Business drivers and design choices for multilingual IVRs : A government service delivery case study

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Calteaux, K

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Multilingual emerging markets hold many opportunities for the application of spoken language technologies, such as interactive voice response (IVR) systems. Designing such systems requires an in-depth understanding of the business drivers...

Development and Pilot Testing of Daily Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Calls to Support Antiretroviral Adherence in India: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Swendeman, Dallas; Jana, Smarajit; Ray, Protim; Mindry, Deborah; Das, Madhushree; Bhakta, Bhumi

2015-06-01

This two-phase pilot study aimed to design, pilot, and refine an automated interactive voice response (IVR) intervention to support antiretroviral adherence for people living with HIV (PLH), in Kolkata, India. Mixed-methods formative research included a community advisory board for IVR message development, 1-month pre-post pilot, post-pilot focus groups, and further message development. Two IVR calls are made daily, timed to patients' dosing schedules, with brief messages (pilot results (n = 46, 80 % women, 60 % sex workers) found significant increases in self-reported ART adherence, both within past three days (p = 0.05) and time since missed last dose (p = 0.015). Depression was common. Messaging content and assessment domains were expanded for testing in a randomized trial currently underway.

Review of IVR-ERVC and using flooding concept for application to high power reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Min ho; Heo, Hyo; Bang, In Cheol

2016-01-01

Accident scope will be limited in the RPV. For example, in case of Fukushima, they have difficulties for cleanup the accident and even catching the location of the melt-through corium. Therefore, IVR-ERVC is the right strategy for mitigation of the severe accident. However, in case of high power reactors, there is a Critical Heat Flux (CHF) problem in its application to high power reactor. If CHF occurred, boiling regime changes from effective nucleate boiling to ineffective film boiling, so temperature of the RPV goes up and finally the RPV fails. To solve the CHF problem, here have been a lot of works for IVR-ERVC. In the point of in-vessel heat transfer, Theofanous suggested risk oriented accident analysis methodology which is a combination of probabilistic and deterministic approach. A lot of experiments have been done using simulants of corium in various experimental apparatus. Their simulants were usually water due to simulate large Rayleigh number and natural circulation of corium. IVR-ERVC concept has been researched for a long time. For in-vessel heat transfer, simulants or real corium was used to get a heat flux distribution to the outer wall. And based on those results, ex-vessel cooling has been researched in various geometry to get cooling limit as CHF. Material flooding is suggested as improvement of ERVC in APR 1400 to secure safety margin for CHF. Regardless of Prandtl number of the flooding material, the focusing effect of heat flux was mitigated; the maximum heat flux was reduced less than half of the maximum heat flux in bare condition

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

1996-10-01

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

[Newly developed monitor for IVR: liquid crystal display (LCD) replaced with cathode ray tube (CRT)].

Science.gov (United States)

Ichida, Takao; Hosogai, Minoru; Yokoyama, Kouji; Ogawa, Takayoshi; Okusako, Kenji; Shougaki, Masachika; Masai, Hironao; Yamada, Eiji; Okuyama, Kazuo; Hatagawa, Masakatsu

2004-09-01

For physicians who monitor images during interventional radiology (VR), we have built and been using a system that employs a liquid crystal display (LCD) instead of the conventional cathode ray tube (CRT). The system incorporates a ceiling-suspension-type monitor (three-display monitor) with an LCD on each of the three displays for the head and abdominal regions and another ceiling-suspension-type monitor (5-display monitor) with an LCD on each display for the cardiac region. As these monitors are made to be thin and light in weight, they can be placed in a high position in the room, thereby saving space and allowing for more effective use of space in the X-ray room. The system has also improved the efficiency of operators in the IVR room. The three-display folding mechanism allows the displays to be viewed from multiple directions, thereby improving the environment so that the performance of IVR can be observed.

Test-retest reliability of an interactive voice response (IVR) version of the EORTC QLQ-C30

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lundy, J.J.; Coons, S.J.; Aaronson, N.K.

2015-01-01

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability of an interactive voice response (IVR) version of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30. Methods: A convenience sample of outpatient cancer clinic patients (n = 127) was asked to

LESSONS LEARNED IN DEVELOPMENT OF THE HANFORD SWOC MASTER DOCUMENTED SAFETY ANALYSIS (MDSA) and IMPLEMENTATION VALIDATION REVIEW (IVR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MORENO, M.R.

2004-01-01

DOE set clear expectations on a cost-effective approach for achieving compliance with the Nuclear Safety Management requirements (20 CFR 830, Nuclear Safety Rule), which ensured long-term benefit to Hanford, via issuance of a nuclear safety strategy in February 2003. To facilitate implementation of these expectations, tools were developed to streamline and standardize safety analysis and safety document development with the goal of a shorter and more predictable DOE approval cycle. A Hanford Safety Analysis and Risk Assessment Handbook (SARAH) was approved to standardize methodologies for development of safety analyses. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (RADIDOSE) was approved for the evaluation of radiological consequences for accident scenarios often postulated at Hanford. Standard safety management program chapters were approved for use as a means of compliance with the programmatic chapters of DOE-STD-3009, ''Preparation Guide for U.S. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Safety Analysis Reports''. An in-process review was developed between DOE and the Contractor to facilitate DOE approval and provide early course correction. The new Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) developed to address the operations of four facilities within the Solid Waste Operations Complex (SWOC) necessitated development of an Implementation Validation Review (IVR) process. The IVR process encompasses the following objectives: safety basis controls and requirements are adequately incorporated into appropriate facility documents and work instructions, facility personnel are knowledgeable of controls and requirements, and the DSA/TSR controls have been implemented. Based on DOE direction and safety analysis tools, four waste management nuclear facilities were integrated into one safety basis document. With successful completion of implementation of this safety document, lessons-learned from the in-process review, safety analysis tools and IVR process were documented for future action

Reactor Core Failure Analysis for Feasibility Study of IVR-ERVC Strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Kukhee; Cho, Yongjin; Hwang, Taesuk

2014-01-01

The complicated physical phenomena in a reactor vessel under severe accident environments should be evaluated by effective cooling methods at the same time to satisfy thermal failure margin of the strategy. The reactor integrity by this margin criterion is guaranteed if the heat flux obtained by the analysis of heat balance equations between heat structures in a reactor vessel does not exceed the critical-heat-flux (CHF) limit for nucleate boiling on the vessel outer surface. This method assumes the layer configuration of molten pools (number of layers, thickness of layers and heat generation rate of molten corium, etc.) and evaluates representative states by a 1-dimensional heat transfer analysis. Boundary conditions of model should be well defined to increase accuracy of assessed heat flux and these are dependent on accident scenarios. Therefore, conservative assumptions or results from the analysis using system codes for accident analyses should be considered to determine boundary conditions. In this paper, in-vessel molten corium behaviors during LBLOCA which is considered as the most conservative accident scenario in IVR-ERVC design concerns are examined using MELCOR 1.8.6 to check the feasibility of APR1400 IVR-ERVC strategy. The relocated debris mass in the lower head of APR1400 reactor is analyzed using MELCOR1.8.6. This analysis is to determine the boundary conditions of the heat balance equations consisting of the lumped parameter method in order to calculate heat flux at external vessel wall surface. As a result, lower head vessel failure has been occurred at the time of about 7e3 which is very short time comparing with total period of ERVC process. Even though the effect of external vessel cooling is well-modeled, however, the differences between debris mass are relatively small. Therefore, the physical feasibility of the creep rupture model in MELCOR COR package should be verified for an adequate debris mass assessment in a reactor lower head under the

Regulated 15-V, 7500-A, neutral-beam filament supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reass, W.

1977-01-01

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) designed a cost-effective, regulated 15-V, 7500-A filament supply for use with the High-Voltage Test Stand , a major ERDA developmental neutral-beam test facility. The filament supply can float to 200 kV and can provide pulse widths up to 30 s. Powered by a 24-V, 0.5-TJ battery bank, it avoids the use of expensive isolation transformers and induction voltage regulators (IVR's). Battery output is regulated by a water-cooled resistor-contactor combination in which contactors are closed in sequential format to create a staircase current waveform. A fine-tuning network tunes in-between the ''steps'' for regulation to less than 0.5 percent. The regulator is digitally controlled except for the sense amplifiers, which are optically coupled to the digital controller. All ground telemetry uses optical links to minimize effects of rfi and emi noise in the data channels

Comparison of 2D and 3D Experiments for IVR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Hae Kyun; Kim, Su Hyeon; Chung Bum Jin [Kyunghee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The integrity of reactor vessel is one of the prime concern in a severe accident condition. When the InVessel core melts Retention by External Reactor Vessel Cooling (IVR-ERVC) strategy is adopted as the design concept, the local heat load imposed on the reactor vessel should be identified in order to confirm the integrity of the reactor vessel. There are several studies simulating the natural convection of the oxide pool experimentally. In them, modified Ra (Ra') substitutes conventional Ra in order to represents decay heat of the core melts, due to the self-exothermic condition of the oxide pool. Difficulties in those experiments were the realization of the homogeneous self-exothermic volumetric heat sources. For this reason, the experiments using semicircular facility were also carried out instead of those of hemisphere facility [5-8]. The mean and local Nu of the lower head and the top plate were measured and correlations of the mean Nu were developed in existing studies. However, the comparisons between 2D and 3D results and phenomenological analyses have not been sufficiently performed. In this study we measured and compared the mean and local Nu using 2D and 3D Mass Transfer Experimental Rig for Oxide Pool (MassTER-OP). The experiments were carried out using cupric acid copper sulfate (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}-CuSO{sub 4}) electroplating system based on the analogy between heat and mass transfer system. The Pr was 2,014 and Ra'H were varied from 7.15X10{sup 12} to 3.05X10{sup 15}.

Studies on boiling heat transfer on a hemispherical downward heating surface supposing IVR-AM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Kenji; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Matsumoto, Tadayoshi; Kataoka, Isao

2006-01-01

The scale-down experiments supposing the IVR-AM were made on the pool boiling heat transfer from hemispherical downward facing heating surface. The boiling phenomena were realized by flooding the heated hemispherical vessel into the sub-cooled water or saturated water under the atmospheric pressure. The hemispherical vessel supposing the scale-down pressure vessel was made of SUS304 stainless steel. Molten lead, which was preheated up to about 500 degrees Celsius, was put into the vessel and used as the heat source. The vessel was cooled down by flooding into the water to realize the quenching process. The direct observation by using the digital video camera was performed and made clear the special characteristics of boiling phenomena such as the film boiling, the transition boiling and the nucleate boiling taking place in order during the cooling process. The measurement for the wall superheat and heat flux by using thermocouples was also carried out to make clear the boiling heat transfer characteristics during the cooling process. Fifteen thermocouples are inserted in the wall of the hemispherical bowl to measure the temperature distributions and heat flux in the hemispherical bowl. (author)

Climatic impact on isovolumetric weathering of a coarse-grained schist in the northern Piedmont Province of the central Atlantic states

Science.gov (United States)

Cleaves, E.T.

1993-01-01

The possible impact of periglacial climates on the rate of chemical weathering of a coarse-grained plagioclase-muscovite-quartz schist has been determined for a small watershed near Baltimore, Maryland. The isovolumetric chemical weathering model formulated from the geochemical mass balance study of the watershed shows that the weathering front advances at a velocity of 9.1 m/m.y., if the modern environmental parameters remain the same back through time. However, recent surficial geological mapping demonstrates that periglacial climates have impacted the area. Such an impact significantly affects two key chemical weathering parameters, the concentration of CO2 in the soil and groundwater moving past the weathering front. Depending upon the assumptions used in the model, the rate of saprolitization varies from 2.2 to 5.3 m/m.y. The possible impact of periglacial processes suggested by the chemical weathering rates indicates a need to reconsider theories of landscape evolution as they apply to the northern Piedmont Province of the mid-Atlantic states. I suggest that from the Late Miocene to the present that the major rivers have become incised in their present locations; this incision has enhanced groundwater circulation and chemical weathering such that crystalline rocks beneath interfluvial areas remain mantled by saprolite; and the saprolite mantle has been partially stripped as periglacial conditions alternate with humid-temperate conditions. ?? 1993.

Simulation of IVR-ERVC and estimation method of coolant inflow to the cavity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Hyunjin; Namgung, Ihn [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

In this study, the temperature distribution outside of RV wall and evaporation rate due to heat from core will be investigated. Using the universal analysis program ANSYS Fluent, the natural convection in the cavity for IVR-ERVC conditions were modelled and performed for heat transfer analysis. The aim of this study is to calculate the appropriate coolant flow so that coolant level in the cavity can be maintained at prescribed level and vessel wall temperature distribution, including RV outside wall temperature are also investigated. Reactor vessel and cavity in case of ex-vessel cooling for severe accident condition were modeled with and without insulators. The heat load into reactor vessel from corium inside of reactor lower head were obtained from MELCORE analysis and used as input B.C of CFD analysis. The Temperature gradient of reactor outer surface and evaporation rate of cooling eater was obtained from the analysis. These results can be used for further analysis of reactor vessel creep behavior and the estimate the coolant flow rate into the reactor cavity.. and The result can be used to verify the natural convection phenomena in the cavity and also to set the design parameters of cavity and coolant flow rate. The vessel outer surface temperature gradient can be also used to more accurate investigation of vessel creep behavior during severe accident condition, The result can also be used set up a strategy for severe accident managements.

CFD simulation on critical heat flux of flow boiling in IVR-ERVC of a nuclear reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xiang, E-mail: zhangxiang3@snptc.com.cn [State Nuclear Power Technology Research & Development Center, South Area, Future Science and Technology Park, Chang Ping District, Beijing 102209 (China); Hu, Teng [State Nuclear Power Technology Research & Development Center, South Area, Future Science and Technology Park, Chang Ping District, Beijing 102209 (China); Chen, Deqi, E-mail: chendeqi@cqu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, 400044 (China); Zhong, Yunke; Gao, Hong [Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, 400044 (China)

2016-08-01

Highlights: • CFD simulation on CHF of boiling two-phase flow in ERVC is proposed. • CFD simulation result of CHF agrees well with that of experimental result. • The characteristics of boiling two-phase flow and boiling crisis are analyzed. - Abstract: The effectiveness of in-vessel retention (IVR) by external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) strongly depends on the critical heat flux (CHF). As long as the local CHF does not exceed the local heat flux, the lower head of the pressure vessel can be cooled sufficiently to prevent from failure. In this paper, a CFD simulation is carried out to investigate the CHF of ERVC. This simulation is performed by a CFD code fluent couple with a boiling model by UDF (User-Defined Function). The experimental CHF of ERVC obtained by State Nuclear Power Technology Research and Development Center (SNPTRD) is used to validate this CFD simulation, and it is found that the simulation result agrees well with the experimental result. Based on the CFD simulation, detailed analysis focusing on the pressure distribution, velocity distribution, void fraction distribution, heating wall temperature distribution are proposed in this paper.

Controllers for Battery Chargers and Battery Chargers Therefrom

Science.gov (United States)

Elmes, John (Inventor); Kersten, Rene (Inventor); Pepper, Michael (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A controller for a battery charger that includes a power converter has parametric sensors for providing a sensed Vin signal, a sensed Vout signal and a sensed Iout signal. A battery current regulator (BCR) is coupled to receive the sensed Iout signal and an Iout reference, and outputs a first duty cycle control signal. An input voltage regulator (IVR) receives the sensed Vin signal and a Vin reference. The IVR provides a second duty cycle control signal. A processor receives the sensed Iout signal and utilizes a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm, and provides the Vin reference to the IVR. A selection block forwards one of the first and second duty cycle control signals as a duty cycle control signal to the power converter. Dynamic switching between the first and second duty cycle control signals maximizes the power delivered to the battery.

Fabrication, characterization and comparison of composite magnetic materials for high efficiency integrated voltage regulators with embedded magnetic core micro-inductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellaredj, Mohamed L F; Mueller, Sebastian; Davis, Anto K; Swaminathan, Madhavan; Mano, Yasuhiko; Kohl, Paul A

2017-01-01

High-efficiency integrated voltage regulators (IVRs) require the integration of power inductors, which have low loss and reduced size at very high frequency. The use of a magnetic material core can reduce significantly the inductor area and simultaneously increase the inductance. This paper focuses on the fabrication, characterization and modeling of nickel zinc (NiZn) ferrite and carbonyl iron powder (CIP)-epoxy magnetic composite materials, which are used as the magnetic core materials of embedded inductors in a printed wiring board (PWB) for a system in package (SIP) based buck type IVR. The fabricated composite materials and process are fully compatible with FR4 epoxy resin prepreg and laminate. For 85% weight loading of the magnetic powder (around 100 MHz at room temperature), the composite materials show a relative permeability of 7.5–8.1 for the NiZn ferrite composite and 5.2–5.6 for the CIP composite and a loss tangent value of 0.24–0.28 for the NiZn ferrite composite and 0.09–0.1 for the CIP-composite. The room temperature saturation flux density values are 0.1351 T and 0.5280 T for the NiZn ferrite and the CIP composites, respectively. The frequency dispersion parameters of the magnetic composites are modeled using a simplified Lorentz and Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation for a Debye type relaxation. Embedded magnetic core solenoid inductors were designed based on the composite materials for the output filter of a high-efficiency SIP based buck type IVR. Evaluation of a SIP based buck type IVR with the designed inductors shows that it can reach peak efficiencies of 91.7% at 11 MHz for the NiZn ferrite-composite, 91.6% at 14 MHz for CIP-composite and 87.5% (NiZn ferrite-composite) and 87.3% (CIP-composite) efficiency at 100 MHz for a 1.7 V:1.05 V conversion. For a direct 5 V:1 V conversion using a stacked topology, a peak efficiency of 82% at 10 MHz and 72% efficiency at 100 MHz can be achieved for both materials. (paper)

Fabrication, characterization and comparison of composite magnetic materials for high efficiency integrated voltage regulators with embedded magnetic core micro-inductors

Science.gov (United States)

Bellaredj, Mohamed L. F.; Mueller, Sebastian; Davis, Anto K.; Mano, Yasuhiko; Kohl, Paul A.; Swaminathan, Madhavan

2017-11-01

High-efficiency integrated voltage regulators (IVRs) require the integration of power inductors, which have low loss and reduced size at very high frequency. The use of a magnetic material core can reduce significantly the inductor area and simultaneously increase the inductance. This paper focuses on the fabrication, characterization and modeling of nickel zinc (NiZn) ferrite and carbonyl iron powder (CIP)-epoxy magnetic composite materials, which are used as the magnetic core materials of embedded inductors in a printed wiring board (PWB) for a system in package (SIP) based buck type IVR. The fabricated composite materials and process are fully compatible with FR4 epoxy resin prepreg and laminate. For 85% weight loading of the magnetic powder (around 100 MHz at room temperature), the composite materials show a relative permeability of 7.5-8.1 for the NiZn ferrite composite and 5.2-5.6 for the CIP composite and a loss tangent value of 0.24-0.28 for the NiZn ferrite composite and 0.09-0.1 for the CIP-composite. The room temperature saturation flux density values are 0.1351 T and 0.5280 T for the NiZn ferrite and the CIP composites, respectively. The frequency dispersion parameters of the magnetic composites are modeled using a simplified Lorentz and Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for a Debye type relaxation. Embedded magnetic core solenoid inductors were designed based on the composite materials for the output filter of a high-efficiency SIP based buck type IVR. Evaluation of a SIP based buck type IVR with the designed inductors shows that it can reach peak efficiencies of 91.7% at 11 MHz for the NiZn ferrite-composite, 91.6% at 14 MHz for CIP-composite and 87.5% (NiZn ferrite-composite) and 87.3% (CIP-composite) efficiency at 100 MHz for a 1.7 V:1.05 V conversion. For a direct 5 V:1 V conversion using a stacked topology, a peak efficiency of 82% at 10 MHz and 72% efficiency at 100 MHz can be achieved for both materials.

Fuel-coolant interaction visualization test for in-vessel corium retention external reactor vessel cooling (IVR-ERVC) condition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Na, Young Su; Hong, Seong Ho; Song, Jin Ho; Hong, Seong Wan [Severe Accident and PHWR Safety Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-12-15

A visualization test of the fuel-coolant interaction in the Test for Real cOrium Interaction with water (TROI) test facility was carried out. To experimentally simulate the In-Vessel corium Retention (IVR)- External Reactor Vessel Cooling (ERVC) conditions, prototypic corium was released directly into the coolant water without a free fall in a gas phase before making contact with the coolant. Corium (34.39 kg) consisting of uranium oxide and zirconium oxide with a weight ratio of 8:2 was superheated, and 22.54 kg of the 34.39 kg corium was passed through water contained in a transparent interaction vessel. An image of the corium jet behavior in the coolant was taken by a high-speed camera every millisecond. Thermocouple junctions installed in the vertical direction of the coolant were cut sequentially by the falling corium jet. It was clearly observed that the visualization image of the corium jet taken during the fuel-coolant interaction corresponded with the temperature variations in the direction of the falling melt. The corium penetrated through the coolant, and the jet leading edge velocity was 2.0 m/s. Debris smaller than 1 mm was 15% of the total weight of the debris collected after a fuel-coolant interaction test, and the mass median diameter was 2.9 mm.

Feasibility of flooding the reactor cavity with liquid gallium coolant for IVR-ERVC strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Seong Dae; Bang, In Cheol

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We investigate the feasibility of gallium liquid metal application for IVR-ERVC. ► We consider overall concerns to apply the liquid metal. ► Decay heat can be removed by flooding the reactor cavity with gallium liquid metal. -- Abstract: In this paper, a new approach replacing the ERVC coolant by a liquid metal instead of water is studied to avoid the heat removal limit of CHF during boiling of water. As the flooding material, gallium is used in terms of the melting and boiling points. Gallium has the enough low melting point of ∼29.7 °C to ensure to maintain liquid state within the containment building. A gallium storage tank for the new flooding system of the ERVC is located in higher position than one of the reactor cavity to make a passive system using the gravity for the event of a station blackout (SBO). While the decay heat from the reactor vessel is removed by gallium, the borated water which is coming out from the reactor system plays a role as the ultimate heat sink in this ERVC system. In the system, two configurations of gallium and borated water are devised depending on whether the direct contact between them occurs. In the first configuration, two fluids are separated by the block structure. The decay heat is transported from molten corium to gallium through the vessel wall. Then the heat is ultimately dissipated by boiling of water in the block structure surface facing the borated water. In the second configuration, the cavity is flooded with both borated water and gallium in the same reactor cavity space. As the result, two layers of the fluids are naturally formed by the density difference. Like the first configuration, finally the heat removal is achieved by boiling of water via gallium. The CFD analysis shows that the maximum temperature of gallium is much lower than its boiling point while the natural circulation is stably formed in two types of the configurations without any serious risk of thermal limit

Turbulent convection experiment at high Rayleigh number to support CAP1400 IVR strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, Li, E-mail: mali@snptrd.com [State Nuclear Hua Qing(Beijing) Nuclear Power Technology R& D Centre Co., Ltd, Building A, State Nuclear Power Research Institute, Future Science & Technology Park, Changping Dist., Beijing 102209 (China); Li, Jing, E-mail: lijing@snptrd.com [State Nuclear Hua Qing(Beijing) Nuclear Power Technology R& D Centre Co., Ltd, Building A, State Nuclear Power Research Institute, Future Science & Technology Park, Changping Dist., Beijing 102209 (China); Ji, Shui, E-mail: jishui@snptrd.com [State Nuclear Hua Qing(Beijing) Nuclear Power Technology R& D Centre Co., Ltd, Building A, State Nuclear Power Research Institute, Future Science & Technology Park, Changping Dist., Beijing 102209 (China); Chang, Huajian, E-mail: changhuajian@snptrd.com [State Nuclear Hua Qing(Beijing) Nuclear Power Technology R& D Centre Co., Ltd, Building A, State Nuclear Power Research Institute, Future Science & Technology Park, Changping Dist., Beijing 102209 (China); Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • The facility reached high Ra number at 10{sup 12} of CAP1400 working condition. • The fitting formula Nu = 0.085 × Ra{sup 0.315} was established to calculate the heat flux in the metal layer at high Ra for the CAP1400. • The coupling method can accurately and safely predict the heat flow distribution of metal layer in high Ra number conditions. • The experiment results will predict the relationship between axial and radial heat transfer well. - Abstract: The characteristics of the heat transfer and the calculation of heat flux in metal layer are both the critical problems for in-vessel retention (IVR) strategy. Turbulent convection occurs in the metal layer when the Rayleigh number (Ra) becomes sufficient high. The Globe–Dropkin (G–D) correlation (Globe and Dropkin, 1959) and Chu–Churchill (C–C) correlation (Churchill and Chu, 1975) have been widely used to calculate the heat flux in the metal layer, where the valid range of the Ra is from 1.5 × 10{sup 5} to 6.8 × 10{sup 8} in G–D correlation and less than 10{sup 12} in C–C correlation. However, with the increase of reactor power, both the Rayleigh number and the rate of heat transfer below the bottom of metal layer of the molten pool will increase, and in this case the Rayleigh number even can reach 10{sup 11} for the China Advanced Passive Plant CAP1400. Accordingly, the G–D correlation is not suitable for the CAP1400. Therefore, our experiment purposes are to establish the appropriate correlation at high Ra for the CAP1400 and predict the axial and radial distribution of the heat transfer in the metal layer with the heat transfer behavior of metal layer experiment (HELM) facility. The experiments are divided into two parts. Each part concerns 39 runs and 47 experimental conditions. Its corresponding results are obtained at middle Prandtl number (Pr = 7 for water) and the Nusselt number is found to be proportional to Ra{sup 0.315} in the range 3.93 × 10{sup 8} < Ra < 3.57 �

Turbulent convection experiment at high Rayleigh number to support CAP1400 IVR strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Li; Li, Jing; Ji, Shui; Chang, Huajian

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The facility reached high Ra number at 10 12 of CAP1400 working condition. • The fitting formula Nu = 0.085 × Ra 0.315 was established to calculate the heat flux in the metal layer at high Ra for the CAP1400. • The coupling method can accurately and safely predict the heat flow distribution of metal layer in high Ra number conditions. • The experiment results will predict the relationship between axial and radial heat transfer well. - Abstract: The characteristics of the heat transfer and the calculation of heat flux in metal layer are both the critical problems for in-vessel retention (IVR) strategy. Turbulent convection occurs in the metal layer when the Rayleigh number (Ra) becomes sufficient high. The Globe–Dropkin (G–D) correlation (Globe and Dropkin, 1959) and Chu–Churchill (C–C) correlation (Churchill and Chu, 1975) have been widely used to calculate the heat flux in the metal layer, where the valid range of the Ra is from 1.5 × 10 5 to 6.8 × 10 8 in G–D correlation and less than 10 12 in C–C correlation. However, with the increase of reactor power, both the Rayleigh number and the rate of heat transfer below the bottom of metal layer of the molten pool will increase, and in this case the Rayleigh number even can reach 10 11 for the China Advanced Passive Plant CAP1400. Accordingly, the G–D correlation is not suitable for the CAP1400. Therefore, our experiment purposes are to establish the appropriate correlation at high Ra for the CAP1400 and predict the axial and radial distribution of the heat transfer in the metal layer with the heat transfer behavior of metal layer experiment (HELM) facility. The experiments are divided into two parts. Each part concerns 39 runs and 47 experimental conditions. Its corresponding results are obtained at middle Prandtl number (Pr = 7 for water) and the Nusselt number is found to be proportional to Ra 0.315 in the range 3.93 × 10 8 < Ra < 3.57 × 10 12 . Furthermore, the experiment

Development of polyether urethane intravaginal rings for the sustained delivery of hydroxychloroquine

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yufei; Traore, Yannick Leandre; Li, Amanda; Fowke, Keith R; Ho, Emmanuel A

2014-01-01

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been shown to demonstrate anti-inflammatory properties and direct anti-HIV activity. In this study, we describe for the first time the fabrication and in vitro evaluation of two types of intravaginal ring (IVR) devices (a surfaced-modified matrix IVR and a reservoir segmental IVR) for achieving sustained delivery (>14 days) of HCQ as a strategy for preventing male-to-female transmission of HIV. Both IVRs were fabricated by hot-melt injection molding. Surface-modified matrix IVRs with polyvinylpyrrolidone or poly(vinyl alcohol) coatings exhibited significantly reduced burst release on the first day (6.45% and 15.72% reduction, respectively). Reservoir IVR segments designed to release lower amounts of HCQ displayed near-zero-order release kinetics with an average release rate of 28.38 μg/mL per day for IVRs loaded with aqueous HCQ and 32.23 μg/mL per day for IVRs loaded with HCQ mixed with a rate-controlling excipient. Stability studies demonstrated that HCQ was stable in coated or noncoated IVRs for 30 days. The IVR segments had no significant effect on cell viability, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, or colony formation of vaginal and ectocervical epithelial cells. Both IVR systems may be suitable for the prevention of HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted infections. PMID:25336923

Adherence to self-monitoring via interactive voice response technology in an eHealth intervention targeting weight gain prevention among Black women: randomized controlled trial.

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Steinberg, Dori M; Levine, Erica L; Lane, Ilana; Askew, Sandy; Foley, Perry B; Puleo, Elaine; Bennett, Gary G

2014-04-29

eHealth interventions are effective for weight control and have the potential for broad reach. Little is known about the use of interactive voice response (IVR) technology for self-monitoring in weight control interventions, particularly among populations disproportionately affected by obesity. This analysis sought to examine patterns and predictors of IVR self-monitoring adherence and the association between adherence and weight change among low-income black women enrolled in a weight gain prevention intervention. The Shape Program was a randomized controlled trial comparing a 12-month eHealth behavioral weight gain prevention intervention to usual care among overweight and obese black women in the primary care setting. Intervention participants (n=91) used IVR technology to self-monitor behavior change goals (eg, no sugary drinks, 10,000 steps per day) via weekly IVR calls. Weight data were collected in clinic at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Self-monitoring data was stored in a study database and adherence was operationalized as the percent of weeks with a successful IVR call. Over 12 months, the average IVR completion rate was 71.6% (SD 28.1) and 52% (47/91) had an IVR completion rate ≥80%. At 12 months, IVR call completion was significantly correlated with weight loss (r =-.22; P=.04) and participants with an IVR completion rate ≥80% had significantly greater weight loss compared to those with an IVR completion rate self-monitoring. Adherence to IVR self-monitoring was high among socioeconomically disadvantaged black women enrolled in a weight gain prevention intervention. Higher adherence to IVR self-monitoring was also associated with greater weight change. IVR is an effective and useful tool to promote self-monitoring and has the potential for widespread use and long-term sustainability. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00938535; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00938535.

Data equivalency of an interactive voice response system for home assessment of back pain and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, William S; Verma, Santosh K

2007-01-01

Interactive voice response (IVR) systems that collect survey data using automated, push-button telephone responses may be useful to monitor patients' pain and function at home; however, its equivalency to other data collection methods has not been studied. To study the data equivalency of IVR measurement of pain and function to live telephone interviewing. In a prospective cohort study, 547 working adults (66% male) with acute back pain were recruited at an initial outpatient visit and completed telephone assessments one month later to track outcomes of pain, function, treatment helpfulness and return to work. An IVR system was introduced partway through the study (after the first 227 participants) to reduce the staff time necessary to contact participants by telephone during nonworking hours. Of 368 participants who were subsequently recruited and offered the IVR option, 131 (36%) used IVR, 189 (51%) were contacted by a telephone interviewer after no IVR attempt was made within five days, and 48 (13%) were lost to follow-up. Those with lower income were more likely to use IVR. Analysis of outcome measures showed that IVR respondents reported comparatively lower levels of function and less effective treatment, but not after controlling for differences due to the delay in reaching non-IVR users by telephone (mean: 35.4 versus 29.2 days). The results provided no evidence of information or selection bias associated with IVR use; however, IVR must be supplemented with other data collection options to maintain high response rates.

The Impact of Fluid Inertia on In Vivo Estimation of Mitral Valve Leaflet Constitutive Properties and Mechanics.

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Bark, David L; Dasi, Lakshmi P

2016-05-01

We examine the influence of the added mass effect (fluid inertia) on mitral valve leaflet stress during isovolumetric phases. To study this effect, oscillating flow is applied to a flexible membrane at various frequencies to control inertia. Resulting membrane strain is calculated through a three-dimensional reconstruction of markers from stereo images. To investigate the effect in vivo, the analysis is repeated on a published dataset for an ovine mitral valve (Journal of Biomechanics 42(16): 2697-2701). The membrane experiment demonstrates that the relationship between pressure and strain must be corrected with a fluid inertia term if the ratio of inertia to pressure differential approaches 1. In the mitral valve, this ratio reaches 0.7 during isovolumetric contraction for an acceleration of 6 m/s(2). Acceleration is reduced by 72% during isovolumetric relaxation. Fluid acceleration also varies along the leaflet during isovolumetric phases, resulting in spatial variations in stress. These results demonstrate that fluid inertia may be the source of the temporally and spatially varying stiffness measurements previously seen through inverse finite element analysis of in vivo data during isovolumetric phases. This study demonstrates that there is a need to account for added mass effects when analyzing in vivo constitutive relationships of heart valves.

Intravaginal rings as delivery systems for microbicides and multipurpose prevention technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thurman AR

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Andrea Ries Thurman, Meredith R Clark, Jennifer Hurlburt, Gustavo F Doncel CONRAD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA Abstract: There is a renewed interest in delivering pharmaceutical products via intravaginal rings (IVRs. IVRs are flexible torus-shaped drug delivery systems that can be easily inserted and removed by the woman and that provide both sustained and controlled drug release, lasting for several weeks to several months. In terms of women's health care products, it has been established that IVRs effectively deliver contraceptive steroids and steroids for the treatment of postmenopausal vaginal atrophy. A novel application for IVRs is the delivery of antiretroviral drugs for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV genital infection. Microbicides are antiviral drugs delivered topically for HIV prevention. Recent reviews of microbicide IVRs have focused on technologies in development and optimizing ring design. IVRs have several advantages, including the ability to deliver sustained drug doses for long periods of time while bypassing first pass metabolism in the gut. IVRs are discreet, woman-controlled, and do not require a trained provider for placement or fitting. Previous data support that women and their male sexual partners find IVRs highly acceptable. Multipurpose prevention technology (MPT products provide protection against unintended/mistimed pregnancy and reproductive tract infections, including HIV. Several MPT IVRs are currently in development. Early clinical testing of new microbicide and MPT IVRs will require a focus on safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Specifically, IVRs will have to deliver tissue concentrations of drugs that are pharmacodynamically active, do not cause mucosal alterations or inflammation, and do not change the resident microbiota. The emergence of resistance to antiretrovirals will need to be investigated. IVRs should not

Segmented polyurethane intravaginal rings for the sustained combined delivery of antiretroviral agents dapivirine and tenofovir.

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Johnson, Todd J; Gupta, Kavita M; Fabian, Judit; Albright, Theodore H; Kiser, Patrick F

2010-02-19

Dual segment polyurethane intravaginal rings (IVRs) were fabricated to enable sustained release of antiretroviral agents dapivirine and tenofovir to prevent the male to female sexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. Due to the contrasting hydrophilicity of the two drugs, dapivirine and tenofovir were separately formulated into polymers with matching hydrophilicity via solvent casting and hot melt extrusion. The resultant drug loaded rods were then joined together to form dual segment IVRs. Compression testing of the IVRs revealed that they are mechanically comparable to the widely accepted NuvaRing IVR. Physical characterization of the individual IVR segments using wide angle X-ray scattering and differential scanning calorimetry determined that dapivirine and tenofovir are amorphous and crystalline within their polymeric segments, respectively. In vitro release of tenofovir from the dual segment IVR was sustained over 30 days while dapivirine exhibited linear release over the time period. A 90 day accelerated stability study confirmed that dapivirine and tenofovir are stable in the IVR formulation. Altogether, these results suggest that multisegment polyurethane IVRs are an attractive formulation for the sustained vaginal delivery of drugs with contrasting hydrophilicity such as dapivirine and tenofovir. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Safety and pharmacokinetics of dapivirine delivery from matrix and reservoir intravaginal rings to HIV-negative women.

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Nel, Annalene; Smythe, Shanique; Young, Katherine; Malcolm, Karl; McCoy, Clare; Rosenberg, Zeda; Romano, Joseph

2009-08-01

Vaginal microbicides for the prevention of HIV transmission may be an important option for protecting women from infection. Incorporation of dapivirine, a lead candidate nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, into intravaginal rings (IVRs) for sustained mucosal delivery may increase microbicide product adherence and efficacy compared with conventional vaginal formulations. Twenty-four healthy HIV-negative women 18-35 years of age were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to dapivirine matrix IVR, dapivirine reservoir IVR, or placebo IVR. Dapivirine concentrations were measured in plasma and vaginal fluid samples collected at sequential time points over the 33-day study period (28 days of IVR use, 5 days of follow-up). Safety was assessed by pelvic/colposcopic examinations, clinical laboratory tests, and adverse events. Both IVR types were safe and well tolerated with similar adverse events observed in the placebo and dapivirine groups. Dapivirine from both IVR types was successfully distributed throughout the lower genital tract at concentrations over 4 logs greater than the EC50 against wild-type HIV-1 (LAI) in MT4 cells. Maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) values were significantly higher with the matrix than reservoir IVR. Mean plasma concentrations of dapivirine were <2 ng/mL. These findings suggest that IVR delivery of microbicides is a viable option meriting further study.

Interactive virtual reality Wii in geriatric day hospital: a study to assess its feasibility, acceptability and efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Tuen Ching; Chan, Fei; Shea, Yat Fung; Lin, Oi Yee; Luk, James Ka Hay; Chan, Felix Hon Wai

2012-10-01

Rehabilitation using interactive virtual reality Wii (Wii-IVR) was shown to be feasible in patients with different medical problems, but there was no study examining its use in a geriatric day hospital (GDH). The aim of the present study was to test the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of Wii-IVR in GDH. It was a clinical trial with matched historic controls. Patients of a GDH were recruited to participate in Wii-IVR by playing "Wii Fit". Participants used a Wii controller to carry out movements involved in an arm ergometer. Each participant received eight sessions of Wii-IVR in addition to conventional GDH rehabilitation. Feasibility was assessed by the total time receiving Wii-IVR, the percentage of maximal heart rate reserve (%MHR) and Borg perceived exertion scale (BS) after participating in Wii-IVR. %MHR and BS were compared with those after carrying out an arm ergometer for the same duration. Acceptability was assessed by an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Efficacy was assessed by comparing improvements in Functional Independence Measure (FIM) between participants and matched historic controls, who received conventional GDH rehabilitations only. A total of 30 patients completed the study. Participants completed a total of 1941 min of event-free Wii-IVR. The mean %MHR was 15.9% ± 9.9% and the mean BS was 7.9 ± 2.3. There was no significant difference in %MHR and BS between participating in Wii-IVR and arm ergometer. Most participants found Wii-IVR similar to the arm ergometer, and would like to continue Wii-IVR if they had Wii at home. Improvements in FIM of participants were significantly more than that of historic controls. Wii-IVR in GDH was feasible and most participants accepted it. Participants had more improvements in FIM. © 2012 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Pressure measurement using thermal properties of materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cruz Pessoa, Jose Dalton; Calbo, Adonai Gimenes

2004-01-01

This work presents a design and two methods, one isothermal and one isovolumetric, for pressure measurements based on the compressibility coefficient (κ) and thermal expansibility (α) of the fluid under test. The setup and relevant construction details are described. To demonstrate the applicability of the isovolumetric measurement method, the setup was calibrated with respect to a Bourdon-type manometer; the other isothermic method was analyzed to determine construction details that could realize resolution requirements. The authors determined the effect of ambient temperature on device operation and the time response of the isovolumetric method. The device can be used to estimate the compressibility of a fluid and, in addition, could become an alternative for direct plant cell turgor measurement

MIV-150-containing intravaginal rings protect macaque vaginal explants against SHIV-RT infection.

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Ouattara, Louise A; Barnable, Patrick; Mawson, Paul; Seidor, Samantha; Zydowsky, Thomas M; Kizima, Larisa; Rodriguez, Aixa; Fernández-Romero, José A; Cooney, Michael L; Roberts, Kevin D; Gettie, Agegnehu; Blanchard, James; Robbiani, Melissa; Teleshova, Natalia

2014-05-01

Recent studies demonstrated that intravaginal rings (IVRs) containing 100 mg of the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) MIV-150 significantly protect macaques against a chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency virus that expresses the HIV-1 HxB2 reverse transcriptase (SHIV-RT) when present before and after vaginal challenge. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the pharmacodynamics (PD) of MIV-150 in vaginal fluids (VF) and in ectocervical and vaginal tissues following 100-mg MIV-150 IVR exposure and to (ii) gain more insight whether pharmacokinetics (PK) of MIV-150 can predict PD. MIV-150 in VF collected at 1 day and 14 days post-MIV-150 IVR insertion inhibited ex vivo SHIV-RT infection in vaginal biopsy specimens from untreated animals (not carrying IVRs) in a dose-dependent manner. Previous PK studies demonstrated a significant increase of ectocervical and vaginal tissue MIV-150 concentrations 14 days versus 1 day post-IVR insertion, with the highest increase in vaginal tissue. Therefore, we tested PD of MIV-150 in tissues 14 days post-MIV-150 IVR insertion. Ex vivo SHIV-RT infection of vaginal, but not ectocervical, tissues collected 14 days post-MIV-150 IVR insertion was significantly inhibited compared to infection at the baseline (prior to MIV-150 IVR exposure). No changes in vaginal and ectocervical tissue infection were observed after placebo IVR exposure. Overall, these data underscore the use of the ex vivo macaque explant challenge models to evaluate tissue and VF PK/PD of candidate microbicides before in vivo animal efficacy studies. The data support further development of MIV-150-containing IVRs.

Development, reliability, and validity of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese refugees: a diagnostic instrument for Vietnamese refugees.

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Dao, Tam K; Poritz, Julia M P; Moody, Rachel P; Szeto, Kim

2012-08-01

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese Refugees (PTSD-IVR) was created specifically to assess for the presence of current and lifetime history of premigration, migration, encampment, and postmigration traumas in Vietnamese refugees. The purpose of the present study was to describe the development of and investigate the interrater and test-retest reliability of the PTSD-IVR and its validity in relation to the diagnoses obtained from the Longitudinal, Expert, and All Data (LEAD; Spitzer, 1983) standard. Clinicians conducted the diagnosis process with 127 Vietnamese refugees using the LEAD standard and the PTSD-IVR. Assessment of the reliability and validity of the PTSD-IVR yielded good to excellent AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; .86, .87) and κ values (.66, .74) indicating the reliability of the PTSD-IVR and the agreement between the LEAD procedure and the PTSD-IVR. The results of the present study suggest that the PTSD-IVR performs successfully as a diagnostic instrument specifically created for Vietnamese refugees in their native language. Copyright © 2012 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

FIVE-YEAR OUTCOMES OF INTRAVITREAL RANIBIZUMAB FOR CHOROIDAL NEOVASCULARIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH PATHOLOGIC MYOPIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Onishi, Yuka; Yokoi, Tae; Kasahara, Kaori; Yoshida, Takeshi; Nagaoka, Natsuko; Shinohara, Kosei; Kaneko, Yuichiro; Suga, Mitsuki; Uramoto, Kengo; Ohno-Tanaka, Akiko; Ohno-Matsui, Kyoko

2018-05-03

To determine the 5-year outcome of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) for myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV). We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 51 eyes of 51 consecutive patients with myopic CNV who had been treated with IVR with a minimum follow-up period of 5 years after the initial IVR injection. The factors that predicted the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 5 years after IVR were determined by multiple regression analysis. The mean age of the subjects was 63.6 years, and the mean axial length was 29.4 mm. The mean number of IVR was 1.6, and 34 eyes (66.7%) had only a single IVR. At the baseline and at the 1-year, 2-year, 4-year, and 5-year period, the mean BCVAs were 20/49, 20/37, 20/41, 20/45, and 20/42, respectively. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the BCVA at 5-year period was significantly correlated with the baseline BCVA, the number of IVR injections, and the size of the CNV-related macular atrophy. Intravitreal ranibizumab provide a 5-year visual benefit in eyes with myopic CNV compared with the natural course. A lack of enlargement of the CNV-related macular atrophy, a better baseline BCVA, and a minimum number of IVR injections were associated with better visual outcomes.

Effects of Interactive Voice Response Self-Monitoring on Natural Resolution of Drinking Problems: Utilization and Behavioral Economic Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Jalie A.; Roth, David L.; Huang, Jin; Scott Crawford, M.; Simpson, Cathy A.

2012-01-01

Objective: Most problem drinkers do not seek help, and many recover on their own. A randomized controlled trial evaluated whether supportive interactive voice response (IVR) self-monitoring facilitated such “natural” resolutions. Based on behavioral economics, effects on drinking outcomes were hypothesized to vary with drinkers’ baseline “time horizons,” reflecting preferences among commodities of different value available over different delays and with their IVR utilization. Method: Recently resolved untreated problem drinkers were randomized to a 24-week IVR self-monitoring program (n = 87) or an assessment-only control condition (n = 98). Baseline interviews assessed outcome predictors including behavioral economic measures of reward preferences (delay discounting, pre-resolution monetary allocation to alcohol vs. savings). Six-month outcomes were categorized as resolved abstinent, resolved nonabstinent, unresolved, or missing. Complier average causal effect (CACE) models examined IVR self-monitoring effects. Results: IVR self-monitoring compliers (≥70% scheduled calls completed) were older and had greater pre-resolution drinking control and lower discounting than noncompliers (moderation than abstinent resolutions compared with predicted compliers in the control group with shorter time horizons and with all noncompliers. Intention-to-treat analytical models revealed no IVR-related effects. More balanced spending on savings versus alcohol predicted moderation in both approaches. Conclusions: IVR interventions should consider factors affecting IVR utilization and drinking outcomes, including person-specific behavioral economic variables. CACE models provide tools to evaluate interventions involving extended participation. PMID:22630807

Comparison of Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab, and Laser Photocoagulation in the Treatment of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunay, Murat; Sukgen, Emine Alyamac; Celik, Gokhan; Kocluk, Yusuf

2017-03-01

To evaluate the efficacies and treatment outcomes following intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB), intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR), and laser photocoagulation (LPC) in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This was a retrospective interventional case series study including the data of 134 infants (264 eyes) who were treated with IVB, IVR, or LPC for ROP. The data were collected from two major ROP treatment centers in Turkey without any randomization or masking. Regression of ROP, recurrence profile, complications after each treatment modality, and indications for retreatment were evaluated. The main outcome measures included the total inactivation of ROP with anatomic and refractive outcomes at 1.5 years of adjusted age. There were 55 infants (41.1%) in the IVB group, 22 infants (16.4%) in the IVR group, and 57 infants (42.5%) in the LPC group. All but 3 infants (5.5%) in the IVB group and 11 infants (50%) in the IVR group showed recurrence to stage 1 and 2 ROP following IVB and IVR (p < 0.001). Retreatment was performed in three infants in both IVB and IVR groups (p = 0.098). At 1.5 years of adjusted age, all infants showed favorable anatomic outcome except one infant in the LPC group. No significant difference of the mean spherical equivalent (SE) was observed between the groups (p = 0.131). In Zone I ROP, laser treated infants had significantly higher rates of myopia and high myopia than IVB and IVR treated infants (p = 0.040 and p = 0.019, respectively). Both IVB and IVR treated infants had significantly better refractive outcomes in Zone I ROP as compared to LPC treated infants at 1.5 years of adjusted age. The higher rate of disease recurrence was associated with IVR. Gestational age (GA) and the zone of ROP were also predictive factors for recurrence of ROP in the study.

Relation between macular morphology and treatment frequency during twelve months with ranibizumab for diabetic macular edema.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuki Mori

Full Text Available To investigate whether baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT parameters can predict the treatment frequency of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR injections during the first year in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME treated with pro re nata (PRN IVR injections.We retrospectively reviewed 68 eyes of 63 patients with center-involved DME who received IVR injections for 12 months or longer according to three monthly IVR injections followed by the PRN dosing. We measured the mean retinal thicknesses in the individual subfields of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study grid and evaluated the qualitative and quantitative parameters on OCT sectional images. We investigated the relationship between these OCT parameters at baseline and the number of IVR injections during the 12-month follow-up.Three loading doses were administered to 10 eyes; four to seven annualized IVR injections were administered to 34 eyes. The number of eyes that received IVR injections decreased gradually until month 6 and was almost constant from months 7 to 11. No relationships were seen between the treatment frequency and baseline systemic factors and the ophthalmic examination findings. Univariate analyses showed that the number of IVR injections during the first year was associated with the mean retinal thickness in the individual subfields and the transverse length of the disrupted external limiting membrane (ELM and ellipsoid zone of the photoreceptors. Multivariate analysis showed a significant association with the thickness in the inferior subfield alone. The treatment frequency during the 12-month follow-up was not correlated with improved visual acuity but was associated with the decrease in the central subfield thickness and disrupted ELM.The retinal thickness in the inferior subfield predicts the treatment frequency during the first year in eyes with DME treated with PRN IVR injections.

Engagement with eHealth Self-Monitoring in a Primary Care-Based Weight Management Intervention.

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Wolin, Kathleen Y; Steinberg, Dori M; Lane, Ilana B; Askew, Sandy; Greaney, Mary L; Colditz, Graham A; Bennett, Gary G

2015-01-01

While eHealth approaches hold promise for improving the reach and cost-effectiveness of behavior change interventions, they have been challenged by declining participant engagement over time, particularly for self-monitoring behaviors. These are significant concerns in the context of chronic disease prevention and management where durable effects are important for driving meaningful changes. "Be Fit, Be Well" was an eHealth weight loss intervention that allowed participants to self-select a self-monitoring modality (web or interactive voice response (IVR)). Participants could change their modality. As such, this study provides a unique opportunity to examine the effects of intervention modality choice and changing modalities on intervention engagement and outcomes. Intervention participants, who were recruited from community health centers, (n = 180) were expected to self-monitor health behaviors weekly over the course of the 24-month intervention. We examined trends in intervention engagement by modality (web, IVR, or changed modality) among participants in the intervention arm. The majority (61%) of participants chose IVR self-monitoring, while 39% chose web. 56% of those who selected web monitoring changed to IVR during the study versus no change in those who initially selected IVR. Self-monitoring declined in both modalities, but completion rates were higher in those who selected IVR. There were no associations between self-monitoring modality and weight or blood pressure outcomes. This is the first study to compare web and IVR self-monitoring in an eHealth intervention where participants could select and change their self-monitoring modality. IVR shows promise for achieving consistent engagement.

Assessment of in-vessel corium retention in CPR1000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Xing; Zhang Shishun; Lin Jiming

2011-01-01

The In-Vessel corium Retention (IVR) strategy of Chinese 1000 MW class commercial pressurized water reactor (CPR1000) is assessed by Risk-Oriented Accident Analysis Methodology (ROAAM). Four representative severe accident scenarios are selected for the IVR assessment in this paper. According to four representative severe accident scenarios consequence calculated by the deterministic code combined with engineering judgment, the input probability distribution of the assessment is determined. Success probability of IVR from the viewpoint of thermal failure is then predicted using MOPOL code. MOPOL is a code developed basing on the well known ROAAM frame and heat transfer model of corium. It is demonstrated that the success probability of IVR by Reactor Cavity Flooding in CPR1000 is potentially higher than 99%. Application of IVR strategy in CPR1000 is envisioned probable if a further more comprehensive risk-benefit evaluation conclusion is positive. (authors)

Randomized Trial of a Family-based, Automated, Conversational Obesity Treatment Program for Underserved Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, J. A.; Phillips, B.D.; Watson, B.L.; Newby, P.K.; Norman, G. J.; Adams, W.G.

2013-01-01

Objective To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a scalable obesity treatment program integrated with pediatric primary care and delivered using interactive voice technology (IVR) to families from underserved populations. Design and Methods Fifty parent-child dyads (child 9–12 yrs, BMI >95th percentile) were recruited from a pediatric primary care clinic and randomized to either an IVR or a wait-list control (WLC) group. The majority were lower-income, African-American (72%) families. Dyads received IVR calls for 12 weeks. Call content was informed by two evidenced-based interventions. Anthropometric and behavioral variables were assessed at baseline and 3 mo follow-up. Results Forty-three dyads completed the study. IVR parents ate 1 cup more fruit than WLC (p 75% agreed that the calls were useful, made for people like them, credible, and helped them eat healthy foods. Conclusion An obesity treatment program delivered via IVR may be an acceptable and feasible resource for families from underserved populations. PMID:23512915

Using interactive voice response to improve disease management and compliance with acute coronary syndrome best practice guidelines: A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherrard, Heather; Duchesne, Lloyd; Wells, George; Kearns, Sharon Ann; Struthers, Christine

2015-01-01

There is evidence from large clinical trials that compliance with standardized best practice guidelines (BPGs) improves survival of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. However, their application is often suboptimal. In this study, the researchers evaluated whether the use of an interactive voice response (IVR) follow-up system improved ACS BPG compliance. This was a single-centre randomized control trial (RCT) of 1,608 patients (IVR=803; usual care=805). The IVR group received five automated calls in 12 months. The primary composite outcome was increased medication compliance and decreased adverse events. A significant improvement of 60% in the IVR group for the primary composite outcome was found (RR 1.60, 95% CI: 1.29 to 2.00, p <0.001). There was significant improvement in medication compliance (p <0.001) and decrease in unplanned medical visits (p = 0.023). At one year, the majority of patients ( 85%) responded positively to using the system again. Follow-up by IVR produced positive outcomes in ACS patients.

On the nature of intramolecular vibrational energy transfer in dense molecular environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benten, Rebekka S. von [Institut fuer Physikalische Chemie der Universitaet Goettingen, Tammannstrasse 6, D-37077 Goettingen (Germany); Abel, Bernd, E-mail: Bernd.Abel@uni-lepzig.de [Wilhelm-Ostwald-Institut fuer Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universitaet Leipzig, Linne-Strasse 2, D-04103 Leipzig (Germany)

2010-12-09

Graphical abstract: Mechanisms of IVR in multi-tiers of intramolecular energy levels in different molecular environments are investigated. - Abstract: Transient femtosecond-IR-pump-UV-absorption probe-spectroscopy has been employed to shed light on the nature of intramolecular vibrational energy transfer (IVR) in dense molecular environments ranging from the diluted gas phase to the liquid. A general feature in our experiments and those of others is that IVR proceeds via multiple timescales if overtones or combination vibrations of high frequency modes are excited. It has been found that collisions enhance IVR if its (slower) timescales can compete with collisions. This enhancement is, however, much more weaker and rather inefficient as opposed to the effect of collisions on intermolecular energy transfer which is well known. In a series of experiments we found that IVR depends not significantly on the average energy transferred in a collision but rather on the number of collisions. The collisions are much less efficient in affecting IVR than VET. We conclude that collision induced broadening of vibrational energy levels reduces the energy gaps and enhances existing couplings between tiers. The present results are an important step forward to rationalize and understand apparently different and not consistent results from different groups on different molecular systems between gas and liquid phases.

Interactive Voice Response-Based Self-management for Chronic Back Pain: The COPES Noninferiority Randomized Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Heapy, Alicia A; Higgins, Diana M; Goulet, Joseph L; LaChappelle, Kathryn M; Driscoll, Mary A; Czlapinski, Rebecca A; Buta, Eugenia; Piette, John D; Krein, Sarah L; Kerns, Robert D

2017-06-01

Recommendations for chronic pain treatment emphasize multimodal approaches, including nonpharmacologic interventions to enhance self-management. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that facilitates management of chronic pain and improves outcomes, but access barriers persist. Cognitive behavioral therapy delivery assisted by health technology can obviate the need for in-person visits, but the effectiveness of this alternative to standard therapy is unknown. The Cooperative Pain Education and Self-management (COPES) trial was a randomized, noninferiority trial comparing IVR-CBT to in-person CBT for patients with chronic back pain. To assess the efficacy of interactive voice response-based CBT (IVR-CBT) relative to in-person CBT for chronic back pain. We conducted a noninferiority randomized trial in 1 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system. A total of 125 patients with chronic back pain were equally allocated to IVR-CBT (n = 62) or in-person CBT (n = 63). Patients treated with IVR-CBT received a self-help manual and weekly prerecorded therapist feedback based on their IVR-reported activity, coping skill practice, and pain outcomes. In-person CBT included weekly, individual CBT sessions with a therapist. Participants in both conditions received IVR monitoring of pain, sleep, activity levels, and pain coping skill practice during treatment. The primary outcome was change from baseline to 3 months in unblinded patient report of average pain intensity measured by the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Secondary outcomes included changes in pain-related interference, physical and emotional functioning, sleep quality, and quality of life at 3, 6, and 9 months. We also examined treatment retention. Of the 125 patients (97 men, 28 women; mean [SD] age, 57.9 [11.6] years), the adjusted average reduction in NRS with IVR-CBT (-0.77) was similar to in-person CBT (-0.84), with the 95% CI for the difference between groups (-0.67 to 0

TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING OF LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF A FIBROUS RING OF MITRAL VALVE DURING ISOVOLUMIC PERIODS IN LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY

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B. Amarjagal

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To study change of rate and duration indicators of longitudinal movement of a fibrous ring of mitral valve (MFR during isovolumic contraction (IVC and relaxation (IVR in hypertensive patients with various degree of a left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH.Material and methods. 80 hypertensive patients with moderate LVH (n=40 and severe LVH (n=40 are examined. The control group was presented by 30 healthy volunteers. Transthoracic echocardiography and Tissue Doppler imaging has been performed with ultrasonic tomograph “HDI 5000” (Philips.Results. Increase in LVH (Smm and Е/Еmm associates with reduction in systolic velocity of movement of medial MFR (Smm. There is direct relation with duration of IVC-negative and IVR-positive components and myocardium mass index. Maximal velocity of IVC-positive component increases and maximal velocity of IVR-negative component decreases when LVH is growing.Conclusion. Velocities curves of IVC and IVR were bi-phase both in healthy persons and in hypertensive patients with LVH. Velocity and duration of positive and negative components of IVC and IVR depended on LVH degree.

TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING OF LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF A FIBROUS RING OF MITRAL VALVE DURING ISOVOLUMIC PERIODS IN LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Amarjagal

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Aim. To study change of rate and duration indicators of longitudinal movement of a fibrous ring of mitral valve (MFR during isovolumic contraction (IVC and relaxation (IVR in hypertensive patients with various degree of a left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH.Material and methods. 80 hypertensive patients with moderate LVH (n=40 and severe LVH (n=40 are examined. The control group was presented by 30 healthy volunteers. Transthoracic echocardiography and Tissue Doppler imaging has been performed with ultrasonic tomograph “HDI 5000” (Philips.Results. Increase in LVH (Smm and Е/Еmm associates with reduction in systolic velocity of movement of medial MFR (Smm. There is direct relation with duration of IVC-negative and IVR-positive components and myocardium mass index. Maximal velocity of IVC-positive component increases and maximal velocity of IVR-negative component decreases when LVH is growing.Conclusion. Velocities curves of IVC and IVR were bi-phase both in healthy persons and in hypertensive patients with LVH. Velocity and duration of positive and negative components of IVC and IVR depended on LVH degree.

In-Vessel Retention Modeling Capabilities of SCDAP/RELAP5-3DC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knudson, D.L.; Rempe, J.L.

