; Kerguelen, Alain; Aubert, Sophie; Bernadou, Bernadette

2012-03-01

Good shift changeovers contribute to ensuring continuity and reliability in shift work. In situations where production is not maintained 24 h a day, changeovers with meetings (SCM) between the two work teams (written plus oral face-to-face handovers) alternate with changeovers without meetings (SCnM; written handovers only). An ergonomic work analysis on an aircraft assembly line showed that (1) incoming and outgoing operators met during the overlap time allotted by the company, and (2) the content of the exchanges was richer for SCMs than for SCnMs. SCMs enabled the operators to pass on and process more aspects of their work than SCnMs did. SCMs also allowed incoming operators to validate their predictions, and enabled both outgoing and incoming operators to update their mental models and work together on peripheral aspects of the technical process over a greater time span. The findings highlight the importance of allowing overlap time in shift work. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

PEAK SHIFTS PRODUCED BY CORRELATED RESPONSE TO SELECTION.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Trevor; Turelli, Michael; Slatkin, Montgomery

1993-02-01

Traits may evolve both as a consequence of direct selection and also as a correlated response to selection on other traits. While correlated response may be important for both the production of evolutionary novelty and in the build-up of complex characters, its potential role in peak shifts has been neglected empirically and theoretically. We use a quantitative genetic model to investigate the conditions under which a character, Y, which has two alternative optima, can be dragged from one optimum to the other as a correlated response to selection on a second character, X. High genetic correlations between the two characters make the transition, or peak shift, easier, as does weak selection tending to restore Y to the optimum from which it is being dragged. When selection on Y is very weak, the conditions for a peak shift depend only on the location of the new optimum for X and are independent of the strength of selection moving it there. Thus, if the "adaptive valley" for Y is very shallow, little reduction in mean fitness is needed to produce a shift. If the selection acts strongly to keep Y at its current optimum, very intense directional selection on X, associated with a dramatic drop in mean fitness, is required for a peak shift. When strong selection is required, the conditions for peak shifts driven by correlated response might occur rarely, but still with sufficient frequency on a geological timescale to be evolutionarily important. © 1993 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Nurse perceptions of workplace environment: differences across shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Teclaw, Robert; Osatuke, Katerine

2015-11-01

To evaluate whether nurse work shift affected workplace perceptions. Although the importance of work schedule in shaping work attitudes, generally (and specifically for nurses) is well accepted, much work remains in characterising how and why nurses' perceptions might differ across shifts. Using an exploratory study of observational data, we examined whether shift influenced non-supervisory nurses' job perceptions in the Veterans Health Administration All Employee Survey (n = 14057; years 2008, 2010, 2012). The size of differences in item means (95% C.I.) across shifts was evaluated graphically. Using ordinal logistic regression, we accounted for the ordinal outcome variables and controlled for the demographic and survey year effects. Nurses' perceptions of workplace climate differed across shifts. Items with the greatest differences, consistent across years and analytic methods, involved supervisors and fairness. Night and weekend shift nurse ratings were more negative than for weekday shift nurses. Off-shift nurses are less satisfied with work/life balance, their supervisors and especially fairness. Overall satisfaction and turnover intention are not affected to the same extent. These results indicate several specific areas that nurse managers can address through workforce support and communication. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Probabilistic validation of protein NMR chemical shift assignments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dashti, Hesam; Tonelli, Marco; Lee, Woonghee; Westler, William M.; Cornilescu, Gabriel; Ulrich, Eldon L.; Markley, John L.

2016-01-01

Data validation plays an important role in ensuring the reliability and reproducibility of studies. NMR investigations of the functional properties, dynamics, chemical kinetics, and structures of proteins depend critically on the correctness of chemical shift assignments. We present a novel probabilistic method named ARECA for validating chemical shift assignments that relies on the nuclear Overhauser effect data. ARECA has been evaluated through its application to 26 case studies and has been shown to be complementary to, and usually more reliable than, approaches based on chemical shift databases. ARECA is available online at http://areca.nmrfam.wisc.edu/ http://areca.nmrfam.wisc.edu/

Probabilistic validation of protein NMR chemical shift assignments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dashti, Hesam [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Graduate Program in Biophysics, Biochemistry Department (United States); Tonelli, Marco; Lee, Woonghee; Westler, William M.; Cornilescu, Gabriel [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Biochemistry Department, National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (United States); Ulrich, Eldon L. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, BioMagResBank, Biochemistry Department (United States); Markley, John L., E-mail: markley@nmrfam.wisc.edu, E-mail: jmarkley@wisc.edu [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Biochemistry Department, National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (United States)

2016-01-15

Data validation plays an important role in ensuring the reliability and reproducibility of studies. NMR investigations of the functional properties, dynamics, chemical kinetics, and structures of proteins depend critically on the correctness of chemical shift assignments. We present a novel probabilistic method named ARECA for validating chemical shift assignments that relies on the nuclear Overhauser effect data. ARECA has been evaluated through its application to 26 case studies and has been shown to be complementary to, and usually more reliable than, approaches based on chemical shift databases. ARECA is available online at http://areca.nmrfam.wisc.edu/ http://areca.nmrfam.wisc.edu/.

Genetic and morphological analyses of Gracilaria firma and G. changii (Gracilariaceae, Rhodophyta), the commercially important agarophytes in western Pacific.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Poh-Kheng; Lin, Showe-Mei; Lim, Phaik-Eem; Hurtado, Anicia Q; Phang, Siew-Moi; Yow, Yoon-Yen; Sun, Zhongmin

2017-01-01

Many studies classifying Gracilaria species for the exploitation of agarophytes and the development of the agar industry were conducted before the prevalence of molecular tools, resulting in the description of many species based solely on their morphology. Gracilaria firma and G. changii are among the commercially important agarophytes from the western Pacific; both feature branches with basal constrictions that taper toward acute apices. In this study, we contrasted the morpho-anatomical circumscriptions of the two traditionally described species with molecular data from samples that included representatives of G. changii collected from its type locality. Concerted molecular analyses using the rbcL and cox1 gene sequences, coupled with morphological observations of the collections from the western Pacific, revealed no inherent differences to support the treatment of the two entities as distinct taxa. We propose merging G. changii (a later synonym) into G. firma and recognize G. firma based on thallus branches with abrupt basal constrictions that gradually taper toward acute (or sometimes broken) apices, cystocarps consisting of small gonimoblast cells and inconspicuous multinucleate tubular nutritive cells issuing from gonimoblasts extending into the inner pericarp at the cystocarp floor, as well as deep spermatangial conceptacles of the verrucosa-type. The validation of specimens under different names as a single genetic species is useful to allow communication and knowledge transfer among groups from different fields. This study also revealed considerably low number of haplotypes and nucleotide diversity with apparent phylogeographic patterns for G. firma in the region. Populations from the Philippines and Taiwan were divergent from each other as well as from the populations from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Establishment of baseline data on the genetic diversity of this commercially important agarophyte is relevant in the context of cultivation

Ecosystem regime shifts disrupt trophic structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Hempson, Tessa N; Graham, Nicholas A J; MacNeil, M Aaron; Hoey, Andrew S; Wilson, Shaun K

2018-01-01

Regime shifts between alternative stable ecosystem states are becoming commonplace due to the combined effects of local stressors and global climate change. Alternative states are characterized as substantially different in form and function from pre-disturbance states, disrupting the delivery of ecosystem services and functions. On coral reefs, regime shifts are typically characterized by a change in the benthic composition from coral to macroalgal dominance. Such fundamental shifts in the benthos are anticipated to impact associated fish communities that are reliant on the reef for food and shelter, yet there is limited understanding of how regime shifts propagate through the fish community over time, relative to initial or recovery conditions. This study addresses this knowledge gap using long-term data of coral reef regime shifts and recovery on Seychelles reefs following the 1998 mass bleaching event. It shows how trophic structure of the reef fish community becomes increasingly dissimilar between alternative reef ecosystem states (regime-shifted vs. recovering) with time since disturbance. Regime-shifted reefs developed a concave trophic structure, with increased biomass in base trophic levels as herbivorous species benefitted from increased algal resources. Mid trophic level species, including specialists such as corallivores, declined with loss of coral habitat, while biomass was retained in upper trophic levels by large-bodied, generalist invertivores. Recovering reefs also experienced an initial decline in mid trophic level biomass, but moved toward a bottom-heavy pyramid shape, with a wide range of feeding groups (e.g., planktivores, corallivores, omnivores) represented at mid trophic levels. Given the importance of coral reef fishes in maintaining the ecological function of coral reef ecosystems and their associated fisheries, understanding the effects of regime shifts on these communities is essential to inform decisions that enhance ecological

Anthropometric changes and fluid shifts

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, W. E.; Hoffler, G. W.; Rummel, J. A.

1974-01-01

Several observations of body size, shape, posture, and configuration were made to document changes resulting from direct effects of weightlessness during the Skylab 4 mission. After the crewmen were placed in orbit, a number of anatomical and anthropometric changes occurred including a straightening of the thoracolumbar spine, a general decrease in truncal girth, and an increase in height. By the time of the earliest in-flight measurement on mission day 3, all crewmen had lost more than two liters of extravascular fluid from the calf and thigh. The puffy facies, the bird legs effect, the engorgement of upper body veins, and the reduced volume of lower body veins were all documented with photographs. Center-of-mass measurements confirmed a fluid shift cephalad. This shift remained throughout the mission until recovery, when a sharp reversal occurred; a major portion of the reversal was completed in a few hours. The anatomical changes are of considerable scientific interest and of import to the human factors design engineer, but the shifts of blood and extravascular fluid are of more consequence. It is hypothesized that the driving force for the fluid shift is the intrinsic and unopposed lower limb elasticity that forces venous blood and then other fluid cephalad.

Patterns of cranial ontogeny in lacertid lizards: morphological and allometric disparity.

Science.gov (United States)

Urošević, A; Ljubisavljević, K; Ivanović, A

2013-02-01

We explored the ontogenetic dynamics of the morphological and allometric disparity in the cranium shapes of twelve lacertid lizard species. The analysed species (Darevskia praticola, Dinarolacerta mosorensis, Iberolacerta horvathi, Lacerta agilis, L. trilineata, L. viridis, Podarcis erhardii, P. melisellensis, P. muralis, P. sicula, P. taurica and Zootoca vivipara) can be classified into different ecomorphs: terrestrial lizards that inhabit vegetated habitats (habitats with lush or sparse vegetation), saxicolous and shrub-climbing lizards. We observed that there was an overall increase in the morphological disparity (MD) during the ontogeny of the lacertid lizards. The ventral cranium, which is involved in the mechanics of jaw movement and feeding, showed higher levels of MD, an ontogenetic shift in the morphospace planes and more variable allometric patterns than more conserved dorsal crania. With respect to ecology, the allometric trajectories of the shrub-climbing species tended to cluster together, whereas the allometric trajectories of the saxicolous species were highly dispersed. Our results indicate that the ontogenetic patterns of morphological and allometric disparity in the lacertid lizards are modified by ecology and functional constraints and that the identical mechanisms that lead to intraspecific morphological variation also produce morphological divergence at higher taxonomic levels. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Morphologic Subtypes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Torbenson, Michael S

2017-06-01

Hepatocellular carcinomas can be further divided into distinct subtypes that provide important clinical information and biological insights. These subtypes are distinct from growth patterns and are on based on morphologic and molecular findings. There are 12 reasonably well-defined subtypes as well as 6 provisional subtypes, together making up 35% of all hepatocellular carcinomas. These subtypes are discussed, with an emphasis on their definitions and the key morphologic findings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Shift in Emphasis: Comments on CAE's New Mission Statement

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson-Levitt, Kathryn M.

2007-01-01

In a presidential address prepared for the 2006 Council on Anthropology and Education (CAE) meeting, I argue that the new mission statement for CAE represents not a new direction for the organization, but simply a shift in emphasis, albeit an important and timely shift.

An empirical model of the Baltic Sea reveals the importance of social dynamics for ecological regime shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Lade, Steven J; Niiranen, Susa; Hentati-Sundberg, Jonas; Blenckner, Thorsten; Boonstra, Wiebren J; Orach, Kirill; Quaas, Martin F; Österblom, Henrik; Schlüter, Maja

2015-09-01

Regime shifts triggered by human activities and environmental changes have led to significant ecological and socioeconomic consequences in marine and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Ecological processes and feedbacks associated with regime shifts have received considerable attention, but human individual and collective behavior is rarely treated as an integrated component of such shifts. Here, we used generalized modeling to develop a coupled social-ecological model that integrated rich social and ecological data to investigate the role of social dynamics in the 1980s Baltic Sea cod boom and collapse. We showed that psychological, economic, and regulatory aspects of fisher decision making, in addition to ecological interactions, contributed both to the temporary persistence of the cod boom and to its subsequent collapse. These features of the social-ecological system also would have limited the effectiveness of stronger fishery regulations. Our results provide quantitative, empirical evidence that incorporating social dynamics into models of natural resources is critical for understanding how resources can be managed sustainably. We also show that generalized modeling, which is well-suited to collaborative model development and does not require detailed specification of causal relationships between system variables, can help tackle the complexities involved in creating and analyzing social-ecological models.

Morphology of second and third instars of Chrysomya villeneuvi Patton (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a fly species of forensic importance.

Science.gov (United States)

Sukontason, Kom; Sukontason, Kabkaew L; Piangjai, Somsak; Narongchai, Paitoon; Samai, Wirachai; Boonchu, Noppawan; Sripakdee, Duanghatai; Ngern-Klun, Radchadawan; Siriwattanarungsee, Sirisuda

2005-11-25

The morphology of the second and third instars of Chrysomya villeneuvi Patton, a fly species of forensic importance, was presented by use of light microscopy. Both instars were of hairy appearance, bearing elongated tubercles along the abdominal and caudal segments. The anterior spiracle had 13-15 papillae. Minute dark spots were observed to thoroughly cover the tubercle's surface, with 4-6 strong dark tips. Regarding the third instar, the intersegmental spines between the prothorax and mesothorax were heavily pigmented. The posterior spiracle had a thick and heavily pigmented incomplete peritreme. The surface and tip of the tubercles was covered with heavily pigmented sharp spines. The integument of the body was covered with numerous distinct net-like patches. A comparison with another well-known hairy maggot, Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart), was discussed.

The Loss of Grammatical Gender and Case Features Between Old and Early Middle English: Its Impact on Simple Demonstratives and Topic Shift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jurczyk Rafał

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we examine the relation between the loss of formal gender and Case features on simple demonstratives and the topic shifting property they manifest. The examination period spans between Old English and Early Middle English. While we argue that this loss has important discourse-pragmatic and derivational effects on demonstratives, we also employ the Strong Minimalist Hypothesis approach (Chomsky 2001 and feature valuation, as defined in Pesetsky & Torrego (2007, to display how their syntactic computation and pragmatic properties have come about. To account for the above innovations yielding the Early Middle English ϸe (‘the’, we first discuss the formal properties of the Old English demonstratives which distinguish number, gender, and Case features. This inflectional variety of forms allows the Old English demonstratives to be used independently and to show the anaphoric and discourse-linking properties of topics. Crucially, the same properties characterise also German and Dutch demonstratives that manifest Case and/or gender morphology overtly, which shows that the syntactic distribution of LIs and their morphological richness should be considered as intertwined. The above properties are then confronted with the determiner system in Early Middle English, whose forms undergo inflectional levelling producing the invariant ϸe/ðe form that loses its distributional independence and acquires the article status. The levelling process in question is argued to stimulate the shift of the [+ref/spec] feature from the formal to the semantic pole. This suggests that the Early Middle English ϸe form no longer counts as an appropriate anaphor in topic shift contexts owing to its indeterminacy of Case, gender, and φ-features, which means that it cannot satisfy the Full Interpretation requirement at the interfaces.

Morphology control of brushite prepared by aqueous solution synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Toshima

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD, CaHPO4·2H2O, also known as brushite, is one of the important bioceramics due to not only diseases factors such as kidney stone and plaque formation but also purpose as fluoride insolubilization material. It is used medicinally to supply calcium, and is of interest for its unique properties in biological and pathological mineralization. It is important to control the crystal morphology of brushite since its chemical reactivity depends strongly on its surface properties; thus, its morphology is a key issue for its applications as a functional material or precursor for other bioceramics. Here, we report the effects of the initial pH and the Ca and phosphate ion concentrations on the morphology of DCPD particles during aqueous solution synthesis. Crystal morphologies were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The morphology phase diagram of DCPD crystallization revealed that increasing the initial pH and/or ion concentration transformed DCPD morphology from petal-like into plate-like structures.

De novo protein structure generation from incomplete chemical shift assignments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen Yang [National Institutes of Health, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (United States); Vernon, Robert; Baker, David [University of Washington, Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (United States); Bax, Ad [National Institutes of Health, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (United States)], E-mail: bax@nih.gov

2009-02-15

NMR chemical shifts provide important local structural information for proteins. Consistent structure generation from NMR chemical shift data has recently become feasible for proteins with sizes of up to 130 residues, and such structures are of a quality comparable to those obtained with the standard NMR protocol. This study investigates the influence of the completeness of chemical shift assignments on structures generated from chemical shifts. The Chemical-Shift-Rosetta (CS-Rosetta) protocol was used for de novo protein structure generation with various degrees of completeness of the chemical shift assignment, simulated by omission of entries in the experimental chemical shift data previously used for the initial demonstration of the CS-Rosetta approach. In addition, a new CS-Rosetta protocol is described that improves robustness of the method for proteins with missing or erroneous NMR chemical shift input data. This strategy, which uses traditional Rosetta for pre-filtering of the fragment selection process, is demonstrated for two paramagnetic proteins and also for two proteins with solid-state NMR chemical shift assignments.

Healthy Diet And Reduction Of Chronic Disease Risks Of Night Shift Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferri, Giovanni M; Cavone, Domenica; Intranuovo, Graziana; Macinagrossa, Linda

2017-07-20

The large increase in epidemiological studies on night shift work is due to the important effects of night shift work on workers' health and psychophysical wellbeing. The short-term effects-insomnia, difficulties in managing work and private life, lower work performance, and more work and extra-work accidents-are easily studied. However, there are several long-term effects that are difficult to study because of the need for detailed exposure assessment and the long latency periods of these diseases. The aim was to collect epidemiologic evidence of diseases in night shift workers, describing their biological pathways and a set of dietary guidelines. This is a review on diet and health effects in night shift workers. Significant increases in the rate ratios and hazard ratios of different diseases were associated with modified eating behaviours and poor eating habits among night shift workers. Night shift work is a risk factor for disruption of the circadian rhythms and for some genetic deregulation because it produces the inversion of the sleep/wake cycle and modifies the alternation between activity and rest. A healthy diet and improved dietary practices, together with other factors, can reduce shift workers' chronic disease risk. The literature showed the importance of eating behaviour in order to prevent diseases in these workers; therefore, educational programmes are necessary to encourage several important lifestyle changes. The target of our future research will be the role of food components in some dietetic habits for the prevention of disease in night shift workers. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

The altered ecology of Lake Christina: A record of regime shifts, land-use change, and management from a temperate shallow lake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theissen, Kevin M.; Hobbs, William O.; Hobbs, Joy M. Ramstack; Zimmer, Kyle D.; Domine, Leah M.; Cotner, James B.; Sugita, Shinya

2012-01-01

We collected two sediment cores and modern submerged aquatic plants and phytoplankton from two sub-basins of Lake Christina, a large shallow lake in west-central Minnesota, and used stable isotopic and elemental proxies from sedimentary organic matter to explore questions about the pre- and post-settlement ecology of the lake. The two morphologically distinct sub-basins vary in their sensitivities to internal and external perturbations offering different paleoecological information. The record from the shallower and much larger western sub-basin reflects its strong response to internal processes, while the smaller and deeper eastern sub-basin record primarily reflects external processes including important post-settlement land-use changes in the area. A significant increase in organic carbon accumulation (3–4 times pre-settlement rates) and long-term trends in δ 13 C, organic carbon to nitrogen ratios (C/N), and biogenic silica concentrations shows that primary production has increased and the lake has become increasingly phytoplankton-dominated in the post-settlement period. Significant shifts in δ 15 N values reflect land-clearing and agricultural practices in the region and support the idea that nutrient inputs have played an important role in triggering changes in the trophic status of the lake. Our examination of hydroclimatic data for the region over the last century suggests that natural forcings on lake ecology have diminished in their importance as human management of the lake increased in the mid-1900s. In the last 50 years, three chemical biomanipulations have temporarily shifted the lake from the turbid, algal-dominated condition into a desired clear water regime. Two of our proxies (δ 13 C and BSi) measured from the higher resolution eastern basin record responded significantly to these known regime shifts. -- Highlights: ► We explore the sediment geochemistry from Lake Christina's two distinct sub-basins. ► Our geochemical data show

PSYCHE Pure Shift NMR Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Foroozandeh, Mohammadali; Morris, Gareth; Nilsson, Mathias

2018-03-13

Broadband homodecoupling techniques in NMR, also known as "pure shift" methods, aim to enhance spectral resolution by suppressing the effects of homonuclear coupling interactions to turn multiplet signals into singlets. Such techniques typically work by selecting a subset of "active" nuclear spins to observe, and selectively inverting the remaining, "passive", spins to reverse the effects of coupling. Pure Shift Yielded by Chirp Excitation (PSYCHE) is one such method; it is relatively recent, but has already been successfully implemented in a range of different NMR experiments. Paradoxically, PSYCHE is one of the trickiest of pure shift NMR techniques to understand but one of the easiest to use. Here we offer some insights into theoretical and practical aspects of the method, and into the effects and importance of the experimental parameters. Some recent improvements that enhance the spectral purity of PSYCHE spectra will be presented, and some experimental frameworks including examples in 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, for the implementation of PSYCHE will be introduced. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Written Language Shift among Norwegian Youth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamil ÖZERK

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In Norway there are two written Norwegian languages, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Of these two written languages Bokmål is being used by the majority of the people, and Bokmål has the highest prestige in the society. This article is about the shift of written language from Nynorsk to Bokmål among young people in a traditional Nynorsk district in the country. Drawing on empirical data we conclude that many adolescents are experiencing written language shift. We discuss various reasons for this phenomenon in the linguistic landscape of Norway. In our discussions we emphasize the importance of the school with regard to language maintenance and language revitalization. We call for a new language policy in the educational system that can prevent language shift. Having several dialects and two officially written forms of Norwegian in the country, creates a special linguistic landscape in Norway. Despite the fact that the Norwegian language situation is in several ways unique, it’s done very little research on how the existing policy works in practice. Our research reveals that the existing language policy and practice in the school system is not powerful enough to prevent language shift and language decay among the youngsters. The school system functions like a fabric for language shift.

Growth morphology of zinc tris(thiourea) sulphate crystals

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The growth morphology of crystals of zinc tris(thiourea) sulphate (ZTS) is investigated experimentally, and computed using the Hartman–Perdok approach. Attachment energies of the observed habit faces are calculated for determining their relative morphological importance. A computer code is developed for carrying out ...

Observed gas hydrate morphologies in marine sediment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holland, M.; Schultheiss, P.; Roberts, J.; Druce, M. [Geotek Ltd., Daventry, Northamptonshire (United Kingdom)

2008-07-01

The morphology of gas hydrate in marine sediments determines the basic physical properties of the sediment-hydrate matrix and provides information regarding the formation of gas hydrate deposits, and the nature of the disruption that will occur on dissociation. Small-scale morphology is useful in estimating the concentrations of gas hydrate from geophysical data. It is also important for predicting their response to climate change or commercial production. Many remote techniques for gas hydrate detection and quantification depend on hydrate morphology. In this study, morphology of gas hydrate was examined in HYACINTH pressure cores from recent seagoing expeditions. Visual and infrared observations from non-pressurized cores were also used. The expeditions and pressure core analysis were described in detail. This paper described the difference between two types of gas hydrate morphologies, notably pore-filling and grain-displacing. Last, the paper addressed the impact of hydrate morphology. It was concluded that a detailed morphology of gas hydrate is an essential component for a full understanding of the past, present, and future of any gas hydrate environment. 14 refs., 4 figs.

Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers

Science.gov (United States)

Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Bakker, Marije F; van der Beek, Allard J; Proper, Karin I

2017-01-01

Objectives Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure–response relationships for frequency of night shifts and years of shift work regarding non-occupational PA levels were studied. Methods Data of 5980 non-shift workers and 532 shift workers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) were used in these cross-sectional analyses. Time spent (hours/week) in different PA types (walking/cycling/exercise/chores) and intensities (moderate/vigorous) were calculated based on self-reported PA. Furthermore, sports were operationalised as: playing sports (no/yes), individual versus non-individual sports, and non-vigorous-intensity versus vigorous-intensity sports. PA levels were compared between shift workers and non-shift workers using Generalized Estimating Equations and logistic regression. Results Shift workers reported spending more time walking than non-shift workers (B=2.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.4)), but shift work was not associated with other PA types and any of the sports activities. Shift workers who worked 1–4 night shifts/month (B=2.4 (95% CI 0.6 to 4.3)) and ≥5 night shifts/month (B=3.7 (95% CI 1.8 to 5.6)) spent more time walking than non-shift workers. No exposure–response relationships were found between years of shift work and PA levels. Conclusions Shift workers spent more time walking than non-shift workers, but we observed no differences in other non-occupational PA levels. To better understand if and how PA plays a role in the negative health consequences of shift work, our findings need to be confirmed in future studies. PMID:27872151

Phase gradient algorithm based on co-axis two-step phase-shifting interferometry and its application

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yawei; Zhu, Qiong; Xu, Yuanyuan; Xin, Zhiduo; Liu, Jingye

2017-12-01

A phase gradient method based on co-axis two-step phase-shifting interferometry, is used to reveal the detailed information of a specimen. In this method, the phase gradient distribution can only be obtained by calculating both the first-order derivative and the radial Hilbert transformation of the intensity difference between two phase-shifted interferograms. The feasibility and accuracy of this method were fully verified by the simulation results for a polystyrene sphere and a red blood cell. The empirical results demonstrated that phase gradient is sensitive to changes in the refractive index and morphology. Because phase retrieval and tedious phase unwrapping are not required, the calculation speed is faster. In addition, co-axis interferometry has high spatial resolution.

Balancing virtual land imports by a shift in the diet. Using a land balance approach to assess the sustainability of food consumption. Germany as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Toni; Christen, Olaf; Semler, Edmund; Jahreis, Gerhard; Voget-Kleschin, Lieske; Schrode, Alexander; Artmann, Martina

2014-03-01

Nutrition is considered as one of the main drivers of global environmental change. Dietary patterns in particular, embedded in the international trade of foods and other biomass based commodities, determine the dimension of beneficial or harmful environmental impacts of the agri-food sector - both domestically and abroad. In this study we analysed different dietary scenarios from a virtual land flow perspective, based on representative consumption data for Germany in the years 2006 and 1985-89. Further we identified the consumer groups that would have to adapt most to balance Germany's virtual land import and analysed the impact reduced food wastage. For the study, official data sets concerning production, trade and consumption were used. We derived land use data from environmentally extended input-output data sets and FAO statistics. The conversion of agricultural raw products to consumed commodities is based on official processing and composition data. Subgroup-specific intake data from the last representative National Nutrition Survey in Germany were used. We analysed 42 commodities, aggregated into 23 product groups, seven land use types and six nutrition scenarios. The results show that in the baseline scenario the average nutrition in the year 2006 leads to a virtual land import of 707m(2)p(-1)a(-1), which represents 30% of the total nutrition-induced land demand of 2365m(2)p(-1)a(-1). On the other hand, the German agri-food sector exports virtual land, in the form of commodities, equivalent to 262m(2)p(-1)a(-1). In this paper we calculate that the resulting net import of virtual land could be balanced by way of a shift to an officially recommended diet and a reduction in the consumption of stimulants (cocoa, coffee, green/black tea, wine). A shift to an ovo-lacto-vegetarian or vegan diet would even lead to a positive virtual land balance (even with maintained consumption of stimulants). Moreover, we demonstrate that a shift in the average diet profile could

Reduced Tolerance to Night Shift in Chronic Shift Workers: Insight From Fractal Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peng; Morris, Christopher J; Patxot, Melissa; Yugay, Tatiana; Mistretta, Joseph; Purvis, Taylor E; Scheer, Frank A J L; Hu, Kun

2017-07-01

Healthy physiology is characterized by fractal regulation (FR) that generates similar structures in the fluctuations of physiological outputs at different time scales. Perturbed FR is associated with aging and age-related pathological conditions. Shift work, involving repeated and chronic exposure to misaligned environmental and behavioral cycles, disrupts circadian coordination. We tested whether night shifts perturb FR in motor activity and whether night shifts affect FR in chronic shift workers and non-shift workers differently. We studied 13 chronic shift workers and 14 non-shift workers as controls using both field and in-laboratory experiments. In the in-laboratory study, simulated night shifts were used to induce a misalignment between the endogenous circadian pacemaker and the sleep-wake cycles (ie, circadian misalignment) while environmental conditions and food intake were controlled. In the field study, we found that FR was robust in controls but broke down in shift workers during night shifts, leading to more random activity fluctuations as observed in patients with dementia. The night shift effect was present even 2 days after ending night shifts. The in-laboratory study confirmed that night shifts perturbed FR in chronic shift workers and showed that FR in controls was more resilience to the circadian misalignment. Moreover, FR during real and simulated night shifts was more perturbed in those who started shift work at older ages. Chronic shift work causes night shift intolerance, which is probably linked to the degraded plasticity of the circadian control system. © Sleep Research Society 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Nuclear polarization contribution to the Lamb-shift in heavy atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plunien, G.; Mueller, B.; Greiner, W.

1988-08-01

The energy shift of the 1s 1/2 -state in 238 92 U due to virtual excitation of nuclear rotational modes is shown to be considerable correction for atomic high precision experiments. In contrast to this nuclear polarization effects are of minor importance for Lamb-shift studies in 208 82 Pb. (orig.)

Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Bakker, Marije F; van der Beek, Allard J; Proper, Karin I

2017-05-01

Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure-response relationships for frequency of night shifts and years of shift work regarding non-occupational PA levels were studied. Data of 5980 non-shift workers and 532 shift workers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) were used in these cross-sectional analyses. Time spent (hours/week) in different PA types (walking/cycling/exercise/chores) and intensities (moderate/vigorous) were calculated based on self-reported PA. Furthermore, sports were operationalised as: playing sports (no/yes), individual versus non-individual sports, and non-vigorous-intensity versus vigorous-intensity sports. PA levels were compared between shift workers and non-shift workers using Generalized Estimating Equations and logistic regression. Shift workers reported spending more time walking than non-shift workers (B=2.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.4)), but shift work was not associated with other PA types and any of the sports activities. Shift workers who worked 1-4 night shifts/month (B=2.4 (95% CI 0.6 to 4.3)) and ≥5 night shifts/month (B=3.7 (95% CI 1.8 to 5.6)) spent more time walking than non-shift workers. No exposure-response relationships were found between years of shift work and PA levels. Shift workers spent more time walking than non-shift workers, but we observed no differences in other non-occupational PA levels. To better understand if and how PA plays a role in the negative health consequences of shift work, our findings need to be confirmed in future studies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Morphological evolution of Bi2Se3 nanocrystalline materials synthesized by microwave assisted solvothermal method

Science.gov (United States)

Bera, Sumit; Behera, P.; Mishra, A. K.; Krishnan, M.; Patidar, M. M.; Singh, D.; Gangrade, M.; Venkatesh, R.; Deshpande, U. P.; Phase, D. M.; Ganesan, V.

2018-04-01

Structural, morphological and spectroscopic properties of Bi2Se3 nanoparticles synthesized by microwave assisted solvothermal method were investigated systematically. A controlled synthesis of different morphologies by a small variation in synthesis procedure is demonstrated. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of single phase. Crystallite and particle size reductions were studied with XRD and AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy). Different morphologies such as hexagonal nanoflakes with cross section of around˜6µm, nanoflower and octahedral agglomerated crystals of nearly ˜60 nm size have been observed in scanning electron microscope while varying the microwave assisted synthesis procedures. A significant blue shift observed in diffuse reflectance spectroscopy evidences the energy gap tuning as a result of morphological evolution. The difference in morphology observed in this three fast, facile and scalable synthesis is advantageous for tuning the thermoelectric figure of merit and for probing the surface states of these topological insulators. Low temperature resistivity remains similar for all three variants depicting a 2D character as evidenced by a -lnT term of localization.

Impacts of shift work on sleep and circadian rhythms.

Science.gov (United States)

Boivin, D B; Boudreau, P

2014-10-01

Shift work comprises work schedules that extend beyond the typical "nine-to-five" workday, wherein schedules often comprise early work start, compressed work weeks with 12-hour shifts, and night work. According to recent American and European surveys, between 15 and 30% of adult workers are engaged in some type of shift work, with 19% of the European population reportedly working at least 2 hours between 22:00 and 05:00. The 2005 International Classification of Sleep Disorders estimates that a shift work sleep disorder can be found in 2-5% of workers. This disorder is characterized by excessive sleepiness and/or sleep disruption for at least one month in relation with the atypical work schedule. Individual tolerance to shift work remains a complex problem that is affected by the number of consecutive work hours and shifts, the rest periods, and the predictability of work schedules. Sleepiness usually occurs during night shifts and is maximal at the end of the night. Impaired vigilance and performance occur around times of increased sleepiness and can seriously compromise workers' health and safety. Indeed, workers suffering from a shift work sleep-wake disorder can fall asleep involuntarily at work or while driving back home after a night shift. Working on atypical shifts has important socioeconomic impacts as it leads to an increased risk of accidents, workers' impairment and danger to public safety, especially at night. The aim of the present review is to review the circadian and sleep-wake disturbances associated with shift work as well as their medical impacts. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier SAS.

Dark refraction shift with allowance for astigmatism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.D.H. Gillan

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To show that the dark refraction shift (dark focus is a more complicated phenomenon than implied when presented as spherical. Methods: Fifty autorefractor measurements of refractive state of the right eye were obtained in light  and  dark  conditions.  Multivariate  methods were used to analyze the data and stereo-pair scat-ter plots, polar meridional profiles and other means of presenting results are used to show important characteristics of the dark refraction shift. Results: The complexity of the dark refrac-tion shift is indicated by stereo-pair scatter plots showing the amount of stigmatic and antistigmatic variation that occurs in light and dark conditions. The mean dark refraction shift is presented in a complete manner including all three components of refractive state. The greater variance and covari-ance under dark conditions is clearly shown by the term-by-term dark-light variance-covariance ratio and polar profiles  of variance and covariance.Conclusions: The  dark  refraction  shift  is  a more complicated phenomenon than implied by representations as purely spherical in nature.

Staffing, overtime, and shift scheduling project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, P.M.

1989-01-01

Recent events at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant have demonstrated the need to establish a quantifiable basis for assessing the safety significance of long work hours on nuclear power plant operators. The incidents at TMI-2, Chernobyl, and Bhopal, which all occurred during the late evening/night shift, further highlight the importance of the relationship between shift scheduling and performance. The objective of this project is to estimate, using statistical analysis on data from the nuclear industry, the effects on safety of staffing levels, overtime, and shift scheduling for operators and maintenance personnel. Regarding staffing levels, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently has no explicit regulation concerning the minimum acceptable levels of staffing in a plant that has an operating license. The NRC has no systematic method for collecting data on the number of licensed operators on the operating crews. In 1982 the NRC recommended that plants write into their technical specifications a model policy on overtime. Currently, 77 nuclear power plant units have the model policy or a modification of it written into their technical specifications; 33 units have no policy on overtime. The model policy sets limits on overtime for safety related personnel, although these limits can be exceeded with plant manger approval. The US nuclear power industry has three types of shift schedules: (1) forward-rotating 8-hour/day shift schedules, (2) backward-rotating 8-hour/day schedules, and (3) 12-hour/day schedules

Blue and red shifted temperature dependence of implicit phonon shifts in graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Sarita; Jindal, V. K.

2017-07-01

We have calculated the implicit shift for various modes of frequency in a pure graphene sheet. Thermal expansion and Grüneisen parameter which are required for implicit shift calculation have already been studied and reported. For this calculation, phonon frequencies are obtained using force constants derived from dynamical matrix calculated using VASP code where the density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) is used in interface with phonopy software. The implicit phonon shift shows an unusual behavior as compared to the bulk materials. The frequency shift is large negative (red shift) for ZA and ZO modes and the value of negative shift increases with increase in temperature. On the other hand, blue shift arises for all other longitudinal and transverse modes with a similar trend of increase with increase in temperature. The q dependence of phonon shifts has also been studied. Such simultaneous red and blue shifts in transverse or out plane modes and surface modes, respectively leads to speculation of surface softening in out of plane direction in preference to surface melting.

Asymmetric PS-block-(PS-co-PB)-block-PS block copolymers: morphology formation and deformation behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adhikari, Rameshwar; Huy, Trinh An; Buschnakowski, Matthias; Michler, Goerg H; Knoll, Konrad

2004-01-01

Morphology formation and deformation behaviour of asymmetric styrene/butadiene triblock copolymers (total polystyrene (PS) content ∼70%) consisting of PS outer blocks held apart by a styrene-co-butadiene random copolymer block (PS-co-PB) each were investigated. The techniques used were differential scanning calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy, uniaxial tensile testing and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A significant shift of the phase behaviour relative to that of a neat symmetric triblock copolymer was observed, which can be attributed to the asymmetric architecture and the presence of PS-co-PB as a soft block. The mechanical properties and the microdeformation phenomena were mainly controlled by the nature of their solid-state morphology. Independent of morphology type, the soft phase was found to deform to a significantly higher degree of orientation when compared with the hard phase

Morphology and growth behavior of O_2-free chemical bath deposited ZnS thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jet Meitzner, K.; Tillotson, Brock M.; Siedschlag, Amanda T.; Moore, Frederick G.; Kevan, Stephen D.; Richmond, Geraldine L.

2015-01-01

We investigate the role of reagent concentrations and ambient O_2 on the morphology and growth behavior of ZnS thin films grown with the chemical bath deposition method. We investigate the role of substrate on film morphology, and find significant differences between films deposited on SiO_2 versus Si. The films are also sensitive to dissolved O_2 in the bath, as it causes a layer of SiO_2 to form at the ZnS/Si interface during deposition. Degassing of solutions and an N_2 atmosphere are effective to minimize this oxidation, allowing deposition of ZnS films directly onto Si. Under these conditions, we examine film properties as they relate to reagent bath concentrations. As the reagent concentrations are decreased, both the film roughness and growth rate decrease linearly. We also observe deformation and shifting of X-ray diffraction peaks that increases with decreasing reagent concentrations. The shifts are characteristic of lattice compression (caused by the substitution of oxygen for sulfur), and the deformation is characteristic of distortion of the lattice near crystal grain interfaces (caused by tensile stress from interatomic forces between neighboring crystal grains). At the weakest concentrations, the low roughness suggests a mixed growth mode in which both clusters and individual ZnS nanocrystallites contribute to film growth. With increasing reagent concentrations, the growth mode shifts and becomes dominated by deposition of clusters. - Highlights: • We deposit ZnS thin films by chemical bath deposition in an O_2-free environment. • The O_2-free environment is effective to minimize oxidation of the Si substrate. • The dominant growth mechanism changes with reagent concentrations. • Film morphology and composition change with reagent concentrations. • X-ray diffraction reveals tensile stress between ZnS crystal grains.

H‐shaped double graft copolymers: Effect of molecular architecture on morphology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chin; Gido, Samuel P.; Poulos, Yiannis; Hadjichristidis, Nikos; Tan, Nora Beck; Trevino, Samuel F.; Mays, Jimmy W.

1997-01-01

The morphologies formed by block copolymers with a double‐graft, H or S 2 IS 2 architecture were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Here S and I represent blocks of polystyrene and polyisoprene, respectively. These materials were synthesized using anionic polymerization and chlorosilane linking, and they were characterized using size exclusion chromatography, membrane osmometry, and low‐angle laser light scattering. This characterization work confirmed the desired molecular architectures and narrow molecular weight distributions. The results of morphological characterization indicate that one can understand complex grafting architectures by decomposing them into fundamental building blocks, which are taken as the component single graft structures out of which the larger structure is constructed. We propose rules for dividing structures into these components, which we call constituting block copolymers. The morphological behavior of the more complex architecture is approximately equivalent to that of the constituting block copolymer structure. Through the use of the constituting block copolymers we map the experimentally determined morphological behavior of the H architecture onto the morphology diagram calculated by Milner for miktoarm stars [Macromolecules 27, 2333 (1994)]. Mapping the H architecture onto the morphology diagram in this way produces general agreement between experimental results and the model. However, it is found that in the case of the H architecture, as well as in previously published results for I 2 S and I 3 S miktoarm star materials, that the morphology diagram slightly overestimates the amount of shift in the order‐order transition lines produced by asymmetry in molecular architecture. This overestimation in the theory is attribute to a junction point localization effect which was neglected in Milner’s calculation

Advantages and Limitations of Current Imaging Techniques for Characterizing Liposome Morphology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annie-Louise Robson

2018-02-01

Full Text Available There are currently a number of imaging techniques available for evaluating the morphology of liposomes and other nanoparticles, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when interpreting data. Controlling and validating the morphology of nanoparticles is of key importance for the effective clinical translation of liposomal formulations. There are a number of physical characteristics of liposomes that determine their in vivo behavior, including size, surface characteristics, lamellarity, and homogeneity. Despite the great importance of the morphology of nanoparticles, it is generally not well-characterized and is difficult to control. Appropriate imaging techniques provide important details regarding the morphological characteristics of nanoparticles, and should be used in conjunction with other methods to assess physicochemical parameters. In this review, we will discuss the advantages and limitations of available imaging techniques used to evaluate liposomal formulations.

OpenShift Workshop

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Rodriguez Peon, Alberto

2017-01-01

Workshop to introduce developers to the OpenShift platform available at CERN. Several use cases will be shown, including deploying an existing application into OpenShift. We expect attendees to realize about OpenShift features and general architecture of the service.

Decoupled diversification dynamics of feeding morphology following a major functional innovation in marine butterflyfishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Konow, Nicolai; Price, Samantha; Abom, Richard; Bellwood, David; Wainwright, Peter

2017-08-16

The diversity of fishes on coral reefs is influenced by the evolution of feeding innovations. For instance, the evolution of an intramandibular jaw joint has aided shifts to corallivory in Chaetodon butterflyfishes following their Miocene colonization of coral reefs. Today, over half of all Chaetodon species consume coral, easily the largest concentration of corallivores in any reef fish family. In contrast with Chaetodon , other chaetodontids, including the long-jawed bannerfishes, remain less intimately associated with coral and mainly consume other invertebrate prey. Here, we test (i) if intramandibular joint (IMJ) evolution in Chaetodon has accelerated feeding morphological diversification, and (ii) if cranial and post-cranial traits were affected similarly. We measured 19 cranial functional morphological traits, gut length and body elongation for 33 Indo-Pacific species. Comparisons of Brownian motion rate parameters revealed that cranial diversification was about four times slower in Chaetodon butterflyfishes with the IMJ than in other chaetodontids. However, the rate of gut length evolution was significantly faster in Chaetodon , with no group-differences for body elongation. The contrasting patterns of cranial and post-cranial morphological evolution stress the importance of comprehensive datasets in ecomorphology. The IMJ appears to enhance coral feeding ability in Chaetodon and represents a design breakthrough that facilitates this trophic strategy. Meanwhile, variation in gut anatomy probably reflects diversity in how coral tissues are procured and assimilated. Bannerfishes, by contrast, retain a relatively unspecialized gut for processing invertebrate prey, but have evolved some of the most extreme cranial mechanical innovations among bony fishes for procuring elusive prey. © 2017 The Author(s).

