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Sample records for long-snouted multihorned tyrannosaurid

  1. Establishment and maintenance of threatened long snouted seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus, broodstock in captivity

    OpenAIRE

    Planas, Miguel; Chamorro, Alexandro; Quintas, Patricia; Vilar, Antonio

    2008-01-01

    Knowledge on seahorses is generally scarce but has been increasing in recent years due to their conservation status. Seahorse culture is a quite recent activity in most countries attempting it, and captive breeding techniques are available only for some species. With the aim of contributing to the development of breeding in captivity for conservative purposes, captive broodstock of the European long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) was established with 32 wild seahorses captured in G...

  2. Cranial architecture of tube-snouted gasterosteiformes (Syngnathus rostellatus and Hippocampus capensis).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leysen, Heleen; Jouk, Philippe; Brunain, Marleen; Christiaens, Joachim; Adriaens, Dominique

    2010-03-01

    The long snout of pipefishes and seahorses (Syngnathidae, Gasterosteiformes) is formed as an elongation of the ethmoid region. This is in contrast to many other teleosts with elongate snouts (e.g., butterflyfishes) in which the snout is formed as an extension of the jaws. Syngnathid fishes perform very fast suction feeding, accomplished by powerful neurocranial elevation and hyoid retraction. Clearly, suction through a long and narrow tube and its hydrodynamic implications can be expected to require certain adaptations in the cranium, especially in musculoskeletal elements of the feeding apparatus. Not much is known about which skeletal elements actually support the snout and what the effect of elongation is on related structures. Here, we give a detailed morphological description of the cartilaginous and bony feeding apparatus in both juvenile and adult Syngnathus rostellatus and Hippocampus capensis. Our results are compared with previous morphological studies of a generalized teleost, Gasterosteus aculeatus. We found that the ethmoid region is elongated early during development, with the ethmoid plate, the hyosymplectic, and the basihyal cartilage being extended in the chondrocranium. In the juveniles of both species almost all bones are forming, although only as a very thin layer. The elongation of the vomeral, mesethmoid, quadrate, metapterygoid, symplectic, and preopercular bones is already present. Probably, because of the long and specialized parental care which releases advanced developmental stages from the brooding pouch, morphology of the feeding apparatus of juveniles is already very similar to that of the adults. We describe morphological features related to snout elongation that may be considered adaptations for suction feeding; e.g. the peculiar shape of the interhyal bone and its saddle-shaped articulation with the posterior ceratohyal bone might aid in explosive hyoid retraction by reducing the risk of hyoid dislocation.

  3. The complete mitochondrial genome of the Chinese hook snout carp Opsariichthys bidens (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes) and an alternative pattern of mitogenomic evolution in vertebrate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Xuzhen; Wang, Jun; He, Shunping

    2007-01-01

    The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Chinese hook snout carp, Opsariichthys bidens, was newly determined using the long and accurate polymerase chain reaction method. The 16,611-nucleotide mitogenome contains 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes (12S, 16S), 22 tRNA genes, and a no......The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Chinese hook snout carp, Opsariichthys bidens, was newly determined using the long and accurate polymerase chain reaction method. The 16,611-nucleotide mitogenome contains 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes (12S, 16S), 22 tRNA genes...

  4. Spatial and seasonal patterns of European short-snouted seahorse ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    North-East Atlantic), determining the spatial and seasonal abundance, population structure and physical appearance of European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus. Animals were surveyed off Gran Canaria Island in two ...

  5. Surgical correction of the snout suffocation syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keipper, V L; Chikes, P G

    1990-04-01

    Two nursing home patients with difficulty breathing because of occlusion of the mouth and nares by an involuntary snout reflex-like mannerism have previously been described. In both cases advanced dementia, edentia, and a downward-angled nasal base were present. Life-threatening hypoxia occurred intermittently in one case, and after becoming severe, was corrected by the surgical procedure described.

  6. Disseminated Mycobacterium intracellulare infection in a broad-snouted caiman Caiman latirostris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kik, Marja J L

    2013-11-25

    A 10 yr old broad-snouted caiman Caiman latirostris from a small Dutch animal park was presented with long-term variable periods of anorexia and weight loss. Blood chemistry showed slightly elevated uric acid levels and low ionised calcium concentration. Ultrasonographical thickening of the intestinal wall in the region of the duodenum was evident. Pathological changes were a thickening of the wall of 90% of the small intestines, enlarged spleen with multifocal white foci and an enlarged light-brown liver. Histopathological lesions consisted of disseminated granulomas in the intestinal wall, the liver and the spleen. Multinucleated giant cells and epitheloid macrophages were abundant. Ziehl-Neelsen staining showed numerous intralesional acid-fast bacteria. Polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium intracellulare was positive.

  7. Velocity field measurements of flow inside snout of zinc plating process using a single-frame PIV technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, S.J.

    2000-05-01

    In the continuous hot-dip galvanizing process of steel strips, the snout has been installed at the entering region of feeding strip into the molten zinc (Zn) pot. However, evaporated Zn particles in the snout cause ash imperfection on the galvanized steel strip surface. In order to resolve this problem, the flow field inside the snout, both on the deoxidisation gas flow above the free surface and the molten Zn flow in the Zn pot, has been investigated experientially. For a 1/10 scale water model, flow visualization and PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) velocity field measurements were carried out at the strip speed V{sub s}= 1.5 m/s. Aluminum flakes (1{mu}m) and atomized olive oil (3{mu}m) were used as seeding particles to simulate the molten Zn flow and the deoxidisation gas flow, respectively. As a result, the liquid flow in the Zn pot is dominantly influenced by the up-rising flow in diagonal direction caused by the rotating sink roll. For gas flow in from of the strip inside the snout, the large-scale vortex formed by the downward moving strip is dominant. In the rear side of the strip, a counterclockwise vortex is formed and some of the flow following by the moving strip impinges on the free surface of molten Zn. The liquid flow in front of the strip is governed by the up-rising flow entering the snout, caused by the rotating sink roll. The moving strip affects dominantly the liquid flow behind the strip inside the snout, and large amounts of liquid are entrained and followed the moving strip toward the sink roll. A thin boundary layer is formed on the front side due to the up-rising flow, however, a relatively thick boundary layer is formed in the rear side of the strip. Inside the snout, the deoxidisation gas flow above the free surface is much faster than the liquid flow in the Zn pot. More ash imperfections are anticipated on the rear surface of the strip where larger influx flow moves toward the strip in the region near the free surface. (author)

  8. Snout and Visual Rooting Reflexes in Infantile Autism. Brief Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minderaa, Ruud B.; And Others

    1985-01-01

    The authors conducted extensive neurological evaluations of 42 autistic individuals and were surprised to discover a consistently positive snout reflex in most of them. Difficulties with assessing the reflex are noted. The authors then reassessed the Ss for a series of primitive reflexes which are interpreted as signs of diffuse cortical brain…

  9. Skin structure in the snout of the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, A

    2014-10-01

    Many fossil lungfish have a system of mineralised tubules in the dermis of the snout, branching extensively and radiating towards the epidermis. The tubules anastomose in the superficial layer of the dermis, forming a plexus consisting of two layers of vessels, with branches that expand into pore canals and flask organs, flanked by cosmine nodules where these are present. Traces of this system are found in the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, consisting of branching tubules in the dermis, a double plexus below the epidermis and dermal papillae entering the epidermis without reaching the surface. In N. forsteri, the tubules, the plexus and the dermal papillae consist of thick, unmineralised connective tissue, enclosing fine blood vessels packed with lymphocytes. Tissues in the epidermis and the dermis of N. forsteri are not associated with deposits of calcium, which is below detectable limits in the skin of the snout at all stages of the life cycle. Canals of the sensory line system, with mechanoreceptors, are separate from the tubules, the plexus and the dermal papillae, as are the electroreceptors in the epidermis. The system of tubules, plexus, dermal papillae and lymphatic capillaries may function to protect the tissues of the snout from infection. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. The effect of diet on ontogenic development of the digestive tract in juvenile reared long snout seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palma, J; Bureau, D P; Andrade, J P

    2014-06-01

    Ontogenetic development of the digestive tract and associated organs in long snout seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus juveniles was morphologically and histologically examined from the time of release from the male's pouch until 72 h after the first meal. When released from the male's pouch, juvenile seahorses are small adult replicates. This means that unlike other teleost fish larvae, the first developmental phase has already taken place, and juveniles are morphologically prepared and able to feed on live prey immediately following parturition. At this stage, the buccopharynx, oesophagus, and intestine already appear to be fully developed. The intestine is divided into the midgut and hindgut by an intestinal valve, and intestinal villi are visible in the midgut. When fed with DHA-Selco(®) enriched Artemia, H. guttulatus juveniles developed a severe condition of overinflation of the gas bladder. The continuous overinflation of the gas bladder forced air into the gut (48 h after the first meal), resulting in overinflation of both the gut and the gas bladder (72 h after the first meal), and death occurred within 120 h after the first meal. When fed natural copepods, H. guttulatus juveniles continued a normal feeding activity with no signs of intestinal disorders, and the gas bladder and intestine maintained their normal shape. This is the first study to positively associate gas bladder overinflation of juvenile seahorses with nutritionally unbalanced diets, and not to gas supersaturation alone. It is therefore necessary to develop more adequate feed and/or enrichment products to improve the survival of juvenile seahorses in captivity.

  11. Effects of toxic cyanobacteria and ammonia on flesh quality of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Li; Chen, Chuanyue; Liu, Wanjing; Xia, Hu; Li, Jian; Zhang, Xuezhen

    2017-03-01

    Toxic cyanobacterial blooms result in the production of an organic biomass containing cyanotoxins (e.g. microcystins) and an elevated ammonia concentration in the water environment. The ingestion of toxic cyanobacteria and exposure to ammonia are grave hazards for fish. The present study assessed the effects of dietary toxic cyanobacteria and ammonia exposure on the flesh quality of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala). Dietary toxic cyanobacteria and ammonia exposure had no impact on fish growth performance, fillet proximate composition and drip loss, whereas it significantly decreased fillet total amino acids, total essential amino acids, hardness and gumminess, and increased fillet ultimate pH as well as malondialdehyde content. However, there was no significant interaction between dietary toxic cyanobacteria and ammonia exposure on these parameters. Additionally, dietary toxic cyanobacteria significantly increased fillet initial pH, thaw loss and protein carbonyl content, whereas ammonia exposure did not. The results of the present study indicate that dietary toxic cyanobacteria and ammonia exposure reduced the quality of blunt snout bream fillet. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

  12. COMPOSITION, CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, CHOROLOGY AND GENESIS OF SNOUT BEETLES OF PTOCHUS SCHOENH GENUS AND CREATION OF MAPS OF THEIR AREAS IN THE REPUBLIC OF DAGHESTAN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asiyat M. Mukhtarova

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. Aim. The aim of the work was to study the characteristics of the ecology, the chorology and genesis of thesnout beetles of Ptochus genus in Dagestan, as well as designing the maps of their ranges. Materials and methods. The work was based on the materials of expedition and ecology-faunistic studies conducted from 1999 to 2017 in various regions of Dagestan using the basic entomological methods. For mapping were used the following source materials: the database created by the authors for the study group, the map of the Republic of Dagestan taken fromthe National Atlas of Russia, topographic maps from MapInfo 15.2 and maps made in Adobe Illustrator CreativeCloud. Results. The characteristics of the ecology and geographic distribution of the snout beetles of Ptochus genus in Dagestan have been studied; the following maps are created: "The areas of the snout beetles of Ptochus genus of Dagestan" and "The areas of the snout beetles of Ptochus genus of the Botlikh trench of Dagestan". Conclusion. In the fauna of Dagestan, 7 species of Ptochus snout beetles, associated with arid steppe and semidesert landscapes,ed distribution maps and bioecological features, a hypothesis was put forward on the genesis of the study group in the territory of Dagestan.

  13. Embryonic developmental plasticity in the long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus reidi, Ginsburg 1933) in relation to parental preconception diet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otero-Ferrer, Francisco; Izquierdo, Marisol; Fazeli, Alireza; Holt, William V

    2016-06-01

    The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that parental periconception nutrition in adult seahorses affects the development and growth of their offspring. We tested the hypothesis that because seahorse embryos develop inside the male's brood pouch, manipulation of the male's diet would affect offspring growth and development independently of the female's diet. Adult males and females were fed separately with either wild-caught crustaceans or commercial aquarium diet for 1 month before conception to influence the periconception environment. Approximately 10000 offspring were obtained from four different treatment groups (Male/Wild or Male/Commercial×Female/Wild or Female/Commercial). Weights, physical dimensions and fatty acid profiles of the newborns were determined. Offspring produced when the males receiving commercial diet were mated with wild-fed females were larger (P<0.05) than those produced by wild-fed males. When both males and females were fed with commercial diet, their offspring were significantly smaller than those from the other treatment groups. When commercial diet-fed females were mated with wild-fed males, the offspring showed distortion of the snout:head length ratio. These results support the view that the preconception diet received by males and females differentially affects embryonic development.

  14. Isotope incorporation in broad-snouted caimans (crocodilians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephane Caut

    2013-05-01

    The trophic ecology and migration of vertebrate species have been increasingly studied using stable isotope analysis. However, this approach requires knowledge on how dietary isotopic values are reflected in consumers' tissues. To date, this information has only been obtained for a handful of ectotherms; in particular, little is known about crocodilians. In this study, diet-tissue discrimination factors (DTDFs and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope turnover rates were estimated for plasma, red blood cells (RBCs, and muscle obtained from broad-snouted caimans (Caiman latirostris. Individuals were fed two different control diets for 189 days. DTDFs for δ15N (Δ15N and δ13C (Δ13C ranged from −2.24‰ to 0.39‰ and from −0.52‰ to 1.06‰, respectively. Isotope turnover rates in tissues, expressed as half-lives, ranged from 11 to 71 days, with plasma

  15. Abundance and local range of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris, Alligatoridae in the northwest of Santa Catarina Island

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Walfrido Moraes Tomás

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This is the first report on the distribution and relative abundance of the broad-snouted caiman on Santa Catarina Island. The study estimated the relative abundance of caiman along the rivers at Estação Ecológica de Carijós, in addition to evaluating the occurrence of this species in the entire area of the Ratones River plain on the northwestern portion of the island. The mean relative abundance obtained by nocturnal counts was 0.25 (±0.07 caiman/km surveyed. There was a weak correlation between the number of caimans and the air temperature. Based on interviews with the local community and nocturnal surveys of caimans in rivers and reservoirs surrounding the protected area, we concluded that the range occupied by caimans covered the entire area of the Ratones river plain, inhabiting natural habitats (rivers, mangroves, swamps as well as artificial habitats (reservoirs and water channels. Although this study provides basic information about the broad-snouted caiman population on this part of the island, it is aimed mainly at providing guidance for future research.

  16. Short-snouted toothless ichthyosaur from China suggests Late Triassic diversification of suction feeding ichthyosaurs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P Martin Sander

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Ichthyosaurs were an important group of Mesozoic marine reptiles and existed from the Early Triassic to the early Late Cretaceous. Despite a great diversity in body shapes and feeding adaptations, all share greatly enlarged eyes, an elongated rostrum with numerous conical teeth, and a streamlined body. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Based on new material from China and the restudy of Shastasaurus pacificus, we here reinterpret the classical large-bodied Late Triassic ichthyosaur genus Shastasaurus to differ greatly from the standard ichthyosaurian body plan, indicating much greater morphological diversity and range of feeding adaptations in ichthyosaurs than previously recognized. Phylogenetic analysis indicates a monophyletic clade consisting of the giant Shonisaurus sikanniensis, Guanlingsaurus liangae, and Shastasaurus pacificus to which the genus name Shastasaurus is applied. Shastasaurus liangae comb. nov. is from the Late Triassic (Carnian Xiaowa Formation of Guizhou Province, southwestern China. The species combines a diminutive head with an entirely toothless and greatly reduced snout. The species also has by far the highest vertebral count among ichthyosaurs (86 presacral vertebrae and >110 caudal vertebrae, a count that is also very high for tetrapods in general. A reduced toothless snout and a diminutive head is also apparently present in the giant S. sikanniensis and presumably in S. pacificus. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In analogy to many modern odontocetes, Shastasaurus is interpreted as a specialized suction feeder on unshelled cephalopods and fish, suggesting a unique but widespread Late Triassic diversification of toothless, suction-feeding ichthyosaurs. Suction feeding has not been hypothesized for any of the other diverse marine reptiles of the Mesozoic before, but in Shastasaurus may be linked to the Late Triassic minimum in atmospheric oxygen.

  17. Shape and mechanics in thalattosuchian (Crocodylomorpha) skulls: implications for feeding behaviour and niche partitioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierce, S E; Angielczyk, K D; Rayfield, E J

    2009-01-01

    Variation in modern crocodilian and extinct thalattosuchian crocodylomorph skull morphology is only weakly correlated with phylogeny, implying that factors other than evolutionary proximity play important roles in determining crocodile skull shape. To further explore factors potentially influencing morphological differentiation within the Thalattosuchia, we examine teleosaurid and metriorhynchid skull shape variation within a mechanical and dietary context using a combination of finite element modelling and multivariate statistics. Patterns of stress distribution through the skull were found to be very similar in teleosaurid and metriorhynchid species, with stress peaking at the posterior constriction of the snout and around the enlarged supratemporal fenestrae. However, the magnitudes of stresses differ, with metriorhynchids having generally stronger skulls. As with modern crocodilians, a strong linear relationship between skull length and skull strength exists, with short-snouted morphotypes experiencing less stress through the skull than long-snouted morphotypes under equivalent loads. Selection on snout shape related to dietary preference was found to work in orthogonal directions in the two families: diet is associated with snout length in teleosaurids and with snout width in metriorhynchids, suggesting that teleosaurid skulls were adapted for speed of attack and metriorhynchid skulls for force production. Evidence also indicates that morphological and functional differentiation of the skull occurred as a result of dietary preference, allowing closely related sympatric species to exploit a limited environment. Comparisons of the mechanical performance of the thalattosuchian skull with extant crocodilians show that teleosaurids and long-snouted metriorhynchids exhibit stress magnitudes similar to or greater than those of long-snouted modern forms, whereas short-snouted metriorhynchids display stress magnitudes converging on those found in short-snouted modern

  18. Establishment of a new cell line from the snout tissue of golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus, and its application in virus susceptibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Y; Wei, S; Wang, Z; Huang, X; Huang, Y; Cai, J; Li, C; Qin, Q

    2016-06-01

    A new marine-fish cell line, designated GPS, was established from the snout tissue of golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus. GPS cells multiplied well in Leibovitz's L-15 containing 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) at 28° C and the cells have been subcultured for >60 passages. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of 16S ribosomal (r)RNA confirmed the origin of this cell line from T. ovatus. Chromosome analysis showed that GPS cells exhibited chromosomal aneuploidy with a modal chromosome number of 54. Bright green fluorescence signal was observed in enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-N3 transfected cells, indicating that GPS cells could be used to investigate gene functions in vitro. The GPS cells were highly susceptible to Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV), which was demonstrated by the presence of severe cytopathic effect (CPE) and increased viral titres. Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the viral gene transcription and protein synthesis occurred during SGIV infection in GPS cells. Thus, this study described the characteristic of a new cell line from the snout tissue of T. ovatus that could be used as a tool for propagation of iridovirus and genetic manipulation to investigate host-pathogen interactions. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  19. The impact of fire on habitat use by the short-snouted elephant shrew ('Elephantulus brachyrhynchus') in North West Province, South Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Yarnell, R; Metcalfe, D; Dunstone, N; Burnside, N; Scott, D

    2008-01-01

    Several studies have investigated the response of small mammal populations to fire, but few have investigated behavioural responses to habitat modification. In this study we investigated the impact of fire on home range, habitat use and activity patterns of the short-snouted elephant shrew (Elephantulus brachyrhynchus) by radio-tracking individuals before and after a fire event. All animals survived the passage of fire in termite mound refugia. Before the fire, grassland was used more than th...