2002-01-01

Molten core materials may relocate to the lower head of a reactor vessel in the latter stages of a severe accident. Under such circumstances, in-vessel retention (IVR) of the molten materials is a vital step in mitigating potential severe accident consequences. Whether IVR occurs depends on the interactions of a number of complex processes including heat transfer inside the accumulated molten pool, heat transfer from the molten pool to the reactor vessel (and to overlying fluids), and heat transfer from exterior vessel surfaces. SCDAP/RELAP5-3D C has been developed at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to facilitate simulation of the processes affecting the potential for IVR, as well as processes involved in a wide variety of other reactor transients. In this paper, current capabilities of SCDAP/RELAP5-3D C relative to IVR modeling are described and results from typical applications are provided. In addition, anticipated developments to enhance IVR simulation with SCDAP/RELAP5-3D C are outlined. (authors)

A novel intravaginal ring to prevent HIV-1, HSV-2, HPV, and unintended pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ugaonkar, Shweta R; Wesenberg, Asa; Wilk, Jolanta; Seidor, Samantha; Mizenina, Olga; Kizima, Larisa; Rodriguez, Aixa; Zhang, Shimin; Levendosky, Keith; Kenney, Jessica; Aravantinou, Meropi; Derby, Nina; Grasperge, Brooke; Gettie, Agegnehu; Blanchard, James; Kumar, Narender; Roberts, Kevin; Robbiani, Melissa; Fernández-Romero, José A; Zydowsky, Thomas M

2015-09-10

Women urgently need a self-initiated, multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) that simultaneously reduces their risk of acquiring HIV-1, HSV-2, and HPV (latter two associated with increased risk of HIV-1 acquisition) and prevents unintended pregnancy. Here, we describe a novel core-matrix intravaginal ring (IVR), the MZCL IVR, which effectively delivered the MZC combination microbicide and a contraceptive. The MZCL IVR contains four active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs): MIV-150 (targets HIV-1), zinc acetate (ZA; targets HIV-1 and HSV-2), carrageenan (CG; targets HPV and HSV-2), and levonorgestrel (LNG; targets unintended pregnancy). The elastomeric IVR body (matrix) was produced by hot melt extrusion of the non-water swellable elastomer, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA-28), containing the hydrophobic small molecules, MIV-150 and LNG. The solid hydrophilic core, embedded within the IVR by compression, contained the small molecule ZA and the macromolecule CG. Hydrated ZA/CG from the core was released by diffusion via a pore on the IVR while the MIV-150/LNG diffused from the matrix continuously for 94 days (d) in vitro and up to 28 d (study period) in macaques. The APIs released in vitro and in vivo were active against HIV-1ADA-M, HSV-2, and HPV16 PsV in cell-based assays. Serum LNG was at levels associated with local contraceptive effects. The results demonstrate proof-of-concept of a novel core-matrix IVR for sustained and simultaneous delivery of diverse molecules for the prevention of HIV, HSV-2 and HPV acquisition, as well as unintended pregnancy. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intravitreal ranibizumab injection combined trabeculectomy versus Ahmed valve surgery in the treatment of neovascular glaucoma: assessment of efficacy and complications.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lan; Xu, Yongfeng; Huang, Zhu; Wang, Xiaoyu

2016-05-26

Researches have shown anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent is effective in treating neovascular eye diseases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) injection combined trabeculectomy in the treatment of neovascular glaucoma (NVG), and compared it with Ahmed valve surgery. Thirty-six NVG patients (37 eyes) from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang medical college, between January 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015, were included in this prospective, interventional clinical study. Eighteen NVG eyes were given IVR injection one week before trabeculectomy. Ahmed valve implantation surgery was performed in nineteen eyes. Ocular pain, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP) and surgical complications were evaluated before and after the surgery. IOP was significantly decreased following IVR injection combined trabeculectomy treatment (baseline 57.1 ± 8.9 mmHg; week 1, 15.2 ± 4.3 mmHg p = 0.000; month 1, 16.9 ± 2.1 mmHg p = 0.000; month 3, 20.3 ± 7.7 mmHg p = 0.000; month 6, 19.7 ± 7.3 mmHg p = 0.000). There was a significant, though modest, BCVA improvement in sighted eyes of IVR group (baseline 2.42 ± 0.68, W1 1.80 ± 0.91, P = 0.013; M1 1.77 ± 0.93, p = 0.011). IVR injection combined trabeculectomy had less postoperative complications and lower failure ratio than Ahmed surgery (IVR 5.6 %, Ahmed 31.6 %). The study revealed that IVR injection combined trabeculectomy was an effective and safe treatment for NVG. Compared with Ahmed surgery, IVR injection combined trabeculectomy had less complications and higher success ratio. (Chinese Clinical Registry, TRN ChiCTR-OPN-16008147, 3/24/2016, retrospectively registered).

User evaluations offer promise for pod-intravaginal ring as a drug delivery platform: A mixed methods study of acceptability and use experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Guthrie, Kate M; Rosen, Rochelle K; Vargas, Sara E; Getz, Melissa L; Dawson, Lauren; Guillen, Melissa; Ramirez, Jaime J; Baum, Marc M; Vincent, Kathleen L

2018-01-01

Effective HIV prevention requires efficient delivery of safe and efficacious drugs and optimization of user adherence. The user's experiences with the drug, delivery system, and use parameters are critical to product acceptability and adherence. Prevention product developers have the opportunity to directly control a drug delivery system and its impact on acceptability and adherence, as well as product efficacy. Involvement of potential users during preclinical design and development can facilitate this process. We embedded a mixed methods user evaluation study into a safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) trial of a pod-intravaginal ring delivering antiretroviral agents. Women enrolled in two cohorts, ultimately evaluating the safety/PK of a pod-IVRs delivering TDF-alone, TDF-FTC, and/or TDF-FTC-MVC. A 7-day use period was targeted for each pod-IVR, regardless of drug or drug combination. During the clinical study, participants provided both quantitative (i.e., survey) and qualitative (i.e., in-depth interview) data capturing acceptability, perceptibility, and adherence behaviors. Initial sexual and reproductive health history surveys, daily diaries, a final acceptability and willingness to use survey, and a qualitative in-depth interview comprised the user evaluation data for each pod-IVR experienced by the participants. Overall, the majority of participants (N = 10) reported being willing to use the pod-IVR platform for HIV prevention should it advance to market. Confidence to use the pod-IVR (e.g., insertion, removal) was high. There were no differences noted in the user experience of the pod-IVR platform; that is, whether the ring delivered TDF-alone, TDF-FTC, or TDF-FTC-MVC, users' experiences of the ring were similar and acceptable. Participants did report specific experiences, both sensory and behavioral, that impacted their use behaviors with respect to the ring, and which could ultimately impact acceptability and adherence. These experiences, and user

Effect of in-core instrumentation mounting location on external reactor vessel cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, Jungsoo; Ha, Huiun

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Numerical simulations were conducted for the evaluation of an IVR-ERVC application. • The ULPU-V experiment was simulated for the validation of numerical method. • The effect of ICI mounting location on an IVR-ERVC application was investigated. • TM-ICI is founded to be superior to BM-ICI for successful application of IVR-ERVC. - Abstract: The effect of in-core instrumentation (ICI) mounting location on the application of in-vessel corium retention through external reactor vessel cooling (IVR-ERVC), used to mitigate severe accidents in which the nuclear fuel inside the reactor vessel becomes molten, was investigated. Numerical simulations of the subcooled boiling flow within an advanced pressurized-water reactor (PWR) in IVR-ERVC applications were conducted for the cases of top-mounted ICI (TM-ICI) and bottom-mounted ICI (BM-ICI), using the commercially available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS-CFX. Shear stress transport (SST) and the RPI model were used for turbulence closure and subcooled flow boiling, respectively. To validate the numerical method for IVR applications, numerical simulations of ULPU-V experiments were also conducted. The BM-ICI reactor vessel was modeled using a simplified design of an advanced PWR with BM-ICI; the TM-ICI counterpart was modeled by removing the ICI parts from the original geometry. It was found that TM-ICI was superior to BM-ICI for successful application of IVR-ERVC. For the BM-ICI case, the flow field was complicated because of the existence of ICIs and a significant temperature gradient was observed near the ICI nozzles on the lower part of the reactor vessel, where the ICIs were attached. These observations suggest that the existence of ICI below the reactor vessel hinders reactor vessel cooling.

An investigation of users' attitudes, requirements and willingness to use mobile phone-based interactive voice response systems for seeking healthcare in Ghana: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brinkel, J; Dako-Gyeke, P; Krämer, A; May, J; Fobil, J N

2017-03-01

In implementing mobile health interventions, user requirements and willingness to use are among the most crucial concerns for success of the investigation and have only rarely been examined in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to specify the requirements of caregivers of children in order to use a symptom-based interactive voice response (IVR) system for seeking healthcare. This included (i) the investigation of attitudes towards mobile phone use and user experiences and (ii) the assessment of facilitators and challenges to use the IVR system. This is a population-based cross-sectional study. Four qualitative focus group discussions were conducted in peri-urban and rural towns in Shai Osudoku and Ga West district, as well as in Tema- and Accra Metropolitan Assembly. Participants included male and female caregivers of at least one child between 0 and 10 years of age. A qualitative content analysis was conducted for data analysis. Participants showed a positive attitude towards the use of mobile phones for seeking healthcare. While no previous experience in using IVR for health information was reported, the majority of participants stated that it offers a huge advantage for improvement in health performance. Barriers to IVR use included concerns about costs, lack of familiarly with the technology, social barriers such as lack of human interaction and infrastructural challenges. The establishment of a toll-free number as well as training prior to IVR system was discussed for recommendation. This study suggests that caregivers in the socio-economic environment of Ghana are interested and willing to use mobile phone-based IVR to receive health information for child healthcare. Important identified users' needs should be considered by health programme implementers and policy makers to help facilitate the development and implementation of IVR systems in the field of seeking healthcare. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Spinal mechanism of micturition reflex inhibition by naftopidil in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugaya, Kimio; Nishijima, Saori; Kadekawa, Katsumi; Ashitomi, Katsuhiro; Ueda, Tomoyuki; Yamamoto, Hideyuki

2014-10-29

We investigated the spinal mechanism through which naftopidil inhibits the micturition reflex by comparing the effects of noradrenaline and naftopidil in rats. The following were investigated: the influence of oral naftopidil on plasma monoamine and amino acid levels, the distribution of oral 14C-naftopidil, the effects of intravenous (IV) or intrathecal (IT) injection of noradrenaline or naftopidil on isovolumetric bladder contractions, amino acid levels in the lumbosacral spinal cord after IT noradrenaline or naftopidil, and the effects of IT naftopidil and strychnine and/or bicuculline on isovolumetric bladder contractions. Oral naftopidil decreased the plasma adrenaline level, while it increased the serotonin and glycine levels. After oral administration, 14C-naftopidil was detected in the spinal cord and cerebrum, as well as in plasma and the prostate gland. When the bladder volume was below the threshold for isovolumetric reflex contractions, IV (0.1mg) or IT (0.1μg) noradrenaline evoked bladder contractions, but IV (1mg) or IT (0.01-1μg) naftopidil did not. When the bladder volume was above the threshold for isovolumetric reflex contractions, IV or IT noradrenaline transiently abolished bladder contractions. IT noradrenaline decreased the levels of glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the lumbosacral cord, while IT naftopidil increased the GABA level. IT strychnine and/or bicuculline blocked the inhibitory effect of IT naftopidil on bladder contractions. Naftopidil inhibits the micturition reflex by blocking α1 receptors, as well as by the activation of serotonergic, glycinergic, and GABAergic neurons in the central nervous system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An intravaginal ring that releases the NNRTI MIV-150 reduces SHIV transmission in macaques.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Rachel; Mawson, Paul; Derby, Nina; Rodriguez, Aixa; Kizima, Larisa; Menon, Radhika; Goldman, Daniel; Kenney, Jessica; Aravantinou, Meropi; Seidor, Samantha; Gettie, Agegnehu; Blanchard, James; Piatak, Michael; Lifson, Jeffrey D; Fernández-Romero, José A; Robbiani, Melissa; Zydowsky, Thomas M

2012-09-05

Microbicides may prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in women; however, determining the optimal means of delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients remains a major challenge. We previously demonstrated that a vaginal gel containing the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor MIV-150 partially protected macaques from SHIV-RT (simian/HIV reverse transcriptase) infection, and the addition of zinc acetate rendered the gel significantly protective. We test the activity of MIV-150 without the addition of zinc acetate when delivered from either ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) or silicone intravaginal rings (IVRs). MIV-150 was successfully delivered, because it was detected in vaginal fluids and tissues by radioimmunoassay in pharmacokinetic studies. Moreover, EVA IVRs significantly protected macaques from SHIV-RT infection. Our results demonstrate that MIV-150-containing IVRs have the potential to prevent HIV infection and highlight the possible use of IVRs for delivering drugs that block HIV and other STIs.

Diagnostic Ureteroscopy Prior to Radical Nephroureterectomy for Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Increased the Risk of Intravesical Recurrence.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Ping; Xie, Nan; Yang, Lu; Liu, Liangren; Tang, Zhuang; Wei, Qiang

2018-01-01

To assess the impact of diagnostic ureteroscopy (URS) prior to radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) on intravesical recurrence (IVR) in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). A systematic literature search of the Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane library was performed in August 2017. Cumulative analyses of available hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% CI were conducted using Stata version 12.0. Eleven studies including 4,057 participants were included, with a total of 1,403 patients diagnosed with IVR during the follow-up period. The pooled HRs of eight studies suggested that diagnostic URS prior to RNU significantly increased the IVR risk after RNU (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.31-1.77; p guides decisions in UTUC, more future studies should be performed to find a novel way to mitigate the potential risk of IVR after RNU, such as chemoprophylaxis after endoscopy. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

NETUPITANT, A POTENT AND HIGHLY SELECTIVE NK1 RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST, ALLEVIATES ACETIC ACID-INDUCED BLADDER OVERACTIVITY IN ANESTHETIZED GUINEA-PIGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Palea

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Tachykinins potently contract the isolated urinary bladder from a number of animal species and play an important role in the regulation of the micturition reflex. On the guinea-pig isolated urinary bladder we examined the effects of a new potent and selective NK1 receptor antagonist (netupitant on the contractions induced by a selective NK1 receptor agonist, SP-methylester (SP-OMe. Moreover, the effects of netupitant and another selective NK1 antagonist (L-733,060 were studied in anesthetized guinea-pigs using two experimental models, the isovolumetric bladder contractions and a model of bladder overactivity induced by intravesical administration of acetic acid (AA. Methods and Results. Detrusor muscle strips were mounted in 5 mL organ baths and isometric contractions to cumulative concentrations of SP-OME were recorded before and after incubation with increasing concentrations of netupitant. In anesthetized female guinea-pigs, reflex bladder activity was examined under isovolumetric conditions with the bladder distended with saline or during cystometry using intravesical infusion of acetic acid (AA. After a 30 min stabilization period, netupitant (0.1-3 mg/kg, i.v. or L-733,060 (3-10 mg/kg, i.v. were administered. In the detrusor muscle, netupitant produced a concentration-dependent inhibition (mean pKB = 9.24 of the responses to SP-OMe. Under isovolumetric conditions, netupitant or L-733,060 reduced bladder contraction frequency in a dose-dependent manner, but neither drug changed bladder contraction amplitude. In the AA model, netupitant dose-dependently increased intercontraction interval (ICI but had no effect on the amplitude of micturition (AM. L-733,060 dose-dependently increased ICI also but this effect was paralleled by a significant reduction of AM. Conclusion. Netupitant decreases the frequency of reflex bladder contractions without altering their amplitude, suggesting that this drug targets the afferent limb of the

Linearized semiclassical initial value time correlation functions with maximum entropy analytic continuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jian; Miller, William H

2008-09-28

The maximum entropy analytic continuation (MEAC) method is used to extend the range of accuracy of the linearized semiclassical initial value representation (LSC-IVR)/classical Wigner approximation for real time correlation functions. LSC-IVR provides a very effective "prior" for the MEAC procedure since it is very good for short times, exact for all time and temperature for harmonic potentials (even for correlation functions of nonlinear operators), and becomes exact in the classical high temperature limit. This combined MEAC+LSC/IVR approach is applied here to two highly nonlinear dynamical systems, a pure quartic potential in one dimensional and liquid para-hydrogen at two thermal state points (25 and 14 K under nearly zero external pressure). The former example shows the MEAC procedure to be a very significant enhancement of the LSC-IVR for correlation functions of both linear and nonlinear operators, and especially at low temperature where semiclassical approximations are least accurate. For liquid para-hydrogen, the LSC-IVR is seen already to be excellent at T=25 K, but the MEAC procedure produces a significant correction at the lower temperature (T=14 K). Comparisons are also made as to how the MEAC procedure is able to provide corrections for other trajectory-based dynamical approximations when used as priors.

Zero point energy leakage in condensed phase dynamics: An assessment of quantum simulation methods for liquid water

Science.gov (United States)

Habershon, Scott; Manolopoulos, David E.

2009-12-01

The approximate quantum mechanical ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) and linearized semiclassical initial value representation (LSC-IVR) methods are compared and contrasted in a study of the dynamics of the flexible q-TIP4P/F water model at room temperature. For this water model, a RPMD simulation gives a diffusion coefficient that is only a few percent larger than the classical diffusion coefficient, whereas a LSC-IVR simulation gives a diffusion coefficient that is three times larger. We attribute this discrepancy to the unphysical leakage of initially quantized zero point energy (ZPE) from the intramolecular to the intermolecular modes of the liquid as the LSC-IVR simulation progresses. In spite of this problem, which is avoided by construction in RPMD, the LSC-IVR may still provide a useful approximation to certain short-time dynamical properties which are not so strongly affected by the ZPE leakage. We illustrate this with an application to the liquid water dipole absorption spectrum, for which the RPMD approximation breaks down at frequencies in the O-H stretching region owing to contamination from the internal modes of the ring polymer. The LSC-IVR does not suffer from this difficulty and it appears to provide quite a promising way to calculate condensed phase vibrational spectra.

Zero point energy leakage in condensed phase dynamics: an assessment of quantum simulation methods for liquid water.

Science.gov (United States)

Habershon, Scott; Manolopoulos, David E

2009-12-28

The approximate quantum mechanical ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) and linearized semiclassical initial value representation (LSC-IVR) methods are compared and contrasted in a study of the dynamics of the flexible q-TIP4P/F water model at room temperature. For this water model, a RPMD simulation gives a diffusion coefficient that is only a few percent larger than the classical diffusion coefficient, whereas a LSC-IVR simulation gives a diffusion coefficient that is three times larger. We attribute this discrepancy to the unphysical leakage of initially quantized zero point energy (ZPE) from the intramolecular to the intermolecular modes of the liquid as the LSC-IVR simulation progresses. In spite of this problem, which is avoided by construction in RPMD, the LSC-IVR may still provide a useful approximation to certain short-time dynamical properties which are not so strongly affected by the ZPE leakage. We illustrate this with an application to the liquid water dipole absorption spectrum, for which the RPMD approximation breaks down at frequencies in the O-H stretching region owing to contamination from the internal modes of the ring polymer. The LSC-IVR does not suffer from this difficulty and it appears to provide quite a promising way to calculate condensed phase vibrational spectra.

Compartmental transport model of microbicide delivery by an intravaginal ring

Science.gov (United States)

Geonnotti, Anthony R.; Katz, David F.

2010-01-01

Topical antimicrobials, or microbicides, are being developed to prevent HIV transmission through local, mucosal delivery of antiviral compounds. While hydrogel vehicles deliver the majority of current microbicide products, intravaginal rings (IVRs) are an alternative microbicide modality in preclinical development. IVRs provide a long-term dosing alternative to hydrogel use, and might provide improved user adherence. IVR efficacy requires sustained delivery of antiviral compounds to the entire vaginal compartment. A two-dimensional, compartmental vaginal drug transport model was created to evaluate the delivery of drugs from an intravaginal ring. The model utilized MRI-derived ring geometry and location, experimentally defined ring fluxes and vaginal fluid velocities, and biophysically relevant transport theory. Model outputs indicated the presence of potentially inhibitory concentrations of antiviral compounds along the entire vaginal canal within 24 hours following IVR insertion. Distributions of inhibitory concentrations of antiviral compounds were substantially influenced by vaginal fluid flow and production, while showing little change due to changes in diffusion coefficients or ring fluxes. Additionally, model results were predictive of in vivo concentrations obtained in clinical trials. Overall, this analysis initiates a mechanistic computational framework, heretofore missing, to understand and evaluate the potential of IVRs for effective delivery of antiviral compounds. PMID:20222027

Walking Without Moving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Niels Chr.

Recent technological advances may soon bring immersive virtual reality (IVR) out of the laboratory and into the homes of consumers. This means that IVR systems will be deployed in settings where the physical interaction space is very limited in size. If users wish to navigate virtual environments...

Development of DIGITEXαPlus digital angiographic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imanishi, Tetsuo; Miura, Yusuke; Sasaki, Osamu; Furuyama, Makoto; Yasumi, Masayuki

2001-01-01

The functions required of digital angiographic (DA) systems have been noticeably changing with the recent popularization of the technique of interventional radiology (IVR) in the field of angiography. We have developed a new digital angiographic system, named the DIGITEXαPlus, which is designed to meet the requirements of the latest IVR technologies. The DIGITEXαPlus system is equipped with a high-performance one-million-pixel CCD camera, a newly developed F.P.O. (fluoro-power optimizer), and a contrast-priority radiography control system, which combine together to provide high quality of images both in fluoroscopy and in fluorography. In this new system, a low-dose pulsed fluoroscopy method, employed as standard, minimizes the X-ray doses to patients, and an image controller (IVR MASTER) of a joy stick type provides more diversified functions that its predecessors. These two features enhance the reliability, and simplifies the operation, of the IVR system as a whole. (author)

Air-water flow measurement for ERVC conditions by LIF/PIV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Jong Woong; Jeong, Yong Hoon

2016-01-01

Critical heat flux (CHF) of the external reactor vessel wall is a safety limit that indicate the integrity of the reactor vessel during the situation. Many research conducted CHF experiments in the IVR-ERVC conditions. However, the flow velocity field which is an important factor in the CHF mechanism were not studied enough in the IVR-ERVC situations. In this study, flow measurements including velocity vector field and the liquid velocity in the IVR-ERVC conditions were studied. The air-water two phase flow loop simulating IVRERVC conditions was set up and liquid velocity field was measured by LIF/PIV technique in this study. The experiment was conducted with and without air injection conditions. For the air-water flow experiment, liquid velocity at the outside of two phase boundary layer became higher and the two phase boundary layer thickness became smaller when the mass flux increases. The velocity data obtained in this study are expected to improve the CHF correlation in the IVR-ERVC situations.

Air-water flow measurement for ERVC conditions by LIF/PIV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Jong Woong; Jeong, Yong Hoon [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

Critical heat flux (CHF) of the external reactor vessel wall is a safety limit that indicate the integrity of the reactor vessel during the situation. Many research conducted CHF experiments in the IVR-ERVC conditions. However, the flow velocity field which is an important factor in the CHF mechanism were not studied enough in the IVR-ERVC situations. In this study, flow measurements including velocity vector field and the liquid velocity in the IVR-ERVC conditions were studied. The air-water two phase flow loop simulating IVRERVC conditions was set up and liquid velocity field was measured by LIF/PIV technique in this study. The experiment was conducted with and without air injection conditions. For the air-water flow experiment, liquid velocity at the outside of two phase boundary layer became higher and the two phase boundary layer thickness became smaller when the mass flux increases. The velocity data obtained in this study are expected to improve the CHF correlation in the IVR-ERVC situations.

Development of real-time radiation exposure dosimetry system using synthetic ruby for interventional radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosokai, Yoshiyuki; Win, Thet Pe; Muroi, Kenzo; Matsumoto, Kenki; Takahashi, Kaito; Usui, Akihito; Saito, Haruo; Kozakai, Masataka

2017-01-01

Interventional radiology (IVR) tends to involve long procedures, consequently delivering high radiation doses to the patient. Radiation-induced injuries that occur because of the effect of the high radiation doses are a considerable problem for those performing IVR. For example, skin injuries can include skin erythema if the skin is exposed to radiation doses beyond the threshold level of 2 Gy. One of the reasons for this type of injury is that the local skin dose cannot be monitored in real time. Although there are systems employed to measure the exposure dose, some do not work in real time (such as thermoluminescence dosimeters and fluorescent glass dosimeters), while certain real-time measurement systems that enter the field of view (such as patient skin dosimeters and dosimeters using a nontoxic phosphor) interfere with IVR. However, synthetic ruby has been shown to emit light in response to radiation. The luminous wavelength is 693 nm. It is possible to monitor the radiation dose by detecting the emitted light. However, small synthetic rubies emit a tiny amount of light that is difficult to detect using common systems such as photodiodes. A large enough synthetic ruby to increase the quantity of emitted light would however enter the field of view and interfere with the IVR procedure. Additionally, although a photodiode system could reduce the system size, the data is susceptible to effects from the X-rays and outside temperature. Therefore, use of a sensitive photon counting system as used in nuclear medicine could potentially have a beneficial effect in detecting the weak light signal. A real-time radiation exposure dosimetry system for use in IVR should be sufficiently sensitive, not interfere with the IVR procedure, and ideally have the possibility of development into a system that can provide simultaneous multipoint measurements. This article discusses the development of a realtime radiation exposure dosimetry system for use in IVR that employs a small

Novel multipurpose pod-intravaginal ring for the prevention of HIV, HSV, and unintended pregnancy: Pharmacokinetic evaluation in a macaque model.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, James M; Moss, John A; Srinivasan, Priya; Butkyavichene, Irina; Gunawardana, Manjula; Fanter, Rob; Miller, Christine S; Sanchez, Debbie; Yang, Flora; Ellis, Shanon; Zhang, Jining; Marzinke, Mark A; Hendrix, Craig W; Kapoor, Amita; Baum, Marc M

2017-01-01

Globally, women bear an uneven burden for sexual HIV acquisition. Results from two clinical trials evaluating intravaginal rings (IVRs) delivering the antiretroviral agent dapivirine have shown that protection from HIV infection can be achieved with this modality, but high adherence is essential. Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) can potentially increase product adherence by offering protection against multiple vaginally transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. Here we describe a coitally independent, long-acting pod-IVR MPT that could potentially prevent HIV and HSV infection as well as unintended pregnancy. The pharmacokinetics of MPT pod-IVRs delivering tenofovir alafenamide hemifumarate (TAF2) to prevent HIV, acyclovir (ACV) to prevent HSV, and etonogestrel (ENG) in combination with ethinyl estradiol (EE), FDA-approved hormonal contraceptives, were evaluated in pigtailed macaques (N = 6) over 35 days. Pod IVRs were exchanged at 14 days with the only modification being lower ENG release rates in the second IVR. Plasma progesterone was monitored weekly to determine the effect of ENG/EE on menstrual cycle. The mean in vivo release rates (mg d-1) for the two formulations over 30 days ranged as follows: TAF2 0.35-0.40; ACV 0.56-0.70; EE 0.03-0.08; ENG (high releasing) 0.63; and ENG (low releasing) 0.05. Mean peak progesterone levels were 4.4 ± 1.8 ng mL-1 prior to IVR insertion and 0.075 ± 0.064 ng mL-1 for 5 weeks after insertion, suggesting that systemic EE/ENG levels were sufficient to suppress menstruation. The TAF2 and ACV release rates and resulting vaginal tissue drug concentrations (medians: TFV, 2.4 ng mg-1; ACV, 0.2 ng mg-1) may be sufficient to protect against HIV and HSV infection, respectively. This proof of principle study demonstrates that MPT-pod IVRs could serve as a potent biomedical prevention tool to protect women's sexual and reproductive health and may increase adherence to HIV PrEP even among younger high-risk populations.

Novel multipurpose pod-intravaginal ring for the prevention of HIV, HSV, and unintended pregnancy: Pharmacokinetic evaluation in a macaque model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James M Smith

Full Text Available Globally, women bear an uneven burden for sexual HIV acquisition. Results from two clinical trials evaluating intravaginal rings (IVRs delivering the antiretroviral agent dapivirine have shown that protection from HIV infection can be achieved with this modality, but high adherence is essential. Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs can potentially increase product adherence by offering protection against multiple vaginally transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. Here we describe a coitally independent, long-acting pod-IVR MPT that could potentially prevent HIV and HSV infection as well as unintended pregnancy. The pharmacokinetics of MPT pod-IVRs delivering tenofovir alafenamide hemifumarate (TAF2 to prevent HIV, acyclovir (ACV to prevent HSV, and etonogestrel (ENG in combination with ethinyl estradiol (EE, FDA-approved hormonal contraceptives, were evaluated in pigtailed macaques (N = 6 over 35 days. Pod IVRs were exchanged at 14 days with the only modification being lower ENG release rates in the second IVR. Plasma progesterone was monitored weekly to determine the effect of ENG/EE on menstrual cycle. The mean in vivo release rates (mg d-1 for the two formulations over 30 days ranged as follows: TAF2 0.35-0.40; ACV 0.56-0.70; EE 0.03-0.08; ENG (high releasing 0.63; and ENG (low releasing 0.05. Mean peak progesterone levels were 4.4 ± 1.8 ng mL-1 prior to IVR insertion and 0.075 ± 0.064 ng mL-1 for 5 weeks after insertion, suggesting that systemic EE/ENG levels were sufficient to suppress menstruation. The TAF2 and ACV release rates and resulting vaginal tissue drug concentrations (medians: TFV, 2.4 ng mg-1; ACV, 0.2 ng mg-1 may be sufficient to protect against HIV and HSV infection, respectively. This proof of principle study demonstrates that MPT-pod IVRs could serve as a potent biomedical prevention tool to protect women's sexual and reproductive health and may increase adherence to HIV PrEP even among younger high

A Framework for Aligning Instructional Design Strategies with Affordances of CAVE Immersive Virtual Reality Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ritz, Leah T.; Buss, Alan R.

2016-01-01

Increasing availability of immersive virtual reality (IVR) systems, such as the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) and head-mounted displays, for use in education contexts is providing new opportunities and challenges for instructional designers. By highlighting the affordances of IVR specific to the CAVE, the authors emphasize the…

Comparison of the effect between pegaptanib and ranibizumab on exudative age-related macular degeneration with small lesion size

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fujihara M

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Yoshihiro Nishimura1,2, Maiko Taguchi1, Takafumi Nagai1, Masashi Fujihara1,2, Shigeru Honda2, Mamoru Uenishi11Department of Ophthalmology, Mitsubishi Kobe Hospital, Kobe, Japan; 2Department of Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, JapanPurpose: To compare the effect of pegaptanib versus ranibizumab on exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD with small lesion size.Methods: This is a retrospective study of 81 eyes from 78 patients with exudative AMD treated and followed up over 12 months. Patients with baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA under 20/400 and with a greatest linear dimension of lesion over 4500 µm were excluded from the study. Twenty-six eyes from 25 patients were treated with three consecutive intravitreal injections of pegaptanib (IVP group and 55 eyes from 54 patients were treated with three consecutive ranibizumab injections (IVR group. Each therapy was repeated as needed. The alteration in BCVA was evaluated in the IVP and IVR groups.Results: No differences were detected in baseline parameters between the IVP and IVR groups. The mean BCVA (logMAR at month 1, 3, 6 and 12 after the initial treatment was improved from baseline in the IVP group (-0.095, -0.17, -0.18 and -0.18, respectively and in the IVR group (-0.077, -0.15, -0.17 and -0.11, respectively, which was statistically significant. There was no difference in the change in mean BCVA between IVP and IVR groups at the same time periods.Conclusions: The visual outcome of IVP was equivalent with IVR in exudative AMD with small lesion size.Keywords: pegaptanib, ranibizumab, age-related macular degeneration, small lesion size

Health and economic effects from linking bedside and outpatient tobacco cessation services for hospitalized smokers in two large hospitals: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Fellows, Jeffrey L; Mularski, Richard; Waiwaiole, Lisa; Funkhouser, Kim; Mitchell, Julie; Arnold, Kathleen; Luke, Sabrina

2012-08-01

Extended smoking cessation follow-up after hospital discharge significantly increases abstinence. Hospital smoke-free policies create a period of 'forced abstinence' for smokers, thus providing an opportunity to integrate tobacco dependence treatment, and to support post-discharge maintenance of hospital-acquired abstinence. This study is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1U01HL1053231). The Inpatient Technology-Supported Assisted Referral study is a multi-center, randomized clinical effectiveness trial being conducted at Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) and at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) hospitals in Portland, Oregon. The study assesses the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of linking a practical inpatient assisted referral to outpatient cessation services plus interactive voice recognition (AR + IVR) follow-up calls, compared to usual care inpatient counseling (UC). In November 2011, we began recruiting 900 hospital patients age ≥18 years who smoked ≥1 cigarettes in the past 30 days, willing to remain abstinent postdischarge, have a working phone, live within 50 miles of the hospital, speak English, and have no health-related barriers to participation. Each site will randomize 450 patients to AR + IVR or UC using a 2:1 assignment strategy. Participants in the AR + IVR arm will receive a brief inpatient cessation consult plus a referral to available outpatient cessation programs and medications, and four IVR follow-up calls over seven weeks postdischarge. Participants do not have to accept the referral. At KPNW, UC participants will receive brief inpatient counseling and encouragement to self-enroll in available outpatient services. The primary outcome is self-reported thirty-day smoking abstinence at six months postrandomization for AR + IVR participants compared to usual care. Additional outcomes include self-reported and biochemically confirmed seven-day abstinence at six months, self-reported seven

Health and economic effects from linking bedside and outpatient tobacco cessation services for hospitalized smokers in two large hospitals: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fellows Jeffrey L

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Extended smoking cessation follow-up after hospital discharge significantly increases abstinence. Hospital smoke-free policies create a period of ‘forced abstinence’ for smokers, thus providing an opportunity to integrate tobacco dependence treatment, and to support post-discharge maintenance of hospital-acquired abstinence. This study is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1U01HL1053231. Methods/Design The Inpatient Technology-Supported Assisted Referral study is a multi-center, randomized clinical effectiveness trial being conducted at Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW and at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU hospitals in Portland, Oregon. The study assesses the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of linking a practical inpatient assisted referral to outpatient cessation services plus interactive voice recognition (AR + IVR follow-up calls, compared to usual care inpatient counseling (UC. In November 2011, we began recruiting 900 hospital patients age ≥18 years who smoked ≥1 cigarettes in the past 30 days, willing to remain abstinent postdischarge, have a working phone, live within 50 miles of the hospital, speak English, and have no health-related barriers to participation. Each site will randomize 450 patients to AR + IVR or UC using a 2:1 assignment strategy. Participants in the AR + IVR arm will receive a brief inpatient cessation consult plus a referral to available outpatient cessation programs and medications, and four IVR follow-up calls over seven weeks postdischarge. Participants do not have to accept the referral. At KPNW, UC participants will receive brief inpatient counseling and encouragement to self-enroll in available outpatient services. The primary outcome is self-reported thirty-day smoking abstinence at six months postrandomization for AR + IVR participants compared to usual care. Additional outcomes include self-reported and biochemically confirmed

Modeling Cyclic Variation of Intracranial Pressure

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Daley, M

2001-01-01

...) recording during mechanical ventilation are due to cyclic extravascular compressional modulation primarily of the cerebral venous bed, an established isovolumetric model of cerebrospinal fluid...

Efficiency and safety of laser photocoagulation with or without intravitreal ranibizumab for treatment of diabetic macular edema: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tian-Wei Qian

2017-07-01

Full Text Available AIM: To compare the therapeutic effect and safety of laser photocoagulation along with intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR versus laser therapy in treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME. METHODS: Pertinent publications were identified through comprehensive searches of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify randomized clinical trials (RCTs comparing IVR+laser to laser monotherapy in patients with DME. Therapeutic effect estimates were determined by weighted mean differences (WMD of change from baseline in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA and central retinal thickness (CRT at 6, 12, or 24mo after initial treatment, and the risk ratios (RR for the proportions of patients with at least 10 letters of improvement or reduction at 12mo. Data regarding major ocular and nonocular adverse events (AEs were collected and analyzed. The Review Manager 5.3.5 was used. RESULTS: Six RCTs involving 2069 patients with DME were selected for this Meta-analysis. The results showed that IVR+laser significantly improved BCVA compared with laser at 6mo (WMD: 6.57; 95% CI: 4.37-8.77; P<0.00001, 12mo (WMD: 5.46; 95% CI: 4.35-6.58; P<0.00001, and 24mo (WMD: 3.42; 95% CI: 0.84-5.99; P=0.009 in patients with DME. IVR+laser was superior to laser in reducing CRT at 12mo from baseline with statistical significance (WMD: -63.46; 95% CI: -101.19 to -25.73; P=0.001. The pooled RR results showed that the proportions of patients with at least 10 letters of improvement or reduction were in favor of IVR+laser arms compared with laser (RR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.77-2.57; P<0.00001 and RR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.22-0.62; P=0.0002, respectively. As for AEs, the pooled results showed that a significantly higher proportion of patients suffering from conjunctival hemorrhage (study eye and diabetic retinal edema (fellow eye in IVR+laser group compared to laser group (RR: 3.29; 95% CI: 1.53-7.09; P=0.002 and RR: 3.02; 95% CI: 1.24-7.32; P=0.01, respectively. The

Nonadiabatic semiclassical dynamics in the mixed quantum-classical initial value representation

Science.gov (United States)

Church, Matthew S.; Hele, Timothy J. H.; Ezra, Gregory S.; Ananth, Nandini

2018-03-01

We extend the Mixed Quantum-Classical Initial Value Representation (MQC-IVR), a semiclassical method for computing real-time correlation functions, to electronically nonadiabatic systems using the Meyer-Miller-Stock-Thoss (MMST) Hamiltonian in order to treat electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom (dofs) within a consistent dynamic framework. We introduce an efficient symplectic integration scheme, the MInt algorithm, for numerical time evolution of the phase space variables and monodromy matrix under the non-separable MMST Hamiltonian. We then calculate the probability of transmission through a curve crossing in model two-level systems and show that MQC-IVR reproduces quantum-limit semiclassical results in good agreement with exact quantum methods in one limit, and in the other limit yields results that are in keeping with classical limit semiclassical methods like linearized IVR. Finally, exploiting the ability of the MQC-IVR to quantize different dofs to different extents, we present a detailed study of the extents to which quantizing the nuclear and electronic dofs improves numerical convergence properties without significant loss of accuracy.

Safety and availability of dapivirine (TMC120) delivered from an intravaginal ring.

Science.gov (United States)

Romano, J; Variano, B; Coplan, P; Van Roey, J; Douville, K; Rosenberg, Z; Temmerman, M; Verstraelen, H; Van Bortel, L; Weyers, S; Mitchnick, M

2009-05-01

Vaginal delivery of 200 mg or 25 mg dapivirine from intravaginal rings (IVRs) was evaluated over a 7-day period in two phase 1 safety trials (IPM001 and IPM008, respectively) in a total of 25 healthy women 19 to 46 years of age. The IVR was generally safe and well tolerated with similar adverse events observed in the placebo and dapivirine groups. Across both studies, dapivirine concentrations in vaginal fluids measured at the introitus, cervix, and ring area were within the mean range of 0.7-7.1 microg/ml. Mean dapivirine concentrations in vaginal and cervical tissues on day 7 were 0.3-0.7 microg/g in IPM001 and 1.5-3.5 microg/g in IPM008. Mean plasma concentrations of dapivirine were Dapivirine from both IVRs was successfully distributed throughout the lower genital tract at concentrations >1000x the EC(50) against wild-type HIV-1 (LAI) in MT4 cells suggesting that IVR delivery of microbicides is a viable option meriting further study.

In-Vessel Retention via External Reactor Cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bachrata, Andrea [CTU in Prague, Faculty of nuclear sciences and physical engineering, V Holesovickach 2 180 00, Prague 8 (Czech republic)

2008-07-01

In-vessel (corium) retention (IVR) via external reactor pressure vessel (RPV) cooling is considered to be an effective severe accident management strategy for corium localisation and stabilisation. The main idea of IVR strategy consists in flooding the reactor cavity and transferring the decay heat through the wall of RPV to the recirculating water and than to the atmosphere of the containment of nuclear power plant. The aim of this strategy is to localise and to stabilise the corium inside the RPV. Not using this procedure could destroy the integrity of RPV and might cause the interaction of the corium with the concrete at the bed of the reactor cavity. Several experimental facilities and computer codes (MVITA, ASTEC module DIVA and CFD codes) were applied to simulate the IVR strategy for concrete reactor designs. The necessary technical modifications concerning the implementation of IVR concept were applied at the Loviisa NPP (VVER-440/V213). This strategy is also an important part of the advanced reactor designs AP600 and AP1000. (authors)

Present status of brain intravascular surgery and reduction of exposure dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Kunihiko

1999-01-01

Many successful results have been obtained during the progress of angiography of which purpose has been changing from diagnosis to interventional radiography (IVR). The problem involved in IVR is the serious exposure to patients and operating staff. In the field of brain neurosurgery, use of IVR is expanding: e.g., for embolization of sick vasculature, for percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and for intra-arterial administration of therapeutic agents. When the skin doses were measured with thermoluminescence dosimeter (LiF), 409.9 and 2654.4 mGy of exposure were found in cases of 17 diagnoses and 17 IVR, respectively. Reduction of exposure was examined and discussed with angiography QC phantom and testing chart under various imaging conditions. Reduction could be attainable by reduction of fluoroscopy pulse rate and flame, and use of expanding function and filter. For protection of staff, scattering radiation doses and effects of shielding were examined with phantoms and ionization chamber survey meters to see the distribution of the radiation. For protection, it was important to make narrow the irradiation field and to use the shielding tools. (K.H.)

Intravitreal anti-VEGF injection for the treatment of progressive juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma: a case report and mini review of the literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chelala E

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Elias Chelala, Ali Dirani, Ali Fadlallah Saint-Joseph University, Faculty of Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon Abstract: We report a case of a patient known to have a von Hippel–Lindau disease with documented progressive juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma (JRCH with well-preserved visual acuity (VA and visual field (VF. The patient received a single injection of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR. Six months after IVR injection, the JRCH showed reduced vascularization, fibrosis, and mild shrinkage, and VA and VF remained unchanged. IVR therapy might therefore be considered as an alternative treatment for progressive JRCH, especially in patients with well-preserved VA and VF. Keywords: juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma, intravitreal anti-VEGF injection, von Hippel–Lindau disease

Time-dependent importance sampling in semiclassical initial value representation calculations for time correlation functions. II. A simplified implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Guohua; Miller, William H

2012-09-28

An efficient time-dependent (TD) Monte Carlo (MC) importance sampling method has recently been developed [G. Tao and W. H. Miller, J. Chem. Phys. 135, 024104 (2011)] for the evaluation of time correlation functions using the semiclassical (SC) initial value representation (IVR) methodology. In this TD-SC-IVR method, the MC sampling uses information from both time-evolved phase points as well as their initial values, and only the "important" trajectories are sampled frequently. Even though the TD-SC-IVR was shown in some benchmark examples to be much more efficient than the traditional time-independent sampling method (which uses only initial conditions), the calculation of the SC prefactor-which is computationally expensive, especially for large systems-is still required for accepted trajectories. In the present work, we present an approximate implementation of the TD-SC-IVR method that is completely prefactor-free; it gives the time correlation function as a classical-like magnitude function multiplied by a phase function. Application of this approach to flux-flux correlation functions (which yield reaction rate constants) for the benchmark H + H(2) system shows very good agreement with exact quantum results. Limitations of the approximate approach are also discussed.

A rapid evidence assessment of immersive virtual reality as an adjunct therapy in acute pain management in clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, Bernie; Taverner, Tarnia; Masinde, Wendy; Gromala, Diane; Shaw, Chris; Negraeff, Michael

2014-12-01

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) therapy has been explored as an adjunct therapy for the management of acute pain among children and adults for several conditions. Therapeutic approaches have traditionally involved medication and physiotherapy but such approaches are limited over time by their cost and side effects. This review seeks to critically evaluate the evidence for and against IVR as an adjunctive therapy for acute clinical pain applications. A rapid evidence assessment (REA) strategy was used. CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and the Cochrane Library databases were screened in from December 2012 to March 2013 to identify studies exploring IVR therapies as an intervention to assist in the management of pain. Main outcome measures were for acute pain and functional impairment. Seventeen research studies were included in total including 5 RCTs, 6 randomized crossover studies, 2 case series studies, and 4 single-patient case studies. This included a total of 337 patients. Of these studies only 4 had a low risk of bias. There was strong overall evidence for immediate and short-term pain reduction, whereas moderate evidence was found for short-term effects on physical function. Little evidence exists for longer-term benefits. IVR was not associated with any serious adverse events. This review found moderate evidence for the reduction of pain and functional impairment after IVR in patients with acute pain. Further high-quality studies are required for the conclusive judgment of its effectiveness in acute pain, to establish potential benefits for chronic pain, and for safety.

Verification of radiation exposure using lead shields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashida, Keiichi; Yamamoto, Kenyu; Azuma, Masami

2016-01-01

A long time use of radiation during IVR (intervention radiology) treatment leads up to an increased exposure on IVR operator. In order to prepare good environment for the operator to work without worry about exposure, the authors examined exposure reduction with the shields attached to the angiography instrument, i. e. lead curtain and lead glass. In this study, the lumber spine phantom was radiated using the instrument and the radiation leaked outside with and without shields was measured by the ionization chamber type survey meter. The meter was placed at the position which was considered to be that for IVR operator, and changed vertically 20-100 cm above X-ray focus by 10 cm interval. The radiation at the position of 80 cm above X-ray focus was maximum without shield and was hardly reduced with lead curtain. However, it was reduced with lead curtain plus lead glass. Similar reduction effects were observed at the position of 90-100 cm above X-ray focus. On the other hand, the radiation at the position of 70 cm above X-ray focus was not reduced with either shield, because that position corresponded to the gap between lead curtain and lead glass. The radiation at the position of 20-60 cm above X-ray focus was reduced with lead curtain, even if without lead glass. These results show that lead curtain and lead glass attached to the instrument can reduce the radiation exposure on IVR operator. Using these shields is considered to be one of good means for IVR operator to work safely. (author)

Quantum Dynamical Behaviour in Complex Systems - A Semiclassical Approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ananth, Nandini [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2008-01-01

One of the biggest challenges in Chemical Dynamics is describing the behavior of complex systems accurately. Classical MD simulations have evolved to a point where calculations involving thousands of atoms are routinely carried out. Capturing coherence, tunneling and other such quantum effects for these systems, however, has proven considerably harder. Semiclassical methods such as the Initial Value Representation (SC-IVR) provide a practical way to include quantum effects while still utilizing only classical trajectory information. For smaller systems, this method has been proven to be most effective, encouraging the hope that it can be extended to deal with a large number of degrees of freedom. Several variations upon the original idea of the SCIVR have been developed to help make these larger calculations more tractable; these range from the simplest, classical limit form, the Linearized IVR (LSC-IVR) to the quantum limit form, the Exact Forward-Backward version (EFB-IVR). In this thesis a method to tune between these limits is described which allows us to choose exactly which degrees of freedom we wish to treat in a more quantum mechanical fashion and to what extent. This formulation is called the Tuning IVR (TIVR). We further describe methodology being developed to evaluate the prefactor term that appears in the IVR formalism. The regular prefactor is composed of the Monodromy matrices (jacobians of the transformation from initial to finial coordinates and momenta) which are time evolved using the Hessian. Standard MD simulations require the potential surfaces and their gradients, but very rarely is there any information on the second derivative. We would like to be able to carry out the SC-IVR calculation without this information too. With this in mind a finite difference scheme to obtain the Hessian on-the-fly is proposed. Wealso apply the IVR formalism to a few problems of current interest. A method to obtain energy eigenvalues accurately for complex

GENOME-ENABLED DISCOVERY OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION GENES IN POPLAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DAVIS J M

2007-10-11

Plants utilize carbon by partitioning the reduced carbon obtained through photosynthesis into different compartments and into different chemistries within a cell and subsequently allocating such carbon to sink tissues throughout the plant. Since the phytohormones auxin and cytokinin are known to influence sink strength in tissues such as roots (Skoog & Miller 1957, Nordstrom et al. 2004), we hypothesized that altering the expression of genes that regulate auxin-mediated (e.g., AUX/IAA or ARF transcription factors) or cytokinin-mediated (e.g., RR transcription factors) control of root growth and development would impact carbon allocation and partitioning belowground (Fig. 1 - Renewal Proposal). Specifically, the ARF, AUX/IAA and RR transcription factor gene families mediate the effects of the growth regulators auxin and cytokinin on cell expansion, cell division and differentiation into root primordia. Invertases (IVR), whose transcript abundance is enhanced by both auxin and cytokinin, are critical components of carbon movement and therefore of carbon allocation. Thus, we initiated comparative genomic studies to identify the AUX/IAA, ARF, RR and IVR gene families in the Populus genome that could impact carbon allocation and partitioning. Bioinformatics searches using Arabidopsis gene sequences as queries identified regions with high degrees of sequence similarities in the Populus genome. These Populus sequences formed the basis of our transgenic experiments. Transgenic modification of gene expression involving members of these gene families was hypothesized to have profound effects on carbon allocation and partitioning.

Heating of field-reversed plasma rings estimated with two scaling models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shearer, J.W.

1978-05-18

Scaling calculations are presented of the one temperature heating of a field-reversed plasma ring. Two sharp-boundary models of the ring are considered: the long thin approximation and a pinch model. Isobaric, adiabatic, and isovolumetric cases are considered, corresponding to various ways of heating the plasma in a real experiment by using neutral beams, or by raising the magnetic field. It is found that the shape of the plasma changes markedly with heating. The least sensitive shape change (as a function of temperature) is found for the isovolumetric heating case, which can be achieved by combining neutral beam heating with compression. The complications introduced by this heating problem suggest that it is desirable, if possible, to create a field reversed ring which is already quite hot, rather than cold.

The nonnucleoside reverse transcription inhibitor MIV-160 delivered from an intravaginal ring, but not from a carrageenan gel, protects against simian/human immunodeficiency virus-RT Infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Aravantinou, Meropi; Singer, Rachel; Derby, Nina; Calenda, Giulia; Mawson, Paul; Abraham, Ciby J; Menon, Radhika; Seidor, Samantha; Goldman, Daniel; Kenney, Jessica; Villegas, Guillermo; Gettie, Agegnehu; Blanchard, James; Lifson, Jeffrey D; Piatak, Michael; Fernández-Romero, José A; Zydowsky, Thomas M; Teleshova, Natalia; Robbiani, Melissa

2012-11-01

We previously showed that a carrageenan (CG) gel containing 50 μM MIV-150 (MIV-150/CG) reduced vaginal simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)-RT infection of macaques (56%, p>0.05) when administered daily for 2 weeks with the last dose given 8 h before challenge. Additionally, when 100 mg of MIV-150 was loaded into an intravaginal ring (IVR) inserted 24 h before challenge and removed 2 weeks after challenge, >80% protection was observed (p<0.03). MIV-160 is a related NNRTI with a similar IC(50), greater aqueous solubility, and a shorter synthesis. To objectively compare MIV-160 with MIV-150, herein we evaluated the antiviral effects of unformulated MIV-160 in vitro as well as the in vivo protection afforded by MIV-160 delivered in CG (MIV-160/CG gel) and in an IVR under regimens used with MIV-150 in earlier studies. Like MIV-150, MIV-160 exhibited potent antiviral activity against SHIV-RT in macaque vaginal explants. However, formulated MIV-160 exhibited divergent effects in vivo. The MIV-160/CG gel offered no protection compared to CG alone, whereas the MIV-160 IVRs protected significantly. Importantly, the results of in vitro release studies of the MIV-160/CG gel and the MIV-160 IVR suggested that in vivo efficacy paralleled the amount of MIV-160 released in vitro. Hundreds of micrograms of MIV-160 were released daily from IVRs while undetectable amounts of MIV-160 were released from the CG gel. Our findings highlight the importance of testing different modalities of microbicide delivery to identify the optimal formulation for efficacy in vivo.

Assessment of In-vessel corium retention for VVER-440/V213

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matejovic, P.; Barnak, M.; Bachraty, M.; Berky, R.

2011-01-01

In-vessel corium retention (IVR) via external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) has been recognised as a feasible and promising severe accident management strategy for VVER-440/V213 reactors. In general, the avoiding of boiling crisis on outer (cooled) RPV (reactor pressure vessel) surface is sufficient condition for preserving the RPV integrity. The crucial point of the proposed IVR concept for VVER-440/V213 is the narrow gap between elliptical lower head and thermal and biological shield. In the cold conditions the width of this gap is only about 2 cm and would be even lower in hot IVR conditions, when the reactor wall is subjected to large thermal gradients due to temperature difference between the hot inner surface (loaded by corium) and cold outer surface (which is cooled by water in flooded cavity). Sufficient gap should remain free for coolant flow for the success of the proposed IVR concept. Thus, realistic estimation of thermal load and corresponding deformations of reactor wall and their impact on gap width are of primarily importance. Two different approaches were used for the estimation of the thermal load: a conservative approach and a transient approach, both were computed with the ASTEC code. The structural analysis of RPV subjected to IVR load was performed using the finite element method (FEM) code ANSYS release 10.0. From the results obtained it follows, that even when the RPV is subjected to limiting loading conditions during severe accident, there should be sufficient gap width (∼ 1 cm) between RPV wall and thermal/biological shield for the coolant flow in natural circulation regime alongside the outer surface of the RPV wall

Molecular eigenstate spectroscopy: Application to the intramolecular dynamics of some polyatomic molecules in the 3000 to 7000 cm{sup {minus}1} region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perry, D.S. [Univ. of Akron, OH (United States)

1993-12-01

Intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) appears to be a universal property of polyatomic molecules in energy regions where the vibrational density of states is greater than about 5 to 30 states per cm{sup {minus}1}. Interest in IVR stems from its central importance to the spectroscopy, photochemistry, and reaction kinetics of these molecules. A bright state, {var_phi}{sub s}, which may be a C-H stretching vibration, carries the oscillator strength from the ground state. This bright state may mix with bath rotational-vibrational levels to form a clump of molecular eigenstates, each of which carries a portion of the oscillator strength from the ground state. In this work the authors explicitly resolve transitions to each of these molecular eigenstates. Detailed information about the nature of IVR is contained in the frequencies and intensities of the observed discrete transitions. The primary goal of this research is to probe the coupling mechanisms by which IVR takes place. The most fundamental distinction to be made is between anharmonic coupling which is independent of molecular rotation and rotationally-mediated coupling. The authors are also interested in the rate at which IVR takes place. Measurements are strictly in the frequency domain but information is obtained about the decay of the zero order state, {var_phi}{sub s}, which could be prepared in a hypothetical experiment as a coherent excitation of the clump of molecular eigenstates. As the coherent superposition dephases, the energy would flow from the initially prepared mode into nearby overtones and combinations of lower frequency vibrational modes. The decay of the initially prepared mode is related to a pure sequence infrared absorption spectrum by a Fourier transform.

Intravitreal injection with ranibizumab combined with triamcinolone acetonide sub-Tenon injection for macular edema due to CRVO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ting-Ting Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal injection with Ranibizumab combined with sub-Tenon injection with Triamcinolone acetonide(TAfor macular edema(MEdue to central retinal venous occlusions(CRVO.METHODS:Forty-six patients(46 eyeswere diagnosed ischemic CRVO with significant macular edema by fundus fluorescence-angiography(FFAand optical coherence tomography(OCT. All the patients had panretinal photocoagulation(PRP, a week after the four times therapies. Twenty-three patients(23 eyesin group A were randomly chosen to receive intravitreal injection with ranibizumab(IVR, another 23 patients(23 eyesin group B to treat with both IVR and sub-Tenon injection with TA(PSTT. There was no significant difference on macular edema and best corrected visual activity(BCVAbetween the two groups. The changes in BCVA and central macular thickness(CMTbefore and 1wk; 1, 3, 6mo after treatments were analyzed.RESULTS: One week after the treatment: the BCVA increased while the CMT decreased compared with that of pretreatment in groups A and B(PPPPPP>0.05.CONCLUSION: Not only IVR can decrease ME caused by CRVO and increase the BCVA, but also IVR combined with PSTT can. But combined therapies can be more rapidly and have more positive effect on decreasing the ME and protecting the visual function.

Refractive and Biometric Outcomes in Patients with Retinopathy of Prematurity Treated with Intravitreal Injection of Ranibizumab as Compared with Bevacizumab: A Clinical Study of Correction at Three Years of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yen-Chih; Chen, San-Ni; Yang, Benjamin Chi-Lan; Lee, Kun-Hsien; Chuang, Chih-Chun; Cheng, Chieh-Yin

2018-01-01

To compare refractive and biometric outcomes in patients with type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) treated with intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR) versus bevacizumab (IVB), at a corrected age of 3 years. A retrospective case series compared cycloplegic refractive statuses and biometric statuses in patients who received either IVR or IVB for type 1 ROP, from April 2011 to April 2014. A total of 62 eyes (33 patients) with type 1 ROP were evaluated (26 eyes in 13 IVR patients and 36 eyes in 20 IVB patients). There were no differences in birth statuses including gestational age and birth body weight between the two groups. The prevalence of refractive error greater than 1 D was higher in the IVB group ( p = 0.03), and there was a higher prevalence of high myopia (biometric finding showed that IVB patients had shallower anterior chamber depth ( p = 0.01). Both IVR and IVB showed low refractive errors, even followed at the corrected age of 3 years. No difference was noted between the two groups in refractive statuses. However, IVB was associated with shallower anterior chamber and higher prevalence of refractive error at the corrected age of 3 years. This trial is registered with NCT03334513.

Considerations in the Use of Interactive Voice Recording for the Temporal Assessment of Suicidal Ideation and Alcohol Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Todd M; Maisto, Stephen A; Britton, Peter C; Pigeon, Wilfred R

2016-09-01

A greater understanding of the temporal variation of suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior is needed to inform more effective prevention efforts. Interactive voice recording (IVR) allows for the study of temporal relationships that cannot be captured with most traditional methodologies. To examine the feasibility of implementing IVR for the assessment of suicidal ideation. Participants (n = 4) receiving a brief intervention based on dialectical behavior therapy were asked to respond to three phone-based surveys each day over 6 weeks that assessed suicidal ideation and alcohol consumption. Participants completed 77.7% of daily assessments, reported that calls were not burdensome, and indicated that calls were sometimes helpful in interrupting suicidal ideation. The preliminary data reported here provide optimism for the use of IVR and other forms of ecological momentary assessment in the exploration of the antecedents of suicidal behavior.