Contributors to shift work tolerance in South Korean nurses working rotating shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Hye-Sun; Lee, Bokim

2015-05-01

Shift workers have rapidly increased in South Korea; however, there is no published research exploring shift work tolerance among South Korean workers. This study aimed to investigate factors related to shift work tolerance in South Korean nurses. The sample comprised of 660 nurses who worked shifts in a large hospital in South Korea. A structured questionnaire included following comprehensive variables: demographic (age and number of children), individual (morningness and self-esteem), psychosocial (social support and job stress), lifestyle (alcohol consumption, physical activity, and BMI), and working condition factors (number of night shifts and working hours). Shift work tolerance was measured in terms of insomnia, fatigue, and depression. The results of hierarchical regressions indicate that all variables, except for three, number of children, BMI, and working hours, were related to at least one of the symptoms associated with shift work tolerance. Based on these results, we offer some practical implications to help improve shift work tolerance of workers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global regime shift dynamics of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, S. D.; Scheibling, R. E.; Rassweiler, A.; Johnson, C. R.; Shears, N.; Connell, S. D.; Salomon, A. K.; Norderhaug, K. M.; Pérez-Matus, A.; Hernández, J. C.; Clemente, S.; Blamey, L. K.; Hereu, B.; Ballesteros, E.; Sala, E.; Garrabou, J.; Cebrian, E.; Zabala, M.; Fujita, D.; Johnson, L. E.

2015-01-01

A pronounced, widespread and persistent regime shift among marine ecosystems is observable on temperate rocky reefs as a result of sea urchin overgrazing. Here, we empirically define regime-shift dynamics for this grazing system which transitions between productive macroalgal beds and impoverished urchin barrens. Catastrophic in nature, urchin overgrazing in a well-studied Australian system demonstrates a discontinuous regime shift, which is of particular management concern as recovery of desirable macroalgal beds requires reducing grazers to well below the initial threshold of overgrazing. Generality of this regime-shift dynamic is explored across 13 rocky reef systems (spanning 11 different regions from both hemispheres) by compiling available survey data (totalling 10 901 quadrats surveyed in situ) plus experimental regime-shift responses (observed during a total of 57 in situ manipulations). The emergent and globally coherent pattern shows urchin grazing to cause a discontinuous ‘catastrophic’ regime shift, with hysteresis effect of approximately one order of magnitude in urchin biomass between critical thresholds of overgrazing and recovery. Different life-history traits appear to create asymmetry in the pace of overgrazing versus recovery. Once shifted, strong feedback mechanisms provide resilience for each alternative state thus defining the catastrophic nature of this regime shift. Importantly, human-derived stressors can act to erode resilience of desirable macroalgal beds while strengthening resilience of urchin barrens, thus exacerbating the risk, spatial extent and irreversibility of an unwanted regime shift for marine ecosystems.

Integration of morphological data sets for phylogenetic analysis of Amniota: the importance of integumentary characters and increased taxonomic sampling.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Robert V

2005-08-01

Several mutually exclusive hypotheses have been advanced to explain the phylogenetic position of turtles among amniotes. Traditional morphology-based analyses place turtles among extinct anapsids (reptiles with a solid skull roof), whereas more recent studies of both morphological and molecular data support an origin of turtles from within Diapsida (reptiles with a doubly fenestrated skull roof). Evaluation of these conflicting hypotheses has been hampered by nonoverlapping taxonomic samples and the exclusion of significant taxa from published analyses. Furthermore, although data from soft tissues and anatomical systems such as the integument may be particularly relevant to this problem, they are often excluded from large-scale analyses of morphological systematics. Here, conflicting hypotheses of turtle relationships are tested by (1) combining published data into a supermatrix of morphological characters to address issues of character conflict and missing data; (2) increasing taxonomic sampling by more than doubling the number of operational taxonomic units to test internal relationships within suprageneric ingroup taxa; and (3) increasing character sampling by approximately 25% by adding new data on the osteology and histology of the integument, an anatomical system that has been historically underrepresented in morphological systematics. The morphological data set assembled here represents the largest yet compiled for Amniota. Reevaluation of character data from prior studies of amniote phylogeny favors the hypothesis that turtles indeed have diapsid affinities. Addition of new ingroup taxa alone leads to a decrease in overall phylogenetic resolution, indicating that existing characters used for amniote phylogeny are insufficient to explain the evolution of more highly nested taxa. Incorporation of new data from the soft and osseous components of the integument, however, helps resolve relationships among both basal and highly nested amniote taxa. Analysis of a

Implementing OpenShift

CERN Document Server

Miller, Adam

2013-01-01

A standard tutorial-based approach to using OpenShift and deploying custom or pre-built web applications to the OpenShift Online cloud.This book is for software developers and DevOps alike who are interested in learning how to use the OpenShift Platform-as-a-Service for developing and deploying applications, how the environment works on the back end, and how to deploy their very own open source Platform-as-a-Service based on the upstream OpenShift Origin project.

The Atmospheric Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds Through Hydrogen Shift Reactions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knap, Hasse Christian

a radical is denoted as a H-shift reaction. Quantum chemical calculations were carried out to investigate the potential energy surface of the H-shift reactions and the subsequent decomposition pathways. The transition state theory including the Eckart quantum tunneling correction have been used to calculate...... the reaction rate constants of the H-shift reactions. The autoxidation of volatile organic compounds is an important oxidation mechanism that produces secondary organic aerosols (SOA) and recycles hydroxyl (OH) radicals. The autoxidation cycle produces a second generation peroxy radical (OOQOOH) through...... a series of H-shift reactions and O2 attachments. I have investigated the H-shift reactions in two OOQOOH radicals (hydroperoxy peroxy radicals and hydroperoxy acyl peroxy radicals). The H-shift reaction rate constants have been compared with the bimolecular reaction rate constants of the peroxy radicals...

The importance of geomorphic and hydrologic factors in shaping the sensitivity of alpine/subalpine lake volumes to shifts in climate

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, J.; Liefert, D. T.; Shuman, B. N.; Befus, K. M.; Williams, D. G.; Kraushaar, B.

2017-12-01

Alpine and subalpine lakes are important components of the hydrologic cycle in mountain ecosystems. These lakes are also highly sensitive to small shifts in temperature and precipitation. Mountain lake volumes and their contributions to mountain hydrology may change in response to even minor declines in snowpack or increases in temperature. However, it is still not clear to what degree non-climatic factors, such as geomorphic setting and lake geometry, play in shaping the sensitivity of high elevation lakes to climate change. We investigated the importance of lake geometry and groundwater connectivity to mountain lakes in the Snowy Range, Wyoming using a combination of hydrophysical and hydrochemical methods, including stable water isotopes, to better understand the role these factors play in controlling lake volume. Water isotope values in open lakes were less sensitive to evaporation compared to those in closed basin lakes. Lake geometry played an important role, with wider, shallower lakes being more sensitive to evaporation over time. Groundwater contributions appear to play only a minor role in buffering volumetric changes to lakes over the growing season. These results confirm that mountain lakes are sensitive to climate factors, but also highlight a significant amount of variability in that sensitivity. This research has implications for water resource managers concerned with downstream water quantity and quality from mountain ecosystems, biologists interested in maintaining aquatic biodiversity, and paleoclimatologists interested in using lake sedimentary information to infer past climate regimes.

Context-aware modeling of neuronal morphologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin eTorben-Nielsen

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Neuronal morphologies are pivotal for brain functioning: physical overlap between dendrites and axons constrain the circuit topology, and the precise shape and composition of dendrites determine the integration of inputs to produce an output signal. At the same time, morphologies are highly diverse and variant. The variance, presumably, originates from neurons developing in a densely packed brain substrate where they interact (e.g., repulsion or attraction with other actors in this substrate. However, when studying neurons their context is never part of the analysis and they are treated as if they existed in isolation.Here we argue that to fully understand neuronal morphology and its variance it is important to consider neurons in relation to each other and to other actors in the surrounding brain substrate, i.e., their context. We propose a context-aware computational framework, NeuroMaC, in which large numbers of neurons can be grown simultaneously according to growth rules expressed in terms of interactions between the developing neuron and the surrounding brain substrate.As a proof of principle, we demonstrate that by using NeuroMaC we can generate accurate virtual morphologies of distinct classes both in isolation and as part of neuronal forests. Accuracy is validated against population statistics of experimentally reconstructed morphologies. We show that context-aware generation of neurons can explain characteristics of variation. Indeed, plausible variation is an inherent property of the morphologies generated by context-aware rules. We speculate about the applicability of this framework to investigate morphologies and circuits, to classify healthy and pathological morphologies, and to generate large quantities of morphologies for large-scale modeling.

The STAR ESL, electronic shift and handover log

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hajdu, L; Lauret, J, E-mail: lbhajdu@bnl.gov

2008-07-01

Keeping a clear and accurate experiment log is important for any scientific experiment. The concept is certainly not new but keeping accurate while useful records for a Nuclear Physics experiment such as the Solenoidal Tracker at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (STAR at RHIC) is not a priori a simple matter - STAR operates 24 hours a day for six months out of the year with more than 24 shift crews operating 16 different subsystems (some located remotely). To meet the challenge of not only logging the information but passing it in a concise manner from one shift to another, the STAR experiment has designed an Electronic Shift-Log (ESL), a flexible application written in Java and interfacing with the Data Acquisition tools, Quality Assurance reporting, Online shift crews or remote personnel and experts as well as including features such as shift change-over (or handover) forms, tailored to the sub-group of interest. We will present an overview of STAR's Electronic Log, a system that is clear, reliable, safe, consistent, easy to use and globally viewable in real time with secure connections.

Morphologic variations of maxillary molars palatal root and the importance of its knowledge for endodontic practice: a case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarparo, Roberta Kochenborger; Pereira, Leticia; Moro, Diana; Grundling, Grasiela; Gomes, Maximiliano; Grecca, Fabiana Soares

2011-03-01

The present report describes and discusses root canal variations in the internal morphology of maxillary molars. Dental internal anatomy is directly related to all the technical stages of the endodontic treatment. Even though, in some situations a typical anatomical characteristics can be faced, and the professional should be able to identify them. This clinical report describes five cases with different pulpar and periapical diagnostics where the endodontic treatment was performed, in which during the treatment the unusual occurrence of two or three canals in the palatal root 'or even two distinct palatal roots' of first and second maxillary molars, were described and important details for achieving treatment success were discussed. The knowledge of tooth internal anatomy must be considered during clinical and radiographic examinations. This should be valued not only to find atypical canals but also to enable calcified canals cleaning and shaping, once they are frequently omitted during endodontic therapy. Anatomic variations can occur in any tooth, and palatal roots of maxillary first and second molars are no exception. The complexity of the root canal system and the importance of identifying its internal anatomy for planning endodontic treatment increase the chances of success.

The correlation between urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and sperm quality in infertile men and rotating shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, Águeda; Espino, Javier; Bejarano, Ignacio; Lozano, Graciela M; Monllor, Fabián; García, Juan F; Pariente, José A; Rodríguez, Ana B

2010-11-08

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that modulates a wide range of neuroendocrine functions. However, excessive circulating serotonin levels may induce harmful effects in the male reproductive system. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the levels of urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIIA), a major serotonin metabolite, correlate with different classical seminal parameters. Human ejaculates were obtained from 40 men attending infertility counselling and rotating shift workers by masturbation after 4-5 days of abstinence. Urinary 5- HIIA concentration was quantified by using a commercial ELISA kit. Forward motility was assessed by a computer-aided semen analysis (CASA) system. Sperm concentration was determined using the haemocytometer method. Sperm morphology was evaluated after Diff-Quik staining, while sperm vitality was estimated after Eosin-Nigrosin vital staining. Our results show that urinary 5-HIIA levels obtained from a set of 20 volunteers negatively correlated with sperm concentration, forward motility, morphology normal range and sperm vitality. On the other hand, we checked the relationship between male infertility and urinary 5-HIIA levels in 20 night shift workers. Thus, urinary 5-HIIA levels obtained from 10 recently-proven fathers were significantly lower than those found in 10 infertile males. Additionally, samples from recent fathers exhibited higher sperm concentration, as well as better forward motility and normal morphology rate. In the light of our findings, we concluded that high serotonin levels, indirectly measured as urinary 5-HIIA levels, appear to play a role as an infertility determinant in male subjects.

Night-shift work is associated with increased pain perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Matre, Dagfinn; Knardahl, Stein; Nilsen, Kristian Bernhard

2017-05-01

Objectives The aim of the present study was to determine whether shift workers exhibit increased perception of experimentally induced pain after working night shifts. Methods The study was a paired cross-over design with two sleep conditions, after at least two nights of habitual sleep and after two consecutive night shifts at work. Fifty-three nurses in rotating shift work participated. The sensitivity to electrically induced pain, heat pain, cold pain, pressure pain and pain inhibition was determined experimentally in each sleep condition. Sleepiness and vigilance were also assessed. Results Night-shift work (NSW) increased the sensitivity to electrically induced pain and heat pain (P≤0.001). Relative to habitual sleep, electrically induced pain increased by 22.3% and heat pain increased by 26.5%. The sensitivity to cold and pressure pain did not change, changes relative to habitual sleep was 0.5). Pain inhibition was 66.9% stronger after NSW versus after habitual sleep (Peffect sizes and may be an important marker for studies comparing the physiological effects of different shift work schedules. Explanations for the differential effect on different pain modalities should be a focus for future studies.

The importance of spinning speed in fabrication of spin-coated organic thin film transistors: Film morphology and field effect mobility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotsuki, Kenji; Tanaka, Hiroshige; Obata, Seiji; Stauss, Sven; Terashima, Kazuo; Saiki, Koichiro

2014-01-01

We have investigated the film morphology and the field effect mobility of 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8-BTBT) thin films which were formed by spin coating on the SiO 2 substrate with solution-processed graphene electrodes. The domain size and the density of aggregates in the C8-BTBT film showed the same dependence on the spinning speed. These competitive two factors (domain size and density of aggregates) give an optimum spinning speed, at which the field effect mobility of C8-BTBT transistor showed a maximum (2.6 cm 2 /V s). This result indicates the importance of spinning speed in the fabrication of solution processed organic thin film transistors by spin coating.

SIMULATION OF CHARACTERISTICS OF DUAL-CORE PHASE SHIFTING TRANSFORMER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalinin L.P.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The role and importance of phase shifting transformers are increased as a result of the further development of integrated power systems. This gives the rise to new technical solutions which entails the necessity of comparison of new developments with existing. The article consider the technical characteristics of dual-core phase shifting transformer which later will be used as a basis for comparison with other competing options and assess of their technical efficiency.

Extreme morphologies of mantis shrimp larvae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolin Haug

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Larvae of stomatopods (mantis shrimps are generally categorized into four larval types: antizoea, pseudozoea (both representing early larval stages, alima and erichthus (the latter two representing later larval stages. These categories, however, do not reflect the existing morphological diversity of stomatopod larvae, which is largely unstudied. We describe here four previously unknown larval types with extreme morphologies. All specimens were found in the collections of the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen and were collected during the Danish Dana Expedition round the world 1928-30. These new larval types all represent erichthus-type larvae, especially differing in their shield morphologies. The shield morphology ranges from almost spherical to rather disc-like, with sometimes extremely elongated spines, but only a general systematic assignment of the larvae was possible. Further investigations of these larvae are crucial to understand their life habits and ecological impact, especially as stomatopod and other crustacean larvae might have a much more important position in the marine ecosystems than their corresponding adults.

Pole shifting with constrained output feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamel, D.; Mensah, S.; Boisvert, J.

1984-03-01

The concept of pole placement plays an important role in linear, multi-variable, control theory. It has received much attention since its introduction, and several pole shifting algorithms are now available. This work presents a new method which allows practical and engineering constraints such as gain limitation and controller structure to be introduced right into the pole shifting design strategy. This is achieved by formulating the pole placement problem as a constrained optimization problem. Explicit constraints (controller structure and gain limits) are defined to identify an admissible region for the feedback gain matrix. The desired pole configuration is translated into an appropriate cost function which must be closed-loop minimized. The resulting constrained optimization problem can thus be solved with optimization algorithms. The method has been implemented as an algorithmic interactive module in a computer-aided control system design package, MVPACK. The application of the method is illustrated to design controllers for an aircraft and an evaporator. The results illustrate the importance of controller structure on overall performance of a control system

Cannabinoid mitigation of neuronal morphological change important to development and learning: insight from a zebra finch model of psychopharmacology.

Science.gov (United States)

Soderstrom, Ken; Gilbert, Marcoita T

2013-03-19

Normal CNS development proceeds through late-postnatal stages of adolescent development. The activity-dependence of this development underscores the significance of CNS-active drug exposure prior to completion of brain maturation. Exogenous modulation of signaling important in regulating normal development is of particular concern. This mini-review presents a summary of the accumulated behavioral, physiological and biochemical evidence supporting such a key regulatory role for endocannabinoid signaling during late-postnatal CNS development. Our focus is on the data obtained using a unique zebra finch model of developmental psychopharmacology. This animal has allowed investigation of neuronal morphological effects essential to establishment and maintenance of neural circuitry, including processes related to synaptogenesis and dendritic spine dynamics. Altered neurophysiology that follows exogenous cannabinoid exposure during adolescent development has the potential to persistently alter cognition, learning and memory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of substrate miscut angle on surface morphology and luminescence properties of AlGaN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kusch, Gunnar; Edwards, Paul R.; Bruckbauer, Jochen; Martin, Robert W.; Li, Haoning; Parbrook, Peter J.; Sadler, Thomas C.

2014-01-01

The influence of substrate miscut on Al 0.5 Ga 0.5  N layers was investigated using cathodoluminescence (CL) hyperspectral imaging and secondary electron imaging in an environmental scanning electron microscope. The samples were also characterized using atomic force microscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction. It was found that small changes in substrate miscut have a strong influence on the morphology and luminescence properties of the AlGaN layers. Two different types are resolved. For low miscut angle, a crack-free morphology consisting of randomly sized domains is observed, between which there are notable shifts in the AlGaN near band edge emission energy. For high miscut angle, a morphology with step bunches and compositional inhomogeneities along the step bunches, evidenced by an additional CL peak along the step bunches, are observed

The importance of surface morphology in controlling the selectivity of polycrystalline copper for CO(2) electroreduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tang, Wei; Peterson, Andrew A; Varela Gasque, Ana Sofia

2012-01-01

This communication examines the effect of the surface morphology of polycrystalline copper on electroreduction of CO(2). We find that a copper nanoparticle covered electrode shows better selectivity towards hydrocarbons compared with the two other studied surfaces, an electropolished copper elect...

Self-Reported Recovery from 2-Week 12-Hour Shift Work Schedules: A 14-Day Follow-Up

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Merkus, S.L.; Holte, K.A.; Huysmans, M.A.; van de Ven, P.M.; van Mechelen, W.; van der Beek, A.J.

2015-01-01

Background Recovery from fatigue is important in maintaining night workers' health. This study compared the course of self-reported recovery after 2-week 12-hour schedules consisting of either night shifts or swing shifts (i.e., 7 night shifts followed by 7 day shifts) to such schedules consisting

Skeletal muscle mitochondrial bioenergetics and morphology in high fat diet induced obesity and insulin resistance: focus on dietary fat source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosalba ePutti

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It has been suggested that skeletal muscle mitochondria play a key role in high fat diet induced insulin resistance. Two opposite views are debated on mechanisms by which mitochondrial function could be involved in skeletal muscle insulin resistance. In one theory, mitochondrial dysfunction is suggested to cause intramyocellular lipid accumulation leading to insulin resistance. In the second theory, excess fuel within mitochondria in the absence of increased energy demand stimulates mitochondrial oxidant production and emission, ultimately leading to the development of insulin resistance. Noteworthy, mitochondrial bioenergetics is strictly associated with the maintenance of normal mitochondrial morphology by maintaining the balance between the fusion and fission processes. A shift towards mitochondrial fission with reduction of fusion protein, mainly mitofusin 2, has been associated with reduced insulin sensitivity and inflammation in obesity and insulin resistance development. However, dietary fat source during chronic overfeeding differently affects mitochondrial morphology. Saturated fatty acids induce skeletal muscle insulin resistance and inflammation associated with fission phenotype, whereas ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids improve skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity and inflammation, associated with a shift toward mitochondrial fusion phenotype. The present minireview focuses on mitochondrial bioenergetics and morphology in skeletal muscle insulin resistance, with particular attention to the effect of different dietary fat sources on skeletal muscle mitochondria morphology and fusion/fission balance.

Shifting schedules: the health effects of reorganizing shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Bambra, Clare L; Whitehead, Margaret M; Sowden, Amanda J; Akers, Joanne; Petticrew, Mark P

2008-05-01

Approximately one fifth of workers are engaged in some kind of shift work. The harmful effects of shift work on the health and work-life balance of employees are well known. A range of organizational interventions has been suggested to address these negative effects. This study undertook the systematic review (following Quality Of Reporting Of Meta [QUORUM] analyses guidelines) of experimental and quasi-experimental studies, from any country (in any language) that evaluated the effects on health and work-life balance of organizational-level interventions that redesign shift work schedules. Twenty-seven electronic databases (medical, social science, economic) were searched. Data extraction and quality appraisal were carried out by two independent reviewers. Narrative synthesis was performed. The review was conducted between October 2005 and November 2006. Twenty-six studies were found relating to a variety of organizational interventions. No one type of intervention was found to be consistently harmful to workers. However, three types were found to have beneficial effects on health and work-life balance: (1) switching from slow to fast rotation, (2) changing from backward to forward rotation, and (3) self-scheduling of shifts. Improvements were usually at little or no direct organizational cost. However, there were concerns about the generalizability of the evidence, and no studies reported on impacts on health inequalities. This review reinforces the findings of epidemiologic and laboratory-based research by suggesting that certain organizational-level interventions can improve the health of shift workers, their work-life balance, or both. This evidence could be useful when designing interventions to improve the experience of shift work.

A web-database of mammalian morphology and a reanalysis of placental phylogeny

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asher Robert J

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent publications concerning the interordinal phylogeny of placental mammals have converged on a common signal, consisting of four major radiations with some ambiguity regarding the placental root. The DNA data with which these relationships have been reconstructed are easily accessible from public databases; access to morphological characters is much more difficult. Here, I present a graphical web-database of morphological characters focusing on placental mammals, in tandem with a combined-data phylogenetic analysis of placental mammal phylogeny. Results The results reinforce the growing consensus regarding the extant placental mammal clades of Afrotheria, Xenarthra, Euarchontoglires, and Laurasiatheria. Unweighted parsimony applied to all DNA sequences and insertion-deletion (indel characters of extant taxa alone support a placental root at murid rodents; combined with morphology this shifts to Afrotheria. Bayesian analyses of morphology, indels, and DNA support both a basal position for Afrotheria and the position of Cretaceous eutherians outside of crown Placentalia. Depending on treatment of third codon positions, the affinity of several fossils (Leptictis,Paleoparadoxia, Plesiorycteropus and Zalambdalestes vary, highlighting the potential effect of sequence data on fossils for which such data are missing. Conclusion The combined dataset supports the location of the placental mammal root at Afrotheria or Xenarthra, not at Erinaceus or rodents. Even a small morphological dataset can have a marked influence on the location of the root in a combined-data analysis. Additional morphological data are desirable to better reconstruct the position of several fossil taxa; and the graphic-rich, web-based morphology data matrix presented here will make it easier to incorporate more taxa into a larger data matrix.

Phenotypic plasticity and morphological integration in a marine modular invertebrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manrique Nelson

2007-07-01

features. More importantly, some colonial features showed dependence on modular features. Conclusion Consequently, module integration in gorgonian corals can be shifted, switched or canalized along lineages. Modular marine organisms such as corals are variations on a single theme: their modules can couple or decouple, allowing them to adapt to all marine benthic environments.

Study on effect of process parameters and mixing on morphology of ammonium diuranate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subhankar Manna; Chandrabhanu Basak; Thakkar, U.R.; Shital Thakur; Roy, S.B.; Joshi, J.B.; Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai

2016-01-01

Ammonium diuranate (ADU) is an important intermediate for the production of uranium base fuel. Controlling morphology of crystalline ADU powders is very important as it is retained by its subsequent products. Because of the high level of supersaturation, the involved mechanisms of precipitation like primary nucleation, crystal growth, aggregation and breakage occur simultaneously and they control the morphology. Effects of concentration of uranyl nitrate solution, temperature and the mixing intensity have been investigated on the morphology, crystal structure and the other physical properties of ADU. Effect of temperature is found to be more dominant for controlling morphology. (author)

Foot morphology of Turkish football players according to foot ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Football is the most popular sport in the world. Foot morphology and foot preference are important factors in football player's performance. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the foot morphology of elite football players with different foot preferences. 407 male football players participated in this study. 328 of ...

Assessment of cardiometabolic risk among shift workers in Hungary

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Jermendy György

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Aim Shift workers may be at risk of different diseases. In order to assess cardiometabolic risk in shift workers, a cross-sectional study was performed among active workers. Methods A total of 481 workers (121 men, 360 women were investigated; most of them were employees in light industry (58.2% or in public services (23.9%. Past medical history was recorded and physical examination was performed. Questionnaires were used to characterize daily activity. Fasting venous blood sample was collected for measuring laboratory parameters. Data from shift workers (n = 234, age: 43.9 ± 8.1 years were compared to those of daytime workers (n = 247, age: 42.8 ± 8.5 years, men and women were analyzed separately. Results In men, systolic blood pressure was higher in shift workers compared to daytime workers (133 ± 8 vs 126 ± 17 mmHg; p vs 67.7 ± 13.2 kg; p vs 13.4%; p vs 21.7%; p vs 1.68 ± 0.36 mmol/l; p Conclusion Middle-aged active shift workers, especially women, have a less healthy lifestyle and are at higher cardiometabolic risk as compared to daytime workers. Our study highlights the importance of measures for identifying and preventing cardiometabolic risk factors in shift workers.

Mathematical modeling of sleep state dynamics in a rodent model of shift work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J. Rempe

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Millions of people worldwide are required to work when their physiology is tuned for sleep. By forcing wakefulness out of the body’s normal schedule, shift workers face numerous adverse health consequences, including gastrointestinal problems, sleep problems, and higher rates of some diseases, including cancers. Recent studies have developed protocols to simulate shift work in rodents with the intention of assessing the effects of night-shift work on subsequent sleep (Grønli et al., 2017. These studies have already provided important contributions to the understanding of the metabolic consequences of shift work (Arble et al., 2015; Marti et al., 2016; Opperhuizen et al., 2015 and sleep-wake-specific impacts of night-shift work (Grønli et al., 2017. However, our understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying night-shift-related sleep disturbances is limited. In order to advance toward a mechanistic understanding of sleep disruption in shift work, we model these data with two different approaches. First we apply a simple homeostatic model to quantify differences in the rates at which sleep need, as measured by slow wave activity during slow wave sleep (SWS rises and falls. Second, we develop a simple and novel mathematical model of rodent sleep and use it to investigate the timing of sleep in a simulated shift work protocol (Grønli et al., 2017. This mathematical framework includes the circadian and homeostatic processes of the two-process model, but additionally incorporates a stochastic process to model the polyphasic nature of rodent sleep. By changing only the time at which the rodents are forced to be awake, the model reproduces some key experimental results from the previous study, including correct proportions of time spent in each stage of sleep as a function of circadian time and the differences in total wake time and SWS bout durations in the rodents representing night-shift workers and those representing day-shift workers

Nanoscale Morphology of Doctor Bladed versus Spin-Coated Organic Photovoltaic Films

KAUST Repository

Pokuri, Balaji Sesha Sarath; Sit, Joseph; Wodo, Olga; Baran, Derya; Ameri, Tayebeh; Brabec, Christoph J.; Moule, Adam J.; Ganapathysubramanian, Baskar

2017-01-01

Recent advances in efficiency of organic photovoltaics are driven by judicious selection of processing conditions that result in a “desired” morphology. An important theme of morphology research is quantifying the effect of processing conditions

When teams shift among processes: insights from simulation and optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Deanna M; McComb, Sara A

2014-09-01

This article introduces process shifts to study the temporal interplay among transition and action processes espoused in the recurring phase model proposed by Marks, Mathieu, and Zacarro (2001). Process shifts are those points in time when teams complete a focal process and change to another process. By using team communication patterns to measure process shifts, this research explores (a) when teams shift among different transition processes and initiate action processes and (b) the potential of different interventions, such as communication directives, to manipulate process shift timing and order and, ultimately, team performance. Virtual experiments are employed to compare data from observed laboratory teams not receiving interventions, simulated teams receiving interventions, and optimal simulated teams generated using genetic algorithm procedures. Our results offer insights about the potential for different interventions to affect team performance. Moreover, certain interventions may promote discussions about key issues (e.g., tactical strategies) and facilitate shifting among transition processes in a manner that emulates optimal simulated teams' communication patterns. Thus, we contribute to theory regarding team processes in 2 important ways. First, we present process shifts as a way to explore the timing of when teams shift from transition to action processes. Second, we use virtual experimentation to identify those interventions with the greatest potential to affect performance by changing when teams shift among processes. Additionally, we employ computational methods including neural networks, simulation, and optimization, thereby demonstrating their applicability in conducting team research. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Effects of liquid morphology and distribution on the apparent properties of porous media made of stacked particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingzhi Yu

2015-05-01

Full Text Available To understand the effects of liquid morphology on the apparent transfer properties of porous media formed by stacked particles, the authors investigate the particles’ aggregation state, apparent volume, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity of wet stacked glass beads. It shows that the liquid mainly exists as liquid bridges when the liquid content is low and connects each other when high. The transformation of liquid morphology and distribution influences the liquid effects on particles, thus changing the aggregation state of the particles and the apparent properties of the porous media in turn. A model is developed for predicting the critical liquid content at which the liquid morphology shifts from the state of liquid bridges into the state of interconnectedness. The prediction from the model is in good agreement with the experiment.

Rotating shift work associated with obesity in men from northeastern Ontario.

Science.gov (United States)

Grundy, Anne; Cotterchio, Michelle; Kirsh, Victoria A; Nadalin, Victoria; Lightfoot, Nancy; Kreiger, Nancy

2017-08-01

While some studies have suggested associations between shift work and obesity, few have been population-based or considered multiple shift schedules. Since obesity is linked with several chronic health conditions, understanding which types of shift work influence obesity is important and additional work with more detailed exposure assessment of shift work is warranted. Using multivariate polytomous logistic regression, we investigated the associations between shift work (evening/night, rotating and other shift schedules) and overweight and obesity as measured by body mass index cross-sectionally among 1561 men. These men had previously participated as population controls in a prostate cancer case-control study conducted in northeastern Ontario from 1995 to 1999. We obtained information on work history (including shift work), height and weight from the existing self-reported questionnaire data. We observed an association for ever (vs. never) having been employed in rotating shift work for both the overweight (OR [odds ratio] = 1.34; 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.05-1.73) and obese (OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.12-2.21) groups. We also observed nonsignificant associations for ever (vs. never) having been employed in permanent evening/night shifts. In addition, we found a significant trend of increased risk for both overweight and obesity with increasing duration of rotating shift work. Both the positive association between rotating shift work and obesity and the suggested positive association for permanent evening/night shift work in this study are consistent with previous findings. Future population-based research that is able to build on our results while examining additional shift work characteristics will further clarify whether some shift patterns have a greater impact on obesity than others.

Shifting Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Ingram, Jenni

2014-01-01

This article examines the shifts in attention and focus as one teacher introduces and explains an image that represents the processes involved in a numeric problem that his students have been working on. This paper takes a micro-analytic approach to examine how the focus of attention shifts through what the teacher and students do and say in the…

The correlation between urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and sperm quality in infertile men and rotating shift workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pariente José A

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that modulates a wide range of neuroendocrine functions. However, excessive circulating serotonin levels may induce harmful effects in the male reproductive system. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the levels of urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIIA, a major serotonin metabolite, correlate with different classical seminal parameters. Methods Human ejaculates were obtained from 40 men attending infertility counselling and rotating shift workers by masturbation after 4-5 days of abstinence. Urinary 5- HIIA concentration was quantified by using a commercial ELISA kit. Forward motility was assessed by a computer-aided semen analysis (CASA system. Sperm concentration was determined using the haemocytometer method. Sperm morphology was evaluated after Diff-Quik staining, while sperm vitality was estimated after Eosin-Nigrosin vital staining. Results Our results show that urinary 5-HIIA levels obtained from a set of 20 volunteers negatively correlated with sperm concentration, forward motility, morphology normal range and sperm vitality. On the other hand, we checked the relationship between male infertility and urinary 5-HIIA levels in 20 night shift workers. Thus, urinary 5-HIIA levels obtained from 10 recently-proven fathers were significantly lower than those found in 10 infertile males. Additionally, samples from recent fathers exhibited higher sperm concentration, as well as better forward motility and normal morphology rate. Conclusions In the light of our findings, we concluded that high serotonin levels, indirectly measured as urinary 5-HIIA levels, appear to play a role as an infertility determinant in male subjects.

DasR is a pleiotropic regulator required for antibiotic production, pigment biosynthesis, and morphological development in Saccharopolyspora erythraea.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Cheng-Heng; Xu, Ya; Rigali, Sébastien; Ye, Bang-Ce

2015-12-01

The GntR-family transcription regulator, DasR, was previously identified as pleiotropic, controlling the primary amino sugar N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and chitin metabolism in Saccharopolyspora erythraea and Streptomyces coelicolor. Due to the remarkable regulatory impact of DasR on antibiotic production and development in the model strain of S. coelicolor, we here identified and characterized the role of DasR to secondary metabolite production and morphological development in industrial erythromycin-producing S. erythraea. The physiological studies have shown that a constructed deletion of dasR in S. erythraea resulted in antibiotic, pigment, and aerial hyphae production deficit in a nutrient-rich condition. DNA microarray assay, combined with quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), confirmed these results by showing the downregulation of the genes relating to secondary metabolite production in the dasR null mutant. Notably, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) showed DasR as being the first identified regulator that directly regulates the pigment biosynthesis rpp gene cluster. In addition, further studies indicated that GlcNAc, the major nutrient signal of DasR-responsed regulation, blocked secondary metabolite production and morphological development. The effects of GlcNAc were shown to be caused by DasR mediation. These findings demonstrated that DasR is an important pleiotropic regulator for both secondary metabolism and morphological development in S. erythraea, providing new insights for the genetic engineering of S. erythraea with increased erythromycin production.

Solution of generalized shifted linear systems with complex symmetric matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sogabe, Tomohiro; Hoshi, Takeo; Zhang, Shao-Liang; Fujiwara, Takeo

2012-01-01

We develop the shifted COCG method [R. Takayama, T. Hoshi, T. Sogabe, S.-L. Zhang, T. Fujiwara, Linear algebraic calculation of Green’s function for large-scale electronic structure theory, Phys. Rev. B 73 (165108) (2006) 1–9] and the shifted WQMR method [T. Sogabe, T. Hoshi, S.-L. Zhang, T. Fujiwara, On a weighted quasi-residual minimization strategy of the QMR method for solving complex symmetric shifted linear systems, Electron. Trans. Numer. Anal. 31 (2008) 126–140] for solving generalized shifted linear systems with complex symmetric matrices that arise from the electronic structure theory. The complex symmetric Lanczos process with a suitable bilinear form plays an important role in the development of the methods. The numerical examples indicate that the methods are highly attractive when the inner linear systems can efficiently be solved.

Morphological diversity in tenrecs (Afrosoricida, Tenrecidae: comparing tenrec skull diversity to their closest relatives

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Sive Finlay

2015-04-01

Full Text Available It is important to quantify patterns of morphological diversity to enhance our understanding of variation in ecological and evolutionary traits. Here, we present a quantitative analysis of morphological diversity in a family of small mammals, the tenrecs (Afrosoricida, Tenrecidae. Tenrecs are often cited as an example of an exceptionally morphologically diverse group. However, this assumption has not been tested quantitatively. We use geometric morphometric analyses of skull shape to test whether tenrecs are more morphologically diverse than their closest relatives, the golden moles (Afrosoricida, Chrysochloridae. Tenrecs occupy a wider range of ecological niches than golden moles so we predict that they will be more morphologically diverse. Contrary to our expectations, we find that tenrec skulls are only more morphologically diverse than golden moles when measured in lateral view. Furthermore, similarities among the species-rich Microgale tenrec genus appear to mask higher morphological diversity in the rest of the family. These results reveal new insights into the morphological diversity of tenrecs and highlight the importance of using quantitative methods to test qualitative assumptions about patterns of morphological diversity.

Increased diversification rates follow shifts to bisexuality in liverworts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laenen, Benjamin; Machac, Antonin; Gradstein, S. Robbert

2016-01-01

on diversification are presumably mediated by the interplay of high fertilization rates, massive spore production and long-distance dispersal, which may separately or together have facilitated liverwort speciation, suppressed their extinction, or both. Importantly, shifts in liverwort sexual systems have...... shifts in sexual systems influence diversification using hidden state speciation and extinction analysis (HiSSE). This new method compares the effects of the variable of interest to the best-fitting latent variable, yielding robust and conservative tests. We find that the transitions in sexual systems...

Work shift duration: a review comparing eight hour and 12 hour shift systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, L; Folkard, S; Tucker, P; Macdonald, I

1998-04-01

Shiftwork is now a major feature of working life across a broad range of industries. The features of the shift systems operated can impact on the wellbeing, performance, and sleep of shiftworkers. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on one major characteristic of shift rotas-namely, shift duration. Evidence comparing the relative effects of eight hour and 12 hour shifts on fatigue and job performance, safety, sleep, and physical and psychological health are considered. At the organisational level, factors such as the mode of system implementation, attitudes towards shift rotas, sickness absence and turnover, overtime, and moonlighting are discussed. Manual and electronic searches of the shiftwork research literature were conducted to obtain information on comparisons between eight hour and 12 hour shifts. The research findings are largely equivocal. The bulk of the evidence suggests few differences between eight and 12 hour shifts in the way they affect people. There may even be advantages to 12 hour shifts in terms of lower stress levels, better physical and psychological wellbeing, improved durations and quality of off duty sleep as well as improvements in family relations. On the negative side, the main concerns are fatigue and safety. It is noted that a 12 hour shift does not equate with being active for only 12 hours. There can be considerable extension of the person's time awake either side of the shift. However, the effects of longer term exposure to extended work days have been relatively uncharted in any systematic way. Longitudinal comparative research into the chronic impact of the compressed working week is needed.

Third ventricle midline shift on computed tomography as an alternative to septum pellucidum shift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, Carlos Francis A.; Oropilla, Jean Quint L; Alvarez, Victor M.

2000-01-01

The cerebral midline shift is measured using the displacement from midline of the third ventricle. It is an easily determined criterion from which CT scans of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hematoma may be investigated. Midline shift is a significant criteria in which to gauge the neurological status of patients. In a retrospective study of 32 patients with spontaneous unilateral intracerebral hemorrhage, a midline third ventricle shift correlated well with septum pellucidum shift. A greater than 7 mm midline third ventricle shift was associated with a significantly lower Glasgow Coma scale score compared a shift less than 7mm. For the septum pellucidum, a greater than 10 mm shift was similarly associated with a significantly lower Glasgow Coma scale score. (Author)

Morphology, optical and ionic conductivity studies of electron beam irradiated polymer electrolyte film

Science.gov (United States)

Devendrappa, H.; Yesappa, L.; Niranjana, M.; Ashokkumar, S. P.; Vijeth, H.; Ganesh, S.

2018-04-01

The effects of electron beam (EB) irradiation on morphology, optical properties and ionic conductivity of (PVdF-co-HFP: LiClO4=90:10, PHL10) electrolyte films. The FESEM image reveal increasing porous morphology with increasing EB dose confirms the polymer degradation as result more amorphousity. The optical absorbance was found to be increase with red shift in UV region and direct optical band gaps was found decreased upon EB dose from 3.70 eV to 2.65 eV. The ionic conductivity increases slowly in lower frequency, whereas rapidly increases at the high frequency and found about 8.28×10-4 S/cm at 120 kGy dose. The obtained results suggest that the physical properties of polymer electrolytes can be changed using EB irradiation as requirement.

Thyroid endocrine disruption and external body morphology of Zebrafish

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Prakash; Grabowski, Timothy B.; Patino, Reynaldo

2016-01-01

This study examined the effects thyroid-active compounds during early development on body morphology of Zebrafish (Danio rerio). Three-day postfertilization (dpf) larvae were exposed to goitrogen [methimazole (MZ, 0.15 mM)], combination of MZ (0.15 mM) and thyroxine (T4, 2 nM), T4 (2 nM), or control (reconstituted water) treatments until 33 dpf and subsequently maintained in reconstituted water until 45 dpf. Samples were taken at 33 and 45 dpf for multivariate analysis of geometric distances between selected homologous landmarks placed on digital images of fish, and for histological assessment of thyrocytes. Body mass, standard length, and pectoral fin length were separately measured on remaining fish at 45 dpf. Histological analysis confirmed the hypothyroid effect (increased thyrocyte height) of MZ and rescue effect of T4 co-administration. Geometric distance analysis showed that pectoral and pelvic fins shifted backward along the rostrocaudal axis under hypothyroid conditions at 45 dpf and that T4 co-treatment prevented this shift. Pectoral fin length at 45 dpf was reduced by exposure to MZ and rescued by co-administration of T4, but it was not associated with standard length. Methimazole caused a reduction in body mass and length at 45 dpf that could not be rescued by T4 co-administration, and non-thyroidal effects of MZ on body shape were also recognized at 33 and 45 dpf. Alterations in the length and position of paired fins caused by exposure to thyroid-disrupting chemicals during early development, as shown here for Zebrafish, could affect physical aspects of locomotion and consequently other important organismal functions such as foraging, predator avoidance, and ultimately survival and recruitment into the adult population. Results of this study also suggest the need to include rescue treatments in endocrine disruption studies that rely on goitrogens as reference for thyroid-mediated effects.

MORPHOLOGICAL EVALUATION AND PROTEIN PROFILING OF ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Owner

characterizing Nigerian Corchorus species. Keywords: Vegetative characters, SDS-PAGE, Corchorus ... In regions like China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Corchorus species is of great economic importance and bulk of ... The morphological characterization of the. Corchorus samples was conducted in the experimental.

Do generalists and specialists agree on descriptive acne morphology?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yazdanyar, S; Bryld, L E; Heidenheim, M

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Acne is a common skin disease, which is treated by many different specialities. Clinical guidelines for treatment are based on the recognition of acne morphology. The assessment of acne morphology is therefore an important element of the proper diagnosis and treatment of acne. OBJECTIVE......: To evaluate the level of congruence in the assessment of acne morphology in General Practitioners (GPs) and Dermatologists compared to the assessment of an expert. METHODS: The study was conducted during 2008-2009. Randomly selected GP and Dermatologists Practitioners, (DPs) from Denmark were invited...... in the distribution of answers. CONCLUSION: GPs described acne morphology recognized clinical hallmarks of severity in acne less well than dermatologists and were far less consistent....