  20. Growth performance, innate immune responses and disease resistance of fingerling blunt snout bream, Megalobrama amblycephala adapted to different berberine-dietary feeding modes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Wei-Na; Chen, Dan-Hong; Chen, Qing-Qing; Liu, Wen-Bin

    2017-09-01

    A 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of different berberine-dietary feeding modes on growth, non-specific immune responses and disease resistance of blunt snout bream, Megalobrama amblycephala. Fish (average initial weight 4.70 ± 0.02 g) were fed two fat levels (5% and 10%) diets in three berberine-feeding modes (supplementing 50 mg/kg berberine continuously, two-week or four-week intervals) with four replicates, respectively. Then, fish were challenged by Aeromonas hydrophila and mortality was recorded for the next 96 h after feeding trial. The results showed that different feeding modes of berberine significantly influenced growth, innate immunity and antioxidant capability of fish. Fish fed normal diet with 50 mg/kg berberine at two-week interval mode reflected remarkably (P complement component 3 (C3) and complement component 4 (C4) concentrations were significantly (P feeding modes. Based on fish healthy improvement and feeding cost saving, blunt snout bream fed normal diet with 50 mg/kg berberine at two-week interval or fed high-fat diet with berberine at two-week or four-week intervals were optimal feeding mode, respectively. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  1. Feeding rates affect stress and non-specific immune responses of juvenile blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala subjected to hypoxia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiang-Fei; Xu, Chao; Tian, Hong-Yan; Jiang, Guang-Zhen; Zhang, Ding-Dong; Liu, Wen-Bin

    2016-02-01

    This study aimed to investigate the effects of feeding rates on stress response, innate immunity and hypoxia resistance of juvenile blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala. Fish were randomly assigned to one of six feeding rates (2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7% of body weight/day) for 60 days. Then, fish were subjected to hypoxic conditions and haemato-immunological parameters were analyzed pre- and post-challenge. Low feed ration resulted in decreased liver superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and reduced glutathione contents. Inadequate feeding also adversely affected the immune functions of fish, as was characterized by the relatively low haemato-immunological parameters (including alternative complement (ACH50), myeloperoxidase (MPO), plasma protein profiles and transferring) and high hypoxia-induced mortality. High feed ration did not lead to the improvement in antioxidant capability, immune responses and survival. In addition, plasma cortisol, glucose and transferrin levels as well as lysozyme activities all increased significantly after hypoxia challenge, whereas the opposite was true for plasma ACH50 and MPO activities as well as protein profiles in terms of hypoxia challenge. An interaction between feeding rate and hypoxia was also observed in plasma cortisol, glucose and protein profiles. In conclusion, a feeding rate of 4-5% of body weight/day is optimal to boost the innate immunity of juvenile blunt snout bream. Low ration resulted in decreased antioxidant capability, compromised immune functions and reduced hypoxia resistance, while over feeding did not benefit the health status. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Tyrannosauroid integument reveals conflicting patterns of gigantism and feather evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Phil R; Campione, Nicolás E; Persons, W Scott; Currie, Philip J; Larson, Peter L; Tanke, Darren H; Bakker, Robert T

    2017-06-01

    Recent evidence for feathers in theropods has led to speculations that the largest tyrannosaurids, including Tyrannosaurus rex , were extensively feathered. We describe fossil integument from Tyrannosaurus and other tyrannosaurids ( Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Tarbosaurus ), confirming that these large-bodied forms possessed scaly, reptilian-like skin. Body size evolution in tyrannosauroids reveals two independent occurrences of gigantism; specifically, the large sizes in Yutyrannus and tyrannosaurids were independently derived. These new findings demonstrate that extensive feather coverings observed in some early tyrannosauroids were lost by the Albian, basal to Tyrannosauridae. This loss is unrelated to palaeoclimate but possibly tied to the evolution of gigantism, although other mechanisms exist. © 2017 The Author(s).

  3. A basal ichthyosauriform with a short snout from the Lower Triassic of China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motani, Ryosuke; Jiang, Da-Yong; Chen, Guan-Bao; Tintori, Andrea; Rieppel, Olivier; Ji, Cheng; Huang, Jian-Dong

    2015-01-22

    The incompleteness of the fossil record obscures the origin of many of the more derived clades of vertebrates. One such group is the Ichthyopterygia, a clade of obligatory marine reptiles that appeared in the Early Triassic epoch, without any known intermediates. Here we describe a basal ichthyosauriform from the upper Lower Triassic (about 248 million years ago) of China, whose primitive skeleton indicates possible amphibious habits. It is smaller than ichthyopterygians and had unusually large flippers that probably allowed limited terrestrial locomotion. It also retained characteristics of terrestrial diapsid reptiles, including a short snout and body trunk. Unlike more-derived ichthyosauriforms, it was probably a suction feeder. The new species supports the sister-group relationships between ichthyosauriforms and Hupehsuchia, the two forming the Ichthyosauromorpha. Basal ichthyosauromorphs are known exclusively from south China, suggesting that the clade originated in the region, which formed a warm and humid tropical archipelago in the Early Triassic. The oldest unequivocal record of a sauropterygian is also from the same stratigraphic unit of the region.

  4. Burrowing with a kinetic snout in a snake (Elapidae: Aspidelaps scutatus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deufel, Alexandra

    2017-12-01

    Of the few elongate, fossorial vertebrates that have been examined for their burrowing mechanics, all were found to use an akinetic, reinforced skull to push into the soil, powered mostly by trunk muscles. Reinforced skulls were considered essential for head-first burrowing. In contrast, I found that the skull of the fossorial shield-nosed cobra (Aspidelaps scutatus) is not reinforced and retains the kinetic potential typical of many non-fossorial snakes. Aspidelaps scutatus burrows using a greatly enlarged rostral scale that is attached to a kinetic snout that is independently mobile with respect to the rest of the skull. Two mechanisms of burrowing are used: (1) anteriorly directed head thrusts from a loosely bent body that is anchored against the walls of the tunnel by friction, and (2) side-to-side shovelling using the head and rostral scale. The premaxilla, to which the rostral scale is attached, lacks any direct muscle attachments. Rostral scale movements are powered by, first, retractions of the palato-pterygoid bar, mediated by a ligament that connects the anterior end of the palatine to the transverse process of the premaxilla and, second, by contraction of a previously undescribed muscle slip of the m. retractor pterygoidei that inserts on the skin at the edge of the rostral scale. In derived snakes, palatomaxillary movements are highly conserved and power prey capture and transport behaviors. Aspidelaps scutatus has co-opted those mechanisms for the unrelated function of burrowing without compromising the original feeding functions, showing the potential for evolution of functional innovations in highly conserved systems. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Common Avian Infection Plagued the Tyrant Dinosaurs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Ewan D. S.; Salisbury, Steven W.; Horner, John R.; Varricchio, David J.

    2009-01-01

    Background Tyrannosaurus rex and other tyrannosaurid fossils often display multiple, smooth-edged full-thickness erosive lesions on the mandible, either unilaterally or bilaterally. The cause of these lesions in the Tyrannosaurus rex specimen FMNH PR2081 (known informally by the name ‘Sue’) has previously been attributed to actinomycosis, a bacterial bone infection, or bite wounds from other tyrannosaurids. Methodology/Principal Findings We conducted an extensive survey of tyrannosaurid specimens and identified ten individuals with full-thickness erosive lesions. These lesions were described, measured and photographed for comparison with one another. We also conducted an extensive survey of related archosaurs for similar lesions. We show here that these lesions are consistent with those caused by an avian parasitic infection called trichomonosis, which causes similar abnormalities on the mandible of modern birds, in particular raptors. Conclusions/Significance This finding represents the first evidence for the ancient evolutionary origin of an avian transmissible disease in non-avian theropod dinosaurs. It also provides a valuable insight into the palaeobiology of these now extinct animals. Based on the frequency with which these lesions occur, we hypothesize that tyrannosaurids were commonly infected by a Trichomonas gallinae-like protozoan. For tyrannosaurid populations, the only non-avian dinosaur group that show trichomonosis-type lesions, it is likely that the disease became endemic and spread as a result of antagonistic intraspecific behavior, consumption of prey infected by a Trichomonas gallinae-like protozoan and possibly even cannibalism. The severity of trichomonosis-related lesions in specimens such as Tyrannosaurus rex FMNH PR2081 and Tyrannosaurus rex MOR 980, strongly suggests that these animals died as a direct result of this disease, mostly likely through starvation. PMID:19789646

  6. Common avian infection plagued the tyrant dinosaurs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ewan D S Wolff

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tyrannosaurus rex and other tyrannosaurid fossils often display multiple, smooth-edged full-thickness erosive lesions on the mandible, either unilaterally or bilaterally. The cause of these lesions in the Tyrannosaurus rex specimen FMNH PR2081 (known informally by the name 'Sue' has previously been attributed to actinomycosis, a bacterial bone infection, or bite wounds from other tyrannosaurids. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted an extensive survey of tyrannosaurid specimens and identified ten individuals with full-thickness erosive lesions. These lesions were described, measured and photographed for comparison with one another. We also conducted an extensive survey of related archosaurs for similar lesions. We show here that these lesions are consistent with those caused by an avian parasitic infection called trichomonosis, which causes similar abnormalities on the mandible of modern birds, in particular raptors. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This finding represents the first evidence for the ancient evolutionary origin of an avian transmissible disease in non-avian theropod dinosaurs. It also provides a valuable insight into the palaeobiology of these now extinct animals. Based on the frequency with which these lesions occur, we hypothesize that tyrannosaurids were commonly infected by a Trichomonas gallinae-like protozoan. For tyrannosaurid populations, the only non-avian dinosaur group that show trichomonosis-type lesions, it is likely that the disease became endemic and spread as a result of antagonistic intraspecific behavior, consumption of prey infected by a Trichomonas gallinae-like protozoan and possibly even cannibalism. The severity of trichomonosis-related lesions in specimens such as Tyrannosaurus rex FMNH PR2081 and Tyrannosaurus rex MOR 980, strongly suggests that these animals died as a direct result of this disease, mostly likely through starvation.

  7. Effects of dietary fructooligosaccharide levels and feeding modes on growth, immune responses, antioxidant capability and disease resistance of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Chun-Nuan; Li, Xiang-Fei; Jiang, Guang-Zhen; Zhang, Ding-Dong; Tian, Hong-Yan; Li, Jun-Yi; Liu, Wen-Bin

    2014-12-01

    This study aimed to determine the effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) levels and its feeding modes on growth, immune response, antioxidant capability and disease resistance of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala). Fish (12.5 ± 0.5 g) were subjected to three FOS levels (0, 0.4% and 0.8%) and two feeding modes (supplementing FOS continuously and supplementing FOS two days interval 5 days) according to a 3 × 2 factorial design. At the end of 8-week feeding trial, fish were challenged by Aeromonas hydrophila with concentration of 1 × 10(5) CFU mL(-1) and mortality was recorded for the next 96 h. Fish fed 0.4% FOS continuously (D2) and fish fed the basal diet for 5 days followed by 0.8% FOS for 2 days (D5) showed admirable growth performance. The highest plasma lysozyme, acid phosphatase and myeloperoxidase activities as well as complement component 3, total protein and immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels were all observed in fish fed D5. They were significantly higher (P 0.05) with that of fish fed D2. A similar trend was also observed in antioxidant capability as well as the expression of Leap-I and Leap-Ⅱ. Mortality showed an opposite trend with the immune response with the lowest rate observed in fish fed D5. The results indicated that diet supplementing FOS in appropriate levels and feeding modes could improve the growth, immune response and antioxidant capability of fish, as might consequently lead to enhanced disease resistance. It can be speculated that the basal diet for 5 days followed by 0.8% FOS for 2 days was most suitable for blunt snout bream. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Establishment and characterization of a fin cell line from blunt snout bream, Megalobrama amblycephala.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Dong-Mei; Yang, Kun; Wang, Wei-Min; Song, Wen

    2013-12-01

    This study established and characterized a new cell line (MAF) from the fin of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala), a freshwater fish cultivated in China. MAF cells proliferated well in medium 199 supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum at 28 °C and have been subcultured more than 95 times in almost a year. MAF cells were revived at 90-95 % viability after 3-6 months of storage in liquid nitrogen. Karyotyping indicated that the modal chromosome number of MAF cells was 48. The MAF cell line consisted predominantly of fibroblastic and epithelial-like cells from M. amblycephala, which was confirmed by immunofluorescence and mitochondrial 12s rRNA sequencing. Viral susceptibility tests showed that MAF cells were susceptible to infection by snakehead rhabdovirus, spring viremia carp virus, and channel catfish virus, which was demonstrated by the presence of cytopathic effect, high viral titers, and PCR products. Bacterial cytotoxicity studies showed that extracellular products from Aeromonas hydrophila were toxic to MAF cells. Cu²⁺ was also cytotoxic to MAF cells, and the 24-h IC₅₀ value was 144.48 μmol/l. When MAF cells were transfected with pEGFP-N1 plasmid, bright fluorescent signals were observed, and the transfection efficiency reached up to 5 %. These results suggest that the MAF cell line may provide a valuable tool for studying virus pathogenesis, as well as cytotoxicity testing and genetic manipulation studies.

  9. Life history and ecology of the elusive European short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, J M R; Santos, S V; Nadeau, J L; Gunn, B; Bigney Wilner, K; Balasubramanian, H; Overington, S; Lesage, C-M; D'entremont, J; Wieckowski, K

    2017-12-01

    To improve the understanding of the life history and ecology of one of Europe's most elusive fishes, the short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus, data from wild populations in a shallow coastal lagoon in southern Portugal were analysed. The data were collected from 17 tagged seahorses on a focal-study grid as well as from >350 seahorses encountered during underwater visual surveys and a fishery-independent study using beach seines. These populations of settled juveniles and adults had a mean population density of 0·009 m -2 . During the study period (2000-2004), reproduction peaked in July and August. Juveniles recruited to the lagoon at c. 66 mm standard length (L S ) and 0·5 years of age and established small home ranges (0·8 to 18·2 m 2 ). First reproduction was estimated at 100 mm and 1 year of age. Based on a fitted von Bertalanffy model, H. hippocampus grew quickly (growth coefficient K = 0·93) to a maximum theoretical size L ∞  = 150 mm and have a maximum lifespan of c. 3·2 years. Courtship behaviours were consistent with the maintenance of pair bonds and males brooded multiple batches of young per year. Estimated annual reproductive output averaged 871 young (±632). Together these analyses provide the first life-history parameters for this species and indicate that H. hippocampus bears characteristics of opportunist and intermediate strategists. Such populations are predicted to exhibit large fluctuations in abundance, making them vulnerable to extended periods of poor recruitment. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  10. Are Adult Crambid Snout Moths (Crambinae and Larval Stages of Lepidoptera Suitable Tools for an Environmental Monitoring of Transgenic Crops? — Implications of a Field Test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Lang

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera have been suggested for the environmental monitoring of genetically modified (GM crops due to their suitability as ecological indicators, and because of the possible adverse impact of the cultivation of current transgenic crops. The German Association of Engineers (VDI has developed guidelines for the standardized monitoring of Lepidoptera describing the use of light traps for adult moths, transect counts for adult butterflies, and visual search for larvae. The guidelines suggest recording adults of Crambid Snout Moths during transect counts in addition to butterflies, and present detailed protocols for the visual search of larvae. In a field survey in three regions of Germany, we tested the practicability and effort-benefit ratio of the latter two VDI approaches. Crambid Snout Moths turned out to be suitable and practical indicators, which can easily be recorded during transect counts. They were present in 57% of the studied field margins, contributing a substantial part to the overall Lepidoptera count, thus providing valuable additional information to the monitoring results. Visual search of larvae generated results in an adequate effort-benefit ratio when searching for lepidopteran larvae of common species feeding on nettles. Visual search for larvae living on host plants other than nettles was time-consuming and yielded much lower numbers of recorded larvae. Beating samples of bushes and trees yielded a higher number of species and individuals. This method is especially appropriate when hedgerows are sampled, and was judged to perform intermediate concerning the relationship between invested sampling effort and obtained results for lepidopteran larvae. In conclusion, transect counts of adult Crambid Moths and recording of lepidopteran larvae feeding on nettles are feasible additional modules for an environmental monitoring of GM crops. Monitoring larvae living on host plants other than nettles and beating

  11. Are Adult Crambid Snout Moths (Crambinae) and Larval Stages of Lepidoptera Suitable Tools for an Environmental Monitoring of Transgenic Crops? — Implications of a Field Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Andreas; Dolek, Matthias; Theißen, Bernhard; Zapp, Andreas

    2011-01-01

    Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) have been suggested for the environmental monitoring of genetically modified (GM) crops due to their suitability as ecological indicators, and because of the possible adverse impact of the cultivation of current transgenic crops. The German Association of Engineers (VDI) has developed guidelines for the standardized monitoring of Lepidoptera describing the use of light traps for adult moths, transect counts for adult butterflies, and visual search for larvae. The guidelines suggest recording adults of Crambid Snout Moths during transect counts in addition to butterflies, and present detailed protocols for the visual search of larvae. In a field survey in three regions of Germany, we tested the practicability and effort-benefit ratio of the latter two VDI approaches. Crambid Snout Moths turned out to be suitable and practical indicators, which can easily be recorded during transect counts. They were present in 57% of the studied field margins, contributing a substantial part to the overall Lepidoptera count, thus providing valuable additional information to the monitoring results. Visual search of larvae generated results in an adequate effort-benefit ratio when searching for lepidopteran larvae of common species feeding on nettles. Visual search for larvae living on host plants other than nettles was time-consuming and yielded much lower numbers of recorded larvae. Beating samples of bushes and trees yielded a higher number of species and individuals. This method is especially appropriate when hedgerows are sampled, and was judged to perform intermediate concerning the relationship between invested sampling effort and obtained results for lepidopteran larvae. In conclusion, transect counts of adult Crambid Moths and recording of lepidopteran larvae feeding on nettles are feasible additional modules for an environmental monitoring of GM crops. Monitoring larvae living on host plants other than nettles and beating samples of bushes

  12. Ophthalmic diagnostic tests, orbital anatomy, and adnexal histology of the broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oriá, Arianne P; Oliveira, Alberto Vinícius D; Pinna, Melissa H; Martins Filho, Emanoel F; Estrela-Lima, Alessandra; Peixoto, Tiago C; Silva, Renata Maria M da; Santana, Fernanda O; Meneses, Íris Daniela S; Requião, Kátia G; Ofri, Ron

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study was to establish normal ophthalmic parameters for selected diagnostic tests, and to describe the orbital anatomy and adnexal histology of the broad-snouted caiman. A total of 35 Caiman latirostris that were free of obvious ocular diseases were used to measure the parameters in this investigation. Ages ranged from 5 to 15 years. Ophthalmic diagnostic tests were conducted, including evaluation of tear production with Schirmer Tear test-1 (STT1), culture of the conjunctival bacterial flora, applanation tonometry, conjunctival cytology, nictiating membrane incursion frequency test (NMIFT), endodontic absorbent paper point tear test (EAPPTT), palpebral fissure length measurement (PFL) and B-mode ultrasonography. Adnexal histology and skull samples were studied. Mean (±SD) STT1 was 3.4 ± 3.6 mm/min (95% confidence interval of 2.01-4.78 mm/min), intraocular pressure (IOP) was 12.9 ± 6.2 mmHg, NMIFT was 6.0 ± 3.5, EAPPTT was 17.1 ± 2.5 mm/min, PFL was 28.9 ± 3.0 mm, anterior chamber depth was 3.1 ± 0.3 mm, lens axial length was 8.4 ± 0.6 mm, vitreous chamber depth was 7.9 ± 0.7 mm and axial globe length was 19.9 ± 1.3 mm. For all animals evaluated, Bacillus sp., Diphteroids and Staphylococcus sp. were predominant. © 2013 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

  13. The draft genome of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) reveals the development of intermuscular bone and adaptation to herbivorous diet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Han; Chen, Chunhai; Gao, Zexia; Min, Jiumeng; Gu, Yongming; Jian, Jianbo; Jiang, Xiewu; Cai, Huimin; Ebersberger, Ingo; Xu, Meng; Zhang, Xinhui; Chen, Jianwei; Luo, Wei; Chen, Boxiang; Chen, Junhui; Liu, Hong; Li, Jiang; Lai, Ruifang; Bai, Mingzhou; Wei, Jin; Yi, Shaokui; Wang, Huanling; Cao, Xiaojuan; Zhou, Xiaoyun; Zhao, Yuhua; Wei, Kaijian; Yang, Ruibin; Liu, Bingnan; Zhao, Shancen; Fang, Xiaodong

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala is the economically most important cyprinid fish species. As an herbivore, it can be grown by eco-friendly and resource-conserving aquaculture. However, the large number of intermuscular bones in the trunk musculature is adverse to fish meat processing and consumption. As a first towards optimizing this aquatic livestock, we present a 1.116-Gb draft genome of M. amblycephala, with 779.54 Mb anchored on 24 linkage groups. Integrating spatiotemporal transcriptome analyses, we show that intermuscular bone is formed in the more basal teleosts by intramembranous ossification and may be involved in muscle contractibility and coordinating cellular events. Comparative analysis revealed that olfactory receptor genes, especially of the beta type, underwent an extensive expansion in herbivorous cyprinids, whereas the gene for the umami receptor T1R1 was specifically lost in M. amblycephala. The composition of gut microflora, which contributes to the herbivorous adaptation of M. amblycephala, was found to be similar to that of other herbivores. As a valuable resource for the improvement of M. amblycephala livestock, the draft genome sequence offers new insights into the development of intermuscular bone and herbivorous adaptation. PMID:28535200

  14. A new Amblycephalus from Sumatra

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lidth de Jeude, van Th.W.

    1923-01-01

    Amblycephalus tropidonotus nov. spec. Rostral slightly broader than long scarcely visible from above; internasals much shorter than the praefrontals, latter entering the eye; frontal hexagonal, more long than broad, nearly twice as long as its distance from the tip of the snout, a little shorter

  15. First feeding regimes for long-snout seahorse Hippocampus reidi larvae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Manchón, J; Socorro-Cruz, J; Segade Botella, A; Otero-Ferrer, F; Mesa, A; Molina Domínguez, L

    2013-01-01

    Seahorses are endangered species included in Appendix II of CITES from 2002 due to the progressive regression of wild populations. This study focused in Hippocampus reidi, one of the species with highest interest in trade, showing an increasing demand in the last decades. This study was conducted during 28 days to compare the effects of different time enrichment (0, 24, and 48h) for Artemia using a commercial product (Easy-Selco DHA INVE Aquaculture, Dendermonde, Belgium). Results showed no significant differences in growth between treatments until 21DAB, after which animals fed for 48h one enriched Artemia showed significantly better growth. Cumulative average survival during the first 14DAB was significantly higher in Oh treatment, while from 15DAB to the end of the experiment, no significantly differences were observed.