Basic Boiling Experiments with An Inclined Narrow Gap Associated With In-Vessel Retention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terazu, Kuninobu; Watanabe, Fukashi; Iwaki, Chikako; Yokobori, Seiichi; Akinaga, Makoto; Hamazaki, Ryoichi; SATO, Ken-ichi

2002-01-01

In the case of a severe accident with relocation of the molten corium into the lower plenum of reactor pressure vessel (RPV), the successful in-vessel corium retention (IVR) can prevent the progress to ex-vessel events with uncertainties and avoid the containment failure. One of the key phenomena governing the possibility of IVR would be the gap formation and cooling between a corium crust and the RPV wall, and for the achievement of IVR, it would be necessary to supply cooling water to RPV as early as possible. The BWR features relative to IVR behavior are a deep and massive water pool in the lower plenum, and many of control rod drive guide tubes (CRDGT) installed in the lower head of RPV, in which water is injected continuously except in the case of station blackout scenario. The present paper describes the basic boiling experiment conducted in order to investigate the boiling characteristics in an inclined narrow gap simulating a part of the lower head curvature. The boiling experiments were composed of visualization tests and heat transfer tests. In the visualization tests, two types of inclined gap were constructed using the parallel plate and the V-shaped parallel plate with heating from the top plate, and the boiling flow pattern was observed with various gap width and heat flux. These observation results showed that water was easily supplied from the gap bottom of parallel plate even in a very narrow gap with smaller width than 1 mm, and water could flow continuously in the narrow gap by the geometric and thermal imbalance from the experiment results using the V-shaped parallel plate. In the heat transfer tests, the critical heat flux (CHF) data in an inclined narrow channel formed by the parallel plates were measured in terms of the parameters of gap width, heated length and inclined angle of a channel, and the effect of inclination was incorporated into the existing CHF correlation for a narrow gap. The CHF correlation modified for an inclined narrow gap

Immersive Virtual Reality Field Trips in the Geosciences: Integrating Geodetic Data in Undergraduate Geoscience Courses

Science.gov (United States)

La Femina, P. C.; Klippel, A.; Zhao, J.; Walgruen, J. O.; Stubbs, C.; Jackson, K. L.; Wetzel, R.

2017-12-01

High-quality geodetic data and data products, including GPS-GNSS, InSAR, LiDAR, and Structure from Motion (SfM) are opening the doors to visualizing, quantifying, and modeling geologic, tectonic, geomorphic, and geodynamic processes. The integration of these data sets with other geophysical, geochemical and geologic data is providing opportunities for the development of immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) field trips in the geosciences. iVR fieldtrips increase accessibility in the geosciences, by providing experiences that allow for: 1) exploration of field locations that might not be tenable for introductory or majors courses; 2) accessibility to outcrops for students with physical disabilities; and 3) the development of online geosciences courses. We have developed a workflow for producing iVR fieldtrips and tools to make quantitative observations (e.g., distance, area, and volume) within the iVR environment. We use a combination of terrestrial LiDAR and SfM data, 360° photos and videos, and other geophysical, geochemical and geologic data to develop realistic experiences for students to be exposed to the geosciences from sedimentary geology to physical volcanology. We present two of our iVR field trips: 1) Inside the Volcano: Exploring monogenetic volcanism at Thrihnukagigar Iceland; and 2) Changes in Depositional Environment in a Sedimentary Sequence: The Reedsville and Bald Eagle Formations, Pennsylvania. The Thrihnukagigar experience provides the opportunity to investigate monogenetic volcanism through the exploration of the upper 125 m of a fissure-cinder cone eruptive system. Students start at the plate boundary scale, then zoom into a single volcano where they can view the 3D geometry from either terrestrial LiDAR or SfM point clouds, view geochemical data and petrologic thins sections of rock samples, and a presentation of data collection and analysis, results and interpretation. Our sedimentary geology experience is based on a field lab from our

Iatrogenic Dysnatremias in Children with Acute Gastroenteritis in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

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Silviu Grisaru

2017-10-01

Full Text Available BackgroundAcute gastroenteritis (AGE causing dehydration with or without dysnatremias is a common childhood health challenge. While it is accepted that oral rehydration therapy is preferred, clinical factors or parent and healthcare provider preferences may lead to intravenous rehydration (IVR. Isotonic solutions are increasingly recommended in most scenarios requiring IVR. Nevertheless, children with AGE, having ongoing losses of water and electrolytes, represent a unique population.ObjectivesTo evaluate the association between acquired dysnatremias and IVR in children with AGE.MethodsA systematic search of MEDLINE database was conducted through September 14, 2016. Observational studies and clinical trials conducted in high-income countries were included. The Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach was used to evaluate the overall quality of evidence for each outcome.Results603 papers were identified of which 6 were included (3 randomized controlled trials and 3 observational studies. Pooling of patient data was not possible due to significantly different interventions or exposures. Single studies results demonstrated that within 24 h, administration of isotonic saline was not associated with a significant decline in serum sodium while hypotonic solutions (0.2–0.45% saline were associated, in one study, with mean serum sodium declines from 1.3 mEq/L (139.2, SD 2.9–137.9, SD 2.5 in 133 young infants (aged 1–28 months, to 5.7 (SD 3.1 mEq/L in a subgroup of 18 older children (age mean 5.8, SD 2.7 years. Both isotonic and hypotonic saline were shown to be associated with improvement of baseline hyponatremia in different studies. Baseline hypernatremia was corrected within 4–24 h in 81/83 (99.6% children using hypotonic saline IVR.ConclusionThere is a paucity of publications assessing the risk for acquired dysnatremias associated with IVR in children with AGE. Current high-quality evidence

Infusing Technology into Customer Relationships: Balancing High-Tech and High-Touch

Science.gov (United States)

Salomann, Harald; Kolbe, Lutz; Brenner, Walter

In today's business environment, self-service is becoming increasingly important. In order to promote their self-service activities, banks have created online-only products and airlines offer exclusive discounts for passengers booking online. Self-service technologies' practical applications demonstrate this approach's potential. For example, Amtrak introduced an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, allowing cost savings of 13m; likewise Royal Mail installed an IVR system leading to a reduction of its customer service costs by 25% (Economist 2004).

In-vessel retention modeling capabilities in MAAP5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paik, Chan Y.; Lee, Sung Jin; Zhou, Quan; Luangdilok, W.; Reeves, R.W.; Henry, R.E.; Plys, M.; Scobel, J.H.

2012-01-01

Modular Accident Analysis Program (MAAP) is an integrated severe accident analysis code for both light water and heavy water reactors. New and improved models to address the complex phenomena associated with in-vessel retention (IVR) were incorporated into MAAP5.01. They include: -a) time-dependent volatile and non-volatile decay heat, -b) material properties at high temperatures, -c) finer vessel wall nodalization, -d) new correlations for natural convection heat transfer in the oxidic pool, -e) refined metal layer heat transfer to the reactor vessel wall and surroundings, -f) formation of a heavy metal layer, and -g) insulation cooling channel model and associated ex-vessel heat transfer and critical heat flux correlations. In this paper, the new and improved models in MAAP5.01 are described and sample calculation results are presented for the AP1000 passive plant. For the IVR evaluation, a transient calculation is useful because the timing of corium relocation, decaying heat load, and formation of separate layers in the lower plenum all affect integrity of the lower head. The key parameters affecting the IVR success are the metal layer emissivity and thickness of the top metal layer, which depends on the amount of steel in the oxidic pool and in the heavy metal layer. With the best estimate inputs for the debris mixing parameters in a conservative IVR scenario, the AP1000 plant results show that the maximum ex-vessel heat flux to CHF ratio is about 0.7, which occurs before 10.000 seconds when the decay heat is high. The AP1000 plant results demonstrate how MAAP5.01 can be used to evaluate IVR and to gain insight into responses of the lower head during a severe accident

Establishing an independent mobile health programme for chronic disease self-management support in Bolivia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John D Piette

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Mobile health (m-health work in low and middle-income countries (LMICs mainly consists of pilot programmes with an unclear path to scaling and dissemination. We describe the deployment and testing of an m-health platform for non-communicable disease (NCD self-management support in Bolivia. Methods: 364 primary care patients in La Paz with diabetes or hypertension completed surveys about their use of mobile phones, health and access to care. 165 of those patients then participated in a 12-week demonstration of automated telephone monitoring and self-management support. Weekly Interactive Voice Response (IVR calls were made from a platform established at a university in La Paz, under the direction of the regional health ministry. Results: 37% of survey respondents spoke indigenous languages at home, and 38% had six or fewer years of education. 82% had a mobile phone; half (45% used text messaging with a standard phone, and 9% had a smartphone. Smartphones were least common among patients who were older, spoke indigenous languages, or had less education. IVR programme participants completed 1007 self-management support calls, with an overall response rate of 51%. IVR call completion was lower among older adults, but was not related to patients’ ethnicity, health status or healthcare access. IVR health and self-care reports were consistent with information reported during baseline interviews. Patients’ likelihood of reporting excellent, very good, or good health (versus fair or poor health via IVR increased during programme participation, and was associated with better medication adherence. Patients completing follow-up interviews were satisfied with the programme, with 19/20 (95% reporting that they would recommend it to a friend. Conclusions: By collaborating with LMICs, m-health programmes can be transferred from higher-resource centres to LMICs and implemented in ways that improve access to self-management support among people

Effects of multiple intravitreal anti-VEGF injections on retinal nerve fiber layer and intraocular pressure: a comparative clinical study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobacı, Güngör; Güngör, Rıza; Ozge, Gökhan

2013-01-01

To determine the effect of multiple injections of ranibizumab or bevacizumab on retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This retrospective study includes 35 eyes of 35 patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB, 1.25mg/0.05mL) and 30 eyes of 30 patients with intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR, 0.5mg/0.05mL) who had Fast RNFL analysis (Stratus™); IOP measurements were taken 30 minutes and 24 hours after each injection. The mean ages were 68.0±7.5 and 69.1±7.7 years in the IVR and IVB groups, respectively (P=0.55). They underwent (6.3±1.9) and (5.1±1.3) injections (P=0.07) over (13.6±2.1) and (14.05±2.6) months (P=0.45) in the IVR and IVB groups, respectively. Changes in overall and temporal RNFL thickness in IVR-treated eyes (105.3±6.9µm and 74.4±11.2µm) were not different from those in untreated eyes in the IVR group (104.6± 8.4µm and 75.1±12.6µm) (P=0.57 and P=0.41, respectively). Similarly, overall and temporal RNFL thickness in IVB-treated eyes (105.8±8.1µm and 74.5±11.8µm) were not different from those in untreated eyes in the IVB group (104.6±8µm and 74.8±12.9µm) (P=0.42 and P=0.80, respectively). The frequencies of IOP rise (P=0.60) and changes in RNFL thickness from baseline (P=0.16) were comparable between groups. Repeated intravitreal injection of ranibizumab or bevacizumab does not seem have adverse effects on RNFL thickness or IOP in wet AMD patients.

Beaming into the rat world: enabling real-time interaction between rat and human each at their own scale.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Marie Normand

Full Text Available Immersive virtual reality (IVR typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to allow a new class of application. The participant in the IVR is represented in the destination by a physical robot (TO and simultaneously the remote place and entities within it are represented to the participant in the IVR. Hence, the IVR participant has a normal virtual reality experience, but where his or her actions and behaviour control the remote robot and can therefore have physical consequences. Here, we show how such a system can be deployed to allow a human and a rat to operate together, but the human interacting with the rat on a human scale, and the rat interacting with the human on the rat scale. The human is represented in a rat arena by a small robot that is slaved to the human's movements, whereas the tracked rat is represented to the human in the virtual reality by a humanoid avatar. We describe the system and also a study that was designed to test whether humans can successfully play a game with the rat. The results show that the system functioned well and that the humans were able to interact with the rat to fulfil the tasks of the game. This system opens up the possibility of new applications in the life sciences involving participant observation of and interaction with animals but at human scale.

Beaming into the rat world: enabling real-time interaction between rat and human each at their own scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Normand, Jean-Marie; Sanchez-Vives, Maria V; Waechter, Christian; Giannopoulos, Elias; Grosswindhager, Bernhard; Spanlang, Bernhard; Guger, Christoph; Klinker, Gudrun; Srinivasan, Mandayam A; Slater, Mel

2012-01-01

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO) systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to allow a new class of application. The participant in the IVR is represented in the destination by a physical robot (TO) and simultaneously the remote place and entities within it are represented to the participant in the IVR. Hence, the IVR participant has a normal virtual reality experience, but where his or her actions and behaviour control the remote robot and can therefore have physical consequences. Here, we show how such a system can be deployed to allow a human and a rat to operate together, but the human interacting with the rat on a human scale, and the rat interacting with the human on the rat scale. The human is represented in a rat arena by a small robot that is slaved to the human's movements, whereas the tracked rat is represented to the human in the virtual reality by a humanoid avatar. We describe the system and also a study that was designed to test whether humans can successfully play a game with the rat. The results show that the system functioned well and that the humans were able to interact with the rat to fulfil the tasks of the game. This system opens up the possibility of new applications in the life sciences involving participant observation of and interaction with animals but at human scale.

Beaming into the Rat World: Enabling Real-Time Interaction between Rat and Human Each at Their Own Scale

OpenAIRE

Normand, Jean-Marie; Sanchez-Vives, Maria V.; Waechter, Christian; Giannopoulos, Elias; Grosswindhager, Bernhard; Spanlang, Bernhard; Guger, Christoph; Klinker, Gudrun; Srinivasan, Mandayam A.; Slater, Mel

2012-01-01

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO) systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to all...

Beaming into the rat world: enabling real-time interaction between rat and human each at their own scale.

OpenAIRE

Normand, J. M.; Sanchez-Vives, M. V.; Waechter, C.; Giannopoulos, E.; Grosswindhager, B.; Spanlang, B.; Guger, C.; Klinker, G.; Srinivasan, M. A.; Slater, M.

2012-01-01

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) typically generates the illusion in participants that they are in the displayed virtual scene where they can experience and interact in events as if they were really happening. Teleoperator (TO) systems place people at a remote physical destination embodied as a robotic device, and where typically participants have the sensation of being at the destination, with the ability to interact with entities there. In this paper, we show how to combine IVR and TO to all...

Engineering a degradable polyurethane intravaginal ring for sustained delivery of dapivirine.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Manpreet; Gupta, Kavita M; Poursaid, Azadeh E; Karra, Prasoona; Mahalingam, Alamelu; Aliyar, Hyder A; Kiser, Patrick F

2011-06-01

We describe the engineering of a degradable intravaginal ring (IVR) for the delivery of the potent HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor dapivirine. The degradable polymer used in fabricating the device incorporated poly(caprolactone) ester blocks in a poly(tetramethylene ether) glycol ABA type polyurethane backbone. The polymer was designed to maintain its structure for 1 month during usage and then degrade in the environment post-disposal. In vitro release of dapivirine showed zero-order kinetics for up to 1 month and significant levels of drug release into engineered vaginal tissue. The mechanical properties of the degradable IVR were comparable to those of a widely used contraceptive intravaginal ring upon exposure to simulated vaginal conditions. Incubation under simulated vaginal conditions for a month caused minimal degradation with minimal effect on the mechanical properties of the ring and polymer. The cytotoxicity evaluation of the drug-loaded IVRs against Vk2/E6E7 human vaginal epithelial cells, Lactobacillus jensenii, and engineered vaginal tissue constructs showed the degradable polyurethane to be non-toxic. In vitro evaluation of inflammatory potential monitored through the levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-1α, IL-6, IL-1β, and MIP-3α when engineered EpiVaginal™ tissue was incubated with the polyurethanes suggested that the degradable polyurethane was comparable to commercial medical grade polyurethane. These results are encouraging for further development of this degradable IVR for topical vaginal delivery of microbicides.

IR Dissociation spectroscopy of ethylene bonded to CH4, CH2D2 and CD4 and intramolecular dynamics of NeCl2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janda, K.C.

1986-01-01

The goal of my project is to understand how intramolecular vibrational relaxation effects the high resolution spectroscopy of vibrationally excited molecules. Their first results indicated that for molecular complexes of ethylene, vibrationally excited in the nu 7 out-of-plane bending mode, IVR is so fast that high resolution spectroscopy is vitiated by lifetime broadening. Only for rare gas-ethylene complexes was rotational resolution achieved. These results led them to postulate that IVR in ethylene complexes occurs by a V-T,R mechanism where the rate is limited by angular momentum constraints

Establishing an independent mobile health program for chronic disease self-management support in bolivia.

Science.gov (United States)

Piette, John D; Valverde, Helen; Marinec, Nicolle; Jantz, Rachel; Kamis, Kevin; de la Vega, Carlos Lazo; Woolley, Timothy; Pinto, Bismarck

2014-01-01

Mobile health (m-health) work in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) mainly consists of small pilot programs with an unclear path to scaling and dissemination. We describe the deployment and testing of an m-health platform for non-communicable disease (NCD) self-management support in Bolivia. Three hundred sixty-four primary care patients in La Paz with diabetes or hypertension completed surveys about their use of mobile phones, health and access to care. One hundred sixty-five of those patients then participated in a 12-week demonstration of automated telephone monitoring and self-management support. Weekly interactive voice response (IVR) calls were made from a platform established at a university in La Paz, under the direction of the regional health ministry. Thirty-seven percent of survey respondents spoke indigenous languages at home and 38% had six or fewer years of education. Eighty-two percent had a mobile phone, 45% used text messaging with a standard phone, and 9% had a smartphone. Smartphones were least common among patients who were older, spoke indigenous languages, or had less education. IVR program participants completed 1007 self-management support calls with an overall response rate of 51%. IVR call completion was lower among older adults, but was not related to patients' ethnicity, health status, or healthcare access. IVR health and self-care reports were consistent with information reported during in-person baseline interviews. Patients' likelihood of reporting excellent, very good, or good health (versus fair or poor health) via IVR increased during program participation and was associated with better medication adherence. Patients completing follow-up interviews were satisfied with the program, with 19/20 (95%) reporting that they would recommend it to a friend. By collaborating with LMICs, m-health programs can be transferred from higher-resource centers to LMICs and implemented in ways that improve access to self-management support among

Establishing an Independent Mobile Health Program for Chronic Disease Self-Management Support in Bolivia

Science.gov (United States)

Piette, John D.; Valverde, Helen; Marinec, Nicolle; Jantz, Rachel; Kamis, Kevin; de la Vega, Carlos Lazo; Woolley, Timothy; Pinto, Bismarck

2014-01-01

Background: Mobile health (m-health) work in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) mainly consists of small pilot programs with an unclear path to scaling and dissemination. We describe the deployment and testing of an m-health platform for non-communicable disease (NCD) self-management support in Bolivia. Methods: Three hundred sixty-four primary care patients in La Paz with diabetes or hypertension completed surveys about their use of mobile phones, health and access to care. One hundred sixty-five of those patients then participated in a 12-week demonstration of automated telephone monitoring and self-management support. Weekly interactive voice response (IVR) calls were made from a platform established at a university in La Paz, under the direction of the regional health ministry. Results: Thirty-seven percent of survey respondents spoke indigenous languages at home and 38% had six or fewer years of education. Eighty-two percent had a mobile phone, 45% used text messaging with a standard phone, and 9% had a smartphone. Smartphones were least common among patients who were older, spoke indigenous languages, or had less education. IVR program participants completed 1007 self-management support calls with an overall response rate of 51%. IVR call completion was lower among older adults, but was not related to patients’ ethnicity, health status, or healthcare access. IVR health and self-care reports were consistent with information reported during in-person baseline interviews. Patients’ likelihood of reporting excellent, very good, or good health (versus fair or poor health) via IVR increased during program participation and was associated with better medication adherence. Patients completing follow-up interviews were satisfied with the program, with 19/20 (95%) reporting that they would recommend it to a friend. Conclusion: By collaborating with LMICs, m-health programs can be transferred from higher-resource centers to LMICs and implemented in ways that

Trajectory Calculations for Bergman Cyclization Predict H/D Kinetic Isotope Effects Due to Nonstatistical Dynamics in the Product.

Science.gov (United States)

Doubleday, Charles; Boguslav, Mayla; Howell, Caronae; Korotkin, Scott D; Shaked, David

2016-06-22

An unusual H/D kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is described, in which isotopic selectivity arises primarily from nonstatistical dynamics in the product. In DFT-based quasiclassical trajectories of Bergman cyclization of (Z)-3-hexen-1,5-diyne (1) at 470 K, the new CC bond retains its energy, and 28% of nascent p-benzyne recrosses back to the enediyne on a vibrational time scale. The competing process of intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) in p-benzyne is too slow to prevent this. Deuteration increases the rate of IVR, which decreases the fraction of recrossing and increases the yield of statistical (trapable) p-benzyne, 2. Trapable yields for three isotopomers of 2 range from 72% to 86%. The resulting KIEs for Bergman cyclization differ substantially from KIEs predicted by transition state theory, which suggests that IVR in this reaction can be studied by conventional KIEs. Leakage of vibrational zero point energy (ZPE) into the reaction coordinate was probed by trajectories in which initial ZPE in the CH/CD stretching modes was reduced by 25%. This did not change the predicted KIEs.

Usefulness of virtual endoscopy for evaluating the relationship between the neck of intracranial aneurysm and surrounding vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Jota; Horie, Hitoshi; Ishikura, Reiichi; Ando, Kumiko; Morikawa, Tsutomu; Tominaga, Satoru; Nakao, Norio

2000-01-01

Application of three-dimensional CT virtual endoscopy for evaluation of the neck and surrounding vessels of intracranial aneurysms. 3D-CT virtual endoscopy (VE) is a reconstructed image using computer processing of 3D-CT images. We evaluated the usefulness of a virtual endoscopy to analyze the relationship between the neck of an intracranial aneurysm and the surrounding vessels. Eight cases with intracranial aneurysms underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and enhanced CT with transarterial infusion of contrast media. 3D-CT angiogram (3D-CTA) and virtual endoscopic images were obtained from the CT image data sets using surface rendering method. The relationship between the neck of an intracranial aneurysm and the surrounding vessels was confirmed by operation or IVR. VE clearly visualized the neck and surrounding vessels in all cases. Operation/IVR findings agreed with the virtual endoscopic findings in all cases, but not with the DSA or 3D-CTA findings in 4 and 2 cases, respectively. 3D-CTA and virtual endoscopy clearly visualizes the relationship between cerebral aneurysms and surrounding vessels, which is useful for determining IVR procedures. (author)

Ranibizumab alone or in combination with photodynamic therapy vs photodynamic therapy for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Kai; Si, Jun-Kang; Guo, Da-Dong; Cui, Yan; Du, Yu-Xiang; Pan, Xue-Mei; Bi, Hong-Sheng

2015-01-01

To compare the efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) alone or in combination with photodynamic therapy (PDT) vs PDT in patients with symptomatic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). A systematic search of a wide range of databases (including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science) was searched to identify relevant studies. Both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCT studies were included. Methodological quality of included literatures was evaluated according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RevMan 5.2.7 software was used to do the Meta-analysis. Three RCTs and 6 retrospective studies were included. The results showed that PDT monotherapy had a significantly higher proportion in patients who achieved complete regression of polyps than IVR monotherapy at months 3, 6, and 12 (All P≤0.01), respectively. However, IVR had a tendency to be more effective in improving vision on the basis of RCTs. The proportion of patients who gained complete regression of polyps revealed that there was no significant difference between the combination treatment and PDT monotherapy. The mean change of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from baseline showed that the combination treatment had significant superiority in improving vision vs PDT monotherapy at months 3, 6 and 24 (All Pcompare with PDT either in stabilizing or in improving vision, although it can hardly promote the regression of polyps. The combination treatment of PDT and IVR can exert a synergistic effect on regressing polyps and on maintaining or improving visual acuity. Thus, it can be the first-line therapy for PCV.

Vegetation, population and ecological track as sustainability indicators in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marquez Calle, German

2000-01-01

Biophysical sustainability, namely natural capabilities to sustain human development in Colombia, is explored through environmental indicators based on land cover and demographic variables. Remnant vegetation index (IVR in Spanish) uses cover as a measure of ecosystem functionality. Population pressure index (IPD) applies population density to environmental demand analysis. Footprint index (IHE) relates the inverse of density with sustainability. Environmental criticality index combines IVR and IPD to detect offer/demand unbalances. Results suggest Colombia is sustainable although many places in it could be in danger; this could be related with social and economical features of the country

A randomised controlled trial to prevent smoking relapse among recently quit smokers enrolled in employer and health plan sponsored quitlines.

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniel, Anna M; Vickerman, Katrina A; Stump, Timothy E; Monahan, Patrick O; Fellows, Jeffrey L; Weaver, Michael T; Carlini, Beatriz H; Champion, Victoria L; Zbikowski, Susan M

2015-06-29

To test adding an interactive voice response (IVR)-supported protocol to standard quitline treatment to prevent relapse among recently quit smokers. Parallel randomised controlled trial with three arms: standard quitline, standard plus technology enhanced quitline with 10 risk assessments (TEQ-10), standard plus 20 TEQ assessments (TEQ-20). Quit For Life (QFL) programme. 1785 QFL enrolees through 19 employers or health plans who were 24+ h quit. QFL is a 5-call telephone-based cessation programme including medications and web-based support. TEQ interventions included 10 or 20 IVR-delivered relapse risk assessments over 8 weeks with automated transfer to counselling for those at risk. Self-reported 7-day and 30-day abstinence assessed at 6-month and 12-month post-enrolment (response rates: 61% and 59%, respectively). Missing data were imputed. 1785 were randomised (standard n=592, TEQ-10 n=602, TEQ-20 n=591). Multiple imputation-derived, intent-to-treat 30-day quit rates (95% CI) at 6 months were 59.4% (53.7% to 63.8%) for standard, 62.3% (57.7% to 66.9%) for TEQ-10, 59.4% (53.7% to 65.1%) for TEQ-20 and 30-day quit rates at 12 months were 61.2% (55.6% to 66.8%) for standard, 60.6% (56.0% to 65.2%) for TEQ-10, 54.9% (49.0% to 60.9%) for TEQ-20. There were no significant differences in quit rates. 73.3% of TEQ participants were identified as at-risk by IVR assessments; on average, participants completed 0.41 IVR-transferred counselling calls. Positive risk assessments identified participants less likely (OR=0.56, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.76) to be abstinent at 6 months. Standard treatment was highly effective, with 61% remaining abstinent at 12 months using multiple imputation intent-to-treat (intent-to-treat missing=smoking quit rate: 38%). TEQ assessments identified quitters at risk for relapse. However, adding IVR-transferred counselling did not yield higher quit rates. Research is needed to determine if alternative designs can improve outcomes. NCT00888992. Published by

Investigation on multilayer failure mechanism of RPV with a high temperature gradient from core meltdown scenario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jianfeng, Mao, E-mail: jianfeng-mao@163.com [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Remanufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Xiangqing, Li [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Shiyi, Bao, E-mail: bsy@zjut.edu.cn [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Remanufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Lijia, Luo [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Zengliang, Gao [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Remanufacturing, Ministry of Education (China)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • The multilayer failure mechanism is investigated for RPV under CHF. • Failure time and location of RPV are predicted under various SA scenarios. • The structural behaviors are analyzed in depth for creep and plasticity. • The effect of internal pressure and temperature gradient is considered. • The structural integrity of RPV is secured within the required 72 creep hours. - Abstract: The Fukushima accident shows that in-vessel retention (IVR) of molten core debris has not been appropriately assessed, and a certain pressure (up to 8.0 MPa) still exists inside the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). In the traditional concept of IVR, the pressure is supposed to successfully be released, and the temperature distributed among the wall thickness is assumed to be uniform. However, this concept is seriously challenged by reality of Fukushima accident with regard to the existence of both internal pressure and high temperature gradient. Therefore, in order to make the IVR mitigation strategy succeed, the numerical investigation of the lower head behavior and its failure has been performed for several internal pressures under high temperature gradient. According to some requirements in severe accident (SA) management of RPV, it should be ensured that the IVR mitigation takes effect in preventing the failure of the structure within a period of 72 h. Subsequently, the failure time and location have to be predicted under the critical heat flux (CHF) loading condition for lower head, since the CHF is limit thermal boundary before the melt-through of RPV. In illustrating the so called ‘multilayer failure mechanism’, the structural behaviors of RPV are analyzed in terms of the stress, creep strain, deformation, damage on selected paths.

Investigation on multilayer failure mechanism of RPV with a high temperature gradient from core meltdown scenario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jianfeng, Mao; Xiangqing, Li; Shiyi, Bao; Lijia, Luo; Zengliang, Gao

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The multilayer failure mechanism is investigated for RPV under CHF. • Failure time and location of RPV are predicted under various SA scenarios. • The structural behaviors are analyzed in depth for creep and plasticity. • The effect of internal pressure and temperature gradient is considered. • The structural integrity of RPV is secured within the required 72 creep hours. - Abstract: The Fukushima accident shows that in-vessel retention (IVR) of molten core debris has not been appropriately assessed, and a certain pressure (up to 8.0 MPa) still exists inside the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). In the traditional concept of IVR, the pressure is supposed to successfully be released, and the temperature distributed among the wall thickness is assumed to be uniform. However, this concept is seriously challenged by reality of Fukushima accident with regard to the existence of both internal pressure and high temperature gradient. Therefore, in order to make the IVR mitigation strategy succeed, the numerical investigation of the lower head behavior and its failure has been performed for several internal pressures under high temperature gradient. According to some requirements in severe accident (SA) management of RPV, it should be ensured that the IVR mitigation takes effect in preventing the failure of the structure within a period of 72 h. Subsequently, the failure time and location have to be predicted under the critical heat flux (CHF) loading condition for lower head, since the CHF is limit thermal boundary before the melt-through of RPV. In illustrating the so called ‘multilayer failure mechanism’, the structural behaviors of RPV are analyzed in terms of the stress, creep strain, deformation, damage on selected paths.

Evaluation of additional lead shielding in protecting the physician from radiation during cardiac interventional procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chida, Koichi; Zuguchi, Masayuki; Morishima, Yoshiaki; Katahira, Yoshiaki; Chiba, Hiroo

2005-01-01

Since cardiac interventional procedures deliver high doses of radiation to the physician, radiation protection for the physician in cardiac catheterization laboratories is very important. One of the most important means of protecting the physician from scatter radiation is to use additional lead shielding devices, such as tableside lead drapes and ceiling-mounted lead acrylic protection. During cardiac interventional procedures (cardiac IVR), however, it is not clear how much lead shielding reduces the physician dose. This study compared the physician dose [effective dose equivalent (EDE) and dose equivalent (DE)] with and without additional shielding during cardiac IVR. Fluoroscopy scatter radiation was measured using a human phantom, with an ionization chamber survey meter, with and without additional shielding. With the additional shielding, fluoroscopy scatter radiation measured with the human phantom was reduced by up to 98%, as compared with that without. The mean EDE (whole body, mean±SD) dose to the operator, determined using a Luxel badge, was 2.55±1.65 and 4.65±1.21 mSv/year with and without the additional shielding, respectively (p=0.086). Similarly, the mean DE (lens of the eye) to the operator was 15.0±9.3 and 25.73±5.28 mSv/year, respectively (p=0.092). In conclusion, although tableside drapes and lead acrylic shields suspended from the ceiling provided extra protection to the physician during cardiac IVR, the reduction in the estimated physician dose (EDE and DE) during cardiac catheterization with additional shielding was lower than we expected. Therefore, there is a need to develop more ergonomically useful protection devices for cardiac IVR. (author)

Simulation of In-Vessel Corium Retention through External Reactor Vessel Cooling for SMART using SIMPLE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Jin-Sung; Son, Donggun; Park, Rae-Joon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Thermal load analysis from the corium pool to the outer reactor vessel in the lower plenum of the reactor vessel is necessary to evaluate the effect of the IVR-ERVC during a severe accident for SMART. A computational code called SIMPLE (Sever Invessel Melt Progression in Lower plenum Environment) has been developed for analyze transient behavior of molten corium in the lower plenum, interaction between corium and coolant, and heat-up and ablation of reactor vessel wall. In this study, heat load analysis of the reactor vessel for SMART has been conducted using the SIMPLE. Transient behavior of the molten corium in the lower plenum and IVR-ERVC for SMART has been simulated using SIMPLE. Heat flux from the corium pool to the outer reactor vessel is concentrated in metallic layer by the focusing effect. As a result, metallic layer shows higher temperature than the oxidic layer. Also, vessel wall of metallic layer has been ablated by the high in-vessel temperature. Ex-vessel temperature of the metallic layer was maintained 390 K and vessel thickness was maintained 14 cm. It means that the reactor vessel integrity is maintained by the IVR-ERVC.

Molecular eigenstate spectroscopy: Application to the intramolecular dynamics of some polyatomic molecules in the 3000 to 7000 cm-1 region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perry, D.S.

1991-05-01

This project uses high resolution infrared spectroscopy to probe the mechanism of intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) in isolated polyatomic molecules. We have found only vibrationally anharmonic coupling in the C-H stretch region of 1-butyne but rotationally mediated coupling is evident in similar spectra of ethanol. The ''keyhole'' model of IVR was developed to account for the similarities and differences between these molecules. The concepts of the model are being implemented numerically in random matrix calculations. A second F-center laser has been purchased and is now being set up to develop an infrared double resonance technique which can be applied to this problem. 4 refs., 5 figs

An Algorithm for the Vertical Structure of Aerosol Extinction in the Lowest Kilometer of the Atmosphere: Rev. 1

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-01

unlimited. B53A US Army Research Laboratory ATTN: RDRL-CIE-S Adelphi Laboratory Center, MD 20783-1138 Primary author’s email : <alan.e.wetmore.civ@mail.mil...5,500,END=190)VIS,CHT,DEPTH,ZINVHT,DELZ 500 FORMAT(5E10.4) 130 NDATA=NDATA+1 WRITE (6,598)NDATA 598 FORMAT(/10X,16HDATA SET NUMBER ,I5) IDELZ=IFIX(DELZ...IF(IDLEZ.LE.0)IDELZ=5 135 IF(VIS.LE.0.0)VIS=10.0 D=3.0/VIS C IVR=1 IF(D.LT.7.0)IVR=2 140 IF(D.GT.92.0) WRITE (6,600) 600 FORMAT(/5X,41HTHE INPUT

Prognostic value of left ventricular diastolic function and association with heart rate variability after a first acute myocardial infarction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, S H; Jensen, S E; Møller, J E

2001-01-01

deceleration time (chi(2) = 6.4, p 4, p ... and control subjects. Mitral deceleration time and isovolumetric relaxation time correlated weakly but significantly with all indices of HRV whereas ejection fraction correlated weakly with the long term HRV indices. The mean follow up time was 14.9 (8.7) months. Multivariate analysis showed that mitral...

Using Diverse Communication Strategies to Re-Engage Relapsed Tobacco Quitline Users in Treatment, New York State, 2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlini, Beatriz; Miles, Lyndsay; Doyle, Suzanne; Celestino, Paula; Koutsky, James

2015-10-22

Most smoking cessation programs lack strategies to reach relapsed participants and encourage a new quit attempt. We used a multimodal intervention to encourage past quitline registry participants to recycle into services. We invited 3,510 past quitline participants back to quitline services, using messages consecutively delivered through Interactive Voice Response (IVR), followed by postcard and email reminders, 2 Short Messaging Services (SMS) texts, and a final cycle of IVR. The primary study outcome was recycling into a new quitline-assisted quit attempt. We used statistical analyses to assess rates and predictors of recycling (socioeconomic, health- and tobacco-related variables) with study participants and compared the study sample with registry participants not selected for the study (comparison group). Quitline services were re-initiated by 12.2% of the intervention sample and 1.9% of the comparison group (z = 6.03, P < .001, effect size of 0.44). Most re-enrollments were done via direct IVR-transfer to the quitline. Predictors of re-enrollment were age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.45 for every 10 years of age; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34-1.57), number of years smoking (OR = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.18-1.36), and reporting cancer (OR = 2.32; 95% CI, 1.47-3.68) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 1.55; 95% CI, 1.16-2.10). Living with other smokers was correlated with a lower chance of recycling into treatment (OR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.57-0.91). Recycling previous quitline participants using a proactive, IVR-based intervention is effective in reinitiating quitline-assisted quit attempts. Older, long-term smokers reporting chronic conditions are more likely than younger smokers to re-engage in quitline support when these methods are used.

Intravaginal ring delivery of the reverse transcriptase inhibitor TMC 120 as an HIV microbicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Woolfson, A David; Malcolm, R Karl; Morrow, Ryan J; Toner, Clare F; McCullagh, Stephen D

2006-11-15

TMC 120 (Dapivirine) is a potent non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor that is presently being developed as a vaginal HIV microbicide. To date, most vaginal microbicides under clinical investigation have been formulated as single-dose semi-solid gels, designed for application to the vagina before each act of intercourse. However, a clear rationale exists for providing long-term, controlled release of vaginal microbicides in order to afford continuous protection against heterosexually transmitted HIV infection and to improve user compliance. In this study we report on the incorporation of various pharmaceutical excipients into TMC 120 silicone, reservoir-type intravaginal rings (IVRs) in order to modify the controlled release characteristics of the microbicide. The results demonstrate that TMC 120 is released in zero-order fashion from the rings over a 28-day period and that release parameters could be modified by the inclusion of release-modifying excipients in the IVR. The hydrophobic liquid excipient isopropyl myristate had little effect on steady-state daily release rates, but did increase the magnitude and duration of burst release in proportion to excipient loading in the IVR. By comparison, the hydrophobic liquid poly(dimethylsiloxane) had little effect on TMC 120 release parameters. A hydrophilic excipient, lactose, had the surprising effect of decreasing TMC 120 burst release while increasing the apparent steady-state daily release in a concentration-dependent manner. Based on previous cell culture data and vaginal physiology, TMC120 is released from the various ring formulations in amounts potentially capable of maintaining a protective vaginal concentration. It is further predicted that the observed release rates may be maintained for at least a period of 1 year from a single ring device. TMC 120 release profiles and the mechanical properties of rings could be modified by the physicochemical nature of hydrophobic and hydrophilic excipients

Time-dependent importance sampling in semiclassical initial value representation calculations for time correlation functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Guohua; Miller, William H

2011-07-14

An efficient time-dependent importance sampling method is developed for the Monte Carlo calculation of time correlation functions via the initial value representation (IVR) of semiclassical (SC) theory. A prefactor-free time-dependent sampling function weights the importance of a trajectory based on the magnitude of its contribution to the time correlation function, and global trial moves are used to facilitate the efficient sampling the phase space of initial conditions. The method can be generally applied to sampling rare events efficiently while avoiding being trapped in a local region of the phase space. Results presented in the paper for two system-bath models demonstrate the efficiency of this new importance sampling method for full SC-IVR calculations.

Communication: importance sampling including path correlation in semiclassical initial value representation calculations for time correlation functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Feng; Tao, Guohua

2013-03-07

Full semiclassical (SC) initial value representation (IVR) for time correlation functions involves a double phase space average over a set of two phase points, each of which evolves along a classical path. Conventionally, the two initial phase points are sampled independently for all degrees of freedom (DOF) in the Monte Carlo procedure. Here, we present an efficient importance sampling scheme by including the path correlation between the two initial phase points for the bath DOF, which greatly improves the performance of the SC-IVR calculations for large molecular systems. Satisfactory convergence in the study of quantum coherence in vibrational relaxation has been achieved for a benchmark system-bath model with up to 21 DOF.

Pharmacokinetics and Preliminary Safety of Pod-Intravaginal Rings Delivering the Monoclonal Antibody VRC01-N for HIV Prophylaxis in a Macaque Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Chunxia; Gunawardana, Manjula; Villinger, Francois; Baum, Marc M; Remedios-Chan, Mariana; Moench, Thomas R; Zeitlin, Larry; Whaley, Kevin J; Bohorov, Ognian; Smith, Thomas J; Anderson, Deborah J; Moss, John A

2017-07-01

The broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) VRC01, capable of neutralizing 91% of known human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates in vitro , is a promising candidate microbicide for preventing sexual HIV infection when administered topically to the vagina; however, accessibility to antibody-based prophylactic treatment by target populations in sub-Saharan Africa and other underdeveloped regions may be limited by the high cost of conventionally produced antibodies and the limited capacity to manufacture such antibodies. Intravaginal rings of the pod design (pod-IVRs) delivering Nicotiana -manufactured VRC01 (VRC01-N) over a range of release rates have been developed. The pharmacokinetics and preliminary safety of VRC01-N pod-IVRs were evaluated in a rhesus macaque model. The devices sustained VRC01-N release for up to 21 days at controlled rates, with mean steady-state VRC01-N levels in vaginal fluids in the range of 10 2 to 10 3 μg g -1 being correlated with in vitro release rates. No adverse safety indications were observed. These findings indicate that pod-IVRs are promising devices for the delivery of the candidate topical microbicide VRC01-N against HIV-1 infection and merit further preclinical evaluation. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Cloning and expression of pineapple sucrose- phosphate synthase ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

hope&shola

2010-12-06

Dec 6, 2010 ... phosphate; EDTA, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; Ivr, invertase; SS .... phenolics, tannins and artifacts due to differences of tissue composition ..... Banana sucrose-phosphate synthase gene expression during fruit ripening.

Lipid lowering and HDL raising gene transfer increase endothelial progenitor cells, enhance myocardial vascularity, and improve diastolic function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie C Gordts

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia and low high density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol contribute to coronary heart disease but little is known about their direct effects on myocardial function. Low HDL and raised non-HDL cholesterol levels carried increased risk for heart failure development in the Framingham study, independent of any association with myocardial infarction. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that increased endothelial progenitor cell (EPC number and function after lipid lowering or HDL raising gene transfer in C57BL/6 low density lipoprotein receptor deficient (LDLr(-/- mice may be associated with an enhanced relative vascularity in the myocardium and an improved cardiac function. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Lipid lowering and HDL raising gene transfer were performed using the E1E3E4-deleted LDLr expressing adenoviral vector AdLDLr and the human apolipoprotein A-I expressing vector AdA-I, respectively. AdLDLr transfer in C57BL/6 LDLr(-/- mice resulted in a 2.0-fold (p<0.05 increase of the circulating number of EPCs and in an improvement of EPC function as assessed by ex vivo EPC migration and EPC adhesion. Capillary density and relative vascularity in the myocardium were 28% (p<0.01 and 22% (p<0.05 higher, respectively, in AdLDLr mice compared to control mice. The peak rate of isovolumetric relaxation was increased by 12% (p<0.05 and the time constant of isovolumetric relaxation was decreased by 14% (p<0.05 after AdLDLr transfer. Similarly, HDL raising gene transfer increased EPC number and function and raised both capillary density and relative vascularity in the myocardium by 24% (p<0.05. The peak rate of isovolumetric relaxation was increased by 16% (p<0.05 in AdA-I mice compared to control mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Both lipid lowering and HDL raising gene transfer have beneficial effects on EPC biology, relative myocardial vascularity, and diastolic function. These findings raise concerns over the

An evaluation of the quick inventory of depressive symptomatology and the hamilton rating scale for depression: a sequenced treatment alternatives to relieve depression trial report.

Science.gov (United States)

Rush, A John; Bernstein, Ira H; Trivedi, Madhukar H; Carmody, Thomas J; Wisniewski, Stephen; Mundt, James C; Shores-Wilson, Kathy; Biggs, Melanie M; Woo, Ada; Nierenberg, Andrew A; Fava, Maurizio

2006-03-15

Nine DSM-IV-TR criterion symptom domains are evaluated to diagnose major depressive disorder (MDD). The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) provides an efficient assessment of these domains and is available as a clinician rating (QIDS-C16), a self-report (QIDS-SR16), and in an automated, interactive voice response (IVR) (QIDS-IVR16) telephone system. This report compares the performance of these three versions of the QIDS and the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD17). Data were acquired at baseline and exit from the first treatment step (citalopram) in the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) trial. Outpatients with nonpsychotic MDD who completed all four ratings within +/-2 days were identified from the first 1500 STAR*D subjects. Both item response theory and classical test theory analyses were conducted. The three methods for obtaining QIDS data produced consistent findings regarding relationships between the nine symptom domains and overall depression, demonstrating interchangeability among the three methods. The HRSD17, while generally satisfactory, rarely utilized the full range of item scores, and evidence suggested multidimensional measurement properties. In nonpsychotic MDD outpatients without overt cognitive impairment, clinician assessment of depression severity using either the QIDS-C16 or HRSD17 may be successfully replaced by either the self-report or IVR version of the QIDS.

Retreatment of Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration after Loading 3-Monthly Intravitreal Ranibizumab.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugiyama, Atsushi; Sakurada, Yoichi; Honda, Shigeru; Miki, Akiko; Matsumiya, Wataru; Yoneyama, Seigo; Kikushima, Wataru; Iijima, Hiroyuki

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical implications of required retreatment after 3-monthly intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) injections followed by as-needed reinjections up to 5 years in eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A retrospective cohort study was conducted for 165 treatment-naïve eyes from 165 patients with exudative AMD. Visual changes were investigated in terms of the required retreatments. Retreatment-free proportions were 37.0, 23.7, 16.6, 12.1, and 10.5% at 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months, respectively. Visual changes were significantly better in eyes which did not require retreatment at every yearly checkpoint within the 5 years. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that requirement of additional IVR treatments in the first 12-24 months was associated with the T allele (risk allele) of ARMS2 A69S (p = 0.010 and 0.015, respectively). Cox regression analysis revealed that older age (p = 0.046) and the T allele of ARMS2 A69S (p = 0.036) were associated with required retreatment within the 5-year follow-up period. Age and the T allele of ARMS2 A69S are the risk factors requiring retreatments, leading to poor visual change in eyes with exudative AMD following the initial 3-monthly IVR. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Efficacy and safety of intravitreal ranibizumab with panretinal photocoagulation followed by trabeculectomy compared with Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation in neovascular glaucoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Tao Sun

2017-03-01

Full Text Available AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR with panretinal photocoagulation (PRP followed by trabeculectomy compared with Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV implantation in neovascular glaucoma (NVG. METHODS: This was a retrospective comparative study. We reviewed the cases of a total of 45 eyes from 45 NVG patients among which 23 eyes underwent AGV implantation and the other 22 underwent trabeculectomy. The causes of neovascular glaucoma included: diabetic retinopathy (25 eyes, and retinal vein occlusion (20 eyes. All patients received preoperative IVR combined with postoperative PRP. The mean best-corrected visual acuities (BCVA were converted to the logarithms of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR for the statisitical analyses. Intraocular pressure (IOP, the logMAR BCVA and surgical complications were evaluated before and after surgery. The follow-up period was 12mo. RESULTS: A total of 39 cases showed complete regression of iris neovascularization at 7d after injection, and 6 cases showed a small amount of residual iris neovascularization. The success rates were 81.8% and 82.6% at 12mo after trabeculectomy and AGV implantation, respectively. In the trabeculectomy group, the logMAR BCVA improved at the last follow-up in 14 eyes, remained stable in 6 eyes and decreased in 2 eyes. In 4 cases, slight hyphemas developed after trabeculectomy. A shallow anterior chamber developed in 2 cases and 2 vitreous hemorrhages. In the AGV group, the logMAR BCVA improved in 14 eyes, remained stable in 5 eyes and decreased in 4 eyes. Slight hyphemas developed in 3 cases, and a shallow anterior chamber in 3 cases. The mean postoperative IOP was significantly lower in both groups after surgery (F=545.468, P<0.05, and the mean postoperative logMAR BCVA was also significantly improved (F=10.964, P<0.05 with no significant difference between two groups. CONCLUSION: It is safe and effective to treat NVG with this combined procedure, and we

Radioimmunoassay of serum d-Norgestrel in women following oral and intravaginal administration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanczyk, F.Z.; Hiroi, M.; Goebelsmann, U.; Brenner, P.F.; Lumkin, M.E.; Mishell, D.R. Jr.

1975-01-01

A radioimmunoassay (RIA) method for measuring d-Norgestrel (d-Ng) in serum has been developed utilizing petroleum ether extraction, an antiserum raised against d-Norgestrel-3-(0-carboxymethyl) oxime-epsilon-aminocaproic acid--boxine serum albumin, d-Norgestrel-3-(0-carboxymethyl) imino-[ 125 I]-iodohistamine, and dextran-coated charcoal separation. Control serum blanks were undetectable, 6 pg of d-Ng was measurable in 0.1 ml of serum with a high reliability, and intra- and interassay coefficients of variation were 4.4 and 4.9 percent, respectively. d-Ng added to control serum was quantitatively recovered. This RIA proved to be highly specific for d-Ng, cross-reacting less than 0.01 percent with 1-Ng and some 4 to 8 percent with 5α- and 5β-tetrahydro-d-Ng. Serum d-Ng levels measured in 3 women after ingestion of 75 μg of dl-Ng rose to 1.5 to 2 ng/ml within 1/2 to 2-3 hours after oral intake and fell rapidly thereafter to 0.2 to 0.4 ng/ml within 24 hours. Insertion of Silastic intravaginal rings (IVRs), containing 50 or 100 mg of dl-Ng, into 3 women for periods of 3 weeks resulted in a rapid rise of serum d-Ng after insertion. Serum d-Ng levels were highest 24 to 48 hours after the first insertion of each IVR, reaching peak levels of about 5 and 7 to 11 ng/ml, respectively, and declined gradually during the ensuing 15 to 20 days to some 30 to 40 percent of the peak serum d-Ng concentration. Serum d-Ng levels attained after IVR reinsertion remained relatively constant at 1 to 3 ng/ml during each subsequent cycle in all subjects and fell rapidly after each IVR removal. Serum estradiol and progesterone concentrations, measured about 3 times a week in these patients, indicated that ovulation was consistently inhibited

Comparison of Intravitreal Bevacizumab, Intravitreal Ranibizumab and Laser Photocoagulation for Treatment of Type 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity in Turkish Preterm Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Kabataş, Emrah Utku; Kurtul, Bengi Ece; Altıaylık Özer, Pınar; Kabataş, Naciye

2017-07-01

To evaluate effectiveness of treatment modalities, major complications and refractive errors in children who were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB), intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) or laser photocoagulation (LP) for type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Premature infants who underwent IVB monotherapy (Group 1), IVR monotherapy (Group 2) or LP (Group 3) for type 1 ROP and infants with spontaneously regressed ROP (Group 4) were included for the study. Major complications, recurrence rate, recurrence time, total retinal vascularization time and refractive errors at 18 months of corrected age (CA) were determined. Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 included 24 eyes of 12 patients, 12 eyes of six patients, 72 eyes of 36 patients and 148 eyes of 74 patients, respectively. Recurrence of the disease occurred in two eyes of one patient in Group 1 at 52 weeks of postmenstrual age (PMA) and two eyes of one patient at 48 weeks of PMA in Group 2. In Group 3, disease did not regress after the first treatment in 10 eyes of five patients. The mean vascularization time in Group 1 was 73 ± 10.1 weeks of PMA and 61.8 ± 6.6 weeks of PMA in Group 2 (p = 0.027). Macular ectopia was seen in two eyes of one patient and exudative retinal detachment (ERD) occurred in two eyes of one patient in Group 3. Mean spherical equivalent was 1.49 ± 3.04 diopters (D) in Group 1, -1.79 ± 2.87D in Group 2, -1.27 ± 2.8 D in Group 3 and 1.52 ± 1.07 D in Group 4 at 18 months of CA. There was no significant difference in astigmatism values in all groups. IVB, IVR and LP are options that can successfully treat ROP. Myopia was observed to be the main refractive error in all treatment groups. Vascularization of the retina was completed later in the IVB group than in the IVR group.

Supporting adherence to antiretroviral therapy with mobile phone reminders: results from a cohort in South India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rashmi Rodrigues

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Adherence is central to the success of antiretroviral therapy. Supporting adherence has gained importance in HIV care in many national treatment programs. The ubiquity of mobile phones, even in resource-constrained settings, has provided an opportunity to utilize an inexpensive, contextually feasible technology for adherence support in HIV in these settings. We aimed to assess the influence of mobile phone reminders on adherence to antiretroviral therapy in South India. Participant experiences with the intervention were also studied. This is the first report of such an intervention for antiretroviral adherence from India, a country with over 800 million mobile connections. METHODS: STUDY DESIGN: Quasi-experimental cohort study involving 150 HIV-infected individuals from Bangalore, India, who were on antiretroviral therapy between April and July 2010. The intervention: All participants received two types of adherence reminders on their mobile phones, (i an automated interactive voice response (IVR call and (ii A non-interactive neutral picture short messaging service (SMS, once a week for 6 months. Adherence measured by pill count, was assessed at study recruitment and at months one, three, six, nine and twelve. Participant experiences were assessed at the end of the intervention period. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 38 years, 27% were female and 90% urban. Overall, 3,895 IVRs and 3,073 SMSs were sent to the participants over 6 months. Complete case analysis revealed that the proportion of participants with optimal adherence increased from 85% to 91% patients during the intervention period, an effect that was maintained 6 months after the intervention was discontinued (p = 0.016. Both, IVR calls and SMS reminders were considered non-intrusive and not a threat to privacy. A significantly higher proportion agreed that the IVR was helpful compared to the SMS (p<0.001. CONCLUSION: Mobile phone reminders may improve

Bond-selective control of a gas-surface reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Killelea, Daniel R.

The prospect of using light to selectively control chemical reactions has tantalized chemists since the development of the laser. Unfortunately, the realization of laser-directed chemistry is frequently thwarted by the randomization of energy within the molecule through intramolecular vibrational energy distribution (IVR). However, recent results showing vibrational mode-specific reactivity on metal surfaces suggest that IVR may not always be complete for gas-surface reactions. Here, we combine molecular beam techniques and direct laser excitation to characterize the bond-specific reactivity of trideuteromethane on a Ni(111) surface. Our results reveal important details about how vibrational energy is distributed in the reactive molecule. We use a molecular beam to direct state-selected trideuteromethane (CHD 3) molecules onto a nickel single crystal sample and use the results we obtain to describe the flow of vibrational energy in the methane-surface reaction complex. We show that CHD3 molecules initially excited to v=1, J=2, K=0 of the v 1 symmetric C-H stretching mode will dissociate exclusively via C-H cleavage on Ni(111). This result highlights the localization of vibrational energy in the reaction complex, despite the presence of many energy exchange channels with the high state-density surface. We demonstrate, for the first time, highly parallel bond-selective control of a heterogeneously catalyzed reaction. We place our results in the context of recent experiments investigating IVR for molecules in both the gas phase and liquid solutions. If IVR is fast on the reaction timescale, vibrational energy would be randomly distributed throughout the nascent methane-surface reaction complex and vibrational mode-specific behavior would not occur. The short timescale of a direct gas-surface collision may explain how the exchange of energy via IVR is limited to only a small subset of the energetic configurations available to the reaction complex. This framework

Graphics processing units accelerated semiclassical initial value representation molecular dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamascelli, Dario; Dambrosio, Francesco Saverio [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy); Conte, Riccardo [Department of Chemistry and Cherry L. Emerson Center for Scientific Computation, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322 (United States); Ceotto, Michele, E-mail: michele.ceotto@unimi.it [Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Golgi 19, 20133 Milano (Italy)

2014-05-07

This paper presents a Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) implementation of the Semiclassical Initial Value Representation (SC-IVR) propagator for vibrational molecular spectroscopy calculations. The time-averaging formulation of the SC-IVR for power spectrum calculations is employed. Details about the GPU implementation of the semiclassical code are provided. Four molecules with an increasing number of atoms are considered and the GPU-calculated vibrational frequencies perfectly match the benchmark values. The computational time scaling of two GPUs (NVIDIA Tesla C2075 and Kepler K20), respectively, versus two CPUs (Intel Core i5 and Intel Xeon E5-2687W) and the critical issues related to the GPU implementation are discussed. The resulting reduction in computational time and power consumption is significant and semiclassical GPU calculations are shown to be environment friendly.

Walking in Place Through Virtual Worlds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Niels Chr.; Serafin, Stefania; Nordahl, Rolf

2016-01-01

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) is seemingly on the verge of entering the homes of consumers. Enabling users to walk through virtual worlds in a limited physical space presents a challenge. With an outset in a taxonomy of virtual travel techniques, we argue that Walking-in-Place (WIP) techniques...... constitute a promising approach to virtual walking in relation to consumer IVR. Subsequently we review existing approaches to WIP locomotion and highlight the need for a more explicit focus on the perceived naturalness of WIP techniques; i.e., the degree to which WIP locomotion feels like real walking....... Finally, we summarize work we have performed in order to produce more natural WIP locomotion and present unexplored topics which need to be address if WIP techniques are to provide perceptually natural walking experiences....

Voice user interface design for emerging multilingual markets

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Huyssteen, G

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Multilingual emerging markets hold many opportunities for the application of spoken language technologies, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR) or test-to-speech (TTS) technologies in interactive voice response (IVR) systems. However...

Decoherence control in quantum computing with simple chirped ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

strate this with selective control of decoherence for a multilevel system with a simple ... The concept of quantum computer (QC) has attracted considerable attention ... as intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR), which is the most important ...

Femtosecond Multidimensional Imaging - Watching Chemistry from the Molecule's Point of View

Science.gov (United States)

Geßner, O.; Lee, A. M. D.; Chrysostom, E. t.-H.; Hayden, C. C.; Stolow, Albert

Using Femtosecond Multidimensional Imaging we disentangle the complex neutral dissociation mechanism of the NO dimer. We characterize all electronic configurations from start to finish and directly observe the evolution of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR).

Assessment of Cardiac Function in Fetuses of Gestational Diabetic Mothers During the Second Trimester.

Science.gov (United States)

Atiq, Mehnaz; Ikram, Anum; Hussain, Batool M; Saleem, Bakhtawar

2017-06-01

Fetuses of diabetic mothers may have structural or functional cardiac abnormalities which increase morbidity and mortality. Isolated functional abnormalities have been identified in the third trimester. The aim of the present study was to assess fetal cardiac function (systolic, diastolic, and global myocardial performance) in the second trimester in mothers with gestational diabetes, and also to relate cardiac function with glycemic control. Mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus referred for fetal cardiac evaluation in the second trimester (between 19 and 24 weeks) from March 2015 to February 2016 were enrolled as case subjects in this study. Non-diabetic mothers who had a fetal echocardiogram done between 19 and 24 weeks for other indications were enrolled as controls. Functional cardiac variables showed a statistically significant difference in isovolumetric relaxation and contraction times and the myocardial performance index and mitral E/A ratios in the gestational diabetic group (p = 0.003). Mitral annular plane systolic excursion was significantly less in the diabetic group (p = 0.01). The only functional cardiac variable found abnormal in mothers with poor glycemic control was the prolonged isovolumetric relaxation time. Functional cardiac abnormalities can be detected in the second trimester in fetuses of gestational diabetic mothers and timely intervention can improve postnatal outcomes.

Structural integrity investigation for RPV with various cooling water levels under pressurized melting pool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Mao

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The strategy denoted as in-vessel retention (IVR is widely used in severe accident (SA management by most advanced nuclear power plants. The essence of IVR mitigation is to provide long-term external water cooling in maintaining the reactor pressure vessel (RPV integrity. Actually, the traditional IVR concept assumed that RPV was fully submerged into the water flooding, and the melting pool was depressurized during the SA. The above assumptions weren't seriously challenged until the occurrence of Fukushima accident on 2011, suggesting the structural behavior had not been appropriately assessed. Therefore, the paper tries to address the structure-related issue on determining whether RPV safety can be maintained or not with the effect of various water levels and internal pressures created from core meltdown accident. In achieving it, the RPV structural behaviors are numerically investigated in terms of several field parameters, such as temperature, deformation, stress, plastic strain, creep strain, and total damage. Due to the presence of high temperature melt on the inside and water cooling on the outside, the RPV failure is governed by the failure mechanisms of creep, thermal-plasticity and plasticity. The creep and plastic damages are interacted with each other, which further accelerate the failure process. Through detailed investigation, it is found that the internal pressure as well as water levels plays an important role in determining the RPV failure time, mode and site.