Effects of extended work shifts and shift work on patient safety, productivity, and employee health.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Simone M

2009-12-01

It is estimated 1.3 million health care errors occur each year and of those errors 48,000 to 98,000 result in the deaths of patients (Barger et al., 2006). Errors occur for a variety of reasons, including the effects of extended work hours and shift work. The need for around-the-clock staff coverage has resulted in creative ways to maintain quality patient care, keep health care errors or adverse events to a minimum, and still meet the needs of the organization. One way organizations have attempted to alleviate staff shortages is to create extended work shifts. Instead of the standard 8-hour shift, workers are now working 10, 12, 16, or more hours to provide continuous patient care. Although literature does support these staffing patterns, it cannot be denied that shifts beyond the traditional 8 hours increase staff fatigue, health care errors, and adverse events and outcomes and decrease alertness and productivity. This article includes a review of current literature on shift work, the definition of shift work, error rates and adverse outcomes related to shift work, health effects on shift workers, shift work effects on older workers, recommended optimal shift length, positive and negative effects of shift work on the shift worker, hazards associated with driving after extended shifts, and implications for occupational health nurses. Copyright 2009, SLACK Incorporated.

Directionality of recent bird distribution shifts and climate change in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillings, Simon; Balmer, Dawn E; Fuller, Robert J

2015-06-01

There is good evidence that species' distributions are shifting poleward in response to climate change and wide interest in the magnitude of such responses for scientific and conservation purposes. It has been suggested from the directions of climatic changes that species' distribution shifts may not be simply poleward, but this has been rarely tested with observed data. Here, we apply a novel approach to measuring range shifts on axes ranging through 360°, to recent data on the distributions of 122 species of British breeding birds during 1988-1991 and 2008-2011. Although previously documented poleward range shifts have continued, with an average 13.5 km shift northward, our analysis indicates this is an underestimate because it ignores common and larger shifts that occurred along axes oriented to the north-west and north-east. Trailing edges contracted from a broad range of southerly directions. Importantly, these results are derived from systematically collected data so confounding observer-effort biases can be discounted. Analyses of climate for the same period show that whilst temperature trends should drive species along a north-north-westerly trajectory, directional responses to precipitation will depend on both the time of year that is important for determining a species' distribution, and the location of the range margin. Directions of species' range centroid shift were not correlated with spatial trends in any single climate variable. We conclude that range shifts of British birds are multidirectional, individualistic and probably determined by species-specific interactions of multiple climate factors. Climate change is predicted to lead to changes in community composition through variation in the rates that species' ranges shift; our results suggest communities could change further owing to constituent species shifting along different trajectories. We recommend more studies consider directionality in climate and range dynamics to produce more

Actigraph measures of sleep among female hospital employees working day or alternating day and night shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Korsiak, Jill; Tranmer, Joan; Leung, Michael; Borghese, Michael M; Aronson, Kristan J

2017-07-14

Sleep disturbance is common among shift workers, and may be an important factor in the effect of shift work on chronic disease development. In this cross-sectional study, we described sleep patterns of 294 female hospital workers (142 alternating day-night shift workers, 152 day workers) and determined associations between shift work and sleep duration. Rest-activity cycles were recorded with the ActiGraph GT3X+ for 1 week. Analyses were stratified by chronotype of shift workers. Using all study days to calculate average sleep duration, shift workers slept approximately 13 min less than day workers during main sleep periods, while 24-h sleep duration did not differ between day workers and shift workers. Results from age-adjusted models demonstrated that all shift workers, regardless of chronotype, slept 20-30 min less than day workers on day shifts during main and total sleep. Early and intermediate chronotypes working night shifts slept between 114 and 125 min less than day workers, both with regard to the main sleep episode and 24-h sleep duration, while the difference was less pronounced among late chronotypes. When sleep duration on free days was compared between shift workers and day workers, only shift workers with late chronotypes slept less, by approximately 50 min, than day workers during main sleep. Results from this study demonstrate how an alternating day-night shift work schedule impacts sleep negatively among female hospital workers, and the importance of considering chronotype in sleep research among shift workers. © 2017 European Sleep Research Society.

Allometric shape change of the lower pharyngeal jaw correlates with a dietary shift to piscivory in a cichlid fish

Science.gov (United States)

Hellig, Christoph J.; Kerschbaumer, Michaela; Sefc, Kristina M.; Koblmüller, Stephan

2010-07-01

The morphological versatility of the pharyngeal jaw of cichlid fishes is assumed to represent a key factor facilitating their unparalleled trophic diversification and explosive radiation. It is generally believed that the functional design of an organism relates to its ecology, and thus, specializations to different diets are typically associated with distinct morphological designs, especially manifested in the cichlids’ pharyngeal jaw apparatus. Thereby, the lower pharyngeal jaw (LPJ) incorporates some of the most predictive features for distinct diet-related morphotypes. Thus, considering that piscivorous cichlids experience an ontogenetic dietary shift from typically various kinds of invertebrates to fish, concomitant morphological changes in the LPJ are expected. Using Lepidiolamprologus elongatus, a top predator in the shallow rocky habitat of Lake Tanganyika, as model, and applying geometric and traditional morphometric techniques, we demonstrate an allometric change in ontogenetic LPJ shape development coinciding with the completion of the dietary shift toward piscivory. The piscivorous LPJ morphotype is initiated in juvenile fish by increasing elongation and narrowing of the LPJ and—when the fish reach a size of 80-90 mm standard length—further refined by the elongation of the posterior muscular processes, which serve as insertion for the fourth musculus levator externus. The enlarged muscular processes of the fully mature piscivorous morphotype provide for the construction of a powerful lever system, which allows the large individuals to process large prey fish and rely on exclusive piscivory.

Rotating shift work associated with obesity in men from northeastern Ontario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Grundy

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: While some studies have suggested associations between shift work and obesity, few have been population-based or considered multiple shift schedules. Since obesity is linked with several chronic health conditions, understanding which types of shift work influence obesity is important and additional work with more detailed exposure assessment of shift work is warranted. Methods: Using multivariate polytomous logistic regression, we investigated the associations between shift work (evening/night, rotating and other shift schedules and overweight and obesity as measured by body mass index cross-sectionally among 1561 men. These men had previously participated as population controls in a prostate cancer case-control study conducted in northeastern Ontario from 1995 to 1999. We obtained information on work history (including shift work, height and weight from the existing self-reported questionnaire data. Results: We observed an association for ever (vs. never having been employed in rotating shift work for both the overweight (OR [odds ratio] = 1.34; 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.05–1.73 and obese (OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.12–2.21 groups. We also observed nonsignificant associations for ever (vs. never having been employed in permanent evening/night shifts. In addition, we found a significant trend of increased risk for both overweight and obesity with increasing duration of rotating shift work. Conclusion: Both the positive association between rotating shift work and obesity and the suggested positive association for permanent evening/night shift work in this study are consistent with previous findings. Future population-based research that is able to build on our results while examining additional shift work characteristics will further clarify whether some shift patterns have a greater impact on obesity than others.

Modelling a Nurse Shift Schedule with Multiple Preference Ranks for Shifts and Days-Off

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Cheng Lin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available When it comes to nurse shift schedules, it is found that the nursing staff have diverse preferences about shift rotations and days-off. The previous studies only focused on the most preferred work shift and the number of satisfactory days-off of the schedule at the current schedule period but had few discussions on the previous schedule periods and other preference levels for shifts and days-off, which may affect fairness of shift schedules. As a result, this paper proposes a nurse scheduling model based upon integer programming that takes into account constraints of the schedule, different preference ranks towards each shift, and the historical data of previous schedule periods to maximize the satisfaction of all the nursing staff's preferences about the shift schedule. The main contribution of the proposed model is that we consider that the nursing staff’s satisfaction level is affected by multiple preference ranks and their priority ordering to be scheduled, so that the quality of the generated shift schedule is more reasonable. Numerical results show that the planned shifts and days-off are fair and successfully meet the preferences of all the nursing staff.

Salinity shifts in marine sediment: Importance of number of fluctuation rather than their intensities on bacterial denitrifying community.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaghmouri, Imen; Michotey, Valerie D; Armougom, Fabrice; Guasco, Sophie; Bonin, Patricia C

2018-05-01

The sensitivity of denitrifying community to salinity fluctuations was studied in microcosms filled with marine coastal sediments subjected to different salinity disturbances over time (sediment under frequent salinity changes vs sediment with "stable" salinity pattern). Upon short-term salinity shift, denitrification rate and denitrifiers abundance showed high resistance whatever the sediment origin is. Denitrifying community adapted to frequent salinity changes showed high resistance when salinity increases, with a dynamic nosZ relative expression level. Marine sediment denitrifying community, characterized by more stable pattern, was less resistant when salinity decreases. However, after two successive variations of salinity, it shifted toward the characteristic community of fluctuating conditions, with larger proportion of Pseudomonas-nosZ, exhibiting an increase of nosZ relative expression level. The impact of long-term salinity variation upon bacterial community was confirmed at ribosomal level with a higher percentage of Pseudomonas and lower proportion of nosZII clade genera. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nurses' shift reports

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Niels; Hoeck, Bente; Hamilton, Bridget Elizabeth

2017-01-01

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To identify reporting practices that feature in studies of nurses' shift reports across diverse nursing specialities. The objectives were to perform an exhaustive systematic literature search and to critically review the quality and findings of qualitative field studies...... of nurses' shift reports. BACKGROUND: Nurses' shift reports are routine occurrences in healthcare organisations that are viewed as crucial for patient outcomes, patient safety and continuity of care. Studies of communication between nurses attend primarily to 1:1 communication and analyse the adequacy...... and accuracy of patient information and feature handovers at the bedside. Still, verbal reports between groups of nurses about patients are commonplace. Shift reports are obvious sites for studying the situated accomplishment of professional nursing at the group level. This review is focused exclusively...

Accessible mathematics ten instructional shifts that raise student achievement

CERN Document Server

Leinwand, Steven

2009-01-01

Accessible Mathematics is Steven Leinwand's latest important book for math teachers. He focuses on the crucial issue of classroom instruction. He scours the research and visits highly effective classrooms for practical examples of small adjustments to teaching that lead to deeper student learning in math. Some of his 10 classroom-tested teaching shifts may surprise you and others will validate your thinking. But all will improve students' performance. Read Accessible Mathematics, try its 10 suggestions, and discover how minor shifts in teaching can put learning into high gear.

Monitoring of the sleep patterns of shift workers in the automotive industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawada, Tomoyuki; Shimizu, Takako; Kuratomi, Yushiro; Suto, Sachiko; Kanai, Tomoe; Nishime, Akemi; Nakano, Noriko

2011-01-01

The effect of shift schedules on the amount of sleep that workers receive is an important factor in workplace health and safety as well as the employees' overall quality of life. The objective of this study is to compare sleep period among workers engaging in each of the three-shift work. The amount of sleep (sleep period) that male workers with rotating shift schedules received was measured using accelerometers. The mean age of the 16 male workers enrolled in this study was 54.3 years (one standard deviation, 6.7 years). Thirteen participants ranged in age from 51 to 60 years of age, and the other three participants were 32, 48, and 50 years old. Work shifts were rotated on a weekly basis and were categorized into three periods: shift-1 (8:00 to 17:00), shift-2 (15:00 to 23:50), and shift-3 (23:30 to 8:15). Each work week consisted of 5 days. No significant differences were observed in the mean sleep period for each of the three shifts. However, the sleep periods during shift-1 or shift-2 tended to be longer than that obtained during shift-3. No effect of age on the length of the sleep period was observed. Rotating shift-work did not affect the amount of sleep that workers obtained. However, a comparison with previous study results suggests that morning shifts (starting at 6 AM) and day shifts (starting at 8 AM) may have different effects on sleep time.

Metacognitive Instruction: Global and Local Shifts in Considering Listening Input

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Bozorgian

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A key shift of thinking for effective learning and teaching of listening input has been seen and organized in education locally and globally. This study has probed whether metacognitive instruction through a pedagogical cycle shifts high-intermediate students' English language learning and English as a second language (ESL teacher's teaching focus on listening input. Twenty male Iranian students with an age range of 18 to 24 received a guided methodology including metacognitive strategies (planning, monitoring, and evaluation for a period of three months. This study has used the strategies and probed the importance of metacognitive instruction through interviewing both the teacher and the students. The results have shown that metacognitive instruction helped both the ESL teacher's and the students' shift of thinking about teaching and learning listening input. This key shift of thinking has implications globally and locally for classroom practices of listening input.

[Sleep quality of nurses working in shifts - Hungarian adaptation of the Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire].

Science.gov (United States)

Fusz, Katalin; Tóth, Ákos; Fullér, Noémi; Müller, Ágnes; Oláh, András

2015-12-06

Sleep disorders among shift workers are common problems due to the disturbed circadian rhythm. The Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire assesses discrete sleep problems related to work shifts (day, evening and night shifts) and rest days. The aim of the study was to develop the Hungarian version of this questionnaire and to compare the sleep quality of nurses in different work schedules. 326 nurses working in shifts filled in the questionnaire. The authors made convergent and discriminant validation of the questionnaire with the Athens Insomnia Scale and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire. The questionnaire based on psychometric characteristics was suitable to assess sleep disorders associated with shift work in a Hungarian sample. The frequency of discrete symptoms significantly (pshifts. Nurses experienced the worst sleep quality and daytime fatigue after the night shift. Nurses working in irregular shift system had worse sleep quality than nurses working in regular and flexible shift system (pworking in shifts should be assessed with the Hungarian version of the Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire on a nationally representative sample, and the least burdensome shift system could be established.

Age differences in strategy shift: retrieval avoidance or general shift reluctance?

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, David J; Touron, Dayna R; Hertzog, Christopher

2013-09-01

Previous studies of metacognitive age differences in skill acquisition strategies have relied exclusively on tasks with a processing shift from an algorithm to retrieval strategy. Older adults' demonstrated reluctance to shift strategies in such tasks could reflect either a specific aversion to a memory retrieval strategy or a general, inertial resistance to strategy change. Haider and Frensch's (1999) alphabet verification task (AVT) affords a non-retrieval-based strategy shift. Participants verify the continuation of alphabet strings such as D E F G [4] L, with the bracketed digit indicating a number of letters to be skipped. When all deviations are restricted to the letter-digit-letter portion, participants can speed their responses by selectively attending to only that part of the stimulus. We adapted the AVT to include conditions that promoted shift to a retrieval strategy, a selective attention strategy, or both strategies. Item-level strategy reports were validated by eye movement data. Older adults shifted more slowly to the retrieval strategy but more quickly to the selective attention strategy than young adults, indicating a retrieval-strategy avoidance. Strategy confidence and perceived strategy difficulty correlated with shift to the two strategies in both age groups. Perceived speed of responses with each strategy specifically correlated with older adults' strategy choices, suggesting that some older adults avoid retrieval because they do not appreciate its efficiency benefits.

Age Differences in Strategy Shift: Retrieval Avoidance or General Shift Reluctance?

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, David J.; Touron, Dayna R.; Hertzog, Christopher

2013-01-01

Previous studies of metacognitive age differences in skill acquisition strategies have relied exclusively on tasks with a processing shift from an algorithm to retrieval strategy. Older adults’ demonstrated reluctance to shift strategies in such tasks could reflect either a specific aversion to a memory retrieval strategy or a general, inertial resistance to strategy change. Haider and Frensch’s (1999) alphabet verification task (AVT) affords a non-retrieval-based strategy shift. Participants verify the continuation of alphabet strings such as D E F G [4] L, with the bracketed digit indicating a number of letters to be skipped. When all deviations are restricted to the letter-digit-letter portion, participants can speed their responses by selectively attend only to that part of the stimulus. We adapted the AVT to include conditions which promoted shift to a retrieval strategy, a selective attention strategy, or both strategies. Item-level strategy reports were validated by eye movement data. Older adults shifted more slowly to the retrieval strategy but more quickly to the selective attention strategy than young adults, indicating a retrieval-strategy avoidance. Strategy confidence and perceived strategy difficulty correlated with shift to the two strategies in both age groups. Perceived speed of responses with each strategy specifically correlated with older adults’ strategy choices, suggesting that some older adults avoid retrieval because they do not appreciate its efficiency benefits. PMID:23088195

Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Bakker, Marije F.; van der Beek, Allard J.; Proper, Karin I

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure-response relationships for

Morphology of immature stages of blow fly, Lucilia sinensis Aubertin (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a potential species of forensic importance.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanit, Sangob; Sukontason, Kom; Kurahashi, Hiromu; Tomberlin, Jeffery K; Wannasan, Anchalee; Kraisittipanit, Rungroj; Sukontason, Kabkaew L

2017-12-01

Lucilia sinensis Aubertin (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a blow fly species of potential forensic importance since adults are attracted to, and colonize, decomposing vertebrate remains. Blow fly larvae associated with human corpses can be useful evidence in forensic investigations; however, their use is dependent in most cases on proper species identification and availability of developmental data. For identification, morphological information on each life stage is traditionally used. We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine the ultrastructure of eggs, all instars, and puparia, of L. sinensis. The important characteristics used to differentiate L. sinensis from other species are provided. Distinctive features of the eggs are the slight widening median area extending almost the entire length. The last abdominal segment of the first instar bears elongated outer ventral tubercles along the rim of the last abdominal segment. These tubercles, as well as the well developed median and outer dorsal tubercles, are more prominent in the second and third instars. The surface integument of the tubercles is equipped with circular rows of microtrichia. Pairs of inner dorsal tubercle are absent. Each anterior spiracle is comprised of 9-12 papillae arrange in a single row in the second and third instars. As for the third instar, the dorsal spines between the first and second thoracic segments are delicate, narrow, small, and close together (as row or set). The peristigmatic tufts adjacent to the posterior spiracle of the third instar are moderately branches of short, fine hairs, but minute in puparia. In conclusion, the prominent outer ventral tubercle in all instars and puparia is a new diagnostic feature of L. sinensis and helpful in differentiating it from other Lucilia species that are forensically important. The description of immature L. sinensis in this study will be useful for forensic entomologists in countries where this species exists. Copyright © 2017

Tailoring the morphology of electrodeposited ZnO and its photoluminescence properties

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, H.; Mollar, M.; Marí, B.

2011-01-01

High density ZnO columnar films with well-aligned and well-perpendicular to the surface of film were electrodeposited on ITO substrates by using an electrolyte consisting of a mix of water and organic solvent namely dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). The effect of mixing ratio of water and DMSO on the growth of film has been examined critically. SEM images have shown that well-oriented ZnO quasi-nano columns were formed perpendicular to the substrate. At the same time we found there are three kinds of competitions for growth of ZnO crystalmorphology i.e. column, rod and needle like. The needle like morphology has high density with well-aligned structure. The reasons for the growth of films of different morphology and their photoluminescence (PL) properties have been presented and discussed. It has been found that the three-dimensional (3D) ordered ZnO structure exhibits high intensity PL band which may shift their position and intensity with the varying conditions of depositions.

Morphological type correlation between nearest neighbor pairs of galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Yamagata, Tomohiko

1990-01-01

Although the morphological type of galaxies is one of the most fundamental properties of galaxies, its origin and evolutionary processes, if any, are not yet fully understood. It has been established that the galaxy morphology strongly depends on the environment in which the galaxy resides (e.g., Dressler 1980). Galaxy pairs correspond to the smallest scales of galaxy clustering and may provide important clues to how the environment influences the formation and evolution of galaxies. Several investigators pointed out that there is a tendency for pair galaxies to have similar morphological types (Karachentsev and Karachentseva 1974, Page 1975, Noerdlinger 1979). Here, researchers analyze morphological type correlation for 18,364 nearest neighbor pairs of galaxies identified in the magnetic tape version of the Center for Astrophysics Redshift Catalogue.

Modelling the morphology of filamentous microorganisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jens Bredal

1996-01-01

The rapid development in image analysis techniques has made it possible to study the growth kinetics of filamentous microorganisms in more detail than previously, However, owing to the many different processes that influence the morphology it is important to apply mathematical models to extract...

Host Diet Affects the Morphology of Monarch Butterfly Parasites.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Kevin; Tao, Leiling; Hunter, Mark D; de Roode, Jacobus C

2017-06-01

Understanding host-parasite interactions is essential for ecological research, wildlife conservation, and health management. While most studies focus on numerical traits of parasite groups, such as changes in parasite load, less focus is placed on the traits of individual parasites such as parasite size and shape (parasite morphology). Parasite morphology has significant effects on parasite fitness such as initial colonization of hosts, avoidance of host immune defenses, and the availability of resources for parasite replication. As such, understanding factors that affect parasite morphology is important in predicting the consequences of host-parasite interactions. Here, we studied how host diet affected the spore morphology of a protozoan parasite ( Ophryocystis elektroscirrha ), a specialist parasite of the monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus ). We found that different host plant species (milkweeds; Asclepias spp.) significantly affected parasite spore size. Previous studies have found that cardenolides, secondary chemicals in host plants of monarchs, can reduce parasite loads and increase the lifespan of infected butterflies. Adding to this benefit of high cardenolide milkweeds, we found that infected monarchs reared on milkweeds of higher cardenolide concentrations yielded smaller parasites, a potentially hidden characteristic of cardenolides that may have important implications for monarch-parasite interactions.

Analysis of the Market Structure and Shift-effects in North China Ports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manlu Liu, Doctoral Student

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study divides the foreign trade traffic of major North China ports into export and import cargoes for the past 10 years. Then, the concentration ratios and shift effects are analyzed in order to determine their relationships with the ports’ competition structures. Here, the HHI, a BCG matrix analysis, and the shift effects are applied as study methods. The results indicate that the oligopoly market structure of major North China ports has gradually decreased. Furthermore, the concentration ratios of import cargoes are higher than those of export cargoes, indicating that competition to attract import cargoes will intensify. Therefore, the effects of the South Korea–China FTA mean that the competition structures of these ports with regard to export and import cargoes are highly likely to be differentiated further over time.

Sleep loss and circadian disruption in shift work: health burden and management.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaratnam, Shantha M W; Howard, Mark E; Grunstein, Ronald R

2013-10-21

About 1.5 million Australians are shift workers. Shift work is associated with adverse health, safety and performance outcomes. Circadian rhythm misalignment, inadequate and poor-quality sleep, and sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea, insomnia and shift work disorder (excessive sleepiness and/or insomnia temporally associated with the work schedule) contribute to these associations. Falling asleep at work at least once a week occurs in 32%-36% of shift workers. Risk of occupational accidents is at least 60% higher for non-day shift workers. Shift workers also have higher rates of cardiometabolic diseases and mood disturbances. Road and workplace accidents related to excessive sleepiness, to which shift work is a significant contributor, are estimated to cost $71-$93 billion per annum in the United States. There is growing evidence that understanding the interindividual variability in sleep-wake responses to shift work will help detect and manage workers vulnerable to the health consequences of shift work. A range of approaches can be used to enhance alertness in shift workers, including screening and treating sleep disorders, melatonin treatment to promote sleep during the daytime, and avoidance of inappropriate use of sedatives and wakefulness-promoters such as modafinil and caffeine. Short naps, which minimise sleep inertia, are generally effective. Shifting the circadian pacemaker with appropriately timed melatonin and/or bright light may be used to facilitate adjustment to a shift work schedule in some situations, such as a long sequence of night work. It is important to manage the health risk of shift workers by minimising vascular risk factors through dietary and other lifestyle approaches.

SKELETAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE FORELIMB OF MYRMECOPHAGA TRIDACTYLA.

Science.gov (United States)

Sesoko, Natália Ferreira; Rahal, Sheila Canevese; Bortolini, Zara; de Souza, Lívia Pasini; Vulcano, Luiz Carlos; Monteiro, Frederico Ozanan Barros; Teixeira, Carlos Roberto

2015-12-01

Anteater forelimbs are morphologically adapted to obtain food and to provide defense and locomotion. Four species are known, but there are few anatomical studies presenting the morphologic features of each species. The aim of this study was to describe the skeletal morphology of the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) forelimb. Pictures and schematic drawings of six cadavers were created to show the bone morphology. In addition, radiographs and computed tomographs were obtained. The skeletal structure of the forelimb had several notable anatomical features. The scapula had two spines, with apparent differences between infant and adult animals. The humerus had a pectoral ridge, a pectoral tubercle, and a pronounced medial epicondyle that represent the origins of muscles important for fossorial activity. The radius had cranial, lateral, and caudal ridges that became more prominent in older animals, and the distal condyle joint provided enhanced support of the dorsal articulation for the manus. Knowledge of the bone morphology of the forelimb generates a better understanding of giant anteater habits and helps in the diagnosis of skeletal abnormalities and in the routine medical assessment of this species.

The collective Lamb shift in nuclear γ-ray superradiance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Röhlsberger, Ralf

2012-01-01

The electromagnetic transitions of Mössbauer nuclei provide almost ideal two-level systems to transfer quantum optical concepts into the regime of hard x-rays. If many identical atoms collectively interact with a resonant radiation field, one observes (quantum) optical properties that are strongly different from those of a single atom. The most prominent effect is the broadening of the resonance line known as collective enhancement, resulting from multiple scattering of real photons within the atomic ensemble. On the other hand, the exchange of virtual photons within the ensemble leads to a tiny energy shift of the resonance line, the collective Lamb shift, that remained experimentally elusive for a long time after its prediction. Here we illustrate how highly brilliant synchrotron radiation allows one to prepare superradiant states of excited Mössbauer nuclei, an important condition for observation of the collective Lamb shift.

Health promotion and work: prevention of shift work disorders in companies.

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Kneginja D; Acker, Jens; Scholz, Friederike; Niklewski, Günter

2010-12-01

Workplace health promotion is a strategy to improve the health and well-being of people at work. The measures aim at the personal, organisational and work environment. Shift work is one of many reasons provoking increased job stress. According to worldwide epidemiological data, up to 30% of the working population are employed in shifts. Taking into consideration that shift work causes a large number of somatic and psychiatric diseases which bear considerable negative consequences for the health status and the quality of life, it seems to be important to initiate health promotion strategies for shift workers in the companies. The results of recent studies indicate that well-scheduled und targeted health programmes can change the lifestyle of shift working employees and have an impact on the risk factors involved. One problem, though, is a considerable time lag till effects become apparent; therefore, the long-term economic effects of workplace health promotion have not been evaluated sufficiently to date. These definitely positive effects highlight the demand for trainings and workshops for people in shift work. We urgently suggest a speedy implementation of the recommended strategies by companies with shift work systems. In our view, this poses a challenge to the "infant" interdisciplinary field of sleep medicine that should be solved.

Ocean currents modify the coupling between climate change and biogeographical shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

García Molinos, J; Burrows, M T; Poloczanska, E S

2017-05-02

Biogeographical shifts are a ubiquitous global response to climate change. However, observed shifts across taxa and geographical locations are highly variable and only partially attributable to climatic conditions. Such variable outcomes result from the interaction between local climatic changes and other abiotic and biotic factors operating across species ranges. Among them, external directional forces such as ocean and air currents influence the dispersal of nearly all marine and many terrestrial organisms. Here, using a global meta-dataset of observed range shifts of marine species, we show that incorporating directional agreement between flow and climate significantly increases the proportion of explained variance. We propose a simple metric that measures the degrees of directional agreement of ocean (or air) currents with thermal gradients and considers the effects of directional forces in predictions of climate-driven range shifts. Ocean flows are found to both facilitate and hinder shifts depending on their directional agreement with spatial gradients of temperature. Further, effects are shaped by the locations of shifts in the range (trailing, leading or centroid) and taxonomic identity of species. These results support the global effects of climatic changes on distribution shifts and stress the importance of framing climate expectations in reference to other non-climatic interacting factors.

The importance of colony structure versus shoot morphology for the water balance of 22 subarctic bryophyte species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elumeeva, Tatiana G.; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.; During, Heinjo J.; Cornelissen, Johannes H.C.

Questions: What are the water economy strategies of the dominant subarctic bryophytes in terms of colony and shoot traits? Can colony water retention capacity be predicted from morphological traits of both colonies and separate shoots? Are suites of water retention traits consistently related to

Chemical shift imaging: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brateman, L.

1986-01-01

Chemical shift is the phenomenon that is seen when an isotope possessing a nuclear magnetic dipole moment resonates at a spectrum of resonance frequencies in a given magnetic field. These resonance frequencies, or chemical shifts, depend on the chemical environments of particular nuclei. Mapping the spatial distribution of nuclei associated with a particular chemical shift (e.g., hydrogen nuclei associated with water molecules or with lipid groups) is called chemical shift imaging. Several techniques of proton chemical shift imaging that have been applied in vivo are presented, and their clinical findings are reported and summarized. Acquiring high-resolution spectra for large numbers of volume elements in two or three dimensions may be prohibitive because of time constraints, but other methods of imaging lipid of water distributions (i.e., selective excitation, selective saturation, or variations in conventional magnetic resonance imaging pulse sequences) can provide chemical shift information. These techniques require less time, but they lack spectral information. Since fat deposition seen by chemical shift imaging may not be demonstrated by conventional magnetic resonance imaging, certain applications of chemical shift imaging, such as in the determination of fatty liver disease, have greater diagnostic utility than conventional magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, edge artifacts caused by chemical shift effects can be eliminated by certain selective methods of data acquisition employed in chemical shift imaging

BIAS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE: RESPONSE SHIFT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yesim SENOL

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Quality of Life (QoL is a descriptive term that refers to people’s emotional, social and physical wellbeing, and their ability to function in the ordinary task of living. The importance of QoL makes it critical to improve and refine measure to understand patients’ experience of health, illness and treatment. However individuals change with time and the basis on which they make a QoL judgment may also change, a phenomenon increasingly referred to as response shift. The definition of response shift is recalibration of internal standards of measurement and reconceptualization of the meaning of item. The purpose of study is to discuss the effects of response shift bias. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2006; 5(5.000: 382-389

Adaptation of Shift Sequence Based Method for High Number in Shifts Rostering Problem for Health Care Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mindaugas Liogys

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose—is to investigate a shift sequence-based approach efficiency then problem consisting of a high number of shifts.Research objectives:• Solve health care workers rostering problem using a shift sequence based method.• Measure its efficiency then number of shifts increases.Design/methodology/approach—Usually rostering problems are highly constrained. Constraints are classified to soft and hard constraints. Soft and hard constraints of the problem are additionally classified to: sequence constraints, schedule constraints and roster constraints. Sequence constraints are considered when constructing shift sequences. Schedule constraints are considered when constructing a schedule. Roster constraints are applied, then constructing overall solution, i.e. combining all schedules.Shift sequence based approach consists of two stages:• Shift sequences construction,• The construction of schedules.In the shift sequences construction stage, the shift sequences are constructed for each set of health care workers of different skill, considering sequence constraints. Shifts sequences are ranked by their penalties for easier retrieval in later stage.In schedules construction stage, schedules for each health care worker are constructed iteratively, using the shift sequences produced in stage 1.Shift sequence based method is an adaptive iterative method where health care workers who received the highest schedule penalties in the last iteration are scheduled first at the current iteration.During the roster construction, and after a schedule has been generated for the current health care worker, an improvement method based on an efficient greedy local search is carried out on the partial roster. It simply swaps any pair of shifts between two health care workers in the (partial roster, as long as the swaps satisfy hard constraints and decrease the roster penalty.Findings—Using shift sequence method for solving health care workers rostering problem

Adaptation of Shift Sequence Based Method for High Number in Shifts Rostering Problem for Health Care Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mindaugas Liogys

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose—is to investigate a shift sequence-based approach efficiency then problem consisting of a high number of shifts. Research objectives:• Solve health care workers rostering problem using a shift sequence based method.• Measure its efficiency then number of shifts increases. Design/methodology/approach—Usually rostering problems are highly constrained.Constraints are classified to soft and hard constraints. Soft and hard constraints of the problem are additionally classified to: sequence constraints, schedule constraints and roster constraints. Sequence constraints are considered when constructing shift sequences. Schedule constraints are considered when constructing a schedule. Roster constraints are applied, then constructing overall solution, i.e. combining all schedules.Shift sequence based approach consists of two stages:• Shift sequences construction,• The construction of schedules.In the shift sequences construction stage, the shift sequences are constructed for each set of health care workers of different skill, considering sequence constraints. Shifts sequences are ranked by their penalties for easier retrieval in later stage.In schedules construction stage, schedules for each health care worker are constructed iteratively, using the shift sequences produced in stage 1. Shift sequence based method is an adaptive iterative method where health care workers who received the highest schedule penalties in the last iteration are scheduled first at the current iteration. During the roster construction, and after a schedule has been generated for the current health care worker, an improvement method based on an efficient greedy local search is carried out on the partial roster. It simply swaps any pair of shifts between two health care workers in the (partial roster, as long as the swaps satisfy hard constraints and decrease the roster penalty.Findings—Using shift sequence method for solving health care workers rostering

Morphology of urethral tissues

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Bert; Schulz, Georg; Herzen, Julia; Mushkolaj, Shpend; Bormann, Therese; Beckmann, Felix; Püschel, Klaus

2010-09-01

Micro computed tomography has been developed to a powerful technique for the characterization of hard and soft human and animal tissues. Soft tissues including the urethra, however, are difficult to be analyzed, since the microstructures of interest exhibit X-ray absorption values very similar to the surroundings. Selective staining using highly absorbing species is a widely used approach, but associated with significant tissue modification. Alternatively, one can suitably embed the soft tissue, which requires the exchange of water. Therefore, the more recently developed phase contrast modes providing much better contrast of low X-ray absorbing species are especially accommodating in soft tissue characterization. The present communication deals with the morphological characterization of sheep, pig and human urethras on the micrometer scale taking advantage of micro computed tomography in absorption and phase contrast modes. The performance of grating-based tomography is demonstrated for freshly explanted male and female urethras in saline solution. The micro-morphology of the urethra is important to understand how the muscles close the urethra to reach continence. As the number of incontinent patients is steadily increasing, the function under static and, more important, under stress conditions has to be uncovered for the realization of artificial urinary sphincters, which needs sophisticated, biologically inspired concepts to become nature analogue.

The importance of scanning electron microscopy (sem in taxonomy and morphology of Chironomidae (Diptera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Kownacki

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The paper reports on the value of scanning electron microscopy (SEM in the taxonomy and morphology of Chironomidae. This method has been relatively rarely used in Chironomidae studies. Our studies suggest that the SEM method provides a lot of new information. For example, the plastron plate of the thoracic horn of Macropelopia nebulosa (Meigen under light microscopy is visible as points, while under SEM we have found that it consists of a reticular structure with holes. By using SEM a more precise picture of the body structure of Chironomidae can be revealed. It allows researchers to explain inconsistencies in the existing descriptions of species. Another advantage of the SEM method is obtaining spatial images of the body and organs of Chironomidae. However, the SEM method also has some limitations. The main problem is dirt or debris (e.g. algae, mud, secretions, mucus, bacteria, etc., which often settles on the external surface of structures, especially those which are uneven or covered with hair. The dirt should be removed after collection of chironomid material because if left in place it can become chemically fixed to various surfaces. It unnecessarily remains at the surface and final microscopic images may contain artifacts that obscure chironomid structures being investigated. In this way many details of the surface are thus unreadable. The results reported here indicate that SEM examination helps us to identify new morphological features and details that will facilitate the identification of species of Chironomidae and may help to clarify the function of various parts of the body. Fast development of electron microscope technique allows us to learn more about structure of different organisms.

Age-related differences in the control of weight-shifting within the surface of support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, E.; Caljouw, S.R.; Coppens, M.J.M.; Postema, K.; Verkerke, Gijsbertus Jacob; Lamoth, C.J.C.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND AND AIM: An important reason for falling in elderly is incorrect weight-shifting¹. In many daily life activities quick and accurate weight-shifting is needed to maintain balance, especially in situations when balance is suddenly disturbed and anticipation on the upcoming movement is

Morphology targets: What do seedling morphological attributes tell us?

Science.gov (United States)

Jeremiah R. Pinto

2011-01-01

Morphology is classically defined as the form and structure of individual organisms, as distinct from their anatomy or physiology. We use morphological targets in the nursery because they are easy to measure, and because we can often quantitatively link seedling morphological traits with survival and growth performance in the field. In the 20 years since the Target...

Combined chemical shift changes and amino acid specific chemical shift mapping of protein-protein interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schumann, Frank H.; Riepl, Hubert [University of Regensburg, Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (Germany); Maurer, Till [Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH and Co. KG, Analytical Sciences Department (Germany); Gronwald, Wolfram [University of Regensburg, Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (Germany); Neidig, Klaus-Peter [Bruker BioSpin GmbH, Software Department (Germany); Kalbitzer, Hans Robert [University of Regensburg, Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (Germany)], E-mail: hans-robert.kalbitzer@biologie.uni-regensburg.de

2007-12-15

Protein-protein interactions are often studied by chemical shift mapping using solution NMR spectroscopy. When heteronuclear data are available the interaction interface is usually predicted by combining the chemical shift changes of different nuclei to a single quantity, the combined chemical shift perturbation {delta}{delta}{sub comb}. In this paper different procedures (published and non-published) to calculate {delta}{delta}{sub comb} are examined that include a variety of different functional forms and weighting factors for each nucleus. The predictive power of all shift mapping methods depends on the magnitude of the overlap of the chemical shift distributions of interacting and non-interacting residues and the cut-off criterion used. In general, the quality of the prediction on the basis of chemical shift changes alone is rather unsatisfactory but the combination of chemical shift changes on the basis of the Hamming or the Euclidian distance can improve the result. The corrected standard deviation to zero of the combined chemical shift changes can provide a reasonable cut-off criterion. As we show combined chemical shifts can also be applied for a more reliable quantitative evaluation of titration data.

Shift work and health--a critical review of the literature on working hours.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, J M

1994-09-01

Working outside normal hours either by extended days or shift work is a fact of industrial society. Its economic advantages must be weighed against detrimental effects on the individual worker in the form of circadian rhythm disturbance, poorer quality and quantity of sleep and increased fatigue. The link between shift work and increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has strengthened in recent years. The case for an association with gastrointestinal disease remains quite good. Evidence of poorer work performance and increased accidents, particularly on the night shift, is persuasive, although individual factors may be as important as workplace factors. Correct shift work scheduling is important and for rotating shifts, rapid forward rotation is the least disruptive option. The compressed working week of 10 to 12-hour shifts is gaining popularity but evidence is too scant at present to suggest there are many long-term health and safety risks provided the rest day block is preserved. Optimal hours for the working week cannot be formulated on present scientific evidence, though working more than 48-56 hours a week probably carries serious health and safety implications. The inherent conflict between the interest of the worker and the enterprise over unsocial hours can be mitigated by improvements in working conditions especially at night and by advice to the worker on coping strategies. Further research is needed on the effects of the compressed working week, as well as the influence of culture, task and gender on any health effects. Studies to define individual characteristics which may cause shift work intolerance would be of great practical use.

Analytical solutions for quantum walks on 1D chain with different shift operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Xin-Ping; Zhang, Xiao-Kun; Ide, Yusuke; Konno, Norio

2014-01-01

In this paper, we study the discrete-time quantum walks on 1D Chain with the moving and swapping shift operators. We derive analytical solutions for the eigenvalues and eigenstates of the evolution operator U -hat using the Chebyshev polynomial technique, and calculate the long-time averaged probabilities for the two different shift operators respectively. It is found that the probability distributions for the moving and swapping shift operators display completely different characteristics. For the moving shift operator, the probability distribution exhibits high symmetry where the probabilities at mirror positions are equal. The probabilities are inversely proportional to the system size N and approach to zero as N→∞. On the contrary, for the swapping shift operator, the probability distribution is not symmetric, the probability distribution approaches to a power-law stationary distribution as N→∞ under certain coin parameter condition. We show that such power-law stationary distribution is determined by the eigenstates of the eigenvalues ±1 and calculate the intrinsic probability for different starting positions. Our findings suggest that the eigenstates corresponding to eigenvalues ±1 play an important role for the swapping shift operator. - Highlights: • QWs on 1D chain with the moving and swapping operators are studied for the first time. • We derive analytical results for the probability distribution for the two operators. •We compare the dynamics of QWs with two different shift operators. • We find the particular eigenvalues ±1 play an important role for the dynamics. • We use the Chebyshev technique to treat the problem

Pupillary correlates of covert shifts of attention during working memory maintenance.

Science.gov (United States)

Unsworth, Nash; Robison, Matthew K

2017-04-01

The pupillary light reflex (PLR) was used to track covert shifts of attention to items maintained in visual working memory (VWM). In three experiments, participants performed a change detection task in which rectangles appeared on either side of fixation and at test participants indicated if the cued rectangle changed its orientation. Prior to presentation or during the delay, participants were cued to the light or dark side of the screen. When cued to the light side, the pupil constricted, and when cued to the dark side, the pupil dilated, suggesting that the PLR tracked covert shifts of attention. Similar covert shifts of attention were seen when the target stimuli remained onscreen and during a blank delay period, suggesting similar effects for attention to perceptual stimuli and attention to stimuli maintained in VWM. Furthermore, similar effects were demonstrated when participants were pre-cued or retro-cued to the prioritized location, suggesting that shifts of covert attention can occur both before and after target presentation. These results are consistent with prior research, suggesting an important role of covert shifts of attention during VWM maintenance and that the PLR can be used to track these covert shifts of attention.

Morphological, Structural and Optical Evolution of Ag Nanostructures on c-Plane GaN Through the Variation of Deposition Amount and Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Sui, Mao; Li, Ming-Yu; Pandey, Puran; Zhang, Quanzhen; Kunwar, Sundar; Lee, Jihoon

2018-03-01

Owing to their tunable properties, Ag nanostructures have been widely adapted in various applications and the morphological control can determine their performance and effectiveness. In this work, we demonstrate the morphological and optical evolution of Ag nanostructures on GaN (0001) by the systematic control of deposition amount at two distinctive annealing temperatures. Based on the Volmer-Weber and coalescence growth models, the nanostructure growth commenced by the thermal solid-state-dewetting evolve in terms of size, density and configuration. At 450 °C, the round-dome shaped Ag nanoparticles (regime I), irregular Ag nano-mounds (regime II) and void-layer structures (regime III) are observed along with the gradually increased deposition amount. As a sharp distinction, the solid state dewetting process occur more radically at 700 °C and also, the Ag sublimation and the effect on the nanostructure formation are observed in a clear regime shift scaled by the deposition amount. Meanwhile, a strong dependency of reflectance spectra evolution on the Ag nanostructure morphology is witnessed for both sets. In particular, Ag dipolar resonance peaks are significantly red-shifted from VIS to NIR regions along with the nanostructure evolution. The reflectance, PL and Raman intensity variation are also observed and discussed based on the evolution of Ag nanostructures.

Foot anthropometry and morphology phenomena.

Science.gov (United States)

Agić, Ante; Nikolić, Vasilije; Mijović, Budimir

2006-12-01

Foot structure description is important for many reasons. The foot anthropometric morphology phenomena are analyzed together with hidden biomechanical functionality in order to fully characterize foot structure and function. For younger Croatian population the scatter data of the individual foot variables were interpolated by multivariate statistics. Foot structure descriptors are influenced by many factors, as a style of life, race, climate, and things of the great importance in human society. Dominant descriptors are determined by principal component analysis. Some practical recommendation and conclusion for medical, sportswear and footwear practice are highlighted.