  16. Feeding frequency affects stress, innate immunity and disease resistance of juvenile blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiang-Fei; Tian, Hong-Yan; Zhang, Ding-Dong; Jiang, Guang-Zhen; Liu, Wen-Bin

    2014-05-01

    This study aimed to evaluate the effects of feeding frequency on stress, innate immunity and disease resistance of juvenile blunt snout bream Megalobrama amblycephala (average weight: 9.92 ± 0.06 g). Fish were randomly assigned to one of six feeding frequencies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 times/day) following the same ration size for 8 weeks. After the feeding trial, fish were challenged by Aeromonas hydrophila and cumulative mortality was recorded for the next 10 days. Daily gain index of fish fed 3-5 times/day was significantly higher than that of the other groups. High feeding frequencies induced significantly elevated plasma levels of both cortisol and lactate. Fish fed 3-4 times/day exhibited relatively low liver catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities as well as malondialdehyde contents, but obtained significantly higher reduced glutathione levels and post-challenged haemato-immunological parameters (include blood leukocyte and erythrocyte counts as well as plasma lysozyme, alternative complement, acid phosphatase and myeloperoxidase activities) compared with that of the other groups. After challenge, the lowest mortality was observed in fish fed 4 times/day. It was significantly lower than that of fish fed 1-3 times/day, but exhibited no statistical difference with that of the other groups. In conclusion, both low and high feeding frequencies could cause oxidative stress of juvenile M. amblycephala, as might consequently lead to the depressed immunity and reduced resistance to A. hydrophila infection. The optimal feeding frequency to enhance growth and boost immunity of this species at juvenile stage is 4 times/day. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Why the long face? The mechanics of mandibular symphysis proportions in crocodiles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher W Walmsley

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Crocodilians exhibit a spectrum of rostral shape from long snouted (longirostrine, through to short snouted (brevirostrine morphologies. The proportional length of the mandibular symphysis correlates consistently with rostral shape, forming as much as 50% of the mandible's length in longirostrine forms, but 10% in brevirostrine crocodilians. Here we analyse the structural consequences of an elongate mandibular symphysis in relation to feeding behaviours. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Simple beam and high resolution Finite Element (FE models of seven species of crocodile were analysed under loads simulating biting, shaking and twisting. Using beam theory, we statistically compared multiple hypotheses of which morphological variables should control the biomechanical response. Brevi- and mesorostrine morphologies were found to consistently outperform longirostrine types when subject to equivalent biting, shaking and twisting loads. The best predictors of performance for biting and twisting loads in FE models were overall length and symphyseal length respectively; for shaking loads symphyseal length and a multivariate measurement of shape (PC1- which is strongly but not exclusively correlated with symphyseal length were equally good predictors. Linear measurements were better predictors than multivariate measurements of shape in biting and twisting loads. For both biting and shaking loads but not for twisting, simple beam models agree with best performance predictors in FE models. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Combining beam and FE modelling allows a priori hypotheses about the importance of morphological traits on biomechanics to be statistically tested. Short mandibular symphyses perform well under loads used for feeding upon large prey, but elongate symphyses incur high strains under equivalent loads, underlining the structural constraints to prey size in the longirostrine morphotype. The biomechanics of the crocodilian mandible are largely

  18. 75 FR 838 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Notice of 90-Day Finding on a Petition to List Atlantic...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-06

    ....C. 1532(15)). In 1996, the USFWS and NMFS published the Policy on the Recognition of a Distinct... 800 pounds (364 kg). Atlantic sturgeon are distinguished by armor-like plates and a long snout with a...

  19. Tooth-marked small theropod bone: an extremely rare trace

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Aase Roland

    2001-01-01

    Tooth-marked dinosaur bones provide insight into feeding behaviours and biting strategies of theropod dinosaurs. The majority of theropod tooth marks reported to date have been found on herbivorous dinosaur bones, although some tyrannosaurid bones with tooth marks have also been reported. In 1988...

  20. Suction is kid's play: extremely fast suction in newborn seahorses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Wassenbergh, Sam; Roos, Gert; Genbrugge, Annelies; Leysen, Heleen; Aerts, Peter; Adriaens, Dominique; Herrel, Anthony

    2009-01-01

    Ongoing anatomical development typically results in a gradual maturation of the feeding movements from larval to adult fishes. Adult seahorses are known to capture prey by rotating their long-snouted head extremely quickly towards prey, followed by powerful suction. This type of suction is powered by elastic recoil and requires very precise coordination of the movements of the associated feeding structures, making it an all-or-none phenomenon. Here, we show that newborn Hippocampus reidi are able to successfully feed using an extremely rapid and powerful snout rotation combined with a high-volume suction, surpassing that observed in adult seahorses. An inverse dynamic analysis shows that an elastic recoil mechanism is also used to power head rotation in newborn H. reidi. This illustrates how extreme levels of performance in highly complex musculoskeletal systems can be present at birth given a delayed birth and rapid development of functionally important structures. The fact that the head skeleton of newborn seahorses is still largely cartilaginous may not be problematic because the hydrodynamic stress on the rotating snout appeared considerably lower than in adult syngnathids. PMID:19324657

  1. ANIMALS

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    绿波

    2011-01-01

    The pig is wronged Long, long ago, the pig often helped people with their work. There was a family which had a pig and a dog. The master told the pig and the dog to tilt land (耕地) . The pig dug the land with its snout (猪嘴), but the dog lay on the ground sleeping.

  2. Anfíbios Anuros da coleção Adolpho Lutz: III - Hyla claresignata Lutz & B. Lutz, 1939

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bertha Lutz

    1948-12-01

    Full Text Available Hyla claresignata Lutz & Lutz, 1939, is a large species apparently not closely allied to the other known Brazilian hylas. It is characterized by the very small tympanum; the head is short and the snout rounded; the legs are long, the hands and feet unusually large, the latter extensively webbbed. The specific name is derived from the insular, irregular, or roughly triangular, dark spots, with a light halo, found mostly in the dorso-lateral region and on the legs. It belongs to the rain-forest fauna of the Marítime Range. The adult is a bromeliad-dweller and the tadpole rhyacophilous. DESCRIPTION. Vomerine teeth in two separate, oblique, groups, behind the large choanae, parallel to the posterior half of their inner border. Tongue entire, short, very broad and hardly free behind. Snout short, rounded, with distinct canthus rostralis and gradually sloping loreal region. Eye very large and prominent, its horizontal diameter almost equal to the distance between its anterior corner and the tip of the snout. Tympanum very small, less than one third of the diameter of the eye, but distinct, partly covered by a short, heavy ridge. Lateral fingers less than one third webbed; fourth finger slightly longer than the second, just reaching the base of the disk of the third; subarticular tubercles well developed; an angular pollex rudiment, more noticeable in the males. Toes almost completely webbed, the edge of the web inserted at the base of the disk on the third and the fifth; an inner metatarsal tubercle. Skin smooth above, granular beneath, on the throat minutely so. No dermal appendage on the hell. Habit robust, head broader than long, body rather heavy, slightly narrowed in the postaxillary region. Legs long, the tibiotarsal articulation reaching beyond the tip of the snout when adpressed. Type (female: 61 mm. (Fig. 1. DIAGNOSIS of TADPOLE (by G. Orton. "A large specialized, mountain-stream tadpole, with wide head an elongated, flattened snout, greatly

  3. 78 FR 7907 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Island Night Lizard From the Federal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-04

    ... establishing population and habitat baselines, or for detecting variations from those baselines over the course... snout to vent (Goldberg and Bezy 1974, p. 356; Fellers and Drost 1991, p. 28; Mautz 1993, p. 422... slow-growing, late-maturing, and long- lived lizard (Goldberg and Bezy 1974, pp. 355-358; Fellers and...

  4. Fossorial snake genus Apostolepis from South America (Serpentes: Colubridae: Elapomorphinae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    De Lema, Thales

    2001-07-01

    Full Text Available An update commented list of the snake genus Apostolepis from South America, with keys for identification of the species. They are fossorial snakes that present different coloration according their distribution: (a 7 to 3 dark stripes coloration, without light nuchal collar (if present, vestigial, with snout not projected beyond jaws - in Amazonian and enclaves within Caatinga domain; (b 5 dark striped dorsal pattern, snout projected, usually without white nuchal collars — from region of contact between Cerrado and Chaco domains; (c dorsal pattern coloration uniformly red, with nucho-cervical collars, snout usually projected — in Cerrado with dispersion to Chaco and Caatinga; (d 2 or none dark stripes dorsally, venter immaculate or with black blotches, snout projecting: (e an aberrant pattern with oblique black dorsal stripes, without collars, head black and snout projecting — one species in an enclave within Caatinga, with 17 rows of scales instead of 15.

  5. The remarkable convergence of skull shape in crocodilians and toothed whales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCurry, Matthew R; Evans, Alistair R; Fitzgerald, Erich M G; Adams, Justin W; Clausen, Philip D; McHenry, Colin R

    2017-03-15

    The striking resemblance of long-snouted aquatic mammals and reptiles has long been considered an example of morphological convergence, yet the true cause of this similarity remains untested. We addressed this deficit through three-dimensional morphometric analysis of the full diversity of crocodilian and toothed whale (Odontoceti) skull shapes. Our focus on biomechanically important aspects of shape allowed us to overcome difficulties involved in comparing mammals and reptiles, which have fundamental differences in the number and position of skull bones. We examined whether diet, habitat and prey size correlated with skull shape using phylogenetically informed statistical procedures. Crocodilians and toothed whales have a similar range of skull shapes, varying from extremely short and broad to extremely elongate. This spectrum of shapes represented more of the total variation in our dataset than between phylogenetic groups. The most elongate species (river dolphins and gharials) are extremely convergent in skull shape, clustering outside of the range of the other taxa. Our results suggest the remarkable convergence between long-snouted river dolphins and gharials is driven by diet rather than physical factors intrinsic to riverine environments. Despite diverging approximately 288 million years ago, crocodilians and odontocetes have evolved a remarkably similar morphological solution to feeding on similar prey. © 2017 The Author(s).

  6. A new species of wedgefish Rhynchobatus cooki (Rhinopristiformes, Rhinidae) from the Indo-West Pacific.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Last, Peter R; Kyne, Peter M; Compagno, Leonard J V

    2016-07-20

    A new dwarf wedgefish, Rhynchobatus cooki sp. nov. is described from a single female from a Jakarta fish market (Indonesia) and 11 specimens collected at Jurong fish market (Singapore). First collected in 1934, the broader ichthyological community have been aware of this distinctive but little known ray since the late 1990's. Rhynchobatus cooki is the smallest of the wedgefishes (to 81 cm TL) and has the lowest vertebral count (fewer than 107 centra). It is also distinguishable from its congeners based on its long, hastate snout, very strongly undulate anterior pectoral-fin margin, coloration and aspects of its squamation. The dorsal coloration is mainly dark and distinctively marked with white blotches, spots and streaks, and has a dark cruciate marking on the interorbit and a prominent white border around the body margin. Unlike most other wedgefish species, the snout tip lacks dark blotches and there is no black pectoral-fin marking. It shares well-developed rostral spines with a much larger Atlantic species (Rhynchobatus luebberti), but these spines are confined to the snout tip (rather than being more numerous and extending in paired rows along the rostral ridges nearly to the eyes). No additional specimens have been observed since 1996, despite an increased recent effort to survey the chondrichthyan fauna of South-East Asia and collect biological data for species, raising concerns over its conservation status.

  7. Dipturus amphispinus sp. nov., a new longsnout skate (Rajoidei: Rajidae) from the Philippines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Last, Peter R; Alava, Moonyeen

    2013-01-01

    A new long-snouted skate, Dipturus amphispinus sp. nov., is formally described based on material caught in the Sulu Sea and later acquired from fish markets of the central and southern Philippines. It differs from its congeners in the western North Pacific, apart from D. wuhanlingi (East and South China Seas), in having a variably-defined, parallel row of posterolaterally directed lumbar thorns, and well-developed scapular thorns on each side of the disc. However, the paired rows of lumbar thorns are better defined in Dipturus amphispinus sp. nov. than in D. wuhanlingi, and these species also differ in some aspects of their morphometrics, meristics and squamation. Dipturus amphispinus sp. nov. displays marked sexual dimorphism with adult males having a relatively broader mouth, much longer teeth, a relatively shorter snout, head and disc, a taller first dorsal fin, and a proportionally longer posterior pelvic-fin lobe and tail, than adult-sized females.

  8. Prey capture kinematics and four-bar linkages in the bay pipefish, Syngnathus leptorhynchus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flammang, Brooke E; Ferry-Graham, Lara A; Rinewalt, Christopher; Ardizzone, Daniele; Davis, Chante; Trejo, Tonatiuh

    2009-01-01

    Because of their modified cranial morphology, syngnathid pipefishes have been described as extreme suction feeders. The presumption is that these fishes use their elongate snout much like a pipette in capturing planktonic prey. In this study, we quantify the contribution of suction to the feeding strike and quantitatively describe the prey capture mechanics of the bay pipefish Syngnathus leptorhynchus, focusing specifically on the role of both cranial elevation and snout movement. We used high-speed video to capture feeding sequences from nine individuals feeding on live brine shrimp. Sequences were digitized in order to calculate kinematic variables that could be used to describe prey capture. Prey capture was very rapid, from 2 to 6 ms from the onset of cranial rotation. We found that suction contributed at most about one-eighth as much as ram to the reduction of the distance between predator and prey. This movement of the predator was due almost exclusively to movement of the snout and neurocranium rather than movement of the whole body. The body was positioned ventral and posterior to the prey and the snout was rotated dorsally by as much as 21 degrees, thereby placing the mouth immediately behind the prey for capture. The snout did not follow the identical trajectory as the neurocranium, however, and reached a maximum angle of only about 10 degrees. The snout consists, in part, of elongate suspensorial elements and the linkages among these elements are retained despite changes in shape. Thus, when the neurocranium is rotated, the four-bar linkage that connects this action with hyoid depression simultaneously acts to expand and straighten the snout relative to the neurocranium. We confirm the presence of a four-bar linkage that facilitates these kinematics by couplings between the pectoral girdle, urohyal, hyoid complex, and the neurocranium-suspensorium complex.

  9. A new montane species of Philautus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from western Sarawak, Malaysia, Borneo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehling, J Maximilian; Dehling, Matthias

    2013-01-01

    A new species of Philautus is described from western Sarawak. The new species was collected in lower montane forest in two national parks in Sarawak and recorded from another park. It differs from its congeners by a unique combination of morphological characters, including a long, acuminate snout, long legs, and comparatively extensive toe webbing. The advertisement call of the new species differs from all calls of other species that have been analyzed so far. Comparison of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequence corroborates its distinct specific status.

  10. Threonine modulates immune response, antioxidant status and gene expressions of antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant-immune-cytokine-related signaling molecules in juvenile blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habte-Tsion, Habte-Michael; Ren, Mingchun; Liu, Bo; Ge, Xianping; Xie, Jun; Chen, Ruli

    2016-04-01

    A 9-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of graded dietary threonine (Thr) levels (0.58-2.58%) on the hematological parameters, immune response, antioxidant status and hepatopancreatic gene expression of antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant-immune-cytokine-related signaling molecules in juvenile blunt snout bream. For this purpose, 3 tanks were randomly arranged and assigned to each experimental diet. Fish were fed with their respective diet to apparent satiation 4 times daily. The results indicated that white blood cell, red blood cell and haemoglobin significantly responded to graded dietary Thr levels, while hematocrit didn't. Complement components (C3 and C4), total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), immunoglobulin M (IgM), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) increased with increasing dietary Thr levels up to 1.58-2.08% and thereafter tended to decrease. Dietary Thr regulated the gene expressions of Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD and CAT, GPx1, glutathione S-transferase mu (GST), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heat shock protein-70 (Hsp70), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA1), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and fructose-bisphosphate aldolase B (ALDOB); while the gene expression of peroxiredoxin II (PrxII) was not significantly modified by graded Thr levels. These genes are involved in different functions including antioxidant, immune, and defense responses, energy metabolism and protein synthesis. Therefore, this study could provide a new molecular tool for studies in fish immunonutrition and shed light on the regulatory mechanisms that dietary Thr improved the antioxidant and immune capacities of fish. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Progressive atrophic rhinitis in a medium-scale pig farm in Kiambu, Kenya : case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.K. Wabacha

    2000-07-01

    Full Text Available Forty-two pigs in a herd of 117 displayed various clinical signs of progressive atrophic rhinitis. The main signs included sneezing, coughing, lachrymation, serous to muco-purulent nasal discharge, and nasal bleeding in 1 pig. Three pigs had lateral deviation of the snout, while 4 had brachygnathia superior with obvious deformation of the face. Four acutely affected weaner pigs appeared weak, while the 7 chronically-affected pigs appeared smaller than their apparently unaffected penmates of the same age. Treatment of the acutely affected pigs with long-acting oxytetracycline at 20 mg/kg body weight intra-muscularly, repeated once after 7 days, reduced the severity but did not clear the sneezing from all the pigs. Fifteen pigs were slaughtered 2 months after the clinical diagnosis was made. The carcasses of the chronically affected pigs were about 15 % lighter than those of the apparently normal pigs of the same age and from the same pen, which translated to a loss of 921.00 Kenya shillings per pig (US$13.7. Diagnosis of progressive atrophic rhinitis was confirmed by sectioning the snouts of randomly selected slaughtered pigs with obvious deformation of the snout. Sections were madeat the level of the 1st/2nd upper premolar tooth. Varying degrees of turbinate atrophy, from mild to complete, were noted. Histopathology of the turbinates revealed metaplasia of nasal epithelium and fibrosis in the lamina propria.

  12. 78 FR 38162 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing One Distinct Population Segment of Broad...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-25

    ... Management of Brazilian Crocodilians (Coutinho and Luz 2008 in Velasco et al. 2008 p. 80). The broad-snouted... from the Brazilian List of Endangered Fauna (The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable... agriculture and river pollution have reduced the availability of broad-snouted caiman habitat in Brazil...

  13. Assessment of trophic ecomorphology in non-alligatoroid crocodylians and its adaptive and taxonomic implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iijima, Masaya

    2017-08-01

    Although the establishment of trophic ecomorphology in living crocodylians can contribute to estimating feeding habits of extinct large aquatic reptiles, assessment of ecomorphological traits other than the snout shape has scarcely been conducted in crocodylians. Here, I tested the validity of the proposed trophic ecomorphological traits in crocodylians by examining the correlation between those traits and the snout shape (an established trophic ecomorphology), using 10 non-alligatoroid crocodylian species with a wide range of snout shape. I then compared the ontogenetic scaling of trophic ecomorphology to discuss its adaptive and taxonomic significance. The results demonstrated that degree of heterodonty, tooth spacing, size of supratemporal fenestra (STF), ventral extension of pterygoid flange and length of lower jaw symphysis are significantly correlated with snout shape by both non-phylogenetic and phylogenetic regression analyses. Gavialis gangeticus falls outside of 95% prediction intervals for the relationships of some traits and the snout shape, suggesting that piscivorous specialization involves the deviation from the typical transformation axis of skull characters. The comparative snout shape ontogeny revealed a universal trend of snout widening through growth in the sampled crocodylians, implying the existence of a shared size-dependent biomechanical constraint in non-alligatoroid crocodylians. Growth patterns of other traits indicated that G. gangeticus shows atypical trends for degree of heterodonty, size of STF, and symphysis length, whereas the same trends are shared for tooth spacing and ventral extension of pterygoid flange among non-alligatoroid crocodylians. These suggest that some characters are ontogenetically labile in response to prey preference shifts through growth, but other characters are in keeping with the conserved biomechanics among non-alligatoroid crocodylians. Some important taxonomic characters such as the occlusal pattern are

  14. The formation of diploid and triploid hybrids of female grass carp × male blunt snout bream and their 5S rDNA analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Weiguo; Xie, Lihua; Li, Tangluo; Liu, Shaojun; Xiao, Jun; Hu, Jie; Wang, Jing; Qin, Qinbo; Liu, Yun

    2013-11-23

    Hybridization is a useful strategy to alter the genotypes and phenotypes of the offspring. It could transfer the genome of one species to another through combing the different genome of parents in the hybrid offspring. And the offspring may exhibit advantages in growth rate, disease resistance, survival rate and appearance, which resulting from the combination of the beneficial traits from both parents. Diploid and triploid hybrids of female grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus, GC, Cyprininae, 2n = 48) × male blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala, BSB, Cultrinae, 2n = 48) were successfully obtained by distant hybridization. Diploid hybrids had 48 chromosomes, with one set from GC and one set from BSB. Triploid hybrids possessed 72 chromosomes, with two sets from GC and one set from BSB.The morphological traits, growth rates, and feeding ecology of the parents and hybrid offspring were compared and analyzed. The two kinds of hybrid offspring exhibited significantly phenotypic divergence from GC and BSB. 2nGB hybrids showed similar growth rate compared to that of GC, and 3nGB hybrids significantly higher results. Furthermore, the feeding ecology of hybrid progeny was omnivorous.The 5S rDNA of GC, BSB and their hybrid offspring were also cloned and sequenced. There was only one type of 5S rDNA (designated type I: 180 bp) in GC and one type of 5S rDNA (designated type II: 188 bp) in BSB. However, in the hybrid progeny, diploid and triploid hybrids both inherited type I and type II from their parents, respectively. In addition, a chimera of type I and type II was observed in the genome of diploid and triploid hybrids, excepting a 10 bp of polyA insertion in type II sequence of the chimera of the diploid hybrids. This is the first report of diploid and triploid hybrids being produced by crossing GC and BSB, which have the same chromosome number. The obtainment of two new hybrid offspring has significance in fish genetic breeding. The results illustrate the effect

  15. New tyrannosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Uzbekistan clarifies evolution of giant body sizes and advanced senses in tyrant dinosaurs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brusatte, Stephen L; Averianov, Alexander; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Muir, Amy; Butler, Ian B

    2016-03-29

    Tyrannosaurids--the familiar group of carnivorous dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus and Albertosaurus--were the apex predators in continental ecosystems in Asia and North America during the latest Cretaceous (ca. 80-66 million years ago). Their colossal sizes and keen senses are considered key to their evolutionary and ecological success, but little is known about how these features developed as tyrannosaurids evolved from smaller basal tyrannosauroids that first appeared in the fossil record in the Middle Jurassic (ca. 170 million years ago). This is largely because of a frustrating 20+ million-year gap in the mid-Cretaceous fossil record, when tyrannosauroids transitioned from small-bodied hunters to gigantic apex predators but from which no diagnostic specimens are known. We describe the first distinct tyrannosauroid species from this gap, based on a highly derived braincase and a variety of other skeletal elements from the Turonian (ca. 90-92 million years ago) of Uzbekistan. This taxon is phylogenetically intermediate between the oldest basal tyrannosauroids and the latest Cretaceous forms. It had yet to develop the giant size and extensive cranial pneumaticity of T. rex and kin but does possess the highly derived brain and inner ear characteristic of the latest Cretaceous species. Tyrannosauroids apparently developed huge size rapidly during the latest Cretaceous, and their success in the top predator role may have been enabled by their brain and keen senses that first evolved at smaller body size.