A characteristic of angiographic cone-beam CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takase, Tadashi; Take, Toshio; Nakazawa, Yasuo; Kinouchi, Katsunori

2009-01-01

Angiographic cone-beam CT, called DynaCT by SIEMENS, is a 3D imaging tool reconstructed from projection data by a rotational C-arm with a flat panel detector. It can visualize low-contrast objects such as soft tissue or small vessels as well as high-contrast structures such as enhanced vessels or bone. We need to understand its image characteristics and dose distribution during 200 degree rotation around a patient. In this research, we evaluated fundamental characteristics and dose effectiveness for optimized clinical images. DynaCT, including soft tissue information and isochronal voxel data along the z-axis, could provide enough CT-like image quality for interventional radiology (IVR) use. In addition, evaluation of accumulated dose distribution helped us to predict and avoid the occurrence of radiodermatitis. Thus, DynaCT is useful as a support and navigation tool for IVR. (author)

Distribution of animal drugs between skim milk and milk fat fractions in spiked whole milk: Understanding the potential impact on commercial milk products

Science.gov (United States)

Seven animal drugs [penicillin G (PENG), sulfadimethoxine (SDMX), oxytetracycline (OTET), erythromycin (ERY), ketoprofen (KETO), thiabendazole (THIA) and ivermectin (IVR)] were used to evaluate drug distribution between milk fat and skim milk fractions of cow milk. Greater than 90% of radioactivity...

75 FR 61785 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Review of a Revised Information Collection: (OMB Control...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-06

... Information Collection: (OMB Control No. 3206-0201; Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season... collection, ``Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season Express Interactive Voice Response (IVR... other insurance information for self and family enrollments, requesting plan brochures, requesting a...

76 FR 9836 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request for Review of a Revised Information Collection: (OMB...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-22

... Information Collection: (OMB Control No. 3206-0201; Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season..., ``Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Open Season Express Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System... survivors. They collect information for changing FEHB enrollments, collecting dependent and other insurance...

Adoption of in-vessel retention concept for VVER-440/V213 reactors in Central European Countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matejovic, Peter, E-mail: peter.matejovic@ivstt.sk [Inzinierska Vypoctova Spolocnost (IVS), Jana Holleho 5, 91701 Trnava (Slovakia); Barnak, Miroslav; Bachraty, Milan; Vranka, Lubomir [Inzinierska Vypoctova Spolocnost (IVS), Jana Holleho 5, 91701 Trnava (Slovakia); Berky, Robert [Integrita a Bezpecnost Ocelovych Konstrukcii, Rybnicna 40, 831 07 Bratislava (Slovakia)

2017-04-01

Highlights: • Design of in-vessel retention concept for VVER-440/V213 reactors. • Thermal loads acting on the inner reactor surface. • Structural response of reactor pressure vessel. • External reactor vessel cooling. - Abstract: An in-vessel retention (IVR) concept was proposed for standard VVER-440/V213 reactors equipped with confinement made of reinforced concrete and bubbler condenser pressure suppression system. This IVR concept is based on simple modifications of existing plant technology and thus it was attractive for plant operators in Central European Countries. Contrary to the solution that was adopted before at Loviisa NPP in Finland (two units of VVER-440/V213 reactor with steel confinement equipped with ice condenser), the coolant access to the reactor pressure vessel from flooded cavity is enabled via closable hole installed in the centre of thermal shield of the reactor lower head instead of lowering this massive structure in the case of severe accident. As a consequence, the crucial point of this IVR concept is narrow gap between torispherical lower head and thermal and biological shield. Here the highest thermal flux is expected in the case of severe accident. Thus, realistic estimation of thermal load and corresponding deformations of reactor wall and their impact on gap width for coolant flow are of primarily importance. In this contribution the attention is paid especially to the analytical support with emphasis to the following points: 1) {sup ∗}Estimation of thermal loads acting on the inner reactor surface; 2) {sup ∗}Estimation of structural response of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) with emphasis on the deformation of outer reactor surface and its impact on the annular gap between RPV wall and thermal/biological shield; 3) {sup ∗}Analysis of external reactor vessel cooling. For this purpose the ASTEC code was used for performing analysis of core degradation scenarios, the ANSYS code for structural analysis of reactor vessel

Data Equivalency of an Interactive Voice Response System for Home Assessment of Back Pain and Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William S Shaw

2007-01-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Interactive voice response (IVR systems that collect survey data using automated, push-button telephone responses may be useful to monitor patients’ pain and function at home; however, its equivalency to other data collection methods has not been studied.

In vessel retention for VVER 1000 - Experimental work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batek, D.

2015-01-01

After Fukushima accident, the nuclear community realized that it is necessary to have strategy and solution for severe accident management. In Vessel Retention (IVR) of corium is an important strategy to mitigate the consequences of a severe accident. In this poster the author reviews the present status of experimental works made by UJV (Czech Republic) from 2012 until now, on the IVR strategy specifically applied for the VVER 1000 unit. The BESTH 1 experiment was prepared to test the behavior of the RPV (Reactor Pressure Vessel) surface under 2 configurations: clean and corroded. BESTH 2 experiment is a modification of BESTH 1 experiment in order to get greater thermal fluxes. The BESTH 3 facility is a large scale experiment that is under extensive design (2016-2017) whose main objective will be to investigate the results of vast analytical works made by experts with specialization of severe accident phenomenology

Usefulness of non-lead aprons in radiation protection for physicians performing interventional procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuguchi, M.; Chida, K.; Taura, M.; Inaba, Y.; Ebata, A.; Yamada, S.

2008-01-01

At present, interventional radiology (IVR) tends to involve long procedures (long radiation duration), and physicians are near to the source of scattered radiation. Hence, shielding is critical in protecting physicians from radiation. Protective aprons and additional lead-shielding devices, such as table-side lead drapes, are important means of protecting the physician from scattered radiation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether non-lead aprons are effective in protecting physicians from radiation during IVR procedures. In this study, the radiation protection effects of commercially available protective lead and non-lead aprons, when exposed to diagnostic X rays, are compared. The performance of these non-lead and lead aprons was similar for scattered X rays at tube voltages of 60-120 kV. Properly designed non-lead aprons are thus more suitable for physicians because they weigh ∼20% less than the lead aprons, and are non-toxic. (authors)

Corium phase equilibria based on MASCA, METCOR and CORPHAD results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bechta, S.V.; Granovsky, V.S.; Khabensky, V.B. [Alexandrov Research Institute of Technologies (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation); Gusarov, V.V.; Almiashev, V.I.; Mezentseva, L.P. [Grebenshikov Institute of Silicate Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (ISCh RAS), St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Krushinov, E.V.; Kotova, S.Yu.; Kosarevsky, R.A. [Alexandrov Research Institute of Technologies (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation); Barrachin, M. [Institut de Radioprotection et Surete Nucleaire IRSN/DPAM, St Paul lez Durance (France); Bottomley, D. [EUROPAISCHE KOMMISSION, Joint Research Centre Institut fuer Transurane (ITU), Karlsruhe (Germany); Fichot, F. [Institut de Radioprotection et Surete Nucleaire IRSN/DPAM, St Paul lez Durance (France); Fischer, M. [AREVA NP GmbH, Erlangen (Germany)], E-mail: Manfred.Fischer@areva.com

2008-10-15

Experimental data on component partitioning between suboxidized corium melt and steel in the in-vessel melt retention (IVR) conditions are compared. The data are produced within the OECD MASCA program and the ISTC CORPHAD project under close-to-isothermal conditions and in the ISTC METCOR project under thermal gradient conditions. Chemical equilibrium in the U-Zr-Fe(Cr,Ni,...)-O system is reached in all experiments. In MASCA tests the molten pool formed under inert atmosphere has two immiscible liquids, oxygen-enriched (oxidic) and oxygen-depleted (metallic), resulting of the miscibility gap of the mentioned system. Sub-system data of the U-Zr-Fe(Cr,Ni,...)-O phase diagram investigated within the ISTC CORPHAD project are interpreted in relation with the MASCA results. In METCOR tests the equilibrium is established between oxidic liquid and mushy metallic part of the system. Results of comparison are discussed and the implications for IVR noted.

Treatment for stage 4A retinopathy of prematurity: laser and/or ranibizumab.

Science.gov (United States)

Sukgen, Emine Alyamaç; Koçluk, Yusuf

2017-02-01

Stage 4A retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a critical phase where retinal detachment develops, but fovea is preserved. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of the first treatment choice (laser photocoagulation (LPC) or intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR)) applied in this critical phase on the prognosis of the disease. Records of patients diagnosed with stage 4A ROP and whose first treatment was applied in our clinic were evaluated retrospectively. All patients were referred to our clinic for the treatment of advanced ROP . While group 1 was composed of the patients who were administered LPC as first treatment, group 2 included patients where IVR was applied as first treatment. The patients in both groups were referred to surgical treatment in the presence of progression. The present study included a total of 31 eyes in 16 patients with stage 4A ROP. Eighteen eyes of nine patients in group 1 were first applied LPC, and 13 eyes of seven patients in group 2 were first applied intravitreal ranibizumab. While anatomic outcomes of ten eyes in both groups were favorable, eight eyes in group 1 and three eyes in group 2 displayed progression and were referred to vitreoretinal surgery. Laser and/or IVR treatment may be effective as a non-surgical treatment for stage 4A ROP. Especially stage 4A ROP until 6 clock hours can regress without surgical treatment. However, in stage 4A with involvement wider than 6 clock hours, non-surgical regression is difficult. Prospective controlled large series studies are necessary.

In-vessel Retention Strategy for High Power Reactors - K-INERI Final Report (includes SBLB Test Results for Task 3 on External Reactor Vessel Cooling (ERVC) Boiling Data and CHF Enhancement Correlations)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

F. B. Cheung; J. Yang; M. B. Dizon; J. Rempe

2005-01-01

In-vessel retention (IVR) of core melt is a key severe accident management strategy adopted by some operating nuclear power plants and proposed for some advanced light water reactors (ALWRs). If there were inadequate cooling during a reactor accident, a significant amount of core material could become molten and relocate to the lower head of the reactor vessel, as happened in the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident. If it is possible to ensure that the vessel head remains intact so that relocated core materials are retained within the vessel, the enhanced safety associated with these plants can reduce concerns about containment failure and associated risk. For example, the enhanced safety of the Westinghouse Advanced 600 MWe PWR (AP600), which relied upon External Reactor Vessel Cooling (ERVC) for IVR, resulted in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) approving the design without requiring certain conventional features common to existing LWRs. However, it is not clear that currently proposed external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) without additional enhancements could provide sufficient heat removal for higher-power reactors (up to 1500 MWe). Hence, a collaborative, three-year, U.S. - Korean International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (INERI) project was completed in which the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), Seoul National University (SNU), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) investigated the performance of ERVC and an in-vessel core catcher (IVCC) to determine if IVR is feasible for reactors up to 1500 MWe.

Evaluating the effect of lithology on porosity development in ridgetops in the Appalachian Piedmont

Science.gov (United States)

Marcon, V.; Gu, X.; Fisher, B.; Brantley, S. L.

2016-12-01

Together, chemical and physical processes transform fresh bedrock into friable weathered material. Even in systems where lithology, tectonic history, and climatic history are all known, it is challenging to predict the depth of weathering because the mechanisms that control the rate of regolith formation are not understood. In the Appalachian Piedmont, where rates of regolith formation and erosion are thought to be in a rough steady state, the depth of weathering varies with lithology. The Piedmont provides a controlled natural environment to isolate the effects of lithology on weathering processes so we can start to understand the mechanisms that initiate and drive weathering. Weathering is deepest over feldspathic rocks (schist/granite) with regolith 20-30m thick and thinnest over mafic and ultramafic rocks (diabase/serpentinite) with regolith serpentinization reactions and lost from collapse during weathering. Serpentinite consists of easily weathered hydrous minerals with little quartz. Comparatively, rocks with more quartz (e.g. schist) have a supportive skeleton as the rock weathers. This quartz skeleton could prevent the collapse of pores and result in isovolumetric weathering. Non-isovolumetric weathering limits infiltration of reactive fluids deeper into the rock, minimizing regolith formation in serpentinite due to its lack of a quartz skeleton. Given this, fracture toughness may be an important parameter to consider in terms of predicting regolith thickness.

Automatic detection of end-diastole and end-systole from echocardiography images using manifold learning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gifani, Parisa; Behnam, Hamid; Shalbaf, Ahmad; Sani, Zahra Alizadeh

2010-01-01

The automatic detection of end-diastole and end-systole frames of echocardiography images is the first step for calculation of the ejection fraction, stroke volume and some other features related to heart motion abnormalities. In this paper, the manifold learning algorithm is applied on 2D echocardiography images to find out the relationship between the frames of one cycle of heart motion. By this approach the nonlinear embedded information in sequential images is represented in a two-dimensional manifold by the LLE algorithm and each image is depicted by a point on reconstructed manifold. There are three dense regions on the manifold which correspond to the three phases of cardiac cycle ('isovolumetric contraction', 'isovolumetric relaxation', 'reduced filling'), wherein there is no prominent change in ventricular volume. By the fact that the end-systolic and end-diastolic frames are in isovolumic phases of the cardiac cycle, the dense regions can be used to find these frames. By calculating the distance between consecutive points in the manifold, the isovolumic frames are mapped on the three minimums of the distance diagrams which were used to select the corresponding images. The minimum correlation between these images leads to detection of end-systole and end-diastole frames. The results on six healthy volunteers have been validated by an experienced echo cardiologist and depict the usefulness of the presented method

Echocardiographic evaluation during weaning from mechanical ventilation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciele Medianeira Schifelbain

2011-01-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Echocardiographic, electrocardiographic and other cardiorespiratory variables can change during weaning from mechanical ventilation. OBJECTIVES: To analyze changes in cardiac function, using Doppler echocardiogram, in critical patients during weaning from mechanical ventilation, using two different weaning methods: pressure support ventilation and T-tube; and comparing patient subgroups: success vs. failure in weaning. METHODS: Randomized crossover clinical trial including patients under mechanical ventilation for more than 48 h and considered ready for weaning. Cardiorespiratory variables, oxygenation, electrocardiogram and Doppler echocardiogram findings were analyzed at baseline and after 30 min in pressure support ventilation and T-tube. Pressure support ventilation vs. T-tube and weaning success vs. failure were compared using ANOVA and Student's t-test. The level of significance was p<0.05. RESULTS: Twenty-four adult patients were evaluated. Seven patients failed at the first weaning attempt. No echocardiographic or electrocardiographic differences were observed between pressure support ventilation and T-tube. Weaning failure patients presented increases in left atrium, intraventricular septum thickness, posterior wall thickness and diameter of left ventricle and shorter isovolumetric relaxation time. Successfully weaned patients had higher levels of oxygenation. CONCLUSION: No differences were observed between Doppler echocardiographic variables and electrocardiographic and other cardiorespiratory variables during pressure support ventilation and T-tube. However cardiac structures were smaller, isovolumetric relaxation time was larger, and oxygenation level was greater in successfully weaned patients

Establishment of HSV1 latency in immunodeficient mice facilitates efficient in vivo reactivation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chandran Ramakrishna

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The establishment of latent infections in sensory neurons is a remarkably effective immune evasion strategy that accounts for the widespread dissemination of life long Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV1 infections in humans. Periodic reactivation of latent virus results in asymptomatic shedding and transmission of HSV1 or recurrent disease that is usually mild but can be severe. An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms regulating the maintenance of latency and reactivation are essential for developing new approaches to block reactivation. However, the lack of a reliable mouse model that supports efficient in vivo reactivation (IVR resulting in production of infectious HSV1 and/or disease has hampered progress. Since HSV1 reactivation is enhanced in immunosuppressed hosts, we exploited the antiviral and immunomodulatory activities of IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulins to promote survival of latently infected immunodeficient Rag mice. Latently infected Rag mice derived by high dose (HD, but not low dose (LD, HSV1 inoculation exhibited spontaneous reactivation. Following hyperthermia stress (HS, the majority of HD inoculated mice developed HSV1 encephalitis (HSE rapidly and synchronously, whereas for LD inoculated mice reactivated HSV1 persisted only transiently in trigeminal ganglia (Tg. T cells, but not B cells, were required to suppress spontaneous reactivation in HD inoculated latently infected mice. Transfer of HSV1 memory but not OVA specific or naïve T cells prior to HS blocked IVR, revealing the utility of this powerful Rag latency model for studying immune mechanisms involved in control of reactivation. Crossing Rag mice to various knockout strains and infecting them with wild type or mutant HSV1 strains is expected to provide novel insights into the role of specific cellular and viral genes in reactivation, thereby facilitating identification of new targets with the potential to block reactivation.

Testing plan for critical heat flux measurement during in-vessel retention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoki, Kazuyoshi; Iwaki, Chikako; Sato, Hisaki; Mimura, Satoshi; Kanamori, Daisuke

2015-01-01

In-Vessel Retention (IVR) is a method to maintain molten debris in a reactor vessel (RV) by RV outer surface cooling. Structural integrity of RV and cooling capacity on RV outer surface are important to verify IVR strategy. Critical Heat Flux (CHF) data is necessary to estimate cooling capacity on the RV outer surface. And there are some CHF data to estimate cooling capacity on the RV outer surface. However, these data were obtained for specific plants. Thus, the objective of this study is developing a CHF correlation for various PWR plants. The objectives of this paper are developing test equipment and testing plan for the CHF correlation. Firstly, plant conditions during severe accidents were organized. Then, ranges of testing parameters were estimated with the plant conditions. And specifications of the test equipment were set to cover the range of parameters. Secondly, testing cases were set based on design of experiments. The test cases are suitable to develop experimental correlations. (author)

Variable disparity estimation based intermediate view reconstruction in dynamic flow allocation over EPON-based access networks

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Kyung-Hoon; Lee, Jungjoon; Kim, Eun-Soo

2008-06-01

In this paper, a variable disparity estimation (VDE)-based intermediate view reconstruction (IVR) in dynamic flow allocation (DFA) over an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON)-based access network is proposed. In the proposed system, the stereoscopic images are estimated by a variable block-matching algorithm (VBMA), and they are transmitted to the receiver through DFA over EPON. This scheme improves a priority-based access network by converting it to a flow-based access network with a new access mechanism and scheduling algorithm, and then 16-view images are synthesized by the IVR using VDE. Some experimental results indicate that the proposed system improves the peak-signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) to as high as 4.86 dB and reduces the processing time to 3.52 s. Additionally, the network service provider can provide upper limits of transmission delays by the flow. The modeling and simulation results, including mathematical analyses, from this scheme are also provided.

Rolling Friction Torque in Ball-Race Contacts Operating in Mixed Lubrication Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela Rodica D. Bălan

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Based on a theoretical model and an experimental methodology for defining the friction torque for lubricated conditions in a modified thrust ball bearing having only three balls, the authors experimentally investigated the influence of the lubricant parameter Λ on friction torque for mixed IVR (isoviscous rigid and EHL (elastohydrodynamic lubrication conditions. The experiments were conducted using ball diameters of 3 mm, 3.97 mm and 6.35 mm loaded at 0.125 N, 0.400 N and 0.633 N. Two oils of viscosity 0.08 Pa·s and 0.05 Pa·s were used and rotational speed was varied in the range 60–210 rpm to obtain a lubricant parameter Λ varying between 0.3 and 3.2. The experiments confirmed that the measured friction torque can be explained using hydrodynamic rolling force relationships respecting the transition from an IVR to an EHL lubrication regime.

Regulative environmental policy. Regulative Umweltpolitik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goerlitz, A; Voigt, R [Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen, Neubiberg (Germany, F.R.). Fakultaet fuer Sozialwissenschaften; eds.

1991-01-01

Regulative policy means those governmental attempts to steer the course of things which can fall back on a certain repertoire of instruments for actions in order to warrant the causal and temporal connection between the making available and the employment of means. The fact that environmental protection needs regulative policy is substantiated by the thesis that the market has failed; consequently only government can manage the public goods 'environment' in a suitable way, and it is a matter of fact that environmental protection at present is operated preferably via regulative policy. The problems of regulative enviromental policy are manifold. Its implementation often miscarries because of limited administrative resources on the one hand - making sufficient control impossible for instance -, and because of poor quality regulative instruments on the other hand. One way out would be to increase the efficiency of regulative policy by sophisticating judicial techniques. Other ways out point to the executing level and aim at improving implementation strategies or are concerned with post-regulative law. The latter refers to a new legal quality which demonstrates itself already in corporatistical crisis regulation or in induction programs such as pollution limits. A final way out favours deregulation strategies which includes the introduction of environmental levies or the allocation of environmental licences. An interdisciplinary discourse is to find out what would happen if these ways were taken. Pointers to solutions from varying scientific disciplines resulting from this discourse are to be found in this volume. (orig./HSCH).

NATO-Advances Study Institute, Diamond and Diamond-Like Films and Coatings, Held in Il Ciocco, Castelvecchio Pascoli, Italy on July 22-August 3, 1990

Science.gov (United States)

1990-08-03

39-690021279 FAX: 39-690021243 Dr. Alessandro Bellone Olivetti Office Via Jervis 20 10015 Ivres (Turin), Italy Phone: FAX: 39-125528116 Mr. Antonio...delle Volta , 94 1-25129 Bresua, Italy Phone: 39-30-347491 FAX: 39-30-342906 Prof. Masao Murakawa Nippon Institute of Technology 4-1 Gakuendai Miyashiro

The Future of Humanitarian Response

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Information and Communication Technology and the Humanitarian Field, ... of complex emergencies, defined by internal conflicts and political .... response tool, is an area where innovative ideas can have a huge impact. ...... example of an IVR is the systems used by banks where a caller can access accounting information ...

On the nature of highly vibrationally excited states of thiophosgene

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Understanding the nature of the highly excited molecu- lar eigenstates is equivalent to deciphering the mecha- nism of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution. (IVR) occurring in the molecule.1 However, the assign- ment of eigenstates is far from simple. The existence of and interplay of several strong anharmonic ...

Mobile Health Devices as Tools for Worldwide Cardiovascular Risk Reduction and Disease Management

Science.gov (United States)

Piette, John D.; List, Justin; Rana, Gurpreet K.; Townsend, Whitney; Striplin, Dana; Heisler, Michele

2016-01-01

We examined evidence on whether mobile health (mHealth) tools, including Interactive Voice Response (IVR) calls, short message service (SMS) or text messaging, and smartphones, can improve lifestyle behaviors and management related to cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. We conducted a state-of-the-art review and literature synthesis of peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2004. The review prioritized randomized trials and studies focused on cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, but included other reports when they represented the best available evidence. The search emphasized reports on the potential benefits of mHealth interventions implemented in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). IVR and SMS interventions can improve cardiovascular preventive care in developed countries by addressing risk factors including weight, smoking, and physical activity. IVR and SMS-based interventions for cardiovascular disease management also have shown benefits with respect to hypertension management, hospital readmissions, and diabetic glycemic control. Multi-modal interventions including web-based communication with clinicians and mHealth-enabled clinical monitoring with feedback also have shown benefits. The evidence regarding the potential benefits of interventions using smartphones and social media is still developing. Studies of mHealth interventions have been conducted in more than 30 LMICs, and evidence to date suggests that programs are feasible and may improve medication adherence and disease outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that mHealth interventions may improve cardiovascular-related lifestyle behaviors and disease management. Next generation mHealth programs developed worldwide should be based on evidence-based behavioral theories and incorporate advances in artificial intelligence for adapting systems automatically to patients’ unique and changing needs. PMID:26596977

Influence of meal composition on postprandial peripheral plasma concentrations of vasoactive peptides in man

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen-Bjergaard, U; Høst, U; Kelbaek, H

1996-01-01

In a randomized cross-over study healthy non-obese male human subjects received standardized isocaloric, isovolumetric meals consisting of either carbohydrate, protein or fat and a non-caloric control meal consisting of an equal volume of water. Peripheral venous plasma concentrations of calcitonin...... that the postprandial peripheral plasma concentrations of CGRP, VIP and PYY are dependent on the caloric meal composition. The VIP, but not the CGRP and PYY concentrations seem to be influenced by gastric distension. The physiological significance of the postprandial alterations in peripheral concentrations...

50 CFR 648.7 - Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

..., crew size, crew share by percentage, landing port, date sold, price per bushel, buyer, tag numbers from... via the IVR system each week, regardless of how much herring is caught (including weeks when no... to NMFS, sector managers, or another third-party service provider specified in paragraph (h) of this...

Three-Dimensions vs. Two-Dimensions Intervention Programs: The Effect on the Mediation Level and Behavioural Aspects of Children with Intellectual Disability

Science.gov (United States)

Eden, S.; Bezer, M.

2011-01-01

The research examined the effect of an intervention program employing 3D immersive virtual reality (IVR), which focused on the perception of sequential time, on the mediation level and behavioural aspects of children with intellectual disability (ID). The intervention is based on the mediated learning experience (MLE) theory, which refers the…

Federal Aviation Regulations - National Aviation Regulations of Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Chernykh, O.; Bakiiev, M.

2018-03-01

Chinese Aerospace Engineering is currently developing cooperation with Russia on a wide-body airplane project that has directed the work towards better understanding of Russian airworthiness management system. The paper introduces national Aviation regulations of Russia, presents a comparison of them with worldwide recognized regulations, and highlights typical differences. They have been found to be: two general types of regulations used in Russia (Aviation Regulations and Federal Aviation Regulations), non-unified structure of regulations on Aircraft Operation management, various separate agencies responsible for regulation issuance instead of one national aviation authority, typical confusions in references. The paper also gives a list of effective Russian Regulations of both types.

Enhancing Time-Connectives with 3D Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR)

Science.gov (United States)

Passig, David; Eden, Sigal

2010-01-01

This study sought to test the most efficient representation mode with which children with hearing impairment could express a story while producing connectives indicating relations of time and of cause and effect. Using Bruner's (1973, 1986, 1990) representation stages, we tested the comparative effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) as a mode of…

A comparative study of contractility of the heart ventricle in some ectothermic vertebrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Kharin

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to analyze contractility of the heart ventricle in selected reptilian and amphibian species having the same ventricular excitation pattern. Systolic time intervals and indices of contractility of the heart ventricle were measured in anaesthetized frogs, snakes, and tortoises by use of polycardiography. The electromechanical delay was significantly shorter in tortoises compared with the other two species. The isovolumetric contraction time in frogs was approximately twofold longer than in reptiles. The pre-ejection period was the longest in frogs and the shortest in tortoises, whereas snakes were intermediate. The ejection time was slightly longer in tortoises compared with the other two species. The greatest isovolumetric contraction index and the smallest myocardial tension index corresponded to the frog and tortoise heart ventricle, respectively. The intrasystolic index in tortoises was significantly greater than in frogs, whereas quite similar to that in snakes. The frog ventricle had lower contractility compared with the reptilian one. Although ventricular contractility tended to be lower in snakes compared with tortoises, this difference was not statistically significant. Possible causes for these differences are discussed. We suppose a large variety in ventricular contractility among amphibian and reptilian species having the same ventricular activation pattern. This variety may be conditioned by heart anatomy, intracardiac shunting, lifestyles, and habitats. It can only be hypothesized that on the average, ventricular contractility is higher in reptiles compared with amphibians and in chelonians compared with snakes.

Branded prescription drug fee. Final regulations, temporary regulations, and removal of temporary regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-28

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance on the annual fee imposed on covered entities engaged in the business of manufacturing or importing branded prescription drugs. This fee was enacted by section 9008 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by section 1404 of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This document also withdraws the Branded Prescription Drug Fee temporary regulations and contains new temporary regulations regarding the definition of controlled group that apply beginning on January 1, 2015. The final regulations and the new temporary regulations affect persons engaged in the business of manufacturing or importing certain branded prescription drugs. The text of the temporary regulations in this document also serves as the text of proposed regulations set forth in a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-123286-14) on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

How incorporation of scents could enhance immersive virtual experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthieu Jeremiah Ischer

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Under normal everyday conditions, senses all work together to create experiences that fill a typical person´s life. Unfortunately for behavioral and cognitive researchers who investigate such experiences, standard laboratory tests are usually conducted in a nondescript room in front of a computer screen. They are very far from replicating the complexity of real world experiences. Recently, immersive virtual reality (IVR environments became promising methods to immerse people into an almost real environment that involves more senses. IVR environments provide many similarities to the complexity of the real world and at the same time allow experimenters to constrain experimental parameters to obtain empirical data. This can eventually lead to better treatment options and/or new mechanistic hypotheses. The idea that increasing sensory modalities improve the realism of immersive virtual reality environments has been empirically supported, but the senses used did not usually include olfaction. In this technology report, we will present an odor delivery system applied to a state-of-the-art IVR technology. The platform provides a three-dimensional, immersive, and fully interactive visualization environment called Brain and Behavioral Laboratory - Immersive System (BBL-IS. The solution we propose can reliably deliver various complex scents during different virtual scenarios, at a precise time and space and without contamination of the environment. The main features of this platform are: i the limited cross-contamination between odorant streams with a fast odor delivery (< 500 ms, ii the ease of use and control, and iii the possibility to synchronize the delivery of the odorant with pictures, videos or sounds. How this unique technology could be used to investigate typical research questions in olfaction (e.g., emotional elicitation, memory encoding or attentional capture by scents will also be addressed.

Overview of in-vessel retention concept involving level of passivity: with application to evolutionary pressurized water reactor design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghyym, Seong H.

1998-01-01

In this work, one strategy of severe accident management, the applicability of the in-vessel retention (IVR) concept, which has been incorporated in passive type reactor designs, to evolutionary type reactor designs, is examined with emphasis on the method of external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) to realize the IVR concept in view of two aspects: for the regulatory aspect, it is addressed in the context of the resolution of the issue of corium coolability; for the technical one, the reliance on and the effectiveness of the IVR concept are mentioned. Additionally, for the ERVC method to be better applied to designs of the evolutionary type reactor, the conditions to be met are pointed out in view of the technical aspect. Concerning the issue of corium coolability/quenchability, based on results of the review, plausible alternative strategies are proposed. According to the decision maker's risk behavior, these would help materialize the conceptual design for evolutionary type reactors, especially Korea Next Generation Reactors (KNGRs), which have been developing at the Korea Electric Power Research Institute (KEPRI): (A1) Strategy 1A: strategy based on the global approach using the reliance on the wet cavity method; (A2) Strategy 1B: strategy based on the combined approach using both the reliance on the wet cavity method and the counter-measures for preserving containment integrity; (A3) Strategy 2A: strategy based on the global approach to the reliance on the ERVC method; (A4) Strategy 2B: strategy based on the balanced approach using both the reliance on the ERVC method and the countermeasures for preserving containment integrity. Finally, in application to an advanced pressurized water reactor (PWR) design, several recommendations are made in focusing on both monitoring the status of approaches and preparing countermeasures in regard to the regulatory and the technical aspects

Inner nuclear layer cystoid spaces are a poor prognostic factor in typical age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Eui Chun; Choi, Seonghee; Koh, Hyoung Jun

2017-11-01

To investigate predictive factors for changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 24 months after intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). This retrospective study included 55 eyes of 55 consecutive patients (32 men and 23 women) with nAMD who received three consecutive monthly IVR injections and were re-treated as needed over a 24-month period. We used the mean changes in logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) BCVA at 24 months as the dependent variable in regression analysis. The presence of intraretinal cystoid spaces in the inner nuclear layer (INLc, P = 0.004) and baseline subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT, P = 0.013) predicted BCVA changes from baseline to 24 months. The presence of INLc and thinning of SFCT were associated with decreased BCVA at 24 months. Thirty-five eyes without INLc showed improved logMAR BCVA, from 0.550 ± 0.273 to 0.368 ± 0.274 (P = 0.045); however, 20 eyes with INLc showed decreased logMAR BCVA, from 0.708 ± 0.347 to 0.971 ± 0.523 (P < 0.001) through the 24-month follow-up. The mean number of IVR injections during the follow-up period was 8.74 ± 4.76 in eyes without INLc and 10.63 ± 4.72 in eyes with INLc, without a statistically significant difference (P = 0.144). Eyes with INLc or thinned SFCT showed worse visual outcomes compared with eyes without the INLc or with thick SFCT. Furthermore, eyes without INLc showed improved BCVA; however, eyes with INLc showed decreased BCVA with an as-needed regimen.

Proposal of In-vessel corium retention concept for Paks NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elter, J.; Toth, E.; Matejovic, P.

2011-01-01

The in-vessel corium retention (IVR) via external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) seems to be a promising severe accident management strategy not only for new generation of advanced PWRs, but also for VVER-440/V213 reactors, which were designed several years ago. The basic idea of in-vessel retention of corium is to prevent RPV failure by flooding the reactor cavity so that the reactor pressure vessel is submerged in water up to its support structures, and thus the decay heat can be transferred from the corium pool through the vessel wall and into the water surrounding the vessel. An IVR concept with simple ECVR loop based only on minor modifications of existing plant technology was proposed for the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. 2 severe accident (LB and SB LOCA) without availability of HP and LP safety injection in power upgrade (108%) conditions were simulated using the ASTEC code. The analyses show that the proposed solution is effective in preserving RPV integrity in the case of severe accident. Possible uncertainties in code predictions are covered by the applied conservative assumptions

Estimation of personal dose based on the dependent calibration of personal dosimeters in interventional radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Hiroshige; Koshida, Kichiro; Ichikawa, Katsuhiro

2007-01-01

The purpose of present study is, in interventional radiology (IVR), to elucidate the differences between each personal dosimeter, and the dependences and calibrations of area or personal dose by measurement with electronic dosimeters in particular. We compare space dose rate distributions measured by an ionization survey meter with the value measured by personal dosimeter: an optically stimulated luminescence, two fluoroglass, and two electronic dosimeters. Furthermore, with electronic dosimeters, we first measured dose rate, energy, and directional dependences. Secondly, we calibrated the dose rate measured by electronic dosimeters with the results, and estimated these methods with coefficient of determination and Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC). The results, especially in electronic dosimeters, revealed that the dose rate measured fell by energy and directional dependences. In terms of methods of calibration, the method is sufficient for energy dependence, but not for directional dependence, because of the lack of stable calibration. This improvement poses a question for the future. The study suggested that these dependences of the personal dosimeter must be considered when area or personal dose is estimated in IVR. (author)

Quality Management in the Design of TLC Call Centers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Fronzetti Colladon

2013-09-01

typically larger than those spent waiting for a human agent and to excessively long announcements, with a negative impact on the overall QoS. Imbalances in the popularity of the services offered by the IVR can be exploited to reduce remarkably the average service time, by properly matching the most popular services with the shortest service times.

Choosing to regulate: does choice enhance craving regulation?

Science.gov (United States)

Mobasser, Arian; Zeithamova, Dagmar; Pfeifer, Jennifer H

2018-01-01

Abstract Goal-directed behavior and lifelong well-being often depend on the ability to control appetitive motivations, such as cravings. Cognitive reappraisal is an effective way to modulate emotional states, including cravings, but is often studied under explicit instruction to regulate. Despite the strong prediction from Self-Determination Theory that choice should enhance task engagement and regulation success, little is known empirically about whether and how regulation is different when participants choose (vs are told) to exert control. To investigate how choice affects neural activity and regulation success, participants reappraised their responses to images of personally-craved foods while undergoing functional neuroimaging. Participants were either instructed to view or reappraise (‘no-choice’) or chose freely to view or reappraise (‘yes-choice’). Choice increased activity in the frontoparietal control network. We expected this activity would be associated with increased task engagement, resulting in better regulation success. However, contrary to this prediction, choice slightly reduced regulation success. Follow-up multivariate functional neuroimaging analyses indicated that choice likely disrupted allocation of limited cognitive resources during reappraisal. While unexpected, these results highlight the importance of studying upstream processes such as regulation choice, as they may affect the ability to regulate cravings and other emotional states. PMID:29462475

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FLUX REGULATION THROUGH HIERARCHICAL REGULATION ANALYSIS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Eunen, Karen; Rossell, Sergio; Bouwman, Jildau; Westerhoff, Hans V.; Bakker, Barbara M.; Jameson, D; Verma, M; Westerhoff, HV

2011-01-01

Regulation analysis is a methodology that quantifies to what extent a change in the flux through a metabolic pathway is regulated by either gene expression or metabolism. Two extensions to regulation analysis were developed over the past years: (i) the regulation of V(max) can be dissected into the

Quantitative analysis of flux regulation through hierarchical regulation analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eunen, K. van; Rossell, S.; Bouwman, J.; Westerhoff, H.V.; Bakker, B.M.

2011-01-01

Regulation analysis is a methodology that quantifies to what extent a change in the flux through a metabolic pathway is regulated by either gene expression or metabolism. Two extensions to regulation analysis were developed over the past years: (i) the regulation of Vmax can be dissected into the

The Diagnostic Value of Pulsed Wave Tissue Doppler Imaging in Asymptomatic Beta- Thalassemia Major Children and Young Adults; Relation to Chemical Biomarkers of Left Ventricular Function and Iron Overload.

Science.gov (United States)

Ragab, Seham M; Fathy, Waleed M; El-Aziz, Walaa FAbd; Helal, Rasha T

2015-01-01

Cardiac iron toxicity is the leading cause of death among β-halassaemia major (TM) patients. Once heart failure becomes overt, it is difficult to reverse. To investigate non-overt cardiac dysfunctions in TM patients using pulsed wave Tissue Doppler Imaging (TD I) and its relation to iron overload and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Thorough clinical, conventional echo and pulsed wave TDI parameters were compared between asymptomatic 25 β-TM patients and 20 age and gender matched individuals. Serum ferritin and plasma BNP levels were assayed by ELISA. TM patients had significant higher mitral inflow early diastolic (E) wave and non significant other conventional echo parameters. In the patient group, pulsed wave TDI revealed systolic dysfunctions, in the form of significant higher isovolumetric contraction time (ICT), and lower ejection time (E T), with diastolic dysfunction in the form of higher isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT), and lower mitral annulus early diastolic velocity E' (12.07 ±2.06 vs 15.04±2.65, P= 0.003) compared to the controls. Plasma BNP was higher in patients compared to the controls. Plasma BNP and serum ferritin had a significant correlation with each other and with pulsed wave conventional and TDI indices of systolic and diastolic functions. Patients with E/E' ≥ 8 had significant higher serum ferritin and plasma BNP levels compared to those with ratio wave TDI is an important diagnostic tool for latent cardiac dysfunction in iron-loaded TM patients and is related to iron overload and BNP.

Fluid distribution kinetics during cardiopulmonary bypass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mattias Törnudd

2014-08-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the isovolumetric distribution kinetics of crystalloid fluid during cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS: Ten patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting participated in this prospective observational study. The blood hemoglobin and the serum albumin and sodium concentrations were measured repeatedly during the distribution of priming solution (Ringer's acetate 1470 ml and mannitol 15% 200 ml and initial cardioplegia. The rate of crystalloid fluid distribution was calculated based on 3-min Hb changes. The preoperative blood volume was extrapolated from the marked hemodilution occurring during the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01115166. RESULTS: The distribution half-time of Ringer's acetate averaged 8 minutes, corresponding to a transcapillary escape rate of 0.38 ml/kg/min. The intravascular albumin mass increased by 5.4% according to mass balance calculations. The preoperative blood volume, as extrapolated from the drop in hemoglobin concentration by 32% (mean at the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass, was 0.6-1.2 L less than that estimated by anthropometric methods (p<0.02. The mass balance of sodium indicated a translocation from the intracellular to the extracellular fluid space in 8 of the 10 patients, with a median volume of 236 ml. CONCLUSIONS: The distribution half-time of Ringer's solution during isovolumetric cardiopulmonary bypass was 8 minutes, which is the same as for crystalloid fluid infusions in healthy subjects. The intravascular albumin mass increased. Most patients were hypovolemic prior to the start of anesthesia. Intracellular edema did not occur.

Constructing regulation and regulating for energy efficient construction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shove, Elizabeth [Lancaster University (United Kingdom). Centre for the Study of Environmental Change

1998-07-01

This project considers the process of formulating energy-related building regulation in the light of the revisions to Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) of the Building Regulations for England and Wales. Details are given of the main objectives of the research, namely, the examination of the roles of the UK government, local government and pressure groups in shaping energy efficiency standards, the impacts of environmental regulations, the limits of energy-related regulation, environmental regulation of the building sector, and the features of energy related building control. This control is compared with current practice in other European countries. The methodology of the project involving the review of governmental documents and interviews is described. (UK)

Post-translational regulation enables robust p53 regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Yong-Jun; Chen, Kai-Yuan; Sayed, Ali H; Hencey, Brandon; Shen, Xiling

2013-08-30

The tumor suppressor protein p53 plays important roles in DNA damage repair, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Due to its critical functions, the level of p53 is tightly regulated by a negative feedback mechanism to increase its tolerance towards fluctuations and disturbances. Interestingly, the p53 level is controlled by post-translational regulation rather than transcriptional regulation in this feedback mechanism. We analyzed the dynamics of this feedback to understand whether post-translational regulation provides any advantages over transcriptional regulation in regard to disturbance rejection. When a disturbance happens, even though negative feedback reduces the steady-state error, it can cause a system to become less stable and transiently overshoots, which may erroneously trigger downstream reactions. Therefore, the system needs to balance the trade-off between steady-state and transient errors. Feedback control and adaptive estimation theories revealed that post-translational regulation achieves a better trade-off than transcriptional regulation, contributing to a more steady level of p53 under the influence of noise and disturbances. Furthermore, post-translational regulation enables cells to respond more promptly to stress conditions with consistent amplitude. However, for better disturbance rejection, the p53- Mdm2 negative feedback has to pay a price of higher stochastic noise. Our analyses suggest that the p53-Mdm2 feedback favors regulatory mechanisms that provide the optimal trade-offs for dynamic control.

Regulating the Regulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-08-26

The article reports on a challenge to the UK electricity regulator to defend his record by the Coalition for Fair Electricity Regulation (COFFER). The challenge centres on whether the obligation for the regional electric companies (REC) to purchase power from the cheapest source is being enforced. This is related to the wider issue of whether the REC's support of combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) is economic. COFFER considers that uneconomic gas-fired power plants are being allowed to displace economic coal-fired stations. Aspects discussed include the background to the dispute and the costs of CCGT and coal fired power generation. 1 fig., 1 tab.

The international radioactive transportation regulations: A model for national regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pope, R.B.; Rawl, R.R.

1990-06-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, Safety Series No. 6 (herein after denoted as the ''International Regulations'') serve as the model for the regulations for individual countries and international modal organizations controlling the packaging and transportation of radioactive materials. The purpose of this paper is to outline the background and history of the International Regulations, the general principles behind the requirements of the International Regulations, the structure and general contents of the latest edition of the International Regulations, and the roles of various international bodies in the development and implementation of the International Regulations and the current status of regulatory and supportive document development at both the international and domestic level. This review will provide a basis for users and potential users to better understand the source and application of the International Regulations. 1 tab

Measurement of pool boiling CHF for SUS 304 and SA 508 flat plate under downward-facing and atmospheric conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kam, Dong Hoon; Park, Hae Min; Choi, Young Jae; Jeong, Yong Hoon

2015-01-01

Heat transfer performance of downward-facing conditions are important especially in severe accident mitigation strategy (IVR-ERVC and Core-catcher). Heat transfer limit, in other word, critical heat flux (CHF) is important value in this basis to guarantee the integrity of the system. For the application point of view in nuclear power plant, carbon steel surface should also be considered since reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in IVR-ERVC strategy consists of carbon steel, and core-catcher in EU-APR1400 is also composed of carbon steel. In this perspective, carbon steel surface was used in previous studies. In this study, CHF of both stainless steel and carbon steel material were measured under pool boiling condition with various inclination angles and dimensions. There was a width effect as angle increases, but it disappeared as approached to horizontally downward condition. Besides, there was almost no length effect for both of the width since the size of coalesced bubble was far smaller than the length of short test section (100 mm). SA 508 showed enhanced results at high angles for 40 mm-width case even though no oxidation occurred on the surface during the experiments

Effectiveness of External Reactor Vessel Cooling (ERVC) strategy for APR1400 and issues of phenomenological uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, S.J.; Kim, H.T.

2007-01-01

The APR1400(Advanced Power Reactor 1400) is an evolutionary advanced light water reactor with rated thermal power of 4000 MWt. For APR1400, External Reactor Vessel Cooling (ERVC) is adopted as a primary severe accident management strategy for in-vessel retention (IVR) of corium. The ERVC is a method of IVR by submerging the reactor vessel exterior. At the early stage of the APR1400 design, only ex-vessel cooling, cooling of the core melt outside the vessel after vessel is breached, is considered based on the EPRI Utility Requirement Document for Evolutionary LWR. However, based on the progress in implementation of Severe Accident Management Guidance (SAMG) for operating plants, as well as the research findings related to ERVC, ERVC strategy is adopted as a part of key severe accident management strategies. To improve its success, the strategy is reviewed and we implemented necessary design arrangement to increase its usefulness in managing the severe accident. In this paper, we examine the evolution of ERVC concept and its implementation in APR1400. Then, we review possible approach, including Risk-Oriented Accident Analysis Methodology (ROAAM), to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy. (authors)

Multicenter study on evaluation of the entrance skin dose by a direct measurement method in cardiac interventional procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Mamoru; Chida, Koichi; Moritake, Takashi

2016-01-01

Deterministic effects have been reported in cardiac interventional procedures. To prevent radiation skin injuries in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), it is necessary to measure accurate patient entrance skin dose (ESD) and maximum skin absorbed dose (MSD). We measured the MSD on 62 patients in four facilities by using the Chest-RADIREC system. The correlation between MSD and fluoroscopic time, dose area product (DAP), and cumulative air kerma (AK) showed good results, with the correlation between MSD and AK being the strongest. The regression lines using MSD as an outcome value (y) and AK as predictor variables (x) was y=1.18x (R 2 =0.787). From the linear regression equation, MSD is estimated to be about 1.18 times that of AK in real time. The Japan diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) 2015 for IVR was established by the use of dose rates using acrylic plates (20 cm thick) at the interventional reference point. Preliminary reference levels proposed by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were provided using DAP. In this study, AK showed good correlation most of all. Hence we think that Japanese DRLs for IVR should reconsider by clinical patients' exposure dose such as AK. (author)

Study of spatial resolution in three-dimensional rotational angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enoki, Takuya; Nasada, Toshiya; Matsumoto, Kazuma; Umehara, Takayoshi

2006-01-01

In interventional radiology (IVR) of cerebral aneurysms, it is important to understand the form and physical relationships between the cerebral aneurysm and the surrounding vessels. However, because the vessels in the head area are highly complex, it can be difficult to comprehend the structure using conventional angiography. Therefore, three-dimensional rotational angiography (3D-RA) has been used in recent years. This article discusses studies of the spatial resolution of 3D-RA. We reconstructed 3D-RA of an acrylic slit phantom (slit widths: 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5 mm) and examined spatial resolution by visual evaluation and profile curves. When the slit phantom was arranged to avoid the effect of beam hardening, the spatial resolution of 3D-RA was found to be as high as 0.75 mm. When the slit phantom was placed orthogonal to the rotational axis of the C-arm, the spatial resolution of 3D-RA was decreased because of the cone angle effect of X-rays. However, it was considered within the allowable range for clinical study. Consequently, 3D-RA is valuable in IVR. (author)

Evaluation of Thermal Load to the Lower Head Vessel Using the ASTEC Computer Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Raejoon; Ahn, Kwangil

2013-01-01

The thermal load from the corium to the lower head vessel in the APR (Advanced Power reactor) 1400 during a small break loss of coolant accident (SBLOCA) without a safety injection (SI) has been evaluated using the ASTEC (Accident Source Term Evaluation Code) computer code, which has been developed as a part of the EU (European Union)-SARNET (Severe Accident Research NET work) program. The ASTEC results predict that the reactor vessel did not fail by using an ERVC, in spite of the large melting of the reactor vessel wall in a two-layer formation case of the SBLOCA in the APR1400. The outer surface conditions of the temperature and heat transfer coefficient are not effective on the vessel geometry change, which are preliminary results. A more detailed analysis of the main parameter effects on the corium behavior in the lower plenum is necessary to evaluate the IVR-ERVC in the APR1400, in particular, for a three-layer formation of the TLFW. Comparisons of the present results with others are necessary to verify and apply them to the actual IVR-ERVC evaluation in the APR1400

Measurement of pool boiling CHF for SUS 304 and SA 508 flat plate under downward-facing and atmospheric conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kam, Dong Hoon; Park, Hae Min; Choi, Young Jae; Jeong, Yong Hoon [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

Heat transfer performance of downward-facing conditions are important especially in severe accident mitigation strategy (IVR-ERVC and Core-catcher). Heat transfer limit, in other word, critical heat flux (CHF) is important value in this basis to guarantee the integrity of the system. For the application point of view in nuclear power plant, carbon steel surface should also be considered since reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in IVR-ERVC strategy consists of carbon steel, and core-catcher in EU-APR1400 is also composed of carbon steel. In this perspective, carbon steel surface was used in previous studies. In this study, CHF of both stainless steel and carbon steel material were measured under pool boiling condition with various inclination angles and dimensions. There was a width effect as angle increases, but it disappeared as approached to horizontally downward condition. Besides, there was almost no length effect for both of the width since the size of coalesced bubble was far smaller than the length of short test section (100 mm). SA 508 showed enhanced results at high angles for 40 mm-width case even though no oxidation occurred on the surface during the experiments.

Infrared variation reduction by simultaneous background suppression and target contrast enhancement for deep convolutional neural network-based automatic target recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sungho

2017-06-01

Automatic target recognition (ATR) is a traditionally challenging problem in military applications because of the wide range of infrared (IR) image variations and the limited number of training images. IR variations are caused by various three-dimensional target poses, noncooperative weather conditions (fog and rain), and difficult target acquisition environments. Recently, deep convolutional neural network-based approaches for RGB images (RGB-CNN) showed breakthrough performance in computer vision problems, such as object detection and classification. The direct use of RGB-CNN to the IR ATR problem fails to work because of the IR database problems (limited database size and IR image variations). An IR variation-reduced deep CNN (IVR-CNN) to cope with the problems is presented. The problem of limited IR database size is solved by a commercial thermal simulator (OKTAL-SE). The second problem of IR variations is mitigated by the proposed shifted ramp function-based intensity transformation. This can suppress the background and enhance the target contrast simultaneously. The experimental results on the synthesized IR images generated by the thermal simulator (OKTAL-SE) validated the feasibility of IVR-CNN for military ATR applications.

Protein-Enriched Liquid Preloads Varying in Macronutrient Content Modulate Appetite and Appetite-Regulating Hormones in Healthy Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Dougkas, Anestis; Östman, Elin

2016-03-01

Dietary protein is considered the most satiating macronutrient, yet there is little evidence on whether the effects observed are attributable to the protein or to the concomitant manipulation of carbohydrates and fat. The aim was to examine the effect of consumption of preloads varying in macronutrient content on appetite, energy intake, and biomarkers of satiety. Using a randomized, within-subjects, 2-level factorial design, 36 adults [mean ± SD age: 27 ± 5 y; body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 24.3 ± 1.6) received a breakfast consisting of 1 of 7 isovolumetric (670 mL) and isoenergetic (2100 kJ) liquid preloads matched for energy density and sensory properties but with different macronutrient composition (levels: 9%, 24%, or 40% of energy from protein combined with a carbohydrate-to-fat ratio of 0.4, 2, or 3.6, respectively). Appetite ratings and blood samples were collected and assessed at baseline and every 30 and 60 min, respectively, until a lunch test meal, which participants consumed ad libitum, was served 3.5 h after breakfast. Prospective consumption was 12% lower after intake of the high-protein (40%)/3.6 carbohydrate:fat preload than after intake of the low-protein (9%)/0.4 carbohydrate:fat preload (P = 0.02) solely because of the increased protein, irrespective of the manipulation of the other macronutrients. Most appetite ratings tended to be suppressed (13%) with increasing protein content of the preloads (P appetite than did carbohydrates and fat. Modulating the nutritional profile of a meal by replacing fat with protein can influence appetite in healthy adults. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01849302. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

The Impact of Regulating Social Science Research with Biomedical Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

Durosinmi, Brenda Braxton

2011-01-01

The Impact of Regulating Social Science Research with Biomedical Regulations Since 1974 Federal regulations have governed the use of human subjects in biomedical and social science research. The regulations are known as the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, and often referred to as the "Common Rule" because 18 Federal…

To Regulate or Not to Regulate? Views on Electronic Cigarette Regulations and Beliefs about the Reasons for and against Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders-Jackson, Ashley; Tan, Andy S L; Bigman, Cabral A; Mello, Susan; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2016-01-01

Policies designed to restrict marketing, access to, and public use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are increasingly under debate in various jurisdictions in the US. Little is known about public perceptions of these policies and factors that predict their support or opposition. Using a sample of US adults from Amazon Mechanical Turk in May 2015, this paper identifies beliefs about the benefits and costs of regulating e-cigarettes and identifies which of these beliefs predict support for e-cigarette restricting policies. A higher proportion of respondents agreed with 8 different reasons to regulate e-cigarettes (48.5% to 83.3% agreement) versus 7 reasons not to regulate e-cigarettes (11.5% to 18.9%). The majority of participants agreed with 7 out of 8 reasons for regulation. When all reasons to regulate or not were included in a final multivariable model, beliefs about protecting people from secondhand vapor and protecting youth from trying e-cigarettes significantly predicted stronger support for e-cigarette restricting policies, whereas concern about government intrusion into individual choices was associated with reduced support. This research identifies key beliefs that may underlie public support or opposition to policies designed to regulate the marketing and use of e-cigarettes. Advocates on both sides of the issue may find this research valuable in developing strategic campaigns related to the issue. Specific beliefs of potential benefits and costs of e-cigarette regulation (protecting youth, preventing exposure to secondhand vapor, and government intrusion into individual choices) may be effectively deployed by policy makers or health advocates in communicating with the public.

To Regulate or Not to Regulate? Views on Electronic Cigarette Regulations and Beliefs about the Reasons for and against Regulation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashley Sanders-Jackson

Full Text Available Policies designed to restrict marketing, access to, and public use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes are increasingly under debate in various jurisdictions in the US. Little is known about public perceptions of these policies and factors that predict their support or opposition.Using a sample of US adults from Amazon Mechanical Turk in May 2015, this paper identifies beliefs about the benefits and costs of regulating e-cigarettes and identifies which of these beliefs predict support for e-cigarette restricting policies.A higher proportion of respondents agreed with 8 different reasons to regulate e-cigarettes (48.5% to 83.3% agreement versus 7 reasons not to regulate e-cigarettes (11.5% to 18.9%. The majority of participants agreed with 7 out of 8 reasons for regulation. When all reasons to regulate or not were included in a final multivariable model, beliefs about protecting people from secondhand vapor and protecting youth from trying e-cigarettes significantly predicted stronger support for e-cigarette restricting policies, whereas concern about government intrusion into individual choices was associated with reduced support.This research identifies key beliefs that may underlie public support or opposition to policies designed to regulate the marketing and use of e-cigarettes. Advocates on both sides of the issue may find this research valuable in developing strategic campaigns related to the issue.Specific beliefs of potential benefits and costs of e-cigarette regulation (protecting youth, preventing exposure to secondhand vapor, and government intrusion into individual choices may be effectively deployed by policy makers or health advocates in communicating with the public.

7 CFR 301.89-5 - Movement of regulated articles from regulated areas.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Movement of regulated articles from regulated areas. 301.89-5 Section 301.89-5 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) ANIMAL... § 301.89-5 Movement of regulated articles from regulated areas. (a) Any regulated article may be moved...

An experimental study of hypervapotron structure in external reactor vessel cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Yufeng; Zhang, Ming [State Nuclear Power Technology R& D Center (Beijing), Beijing (China); Hou, Fangxin [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Gao, Tianfang [State Nuclear Power Technology R& D Center (Beijing), Beijing (China); Chen, Peipei, E-mail: chenpeipei@snptc.com.cn [State Power Investment Group Corporation, Beijing (China)

2016-07-15

Highlights: • Experiments are performed to study the application of hypervapotron in ERVC design. • CHF experiments on two surfaces are conducted under different flow conditions. • Hypervapotron improves CHF performance by 40–60% compared with smooth surface. • Visualization shows fin structure removes vapor mushroom for better liquid supply. - Abstract: In vessel retention (IVR) is one of the key strategies for many advanced LWR designs to mitigate postulated severe accidents. The success of IVR substantially relies on external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) by which the decay heat is removed from the melt core in the reactor vessel lower head. The main challenge of IVR is to provide an adequate safety margin of ERVC against critical heat flux (CHF) of subcooled flow boiling in the reactor lower head flow channel. Due to uncertainties in corium melt pool configuration, large CHF margin of ERVC is usually required by regulatory authorities to demonstrate reliability of severe accident mitigation methods. Various CHF enhancement designs have been proposed and studied in literature. In this paper, an experimental study of hypervapotron structure as a novel design to improve CHF performance of ERVC is conducted. Hypervapotron is chosen as one of the potential engineering options for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program as a divertor structure to remove highly intense heat from fusion chamber. This study is to conduct CHF experiments at typical PWR ERVC working conditions. The CHF experiments are performed in a 30 mm by 61 mm rectangular flow channel with a 200 mm long heated surface along the flow direction. Both smooth and hypervapotron surface are tested at various inclination angles of the test section to simulate various positions of the reactor lower head. The hypervapotron is found to have a 40–60% CHF improvement compared with the smooth surface. The high speed visualization indicates that hypervapotron is able to

Incremental Volumetric Remapping Method: Analysis and Error Evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baptista, A. J.; Oliveira, M. C.; Rodrigues, D. M.; Menezes, L. F.; Alves, J. L.

2007-01-01

In this paper the error associated with the remapping problem is analyzed. A range of numerical results that assess the performance of three different remapping strategies, applied to FE meshes that typically are used in sheet metal forming simulation, are evaluated. One of the selected strategies is the previously presented Incremental Volumetric Remapping method (IVR), which was implemented in the in-house code DD3TRIM. The IVR method fundaments consists on the premise that state variables in all points associated to a Gauss volume of a given element are equal to the state variable quantities placed in the correspondent Gauss point. Hence, given a typical remapping procedure between a donor and a target mesh, the variables to be associated to a target Gauss volume (and point) are determined by a weighted average. The weight function is the Gauss volume percentage of each donor element that is located inside the target Gauss volume. The calculus of the intersecting volumes between the donor and target Gauss volumes is attained incrementally, for each target Gauss volume, by means of a discrete approach. The other two remapping strategies selected are based in the interpolation/extrapolation of variables by using the finite element shape functions or moving least square interpolants. The performance of the three different remapping strategies is address with two tests. The first remapping test was taken from a literature work. The test consists in remapping successively a rotating symmetrical mesh, throughout N increments, in an angular span of 90 deg. The second remapping error evaluation test consists of remapping an irregular element shape target mesh from a given regular element shape donor mesh and proceed with the inverse operation. In this second test the computation effort is also measured. The results showed that the error level associated to IVR can be very low and with a stable evolution along the number of remapping procedures when compared with the

The influence of the crust layer on RPV structural failure under severe accident condition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mao, Jianfeng, E-mail: jianfeng-mao@163.com [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Li, Xiangqing [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Bao, Shiyi [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Luo, Lijia [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Gao, Zengliang [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China)

2017-05-15

Highlights: • The crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior. • The RPV failure is investigated in depth under severe accident. • The creep and plastic damage mainly contribute to RPV failure. • An elastic core in RPV wall is essential for ensuring RPV integrity. • The multiaxial state of stress accelerates the total damage evolution. - Abstract: The so called ‘in-vessel retention (IVR)’ is regarded as a severe accident (SA) mitigation strategy, which is widely used in most of advanced nuclear power plants. The effectiveness of IVR strategy is to employ the external water flooding to cool the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The RPV integrity has to be maintained within a required period during the IVR period. The degraded melting core is assumed to be arrested in the lower head (LH) to form the melting pool that is bounded by upper, side and lower crusts. Consequently, the existence of the crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior as well as failure process. In order to disclose this influence caused by the crust layer, a detailed investigation is conducted by using numerical simulation on the two RPVs with and without crust layer respectively. Taking the RPV without crust layer as a basis for the comparison, the present study assesses the likelihood and potential failure location, time and mode of the LH under the loadings of the critical heat flux (CHF) and slight internal pressure. Due to the high temperature melt on the inside and nucleate boiling on the outside, the RPV integrity is found to be compromised by melt-through, creep, elasticity, plasticity as well as thermal expansion. Through in-depth investigation, it is found that the creep and plasticity are of vital importance to the final structural failure, and the introduction of crust layer results in a significant change on field parameters in terms of temperature, deformation, stress(strain), triaxiality factor and total damage.