On sub-modularization and morphological heterogeneity in modular robotics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyder, A. H.; Stoy, K.; Garciá, R. F. M.

2012-01-01

Modular robots are a kind of robots built from mechatronic modules, which can be assembled in many different ways allowing the modular robot to assume a wide range of morphologies and functions. An important question in modular robotics is to which degree modules should be heterogeneous....... In this paper we introduce two contributing factors to heterogeneity namely morphological heterogeneity and sub-functional modularization. Respectively, the ideas are to create modules with significantly different morphologies and to spread sub-functionality across modules. Based on these principles we design...... and implement the Thor robot and evaluate it by participating in the ICRA Planetary Robotic Contingency Challenge. The Thor robot demonstrates that sub-functional modularity and morphological heterogeneity may increase the versatility of modular robots while reducing the complexity of individual modules, which...

Larger red-shift in optical emissions obtained from the thin films of globular proteins (BSA, lysozyme) – polyelectrolyte (PAA) complexes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Talukdar, Hrishikesh [Physical Sciences Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Vigyan Path, Paschim Boragaon, Garchuk, Guwahati 781035, Assam (India); Kundu, Sarathi, E-mail: sarathi.kundu@gmail.com [Physical Sciences Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Vigyan Path, Paschim Boragaon, Garchuk, Guwahati 781035, Assam (India); Basu, Saibal [Solid State Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2016-09-30

Graphical abstract: Thin films of protein-polyelectrolyte complexes show larger red-shift in optical emission. - Highlights: • Globular proteins (lysozyme and BSA) and polyelectrolyte (sodium polyacrylic acid) are used to form protein-polyelectrolyte complexes (PPC). • Larger red-shift in optical emission is obtained from the thin films of PPC. • Red-shift is not obtained from the solution of PPC and pure protein thin films. • Larger red-shift from PPC films is due to the energy dissipation as non-radiative form through interactions with nearby atoms. • Red-shift in optical emission is independent on the thickness of the PPC film. - Abstract: Globular proteins (lysozyme and BSA) and polyelectrolyte (sodium polyacrylic acid) are used to form protein-polyelectrolyte complexes (PPC). Out-of-plane structures of ≈30–60 nm thick PPC films and their surface morphologies have been studied by using X-ray reflectivity and atomic force microscopy, whereas optical behaviors of PPC and protein conformations have been studied by using UV–vis, photoluminescence and FTIR spectroscopy respectively. Our study reveals that thin films of PPC show a larger red-shift of 23 and 16 nm in the optical emissions in comparison to that of pure protein whereas bulk PPC show a small blue-shift of ≈3 nm. A small amount of peak-shift is found to occur due to the heat treatment or concentration variation of the polyelectrolyte/protein in bulk solution but cannot produce such film thickness independent larger red-shift. Position of the emission peak remains nearly unchanged with the film thickness. Mechanism for such larger red-shift has been proposed.

Evolution of larval competitiveness and associated life-history traits in response to host shifts in a seed beetle.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, C W; Messina, F J

2018-02-01

Resource competition is frequently strong among parasites that feed within small discrete resource patches, such as seeds or fruits. The properties of a host can influence the behavioural, morphological and life-history traits of associated parasites, including traits that mediate competition within the host. For seed parasites, host size may be an especially important determinant of competitive ability. Using the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus, we performed replicated, reciprocal host shifts to examine the role of seed size in determining larval competitiveness and associated traits. Populations ancestrally associated with either a small host (mung bean) or a large one (cowpea) were switched to each other's host for 36 generations. Compared to control lines (those remaining on the ancestral host), lines switched from the small host to the large host evolved greater tolerance of co-occurring larvae within seeds (indicated by an increase in the frequency of small seeds yielding two adults), smaller egg size and higher fecundity. Each change occurred in the direction predicted by the traits of populations already adapted to cowpea. However, we did not observe the expected decline in adult mass following the shift to the larger host. Moreover, lines switched from the large host (cowpea) to the small host (mung bean) did not evolve the predicted increase in larval competitiveness or egg size, but did exhibit the predicted increase in body mass. Our results thus provide mixed support for the hypothesis that host size determines the evolution of competition-related traits of seed beetles. Evolutionary responses to the two host shifts were consistent among replicate lines, but the evolution of larval competition was asymmetric, with larval competitiveness evolving as predicted in one direction of host shift, but not the reverse. Nevertheless, our results indicate that switching hosts is sufficient to produce repeatable and rapid changes in the competition strategy

Sleep and need for recovery in shift workers: do chronotype and age matter?

Science.gov (United States)

van de Ven, Hardy A; van der Klink, Jac J L; Vetter, Céline; Roenneberg, Till; Gordijn, Marijke; Koolhaas, Wendy; de Looze, Michiel P; Brouwer, Sandra; Bültmann, Ute

2016-01-01

This study examined associations of chronotype and age with shift-specific assessments of main sleep duration, sleep quality and need for recovery in a cross-sectional study among N = 261 industrial shift workers (96.6% male). Logistic regression analyses were used, adjusted for gender, lifestyle, health, nap behaviour, season of assessment and shift schedule. Shift workers with latest versus earliest chronotype reported a shorter sleep duration (OR 11.68, 95% CI 3.31-41.17) and more awakenings complaints (OR 4.84, 95% CI 4.45-11.92) during morning shift periods. No associations were found between chronotype, sleep and need for recovery during evening and night shift periods. For age, no associations were found with any of the shift-specific outcome measures. The results stress the importance of including the concept of chronotype in shift work research and scheduling beyond the concept of age. Longitudinal research using shift-specific assessments of sleep and need for recovery are needed to confirm these results. Chronotype seems to better explain individual differences in sleep than age. In view of ageing societies, it might therefore be worthwhile to further examine the application of chronotype for individualised shift work schedules to facilitate healthy and sustainable employment.

Morphology and identification of first instar larvae of Australian blowflies of the genus Chrysomya of forensic importance.

Science.gov (United States)

Szpila, Krzysztof; Wallman, James F

2016-10-01

Light microscopy photographs, line illustrations and scanning electron microscopy micrographs are provided for first instar larvae of six Australian species of Chrysomya. All species have confirmed or potential in forensic investigations given their carrion-breeding habits. Morphology of the first instar larvae of Ch. nigripes, Ch. rufifacies, Ch. saffranea and Ch. varipes is revised, while larvae of Ch. incisularis and Ch. latifrons are described for the first time. The following morphological structures are documented: pseudocephalon, antennal complex, maxillary palpus, facial mask, thoracic and abdominal spinulation, spiracular field, posterior spiracles and cephaloskeleton. New diagnostic features of the cephaloskeleton and the spinulation of the abdominal segments are described. Verification of earlier descriptions revealed major discrepancies between published data, especially in the case of Ch. nigripes. The present results allow clarification, correction and, especially, complementation of the existing information provided by numerous authors. Finally, an identification key for first instar larvae of Australian necrophagous Chrysomya is presented. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Shifting communities after­­ typhoon damage on an upper mesophotic reef in Okinawa, Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristine N. White

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Very few studies have been conducted on the long-term effects of typhoon damage on mesophotic coral reefs. This study investigates the long-term community dynamics of damage from Typhoon 17 (Jelawat in 2012 on the coral community of the upper mesophotic Ryugu Reef in Okinawa, Japan. A shift from foliose to bushy coral morphologies between December 2012 and August 2015 was documented, especially on the area of the reef that was previously recorded to be poor in scleractinian genera diversity and dominated by foliose corals. Comparatively, an area with higher diversity of scleractinian coral genera was observed to be less affected by typhoon damage with more stable community structure due to less change in dominant coral morphologies. Despite some changes in the composition of dominant genera, the generally high coverage of the mesophotic coral community is facilitating the recovery of Ryugu Reef after typhoon damage.

Task-shifting: The crucial role of medical doctors in reducing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Task-shifting in surgery raises important ethical issues, as patient risk ... oppressive political climate, including insecurity and threat of ... of job description, unsatisfactory organization and ... provincial level with commitment to return after having.

Tuning the morphology of metastable MnS films by simple chemical bath deposition technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dhandayuthapani, T. [Directorate of Distance Education, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630004 (India); Girish, M. [Department of Physics, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630004 (India); Sivakumar, R., E-mail: krsivakumar1979@yahoo.com [Directorate of Distance Education, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630004 (India); Sanjeeviraja, C. [Department of Physics, Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi 630004 (India); Gopalakrishnan, R. [Department of Physics, Anna University, Chennai 600025 (India)

2015-10-30

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • MnS films with diverse morphological features were prepared without any complexing agent. • The change in morphology of MnS films may be due to the “oriented aggregation”. • The dual role (as sulfur source and structure directing agent) of thiourea was observed. • Sulfur source concentration induced enhancement in the crystallization of films. - Abstract: In the present investigation, we have prepared the spherical particles, almond-like, and cauliflower-like morphological structures of metastable MnS films on glass substrate by chemical bath deposition technique at low temperature without using any complexing or chelating agent. The morphological change of MnS films with molar ratio may be due to the oriented aggregation of adjacent particles. The compositional purity of deposited film was confirmed by the EDAX study. X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman studies confirm the sulfur source concentration induced enhancement in the crystallization of films with metastable MnS phase (zinc-blende β-MnS, and wurtzite γ-MnS). The shift in PL emission peak with molar ratio may be due to the change in optical energy band gap of the MnS, which was further confirmed by the optical absorbance study. The paramagnetic behavior of the sample was confirmed by the M–H plot.

Deep time perspective on turtle neck evolution: chasing the Hox code by vertebral morphology.

Science.gov (United States)

Böhmer, Christine; Werneburg, Ingmar

2017-08-21

The unparalleled ability of turtle neck retraction is possible in three different modes, which characterize stem turtles, living side-necked (Pleurodira), and hidden-necked (Cryptodira) turtles, respectively. Despite the conservatism in vertebral count among turtles, there is significant functional and morphological regionalization in the cervical vertebral column. Since Hox genes play a fundamental role in determining the differentiation in vertebra morphology and based on our reconstruction of evolutionary genetics in deep time, we hypothesize genetic differences among the turtle groups and between turtles and other land vertebrates. We correlated anterior Hox gene expression and the quantifiable shape of the vertebrae to investigate the morphological modularity in the neck across living and extinct turtles. This permitted the reconstruction of the hypothetical ancestral Hox code pattern of the whole turtle clade. The scenario of the evolution of axial patterning in turtles indicates shifts in the spatial expression of HoxA-5 in relation to the reduction of cervical ribs in modern turtles and of HoxB-5 linked with a lower morphological differentiation between the anterior cervical vertebrae observed in cryptodirans. By comparison with the mammalian pattern, we illustrate how the fixed count of eight cervical vertebrae in turtles resulted from the emergence of the unique turtle shell.

The place of morphology in learning to read in English.

Science.gov (United States)

Rastle, Kathleen

2018-02-24

Morphology is a major organising principle of English and other alphabetic languages, but has been largely neglected in theories of reading acquisition. In this article, I develop the view that learning to appreciate morphological relationships may be a vital part of acquiring a direct mapping between printed words and their meanings, represented in the ventral brain pathway of the reading network. I show that morphology provides an important degree of regularity across this mapping in English, and suggest that this regularity is directly associated with irregularity in the mapping between spelling and sound. I further show that while children in primary school display explicit knowledge of morphological relationships, there is scant evidence they show the rapid morphological analysis of printed words that skilled readers exhibit. These findings suggest that the acquisition of long-term morphological knowledge may be associated with the ongoing development of reading expertise. Implications for reading instruction are discussed. Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Morphology captures diet and locomotor types in rodents.

Science.gov (United States)

Verde Arregoitia, Luis D; Fisher, Diana O; Schweizer, Manuel

2017-01-01

To understand the functional meaning of morphological features, we need to relate what we know about morphology and ecology in a meaningful, quantitative framework. Closely related species usually share more phenotypic features than distant ones, but close relatives do not necessarily have the same ecologies. Rodents are the most diverse group of living mammals, with impressive ecomorphological diversification. We used museum collections and ecological literature to gather data on morphology, diet and locomotion for 208 species of rodents from different bioregions to investigate how morphological similarity and phylogenetic relatedness are associated with ecology. After considering differences in body size and shared evolutionary history, we find that unrelated species with similar ecologies can be characterized by a well-defined suite of morphological features. Our results validate the hypothesized ecological relevance of the chosen traits. These cranial, dental and external (e.g. ears) characters predicted diet and locomotion and showed consistent differences among species with different feeding and substrate use strategies. We conclude that when ecological characters do not show strong phylogenetic patterns, we cannot simply assume that close relatives are ecologically similar. Museum specimens are valuable records of species' phenotypes and with the characters proposed here, morphology can reflect functional similarity, an important component of community ecology and macroevolution.

The role of cationic precursors in structural, morphological and optical properties of PbS thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Preetha, K C; Murali, K V; Ragina, A J; Deepa, K; Dhanya, A C; Remadevi, T L

2013-01-01

Thin films of Lead sulphide (PbS) were grown on soda lime glass substrate by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method using lead acetate, lead chloride, lead nitrate, and lead sulphate as cationic precursors and thioacetamide as sulphur source. The experiments were carried out at room temperature under normal pressure utilizing aqueous conditions. The structural and morphological aspects of the as prepared samples were investigated by means of XRD and SEM results. The prepared samples were polycrystalline with nanometer-sized grains and identified as galena type cubic structure (FCC). The values of average crystallite size were found to be in the range 22 to 30 nm. The SEM micrographs show variations in morphology. Optical studies revealed that the absorption edges of the films indicated strong blue shifts with respect to bulk sample. In this work, we establish that the cationic precursor sources and in turn the size of the crystallites affects the structural, morphological and optical properties of PbS thin films.

Consumer segmentation based on food-category attribute importance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verain, M.C.D.; Sijtsema, Siet J.; Antonides, Gerrit

2016-01-01

Sustainability issues pose an important challenge to contemporary dietary patterns. Scientists more and more emphasize the importance of consumers shifting their dietary patterns towards consumption levels that are not only healthy but simultaneously consider sustainability. Therefore, the aim of

Importance and Use of Morphological Characteristics of Blackberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. in the Course of DUS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Л. І. Улич

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The article offers results of research on morphological characteristics and biological properties of blackberry, their inheritance, as well as stability and variability under the influence of agro-ecological conditions and stress factors of the environment with a view of recognizing, describing and identifying varieties undergoing official research and technical examination on DUS, which also could be used in the breeding process.

Paradigm shift in psychiatry: what may it involve?

Science.gov (United States)

Valent, Paul

2018-02-01

This study aims to examine the potential nature of an ongoing paradigm shift in psychiatry that has been suggested to be occurring. New findings in traumatology and neuroscience do form a potential platform for a paradigm shift. Prior conflicting paradigms are suggested to be due to biases arising from mental structures themselves. A new wholist perspective is proposed, which makes sense of and incorporates previous paradigms, and coheres recent understanding of right- and left-brain functioning and biopsychosocial traumatic processes and their ramifications. The perspective makes sense of the great variety of post-traumatic manifestations ranging from somatic to meaning-making dysfunctions. The wholist perspective may well be an important step in solidifying a fresh paradigmatic perspective in psychiatry.

Tendinous framework of anurans reveals an all-purpose morphology.

Science.gov (United States)

Fratani, Jéssica; Ponssa, María Laura; Abdala, Virginia

2018-02-01

Tendons are directly associated with movement, amplifying power and reducing muscular work. Taking into account habitat and locomotor challenges faced by anurans, we identify the more conspicuous superficial tendons of a neotropical anuran group and investigate their relation to the former factors. We show that tendons can be visualized as an anatomical framework connected through muscles and/or fascia, and describe the most superficial tendinous layer of the postcranium of Leptodactylus latinasus. To analyze the relation between tendon morphology and ecological characters, we test the relative length ratio of 10 tendon-muscle (t-m) elements in 45 leptodactylid species while taking phylogeny into account. We identify the evolutionary model that best explains our variables. Additionally, we optimize t-m ratio values, and the shape of the longissimus dorsi insertion onto a selected phylogeny of the species. Our data show the existence of an all-purpose morphology that seems to have evolved independently of ecology and functional requirements. This is indicated by no significant relation between morphometric data of the analyzed tendons and habitat use or locomotion, a strong phylogenetic component to most of the analyzed variables, and a generalized pattern of intermediate values for ancestral states. Ornstein-Uhlenbeck is the model that best explains most t-m variables, indicating that stabilizing selection or selective optima might be driving shifts in tendon length within Leptodactylidae. Herein, we show the substantial influence that phylogeny has on tendon morphology, demonstrating that a generalized and stable morphological configuration of tendons is adequate to enable versatile locomotor modes and habitat use. This is an attempt to present the tendinous system as a framework to body support in vertebrates, and can be considered a starting point for further ecomorphological research of this anatomical system in anurans. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All

SeaQuest/E906 Shift Alarm System

Science.gov (United States)

Kitts, Noah

2014-09-01

SeaQuest, Fermilab E906, is a fixed target experiment that measures the Drell-Yan cross-section ratio of proton-proton to proton-deuterium collisions in order to extract the sea anti-quark structure of the proton. SeaQuest will extend the measurements made by E866/NuSea with greater precision at higher Bjorken-x. The continuously running experiment is always being monitored. Those on shift must keep track of all of the detector readouts in order to make sure the experiment is running correctly. As an experiment that is still in its early stages of running, an alarm system for people on shift is being created to provide warnings, such as a plot showing a detector's performance is sufficiently different to need attention. This plan involves python scripts that track live data. When the data shows a problem within the experiment, a corresponding alarm ID is sent to the MySQL database which then sets off an alarm. These alarms, which will alert the person on shift through both an audible and visual response, are important for ensuring that issues do not go unnoticed, and to help make sure the experiment is recording good data.

Comparative morphology and identification key for females of nine Sarcophagidae species (Diptera with forensic importance in Southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karine Pinto e Vairo

2015-09-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTThe identification of female flesh flies was always considered a difficult task since morphological descriptions and keys for females are rare. Even in a forensic entomology framework, where females play a major role, female flesh flies are usually not identified. In order to fill this gap in Southern Brazil fauna we provide detailed descriptions and key for the female of nine species included in four genera: Microcerella halli (Engel, Oxysarcodexia paulistanensis (Mattos, Oxysarcodexia riograndensis (Lopes, Peckia (Euboettcheria australis (Townsend, Peckia(Euboettcheria florencioi (Prado and Fonseca, Peckia (Pattonella intermutans (Walker, Peckia(Pattonella resona (Lopes, Peckia (Sarcodexia lambens (Wiedemann, and Sarcophaga(Bercaea africa (Wiedemann. These species are distinguished mainly by genital characters as tergite 6 divided or undivided, presence of tergite 8, spermatheca morphology and vaginal plate shape.

Optimal coal import strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, C.Y.; Shih, L.H.

1992-01-01

Recently, the main power company in Taiwan has shifted the primary energy resource from oil to coal and tried to diversify the coal supply from various sources. The company wants to have the imported coal meet the environmental standards and operation requirements as well as to have high heating value. In order to achieve these objectives, establishment of a coal blending system for Taiwan is necessary. A mathematical model using mixed integer programming technique is used to model the import strategy and the blending system. 6 refs., 1 tab

Adaptation to shift work: physiologically based modeling of the effects of lighting and shifts' start time.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana Postnova

Full Text Available Shift work has become an integral part of our life with almost 20% of the population being involved in different shift schedules in developed countries. However, the atypical work times, especially the night shifts, are associated with reduced quality and quantity of sleep that leads to increase of sleepiness often culminating in accidents. It has been demonstrated that shift workers' sleepiness can be improved by a proper scheduling of light exposure and optimizing shifts timing. Here, an integrated physiologically-based model of sleep-wake cycles is used to predict adaptation to shift work in different light conditions and for different shift start times for a schedule of four consecutive days of work. The integrated model combines a model of the ascending arousal system in the brain that controls the sleep-wake switch and a human circadian pacemaker model. To validate the application of the integrated model and demonstrate its utility, its dynamics are adjusted to achieve a fit to published experimental results showing adaptation of night shift workers (n = 8 in conditions of either bright or regular lighting. Further, the model is used to predict the shift workers' adaptation to the same shift schedule, but for conditions not considered in the experiment. The model demonstrates that the intensity of shift light can be reduced fourfold from that used in the experiment and still produce good adaptation to night work. The model predicts that sleepiness of the workers during night shifts on a protocol with either bright or regular lighting can be significantly improved by starting the shift earlier in the night, e.g.; at 21:00 instead of 00:00. Finally, the study predicts that people of the same chronotype, i.e. with identical sleep times in normal conditions, can have drastically different responses to shift work depending on their intrinsic circadian and homeostatic parameters.

Adaptation to shift work: physiologically based modeling of the effects of lighting and shifts' start time.

Science.gov (United States)

Postnova, Svetlana; Robinson, Peter A; Postnov, Dmitry D

2013-01-01

Shift work has become an integral part of our life with almost 20% of the population being involved in different shift schedules in developed countries. However, the atypical work times, especially the night shifts, are associated with reduced quality and quantity of sleep that leads to increase of sleepiness often culminating in accidents. It has been demonstrated that shift workers' sleepiness can be improved by a proper scheduling of light exposure and optimizing shifts timing. Here, an integrated physiologically-based model of sleep-wake cycles is used to predict adaptation to shift work in different light conditions and for different shift start times for a schedule of four consecutive days of work. The integrated model combines a model of the ascending arousal system in the brain that controls the sleep-wake switch and a human circadian pacemaker model. To validate the application of the integrated model and demonstrate its utility, its dynamics are adjusted to achieve a fit to published experimental results showing adaptation of night shift workers (n = 8) in conditions of either bright or regular lighting. Further, the model is used to predict the shift workers' adaptation to the same shift schedule, but for conditions not considered in the experiment. The model demonstrates that the intensity of shift light can be reduced fourfold from that used in the experiment and still produce good adaptation to night work. The model predicts that sleepiness of the workers during night shifts on a protocol with either bright or regular lighting can be significantly improved by starting the shift earlier in the night, e.g.; at 21:00 instead of 00:00. Finally, the study predicts that people of the same chronotype, i.e. with identical sleep times in normal conditions, can have drastically different responses to shift work depending on their intrinsic circadian and homeostatic parameters.

Morphological Evolution of Block Copolymer Particles: Effect of Solvent Evaporation Rate on Particle Shape and Morphology.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Jae Man; Kim, YongJoo; Yun, Hongseok; Yi, Gi-Ra; Kim, Bumjoon J

2017-02-28

Shape and morphology of polymeric particles are of great importance in controlling their optical properties or self-assembly into unusual superstructures. Confinement of block copolymers (BCPs) in evaporative emulsions affords particles with diverse structures, including prolate ellipsoids, onion-like spheres, oblate ellipsoids, and others. Herein, we report that the evaporation rate of solvent from emulsions encapsulating symmetric polystyrene-b-polybutadiene (PS-b-PB) determines the shape and internal nanostructure of micron-sized BCP particles. A distinct morphological transition from the ellipsoids with striped lamellae to the onion-like spheres was observed with decreasing evaporation rate. Experiments and dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations showed that the evaporation rate affected the organization of BCPs at the particle surface, which determined the final shape and internal nanostructure of the particles. Differences in the solvent diffusion rates in PS and PB at rapid evaporation rates induced alignment of both domains perpendicular to the particle surface, resulting in ellipsoids with axial lamellar stripes. Slower evaporation rates provided sufficient time for BCP organization into onion-like structures with PB as the outermost layer, owing to the preferential interaction of PB with the surroundings. BCP molecular weight was found to influence the critical evaporation rate corresponding to the morphological transition from ellipsoid to onion-like particles, as well as the ellipsoid aspect ratio. DPD simulations produced morphologies similar to those obtained from experiments and thus elucidated the mechanism and driving forces responsible for the evaporation-induced assembly of BCPs into particles with well-defined shapes and morphologies.

Tidal controls on river delta morphology

Science.gov (United States)

Hoitink, A. J. F.; Wang, Z. B.; Vermeulen, B.; Huismans, Y.; Kästner, K.

2017-09-01

River delta degradation has been caused by extraction of natural resources, sediment retention by reservoirs, and sea-level rise. Despite global concerns about these issues, human activity in the world’s largest deltas intensifies. Harbour development, construction of flood defences, sand mining and land reclamation emerge as key contemporary factors that exert an impact on delta morphology. Tides interacting with river discharge can play a crucial role in the morphodynamic development of deltas under pressure. Emerging insights into tidal controls on river delta morphology suggest that--despite the active morphodynamics in tidal channels and mouth bar regions--tidal motion acts to stabilize delta morphology at the landscape scale under the condition that sediment import during low flows largely balances sediment export during high flows. Distributary channels subject to tides show lower migration rates and are less easily flooded by the river because of opposing non-linear interactions between river discharge and the tide. These interactions lead to flow changes within channels, and a more uniform distribution of discharge across channels. Sediment depletion and rigorous human interventions in deltas, including storm surge defence works, disrupt the dynamic morphological equilibrium and can lead to erosion and severe scour at the channel bed, even decades after an intervention.

Effects of Napping During Shift Work on Sleepiness and Performance in Emergency Medical Services Personnel and Similar Shift Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Gill, Christian; Barger, Laura K; Moore, Charity G; Higgins, J Stephen; Teasley, Ellen M; Weiss, Patricia M; Condle, Joseph P; Flickinger, Katharyn L; Coppler, Patrick J; Sequeira, Denisse J; Divecha, Ayushi A; Matthews, Margaret E; Lang, Eddy S; Patterson, P Daniel

2018-02-15

Scheduled napping during work shifts may be an effective way to mitigate fatigue-related risk. This study aimed to critically review and synthesize existing literature on the impact of scheduled naps on fatigue-related outcomes for EMS personnel and similar shift worker groups. A systematic literature review was performed of the impact of a scheduled nap during shift work on EMS personnel or similar shift workers. The primary (critical) outcome of interest was EMS personnel safety. Secondary (important) outcomes were patient safety; personnel performance; acute states of fatigue, alertness, and sleepiness; indicators of sleep duration and/or quality; employee retention/turnover; indicators of long-term health; and cost to the system. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of napping on a measure of personnel performance (the psychomotor vigilance test [PVT]) and measures of acute fatigue. Of 4,660 unique records identified, 13 experimental studies were determined relevant and summarized. The effect of napping on reaction time measured at the end of shift was small and non-significant (SMD 0.12, 95% CI -0.13 to 0.36; p = 0.34). Napping during work did not change reaction time from the beginning to the end of the shift (SMD -0.01, 95% CI -25.0 to 0.24; p = 0.96). Naps had a moderate, significant effect on sleepiness measured at the end of shift (SMD 0.40, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.72; p = 0.01). The difference in sleepiness from the start to the end of shift was moderate and statistically significant (SMD 0.41, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.72; p = 0.01). Reviewed literature indicated that scheduled naps at work improved performance and decreased fatigue in shift workers. Further research is required to identify the optimal timing and duration of scheduled naps to maximize the beneficial outcomes.

Shift Work, Chronotype, and Melatonin Patterns among Female Hospital Employees on Day and Night Shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Michael; Tranmer, Joan; Hung, Eleanor; Korsiak, Jill; Day, Andrew G; Aronson, Kristan J

2016-05-01

Shift work-related carcinogenesis is hypothesized to be mediated by melatonin; however, few studies have considered the potential effect modification of this underlying pathway by chronotype or specific aspects of shift work such as the number of consecutive nights in a rotation. In this study, we examined melatonin patterns in relation to shift status, stratified by chronotype and number of consecutive night shifts, and cumulative lifetime exposure to shift work. Melatonin patterns of 261 female personnel (147 fixed-day and 114 on rotations, including nights) at Kingston General Hospital were analyzed using cosinor analysis. Urine samples were collected from all voids over a 48-hour specimen collection period for measurement of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin concentrations using the Buhlmann ELISA Kit. Chronotypes were assessed using mid-sleep time (MSF) derived from the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ). Sociodemographic, health, and occupational information were collected by questionnaire. Rotational shift nurses working nights had a lower mesor and an earlier time of peak melatonin production compared to day-only workers. More pronounced differences in mesor and acrophase were seen among later chronotypes, and shift workers working ≥3 consecutive nights. Among nurses, cumulative shift work was associated with a reduction in mesor. These results suggest that evening-types and/or shift workers working ≥3 consecutive nights are more susceptible to adverse light-at-night effects, whereas long-term shift work may also chronically reduce melatonin levels. Cumulative and current exposure to shift work, including nights, affects level and timing of melatonin production, which may be related to carcinogenesis and cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(5); 830-8. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

How does a modal shift from short car trips to cycling affect road safety?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schepers, J. P.; Heinen, E.

Governments aim to promote a shift from car to bicycle, but concerns about road safety seem to represent an important argument against this encouragement. This study examines the road safety impact of a modal shift from short car trips to cycling in Dutch municipalities. The road safety effect is

The design & delivery of quality services: A paradigm shift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. B.H. Smith

2002-12-01

Full Text Available As result of the increasingly important role information technology (IT is playing in service provision, less person-to-person contact will in future be made during service provision. Highly skilled specialists will make the remaining contact. Emphasis will shift to speed of delivery, with logistics playing an important role. The designers of services must take these factors into account if they wish to design quality services.

Effect of Shift Work on Nocturia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin Wook

2016-01-01

To identify the circadian sensitive component of nocturia by comparing nocturia in patients who voluntarily choose a disrupted circadian rhythm, that is, shift workers, with those who maintain normal day-night cycles. Between 2011 and 2013, a total of 1741 untreated patients, 1376 nonshift workers and 365 shift workers, were compared for nocturia indices based on frequency volume charts (FVCs). General linear model of 8-hour interval urine production and frequency were compared between FVCs of nonshift workers, FVCs of night-shift workers, and FVCs of day-shift workers. Nocturia frequency was increased in the night-shift workers (2.38 ± 1.44) compared with nonshift workers (2.18 ± 1.04) (P night-shift workers, 0.34 ± 0.13 for nonshift workers, P = .24), nocturnal bladder capacity index increased significantly (1.41 ± 1.06 for night-shift workers, 1.26 ± 0.92 for nonshift workers, P shift (P shift changes (P = .35). Patients in alternating work shifts showed increased nocturia, especially during their night shift. These changes tended to be more associated with decreased nocturnal bladder capacity than increased nocturnal polyuria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations between number of consecutive night shifts and impairment of neurobehavioral performance during a subsequent simulated night shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Magee, Michelle; Sletten, Tracey L; Ferguson, Sally A; Grunstein, Ronald R; Anderson, Clare; Kennaway, David J; Lockley, Steven W; Rajaratnam, Shantha Mw

2016-05-01

This study aimed to investigate sleep and circadian phase in the relationships between neurobehavioral performance and the number of consecutive shifts worked. Thirty-four shift workers [20 men, mean age 31.8 (SD 10.9) years] worked 2-7 consecutive night shifts immediately prior to a laboratory-based, simulated night shift. For 7 days prior, participants worked their usual shift sequence, and sleep was assessed with logs and actigraphy. Participants completed a 10-minute auditory psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) at the start (~21:00 hours) and end (~07:00 hours) of the simulated night shift. Mean reaction times (RT), number of lapses and RT distribution was compared between those who worked 2-3 consecutive night shifts versus those who worked 4-7 shifts. Following 4-7 shifts, night shift workers had significantly longer mean RT at the start and end of shift, compared to those who worked 2-3 shifts. The slowest and fastest 10% RT were significantly slower at the start, but not end, of shift among participants who worked 4-7 nights. Those working 4-7 nights also demonstrated a broader RT distribution at the start and end of shift and had significantly slower RT based on cumulative distribution analysis (5 (th), 25 (th), 50 (th), 75 (th)percentiles at the start of shift; 75th percentile at the end of shift). No group differences in sleep parameters were found for 7 days and 24 hours prior to the simulated night shift. A greater number of consecutive night shifts has a negative impact on neurobehavioral performance, likely due to cognitive slowing.

Change from an 8-hour shift to a 12-hour shift, attitudes, sleep, sleepiness and performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowden, A; Kecklund, G; Axelsson, J; Akerstedt, T

1998-01-01

The present study sought to evaluate the effect of a change from a rotating 3-shift (8-hour) to a 2-shift shift (12 hour) schedule on sleep, sleepiness, performance, perceived health, and well-being. Thirty-two shift workers at a chemical plant (control room operators) responded to a questionnaire a few months before a change was made in their shift schedule and 10 months after the change. Fourteen workers also filled out a diary, carried activity loggers, and carried out reaction-time tests (beginning and end of shift). Fourteen day workers served as a reference group for the questionnaires and 9 were intensively studied during a week with workdays and a free weekend. The questionnaire data showed that the shift change increased satisfaction with workhours, sleep, and time for social activities. Health, perceived accident risk, and reaction-time performance were not negatively affected. Alertness improved and subjective recovery time after night work decreased. The quick changes in the 8-hour schedule greatly increased sleep problems and fatigue. Sleepiness integrated across the entire shift cycle showed that the shift workers were less alert than the day workers, across workdays and days off (although alertness increased with the 12-hour shift). The change from 8-hour to 12-hour shifts was positive in most respects, possibly due to the shorter sequences of the workdays, the longer sequences of consecutive days off, the fewer types of shifts (easier planning), and the elimination of quick changes. The results may differ in groups with a higher work load.

SHIFT: server for hidden stops analysis in frame-shifted translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Arun; Singh, Tiratha Raj

2013-02-23

Frameshift is one of the three classes of recoding. Frame-shifts lead to waste of energy, resources and activity of the biosynthetic machinery. In addition, some peptides synthesized after frame-shifts are probably cytotoxic which serve as plausible cause for innumerable number of diseases and disorders such as muscular dystrophies, lysosomal storage disorders, and cancer. Hidden stop codons occur naturally in coding sequences among all organisms. These codons are associated with the early termination of translation for incorrect reading frame selection and help to reduce the metabolic cost related to the frameshift events. Researchers have identified several consequences of hidden stop codons and their association with myriad disorders. However the wealth of information available is speckled and not effortlessly acquiescent to data-mining. To reduce this gap, this work describes an algorithmic web based tool to study hidden stops in frameshifted translation for all the lineages through respective genetic code systems. This paper describes SHIFT, an algorithmic web application tool that provides a user-friendly interface for identifying and analyzing hidden stops in frameshifted translation of genomic sequences for all available genetic code systems. We have calculated the correlation between codon usage frequencies and the plausible contribution of codons towards hidden stops in an off-frame context. Markovian chains of various order have been used to model hidden stops in frameshifted peptides and their evolutionary association with naturally occurring hidden stops. In order to obtain reliable and persuasive estimates for the naturally occurring and predicted hidden stops statistical measures have been implemented. This paper presented SHIFT, an algorithmic tool that allows user-friendly exploration, analysis, and visualization of hidden stop codons in frameshifted translations. It is expected that this web based tool would serve as a useful complement for

A hypothesis-testing framework for studies investigating ontogenetic niche shifts using stable isotope ratios.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline M Hammerschlag-Peyer

Full Text Available Ontogenetic niche shifts occur across diverse taxonomic groups, and can have critical implications for population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem function. In this study, we provide a hypothesis-testing framework combining univariate and multivariate analyses to examine ontogenetic niche shifts using stable isotope ratios. This framework is based on three distinct ontogenetic niche shift scenarios, i.e., (1 no niche shift, (2 niche expansion/reduction, and (3 discrete niche shift between size classes. We developed criteria for identifying each scenario, as based on three important resource use characteristics, i.e., niche width, niche position, and niche overlap. We provide an empirical example for each ontogenetic niche shift scenario, illustrating differences in resource use characteristics among different organisms. The present framework provides a foundation for future studies on ontogenetic niche shifts, and also can be applied to examine resource variability among other population sub-groupings (e.g., by sex or phenotype.

Molecular morphology and crystallization in the quantum limit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bohr, Jakob

2002-01-01

The effects of phonons on crystallization and crystal morphology are investigated. It is shown that the commensuration of the lattice vibrations with the lattice will favor certain crystal morphologies. Vibrational effects can also be important for the molecular structure of chain molecules...... protein are estimated to differ by several electron volts. For a biomolecule, such energy is significant and may contribute to cold denaturing as seen for proteins. This is consistent with the empirical observation that cold denaturation is exothermic and hot denaturation endothermic....

Theoretical and experimental morphologies of 4-aminobenzophenone (ABP) crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qingwu; Sheen, D. B.; Shepherd, E. E. A.; Sherwood, J. N.; Simpson, G. S.; Hammond, R. B.

1997-11-01

The lattice energy (Elatt), slice energies (Eslice) and attachment energies (Eatt) of the different habit faces of ABP crystals have been calculated using the computer program HABIT. On the basis of the attachment energies of different crystal faces, the morphology was defined as {1 0 0}, {0 0 1}, {1 1 0}, {11bar0} and {1 01bar}. To confirm this theoretical prediction, we have grown ABP films and ABP crystals from the vapour phase. In both cases, the morphologically most important face was defined as {1 0 0} face using X-ray diffraction techniques. The remaining faces of the vapour-grown crystals were defined using a projection method, while the crystallites in the films were morphologically analysed by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM). The experimental morphologies are basically in agreement with the computation. Deviations from the equilibrium morphology can be ascribed to departure from equilibrium conditions during growth. For completeness, the results are compared with those for crystals grown from solutions for which deviations in morphology from the theoretical predictions can be ascribed to interaction between the crystal faces and solvent molecules.

Assessment of human embryo development using morphological criteria in an era of time-lapse, algorithms and 'OMICS': is looking good still important?

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, David K; Balaban, Basak

2016-10-01

With the worldwide move towards single embryo transfer there has been a renewed focus on the requirement for reliable means of assessing embryo viability. In an era of 'OMICS' technologies, and algorithms created through the use of time-lapse microscopy, the actual appearance of the human embryo as it progresses through each successive developmental stage to the blastocyst appears to have been somewhat neglected in recent years. Here we review the key features of the human preimplantation embryo and consider the relationship between morphological characteristics and developmental potential. Further, the impact of the culture environment on morphological traits, how key morphological qualities reflect aspects of embryo physiology, and how computer-assisted analysis of embryo morphology may facilitate a more quantitative approach to selection are discussed. The clinical introduction of time-lapse systems has reopened our eyes and given us a new vantage point from which to view the beauty of the initial stages of human life. Rather than a future in which the morphology of the embryo is deemed irrelevant, we propose that key features, such as multinucleation, cell size and blastocyst differentiation should be included in future iterations of selection/deselection algorithms. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved.For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Frames, the Loewner order and eigendecomposition for morphological operators on tensor fields

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Gronde, Jasper; Roerdink, Jos B. T. M.

2014-01-01

Rotation invariance is an important property for operators on tensor fields, but up to now, most methods for morphology on tensor fields had to either sacrifice rotation invariance, or do without the foundation of mathematical morphology: a lattice structure. Recently, we proposed a framework for

URBAN MORPHOLOGY AND AIR QUALITY IN DENSE RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS: CORRELATIONS BETWEEN MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND AIR POLLUTION AT STREET-LEVEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PRIYANTHA EDUSSURIYA

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This study is the second part of the series that identifies whether site-specific urban morphological parameters are correlated with air quality. This study aims to identify the most important urban morphological parameters that affects air quality at street level that affect air quality in metropolis like Hong Kong through field measurements and statistical analyses. The study considers 20 urban residential areas in five major districts of Hong Kong and real-time street level air pollutant and microclimatic data are collected from these areas. 21 morphological variables are identified and calculated based on the geometry of the urban fabric. Using principal component analyses, it is shown that out of the many urban morphological factors, only five morphological variables (plan area density, occlusivity, aerodynamic roughness height, mean built volume, compactness factor and four land development factors (aspect ratio, distance between building, mean building height and standard deviation of building height correlate with particulate matter. Besides mineralisation factor, contiguity and canyon ratio marginally correlate with particulate matter. On the other hand, nine variables (plan area density, compactness factor, occlusivity, aerodynamic roughness height, average size of building volume, aspect ratio, distance between buildings, mean building height and standard deviations of building heights correlate with NOx. All others play insignificant roles in street-level pollution effect. Moreover statistical analyses show little correlation between CO and ozone with urban morphological parameters. It is also established that the key microclimatic variables that connects PM and NOx with the urban morphological factors are northerly wind, relative humidity and temperature, which in turn translates to affecting the street-level air pollution.

The impact of night-shift work on platelet function in healthy medical staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakao, Tomoko; Yasumoto, Atsushi; Tokuoka, Suzumi; Kita, Yoshihiro; Kawahara, Takuya; Daimon, Masao; Yatomi, Yutaka

2018-04-18

Rotating shift work has been reported to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Vascular endothelial dysfunction and platelet activation are among the leading causes of thrombus formation in patients with myocardial infarction or stroke. Endothelial function has been shown to be impaired immediately after night-shift work; however, it is not known whether platelets are also activated. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute impact of night-shift work on platelet function. This observational study included 11 healthy medical staff members (seven women, median age 32 years). We examined each subject's platelet aggregation rates and the serum concentrations of eicosanoid mediators after night-shift work and on day-shift work without preceding night-shift work (baseline). Platelet aggregation did not differ from baseline levels after night-shift work. However, serum cyclooxygenase (COX)-metabolized eicosanoid mediators, particularly thromboxane (Tx) B 2 (a stable metabolite of TxA 2 and the most important marker of platelet activation), were significantly higher after the night-shift than at baseline (median 65.3 vs 180.4 ng/ml). Although platelet aggregation did not increase, there was an increase in serum COX-metabolized eicosanoid mediators such as TxB 2 in healthy medical staff after night-shift work. This platelet hypersensitivity may be one of the mechanisms underlying the significant association between night-shift work and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Evidence from neglect dyslexia for morphological decomposition at the early stages of orthographic-visual analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Reznick, Julia; Friedmann, Naama

2015-01-01

This study examined whether and how the morphological structure of written words affects reading in word-based neglect dyslexia (neglexia), and what can be learned about morphological decomposition in reading from the effect of morphology on neglexia. The oral reading of 7 Hebrew-speaking participants with acquired neglexia at the word level—6 with left neglexia and 1 with right neglexia—was evaluated. The main finding was that the morphological role of the letters on the neglected side of the word affected neglect errors: When an affix appeared on the neglected side, it was neglected significantly more often than when the neglected side was part of the root; root letters on the neglected side were never omitted, whereas affixes were. Perceptual effects of length and final letter form were found for words with an affix on the neglected side, but not for words in which a root letter appeared in the neglected side. Semantic and lexical factors did not affect the participants' reading and error pattern, and neglect errors did not preserve the morpho-lexical characteristics of the target words. These findings indicate that an early morphological decomposition of words to their root and affixes occurs before access to the lexicon and to semantics, at the orthographic-visual analysis stage, and that the effects did not result from lexical feedback. The same effects of morphological structure on reading were manifested by the participants with left- and right-sided neglexia. Since neglexia is a deficit at the orthographic-visual analysis level, the effect of morphology on reading patterns in neglexia further supports that morphological decomposition occurs in the orthographic-visual analysis stage, prelexically, and that the search for the three letters of the root in Hebrew is a trigger for attention shift in neglexia. PMID:26528159

Shifted-modified Chebyshev filters

OpenAIRE

ŞENGÜL, Metin

2013-01-01

This paper introduces a new type of filter approximation method that utilizes shifted-modified Chebyshev filters. Construction of the new filters involves the use of shifted-modified Chebyshev polynomials that are formed using the roots of conventional Chebyshev polynomials. The study also includes 2 tables containing the shifted-modified Chebyshev polynomials and the normalized element values for the low-pass prototype filters up to degree 6. The transducer power gain, group dela...