  16. New tyrannosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Uzbekistan clarifies evolution of giant body sizes and advanced senses in tyrant dinosaurs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brusatte, Stephen L.; Averianov, Alexander; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Muir, Amy; Butler, Ian B.

    2016-03-01

    Tyrannosaurids-the familiar group of carnivorous dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus and Albertosaurus-were the apex predators in continental ecosystems in Asia and North America during the latest Cretaceous (ca. 80-66 million years ago). Their colossal sizes and keen senses are considered key to their evolutionary and ecological success, but little is known about how these features developed as tyrannosaurids evolved from smaller basal tyrannosauroids that first appeared in the fossil record in the Middle Jurassic (ca. 170 million years ago). This is largely because of a frustrating 20+ million-year gap in the mid-Cretaceous fossil record, when tyrannosauroids transitioned from small-bodied hunters to gigantic apex predators but from which no diagnostic specimens are known. We describe the first distinct tyrannosauroid species from this gap, based on a highly derived braincase and a variety of other skeletal elements from the Turonian (ca. 90-92 million years ago) of Uzbekistan. This taxon is phylogenetically intermediate between the oldest basal tyrannosauroids and the latest Cretaceous forms. It had yet to develop the giant size and extensive cranial pneumaticity of T. rex and kin but does possess the highly derived brain and inner ear characteristic of the latest Cretaceous species. Tyrannosauroids apparently developed huge size rapidly during the latest Cretaceous, and their success in the top predator role may have been enabled by their brain and keen senses that first evolved at smaller body size.

  17. Effects of island seabird subsidies and invasive species dynamics on the body size and foraging ecology of the Allen Cays Rock Iguana (Cyclura cychlura inornata)

    OpenAIRE

    Richardson, Kristen Mundie

    2015-01-01

    Island systems have long been valuable to ecological research as they provide natural experiments for the study of ecosystem processes. We examined Allen, Leaf, U and Flat Rock Reef Cays in the Bahamas to study the effects of seabird driven marine subsidies and invasive mice on island food webs on the body size and foraging ecology of the Allen Cays Rock Iguana (Cyclura cychlura inornata). Iguanas on an island with nesting seabirds (Allen Cay) had 6 times the body mass and 1.7 times the snout...

  18. The effect of dietary folic acid on biochemical parameters and gene expression of three heat shock proteins (HSPs) of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) fingerling under acute high temperature stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sesay, Daniella Fatmata; Habte-Tsion, Habte-Michael; Zhou, Qunlan; Ren, Mingchun; Xie, Jun; Liu, Bo; Chen, Ruli; Pan, Liangkun

    2017-08-01

    The effects of dietary folic acid on biochemical parameters and gene expression of three heat shock proteins (HSPs) of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) fingerling under acute high temperature stress. Six dietary folic acid groups (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0, and 10.0) mg/kg diets were designed and assigned into 18 tanks in three replicates each (300 l/tank) and were administered for 10 weeks in a re-circulated water system. The fingerlings with an initial weight of 27.0 ± 0.03 g were fed with their respective diets four times daily. At the end of the experiment, samples were collected before challenge, 0, 24, 72 h, and 7 days. Serum total protein (TP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), cortisol, glucose, complement C3 (C3), complement C4 (C4, immunoglobulin M (IgM) hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), and the expression of heat shock protein 60 (HSP60), 70 (HSP70), and 90 (HSP90) were studied. The results showed that fish fed with dietary folic acid between 1.0, 2.0, and 5.0 mg/kg significantly (P stress, 0, 24, 72 h, and 7 days significantly (P  0.05) of the three HSPs. However, there were statistical significant interactive effect between dietary folic acid inclusion level and temperature duration on serum C3 and C4 (P  0.05). The present results indicate that supplementation of basal diet from 1.0 mg/kg; 2.0 and 5.0 mg/kg can enhance acute high temperature resistance ability in M. amblycephala fingerling to some degree and improve physiological response, immune and antioxidant capacities, and expression level of three HSPs.

  19. Does skull morphology constrain bone ornamentation? A morphometric analysis in the Crocodylia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarac, F; Souter, T; Cubo, J; de Buffrénil, V; Brochu, C; Cornette, R

    2016-08-01

    Previous quantitative assessments of the crocodylians' dermal bone ornamentation (this ornamentation consists of pits and ridges) has shown that bone sculpture results in a gain in area that differs between anatomical regions: it tends to be higher on the skull table than on the snout. Therefore, a comparative phylogenetic analysis within 17 adult crocodylian specimens representative of the morphological diversity of the 24 extant species has been performed, in order to test if the gain in area due to ornamentation depends on the skull morphology, i.e. shape and size. Quantitative assessment of skull size and shape through geometric morphometrics, and of skull ornamentation through surface analyses, produced a dataset that was analyzed using phylogenetic least-squares regression. The analyses reveal that none of the variables that quantify ornamentation, be they on the snout or the skull table, is correlated with the size of the specimens. Conversely, there is more disparity in the relationships between skull conformations (longirostrine vs. brevirostrine) and ornamentation. Indeed, both parameters GApit (i.e. pit depth and shape) and OArelat (i.e. relative area of the pit set) are negatively correlated with snout elongation, whereas none of the values quantifying ornamentation on the skull table is correlated with skull conformation. It can be concluded that bone sculpture on the snout is influenced by different developmental constrains than on the skull table and is sensible to differences in the local growth 'context' (allometric processes) prevailing in distinct skull parts. Whatever the functional role of bone ornamentation on the skull, if any, it seems to be restricted to some anatomical regions at least for the longirostrine forms that tend to lose ornamentation on the snout. © 2016 Anatomical Society.

  20. Bythaelurus tenuicephalus n. sp., a new deep-water catshark (Carcharhiniformes, Scyliorhinidae) from the western Indian Ocean.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaschner, Carina Julia; Weigmann, Simon; Thiel, Ralf

    2015-09-07

    A new dwarf deep-water catshark, Bythaelurus tenuicephalus, is described based on one adult and one juvenile male specimen from off Tanzania and Mozambique in the western Indian Ocean. The new species differs from its congeners by its slender head and snout, which is only slightly bell-shaped in dorsoventral view without distinct lateral indention. All other Bythaelurus species have distinctly bell-shaped snouts with a strong lateral indention anterior to outer nostrils. Compared to its congeners in the western Indian Ocean, B. tenuicephalus n. sp. also has broader claspers in adult males (base width 2.1% TL vs. 1.5-1.8% TL). It further differs from B. clevai by attaining a smaller maximum size and having a color pattern of fewer and smaller blotches, larger oral papillae, a shorter snout, and broader claspers without knob-like apex and with a smaller envelope and a subtriangular (vs. subrectangular) exorhipidion. Compared to B. hispidus, the new species has a longer snout, a longer dorsal-caudal space, broader clasper without knob-like apex, and fewer vertebral centra. In contrast to B. lutarius, B. tenuicephalus attains a smaller maximum size and has a blotched (vs. largely plain) coloration, numerous (vs. lacking) oral papillae, shorter anterior nasal flaps, a longer caudal fin, a shorter pelvic anal space, and shorter and broader claspers.

  1. A new species of sea urchin associating clingfish of the genus Dellichthys from New Zealand (Teleostei, Gobiesocidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin W. Conway

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available A new species of clingfish, Dellichthys trnskii sp. n. is described on the basis of 27 specimens, 11.9–46.0 mm SL, collected from intertidal and shallow coastal waters of New Zealand. It is distinguished from its only congener, D. morelandi Briggs, 1955 by characters of the cephalic sensory system and oral jaws, snout shape, and colouration in life. A rediagnosis is provided for D. morelandi, which is shown to exhibit sexual dimorphism in snout shape.

  2. Five decades on: Use of historical weaning size data reveals that a decrease in maternal foraging success underpins the long-term decline in population of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ella Clausius

    Full Text Available The population of Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina at Macquarie Island has declined since the 1960s, and is thought to be due to changing oceanic conditions leading to reductions in the foraging success of Macquarie Island breeding females. To test this hypothesis, we used a 55-year-old data set on weaning size of southern elephant seals to quantify a decrease in weaning size from a period of population stability in 1950s to its present state of on-going decline. Being capital breeders, the size of elephant seal pups at weaning is a direct consequence of maternal foraging success in the preceding year. During the 1940-1950s, the mean of female pups at weaning was similar between the Heard and Macquarie Island populations, while the snout-tail-length length of male weaners from Heard Island were longer than their conspecifics at Macquarie Island. Additionally, the snout-tail-length of pups at weaning decreased by 3cm between the 1950s and 1990s in the Macquarie Island population, concurrent with the observed population decline. Given the importance of weaning size in determining first-year survival and recruitment rates, the decline in the size at weaning suggests that the decline in the Macquarie Island population has, to some extent, been driven by reduced maternal foraging success, consequent declines in the size of pups at weaning, leading to reduced first-year survival rates and recruitment of breeding females into the population 3 to 4 years later.

  3. In Vivo Measurement of Mesokinesis in Gekko gecko: The Role of Cranial Kinesis during Gape Display, Feeding and Biting.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stéphane J Montuelle

    Full Text Available Cranial kinesis refers to movements of skeletal sub-units relative to one another at mobile sutures within the skull. The presence and functional significance of cranial kinesis has been investigated in various vertebrates, with much of our understanding coming from comparative studies and manipulation of ligamentous specimens. Drawing on these studies, cranial kinesis in lizards has been modeled as a four-bar linkage system involving streptostyly (rotation of the quadrate, hypokinesis (dorsoventral flexion and extension of the palato-maxillary sub-unit, mesokinesis (dorsoventral flexion and extension of the snout at the fronto-parietal suture and metakinesis (sliding movements between parietal and supraocciptal bones. In vivo studies, although limited, suggest that cranial kinesis serves an important role during routine behaviors such as feeding. Here, we use X-ray Reconstruction Of Moving Morphology to further quantify mesokinesis in vivo in Gekko gecko during three routine behaviors: gape display, biting and post-ingestion feeding. During gape display, the snout rotates dorsally above rest position, with mesokinesis accounting for a 10% increase in maximum gape over that achieved solely by the depression of the lower jaw. During defensive biting, the snout rotates ventrally below rest position to participate in gape closure. Finally, ventroflexion of the snout also occurs during post-ingestion feeding, accounting for 42% of gape closure during intra-oral transport, 86% during puncture-crushing, and 61% during pharyngeal packing. Mesokinesis thus appears to facilitate prey puncturing by allowing the snout to rotate ventrally so that the upper teeth pierce the prey item, thus limiting the need for large movements of the lower jaw. This is suggested to maintain a firm grip on the prey and reduce the possibility of prey escape. More generally, this study demonstrates that mesokinesis is a key component of defensive biting and gape display

  4. Seahorse (Hippocampinae) population fluctuations in the Ria Formosa Lagoon, south Portugal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Correia, M; Caldwell, I R; Koldewey, H J; Andrade, J P; Palma, J

    2015-09-01

    Comparisons of three sets of surveys in the Ria Formosa Lagoon, Portugal, over a 13 year period (2001-2002, 2008-2009 and 2010-2013) revealed significant population fluctuations in at least one of the two seahorse (Hippocampinae) species living there, and that those fluctuations were potentially associated with habitat changes in the lagoon. After a significant decline between the first two survey periods (2001-2002 v. 2008-2009), long-snouted seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus populations increased significantly between 2008-2009 surveys and new 2010-2013 surveys. There were no significant differences in H. guttulatus populations between the 2001-2002 and 2010-2013 surveys. In contrast, there were no significant differences in short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus densities among the 16 sites surveyed throughout the three sampling periods, although the ability to detect any change was hampered by the low densities of this species in all time periods. Fluctuations in H. guttulatus densities were positively correlated with the percentage of holdfast coverage, but with none of the other environmental variables tested. These results highlight the importance of holdfast availability in maintaining stable seahorse populations. While population fluctuations are certainly more promising than a consistent downward decline, such extreme fluctuations observed for seahorses in the Ria Formosa Lagoon could still leave these two species vulnerable to any additional stressors, particularly during low density periods. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  5. Longevity in Calumma parsonii, the World's largest chameleon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tessa, Giulia; Glaw, Frank; Andreone, Franco

    2017-03-01

    Large body size of ectothermic species can be correlated with high life expectancy. We assessed the longevity of the World's largest chameleon, the Parson's chameleon Calumma parsonii from Madagascar by using skeletochronology of phalanges taken from preserved specimens held in European natural history museums. Due to the high bone resorption we can provide only the minimum age of each specimen. The highest minimum age detected was nine years for a male and eight years for a female, confirming that this species is considerably long living among chameleons. Our data also show a strong correlation between snout-vent length and estimated age. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. The snout of Paulocnus petrifactus (Mammalia, Edentata)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hooijer, D.A.

    1964-01-01

    A specimen of the ground sloth discovered by Mr. P. Stuiver in Curaçao, Paulocnus petrifactus Hooijer (1962), recently dressed from the matrix by Mr. P. H. de Buisonjé, comprises the front part of the mandible and the left half of the rostrum of the skull. It holds the left upper and right lower

  7. Ecología de una población de Teius oculatus (Sauria: Teiidae de Río Cuarto (Córdoba. Estructura poblacional y crecimiento individual

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martori, Ricardo

    1990-01-01

    Full Text Available Using the mark-recapture method a population of Teius oculatus was studied during four month (dic. 2/1987 - march 22/1988. The population density was measured, age groups were defined the annual cycle was described and the individual daily growth was calculated to test differences between age groups and the possible correlations between growth and individual snout vent length. Density was different for each period, the age groups were three: hatching, juveniles and adults, which change during the active period, being hatch mg the last in retiring. Individual growth rate changed for each age group and growth and snout vent length are negatively correlated.

  8. A Giant Chelonioid Turtle from the Late Cretaceous of Morocco with a Suction Feeding Apparatus Unique among Tetrapods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bardet, Nathalie; Jalil, Nour-Eddine; de Lapparent de Broin, France; Germain, Damien; Lambert, Olivier; Amaghzaz, Mbarek

    2013-01-01

    Background Secondary adaptation to aquatic life occurred independently in several amniote lineages, including reptiles during the Mesozoic and mammals during the Cenozoic. These evolutionary shifts to aquatic environments imply major morphological modifications, especially of the feeding apparatus. Mesozoic (250–65 Myr) marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurid squamates, crocodiles, and turtles, exhibit a wide range of adaptations to aquatic feeding and a broad overlap of their tooth morphospaces with those of Cenozoic marine mammals. However, despite these multiple feeding behavior convergences, suction feeding, though being a common feeding strategy in aquatic vertebrates and in marine mammals in particular, has been extremely rarely reported for Mesozoic marine reptiles. Principal Findings A relative of fossil protostegid and dermochelyoid sea turtles, Ocepechelon bouyai gen. et sp. nov. is a new giant chelonioid from the Late Maastrichtian (67 Myr) of Morocco exhibiting remarkable adaptations to marine life (among others, very dorsally and posteriorly located nostrils). The 70-cm-long skull of Ocepechelon not only makes it one of the largest marine turtles ever described, but also deviates significantly from typical turtle cranial morphology. It shares unique convergences with both syngnathid fishes (unique long tubular bony snout ending in a rounded and anteriorly directed mouth) and beaked whales (large size and elongated edentulous jaws). This striking anatomy suggests extreme adaptation for suction feeding unmatched among known turtles. Conclusion/Significance The feeding apparatus of Ocepechelon, a bony pipette-like snout, is unique among tetrapods. This new taxon exemplifies the successful systematic and ecological diversification of chelonioid turtles during the Late Cretaceous. This new evidence for a unique trophic specialization in turtles, along with the abundant marine vertebrate faunas associated to Ocepechelon in the Late

  9. A giant chelonioid turtle from the late Cretaceous of Morocco with a suction feeding apparatus unique among tetrapods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bardet, Nathalie; Jalil, Nour-Eddine; de Lapparent de Broin, France; Germain, Damien; Lambert, Olivier; Amaghzaz, Mbarek

    2013-01-01

    Secondary adaptation to aquatic life occurred independently in several amniote lineages, including reptiles during the Mesozoic and mammals during the Cenozoic. These evolutionary shifts to aquatic environments imply major morphological modifications, especially of the feeding apparatus. Mesozoic (250-65 Myr) marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurid squamates, crocodiles, and turtles, exhibit a wide range of adaptations to aquatic feeding and a broad overlap of their tooth morphospaces with those of Cenozoic marine mammals. However, despite these multiple feeding behavior convergences, suction feeding, though being a common feeding strategy in aquatic vertebrates and in marine mammals in particular, has been extremely rarely reported for Mesozoic marine reptiles. A relative of fossil protostegid and dermochelyoid sea turtles, Ocepechelon bouyai gen. et sp. nov. is a new giant chelonioid from the Late Maastrichtian (67 Myr) of Morocco exhibiting remarkable adaptations to marine life (among others, very dorsally and posteriorly located nostrils). The 70-cm-long skull of Ocepechelon not only makes it one of the largest marine turtles ever described, but also deviates significantly from typical turtle cranial morphology. It shares unique convergences with both syngnathid fishes (unique long tubular bony snout ending in a rounded and anteriorly directed mouth) and beaked whales (large size and elongated edentulous jaws). This striking anatomy suggests extreme adaptation for suction feeding unmatched among known turtles. The feeding apparatus of Ocepechelon, a bony pipette-like snout, is unique among tetrapods. This new taxon exemplifies the successful systematic and ecological diversification of chelonioid turtles during the Late Cretaceous. This new evidence for a unique trophic specialization in turtles, along with the abundant marine vertebrate faunas associated to Ocepechelon in the Late Maastrichtian phosphatic beds of Morocco, further

  10. A giant chelonioid turtle from the late Cretaceous of Morocco with a suction feeding apparatus unique among tetrapods.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathalie Bardet

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Secondary adaptation to aquatic life occurred independently in several amniote lineages, including reptiles during the Mesozoic and mammals during the Cenozoic. These evolutionary shifts to aquatic environments imply major morphological modifications, especially of the feeding apparatus. Mesozoic (250-65 Myr marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurid squamates, crocodiles, and turtles, exhibit a wide range of adaptations to aquatic feeding and a broad overlap of their tooth morphospaces with those of Cenozoic marine mammals. However, despite these multiple feeding behavior convergences, suction feeding, though being a common feeding strategy in aquatic vertebrates and in marine mammals in particular, has been extremely rarely reported for Mesozoic marine reptiles. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A relative of fossil protostegid and dermochelyoid sea turtles, Ocepechelon bouyai gen. et sp. nov. is a new giant chelonioid from the Late Maastrichtian (67 Myr of Morocco exhibiting remarkable adaptations to marine life (among others, very dorsally and posteriorly located nostrils. The 70-cm-long skull of Ocepechelon not only makes it one of the largest marine turtles ever described, but also deviates significantly from typical turtle cranial morphology. It shares unique convergences with both syngnathid fishes (unique long tubular bony snout ending in a rounded and anteriorly directed mouth and beaked whales (large size and elongated edentulous jaws. This striking anatomy suggests extreme adaptation for suction feeding unmatched among known turtles. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The feeding apparatus of Ocepechelon, a bony pipette-like snout, is unique among tetrapods. This new taxon exemplifies the successful systematic and ecological diversification of chelonioid turtles during the Late Cretaceous. This new evidence for a unique trophic specialization in turtles, along with the abundant marine vertebrate faunas associated to

  11. A new species of small and highly abbreviated caecilian (Gymnophiona: Indotyphlidae) from the Seychelles island of Praslin, and a recharacterization of Hypogeophis brevis Boulenger, 1911.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddock, Simon T; Wilkinson, Mark; Nussbaum, Ronald A; Gower, David J

    2017-10-06

    A new species of indotyphlid caecilian amphibian, Hypogeophis pti sp. nov., is described based on a series of specimens from the Seychelles island of Praslin. The type series was collected in 2013 and 2014, and a referred specimen previously identified as H. brevis Boulenger, 1911 was collected from an unspecified Seychelles locality in 1957. The new species most closely resembles the Seychelles endemic Hypogeophis brevis in being short (maximum known total length in life ca. 120 mm) and long snouted, but differs by having a less anteriorly positioned tentacular aperture and fewer primary annuli and vertebrae. In having only 67-69 vertebrae, H. pti sp. nov. is the most abbreviated extant species of caecilian reported to date.