The influence of the crust layer on RPV structural failure under severe accident condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao, Jianfeng; Li, Xiangqing; Bao, Shiyi; Luo, Lijia; Gao, Zengliang

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior. • The RPV failure is investigated in depth under severe accident. • The creep and plastic damage mainly contribute to RPV failure. • An elastic core in RPV wall is essential for ensuring RPV integrity. • The multiaxial state of stress accelerates the total damage evolution. - Abstract: The so called ‘in-vessel retention (IVR)’ is regarded as a severe accident (SA) mitigation strategy, which is widely used in most of advanced nuclear power plants. The effectiveness of IVR strategy is to employ the external water flooding to cool the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The RPV integrity has to be maintained within a required period during the IVR period. The degraded melting core is assumed to be arrested in the lower head (LH) to form the melting pool that is bounded by upper, side and lower crusts. Consequently, the existence of the crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior as well as failure process. In order to disclose this influence caused by the crust layer, a detailed investigation is conducted by using numerical simulation on the two RPVs with and without crust layer respectively. Taking the RPV without crust layer as a basis for the comparison, the present study assesses the likelihood and potential failure location, time and mode of the LH under the loadings of the critical heat flux (CHF) and slight internal pressure. Due to the high temperature melt on the inside and nucleate boiling on the outside, the RPV integrity is found to be compromised by melt-through, creep, elasticity, plasticity as well as thermal expansion. Through in-depth investigation, it is found that the creep and plasticity are of vital importance to the final structural failure, and the introduction of crust layer results in a significant change on field parameters in terms of temperature, deformation, stress(strain), triaxiality factor and total damage.

Evaluation of Mechanisms to Improve Performance of Mobile Phone Surveys in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Research Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Dustin G; Pariyo, George William; Wosu, Adaeze C; Greenleaf, Abigail R; Ali, Joseph; Ahmed, Saifuddin; Labrique, Alain B; Islam, Khaleda; Masanja, Honorati; Rutebemberwa, Elizeus; Hyder, Adnan A

2017-05-05

Mobile phone ownership and access have increased rapidly across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) within the last decade. Concomitantly, LMICs are experiencing demographic and epidemiologic transitions, where non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasingly becoming leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Mobile phone surveys could aid data collection for prevention and control of these NCDs but limited evidence of their feasibility exists. The objective of this paper is to describe a series of sub-studies aimed at optimizing the delivery of interactive voice response (IVR) and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) for NCD risk factor data collection in LMICs. These sub-studies are designed to assess the effect of factors such as airtime incentive timing, amount, and structure, survey introduction characteristics, different sampling frames, and survey modality on key survey metrics, such as survey response, completion, and attrition rates. In a series of sub-studies, participants will be randomly assigned to receive different airtime incentive amounts (eg, 10 minutes of airtime versus 20 minutes of airtime), different incentive delivery timings (airtime delivered before survey begins versus delivery upon completion of survey), different survey introductions (informational versus motivational), different narrative voices (male versus female), and different sampling frames (random digit dialing versus mobile network operator-provided numbers) to examine which study arms will yield the highest response and completion rates. Furthermore, response and completion rates and the inter-modal reliability of the IVR and CATI delivery methods will be compared. Research activities are expected to be completed in Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Uganda in 2017. This is one of the first studies to examine the feasibility of using IVR and CATI for systematic collection of NCD risk factor information in LMICs. Our findings will inform the future design and

Private regulation in EU better regulation : Past performance and future promises

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbruggen, Paul

The promotion of private regulation is frequently part of better regulation programmes. Also the Better Regulation programme of the European Union (EU) initiated in 2002 advocated forms of private regulation as important means to improve EU law-making activities. However, for various reasons the

Mobile Phone Surveys for Collecting Population-Level Estimates in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Dustin G; Pereira, Amanda; Farrenkopf, Brooke A; Labrique, Alain B; Pariyo, George W; Hyder, Adnan A

2017-05-05

National and subnational level surveys are important for monitoring disease burden, prioritizing resource allocation, and evaluating public health policies. As mobile phone access and ownership become more common globally, mobile phone surveys (MPSs) offer an opportunity to supplement traditional public health household surveys. The objective of this study was to systematically review the current landscape of MPSs to collect population-level estimates in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Primary and gray literature from 7 online databases were systematically searched for studies that deployed MPSs to collect population-level estimates. Titles and abstracts were screened on primary inclusion and exclusion criteria by two research assistants. Articles that met primary screening requirements were read in full and screened for secondary eligibility criteria. Articles included in review were grouped into the following three categories by their survey modality: (1) interactive voice response (IVR), (2) short message service (SMS), and (3) human operator or computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). Data were abstracted by two research assistants. The conduct and reporting of the review conformed to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. A total of 6625 articles were identified through the literature review. Overall, 11 articles were identified that contained 19 MPS (CATI, IVR, or SMS) surveys to collect population-level estimates across a range of topics. MPSs were used in Latin America (n=8), the Middle East (n=1), South Asia (n=2), and sub-Saharan Africa (n=8). Nine articles presented results for 10 CATI surveys (10/19, 53%). Two articles discussed the findings of 6 IVR surveys (6/19, 32%). Three SMS surveys were identified from 2 articles (3/19, 16%). Approximately 63% (12/19) of MPS were delivered to mobile phone numbers collected from previously administered household surveys. The majority of MPS (11

Frontiers of environmental regulation: environmental management systems: a regulator`s perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stone, M.J. [South Australian Dept. of Mines and Energy, Adelaide, SA (Australia)

1996-12-31

Leading edge companies throughout the world have embraced management systems to achieve optimal sustainable performance in the ever changing business environment of the 1990s. Given that the natural environment and environmental performance have become major issues affecting organizations, the need for integrating environmental management with all the other components of an organization`s overall management approach is now widely recognized. This paper is organized in five parts. The first explores recently released environmental standards, the interim environmental management systems (EMS) general guidelines standard AS/NZS ISO 14004 (Int) and identifies how this has dealt with the regulator/community/company interface. The second identifies company requirements for addressing environmental issues. The third, considers regulatory theory to identify current requirements for an effective regulatory system and how this can interface with a company`s EMS. These form the basis in the fourth section for identifying some opportunities which occur at the company/ regulator interface. The fifth and final section draws a number of conclusions about the current frontiers of environmental regulation. The coincidence of the requirements of a regulatory framework with the areas of interface between what is referred to in the draft International Standard for EMS as `Interested Parties`, the regulators and community, are identified. (author). 1 tab., 2 figs., 20 refs.

Detection of Early Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Young Patients With Thalassemia Major Using Tissue Doppler Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Bornaun, Helen; Dedeoglu, Reyhan; Oztarhan, Kazim; Dedeoglu, Savas; Erfidan, Erkan; Gundogdu, Muge; Aydogan, Gonul; Cengiz, Dicle

2016-01-01

Background Myocardial iron overload is the most common cause of mortality in patients with thalassemia major (TM), also known as beta-thalassemia. T2* cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best way of monitoring cardiac iron, and new echocardiographic techniques can be used to assess cardiac function. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the systolic and diastolic right ventricular (RV) function of patients with TM using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and to determine whether this echocardiographic technique is an adequate diagnostic tool for the screening and detection of subclinical cardiac dysfunction. Patients and Methods Eighty-four patients with TM were evaluated by conventional echocardiography and pulse-wave TDI. The data of the TM group (Group 1) were compared with that of 85 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (Group 2). Cardiovascular T2* MRI examinations were performed in 49 of the 85 patients. Results The patients with TM had significantly lower values for weight, height, body mass index, systolic arterial pressure, deceleration time, E’/A’, and ejection time (ET) than the controls. Group 1 also had significantly higher values for peak early diastolic velocity (E) over peak late diastolic velocity (A), peak early diastolic velocity of TDI (E’), peak late diastolic velocity of TDI (A’), E/E’, isovolumetric relaxation time, isovolumetric contraction time, and RV magnetic perfusion imaging (MPI) than Group 2. Conclusions RV diastolic dysfunction occurs before systolic deterioration in patients with TM and cannot be screened with conventional echocardiographic techniques. In routine practice, TDI measurements, MPI (for global function) and the E/E’ parameter (for diastolic function) can be used to screen and detect early RV dysfunction. PMID:27617076

Peak regulation right

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Z. |; Ren, Z.; Li, Z.; Zhu, R.

2005-01-01

A peak regulation right concept and corresponding transaction mechanism for an electricity market was presented. The market was based on a power pool and independent system operator (ISO) model. Peak regulation right (PRR) was defined as a downward regulation capacity purchase option which allowed PRR owners to buy certain quantities of peak regulation capacity (PRC) at a specific price during a specified period from suppliers. The PRR owner also had the right to decide whether or not they would buy PRC from suppliers. It was the power pool's responsibility to provide competitive and fair peak regulation trading markets to participants. The introduction of PRR allowed for unit capacity regulation. The PRR and PRC were rated by the supplier, and transactions proceeded through a bidding process. PRR suppliers obtained profits by selling PRR and PRC, and obtained downward regulation fees regardless of whether purchases are made. It was concluded that the peak regulation mechanism reduced the total cost of the generating system and increased the social surplus. 6 refs., 1 tab., 3 figs

Regulating through leverage: Civil regulation in China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fürst, K.

2016-01-01

The overarching goal of this study is to examine the efforts of Chinese NGOs to prevent and/or control industrial pollution risks and then use the findings of this research to study the nature of civil regulation in, and beyond, China’s authoritarian setting. It first argues that 'regulation through

Radiation regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braithwaite, J.; Grabosky, P.

1985-01-01

The five main areas of radiation regulation considered are radiation exposure in the mining of uranium and other minerals, exposure in the use of uranium in nuclear reactors, risks in the transport of radioactive materials and hazards associated with the disposal of used materials. In Australia these problems are regulated by mines departments, the Australian Atomic Energy Commission and radiation control branches in state health departments. Each of these instutional areas of regulation is examined

75 FR 75904 - Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Foreign Terrorist...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-07

... Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions... Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') of the U.S. Department of the Treasury is amending the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (``GTSR'') and the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (``TSR'') to expand the scope of...

Experience with the 1985 UK ionizing radiation regulations: the regulators' viewpoint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bines, W.P.; Beaver, P.F.

1991-01-01

The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 achieved UK implementation of the Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive; interim action has taken account of recent revisions of risk estimates and the regulations will not be revised in advance of renegotiation of the Euratom Directive. Wide ranging consultation, central to the development of health and safety legislation in the UK, leads to greater co-operation between regulators and regulated and more acceptable legislation. Examples of co-operation, also of methods of enforcement and the use made of them, are given. The authors conclude that the regulations have stood the test of experience well. (Author)

Market, Regulation, Market, Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frankel, Christian; Galland, Jean-Pierre

2015-01-01

barriers to trade in Europe, realized the free movement of products by organizing progressively several orders of markets and regulation. Based on historical and institutional documents, on technical publications, and on interviews, this article relates how the European Commission and the Member States had......This paper focuses on the European Regulatory system which was settled both for opening the Single Market for products and ensuring the consumers' safety. It claims that the New Approach and Standardization, and the Global Approach to conformity assessment, which suppressed the last technical...... alternatively recourse to markets and to regulations, at the three main levels of the New Approach Directives implementation. The article focuses also more specifically on the Medical Devices sector, not only because this New Approach sector has long been controversial in Europe, and has recently been concerned...

Mobile phone-based interactive voice response as a tool for improving access to healthcare in remote areas in Ghana - an evaluation of user experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Brinkel, J; May, J; Krumkamp, R; Lamshöft, M; Kreuels, B; Owusu-Dabo, E; Mohammed, A; Bonacic Marinovic, A; Dako-Gyeke, P; Krämer, A; Fobil, J N

2017-05-01

To investigate and determine the factors that enhanced or constituted barriers to the acceptance of an mHealth system which was piloted in Asante-Akim North District of Ghana to support healthcare of children. Four semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 37 mothers. Participants were selected from a study population of mothers who subscribed to a pilot mHealth system which used an interactive voice response (IVR) for its operations. Data were evaluated using qualitative content analysis methods. In addition, a short quantitative questionnaire assessed system's usability (SUS). Results revealed 10 categories of factors that facilitated user acceptance of the IVR system including quality-of-care experience, health education and empowerment of women. The eight categories of factors identified as barriers to user acceptance included the lack of human interaction, lack of update and training on the electronic advices provided and lack of social integration of the system into the community. The usability (SUS median: 79.3; range: 65-97.5) of the system was rated acceptable. The principles of the tested mHealth system could be of interest during infectious disease outbreaks, such as Ebola or Lassa fever, when there might be a special need for disease-specific health information within populations. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer and off-resonance Raman characteristics of Rhodamine 101/N,N-diethylaniline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Li-lin; Liu, Wei-long; Song, Yun-fei; He, Xing; Wang, Yang; Wang, Chang; Wu, Hong-lin; Yang, Fang; Yang, Yan-qiang

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Mechanism of PIET reaction process for the Rh101 + /DEA system is investigated. • The significant geometrical changes of the charge–transfer complex are explained. • Forward Electron transfer from DEA to Rh101 +∗ occurs with lifetime of 425–560 fs. • Backward electron transfer occurs with a time constant of 46.16–51.40 ps. • Intramolecular vibrational relaxation occurs with lifetime of 2.77–5.39 ps. - Abstract: The ultrafast photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer (PIET) reaction of Rhodamine 101 (Rh101 + ) in N,N-diethylaniline (DEA) was investigated using off-resonance Raman, femtosecond time-resolved multiplex transient grating (TG) and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopies. The Raman spectra indicate that the C=C stretching vibration of the chromophore aromatic ring is more sensitive to ET compared with the C-C stretching mode. The ultrafast photoinduced intermolecular forward ET (FET) from DEA to Rh101 +∗ occurs on a time scale of τ FET = 425–560 fs. The backward ET (BET) occurs in the inverted region with a time constant of τ BET = 46.16–51.40 ps. The intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) process occurs on the excited state potential energy surface with the time constant of τ IVR = 2.77–5.39 ps

Predicting sugar-sweetened behaviours with theory of planned behaviour constructs: Outcome and process results from the SIPsmartER behavioural intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoellner, Jamie M; Porter, Kathleen J; Chen, Yvonnes; Hedrick, Valisa E; You, Wen; Hickman, Maja; Estabrooks, Paul A

2017-05-01

Guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and health literacy concepts, SIPsmartER is a six-month multicomponent intervention effective at improving SSB behaviours. Using SIPsmartER data, this study explores prediction of SSB behavioural intention (BI) and behaviour from TPB constructs using: (1) cross-sectional and prospective models and (2) 11 single-item assessments from interactive voice response (IVR) technology. Quasi-experimental design, including pre- and post-outcome data and repeated-measures process data of 155 intervention participants. Validated multi-item TPB measures, single-item TPB measures, and self-reported SSB behaviours. Hypothesised relationships were investigated using correlation and multiple regression models. TPB constructs explained 32% of the variance cross sectionally and 20% prospectively in BI; and explained 13-20% of variance cross sectionally and 6% prospectively. Single-item scale models were significant, yet explained less variance. All IVR models predicting BI (average 21%, range 6-38%) and behaviour (average 30%, range 6-55%) were significant. Findings are interpreted in the context of other cross-sectional, prospective and experimental TPB health and dietary studies. Findings advance experimental application of the TPB, including understanding constructs at outcome and process time points and applying theory in all intervention development, implementation and evaluation phases.

Predicting sugar-sweetened behaviours with theory of planned behaviour constructs: Outcome and process results from the SIPsmartER behavioural intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Zoellner, Jamie M.; Porter, Kathleen J.; Chen, Yvonnes; Hedrick, Valisa E.; You, Wen; Hickman, Maja; Estabrooks, Paul A.

2017-01-01

Objective Guided by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and health literacy concepts, SIPsmartER is a six-month multicomponent intervention effective at improving SSB behaviours. Using SIPsmartER data, this study explores prediction of SSB behavioural intention (BI) and behaviour from TPB constructs using: (1) cross-sectional and prospective models and (2) 11 single-item assessments from interactive voice response (IVR) technology. Design Quasi-experimental design, including pre- and post-outcome data and repeated-measures process data of 155 intervention participants. Main Outcome Measures Validated multi-item TPB measures, single-item TPB measures, and self-reported SSB behaviours. Hypothesised relationships were investigated using correlation and multiple regression models. Results TPB constructs explained 32% of the variance cross sectionally and 20% prospectively in BI; and explained 13–20% of variance cross sectionally and 6% prospectively. Single-item scale models were significant, yet explained less variance. All IVR models predicting BI (average 21%, range 6–38%) and behaviour (average 30%, range 6–55%) were significant. Conclusion Findings are interpreted in the context of other cross-sectional, prospective and experimental TPB health and dietary studies. Findings advance experimental application of the TPB, including understanding constructs at outcome and process time points and applying theory in all intervention development, implementation and evaluation phases. PMID:28165771

A randomized trial to determine the impact on compliance of a psychophysical peripheral cue based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Horton, Rachael Jane; Minniti, Antoinette; Mireylees, Stewart; McEntegart, Damian

2008-11-01

Non-compliance in clinical studies is a significant issue, but causes remain unclear. Utilizing the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion, this study assessed the psychophysical peripheral cue 'Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) call frequency' on compliance. 71 participants were randomized to once daily (OD), twice daily (BID) or three times daily (TID) call schedules over two weeks. Participants completed 30-item cognitive function tests at each call. Compliance was defined as proportion of expected calls within a narrow window (+/- 30 min around scheduled time), and within a relaxed window (-30 min to +4 h). Data were analyzed by ANOVA and pairwise comparisons adjusted by the Bonferroni correction. There was a relationship between call frequency and compliance. Bonferroni adjusted pairwise comparisons showed significantly higher compliance (p=0.03) for the BID (51.0%) than TID (30.3%) for the narrow window; for the extended window, compliance was higher (p=0.04) with OD (59.5%), than TID (38.4%). The IVRS psychophysical peripheral cue call frequency supported the ELM as a route to persuasion. The results also support OD strategy for optimal compliance. Models suggest specific indicators to enhance compliance with medication dosing and electronic patient diaries to improve health outcomes and data integrity respectively.

Examination of types of exposure and management methods for nurses in interventional radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Hiroshige; Fujii, Tomonori; Koshida, Kichiro; Ichikawa, Katsuhiro

2007-01-01

Although a large number of studies have been done on exposure to operators and doctors during interventional radiology (IVR), there have been very few reports on nurses. This study was carried out to clarify the situation regarding exposure for nurses, and provides examples of how to estimate and manage. We measured space dose-rate distributions with an ionization survey meter, and personal exposure dose by a small fluorescent grass dosimeter (Dose Ace). The experimental results disclosed that there tended to be two types of exposure depending on the task performed. Head and neck (collar level) were associated with the highest exposure dose, which was observed in nurses assisting operators. Alternatively, knees showed the highest exposure dose, which was observed in nurses observing and assisting the patient. When estimation of skin equivalent exposure at the knees is needed, it can be calculated by using the value measured at the collar level. Furthermore, in estimating exposure dose, the directional and energy characteristics of personal dosimeters should be considered adequate. For radiation management, a circular protective sheet can be placed around the patient's lower area and a protective screen near the patient's head, and basic and practical education can be given. We concluded that these are highly useful for the personal monitoring of nurses engaged in IVR. (author)

Competition between bank regulators

OpenAIRE

Schindler, Dirk; Eggert, Wolfgang

2004-01-01

This paper examines competition between bank regulators in open economies. We use a model where credit demand of firms is endogenous and show any tendency for downward competition in regulation policy is limited by the effect of regulation on profits of nonfinancial firms. Moreover, perfect mobility on loans and deposit markets fully eliminates the incentives of regulators to set bank regulation at ine±cient low levels.

78 FR 31551 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; Commerce Patent Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-24

...; Submission for OMB Review; Commerce Patent Regulations AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DOD), General... collection requirement concerning Department of Commerce patent regulations. A notice was published in...- 0095, Commerce Patent Regulations, by any of the following methods: Regulations.gov : http://www...

The Sound of Being There

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordahl, Rolf; Nilsson, Niels Christian

2014-01-01

The concept “presence”—often defined as the sensation of “being there”—has received increasing attention in the last decades. Out of the many domains of application, presence is particularly relevant in relation to Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR). Despite the growing attention in the concept pres...... to illustrating how sound production and perception relate to the four constituents of the framework: immersion, illusions of place, illusions of plausibility, and virtual body ownership....

Los presupuestos teóricos en la investigación jurídica actual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Sarlo

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Ponencia presentada al Congreso Mundial de Filosofía Jurídica y Social de la IVR , 18o (La Plata: ago.1997Contenido: La disputa iusnaturalismo/iuspositivismo como pseudo disputa teórica. La disputa IP/IN desde una perspectiva epistemológica. Bibliografía. Plan de trabajo para la Comisión de Preservación de Memoria Jurídica Nacional

Characterization of three Agrobacterium tumefaciens avirulent mutants with chromosomal mutations that affect induction of vir genes.

OpenAIRE

Metts, J; West, J; Doares, S H; Matthysse, A G

1991-01-01

Three Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants with chromosomal mutations that affect bacterial virulence were isolated by transposon mutagenesis. Two of the mutants were avirulent on all hosts tested. The third mutant, Ivr-211, was a host range mutant which was avirulent on Bryophyllum diagremontiana, Nicotiana tabacum, N. debneyi, N. glauca, and Daucus carota but was virulent on Zinnia elegans and Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato). That the mutant phenotype was due to the transposon insertion was d...

Interpersonal emotion regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaki, Jamil; Williams, W Craig

2013-10-01

Contemporary emotion regulation research emphasizes intrapersonal processes such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, but people experiencing affect commonly choose not to go it alone. Instead, individuals often turn to others for help in shaping their affective lives. How and under what circumstances does such interpersonal regulation modulate emotional experience? Although scientists have examined allied phenomena such as social sharing, empathy, social support, and prosocial behavior for decades, there have been surprisingly few attempts to integrate these data into a single conceptual framework of interpersonal regulation. Here we propose such a framework. We first map a "space" differentiating classes of interpersonal regulation according to whether an individual uses an interpersonal regulatory episode to alter their own or another person's emotion. We then identify 2 types of processes--response-dependent and response-independent--that could support interpersonal regulation. This framework classifies an array of processes through which interpersonal contact fulfills regulatory goals. More broadly, it organizes diffuse, heretofore independent data on "pieces" of interpersonal regulation, and identifies growth points for this young and exciting research domain.

Volume regulation in epithelia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Erik Hviid; Hoffmann, Else Kay

2016-01-01

to amphibian skin and mammalian cortical collecting tubule of low and intermediate osmotic permeability. Crosstalk between entrance and exit mechanisms interferes with volume regulation both at aniso-osmotic and iso-osmotic volume perturbations. It has been proposed that cell volume regulation is an intrinsic...... regulation are cloned. The volume-regulated anion channel (VRAC) exhibiting specific electrophysiological characteristics seems exclusive to serve cell volume regulation. This is contrary to K+ channels as well as cotransporters and exchange mechanisms that may serve both transepithelial transport and cell...... volume regulation. In the same cell, these functions may be maintained by different ion pathways that are separately regulated. RVD is often preceded by increase in cytosolic free Ca2+, probably via influx through TRP channels, but Ca2+ release from intracellular stores has also been observed. Cell...

Ex Post Regulation as the Method of Sectoral Regulation in Electricity Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafał Nagaj

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Aim/purpose - The aim of the article is to present the essence of ex post approach to sectoral regulation, to show the advantages and disadvantages of ex post regulation and to answer the question whether it is worth using in the electricity sector. Design/methodology/approach - For this purpose, a critical analysis of expert literature was made and an empirical analysis of countries that have applied ex post regulation in the electricity sector in the European Union. Two research methods were used: a case study and a comparison of changes in price and quality of services. The research period covered the period 2000-2016. Findings - It was found that ex post regulation reduces regulatory costs, does not adversely affect the quality of service and long-term rates, gives businesses the freedom of decision-making and the ability to react quickly to changes in the economy. The main disadvantages of ex post regulation are the tendency for companies to over-estimate bills for consumers, the difficulty of pursuing claims by consumers and the need to shift regulatory risk to consumers. Research implications/limitations - In the paper there was identified a research gap, i.e. the effects of ex post regulation in the electricity sector in European Union countries where such regulation was applied. Identifying the research gap will help us understand what are the advantages and disadvantages of ex post regulation and will create a model for when it is good moment to implement this in the economy. Besides identifying the research gap, further studies will be required over ex post regulation. Originality/value/contribution - The additional value of the paper is the study of ex post regulation, its essence and types. The article analyzed the effects of ex post regulation in the electricity sector and provided valuable insights into the potential risks associated with this approach to economic regulation.

Regulation as Rhetoric

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boll, Karen; Györy, Csaba

This paper analyses the way regulatory agencies strategically use public ‘rhetoric’ and ‘management of appearance’ to strengthen their regulation. It reports a comparative study of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which is the US federal securities regulator and the Danish Tax...... and Customs Administration (SKAT) which is the national tax regulator in Denmark. SEC operates in a US context where the agency fights to get trust, while SKAT operates in a context where high trust in public agencies is a basic condition. We argue, however, that despite the radically different institutional...... engage reflectively in image promotion which serves two purposes: establishing and maintaining legitimacy in a particular social and political environment and producing compliance. Further, we argue that this regulation is a form of ‘post-bureaucratic’ regulation in which compliance is achieved...

Voltage regulator for generator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naoi, K

1989-01-17

It is an object of this invention to provide a voltage regulator for a generator charging a battery, wherein even if the ambient temperature at the voltage regulator rises abnormally high, possible thermal breakage of the semiconductor elements constituting the voltage regulator can be avoided. A feature of this invention is that the semiconductor elements can be protected from thermal breakage, even at an abnormal ambient temperature rise at the voltage regulator for the battery charging generator, by controlling a maximum conduction ratio of a power transistor in the voltage regulator in accordance with the temperature at the voltage regulator. This is achieved through a switching device connected in series to the field coil of the generator and adapted to be controlled in accordance with an output voltage of the generator and the ambient temperature at the voltage regulator. 6 figs.

THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF PULSED WAVE TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING IN ASYMPTOMATIC BETA- THALASSEMIA MAJOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS ; RELATION TO CHEMICAL BIOMARKERS OF LEFT VENTRICULAR FUNCTION AND IRON OVERLOAD .

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seham Ragab

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Cardiac iron toxicity is the leading cause of death among  β-halassaemia major (TM  patients.  Once  heart failure becomes overt , it will be  difficult to reverse . Objectives: To investigate non overt cardiac dysfunctions  in TM patients using  pulsed wave Tissue Doppler  Imaging (TD I and its relation to the iron overload and brain natruritic peptide (BNP. Methods: Thorough  clinical , conventional echo and  pulsed  wave TDI  parameters were compared between  asymtomatic 25 β-TM  patients  and 20 age and gender matched individuals. Serum ferritin and plasma BNP  levels were assayed by  ELISA .  Results: TM patients had significant higher mitral inflow early diastolic (E wave and  non significant other conventional echo  parameters. Pulsed wave TDI revealed systolic and diastolic dysfunctions in the form of significant higher  isovolumetric contraction time (ICT , ejection time ( E T and  isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT with significantly lower  mitral annulus  early diastolic velocity E` (12.07 ±2.06 vs 15.04±2.65 ,P= 0.003  in patients compared to  controls. Plasma BNP was higher in patients compared to the controls.  Plasma BNP and serum ferritin had significant correlation with each other and with pulsed wave conventional and TDI indices of systolic and diastolic functions.  Patients with E/E` ≥ 8 had  significant higher  serum ferritin  and plasma BNP levels compared to those with E/E` ratio < 8 without difference in Hb levels .Conclusion:  Pulsed wave TDI  is an  important diagnostic tool for latent cardiac dysfunction in iron loaded TM patients and is related to iron overload and BNP .

Grandfather regulations, new source bias, and state air toxics regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levinson, Arik

1999-01-01

This paper uses plant-level data from the Census of Manufactures and the variation in toxic air pollution regulations across states to measure the effects of laws that are more stringent for new sources of pollution than for existing sources (so-called 'grandfather' regulations). Of particular interest is the resulting 'new source bias' and its effects on capital vintage and investment. Two industries are examined: commercial printing, which has a local product market; and paint manufacturing, which has a more national market. In general, there seem to be no statistically significant differences in capital vintage or investment between plants in states that grandfather new sources of pollution, plants in states that have no air toxics regulations, and plants in states that regulate both new and existing sources

Limiting Factors for External Reactor Vessel Cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheung, F.B.

2005-01-01

The method of external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) that involves flooding of the reactor cavity during a severe accident has been considered a viable means for in-vessel retention (IVR). For high-power reactors, however, there are some limiting factors that might adversely affect the feasibility of using ERVC as a means for IVR. In this paper, the key limiting factors for ERVC have been identified and critically discussed. These factors include the choking limit for steam venting (CLSV) through the bottleneck of the vessel/insulation structure, the critical heat flux (CHF) for downward-facing boiling on the vessel outer surface, and the two-phase flow instabilities in the natural circulation loop within the flooded cavity. To enhance ERVC, it is necessary to eliminate or relax these limiting factors. Accordingly, methods to enhance ERVC and thus improve margins for IVR have been proposed and demonstrated, using the APR1400 as an example. The strategy is based on using two distinctly different methods to enhance ERVC. One involves the use of an enhanced vessel/insulation design to facilitate steam venting through the bottleneck of the annular channel. The other involves the use of an appropriate vessel coating to promote downward-facing boiling. It is found that the use of an enhanced vessel/insulation design with bottleneck enlargement could greatly facilitate the process of steam venting through the bottleneck region as well as streamline the resulting two-phase motions in the annular channel. By selecting a suitable enhanced vessel/insulation design, not only the CLSV but also the CHF limits could be significantly increased. In addition, the problem associated with two-phase flow instabilities and flow-induced mechanical vibration could be minimized. It is also found that the use of vessel coatings made of microporous metallic layers could greatly facilitate downward-facing boiling on the vessel outer surface. With vessel coatings, the local CHF limits at

Towards trust in regulation. Moving to a public value regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, Catherine; Woodman, Bridget [Energy Policy Group, University of Exeter Cornwall Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9EZ (United Kingdom)

2010-06-15

The UK Government has committed itself to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. The challenge of successfully achieving a transition to a sustainable energy system, in the context of the UK's largely privately owned energy industry, rests on the ability of policy makers to encourage and enable the necessary changes or innovation at all levels of the energy system. This paper argues that the UK's current, dominant political paradigm or framework (the regulatory state paradigm (RSP)) and within it, the role of the economic regulator, Ofgem acts as a fundamental block to this challenge. The current economic regulatory system is based on trust in the market, or on predicted (albeit theoretical) known outcomes. To expand our regulatory system to one which can deliver a sustainable energy system requires innovation in a certain direction (as opposed to any innovation). That is the antithesis of the current process of regulation. Trust is required that Ofgem, the economic regulator, will develop rules and incentives which deliver an agreed sustainable energy goal, which is 'trusted' to be the 'right' goal. This requires Ofgem moving away from ex-ante regulation to a type of regulation where all costs, benefits and outcomes cannot be known beforehand and where they cannot necessarily be quantifiable. This has, very provisionally, been called Public Value Regulation (PVR). (author)

Towards trust in regulation-moving to a public value regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, Catherine, E-mail: catherine.mitchell@exeter.ac.u [Energy Policy Group, University of Exeter Cornwall Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9EZ (United Kingdom); Woodman, Bridget [Energy Policy Group, University of Exeter Cornwall Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, TR10 9EZ (United Kingdom)

2010-06-15

The UK Government has committed itself to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. The challenge of successfully achieving a transition to a sustainable energy system, in the context of the UK's largely privately owned energy industry, rests on the ability of policy makers to encourage and enable the necessary changes or innovation at all levels of the energy system. This paper argues that the UK's current, dominant political paradigm or framework (the regulatory state paradigm (RSP)) and within it, the role of the economic regulator, Ofgem acts as a fundamental block to this challenge. The current economic regulatory system is based on trust in the market, or on predicted (albeit theoretical) known outcomes. To expand our regulatory system to one which can deliver a sustainable energy system requires innovation in a certain direction (as opposed to any innovation). That is the antithesis of the current process of regulation. Trust is required that Ofgem, the economic regulator, will develop rules and incentives which deliver an agreed sustainable energy goal, which is 'trusted' to be the 'right' goal. This requires Ofgem moving away from ex-ante regulation to a type of regulation where all costs, benefits and outcomes cannot be known beforehand and where they cannot necessarily be quantifiable. This has, very provisionally, been called Public Value Regulation (PVR).

Towards trust in regulation-moving to a public value regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, Catherine; Woodman, Bridget

2010-01-01

The UK Government has committed itself to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. The challenge of successfully achieving a transition to a sustainable energy system, in the context of the UK's largely privately owned energy industry, rests on the ability of policy makers to encourage and enable the necessary changes or innovation at all levels of the energy system. This paper argues that the UK's current, dominant political paradigm or framework (the regulatory state paradigm (RSP)) and within it, the role of the economic regulator, Ofgem acts as a fundamental block to this challenge. The current economic regulatory system is based on trust in the market, or on predicted (albeit theoretical) known outcomes. To expand our regulatory system to one which can deliver a sustainable energy system requires innovation in a certain direction (as opposed to any innovation). That is the antithesis of the current process of regulation. Trust is required that Ofgem, the economic regulator, will develop rules and incentives which deliver an agreed sustainable energy goal, which is 'trusted' to be the 'right' goal. This requires Ofgem moving away from ex-ante regulation to a type of regulation where all costs, benefits and outcomes cannot be known beforehand and where they cannot necessarily be quantifiable. This has, very provisionally, been called Public Value Regulation (PVR).

Study of isotope effects in the hydrogen transport of an 8% CrWVTa martensitic steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esteban, G.A.; Sedano, L.A.; Perujo, A.; Douglas, K.

2001-01-01

A time-dependent gas-phase isovolumetric desorption technique has been used to assess the isotope effects in the diffusive transport parameters of hydrogen in an 8% CrWVTa reduced activation martensitic steel in the temperature range of 423-892 K and driving pressures from 4 x 10 4 - 1 x 10 5 Pa. The experiments have been run with both protium and deuterium obtaining their respective transport parameters, diffusivity (D), Sieverts' constant (K S ), permeability (Φ), trap site density (η t ) and the trapping activation energy (E t ). Isotope effects on steel are analysed and compared with α-iron. A new way to derive more accurate tritium transport parameters is proposed. (orig.)

Reconceptualizing Civil Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galang, Roberto Martin; Castello, Itziar

2011-01-01

This article re-conceptualizes the notion of civil regulation, through an analysis of 775 projects by firms located in 21 Asian countries, wherein we map the state of civil regulation initiatives in the region. We challenge two established assumptions in the Corporate Social Responsibility litera....... Finally, we argue that, in Asia, governments act as a structuration mechanism which challenges the current understanding of CSR.......This article re-conceptualizes the notion of civil regulation, through an analysis of 775 projects by firms located in 21 Asian countries, wherein we map the state of civil regulation initiatives in the region. We challenge two established assumptions in the Corporate Social Responsibility...... and environmental standards; but also that local, small and medium companies play a key role in the development of Asian civil regulation. We call this second finding the “CSR importation trap”. Our findings are supported by evidence on the limitations in the interchangeable properties of business and governments...

NORM regulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gray, P. [ed.

1997-02-01

The author reviews the question of regulation for naturally occuring radioactive material (NORM), and the factors that have made this a more prominent concern today. Past practices have been very relaxed, and have often involved very poor records, the involvment of contractors, and the disposition of contaminated equipment back into commercial service. The rationale behind the establishment of regulations is to provide worker protection, to exempt low risk materials, to aid in scrap recycling, to provide direction for remediation and to examine disposal options. The author reviews existing regulations at federal and state levels, impending legislation, and touches on the issue of site remediation and potential liabilities affecting the release of sites contaminated by NORM.

Study on structural failure of RPV with geometric discontinuity under severe accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mao, J.F., E-mail: jianfeng-mao@163.com [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Zhu, J.W. [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Department of Mechanical and Electrical engineering, Huzhou Vocational & Technical College Huzhou, Zhejiang 313000 (China); Bao, S.Y., E-mail: bsy@zjut.edu.cn [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Luo, L.J. [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Gao, Z.L. [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China)

2016-10-15

Highlights: • The RPV failure is investigated in depth under severe accident. • The creep and plastic damage are the major contributor to RPV failure. • A elastic core is found at the midpoint of the highly-eroded region. • Weakest location has some ‘accommodating’ quality to prevent ductile tearing. • The internal pressure is critical for the determination of structural failure. - Abstract: A severe accident management strategy known as ‘in-vessel retention (IVR)’ is widely adopted in most of advanced nuclear power plants. The IVR mitigation is assumed to be able to arrest the degraded melting core and maintain the structural integrity of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) within a prescribed period of time. This traditional concept of IVR without consideration of internal pressure effect wasn’t challenged until the occurrence of Fukushima accident on 2011, which showed that the structural behavior had not been appropriately assessed, and a certain pressure (up to 8.0 MPa) still existed inside the RPV. Accordingly, the paper tries to address the related issue on whether lower head (LH) integrity can be maintained, when the LH is subjected to the thermal-mechanical loads created during such a severe accident. Because of the presence of the high temperature melt (∼1300 °C) on the inside of RPV, some local material is melted down to create a unique RPV with geometric discontinuity, while the outside of RPV submerged in cavity water will remain in nucleate boiling (at ∼150 °C). Therefore, the failure mechanisms of RPV can span a wide range of structural behaviors, such as melt-through, creep damage, plastic yielding as well as thermal expansion. Through meticulous investigation, it is found that the RPV failure is mainly caused by creep and plasticity, especially for the inside of highly-eroded region. The elastic core (or layer) is found to exist in the proximity of mid-section of the highly-eroded wall. However, the elastic core is squeezed into

Along the Virtuality Continuum - Two Showcases on how xR Technologies Transform Geoscience Research and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Klippel, A.; Zhao, J.; Masrur, A.; Wallgruen, J. O.; La Femina, P. C.

2017-12-01

We present work along the virtuality continuum showcasing both AR and VR environments for geoscience applications and research. The AR/VR project focusses on one of the most prominent landmarks on the Penn State campus which, at the same time, is a representation of the geology of Pennsylvania. The Penn State Obelisk is a 32" high, 51 ton monument composed of 281 rocks collected from across Pennsylvania. While information about its origins and composition are scattered in articles and some web databases, we compiled all the available data from the web and archives and curated them as a basis for an immersive xR experience. Tabular data was amended by xR data such as 360° photos, videos, and 3D models (e.g., the Obelisk). Our xR (both AR and VR) prototype provides an immersive analytical environment that supports interactive data visualization and virtual navigation in a natural environment (a campus model of today and of 1896, the year of the Obelisk's installation). This work-in-progress project can provide an interactive immersive learning platform (specifically, for K-12 and introductory level geosciences students) where learning process is enhanced through seamless navigation between 3D data space and physical space. The, second, VR focused application is creating and empirically evaluating virtual reality (VR) experiences for geosciences research, specifically, an interactive volcano experience based on LiDAR and image data of Iceland's Thrihnukar volcano. The prototype addresses the lack of content and tools for immersive virtual reality (iVR) in geoscientific education and research and how to make it easier to integrate iVR into research and classroom experiences. It makes use of environmentally sensed data such that interaction and linked content can be integrated into a single experience. We discuss our workflows as well as methods and authoring tools for iVR analysis and creation of virtual experiences. These methods and tools aim to enhance the utility

The radiation protective devices for interventional procedures using computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iida, Hiroji; Chabatake, Mitsuhiro; Shimizu, Mitsuru; Tamura, Sakio

2002-01-01

A scattered dose and a surface dose from phantom measurements during interventional procedures with computed tomography (IVR-CT) were evaluated. To reduce the personnel exposure in IVR-CT, the new protective devices were developed and its effect evaluated. Two radiation protection devices were experimentally made using a lead vinyl sheet with lead equivalent 0.125 mmPb. The first device is a lead curtain which shields the space of CT-gantry and phantom for the CT examination. The second device is a lead drape which shields on the phantom surface adjacent to the scanning plane for the CT-fluoroscopy. Scattered dose and phantom surface dose were measured with an abdominal phantom during Cine-CT (130 kV, 150 mA, 5 seconds, 10 mm section thickness). They were measured by using ionization chamber dosimeter. They were measured with and without a lead curtain and a lead drape. Scattered dose rate was measured at distance of 50-150 cm from the scanning plane. And, surface dose was measured at distance of 4-21 cm from the scanning plane on the phantom. On operator's standing position, scattered dose rates were from 8.4 to 11.6 μGy/sec at CT examination. The lead curtain and the lead drape reduced scattered dose rate at distance of 50 cm from the scanning plane by 66% and 58.3% respectively. Surface dose rate were 118 μGy/sec at distance of 5 cm from the scanning plane at CT-fluoroscopy. The lead drape reduced the surface dose by 60.5%. High scattered exposure to personnel may occur during interventional procedures using CT. They were considerably reduced during CT-arteriography by attaching the lead curtain in CT equipment. And they were substantially reduced during CT-fluoroscopy by placing the lead drape adjacent to the scanning plane, in addition, operator's hand would be protected from unnecessary radiation scattered by phantom. It was suggested that the scattered exposure to personnel could be sufficiently reduced by using radiation protection devices in IVR-CT. The

Risk-informed regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, D.R.

2003-01-01

In assessing safety for nuclear facilities, regulators have traditionally used a deterministic approach. New techniques for assessing nuclear or radiological risks make it possible for regulators to incorporate risk insights into their regulations. By 'risk-informing' the regulatory processes, independent bodies tasked with protecting the health and safety of the public can focus on those design and operational issues most important to safety. Such an approach is a move away from prescriptive regulations that were based on conservative engineering judgments toward regulations focused on issues that contribute significantly to safety. Despite the availability of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) tools, organisations often struggle with how to best use this capability. Most international regulations are still based largely on deterministic analyses that were developed without the benefit of quantitative or measurable estimates of risk. PRA considers issues of risk in a more comprehensive manner by examining a wider spectrum of initiating events and their frequency, and considers the likelihood of events in a rigorous and comprehensive manner. In some countries, nuclear regulators are actively moving toward increasing the use of risk insights in a variety of strategic arenas, including risk-informed technical specifications (operating limits and conditions), in-service inspection and testing, programs, and assessment and enforcement actions. A risk-informed approach enhances the traditional deterministic approach by explicitly considering a broader range of safety challenges, focusing resources on the basis of risk significance, considering a broader range of counter measures to mitigate challenges, and explicitly identifying and quantifying uncertainties in analyses. (author)

Simulating Social Situations in Immersive Virtual Reality - A Study of Bystander Responses to Violent Emergencies

OpenAIRE

Rovira i Pérez, A.

2016-01-01

The goal of this research is to show how immersive virtual reality (IVR) can be used to study human responses to extreme emergencies in social situations. Participants interact realistically with animated virtual humans. We show this through experimental studies of bystander responses to a violent confrontation, and find that there are conditions under which people intervene to help virtual characters that are threatened. We go on to show that a reinforcement learning (RL) method can capture ...

Culture and emotion regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Brett Q; Mauss, Iris B

2015-06-01

While anthropological research has long emphasized cultural differences in whether emotions are viewed as beneficial versus harmful, psychological science has only recently begun to systematically examine those differences and their implications for emotion regulation and well-being. Underscoring the pervasive role of culture in people's emotions, we summarize research that has examined links between culture, emotion regulation, and well-being. Specifically, we focus on two questions. First, how does culture lead individuals to regulate their emotions? And second, how does culture modulate the link between emotion regulation and well-being? We finish by suggesting directions for future research to advance the study of culture and emotion regulation.

Radiation Control Regulation 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This Regulation (No. 434-1993) was made in pursuance of the Radiation Control Act 1990 and replaces the Active Substances Regulations 1959 repealed by the Act. It entered into force on 1 September 1993. The Regulation specifies that the technical radiation protection definitions have the same meaning as in the 1990 recommendations. The Regulation provides for the licensing of persons to use radioactive substances and radiation apparatus. It prescribes activities which may only be carried out by an accredited radiation expert and regulates the use of radiation apparatus and radioactive substances as well as the disposal and transport of radiation apparatus and radioactive substances. (NEA)

Load regulating expansion fixture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, L.M.; Strum, M.J.

1998-01-01

A free standing self contained device for bonding ultra thin metallic films, such as 0.001 inch beryllium foils is disclosed. The device will regulate to a predetermined load for solid state bonding when heated to a bonding temperature. The device includes a load regulating feature, whereby the expansion stresses generated for bonding are regulated and self adjusting. The load regulator comprises a pair of friction isolators with a plurality of annealed copper members located there between. The device, with the load regulator, will adjust to and maintain a stress level needed to successfully and economically complete a leak tight bond without damaging thin foils or other delicate components. 1 fig

Is self-regulation possible

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barkenbus, J.N.

1983-01-01

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's increasingly prescriptive regulation of the nuclear industry can have deleterious effects, perhaps the most serious being the shift in responsibility for safety from the utility to the NRC. Several factors account for this type of regulation including the nature and structure of the nuclear industry, public opinion and bureaucratic incentives, and the nature of the technology itself. The opportunities to create heightened industry self-regulation (performance-based regulation) deserve further examination. The key to self-regulation is to structure incentives so that it is clearly within the nuclear utilities' interests to build and operate nuclear power facilities in the safest manner possible. 27 references

Regulating hedge funds.

OpenAIRE

Daníelsson, J.; Zigrand, JP.

2007-01-01

Due to the ever-increasing amounts under management and their unregulated and opaque nature, hedge funds have emerged as a key concern for policymakers. While until now, hedge funds have been left essentially unregulated, we are seeing increasing calls for regulation for both microprudential and macroprudential reasons. In our view, most calls for the regulation of hedge funds are based on a misperception of the effectiveness of financial regulations, perhaps coupled with a lack of understand...

TOWARD MORE EFFECTIVE REGULATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J. GRAF

2000-06-01

This paper proposes a model relationship between the operator engaged in a hazardous activity, the regulator of that activity, and the general public. The roles and responsibilities of each entity are described in a way that allows effective communication flow. The role of the regulator is developed using the steam boiler as an example of a hazard subject to regulation; however, the model applies to any regulated activity. In this model the safety analyst has the extremely important role of communicating sometimes difficult technical information to the regulator in a way that the regulator can provide credible assurance to the general public as to the adequacy of the control of the hazardous activity. The conclusion asserts that acceptance of the model, understanding of the roles and responsibilities and definition of who communicates what information to whom will mitigate frustration on the part of each of the three entities.

Self-regulation in securities markets

OpenAIRE

Carson, John

2011-01-01

This paper canvasses the trends in self-regulation and the role of self-regulation in securities markets in different parts of the world. The paper also describes the conditions in which self-regulation might be an effective element of securities markets regulation, particularly in emerging markets. Use of self-regulation and self-regulatory organizations is often recommended in emerging m...

Regulating chemicals: law, science, and the unbearable burdens of regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Silbergeld, Ellen K; Mandrioli, Daniele; Cranor, Carl F

2015-03-18

The challenges of regulating industrial chemicals remain unresolved in the United States. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 was the first legislation to extend coverage to the regulation of industrial chemicals, both existing and newly registered. However, decisions related to both law and science that were made in passing this law inevitably rendered it ineffectual. Attempts to fix these shortcomings have not been successful. In light of the European Union's passage of innovative principles and requirements for chemical regulation, it is no longer possible to deny the opportunity and need for reform in US law and practice.

Panel presentation: Should some type of incentive regulation replace traditional methods for regulating LDCs?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costello, K.W.

1992-01-01

State regulators should consider new approaches to regulating LDCs. They should seriously look at different incentive systems, even if only as an experiment, to address the major inefficiencies they see plaguing LDCs. Regulators have become more receptive in recent years to applying different incentive systems for historically heavily regulated industries such as the telecommunications and electric industries. In view of prevailing conditions in the natural gas industry, there is no good reason why regulators should not be as receptive to applying incentive systems for LDCs. For gas services offered in competitive markets, regulators should ask themselves whether regulation is necessary any longer. For services still requiring regulation, regulators should explore whether changes in traditional regulation are needed. While some PUCs have undertaken new regulatory practices, the question before them today is whether they should do more; whether, for example, states should accelerate their efforts toward adopting more flexible pricing and other incentive-based regulations or toward considering deregulating selected services. PUCs have different options. They can choose from among a large number of incentive systems. Their choices should hinge upon what they view as major sources of inefficiencies. For example, if uneconomical bypass is perceived as a problem then different price rules might constitute the cornerstone of an incentive-based policy. On the other hand, if excessive purchased-gas costs seem to be a major problem, a PUC may want to consider abolishing the PGA or modifying it in a form that would eliminate the cost-plus component

Optimal Regulation of Lumpy Investments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwart, G.; Broer, D.P.

2012-01-01

When a monopolist has discretion over the timing of infrastructure investments, regulation of post-investment prices interferes with incentivizing socially optimal investment timing. In a model of regulated lumpy investment under uncertainty, we study regulation when the regulator can condition

The development of regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slokan Dusic, D.; Levstek, M.F.; Stritar, A.

2003-01-01

In October 2002, The Act on Protection Against Ionising Radiation and Nuclear Safety which regulates all aspects of protection against ionising radiation and nuclear safety entered into force in Slovenia. The Slovenian government and its responsible ministries shall issue several governmental and ministerial regulations to support the above - mentioned act. The Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) which acts within the Ministry of the Environment, Spatial Planing and Energy takes an active part in drafting the regulations which are defined in the act. Due to a very comprehensive and pretentious task, that is to be completed in a relatively short period of time, taking into consideration the involvement of stakeholders and all competent ministries, the SNSA within the Quality Management System developed a special procedure that insures the systematic approach to the preparation of regulations. The article will briefly represent the process that: defines the preparation, development, harmonisation, review, approval and issue of regulations and uniforms the format of developed regulations. (author)

Personality and Emotion Regulation Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esti Hayu Purnamaningsih

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The emotions has many important functions in our life such as in relation of interpersonal communication, and health. In interpersonal communicative function aimed to signal to other information about internal state. Emotions manifests in specific cognitive, behavioural, and physiological reactions, thus closely related to health. There is wide variety of ways for individuals to regulate their emotion. In this regard, there are two kinds of emotion regulation strategy; first Antecedent-focused emotion regulation consisting of situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change and second, Response-focused emotion regulation consisting of suppression. The purpose of this research is to investigate personality factors relate with emotion regulation strategies. 339 students from Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada were participating in this study and given The Big Five Personality Factors (Ramdhani, 2012, adaptation, and the modified version of the Emotion Regulation Scale was used, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (John & Gross, 2004 which measure personality and emotion regulation respectively. Using multiple regression analysis, the study indicated that personality predicts emotion regulation strategies.

Rapamycin up-regulates triglycerides in hepatocytes by down-regulating Prox1.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Sora; Jeon, Ji-Sook; Kim, Su Bin; Hong, Young-Kwon; Ahn, Curie; Sung, Jung-Suk; Choi, Inho

2016-02-27

Although the prolonged use of rapamycin may cause unwanted side effects such as hyperlipidemia, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Prox1 is a transcription factor responsible for the development of several tissues including lymphatics and liver. There is growing evidences that Prox1 participates in metabolism in addition to embryogenesis. However, whether Prox1 is directly related to lipid metabolism is currently unknown. HepG2 human hepatoma cells were treated with rapamycin and total lipids were analyzed by thin layer chromatography. The effect of rapamycin on the expression of Prox1 was determined by western blotting. To investigate the role of Prox1 in triglycerides regulation, siRNA and overexpression system were employed. Rapamycin was injected into mice for 2 weeks and total lipids and proteins in liver were measured by thin layer chromatography and western blot analysis, respectively. Rapamycin up-regulated the amount of triglyceride and down-regulated the expression of Prox1 in HepG2 cells by reducing protein half-life but did not affect its transcript. The loss-of-function of Prox1 was coincident with the increase of triglycerides in HepG2 cells treated with rapamycin. The up-regulation of triglycerides by rapamycin in HepG2 cells reverted to normal levels by the compensation of Prox1 using the overexpression system. Rapamycin also down-regulated Prox1 expression but increased triglycerides in mouse liver. This study suggests that rapamycin can increase the amount of triglycerides by down-regulating Prox1 expression in hepatocytes, which means that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is important for the regulation of triglycerides by maintaining Prox1 expression.

Power-MOSFET Voltage Regulator

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, W. N.; Gray, O. E.

1982-01-01

Ninety-six parallel MOSFET devices with two-stage feedback circuit form a high-current dc voltage regulator that also acts as fully-on solid-state switch when fuel-cell out-put falls below regulated voltage. Ripple voltage is less than 20 mV, transient recovery time is less than 50 ms. Parallel MOSFET's act as high-current dc regulator and switch. Regulator can be used wherever large direct currents must be controlled. Can be applied to inverters, industrial furnaces photovoltaic solar generators, dc motors, and electric autos.

Regulating household financial advice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin F. Cummings

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews economic theory related to investment advice. This theory explains 1 why financial advisors need to be carefully regulated for the benefit of both the investment advice industry and for consumers, 2 why principles-based regulation (e.g., a fiduciary standard is more efficient than rules-based regulation, 3 why dual regulation of financial professionals providing investment or insurance advice is inefficient and inequitable policy, and 4 why the application of a universal and uniform fiduciary standard will be difficult to implement.

Photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer and off-resonance Raman characteristics of Rhodamine 101/N,N-diethylaniline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Li-lin [Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Hezhou University, Hezhou 542800 (China); Liu, Wei-long; Song, Yun-fei; He, Xing; Wang, Yang; Wang, Chang; Wu, Hong-lin [Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Yang, Fang [National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Department of Optoelectronics Information Science Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); Yang, Yan-qiang, E-mail: yqyang@hit.edu.cn [Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China); National Key Laboratory of Shock Wave and Detonation Physics, Institute of Fluid Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, Sichuan (China)

2014-01-31

Highlights: • Mechanism of PIET reaction process for the Rh101{sup +}/DEA system is investigated. • The significant geometrical changes of the charge–transfer complex are explained. • Forward Electron transfer from DEA to Rh101{sup +∗} occurs with lifetime of 425–560 fs. • Backward electron transfer occurs with a time constant of 46.16–51.40 ps. • Intramolecular vibrational relaxation occurs with lifetime of 2.77–5.39 ps. - Abstract: The ultrafast photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer (PIET) reaction of Rhodamine 101 (Rh101{sup +}) in N,N-diethylaniline (DEA) was investigated using off-resonance Raman, femtosecond time-resolved multiplex transient grating (TG) and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopies. The Raman spectra indicate that the C=C stretching vibration of the chromophore aromatic ring is more sensitive to ET compared with the C-C stretching mode. The ultrafast photoinduced intermolecular forward ET (FET) from DEA to Rh101{sup +∗} occurs on a time scale of τ{sub FET} = 425–560 fs. The backward ET (BET) occurs in the inverted region with a time constant of τ{sub BET} = 46.16–51.40 ps. The intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) process occurs on the excited state potential energy surface with the time constant of τ{sub IVR} = 2.77–5.39 ps.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene Val66Met polymorphism affects memory performance in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Azeredo, Lucas A de; De Nardi, Tatiana; Levandowski, Mateus L; Tractenberg, Saulo G; Kommers-Molina, Julia; Wieck, Andrea; Irigaray, Tatiana Q; Silva, Irênio G da; Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo

2017-01-01

Memory impairment is an important contributor to the reduction in quality of life experienced by older adults, and genetic risk factors seem to contribute to variance in age-related cognitive decline. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important nerve growth factor linked with development and neural plasticity. The Val66Met polymorphism in the BDNF gene has been associated with impaired episodic memory in adults, but whether this functional variant plays a role in cognitive aging remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on memory performance in a sample of elderly adults. Eighty-seven subjects aged > 55 years were recruited using a community-based convenience sampling strategy in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The logical memory subset of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised was used to assess immediate verbal recall (IVR), delayed verbal recall (DVR), and memory retention rate. BDNF Met allele carriers had lower DVR scores (p = 0.004) and a decline in memory retention (p = 0.017) when compared to Val/Val homozygotes. However, we found no significant differences in IVR between the two groups (p = 0.088). These results support the hypothesis of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism as a risk factor associated with cognitive impairment, corroborating previous findings in young and older adults.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism affects memory performance in older adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas A. de Azeredo

Full Text Available Objective: Memory impairment is an important contributor to the reduction in quality of life experienced by older adults, and genetic risk factors seem to contribute to variance in age-related cognitive decline. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF is an important nerve growth factor linked with development and neural plasticity. The Val66Met polymorphism in the BDNF gene has been associated with impaired episodic memory in adults, but whether this functional variant plays a role in cognitive aging remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on memory performance in a sample of elderly adults. Methods: Eighty-seven subjects aged > 55 years were recruited using a community-based convenience sampling strategy in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The logical memory subset of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised was used to assess immediate verbal recall (IVR, delayed verbal recall (DVR, and memory retention rate. Results: BDNF Met allele carriers had lower DVR scores (p = 0.004 and a decline in memory retention (p = 0.017 when compared to Val/Val homozygotes. However, we found no significant differences in IVR between the two groups (p = 0.088. Conclusion: These results support the hypothesis of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism as a risk factor associated with cognitive impairment, corroborating previous findings in young and older adults.

Novel approaches to vaginal delivery and safety of microbicides: biopharmaceuticals, nanoparticles, and vaccines.