OpenShift cookbook

CERN Document Server

Gulati, Shekhar

2014-01-01

If you are a web application developer who wants to use the OpenShift platform to host your next big idea but are looking for guidance on how to achieve this, then this book is the first step you need to take. This is a very accessible cookbook where no previous knowledge of OpenShift is needed.

Four days of simulated shift work reduces insulin sensitivity in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Bescos, R; Boden, M J; Jackson, M L; Trewin, A J; Marin, E C; Levinger, I; Garnham, A; Hiam, D S; Falcao-Tebas, F; Conte, F; Owens, J A; Kennaway, D J; McConell, G K

2018-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 4 consecutive simulated night shifts on glucose homeostasis, mitochondrial function and central and peripheral rhythmicities compared with a simulated day shift schedule. Seventeen healthy adults (8M:9F) matched for sleep, physical activity and dietary/fat intake participated in this study (night shift work n = 9; day shift work n = 8). Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity before and after 4 nights of shift work were measured by an intravenous glucose tolerance test and a hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp respectively. Muscles biopsies were obtained to determine insulin signalling and mitochondrial function. Central and peripheral rhythmicities were assessed by measuring salivary melatonin and expression of circadian genes from hair samples respectively. Fasting plasma glucose increased (4.4 ± 0.1 vs. 4.6 ± 0.1 mmol L -1 ; P = .001) and insulin sensitivity decreased (25 ± 7%, P night shift, with no changes following the day shift. Night shift work had no effect on skeletal muscle protein expression (PGC1α, UCP3, TFAM and mitochondria Complex II-V) or insulin-stimulated pAkt Ser473, pTBC1D4Ser318 and pTBC1D4Thr642. Importantly, the metabolic changes after simulated night shifts occurred despite no changes in the timing of melatonin rhythmicity or hair follicle cell clock gene expression across the wake period (Per3, Per1, Nr1d1 and Nr1d2). Only 4 days of simulated night shift work in healthy adults is sufficient to reduce insulin sensitivity which would be expected to increase the risk of T2D. © 2018 Scandinavian Physiological Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What constitutes Homo sapiens? Morphology versus received wisdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Jeffrey

2016-06-20

Although Linnaeus coined Homo sapiens in 1735, it was Blumenbach forty years later who provided the first morphological definition of the species. Since humans were not then allowed to be ante-Diluvian, his effort applied to the genus, as well. After the Feldhofer Grotto Neanderthal disproved this creationist notion, and human-fossil hunting became legitimate, new specimens were allocated either to sapiens or new species within Homo, or even to new species within new genera. Yet as these taxonomic acts reflected the morphological differences between specimens, they failed to address the question: What constitutes H. sapiens? When in 1950 Mayr collapsed all human fossils into Homo, he not only denied humans a diverse evolutionary past, he also shifted the key to identifying its species from morphology to geological age - a practice most paleoanthropologists still follow. Thus, for example, H. erectus is the species that preceded H. sapiens, and H. sapiens is the species into which H. erectus morphed. In order to deal with a growing morass of morphologically dissimilar specimens, the non-taxonomic terms "archaic" (AS) and "anatomically modern" (AMS) were introduced to distinguish between the earlier and later versions of H. sapiens, thereby making the species impossible to define. In attempting to disentangle fact from scenario, I begin from the beginning, trying to delineate features that may be distinctive of extant humans (ES), and then turning to the fossils that have been included in the species. With the exception of Upper Paleolithic humans - e.g. from Cro-Magnon, Dolni Vestonice, Mladeč - I argue that many specimens regarded as AMS, and all those deemed AS, are not H. sapiens. The features these AMS do share with ES suggest the existence of a sapiens clade. Further, restudy of near-recent fossils, especially from southwestern China (∼11-14.5 ka), reinforces what discoveries such as H. floresiensis indicate: "If it's recent, it's not necessarily H. sapiens".

The role of phonology, morphology, and orthography in English and Russian spelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Boulware-Gooden, Regina; Joshi, R Malatesha; Grigorenko, Elena

2015-05-01

The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of phonology, morphology and orthography in predicting the spelling performance in English-speaking and Russian-speaking children. Tests that tap phonology, morphology and orthography were administered to students in grades 4 and 6 in the USA and Russia. Multiple regression analyses showed that phonology and morphology contributed more for spelling of English words while orthography and morphology contributed more to the spelling of Russian words. The results are explained in terms of the orthographic nature of English and Russian languages as well as the instructional practices and the importance of morphology in spelling in both the languages. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Performance and sleepiness in nurses working 12-h day shifts or night shifts in a community hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Marian; Permito, Regan; English, Ashley; Albritton, Sandra; Coogle, Carlana; Van Dongen, Hans P A

2017-10-05

Hospitals are around-the-clock operations and nurses are required to care for patients night and day. The nursing shortage and desire for a more balanced work-to-home life has popularized 12-h shifts for nurses. The present study investigated sleep/wake cycles and fatigue levels in 22 nurses working 12-h shifts, comparing day versus night shifts. Nurses (11day shift and 11 night shift) were recruited from a suburban acute-care medical center. Participants wore a wrist activity monitor and kept a diary to track their sleep/wake cycles for 2 weeks. They also completed a fatigue test battery, which included the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) and the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), at the beginning, middle and end of 4 duty shifts. Daily sleep duration was 7.1h on average. No overall difference in mean daily sleep duration was found between nurses working day shifts versus night shifts. Objective performance on the PVT remained relatively good and stable at the start, middle, and end of duty shifts in day shift workers, but gradually degraded across duty time in night shift workers. Compared to day shift workers, night shift workers also exhibited more performance variability among measurement days and between participants at each testing time point. The same pattern was observed for subjective sleepiness on the KSS. However, congruence between objective and subjective measures of fatigue was poor. Our findings suggest a need for organizations to evaluate practices and policies to mitigate the inevitable fatigue that occurs during long night shifts, in order to improve patient and healthcare worker safety. Examination of alternative shift lengths or sanctioned workplace napping may be strategies to consider. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shift Verification and Validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pandya, Tara M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Evans, Thomas M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Davidson, Gregory G [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Johnson, Seth R. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Godfrey, Andrew T. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-09-07

This documentation outlines the verification and validation of Shift for the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL). Five main types of problems were used for validation: small criticality benchmark problems; full-core reactor benchmarks for light water reactors; fixed-source coupled neutron-photon dosimetry benchmarks; depletion/burnup benchmarks; and full-core reactor performance benchmarks. We compared Shift results to measured data and other simulated Monte Carlo radiation transport code results, and found very good agreement in a variety of comparison measures. These include prediction of critical eigenvalue, radial and axial pin power distributions, rod worth, leakage spectra, and nuclide inventories over a burn cycle. Based on this validation of Shift, we are confident in Shift to provide reference results for CASL benchmarking.

Forest production responses to irrigation and fertilization are not explained by shifts in allocation

Science.gov (United States)

David R. Coyle; Mark D. Coleman

2005-01-01

Production increases in intensively managed forests have been obtained by improving resource availability through water and nutrient amendments. Increased stem production has been attributed to shifts in growth from roots to shoot, and such shifts would have important implications for below ground carbon sequestration. We examined above and below ground growth and...

Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Some Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L. Gaertn. Accessions Using Morphological Markers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.V.S. Kaluthanthri

2017-03-01

Full Text Available AbstractGermplasm characterization is an important link between conservation and utilizationof plant genetic resources. The study was conducted to characterize randomly selected 20finger millet germplasm accessions obtained from Plant Genetic Resource Center,Gannoruwa, Sri Lanka using morphological markers. Morphological study was carried outusing Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD and 15 morphological markers wererecorded. Analysis of variance (ANOVA results for quantitative morphological charactersrevealed that all quantitative morphological characters measured differed significantly(p˂0.05 among the accessions used for the study, indicating higher levels of morphologicaldiversity. According to the ANOVA results, days to flowering and days to maturity showhigh level of predictive capability while flag leaf length and number of productive tillersshow comparatively low level of predictive capability. Principal component analysisindicated that morphological characters such as days to flowering, finger number and yieldper plant were the important traits contributing for the overall variability implying thatbreeding effort on those traits can meet the targeted objective. The clustering pattern ofstudied finger millet accessions based on morphological markers comprised of two majorclusters. Both clusters comprised of Indian accessions those conserved at PGRC, Gannoruwaand as well as Sri Lankan accessions.Results of the study suggest a considerable morphological variability, which couldexist among the studied traits. Furthermore, this study revealed that the genetic diversityexisted irrespective to the geographical origin. This finding justifies the importance ofgermplasm characterization.Keywords: Finger Millet, Morphological Markers, Germplasm Accessions, GeneticDiversity, Crop Improvement

Choice Shifts in Groups

OpenAIRE

Kfir Eliaz; Debraj Ray

2004-01-01

The phenomenon of "choice shifts" in group decision-making is fairly ubiquitous in the social psychology literature. Faced with a choice between a ``safe" and ``risky" decision, group members appear to move to one extreme or the other, relative to the choices each member might have made on her own. Both risky and cautious shifts have been identified in different situations. This paper demonstrates that from an individual decision-making perspective, choice shifts may be viewed as a systematic...

Nanoscale Morphology of Doctor Bladed versus Spin-Coated Organic Photovoltaic Films

KAUST Repository

Pokuri, Balaji Sesha Sarath

2017-08-17

Recent advances in efficiency of organic photovoltaics are driven by judicious selection of processing conditions that result in a “desired” morphology. An important theme of morphology research is quantifying the effect of processing conditions on morphology and relating it to device efficiency. State-of-the-art morphology quantification methods provide film-averaged or 2D-projected features that only indirectly correlate with performance, making causal reasoning nontrivial. Accessing the 3D distribution of material, however, provides a means of directly mapping processing to performance. In this paper, two recently developed techniques are integrated—reconstruction of 3D morphology and subsequent conversion into intuitive morphology descriptors —to comprehensively image and quantify morphology. These techniques are applied on films generated by doctor blading and spin coating, additionally investigating the effect of thermal annealing. It is found that morphology of all samples exhibits very high connectivity to electrodes. Not surprisingly, thermal annealing consistently increases the average domain size in the samples, aiding exciton generation. Furthermore, annealing also improves the balance of interfaces, enhancing exciton dissociation. A comparison of morphology descriptors impacting each stage of photophysics (exciton generation, dissociation, and charge transport) reveals that spin-annealed sample exhibits superior morphology-based performance indicators. This suggests substantial room for improvement of blade-based methods (process optimization) for morphology tuning to enhance performance of large area devices.

ABC Triblock Copolymer Vesicles with Mesh-like Morphology

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Wei; Russell, Thomas; Grason, Gregory

2010-03-01

Polymer vesicles can be made from poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-2-vinylpyridene) (PI-b-PS-b-P2VP) triblock copolymer under the confinement of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. It was found that these vesicles have well-defined, nanoscopic size and a microphase-separated hydrophobic core, comprised of PS and PI blocks. Vesicle formation was tracked using both transmission and scanning electron microscopy. A mesh-like morphology formed in the core at a well-defined composition of three blocks. Confinement played an important role in generating these vesicles with such an unusual morphology.

Oscillation of an anuran hybrid zone: morphological evidence spanning 50 years.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Sébastien Roy

Full Text Available The hybrid zone between the primarily forest-dwelling American toad, Anaxyrus americanus, and the prairie-adapted Canadian toad, A. hemiophrys, in southeastern Manitoba is known to have shifted its position during the past 50 years. Hybrid zones are areas of interbreeding between species and their movement across a landscape should reflect their underlying dynamics and environmental change. However, empirical demonstrations of hybrid zone movements over long periods of time are rare. This hybrid zone is dominated by individuals of intermediate morphology and genetic composition. We sought to determine if it had continued to move and if that movement was associated with shifts in habitat, as predicted.We used variation in the toads' most diagnostic morphological feature, the separation between their interorbital cranial crests, to determine the geographic position of the hybrid zone center at four times between 1960 and 2009 using maximum likelihood methods. The hybrid zone center moved west by 38 km over 19 years and then east again by 10 km over the succeeding 29 years. The position of the hybrid zone did not track either the direction or the magnitude of movement of the forest-prairie habitat transition over the same time period.This is the first reported evidence of oscillation in the position of a hybrid zone. The back and forth movement indicates that neither species maintains a selective advantage over the other in the long term. However, the movement of the hybrid zone was not bounded by the breadth of the habitat transition. Its oscillation suggests that the hybrid zone is better described as being elastically tethered to the habitat transition.

Proton chemical shift tensors determined by 3D ultrafast MAS double-quantum NMR spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Rongchun; Mroue, Kamal H.; Ramamoorthy, Ayyalusamy

2015-01-01

Proton NMR spectroscopy in the solid state has recently attracted much attention owing to the significant enhancement in spectral resolution afforded by the remarkable advances in ultrafast magic angle spinning (MAS) capabilities. In particular, proton chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) has become an important tool for obtaining specific insights into inter/intra-molecular hydrogen bonding. However, even at the highest currently feasible spinning frequencies (110–120 kHz), 1 H MAS NMR spectra of rigid solids still suffer from poor resolution and severe peak overlap caused by the strong 1 H– 1 H homonuclear dipolar couplings and narrow 1 H chemical shift (CS) ranges, which render it difficult to determine the CSA of specific proton sites in the standard CSA/single-quantum (SQ) chemical shift correlation experiment. Herein, we propose a three-dimensional (3D) 1 H double-quantum (DQ) chemical shift/CSA/SQ chemical shift correlation experiment to extract the CS tensors of proton sites whose signals are not well resolved along the single-quantum chemical shift dimension. As extracted from the 3D spectrum, the F1/F3 (DQ/SQ) projection provides valuable information about 1 H– 1 H proximities, which might also reveal the hydrogen-bonding connectivities. In addition, the F2/F3 (CSA/SQ) correlation spectrum, which is similar to the regular 2D CSA/SQ correlation experiment, yields chemical shift anisotropic line shapes at different isotropic chemical shifts. More importantly, since the F2/F1 (CSA/DQ) spectrum correlates the CSA with the DQ signal induced by two neighboring proton sites, the CSA spectrum sliced at a specific DQ chemical shift position contains the CSA information of two neighboring spins indicated by the DQ chemical shift. If these two spins have different CS tensors, both tensors can be extracted by numerical fitting. We believe that this robust and elegant single-channel proton-based 3D experiment provides useful atomistic-level structural and dynamical

Night shift work exposure profile and obesity: Baseline results from a Chinese night shift worker cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Miaomiao; Feng, Wenting; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Liuzhuo; Wu, Zijun; Li, Zhimin; Zhang, Bo; He, Yonghua; Xie, Shaohua; Li, Mengjie; Fok, Joan P C; Tse, Gary; Wong, Martin C S; Tang, Jin-Ling; Wong, Samuel Y S; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Evans, Greg; Vermeulen, Roel; Tse, Lap Ah

2018-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants' demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97-1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74-2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01-1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40-11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19-9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13-2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94-1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies.

Night shift work exposure profile and obesity: Baseline results from a Chinese night shift worker cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Wenting; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Liuzhuo; Wu, Zijun; Li, Zhimin; Zhang, Bo; He, Yonghua; Xie, Shaohua; Li, Mengjie; Fok, Joan P. C.; Tse, Gary; Wong, Martin C. S.; Tang, Jin-ling; Wong, Samuel Y. S.; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Evans, Greg; Vermeulen, Roel; Tse, Lap Ah

2018-01-01

Aims This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. Methods A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants’ demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. Results Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97–1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74–2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01–1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40–11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19–9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13–2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94–1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. Conclusion Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies. PMID:29763461

Aspartame and the hippocampus: Revealing a bi-directional, dose/time-dependent behavioural and morphological shift in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Onaolapo, Adejoke Y; Onaolapo, Olakunle J; Nwoha, Polycarp U

2017-03-01

Changes, in behaviour, oxidative markers of stress and hippocampal morphology were evaluated following aspartame administration. Mice, (20-22g each) were given vehicle (10ml/kg) or aspartame (20, 40, 80 and 160mg/kg) daily for 28days. They were tested in the Y-maze, radial-arm maze and elevated plus-maze (EPM) after the first and last dose of vehicle or aspartame; and then sacrificed. Hippocampal slices were analysed for aspartic acid, nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD); and processed for general histology and neuritic plaques. Glial fibrillary-acid protein (GFAP) expression and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) activities were determined. Radial-arm maze scores increased significantly after acute administration at 80 and 160mg/kg. Repeated administration at 20 and 40mg/kg (Y-maze) and at 40mg/kg (radial-arm maze) was also associated with increased scores, however, performance decreased at higher doses. EPM tests revealed anxiogenic responses following both acute and repeated administration. Significant increase in SOD and NO activities were observed at 40, 80 and 160mg/kg. Neuron counts reduced at higher doses of aspartame. At 40, 80 and 160mg/kg, fewer GFAP-reactive astrocytes were observed in the cornus ammonis, but increased GFAP-reactivity was observed in the dentate gyrus subgranular zone. NSE-positive neurons were readily identifiable within the dentate gyrus at the lower doses of aspartame; but at 160mg/kg, there was marked neuron loss and reduction in NSE-positive neurons. Oral aspartame significantly altered behaviour, anti-oxidant status and morphology of the hippocampus in mice; also, it may probably trigger hippocampal adult neurogenesis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From success to persistence: Identifying an evolutionary regime shift in the diverse Paleozoic aquatic arthropod group Eurypterida, driven by the Devonian biotic crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamsdell, James C; Selden, Paul A

2017-01-01

Mass extinctions have altered the trajectory of evolution a number of times over the Phanerozoic. During these periods of biotic upheaval a different selective regime appears to operate, although it is still unclear whether consistent survivorship rules apply across different extinction events. We compare variations in diversity and disparity across the evolutionary history of a major Paleozoic arthropod group, the Eurypterida. Using these data, we explore the group's transition from a successful, dynamic clade to a stagnant persistent lineage, pinpointing the Devonian as the period during which this evolutionary regime shift occurred. The late Devonian biotic crisis is potentially unique among the "Big Five" mass extinctions in exhibiting a drop in speciation rates rather than an increase in extinction. Our study reveals eurypterids show depressed speciation rates throughout the Devonian but no abnormal peaks in extinction. Loss of morphospace occupation is random across all Paleozoic extinction events; however, differential origination during the Devonian results in a migration and subsequent stagnation of occupied morphospace. This shift appears linked to an ecological transition from euryhaline taxa to freshwater species with low morphological diversity alongside a decrease in endemism. These results demonstrate the importance of the Devonian biotic crisis in reshaping Paleozoic ecosystems. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Effects of extended work shifts on employee fatigue, health, satisfaction, work/family balance, and patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Estryn-Béhar, Madeleine; Van der Heijden, Beatrice I J M

2012-01-01

12-hour shifts are quickly spreading in Europe. From our multivariate analysis concerning 25,924 European nurses, including twenty explanatory variables simultaneously, we found that work schedule itself is not a major determinant factor. Nurses aim to choose or accept night shifts or 12-hour shift in order to reduce their work/home conflicts, however, at the expense of the patient's safety, as well as their own health and safety. Therefore, it is important to develop measures, such as extended child care, association of nurses to the elaboration of their rota, 9- or 10-hour shifts in the afternoon, allowing naps during night shifts, and reduction of changing shifts with short notice. Work schedules must be organized in order to allow time for shift handover, social support and team building.

Shift schedule, work-family relationships, marital communication, job satisfaction and health among transport service shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Iskra-Golec, Irena; Smith, Lawrence; Wilczek-Rużyczka, Ewa; Siemiginowska, Patrycja; Wątroba, Joanna

2017-02-21

Existing research has documented that shiftwork consequences may depend on the shift system parameters. Fast rotating systems (1-3 shifts of the same kind in a row) and day work have been found to be less disruptive biologically and socially than slower rotating systems and afternoon and night work. The aim of this study was to compare day workers and shift workers of different systems in terms of rotation speed and shifts worked with regard to work-family and family-work positive and negative spillover, marital communication style, job satisfaction and health. Employees (N = 168) of the maintenance workshops of transportation service working different shift systems (day shift, weekly rotating 2 and 3‑shift system, and fast rotating 3-shift system) participated in the study. They completed the Work- Family Spillover Questionnaire, Marital Communication Questionnaire, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Physical Health Questionnaire (a part of the Standard Shiftwork Index). The workers of quicker rotating 3-shift systems reported significantly higher scores of family-to-work facilitation (F(3, 165) = 4.175, p = 0.007) and a higher level of constructive style of marital communication (Engagement F(3, 165) = 2.761, p = 0.044) than the workers of slower rotating 2-shift systems. There were no differences between the groups of workers with regard to health and job satisfaction. A higher level of work-family facilitation and a more constructive style of marital communication were found among the workers of faster rotating 3-shift system when compared to the workers of a slower rotating 2-shift system (afternoon, night). This may indicate that the fast rotating shift system in contrary to the slower rotating one is more friendly for the work and family domains and for the relationship between them. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1):121-131. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Shift schedule, work–family relationships, marital communication, job satisfaction and health among transport service shift workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Iskra-Golec

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Existing research has documented that shiftwork consequences may depend on the shift system parameters. Fast rotating systems (1–3 shifts of the same kind in a row and day work have been found to be less disruptive biologically and socially than slower rotating systems and afternoon and night work. The aim of this study was to compare day workers and shift workers of different systems in terms of rotation speed and shifts worked with regard to work–family and family–work positive and negative spillover, marital communication style, job satisfaction and health. Material and Methods: Employees (N = 168 of the maintenance workshops of transportation service working different shift systems (day shift, weekly rotating 2 and 3‑shift system, and fast rotating 3-shift system participated in the study. They completed the Work– Family Spillover Questionnaire, Marital Communication Questionnaire, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Physical Health Questionnaire (a part of the Standard Shiftwork Index. Results: The workers of quicker rotating 3-shift systems reported significantly higher scores of family-to-work facilitation (F(3, 165 = 4.175, p = 0.007 and a higher level of constructive style of marital communication (Engagement F(3, 165 = 2.761, p = 0.044 than the workers of slower rotating 2-shift systems. There were no differences between the groups of workers with regard to health and job satisfaction. Conclusions: A higher level of work–family facilitation and a more constructive style of marital communication were found among the workers of faster rotating 3-shift system when compared to the workers of a slower rotating 2-shift system (afternoon, night. This may indicate that the fast rotating shift system in contrary to the slower rotating one is more friendly for the work and family domains and for the relationship between them. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1:121–131

Depression in hemodialysis patients: the role of dialysis shift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flavio Teles

2014-03-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Depression is the most important neuropsychiatric complication in chronic kidney disease because it reduces quality of life and increases mortality. Evidence demonstrating the association between dialysis shift and depression is lacking; thus, obtaining such evidence was the main objective of this study. METHOD: This cross-sectional study included patients attending a hemodialysis program. Depression was diagnosed using Beck's Depression Inventory. Excessive daytime sleepiness was evaluated using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. RESULTS: A total of 96 patients were enrolled (55 males, age 48±14 years. Depression and excessive daytime sleepiness were observed in 42.7% and 49% of the patients, respectively. When comparing variables among the three dialysis shifts, there were no differences in age, dialysis vintage, employment status, excessive daytime sleepiness, hemoglobin, phosphorus levels, or albumin levels. Patients in the morning shift were more likely to live in rural areas (p<0.0001, although patients in rural areas did not have a higher prevalence of depression (p= 0.30. Patients with depression were more likely to be dialyzed during the morning shift (p= 0.008. Independent risk factors for depression were age (p<0.03, lower levels of hemoglobin (p<0.01 and phosphorus (p<0.01, and dialysis during the morning shift (p= 0.0009. The hospitalization risk of depressive patients was 4.5 times higher than that of nondepressive patients (p<0.008. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that depression is associated with dialysis shift, higher levels of phosphorus, and lower levels of hemoglobin. The results highlight the need for randomized trials to determine whether this association occurs by chance or whether circadian rhythm disorders may play a role.

Real life working shift assignment problem

Science.gov (United States)

Sze, San-Nah; Kwek, Yeek-Ling; Tiong, Wei-King; Chiew, Kang-Leng

2017-07-01

This study concerns about the working shift assignment in an outlet of Supermarket X in Eastern Mall, Kuching. The working shift assignment needs to be solved at least once in every month. Current approval process of working shifts is too troublesome and time-consuming. Furthermore, the management staff cannot have an overview of manpower and working shift schedule. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop working shift assignment simulation and propose a working shift assignment solution. The main objective for this study is to fulfill manpower demand at minimum operation cost. Besides, the day off and meal break policy should be fulfilled accordingly. Demand based heuristic is proposed to assign working shift and the quality of the solution is evaluated by using the real data.

Dynamics and computation in functional shifts

Science.gov (United States)

Namikawa, Jun; Hashimoto, Takashi

2004-07-01

We introduce a new type of shift dynamics as an extended model of symbolic dynamics, and investigate the characteristics of shift spaces from the viewpoints of both dynamics and computation. This shift dynamics is called a functional shift, which is defined by a set of bi-infinite sequences of some functions on a set of symbols. To analyse the complexity of functional shifts, we measure them in terms of topological entropy, and locate their languages in the Chomsky hierarchy. Through this study, we argue that considering functional shifts from the viewpoints of both dynamics and computation gives us opposite results about the complexity of systems. We also describe a new class of shift spaces whose languages are not recursively enumerable.

Can fisheries-induced evolution shift reference points for fisheries management?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heino, Mikko; Baulier, Loїc; Boukal, David S.

2013-01-01

Biological reference points are important tools for fisheries management. Reference points are not static, but may change when a population's environment or the population itself changes. Fisheries-induced evolution is one mechanism that can alter population characteristics, leading to “shifting...

Stress Induces a Shift Towards Striatum-Dependent Stimulus-Response Learning via the Mineralocorticoid Receptor.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Susanne; Klumpers, Floris; Schröder, Tobias Navarro; Oplaat, Krista T; Krugers, Harm J; Oitzl, Melly S; Joëls, Marian; Doeller, Christian F; Fernández, Guillén

2017-05-01

Stress is assumed to cause a shift from flexible 'cognitive' memory to more rigid 'habit' memory. In the spatial memory domain, stress impairs place learning depending on the hippocampus whereas stimulus-response learning based on the striatum appears to be improved. While the neural basis of this shift is still unclear, previous evidence in rodents points towards cortisol interacting with the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) to affect amygdala functioning. The amygdala is in turn assumed to orchestrate the stress-induced shift in memory processing. However, an integrative study testing these mechanisms in humans is lacking. Therefore, we combined functional neuroimaging of a spatial memory task, stress-induction, and administration of an MR-antagonist in a full-factorial, randomized, placebo-controlled between-subjects design in 101 healthy males. We demonstrate that stress-induced increases in cortisol lead to enhanced stimulus-response learning, accompanied by increased amygdala activity and connectivity to the striatum. Importantly, this shift was prevented by an acute administration of the MR-antagonist spironolactone. Our findings support a model in which the MR and the amygdala play an important role in the stress-induced shift towards habit memory systems, revealing a fundamental mechanism of adaptively allocating neural resources that may have implications for stress-related mental disorders.

Development of a personal obligation to shift electricity use: Initial determinants and maintenance over time

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linz, D.; Heberlein, T.

1984-03-01

The present study is an attempt to determine if the beliefs which underly the formation of an obligation to shift electricity use among household consumers also contribute to maintenance of the obligation over time. Utility customer beliefs about and obligation toward shifting electricity use in their households from on-peak to off-peak times were examined in 1977, when the customers had no behavioral experience with electricity shifting. In 1979, after two years of experience with shifting appliance use from on-peak to off-peak times, customers were again surveyed and the same variables measured. The results indicated that the formation of a feeling of obligation to shift electricity in 1977 use was marginally dependent on other beliefs. By 1979, these variables were completely supplanted by the subjects' self-perception of their shifting behavior. While cognitive variables are important in the initial formation of a personal obligation to engage in shifting electricity use, the perpetuation of a feeling of obligation to shift over a period of years depends on perception of how often electricity shifting was undertaken and how much electricity had been shifted from on- to off-peak times.

Micropatch Antenna Phase Shifting

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Thursby, Michael

2000-01-01

.... We have been looking at the ability of embedded element to adjust the phase shift seen by the element with the goal of being able to remove the phase shifting devices from the antenna and replace...

Micropatch Antenna Phase Shifting

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Thursby, Michael

1999-01-01

.... We have been looking at the ability of embedded element to adjust the phase shift seen by the element wit the goal of being able to remove the phase shifting devices from the antenna and replace...

Effect of Modified Natural Rubber on PVC-ENR Electrospun Membrane: Thermal and Morphological Studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahathir Mohamed; Dahlan Mohd; Ratnam, C.T.; Pairu Ibrahim

2016-01-01

Electrospun fibers membrane (EFM) based on modified epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was successfully prepared by electro spinning technique. Epoxidized natural rubber was firstly prepared in solution by using 5 L flask and exposed to high intensity UV lamp for degradation. The PVC/ ENR mixture solution concentration were about 16 wt% and blended for 5 hours for homogeneity. The PVC/ ENR mixture were electro spun to form fibers membrane. The sample of electro spun fibers membrane were cured by electron beam. The resulting membranes were characterized for thermal and morphological studies. Thermal decomposition behavior of EFM was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Thermo gram from TGA showed two stages of degradation for all formulation (90:10, 80:20, 70:30 PVC/ ENR) from 240 to 265 degree Celsius and 400 to 410 degree Celsius, respectively. From the DSC thermo gram of PVC/ ENR electro spun fibers showed that the addition of ENR resulted in the shifting of glass transition temperature (Tg) towards lower temperatures. The morphology of electro spun fibers was examined using scanning electron microscopy and it showed a variety of fiber morphologies. (author)

Distributed energy resources management using plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a fuel-shifting demand response resource

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morais, H.; Sousa, T.; Soares, J.; Faria, P.; Vale, Z.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Definition fuel shifting demand response programs applied to the electric vehicles. • Integration of the proposed fuel shifting in energy resource management algorithm. • Analysis of fuel shifting contribution to support the consumption increasing. • Analysis of fuel shifting contribution to support the electric vehicles growing. • Sensitivity analysis considering different electric vehicles penetration levels. - Abstract: In the smart grids context, distributed energy resources management plays an important role in the power systems’ operation. Battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles should be important resources in the future distribution networks operation. Therefore, it is important to develop adequate methodologies to schedule the electric vehicles’ charge and discharge processes, avoiding network congestions and providing ancillary services. This paper proposes the participation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in fuel shifting demand response programs. Two services are proposed, namely the fuel shifting and the fuel discharging. The fuel shifting program consists in replacing the electric energy by fossil fuels in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles daily trips, and the fuel discharge program consists in use of their internal combustion engine to generate electricity injecting into the network. These programs are included in an energy resources management algorithm which integrates the management of other resources. The paper presents a case study considering a 37-bus distribution network with 25 distributed generators, 1908 consumers, and 2430 plug-in vehicles. Two scenarios are tested, namely a scenario with high photovoltaic generation, and a scenario without photovoltaic generation. A sensitivity analyses is performed in order to evaluate when each energy resource is required

Morphological Influence of Solution-Processed Zinc Oxide Films on Electrical Characteristics of Thin-Film Transistors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeonju Lee

2016-10-01

Full Text Available We report on the morphological influence of solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO semiconductor films on the electrical characteristics of ZnO thin-film transistors (TFTs. Different film morphologies were produced by controlling the spin-coating condition of a precursor solution, and the ZnO films were analyzed using atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. It is shown that ZnO TFTs have a superior performance in terms of the threshold voltage and field-effect mobility, when ZnO crystallites are more densely packed in the film. This is attributed to lower electrical resistivity and higher Hall mobility in a densely packed ZnO film. In the results of consecutive TFT operations, a positive shift in the threshold voltage occurred irrespective of the film morphology, but the morphological influence on the variation in the field-effect mobility was evident. The field-effect mobility in TFTs having a densely packed ZnO film increased continuously during consecutive TFT operations, which is in contrast to the mobility decrease observed in the less packed case. An analysis of the field-effect conductivities ascribes these results to the difference in energetic traps, which originate from structural defects in the ZnO films. Consequently, the morphological influence of solution-processed ZnO films on the TFT performance can be understood through the packing property of ZnO crystallites.

The discussion of composition shift in organic Rankine cycle using zeotropic mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Yaodong; Zhang, Fengyuan; Yu, Lijun

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The forming reasons of composition shift are well illuminated. • The influences of composition shift on ORC system are presented. • The influence factors of composition shift are well discussed. • The inner relation between temperature glide and composition shift is revealed. - Abstract: Zeotropic mixtures have been important candidates for working fluids in the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) because of the temperature glide characteristic. “Composition shift” is a widespread phenomenon for zeotropic mixtures’ application in thermodynamic systems and certainly needs to be considered in ORC. In this paper, the evaporator, condenser, expander and pump models are respectively developed and then the circulating composition is calculated. Based on that, the forming reasons of “composition shift” are well illuminated. The influences of composition shift on the system net power output and heat transfer process are presented and analysed. The influence factors including pressure, two-phase zone area, total charge mass and velocity difference between liquid and vapor phase are also carefully discussed. Besides, the inner relation between temperature glide and composition shift is also revealed at last. The results showed that the optimal charge concentration of the low boiling point component in practice should be a bit lower than the optimal concentration without considering composition shift. Besides, the local composition shift characteristic will affect the heat transfer process by altering the temperature along the heat exchanger. Reducing the two-phase zone area, increasing the total charge mass, increasing the evaporation pressure and reducing the slip ratio can mitigate the effect of composition shift. The simulation also reveals that the magnitudes of temperature glide and composition shift show a good linear relation by just altering the charge composition.

Morphology of magnetic fields generated in laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyd, T.J.M.; Cooke, D.

1988-01-01

Magnetic fields in the megagauss range have been measured in experiments on plasmas generated by irradiating targets with high power lasers. A study of the morphology of these self-generated fields is important not only for its intrinsic interest but for possible implications in laser--target physics. In this paper work on the numerical modeling of large magnetic fields generated in target experiments is reported. The results show generally satisfactory agreement with the fields measured experimentally both in terms of the magnitude of the peak fields and their morphology. In the numerical model the contribution from the Hall term in describing the evolution of the magnetic field is shown to be important especially in short pulse (≅100 psec) experiments

Phylogenetic Reconstruction, Morphological Diversification and Generic Delimitation of Disepalum (Annonaceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Pui-Sze; Thomas, Daniel C; Saunders, Richard M K

2015-01-01

Taxonomic delimitation of Disepalum (Annonaceae) is contentious, with some researchers favoring a narrow circumscription following segregation of the genus Enicosanthellum. We reconstruct the phylogeny of Disepalum and related taxa based on four chloroplast and two nuclear DNA regions as a framework for clarifying taxonomic delimitation and assessing evolutionary transitions in key morphological characters. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods resulted in a consistent, well-resolved and strongly supported topology. Disepalum s.l. is monophyletic and strongly supported, with Disepalum s.str. and Enicosanthellum retrieved as sister groups. Although this topology is consistent with both taxonomic delimitations, the distribution of morphological synapomorphies provides greater support for the inclusion of Enicosanthellum within Disepalum s.l. We propose a novel infrageneric classification with two subgenera. Subgen. Disepalum (= Disepalum s.str.) is supported by numerous synapomorphies, including the reduction of the calyx to two sepals and connation of petals. Subgen. Enicosanthellum lacks obvious morphological synapomorphies, but possesses several diagnostic characters (symplesiomorphies), including a trimerous calyx and free petals in two whorls. We evaluate changes in petal morphology in relation to hypotheses of the genetic control of floral development and suggest that the compression of two petal whorls into one and the associated fusion of contiguous petals may be associated with the loss of the pollination chamber, which in turn may be associated with a shift in primary pollinator. We also suggest that the formation of pollen octads may be selectively advantageous when pollinator visits are infrequent, although this would only be applicable if multiple ovules could be fertilized by each octad; since the flowers are apocarpous, this would require an extragynoecial compitum to enable intercarpellary growth of pollen tubes. We furthermore

Influences on Dietary Choices during Day versus Night Shift in Shift Workers: A Mixed Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnell, Emily K; Huggins, Catherine E; Huggins, Chris T; McCaffrey, Tracy A; Palermo, Claire; Bonham, Maxine P

2017-02-26

Shift work is associated with diet-related chronic conditions such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to explore factors influencing food choice and dietary intake in shift workers. A fixed mixed method study design was undertaken on a convenience sample of firefighters who continually work a rotating roster. Six focus groups ( n = 41) were conducted to establish factors affecting dietary intake whilst at work. Dietary intake was assessed using repeated 24 h dietary recalls ( n = 19). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and interpreted using thematic analysis. Dietary data were entered into FoodWorks and analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; p night shift. Energy intakes (kJ/day) did not differ between days that included a day or night shift but greater energy density (ED energy , kJ/g/day) of the diet was observed on night shift compared with day shift. This study has identified a number of dietary-specific shift-related factors that may contribute to an increase in unhealthy behaviours in a shift-working population. Given the increased risk of developing chronic diseases, organisational change to support workers in this environment is warranted.

A compressed shift schedule: dealing with some of the problems of shift work

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cunningham, J B [Victoria University, Victoria, BC (Canada). School of Public Administration

1989-07-01

This study examines some of the psychological and behavioural effects of a 12-hour compressed shift schedule on coal miners in two organisations in Western Canada. It suggests that young, married compressed shift workers are more satisfied with their family relationship. They spend less of their leisure time with spouses when working shifts, and do not spend any more time with them on their days off. They have less time available for many leisure activities on their workdays. The extra time on days off is not reallocated to the leisure activities they were unable to do on their workdays. Some extra leisure time on days off may be spent on personal hobbies. There is no suggestion that the compressed shift schedule has any negative effect on the individual's health. 38 refs., 3 tabs.

Shift work as an oxidative stressor

OpenAIRE

Pasalar Parvin; Farahani Saeed; Sharifian Akbar; Gharavi Marjan; Aminian Omid

2005-01-01

Abstract Background Some medical disorders have higher prevalence in shift workers than others. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of night-shift-working on total plasma antioxidant capacity, with respect to the causative role of oxidative stress in induction of some of these disorders. Methods Two blood samples were taken from 44 workers with a rotational shift schedule, one after their day shift and one after their night shift. The total plasma antioxidant capacity of each worke...

Influences on Dietary Choices during Day versus Night Shift in Shift Workers: A Mixed Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnell, Emily K.; Huggins, Catherine E.; Huggins, Chris T.; McCaffrey, Tracy A.; Palermo, Claire; Bonham, Maxine P.

2017-01-01

Shift work is associated with diet-related chronic conditions such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to explore factors influencing food choice and dietary intake in shift workers. A fixed mixed method study design was undertaken on a convenience sample of firefighters who continually work a rotating roster. Six focus groups (n = 41) were conducted to establish factors affecting dietary intake whilst at work. Dietary intake was assessed using repeated 24 h dietary recalls (n = 19). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and interpreted using thematic analysis. Dietary data were entered into FoodWorks and analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; p shift schedule; attitudes and decisions of co-workers; time and accessibility; and knowledge of the relationship between food and health. Participants reported consuming more discretionary foods and limited availability of healthy food choices on night shift. Energy intakes (kJ/day) did not differ between days that included a day or night shift but greater energy density (EDenergy, kJ/g/day) of the diet was observed on night shift compared with day shift. This study has identified a number of dietary-specific shift-related factors that may contribute to an increase in unhealthy behaviours in a shift-working population. Given the increased risk of developing chronic diseases, organisational change to support workers in this environment is warranted. PMID:28245625

Temperature dependence of morphology, structural and optical properties of ZnS nanostructures synthesized by wet chemical route

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navaneethan, M.; Archana, J.; Nisha, K.D.; Hayakawa, Y.; Ponnusamy, S.; Muthamizhchelvan, C.

2010-01-01

Research highlights: → ZnS nanoparticles and nanorods have been synthesized by wet chemical route. → Higher annealing temperature influenced the change in morphology due to aggregation of the nanoparticles. → The temperature dependent optical properties were investigated. → Absorption edge of nanoparticles (295 nm) and nanorods (326 nm) were shifted towards shorter wavelength compared to bulk ZnS (337 nm) due to the quantum confinement effect. → ZnS nanoparticles exhibit high photoluminescence intensity than that of ZnS nanorods annealed at 180 o C. - Abstract: ZnS nanostructures have been synthesized by simple wet chemical route and annealed at two different temperatures of 50 o C and 180 o C. From the measurements of transmission electron microscopy and contact-mode atomic force microscopy, it is found that annealed temperature changes the morphology from nanoparticles to nanorods. The optical properties of the synthesized ZnS nanomaterial have been characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The structural and elemental analyses were carried out by powder X-ray diffraction pattern and energy dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy, respectively. Absorption edge of the nanoparticles (295 nm) and nanorods (326 nm) was shifted towards shorter wavelength compared to bulk ZnS (337 nm) due to the quantum confinement effect.

Regional Distribution Shifts Help Explain Local Changes in Wintering Raptor Abundance: Implications for Interpreting Population Trends

OpenAIRE

Paprocki, Neil; Heath, Julie A.; Novak, Stephen J.

2014-01-01

Studies of multiple taxa across broad-scales suggest that species distributions are shifting poleward in response to global climate change. Recognizing the influence of distribution shifts on population indices will be an important part of interpreting trends within management units because current practice often assumes that changes in local populations reflect local habitat conditions. However, the individual- and population-level processes that drive distribution shifts may occur across a ...

Faktor Dan Penjadualan Shift Kerja

OpenAIRE

Maurits, Lientje Setyawati; Widodo, Imam Djati

2008-01-01

Work shift has negative effect in physical and mental health, work performance and job accident. Disturbance of circadian rhythms is indicated as source of the problems. This article explores some researches related to the impacts of work shift and establishes basic principles of work shift scheduling that considers human need and limitation.