  12. Dinosaurs on the North Slope, Alaska: High latitude, latest cretaceous environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brouwers, E.M.; Clemens, W.A.; Spicer, R.A.; Ager, T.A.; Carter, L.D.; Sliter, W.V.

    1987-01-01

    Abundant skeletal remains demonstrate that lambeosaurine hadrosaurid, tyrannosaurid, and troodontid dinosaurs lived on the Alaskan North Slope during late Campanian-early Maestrichtian time (about 66 to 76 million years ago) in a deltaic environment dominated by herbaceous vegetation. The high ground terrestrial plant community was a mild- to cold-temperate forest composed of coniferous and broad leaf trees. The high paleolatitude (about 70?? to 85?? North) implies extreme seasonal variation in solar insolation, temperature, and herbivore food supply. Great distances of migration to contemporaneous evergreen floras and the presence of both juvenile and adult hadrosaurs suggest that they remained at high latitudes year-round. This challenges the hypothesis that short-term periods of darkness and temperature decrease resulting from a bolide impact caused dinosaurian extinction.

  13. The good, the bad, and the ugly: agonistic behaviour in juvenile crocodilians.

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    Matthew L Brien

    Full Text Available We examined agonistic behaviour in seven species of hatchling and juvenile crocodilians held in small groups (N = 4 under similar laboratory conditions. Agonistic interactions occurred in all seven species, typically involved two individuals, were short in duration (5-15 seconds, and occurred between 1600-2200 h in open water. The nature and extent of agonistic interactions, the behaviours displayed, and the level of conspecific tolerance varied among species. Discrete postures, non-contact and contact movements are described. Three of these were species-specific: push downs by C. johnstoni; inflated tail sweeping by C. novaeguineae; and, side head striking combined with tail wagging by C. porosus. The two long-snouted species (C. johnstoni and G. gangeticus avoided contact involving the head and often raised the head up out of the way during agonistic interactions. Several behaviours not associated with aggression are also described, including snout rubbing, raising the head up high while at rest, and the use of vocalizations. The two most aggressive species (C. porosus, C. novaeguineae appeared to form dominance hierarchies, whereas the less aggressive species did not. Interspecific differences in agonistic behaviour may reflect evolutionary divergence associated with morphology, ecology, general life history and responses to interspecific conflict in areas where multiple species have co-existed. Understanding species-specific traits in agonistic behaviour and social tolerance has implications for the controlled raising of different species of hatchlings for conservation, management or production purposes.

  14. Feeding mechanics in spinosaurid theropods and extant crocodilians.

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    Andrew R Cuff

    Full Text Available A number of extant and extinct archosaurs evolved an elongate, narrow rostrum. This longirostrine condition has been associated with a diet comprising a higher proportion of fish and smaller prey items compared to taxa with broader, more robust snouts. The evolution of longirostrine morphology and a bulbous anterior rosette of premaxillary teeth also occurs in the spinosaurid theropod dinosaurs, leading to suggestions that at least some members of this clade also had a diet comprising a notable proportion of fish or other small vertebrates. Here we compare the rostral biomechanics of the spinosaurs Baryonyx walkeri and Spinosaurus c.f. S. aegyptiacus to three extant crocodilians: two longistrine taxa, the African slender-snouted crocodile Mecistops cataphractus and the Indian gharial Gavialis gangeticus; and the American alligator Alligator mississippiensis. Using computed tomography (CT data, the second moments of area and moments of inertia at successive transverse slices along the rostrum were calculated for each of the species. Size-independent results tested the biomechanical benefits of material distribution within the rostra. The two spinosaur rostra were both digitally reconstructed from CT data and compared against all three crocodilians. Results show that African slender-snouted crocodile skulls are more resistant to bending than an equivalent sized gharial. The alligator has the highest resistances to bending and torsion of the crocodiles for its size and greater than that of the spinosaurs. The spinosaur rostra possess similar resistance to bending and torsion despite their different morphologies. When size is accounted for, B. walkeri performs mechanically differently from the gharial, contradicting previous studies whereas Spinosaurus does not. Biomechanical data support known feeding ecology for both African slender-snouted crocodile and alligator, and suggest that the spinosaurs were not obligate piscivores with diet being

  15. Distribution and morphometric characters of the Mediterranean longnosed skate, Dipturus oxyrinchus (Chondrichthyans: Rajidae in the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia, Central Mediterranean

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    Hasna Kadri

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To investigate biometrics of Dipturus oxyrinchus (D. oxyrinchus, including length-weight relationships, total length (TL, disc width (DW, distance measured of snout tip to eye, width of the mouth, distance from snout tip to first dorsal, and the numeric characters in the Gulf of Gabes. Methods: Monthly sampling was conducted commercial bottom-trawl during December 2006 and January 2007, operating at a depth of 80-185 m. The TL, DW, distance of snout tip to eye, width of the mouth, distance from snout tip to first dorsal were measured to the nearest 0.1 cm and the weight was measured to the nearest 0.1 g. The parameters a and b were estimated by the least squares regression method. Results: A total of 520 D. oxyrinchus was ranged from 16.5 to 105.0 cm in TL and 30-5 300 g in total mass were analyzed during this study. The overall sex ratio was significantly different from the expected value of 1:16 (df=1, χ2 =3.38, P<0.05, and there was significant difference in the TL (t-test=16.53, df=520, P<0.05. There was significant difference in the regression slopes between sexes for the TL and DW relationship (t-test=17.53, df=520, P<0.05. The b value for the TL/ weight relationship for males D. oxyrinchus sampled in this study (3.01 was lower than that for female (3.23. Morphometric characters were strongly positively correlated for TL. Conclusions: This study reported the first description of biometric relationships for D. oxyrinchus, which would be useful for the sustainable conservation of this rear fishery in the Gulf of Gabes and also form the basis for their inclusion in a regional security programme.

  16. Primitive reflexes and cognitive function Reflexos primitivos e função cognitiva

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    Alfredo Damasceno

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Data on the prevalence of primitive reflexes (PR in adulthood, their pathological significance and relationship to age and cognition are controversial. OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between PR and cognition in 30 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD and 154 control subjects. METHOD: Diagnosis of probable AD was based on DSM-IV, NINCDS-ADRDA, and CAMDEX criteria. Primitive reflexes were quantified from zero (absent to 1 (mild or 2 (markedly present. The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument - Short Form (CASI-S was used to evaluate registration, temporal orientation, verbal fluency and recall. A drawing test was added. RESULTS: Most frequent PR among demented and controls were suck (77% and 62%, respectively and snout (60% and 27%, followed by glabellar (30% and 19%, paratonia (37% and 5%, and palmomental (23% and 5%. None of controls had more than three PR. Frequency of PR tended to increase with age and cognitive deterioration. Grasp and Babinski responses were found only in dementia patients. Primitive reflexes were not correlated with each other, except snout with suck, and snout with glabellar reflex. CONCLUSION: The finding of grasp and Babinski sign, or the presence of more than three primitive signs, particularly the combination of paratonia, snout, suck, and palmomental reflexes strongly suggests brain dysfunction, especially when these signs are marked and accompanied by deficits in orientation, recall, verbal fluency, and constructional praxis.CONTEXTO: A prevalência e significado patológico dos reflexos primitivos (RP no adulto, bem como sua relação com a idade e a cognição, são questões controversas. OBJETIVO: Estudar a relação entre RP e cognição em 30 pacientes com doença de Alzheimer (DA e 154 sujeitos controles normais. MÉTODO: O diagnóstico de DA baseou-se nos critérios DSM-IV, NINCDS-ADRDA e CAMDEX. Os RP foram quantificados de 0 (ausente a 1 (leve ou 2 (acentuado. CASI

  17. Installation and initial operation of the Suss Advanced Lithography Model 4 X-ray Stepper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wells, G.M.; Wallace, J.P.; Brodsky, E.L.; Leonard, Q.J.; Reilly, M.T.; Anderson, P.D.; Lee, W.K.; Cerrina, F.; Simon, K.

    1996-01-01

    A Suss Advanced Lithography X-ray Stepper designed as a production tool for high throughput in the sub-quarter-micron device range has been installed and is being commissioned at the University of Wisconsin close-quote s Center for X-ray Lithography (CXrL). Illumination for the stepper is provided by a scanning beamline designed and constructed at CXrL. The beamline optical components are a gold-coated plane mirror, a 1-micron-thick silicon carbide window, and a 25-micron-thick beryllium exit window. Beamline features include synchronized scanning of the mirror and exit window, variable scan velocity to compensate for reflectivity changes as a function of incident angle, and a horizontal oscillation of the beryllium window during vertical scanning to average the effects of nonuniform beryllium window transmission. A helium purged snout transports the x-rays from the beamline exit window, to the exposure plane in the stepper. This snout is retractable to allow for the loading and unloading of masks into the stepper. The motions of the mirror, exit window, and snout are computer controlled by a LABVIEW program that communicates with the stepper control software. The design of the beamline and initial operating experiences with the beamline and stepper will be discussed. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  18. Tyrant dinosaur evolution tracks the rise and fall of Late Cretaceous oceans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loewen, Mark A; Irmis, Randall B; Sertich, Joseph J W; Currie, Philip J; Sampson, Scott D

    2013-01-01

    The Late Cretaceous (∼95-66 million years ago) western North American landmass of Laramidia displayed heightened non-marine vertebrate diversity and intracontinental regionalism relative to other latest Cretaceous Laurasian ecosystems. Processes generating these patterns during this interval remain poorly understood despite their presumed role in the diversification of many clades. Tyrannosauridae, a clade of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs restricted to the Late Cretaceous of Laramidia and Asia, represents an ideal group for investigating Laramidian patterns of evolution. We use new tyrannosaurid discoveries from Utah--including a new taxon which represents the geologically oldest member of the clade--to investigate the evolution and biogeography of Tyrannosauridae. These data suggest a Laramidian origin for Tyrannosauridae, and implicate sea-level related controls in the isolation, diversification, and dispersal of this and many other Late Cretaceous vertebrate clades.

  19. Chemical and visual sensory systems in feeding behaviour of the Antarctic fish Ophthalmolycus amberensis (Zoarcidae

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    Edith Fanta

    2001-03-01

    Full Text Available The Antarctic eelpout Ophthalmolycus amberensis occurs in Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetlands, at 140-200m depth, where light intensity is low. To assess behavioural and sensory adaptations for feeding under these conditions, laboratory tests were undertaken. Dead krill, fish fillet, and live amphipods were the preferred food items. Feeding responses were mainly induced by chemical stimuli. Visual stimuli were weak elicitors, leading to a long delay in the initiation of feeding behaviour. These fishes present a large olfactory epithelium, a high density of taste buds on the snout and close to the nostrils, and a retina that contained long rods, but no cones. Food selection was observed. Varied types of taste buds were present on the lips and in the oro-pharyngeal cavity. The capacity to use a chemo-sensory system as first elicitor for food detection, either in the absence or presence of light, allows O. amberensis to efficiently exploit different habitats at the sea bottom, in all Antarctic seasons.

  20. Epizoochory in dry forest iguanas: an overlooked seed dispersal mechanism?

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    Eloisa Lasso

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The role of animals as seed dispersal vectors is widely acknowledged, including dispersal by reptiles (saurochory. Most reports of saurochory have been via endozoochory, through feces deposition. We present the first evidence of epizoochory in Iguanas from a dry forest in Colombia via seeds attached to the snout. Our results show that seeds of a cactus Melocactus curvispinus ingested by iguana suffers from their passage through the digestive tract while seeds transported while attached to the snout germinate faster and in higher numbers. Our data suggest that we may have overlooked an alternative means of seed dispersal by lizards that does not comprise a passage through their digestive tract, and that deserves further attention for the understanding of dry forest ecology.

  1. On two abnormal sharks from Gujarat

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Gopalan, U.K.

    The description of the two abnormal sharks, Carchariaswalbeehmi and Eulamia dussumieri collected from Gujarat, India, is given Of these C walbeehmi was double-headed The other shark E dussumieri had thumb snouted albino...

  2. Incubação artificial a 28ºC e crescimento inicial de jacaré do pantanal (Caiman crocodilus yacare em diferentes temperaturas Artificial incubation at 28ºC and initial growth at different temperatures of Pantanal Caiman (Caiman crocodilus yacare

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    Elias Nunes Martins

    1999-11-01

    Full Text Available Vinte ovos de jacaré do pantanal (Caiman crocodilus yacare foram submetidos à incubação artificial, à temperatura de 28ºC. Durante a incubação foram abertos três ovos para se verificar sua viabilidade. Obteve-se 94,11% de eclodibilidade, com a eclosão de 16 ovos. Os animais eclodidos foram, em seguida, colocados a duas temperaturas de crescimento: 28 e 32ºC e submetidos à análise morfométrica. Os dados obtidos foram analisados através de análises de variância. As características peso do animal e largura da cabeça não apresentaram diferenças (P > 0,05 entre os tratamentos. Circunferência da barriga e largura das narinas tiveram melhores (P Twenty Pantanal Caiman (Caiman crocodilus yacare eggs were artificially incubated at 28°C. During the incubation, three eggs were opened in order to check their viability. 94.11% of hatchability was detected, with the hatching of 16 eggs. The hatched animals were kept under two different temperatures during growth (28ºC and 32°C, and submitted to morphometrical analysis. The collected data were analyzed according to the analysis of variance. The characteristics of the weight of the animals and the width of the head did not present significant differences (P > 0.05 between the treatments. The circumference of the belly and width of snout at nostrils were the ones that had the best (P < 0.05 results at 28°C. The other characteristics as total length, tail length ,snout-vent length ,head length, eye length, snout length, width of snout at mid-point and distance between limbs showed better results at 32°C. It may be concluded that temperature variation did not influence the gain of weight, but the temperature of 32°C was the best for the general development of the animals.

  3. Ontogenetic shifts and spatial associations in organ positions for snakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Gretchen E; Secor, Stephen M

    2015-12-01

    Snakes possess an elongated body form and serial placement of organs which provides the opportunity to explore historic and adaptive mechanisms of organ position. We examined the influence of body size and sex on the position of, and spatial associations between, the heart, liver, small intestine, and right kidney for ten phylogenetically diverse species of snakes that vary in body shape and habitat. Snake snout-vent length explained much of the variation in the position of these four organs. For all ten species, the position of the heart and liver relative to snout-vent length decreased as a function of size. As body size increased from neonate to adult, these two organs shifted anteriorly an average of 4.7% and 5.7% of snout-vent length, respectively. Similarly, the small intestine and right kidney shifted anteriorly with an increase in snout-vent length for seven and five of the species, respectively. The absolute and relative positioning of these organs did not differ between male and female Burmese pythons (Python molurus). However, for diamondback water snakes (Nerodia rhombifer), the liver and small intestine were more anteriorly positioned in females as compared to males, whereas the right kidney was positioned more anteriorly for males. Correlations of residuals of organ position (deviation from predicted position) demonstrated significant spatial associations between organs for nine of the ten species. For seven species, individuals with hearts more anterior (or posterior) than predicted also tended to possess livers that were similarly anteriorly (or posteriorly) placed. Positive associations between liver and small intestine positions and between small intestine and right kidney positions were observed for six species, while spatial associations between the heart and small intestine, heart and right kidney, and liver and right kidney were observed in three or four species. This study demonstrates that size, sex, and spatial associations may have

  4. Body size, diet and endoparasites of the microhylid frog Chiasmocleis capixaba in an Atlantic Forest area of southern Bahia state, Brazil

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    M. Van Sluys

    Full Text Available We analyzed the diet composition, endoparasites and sexual size dimorphism of the microhylid frog Chiasmocleis capixaba (Microhylidae from a "mussununga" habitat in the municipality of Nova Viçosa, southern Bahia state, Brazil. All the 119 specimens analyzed were collected in a single night of heavy rainfall. Females (mean snout-vent length = 15.7 + 3.0 mm were significantly larger than males (mean snout-vent length = 13.2 + 2.1 mm, and specimens of both sexes were smaller than those of a conspecific population previously reported in Aracruz, state of Espírito Santo state. The diet of C. capixaba was dominated by mites, ants and collembolans. Seventy-nine frogs (66.4% of the total were infected by helminths, all belonging to a single species, Cosmocerca ornata, an intestinal nematode parasite.

  5. Calcium isotopes offer clues on resource partitioning among Cretaceous predatory dinosaurs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassler, A; Martin, J E; Amiot, R; Tacail, T; Godet, F Arnaud; Allain, R; Balter, V

    2018-04-11

    Large predators are overabundant in mid-Cretaceous continental dinosaur assemblages of North Africa. Such unbalanced ecosystem structure involves, among predatory dinosaurs, typical abelisaurid or carcharodontosaurid theropods co-occurring with long-snouted spinosaurids of debated ecology. Here, we report calcium (Ca) isotope values from tooth enamel (expressed as δ 44/42 Ca) to investigate resource partitioning in mid-Cretaceous assemblages from Niger (Gadoufaoua) and Morocco (Kem Kem Beds). In both assemblages, spinosaurids display a distinct isotopic signature, the most negative in our dataset. This distinct taxonomic clustering in Ca isotope values observed between spinosaurids and other predators provides unambiguous evidence for niche partitioning at the top of the trophic chains: spinosaurids foraged on aquatic environments while abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods relied almost exclusively on terrestrial resources. © 2018 The Author(s).

  6. Heterophil/Lymphocyte Alterations as a Measure of Stress in American Alligators in Relation to Anthropogenic Disturbance in a Louisiana Intermediate Marsh

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    Christopher M. Murray

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Numerous anthropogenic factors represent environmental threats to Gulf Coast wetland ecosystems and associated fauna. American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis have been subject to long-term management and used as ecological and physiological indicators of habitat quality in response to anthropogenic events and stochastic natural disasters. The present study monitored heterophil to lymphocyte ratios (an indicator of stress, in American alligators in a Louisiana intermediate marsh from 2009 to 2011, a time period that coincides with an oil inundation event that occurred in 2011. Sixteen alligators were observed and processed morphometrically (total length, snout-vent length and body mass. Heterophil to lymphocyte ratios were negatively correlated with size, suggesting larger American alligators were physiologically more resilient to the disturbance, more able to actively avoid these poor conditions, or are less affected by localized disturbance.

  7. Reprodução de Pseudis minuta (Anura, Hylidae no sul do Brasil

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    Janaine Melchiors

    2004-09-01

    Full Text Available Reproduction of Pseudis minuta (Anura, Hylidae in southern Brazil.This study was based on individuals of Pseudis minuta captured or observed in the municipality of Candiota, Campanha region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Sampling occurred along ten non-consecutive months in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The reproductive phases were characterized based on the gonadal development stage of39 males and 50 females, and on the observation, in nature, of the seasonal distribution of calling males, occurrence of amplectant pairs, and presence of larvae, juveniles and adults. Calls were recorded from August to April, amplectant pairs from October to February (except January, tadpoles from October to March (except February, and juveniles in all the sampled months (except January. Reproductive activity was not observed in late fall and early winter, even though females with post-vitellogenic oocytes and males with spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules were recorded in allthe seasons. Mature females were statistically larger and heavier than mature males.The smallest female with post-vitellogenic oocytes had 32.0 mm of snout-vent length,and the smallest male with spermatozoa in its seminiferous tubules had 20.6 mm. The number of post-vitellogenic oocytes was directly proportional to the mass and to the snout-vent length of females, and the length of testis was directly proportional to the snout-vent length and to the mass of males.

  8. A new species of Phrynopus (Anura, Strabomantidae from Peru, with comments on the osteology of the genus

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    Linda Trueb

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available A new, small species of Phrynopus is described from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental just north of the Río Huallaga in central Peru. The species resembles P. montium, but is distinguished from it and other congeners by its spatulate snout. The anterior end of the maxillary arcade is broadly rounded in dorsal view, and composed of wide premaxillae that bear extraordinarily large alary processes that are deflected posteriorly at an acute angle. The configuration of the premaxillae accounts for the wide, depressed snout in this species, which in other osteological features resembles P. montium. The osteology of Phrynopus montium is described in some detail in comparison to the new species, with theintention of establishing a baseline for future morphological studies and taxonomic descriptions of strabomantine anurans of this and related genera.

  9. Okamejei ornata n. sp., a new deep-water skate (Elasmobranchii, Rajidae) from the northwestern Indian Ocean off Socotra Islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weigmann, Simon; Stehmann, Matthias F. W.; Thiel, Ralf

    2015-05-01

    A new species of the Indo-Pacific skate genus Okamejei is described based on 10 specimens caught around the Socotra Islands (northwestern Indian Ocean). The type series of Okamejei ornata n. sp. was sampled during cruise 17 of RV 'Vityaz' along the deep western Indian Ocean in 1988/89. The new species represents the fifth species of Okamejei in the western Indian Ocean and differs from its congeners in having a unique dorsal pattern of variable dark brown spots encircled with beige pigment and arranged into rosettes. The dorsal ground color is ocher, but the anterior snout is dusky. Compared to congeners in the western Indian Ocean, the new species has a shorter preorbital snout length, a greater orbit diameter, fewer pectoral radials, an intermediate distance between first gill slits, and an intermediate number of upper jaw tooth rows.