Science.gov (United States)

Whaley, Kevin J; Hanes, Justin; Shattock, Robin; Cone, Richard A; Friend, David R

2010-12-01

The HIV-1 epidemic remains unchecked despite existing technology; vaccines and microbicides in development may help reverse the epidemic. Reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) formulated in gels tenofovir (TFV) and IVRs (dapivirine) are under clinical development. While TFV or similar products may prove successful for HIV-1, alternatives to RTIs may provide additional benefits, e.g., broader STI prevention. Biopharmaceutical agents under development as microbicides include cyanovirin, RANTES analogues, commensals, and Mabs. Cost of manufacturing biopharmaceuticals has been reduced and they can be formulated into tablets, films, and IVRs for vaginal delivery. Nanotechnology offers a novel approach to formulate microbicides potentially leading to uniform epithelial delivery. Delivery through vaginal mucus may be possible by controlling nanoparticle size and surface characteristics. Combining prevention modalities may be the most effective means of preventing STI transmission, importantly, codelivery of microbicides and vaccines has demonstrated. Finally, the safety of microbicide preparations and excipients commonly used can be assessed using a mouse/HSV-2 susceptibility model. Screening of new microbicide candidates and formulation excipients may avoid past issues of enhancing HIV-1 transmission. This article forms part of a special supplement covering several presentations on novel microbicide formulations from the symposium on "Recent Trends in Microbicide Formulations" held on 25 and 26 January 2010, Arlington, VA. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly immersive virtual reality laparoscopy simulation: development and future aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Tobias; Wunderling, Tom; Paschold, Markus; Lang, Hauke; Kneist, Werner; Hansen, Christian

2018-02-01

Virtual reality (VR) applications with head-mounted displays (HMDs) have had an impact on information and multimedia technologies. The current work aimed to describe the process of developing a highly immersive VR simulation for laparoscopic surgery. We combined a VR laparoscopy simulator (LapSim) and a VR-HMD to create a user-friendly VR simulation scenario. Continuous clinical feedback was an essential aspect of the development process. We created an artificial VR (AVR) scenario by integrating the simulator video output with VR game components of figures and equipment in an operating room. We also created a highly immersive VR surrounding (IVR) by integrating the simulator video output with a [Formula: see text] video of a standard laparoscopy scenario in the department's operating room. Clinical feedback led to optimization of the visualization, synchronization, and resolution of the virtual operating rooms (in both the IVR and the AVR). Preliminary testing results revealed that individuals experienced a high degree of exhilaration and presence, with rare events of motion sickness. The technical performance showed no significant difference compared to that achieved with the standard LapSim. Our results provided a proof of concept for the technical feasibility of an custom highly immersive VR-HMD setup. Future technical research is needed to improve the visualization, immersion, and capability of interacting within the virtual scenario.

An analysis of critical heat flux on the external surface of the reactor vessel lower head

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Soo Hyung; Baek, Won Pil; Chang, Soon Heung

1999-01-01

CHF (Critical heat flux) on the external surface of the reactor vessel lower head is major key in the evaluation on the feasibility of IVR-EVC (In-Vessel Retention through External Vessel Cooling) concept. To identify the CHF on the external surface, considerable works have been performed. Through the review on the previous works related to the CHF on the external surface, liquid subcooling, induced flow along the external surface, ICI (In-Core Instrument) nozzle and minimum gap are identified as major parameters. According to the present analysis, the effects of the ICI nozzle and minimum gap on CHF are pronounced at the upstream of test vessel: on the other hand, the induced flow considerably affects the CHF at downstream of test vessel. In addition, the subcooling effect is shown at all of test vessel, and decreases with the increase in the elevation of test vessel. In the real application of the IVR-EVC concept, vertical position is known as a limiting position, at which thermal margin is the minimum. So, it is very important to precisely predict the CHF at vertical position in a viewpoint of gaining more thermal margins. However, the effects of the liquid subcooling and induced flow do not seem to be adequately included in the CHF correlations suggested by previous works, especially at the downstream positions

Moving from self-regulation to external regulation of Department of Energy facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wishau, R.J.; Dawson, J.; Lee, D.W.

1999-01-01

This paper discusses the initiative to transfer the regulation of Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The paper gives an overview of some of the major technical, policy and legal issues that accompany this initiative. The paper focuses on specific issues and how they may be affected by external regulation of occupational radiation protection at DOE facilities. Differences between the NRC and the DOE approach to regulating nuclear safety are compared and contrasted. Some projected impacts from this transition are examined. Finally, recommendations are provided that may enhance the transition, increasing the likelihood of successful external NRC regulation

Status of mixed-waste regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bahadur, S.

1988-01-01

Mixed waste is waste containing radionuclides regulated by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) under the Atomic Energy Act, as well as hazardous waste materials regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This has led to a situation of dual regulation in which both NRC and EPA regulate the same waste under requirements that at times appear conflicting. The NRC has been working with the EPA to resolve the issues associated with the dual regulation of mixed waste. Discussions between the two agencies indicate that dual regulation of mixed wastes appears technically achievable, although the procedures may be complex and burdensome to the regulated community. The staffs of both agencies have been coordinating their efforts to minimize the burden of dual regulation on state agencies and the industry. Three major issues were identified as sources of potential regulatory conflict: (a) definition and identification of mixed waste, (b) siting guidelines for disposal facilities, and (c) design concepts for disposal units

Nuclear safety and regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hho Jung

2000-03-01

This book contains 12 chapters, which are atom and radiation, nuclear reactor and kinds of nuclear power plant, safeguard actuation system and stability evaluation for rock foundation of nuclear power plant, nuclear safety and principle, safety analysis and classification of incident, probabilistic safety assessment and major incident, nuclear safety regulation, system of nuclear safety regulation, main function and subject of safety regulation in nuclear facilities, regulation of fuel cycle and a nuclear dump site, protection of radiation and, safety supervision and, safety supervision and measurement of environmental radioactivity.

Innerselfie: can we use Immersive Virtual Reality to change cancer risk perceptions and promote physical activity in young people?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abi Fisher

2015-10-01

Results: Phase I is currently underway and has involved identifying an appropriate partner company with expertise in IVR, collecting qualitative data on colon cancer risk perceptions from young people (thematic analyses currently underway, assembling a steering committee, as well as conducting workshops with our Young People’s Partnership Board (YPPB to get continuous feedback on creative ideas. Conclusions: This is a novel exploratory study that is still underway, and the presentation will outline the Innerselfie project and summarise findings to date.

Designing a Voice Controlled Interface For Radio : Guidelines for The First Generation of Voice Controlled Public Radio

OpenAIRE

Päärni, Anna

2017-01-01

From being a fictional element in sci-fi, voice control has become a reality, with inventions such as Apple's Siri, and interactive voice response (IVR) when calling your doctor's office. The combination of radio’s strength as a hands-free medium, public radio’s mission to reach across all platforms and the rise of voice makes up a relevant intersection; voice controlled public radio in Sweden. This thesis has aimed to investigate how radio listeners wish to interact using voice control to li...

Comparison of series regulated neutral beam accel supplies with shunt regulated accel supplies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, W.; Smith, B.H.

1976-01-01

This study was undertaken to get a direct comparison between comparable series and shunt regulated power supplies. It is intended that the two supplies will be strictly equivalent with the same safety factors in the design of each type and the cost estimates made on the same basis. The series regulated power supply is simply a scaled up version of the 2XIIB Accel Supplies. Each supply provides 150 kV, 65 ampere, 500 ms pulse output such as will be used on the TFTR sources. The shunt regulated power supply uses high reactance transformers to provide the series impedance for the shunt regulator. The most significant difference in the performance of the two types of power supplies is that the shunt regulated supply has a minimum interrupt period of 16 ms, whereas the series regulated supply can have about 0.5 ms. Even this difference can be eliminated with a commutator circuit such as is being developed in Berkeley for the 150 kV, 20 ampere system. The 16 ms period is probably not a very serious limitation because it still permits up to 31 interrupts per 500 ms pulse. The shunt regulated system appears to be about 37 percent less expensive than the series system

Effect Mechanism of Penstock on Stability and Regulation Quality of Turbine Regulating System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wencheng Guo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the effect mechanism of water inertia and head loss of penstock on stability and regulation quality of turbine regulating system with surge tank or not and proposes the construction method of equivalent model of regulating system. Firstly, the complete linear mathematical model of regulating system is established. Then, the free oscillation equation and time response of the frequency that describe stability and regulation quality, respectively, are obtained. Finally, the effects of penstock are analysed by using stability region and response curves. The results indicate that the stability and regulation quality of system without surge tank are determined by time response of frequency which only depends on water hammer wave in penstock, while, for system with surge tank, the time response of frequency depending on water hammer wave in penstock and water-level fluctuation in surge tank jointly determines the stability and regulation quality. Water inertia of penstock mainly affects the stability and time response of frequency of system without surge tank as well as the stability and head wave of time response of frequency with surge tank. Head loss of penstock mainly affects the stability and tail wave of time response of frequency with surge tank.

Serine/threonine/tyrosine phosphorylation regulates DNA binding of bacterial transcriptional regulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kalantari, Aida; Derouiche, Abderahmane; Shi, Lei

2015-01-01

Reversible phosphorylation of bacterial transcriptional regulators (TRs) belonging to the family of two-component systems (TCSs) is a well-established mechanism for regulating gene expression. Recent evidence points to the fact that reversible phosphorylation of bacterial TRs on other types...

A Pedagogical Note on the Superiority of Price-Cap Regulation to Rate-of-Return Regulation

Science.gov (United States)

Currier, Kevin M.; Jackson, Brian K.

2008-01-01

The two forms of natural monopoly regulation that are typically discussed in intermediate microeconomics textbooks are marginal cost pricing and average cost pricing (rate-of-return regulation). However, within the last 20 years, price-cap regulation has largely replaced rate-of-return regulation because of the former's potential to generate more…

Panel presentation: Should some type of incentive regulation replace traditional methods for regulating LDCs?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, J.L.

1992-01-01

This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of using incentive regulation to provide the best service and rates for natural gas consumers and compares it to the traditional rate-of-return regulation. It discusses some of the allegations used to prevent incentive regulation such as the rate-of-return regulation provides an incentive to over-build and pad rate base, thus creating inefficiencies. The author also feels that strict competition is not necessarily beneficial and that some form of regulation is necessary. The paper goes on to outline the author's ideas of how a successful incentive plan should work while emphasizing his preference for a rate-of-return regulation. From the ratepayers' view, the incentives granted should be rewards for improvement in a utility's performance. In other words, there must be clear goals set for management and the fulfillment or lack of fulfillment should result in rewards or penalties. The author feels that incentive regulation could prove to be appropriate in the areas of demand side management such as energy conservation programs

Optimum regulation of grid monopoly in the power trade; Optimal regulering av nettmonopoler i kraftomsetningen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hope, E.

1994-06-01

The report discusses the organization and behaviour of grid monopolies in the Norwegian power trade and relations to the socio-economic effectiveness. The main attention is laid on analyzing regulation mechanisms and measures leading to an efficient short-term operation and to the investment of optimum production capacity in a long run. Regarding the management, measures are discussed for increasing the efficiency of total power trade by evaluating the existing marketing function of Statnett. Some basic conditions are accounted concerning the regulation problem of grid monopolies with a particular attention to asymmetric information between the authority and the monopoly. In addition, forms of regulation and regulation mechanisms together with the incentive characteristics of these, are discussed. The existing profit regulation principles in relation to an alternative system design such as maximum price regulation combined with standard regulation, are evaluated. 16 refs., 7 figs.

Correlation between rapid learnability and user preference in IVR systems for developing regions

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ndwe, TJ

2013-05-01

Full Text Available information are prohibitively expensive and also require training prior to operating such tools. This restrains those who are either poor, illiterate, or without computer skills from accessing information. We carried out two case studies of contrasting...

RNA-guided transcriptional regulation

Science.gov (United States)

Church, George M.; Mali, Prashant G.; Esvelt, Kevin M.

2016-02-23

Methods of modulating expression of a target nucleic acid in a cell are provided including introducing into the cell a first foreign nucleic acid encoding one or more RNAs complementary to DNA, wherein the DNA includes the target nucleic acid, introducing into the cell a second foreign nucleic acid encoding a nuclease-null Cas9 protein that binds to the DNA and is guided by the one or more RNAs, introducing into the cell a third foreign nucleic acid encoding a transcriptional regulator protein or domain, wherein the one or more RNAs, the nuclease-null Cas9 protein, and the transcriptional regulator protein or domain are expressed, wherein the one or more RNAs, the nuclease-null Cas9 protein and the transcriptional regulator protein or domain co-localize to the DNA and wherein the transcriptional regulator protein or domain regulates expression of the target nucleic acid.

The regulation of hunting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abildtrup, Jens; Jensen, Frank

Within hunting, wildlife populations are estimated to be too high in many countries which is assumed to be due to the market failure, that each hunter harvests too little compared to what the regulator wants. This may be due to the existing regulation which, among other things, requires knowledge...... by an individual, variable tax rate. The variable tax rate is, among other things, based on the difference in marginal value of the population between the hunter and the regulator. The paper shows that the population tax/subsidy secures a first-best optimum. Thus, the population tax is a good alternative...... to the existing regulation....

7 CFR 987.48 - Container regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Container regulation. 987.48 Section 987.48... IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Order Regulating Handling Container Regulation § 987.48 Container regulation. Whenever the Committee deems it advisable to establish a container regulation for any variety of...

Regulated electricity retailing in Chile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galetovic, Alexander, E-mail: alexander@galetovic.cl [Facultad de Ciencias Economicas y Empresariales, Universidad de los Andes, Santiago, Chile. Av. San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago (Chile); Munoz, Cristian M., E-mail: cmunozm@aes.com [AES Gener and Departamento de Ingenieria Electrica, Universidad Catolica de Chile (Chile)

2011-10-15

While some countries have unbundled distribution and retailing, skeptics argue that the physical attributes of electricity make retailers redundant. Instead, it is claimed that passive pass through of wholesale prices plus regulated charges for transmission and distribution suffice for customers to benefit from competitive generation markets. We review the Chilean experience with regulated retailing and pass through of wholesale prices. We argue that when energy wholesale prices are volatile and prices are stabilized, distortions emerge. Regulated retailers gain little by mitigating or correcting them. On the contrary, sometimes price distortions increase their profits. We estimate the cost of three distortions that neither regulated retailers nor the regulator have shown any interest in correcting. - Highlights: > We review Chile's experience with regulated electricity retailing. > Distortions emerge when energy wholesale prices are volatile and prices stabilized. > Regulated retailers gain little by mitigating or correcting distortions. > Sometimes price distortions increase retailers' profits. > We estimate the cost of three distortions, which retailers have not corrected.

Regulated electricity retailing in Chile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galetovic, Alexander; Munoz, Cristian M.

2011-01-01

While some countries have unbundled distribution and retailing, skeptics argue that the physical attributes of electricity make retailers redundant. Instead, it is claimed that passive pass through of wholesale prices plus regulated charges for transmission and distribution suffice for customers to benefit from competitive generation markets. We review the Chilean experience with regulated retailing and pass through of wholesale prices. We argue that when energy wholesale prices are volatile and prices are stabilized, distortions emerge. Regulated retailers gain little by mitigating or correcting them. On the contrary, sometimes price distortions increase their profits. We estimate the cost of three distortions that neither regulated retailers nor the regulator have shown any interest in correcting. - Highlights: → We review Chile's experience with regulated electricity retailing. → Distortions emerge when energy wholesale prices are volatile and prices stabilized. → Regulated retailers gain little by mitigating or correcting distortions. → Sometimes price distortions increase retailers' profits. → We estimate the cost of three distortions, which retailers have not corrected.

Wrecked regulation of intrinsically disordered proteins in diseases: Pathogenicity of deregulated regulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir N. Uversky

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Biologically active proteins without stable tertiary structure are common in all known proteomes. Functions of these intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs are typically related to regulation, signaling and control. Cellular levels of these important regulators are tightly regulated by a variety mechanisms ranging from firmly controlled expression to precisely targeted degradation. Functions of IDPs are controlled by binding to specific partners, alternative splicing, and posttranslational modifications among other means. In the norm, right amounts of precisely activated IDPs have to be present in right time at right places. Wrecked regulation brings havoc to the ordered world of disordered proteins, leading to protein misfolding, misidentification, and missignaling that give rise to numerous human diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes. Among factors inducing pathogenic transformations of IDPs are various cellular mechanisms, such as chromosomal translocations, damaged splicing, altered expression, frustrated posttranslational modifications, aberrant proteolytic degradation, and defective trafficking. This review presents some of the aspects of deregulated regulation of IDPs leading to human diseases.

Why Do People Regulate Their Emotions? A Taxonomy of Motives in Emotion Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamir, Maya

2016-08-01

Emotion regulation involves the pursuit of desired emotional states (i.e., emotion goals) in the service of superordinate motives. The nature and consequences of emotion regulation, therefore, are likely to depend on the motives it is intended to serve. Nonetheless, limited attention has been devoted to studying what motivates emotion regulation. By mapping the potential benefits of emotion to key human motives, this review identifies key classes of motives in emotion regulation. The proposed taxonomy distinguishes between hedonic motives that target the immediate phenomenology of emotions, and instrumental motives that target other potential benefits of emotions. Instrumental motives include behavioral, epistemic, social, and eudaimonic motives. The proposed taxonomy offers important implications for understanding the mechanism of emotion regulation, variation across individuals and contexts, and psychological function and dysfunction, and points to novel research directions. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

The Porphyromonas gingivalis ferric uptake regulator orthologue does not regulate iron homeostasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Butler

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative anaerobic bacterium that has an absolute requirement for iron which it transports from the host as heme and/or Fe2+. Iron transport must be regulated to prevent toxic effects from excess metal in the cell. P. gingivalis has one ferric uptake regulator (Fur orthologue encoded in its genome called Har, which would be expected to regulate the transport and usage of iron within this bacterium. As a gene regulator, inactivation of Har should result in changes in gene expression of several genes compared to the wild-type. This dataset (GEO accession number GSE37099 provides information on expression levels of genes in P. gingivalis in the absence of Har. Surprisingly, these genes do not relate to iron homeostasis.

Regulating deregulated energy markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, M.

2002-01-01

The North American gas and electricity markets are fast evolving, and regulators are currently faced with a host of issues such as market-based rates, unbundling, stranded costs, open access, and incentive regulation are surfacing as a result of deregulation. The regulatory environment in Ontario was reviewed by the author. Deregulated markets rule, from commodities to gas and electricity. Additionally, there is an evolution of traditional utility regulation. A look at deregulated markets revealed that there are regulations on boundary conditions on the deregulated market. Under the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), all generators, transmitters, distributors, and retailers of electricity must be licensed. The standard supply service (SSS) offered by electricity distributors and system gas which is still being sold by natural gas distributors continues to be regulated by OEB. One issue that was addressed was separation for revenues and costs of the utility's purchase and sale of gas business, at least for accounting purposes. The next issue discussed was cost of system gas and SSS, followed by timely signals and prudent incurred costs. Historical benefits were reviewed, such as historical commitments to low-cost electricity. Pooling transportation costs, transmission pricing continued, market-based rates, unbundling, stranded costs, open access, incentive regulation/ performance based regulation (PBR) were all discussed. Price cap on PBR, both partial and comprehensive were looked at. A requirement to review guidelines on cost of capital and an application to extend blanket approval provisions for gas storage were discussed, as they are amongst some of the challenges of the future. Other challenges include revised rules and practice and procedure; practice directions for cost awards, appeals, and other functions; confidentiality guidelines; and refinements to the role of and approaches to alternative dispute resolution. The future role of regulators was examined in light

Fisheries regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Frank; Frost, Hans Staby; Abildtrup, Jens

2017-01-01

Economists normally claim that a stock externality arises within fisheries because each individual fisherman does not take the effect on stock size into account when making harvest decisions. Due to the stock externality, it is commonly argued that fisheries regulation is necessary, but regulatory...... decisions are complicated by a tremendous amount of uncertainty and asymmetric information. This paper provides an overview of selected parts of the literature on the regulation of fisheries under uncertainty and asymmetric information, and possible areas for future research are identified. Specifically...

Ionising radiation: a guide to the Regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, Donald.

1986-01-01

The author explains the basic requirements on health and safety personnel in relation to the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985. The outline paper is presented under the following headings: Dose assessment, Interpretation and general regulations 1-5, Dose limitation regulations 6 and 7, Regulation of work - regulations 8-12, Dosimetry and medical surveillance - regulations 13-17, summary of records to be kept, entry to controlled areas, Control of radioactive substances -regulations 18-23, Monitoring of radiation regulation 24, Assessments and notifications - regulations 25-31, Safety of articles and equipment - regulations 32-34, Other guidance. (U.K.)

Expression profiling of genes regulated by TGF-beta: Differential regulation in normal and tumour cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takahashi Takashi

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background TGF-beta is one of the key cytokines implicated in various disease processes including cancer. TGF-beta inhibits growth and promotes apoptosis in normal epithelial cells and in contrast, acts as a pro-tumour cytokine by promoting tumour angiogenesis, immune-escape and metastasis. It is not clear if various actions of TGF-beta on normal and tumour cells are due to differential gene regulations. Hence we studied the regulation of gene expression by TGF-beta in normal and cancer cells. Results Using human 19 K cDNA microarrays, we show that 1757 genes are exclusively regulated by TGF-beta in A549 cells in contrast to 733 genes exclusively regulated in HPL1D cells. In addition, 267 genes are commonly regulated in both the cell-lines. Semi-quantitative and real-time qRT-PCR analysis of some genes agrees with the microarray data. In order to identify the signalling pathways that influence TGF-beta mediated gene regulation, we used specific inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase, ERK kinase, JNK kinase and integrin signalling pathways. The data suggest that regulation of majority of the selected genes is dependent on at least one of these pathways and this dependence is cell-type specific. Interestingly, an integrin pathway inhibitor, RGD peptide, significantly affected TGF-beta regulation of Thrombospondin 1 in A549 cells. Conclusion These data suggest major differences with respect to TGF-beta mediated gene regulation in normal and transformed cells and significant role of non-canonical TGF-beta pathways in the regulation of many genes by TGF-beta.

PPARγ regulates exocrine pancreas lipase.

Science.gov (United States)

Danino, Hila; Naor, Ronny Peri-; Fogel, Chen; Ben-Harosh, Yael; Kadir, Rotem; Salem, Hagit; Birk, Ruth

2016-12-01

Pancreatic lipase (triacylglycerol lipase EC 3.1.1.3) is an essential enzyme in hydrolysis of dietary fat. Dietary fat, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), regulate pancreatic lipase (PNLIP); however, the molecular mechanism underlying this regulation is mostly unknown. As PUFA are known to regulate expression of proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), and as we identified in-silico putative PPARγ binding sites within the putative PNLIP promoter sequence, we hypothesized that PUFA regulation of PNLIP might be mediated by PPARγ. We used in silico bioinformatics tools, reporter luciferase assay, PPARγ agonists and antagonists, PPARγ overexpression in exocrine pancreas AR42J and primary cells to study PPARγ regulation of PNLIP. Using in silico bioinformatics tools we mapped PPARγ binding sites (PPRE) to the putative promoter region of PNLIP. Reporter luciferase assay in AR42J rat exocrine pancreas acinar cells transfected with various constructs of the putative PNLIP promoter showed that PNLIP transcription is significantly enhanced by PPARγ dose-dependently, reaching maximal levels with multi PPRE sites. This effect was significantly augmented in the presence of PPARγ agonists and reduced by PPARγ antagonists or mutagenesis abrogating PPRE sites. Over-expression of PPARγ significantly elevated PNLIP transcript and protein levels in AR42J cells and in primary pancreas cells. Moreover, PNLIP expression was up-regulated by PPARγ agonists (pioglitazone and 15dPGJ2) and significantly down-regulated by PPARγ antagonists in non-transfected rat exocrine pancreas AR42J cell line cells. PPARγ transcriptionally regulates PNLIP gene expression. This transcript regulation resolves part of the missing link between dietary PUFA direct regulation of PNLIP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-regulation: the need to succeed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorenson, G.C.

1985-01-01

The nuclear industry has long complained that it is over-regulated. Others - including the regulator - are now beginning to accept this complaint and acknowledge that perhaps the industry is over regulated and something should be done to provide relief. It is clear that regulation will not simply go away. The industry is perceived by some as one that cannot be trusted and must be closely regulated or serious health and safety consequences will result. Headlines claiming coverup of design deficiencies, allegations concerning construction problems, cheating on exams, mismanagement, intimidation of QA/QC personnel, etc., do little to dispel these concerns for the layman. This paper looks at two areas that must be considered in attempting to decrease the amount of regulator-imposed activities and increase self-regulation: 1) establish greater trust and confidence in the industry's ability to do a good job and be responsible for self-regulation; and 2) establish industry initiatives to regulate itself

Nuclear regulation in transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomain, J.P.

1986-01-01

The current state of nuclear regulations in the USA is examined. Since Three Mile Island the regulation of the nuclear power industry has been undergoing a noticeable transition. It will be argued here that the transition is characterized by two indicia. First, the primary focus of state and federal regulators has been on the financial aspects of the industry: this is best seen in the context of decisions allocating the costs of nuclear plant cancellations. Second, decisionmaking power has been decentralized: although the regulatory history of nuclear power demonstrates the tradition of centralized decisionmaking power (i.e., formerly the primary decisionmaking body was the Atomic Energy Commission), now States share decisionmaking power with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In Section 1 a brief legislative history of nuclear regulation is presented to establish the assertion that nuclear regulation, both de jure and de facto, was centralized. Next, Section 2 canvasses recent United States Supreme Court opinions regarding nuclear regulation. The Court frequently acts as policymaker through the consequences of its opinions, if not by its intent. In the area of nuclear policymaking, the Court has paid allegiance recently both to the tradition of centralization and to the movement toward decentralization. This dualism is reflected in other federal court decisions as well which will be briefly mentioned. Continuing the analysis of Federal regulation, Section 3 examines the current reform efforts of the NRC. Section 4 presents an examination of State responses to nuclear plant cancellations. In this section, State administrative agency and court decisions will be examined and recent State legislation will be discussed. (author)

Nuclear regulation in transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tomain, J.P. (Cincinnati Univ., OH, US. Coll. of Law)

1986-01-01

The current state of nuclear regulations in the USA is examined. Since Three Mile Island the regulation of the nuclear power industry has been undergoing a noticeable transition. It will be argued here that the transition is characterized by two indicia. First, the primary focus of state and federal regulators has been on the financial aspects of the industry: this is best seen in the context of decisions allocating the costs of nuclear plant cancellations. Second, decisionmaking power has been decentralized: although the regulatory history of nuclear power demonstrates the tradition of centralized decisionmaking power (i.e., formerly the primary decisionmaking body was the Atomic Energy Commission), now States share decisionmaking power with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In Section 1 a brief legislative history of nuclear regulation is presented to establish the assertion that nuclear regulation, both de jure and de facto, was centralized. Next, Section 2 canvasses recent United States Supreme Court opinions regarding nuclear regulation. The Court frequently acts as policymaker through the consequences of its opinions, if not by its intent. In the area of nuclear policymaking, the Court has paid allegiance recently both to the tradition of centralization and to the movement toward decentralization. This dualism is reflected in other federal court decisions as well which will be briefly mentioned. Continuing the analysis of Federal regulation, Section 3 examines the current reform efforts of the NRC. Section 4 presents an examination of State responses to nuclear plant cancellations. In this section, State administrative agency and court decisions will be examined and recent State legislation will be discussed.

Drinking Water Contaminants -- Standards and Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

... and Research Centers Contact Us Share Drinking Water Contaminants – Standards and Regulations EPA identifies contaminants to regulate ... other partners to implement these SDWA provisions. Regulated Contaminants National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs) - table of ...

Practical speech user interface design

CERN Document Server

Lewis, James R

2010-01-01

Although speech is the most natural form of communication between humans, most people find using speech to communicate with machines anything but natural. Drawing from psychology, human-computer interaction, linguistics, and communication theory, Practical Speech User Interface Design provides a comprehensive yet concise survey of practical speech user interface (SUI) design. It offers practice-based and research-based guidance on how to design effective, efficient, and pleasant speech applications that people can really use. Focusing on the design of speech user interfaces for IVR application

Acoustic model optimisation for a call routing system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kleynhans, N

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Secretary system and provides background on some application-specific ASR issues. Section III details the ASR development effort as well as corpus selection and design. Our experiments are described Fig. 1. High level AutoSecretary call flow. in Section IV... and results and a discussion are presented in Section V. Lastly, the conclusion and possible future work appear in Section VI. II. BACKGROUND A. AutoSecretary IVR System Figure 1 shows the high level call flow of the AutoSecretary call routing system...

Trout Stream Special Regulations

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This layer shows Minnesota trout streams that have a special regulation as described in the 2006 Minnesota Fishing Regulations. Road crossings were determined using...

Global approaches to regulating electronic cigarettes

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Ryan David; Awopegba, Ayodeji; De León, Elaine; Cohen, Joanna E

2017-01-01

Objectives Classify and describe the policy approaches used by countries to regulate e-cigarettes. Methods National policies regulating e-cigarettes were identified by (1) conducting web searches on Ministry of Health websites, and (2) broad web searches. The mechanisms used to regulate e-cigarettes were classified as new/amended laws, or existing laws. The policy domains identified include restrictions or prohibitions on product: sale, manufacturing, importation, distribution, use, product design including e-liquid ingredients, advertising/promotion/sponsorship, trademarks, and regulation requiring: taxation, health warning labels and child-safety standards. The classification of the policy was reviewed by a country expert. Results The search identified 68 countries that regulate e-cigarettes: 22 countries regulate e-cigarettes using existing regulations; 25 countries enacted new policies to regulate e-cigarettes; 7 countries made amendments to existing legislation; 14 countries use a combination of new/amended and existing regulation. Common policies include a minimum-age-of-purchase, indoor-use (vape-free public places) bans and marketing restrictions. Few countries are applying a tax to e-cigarettes. Conclusions A range of regulatory approaches are being applied to e-cigarettes globally; many countries regulate e-cigarettes using legislation not written for e-cigarettes. PMID:27903958

Strategic choices in the environmental debate: Environmental regulation and self-regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulhøi, John Parm

Den aktuelle miljødebat, der føres i litteraturen, kan give direkte anledning til den uheldige opfattelse, at det overvejende er et spørgsmål om miljøregulering eller indirekte regulering baseret på markedskræfterne. Dette er i modstrid med den kendsgerning, at der findes mange kombinationer i...

76 FR 62630 - Information Security Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-11

... CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 32 CFR Part 1902 Information Security Regulations AGENCY: Central... information security regulations which have become outdated. The Executive Order upon which the regulations... CFR Part 1902 Information security regulations. PART 1902 [REMOVED AND RESERVED] Sec. 1902.13 [Removed...

Nanomaterials: Regulation and Risk Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Steffen Foss; Grieger, Khara Deanne; Baun, Anders

2013-01-01

, the Water Framework Directive, pharmaceuticals regulation, and the Novel Foods Regulation. Current regulation of nanomaterials entail three overall challenges: 1) limitations in regard to terminology and definitions of key terms such as a “substance,” “novel food,” etc.; 2) safety assessment requirements...

International Religion Indexes: Government Regulation, Government Favoritism, and Social Regulation of Religion*

Science.gov (United States)

Grim, Brian J.; Finke, Roger

2014-01-01

The study of religion is severely handicapped by a lack of adequate cross-national data. Despite the prominence of religion in international events and recent theoretical models pointing to the consequences of regulating religion, cross-national research on religion has been lacking. We strive to fill this void by developing measurement models and indexes for government regulation, government favoritism, and social regulation of religion. The indexes rely on data from an extensive coding of the 2003 International Religious Freedom Report for 196 countries and territories. Using a series of tests to evaluate the new data and indexes, we find that the measures developed are highly reliable and valid. The three indexes will allow researchers and others to measure the government’s subsidy and regulation of religion as well as the restrictions placed on religion by social and cultural forces beyond the state. PMID:25484633

The Regulation of Street Foods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forkour, John Boulard; Samuelsen, Helle; Yeboah, Eric Henry

2017-01-01

the challenges and negotiating strategies of regulators of street-vended foods in Ghana and analyses the implication for their relationship with street food vendors. The paper reveals that regulators operate in a context of limited resources, leading to a general feeling of neglect. In coping, regulators adopt...

Self-Regulation in Online Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Moon-Heum; Shen, Demei

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of goal orientation and academic self-efficacy in student achievement mediated by effort regulation, metacognitive regulation, and interaction regulation in an online course. The results show that intrinsic goal orientation and academic self-efficacy predicted students' metacognitive…

A novel micromechanical flow regulator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Toor, M.W.; van Toor, M.W.; Lammerink, Theodorus S.J.; Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt; Monsma, D.J.

1996-01-01

A new concept for a micromechanical flow regulator is presented. Regulation of the flow is achieved using variation of channel length instead of channel diameter. Several design concepts together with their application in fluidic systems are presented. A regulator for biomedical use, as a part of a

Regulation of the power sector

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

Regulation of the Power Sector is a unified, consistent and comprehensive treatment of the theories and practicalities of regulation in modern power-supply systems. The need for generation to occur at the time of use occasioned by the impracticality of large-scale electricity storage coupled with constant and often unpredictable changes in demand make electricity-supply systems large, dynamic and complex and their regulation a daunting task. Conceptually arranged in four parts, this book addresses both traditional regulatory frameworks and also liberalized and re-regulated environments. First, an introduction gives a full characterization of power supply including engineering, economic and regulatory viewpoints. The second part presents the fundamentals of regulation and the third looks at the regulation of particular components of the power sector in detail. Advanced topics and subjects still open or subject to dispute form the content of the fourth part. In a sector where regulatory design is the key driver...

The Porphyromonas gingivalis ferric uptake regulator orthologue binds hemin and regulates hemin-responsive biofilm development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine A Butler

Full Text Available Porphyromonas gingivalis is a Gram-negative pathogen associated with the biofilm-mediated disease chronic periodontitis. P. gingivalis biofilm formation is dependent on environmental heme for which P. gingivalis has an obligate requirement as it is unable to synthesize protoporphyrin IX de novo, hence P. gingivalis transports iron and heme liberated from the human host. Homeostasis of a variety of transition metal ions is often mediated in Gram-negative bacteria at the transcriptional level by members of the Ferric Uptake Regulator (Fur superfamily. P. gingivalis has a single predicted Fur superfamily orthologue which we have designated Har (heme associated regulator. Recombinant Har formed dimers in the presence of Zn2+ and bound one hemin molecule per monomer with high affinity (Kd of 0.23 µM. The binding of hemin resulted in conformational changes of Zn(IIHar and residue 97Cys was involved in hemin binding as part of a predicted -97C-98P-99L- hemin binding motif. The expression of 35 genes was down-regulated and 9 up-regulated in a Har mutant (ECR455 relative to wild-type. Twenty six of the down-regulated genes were previously found to be up-regulated in P. gingivalis grown as a biofilm and 11 were up-regulated under hemin limitation. A truncated Zn(IIHar bound the promoter region of dnaA (PGN_0001, one of the up-regulated genes in the ECR455 mutant. This binding decreased as hemin concentration increased which was consistent with gene expression being regulated by hemin availability. ECR455 formed significantly less biofilm than the wild-type and unlike wild-type biofilm formation was independent of hemin availability. P. gingivalis possesses a hemin-binding Fur orthologue that regulates hemin-dependent biofilm formation.

Ocean Dumping Control Regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

These Regulations were made further to the Ocean Dumping Control Act which provides for restrictions in dumping operations. The Regulations contain model applications for permits to dump or load a series of materials. (NEA)

Regulation of Genetic Tests

Science.gov (United States)

... for Genomics Research Intellectual Property Issues in Genetics Archive Online Bioethics Resources Privacy in Genomics Regulation of ... are not regulated, meaning that they go to market without any independent analysis to verify the claims ...

Virulence regulation in Staphylococcus aureus: the need for in vivo analysis of virulence factor regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pragman, Alexa A; Schlievert, Patrick M

2004-10-01

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogenic microorganism that is responsible for a wide variety of clinical infections. These infections can be relatively mild, but serious, life-threatening infections may result from the expression of staphylococcal virulence factors that are coordinated by virulence regulators. Much work has been done to characterize the actions of staphylococcal virulence regulators in broth culture. Recently, several laboratories showed that transcriptional analyses of virulence regulators in in vivo animal models or in human infection did not correlate with transcriptional analyses accomplished in vitro. In describing the differences between in vitro and in vivo transcription of staphylococcal virulence regulators, we hope to encourage investigators to study virulence regulators using infection models whenever possible.

EU Regulation of Nanobiocides: Challenges in Implementing the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brinch, Anna; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Hartmann, Nanna B.

2016-01-01

The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) contains several provisions for nanomaterials (NMs) and is the first regulation in the European Union to require specific testing and risk assessment for the NM form of a biocidal substance as a part of the information requirements. Ecotoxicological data...

Designing Next Generation Telecom Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henten, Anders; Samarajiva, Rohan

– ICT convergence regulation and multisector utility regulation. Whatever structure of next generation telecom regulation is adopted, all countries will need to pay much greater attention to the need for increased coordination of policy directions and regulatory activities both across the industries......Continuously expanding applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) are transforming local, national, regional and international economies into network economies, the foundation for information societies. They are being built upon expanded and upgraded national telecom networks...... to creating an environment to foster a massive expansion in the coverage and capabilities of the information infrastructure networks, with national telecom regulators as the key implementers of the policies of reform. The first phase of reform has focused on industry specific telecom policy and regulation...

Feedback regulation between autophagy and PKA.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Quiroz, Francisco; Filteau, Marie; Landry, Christian R

2015-01-01

Protein kinase A (PKA) controls diverse cellular processes and homeostasis in eukaryotic cells. Many processes and substrates of PKA have been described and among them are direct regulators of autophagy. The mechanisms of PKA regulation and how they relate to autophagy remain to be fully understood. We constructed a reporter of PKA activity in yeast to identify genes affecting PKA regulation. The assay systematically measures relative protein-protein interactions between the regulatory and catalytic subunits of the PKA complex in a systematic set of genetic backgrounds. The candidate PKA regulators we identified span multiple processes and molecular functions (autophagy, methionine biosynthesis, TORC signaling, protein acetylation, and DNA repair), which themselves include processes regulated by PKA. These observations suggest the presence of many feedback loops acting through this key regulator. Many of the candidate regulators include genes involved in autophagy, suggesting that not only does PKA regulate autophagy but that autophagy also sends signals back to PKA.

Present state of nuclear regulation organizations of main countries in the world. Importance of regulation staffs and requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishida, Naoki

2013-01-01

After Fukushima accident, NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority) was established in Japan as an independent organization from promotion. In order to perform effective and reliable nuclear regulation, it was important management organization such as nuclear regulation commission worked efficiently, and also requirements for nuclear regulation staffs engaged in actual regulatory works were of importance so as for appropriate decision making or judgments of management organization. Since regulation staffs needed professional expertise and technical judgment capabilities in wide areas including other than nuclear energy, various efforts had been done to get able regulation staffs in US, France and UK nuclear regulation organizations concerned, which became clarified after overseas investigation for this article. Since knowledge in nuclear industry could be used for effective regulation, mid-career recruitment had been employed in regulation organization of each country so as to take such knowledge and so it was important how to utilize industrial knowledge under appropriate conditions compatible with independence of regulation organization. (T. Tanaka)

Dealing with duplicate regulations and conflicting jurisdictions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aamodt, P.L.

1991-01-01

There are a number of situations where mixed wastes are regulated by dual regulations and regulators. This presentation attempts to show where such duplication exists and how it evolved historically through legislative actions. The presentation includes a discussion of strategies that have been used to deal with the problems that result from duplicate regulations and jurisdictional conflicts. The RCRA and AEA regulations are really more similar than dissimilar. There are significant issues that must be worked through with the regulators. It is most important to work with your regulators early in process. The following are suggestions for dealing with the regulators. (1) Know the regulations in advance of discussions. (2) Begin dialogue with the regulator(s) as early as possible and get to know the people you will be dealing with -- and let them know you. (3) Explain the technical/regulatory issues/problems that you face at your facility in sufficient detail that they are clearly understood, and work with the regulator(s) to reasonably address them in the language/requirements of the permit. (4) Always attempt to comply with the regulations first before going in with a variance request -- document your efforts, and be honest with your assessment of issues. (5) Don't be adversarial -- remember that the regulator has the same objectives as you do. 1 tab

Validation of an abbreviated Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM-9 among patients on antihypertensive medications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desrosiers Marie-Pierre

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The 14-item Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM Version 1.4 is a reliable and valid instrument to assess patients' satisfaction with medication, providing scores on four scales – side effects, effectiveness, convenience and global satisfaction. In naturalistic studies, administering the TSQM with the side effects domain could provoke the physician to assess the presence or absence of adverse events in a way that is clinically atypical, carrying the potential to interfere with routine medical care. As a result, an abbreviated 9-item TSQM (TSQM-9, derived from the TSQM Version 1.4 but without the five items of the side effects domain was created. In this study, an interactive voice response system (IVRS-administered TSQM-9 was psychometrically evaluated among patients taking antihypertensive medication. Methods A total of 3,387 subjects were invited to participate in the study from an online panel who self-reported taking a prescribed antihypertensive medication. The subjects were asked to complete the IVRS-administered TSQM-9 at the start of the study, along with the modified Morisky scale, and again within 7 to 14 days. Standard psychometric analyses were conducted; including Cronbach's alpha, intraclass correlation coefficients, structural equation modeling, Spearman correlation coefficients and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA. Results A total of 396 subjects completed all the study procedures. Approximately 50% subjects were male with a good racial/ethnic mix: 58.3% white, 18.9% black, 17.7% Hispanic and 5.1% either Asian or other. There was evidence of construct validity of the TSQM-9 based on the structural equation modeling findings of the observed data fitting the Decisional Balance Model of Treatment Satisfaction even without the side effects domain. TSQM-9 domains had high internal consistency as evident from Cronbach's alpha values of 0.84 and greater. TSQM-9 domains also demonstrated good test

Electrical installations and regulations

CERN Document Server

Whitfield, J F

1966-01-01

Electrical Installations and Regulations focuses on the regulations that apply to electrical installations and the reasons for them. Topics covered range from electrical science to alternating and direct current supplies, as well as equipment for providing protection against excess current. Cables, wiring systems, and final subcircuits are also considered, along with earthing, discharge lighting, and testing and inspection.Comprised of 12 chapters, this book begins with an overview of electrical installation work, traits of a good electrician, and the regulations governing installations. The r

Study on the Regulating Performance of Sliding Regulation-Valve

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Wei; Peng, Xiaoyong; Zhang, Yuan; Zheng, Yulan; Zhu, Fangyao

2018-01-01

Using a proven reliable method of CFD to study the regulating performance of a sliding regulation valve with a conical spool and rugby body. The numerical simulation results indicate that no matter where the spool is located, the flow field always has a vortex at the center of the valve body; When the spool is at the origin, the vortex and resistance coefficient of the valve are the minimum; When the spool moves from the origin to the right (the opening of the valve becomes smaller) to reach a certain position later, vortex currents also begin to appear around the tube wall behind the orifice. In addition, the vortex increases as the throttling port decreases whereas the resistance coefficient of the valve ascends slowly with the increase of the deviation of the spool and the rise in series; This type of regulating valve has S type (slow at both ends, sensitive at the center) flow characteristics at the stroke, and is not affected by the size of Re.

Incentive regulation of nuclear power plants by state regulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, R.L.; Baker, K.; Olson, J.

1991-02-01

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) monitors incentive programs established by state regulators in order to obtain current information and to consider the potential safety effects of the incentive programs as applied to nuclear units. The current report is an update of NUREG/CR-5509, Incentive Regulation of Nuclear Power Plants by State Public Utility Commissions, published in December 1989. The information in this report was obtained from interviews conducted with each state regulator and each utility with a minimum entitlement of 10%. The agreements, orders, and settlements from which each incentive program was implemented were reviewed as required. The interviews and supporting documentation form the basis for the individual state reports describing the structure and financial impact of each incentive program. The programs currently in effect represent the adoption of an existing nuclear performance incentive program proposal and one new program. In addition, since 1989 a number of nuclear units have been included in one existing program; while one program was discontinued and another one concluded. 6 refs., 27 tabs

Safety evaluation and regulation of chemicals. 2. Impact of regulations - improvement of methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Homburger, F [ed.

1985-01-01

This volume assesses the impact of new scientific knowledge on the testing and regulation of chemicals, including food additives, drugs, cosmetics, pesticides, and other commercial substances. Apart from describing the newest tests, regulations, and risk assessment strategies, chapters reflect changes forced by both the growing need for cost containment and the mounting pressure to find alternatives to animal testing. Based on an international congress, the book also brings the advantage of diversity in the background and nationality of the authors, thus allowing a view of central problems according to the different interests of academics, industry scientists, government scientists, and regulators. The book opens with coverage of national and international regulations designed to prevent and control damage to human health and the environment. Topics range from basic problems of policy design and enforcement to the specific requirements for chemical regulation in developing countries. The next chapters cover new tests, systems, and assays used in in vivo safety testing. Readers will find a critical assessment of tests used to determine teratogenicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity and chemical lethality. Other topics include factors operating in the public perception of chemical hazards, guidelines for decision making in the management and regulation of risks, and future trends in the methodology of safety evaluation. The volume concludes with an overview of in vitro methods for testing hepatotoxicity. Several short-term in vitro test models and limited in vivo bioassays are presented and evaluated in terms of their capacity to substitute for long-term animal studies. Expert and thorough in its coverage, the book offers a wealth of technical and practical information for toxicologists, pharmacologists, industrial policy makers, and government regulators. (orig.). With 67 figs., 34 tabs.

Environmental regulation and competitiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulatu, A.; Florax, R.J.G.M.; Withagen, C.A.A.M.

2001-01-01

The potential relationship between domestic environmental regulation and international competitiveness has evoked various speculations. The common neoclassical train of thought is that strict environmental regulation is detrimental to the competitiveness of industry, and that it induces phenomena

Proactive and defensive self-regulation in learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darko Lončarić

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Although self-regulation research is fragmented over several interdisciplinary areas and theories, the concept of self-regulation could represent a cohesive force for integrating different areas of psychology, such as clinical, educational, or organisational psychology. This paper focuses on self-regulation within the educational framework and elaborates the concept of self-regulated learning. Current advances in self-regulated learning research indicated that concepts, such as cognition and motivation, need to be integrated into a coherent self-regulation model. Two models that integrate cognitive and motivational constructs are described in this paper, namely the motivational and cognitive self-regulation components described by Pintrich and colleagues (e.g., Garcia & Pintrich 1994, and a six component model of self-regulated learning provided by Boekaerts (1997. These models were used to formulate new and parsimonious organisational constructs that classify self-regulation components into proactive and defensive self-regulation patterns. At the end, the applicative value of the models and the need for further research, regarding the question of specific self-regulation failures (the depressive self-regulation pattern, are being discussed.

7 CFR 3.87 - Agency regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Agency regulations. 3.87 Section 3.87 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture DEBT MANAGEMENT Federal Salary Offset § 3.87 Agency regulations. USDA agencies may issue regulations or policies not inconsistent with OPM regulations (5 CFR part 550...

Active surveillance for influenza vaccine adverse events: the integrated vaccine surveillance system.

Science.gov (United States)

Newes-Adeyi, Gabriella; Greece, Jacey; Bozeman, Sam; Walker, Deborah Klein; Lewis, Faith; Gidudu, Jane

2012-02-01

We conducted a pilot study of the Integrated Vaccine Surveillance System (IVSS), a novel active surveillance system for monitoring influenza vaccine adverse events that could be used in mass vaccination settings. We recruited 605 adult vaccinees from a convenience sample of 12 influenza vaccine clinics conducted by public health departments of two U.S. metropolitan regions. Vaccinees provided daily reports on adverse reactions following immunization (AEFI) using an interactive voice response system (IVR) or the internet for 14 consecutive days following immunization. Followup with nonrespondents was conducted through computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Data on vaccinee reports were available real-time through a dedicated secure website. 90% (545) of vaccinees made at least one daily report and 49% (299) reported consecutively for the full 14-day period. 58% (315) used internet, 20% (110) IVR, 6% (31) CATI, and 16% (89) used a combination for daily reports. Of the 545 reporters, 339 (62%) reported one or more AEFI, for a total of 594 AEFIs reported. The majority (505 or 85%) of these AEFIs were mild symptoms. It is feasible to develop a system to obtain real-time data on vaccine adverse events. Vaccinees are willing to provide daily reports for a considerable time post vaccination. Offering multiple modes of reporting encourages high response rates. Study findings on AEFIs showed that the IVSS was able to exhibit the emerging safety profile of the 2008 seasonal influenza vaccine. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A threat to a virtual hand elicits motor cortex activation.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Franco, Mar; Peck, Tabitha C; Rodríguez-Fornells, Antoni; Slater, Mel

2014-03-01

We report an experiment where participants observed an attack on their virtual body as experienced in an immersive virtual reality (IVR) system. Participants sat by a table with their right hand resting upon it. In IVR, they saw a virtual table that was registered with the real one, and they had a virtual body that substituted their real body seen from a first person perspective. The virtual right hand was collocated with their real right hand. Event-related brain potentials were recorded in two conditions, one where the participant's virtual hand was attacked with a knife and a control condition where the knife only struck the virtual table. Significantly greater P450 potentials were obtained in the attack condition confirming our expectations that participants had a strong illusion of the virtual hand being their own, which was also strongly supported by questionnaire responses. Higher levels of subjective virtual hand ownership correlated with larger P450 amplitudes. Mu-rhythm event-related desynchronization in the motor cortex and readiness potential (C3-C4) negativity were clearly observed when the virtual hand was threatened-as would be expected, if the real hand was threatened and the participant tried to avoid harm. Our results support the idea that event-related potentials may provide a promising non-subjective measure of virtual embodiment. They also support previous experiments on pain observation and are placed into context of similar experiments and studies of body perception and body ownership within cognitive neuroscience.

Nuclear regulation - the Canadian approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jennekens, J.

1981-09-01

Although the Atomic Energy Control Board was established 35 years ago the basic philosophy of nuclear regulation in Canada and the underlying principles of the regulatory process remain essentially unchanged. This paper outlines the Canadian approach to nuclear regulation and explains in practical terms how the principles of regulation are applied. (author)

Targeted genome regulation via synthetic programmable transcriptional regulators

KAUST Repository

Piatek, Agnieszka Anna

2016-04-19

Regulation of gene transcription controls cellular functions and coordinates responses to developmental, physiological and environmental cues. Precise and efficient molecular tools are needed to characterize the functions of single and multiple genes in linear and interacting pathways in a native context. Modular DNA-binding domains from zinc fingers (ZFs) and transcriptional activator-like proteins (TALE) are amenable to bioengineering to bind DNA target sequences of interest. As a result, ZF and TALE proteins were used to develop synthetic programmable transcription factors. However, these systems are limited by the requirement to re-engineer proteins for each new target sequence. The clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated 9 (Cas9) genome editing tool was recently repurposed for targeted transcriptional regulation by inactivation of the nuclease activity of Cas9. Due to the facile engineering, simplicity, precision and amenability to library construction, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is poised to revolutionize the functional genomics field across diverse eukaryotic species. In this review, we discuss the development of synthetic customizable transcriptional regulators and provide insights into their current and potential applications, with special emphasis on plant systems, in characterization of gene functions, elucidation of molecular mechanisms and their biotechnological applications. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Re-Framing Biotechnology Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Peck, Alison

Biotechnology is about to spill the banks of federal regulation. New genetic engineering techniques like CRISPR-Cas9 promise revolutionary breakthroughs in medicine, agriculture, and public health—but those techniques would not be regulated under the terms of the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology. This revolutionary moment in biotechnology offers an opportunity to correct the flaws in the framework, which was hastily patched together at the advent of the technology. The framework has never captured all relevant technologies, has never satisfied the public that risk is being effectively managed, and has never been accessible to small companies and publicly-funded labs that increasingly are positioned to make radical, life-saving innovations. This Article offers a proposal for new legislation that would reshape biotechnology regulation to better meet these goals. Key reforms include tying regulation to risk rather than technology category; consolidating agency review; capturing distinct regulatory expertise through inter-agency consultations; creating a clearinghouse to help guide applicants and disseminate information; setting up more comprehensive monitoring of environmental effects; and providing federal leadership to fill key data gaps and address socio-economic impacts.

Natural Gas Regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The regulation of Natural Gas. Natural gas Regulation clarifies and consolidates the legal and institutional framework for development of the industry through six principal elements: 1) Establishment of a vision of the industry. 2) Development of regulatory objectives. 3) Determination of relationships among industry participants. 4) Clear specification of the role of PEMEX in the industry. 5) Definition of the functions of the Regulatory authority. 6) Creation of a transition regime. In parallel with the development of the substantive legal framework, the law of the Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE) was also enacted by Congress in October 1995 to strength the institutional framework and implement the legal changes. This law defines the CRE as an agency of the Energy Ministry with technical, operational, and budgetary autonomy, and responsibility for implementing natural gas industry regulation. (Author)

Volume Regulated Channels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klausen, Thomas Kjær

of volume perturbations evolution have developed system of channels and transporters to tightly control volume homeostasis. In the past decades evidence has been mounting, that the importance of these volume regulated channels and transporters are not restricted to the defense of cellular volume...... but are also essential for a number of physiological processes such as proliferation, controlled cell death, migration and endocrinology. The thesis have been focusing on two Channels, namely the swelling activated Cl- channel (ICl, swell) and the transient receptor potential Vanilloid (TRPV4) channel. I: Cl......- serves a multitude of functions in the mammalian cell, regulating the membrane potential (Em), cell volume, protein activity and the driving force for facilitated transporters giving Cl- and Cl- channels a major potential of regulating cellular function. These functions include control of the cell cycle...

Culture as Mediator: Co-Regulation, Self-Regulation, and Middle School Mathematics Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Hinnant-Crawford, Brandi Nicole; Faison, Morgan Z.; Chang, Mei-Lin

2016-01-01

Purpose: Self-regulation is defined as strategic, metacognitive behavior, motivation and cognition aimed at a goal (Zimmmerman and Schunk, 2011). Co-regulation, arguably more aligned with norms in communal cultures, is the process of learners sharing "a common problem-solving plane" through which self-regulatory strategies are learned…

Regulation of GMOs in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yinliang

2008-12-01

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created by biotechnology to serve people with much benefit while may impose risks to ecological environment and human health and therefore need careful regulation. During the past two decades, GMOs have been well developed in China and so has their corresponding regulation. This paper reviews and comments the multiple aspects of mainly the agricultural GMOs, including their safety assessment, control measures, trade activities, import, labels, and GM food, which have been prescribed by the corresponding laws, regulations and administrative measures. It is held that till present a framework for regulation of agricultural GMOs and GM food has been established basically in China, while a more comprehensive system for regulation of all kinds of GMOs and all kinds of related activities is still needed at present and in the future.

Atomic Energy Control Regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This is the consolidated text of the Atomic Energy Control Regulations of 17 March 1960, with amendments to 27 August 1992. The Regulations cover the licensing of nuclear facilities, radiation sources, including uranium mining, radiation protection questions, etc. (NEA)

„The Control” in View of International Accounting Regulation and Romanian Accounting Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Ciuraru-Andrica

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In Romania, financial reporting accountant is governed by Accounting Low number 82/1991, republished, and O.M.F.P. 3.055/2009 approving the accounting regulation in accordance with European Directives. To these are added the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS, IAS and IFRIC of which must take into account certain Romanian legal persons in accordance with applicable regulations. Therefore this paper presents the main points of the control from the two types of accounting regulations perspective (national and international applied in our country.

Mortgage market regulation: Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aalbers, M.B.; Smith, S.J.

2012-01-01

Despite several European Union (EU) initiatives, there is only limited pan-European mortgage market regulation. The EU strategy can be characterised as one of parallel liberalisation and consolidation. This article highlights the key differences in regulation among European mortgage markets.

76 FR 70220 - New Jersey Regulations on Transportation of Regulated Medical Waste

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-10

...., Director, Healthcare Waste Institute, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20008, and (2... Hazardous Waste Management Program, Mail Code 401-02C, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420. A certification.... PHMSA-2011-0294 (PDA-35(R)] New Jersey Regulations on Transportation of Regulated Medical Waste AGENCY...

Self-regulation through Goal Setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Alexander; Nafziger, Julia

self-control problems. We show how goals permit self-regulation, but also that they are painful self-disciplining devices. Greater self-control problems therefore lead to stronger self-regulation through goals only up to a certain point. For severely present-biased preferences, the required goal...... for self-regulation is too painful and the individual rather gives up....