Visual attention shifting in autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Annette E; Lajiness-O'Neill, Renee

2015-01-01

Abnormal visual attention has been frequently observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Abnormal shifting of visual attention is related to abnormal development of social cognition and has been identified as a key neuropsychological finding in ASD. Better characterizing attention shifting in ASD and its relationship with social functioning may help to identify new targets for intervention and improving social communication in these disorders. Thus, the current study investigated deficits in attention shifting in ASD as well as relationships between attention shifting and social communication in ASD and neurotypicals (NT). To investigate deficits in visual attention shifting in ASD, 20 ASD and 20 age- and gender-matched NT completed visual search (VS) and Navon tasks with attention-shifting demands as well as a set-shifting task. VS was a feature search task with targets defined in one of two dimensions; Navon required identification of a target letter presented at the global or local level. Psychomotor and processing speed were entered as covariates. Relationships between visual attention shifting, set shifting, and social functioning were also examined. ASD and NT showed comparable costs of shifting attention. However, psychomotor and processing speed were slower in ASD than in NT, and psychomotor and processing speed were positively correlated with attention-shifting costs on Navon and VS, respectively, for both groups. Attention shifting on VS and Navon were correlated among NT, while attention shifting on Navon was correlated with set shifting among ASD. Attention-shifting costs on Navon were positively correlated with restricted and repetitive behaviors among ASD. Relationships between attention shifting and psychomotor and processing speed, as well as relationships between measures of different aspects of visual attention shifting, suggest inefficient top-down influences over preattentive visual processing in ASD. Inefficient attention shifting may be

Energy shift estimation of demand response activation on domestic refrigerators – A field test study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lakshmanan, Venkatachalam; Gudmand-Høyer, Kristian; Marinelli, Mattia

2014-01-01

This paper presents a method to estimate the amount of energy that can be shifted during demand response (DR) activation on domestic refrigerator. Though there are many methods for DR activation like load reduction, load shifting and onsite generation, the method under study is load shifting....... Electric heating and cooling equipment like refrigerators, water heaters and space heaters and coolers are preferred for such DR activation because of their energy storing capacity. Accurate estimation of available regulating power and energy shift is important to understand the value of DR activation...... at any time. In this paper a novel method to estimate the available energy shift from domestic refrigerators with only two measurements, namely fridge cool chamber temperature and compressor power consumption is proposed, discussed and evaluated....

Shift work as an oxidative stressor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pasalar Parvin

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Some medical disorders have higher prevalence in shift workers than others. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of night-shift-working on total plasma antioxidant capacity, with respect to the causative role of oxidative stress in induction of some of these disorders. Methods Two blood samples were taken from 44 workers with a rotational shift schedule, one after their day shift and one after their night shift. The total plasma antioxidant capacity of each worker was measured through the FRAP method. The impacts of age and weight were also assessed. Results The total plasma antioxidant capacity was measured in 44 shift-workers with a mean age of 36.57 years (SD: 10.18 and mean BMI of 26.06 (SD: 4.37 after their day and night shifts. The mean reduction of total plasma antioxidant capacity after the night shift was 105.8 μmol/L (SD: 146.39. Also, a significant correlation was shown between age and weight and total plasma antioxidant capacity. Age and weight were found to be inversely related to total plasma antioxidant capacity; as age and weight increased, the total plasma antioxidant capacity decreased. Conclusion Shift work can act as an oxidative stressor and may induce many medical disorders. Aging and obesity in shift workers makes them more sensitive to this hazardous effect.

Shift work-related health problems in

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Khavaji

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Background and aimsShift work is a major feature of working life that affects diverse aspects of human life. The main purposes of this study were to investigate shift work-related health problems and their risk factors among workers of "12-hour shift" schedule.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out at 8 petrochemical industries in Asalooyeh area. Study population consisted of 1203 workers including 549 shift worker (46% and 654 day worker (54%. Data on personal details, shift schedule and adverse effects of shift work werecollected by anonymous questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, version 11.5. The level of significance was set at 5%.ResultsAlthough, the results showed that health problems among shift workers was more prevalent than day workers, but the differences were just significant in gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal disorders (p<0.05. Multiple linear regressions indicated that in addition to shift working, other variants such as long work hours, type of employment, second job, number of children and job title were associated with health problems.ConclusionPrevalence rates of gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems among shift workers were significantly higher than that of day workers. Although, working in shift system was the main significant factor associated with the reported problems, but other demographic andwork variables were also found to have association.

Comparison of Mental Health and Quality of Life between Shift and Non-shift Employees of Service Industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nahal Salimi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study examined the relationship between the employment practices and employees' mental health and quality of life in Iran. In particular, the study compared the mental health and quality of life of shift and non-shift workers in sensitive employment settings. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 120 individuals employed in two airline companies as either shift or non-shift employees completed the survey for the study. Data was collected using General Health Question (GHQ28 for mental health, the Short Form (36 Health Survey (SF-36 for Quality of Life and a demographic questionnaire. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA was used to analyze the collected data. The results showed that (1 type of work (shift or non-shift has an effect on mental health and quality of life; and (2 there are significant differences in dimensions of quality of life and mental health between shift and non-shift staff.

SimShiftDB; local conformational restraints derived from chemical shift similarity searches on a large synthetic database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ginzinger, Simon W. [Center of Applied Molecular Engineering, University of Salzburg, Department of Molecular Biology, Division of Bioinformatics (Austria)], E-mail: simon@came.sbg.ac.at; Coles, Murray [Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology, Department of Protein Evolution (Germany)], E-mail: Murray.Coles@tuebingen.mpg.de

2009-03-15

We present SimShiftDB, a new program to extract conformational data from protein chemical shifts using structural alignments. The alignments are obtained in searches of a large database containing 13,000 structures and corresponding back-calculated chemical shifts. SimShiftDB makes use of chemical shift data to provide accurate results even in the case of low sequence similarity, and with even coverage of the conformational search space. We compare SimShiftDB to HHSearch, a state-of-the-art sequence-based search tool, and to TALOS, the current standard tool for the task. We show that for a significant fraction of the predicted similarities, SimShiftDB outperforms the other two methods. Particularly, the high coverage afforded by the larger database often allows predictions to be made for residues not involved in canonical secondary structure, where TALOS predictions are both less frequent and more error prone. Thus SimShiftDB can be seen as a complement to currently available methods.

SimShiftDB; local conformational restraints derived from chemical shift similarity searches on a large synthetic database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ginzinger, Simon W.; Coles, Murray

2009-01-01

We present SimShiftDB, a new program to extract conformational data from protein chemical shifts using structural alignments. The alignments are obtained in searches of a large database containing 13,000 structures and corresponding back-calculated chemical shifts. SimShiftDB makes use of chemical shift data to provide accurate results even in the case of low sequence similarity, and with even coverage of the conformational search space. We compare SimShiftDB to HHSearch, a state-of-the-art sequence-based search tool, and to TALOS, the current standard tool for the task. We show that for a significant fraction of the predicted similarities, SimShiftDB outperforms the other two methods. Particularly, the high coverage afforded by the larger database often allows predictions to be made for residues not involved in canonical secondary structure, where TALOS predictions are both less frequent and more error prone. Thus SimShiftDB can be seen as a complement to currently available methods

Fuzzy Determination of Target Shifting Time and Torque Control of Shifting Phase for Dry Dual Clutch Transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiguo Zhao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the independently developed five-speed dry dual clutch transmission (DDCT, the paper proposes the torque coordinating control strategy between engine and two clutches, which obtains engine speed and clutch transferred torque in the shifting process, adequately reflecting the driver intention and improving the shifting quality. Five-degree-of-freedom (DOF shifting dynamics model of DDCT with single intermediate shaft is firstly established according to its physical characteristics. Then the quantitative control objectives of the shifting process are presented. The fuzzy decision of shifting time and the model-based torque coordinating control strategy are proposed and also verified by simulating under different driving intentions in up-/downshifting processes with the DCT model established on the MATLAB/Simulink. Simulation results validate that the shifting control algorithm proposed in this paper can not only meet the shifting quality requirements, but also adapt to the various shifting intentions, having a strong robustness.

Sleep Duration, Exercise, Shift Work and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome-Related Outcomes in a Healthy Population: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Audrey J R; Huang, Zhongwei; Chua, Seok Eng; Kramer, Michael S; Yong, Eu-Leong

2016-01-01

Few studies have examined the associations between sleep duration, shiftwork, and exercise to the infrequent menstruation, hyperandrogenism, and ovarian morphological changes observed in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). To examine whether lifestyle factors, including short sleep duration, insufficient exercise, and shiftwork, alone or in combination, are associated with the reproductive and metabolic abnormalities typical of PCOS in a healthy population. Prospective cross-sectional study of 231 women, including healthcare workers recruited for an annual health screen, healthy referral patients from the Women's Clinic and volunteers from the university community at the National University Hospital, Singapore, from 2011 to 2015. The women completed a questionnaire, including their menstrual cycle length, sleep length, frequency of exercise and shift work. Hyperandrogenism (hirsutism score, testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)), ovarian morphology and function (anthral follicle count, ovarian volume, anti-mullerian hormone (AMH)), and metabolic measures (body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR), blood pressure, fasting glucose, fasting insulin and fasting lipids) were examined through anthropometric measurements, transvaginal ultrasound scans, and blood tests. No significant associations were observed between shift work, exercise or sleep duration and the androgenic and ovarian measures that define PCOS. However, women reporting fewer than 6 hours of sleep were more likely to report abnormal (short or long) menstrual cycle lengths (OR = 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1 to 4.2). Women who reported fewer than 6 hours of sleep had increased fasting insulin levels (difference in means = 2.13; 95% CI, 0.27 to 3.99 mU/L) and higher odds of insulin resistance (OR = 2.58; CI, 1.16 to 5.76). Lack of regular exercise was associated with higher mean fasting insulin (difference in means = 2.3 mU/L; 95% CI, 0.5 to 4.1) and HOMA-IR (difference in means = 0.49; 95% CI

Electrophysiological mechanisms of the SI SII SIII electrocardiographic morphology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayes de Luna, A.; Carrio, I.; Subirana, M.T.; Torner, P.; Cosin, J.; Sagues, F.; Guindo, J.

1987-01-01

We studied three groups of individuals by means of spatial-velocity electrocardiograms and thallium-201 myocardial imaging to figure out the electrophysiological explanation of the SI SII SIII electrocardiographic morphology. We studied twelve healthy individuals without SI SII SIII, seven healthy individuals with SI SII SIII and fifteen patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with SI SII SIII. The average values of the QRS-E and QRS-F intervals were higher in the second and third groups than in the first. One patient of the second group and thirteen of the third showed right ventricular enlargement. The slowing down of the right ventricular conduction explained the SI SII SIII morphology in normal individuals in more than half the cases. In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with SI SII SIII the conduction delay plays an important part in the electrogenesis of the right ventricular enlargement electrocardiographic morphology. We think that these observations can give further data about the electrophysiologic mechanism of the SI SII SIII morphology

Distributed energy resources management using plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a fuel-shifting demand response resource

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morais, Hugo; Sousa, Tiago; Soares, J.

2015-01-01

In the smart grids context, distributed energy resources management plays an important role in the power systems' operation. Battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles should be important resources in the future distribution networks operation. Therefore, it is important...... to develop adequate methodologies to schedule the electric vehicles' charge and discharge processes, avoiding network congestions and providing ancillary services.This paper proposes the participation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in fuel shifting demand response programs. Two services are proposed......, namely the fuel shifting and the fuel discharging. The fuel shifting program consists in replacing the electric energy by fossil fuels in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles daily trips, and the fuel discharge program consists in use of their internal combustion engine to generate electricity injecting...

Laser frequency stabilization and shifting by using modulation transfer spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Bing; Wang, Zhao-Ying; Wu, Bin; Xu, Ao-Peng; Wang, Qi-Yu; Xu, Yun-Fei; Lin, Qiang

2014-10-01

The stabilizing and shifting of laser frequency are very important for the interaction between the laser and atoms. The modulation transfer spectroscopy for the 87Rb atom with D2 line transition F = 2 → F' = 3 is used for stabilizing and shifting the frequency of the external cavity grating feedback diode laser. The resonant phase modulator with electro—optical effect is used to generate frequency sideband to lock the laser frequency. In the locking scheme, circularly polarized pump- and probe-beams are used. By optimizing the temperature of the vapor, the pump- and probe-beam intensity, the laser linewidth of 280 kHz is obtained. Furthermore, the magnetic field generated by a solenoid is added into the system. Therefore the system can achieve the frequency locking at any point in a range of hundreds of megahertz frequency shifting with very low power loss.

X-Ray Morphological Analysis of the Planck ESZ Clusters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lovisari, Lorenzo; Forman, William R.; Jones, Christine; Andrade-Santos, Felipe; Randall, Scott; Kraft, Ralph [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Ettori, Stefano [INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, I-40127 Bologna (Italy); Arnaud, Monique; Démoclès, Jessica; Pratt, Gabriel W. [Laboratoire AIM, IRFU/Service d’Astrophysique—CEA/DRF—CNRS—Université Paris Diderot, Bât. 709, CEA-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)

2017-09-01

X-ray observations show that galaxy clusters have a very large range of morphologies. The most disturbed systems, which are good to study how clusters form and grow and to test physical models, may potentially complicate cosmological studies because the cluster mass determination becomes more challenging. Thus, we need to understand the cluster properties of our samples to reduce possible biases. This is complicated by the fact that different experiments may detect different cluster populations. For example, Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) selected cluster samples have been found to include a greater fraction of disturbed systems than X-ray selected samples. In this paper we determine eight morphological parameters for the Planck Early Sunyaev–Zeldovich (ESZ) objects observed with XMM-Newton . We found that two parameters, concentration and centroid shift, are the best to distinguish between relaxed and disturbed systems. For each parameter we provide the values that allow selecting the most relaxed or most disturbed objects from a sample. We found that there is no mass dependence on the cluster dynamical state. By comparing our results with what was obtained with REXCESS clusters, we also confirm that the ESZ clusters indeed tend to be more disturbed, as found by previous studies.

Manifold Shape : from Differential Geometry to Mathematical Morphology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roerdink, J.B.T.M.

1994-01-01

Much progress has been made in extending Euclidean mathematical morphology to more complex structures such as complete lattices or spaces with a non-commutative symmetry group. Such generalizations are important for practical situations such as translation and rotation invariant pattern recognition

Individual vulnerability to insomnia, excessive sleepiness and shift work disorder amongst healthcare shift workers. A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Booker, Lauren A; Magee, Michelle; Rajaratnam, Shantha M W; Sletten, Tracey L; Howard, Mark E

2018-03-27

Shift workers often experience reduced sleep quality, duration and/or excessive sleepiness due to the imposed conflict between work and their circadian system. About 20-30% of shift workers experience prominent insomnia symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness consistent with the circadian rhythm sleep disorder known as shift work disorder. Individual factors may influence this vulnerability to shift work disorder or sleep-related impairment associated with shift work. This paper was registered with Prospero and was conducted using recommended standards for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Published literature that measured sleep-related impairment associated with shift work including reduced sleep quality and duration and increased daytime sleepiness amongst healthcare shift workers and explored characteristics associated with individual variability were reviewed. Fifty-eight studies were included. Older age, morning-type, circadian flexibility, being married or having children, increased caffeine intake, higher scores on neuroticism and lower on hardiness were related to a higher risk of sleep-related impairment in response to shift work, whereas physical activity was a protective factor. The review highlights the diverse range of measurement tools used to evaluate the impact of shift work on sleep. Use of standardised and validated tools would enable cross-study comparisons. Longitudinal studies are required to establish causal relationships between individual factors and the development of shift work disorder. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genomic signatures of diet-related shifts during human origins.

Science.gov (United States)

Babbitt, Courtney C; Warner, Lisa R; Fedrigo, Olivier; Wall, Christine E; Wray, Gregory A

2011-04-07

There are numerous anthropological analyses concerning the importance of diet during human evolution. Diet is thought to have had a profound influence on the human phenotype, and dietary differences have been hypothesized to contribute to the dramatic morphological changes seen in modern humans as compared with non-human primates. Here, we attempt to integrate the results of new genomic studies within this well-developed anthropological context. We then review the current evidence for adaptation related to diet, both at the level of sequence changes and gene expression. Finally, we propose some ways in which new technologies can help identify specific genomic adaptations that have resulted in metabolic and morphological differences between humans and non-human primates.

Homogeneous bilateral block shifts

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Douglas class were classified in [3]; they are unilateral block shifts of arbitrary block size (i.e. dim H(n) can be anything). However, no examples of irreducible homogeneous bilateral block shifts of block size larger than 1 were known until now.

Quantized beam shifts in graphene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Melo Kort-Kamp, Wilton Junior [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sinitsyn, Nikolai [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dalvit, Diego Alejandro Roberto [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-10-08

We predict the existence of quantized Imbert-Fedorov, Goos-Hanchen, and photonic spin Hall shifts for light beams impinging on a graphene-on-substrate system in an external magnetic field. In the quantum Hall regime the Imbert-Fedorov and photonic spin Hall shifts are quantized in integer multiples of the fine structure constant α, while the Goos-Hanchen ones in multiples of α². We investigate the influence on these shifts of magnetic field, temperature, and material dispersion and dissipation. An experimental demonstration of quantized beam shifts could be achieved at terahertz frequencies for moderate values of the magnetic field.

A model for the generation and interconversion of ER morphologies

OpenAIRE

Shemesh, Tom; Klemm, Robin W.; Romano, Fabian B.; Wang, Songyu; Vaughan, Joshua; Zhuang, Xiaowei; Tukachinsky, Hanna; Kozlov, Michael M.; Rapoport, Tom A.

2014-01-01

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an important membrane-bound organelle in all eukaryotic cells. Depending on cell type and functional state, the ER membrane can adopt different morphologies, including a network of interconnected tubules, and sheets that can contain fenestrations or be stacked on top of each other. How these different morphologies are generated is unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive theoretical model that explains the formation and interconversion of virtually all known...

[THE INFLUENCE OF SHIFT WORK ON WORKER'S HEALTH STATUS (REVIEW)].

Science.gov (United States)

Chernikova, E F

2015-01-01

The article provides an overview of domestic and foreign works on the impact of the replaceable labor on the efficiency, general state of health, the health and the dream of workers. Many hours shifts and overtime work were found to disturb likely familiar rhythms (sleep, wakefulness, performance), change the metabolic and hormonal metabolisms, reducing the recovery period between duties, contribute to more rapid development of fatigue. The consequence of circadian dyschrony may be the development of diseases of the cardiovascular system and cancer incidence. Studies have shown that sleep disorders are associated with metabolic changes, and particularly, obesity. In persons working in shifts, there are more often registered as individual features of the metabolic syndrome and the whole syndrome. It is noted that persons forming this group are at higher risk of developing diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, the problem of shift work is presented to be very important. Knowledge of ways and mechanisms that explain the impact of shift work on health is necessary to evaluate the professional risk. In the system of health measures the attention should be given to the rationalization of work and rest regimens, prevention of fatigue, struggle with sleep disorders and obesity.

Process depending morphology and resulting physical properties of TPU

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frick, Achim, E-mail: achim.frick@hs-aalen.de; Spadaro, Marcel, E-mail: marcel.spadaro@hs-aalen.de [Institute of Polymer Science and Processing (iPSP), Aalen University (Germany)

2015-12-17

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is a rubber like material with outstanding properties, e.g. for seal applications. TPU basically provides high strength, low frictional behavior and excellent wear resistance. Though, due to segmented structure of TPU, which is composed of hard segments (HSs) and soft segments (SSs), physical properties depend strongly on the morphological arrangement of the phase separated HSs at a certain ratio of HSs to SSs. It is obvious that the TPU deforms differently depending on its bulk morphology. Basically, the morphology can either consist of HSs segregated into small domains, which are well dispersed in the SS matrix or of few strongly phase separated large size HS domains embedded in the SS matrix. The morphology development is hardly ruled by the melt processing conditions of the TPU. Depending on the morphology, TPU provides quite different physical properties with respect to strength, deformation behavior, thermal stability, creep resistance and tribological performance. The paper deals with the influence of important melt processing parameters, such as temperature, pressure and shear conditions, on the resulting physical properties tested by tensile and relaxation experiments. Furthermore the morphology is studied employing differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), transmission light microscopy (TLM), scanning electron beam microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron beam microscopy (TEM) investigations. Correlations between processing conditions and resulting TPU material properties are elaborated. Flow and shear simulations contribute to the understanding of thermal and flow induced morphology development.

Exploring the morphological and electronic properties of silicene superstructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grazianetti, Carlo; Chiappe, Daniele; Cinquanta, Eugenio; Tallarida, Grazia; Fanciulli, Marco; Molle, Alessandro

2014-01-01

Silicene, the Si counterpart of graphene, grows on Ag(111) forming domains. Investigation, by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, of morphological properties is carried out by considering post-deposition process. Particular attention is here addressed to the post-deposition annealing temperature, which plays an important role in determining the resulting morphology. On the other hand, electronic properties are probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and a position-dependent local density of states results, which can be understood in terms of symmetry breaking in the honeycomb lattice.

Exploring the morphological and electronic properties of silicene superstructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grazianetti, Carlo, E-mail: carlo.grazianetti@mdm.imm.cnr.it [Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, via C. Olivetti 2, I-20864 Agrate Brianza, MB (Italy); Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 53, I-20126 Milano, MI (Italy); Chiappe, Daniele; Cinquanta, Eugenio; Tallarida, Grazia [Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, via C. Olivetti 2, I-20864 Agrate Brianza, MB (Italy); Fanciulli, Marco [Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, via C. Olivetti 2, I-20864 Agrate Brianza, MB (Italy); Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 53, I-20126 Milano, MI (Italy); Molle, Alessandro, E-mail: alessandro.molle@mdm.imm.cnr.it [Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, via C. Olivetti 2, I-20864 Agrate Brianza, MB (Italy)

2014-02-01

Silicene, the Si counterpart of graphene, grows on Ag(111) forming domains. Investigation, by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, of morphological properties is carried out by considering post-deposition process. Particular attention is here addressed to the post-deposition annealing temperature, which plays an important role in determining the resulting morphology. On the other hand, electronic properties are probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and a position-dependent local density of states results, which can be understood in terms of symmetry breaking in the honeycomb lattice.

Fluid Shifts

Science.gov (United States)

Stenger, M. B.; Hargens, A. R.; Dulchavsky, S. A.; Arbeille, P.; Danielson, R. W.; Ebert, D. J.; Garcia, K. M.; Johnston, S. L.; Laurie, S. S.; Lee, S. M. C.;

Ontogenetic convergence and evolution of foot morphology in European cave salamanders (Family: Plethodontidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nistri Annamaria

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A major goal in evolutionary biology is to understand the evolution of phenotypic diversity. Both natural and sexual selection play a large role in generating phenotypic adaptations, with biomechanical requirements and developmental mechanisms mediating patterns of phenotypic evolution. For many traits, the relative importance of selective and developmental components remains understudied. Results We investigated ontogenetic trajectories of foot morphology in the eight species of European plethodontid cave salamander to test the hypothesis that adult foot morphology was adapted for climbing. Using geometric morphometrics and other approaches, we found that developmental patterns in five species displayed little morphological change during growth (isometry, where the extensive interdigital webbing in adults was best explained as the retention of the juvenile morphological state. By contrast, three species exhibited significant allometry, with an increase in interdigital webbing during growth. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that multiple evolutionary transitions between isometry and allometry of foot webbing have occurred in this lineage. Allometric parameters of foot growth were most similar to those of a tropical species previously shown to be adapted for climbing. Finally, interspecific variation in adult foot morphology was significantly reduced as compared to variation among juveniles, indicating that ontogenetic convergence had resulted in a common adult foot morphology across species. Conclusions The results presented here provide evidence of a complex history of phenotypic evolution in this clade. The common adult phenotype exhibited among species reveals that selection plays an important part in generating patterns of foot diversity in the group. However, developmental trajectories arriving at this common morphology are distinct; with some species displaying developmental stasis (isometry, while others show an increase

Shift work in nurses: contribution of phenotypes and genotypes to adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gamble, Karen L; Motsinger-Reif, Alison A; Hida, Akiko; Borsetti, Hugo M; Servick, Stein V; Ciarleglio, Christopher M; Robbins, Sam; Hicks, Jennifer; Carver, Krista; Hamilton, Nalo; Wells, Nancy; Summar, Marshall L; McMahon, Douglas G; Johnson, Carl Hirschie

2011-04-13

Daily cycles of sleep/wake, hormones, and physiological processes are often misaligned with behavioral patterns during shift work, leading to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular/metabolic/gastrointestinal disorders, some types of cancer, and mental disorders including depression and anxiety. It is unclear how sleep timing, chronotype, and circadian clock gene variation contribute to adaptation to shift work. Newly defined sleep strategies, chronotype, and genotype for polymorphisms in circadian clock genes were assessed in 388 hospital day- and night-shift nurses. Night-shift nurses who used sleep deprivation as a means to switch to and from diurnal sleep on work days (∼25%) were the most poorly adapted to their work schedule. Chronotype also influenced efficacy of adaptation. In addition, polymorphisms in CLOCK, NPAS2, PER2, and PER3 were significantly associated with outcomes such as alcohol/caffeine consumption and sleepiness, as well as sleep phase, inertia and duration in both single- and multi-locus models. Many of these results were specific to shift type suggesting an interaction between genotype and environment (in this case, shift work). Sleep strategy, chronotype, and genotype contribute to the adaptation of the circadian system to an environment that switches frequently and/or irregularly between different schedules of the light-dark cycle and social/workplace time. This study of shift work nurses illustrates how an environmental "stress" to the temporal organization of physiology and metabolism can have behavioral and health-related consequences. Because nurses are a key component of health care, these findings could have important implications for health-care policy.

Shift work in nurses: contribution of phenotypes and genotypes to adaptation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen L Gamble

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Daily cycles of sleep/wake, hormones, and physiological processes are often misaligned with behavioral patterns during shift work, leading to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular/metabolic/gastrointestinal disorders, some types of cancer, and mental disorders including depression and anxiety. It is unclear how sleep timing, chronotype, and circadian clock gene variation contribute to adaptation to shift work.Newly defined sleep strategies, chronotype, and genotype for polymorphisms in circadian clock genes were assessed in 388 hospital day- and night-shift nurses.Night-shift nurses who used sleep deprivation as a means to switch to and from diurnal sleep on work days (∼25% were the most poorly adapted to their work schedule. Chronotype also influenced efficacy of adaptation. In addition, polymorphisms in CLOCK, NPAS2, PER2, and PER3 were significantly associated with outcomes such as alcohol/caffeine consumption and sleepiness, as well as sleep phase, inertia and duration in both single- and multi-locus models. Many of these results were specific to shift type suggesting an interaction between genotype and environment (in this case, shift work.Sleep strategy, chronotype, and genotype contribute to the adaptation of the circadian system to an environment that switches frequently and/or irregularly between different schedules of the light-dark cycle and social/workplace time. This study of shift work nurses illustrates how an environmental "stress" to the temporal organization of physiology and metabolism can have behavioral and health-related consequences. Because nurses are a key component of health care, these findings could have important implications for health-care policy.

Isotope shifting capacity of rock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blattner, P.; Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt

1980-01-01

Any oxygen isotope shifted rock volume exactly defines a past throughput of water. An expression is derived that relates the throughput of an open system to the isotope shift of reservoir rock and present-day output. The small isotope shift of Ngawha reservoir rock and the small, high delta oxygen-18 output are best accounted for by a magmatic water source

Very Long (> 48 hours) Shifts and Cardiovascular Strain in Firefighters: a Theoretical Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Bongkyoo; Schnall, Peter L; Dobson, Marnie; Garcia-Rivas, Javier; Kim, Hyoungryoul; Zaldivar, Frank; Israel, Leslie; Baker, Dean

2014-03-06

Shift work and overtime have been implicated as important work-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many firefighters who contractually work on a 24-hr work schedule, often do overtime (additional 24-hr shifts) which can result in working multiple, consecutive 24-hr shifts. Very little research has been conducted on firefighters at work that examines the impact of performing consecutive 24-hr shifts on cardiovascular physiology. Also, there have been no standard field methods for assessing in firefighters the cardiovascular changes that result from 24-hr shifts, what we call "cardiovascular strain". The objective of this study, as the first step toward elucidating the role of very long (> 48 hrs) shifts in the development of CVD in firefighters, is to develop and describe a theoretical framework for studying cardiovascular strain in firefighters on very long shifts (i.e., > 2 consecutive 24-hr shifts). The developed theoretical framework was built on an extensive literature review, our recently completed studies with firefighters in Southern California, e-mail and discussions with several firefighters on their experiences of consecutive shifts, and our recently conducted feasibility study in a small group of firefighters of several ambulatory cardiovascular strain biomarkers (heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, salivary cortisol, and salivary C-reactive protein). The theoretical framework developed in this study will facilitate future field studies on consecutive 24-hr shifts and cardiovascular health in firefighters. Also it will increase our understanding of the mechanisms by which shift work or long work hours can affect CVD, particularly through CVD biological risk factors, and thereby inform policy about sustainable work and rest schedules for firefighters.

Sleep and satisfaction in 8- and 12-h forward-rotating shift systems: Industrial employees prefer 12-h shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Karhula, Kati; Härmä, Mikko; Ropponen, Annina; Hakola, Tarja; Sallinen, Mikael; Puttonen, Sampsa

2016-01-01

Twelve-hour shift systems have become more popular in industry. Survey data of shift length, shift rotation speed, self-rated sleep, satisfaction and perceived health were investigated for the associations among 599 predominantly male Finnish industrial employees. The studied forward-rotating shift systems were 12-h fast (12fast, DDNN------, n = 268), 8-h fast (8fast, MMEENN----, n = 161) and 8-h slow (8slow, MMMM-EEEE-NNNN, n = 170). Satisfaction with shift system differed between the groups (p effects on sleep and alertness were rare (8%) in the 12fast group (53% 8fast, 66% 8 slow, p effects of the current shift system on general health (12fast 4%, 8fast 30%, 8slow 41%, p work-life balance (12fast 8%, 8fast 52%, 8slow 63%, p effects of shift work were dependent on both shift length and shift rotation speed: employees in the 12-h rapidly forward-rotating shift system were most satisfied, perceived better work-life balance and slept better than the employees in the 8fast or especially the employees in the 8-h slowly rotating systems.

Improved medical image fusion based on cascaded PCA and shift invariant wavelet transforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Reena Benjamin, J; Jayasree, T

2018-02-01

In the medical field, radiologists need more informative and high-quality medical images to diagnose diseases. Image fusion plays a vital role in the field of biomedical image analysis. It aims to integrate the complementary information from multimodal images, producing a new composite image which is expected to be more informative for visual perception than any of the individual input images. The main objective of this paper is to improve the information, to preserve the edges and to enhance the quality of the fused image using cascaded principal component analysis (PCA) and shift invariant wavelet transforms. A novel image fusion technique based on cascaded PCA and shift invariant wavelet transforms is proposed in this paper. PCA in spatial domain extracts relevant information from the large dataset based on eigenvalue decomposition, and the wavelet transform operating in the complex domain with shift invariant properties brings out more directional and phase details of the image. The significance of maximum fusion rule applied in dual-tree complex wavelet transform domain enhances the average information and morphological details. The input images of the human brain of two different modalities (MRI and CT) are collected from whole brain atlas data distributed by Harvard University. Both MRI and CT images are fused using cascaded PCA and shift invariant wavelet transform method. The proposed method is evaluated based on three main key factors, namely structure preservation, edge preservation, contrast preservation. The experimental results and comparison with other existing fusion methods show the superior performance of the proposed image fusion framework in terms of visual and quantitative evaluations. In this paper, a complex wavelet-based image fusion has been discussed. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method enhances the directional features as well as fine edge details. Also, it reduces the redundant details, artifacts, distortions.

Research by Design: A paradigm shift?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verbeke, Johan

2016-01-01

In this paper we will argue that architectural research is becoming more and more important, not only in academia but also in architectural practice. Moreover, a shift is taking place from using and absorbing research methods from other disciplines towards building on the own specific strength...... of the discipline of architecture, i.e. using design and creative practice as a method to generate knowledge and disclose unknown aspects of reality. In doing so, this paper tries to place the Delft ARENA meeting Architectural Research Network Meeting (November 2013) in perspective....

The Relationship Between Sleep Disorders and Quality of Life in Rotating Shift Workers at a Textile Factory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamran Ghods

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background There is no doubt that problems during wakefulness can affect the quality and length of sleep. Sleep disturbances can have a serious negative effect on a person’s ability, function, and overall well-being. One of the most important issues that can result in sleep disturbances is professional causes, and the most important of which is shift work. The present study aimed at investigating the association between shift work and various sleep disorders and quality of life. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. The data were collected using the Persian version of Epworth sleepiness scale andSF-36 questionnaires to assess the participants’ sleep disorder and quality of life. The questionnaires were filled in by 207 shift workers. Age, gender, shift works experience, and working experience were recorded for all participants. Results In total, 45 (21.7% out of 207 participants were male and 162 (78.3% were female. The mean ± SD age of participants was 25.71 ± 4.38 years. The mean ± SD shift works experience and working experience were 3.76 ± 3.75 and 4.68 ± 3.92, respectively. Females were more at risk for sleep problems caused by shift work than males (P = 0.006. The prevalence of problems in initiating sleep, frequent waking from sleep, and early morning awakening was more common among shift workers, respectively. A significant negative correlation was found between quality of life and Epworth sleep score, meaning that with the increase in Epworth Sleep Score the quality of life was reduced, and the quality of life was improved by reduction in Epworth sleep score (r = - 0.5, P = 0.001. Conclusions Higher prevalence of insomnia and poor sleep quality among shift workers and the subsequent reduction in their quality of life based on in this study emphasizes the importance of paying serious attention to sleep disorders in shift workers.

Integrated trend assessment of ecosystem changes in the Limfjord (Denmark): evidence of a recent regime shift?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tomczak, Maciej Tomasz; Dinesen, Grete E.; Hoffmann, Erik

2012-01-01

An integrated ecosystem assessment was carried out for the Limfjord over the period from 1984 to 2008 to describe changes in ecosystem structure and potentially important drivers. The Limfjord is an eutrophic transitional Danish fjord system with the main inflow from the North Sea in the west and...... further showed the regime shift to be driven by a combination of anthropogenic pressures and possible interplay with climatic disturbance......An integrated ecosystem assessment was carried out for the Limfjord over the period from 1984 to 2008 to describe changes in ecosystem structure and potentially important drivers. The Limfjord is an eutrophic transitional Danish fjord system with the main inflow from the North Sea in the west......), jellyfish, common shore crab, starfish and blue mussels. We interpret this change as a regime shift that showed a similar temporal pattern to regime shifts identified in adjacent seas. The observed changes in trophic interactions and food web reorganisation suggested a non-linear regime shift. The analyses...

Tempo of Diversification of Global Amphibians: One-Constant Rate, One-Continuous Shift or Multiple-Discrete Shifts?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youhua Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this brief report, alternative time-varying diversification rate models were fitted onto the phylogeny of global amphibians by considering one-constant-rate (OCR, one-continuous-shift (OCS and multiplediscrete- shifts (MDS situations. The OCS diversification model was rejected by γ statistic (γ=-5.556, p⁄ 0.001, implying the existence of shifting diversification rates for global amphibian phylogeny. Through model selection, MDS diversification model outperformed OCS and OCR models using “laser” package under R environment. Moreover, MDS models, implemented using another R package “MEDUSA”, indicated that there were sixteen shifts over the internal nodes for amphibian phylogeny. Conclusively, both OCS and MDS models are recommended to compare so as to better quantify rate-shifting trends of species diversification. MDS diversification models should be preferential for large phylogenies using “MEDUSA” package in which any arbitrary numbers of shifts are allowed to model.

Phenological shifts conserve thermal niches in North American birds and reshape expectations for climate-driven range shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Socolar, Jacob B; Epanchin, Peter N; Beissinger, Steven R; Tingley, Morgan W

2017-12-05

Species respond to climate change in two dominant ways: range shifts in latitude or elevation and phenological shifts of life-history events. Range shifts are widely viewed as the principal mechanism for thermal niche tracking, and phenological shifts in birds and other consumers are widely understood as the principal mechanism for tracking temporal peaks in biotic resources. However, phenological and range shifts each present simultaneous opportunities for temperature and resource tracking, although the possible role for phenological shifts in thermal niche tracking has been widely overlooked. Using a canonical dataset of Californian bird surveys and a detectability-based approach for quantifying phenological signal, we show that Californian bird communities advanced their breeding phenology by 5-12 d over the last century. This phenological shift might track shifting resource peaks, but it also reduces average temperatures during nesting by over 1 °C, approximately the same magnitude that average temperatures have warmed over the same period. We further show that early-summer temperature anomalies are correlated with nest success in a continental-scale database of bird nests, suggesting avian thermal niches might be broadly limited by temperatures during nesting. These findings outline an adaptation surface where geographic range and breeding phenology respond jointly to constraints imposed by temperature and resource phenology. By stabilizing temperatures during nesting, phenological shifts might mitigate the need for range shifts. Global change ecology will benefit from further exploring phenological adjustment as a potential mechanism for thermal niche tracking and vice versa.

Gross morphology of rhea oropharyngeal cavity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcio N. Rodrigues

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The rhea (Rhea americana americana is an american bird belonging to Ratite's family. Studies related to its morphology are still scarce. This study aims to describe the macroscopic structures of the oropharyngeal cavity. Five heads (2 to 6 months old formalin preserved were anatomically dissected to expose the oropharynx. The oropharynx of the rhea was "bell-shaped" composed by the maxillary and mandibular rhamphotheca. The roof and floor presented two distinct regions different in colour of the mucosa. The rostral region was pale pink contrasting to grey coloured caudal region. The median longitudinal ridge extended rostrally from the apex of the choana to the tip of the beak in the roof and it is clearly more prominent and rigid than the homolog in the floor that appeared thin and stretched merely along the rostral portion of the regio interramalis. The floor was formed by the interramal region, (regio interramalis tongue and laryngeal mound containing glove-shaped glottis. This study confirmed the basic morphology of the oropharinx of the rhea. However, important morphological information not previously described is highlighted and contradictory information present in the literature is clarified.

Proton-deuteron phase-shift analysis above the deuteron breakup threshold

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tornow, W. [Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States). Dept. of Physics]|[Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Box 90308, Durham, NC (United States); Witala, H. [Institute of Physics, Jagellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30059 Cracow (Poland)

1998-03-02

We have performed single-energy phase-shift analyses of proton-deuteron elastic scattering data in the proton energy range from 3.5 to 10 MeV. The resulting values for the {sup 2}S{sub 1/2} and {sup 4}P{sub 1/2}, {sup 4}P{sub 3/2}, and {sup 4}P{sub 5/2} phase shifts are important benchmark values for three-nucleon calculations based on nucleon-nucleon potential models (with and without three-nucleon forces) aimed at describing the triton binding energy and at resolving the nucleon-deuteron A{sub y}({theta}) and iT{sub 11}({theta}) puzzles, respectively. (orig.) 7 refs.

Surface-spin magnetism of antiferromagnetic NiO in nanoparticle and bulk morphology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagodic, M; Jaglicic, Z; Jelen, A; Dolinsek, J; Lee, Jin Bae; Kim, Hae Jin; Kim, Young-Min

2009-01-01

The surface-spin magnetism of the antiferromagnetic (AFM) material NiO in nanoparticle and bulk morphology was investigated by magnetic measurements (temperature-dependent zero-field-cooled (zfc) and field-cooled (fc) dc susceptibility, ac susceptibility and zfc and fc hysteresis loops). We addressed the question of whether the multisublattice ordering of the uncompensated surface spins and the exchange bias (EB) effect are only present in the nanoparticles, originating from their high surface-to-volume ratio or if these surface phenomena are generally present in the AFM materials regardless of their bulky or nanoparticle morphology, but the effect is just too small to be detected experimentally in the bulk due to a very small surface magnetization. Performing experiments on the NiO nanoparticles of different sizes and bulk NiO grains, we show that coercivity enhancement and hysteresis loop shift in the fc experiments, considered to be the key experimental manifestations of multisublattice ordering and the EB effect, are true nanoscale phenomena only present in the nanoparticles and absent in the bulk.

Deciphering morphological variation in the braincase of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona).

Science.gov (United States)

Maddin, Hillary C

2011-07-01

High levels of morphological homoplasy have hindered progress in understanding morphological evolution within gymnophione lissamphibians. Stemming from the hypothesis that the braincase has the potential to yield phylogenetic information, the braincases of 27 species (23 genera) of gymnophione amphibians were examined using high-resolution micro-computed tomography and histologically prepared specimens. Morphology of the brain and its relationship to features of the braincase is described, and it is shown that eight different patterns exist in the distribution of foramina in the antotic region. The distribution of variants is congruent with molecule-based phylogeny. Additionally, all variants are shown to correspond directly to stages along developmental continua, suggesting that the evolutionary truncation of development in the antotic region at various stages has driven the evolution of morphology in this region. Attempts to correlate the observed morphology with proxies of putative heterochronic events (including those attributable to burrowing, life history, and size) fail to explain the distribution of morphology if each proxy is considered separately. Thus, it is concluded that either currently unrecognized causes of heterochrony or combinations thereof have influenced morphology in different lineages independently. These data identify clades whose morphology can now be reconsidered in light of previously unrecognized heterochronic events, thereby providing a foundation for future analyses of the evolution of morphology within Gymnophiona as a whole. Most significantly, these data confirm, for the first time in a lissamphibian group, that the braincase can preserve important phylogenetic information that is otherwise obscured in regions of the skull that experience strong influences from functional constraints. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Shift report: a ritual play on a residential adolescent psychiatric unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Yonge, O

2008-01-01

The author conducted an ethnographic study of an adolescent residential psychiatric unit which revealed a category of behaviour--the shift report. A questionnaire was administered to staff to reveal further meanings. Reporting was found to schematize knowledge according to common referents, promote and validate insider roles through language, offer a means of personal reintegration and catharsis, and provide a forum for the symbolic enactment of democratic values which permeated every aspect of culture on the unit. Staff members were categorically in favour of their verbal and private shift report. There was little partitioning of informal and formal aspects of report in the interest of saving time. Instead, socializing and 'catching up' were important aspects of shift report and constituted a large part of team building. The informal nature of report, particularly in the use of language allowed staff to come to terms with frustrations rather than constituting patient stereotyping. As a ritual, the shift report fostered behavioural synchrony, individual empowerment and a democratic 'all-channel network' of communication. It is hoped that this account will encourage more practising nurses and managers to view their shift report as something more than a simple 'handover'; that is, a ritual play of core values, roles and relationships.

Catastrophic regime shifts in model ecological communities are true phase transitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Capitán, J A; Cuesta, J A

2010-01-01

Ecosystems often undergo abrupt regime shifts in response to gradual external changes. These shifts are theoretically understood as a regime switch between alternative stable states of the ecosystem dynamical response to smooth changes in external conditions. Usual models introduce nonlinearities in the macroscopic dynamics of the ecosystem that lead to different stable attractors among which the shift takes place. Here we propose an alternative explanation of catastrophic regime shifts based on a recent model that pictures ecological communities as systems in continuous fluctuation, according to certain transition probabilities, between different micro-states in the phase space of viable communities. We introduce a spontaneous extinction rate that accounts for gradual changes in external conditions, and upon variations on this control parameter the system undergoes a regime shift with similar features to those previously reported. Under our microscopic viewpoint we recover the main results obtained in previous theoretical and empirical work (anomalous variance, hysteresis cycles, trophic cascades). The model predicts a gradual loss of species in trophic levels from bottom to top near the transition. But more importantly, the spectral analysis of the transition probability matrix allows us to rigorously establish that we are observing the fingerprints, in a finite size system, of a true phase transition driven by background extinctions

Corporate Profit Shifting and the Multinational Enterprise

OpenAIRE

Webber, Stuart

2012-01-01

This dissertation analyzes ways in which Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) shift profits from one country to another to reduce their income tax expense. This is an important topic for a number of reasons. From a country’s perspective, its income tax rates and policies can have a significant impact upon its tax revenue, economic competitiveness, and the vibrancy of its economy. From the MNE’s perspective, income tax rates and policies determine a firm’s tax obligations, and thus ...