  10. Effects of Diet Restriction and Diet Complexity on Life History Strategies in Side-Blotched Lizards (Uta stansburiana).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skinner, Heather M; Durso, Andrew M; Neuman-Lee, Lorin A; Durham, Susan L; Mueller, Sarah D; French, Susannah S

    2016-11-01

    Organisms must balance energy invested into self-maintenance, reproduction, and somatic growth over their lifetime. In this study, the effects of diet restriction and diet complexity on side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) were analyzed. Thirty male lizards, housed in the laboratory, were fed either an ad libitum or a restricted diet for 18 days (phase 1). Individuals from both treatments were then assigned to a diet of the same quantity of food that was either simple (only crickets) or complex (crickets, cockroaches, waxworms, and mealworms) for 35 days (phase 2). We evaluated (1) how diet restriction affected life history strategies and (2) how diet complexity affected recovery from diet restriction as measured at the end of phase 2 by body mass, snout-vent length, calculated body condition score, wound healing, tail regrowth, bacterial killing ability, oxidative stress, and plasma testosterone and corticosterone concentrations. Lizards without diet restriction allocated more energy to self-maintenance (i.e., maintaining higher body condition scores, healing wounds more quickly) than lizards with diet restriction. Lizards with diet restriction had higher plasma testosterone concentrations and larger increases in snout-vent lengths than those fed ad libitum, which may reflect allocations toward reproduction and somatic growth. A complex diet resulted in better body condition and faster tail regrowth than a simple diet, suggesting that a complex diet enhanced recovery from diet restriction, although long-term life history choices remained unaltered. Finally, lizards on a complex diet consumed substantially less food while maintaining higher body condition, suggesting that key nutrients may be lacking from a simple diet. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Multi-Annual Kinematics of an Active Rock Glacier Quantified from Very High-Resolution DEMs: An Application-Case in the French Alps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xavier Bodin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Rock glaciers result from the long-term creeping of ice-rich permafrost along mountain slopes. Under warming conditions, deformation is expected to increase, and potential destabilization of those landforms may lead to hazardous phenomena. Monitoring the kinematics of rock glaciers at fine spatial resolution is required to better understand at which rate, where and how they deform. We present here the results of several years of in situ surveys carried out between 2005 and 2015 on the Laurichard rock glacier, an active rock glacier located in the French Alps. Repeated terrestrial laser-scanning (TLS together with aerial laser-scanning (ALS and structure-from-motion-multi-view-stereophotogrammetry (SFM-MVS were used to accurately quantify surface displacement of the Laurichard rock glacier at interannual and pluri-annual scales. Six very high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs, pixel size <50 cm of the rock glacier surface were generated, and their respective quality was assessed. The relative horizontal position accuracy (XY of the individual DEMs is in general less than 2 cm with a co-registration error on stable areas ranging from 20–50 cm. The vertical accuracy is around 20 cm. The direction and amplitude of surface displacements computed between DEMs are very consistent with independent geodetic field measurements (e.g., DGPS. Using these datasets, local patterns of the Laurichard rock glacier kinematics were quantified, pointing out specific internal (rheological and external (bed topography controls. The evolution of the surface velocity shows few changes on the rock glacier’s snout for the first years of the observed period, followed by a major acceleration between 2012 and 2015 affecting the upper part of the tongue and the snout.

  12. Journal of Genetics | Indian Academy of Sciences

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Diablo; physicochemical characterization; homology modelling; functional annotation; gene expression; Megalobrama amblycephala. ... Expression of madiablo mRNA transcript was investigated using qPCR: (i) in five tissues from a healthy blunt snout bream, indicating the highest constitutive expression level in liver.

  13. The disadvantages of mating outside home: How breeding in captivity affects the reproductive success of seahorses?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faleiro, Filipa; Narciso, Luís

    2013-04-01

    In captivity, husbandry conditions are distinct from those experienced by fish in the wild and may have a significant effect on reproductive success. This study evaluates the effect of supportive breeding (i.e., breeding animals in captivity using wild parents) on some quantitative and qualitative aspects of the reproductive success of the long-snouted seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus. Wild and captive broods were compared in terms of juvenile number, size, condition and fatty acid profile at birth. Reproductive investment and breeding success of H. guttulatus decreased considerably in captivity. Juveniles from captive broods were fewer in number, smaller, generally thinner and with lower fatty acid contents (per juvenile) than those from wild broods, although their fatty acid composition (μg mg- 1 DW or %TFA) was not significantly affected. Although not greatly encouraging, the poor reproductive performance of captive seahorses should not, however, efface the potential of supportive breeding as a tool for seahorse conservation. Enhanced conditions and long-term breeding in captivity will allow to improve the reproductive success of the species and the quality of the fingerlings.

  14. Description of Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus from the upper Mazaruni River, Guyana (Siluriformes: Loricariidae, and recognition of N. roraima and N. yaravi as distinct species

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donald C. Taphorn

    Full Text Available Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus are new sympatric species from upland tributaries of the Mazaruni River (Essequibo River basin of Guyana. These two new species are the first Neblinichthys reported from Guyana. Adult males of both new species have short pectoral-fin spines and several series of hypertrophied odontodes covering the entire dorsal surface and along the entire edge of the snout. They are distinguished from each other by dorsal-fin base length/standard length (18.1-22.8% in N. brevibracchium vs. 24.3-27.0% in N. echinasus, dorsal-anal distance/SL (13.7-18.3% in N. brevibracchium vs. 11.9-12.5% in N. echinasus, by having the snout decreasing in steep arc just anterior to eyes and then flattening in area anterior of nares in N. brevibracchium vs. the snout tapering shallowly and continuously from eyes to snout tip in N. echinasus; and by having the adpressed dorsal fin reaching the anterior preadipose plate in N. brevibracchium (vs. not reaching anterior preadipose plate in N. echinasus. They are distinguished from all congeners by lacking odontodes on the opercle (vs. odontodes present; and by completely lacking an iris operculum (vs. congeners with small iris operculum present or at least dorsal portion of iris flat instead of rounded. Neblinichthys echinasus and N. brevibracchium differ from all congeners by having a spotted or vermiculated pigment pattern on the abdomen (vs. abdomen plain; in N. echinasus the abdomen is darkly pigmented with bold white spots and in Neblinichthys brevibracchium the abdomen is light-colored with gray spots and vermiculations. Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus differ from N. roraima by having one to two preadipose plates (vs. four or more. New observations revealed Neblinichthys roraima and N. yaravi to be distinct, with N. roraima having four or more preadipose plates and N. yaravi having one or two. Both are present in the upper río Caroní, an Orinoco tributary that drains

  15. Morphological characterization of local pigs in Ghana | Adjei ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    67.48%), plain coat colour pattern, erect ear type (84.66%), projecting backwards (52.15%) and a short and cylindrical snout type (62.58%). A greater number of the local pigs (70.55%) showed aggressive temperament. The data gathered from this ...

  16. A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehling, J Maximilian; Matsui, Masafumi

    2013-01-01

    We describe a new species of Leptolalax from Gunung Mulu National Park in eastern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The new species had been assigned to Leptolalax dringi and Leptolalax gracilis in the past. It is shown to differ from both these species and from all other species of the genus by a unique combination of morphological characters including large body size, rounded snout, interorbital distance being smaller than width of upper eyelid, bipartite subgular vocal sac in males, basal toe webbing, shagreened skin with tiny tubercles on dorsum and dorsal side of head, angled supratympanic fold, small pectoral glands, absence of supraaxillary glands and ventrolateral glandular ridges, spotted venter, advertisement call consisting of long series of 8-289 notes, each composed of three or four pulses, and dominant frequency at 7225-9190 Hz, with prominent frequency modulation.

  17. A new species of Scinax from the Purus-Madeira interfluve, Brazilian Amazonia (Anura, Hylidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miquéias Ferrão

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available A new tree frog species of the genus Scinax from the interfluve between the Purus and Madeira rivers, Brazilian Amazonia, is described and illustrated. The new species is diagnosed by medium body size, snout truncate in dorsal view, ulnar and tarsal tubercles absent, nuptial pads poorly developed, skin on dorsum shagreen, dorsum light brown with dark brown spots and markings, white groin with black spots, anterior and posterior surfaces of thighs black, and iris bright orange. The advertisement call consists of a single short note, with 16−18 pulses and dominant frequency at 1572−1594 Hz. Tadpoles are characterized by body ovoid in dorsal view and triangular in lateral view, tail higher than body, oral disc located anteroventrally and laterally emarginated, dorsum of body uniformly grey-brown with dark brown eye-snout stripe in preservative, fins translucent with small to large irregular diffuse dark brown spots.

  18. Aerobic bacterial microflora of Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris oral cavity and cloaca, originating from Parque Zoológico Arruda Câmara, Paraíba, Brazil Microflora bacteriana aeróbica da cavidade oral e cloaca de jacaré-de-papo-amarelo (Caiman latirostris procedentes do Zoológico de João Pessoa, PB, Brasil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.S.A. Silva

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to isolate and identify the aerobic bacterial microflora from the oral cavity mucosa and cloaca's samples, collected from Broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris, born and bred in captivity at Parque Zoológico Arruda Câmara, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. The most common bacteria were Staphylococcus sp. (14.74%, Corynebacterium sp. (13.68%, Escherichia coli (13.68% and Shigella sp. (11.58%, and the less common were Citrobacter sp. (1.05%, Klebsiella pneumoniae (1.05% and Salmonella sp. (1.05%.This emphasizes the importance of these microorganisms' participation in infectious processes (sepsis and injuries caused by crocodilians.O presente estudo teve como objetivo isolar e identificar a microflora bacteriana aeróbica presente na mucosa da cavidade oral e da cloaca de exemplares de jacarés-de-papo-amarelo (Caiman latirostris nascidos e criados em cativeiro no Parque Zoológico Arruda Câmara, localizado na cidade de João Pessoa - PB. As bactérias mais freqüentes foram Staphylococcus sp. (14,74%, Corynebacterium sp.(13,68%, Escherichia coli (13,68% e Shigella sp. (11,58%, e as menos prevalentes foram Citrobacter sp.(1,05%, Klebsiella pneumoniae (1,05% e Salmonella sp. (1,05%. Ressalta-se a importância da participação desses microrganismos em processos infecciosos (septicemias e em feridas provocadas por crocodilianos.

  19. Measuring and evaluating morphological asymmetry in fish: distinct lateral dimorphism in the jaws of scale-eating cichlids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hata, Hiroki; Yasugi, Masaki; Takeuchi, Yuichi; Takahashi, Satoshi; Hori, Michio

    2013-11-01

    The left-right asymmetry of scale-eating Tanganyikan cichlids is described as a unilateral topographical shift of the quadratomandibular joints. This morphological laterality has a genetic basis and has therefore been used as a model for studying negative frequency-dependent selection and the resulting oscillation in frequencies of two genotypes, lefty and righty, in a population. This study aims were to confirm this laterality in Perissodus microlepis Boulenger and P. straeleni (Poll) and evaluate an appropriate method for measuring and testing the asymmetry. Left-right differences in the height of the mandible posterior ends (HMPE) and the angle between the neurocranium and vertebrae of P. microlepis and P. straeleni were measured on skeletal specimens. Snout-bending angle was also measured using a dorsal image of the same individuals following a previous method. To define which distribution model, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), directional asymmetry (DA), or antisymmetry (AS), best fit to the lateral asymmetry of the traits, we provided an R package, IASD. As a result, HMPE and neurocranium-vertebrae angle of both species were best fitted to AS, suggesting that P. microlepis and P. straeleni showed a distinct dimorphism in these traits, although snout-bending angle of P. microlepis was best fitted to FA. Measurement error was low for HMPE comparing the snout-bending angle in P. microlepis, indicating that measuring HMPE is a more accurate method. The scale-eating tribe Perissodini showed distinct antisymmetry in the jaw skeleton and neurocranium-vertebrae angle, and this laterality remains a valid marker for further evolutionary studies.

  20. Teste de aceitação e composição centesimal de carne de jacaré-do-papo-amarelo (Caiman latirostris em conserva Acceptance test and percent composition of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris canned meat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabela Ciarlini de Azevedo

    2009-04-01

    jacaré-do-papo-amarelo em conserva é viável, permitindo o melhor aproveitamento da carne após o abate, com aumento do seu valor agregado e uma boa aceitação sensorial do produto.This research focused on the evaluation of three broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris canned meat formulas: one in edible oil, another in salt with onions, and the third one in seasoned salt. Some cuts (six pairs of members, one tail, two ribs and two loins were separated after slaughter to produce the canned meat. Gas chromatographic analysis of the fatty acids in the non-processed meat was conducted before industrial processing. After the canning process, a commercial sterility test for low acidity food was conducted for the canned meat samples. Subsequently, the three formulations were tested for sensory acceptance by a 9-point hedonic scale with respect to their appearance and global impression. The sodium chloride content, pH and percent composition (moisture, fixed mineral residue, proteins and lipids contents of the canned meat samples were determined. The saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids values were, respectively, 28.5; 42.5 and 29.0% of the total fatty acids in the non-processed meat. The canned meat samples were released after verifying that there were no leaking or blown cans in the sterility test. The three samples were significantly different in respect to appearance. The results showed the following order, from the least to the most acceptable sample: salt with onions, seasoned salt and edible oil. As for the global impression, the formulation in edible oil was also the most acceptable. The sodium chloride content was in the range of 0.5 to 1.2%, where the highest value was found for the samples in salt. The canned meat samples had an average pH of 5.0, 76.0% moisture content and 1.3% of fixed mineral residue, a protein concentration of 12.4% and a total lipid content of 5.5%. The sample in edible oil showed a higher concentration of lipids (12

  1. Late Cretaceous neosuchian crocodiles from the Sultanate of Oman

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buscalioni, Angela D.; Schulp, Anne S.; Jagt, John W M; Hanna, Samir S.; Hartman, Axel Frans

    Two apparently new crocodilian taxa from the Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian-Maastrichtian) Al-Khod Conglomerate of the Sultanate of Oman are described. The fragmentary state of preservation precludes formal naming, yet enables comparisons to be made with other taxa. One is a short-snouted

  2. Molecular and morphological tools to distinguish Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal, 1838: a new weevil pest of the endangered Eggers Agave from St Croix, US Virgin Islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Agave Snout Weevil (ASW) or Sisal Weevil, Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal, is one of the most destructive pests of agave plants, capable of destroying up to 70% of commercial crops, costing millions of dollars in damage to global industries including tequila, mezcal, perfume, henequen, nardo...

  3. Debris cover increase as an essential factor determining evolution of the Djankuat Glacier in the Caucasus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rezepkin, Alexey; Popovnin, Victor

    2013-04-01

    45-year-long direct monitoring of Djankuat Glacier mass and water balance revealed the continuous increase of its superficial debris cover. Its area was mapped 7 times since 1968 on a basis of photogrammetric surveys, showing more than three-fold increase from 0,104 to 0,344 km2, whereas its share in the entire glacier surface increased more than 4 times (from 3% to 13%); currently supraglacial moraine occupies 61% of the ablation area. Besides, 3 direct and complete areal surveys of debris thickness were carried out in 1983, 1994 and 2010. They consisted of 133-240 measurement points which were distributed either in checkmate order over uniform debris-covered parts of the snout or by transverse profiles across linear morainic ramparts. Procedure of measuring thickness with an accuracy of 1 cm was coming to till piercing down to ice surface with metallic rod or, when impossible, to manual excavations. Maximum detected point values reached 183 cm in 1983, 280 cm in 1994 and 245 cm in 2010, and average debris thickness turned out to increased more than twice during the monitoring period - 26, 39 and 54 cm, for correspondent surveys. Debris cover influence on liquid run-off was estimated by heat balance considerations, based both on records of AWSs, erected on clean and debris-covered ice surface, and on vertical temperature profiles within the lithogenic layer, demonstrating clearly the diurnal cycle attenuation with depth. Sub-debris ablation is higher than clean ice melting rate under a thin debris layer (2025 the debris cover will reduce hypsometrical lowering rate on the snout by 45% in the latter case. This lead to the assumption about the future role of debris mantle development in Djankuat Glacier evolution: it may become comparable with that exerted by climate change.

  4. Convergence of macroscopic tongue anatomy in ruminants and scaling relationships with body mass or tongue length.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meier, Andrea R; Schmuck, Ute; Meloro, Carlo; Clauss, Marcus; Hofmann, Reinhold R

    2016-03-01

    Various morphological measures demonstrate convergent evolution in ruminants with their natural diet, in particular with respect to the browser/grazer dichotomy. Here, we report quantitative macroanatomical measures of the tongue (length and width of specific parts) of 65 ruminant species and relate them to either body mass (BM) or total tongue length, and to the percentage of grass in the natural diet (%grass). Models without and with accounting for the phylogenetic structures of the dataset were used, and models were ranked using Akaike's Information Criterion. Scaling relationships followed geometric principles, that is, length measures scaled with BM to the power of 0.33. Models that used tongue length rather than BM as a body size proxy were consistently ranked better, indicating that using size proxies that are less susceptible to a wider variety of factors (such as BM that fluctuates with body condition) should be attempted whenever possible. The proportion of the freely mobile tongue tip of the total tongue (and hence also the corpus length) was negatively correlated to %grass, in accordance with concepts that the feeding mechanism of browsers requires more mobile tongues. It should be noted that some nonbrowsers, such as cattle, use a peculiar mechanism for grazing that also requires long, mobile tongues, but they appear to be exceptions. A larger corpus width with increasing %grass corresponds to differences in snout shape with broader snouts in grazers. The Torus linguae is longer with increasing %grass, a finding that still warrants functional interpretation. This study shows that tongue measures covary with diet in ruminants. In contrast, the shape of the tongue (straight or "hourglass-shaped" as measured by the ratio of the widest and smallest corpus width) is unrelated to diet and is influenced strongly by phylogeny. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. On a new genus and species of Apogonidae

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koumans, F.P.

    1933-01-01

    PTERAPOGON n. g. Body deep, compressed. Head large. Eye large, greater than snout. Mouth wide, oblique. Maxillary reaches to below middle of eye. Teeth villiform in bands in jaws, on vomer and palatines. No canines. Preopercle ridge double, edge serrate. Opercle with spine posteriorly. Scales large,

  6. Sexual differences in size and shape of the Mosor rock lizard [Dinarolacerta mosorensis (Kolombatović, 1886] (squamata: lacertidae: A case study of the Lovćen mountain population (Montenegro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ljubisavljević Katarina

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Sexual differences in size and shape of the Mosor rock lizard, Dinarolacerta mosorensis (Kolombatović, 1886, from Lovćen Mountain (Montenegro were examined on the basis of the intersex variation pattern of nine morphometric, eight pholidotic, and four qualitative traits. Sexual dimorphism was apparent for all morphometric characters except snout-vent length, while scalation and dorsal pattern exhibited small differences between sexes. The value of the sexual size difference (SSD index based on snout-vent length was 1.028. The sex-specific allometric slopes for head dimensions and interlimb distance significantly diverged. Head dimensions, especially head height, showed strong positive allometry in males, while interlimb distance was the only character which showed positive allometry in females. Generally, males had significantly greater body size than females. This was true of all body measurements except interlimb distance. The influence of sexual and natural selection on the examined traits is discussed.

  7. Hydrophylax bahuvistara, a new species of fungoid frog (Amphibia: Ranidae from peninsular India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anand D. Padhye

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Hydrophylax bahuvistara, a new species of fungoid frog, is described from peninsular India. It can be separated from its congeners based on a combination of characters including wider head, outline of snout in dorsal view truncated, finger and toe tips without lateroventral groove, foot moderately webbed, metatarsals of 4th and 5th toes closely set, outer metatarsal tubercle small, foot length less than or equal to half of snout vent length, dorsal parts of shank without glandular folds and sparse horny spinules, and heels touch each other when the legs are folded at right angles to the body.  Genetically, H. bahuvistara forms a monophyletic group with H. malabaricus as a sister clade separated by a raw distance of 4.0 to 4.5% in the 16s rRNA gene.  Morphometrically, H. bahuvistara forms a significantly different cluster from H. malabaricus and H. gracilis in Discriminant Analysis.  

  8. Diet of Phyllodactyllus reissi (Sauria:Gekkonidae in the Zona Reservada de Tumbes, Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan C. Jordán

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to describe the diet of Phyllodactylus reissi, a nocturnal common gecko distributed from southern Ecuador to central Perú. A total of 15 individuals were captured inside buildings at Quebrada Faical, El Caucho and Bocana Murciélago in the Zona Reservada de Tumbes. Coleoptera and Blattoptera were the dominant preys from a total of six prey types found in stomachs. The number of prey per stomach were between 1 to 9, with 3 preys in average; the prey length average was 8,98 mm with a range of 1 to 25mm; the prey volume average was 61,97 mm3 with a range of 0,13 to 670,8 mm3 . The snout-vent length and snout length were not significantly related with average prey lengths and volumes. Phyllodactylus reissi has generalist habits with respect to diet and shows a tendency to consume medium-sized preys in the Zona Reservada de Tumbes.

  9. Taxonomic changes and description of two new species for the Phyllodactylus lanei complex (Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae) in Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    RamÍrez-Reyes, Tonatiuh; Flores-Villela, Oscar

    2018-04-10

    An integrative taxonomy approach was implemented based on analysis of genetic, phylogenetic, morphological and ecological data to identify the cryptic diversity within the Phyllodactylus lanei complex. At least six species can be identified, of which four are currently considered subspecies: Phyllodactylus lanei, Phyllodactylus rupinus, Phyllodactylus isabelae, Phyllodactylus lupitae and two corresponding to undescribed taxa, which are identified and described in this contribution. These differ from other Mexican geckos in several characters: genetic distance (DNAmt), position in molecular phylogeny (concatened data DNAmt+DNAnu), species tree, morphological characters such as snout-vent length, longitudinal scales, tubercles from head to tail, interorbital scales, scales across venter, third labial-snout scales and rows of tubercles across dorsum; there are also differences in their bioclimatic profiles (temperature and precipitation) and geographical distribution. The most recent studies on taxonomy and evolution of Mexican geckos (Phyllodactylus) show that the diversity of this group of reptiles is currently underestimated, suggesting that more research and conservation efforts are should be addressed at these lizards.