How do older adult drivers self-regulate? Characteristics of self-regulation classes defined by latent class analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergen, Gwen; West, Bethany A; Luo, Feijun; Bird, Donna C; Freund, Katherine; Fortinsky, Richard H; Staplin, Loren

2017-06-01

Motor-vehicle crashes were the second leading cause of injury death for adults aged 65-84years in 2014. Some older drivers choose to self-regulate their driving to maintain mobility while reducing driving risk, yet the process remains poorly understood. Data from 729 older adults (aged ≥60years) who joined an older adult ride service program between April 1, 2010 and November 8, 2013 were analyzed to define and describe classes of driving self-regulation. Latent class analysis was employed to characterize older adult driving self-regulation classes using driving frequency and avoidance of seven driving situations. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between characteristics affecting mobility and self-regulation class. Three classes were identified (low, medium, and high self-regulation). High self-regulating participants reported the highest proportion of always avoiding seven risky driving situations and the lowest driving frequency followed by medium and low self-regulators. Those who were female, aged 80years or older, visually impaired, assistive device users, and those with special health needs were more likely to be high self-regulating compared with low self-regulating. Avoidance of certain driving situations and weekly driving frequency are valid indicators for describing driving self-regulation classes in older adults. Understanding the unique characteristics and mobility limitations of each class can guide optimal transportation strategies for older adults. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effect of fructose diphosphate combined with large-dose vitamin C therapy on the myocardial oxidative stress injury after neonatal asphyxia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Hua Liang1

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: To study the effect of fructose diphosphate combined with large-dose vitamin C therapy on the myocardial oxidative stress injury after neonatal asphyxia. Methods: 40 patients with neonatal asphyxia who were treated in our hospital between June 2013 and April 2016 were collected and divided into the control group (n=20 who received large-dose vitamin C therapy and the observation group (n=20 who received fructose diphosphate combined with large-dose vitamin C therapy according to the double-blind randomized control method, and the treatment lasted for 10 d. Immediately after admission and after 10 d of treatment, RIA method was used to detect the serum levels of oxidative stress indexes, color Doppler diasonograph was used to determine left cardiac function parameters, and the myocardial enzyme spectrum detector was used to determine myocardial enzyme spectrum index levels. Results: Immediately after admission, the differences in the systemic oxidative stress degree, the left cardiac function damage degree and the myocardial enzyme spectrum index levels were not statistically significant between two groups of patients (P>0.05. After 10 d of treatment, serum malondialdehyde (MDA, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP, creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (Nt-proBNP, heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP and troponin I (cTnI contents of observation group were lower than those of control group (P<0.05 while superoxide dismutase (SOD content was higher than that of control group (P<0.05, and the left cardiac function parameter ejection time (ET level was higher than that of control group (P<0.05 while left ventricular isovolumetric contraction time (ICT and left ventricular isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT levels were lower than those of control group (P<0.05. Conclusion: Fructose diphosphate combined with large-dose vitamin C can reduce the systemic oxidative stress of neonatal asphyxia

Intermittent cardiac overload results in adaptive hypertrophy and provides protection against left ventricular acute pressure overload insult.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira-Gonçalves, Daniel; Henriques-Coelho, Tiago; Fonseca, Hélder; Ferreira, Rita; Padrão, Ana Isabel; Santa, Cátia; Vieira, Sara; Silva, Ana Filipa; Amado, Francisco; Leite-Moreira, Adelino; Duarte, José Alberto

2015-09-01

The present study aimed to test whether a chronic intermittent workload could induce an adaptive cardiac phenotype Chronic intermittent workload induced features of adaptive hypertrophy This was paralleled by protection against acute pressure overload insult The heart may adapt favourably to balanced demands, regardless of the nature of the stimuli. The present study aimed to test whether submitting the healthy heart to intermittent and tolerable amounts of workload, independently of its nature, could result in an adaptive cardiac phenotype. Male Wistar rats were subjected to treadmill running (Ex) (n = 20), intermittent cardiac overload with dobutamine (ITO) (2 mg kg(-1) , s.c.; n = 20) or placebo administration (Cont) (n = 20) for 5 days week(-1) for 8 weeks. Animals were then killed for histological and biochemical analysis or subjected to left ventricular haemodynamic evaluation under baseline conditions, in response to isovolumetric contractions and to sustained LV acute pressure overload (35% increase in peak systolic pressure maintained for 2 h). Baseline cardiac function was enhanced only in Ex, whereas the response to isovolumetric heartbeats was improved in both ITO and Ex. By contrast to the Cont group, in which rats developed diastolic dysfunction with sustained acute pressure overload, ITO and Ex showed increased tolerance to this stress test. Both ITO and Ex developed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy without fibrosis, no overexpression of osteopontin-1 or β-myosin heavy chain, and increased expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) protein. Regarding hypertrophic pathways, ITO and Ex showed activation of the protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway but not calcineurin. Mitochondrial complex IV and V activities were also increased in ITO and Ex. Chronic submission to controlled intermittent cardiac overload, independently of its nature, results in an adaptive cardiac phenotype. Features of the cardiac overload, such as the duration and

Action of naftopidil on spinal serotonergic neurotransmission for inhibition of the micturition reflex in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugaya, Kimio; Nishijima, Saori; Kadekawa, Katsumi; Ashitomi, Katsuhiro; Ueda, Tomoyuki; Yamamoto, Hideyuki; Hattori, Tsuyoshi

2017-03-01

We examined the mechanism of action of naftopidil, an α1D/A blocker, on spinal descending serotonergic neurotransmission for the micturition reflex. We examined (1) urinary 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) after intraperitoneal administration of saline, para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA; a serotonin synthetic enzyme inhibitor), and/or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP; a serotonin precursor); (2) isovolumetric cystometry after intraperitoneal administration of saline, PCPA, and/or 5-HTP and intravenous injection of naftopidil; and (3) isovolumetric cystometry before and after intrathecal administration of serotonin (5-HT) receptor antagonists and intravenous injection of naftopidil. PCPA decreased and 5-HTP increased urinary 5-HIAA/creatinine. Intraperitoneal injection of PCPA did not influence cystometric parameters. Intraperitoneal injection of 5-HTP significantly shortened the interval between bladder contractions. Intravenous injection of naftopidil transiently abolished bladder contractions. However, the duration of abolishment of bladder contractions after injection of naftopidil in rats given PCPA was significantly shorter than that in rats given vehicle, but significantly longer than that in rats given PCPA and 5-HTP. Intrathecal injection of 5-HT1B, 5-HT3, or 5-HT7 receptor antagonists significantly prolonged the interval between bladder contractions. Intrathecal injection of 5-HT1D or 5-HT2B receptor antagonists significantly shortened the interval between bladder contractions. Combined administration of the maximum non-effective dose of 5-HT1D, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, 5-HT2C, or 5-HT3 receptor antagonists and intravenous injection of naftopidil significantly shortened the duration of abolishment of bladder contraction compared to intravenous injection of naftopidil alone. Naftopidil may inhibit the micturition reflex via 5-HT1D, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, 5-HT2C, and 5-HT3 receptors in the spinal cord. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:604-609, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. �

Ultra-Low-Dropout Linear Regulator

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Trevor; Lepkowski, William; Wilk, Seth

2011-01-01

A radiation-tolerant, ultra-low-dropout linear regulator can operate between -150 and 150 C. Prototype components were demonstrated to be performing well after a total ionizing dose of 1 Mrad (Si). Unlike existing components, the linear regulator developed during this activity is unconditionally stable over all operating regimes without the need for an external compensation capacitor. The absence of an external capacitor reduces overall system mass/volume, increases reliability, and lowers cost. Linear regulators generate a precisely controlled voltage for electronic circuits regardless of fluctuations in the load current that the circuit draws from the regulator.

Utility regulation and competition policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, Colin

2002-03-01

Contents: 1. The New Electricity Trading Arrangements in England and Wales: A Review - David Currie, 2. A Critique of Rail Regulation - Dieter Helm, 3. Moving to a Competitive Market in Water - Colin Robinson, 4. The New Gas Trading Arrangements - George Yarrow, 5. A Review of Privatization and Regulation Experience in Britain - Irwin M. Stelzer, 6. Converging Communications: Implications for Regulation - Mark Armstrong, 7. Opening European Electricity and Gas Markets - Graham Shuttleworth, 8. Concurrency or Convergence? Competition and Regulation Under the Competition Act 1998 - Tom Sharpe QC, 9. Ten Years of European Merger Control - Paul Seabright. (Author)

Parental Influences on Children's Self-Regulation of Energy Intake: Insights from Developmental Literature on Emotion Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie A. Frankel

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The following article examines the role of parents in the development of children's self-regulation of energy intake. Various paths of parental influence are offered based on the literature on parental influences on children's emotion self-regulation. The parental paths include modeling, responses to children's behavior, assistance in helping children self-regulate, and motivating children through rewards and punishments. Additionally, sources of variation in parental influences on regulation are examined, including parenting style, child temperament, and child-parent attachment security. Parallels in the nature of parents' role in socializing children's regulation of emotions and energy intake are examined. Implications for future research are discussed.

Emotion regulation in interpersonal problems: the role of cognitive-emotional complexity, emotion regulation goals, and expressivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Coats, Abby Heckman; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2008-03-01

Young, middle-aged, and older adults' emotion regulation strategies in interpersonal problems were examined. Participants imagined themselves in anger- or sadness-eliciting situations with a close friend. Factor analyses of a new questionnaire supported a 4-factor model of emotion regulation strategies, including passivity, expressing emotions, seeking emotional information or support, and solving the problem. Results suggest that age differences in emotion regulation (such as older adults' increased endorsement of passive emotion regulation relative to young adults) are partially due to older adults' decreased ability to integrate emotion and cognition, increased prioritization of emotion regulation goals, and decreased tendency to express anger. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

REGULATION OF NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna A. Muravyeva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper looks into the diverse aspects of qualifications system regulation, designed for balancing the supply and demand in the labor and educational service markets. Both the objects and mechanisms of such regulation are described. Special attention is given to institutions, involved in regulation of qualifications, and their jurisdiction. Another emphasis is on the industry-related regulation of qualifications which proved to be effective both on the national and European level. Such structures were first established on the national levels to regulate the qualifications and ensure their comparability and compatibility, given the economic globalization and growing labor and academic mobility. The author points out the role of the ministries of education and labor in maintaining a steady qualifications system, and outlines the positive experience of Great Britain using the industry councils for continuing development of qualifications system.

Executive functioning, emotion regulation, eating self-regulation, and weight status in low-income preschool children: how do they relate?

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Sheryl O; Power, Thomas G; O'Connor, Teresia M; Orlet Fisher, Jennifer

2015-06-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine relationships between child eating self-regulation, child non-eating self-regulation, and child BMIz in a low-income sample of Hispanic families with preschoolers. The eating in the absence of hunger task as well as parent-report of child satiety responsiveness and food responsiveness were used to assess child eating self-regulation. Two laboratory tasks assessing executive functioning, a parent questionnaire assessing child effortful control (a temperament dimension related to executive functioning), and the delay of gratification and gift delay tasks assessing child emotion regulation were used to assess child non-eating self-regulation. Bivariate correlations were run among all variables in the study. Hierarchical linear regression analyses assessed: (1) child eating self-regulation associations with the demographic, executive functioning, effortful control, and emotion regulation measures; and (2) child BMI z-score associations with executive functioning, effortful control, emotion regulation measures, and eating self-regulation measures. Within child eating self-regulation, only the two parent-report measures were related. Low to moderate positive correlations were found between measures of executive functioning, effortful control, and emotion regulation. Only three relationships were found between child eating self-regulation and other forms of child self-regulation: eating in the absence of hunger was positively associated with delay of gratification, and poor regulation on the gift delay task was associated positively with maternal reports of food responsiveness and negatively with parent-reports of satiety responsiveness. Regression analyses showed that child eating self-regulation was associated with child BMIz but other forms of child self-regulation were not. Implications for understanding the role of self-regulation in the development of child obesity are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All

Pesticide regulations and farm worker safety: the need to improve pesticide regulations in Viet Nam.

Science.gov (United States)

Phung, Dung Tri; Connell, Des; Miller, Greg; Rutherford, Shannon; Chu, Cordia

2012-06-01

Agricultural pesticide use in Viet Nam has more than tripled since 1990. However, pesticide legislation and regulations have not been developed in response to this large increase in usage, as a result of which pesticides pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. This paper identifies the need to improve pesticide regulations in Viet Nam through a comparative analysis of pesticide regulations in Viet Nam and the United States of America, where the rate of acute poisoning among agricultural workers is much lower than in Viet Nam and where information pertaining to pesticide regulations is made accessible to the public. The analysis identified several measures that would help to improve Viet Nam's pesticide regulations. These include enhancing pesticide legislation, clarifying the specific roles and active involvement of both the environmental and health sectors; performing a comprehensive risk-benefit evaluation of pesticide registration and management practices; improving regulations on pesticide suspension and cancellation, transport, storage and disposal; developing import and export policies and enhancing pesticide-related occupational safety programmes.

Acoustic model optimisation for a call routing system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kleynhans, N

2012-11-01

Full Text Available and results and a discussion are presented in Section V. Lastly, the conclusion and possible future work appear in Section VI. II. BACKGROUND A. AutoSecretary IVR System Figure 1 shows the high level call flow of the AutoSecretary call routing system... to be difficult Corpus Name # utterances duration in hours Lwazi English 5843 5.03 Lwazi English plus Lwazi language prompts 7770 5.57 NCHLT English 106018 76.97 AST English (5 dialects) 51745 29.80 TABLE I THE NUMBER OF TRAINING UTTERANCES AND DURATION...

Regulation Development for Drinking Water Contaminants

Science.gov (United States)

To explain what process and information underlies regulations including how the Safe Drinking Water Act applies to regulation development i.e. how does the drinking water law translate into regulations.

Financial Private Regulation and Enforcement

OpenAIRE

MILLER, Geoffrey

2011-01-01

This paper has been delivered within the context of the research project "Transnational Private Regulatory Regimes: Constitutional foundations and governance design". This paper considers the topic of private regulation and enforcement for internationally active financial services firms. The paper documents the following types of regulation and enforcement that involve significant private input: house rules, contracts, internal compliance, management-based regulation, private standard-sett...

Know-How on design of switching regulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-08-01

This book introduces switching regulator from base to application, which deals with fundamentals of switching regulator such as the reason of boom about switching regulator, understanding simple circuit without electric transformer and decision of circuit type with input voltage and output voltage, configuration and characteristic of switching regulator, a concrete design of switching regulator, pulse width control circuit and protection circuit, concrete circuit examples of switching power and the point of switching regulator.

Down-regulated miR-448 relieves spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury by up-regulating SIRT1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the progression of spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury (SCII. The role of miR-448 and SIRT1 in SCII was investigated in this study, to provide further insights into prevention and improvement of this disorder. In this study, expressions of miR-448 and SIRT1 protein were determined by qRT-PCR and western blot, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to analyze cell apoptosis. The endogenous expression of genes was modulated by recombinant plasmids and cell transfection. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was performed to determine the interaction between miR-448 and SIRT1. The Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan score was used to measure the hind-limb function of rat. The spinal cord ischemia reperfusion injury model of adult rats was developed by abdominal aorta clamping, and the nerve function evaluation was completed by motor deficit index score. In SCII tissues and cells treated with hypoxia, miR-448 was up-regulated while SIRT1 was down-regulated. Hypoxia treatment reduced the expression of SIRT1 through up-regulating miR-448 in nerve cells. Up-regulation of miR-448 induced by hypoxia promoted apoptosis of nerve cells through down-regulating SIRT1. Down-regulated miR-448 improved neurological function and hind-limb motor function of rats with SCII by up-regulating SIRT1. Down-regulated miR-448 inhibited apoptosis of nerve cells and improved neurological function by up-regulating SIRT1, which contributes to relieving SCII.

Regulation of gas infrastructure expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Joode, J.

2012-01-01

The topic of this dissertation is the regulation of gas infrastructure expansion in the European Union (EU). While the gas market has been liberalised, the gas infrastructure has largely remained in the regulated domain. However, not necessarily all gas infrastructure facilities - such as gas storage facilities, LNG import terminals and certain gas transmission pipelines - need to be regulated, as there may be scope for competition. In practice, the choice of regulation of gas infrastructure expansion varies among different types of gas infrastructure facilities and across EU Member States. Based on a review of economic literature and on a series of in-depth case studies, this study explains these differences in choices of regulation from differences in policy objectives, differences in local circumstances and differences in the intrinsic characteristics of the infrastructure projects. An important conclusion is that there is potential for a larger role for competition in gas infrastructure expansion.

Measuring Individual Differences in Emotion Regulation: The Emotion Regulation Profile-Revised (ERP-R

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delphine Nelis

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this study was to validate a new instrument aimed to assess emotion regulation: the Emotion Regulation Profile-Revised (ERP-R. Exploratory factor analyses yielded two theoretically meaningful factors: down-regulation of negative emotions and up-regulation of positive emotions. Internal reliability scores of the two factors were good. Findings showed evidence of convergent/discriminant validity, with ERP-R scores being independent of non verbal reasoning and verbal skills while positively related to emotional intelligence and to relevant personality dimensions. There was also preliminary evidence of criterion validity. ERP-R scores also demonstrated incremental validity to predict a number of criteria over and above emotional intelligence and emotional stability. Overall, the results show a clear 2 factors solution for the ERP-R and high correlations with convergent and divergent scales as well as good criterion and incremental validities.

Market reaction to bank liquidity regulation

OpenAIRE

Bruno, Brunella; Onali, Enrico; Schaeck, Klaus

2018-01-01

We measure market reactions to announcements concerning liquidity regulation, a key innovation in the Basel framework. Our initial results show that liquidity regulation attracts negative abnormal returns. However, the price responses are less pronounced when coinciding announcements concerning capital regulation are backed out, suggesting that markets do not consider liquidity regulation to be binding. Bank- and country-specific characteristics also matter. Liquid balance sheets and high cha...

Haemodynamic effects of eating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høost, U; Kelbaek, H; Rasmusen, H

1996-01-01

to obtain forearm blood flow and Doppler-ultrasonography for portal vein flow. Plasma levels of catecholamines and insulin were determined by radioimmunoassay. 3. Cardiac output increased considerably after each meal, including the control meal (water) with only minor differences in extent and timing. Left......1. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of fractional meal stimulation on postprandial haemodynamic changes, the possible correlation between these changes and the potential mediating role of circulating catecholamines and insulin. 2. Healthy young subjects were studied before...... and after ingestion of isocaloric, isovolumetric high-protein, carbohydrate or fat meals (80-85% of total energy), 60 kJ per kg of body weight. Multigated radionuclide cardiography with autologous 99mTc-labelled erythrocytes was performed for assessment of cardiac output, venous occlusion plethysmography...

Successful emotion regulation requires both conviction and skill: beliefs about the controllability of emotions, reappraisal, and regulation success.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutentag, Tony; Halperin, Eran; Porat, Roni; Bigman, Yochanan E; Tamir, Maya

2017-09-01

To succeed in self-regulation, people need to believe that it is possible to change behaviour and they also need to use effective means to enable such a change. We propose that this also applies to emotion regulation. In two studies, we found that people were most successful in emotion regulation, the more they believed emotions can be controlled and the more they used an effective emotion regulation strategy - namely, cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal moderated the link between beliefs about the controllability of emotion and success in emotion regulation, when reappraisal was measured as a trait (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). Such moderation was found when examining the regulation of disgust elicited by emotion-inducing films (Study 1), and the regulation of anger elicited by real political events (Study 2). We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in emotion regulation.

Thermal flow regulator of refrigerant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubinskij, S.I.; Savchenko, A.G.; Suplin, V.Z.

1988-01-01

A thermal flow regulator of refrigerant for helium flow-type temperature-controlled cryostats based on controlling the channel hydraulic resistance due to variation of the flow density and viscosity during liquid helium transformation into the gaseous state. Behind the regulator both two-phase flow and a heated gas can be produced. The regulator resolution is (7-15)x10 -4 l/mW of liquid helium

HIPPA privacy regulations: practical information for physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, E B; Lee-Huber, T

2001-07-01

After much debate and controversy, the Bush administration announced on April 12, 2001, that it would implement the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy regulations issued by the Clinton administration in December of 2000. The privacy regulations became effective on April 14, 2001. Although the regulations are considered final, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services has the power to modify the regulations at any time during the first year of implementation. These regulations affect how a patient's health information is used and disclosed, as well as how patients are informed of their privacy rights. As "covered entities," physicians have until April 14, 2003, to comply fully with the HIPAA privacy regulations, which are more than 1,500 pages in length. This article presents a basic overview of the new and complex regulations and highlights practical information about physicians' compliance with the regulations. However, this summary of the HIPAA privacy regulations should not be construed as legal advice or an opinion on specific situations. Please consult an attorney concerning your compliance with HIPAA and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

The Provisional Staff Regulations of the Agency. Amendment to Regulation 5.04(a)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1973-01-01

On 20 February 1973 the Board of Governors approved the substitution of the figure '1500' for '1000' in the second sentence of Provisional Staff Regulation 5.04(a) as set forth in document INFCIRC/6/Rev.2/Mod.1, thus amending that Regulation to read

Evolving Role of the Power Sector Regulator: A Clean Energy Regulators Initiative Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zinaman, O.; Miller, M.; Bazilian, M.

2014-04-01

This paper seeks to briefly characterize the evolving role of power sector regulation. Given current global dynamics, regulation of the power sector is undergoing dramatic changes. This transformation is being driven by various factors including technological advances and cost reductions in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and demand management; increasing air pollution and climate change concerns; and persistent pressure for ensuring sustainable economic development and increased access to energy services by the poor. These issues add to the already complex task of power sector regulation, of which the fundamental remit remains to objectively and transparently ensure least-cost service delivery at high quality. While no single regulatory task is trivial to undertake, it is the prioritization and harmonization of a multitude of objectives that exemplifies the essential challenge of power sector regulation. Evolving regulatory roles can be understood through the concept of existing objectives and an additional layer of emerging objectives. Following this categorization, we describe seven existing objectives of power sector regulators and nine emerging objectives, highlighting key challenges and outlining interdependencies. This essay serves as a preliminary installment in the Clean Energy Regulatory Initiative (CERI) series, and aims to lay the groundwork for subsequent reports and case studies that will explore these topics in more depth.

Helping Others Regulate Emotion Predicts Increased Regulation of One's Own Emotions and Decreased Symptoms of Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Doré, Bruce P; Morris, Robert R; Burr, Daisy A; Picard, Rosalind W; Ochsner, Kevin N

2017-05-01

Although much research considers how individuals manage their own emotions, less is known about the emotional benefits of regulating the emotions of others. We examined this topic in a 3-week study of an online platform providing training and practice in the social regulation of emotion. We found that participants who engaged more by helping others (vs. sharing and receiving support for their own problems) showed greater decreases in depression, mediated by increased use of reappraisal in daily life. Moreover, social regulation messages with more other-focused language (i.e., second-person pronouns) were (a) more likely to elicit expressions of gratitude from recipients and (b) predictive of increased use of reappraisal over time for message composers, suggesting perspective-taking enhances the benefits of practicing social regulation. These findings unpack potential mechanisms of socially oriented training in emotion regulation and suggest that by helping others regulate, we may enhance our own regulatory skills and emotional well-being.

Automated telephone communication systems for preventive healthcare and management of long-term conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Posadzki, Pawel; Mastellos, Nikolaos; Ryan, Rebecca; Gunn, Laura H; Felix, Lambert M; Pappas, Yannis; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Julious, Steven A; Xiang, Liming; Oldenburg, Brian; Car, Josip

2016-12-14

Automated telephone communication systems (ATCS) can deliver voice messages and collect health-related information from patients using either their telephone's touch-tone keypad or voice recognition software. ATCS can supplement or replace telephone contact between health professionals and patients. There are four different types of ATCS: unidirectional (one-way, non-interactive voice communication), interactive voice response (IVR) systems, ATCS with additional functions such as access to an expert to request advice (ATCS Plus) and multimodal ATCS, where the calls are delivered as part of a multicomponent intervention. To assess the effects of ATCS for preventing disease and managing long-term conditions on behavioural change, clinical, process, cognitive, patient-centred and adverse outcomes. We searched 10 electronic databases (the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; MEDLINE; Embase; PsycINFO; CINAHL; Global Health; WHOLIS; LILACS; Web of Science; and ASSIA); three grey literature sources (Dissertation Abstracts, Index to Theses, Australasian Digital Theses); and two trial registries (www.controlled-trials.com; www.clinicaltrials.gov) for papers published between 1980 and June 2015. Randomised, cluster- and quasi-randomised trials, interrupted time series and controlled before-and-after studies comparing ATCS interventions, with any control or another ATCS type were eligible for inclusion. Studies in all settings, for all consumers/carers, in any preventive healthcare or long term condition management role were eligible. We used standard Cochrane methods to select and extract data and to appraise eligible studies. We included 132 trials (N = 4,669,689). Studies spanned across several clinical areas, assessing many comparisons based on evaluation of different ATCS types and variable comparison groups. Forty-one studies evaluated ATCS for delivering preventive healthcare, 84 for managing long-term conditions, and seven studies for appointment reminders

18 CFR 410.1 - Basin regulations-Water Code and Administrative Manual-Part III Water Quality Regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Code and Administrative Manual-Part III Water Quality Regulations. 410.1 Section 410.1 Conservation of... CODE AND ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL-PART III WATER QUALITY REGULATIONS § 410.1 Basin regulations—Water Code and Administrative Manual—Part III Water Quality Regulations. (a) The Water Code of the Delaware River...

The power of regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, M.G.

1995-01-01

Slides accompanying a presentation at The Power of Change Conference in Vancouver, BC in April 1995 about regulations affecting the power industry were presented. Issues addressed included customer choice, incentive regulation changes (price-caps, revenue sharing and pricing flexibility), the reactions of Canadian industry to regulatory changes, and anticipated reactions of the financial markets to changes in regulations. The potential effects of competition and changes that will create competition were discussed. The level of readiness of Canadian financial, ownership and regulatory bodies was discussed. The needs and expectations of investors from a new regulatory regime were quesstimated. Possible alternatives to the present regulatory framework were suggested

Epigenetic Regulation of Adipokines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tho X. Pham

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Adipose tissue expansion in obesity leads to changes in the expression of adipokines, adipocyte-specific hormones that can regulate whole body energy metabolism. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is a mechanism by which cells can alter gene expression through the modifications of DNA and histones. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, are intimately tied to energy metabolism due to their dependence on metabolic intermediates such as S-adenosylmethionine and acetyl-CoA. Altered expression of adipokines in obesity may be due to epigenetic changes. The goal of this review is to highlight current knowledge of epigenetic regulation of adipokines.

3-D bioprinting law regulation perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Pashkov, Vitalii; Harkusha, Andrii

Achieved level of technical progress moves us closer and closer to practical use of 3-d bioprinting technologies in real life. Such perspective raise a wide variety of crucial legal issues from the acceptable model of regulation of the science and its' societal effects to problems of the commercialization of the technology and potential restrictions of its use. Some key points on concept of legal regulation of abovementioned sphere is a base of this study. Scientific discussion on 3-D bioprinting, European Union`s and US experience in patenting of 3-D bioprinting technologies, European Medicine Agency (EMA) or the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, European Medical Technology Industry Association (EUCOMED) Acts. Article is based on dialectical, comparative, analytic, synthetic and comprehensive research methods. General debate of last few years comes down to an attempt to resolve hesitation between legal attempts for regulation of 3-D biobrinting and concept of complete prohibition of such activities. An adequate response to the mentioned challenge is a reasonable position between some aspects of prohibition and self-regulation, resulting in a moderate number of regulations and standards for developing and marketing. Such regulations may concern an intellectual property (IP) rights, regulation of distribution, premarket restrictions, control mechanism etc. Scientific approach and regulatory settlement of 3-D bioprinting sphere must unite to achieve a fair balance between the interests of humanity and of individuals - on the one hand, and development of science and business benefits for stakeholders - on the other. The main instruments for this must be balanced regulation of intellectual property (IP) rights, regulation of access and distribution, premarket restrictions, control mechanism etc.

Tetraspanin CD9 regulates osteoclastogenesis via regulation of p44/42 MAPK activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, TacGhee; Kim, Hye-Jin; Cho, Je-Yoel; Woo, Kyung Mi; Ryoo, Hyun-Mo; Kim, Gwan-Shik; Baek, Jeong-Hwa

2006-01-01

Tetraspanin CD9 has been shown to regulate cell-cell fusion in sperm-egg fusion and myotube formation. However, the role of CD9 in osteoclast, another multinucleated cell type, is not still clear. Therefore, we investigated the role of CD9 in osteoclast differentiation. CD9 was expressed in osteoclast lineage cells and its expression level increased during the progression of RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. KMC8, a neutralizing antibody specific to CD9, significantly suppressed RANKL-induced multinucleated osteoclast formation and the mRNA expression of osteoclast differentiation marker genes. To define CD9-regulated osteoclastogenic signaling pathway, MAPK pathways were examined. KMC8 induced long-term phosphorylation of p44/42 MAPK, but not of p38 MAPK. Constitutive activation of p44/42 MAPK by overexpressing constitutive-active mutant of MEK1 almost completely blocked osteoclast differentiation. Taken together, these results suggest that CD9 expressed on osteoclast lineage cells might positively regulate osteoclastogenesis via the regulation of p44/42 MAPK activity

Novel Molecules Regulating Energy Homeostasis: Physiology and Regulation by Macronutrient Intake and Weight Loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Gavrieli

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Excess energy intake, without a compensatory increase of energy expenditure, leads to obesity. Several molecules are involved in energy homeostasis regulation and new ones are being discovered constantly. Appetite regulating hormones such as ghrelin, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine and amylin or incretins such as the gastric inhibitory polypeptide have been studied extensively while other molecules such as fibroblast growth factor 21, chemerin, irisin, secreted frizzle-related protein-4, total bile acids, and heme oxygenase-1 have been linked to energy homeostasis regulation more recently and the specific role of each one of them has not been fully elucidated. This mini review focuses on the above mentioned molecules and discusses them in relation to their regulation by the macronutrient composition of the diet as well as diet-induced weight loss.

Soft Regulators, though judges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Geest, G.G.A.; Dari Mattiacci, G.

Judges have a tendency to be more demanding than regulators. In the United States, a majority of the courts has adopted the rule that the unexcused violation of a statutory standard is negligence per se. However, the converse does not hold: compliance with regulation does not relieve the injurer of

Safety supervision on high-pressure gas regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Won Il

1991-01-01

The first part lists the regulation on safety supervision of high-pressure gas, enforcement ordinance on high-pressure gas safety supervision and enforcement regulations about high-pressure gas safety supervision. The second part indicates safety regulations on liquefied petroleum gas and business, enforcement ordinance of safety on liquefied petroleum gas and business, enforcement regulation of safety supervision over liquefied petroleum gas and business. The third part lists regulation on gas business, enforcement ordinance and enforcement regulations on gas business. Each part has theory and explanation for questions.

Self-regulation in the mining industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sinding, Knud; Peck, Philip

2013-01-01

Many industries have established their own systems for self-regulation. They often do so when companies involved in the industry operate in countries where financial, technical, environmental and social regulation is weak and when the industry is challenged by legitimacy issues related to behaviour...... in one of these areas. One industry that has progressed unevenly down the road of self-regulation in these areas is mining. Developing self-regulation for mines and mining companies involves difficult questions of scope, rules, membership, assessment criteria and performance evaluation. While self-regulation...... may bring benefits to members, they are likely to take a long time coming; but when they do arrive they may be substantial. Using a range of theoretical and empirical results from research on self-regulation, performance rating and corporate strategy, this paper analyses the strategic and operational...

Comparison of some European regulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Argyriadis, K [Germanisher Lloyd, Hamburg (Germany)

1996-09-01

Fatigue calculations are an essential part in certification of a wind turbine. Manufacturers have to fulfill recommendations of several different regulations throughout Europe with the result that the design has often to be altered to satisfy them. In general three national (D/GL, NL, DK), and two international (GL, IEC) regulations are in use, with the IEC standard getting more importance with wind energy deploying to more in regions with no yet clearly defined national standards (India, Spain). The Germanischer Lloyd made calculations for wind turbines they are certifying and in one case we compared the resulting damages for different regulations and classes on a 600 kW, three bladed, stall regulated wind turbine. (EG) 18 refs.

75 FR 10997 - Cuban Assets Control Regulations; Sudanese Sanctions Regulations; Iranian Transactions Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-10

... specific license, or otherwise exempt, the exportation of such services and software from the United States... services and software. Paragraph (c) of each of these two sections provides that specific licenses may be... Iranian Transactions Regulations to authorize the exportation of certain services and software incident to...

Regulating a Monopoly Offering Priority Service

OpenAIRE

Matsukawa, Isamu

2006-01-01

This paper investigates the effects of alternative forms of regulation on the market penetration and capacity, which are determined by a profit-maximizing monopolist providing priority service to consumers. For continuous priority service, a minimum reliability standard, price cap and rate of return regulation lead to larger capacity than in the absence of regulation. A minimum reliability standard reduces the market penetration while price cap and rate of return regulation increase it. T...

Model of accounting regulation in Lithuania

OpenAIRE

Rudžionienė, Kristina; Gipienė, Gailutė

2008-01-01

This paper analyses the regulation of accounting system in Lithuania. There are different approaches to accounting regulation. For example, the "free market" approach is against any regulation; it says that each process in the market will be in equilibrium itself. Mostly it is clear that regulation is important and useful, especially in financial accounting. It makes information in financial reports understandable and comparable in one country or different countries. There are three theories ...

The financial regulations of the Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

On 14 September 1994, the Board of Governors approved revised Financial Regulations of the Agency, with implementation of these Regulations beginning 1 January 1995. The Financial Regulations, as revised, are reproduced in this document for the information of all Member States

Energy policy conference on the regulation of energy industries; Conference de politique energetique sur la regulation des industries energetiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-11-01

This document is the report of the conference meeting jointly organized by the French general plan commission and the general direction of energy and raw materials on the regulation of energy industries: 1 - the changes in the regulation of public utilities in competition: harmonization, respect of impartiality and social cohesion, organization of a loyal competition, specialized regulation and regulation of competition, open debates; 2 - towards an homogenous model of regulatory authority?: the US model (collegial and hybrid organizations), the UK model (individual and independent), missions of regulation and institutional 'meccano', theory and practice, draft classification of the institutional approaches of IEA countries (role of ministries and regulatory agencies), independent regulatory authorities or not, significant differences in converging models, dominant types of regulation in the different sectors, situation of the French energy regulatory system (institutional plan, regulation processes, relations of the regulation authority with the government), reasons of the differences between different countries, expected evolution of the regulation systems in the coming years. (J.S.)

Energy policy conference on the regulation of energy industries; Conference de politique energetique sur la regulation des industries energetiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-11-01

This document is the report of the conference meeting jointly organized by the French general plan commission and the general direction of energy and raw materials on the regulation of energy industries: 1 - the changes in the regulation of public utilities in competition: harmonization, respect of impartiality and social cohesion, organization of a loyal competition, specialized regulation and regulation of competition, open debates; 2 - towards an homogenous model of regulatory authority?: the US model (collegial and hybrid organizations), the UK model (individual and independent), missions of regulation and institutional 'meccano', theory and practice, draft classification of the institutional approaches of IEA countries (role of ministries and regulatory agencies), independent regulatory authorities or not, significant differences in converging models, dominant types of regulation in the different sectors, situation of the French energy regulatory system (institutional plan, regulation processes, relations of the regulation authority with the government), reasons of the differences between different countries, expected evolution of the regulation systems in the coming years. (J.S.)

A quantitative model of regulator's preference factor (RPF) in electricity-environment coordinated regulation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ren, Yulong; Fu, Shijun [Economy and Business Administration School of Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China)

2010-12-15

This paper explores quantification of regulator's preference factor (RPF) in electricity-environment coordinated regulation system. Based on social welfare economics, we articulately depict RPF's qualitative concept and its economic meaning. Then, applying abstract functions (i.e., abstract social welfare function, abstract utility function, and abstract production function), we deduce the partial-social-welfare elasticity, and build the mathematics model of maximizing social welfare. We nest this elasticity into the model's Kuhn-Tucker conditions, and obtain RPF's definition formula. By solving the Kuhn-Tucker conditions, we get RPF's quantitative formula, which solves the problem of hard to quantify regulator's preference in electricity-environment coordinated regulation system. The result shows that RPF only has relationship to subsystems' production function, and is independent of social welfare function and subsystems' utility function. Finally, we provide an empirical research based on the western region of China from year 1995 to 2004. It reveals that regulator has relative stability preference to mitigating pollutants. And validity test confirms that the empirical result is fit well to the practice. The RPF is truly a more general and valid instrument to measure regulator's preference in its regulated field. (author)

An Age-Related Mechanism of Emotion Regulation: Regulating Sadness Promotes Children's Learning by Broadening Information Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Elizabeth L.

2016-01-01

Emotion regulation predicts positive academic outcomes like learning, but little is known about "why". Effective emotion regulation likely promotes learning by broadening the scope of what may be attended to after an emotional event. One hundred twenty-six 6- to 13-year-olds' (54% boys) regulation of sadness was examined for changes in…

Deciphering Transcriptional Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valen, Eivind

The myriad of cells in the human body are all made from the same blueprint: the human genome. At the heart of this diversity lies the concept of gene regulation, the process in which it is decided which genes are used where and when. Genes do not function as on/off buttons, but more like a volume...... mostly near the start of the gene known as the promoter. This region contains patterns scattered in the DNA that the TFs can recognize and bind to. Such binding can prompt the assembly of the pre-initiation complex which ultimately leads to transcription of the gene. In order to achieve the regulation...... on what characterizes a hippocampus promoter. Pairing CAGE with TF binding site prediction we identi¿ed a likely key regulator of hippocampus. Finally, we developed a method for CAGE exploration. While the DeepCAGE library characterized a full 1.4 million transcription initiation events it did not capture...

Electricity regulation and economic growth

OpenAIRE

Costa, M. Teresa (Maria Teresa), 1951-; Garcia-Quevedo, Jose; Trujillo-Baute, Elisa

2018-01-01

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the effect of electricity regulation on economic growth. Although the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth has been extensively analysed in the empirical literature, this framework has not been used to estimate the effect of electricity regulation on economic growth. Understanding this effect is essential for the assessment of regulatory policy. Specifically, we assess the effects of two major areas of regulation, rene...

Individual Differences in Automatic Emotion Regulation Interact with Primed Emotion Regulation during an Anger Provocation

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Jing; Lipp, Ottmar V.; Hu, Ping

2017-01-01

The current study investigated the interactive effects of individual differences in automatic emotion regulation (AER) and primed emotion regulation strategy on skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate during provoked anger. The study was a 2 × 2 [AER tendency (expression vs. control) × priming (expression vs. control)] between subject design. Participants were assigned to two groups according to their performance on an emotion regulation-IAT (differentiating automatic emotion control tend...

Analysis of combinatorial regulation: scaling of partnerships between regulators with the number of governed targets.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nitin Bhardwaj

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Through combinatorial regulation, regulators partner with each other to control common targets and this allows a small number of regulators to govern many targets. One interesting question is that given this combinatorial regulation, how does the number of regulators scale with the number of targets? Here, we address this question by building and analyzing co-regulation (co-transcription and co-phosphorylation networks that describe partnerships between regulators controlling common genes. We carry out analyses across five diverse species: Escherichia coli to human. These reveal many properties of partnership networks, such as the absence of a classical power-law degree distribution despite the existence of nodes with many partners. We also find that the number of co-regulatory partnerships follows an exponential saturation curve in relation to the number of targets. (For E. coli and Bacillus subtilis, only the beginning linear part of this curve is evident due to arrangement of genes into operons. To gain intuition into the saturation process, we relate the biological regulation to more commonplace social contexts where a small number of individuals can form an intricate web of connections on the internet. Indeed, we find that the size of partnership networks saturates even as the complexity of their output increases. We also present a variety of models to account for the saturation phenomenon. In particular, we develop a simple analytical model to show how new partnerships are acquired with an increasing number of target genes; with certain assumptions, it reproduces the observed saturation. Then, we build a more general simulation of network growth and find agreement with a wide range of real networks. Finally, we perform various down-sampling calculations on the observed data to illustrate the robustness of our conclusions.

Believing Is Doing: Emotion Regulation Beliefs Are Associated With Emotion Regulation Behavioral Choices and Subjective Well-Being

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Nicole Marie Ortner

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Research in emotion regulation has begun to examine various predictors of emotion regulation choices, including individual differences and contextual variables. However, scant attention has been paid to the extent to which people’s beliefs about the specific consequences of emotion regulation strategies for the components of an emotional response and long-term well-being predict their behavioral regulatory choices and, in turn, their subjective well-being. Participants completed measures to assess their beliefs about the consequences of functional and dysfunctional strategies, behavioral choices of emotion regulation strategies in negative scenarios, and subjective well-being. The model that fit the data indicated partial mediation whereby beliefs were associated with approximately 9% of the variance in choices. Emotion regulation choices were related to subjective well-being, with an additional direct effect between beliefs and well-being. This suggests beliefs play a role in people’s regulatory choices. Future research should explore how beliefs interact with individual differences and contextual variables to better understand why people regulate their emotions in different ways and, ultimately, to help individuals make healthy emotion regulation choices.

Believing Is Doing: Emotion Regulation Beliefs Are Associated With Emotion Regulation Behavioral Choices and Subjective Well-Being.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortner, Catherine Nicole Marie; Briner, Esther Lydia; Marjanovic, Zdravko

2017-03-01

Research in emotion regulation has begun to examine various predictors of emotion regulation choices, including individual differences and contextual variables. However, scant attention has been paid to the extent to which people's beliefs about the specific consequences of emotion regulation strategies for the components of an emotional response and long-term well-being predict their behavioral regulatory choices and, in turn, their subjective well-being. Participants completed measures to assess their beliefs about the consequences of functional and dysfunctional strategies, behavioral choices of emotion regulation strategies in negative scenarios, and subjective well-being. The model that fit the data indicated partial mediation whereby beliefs were associated with approximately 9% of the variance in choices. Emotion regulation choices were related to subjective well-being, with an additional direct effect between beliefs and well-being. This suggests beliefs play a role in people's regulatory choices. Future research should explore how beliefs interact with individual differences and contextual variables to better understand why people regulate their emotions in different ways and, ultimately, to help individuals make healthy emotion regulation choices.

Mass transfer Simulation of Two-dimensional Natural Convection of Mixture Layer in an IVR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Su-Hyeon; Chung, Bum-Jin [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

This study is focusing on the angle dependent heat flux distribution at the reactor vessel plenum due to mixture layer natural convection experiment. We simulated heat transfer using a sulfuric acid - copper sulfate (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} - CuSO{sub 4}) electroplating system based on the heat and mass transfer analogy concept. An S-bend shaped copper is used as the volumetric heat source, which is simulated as a heater in previous heat transfer studies. The advantage of mass transfer experiment is the achievement of the high buoyancy condition similar to reactor vessel because of high Pr. This study performed mass transfer experiment using a sulfuric acid - copper sulfate (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} - CuSO{sub 4}) electroplating system based on the heat and mass transfer analogy concept. The experimental result was compared with previous 2D study (SIGMA CP)

Definitional Issues in Emotion Regulation Research

Science.gov (United States)

Bridges, Lisa J.; Denham, Susanne A.; Ganiban, Jody M.

2004-01-01

Operational definitions of emotion regulation are frequently unclear, as are links between emotion regulation measures and underlying theoretical constructs. This is of concern because measurement decisions can have both intentional and unintentional implications for underlying conceptualizations of emotion regulation. This report examines the…

Regulating danger on the highways: hours of service regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansfield, Daniel; Kryger, Meir

2015-12-01

Current hours of service regulations governing commercial truck drivers in place in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union are summarized and compared to facilitate the assessment of the effectiveness of such provisions in preventing fatigue and drowsiness among truck drivers. Current hours of service provisions governing commercial truck drivers were derived from governmental sources. The commercial truck driver hours of service provisions in the United States, Canada, and the European Union permit drivers to work 14 hours and those of Australia permit drivers to work 12 hours a day on a regular basis. The regulations do not state what a driver may do with time off. They are consistent with a driver being able to drive after 24 hours without sleep. They do not take into account circadian rhythm by linking driving or rest to time of day. Current hours of service regulations governing commercial truck drivers leave gaps--permitting drivers to work long hours on a regular basis, permitting driving after no sleep for 24 hours, and failing to take into account the importance of circadian rhythm, endangering the public safety and the truck drivers themselves. Copyright © 2015 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Panel presentation: Should some type of incentive regulation replace traditional methods for regulating LDC's?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farman, R.D.

1992-01-01

This paper discusses the wants and fears of gas utility companies with regards to incentive regulation. The idea of replacing the traditional rate-of-return regulation with incentive regulation sound very desirous in that it should provide greater management flexibility, quicker and more streamlined regulatory processes, and utility financial rewards based on how well customer needs are met. However, the main fear is that this could result in arbitrary, inappropriate productivity or efficiency targets, or would embody a risk/reward ratio skewed more heavily toward financial penalties than opportunities to increase earnings. The paper presents some of the obstacles of traditional regulation which include a lack of incentive to minimize operational costs; a lack of incentive to introduce new technology, products, or services; prevent the need for flexibility to compete in contestable markets; and the diversion caused by utility managers having to manage the regulatory process rather than delivering value to customers. The paper concludes by comparing the incentive regulation program used in the telecommunications industry to the natural gas industry to demonstrate why the success of the telecommunications model doesn't apply to the gas utilities incentive model

Ketamine and international regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Yanhui; Tang, Yi-Lang; Hao, Wei

2017-09-01

Ketamine is an anesthetic commonly used in low-income countries and has recently been shown to be effective for treatment-resistant depression. However, the illicit manufacturing, trafficking, and nonmedical use of ketamine are increasing globally, and its illicit use poses major public health challenges in many countries. To review the nonmedical use of ketamine in selected countries and its regulatory control. We conducted a review of literature identified from searches of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1979-2016) and PubMed databases, supplemented by additional references identified by the authors. Special attention was given to the regulation of ketamine. Illicit manufacturing, trafficking, and use of ketamine appear to have begun on a large scale in several Asian nations, and it has subsequently spread to other regions. Regulations governing availability of ketamine vary across countries, but there is a clear trend toward tighter regulations. As nonmedical use of ketamine and its harmful consequences have worsened globally, stricter controls are necessary. Appropriate regulation of ketamine is important for international efforts to control ketamine's cross-border trafficking and its nonmedical use.

Regulating nuclear fuel waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

When Parliament passed the Atomic Energy Control Act in 1946, it erected the framework for nuclear safety in Canada. Under the Act, the government created the Atomic Energy Control Board and gave it the authority to make and enforce regulations governing every aspect of nuclear power production and use in this country. The Act gives the Control Board the flexibility to amend its regulations to adapt to changes in technology, health and safety standards, co-operative agreements with provincial agencies and policy regarding trade in nuclear materials. This flexibility has allowed the Control Board to successfully regulate the nuclear industry for more than 40 years. Its mission statement 'to ensure that the use of nuclear energy in Canada does not pose undue risk to health, safety, security and the environment' concisely states the Control Board's primary objective. The Atomic Energy Control Board regulates all aspects of nuclear energy in Canada to ensure there is no undue risk to health, safety, security or the environment. It does this through a multi-stage licensing process

Network Regulation and Support Schemes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ropenus, Stephanie; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten; Jacobsen, Henrik

2009-01-01

-in tariffs to market-based quota systems, and network regulation approaches, comprising rate-of-return and incentive regulation. National regulation and the vertical structure of the electricity sector shape the incentives of market agents, notably of distributed generators and network operators......At present, there exists no explicit European policy framework on distributed generation. Various Directives encompass distributed generation; inherently, their implementation is to the discretion of the Member States. The latter have adopted different kinds of support schemes, ranging from feed....... This article seeks to investigate the interactions between the policy dimensions of support schemes and network regulation and how they affect the deployment of distributed generation. Firstly, a conceptual analysis examines how the incentives of the different market agents are affected. In particular...

Attachment and Dyadic Regulation Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Overall, Nickola C; Simpson, Jeffry A

2015-02-01

Insecurely attached people have relatively unhappy and unstable romantic relationships, but the quality of their relationships depends on how their partners regulate them. Some partners find ways to regulate the emotional and behavioral reactions of insecurely attached individuals, which promotes greater relationship satisfaction and security. We discuss attachment theory and interdependence dilemmas, and then explain how and why certain responses by partners assuage the cardinal concerns of insecure individuals in key interdependent situations. We then review recent studies illustrating how partners can successfully regulate the reactions of anxiously and avoidantly attached individuals, yielding more constructive interactions. We finish by considering how these regulation processes can create a more secure dyadic environment, which helps to improve relationships and attachment security across time.

Executive functions and self-regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Wilhelm; Schmeichel, Brandon J; Baddeley, Alan D

2012-03-01

Self-regulation is a core aspect of adaptive human behavior that has been studied, largely in parallel, through the lenses of social and personality psychology as well as cognitive psychology. Here, we argue for more communication between these disciplines and highlight recent research that speaks to their connection. We outline how basic facets of executive functioning (working memory operations, behavioral inhibition, and task-switching) may subserve successful self-regulation. We also argue that temporary reductions in executive functions underlie many of the situational risk factors identified in the social psychological research on self-regulation and review recent evidence that the training of executive functions holds significant potential for improving poor self-regulation in problem populations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

5 CFR 179.301 - Scope of regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Scope of regulations. 179.301 Section 179.301 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS CLAIMS COLLECTION STANDARDS Administrative Offset § 179.301 Scope of regulations. These regulations apply to the...

Age discrimination: the new Regulations

OpenAIRE

Sprack, John

2006-01-01

A summary of the principal changes introduced by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 as they came into effect in England and Wales. Extracts from the Regulations follow the commentary. Article by John Sprack (Barrister, part-time Chairman of Employment Tribunals and author of Tottel's Guide to the Age Discrimination Regulations 2006) published in Amicus Curiae – Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by ...

Regulations for RA reactor operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-09-01

Regulations for RA reactor operation are written in accordance with the legal regulations defined by the Law about radiation protection and related legal acts, as well as technical standards according to the IAEA recommendations. The contents of this book include: fundamental data about the reactor; legal regulations for reactor operation; organizational scheme for reactor operation; general and detailed instructions for operation, behaviour in the reactor building, performing experiments; operating rules for operation under steady state and accidental conditions [sr

Regulations and instructions; Propisi i uputstva

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1960-07-01

Regulations and instructions for operating the RA reactor consist of the following chapters: general regulations with the fundamental RA reactor characteristics, operating regulations and instructions for the personnel on duty, regulations for accidental conditions, training program for the staff of the Laboratory for reactor operation. Propisi i uputstva za rad reaktora RA sadrze sledeca poglavlja: opsti deo sa kratkim opisom karakteristika reaktora RA, propisi za rad dezurnog osoblja, propisi za slucaj udesa, program obuke osoblja Laboratorije za eksploataciju reaktora RA.

Chemicals regulation and the Porter Hypothesis:a critical review of the new European chemicals regulation

OpenAIRE

Frohwein, T. (Torsten); Hansjürgens, B. (Bernd)

2005-01-01

In this contribution, discussions about the Porter Hypothesis and the pros and cons of the new European chemicals regulation system REACH are tied together. The contribution seeks to apply the Porter Hypothesis to the field of European chemicals regulation. Porter’s claim of positive effects of regulation on innovations seems especially important for the chemicals sector pursuing differentiation. But, understanding Porter’s concept of strategic management indicates that certain segments of th...

50 CFR 216.86 - Local regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Pribilof Islands Administration § 216.86 Local regulations. Local regulations will be published from time... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Local regulations. 216.86 Section 216.86 Wildlife and Fisheries NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION...

The Self-Regulated Learning Model and Music Education

OpenAIRE

Maja Marijan

2017-01-01

Self-regulation and self-regulated learning (SRL) are important features in music education. In this research self-regulated learning model is presented as a complex, multidimensional structure. SRL starts with the self-regulation. Self-regulation is formed through interaction with the environment, thus self-learning, self-analysis, self-judgment, self-instruction, and self-monitoring are the main functions in self-regulatory structure. Co-regulation is needed, and helps self-regulation to be...

Initial state regulation of investor-owned utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savitski, D.W.

2001-01-01

This paper examines state initiation of public service (or utility) commission regulation of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) using an economic theory of regulation. The decision to regulate IOUs is assumed to have depended on the strength of competing interest groups, e.g. consumers and producers, and on institutional factors, e.g. whether commissioners were appointed or elected. Regulators, which then had jurisdiction over IOU rates, are assumed to have been optimizing agents. The potential benefits of regulation, in turn, translated into pressure to initiate regulation. To test this, a hazard model is applied to state-level data. On the demand side of the regulation market, the distribution of federal power and population density were unrelated, while a set of time dummies was positively related to the probability that a state initiated regulation. On the supply side, the fraction of the population that was urban and whether the governor was Republican or not were positively and negatively related to this probability

Two new pollution regulations introduced

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2000-01-01

A newly proposed regulation in Ontario will require the mandatory tracking of 358 airborne pollutants by the electricity sector as well as by other large industrial facilities such as iron and steel manufacturers and petroleum refiners. If passed, the regulation would make Ontario the first jurisdiction in the world to require monitoring and reporting of a full suite of major greenhouse gases, including smog and acid-rain causing emissions. The proposed regulation also provides for immediate public access to any reported information. Ontario residents can comment on the proposed regulation through the Environmental Bill of Rights registry. A new, more severe hazardous waste regulation will also take effect on March 31, 2001, whereby testing for 88 contaminants will be done according to a new standard called the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). This new regulation also introduces a new 'derived from' rule which requires that a listed hazardous waste keep its classification until it can be demonstrated otherwise. Ontario's list of hazardous wastes has been updated to include 129 new chemicals and industrial processes. The Ontario Ministry has also adopted the Canada-wide Standards for Particulate Matter and Ozone, as well as the Canada-wide Standards for mercury emissions from base metal smelters as well as from incineration of sewage sludge and municipal, medical, hazardous waste

The challenge of legitimizing spatially differentiated regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorsøe, Martin Hvarregaard; Graversgaard, Morten; Noe, Egon

2017-01-01

Differentiating regulation is a promising approach to agri-environmental regulation that may potentially reduce the environmental impact of agriculture at the lowest possible costs for the farmers and society, but also possesses a number of challenges. In this article, we explore the challenges...... to the legitimacy of agri-environmental regulation that occurs when the regulatory regime changes from general regulation to differentiated regulation. The analysis is based on a case study of the implementation of the Buffer zone act in Denmark – a regulation that prevents agricultural production in a 10 (later 9......) meter fringe around selected waterbodies. We distinguish between two different ways of legitimizing: Producing knowledge and participation. We conclude that to harvest some of the obvious benefits of differentiated regulation a number of challenges must be resolved, 1) ensuring legitimacy...

Redox regulation of cell proliferation: Bioinformatics and redox proteomics approaches to identify redox-sensitive cell cycle regulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Foyer, Christine H; Wilson, Michael H; Wright, Megan H

2018-03-29

Plant stem cells are the foundation of plant growth and development. The balance of quiescence and division is highly regulated, while ensuring that proliferating cells are protected from the adverse effects of environment fluctuations that may damage the genome. Redox regulation is important in both the activation of proliferation and arrest of the cell cycle upon perception of environmental stress. Within this context, reactive oxygen species serve as 'pro-life' signals with positive roles in the regulation of the cell cycle and survival. However, very little is known about the metabolic mechanisms and redox-sensitive proteins that influence cell cycle progression. We have identified cysteine residues on known cell cycle regulators in Arabidopsis that are potentially accessible, and could play a role in redox regulation, based on secondary structure and solvent accessibility likelihoods for each protein. We propose that redox regulation may function alongside other known posttranslational modifications to control the functions of core cell cycle regulators such as the retinoblastoma protein. Since our current understanding of how redox regulation is involved in cell cycle control is hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding both which residues are important and how modification of those residues alters protein function, we discuss how critical redox modifications can be mapped at the molecular level. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Negative regulation of NOD1 mediated angiogenesis by PPARγ-regulated miR-125a

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Hyesoo; Park, Youngsook; Lee, Aram; Seo, Hyemin; Kim, Min Jung; Choi, Jihea; Jo, Ha-neul; Jeong, Ha-neul; Cho, Jin Gu; Chang, Woochul; Lee, Myeong-Sok; Jeon, Raok; Kim, Jongmin

2017-01-01

Infection with pathogens activates the endothelial cell and its sustained activation may result in impaired endothelial function. Endothelial dysfunction contributes to the pathologic angiogenesis that is characteristic of infection-induced inflammatory pathway activation. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1 (NOD1) is a protein receptor which recognizes bacterial molecules and stimulates an immune reaction in various cells; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms in the regulation of inflammation-triggered angiogenesis are not fully understood. Here we report that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ)-mediated miR-125a serves as an important regulator of NOD1 agonist-mediated angiogenesis in endothelial cells by directly targeting NOD1. Treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells with natural PPARγ ligand, 15-Deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2, led to inhibition of NOD1 expression; contrarily, protein levels of NOD1 were significantly increased by PPARγ knockdown. We report that PPARγ regulation of NOD1 expression is a novel microRNA-mediated regulation in endothelial cells. MiR-125a expression was markedly decreased in human umbilical vein endothelial cells subjected to PPARγ knockdown while 15-Deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 treatment increased the level of miR-125a. In addition, NOD1 is closely regulated by miR-125a, which directly targets the 3′ untranslated region of NOD1. Moreover, both overexpression of miR-125a and PPARγ activation led to inhibition of NOD1 agonist-induced tube formation in endothelial cells. Finally, NOD1 agonist increased the formation of cranial and subintestinal vessel plexus in zebrafish, and this effect was abrogated by concurrent PPARγ activation. Overall, these findings identify a PPARγ-miR-125a-NOD1 signaling axis in endothelial cells that is critical in the regulation of inflammation-mediated angiogenesis. - Highlights: • Expression of NOD1 is regulated by

46 CFR 515.34 - Regulated Persons Index.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Regulated Persons Index. 515.34 Section 515.34 Shipping FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION REGULATIONS AFFECTING OCEAN SHIPPING IN FOREIGN COMMERCE LICENSING, FINANCIAL... Commission § 515.34 Regulated Persons Index. The Regulated Persons Index is a database containing the names...

No. 434 - Radiation Control Regulation 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This Regulation, made under the Radiation Control Act 1990, replaces the Radioactive Substances Regulation 1959, repealed by the 1990 Act. It deals with licensing of the use of radioactive substances and radiation apparatus, regulates their use, disposal and transport. It also provides for radiation monitoring and emergency planning. (NEA)

25 CFR 275.4 - Implementing regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Implementing regulations. 275.4 Section 275.4 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND EDUCATION ASSISTANCE ACT PROGRAM STAFFING § 275.4 Implementing regulations. Regulations to implement section 105 of the Act...

Banking regulation and market making

OpenAIRE

Cimon, David A.; Garriott, Corey

2017-01-01

We present a model of market makers subject to recent banking regulations: liquidity and capital constraints in the style of Basel III and a position limit in the style of the Volcker Rule. Regulation causes market makers to reduce their intermediation by refusing principal positions. However, it can improve the bid-ask spread because it induces new market makers to enter. Since market makers intermediate less, asset prices exhibit a liquidity premium. Costs of regulation can be assessed by m...

7 CFR 319.77-2 - Regulated articles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Regulated articles. 319.77-2 Section 319.77-2....77-2 Regulated articles. In order to prevent the spread of gypsy moth from Canada into noninfested... section are designated as regulated articles. Regulated articles may be imported into the United States...

7 CFR 301.91-2 - Regulated articles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Regulated articles. 301.91-2 Section 301.91-2... Regulations § 301.91-2 Regulated articles. The following are regulated articles: (a) Logs, pulpwood, branches...) Any other product, article, or means of conveyance, of any character whatsoever, not covered by...

48 CFR Appendix - Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Index

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Index Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION CONTRACT... (IFMS) Contract clause. FAR Index Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Index Editorial Note: This...

Repertoires of emotion regulation: A person-centered approach to assessing emotion regulation strategies and links to psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon-Gordon, Katherine L; Aldao, Amelia; De Los Reyes, Andres

2015-01-01

Despite growing research on emotion regulation (ER) strategies and psychopathology, research has primarily focused on identifying one-to-one associations between ER strategies and symptoms. Thus, little is known about how patterns in the repertoires of ER strategies are associated with different mental disorders. We utilised latent class analysis to identify distinct repertoires of ER strategies, and their links with various psychopathology domains (i.e., anxiety, depression, disordered eating, borderline personality). Participants (N = 531) reported on their use of seven ER strategies in six recalled stressful contexts, as well as on their symptoms of psychopathology. We identified five classes of ER strategies: Low Regulators (n = 168), High Regulators (n = 140), Adaptive Regulators (n = 99), Worriers/Ruminators (n = 96) and Avoiders (n = 28). Generally, High Regulators and Worriers/Ruminators endorsed greater levels of psychopathology, relative to Low and Adaptive Regulators. Our findings underscore the importance of characterising the dynamics of ER repertoires when seeking to understand links between ER strategies and psychopathology.

Regulations for ionizing radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

General regulations and principles of radiation protection and safety are presented. In addition, the regulations for licensing and occupational and medical exposure as well as for safe transport of radioactive materials and wastes are given

Radiation emitting devices regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1970-01-01

The Radiation Emitting Devices Regulations are the regulations referred to in the Radiation Emitting Devices Act and relate to the operation of devices. They include standards of design and construction, standards of functioning, warning symbol specifications in addition to information relating to the seizure and detention of machines failing to comply with the regulations. The radiation emitting devices consist of the following: television receivers, extra-oral dental x-ray equipment, microwave ovens, baggage inspection x-ray devices, demonstration--type gas discharge devices, photofluorographic x-ray equipment, laser scanners, demonstration lasers, low energy electron microscopes, high intensity mercury vapour discharge lamps, sunlamps, diagnostic x-ray equipment, ultrasound therapy devices, x-ray diffraction equipment, cabinet x-ray equipment and therapeutic x-ray equipment

7 CFR 301.81-2 - Regulated articles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Regulated articles. 301.81-2 Section 301.81-2... Regulations § 301.81-2 Regulated articles. The following are regulated articles: (a) Imported fire ant queens... other articles, except potting soil that is shipped in original containers in which the soil was placed...