[Burden and health effects of shift work].

Science.gov (United States)

Heitmann, Jörg

2010-10-01

In Germany aprox. 15% of all employees have irregular or flexible working hours. Disturbed sleep and/or hypersomnia are direct consequences of shift work and therefore described as shift work disorder. Beyond this, shift work can also be associated with specific pathological disorders. There are individual differences in tolerance to shift work. Optimization of both shift schedules and sleep to "non-physiological" times of the day are measures to counteract the negative effects of shift work. There is still not enough evidence to recommend drugs for routine use in shift workers. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.

Is there a shift to 'active nanostructures'?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subramanian, Vrishali; Youtie, Jan; Porter, Alan L.; Shapira, Philip

2010-01-01

It has been suggested that an important transition in the long-run trajectory of nanotechnology development is a shift from passive to active nanostructures. Such a shift could present different or increased societal impacts and require new approaches for risk assessment. An active nanostructure 'changes or evolves its state during its operation,' according to the National Science Foundation's (2006) Active Nanostructures and Nanosystems grant solicitation. Active nanostructure examples include nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), nanomachines, self-healing materials, targeted drugs and chemicals, energy storage devices, and sensors. This article considers two questions: (a) Is there a 'shift' to active nanostructures? (b) How can we characterize the prototypical areas into which active nanostructures may emerge? We build upon the NSF definition of active nanostructures to develop a research publication search strategy, with a particular intent to distinguish between passive and active nanotechnologies. We perform bibliometric analyses and describe the main publication trends from 1995 to 2008. We then describe the prototypes of research that emerge based on reading the abstracts and review papers encountered in our search. Preliminary results suggest that there is a sharp rise in active nanostructures publications in 2006, and this rise is maintained in 2007 and through to early 2008. We present a typology that can be used to describe the kind of active nanostructures that may be commercialized and regulated in the future.

Energy efficiency improvement by gear shifting optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blagojevic Ivan A.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Many studies have proved that elements of driver’s behavior related to gear selection have considerable influence on the fuel consumption. Optimal gear shifting is a complex task, especially for inexperienced drivers. This paper presents an implemented idea for gear shifting optimization with the aim of fuel consumption minimization with more efficient engine working regimes. Optimized gear shifting enables the best possible relation between vehicle motion regimes and engine working regimes. New theoretical-experimental approach has been developed using On-Board Diagnostic technology which so far has not been used for this purpose. The matrix of driving modes according to which tests were performed is obtained and special data acquisition system and analysis process have been developed. Functional relations between experimental test modes and adequate engine working parameters have been obtained and all necessary operations have been conducted to enable their use as inputs for the designed algorithm. The created Model has been tested in real exploitation conditions on passenger car with Otto fuel injection engine and On-Board Diagnostic connection without any changes on it. The conducted tests have shown that the presented Model has significantly positive effects on fuel consumption which is an important ecological aspect. Further development and testing of the Model allows implementation in wide range of motor vehicles with various types of internal combustion engines.

Is there a shift to "active nanostructures"?

Science.gov (United States)

Subramanian, Vrishali; Youtie, Jan; Porter, Alan L.; Shapira, Philip

2010-01-01

It has been suggested that an important transition in the long-run trajectory of nanotechnology development is a shift from passive to active nanostructures. Such a shift could present different or increased societal impacts and require new approaches for risk assessment. An active nanostructure "changes or evolves its state during its operation," according to the National Science Foundation's (2006) Active Nanostructures and Nanosystems grant solicitation. Active nanostructure examples include nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), nanomachines, self-healing materials, targeted drugs and chemicals, energy storage devices, and sensors. This article considers two questions: (a) Is there a "shift" to active nanostructures? (b) How can we characterize the prototypical areas into which active nanostructures may emerge? We build upon the NSF definition of active nanostructures to develop a research publication search strategy, with a particular intent to distinguish between passive and active nanotechnologies. We perform bibliometric analyses and describe the main publication trends from 1995 to 2008. We then describe the prototypes of research that emerge based on reading the abstracts and review papers encountered in our search. Preliminary results suggest that there is a sharp rise in active nanostructures publications in 2006, and this rise is maintained in 2007 and through to early 2008. We present a typology that can be used to describe the kind of active nanostructures that may be commercialized and regulated in the future.

Deuterium isotope shifts for backbone {sup 1}H, {sup 15}N and {sup 13}C nuclei in intrinsically disordered protein {alpha}-synuclein

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maltsev, Alexander S.; Ying Jinfa; Bax, Ad, E-mail: bax@nih.gov [National Institutes of Health, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (United States)

2012-10-15

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are abundant in nature and characterization of their potential structural propensities remains a widely pursued but challenging task. Analysis of NMR secondary chemical shifts plays an important role in such studies, but the output of such analyses depends on the accuracy of reference random coil chemical shifts. Although uniform perdeuteration of IDPs can dramatically increase spectral resolution, a feature particularly important for the poorly dispersed IDP spectra, the impact of deuterium isotope shifts on random coil values has not yet been fully characterized. Very precise {sup 2}H isotope shift measurements for {sup 13}C{sup {alpha}}, {sup 13}C{sup {beta}}, {sup 13}C Prime , {sup 15}N, and {sup 1}H{sup N} have been obtained by using a mixed sample of protonated and uniformly perdeuterated {alpha}-synuclein, a protein with chemical shifts exceptionally close to random coil values. Decomposition of these isotope shifts into one-bond, two-bond and three-bond effects as well as intra- and sequential residue contributions shows that such an analysis, which ignores conformational dependence, is meaningful but does not fully describe the total isotope shift to within the precision of the measurements. Random coil {sup 2}H isotope shifts provide an important starting point for analysis of such shifts in structural terms in folded proteins, where they are known to depend strongly on local geometry.

Nuances of Morphology in Myelodysplastic Diseases in the Age of Molecular Diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaver, Aaron C; Seegmiller, Adam C

2017-10-01

Morphologic dysplasia is an important factor in diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). However, the role of dysplasia is changing as new molecular genetic and genomic technologies take a more prominent place in diagnosis. This review discusses the role of morphology in the diagnosis of MDS and its interactions with cytogenetic and molecular testing. Recent changes in diagnostic criteria have attempted to standardize approaches to morphologic diagnosis of MDS, recognizing significant inter-observer variability in assessment of dysplasia. Definitive correlates between cytogenetic/molecular and morphologic findings have been described in only a small set of cases. However, these genetic and morphologic tools do play a complementary role in the diagnosis of both MDS and other myeloid neoplasms. Diagnosis of MDS requires a multi-factorial approach, utilizing both traditional morphologic as well as newer molecular genetic techniques. Understanding these tools, and the interplay between them, is crucial in the modern diagnosis of myeloid neoplasms.

What Do We Know About Base Erosion and Profit Shifting? A Review of the Empirical Literature

OpenAIRE

Dhammika Dharmapala

2014-01-01

The issue of tax-motivated income shifting within multinational firms has attracted increasing global attention in recent years. It is of central importance to many current policy debates, including those related to recent initiatives by the OECD on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and to proposals for US tax reform in a territorial direction. This paper provides a survey of the empirical literature on tax-motivated income-shifting within multinational firms. Its emphasis is on clarify...

The impact of shift work on the psychological and physical health of nurses in a general hospital: a comparison between rotating night shifts and day shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferri, Paola; Guadi, Matteo; Marcheselli, Luigi; Balduzzi, Sara; Magnani, Daniela; Di Lorenzo, Rosaria

2016-01-01

Shift work is considered necessary to ensure continuity of care in hospitals and residential facilities. In particular, the night shift is one of the most frequent reasons for the disruption of circadian rhythms, causing significant alterations of sleep and biological functions that can affect physical and psychological well-being and negatively impact work performance. The aim of this study was to highlight if shift work with nights, as compared with day work only, is associated with risk factors predisposing nurses to poorer health conditions and lower job satisfaction. This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 1, 2015 to July 31, 2015 in 17 wards of a general hospital and a residential facility of a northern Italian city. This study involved 213 nurses working in rotating night shifts and 65 in day shifts. The instrument used for data collection was the "Standard Shift Work Index," validated in Italian. Data were statistically analyzed. The response rate was 86%. The nurses engaged in rotating night shifts were statistically significantly younger, more frequently single, and had Bachelors and Masters degrees in nursing. They reported the lowest mean score in the items of job satisfaction, quality and quantity of sleep, with more frequent chronic fatigue, psychological, and cardiovascular symptoms in comparison with the day shift workers, in a statistically significant way. Our results suggest that nurses with rotating night schedule need special attention due to the higher risk for both job dissatisfaction and undesirable health effects.

Morphological descriptors and micro satellite diversity among scarlet ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Solanum aethiopicum L. groups is an important leaf and fruit vegetable, largely consumed in sub Saharan Africa. Genetic variation pattern among 35 accessions belonging to S. aethiopicum groups and sources of donor parents were investigated using morphological descriptors and SSR marker pairs. The Principal ...

Reactive solid surface morphology variation via ionic diffusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zhenchao; Zhou, Qiang; Fan, Liang-Shih

2012-08-14

In gas-solid reactions, one of the most important factors that determine the overall reaction rate is the solid morphology, which can be characterized by a combination of smooth, convex and concave structures. Generally, the solid surface structure varies in the course of reactions, which is classically noted as being attributed to one or more of the following three mechanisms: mechanical interaction, molar volume change, and sintering. Here we show that if a gas-solid reaction involves the outward ionic diffusion of a solid-phase reactant then this outward ionic diffusion could eventually smooth the surface with an initial concave and/or convex structure. Specifically, the concave surface is filled via a larger outward diffusing surface pointing to the concave valley, whereas the height of the convex surface decreases via a lower outward diffusion flux in the vertical direction. A quantitative 2-D continuum diffusion model is established to analyze these two morphological variation processes, which shows consistent results with the experiments. This surface morphology variation by solid-phase ionic diffusion serves to provide a fourth mechanism that supplements the traditionally acknowledged solid morphology variation or, in general, porosity variation mechanisms in gas-solid reactions.

The ionosphere - Morphology, development and coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, E. R.; Watkins, G. W.; Blix, T. A.; Thrane, E. V.; Entzian, G.

1987-08-01

The morphology of the MAP/WINE winter is examined, principally from ground-based and satellite observations. Winter anomaly is evident, occurring in bursts with a west to east shift in time. Auroral activity, particularly with reference to the times of major rocket salvoes, is generally low, with Andoya to the south of the auroral boundary in most cases. Minor stratospheric warmings, of which four occurred, are found to correlate with minima in radio wave absorption. Using data from a broad sector of Europe, coupling between the lower thermosphere and mesosphere is seen over large areas. Westerly winds are associated with high absorption (winter anomaly) and reversal to easterly winds with stratospheric warmings and low absorption. It is found possible to select cases, from amongst the MT series of rocket launchings, corresponding to quiet conditions, stratospheric warming, winter anomaly, and particle precipitation in the general absence of other effects. The observed effects all point to transport being a major factor, and the need to measure vertical transport over the range of geophysical conditions examined is highlighted.

A multi-gene phylogeny of Cephalopoda supports convergent morphological evolution in association with multiple habitat shifts in the marine environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lindgren Annie R

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The marine environment is comprised of numerous divergent organisms living under similar selective pressures, often resulting in the evolution of convergent structures such as the fusiform body shape of pelagic squids, fishes, and some marine mammals. However, little is known about the frequency of, and circumstances leading to, convergent evolution in the open ocean. Here, we present a comparative study of the molluscan class Cephalopoda, a marine group known to occupy habitats from the intertidal to the deep sea. Several lineages bear features that may coincide with a benthic or pelagic existence, making this a valuable group for testing hypotheses of correlated evolution. To test for convergence and correlation, we generate the most taxonomically comprehensive multi-gene phylogeny of cephalopods to date. We then create a character matrix of habitat type and morphological characters, which we use to infer ancestral character states and test for correlation between habitat and morphology. Results Our study utilizes a taxonomically well-sampled phylogeny to show convergent evolution in all six morphological characters we analyzed. Three of these characters also correlate with habitat. The presence of an autogenic photophore (those relying upon autonomous enzymatic light reactions is correlated with a pelagic habitat, while the cornea and accessory nidamental gland correlate with a benthic lifestyle. Here, we present the first statistical tests for correlation between convergent traits and habitat in cephalopods to better understand the evolutionary history of characters that are adaptive in benthic or pelagic environments, respectively. Discussion Our study supports the hypothesis that habitat has influenced convergent evolution in the marine environment: benthic organisms tend to exhibit similar characteristics that confer protection from invasion by other benthic taxa, while pelagic organisms possess features that

Shift Work in Nurses: Contribution of Phenotypes and Genotypes to Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Gamble, Karen L.; Motsinger-Reif, Alison A.; Hida, Akiko; Borsetti, Hugo M.; Servick, Stein V.; Ciarleglio, Christopher M.; Robbins, Sam; Hicks, Jennifer; Carver, Krista; Hamilton, Nalo; Wells, Nancy; Summar, Marshall L.; McMahon, Douglas G.; Johnson, Carl Hirschie

2011-01-01

Background Daily cycles of sleep/wake, hormones, and physiological processes are often misaligned with behavioral patterns during shift work, leading to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular/metabolic/gastrointestinal disorders, some types of cancer, and mental disorders including depression and anxiety. It is unclear how sleep timing, chronotype, and circadian clock gene variation contribute to adaptation to shift work. Methods Newly defined sleep strategies, chronotype, and genotype for polymorphisms in circadian clock genes were assessed in 388 hospital day- and night-shift nurses. Results Night-shift nurses who used sleep deprivation as a means to switch to and from diurnal sleep on work days (∼25%) were the most poorly adapted to their work schedule. Chronotype also influenced efficacy of adaptation. In addition, polymorphisms in CLOCK, NPAS2, PER2, and PER3 were significantly associated with outcomes such as alcohol/caffeine consumption and sleepiness, as well as sleep phase, inertia and duration in both single- and multi-locus models. Many of these results were specific to shift type suggesting an interaction between genotype and environment (in this case, shift work). Conclusions Sleep strategy, chronotype, and genotype contribute to the adaptation of the circadian system to an environment that switches frequently and/or irregularly between different schedules of the light-dark cycle and social/workplace time. This study of shift work nurses illustrates how an environmental “stress” to the temporal organization of physiology and metabolism can have behavioral and health-related consequences. Because nurses are a key component of health care, these findings could have important implications for health-care policy. PMID:21533241

Split-shift work in relation to stress, health and psychosocial work factors among bus drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ihlström, Jonas; Kecklund, Göran; Anund, Anna

2017-01-01

Shift work has been associated with poor health, sleep and fatigue problems and low satisfaction with working hours. However, one type of shift working, namely split shifts, have received little attention. This study examined stress, health and psychosocial aspects of split-shift schedules among bus drivers in urban transport. A questionnaire was distributed to drivers working more than 70% of full time which 235 drivers in total answered. In general, drivers working split-shift schedules (n = 146) did not differ from drivers not working such shifts (n = 83) as regards any of the outcome variables that were studied. However, when individual perceptions towards split-shift schedules were taken into account, a different picture appeared. Bus drivers who reported problems working split shifts (36%) reported poorer health, higher perceived stress, working hours interfering with social life, lower sleep quality, more persistent fatigue and lower general work satisfaction than those who did not view split shifts as a problem. Moreover, drivers who reported problems with split shifts also perceived lower possibilities to influence working hours, indicating lower work time control. This study indicates that split shifts were not associated with increased stress, poorer health and adverse psychosocial work factors for the entire study sample. However, the results showed that individual differences were important and approximately one third of the drivers reported problems with split shifts, which in turn was associated with stress, poor health and negative psychosocial work conditions. More research is needed to understand the individual and organizational determinants of tolerance to split shifts.

Daytime Sleep Disturbance in Night Shift Work and the Role of PERIOD3.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Philip; Tallent, Gabriel; Burgess, Helen J; Tran, Kieulinh Michelle; Roth, Thomas; Drake, Christopher L

2018-03-15

Recent evidence indicates that daytime sleep disturbance associated with night shift work may arise from both circadian misalignment and sleep reactivity to stress. This presents an important clinical challenge because there are limited means of predicting and distinguishing between the two mechanisms, and the respective treatments differ categorically; however, there is support that a polymorphism in the PERIOD3 gene ( PER3 ) may indicate differences in vulnerability to daytime sleep disturbance in shift workers. We recruited 30 fixed night shift workers for laboratory assessments of circadian misalignment (dim light melatonin onset), sleep reactivity to stress (Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test), daytime sleep disturbance (daytime Insomnia Severity Index), and PER3 genotype ( PER3 4/4 , PER3 5 /- ). The two mechanisms for daytime sleep disturbance (circadian misalignment and sleep reactivity to stress) were compared between PER3 genotypes. Disturbed daytime sleep in the PER3 4/4 group was more likely related to sleep reactivity to stress, whereas disturbed sleep in the PER3 5 /- group was more likely related to circadian misalignment. Exploratory analyses also revealed a blunted melatonin amplitude in the PER3 4/4 genotype group. This study provides further evidence for multiple mechanisms (ie, circadian misalignment versus sleep reactivity to stress) associated with daytime sleep disturbances in shift workers. Additionally, it provides the new finding that PER3 genotype may play an important role in individual vulnerability to the different mechanisms of daytime sleep disturbance in night shift workers. © 2018 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Bryophyte-Feeders in a Basal Brachyceran Lineage (Diptera: Rhagionidae: Spaniinae: Adult Oviposition Behavior and Changes in the Larval Mouthpart Morphology Accompanied with the Diet Shifts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yume Imada

Full Text Available Dipteran larval morphology exhibits overwhelming variety, affected by their diverse feeding habits and habitat use. In particular, larval mouthpart morphology is associated with feeding behavior, providing key taxonomic traits. Despite most larval Brachycera being carnivorous, a basal brachyceran family, Rhagionidae, contains bryophyte-feeding taxa with multiple feeding habits. To elucidate the life history, biology, and morphological evolution of the bryophyte-feeding rhagionids, the larval feeding behavior and morphology, and the adult oviposition behavior of four species belonging to three genera of Spaniinae (Spania Meigen, Litoleptis Chillcott and Ptiolina Zetterstedt are described. Moreover, changes of the larval morphology associated with the evolution of bryophyte-feeding are traced by molecular phylogenetic analyses. Spania and Litoleptis (thallus-miners of thallose liverworts share a toothed form of apical mandibular sclerite with an orifice on its dorsal surface, which contrasts to those of the other members of Rhagionidae possessing a blade-like mandibular hook with an adoral groove; whereas, Ptiolina (stem borer of mosses exhibits a weak groove on the adoral surface of mandible and highly sclerotized maxilla with toothed projections. Based on the larval feeding behavior of the thallus-miners, it is inferred that the toothed mandibles with the dorsal orifice facilitate scraping plant tissue and then imbibing it with a great deal of the sap. A phylogeny indicated that the bryophyte-feeding genera formed a clade with Spaniopsis and was sister to Symphoromyia, which presumably are detritivores. This study indicates that the loss or reduction of adoral mandibular groove and mandibular brush is coincident with the evolution of bryophyte-feeding, and it is subsequently followed by the occurrence of dorsal mandibular orifice and the loss of creeping welts accompanying the evolution of thallus-mining.

Achieving effective staffing through a shared decision-making approach to open-shift management.

Science.gov (United States)

Valentine, Nancy M; Nash, Jan; Hughes, Douglas; Douglas, Kathy

2008-01-01

Managing costs while retaining qualified nurses and finding workforce solutions that ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care is of primary importance to nurse leaders and executive management. Leading healthcare organizations are using open-shift management technology as a strategy to improve staffing effectiveness and the work environment. In many hospitals, open-shift management technology has become an essential workforce management tool, nursing benefit, and recruitment and retention incentive. In this article, the authors discuss how a successful nursing initiative to apply automation to open-shift scheduling and fulfillment across a 3-hospital system had a broad enterprise-wide impact resulting in dramatic improvements in nurse satisfaction, retention, recruitment, and the bottom line.

Cα chemical shift tensors in helical peptides by dipolar-modulated chemical shift recoupling NMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao Xiaolan; Yamaguchi, Satoru; Hong Mei

2002-01-01

The Cα chemical shift tensors of proteins contain information on the backbone conformation. We have determined the magnitude and orientation of the Cα chemical shift tensors of two peptides with α-helical torsion angles: the Ala residue in G*AL (φ=-65.7 deg., ψ=-40 deg.), and the Val residue in GG*V (φ=-81.5 deg., ψ=-50.7 deg.). The magnitude of the tensors was determined from quasi-static powder patterns recoupled under magic-angle spinning, while the orientation of the tensors was extracted from Cα-Hα and Cα-N dipolar modulated powder patterns. The helical Ala Cα chemical shift tensor has a span of 36 ppm and an asymmetry parameter of 0.89. Its σ 11 axis is 116 deg. ± 5 deg. from the Cα-Hα bond while the σ 22 axis is 40 deg. ± 5 deg. from the Cα-N bond. The Val tensor has an anisotropic span of 25 ppm and an asymmetry parameter of 0.33, both much smaller than the values for β-sheet Val found recently (Yao and Hong, 2002). The Val σ 33 axis is tilted by 115 deg. ± 5 deg. from the Cα-Hα bond and 98 deg. ± 5 deg. from the Cα-N bond. These represent the first completely experimentally determined Cα chemical shift tensors of helical peptides. Using an icosahedral representation, we compared the experimental chemical shift tensors with quantum chemical calculations and found overall good agreement. These solid-state chemical shift tensors confirm the observation from cross-correlated relaxation experiments that the projection of the Cα chemical shift tensor onto the Cα-Hα bond is much smaller in α-helices than in β-sheets

The use of atomic force microscopy as an important technique to analyze the dispersion of nanometric fillers and morphology in nanocomposites and polymer blends based on elastomers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sousa, Fabiula Danielli Bastos de; Scuracchio, Carlos Henrique, E-mail: fabiuladesousa@gmail.com [Universidade Federal do ABC (CECS/UFABC), Santo Andre, SP (Brazil). Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciencias Sociais Aplicadas

2014-11-15

AFM has been recognized as one of the most powerful tools for the analysis of surface morphologies because it creates three-dimensional images at angstrom and nano scale. This technique has been exhaustively used in the analyses of dispersion of nanometric components in nanocomposites and in polymer blends, because of the easiness of sample preparation and lower equipment maintenance costs compared to electron microscopy. In this review, contributions using AFM are described, with emphasis on the dispersion of nanofillers in polymeric matrices. It is aimed to show the importance of technical analysis for nanocomposites and polymer blends based on elastomers. (author)

29Si NMR Chemical Shift Calculation for Silicate Species by Gaussian Software

Science.gov (United States)

Azizi, S. N.; Rostami, A. A.; Godarzian, A.

2005-05-01

Hartree-Fock self-consistent-field (HF-SCF) theory and the Gauge-including atomic orbital (GIAO) methods are used in the calculation of 29Si NMR chemical shifts for ABOUT 90 units of 19 compounds of various silicate species of precursors for zeolites. Calculations have been performed at geometries optimized at the AM1 semi-empirical method. The GIAO-HF-SCF calculations were carried out with using three different basis sets: 6-31G*, 6-31+G** and 6-311+G(2d,p). To demonstrate the quality of the calculations the calculated chemical shifts, δ, were compared with the corresponding experimental values for the compounds in study. The results, especially with 6-31+g** are in excellent agreement with experimental values. The calculated chemical shifts, in practical point of view, appear to be accurate enough to aid in experimental peak assignments. The difference between the experimental and calculated 29Si chemical shift values not only depends on the Qn units but also it seems that basis set effects and the level of theory is more important. For the series of molecules studied here, the standard deviations and mean absolute errors for 29Si chemical shifts relative to TMS determined using Hartree--Fock 6-31+G** basis is nearly in all cases smaller than the errors for shifts determined using HF/6-311+G(2d,p).

A canonical correlation analysis based EMG classification algorithm for eliminating electrode shift effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhe Fan; Zhong Wang; Guanglin Li; Ruomei Wang

2016-08-01

Motion classification system based on surface Electromyography (sEMG) pattern recognition has achieved good results in experimental condition. But it is still a challenge for clinical implement and practical application. Many factors contribute to the difficulty of clinical use of the EMG based dexterous control. The most obvious and important is the noise in the EMG signal caused by electrode shift, muscle fatigue, motion artifact, inherent instability of signal and biological signals such as Electrocardiogram. In this paper, a novel method based on Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) was developed to eliminate the reduction of classification accuracy caused by electrode shift. The average classification accuracy of our method were above 95% for the healthy subjects. In the process, we validated the influence of electrode shift on motion classification accuracy and discovered the strong correlation with correlation coefficient of >0.9 between shift position data and normal position data.

Rainbow-shift mechanism behind discrete optical-potential ambiguities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandan, M.E.; McVoy, K.W.

1991-01-01

Some years ago, Drisko et al. suggested that the discrete ambiguity often encountered for elastic scattering optical potentials could be understood as being due to the interior or small-l S-matrix elements for two ''equivalent'' potentials differing in phase by 2π, l-by-l. We point out that the absence of this phase change for peripheral partial waves is equally essential, and suggest that a deeper understanding of the ambiguity may be achieved by viewing it as a consequence of a farside interference between interior and peripheral partial waves. It is this interference which produces the broad ''Airy maxima'' of a nuclear rainbow, and we show that a Drisko-type phase-shift increment δ l →(δ l +π) for low-l phases relative to the high-l ones is exactly what is needed to shift a farside rainbow pattern by one Airy maximum, thus providing an equivalent ''rainbow-shift'' interpretation of the discrete ambiguity. The physical importance of both interpretations lies in the fact that the existence of discrete ambiguities (as well as of nuclear rainbows) is explicit evidence for low-l transparency in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The essential role played by low partial waves explains why peripheral reactions have generally not proven helpful in resolving this ambiguity

Melanosome evolution indicates a key physiological shift within feathered dinosaurs.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Quanguo; Clarke, Julia A; Gao, Ke-Qin; Zhou, Chang-Fu; Meng, Qingjin; Li, Daliang; D'Alba, Liliana; Shawkey, Matthew D

2014-03-20

Inference of colour patterning in extinct dinosaurs has been based on the relationship between the morphology of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes) and colour in extant bird feathers. When this relationship evolved relative to the origin of feathers and other novel integumentary structures, such as hair and filamentous body covering in extinct archosaurs, has not been evaluated. Here we sample melanosomes from the integument of 181 extant amniote taxa and 13 lizard, turtle, dinosaur and pterosaur fossils from the Upper-Jurassic and Lower-Cretaceous of China. We find that in the lineage leading to birds, the observed increase in the diversity of melanosome morphologies appears abruptly, near the origin of pinnate feathers in maniraptoran dinosaurs. Similarly, mammals show an increased diversity of melanosome form compared to all ectothermic amniotes. In these two clades, mammals and maniraptoran dinosaurs including birds, melanosome form and colour are linked and colour reconstruction may be possible. By contrast, melanosomes in lizard, turtle and crocodilian skin, as well as the archosaurian filamentous body coverings (dinosaur 'protofeathers' and pterosaur 'pycnofibres'), show a limited diversity of form that is uncorrelated with colour in extant taxa. These patterns may be explained by convergent changes in the key melanocortin system of mammals and birds, which is known to affect pleiotropically both melanin-based colouration and energetic processes such as metabolic rate in vertebrates, and may therefore support a significant physiological shift in maniraptoran dinosaurs.

In(OH){sub 3} and In{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanorice and microflowers: morphology transformation and optical properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ren Weian; Liu Ying; Mei Zongwei; Wen Xiaogang, E-mail: wenxg2001@163.com [Sichuan University, School of Materials Science and Engineering (China); Wang Suhua [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Intelligent Machines (China)

2013-02-15

In this work, In(OH){sub 3} and In{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanostructures with controllable complex morphologies were successfully synthesized through a simple hydrothermal process followed by annealing. The In(OH){sub 3} nanostructures were synthesized using urea as the alkaline source at a relatively low temperature without any templates or surfactants. The morphology transformation of In(OH){sub 3} from nanorice to microflowers was observed. The In(OH){sub 3} nanorice are 180 nm in diameter and 550 nm in length, the microflowers are about 3 {mu}m in diameter and composed of thin nanoflakes with 4-nm thickness. In{sub 2}O{sub 3} with similar morphology was formed by annealing In(OH){sub 3} precursors. The nanostructures were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Our results suggest that a new nucleation-growth-etching-regrowth mechanism can explain the morphology transformation from nanorice to flower-like frameworks. Raman spectrum and photoluminescence (PL) properties of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} were also measured, and a 3-nm blue-shift of PL spectrum was observed due to the thinness of the nanostructures.

The Relationship between Morphological Awareness and Morphological Decomposition among English Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Kraut, Rachel

2015-01-01

Morphological awareness facilitates many reading processes. For this reason, L1 and L2 learners of English are often directly taught to use their knowledge of English morphology as a useful reading strategy for determining parts of speech and meaning of novel words. Over time, use of morphological awareness skills while reading develops into an…

Shift Work in Rats Results in Increased Inflammatory Response after Lipopolysaccharide Administration: A Role for Food Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrero-Vargas, Natalí N; Guzmán-Ruiz, Mara; Fuentes, Rebeca; García, Joselyn; Salgado-Delgado, Roberto; Basualdo, María del Carmen; Escobar, Carolina; Markus, Regina P; Buijs, Ruud M

2015-08-01

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) drives circadian rhythms in behavioral and physiological variables, including the inflammatory response. Shift work is known to disturb circadian rhythms and is associated with increased susceptibility to develop disease. In rodents, circadian disruption due to shifted light schedules (jet lag) induced increased innate immune responses. To gain more insight into the influence of circadian disruption on the immune response, we characterized the inflammatory response in a model of rodent shift work and demonstrated that circadian disruption affected the inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) both in vivo and in vitro. Since food consumption is a main disturbing element in the shift work schedule, we also evaluated the inflammatory response to LPS in a group of rats that had no access to food during their working hours. Our results demonstrated that the shift work schedule decreased basal TNF-α levels in the liver but not in the circulation. Despite this, we observed that shift work induced increased cytokine response after LPS stimulation in comparison to control rats. Also, Kupffer cells (liver macrophages) isolated from shift work rats produced more TNF-α in response to in vitro LPS stimulation, suggesting important effects of circadian desynchronization on the functionality of this cell type. Importantly, the effects of shift work on the inflammatory response to LPS were prevented when food was not available during the working schedule. Together, these results show that dissociating behavior and food intake from the synchronizing drive of the SCN severely disturbs the immune response. © 2015 The Author(s).

A Survey of tooth morphology teaching methods employed in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Lone, M; McKenna, J P; Cryan, J F; Downer, E J; Toulouse, A

2018-01-15

Tooth morphology is a central component of the dental curriculum and is applicable to all dental specialities. Traditional teaching methods are being supplemented with innovative strategies to tailor teaching and accommodate the learning styles of the recent generation of students. An online survey was compiled and distributed to the staff involved in teaching tooth morphology in the United Kingdom and Ireland to assess the importance of tooth morphology in the dentistry curriculum and the methodologies employed in teaching. The results of the survey show that tooth morphology constitutes a small module in the dental curriculum. It is taught in the first 2 years of the dental curriculum but is applicable in the clinical years and throughout the dental career. Traditional teaching methods, lecture and practical, are being augmented with innovative teaching including e-learning via virtual learning environment, tooth atlas and e-books leading to blended learning. The majority of the schools teach both normal dental anatomy and morphologic variations of dental anatomy and utilise plastic teeth for practical and examination purposes. Learning the 3D aspects of tooth morphology was deemed important by most of the respondents who also agreed that tooth morphology is a difficult topic for the students. Despite being core to the dental curriculum, overall minimal time is dedicated to the delivery of tooth morphology, creating a reliance on the student to learn the material. New forms of delivery including computer-assisted learning tools should help sustain learning and previously acquired knowledge. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Body size distribution demonstrates flexible habitat shift of green turtle (Chelonia mydas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryota Hayashi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Green turtles (Chelonia mydas, listed as Endangered on the IUCN redlist, have a broad migration area and undergo a habitat shift from the pelagic (hatchling to neritic (growth zones. We studied habitat utilisation of the coastal feeding grounds around Okinawajima Island, Japan, in 103 green turtles. The western and eastern turtle aggregations off Okinawa had homogeneous genetic compositions, but different body size distributions. The western coastal feeding ground supported larger individuals than the eastern coastal feeding ground. Thus, green turtles appear to prefer different feeding grounds during their growth, and have a flexible habitat shift including a secondary habitat shift from east to west around Okinawajima Island after they are recruited to the coastal habitats. This study suggests maintaining coastal habitat diversity is important for green turtle conservation.

Effects of large deep-seated landslides on hillslope morphology, western Southern Alps, New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Korup, Oliver

2006-03-01

Morphometric analysis and air photo interpretation highlight geomorphic imprints of large landslides (i.e., affecting ≥1 km2) on hillslopes in the western Southern Alps (WSA), New Zealand. Large landslides attain kilometer-scale runout, affect >50% of total basin relief, and in 70% are slope clearing, and thus relief limiting. Landslide terrain shows lower mean local relief, relief variability, slope angles, steepness, and concavity than surrounding terrain. Measuring mean slope angle smoothes out local landslide morphology, masking any relationship between large landslides and possible threshold hillslopes. Large failures also occurred on low-gradient slopes, indicating persistent low-frequency/high-magnitude hillslope adjustment independent of fluvial bedrock incision. At the basin and hillslope scale, slope-area plots partly constrain the effects of landslides on geomorphic process regimes. Landslide imprints gradually blend with relief characteristics at orogen scale (102 km), while being sensitive to length scales of slope failure, topography, sampling, and digital elevation model resolution. This limits means of automated detection, and underlines the importance of local morphologic contrasts for detecting large landslides in the WSA. Landslide controls on low-order drainage include divide lowering and shifting, formation of headwater basins and hanging valleys, and stream piracy. Volumes typically mobilized, yet still stored in numerous deposits despite high denudation rates, are >107 m3, and theoretically equal to 102 years of basin-wide debris production from historic shallow landslides; lack of absolute ages precludes further estimates. Deposit size and mature forest cover indicate residence times of 101-104 years. On these timescales, large landslides require further attention in landscape evolution models of tectonically active orogens.

SAT in shift manager training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lecuyer, F.

1995-01-01

EDF has improved the organization of the operation shift teams with the replacement of shift supervisor in shift manager function. The shift manager is not only responsible for tasks associated to plant operation (production), but he is also responsible for safety of these tasks and for management of shift team members. A job analysis of this new job position has been performed in order to design the training programme. It resulted in a 10-month training programme that includes 8 weeks in safety-related topics and 12 weeks in soft-skills related topics. The safety related training courses are mandatory, the other courses are optional courses depending on individual trainee needs. The training also includes the development of management competencies. During the 10 month period, each trainee develops an individual project that is evaluated by NPP manager. As well, as group project is undertaken by the trainees and overseen by a steering committee. The steering committee participates in the evaluation process and provides operational experience feedback to the trainee groups and to the overall programme

Individual differences in shift work tolerance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lammers-van der Holst, H.M.

2016-01-01

Shift work is a key feature of our contemporary 24/7 society, employing several successive work teams to sustain around-the-clock operations. However, numerous studies imply that frequently shifting the periods of sleep and wakefulness poses a serious threat to the shift worker’s physical, mental

Worker morphology of the ant Gnamptogenys striatula Mayr (Formicidae, Ectatomminae in different landscapes from the Atlantic Forest domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roseli F. Oliveira

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Morphological traits, such as size and shape, may reflect a combination of ecological and evolutionary responses by organisms. Ants have been used to evaluate the relationship between the environment and species coexistence and morphology. In the present study, we analyzed the morphology of workers of Gnamptogenys striatula Mayr in different landscapes from the Atlantic Domain in southeastern Brazil, focusing on the variation in the morphological attributes of these populations compared to those from a dense ombrophilous forest. Eighteen morphological traits of functional importance for interactions between workers and the environment were measured to characterize the size and shape of the workers. In general, the results show that ants of urban areas possess some morphological attributes of smaller size, with highly overlapped morphological space between the populations in forested ecosystems. Further, some of the traits related to predation were relatively smaller in modified land areas than in the populations from preserved areas of dense ombrophilous forest. These results help broaden the knowledge regarding morphological diversity in G. striatula, suggesting that the characterization of the morphology may be important to quantify the effects of land use on morphological diversity, and presumably, to facilitate the use of ants as biological indicators.

Comparative morphology and morphometry of alveolar macrophages from six mammalian species

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haley, P.J.; Muggenburg, B.A.; Weissman, D.N.; Bice, D.E.

1988-01-01

Pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM) were collected from normal, healthy mice, rats, dogs, cynomolgus monkeys, chimpanzees and humans and evaluated for morphologic and morphometric characteristics. The PAM of mice, rats, and dogs were morphologically similar to one another and had statistically similar frequency distributions for PAM size. The range of cell size for these three species was narrow. The PAM of nonhuman primates and humans were morphologically heterogenous with increased cytoplasmic vacuolation, irregular cell outlines and increased numbers of multi nucleated cells as compared to the PAM of rodents and dogs. The mean size of human PAMs was statistically greater than that for all other species evaluated, including nonhuman primates. These data indicate that significant differences in PAM morphology and size exist among species and that such differences may be important when selecting species for studies of PAM. (author)

Atom-solid binding energy shifts for K 2p and Rb 3d sublevels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holappa, M.; Aksela, S.; Patanen, M.; Urpelainen, S.; Aksela, H.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Binding energy shifts between atom and solid. K 2p and Rb 3d sublevels were studied. → Simultaneous measurements give accurate results. → Results can be used as a reference for cluster studies. - Abstract: Binding energy shifts between free and solid state atoms for K 2p and Rb 3d photolines have been determined by measuring the vapor and solid state spectra simultaneously in similar experimental conditions applying synchrotron radiation excited photoelectron spectroscopy. This method has the important benefit that the work function is not needed to correct for different reference energy levels, therefore much more accurate values for binding energy shifts are obtained.

A cadaveric study involving variations in external morphology of gall bladder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anjankar Vaibhav Prakash, Panshewdikar Pradnyesh N, Joshi DS, Anjankar Ashish Prakash

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Variations in the pattern of the extra hepatic biliary tract are usual and are commonly encountered during some radiological investigations or in operation theaters. Such Variations of the morphology of Gall bladder have been well documented in the literature for many years but a detail morphological study of variations of the gall bladder and its incidence is very rare. In this era of quick results, increasing use of diagnostic and interventional procedures makes it important to study variations of gall bladder morphology. Most of the interventional procedures in this modern era are done laparoscopically and there is tremendous increase in the number of laparoscopic cholecystectomies. So, sound knowledge of possible variations in morphology of gall bladder is important. Materials and Methods: This study was undertaken on 90 cadaveric liver and gall bladder specimens in terms of length, maximum transverse diameter, shape, external variations of gall bladder, Interior and length of gall bladder below the inferior border of the liver. Results: GB had length ranging between 7 and 10 cm, transverse diameter between 2 and 5 cm. The commonest shape observed in this study was pear shaped in 82.22% of cases. The length of gall bladder below the inferior border of liver varied between 0.4 and 2.5 cm. Conclusion: The growing importance of such variations, lie not only from the point of biliary disease but also with respect to the various invasive techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of gall bladder and extrahepatic bile duct disease.

Circulation and suspended sediment dynamics in a tropical estuary under different morphological setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BÁRBARA P. PAIVA

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Estuarine processes are directly related to the interaction of its forcing conditions with the local morphology. In this study we assess the implications of the opening of a new inlet on the hydrodynamics and suspended sediment concentration (SSC. A set of physical parameters have been measured in the Itanhém river estuary, a small, shallow and mangrove fringed tropical estuary in Northeastern Brazil. Field surveys have been conducted in August 2007 and January 2008, separated by an important morphological change. Our observations show that even shortening the lower estuary channel in 2 km, the inlet opening did not imply in changes in the estuarine circulation. However, SSC increased after the inlet opening. General estuarine circulation showed synodical modulation of tidal asymmetry and residual suspended sediment transport. The estuary showed flood dominance at spring tide and ebb dominance at neap tide. Although not directly changing the estuarine hydrodynamics, the morphological change resulted in an important increase in SSC. This increase might be related to a facilitated import of inner shelf sediment through a shorter channel, having important implications for the estuarine sedimentation processes.

Imageability and Transparency in Morphological Awareness: A Study of How Third-Grade Children Made Lemonade from Lemon

Science.gov (United States)

Wolter, Julie A.

2014-01-01

Morphological awareness has been established as important to literacy success, and as such, it is critical to study factors affecting children's performance on measures of this skill. Morphological transparency, or the clarity of the sound and letter pattern relationship between base words and their associated morphological forms, has been found…

Brain signatures of early lexical and morphological learning of a new language.

Science.gov (United States)

Havas, Viktória; Laine, Matti; Rodríguez Fornells, Antoni

2017-07-01

Morphology is an important part of language processing but little is known about how adult second language learners acquire morphological rules. Using a word-picture associative learning task, we have previously shown that a brief exposure to novel words with embedded morphological structure (suffix for natural gender) is enough for language learners to acquire the hidden morphological rule. Here we used this paradigm to study the brain signatures of early morphological learning in a novel language in adults. Behavioural measures indicated successful lexical (word stem) and morphological (gender suffix) learning. A day after the learning phase, event-related brain potentials registered during a recognition memory task revealed enhanced N400 and P600 components for stem and suffix violations, respectively. An additional effect observed with combined suffix and stem violations was an enhancement of an early N2 component, most probably related to conflict-detection processes. Successful morphological learning was also evident in the ERP responses to the subsequent rule-generalization task with new stems, where violation of the morphological rule was associated with an early (250-400ms) and late positivity (750-900ms). Overall, these findings tend to converge with lexical and morphosyntactic violation effects observed in L1 processing, suggesting that even after a short exposure, adult language learners can acquire both novel words and novel morphological rules. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An analysis of clock-shift experiments: is scatter increased and deflection reduced in clock-shifted homing pigeons?

Science.gov (United States)

Chappell

1997-01-01

Clock-shifting (altering the phase of the internal clock) in homing pigeons leads to a deflection in the vanishing bearing of the clock-shifted group relative to controls. However, two unexplained phenomena are common in clock-shift experiments: the vanishing bearings of the clock-shifted group are often more scattered (with a shorter vector length) than those of the control group, and the deflection of the mean bearing of the clock-shifted group from that of the controls is often smaller than expected theoretically. Here, an analysis of 55 clock-shift experiments performed in four countries over 21 years is reported. The bearings of the clock-shifted groups were significantly more scattered than those of controls and less deflected than expected, but these effects were not significantly different at familiar and unfamiliar sites. The possible causes of the effects are discussed and evaluated with reference to this analysis and other experiments. The most likely causes appear to be conflict between the directions indicated by the sun compass and either unshifted familiar visual landmarks (at familiar sites only) or the unshifted magnetic compass (possible at both familiar and unfamiliar sites).