  10. Clinico-MRI study of hemispheric disorder in long-term follow-up cases of multiple system atrophy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Konagaya, Masaaki; Miwa, Shigeru; Matsuoka, Yukihiko; Konagaya, Yoko

    1998-01-01

    Twelve cases of multiple system atrophy (MSA) were studied for clinical and MRI findings of the cerebral hemispheric involvement. The subjects consisted of five olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) type and seven striatonigral degeneration (SND) type. The age at onset was 56.7±8.0 (M±SD) years, duration of illness at the first MRI study 3.2±1.1 years, duration of illness at the last study 8.1±2.2 years, and the following up duration 4.9±2.0 years. The grasping phenomenon was observed in 70% of the cases examined, snout reflex in 80%, slowness of verbal response in 88%, and decrease of spontaneous speech in 100%. Three cases finally fell into the state of mutism. Three out of ten cases were categorized as dementia by HDS-R (Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised) test. Besides the progression of the pontocerebellar atrophy and putaminal changes, MRI study revealed progressive frontal lobe atrophy in most cases. At six years after the onset, SND type showed significantly higher incidence of conspicuous frontal lobe atrophy and dilatation of the Sylvian fissure than OPCA type. Cerebral ventricular dilatation was common feature, and atrophy of the temporal and occipital lobes were observed in several cases. We indicated the possible involvement of the cerebral hemisphere, especially the frontal lobe, and higher nervous function in MSA. (author)

  11. Clinico-MRI study of hemispheric disorder in long-term follow-up cases of multiple system atrophy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Konagaya, Masaaki; Miwa, Shigeru; Matsuoka, Yukihiko [Suzuka National Hospital, Mie (Japan); Konagaya, Yoko

    1998-12-01

    Twelve cases of multiple system atrophy (MSA) were studied for clinical and MRI findings of the cerebral hemispheric involvement. The subjects consisted of five olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) type and seven striatonigral degeneration (SND) type. The age at onset was 56.7{+-}8.0 (M{+-}SD) years, duration of illness at the first MRI study 3.2{+-}1.1 years, duration of illness at the last study 8.1{+-}2.2 years, and the following up duration 4.9{+-}2.0 years. The grasping phenomenon was observed in 70% of the cases examined, snout reflex in 80%, slowness of verbal response in 88%, and decrease of spontaneous speech in 100%. Three cases finally fell into the state of mutism. Three out of ten cases were categorized as dementia by HDS-R (Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised) test. Besides the progression of the pontocerebellar atrophy and putaminal changes, MRI study revealed progressive frontal lobe atrophy in most cases. At six years after the onset, SND type showed significantly higher incidence of conspicuous frontal lobe atrophy and dilatation of the Sylvian fissure than OPCA type. Cerebral ventricular dilatation was common feature, and atrophy of the temporal and occipital lobes were observed in several cases. We indicated the possible involvement of the cerebral hemisphere, especially the frontal lobe, and higher nervous function in MSA. (author)

  12. 77 FR 665 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing Two Distinct Population Segments of Broad...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-05

    ... threat to the broad-snouted caiman, what regional climate change models are available, and whether they are reliable and credible to use as a step-down model for assessing the effects of climate change on... waterways, including rivers near waterfalls such as Iguaz[uacute], and freshwater creeks with rocky bottoms...

  13. Activity, tail loss, growth and survivorship of male Psammodromus algirus

    OpenAIRE

    Salvador Milla, Alfredo; Veiga, José Pablo

    2005-01-01

    Males with autotomized tail were sighted more often and moved longer distances than males with complete tail. There were no significant differences in survival between the two groups. The increase of snout-vent lenght at emergence the following year was significantly lower for males with autotomized tail than for males with complete tail.

  14. Phylogeny, ecology, and heart position in snakes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gartner, Gabriel E A; Hicks, James W; Manzani, Paulo R; Andrade, Denis V; Abe, Augusto S; Wang, Tobias; Secor, Stephen M; Garland, Theodore

    2010-01-01

    The cardiovascular system of all animals is affected by gravitational pressure gradients, the intensity of which varies according to organismic features, behavior, and habitat occupied. A previous nonphylogenetic analysis of heart position in snakes-which often assume vertical postures-found the heart located 15%-25% of total body length from the head in terrestrial and arboreal species but 25%-45% in aquatic species. It was hypothesized that a more anterior heart in arboreal species served to reduce the hydrostatic blood pressure when these animals adopt vertical postures during climbing, whereas an anterior heart position would not be needed in aquatic habitats, where the effects of gravity are less pronounced. We analyzed a new data set of 155 species from five major families of Alethinophidia (one of the two major branches of snakes, the other being blind snakes, Scolecophidia) using both conventional and phylogenetically based statistical methods. General linear models regressing log(10) snout-heart position on log(10) snout-vent length (SVL), as well as dummy variables coding for habitat and/or clade, were compared using likelihood ratio tests and the Akaike Information Criterion. Heart distance to the tip of the snout scaled isometrically with SVL. In all instances, phylogenetic models that incorporated transformation of the branch lengths under an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model of evolution (to mimic stabilizing selection) better fit the data as compared with their nonphylogenetic counterparts. The best-fit model predicting snake heart position included aspects of both habitat and clade and indicated that arboreal snakes in our study tend to have hearts placed more posteriorly, opposite the trend identified in previous studies. Phylogenetic signal in relative heart position was apparent both within and among clades. Our results suggest that overcoming gravitational pressure gradients in snakes most likely involves the combined action of several cardiovascular and

  15. Distribution Pattern of Seahorse species (Genus: Hippocampus in Tamilnadu and Kerala Coasts of India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aaron Premnath LIPTON

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The survey along the Tamilnadu and Kerala coats of India reveled that six species of seahors (Hippocampus fuscus, H. kelloggi, H. kuda, H. histrix H. mohnikei and H. trimaculatus were distributed with different density. Out of the six species, H. fuscus, H. kuda and H. trimaculatus, were the commonly available species in all the observed areas. In Palk Bay, H. kuda was the dominant species constituting 49.10% of the total seahorses encountered. Hippocampus trimaculatus was the second dominant species which accounting 39.28%. The Gulf of Mannar region also most abounded with H. kuda (68.98% followed by H. trimaculatus (20.80%, H. fuscus (9.80%, H. kelloggi (2.23% and H. histrix (0.37%. In Kerala coast, H. trimaculatus was the dominant species (79.68% followed by H. kuda (9.89%, H. kelloggi (8.33% and H. fuscus (2.08%. To infer the variation of six seahorse species the morphometric and meristic characters were analysed. The important morphometric and meristic characters are trunk rings, tail rings, pectoral and dorsal fin rays, trunk length, tail length, coronet height, head length, snout length, snout depth and head depth. Variation in overall body shape, relative snout length, coronet height, number of tail ring was sufficient to separate the specimens to Hippocampus fuscus, H. kelloggi, H. kuda, H. histrix H. mohnikei and H.trimaculatus. The species density and diversity depends on the habitat and biogeography of those areas. Majority of seahorse fishing in Tamilnadu was by shrimp trawl, by-catch and very few target catch by divers also seen in some villages of Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar region. The shrimp trawl by-catch only bringing more H. trimaculatus than the other species in Kerala coasts.

  16. A Home in the World? Remarks on India and the Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-05-01

    their loyalties shift. If you ask an Indian working in America what he or she misses about India, the instant reponse is "Family," not corruption...experts, for whom the past is the pattern of the future. Then, in Burma, with a chopstick load of noodles halfway to my snout, the light finally

  17. Sexual dimorphism in head size of the Mediterranean gecko Hemidactylus turcicus (Sauria: Gekkonidae)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel Saenz; Richard N. Conner

    1996-01-01

    Comparisons were made between 53 female and 67 male Mediterranean geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) collected from the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Head dimensions (length, depth and width) and weight of adult males and females were compared with analysis of covariance using snout-vent-length as a covariate. Males were...

  18. Comparative limb proportions reveal differential locomotor morphofunctions of alligatoroids and crocodyloids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iijima, Masaya; Kubo, Tai; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu

    2018-03-01

    Although two major clades of crocodylians (Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea) were split during the Cretaceous period, relatively few morphological and functional differences between them have been known. In addition, interaction of multiple morphofunctional systems that differentiated their ecology has barely been assessed. In this study, we examined the limb proportions of crocodylians to infer the differences of locomotor functions between alligatoroids and crocodyloids, and tested the correlation of locomotor and feeding morphofunctions. Our analyses revealed crocodyloids including Gavialis have longer stylopodia (humerus and femur) than alligatoroids, indicating that two groups may differ in locomotor functions. Fossil evidence suggested that alligatoroids have retained short stylopodia since the early stage of their evolution. Furthermore, rostral shape, an indicator of trophic function, is correlated with limb proportions, where slender-snouted piscivorous taxa have relatively long stylopodia and short overall limbs. In combination, trophic and locomotor functions might differently delimit the ecological opportunity of alligatoroids and crocodyloids in the evolution of crocodylians.

  19. Haplotype Diversity of COI Gene of Hylarana chalconota Species Found at State University of Malang

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dian Ratri Wulandari

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Hylarana chalconota is a cryptic species of frog endemic to Java Island [1]. This species is small with long legs, and brown skin. The Snout-Vent Length (SVL ranges between 30-40 mm for male and 45-65 mm for female. [4] Reports the existence of this species in State University of Malang, which was not found in 1995 [5]. Sampel #1 displays spots in its skin, which does not exist in sample #2. To reveal the haplotype diversity of COI gene in this species, we analyzed Cytochrome-c oxidase subunit-1 (COI sequences of both samples. Using a pair of primers according to [6] both samples had 604 bp and 574 bp fragment length, respectively. These fragments showed polymorphism; with mutation position in sites 104, 105, and 124. Based on this result, we suggest that the two samples share a different haplotypes, proposed as UM1 and UM2.

  20. A review of techniques for the identification and measurement of fish in underwater stereo-video image sequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shortis, Mark R.; Ravanbakskh, Mehdi; Shaifat, Faisal; Harvey, Euan S.; Mian, Ajmal; Seager, James W.; Culverhouse, Philip F.; Cline, Danelle E.; Edgington, Duane R.

    2013-04-01

    Underwater stereo-video measurement systems are used widely for counting and measuring fish in aquaculture, fisheries and conservation management. To determine population counts, spatial or temporal frequencies, and age or weight distributions, snout to fork length measurements are captured from the video sequences, most commonly using a point and click process by a human operator. Current research aims to automate the measurement and counting task in order to improve the efficiency of the process and expand the use of stereo-video systems within marine science. A fully automated process will require the detection and identification of candidates for measurement, followed by the snout to fork length measurement, as well as the counting and tracking of fish. This paper presents a review of the techniques used for the detection, identification, measurement, counting and tracking of fish in underwater stereo-video image sequences, including consideration of the changing body shape. The review will analyse the most commonly used approaches, leading to an evaluation of the techniques most likely to be a general solution to the complete process of detection, identification, measurement, counting and tracking.

  1. Quantitative analysis of production traits in saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus): II. age at slaughter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isberg, S R; Thomson, P C; Nicholas, F W; Barker, S G; Moran, C

    2005-12-01

    Crocodile morphometric (head, snout-vent and total length) measurements were recorded at three stages during the production chain: hatching, inventory [average age (+/-SE) is 265.1 +/- 0.4 days] and slaughter (average age is 1037.8 +/- 0.4 days). Crocodile skins are used for the manufacture of exclusive leather products, with the most common-sized skin sold having 35-45 cm in belly width. One of the breeding objectives for inclusion into a multitrait genetic improvement programme for saltwater crocodiles is the time taken for a juvenile to reach this size or age at slaughter. A multivariate restricted maximum likelihood analysis provided (co)variance components for estimating the first published genetic parameter estimates for these traits. Heritability (+/-SE) estimates for the traits hatchling snout-vent length, inventory head length and age at slaughter were 0.60 (0.15), 0.59 (0.12) and 0.40 (0.10) respectively. There were strong negative genetic (-0.81 +/- 0.08) and phenotypic (-0.82 +/- 0.02) correlations between age at slaughter and inventory head length.

  2. characterisation, phylogenetic analysis,functional annotation

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Navya

    2017-01-06

    Jan 6, 2017 ... 3Collaborative Innovation Center for Efficient and Health Production of ... qPCR: a) in five tissues from a healthy blunt snout bream, indicating ..... FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) ... Sci.28, 210-214. .... Zhang F., Zhang L., Sun L.-L., Meng X.-L., Zhao Y. and Jin X. 2013 Effects of ...

  3. Effects of Differing Response-Force Requirements on Food-Maintained Responding in C57BL/6J Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarcone, Troy J.; Chen, Rong; Fowler, Stephen C.

    2009-01-01

    The effect of force requirements on response effort was examined using inbred C57BL/6J mice trained to press a disk with their snout. Lateral peak forces greater than 2 g were defined as responses (i.e., all responses above the measurement threshold). Different, higher force requirements were used to define criterion responses (a subclass of all…

  4. Dosimetric evaluation of using in-house BoS Frame Fixation Tool for the Head and Neck Cancer Patient

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kwang Suk; Jo, Kwang Hyun; Choi, Byeon Ki

    2016-01-01

    BoS(Base of Skull) Frame, the fixation tool which is used for the proton of brain cancer increases the lateral penumbra by increasing the airgap (the distance between patient and beam jet), due to the collision of the beam of the posterior oblique direction. Thus, we manufactured the fixation tool per se for improving the limits of BoS frame, and we'd like to evaluate the utility of the manufactured fixation tool throughout this study. We've selected the 3 patients of brain cancer who have received the proton therapy from our hospital, and also selected the 6 beam angles; for this, we've selected the beam angle of the posterior oblique direction. We've measured the planned BoS frame and the distance of Snout for each beam which are planned for the treatment of the patient using the BoS frame. After this, we've proceeded with the set-up that is above the location which was recommended by the manufacturer of the BoS frame, at the same beam angle of the same patient, by using our in-house Bos frame fixation tool. The set-up was above 21 cm toward the superior direction, compared to the situation when the BoS frame was only used with the basic couch. After that, we've stacked the snout to the BoS frame as much as possible, and measured the distance of snout. We've also measured the airgap, based on the gap of that snout distance; and we've proceeded the normalization based on each dose (100% of each dose), after that, we've conducted the comparative analysis of lateral penumbra. Moreover, we've established the treatment plan according to the changed airgap which has been transformed to the Raystation 5.0 proton therapy planning system, and we've conducted the comparative analysis of DVH(Dose Volume Histogram). When comparing the result before using the in-house Bos frame fixation tool which was manufactured for each beam angle with the result after using the fixation tool, we could figure out that airgap than when not used in accordance with the use of the in-house Bos

  5. Dosimetric evaluation of using in-house BoS Frame Fixation Tool for the Head and Neck Cancer Patient

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kwang Suk; Jo, Kwang Hyun; Choi, Byeon Ki [Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Seoul Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-06-15

    BoS(Base of Skull) Frame, the fixation tool which is used for the proton of brain cancer increases the lateral penumbra by increasing the airgap (the distance between patient and beam jet), due to the collision of the beam of the posterior oblique direction. Thus, we manufactured the fixation tool per se for improving the limits of BoS frame, and we'd like to evaluate the utility of the manufactured fixation tool throughout this study. We've selected the 3 patients of brain cancer who have received the proton therapy from our hospital, and also selected the 6 beam angles; for this, we've selected the beam angle of the posterior oblique direction. We've measured the planned BoS frame and the distance of Snout for each beam which are planned for the treatment of the patient using the BoS frame. After this, we've proceeded with the set-up that is above the location which was recommended by the manufacturer of the BoS frame, at the same beam angle of the same patient, by using our in-house Bos frame fixation tool. The set-up was above 21 cm toward the superior direction, compared to the situation when the BoS frame was only used with the basic couch. After that, we've stacked the snout to the BoS frame as much as possible, and measured the distance of snout. We've also measured the airgap, based on the gap of that snout distance; and we've proceeded the normalization based on each dose (100% of each dose), after that, we've conducted the comparative analysis of lateral penumbra. Moreover, we've established the treatment plan according to the changed airgap which has been transformed to the Raystation 5.0 proton therapy planning system, and we've conducted the comparative analysis of DVH(Dose Volume Histogram). When comparing the result before using the in-house Bos frame fixation tool which was manufactured for each beam angle with the result after using the fixation tool, we could figure out that airgap than when

  6. First Observation of the Slow Dragonet Callionymus aagilis Fricke ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The slow dragonet is a rare marine species of the family Callionymidae, and is endemic to Reunion and Mauritius and possibly the other Mascarene Islands. It is grey in colour with small round white spots aligned on the flanks and a honeycomb pattern on the cheeks and the snout (Fig. 1a-c). The apices of the first dorsal ...

  7. Wan Long

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Bulletin of Materials Science. Wan Long. Articles written in Bulletin of Materials Science. Volume 32 Issue 5 October 2009 pp 549-554 Composites. High-temperature oxidation behaviour of Ti3Si(1–)AlC2 in air · Liu Xiaopan Wan Long Bu Zhongheng Nie Daojun · More Details Abstract Fulltext PDF.

  8. Transition edge sensor-energy-dispersive spectrometer (TES-EDS) using a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator for material analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Keiichi; Odawara, Akikazu; Nagata, Atsushi; Ikeda, Masanori; Baba, Yukari; Nakayama, Satoshi; Chinone, Kazuo

    2006-01-01

    A cryogen-free energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) using a transition edge sensor (TES) was developed for material analysis. This system can maintain a temperature at 130 mK within 30 μK, and has good energy resolution (19 eV for Mn-Kα) for long-time measurement with a drift in the DC level of less than 0.02 eV/min. This system utilizes a dilution refrigerator (φ 272 mmxheight 572 mm) and has a snout (370 mm long and φ25 mm) similar to that in a conventional EDS system. The dilution refrigerator is pre-cooled by a GM refrigerator. A flexible tube between the dilution refrigerator and GM refrigerator damps the mechanical vibration of the GM refrigerator. Two shields (4 and 80 K) thermally protect the Cu rod (φ8 mm) cooled to be 100 mK. Windows composed of polyimide+Al film allow X-ray detection above the C-Kα line. A TES (6 mmx6 mm) and array SQUID amplifier (1.5 mmx3 mm) are mounted on top of the Cu rod. For Mn-Kα, the pulse height is 5.5 μA and decay time (τ eff ) is 90 μs. The maximum count rate (1/20 τ eff ) is estimated at about 500 cps

  9. High levels of prevalence related to age and body condition: host-parasite interactions in a water frog Pelophylax kl hispanicus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mar Comas

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Host traits can significantly influence patterns of infection and disease. Here, we studied the helminths parasitizing the Italian edible frog Pelophylax kl. hispanicus, giving special attention to the relationship between parasites and host traits such as sex, snout vent length, weight and body condition. The helminth community was composed of seven species: three trematode species (Diplodiscus subclavatus, Gorgodera cygnoides, Pleurogenes claviger, three nematode species (Icosiella neglecta, Oswaldocruzia filiformis, Rhabdias sp. and one acanthocephalan species (Pomphorhychus laevis. We found that prevalence was positively correlated with snout-vent length and weight, but did not differ with body condition or sex. We found that prevalence and mean species richness increased with age. Our results show that abundance of Icosiella neglecta was positively correlated with higher values for host body condition. In fact, we found that high prevalence and mean species richness do not necessarily imply poorer body condition in the parasitized host. In conclusion, our results show that the helminth community in this taxon has great diversity, and this host-parasite system seems to be evolved to low levels of virulence, helminths maintaining a commensal relationship with this frog.

  10. Description of two new species of Hisonotus Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889 (Ostariophysi, Loricariidae from the rio Paraná-Paraguay basin, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fábio Roxo

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Two new species of Hisonotus are described from the rio Paraná-Paraguay basin in Brazil. The most remarkable features of the new species are the odontodes forming longitudinally aligned rows (one odontode after the other, but not necessarily forming parallel series on the head and trunk (vs. odontodes not forming longitudinally aligned rows, a pair of rostral plates at the tip of the snout (vs. a single rostral plate, the functional v-shaped spinelet (vs. spinelet non-functional, square-shaped, or absent. These features suggest close phylogenetic relationships with Hisonotus bockmanni, H. insperatus, H. luteofrenatus and H. piracanjuba. Additionally, both new species are distinguished from their congeners by characters related to head length and depth, orbital diameter, suborbital depth, caudal peduncle depth, pectoral-fin spine length, snout length and counts of teeth. Hisonotus paresi sp. n. further differs from its congeners bycontrasting dark geometric spots on the anterodorsal region of the body, a character lacking in H.oliveirai sp. n. The variation in number and shape of the rostral plate, posterior rostrum plates, infraorbitals and the preopercle in both new species and in H. insperatus are discussed.