DUB3 Deubiquitylating Enzymes Regulate Hippo Pathway Activity by Regulating the Stability of ITCH, LATS and AMOT Proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nguyen, Thanh Hung; Kugler, Jan-Michael; Cohen, Stephen Michael

2017-01-01

/TAZ, is regulated by ubiquitin mediated protein turnover and several ubiquitin ligase complexes have been implicated in human cancer. However, little is known about the deubiquitylating enzymes that counteract these ubiquitin ligases in regulation of the Hippo pathway. Here we identify the DUB3 family...... deubiquitylating enzymes as regulators of Hippo pathway activity. We provide evidence that DUB3 proteins regulate YAP/TAZ activity by controlling the stability of the E3 ligase ITCH, the LATS kinases and the AMOT family proteins. As a novel Hippo pathway regulator, DUB3 has the potential to act a tumor suppressor...

Emotional Intelligence of Self Regulated Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Rathore, Ami

2018-01-01

The study was conducted on self regulated learners of senior secondary school. The main objectives of the study were to find out significant dimensions of emotional intelligence held by self regulated learners. To compare the emotional intelligence dimensions of self regulated learners, in terms of subject and gender. To find out the relationship…

Molecular Regulation of Histamine Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hua Huang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Histamine is a critical mediator of IgE/mast cell-mediated anaphylaxis, a neurotransmitter and a regulator of gastric acid secretion. Histamine is a monoamine synthesized from the amino acid histidine through a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC, which removes carboxyl group from histidine. Despite the importance of histamine, transcriptional regulation of HDC gene expression in mammals is still poorly understood. In this review, we focus on discussing advances in the understanding of molecular regulation of mammalian histamine synthesis.

Performance-based regulation. Panel Discussion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youngblood, Robert; Bier, Vicki M.; Bukowski, Richard W.; Prasad Kadambi, N.; Koonce, James F.

2001-01-01

Full text of publication follows: Performance-based regulation is a part of the NRC's Strategic Plan and is realizing steady progress in conceptual development for actual applications. For example, high-level, conceptual guidelines have been proposed that would apply to reactors, materials, and waste areas. Performance-based approaches are also being applied in other regulated industries such as FAA and OSHA. The discussion will include comments from speakers from different parts of the nuclear industry and other industries regarding benefits and weaknesses of performance-based regulation. (authors)

Metabolic regulation of yeast

Science.gov (United States)

Fiechter, A.

1982-12-01

Metabolic regulation which is based on endogeneous and exogeneous process variables which may act constantly or time dependently on the living cell is discussed. The observed phenomena of the regulation are the result of physical, chemical, and biological parameters. These parameters are identified. Ethanol is accumulated as an intermediate product and the synthesis of biomass is reduced. This regulatory effect of glucose is used for the aerobic production of ethanol. Very high production rates are thereby obtained. Understanding of the regulation mechanism of the glucose effect has improved. In addition to catabolite repression, several other mechanisms of enzyme regulation have been described, that are mostly governed by exogeneous factors. Glucose also affects the control of respiration in a third class of yeasts which are unable to make use of ethanol as a substrate for growth. This is due to the lack of any anaplerotic activity. As a consequence, diauxic growth behavior is reduced to a one-stage growth with a drastically reduced cell yield. The pulse chemostat technique, a systematic approach for medium design is developed and medium supplements that are essential for metabolic control are identified.

76 FR 9988 - Improving EPA Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-23

... suggestions do you have for how the Agency could change the regulations to be more flexible? 6. Benefits and... public input on the design of a plan to use for periodic retrospective review of its regulations. DATES... At this time, EPA seeks help in designing the plan it will use for periodic review of regulations...

Psychosocial and behavioural factors in the regulation of weight: Self-regulation, self-efficacy and locus control.

Science.gov (United States)

Menéndez-González, Lara; Orts-Cortés, María Isabel

To identify the relationship and behaviour of the variables of self-control, self-efficacy and locus control in weight regulation of obese, overweight and normal weight adults. Transversal study undertaken in the Health Centre of El Coto (Gijón) from 1st April to 30th July 2015. Subjects between 18-65 years of age with a body mass index recording within the last two years. serious medical illness, eating disorders or pregnant women. Behavioural variables: self-regulation of body weight (Inventory of self-control of body weight), perceived self-efficacy in weight regulation (Inventory of perceived self-efficacy in weight regulation) and locus control in weight regulation (Inventory of locus control in weight regulation). Anthropometric variables: weight (kg) and height (m), body mass index. One hundred and six participants were included: 32 were obese, 28 overweight and 46 normal weight. Significant differences were found between the 3 study groups for total scale of self-efficacy (F=61.77; pcontrol (F=13.92; p=.019), other weighty influences of locus control (F=9.21; pcontrol (F=3.50; p=.011). The relationship between body mass index and behavioural variables of self-efficacy, self-regulation and locus control, suggests the need for healthcare professionals to include psychological factors of behaviour in any preventive action and intervention directed at weight control. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Regulation of Autophagy by Kinases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sridharan, Savitha; Jain, Kirti; Basu, Alakananda

2011-01-01

Autophagy is a process of self-degradation that maintains cellular viability during periods of metabolic stress. Although autophagy is considered a survival mechanism when faced with cellular stress, extensive autophagy can also lead to cell death. Aberrations in autophagy are associated with several diseases, including cancer. Therapeutic exploitation of this process requires a clear understanding of its regulation. Although the core molecular components involved in the execution of autophagy are well studied there is limited information on how cellular signaling pathways, particularly kinases, regulate this complex process. Protein kinases are integral to the autophagy process. Atg1, the first autophagy-related protein identified, is a serine/threonine kinase and it is regulated by another serine/threonine kinase mTOR. Emerging studies suggest the participation of many different kinases in regulating various components/steps of this catabolic process. This review focuses on the regulation of autophagy by several kinases with particular emphasis on serine/threonine protein kinases such as mTOR, AMP-activated protein kinase, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK, p38 and JNK) and protein kinase C that are often deregulated in cancer and are important therapeutic targets

Regulation of Autophagy by Kinases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sridharan, Savitha; Jain, Kirti; Basu, Alakananda, E-mail: alakananda.basu@unthsc.edu [Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107 (United States)

2011-06-09

Autophagy is a process of self-degradation that maintains cellular viability during periods of metabolic stress. Although autophagy is considered a survival mechanism when faced with cellular stress, extensive autophagy can also lead to cell death. Aberrations in autophagy are associated with several diseases, including cancer. Therapeutic exploitation of this process requires a clear understanding of its regulation. Although the core molecular components involved in the execution of autophagy are well studied there is limited information on how cellular signaling pathways, particularly kinases, regulate this complex process. Protein kinases are integral to the autophagy process. Atg1, the first autophagy-related protein identified, is a serine/threonine kinase and it is regulated by another serine/threonine kinase mTOR. Emerging studies suggest the participation of many different kinases in regulating various components/steps of this catabolic process. This review focuses on the regulation of autophagy by several kinases with particular emphasis on serine/threonine protein kinases such as mTOR, AMP-activated protein kinase, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK, p38 and JNK) and protein kinase C that are often deregulated in cancer and are important therapeutic targets.

Regulation of Autophagy by Kinases

Science.gov (United States)

Sridharan, Savitha; Jain, Kirti; Basu, Alakananda

2011-01-01

Autophagy is a process of self-degradation that maintains cellular viability during periods of metabolic stress. Although autophagy is considered a survival mechanism when faced with cellular stress, extensive autophagy can also lead to cell death. Aberrations in autophagy are associated with several diseases, including cancer. Therapeutic exploitation of this process requires a clear understanding of its regulation. Although the core molecular components involved in the execution of autophagy are well studied there is limited information on how cellular signaling pathways, particularly kinases, regulate this complex process. Protein kinases are integral to the autophagy process. Atg1, the first autophagy-related protein identified, is a serine/threonine kinase and it is regulated by another serine/threonine kinase mTOR. Emerging studies suggest the participation of many different kinases in regulating various components/steps of this catabolic process. This review focuses on the regulation of autophagy by several kinases with particular emphasis on serine/threonine protein kinases such as mTOR, AMP-activated protein kinase, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK, p38 and JNK) and protein kinase C that are often deregulated in cancer and are important therapeutic targets. PMID:24212825

Regulation of Autophagy by Kinases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savitha Sridharan

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Autophagy is a process of self-degradation that maintains cellular viability during periods of metabolic stress. Although autophagy is considered a survival mechanism when faced with cellular stress, extensive autophagy can also lead to cell death. Aberrations in autophagy are associated with several diseases, including cancer. Therapeutic exploitation of this process requires a clear understanding of its regulation. Although the core molecular components involved in the execution of autophagy are well studied there is limited information on how cellular signaling pathways, particularly kinases, regulate this complex process. Protein kinases are integral to the autophagy process. Atg1, the first autophagy-related protein identified, is a serine/threonine kinase and it is regulated by another serine/threonine kinase mTOR. Emerging studies suggest the participation of many different kinases in regulating various components/steps of this catabolic process. This review focuses on the regulation of autophagy by several kinases with particular emphasis on serine/threonine protein kinases such as mTOR, AMP-activated kinase, Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK, p38 and JNK and protein kinase C that are often deregulated in cancer and are important therapeutic targets.

Cosmetic Regulations: A Comparative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Suhag, Jyoti; Dureja, Harish

2015-01-01

The regulatory framework, compliance requirement, efficacy, safety, and marketing of cosmetic products are considered the most important factors for growth of the cosmetic industry. There are different regulatory bodies across the globe that have their own insights for regulation; moreover, governments such as the United States, European Union, and Japan follow a stringent regulatory framework, whereas cosmetics are not so much strictly regulated in countries such as India, Brazil, and China. The alignment of a regulatory framework will play a significant role in the removal of barriers to trade, growth of market at an international level, innovation in the development and presentation of new products, and most importantly safety and efficacy of the marketed products. The present contribution gives insight into the important cosmetic regulations in areas of premarket approval, ingredient control, and labeling and warnings, with a special focus on the cosmetic regulatory environments in the United States, European Union, Japan, and India. Most importantly, the authors highlight the dark side of cosmetics associated with allergic reactions and even skin cancer. The importance of cosmetic regulations has been highlighted by dint of which the society can be healthier, accomplished by more stringent and harmonized regulations.

Self-regulation as a type of managerial activity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Algazina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available УДК 342.9The subject. In the context of the ongoing administrative reform in the Russian Federation the issue of self-regulation is becoming increasingly important.Introduction of Institute of self-regulation is intended to reduce the degree of state intervention in private spheres of professional activity, to eliminate excessive administrative barriers, reduce government expenditures on regulation and control in their respective areas of operation, which is especially important in the current economic conditions.However, in Russian legal science is no recognized definition of "self-regulation", but a unity of views on the question of the relationship between self-regulation and state regulation of business relations.In this regard, the author attempts to examine the concept of "self-regulation" through the prism of knowledge about public administration.The purpose of the article is to identify the essential features and to articulate the concept of self-regulation by comparing it with other varieties of regulation.Methodology. The methodological basis for the study: general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison, description; private and academic (interpretation, formal-legal.Results, scope. Based on the analysis allocated in the science of administrative law approaches to the system of public administration justifies the conclusion that the notion "regulation" is specific in relation to the generic concept of "management" and is a kind of management, consisting in the drafting of rules of conduct and sanctions for non-compliance or inadequate performance.In addition, the article highlights the problem of the genesis of self-regulation, building a system of principles of self-regulation, comparison of varieties of self-regulatory organizations among themselves.Conclusions. The comparison of self-regulation other types of regulation (such as state regulation and co-regulation highlighted the essential features of this phenomenon

Ceramide-induced TCR up-regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Menné, C; Lauritsen, Jens Peter Holst; Dietrich, J

2000-01-01

to increase T cell responsiveness. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize potential pathways for TCR up-regulation. We found that ceramide affected TCR recycling dynamics and induced TCR up-regulation in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Experiments applying phosphatase......The TCR is a constitutively recycling receptor meaning that a constant fraction of TCR from the plasma membrane is transported inside the cell at the same time as a constant fraction of TCR from the intracellular pool is transported to the plasma membrane. TCR recycling is affected by protein...... kinase C activity. Thus, an increase in protein kinase C activity affects TCR recycling kinetics leading to a new TCR equilibrium with a reduced level of TCR expressed at the T cell surface. Down-regulation of TCR expression compromises T cell activation. Conversely, TCR up-regulation is expected...

A study on the relevance and influence of the existing regulation and risk informed/performance based regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheong, B. J.; Kang, J. M.; Kim, H. S.; Koh, S. H.; Kang, D. H.; Park, C. H. [Cheju Univ., Jeju (Korea, Republic of)

2003-02-15

The goal of this study is to estimate the relevance and Influence of the Existing Regulation and the RI-PBR to the institutionalization of the regulatory system. This study reviews the current regulatory system and the status of the RI-PBR implementation of the US NRC and Korea based upon SECY Papers, Risk Informed Regulation Implementation Plan (RIRIP) of the US NRC and other domestic studies. In order to investigate the perceptions, knowledge level, ground for the regulatory change, a survey was performed to Korean nuclear utilities, researchers and regulators on the perception on the RIR. The questionnaire was composed of 50 questions regarding personal details on work experience, level of education and specific field of work ; level of knowledge on the risk informed performance based regulation (RI-PBR); the perception of the current regulation, the effectiveness, level of procedure, flexibility, dependency on the regulator and personal view, and the perception of the RI-PBR such as flexibility of regulation, introduction time and the effect of RI-PBR, safety improvement, public perception, parts of the existing regulatory system that should be changed, etc. 515 answered from all sectors of the nuclear field; utilities, engineering companies, research institutes, and regulatory bodies.

Analysis of metabolic networks of Streptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34 by means of a genome scale model: Prediction of modifications that enhance the production of specialized metabolites.

Science.gov (United States)

Razmilic, Valeria; Castro, Jean F; Andrews, Barbara; Asenjo, Juan A

2018-07-01

The first genome scale model (GSM) for Streptomyces leeuwenhoekii C34 was developed to study the biosynthesis pathways of specialized metabolites and to find metabolic engineering targets for enhancing their production. The model, iVR1007, consists of 1,722 reactions, 1,463 metabolites, and 1,007 genes, it includes the biosynthesis pathways of chaxamycins, chaxalactins, desferrioxamines, ectoine, and other specialized metabolites. iVR1007 was validated using experimental information of growth on 166 different sources of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous, showing an 83.7% accuracy. The model was used to predict metabolic engineering targets for enhancing the biosynthesis of chaxamycins and chaxalactins. Gene knockouts, such as sle03600 (L-homoserine O-acetyltransferase), and sle39090 (trehalose-phosphate synthase), that enhance the production of the specialized metabolites by increasing the pool of precursors were identified. Using the algorithm of flux scanning based on enforced objective flux (FSEOF) implemented in python, 35 and 25 over-expression targets for increasing the production of chaxamycin A and chaxalactin A, respectively, that were not directly associated with their biosynthesis routes were identified. Nineteen over-expression targets that were common to the two specialized metabolites studied, like the over-expression of the acetyl carboxylase complex (sle47660 (accA) and any of the following genes: sle44630 (accA_1) or sle39830 (accA_2) or sle27560 (bccA) or sle59710) were identified. The predicted knockouts and over-expression targets will be used to perform metabolic engineering of S. leeuwenhoekii C34 and obtain overproducer strains. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparison of pulsed fluoroscopy by direct control using a grid-controlled x-ray tube with pulsed fluoroscopy by primary control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chida, Koichi; Zuguchi, Masayuki; Ito, Daisuke; Sato, Kunihiko; Shimura, Hirotaka; Sasaki, Masatoshi

2001-01-01

Interventional radiology (IVR) procedures may involve high radiation doses that are potentially harmful to the patient. In IVR procedures, pulsed fluoroscopy can greatly decrease the radiation that the physician and patient receive. There are two types of pulsed fluoroscopy: direct control and primary (indirect) control. The purpose of this study was to compare pulsed fluoroscopy by direct control, using a grid-controlled x-ray tube, with pulsed fluoroscopy using primary control. For both types of pulsed fluoroscopy, we measured the waveforms (x-ray tube voltage, x-ray tube current, and x-ray output) and the relative radiation dose. In addition, we compared the decrease in radiation during pulsed fluoroscopy using a care filter. The studies were performed using a Siemens Bicor Plus x-ray System (direct control) and a Siemens Multistar Plus x-ray System (primary control). Using primary pulse control, a 50% decrease in the x-ray output waveform took approximately 0.5-1.0 msec, or longer with a lower x-ray tube current. Using direct pulse control, a 50% decrease in the x-ray output waveform took approximately 0.1 msec, and was independent of x-ray tube current. The rate of radiation reduction with primary pulse control using the care filter with a lower x-ray tube current had a slope exceeding 10%. Pulsed fluoroscopy by direct control using a grid-controlled x-ray tube permits an optimal radiation dose. To decrease the radiation in primary pulse control, a care filter must be used, particularly with a lower x-ray tube current. (author)

A Preliminary Study of the Core Catcher System on Various Stud Shapes using FLUENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Uiju; Seo, Gwang Hyeok; Jeun, Gyoodong; Kim, Sung Joong [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

As a kind of in-vessel retention (IVR) strategies, reactor cavity flooding is used for Westinghouse's AP1000 and South Korea's OPR1000. Moreover, the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) has adopted an ex-vessel core catcher strategy rather than the IVR strategy. Although the mitigation strategies suggested are vigorously considered, there are still various issues due to its uncertainties and complex phenomena during severe accidents. In this study, to assess the effect of studs installed on the core catcher body, a CFD analysis for coolant channels having rectangular or cylinder shaped studs is carried out. In this study, numerical simulations for the different stud shapes of the core catcher system were carried out using ANSYS FLUENT. For a comparison work, the rectangular and cylinder shaped stud were modeled with the same initial and boundary conditions. The major findings observed from this study can be summarized as follows. - The simulation results showed the 31% reduced amount of pressure drop for the case of the cylinder shaped studs as compared with the reference case, which is for the rectangular studs. - The tendency of reduced pressure drop is well in accord with the flow distribution. The fluid velocities around the studs were greatly distorted for the rectangular studs than those around the cylinder studs. - The distorted stream of fluid could affect heat transfer from core catcher body, and result in locally additional damages. This result may suggest the necessity of finding an optimized stud shape. For more improved comparison work, an additional simulation is planned including different stud shapes.

Validation of NEPTUNE-CFD on ULPU-V experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jamet, Mathieu, E-mail: mathieu.jamet@edf.fr; Lavieville, Jerome; Atkhen, Kresna; Mechitoua, Namane

2015-11-15

In-vessel retention (IVR) of molten corium through external cooling of the reactor pressure vessel is one possible means of severe accident mitigation for a class of nuclear power plants. The aim is to successfully terminate the progression of a core melt within the reactor vessel. The probability of success depends on the efficacy of the cooling strategy; hence one of the key aspects of an IVR demonstration relates to the heat removal capability through the vessel wall by convection and boiling in the external water flow. This is only possible if the in-vessel thermal loading is lower than the local critical heat flux expected along the outer wall of the vessel, which is in turn highly dependent on the flow characteristics between the vessel and the insulator. The NEPTUNE-CFD multiphase flow solver is used to obtain a better understanding at local scale of the thermal hydraulics involved in this situation. The validation of the NEPTUNE-CFD code on the ULPU-V facility experiments carried out at the University of California Santa Barbara is presented as a first attempt of using CFD codes at EDF to address such an issue. Two types of computation are performed. On the one hand, a steady state algorithm is used to compute natural circulation flow rates and differential pressures and, on the other, a transient algorithm computation reveals the oscillatory nature of the pressure data recorded in the ULPU facility. Several dominant frequencies are highlighted. In both cases, the CFD simulations reproduce reasonably well the experimental data for these quantities.

Oxidation effect on steel corrosion and thermal loads during corium melt in-vessel retention

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Granovsky, V.S.; Khabensky, V.B.; Krushinov, E.V.; Vitol, S.A.; Sulatsky, A.A.; Almjashev, V.I. [Alexandrov Scientific-Research Technology Institute (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation); Bechta, S.V. [KTH, Stockholm (Sweden); Gusarov, V.V. [SPb State Technology University (SPbGTU), St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Barrachin, M. [Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), St Paul lez Durance (France); Bottomley, P.D., E-mail: paul.bottomley@ec.europa.eu [EC-Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), Karlsruhe (Germany); Fischer, M. [AREVA GmbH, Erlangen (Germany); Piluso, P. [Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Cadarache, St Paul lez Durance (France)

2014-10-15

Highlights: • The METCOR facility simulates vessel steel corrosion in contact with corium. • Steel corrosion rates in UO{sub 2+x}–ZrO{sub 2}–FeO{sub y} coria accelerate above 1050 K. • However corrosion rates can also be limited by melt O{sub 2} supply. • The impact of this on in-vessel retention (IVR) strategy is discussed. - Abstract: During a severe accident with core meltdown, the in-vessel molten core retention is challenged by the vessel steel ablation due to thermal and physicochemical interaction of melt with steel. In accidents with oxidizing atmosphere above the melt surface, a low melting point UO{sub 2+x}–ZrO{sub 2}–FeO{sub y} corium pool can form. In this case ablation of the RPV steel interacting with the molten corium is a corrosion process. Experiments carried out within the International Scientific and Technology Center's (ISTC) METCOR Project have shown that the corrosion rate can vary and depends on both surface temperature of the RPV steel and oxygen potential of the melt. If the oxygen potential is low, the corrosion rate is controlled by the solid phase diffusion of Fe ions in the corrosion layer. At high oxygen potential and steel surface layer temperature of 1050 °C and higher, the corrosion rate intensifies because of corrosion layer liquefaction and liquid phase diffusion of Fe ions. The paper analyzes conditions under which corrosion intensification occurs and can impact on in-vessel melt retention (IVR)

Introduction to international radio regulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Radicella, S M [Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste (Italy)

2003-12-15

These lecture notes contain an overview of basic problems of the International Radio Regulations. Access to the existing information infrastructure, and to that of the future Information Society, depends critically on radio, especially in poor, remote and sparsely populated regions with under-developed telecommunication infrastructure. How the spectrum of radio frequencies is regulated has profound impact on the society, its security, prosperity, and culture. The radio regulations represent a very important framework for an adequate use of radio and should be known by all of those working in the field.

Introduction to international radio regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radicella, S.M.

2003-01-01

These lecture notes contain an overview of basic problems of the International Radio Regulations. Access to the existing information infrastructure, and to that of the future Information Society, depends critically on radio, especially in poor, remote and sparsely populated regions with under-developed telecommunication infrastructure. How the spectrum of radio frequencies is regulated has profound impact on the society, its security, prosperity, and culture. The radio regulations represent a very important framework for an adequate use of radio and should be known by all of those working in the field

Nanometrology - challenges for health regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jailton Carreteiro Damasceno

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The relationship between metrology, nanotechnology and nanoscience and sanitary regulation is discussed from the point of view of its importance and the interrelationship between the themes for the development of products and services involving nanotech-nology. The discussion involves the main techniques for measuring dimensional, chemical and biological properties of materials, and presents some of the challenges for the future. Issues such as processes of standardization and regulation in Europe, U.S. and Brazil are also addressed, providing an overview of how these processes are related to sanitary regulation.

Designing Next Generation Telecom Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henten, Anders; Samarajiva, Rohan; Melody, William H.

2003-01-01

This article critically examines the multiple rationales for telecom, IT, media convergence regulation, on the one hand, and multisector utility regulation, on the other, and the practical questions of implementation they pose, with a view to contributing to informed policy and regulatory decisions...... to the regulatory process such as scarcity of regulatory resources and safeguards for regulatory independence, are examined. It is concluded that ICT and media convergence issues are primarily about improving the efficiency of market economies, and how changes in regulation can facilitate this process. Multi...

MicroRNA regulation of Autophagy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frankel, Lisa B; Lund, Anders H

2012-01-01

recently contributed to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the autophagy machinery, yet several gaps remain in our knowledge of this process. The discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) established a new paradigm of post-transcriptional gene regulation and during the past decade these small non......RNAs to regulation of the autophagy pathway. This regulation occurs both through specific core pathway components as well as through less well-defined mechanisms. Although this field is still in its infancy, we are beginning to understand the potential implications of these initial findings, both from a pathological...

Endothelin-1 Regulation of exercise-induced changes in flow: Dynamic regulation of vascular tone

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rapoport, R.M. (Robert M.); D. Merkus (Daphne)

2017-01-01

textabstractAlthough endothelin (ET)-1 is a highly potent vasoconstrictor with considerable efficacy in numerous vascular beds, the role of endogenous ET-1 in the regulation of vascular tone remains unclear. The perspective that ET-1 plays little role in the on-going regulation of vascular tone at

Concurring Regulation in European Forest Law; Forest Certification and the New EU Timber Regulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kistenkas, F.H.

2013-01-01

Newly made EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) may prima facie look like competing regulation and an overlap of the existing forest certification schemes of FSC and PEFC as also EUTR combats illegally harvested timber. The novel EUTR, however, is a public law scheme wheras FSC and PEFC are private law

Corruption and optimal regulation under common agency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Hemsley

2016-05-01

Full Text Available I show that it is optimal to separate non-benevolent regulators when regulated projects are large. Separation prevents regulators from coordinating to appropriate all of the agent's informational rent when they know the type of the latter; therefore, there is a trade-off between saving on informational rent and efficiency, since the game between the regulators induced by separation causes further distortions when compared to the allocation under one regulator. When the informational rent at stake is large due to the size of the project, separation is the optimal institutional answer.

Public and private regulation of reproductive technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Byk, C

1995-01-01

Human reproduction is interrelated with privacy. However, in most countries where new reproductive technologies are used public regulations have been passed to provide a legal framework for such technologies. This interference in private life can be justified by the need to control medical intervention in the human reproductive process. But in order to find a balance between public regulations and other social regulations, this article analyses the impact private regulation may have on issues raised by reproductive technologies. It also addresses the issue of the influence of private bodies on the drafting of public regulations.

Environmental contaminants and microRNA regulation: Transcription factors as regulators of toxicant-altered microRNA expression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sollome, James; Martin, Elizabeth [Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (United States); Sethupathy, Praveen [Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States); Fry, Rebecca C., E-mail: rfry@unc.edu [Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (United States); Curriculum in Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)

2016-12-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by binding mRNA and inhibiting translation and/or inducing degradation of the associated transcripts. Expression levels of miRNAs have been shown to be altered in response to environmental toxicants, thus impacting cellular function and influencing disease risk. Transcription factors (TFs) are known to be altered in response to environmental toxicants and play a critical role in the regulation of miRNA expression. To date, environmentally-responsive TFs that are important for regulating miRNAs remain understudied. In a state-of-the-art analysis, we utilized an in silico bioinformatic approach to characterize potential transcriptional regulators of environmentally-responsive miRNAs. Using the miRStart database, genomic sequences of promoter regions for all available human miRNAs (n = 847) were identified and promoter regions were defined as − 1000/+500 base pairs from the transcription start site. Subsequently, the promoter region sequences of environmentally-responsive miRNAs (n = 128) were analyzed using enrichment analysis to determine overrepresented TF binding sites (TFBS). While most (56/73) TFs differed across environmental contaminants, a set of 17 TFs was enriched for promoter binding among miRNAs responsive to numerous environmental contaminants. Of these, one TF was common to miRNAs altered by the majority of environmental contaminants, namely SWI/SNF-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily A, member 3 (SMARCA3). These identified TFs represent candidate common transcriptional regulators of miRNAs perturbed by environmental toxicants. - Highlights: • Transcription factors that regulate environmentally-modulated miRNA expression are understudied • Transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) located within DNA promoter regions of miRNAs were identified. • Specific transcription factors may serve as master regulators of environmentally-mediated microRNA expression.

Risk based regulation: a convenient concept for legislation and regulation in the field of technical risks?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seiler, J.H.

1998-01-01

Legislation and regulation concerning risk activities are traditionally based on deterministic safety measures. This may lead to inefficient results: sometimes the law requires safety measures which are - from an economic viewpoint - not justified because of their poor cost-effectiveness; sometimes it does not require safety measures although they would be very efficient. The risk based regulation approach wants to make the law more efficient and to get more safety at less costs. Legislation and regulation should be based on terms of risk rather than on deterministic rules. Risk should be expressed in quantitative terms and risk regulation should be based on the cost-effectiveness of safety measures. Thus a most efficient (in the sense of the economic analysis of the law) strategy for safety and environmental law could be established. The approach is economically reasonable and theoretically convincing. Its practical implementation however raises a lot of technical and legal questions. The project 'Risk Based Regulation' (1996-1999), sponsored by the Swiss National Fund for Scientific Research, intends to evaluate the practical feasibility of the approach from a technical and a legal view. It contains a general part which describes the risk based regulation approach and its legal and technical questions, case studies which try to practically implement the risk based regulation approach; the case studies are: storage and management of explosives in the army, storage and management of explosives for non-military purposes, safety at work, accident prevention in the non-professional field (mainly road accidents), fire protection, transportation of dangerous goods, waste disposal: traditional waste, waste disposal: radioactive waste, nuclear energy (reactor safety), a synthesis with recommendations for the future legislation and regulation in the field of technical risks. The paper presents the project and its preliminary results. (author)

Environmental contaminants and microRNA regulation: Transcription factors as regulators of toxicant-altered microRNA expression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sollome, James; Martin, Elizabeth; Sethupathy, Praveen; Fry, Rebecca C.

2016-01-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by binding mRNA and inhibiting translation and/or inducing degradation of the associated transcripts. Expression levels of miRNAs have been shown to be altered in response to environmental toxicants, thus impacting cellular function and influencing disease risk. Transcription factors (TFs) are known to be altered in response to environmental toxicants and play a critical role in the regulation of miRNA expression. To date, environmentally-responsive TFs that are important for regulating miRNAs remain understudied. In a state-of-the-art analysis, we utilized an in silico bioinformatic approach to characterize potential transcriptional regulators of environmentally-responsive miRNAs. Using the miRStart database, genomic sequences of promoter regions for all available human miRNAs (n = 847) were identified and promoter regions were defined as − 1000/+500 base pairs from the transcription start site. Subsequently, the promoter region sequences of environmentally-responsive miRNAs (n = 128) were analyzed using enrichment analysis to determine overrepresented TF binding sites (TFBS). While most (56/73) TFs differed across environmental contaminants, a set of 17 TFs was enriched for promoter binding among miRNAs responsive to numerous environmental contaminants. Of these, one TF was common to miRNAs altered by the majority of environmental contaminants, namely SWI/SNF-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily A, member 3 (SMARCA3). These identified TFs represent candidate common transcriptional regulators of miRNAs perturbed by environmental toxicants. - Highlights: • Transcription factors that regulate environmentally-modulated miRNA expression are understudied • Transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) located within DNA promoter regions of miRNAs were identified. • Specific transcription factors may serve as master regulators of environmentally-mediated microRNA expression

Economic regulation of TSOs in the Nordic countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Syvertsen, S. C.; Steinnes, S. H. [Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo (Norway); Robles, H. B.; Ek, G. [Energy Markets Inspectorate, Eskilstuna (Sweden); Ilonen, M; Nurmi, S. [Energy Market Authority, Helsinki (Finland); Thomsen, H. [Sekretariatet for Energitilsynet, Valby (Denmark)

2012-12-15

The main topic of this report is the economic regulation of the transmission system operators (To) in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). The purpose of this report is to give an overview of the design of the economic regulation and compare the main elements of the regulation between the countries. There is one To in each country. For all countries, the revenues of the Tos are regulated by yearly decisions. In Finland, Norway and Sweden the regulators set an annual revenue cap. In Denmark, the To sets the tariffs according to budget, while the regulator approves the annual report and thereby also approves the tariffs ex post. The economic regulation of TSOs includes both regulation of system operations and the regulation of network operations. Chapter 3 describes in brief the main responsibilities of the system operator in each country and how the costs related to these tasks are regulated. Norway regulates the system operation costs, where 60 percent of the costs are based on a cost-norm which is evaluated periodically. In Finland and Sweden these costs are considered as non-controllable and are passed through directly in the revenue cap. In Denmark only costs considered as necessary at efficient operation shall be included in the tariffs, and the regulators have the opportunity to exclude costs based on this. There are no benchmark or efficiency requirements in the Danish regulation. In chapter 4 the main elements of the economic regulation of network operations are described and compared in tables. All countries regulate the network operations of the TSO. In Denmark there are no explicit efficiency requirements, and the regulation is based on a non-profit principle. The TSO only gets a return based on a price adjustment on its capital base as of 2005. In Finland, Norway and Sweden the regulation include efficiency requirements or benchmarking of costs. In Norway this regards 60 percent of total costs related to the network operations

Collaborative Tax Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boll, Karen

2016-01-01

This article shows a new form of regulation within a tax administration where tax administrators abate tax evasion by nudging and motivating consumers to only purchase services from tax compliant businesses. This indirectly closes or forces tax evading businesses to change their practices, because...... stakeholders, i.e. the consumers, in the regulatory craft. The study is based on a qualitative methodology and draws on a unique case of regulation in the cleaning sector. This sector is at high risk of tax evasion and human exploitation of vulnerable workers operating in the informal economy. The article has...

Environmental regulation and international trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulatu, A.; Florax, R.J.G.M.; Withagen, C.A.A.M.

2004-01-01

We empirically investigate the responsiveness of international trade to the stringency of environmental regulation. Stringent environmental regulation may impair the export competitiveness of ´dirty´ domestic industries, and as a result, ´pollution havens´ emerge in countries where environmental

Endogenous vs. exogenous regulations in the commons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abatayo, Anna Lou; Lynham, John

2016-01-01

It is widely believed that there is strong experimental evidence to support the idea that exogenously imposed regulations crowd out the intrinsic motivations of common pool resource (CPR) users to refrain from over-harvesting. We introduce a novel experimental design that attempts to disentangle...... potential confounds in previous experiments. A key feature of our experimental design is to have the exact same regulations chosen endogenously as those that are imposed exogenously. When we compare the same regulations chosen endogenously to those externally imposed, we observe no differences in extraction...... endogenous regulations with communication and exogenous regulations without communication. Our results suggest that externally imposed regulations do not crowd out intrinsic motivations in the lab and they confirm that communication facilitates cooperation to reduce extraction....

Social regulation of emotion: messy layers

Science.gov (United States)

Kappas, Arvid

2013-01-01

Emotions are evolved systems of intra- and interpersonal processes that are regulatory in nature, dealing mostly with issues of personal or social concern. They regulate social interaction and in extension, the social sphere. In turn, processes in the social sphere regulate emotions of individuals and groups. In other words, intrapersonal processes project in the interpersonal space, and inversely, interpersonal experiences deeply influence intrapersonal processes. Thus, I argue that the concepts of emotion generation and regulation should not be artificially separated. Similarly, interpersonal emotions should not be reduced to interacting systems of intraindividual processes. Instead, we can consider emotions at different social levels, ranging from dyads to large scale e-communities. The interaction between these levels is complex and does not only involve influences from one level to the next. In this sense the levels of emotion/regulation are messy and a challenge for empirical study. In this article, I discuss the concepts of emotions and regulation at different intra- and interpersonal levels. I extend the concept of auto-regulation of emotions (Kappas, 2008, 2011a,b) to social processes. Furthermore, I argue for the necessity of including mediated communication, particularly in cyberspace in contemporary models of emotion/regulation. Lastly, I suggest the use of concepts from systems dynamics and complex systems to tackle the challenge of the “messy layers.” PMID:23424049

Nuclear fuel cycle and legal regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimoyama, Shunji; Kaneko, Koji.

1980-01-01

Nuclear fuel cycle is regulated as a whole in Japan by the law concerning regulation of nuclear raw materials, nuclear fuel materials and reactors (hereafter referred to as ''the law concerning regulation of reactors''), which was published in 1957, and has been amended 13 times. The law seeks to limit the use of atomic energy to peaceful objects, and nuclear fuel materials are controlled centering on the regulation of enterprises which employ nuclear fuel materials, namely regulating each enterprise. While the permission and report of uses are necessary for the employment of nuclear materials under Article 52 and 61 of the law concerning regulation of reactors, the permission provisions are not applied to three kinds of enterprises of refining, processing and reprocessing and the persons who install reactors as the exceptions in Article 52, when nuclear materials are used for the objects of the enterprises themselves. The enterprises of refining, processing and reprocessing and the persons who install reactors are stipulated respectively in the law. Accordingly the nuclear material regulations are applied only to the users of small quantity of such materials, namely universities, research institutes and hospitals. The nuclear fuel materials used in Japan which are imported under international contracts including the nuclear energy agreements between two countries are mostly covered by the security measures of IAEA as internationally controlled substances. (Okada, K.)

Social Regulation of Emotion: Messy Layers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arvid eKappas

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Emotions are evolved systems of intra- and interpersonal processes that are regulatory in nature, dealing mostly with issues of personal or social concern. They regulate social interaction and in extension, the social sphere. In turn, processes in the social sphere regulate emotions of individuals and groups. In other words, intrapersonal processes project in the interpersonal space, and inversely, interpersonal experiences deeply influence intrapersonal processes. Thus, I argue that the concepts of emotion generation and regulation should not be artificially separated. Similarly, interpersonal emotions should not be reduced to interacting systems of intraindividual processes. Instead, we can consider emotions at different social levels, ranging from dyads to large scale e-communities. The interaction between these levels is complex and does not only involve influences from one level to the next. In this sense the levels of emotion/regulation are messy and a challenge for empirical study. In this article, I discuss the concepts of emotions and regulation at different intra- and interpersonal levels. I extend the concept of auto-regulation of emotions (Kappas, 2008. 2011a, 2011b to social processes. Furthermore, I argue for the necessity of including mediated communication, particularly in cyberspace in contemporary models of emotion/regulation. Lastly, I suggest the use of concepts from systems dynamics and complex systems to tackle the challenge of the messy layers.

Does electricity (and heat) network regulation have anything to learn from fixed line telecoms regulation?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollitt, Michael

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the lessons from the recent history of telecoms deregulation for electricity (and by implication heat) network regulation. We do this in the context of Ofgem's RPI-X rate at 20 review of energy regulation in the UK, which considers whether RPI-X-based price regulation is fit for purpose after over 20 years of operation in energy networks. We examine the deregulation of fixed line telecoms in the UK and the lessons which it seems to suggest. We then apply the lessons to electricity networks in the context of a possible increase in distributed generation directly connected to local distribution networks. We conclude that there is the possibility of more parallels over time and suggest several implications of this for the regulation of electricity and heat networks. (author)

Emotion regulation and psychopathology: the role of gender.

Science.gov (United States)

Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan

2012-01-01

This review addresses three questions regarding the relationships among gender, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: (a) are there gender differences in emotion regulation strategies, (b) are emotion regulation strategies similarly related to psychopathology in men and women, and (c) do gender differences in emotion regulation strategies account for gender differences in psychopathology? Women report using most emotion regulation strategies more than men do, and emotion regulation strategies are similarly related to psychopathology in women and men. More rumination in women compared to men partially accounts for greater depression and anxiety in women compared to men, while a greater tendency to use alcohol to cope partially accounts for more alcohol misuse in men compared to women. The literature on emotion regulation is likely missing vital information on how men regulate their emotions. I discuss lessons learned and questions raised about the relationships between gender differences in emotion regulation and gender differences in psychopathology.

[Consideration of Mobile Medical Device Regulation].

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Liang; Yang, Pengfei; He, Weigang

2015-07-01

The regulation of mobile medical devices is one of the hot topics in the industry now. The definition, regulation scope and requirements, potential risks of mobile medical devices were analyzed and discussed based on mobile computing techniques and the FDA guidance of mobile medical applications. The regulation work of mobile medical devices in China needs to adopt the risk-based method.

Arabidopsis SUMO protease ASP1 positively regulates flowering time partially through regulating FLC stability 

KAUST Repository

Kong, Xiangxiong; Luo, Xi; Qu, Gao Ping; Liu, Peng; Jin, Jing Bo

2016-01-01

The initiation of flowering is tightly regulated by the endogenous and environment signals, which is crucial for the reproductive success of flowering plants. It is well known that autonomous and vernalization pathways repress transcription of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a focal floral repressor, but how its protein stability is regulated remains largely unknown. Here, we found that mutations in a novel Arabidopsis SUMO protease 1 (ASP1) resulted in a strong late-flowering phenotype under long-days, but to a lesser extent under short-days. ASP1 localizes in the nucleus and exhibited a SUMO protease activity in vitro and in vivo. The conserved Cys-577 in ASP1 is critical for its enzymatic activity, as well as its physiological function in the regulation of flowering time. Genetic and gene expression analyses demonstrated that ASP1 promotes transcription of positive regulators of flowering, such as FT, SOC1 and FD, and may function in both CO-dependent photoperiod pathway and FLC-dependent pathways. Although the transcription level of FLC was not affected in the loss-of-function asp1 mutant, the protein stability of FLC was increased in the asp1 mutant. Taken together, this study identified a novel bona fide SUMO protease, ASP1, which positively regulates transition to flowering at least partly by repressing FLC protein stability.

Endothelin-1 Regulation of Exercise-Induced Changes in Flow: Dynamic Regulation of Vascular Tone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert M. Rapoport

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Although endothelin (ET-1 is a highly potent vasoconstrictor with considerable efficacy in numerous vascular beds, the role of endogenous ET-1 in the regulation of vascular tone remains unclear. The perspective that ET-1 plays little role in the on-going regulation of vascular tone at least under physiologic conditions is supported by findings that potential ET-1 constriction is minimized by the release of the vasodilator and ET-1 synthesis inhibitor, nitric oxide (NO. Indeed, ET-1 release and constriction is self-limited by ET-1-induced, endothelial ETB receptor-mediated release of NO. Moreover, even if the balance between ET-1 and NO were reversed as the result of lowered NO activity, as occurs in a number of pathophysiologies associated with endothelial dysfunction, the well-known resistance of ET-1 constriction to reversal (as determined with exogenous ET-1 precludes ET-1 in the dynamic, i.e., moment-to-moment, regulation of vascular tone. On the other hand, and as presently reviewed, findings of ET-1-dependent modulation of organ blood flow with exercise under physiologic conditions demonstrate the dynamic regulation of vascular tone by ET-1. We speculate that this regulation is mediated at least in part through changes in ET-1 synthesis/release caused by pulsatile flow-induced shear stress and NO.

Arabidopsis SUMO protease ASP1 positively regulates flowering time partially through regulating FLC stability 

KAUST Repository

Kong, Xiangxiong

2016-12-07

The initiation of flowering is tightly regulated by the endogenous and environment signals, which is crucial for the reproductive success of flowering plants. It is well known that autonomous and vernalization pathways repress transcription of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), a focal floral repressor, but how its protein stability is regulated remains largely unknown. Here, we found that mutations in a novel Arabidopsis SUMO protease 1 (ASP1) resulted in a strong late-flowering phenotype under long-days, but to a lesser extent under short-days. ASP1 localizes in the nucleus and exhibited a SUMO protease activity in vitro and in vivo. The conserved Cys-577 in ASP1 is critical for its enzymatic activity, as well as its physiological function in the regulation of flowering time. Genetic and gene expression analyses demonstrated that ASP1 promotes transcription of positive regulators of flowering, such as FT, SOC1 and FD, and may function in both CO-dependent photoperiod pathway and FLC-dependent pathways. Although the transcription level of FLC was not affected in the loss-of-function asp1 mutant, the protein stability of FLC was increased in the asp1 mutant. Taken together, this study identified a novel bona fide SUMO protease, ASP1, which positively regulates transition to flowering at least partly by repressing FLC protein stability.

The regulation of appetite

OpenAIRE

Druce, M; Bloom, S R

2006-01-01

The worsening global obesity epidemic, particularly the increase in childhood obesity, has prompted research into the mechanisms of appetite regulation. Complex pathways modulate energy balance, involving appetite centres in the hypothalamus and brain stem, and hormonal signals of energy status released by the gut and by the periphery. Better understanding of appetite regulation improves understanding of the aetiology of obesity. Manipulation of this homoeostatic system offers potentially use...

Corruption, Institutions and Regulation

OpenAIRE

Michael Breen; Robert Gillanders

2011-01-01

We analyze the effects of corruption and institutional quality on the quality of business regulation. Our key findings indicate that corruption negatively aspects the quality of regulation and that general institutional quality is insignificant once corruption is controlled for. These findings hold over a number of specifications which include additional exogenous historical and geographic controls. The findings imply that policy-makers should focus on curbing corruption to improve regulat...

The role of regulation in Europe's energy markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Ch.

2005-01-01

In this paper, the author emphasizes the two main issues of the role of a regulation authority in the de-regulated European internal energy markets: regulation and competition and regulation and security of supply. He explains the manner in which the European Commission will organize the preparation of new or revised guidelines under the regulation. (J.S.)

Situation selection is a particularly effective emotion regulation strategy for people who need help regulating their emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Thomas L; Lindquist, Kristen A; Jones, Katelyn; Avishai, Aya; Sheeran, Paschal

2018-03-01

Situation selection involves choosing situations based on their likely emotional impact and may be less cognitively taxing or challenging to implement compared to other strategies for regulating emotion, which require people to regulate their emotions "in the moment"; we thus predicted that individuals who chronically experience intense emotions or who are not particularly competent at employing other emotion regulation strategies would be especially likely to benefit from situation selection. Consistent with this idea, we found that the use of situation selection interacted with individual differences in emotional reactivity and competence at emotion regulation to predict emotional outcomes in both a correlational (Study 1; N = 301) and an experimental field study (Study 2; N = 125). Taken together, the findings suggest that situation selection is an effective strategy for regulating emotions, especially for individuals who otherwise struggle to do so.

Neuroendocrine regulation of appetitive ingestive behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin eKeen-Rhinehart

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Food availability in nature is often irregular, and famine is commonplace. Increased motivation to engage in ingestive behaviors increases the chance of survival, providing additional potential opportunities for reproduction. Because of the advantages conferred by entraining ingestive behavior to environmental conditions, neuroendocrine mechanisms regulating the motivation to acquire and ingest food have evolved to be responsive to exogenous (i.e. food stored for future consumption and endogenous (i.e. body fat stores fuel availability. Motivated behaviors like eating occur in two phases. The appetitive phase brings animals into contact with food (e.g. foraging, food hoarding, and the more reflexive consummatory phase results in ingestion (e.g., chewing, swallowing. Quantifiable appetitive behaviors are part of many the natural ingestive behavioral repertoire of species such as hamsters and humans. This review summarizes current knowledge about neuroendocrine regulators of ingestive behavior, with an emphasis appetitive behavior. We will discuss hormonal regulators of appetitive ingestive behaviors, including the orexigenic hormone ghrelin, which potently stimulates foraging and food hoarding in Siberian hamsters. This section includes a discussion of the hormone leptin, its relation to endogenous fat stores, and its role in food deprivation-induced increases in appetitive ingestive behaviors. Next, we discuss how hormonal regulators interact with neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of ingestive behaviors, such as NPY, AgRP and alpha-MSH, to regulate ingestive behavior. Finally, we discuss the potential impact that perinatal nutrient availability can have on the neuroendocrine regulation of ingestive behavior. Understanding the hormonal mechanisms that connect metabolic fuel availability to central appetite regulatory circuits should provide a better understanding of the neuroendocrine regulation of the motivation to engage in ingestive

Synthetic risks, risk potency, and carcinogen regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Viscusi, W K; Hakes, J K

1998-01-01

This article analyzes a comprehensive sample of over 350 chemicals tested for carcinogenicity to assess the determinants of the probability of regulation. Controlling for differences in the risk potency and noncancer risks, synthetic chemicals have a significantly higher probability of regulation overall: this is due to the greater likelihood of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation. Measures of risk potency increase the probability of regulation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have a somewhat weaker positive effect on regulation by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and decrease the likelihood of regulation by the FDA. The overall regulatory pattern is one in which the FDA targets synthetic chemicals and chemicals that pose relatively minor cancer risk. The EPA particularly performed more sensibly than many critics have suggested.

The regulations of the Nuclear Technology Committee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarzer, W.

1984-01-01

The work of the Nuclear Technology Committee (NTC) is characterised by the key words 'safety related regulations' and 'nuclear technology'. The rationalisation effect desired from regulations and the not unlimited number of experts qualified for working out regulations, make it necessary to establish priorities. The NTC has almost exclusively worked out regulations for nuclear powerstations and mainly for light water reactors. The program defined at present seems to cover the most important areas. Future developments can be foreseen in the execution of the part of the program not yet concluded, the maintenance of the regulations and, depending on the development of nuclear technology, the greater inclusion of the HTR and possibly the expansion of the regulations to fast breeder reactors and plant of the fuel circuit. (orig./HSCH) [de

Regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis by the global regulator CcpA and the local regulator FabT in Streptococcus mutans

OpenAIRE

Faustoferri, R.C.; Hubbard, C.J.; Santiago, B.; Buckley, A.A.; Seifert, T.B.; Quivey, R.G.

2014-01-01

SMU.1745c, encoding a putative transcriptional regulator of the MarR family, maps to a location proximal to the fab gene cluster in Streptococcus mutans. Deletion of the SMU.1745c (fabTSm) coding region resulted in a membrane fatty acid composition comprised of longer-chained, unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), compared with the parent strain. Previous reports have indicated a role for FabT in regulation of genes in the fab gene cluster in other organisms, through binding to a palindromic DNA seq...

French regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballereau, P.

1998-01-01

In this issue are given the new French regulations relative to radiation protection of temporary personnel, the licensing to release gaseous and liquid wastes and the licensing granted to thirty two laboratories using beta and gamma decay radioisotopes. (N.C.)

Implicit emotion regulation affects outcome evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qiwei; Tang, Ping; Gu, Ruolei; Luo, Wenbo; Luo, Yue-jia

2015-06-01

Efficient implicit emotion regulation processes, which run without awareness, are important for human well-being. In this study, to investigate the influence of implicit emotion regulation on psychological and electrophysiological responses to gains and losses, participants were required to select between two Chinese four-character idioms to match the meaning of the third one before they performed a monetary gambling task. According to whether their meanings were related to emotion regulation, the idioms fell into two categories. Event-related potentials and self-rating emotional experiences to outcome feedback were recorded during the task. Priming emotion regulation reduced subjective emotional experience to both gains and losses and the amplitudes of the feedback-related negativity, while the P3 component was not influenced. According to these results, we suggest that the application of implicit emotion regulation effectively modulated the subjective emotional experience and the motivational salience of current outcomes without the cost of cognitive resources. This study implicates the potential significance of implicit emotion regulation in decision-making processes. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A thermodynamic and theoretical view for enzyme regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Qinyi

2015-01-01

Precise regulation is fundamental to the proper functioning of enzymes in a cell. Current opinions about this, such as allosteric regulation and dynamic contribution to enzyme regulation, are experimental models and substantially empirical. Here we proposed a theoretical and thermodynamic model of enzyme regulation. The main idea is that enzyme regulation is processed via the regulation of abundance of active conformation in the reaction buffer. The theoretical foundation, experimental evidence, and experimental criteria to test our model are discussed and reviewed. We conclude that basic principles of enzyme regulation are laws of protein thermodynamics and it can be analyzed using the concept of distribution curve of active conformations of enzymes.

A validation analysis of two self-reported HAM-D6 versions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech, P; Wilson, P; Wessel, T

2009-01-01

the unidimensionality of this administration form in patients with mild-to-moderate depression. METHOD: The item response theory analysis of Mokken was used to test the unidimensionality of both the Interactive Voice Recording System (IVRS) version of the HAM-D(6) and a paper-and-pencil self-reported version (S-HAM-D(6......OBJECTIVE: The six items of the clinician-administrated Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D(6)) cover the core items of depressive states reflecting the antidepressive effect of medication. In this study, the two self-reported versions of the HAM-D(6) have been psychometrically validated to ensure...

VVER vessel steel corrosion at interaction with molten corium in oxidizing atmosphere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bechta, S.V. [Alexandrov Research Institute of Technologies (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation)], E-mail: bechta@sbor.spb.su; Granovsky, V.S.; Khabensky, V.B.; Krushinov, E.V.; Vitol, S.A.; Sulatsky, A.A. [Alexandrov Research Institute of Technologies (NITI), Sosnovy Bor (Russian Federation); Gusarov, V.V.; Almiashev, V.I. [Institute of Silicate Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (ISCh RAS), St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Lopukh, D.B. [SPb State Electrotechnical University (SPbGETU), St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Bottomley, D. [EUROPAISCHE KOMMISSION, Joint Research Centre Institut fuer Transurane (ITU), Karlsruhe (Germany); Fischer, M. [AREVA NP GmbH, Erlangen (Germany); Piluso, P. [CEA/DEN/DSNI, Saclay (France); Miassoedov, A.; Tromm, W. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe (Germany); Altstadt, E. [Forschungszentrum Rossendorf (FZR), Dresden (Germany); Fichot, F. [IRSN/DPAM/SEMCA, St. Paul lez Durance (France); Kymalainen, O. [FORTUM Nuclear Services Ltd., Espoo (Finland)

2009-06-15

The long-term in-vessel corium retention (IVR) in the lower head bears a risk of the vessel wall deterioration caused by steel corrosion. The ISTC METCOR Project has studied physicochemical impact of prototypic coria having different compositions in air and steam and has generated valuable experimental data on vessel steel corrosion. It is found that the corrosion rate is sensitive to corium composition, but the composition of oxidizing above-melt atmosphere (air, steam) has practically no influence on it. A model of the corrosion process that integrates the experimental data, is proposed and used for development of correlations.

VVER vessel steel corrosion at interaction with molten corium in oxidizing atmosphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bechta, S.V.; Granovsky, V.S.; Khabensky, V.B.; Krushinov, E.V.; Vitol, S.A.; Sulatsky, A.A.; Gusarov, V.V.; Almiashev, V.I.; Lopukh, D.B.; Bottomley, D.; Fischer, M.; Piluso, P.; Miassoedov, A.; Tromm, W.; Altstadt, E.; Fichot, F.; Kymalainen, O.

2009-01-01

The long-term in-vessel corium retention (IVR) in the lower head bears a risk of the vessel wall deterioration caused by steel corrosion. The ISTC METCOR Project has studied physicochemical impact of prototypic coria having different compositions in air and steam and has generated valuable experimental data on vessel steel corrosion. It is found that the corrosion rate is sensitive to corium composition, but the composition of oxidizing above-melt atmosphere (air, steam) has practically no influence on it. A model of the corrosion process that integrates the experimental data, is proposed and used for development of correlations.

Análisis, diseño y construcción de un portal Web de gestión comercial para la empresa Farmacored integrando herramientas de Voip sobre Elastix

OpenAIRE

Llumiquinga Grefa, Danny Santiago; Pérez Carrión, Luis Andrés

2012-01-01

El portal web permite realizar pedidos de los productos que tiene la empresa, también administrar los clientes, empleados, productos y otra de las funciones del portal web es la comunicación de los clientes con la empresa mediante la VOIP con el sistema IVR para las áreas de Servicio al Cliente, Administración y Ventas.se establece el diseño arquitectónico, diseño de la interfaz, diseño de la Base de Datos, con los respectivos modelos de navegación y maquetación, así como también los diagrama...

Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment 1975-1976. Physical Oceanography Data Report, Salinity, Temperature and Depth Data, Camp Blue Fox. Volume II.

Science.gov (United States)

1980-02-01

their place within the chart system (even to the width of the ink line) the failings of the human hand and the subjective judgements made tend to...I.no OArw Wn 0 00 CC%04"n00000000000&IM ~000 0000000 00 000000 CMe IN MN INI16 er6 111 1 c-I NN Mm CVMMC "NwtedC Ivr~ IVC MIN Ilf e" Ivf I~c I4,MN Mr Mr...DECL ASSI FI C ATI ON/DOWN GRADING SCHEDULE IS. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of tli Report) Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. Reproduction

The Organization of Regulated Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jansen, Jos; Jeon, Doh-Shin; Menicucci, Domenico

2008-01-01

We analyze the choice between vertical separation (VS) and vertical integration (VI) when two regulated firms produce complementary inputs with correlated costs and are protected by ex post break-even constraints. First, in the absence of collusion the regulator prefers VI (VS) for negative...

Dissociation behavior of methane gas hydrate in porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiang, C.; Yu-gang, Y.; Chang-ling, L. [Ministry of Land and Resources, Quindao (China). Qingdao Inst. of Marine Geology; Qing-guo, M. [Qingdao Univ. College of Chemical Engineering and Environment, Shandong, Qingdao (China)

2008-07-01

Gas hydrates are ice-like compounds that form by natural gas and water and are considered to be a new energy resource. In order to make good use of this resource, it is important to know the hydrate dissociation process. This paper discussed an investigation of methane hydrate dissociation through a simulation experiment. The paper discussed the gas hydrates dissociation experiment including the apparatus and experiment equipment, including methane gas supply; reaction cell; temperature controller; pressure maintainer; and gas flow meter. The paper also presented the method and material including iso-volumetric dissociation and normal pressure dissociation. Last, results and discussion of the results were presented. A comparison of five different particle sizes did not reveal any obvious effects that were related to the porous media, mostly likely because the particle size was too large. 15 refs., 2 tabs., 4 figs.

The Theoretical and Methodological Bases to Form the Parity of State Regulation of the National Economy and Market Self-Regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahno Tetiana P.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to summarize the existing approaches regarding the optimal balance of mechanisms of economic regulation and identify factors that influence the formation of the parity of state regulation and market self-regulation of economy. The analysis of the existing studies has made it possible to establish that the mixed economy model, which is organized on the basis of the market price system but uses various forms of government intervention to correct macroeconomic instability, is the most optimal one for effective development. The smoothing, preventing of negative consequences of effects of market regulators is the goal of state regulation of economy. It is substantiated that the optimal correlation of mechanisms of state regulation and market self-regulation is not a constant value. The maximum effective ratio in application of these mechanisms will not always be achieved under condition of equal government intervention and self-regulation. It depends on the country’s potential, its involvement in the system of the world market economy, level of development of the society, as well as historical features of the country’s development and phase of the economic cycle. Prospects for further research are the substantiation of a new paradigm for the formation of the parity of state regulation and market self-regulation in the context of financial uncertainty and effect of supranational regulators, growing contradictions of globalization-regionalization based on the use of the system and synergetic approach.

Circuit Regulates Speed Of dc Motor

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Charles; Padden, Robin; Brown, Floyd A., Jr.

1990-01-01

Driving circuit regulates speed of small dc permanent-magnet motor in tape recorder. Two nested feedback loops maintain speed within 1 percent of constant value. Inner loop provides coarse regulation, while outer loop removes most of variation in speed that remains in the presence of regulation by the inner loop. Compares speed of motor with commanded speed and adjusts current supplied to motor accordingly.

Analysis of the Portuguese building regulation system

OpenAIRE

Costa Branco De Oliveira Pedro, J.A.; Meijer, F.M.; Visscher, H.J.

2008-01-01

The Portuguese building regulation system has undergone significant changes in the last 20 years. Almost all building regulations presently in force were approved during that period. Some of those building regulations resulted from the transposition of European Directives. Other building regulations were changed due to improvements in the scientific knowledge. The changes in the building control system were mainly driven by an adaptation to more pressing circumstances of practice. The lack...