Examining paid sickness absence by shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Catano, V M; Bissonnette, A B

2014-06-01

Shift workers are at greater risk than day workers with respect to psychological and physical health, yet little research has linked shift work to increased sickness absence. To investigate the relationship between shift work and sickness absence while controlling for organizational and individual characteristics and shift work attributes that have confounded previous research. The study used archive data collected from three national surveys in Canada, each involving over 20000 employees and 6000 private-sector firms in 14 different occupational groups. The employees reported the number of paid sickness absence days in the past 12 months. Data were analysed using both chi-squared statistics and hierarchical regressions. Contrary to previous research, shift workers took less paid sickness absence than day workers. There were no differences in the length of the sickness absence between both groups or in sickness absence taken by female and male workers whether working days or shifts. Only job tenure, the presence of a union in the workplace and working rotating shifts predicted sickness absence in shift workers. The results were consistent across all three samples. In general, shift work does not seem to be linked to increased sickness absence. However, such associations may be true for specific industries. Male and female workers did not differ in the amount of sickness absence taken. Rotating shifts, regardless of industry, predicted sickness absence among shift workers. Consideration should be given to implementing scheduled time off between shift changes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

System-morphological approach: Another look at morphology research and geomorphological mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Lastochkin, Alexander N.; Zhirov, Andrey I.; Boltramovich, Sergei F.

2018-02-01

A large number of studies require a clear and unambiguous morphological basis. For over thirty years, Russian scientists have been applying a system-morphological approach for the Arctic and Antarctic research, ocean floor investigation, for various infrastructure construction projects (oil and gas, sports, etc.), in landscape and environmental studies. This article is a review aimed to introduce this methodological approach to the international scientific community. The details of the methods and techniques can be found in a series of earlier papers published in the Russian language in 1987-2016. The proposed system-morphological approach includes: 1) partitioning of the Earth surface, i.e. precise identification of linear, point, and areal elements of topography considered as a two-dimensional surface without any geological substance; 2) further identification of larger formations: geomorphological systems and regions; 3) analysis of structural relations and symmetry of topography; and 4) various dynamic (litho- and glaciodynamic, tectonic, etc.) interpretations of the observed morphology. This method can be used to study the morphology of the surface topography as well as less accessible interfaces such as submarine and subglacial ones.

Influences of palatoplasty by the push-back procedure on craniofacial morphology and growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwasaki, Hiroshi; Kudo, Motonori; Yamamoto, Yuko

2012-12-01

For patients with a cleft palate, the push-back procedure which accompanies posterior shifting of palatal flap is thought to be most effective way of. achieving adequate velopharyngeal function. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the influences of the push-back procedure on the craniofacial morphology and its growth. Using cephalometry we compared the craniofacial morphology and growth of three groups of Japanese children, living in the same region (Hokkaido, Japan). 1) 28 children (13 girls and 15 boys) with operated submucous cleft palates at the ages of 9 and 14 respectively. 2) 12 age-matched children (7 girls and 5 boys) with unoperated submucous cleft palates. 3) 60 age-matched non-cleft children (30 girls and 30 boys) with normal occlusion. None of them received dentofacial orthopaedic treatment. While the patients who had been operated on had significant differences in posterior upper facial height and inclination of the palatal plane when compared with non-cleft children or unoperated cleft children, they showed no statistically significant difference in anteroposterior positioning of anterior part of the maxilla, compared with the unoperated. The influences of palatoplasty by the push-back procedure with posterior positioning of the palatal flaps on craniofacial morphology are additional to the cleft palate, and of minor concern. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular Electronic Shift Registers

Science.gov (United States)

Beratan, David N.; Onuchic, Jose N.

1990-01-01

Molecular-scale shift registers eventually constructed as parts of high-density integrated memory circuits. In principle, variety of organic molecules makes possible large number of different configurations and modes of operation for such shift-register devices. Several classes of devices and implementations in some specific types of molecules proposed. All based on transfer of electrons or holes along chains of repeating molecular units.

Promoting integrity of shift report by applying ISBAR principles among nursing students in clinical placement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pang Weng Ian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Shift report is an essential method for nursing staff to carry out health care communication. The most important purpose of the shift report is to ensure the safety of patients and to provide continuous care. Nursing students are inadequate of clinical experience and rational organization during patient care. They may not be able to handle the critically ill patients and pass the messages to the following nursing staff. ISBAR (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation tool is increasingly being utilized as a format for structured shift report communication. In this study, a scale of ISBAR principles is designed to provide students with self-assessment and teachers with evaluation, in a way to improve nursing students’ self-awareness of shift report. Hopefully, with the use of the scale of ISBAR, nursing students are able to complete shift report in systemic integrity and orderliness during clinical placement.

[Morphological changes in tongue cancer after cryosurgery].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, X D; Mao, T Q

1993-01-01

Tca 8113 (human tongue cancer cell line) cell transplanted tumors in nude mice were treated with cryosurgery for three freeze-thaw cycles. Tumor samples were obtained by biopsies pre- and post-cryosurgery for morphological study. The results showed intercellular adhesion damage, nuclear pyknosis, cell death, etc. One week after, the deep parts of the frozen samples were similar to that of the untreated ones. Our study indicates the change of biomembrance may be also important as of nuclei in cell death and may play an important role in the treatment of cancer by cryochemistry.

Water-induced morphology changes in an ultrathin silver film studied by ultraviolet-visible, surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiaoling; Xu Weiqing; Jia Huiying; Wang Xu; Zhao Bing; Li Bofu; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2005-01-01

Water-induced changes in the morphology and optical properties of an ultrathin Ag film (3 nm thickness) have been studied by use of ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. A confocal micrograph shows that infinite regular Ag rings with almost uniform size (4 μm) emerge on the film surface after the ultrathin Ag film was immersed into water. The AFM measurement further confirms that the Ag rings consist of some metal holes with pillared edges. The UV-Vis spectrum shows that an absorption band at 486 nm of the Ag film after the immersion in water (I-Ag film) blue shifts by 66 nm with a significant decrease in absorbance, which is attributed to the macroscopic loss of some Ag atoms and the change in the morphology of the Ag film. The polarized UV-Vis spectra show that a band at 421 nm due to the normal component of the plasmon oscillation blue shifts after immersing the ultrathin Ag film into water. This band is found to be strongly angle-dependent for p-polarized light, indicating that the optical properties of the ultrathin Ag film are changed. The I-Ag film is SERS-active, and the SERS enhancement depends on different active sites on the film surface. Furthermore, it seems that the orientation of an adsorbate is related to the morphology of the I-Ag film

Transformational Change and Regime Shifts in the Circumpolar Arctic

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Annika E. Nilsson

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The Arctic is changing rapidly, and there are many indications that the region is in the midst of transformational change. While some of the focus relates to impacts of climate change, rapid economic development and the potential for shifts in political and social structures in the region have also been in the limelight. This article looks at the circumpolar Arctic as a potential case of a regime shift in a large-scale social–ecological system that includes reinforcing feedbacks. A special focus is placed on governance structures, as these play an important role in social negotiations on the relationship between societies and the environment. While climate change is often portrayed as a driver of social change in the Arctic, it does not appear that the ongoing changes in the biophysical features of the Arctic region have rocked current circumpolar governance structures out of kilter. On the contrary, the ongoing climate-related changes, in particular sea ice decline, appear to have reinforced political commitment to existing legal structures. Major past social regime shifts have mainly been related to access to resources and national identity ideology, with political dynamics reinforced at times by military security considerations.

Shift Work and Health: Current Problems and Preventive Actions

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Giovanni Costa

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The paper gives an overview of the problems to be tackled nowadays by occupational health with regards to shift work as well as the main guidelines at organizational and medical levels on how to protect workers’ health and well-being. Working time organization is becoming a key factor on account of new technologies, market globalization, economic competition, and extension of social services to general populations, all of which involve more and more people in continuous assistance and control of work processes over the 24 hours in a day. The large increase of epidemiological and clinical studies on this issue document the severity of this risk factor on human health and well being, at both social and psychophysical levels, starting from a disruption of biological circadian rhythms and sleep/wake cycle and ending in several psychosomatic troubles and disorders, likely also including cancer, and extending to impairment of performance efficiency as well as family and social life. Appropriate interventions on the organization of shift schedules according to ergonomic criteria and careful health surveillance and social support for shift workers are important preventive and corrective measures that allow people to keep working without significant health impairment.

Blue-shifted and red-shifted hydrogen bonds: Theoretical study of the CH3CHO· · ·HNO complexes

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yong; Zhang, Weijun; Gao, Xiaoming

The blue-shifted and red-shifted H-bonds have been studied in complexes CH3CHO?HNO. At the MP2/6-31G(d), MP2/6-31+G(d,p) MP2/6-311++G(d,p), B3LYP/6-31G(d), B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) levels, the geometric structures and vibrational frequencies of complexes CH3CHO?HNO are calculated by both standard and CP-corrected methods, respectively. Complex A exhibits simultaneously red-shifted C bond H?O and blue-shifted N bond H?O H-bonds. Complex B possesses simultaneously two blue-shifted H-bonds: C bond H?O and N bond H?O. From NBO analysis, it becomes evident that the red-shifted C bond H?O H-bond can be explained on the basis of the two opposite effects: hyperconjugation and rehybridization. The blue-shifted C bond H?O H-bond is a result of conjunct C bond H bond strengthening effects of the hyperconjugation and the rehybridization due to existence of the significant electron density redistribution effect. For the blue-shifted N bond H?O H-bonds, the hyperconjugation is inhibited due to existence of the electron density redistribution effect. The large blue shift of the N bond H stretching frequency is observed because the rehybridization dominates the hyperconjugation.

The Contribution of Morphological Knowledge to 7th Grade Students' Reading Comprehension Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Mokhtari, Kouider; Neel, Joanna; Matatall, Abbey; Richards, Andrea

2015-01-01

In this study, we examined the role of morphology, an important yet largely understudied source of difficulty, in reading ability among 7th grade students in one junior high school in the southwestern United States. We sought to find out how much variance in reading ability is accounted for by these students' morphological knowledge, and whether…

QUANTITATIVE TRANSFORMATION CHANGES OF MORPHOLOGIC FEATURES AND MOTOR ABILITIES IN ADDITIONAL EDUCATION

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Muhedin Hodžić

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Main goal of this experimental transformational project is in accordance with subject and with problems of this same as previous ones researches and it contents efforts to confirm transformations of morphological characteristics and morphological abilities of students by method of parallel analysis of results from experimental group’s examples and controlled group’s examples. At the same time aim is to confirm which one of available executive models brings more efficient transformational results in morphological and motor space. Quantitative changes were developing in five general directions. First and most important direction describes complete motor space. At the same time this valuable information directs us to the fact that systematic and organized work leads us to the optimization of managing complex movement in whole. The rest of quantitative changes described with four promax factors are morphological and here we notice that morphological mechanisms work in four directions; reduction of fat tissue, longitudinalism of skeleton, total body mass and body volume. Evidently it came to the optimization of the energy resources and incorporation of the resources into bio-morphological complex.

The impact of exposure to shift-based schedules on medical students

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David A. Williams

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: With new resident duty-hour regulations, resident work schedules have progressively transitioned towards shift-based systems, sometimes resulting in increased team fragmentation. We hypothesized that exposure to shift-based schedules and subsequent team fragmentation would negatively affect medical student experiences during their third-year internal medicine clerkship. Design: As part of a larger national study on duty-hour reform, 67 of 150 eligible third-year medical students completed surveys about career choice, teaching and supervision, assessment, patient care, well-being, and attractiveness of a career in internal medicine after completing their internal medicine clerkship. Students who rotated to hospitals with shift-based systems were compared to those who did not. Non-demographic variables used a five-point Likert scale. Chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were used to assess the relationships between exposure to shift-based schedules and student responses. Questions with univariate p≤0.1 were included in multivariable logistic regression models. Results: Thirty-six students (54% were exposed to shift-based schedules. Students exposed to shift-based schedules were less likely to perceive that their attendings were committed to teaching (odds ratio [OR] 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13–0.90, p=0.01 or perceive that residents had sufficient exposure to assess their performance (OR 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09–0.91, p=0.03. However, those students were more likely to feel their interns were able to observe them at the bedside (OR 1.89, 95% CI: 1.08–3.13, p=0.02 and had sufficient exposure to assess their performance (OR 3.00, 95% CI: 1.01–8.86, p=0.05. Conclusions: These findings suggest that shift-based schedules designed in response to duty-hour reform may have important broader implications for the teaching environment.

The impact of exposure to shift-based schedules on medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, David A; Kogan, Jennifer R; Hauer, Karen E; Yamashita, Traci; Aagaard, Eva M

2015-01-01

With new resident duty-hour regulations, resident work schedules have progressively transitioned towards shift-based systems, sometimes resulting in increased team fragmentation. We hypothesized that exposure to shift-based schedules and subsequent team fragmentation would negatively affect medical student experiences during their third-year internal medicine clerkship. As part of a larger national study on duty-hour reform, 67 of 150 eligible third-year medical students completed surveys about career choice, teaching and supervision, assessment, patient care, well-being, and attractiveness of a career in internal medicine after completing their internal medicine clerkship. Students who rotated to hospitals with shift-based systems were compared to those who did not. Non-demographic variables used a five-point Likert scale. Chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests were used to assess the relationships between exposure to shift-based schedules and student responses. Questions with univariate p ≤ 0.1 were included in multivariable logistic regression models. Thirty-six students (54%) were exposed to shift-based schedules. Students exposed to shift-based schedules were less likely to perceive that their attendings were committed to teaching (odds ratio [OR] 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-0.90, p = 0.01) or perceive that residents had sufficient exposure to assess their performance (OR 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09-0.91, p = 0.03). However, those students were more likely to feel their interns were able to observe them at the bedside (OR 1.89, 95% CI: 1.08-3.13, p = 0.02) and had sufficient exposure to assess their performance (OR 3.00, 95% CI: 1.01-8.86, p = 0.05). These findings suggest that shift-based schedules designed in response to duty-hour reform may have important broader implications for the teaching environment.

Pecularities of peripheral blood morphological content in rats in case of combined irradiation of lungs and thyroid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulikova, S.B.; Korzhavin, A.N.

1988-01-01

Indices of morphological content of peripheral blood were studied in male rats at 1, 3, 7, 14 days following intratracheal administration of oxide suspension of 147 Nd + 147 Pm and oral administration of 131 I. By 14 days the doses for lungs and thyroid were 5 Gy and 10 Gy respectively. It was shown that the doses of 134 I don't influence morphological indices of peripheral blood but combined effect of radioisotopes leads to moderate increase of leukocyte, lymphocytes and neutrophils. Manifestation of changes in white blood turned out to be less than in case of similar effect of stable isotope on the lungs. Minor shifts in white blood and severity of patholoanatomical picture of inflammatory process in the lungs in case of radioactive isotopes effect can be attributed to specific effect of ionizing radiation. 4 refs.; 2 tabs

Temperature dependence of 1H NMR chemical shifts and its influence on estimated metabolite concentrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wermter, Felizitas C; Mitschke, Nico; Bock, Christian; Dreher, Wolfgang

2017-12-01

Temperature dependent chemical shifts of important brain metabolites measured by localised 1 H MRS were investigated to test how the use of incorrect prior knowledge on chemical shifts impairs the quantification of metabolite concentrations. Phantom measurements on solutions containing 11 metabolites were performed on a 7 T scanner between 1 and 43 °C. The temperature dependence of the chemical shift differences was fitted by a linear model. Spectra were simulated for different temperatures and analysed by the AQSES program (jMRUI 5.2) using model functions with chemical shift values for 37 °C. Large differences in the temperature dependence of the chemical shift differences were determined with a maximum slope of about ±7.5 × 10 -4  ppm/K. For 32-40 °C, only minor quantification errors resulted from using incorrect chemical shifts, with the exception of Cr and PCr. For 1-10 °C considerable quantification errors occurred if the temperature dependence of the chemical shifts was neglected. If 1 H MRS measurements are not performed at 37 °C, for which the published chemical shift values have been determined, the temperature dependence of chemical shifts should be considered to avoid systematic quantification errors, particularly for measurements on animal models at lower temperatures.

Shift Work: Improving Daytime Sleep

Science.gov (United States)

... night. Good daytime sleep is possible, though, if shift work is a necessary part of your work life. ... mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/shift-work/faq-20057991 . Mayo Clinic Footer Legal Conditions and ...

Clinical importance of voluntary and induced Bennett movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Tupac, R G

1978-07-01

A total of 136 dentulous patients were divided into three groups for purposes of quantitative pantographic comparison of voluntary and induced Bennett movement. The effects of patient age and operator experience on recording the Bennett movement were also studied. The results indicates that for patients studied with Bennett movement iduced in the manner described: 1. Experienced operators can obtain more induced Bennett movement that inexperienced operators. 2. Inducing Bennett movement has a greater effect on the immediate side shift component than it has on the progressive side shift component. 3. For older individuals the amount and direction of induced immediate side shift is greater than for younger patients, statistically highly significant, and therefore clinically important. In conclusion, if the objective of a pantographic survey is to record the complete capacity of the joint to move, *lateral jaw movements must be induced.

Effect of {alpha}-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} addition on the morphological, optical and decolorization properties of ZnO nanostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdullah Mirzaie, Rasol, E-mail: mirzai_r@yahoo.com [Dep. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, P.O. Box 167855-163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kamrani, Firouzeh [Masters Student in Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, P.O. Box 167855-163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Anaraki Firooz, Azam [Dep. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, P.O. Box 167855-163, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Khodadadi, Abbas Ali [Oil and Gas Processing Center of Excellence, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-03-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Different morphologies of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZnO nanocomposites synthesized via simple solid state reaction method. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Various Fe{sup 3+}/Zn{sup 2+} ratios affected on morphology, size and optical absorption. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer addition of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} shifted the absorption edge to the visible region. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Amount of added Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} strongly affected the decolorization of azo dye under visible light. - Abstract: Visible light sensitive photocatalysts of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZnO nanocomposites were prepared by a simple solid-state reaction method, using zinc acetate, {alpha}-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} and sodium hydroxide at room temperature. The products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, N{sub 2} adsorption-desorption measurement, UV-vis absorption, and photoluminescence spectroscopy and used for photodecolorization of Congo red. The characterization results showed that the morphology, crystallite size, BET surface area and optical absorption of the samples varied significantly with the Fe{sup 3+} to Zn{sup 2+} ratios. The nanocomposites show two absorption edges at ultraviolet and visible region. The optical band gap values of these nanocomposites were calculated to be about 3.98-3.81 eV and 2.88-2.98 eV, which show a red shift from that of pure ZnO. These red shifts are related to the formation of Fe s-levels below the conductive band edge of ZnO and effectively extend the absorption edge into the visible region. The growth mechanisms of the samples are proposed. These nanocomposites showed high decolorization ability in visible light with wavelength up to about 400 nm. Among the samples, Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZnO nanoflower (molar ratio of Fe{sup 3+} to Zn{sup 2+} is 1:100) exhibited higher decolorization efficiency than the other nanocomposites. It could be considered as a promising photocatalyst for dyes treatment.

[Working time and sleep in nursing staff employed in "3 x 8" and "2 x 12" fast rotating shift schedules].

Science.gov (United States)

Castellini, G; Anelli, M M; Punzi, S; Boari, P; Camerino, D; Costa, G

2011-01-01

The study is aimed at assessing, in 200 nurses shift workers, the impact on sleep of two different working areas ("emergency" and "hospitalization") having the same "3 x 8" shift system, and of two different shift schedules at quick rotation ("2 x 12" and "3 x 8") in the same working area ("emergency"). Night and morning shifts prove to interfere to a greater extent with sleep in relation to both "2 x 12" and "3 x 8" shift systems as well as to the two operative areas. Hence the importance to consider in shift work planning, the direction of shift rotation and the length of the duty period according to the type of activity.

Phylogenetic Reconstruction, Morphological Diversification and Generic Delimitation of Disepalum (Annonaceae.

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Pui-Sze Li

Full Text Available Taxonomic delimitation of Disepalum (Annonaceae is contentious, with some researchers favoring a narrow circumscription following segregation of the genus Enicosanthellum. We reconstruct the phylogeny of Disepalum and related taxa based on four chloroplast and two nuclear DNA regions as a framework for clarifying taxonomic delimitation and assessing evolutionary transitions in key morphological characters. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods resulted in a consistent, well-resolved and strongly supported topology. Disepalum s.l. is monophyletic and strongly supported, with Disepalum s.str. and Enicosanthellum retrieved as sister groups. Although this topology is consistent with both taxonomic delimitations, the distribution of morphological synapomorphies provides greater support for the inclusion of Enicosanthellum within Disepalum s.l. We propose a novel infrageneric classification with two subgenera. Subgen. Disepalum (= Disepalum s.str. is supported by numerous synapomorphies, including the reduction of the calyx to two sepals and connation of petals. Subgen. Enicosanthellum lacks obvious morphological synapomorphies, but possesses several diagnostic characters (symplesiomorphies, including a trimerous calyx and free petals in two whorls. We evaluate changes in petal morphology in relation to hypotheses of the genetic control of floral development and suggest that the compression of two petal whorls into one and the associated fusion of contiguous petals may be associated with the loss of the pollination chamber, which in turn may be associated with a shift in primary pollinator. We also suggest that the formation of pollen octads may be selectively advantageous when pollinator visits are infrequent, although this would only be applicable if multiple ovules could be fertilized by each octad; since the flowers are apocarpous, this would require an extragynoecial compitum to enable intercarpellary growth of pollen tubes

Investigation of DOTA-Metal Chelation Effects on the Chemical Shift of ¹²⁹ Xe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, K; Slack, CC; Vassiliou, CC; Dao, P; Gomes, MD; Kennedy, DJ; Truxal, AE; Sperling, LJ; Francis, MB; Wemmer, DE; Pines, A

2015-09-17

Recent work has shown that xenon chemical shifts in cryptophane-cage sensors are affected when tethered chelators bind to metals. Here in this paper, we explore the xenon shifts in response to a wide range of metal ions binding to diastereomeric forms of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) linked to cryptophane-A. The shifts induced by the binding of Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ce³⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cr²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Hg²⁺ are distinct. In addition, the different responses of the diastereomers for the same metal ion indicate that shifts are affected by partial folding with a correlation between the expected coordination number of the metal in the DOTA complex and the chemical shift of ¹²⁹Xe. Lastly, these sensors may be used to detect and quantify many important metal ions, and a better understanding of the basis for the induced shifts could enhance future designs.

Optic Disc Change during Childhood Myopic Shift: Comparison between Eyes with an Enlarged Cup-To-Disc Ratio and Childhood Glaucoma Compared to Normal Myopic Eyes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hae-Young Lopilly Park

Full Text Available Progressive disc tilting and the development or enlargement of peripapillary atrophy (PPA are observed during a myopic shift in children. This could be related to the changes around the optic nerve head during eyeball elongation. If the biomechanical properties at or around the optic nerve head are changed after exposure to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP in glaucoma eyes, different response of the disc tilting and PPA changes could take place during eyeball elongation by myopic shift. On the basis of this background, the aim of this study was to compare the morphological changes in the optic disc induced by a myopic shift during childhood between normal control eyes, eyes from disc suspects with an enlarged cup-to-disc ratio (CDR, and eyes with childhood glaucoma.Total of 82 eyes from 82 subjects younger than 14 years of age were included in the study. Serial disc photographs were classified into one of two groups: eyes with an optic nerve head (ONH or peripapillary atrophy (PPA change or without an ONH/PPA change. Using ImageJ software, the outlines of the optic disc and PPA were plotted, and the vertical disc diameter (VDD, horizontal disc diameter (HDD, and maximum PPA width (PPW were measured. The changes in the ratios of these parameters and the relationships between the degree of myopic shift or the ONH/PPA change were analyzed.Twenty-five eyes with normal optic disc appearance, 36 eyes with enlarged cup-to-disc ratio, and 21 eyes of glaucoma patients were analyzed. The initial intraocular pressure (IOP at diagnosis was significantly different among the groups (P<0.001. The degree of myopic shift during follow-up period was not significantly different among the groups (P=0.612. However, the changes in the HDD/VDD and PPW/VDD ratios were significantly greater in the disc suspect group and significantly smaller in the glaucoma group. Among the 42 eyes with an ONH/PPA change, 16 (38.1% were from the normal control group, 24 (57.1% were

Morphological switch to a resistant subpopulation in response to viral infection in the bloom-forming coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi.

Science.gov (United States)

Frada, Miguel José; Rosenwasser, Shilo; Ben-Dor, Shifra; Shemi, Adva; Sabanay, Helena; Vardi, Assaf

2017-12-01

Recognizing the life cycle of an organism is key to understanding its biology and ecological impact. Emiliania huxleyi is a cosmopolitan marine microalga, which displays a poorly understood biphasic sexual life cycle comprised of a calcified diploid phase and a morphologically distinct biflagellate haploid phase. Diploid cells (2N) form large-scale blooms in the oceans, which are routinely terminated by specific lytic viruses (EhV). In contrast, haploid cells (1N) are resistant to EhV. Further evidence indicates that 1N cells may be produced during viral infection. A shift in morphology, driven by meiosis, could therefore constitute a mechanism for E. huxleyi cells to escape from EhV during blooms. This process has been metaphorically coined the 'Cheshire Cat' (CC) strategy. We tested this model in two E. huxleyi strains using a detailed assessment of morphological and ploidy-level variations as well as expression of gene markers for meiosis and the flagellate phenotype. We showed that following the CC model, production of resistant cells was triggered during infection. This led to the rise of a new subpopulation of cells in the two strains that morphologically resembled haploid cells and were resistant to EhV. However, ploidy-level analyses indicated that the new resistant cells were diploid or aneuploid. Thus, the CC strategy in E. huxleyi appears to be a life-phase switch mechanism involving morphological remodeling that is decoupled from meiosis. Our results highlight the adaptive significance of morphological plasticity mediating complex host-virus interactions in marine phytoplankton.

Property rights, institutional regime shifts and the provision of freshwater ecosystem services on the Pongola River floodplain, South Africa

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Bimo Abraham Nkhata

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a property rights perspective to interpret institutional regime shifts in the provision of freshwater ecosystem services. Institutional regime shifts are conceived as persistent changes in the structure and function of a system. Property rights are viewed as an important component of institutional regimes. The paper draws on a case study of flow regulation on the Pongolo Floodplain in South Africa to illustrate the central role of property rights in mediating institutional regime shifts. The case study illustrates that there are many combinations of property rights that underpin institutional regime shifts in the provision of freshwater ecosystem services. It provides useful insights into the consequences of failing to recognize, establish and enforce bundles of rights. A major thrust of the case study is that the nature and context of property rights are important in determining the long-term provision of these services. By examining the configurations of property rights that have governed the Pongola River floodplain over the years, the paper demonstrates the importance of explicitly defining and categorizing the range of rights.

Morphological variation of stimuli-responsive polypeptide at air–water interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Sungchul; Ahn, Sungmin; Cheng, Jie; Chang, Hyejin; Jung, Dae-Hong; Hyun, Jinho

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • It is the first report on the interfacial properties of ELP monolayers formed at the air–water interface. • ELP monolayers could be prepared with high stability at the air–water interface. • The compressive behavior of thermo-sensitive ELP monolayers was imaged. • The SERS spectra showed a change in the ELP secondary structure at different preparation conditions. - Abstract: The morphological variation of stimuli-responsive polypeptide molecules at the air–water interface as a function of temperature and compression was described. The surface pressure–area (π–A) isotherms of an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) monolayer were obtained under variable external conditions, and Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) monolayers were deposited onto a mica substrate for characterization. As the compression of the ELP monolayer increased, the surface pressure increased gradually, indicating that the ELP monolayer could be prepared with high stability at the air–water interface. The temperature in the subphase of the ELP monolayer was critical in the preparation of LB monolayers. The change in temperature induced a shift in the π–A isotherms as well as a change in ELP secondary structures. Surprisingly, the compression of the ELP monolayer influenced the ELP secondary structure due to the reduction in the phase transition temperature with decreasing temperature. The change in the ELP secondary structure formed at the air–water interface was investigated by surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Moreover, the morphology of the ELP monolayer was subsequently imaged using atomic force microscopy. The temperature responsive behavior resulted in changes in surface morphology from relatively flat structures to rugged labyrinth structures, which suggested conformational changes in the ELP monolayers.

Morphological variation of stimuli-responsive polypeptide at air–water interface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Sungchul; Ahn, Sungmin; Cheng, Jie [Department of Biosystems and Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921 (Korea, Republic of); Chang, Hyejin; Jung, Dae-Hong [Department of Chemical Education, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-741 (Korea, Republic of); Hyun, Jinho, E-mail: jhyun@snu.ac.kr [Department of Biosystems and Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921 (Korea, Republic of); Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921 (Korea, Republic of); Center for Food and Bioconvergence, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Republic of Korea. (Korea, Republic of)

2016-12-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • It is the first report on the interfacial properties of ELP monolayers formed at the air–water interface. • ELP monolayers could be prepared with high stability at the air–water interface. • The compressive behavior of thermo-sensitive ELP monolayers was imaged. • The SERS spectra showed a change in the ELP secondary structure at different preparation conditions. - Abstract: The morphological variation of stimuli-responsive polypeptide molecules at the air–water interface as a function of temperature and compression was described. The surface pressure–area (π–A) isotherms of an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) monolayer were obtained under variable external conditions, and Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) monolayers were deposited onto a mica substrate for characterization. As the compression of the ELP monolayer increased, the surface pressure increased gradually, indicating that the ELP monolayer could be prepared with high stability at the air–water interface. The temperature in the subphase of the ELP monolayer was critical in the preparation of LB monolayers. The change in temperature induced a shift in the π–A isotherms as well as a change in ELP secondary structures. Surprisingly, the compression of the ELP monolayer influenced the ELP secondary structure due to the reduction in the phase transition temperature with decreasing temperature. The change in the ELP secondary structure formed at the air–water interface was investigated by surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Moreover, the morphology of the ELP monolayer was subsequently imaged using atomic force microscopy. The temperature responsive behavior resulted in changes in surface morphology from relatively flat structures to rugged labyrinth structures, which suggested conformational changes in the ELP monolayers.

Design and Realization of an Arabic Morphological Automaton-New Approach for Arabic Morphological Analysis and Generation

OpenAIRE

Mourad Gridach; Noureddine Chenfour

2011-01-01

Arabic morphological analysis is one of the essential stages in Arabic Natural Language Processing. In this paper we present an approach for Arabic morphological analysis. This approach is based on Arabic morphological automaton (AMAUT). The proposed technique uses a morphological database realized using XMODEL language. Arabic morphology represents a special type of morphological systems because it is based on the concept of scheme to represent Arabic words. We use this concept to develop th...

Effects of heat treatment temperature on morphology and properties of opal crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Tao; China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang; Peng Tongjiang; Chen Jiming; Tang Yongjian

2008-01-01

The monodispersed SiO 2 microspheres were synthesized by reactant mixed equally. The colloid crystal templates were assemblied by vertical sedimentation method in ethanol at certain temperatures, and the effects of the heat treatment temperature on the morphology and the properties of opal colloid crystals were investigated. SEM, TCr-DSC results indicate SiO 2 colloid templates should be heat treated at 700-800 degree C, enhancing the conglutination and mechanistic intensity of opal templates. UV-Vis analysis result indicates that the heat treatment process can remove the photonic band gap location of the opal colloid crystals, and with the heat treatment temperature increasing gradually, blue shift occurs and the gap narrows. (authors)

Water flow prediction for Membranes using 3D simulations with detailed morphology

KAUST Repository

Shi, Meixia

2015-04-01

The membrane morphology significantly influences membrane performance. For osmotically driven membrane processes, the morphology strongly affects the internal concentration polarization. Different membrane morphologies were generated by simulation and their influence on membrane performance was studied, using a 3D model. The simulation results were experimentally validated for two classical phase-inversion membrane morphologies: sponge- and finger-like structures. Membrane porosity and scanning electron microscopy image information were used as model input. The permeance results from the simulation fit well the experimentally measured permeances. Water permeances were predicted for different kinds of finger-like cavity membranes with different finger-like cavity lengths and various finger-like cavity sets, as well as for membranes with cylindrical cavities. The results provide realistic information on how to increase water permeance, and also illustrate that membrane’s complete morphology is important for the accurate water permeance evaluation. Evaluations only based on porosity might be misleading, and the new 3D simulation approach gives a more realistic representation.

Water flow prediction for Membranes using 3D simulations with detailed morphology

KAUST Repository

Shi, Meixia; Printsypar, Galina; Iliev, Oleg; Calo, Victor M.; Amy, Gary L.; Nunes, Suzana Pereira

2015-01-01

The membrane morphology significantly influences membrane performance. For osmotically driven membrane processes, the morphology strongly affects the internal concentration polarization. Different membrane morphologies were generated by simulation and their influence on membrane performance was studied, using a 3D model. The simulation results were experimentally validated for two classical phase-inversion membrane morphologies: sponge- and finger-like structures. Membrane porosity and scanning electron microscopy image information were used as model input. The permeance results from the simulation fit well the experimentally measured permeances. Water permeances were predicted for different kinds of finger-like cavity membranes with different finger-like cavity lengths and various finger-like cavity sets, as well as for membranes with cylindrical cavities. The results provide realistic information on how to increase water permeance, and also illustrate that membrane’s complete morphology is important for the accurate water permeance evaluation. Evaluations only based on porosity might be misleading, and the new 3D simulation approach gives a more realistic representation.

Elevated Extinction Rates as a Trigger for Diversification Rate Shifts: Early Amniotes as a Case Study

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Brocklehurst, Neil; Ruta, Marcello; Müller, Johannes; Fröbisch, Jörg

2015-01-01

Tree shape analyses are frequently used to infer the location of shifts in diversification rate within the Tree of Life. Many studies have supported a causal relationship between shifts and temporally coincident events such as the evolution of “key innovations”. However, the evidence for such relationships is circumstantial. We investigated patterns of diversification during the early evolution of Amniota from the Carboniferous to the Triassic, subjecting a new supertree to analyses of tree balance in order to infer the timing and location of diversification shifts. We investigated how uneven origination and extinction rates drive diversification shifts, and use two case studies (herbivory and an aquatic lifestyle) to examine whether shifts tend to be contemporaneous with evolutionary novelties. Shifts within amniotes tend to occur during periods of elevated extinction, with mass extinctions coinciding with numerous and larger shifts. Diversification shifts occurring in clades that possess evolutionary innovations do not coincide temporally with the appearance of those innovations, but are instead deferred to periods of high extinction rate. We suggest such innovations did not cause increases in the rate of cladogenesis, but allowed clades to survive extinction events. We highlight the importance of examining general patterns of diversification before interpreting specific shifts. PMID:26592209

Study of insomnia in rotating shift-workers

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Kaushik Chatterjee

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Shift-workers commonly suffer from insomnia. This study evaluates different domains of insomnia. Aim: This study was aimed to study sleep and insomnia in rotating shift-workers and compare with day-workers. Materials and Methods: This was case–control study. The sleep of rotating shift-workers is compared with day workers using Athens Insomnia Scale. Results: Rotating shift-workers had significantly higher scores on Athens insomnia scale on domains of initial, intermediate and terminal insomnia than day workers. Duration and quality of sleep and sense of well-being are lower in rotating shift-workers. Rotating shift-workers also experienced more day-time sleepiness than day workers. However, there was no difference in perceived physical and mental functioning between the two groups. Conclusion: Individuals working in rotating shifts for more than 15 days have significantly higher prevalence of insomnia than day-workers.

The effects of consecutive night shifts and shift length on cognitive performance and sleepiness: a field study.

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Haidarimoghadam, Rashid; Kazemi, Reza; Motamedzadeh, Majid; Golmohamadi, Rostam; Soltanian, Alireza; Zoghipaydar, Mohamad Reza

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of consecutive night shifts (CNS) and shift length on cognitive performance and sleepiness. This study evaluated the sleepiness and performance of 30 control room operators (CROs) working in 7 nights, 7 days, 7 days off (7N7D7O) and 30 CROs working in 4 nights, 7 days, 3 nights, 7 days off (4N7D3N7O) shift patterns in a petrochemical complex on the last night shift before swinging into the day shift. To assess cognitive performance, the n-back test, continuous performance test and simple reaction time test were employed. To assess sleepiness, the Karolinska sleepiness scale was used. Both schedules indicated that the correct responses and response times of working memory were reduced (p = 0.001), while intentional errors and sleepiness increased during the shift work (p = 0.001). CNS had a significant impact on reaction time and commission errors (p = 0.001). The main duty of CROs at a petrochemical plant is checking hazardous processes which require appropriate alertness and cognitive performance. As a result, planning for appropriate working hours and suitable number of CNS in a rotating shift system is a contribution to improving CRO performance and enhancing safety.

Ovulatory shifts in women's attractions to primary partners and other men: further evidence of the importance of primary partner sexual attractiveness.

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Christina M Larson

Full Text Available Previous research has documented shifts in women's attractions to their romantic partner and to men other than their partner across the ovulation cycle, contingent on the degree to which her partner displays hypothesized indicators of high-fitness genes. The current study set out to replicate and extend this finding. Forty-one couples in which the woman was naturally cycling participated. Female partners reported their feelings of in-pair attraction and extra-pair attraction on two occasions, once on a low-fertility day of the cycle and once on a high-fertility day of the cycle just prior to ovulation. Ovulation was confirmed using luteinizing hormone tests. We collected two measures of male partner sexual attractiveness. First, the women in the study rated their partner's sexual attractiveness. Second, we photographed the partners and had the photos independently rated for attractiveness. Shifts in women's in-pair attractions across the cycle were significantly moderated by women's ratings of partner sexual attractiveness, such that the less sexually attractive women rated their partner, the less in-pair attraction they reported at high fertility compared with low fertility (partial r = .37, p(dir = .01. Shifts in women's extra-pair attractions across the cycle were significantly moderated by third-party ratings of partner attractiveness, such that the less attractive the partner was, the more extra-pair attraction women reported at high relative to low fertility (partial r = -.33, p(dir = .03. In line with previous findings, we found support for the hypothesis that the degree to which a woman's romantic partner displays indicators of high-fitness genes affects women's attractions to their own partner and other men at high fertility.

Phylogeny of Selaginellaceae: There is value in morphology after all!

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Weststrand, Stina; Korall, Petra

2016-12-01

The cosmopolitan lycophyte family Selaginellaceae, dating back to the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous, is notorious for its many species with a seemingly undifferentiated gross morphology. This morphological stasis has for a long time hampered our understanding of the evolutionary history of the single genus Selaginella. Here we present a large-scale phylogenetic analysis of Selaginella, and based on the resulting phylogeny, we discuss morphological evolution in the group. We sampled about one-third of the approximately 750 recognized Selaginella species. Evolutionary relationships were inferred from both chloroplast (rbcL) and single-copy nuclear gene data (pgiC and SQD1) using a Bayesian inference approach. The morphology of the group was studied and important features mapped onto the phylogeny. We present an overall well-supported phylogeny of Selaginella, and the phylogenetic positions of some previously problematic taxa (i.e., S. sinensis and allies) are now resolved with strong support. We show that even though the evolution of most morphological characters involves reversals and/or parallelisms, several characters are phylogenetically informative. Seven major clades are identified, which each can be uniquely diagnosed by a suite of morphological features. There is value in morphology after all! Our hypothesis of the evolutionary relationships of Selaginella is well founded based on DNA sequence data, as well as morphology, and is in line with previous findings. It will serve as a firm basis for further studies on Selaginella with respect to, e.g., the poorly known alpha taxonomy, as well as evolutionary questions such as historical biogeographic reconstructions. © 2016 Weststrand and Korall. Published by the Botanical Society of America. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0).

Functional connectivity between prefrontal and parietal cortex drives visuo-spatial attention shifts.

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Heinen, Klaartje; Feredoes, Eva; Ruff, Christian C; Driver, Jon

2017-05-01

It is well established that the frontal eye-fields (FEF) in the dorsal attention network (DAN) guide top-down selective attention. In addition, converging evidence implies a causal role for the FEF in attention shifting, which is also known to recruit the ventral attention network (VAN) and fronto-striatal regions. To investigate the causal influence of the FEF as (part of) a central hub between these networks, we applied thetaburst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TBS) off-line, combined with functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) during a cued visuo-spatial attention shifting paradigm. We found that TBS over the right FEF impaired performance on a visual discrimination task in both hemifields following attention shifts, while only left hemifield performance was affected when participants were cued to maintain the focus of attention. These effects recovered ca. 20min post stimulation. Furthermore, particularly following attention shifts, TBS suppressed the neural signal in bilateral FEF, right inferior and superior parietal lobule (IPL/SPL) and bilateral supramarginal gyri (SMG). Immediately post stimulation, functional connectivity was impaired between right FEF and right SMG as well as right putamen. Importantly, the extent of decreased connectivity between right FEF and right SMG correlated with behavioural impairment following attention shifts. The main finding of this study demonstrates that influences from right FEF on SMG in the ventral attention network causally underly attention shifts, presumably by enabling disengagement from the current focus of attention. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Study of nanometer-level precise phase-shift system used in electronic speckle shearography and phase-shift pattern interferometry

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Jing, Chao; Liu, Zhongling; Zhou, Ge; Zhang, Yimo

2011-11-01

The nanometer-level precise phase-shift system is designed to realize the phase-shift interferometry in electronic speckle shearography pattern interferometry. The PZT is used as driving component of phase-shift system and translation component of flexure hinge is developed to realize micro displacement of non-friction and non-clearance. Closed-loop control system is designed for high-precision micro displacement, in which embedded digital control system is developed for completing control algorithm and capacitive sensor is used as feedback part for measuring micro displacement in real time. Dynamic model and control model of the nanometer-level precise phase-shift system is analyzed, and high-precision micro displacement is realized with digital PID control algorithm on this basis. It is proved with experiments that the location precision of the precise phase-shift system to step signal of displacement is less than 2nm and the location precision to continuous signal of displacement is less than 5nm, which is satisfied with the request of the electronic speckle shearography and phase-shift pattern interferometry. The stripe images of four-step phase-shift interferometry and the final phase distributed image correlated with distortion of objects are listed in this paper to prove the validity of nanometer-level precise phase-shift system.

Investigation Effect of Shift Work on Job Burnout and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale in Military Personnel

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Ayoub Ghanbary Sartang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Shift work has been recognized as an important tool for organizing of work in developing countries. The disturbed depression, stress accident are the most common health‐related effects of shift work. The military personnel shift worker during work, are exposed to stress and psychological pressure that certainly affect the efficiency of their work. The aim of this study was to Investigation Effect of shift work on job burnout and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale in military personnel. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 military personnel male in Southern Iran. Respondents were divided into two groups based on their working schedule (50 shift work personnel / 50 day work personnel. Data collection tools were a Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21, demographic characteristics and Maslach job burnout questionnaire. Convenience sampling was used as sampling method. Finally, Data analysis was performed with SPSS (version 20, descriptive statistics, One Way Anova test, ANCOVA and t-independent test. The results of showed that shift work has an impact on burnout and DASS-21 and mean obtained score for DASS-21 and job burnout in shift workers are more day work individuals. Analysis of variance test showed significant difference between job burnout in day workers and shift workers and job burnout were more in shift workers. Also significant difference between DASS-21 in day workers and shift workers and DASS-21 was more in shift workers. This study showed that shift work has an impact on burnout and scale DASS-21 shall is taken to Intervention actions in shift works.