  11. The first fossil skull of Alligator sinensis from the Pleistocene, Taiwan, with a paleogeographic implication of the species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsi-yin, Shan; Yen-nien, Cheng; Xiao-chun, Wu

    2013-06-01

    A nearly complete fossil skull of Alligatoridae from the Pleistocene, Penghu Channel, east of Taiwan, is reported. It can be referred to the most latest clade of Alligatorinae, which includes Alligator sinensis, Alligator mississippiensis and Alligator mefferdi, on the basis of the following features: the splenial is excluded from the mandibular symphysis; the anterior tip of the splenial passes dorsal to the Meckelian groove; and the mandible is gently curved between the fourth alveoli and the mid dentary. It differs from A. mississippiensis and A. mefferdi mainly in the following characters: the breadth between the supratemporal fenestrae is approximately equal to the interorbital width, the snout is about half the length of the skull; and the anterior part of the snout is subtriangular in dorsal view. These features suggest that the Penghu alligator is most probably referable to A. sinensis. This is the only fossil skull of A. sinensis known. The discovery of the skull in Penghu Channel not only provides the first solid fossil evidence to indicate that the geological distribution of A. sinensis extended farther southeast than the historical/archeological range of the species but also adds new information on the biodiversity of the Penghu fauna.

  12. Use of population viability analysis to evaluate CITES trade-management options for threatened marine fishes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Janelle M R; Vincent, Amanda C J

    2008-10-01

    Achieving multiple conservation objectives can be challenging, particularly under high uncertainty. Having agreed to limit seahorse (Hippocampus) exports to sustainable levels, signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) were offered the option of a single 10-cm minimum size limit (MSL) as an interim management measure for all Hippocampus species (> or =34). Although diverse stakeholders supported the recommended MSL, its biological and socioeconomic implications were not assessed quantitatively. We combined population viability analysis, model sensitivity analysis, and economic information to evaluate the trade-off between conservation threat to and long-term cumulative income from these exploited marine fishes of high conservation concern. We used the European long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) as a representative species to compare the performance of MSLs set at alternative biological reference points. Our sensitivity analyses showed that in most of our scenarios, setting the MSL just above size at maturity (9.7 cm in H. guttulatus) would not prevent exploited populations from becoming listed as vulnerable. By contrast, the relative risk of decline and extinction were almost halved--at a cost of only a 5.6% reduction in long-term catches--by increasing the MSL to the size reached after at least one full reproductive season. On the basis of our analysis, a precautionary increase in the MSL could be compatible with sustaining fishers' livelihoods and international trade. Such management tactics that aid species conservation and have minimal effects on long term catch trends may help bolster the case for CITES trade management of other valuable marine fishes.

  13. Time Series with Long Memory

    OpenAIRE

    西埜, 晴久

    2004-01-01

    The paper investigates an application of long-memory processes to economic time series. We show properties of long-memory processes, which are motivated to model a long-memory phenomenon in economic time series. An FARIMA model is described as an example of long-memory model in statistical terms. The paper explains basic limit theorems and estimation methods for long-memory processes in order to apply long-memory models to economic time series.

  14. Ultra Long-Life Spacecraft for Long Duration Space Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chau, Savio

    2002-01-01

    After decades of Solar System exploration, NASA has almost completed the initial reconnaissance, and has been planning for landing and sample return missions on many planets, satellites, comets, and asteroids. The next logical step of space exploration is to expand the frontier into other missions within and outside the solar system. These missions can easily last for more than 30 to 50 years. Most of the current technologies and spacecraft design techniques are not adequate to support such long life missions. Many breakthrough technologies and non-conventional system architecture have to develop in order to sustain such long life missions.Some of these technologies are being developed by the NASA Exploration Team (neXt). Based on the projected requirements for ultra long life missions, the costs and benefits of the required technologies can be quantified. The ultra long-life space system should have four attributes: long-term survivability, administration of consumable resources, evolvability and adaptability, and low-cost long-term operations of the spacecraft. The discussion of survivability is the focus of this paper. Conventional fault tolerant system design has to tolerate only random failures, which can be handled effectively by dual or triple redundancy for a relatively short time. In contrast, the predominant failure mode in an ultra long-life system is the wear-out of components. All active components in the system are destined to fail before the end of the mission. Therefore, an ultra long-life system would require a large number of redundant components. This would be impractical in conventional fault tolerant systems because their fault tolerance techniques are very inefficient. For instance, a conventional dual-string avionics system duplicates the all the components including the processor, memory, and I/O controllers on a spacecraft. However, when the same component in both strings fail (e.g., the processor), the system will fail although all other

  15. Long-term follow-up study and long-term care of childhood cancer survivors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyeon Jin Park

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The number of long-term survivors is increasing in the western countries due to remarkable improvements in the treatment of childhood cancer. The long-term complications of childhood cancer survivors in these countries were brought to light by the childhood cancer survivor studies. In Korea, the 5-year survival rate of childhood cancer patients is approaching 70%; therefore, it is extremely important to undertake similar long-term follow-up studies and comprehensive long-term care for our population. On the basis of the experiences of childhood cancer survivorship care of the western countries and the current Korean status of childhood cancer survivors, long-term follow-up study and long-term care systems need to be established in Korea in the near future. This system might contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of childhood cancer survivors through effective intervention strategies.

  16. Prevalence of Long-Term Opioid Use in Long-Stay Nursing Home Residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunnicutt, Jacob N; Chrysanthopoulou, Stavroula A; Ulbricht, Christine M; Hume, Anne L; Tjia, Jennifer; Lapane, Kate L

    2018-01-01

    Overall and long-term opioid use among older adults have increased since 1999. Less is known about opioid use in older adults in nursing homes (NHs). Cross-sectional. U.S. NHs (N = 13,522). Long-stay NH resident Medicare beneficiaries with a Minimum Data Set 3.0 (MDS) assessment between April 1, 2012, and June 30, 2012, and 120 days of follow-up (N = 315,949). We used Medicare Part D claims to measure length of opioid use in the 120 days from the index assessment (short-term: ≤30 days, medium-term: >30-89 days, long-term: ≥90 days), adjuvants (e.g., anticonvulsants), and other pain medications (e.g., corticosteroids). MDS assessments in the follow-up period were used to measure nonpharmacological pain management use. Modified Poisson models were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for age, gender, race and ethnicity, cognitive and physical impairment, and long-term opioid use. Of all long-stay residents, 32.4% were prescribed any opioid, and 15.5% were prescribed opioids long-term. Opioid users (versus nonusers) were more commonly prescribed pain adjuvants (32.9% vs 14.9%), other pain medications (25.5% vs 11.0%), and nonpharmacological pain management (24.5% vs 9.3%). Long-term opioid use was higher in women (aPR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.18-1.23) and lower in racial and ethnic minorities (non-Hispanic blacks vs whites: APR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.90-0.94) and those with severe cognitive impairment (vs no or mild impairment, aPR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.79-0.83). One in seven NH residents was prescribed opioids long-term. Recent guidelines on opioid prescribing for pain recommend reducing long-term opioid use, but this is challenging in NHs because residents may not benefit from nonpharmacological and nonopioid interventions. Studies to address concerns about opioid safety and effectiveness (e.g., on pain and functional status) in NHs are needed. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics

  17. Long-term use of short- and long-acting nitrates in stable angina pectoris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosmicki, Marek Antoni

    2009-05-01

    Long-acting nitrates are effective antianginal drugs during initial treatment. However, their therapeutic value is compromised by the rapid development of tolerance during sustained therapy, which means that their clinical efficacy is decreased during long-term use. Sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG), a short-acting nitrate, is suitable for the immediate relief of angina. In patients with stable angina treated with oral long-acting nitrates, NTG maintains its full anti-ischemic effect both after initial oral ingestion and after intermittent long-term oral administration. However, NTG attenuates this effect during continuous treatment, when tolerance to oral nitrates occurs, and this is called cross-tolerance. In stable angina long-acting nitrates are considered third-line therapy because a nitrate-free interval is required to avoid the development of tolerance. Nitrates vary in their potential to induce the development of tolerance. During long-lasting nitrate therapy, except pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), one can observe the development of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside the muscular cell of a vessel wall, and these bind with nitric oxide (NO). This leads to decreased NO activity, thus, nitrate tolerance. PETN has no tendency to form ROS, and therefore during long-term PETN therapy, there is probably no tolerance or cross-tolerance, as during treatment with other nitrates.

  18. [Long-term psychiatric hospitalizations].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plancke, L; Amariei, A

    2017-02-01

    Long-term hospitalizations in psychiatry raise the question of desocialisation of the patients and the inherent costs. Individual indicators were extracted from a medical administrative database containing full-time psychiatric hospitalizations for the period 2011-2013 of people over 16 years old living in the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. We calculated the proportion of people who had experienced a hospitalization with a duration of 292 days or more during the study period. A bivariate analysis was conducted, then ecological data (level of health-care offer, the deprivation index and the size of the municipalities of residence) were included into a multilevel regression model in order to identify the factors significantly related to variability of long-term hospitalization rates. Among hospitalized individuals in psychiatry, 2.6% had had at least one hospitalization of 292 days or more during the observation period; the number of days in long-term hospitalization represented 22.5% of the total of days of full-time hospitalization in psychiatry. The bivariate analysis revealed that seniority in the psychiatric system was strongly correlated with long hospitalization rates. In the multivariate analysis, the individual indicators the most related to an increased risk of long-term hospitalization were: total lack of autonomy (OR=9.0; 95% CI: 6.7-12.2; P<001); diagnoses of psychological development disorders (OR=9.7; CI95%: 4.5-20.6; P<.001); mental retardation (OR=4.5; CI95%: 2.5-8.2; P<.001): schizophrenia (OR=3.0; CI95%: 1.7-5.2; P<.001); compulsory hospitalization (OR=1.7; CI95%: 1.4-2.1; P<.001); having experienced therapeutic isolation (OR=1.8; CI95%: 1.5-2.1; P<.001). Variations of long-term hospitalization rates depending on the type of establishment were very high, but the density of hospital beds or intensity of ambulatory activity services were not significantly linked to long-term hospitalization. The inhabitants of small urban units had

  19. The Ptch1DL mouse: a new model to study lambdoid craniosynostosis and basal cell nevus syndrome associated skeletal defects

    OpenAIRE

    Feng, Weiguo; Choi, Irene; Clouthier, David E.; Niswander, Lee; Williams, Trevor

    2013-01-01

    Mouse models provide valuable opportunities for probing the underlying pathology of human birth defects. Employing an ENU-based screen for recessive mutations affecting craniofacial anatomy we isolated a mouse strain, Dogface-like (DL), with abnormal skull and snout morphology. Examination of the skull indicated that these mice developed craniosynostosis of the lambdoid suture. Further analysis revealed skeletal defects related to the pathology of basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) including de...

  20. Long-term potentiation and long-term depression: a clinical perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy V.P. Bliss

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Long-term potentiation and long-term depression are enduring changes in synaptic strength, induced by specific patterns of synaptic activity, that have received much attention as cellular models of information storage in the central nervous system. Work in a number of brain regions, from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex, and in many animal species, ranging from invertebrates to humans, has demonstrated a reliable capacity for chemical synapses to undergo lasting changes in efficacy in response to a variety of induction protocols. In addition to their physiological relevance, long-term potentiation and depression may have important clinical applications. A growing insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, and technological advances in non-invasive manipulation of brain activity, now puts us at the threshold of harnessing long-term potentiation and depression and other forms of synaptic, cellular and circuit plasticity to manipulate synaptic strength in the human nervous system. Drugs may be used to erase or treat pathological synaptic states and non-invasive stimulation devices may be used to artificially induce synaptic plasticity to ameliorate conditions arising from disrupted synaptic drive. These approaches hold promise for the treatment of a variety of neurological conditions, including neuropathic pain, epilepsy, depression, amblyopia, tinnitus and stroke.

  1. Boundary Associated Long Noncoding RNA Mediates Long-Range Chromosomal Interactions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ifeoma Jane Nwigwe

    Full Text Available CCCTC binding factor (CTCF is involved in organizing chromosomes into mega base-sized, topologically associated domains (TADs along with other factors that define sub-TAD organization. CTCF-Cohesin interactions have been shown to be critical for transcription insulation activity as it stabilizes long-range interactions to promote proper gene expression. Previous studies suggest that heterochromatin boundary activity of CTCF may be independent of Cohesin, and there may be additional mechanisms for defining topological domains. Here, we show that a boundary site we previously identified known as CTCF binding site 5 (CBS5 from the homeotic gene cluster A (HOXA locus exhibits robust promoter activity. This promoter activity from the CBS5 boundary element generates a long noncoding RNA that we designate as boundary associated long noncoding RNA-1 (blncRNA1. Functional characterization of this RNA suggests that the transcript stabilizes long-range interactions at the HOXA locus and promotes proper expression of HOXA genes. Additionally, our functional analysis also shows that this RNA is not needed in the stabilization of CTCF-Cohesin interactions however CTCF-Cohesin interactions are critical in the transcription of blncRNA1. Thus, the CTCF-associated boundary element, CBS5, employs both Cohesin and noncoding RNA to establish and maintain topologically associated domains at the HOXA locus.

  2. High-precision spatial localization of mouse vocalizations during social interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heckman, Jesse J; Proville, Rémi; Heckman, Gert J; Azarfar, Alireza; Celikel, Tansu; Englitz, Bernhard

    2017-06-07

    Mice display a wide repertoire of vocalizations that varies with age, sex, and context. Especially during courtship, mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) of high complexity, whose detailed structure is poorly understood. As animals of both sexes vocalize, the study of social vocalizations requires attributing single USVs to individuals. The state-of-the-art in sound localization for USVs allows spatial localization at centimeter resolution, however, animals interact at closer ranges, involving tactile, snout-snout exploration. Hence, improved algorithms are required to reliably assign USVs. We develop multiple solutions to USV localization, and derive an analytical solution for arbitrary vertical microphone positions. The algorithms are compared on wideband acoustic noise and single mouse vocalizations, and applied to social interactions with optically tracked mouse positions. A novel, (frequency) envelope weighted generalised cross-correlation outperforms classical cross-correlation techniques. It achieves a median error of ~1.4 mm for noise and ~4-8.5 mm for vocalizations. Using this algorithms in combination with a level criterion, we can improve the assignment for interacting mice. We report significant differences in mean USV properties between CBA mice of different sexes during social interaction. Hence, the improved USV attribution to individuals lays the basis for a deeper understanding of social vocalizations, in particular sequences of USVs.

  3. Deformation of nasal septal cartilage during mastication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Dayeh, Ayman A; Rafferty, Katherine L; Egbert, Mark; Herring, Susan W

    2009-10-01

    The cartilaginous nasal septum plays a major role in structural integrity and growth of the face, but its internal location has made physiologic study difficult. By surgically implanting transducers in 10 miniature pigs (Sus scrofa), we recorded in vivo strains generated in the nasal septum during mastication and masseter stimulation. The goals were (1) to determine whether the cartilage should be considered as a vertical strut supporting the nasal cavity and preventing its collapse, or as a damper of stresses generated during mastication and (2) to shed light on the overall pattern of snout deformation during mastication. Strains were recorded simultaneously at the septo-ethmoid junction and nasofrontal suture during mastication. A third location in the anterior part of the cartilage was added during masseter stimulation and manipulation. Contraction of jaw closing muscles during mastication was accompanied by anteroposterior compressive strains (around -1,000 muepsilon) in the septo-ethmoid junction. Both the orientation and the magnitude of the strain suggest that the septum does not act as a vertical strut but may act in absorbing loads generated during mastication. The results from masseter stimulation and manipulation further suggest that the masticatory strain pattern arises from a combination of dorsal bending and/or shearing and anteroposterior compression of the snout. 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  4. Micro packaging of hermetic seal mini dual in line laser diode module for aerospace applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazemi, Alex A.; Chan, Eric; Koshinz, Dennis

    2014-09-01

    Normally, reliable, reproducible, high-yield packaging technologies are essential for meeting the cost, performance, and service objectives for the harsh environment of space applications. This paper describes a new improved micro packaging method of hermetic seal mini-DIL (dual in line) laser diode module. The problem of using a softer solder resulted in failure mechanisms observed in the mini-DIL laser diode module based laser firing unit (LFU) for ordinance ignition of a missile system. These failures included: (1) failure in light output pulse power, (2) fiber pigtail damage inside the package snout which caused low LFU production yield. Our distinctive challenge for this project is the micro packaging of mini-DIL. For this package a new technique for the hermetic sealing using a micro-soldering process was developed. The process is able to confine the solder seal to a small region inside the snout near the fiber feed-through hole on the wall of the mini-DIL package. After completing the development, which included temperature and thermal cycling, X-rays analysis showed the new method had no fiber damage after the microsoldering seal. The new process resulted in 100% success in the packaging design and was granted a patent for the innovative development.

  5. Hisonotus acuen, a new and phenotypically variable cascudinho (Siluriformes, Loricariidae, Hypoptopomatinae from the upper rio Xingu basin, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel da Costa e Silva

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available A new species of Hisonotus is described from the headwaters of the rio Xingu. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by having a functional V-shaped spinelet, odontodes not forming longitudinal aligned rows on the head and trunk, lower counts of the lateral and median series of abdominal figs, presence of a single rostral fig at the tip of the snout, absence of the unpaired figlets at typical adipose fin position, yellowish-tipped teeth, absence of conspicuous dark saddles and stripe on the body and higher number of teeth on the premaxillary and dentary. The new species, Hisonotus acuen, is restricted to headwaters of the rio Xingu basin, and is the first species of the genus Hisonotus described from the rio Xingu basin. Hisonotus acuen is highly variable in aspects of external body proportions, including body depth, snout length, and abdomen length. This variation is partly distributed within and among populations, and is not strongly correlated with body size. PCA of 83 adult specimens from six allopatric populations indicates the presence of continuous variation. Therefore, the available morphological data suggest that the individuals inhabiting the six localities of rio Xingu represent different populations of a single species. Low intraspecific variation in mitochondrial Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI provides corroborative evidence.

  6. Morphological development and allometric growth patterns of Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897 (Actinopterygii, Acipenseridae during early development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soheil Eagderi

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Morphological development and allometric growth patterns of reared Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus, were studied from hatching to 50 days post-hatching (dph. The larvae were sampled, their left sides photographed and seven morphometric characters, including total length, head length, tail length, trunk length, snout length, caudal peduncle and predorsal length were measured. Allometric growth patterns were calculated as a power function of total length and described using the growth coefficient to find important steps in early life history. The total length of the newly hatched larvae and fry were 10.59±0.8 and 38.8±2.9 mm at 1 and 50 dph, respectively. Morphogenesis and differentiation were the highest rates during the first 11 days of early development, i.e. endogenous feeding period. There were higher growth rate of head, snout and tail regions compared with those of other organs from the hatch up to yolk sac absorption, followed by positive or almost isometric patterns, after the begin of exogenous feeding, showing priority to enhance the feeding and swimming capabilities. This study confirmed that most of morphological changes of this species are occurred from hatching until the onset of exogenous feeding i.e. during the lecithotrophic phase.

  7. The Effects of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD on the Mortality and Growth of Two Amphibian Species (Xenopus laevis and Pseudacris triseriata

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alex Collier

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available We observed a slight drop in the growth of Xenopus laevis and Pseudacris triseriata larvae following acute exposure (24-48 h during egg development to three concentrations of TCDD (0.3, 3.0, 30.0 μg/l. Our exposure protocol was modeled on a previous investigation that was designed to mimic the effects of maternal deposition of TCDD. The doses selected were consistent with known rates of maternal transfer between mother and egg using actual adult body burdens from contaminated habitats. Egg and embryonic mortality immediately following exposure increased only among 48 h X. laevis treatments. Control P. triseriata and X. laevis completed metamorphosis more quickly than TCDDtreated animals. The snout-vent length of recently transformed P. triseriata did not differ between treatments although controls were heavier than high-dosed animals. Likewise, the snout-vent length and weight of transformed X. laevis did not differ between control and TCDD treatments. These findings provide additional evidence that amphibians, including P. triseriata and X. laevis are relatively insensitive to acute exposure to TCDD during egg and embryonic development. Although the concentrations selected for this study were relatively high, they were not inconsistent with our current understanding of bioaccumulation via maternal transfer.

  8. Long Term Financing of Infrastructure

    OpenAIRE

    Sinha, Sidharth

    2014-01-01

    Infrastructure projects, given their long life, require long term financing. The main sources of long term financings are insurance and pension funds who seek long term investments with low credit risk. However, in India household financial savings are mainly invested in bank deposits. Insurance and pension funds account for only a small percentage of household financial savings. In addition most infrastructure projects do not qualify for investment by insurance and pension funds because of t...

  9. Long-Term Symbolic Learning

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kennedy, William G; Trafton, J. G

    2007-01-01

    What are the characteristics of long-term learning? We investigated the characteristics of long-term, symbolic learning using the Soar and ACT-R cognitive architectures running cognitive models of two simple tasks...

  10. The impact of fire on habitat use by the short-snouted elephant ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Thickets were an important refuge both pre- and post-fire, but the proportion of thicket within ... of E. brachyrhynchus movements to patches of unburned vegetation. ... in fire management and allowing sufficient island patches to remain post-fire ...

  11. A systematic revision of Tatia (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae: Centromochlinae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luisa Maria Sarmento-Soares

    Full Text Available The auchenipterid catfish genus Tatia is revised. Twelve species are recognized including three described as new. Tatia is diagnosed by the hyomandibula elongated anterodorsally, the anal-fin base of adult males reduced in length, and the caudal peduncle laterally compressed and deep with a middorsal keel. Tatia aulopygia occurs in the Madeira river drainage and is distinguished by the reduced cranial fontanel in adults and male modified anal fin with middle rays reduced in length. Tatia boemia, known from the upper Uruguay river drainage, is distinguished by its unique color pattern with dark chromatophores on the sides of body. Tatia brunnea from river basins in Suriname and French Guiana and the Negro river drainage, Amazon basin, is recognized by its wide head and mouth and by the male modified anal fin with sharply pointed tip. Tatia dunni, from the upper Amazon basin, is recognized by its narrow head, long postcleithral process in some specimens, and body coloration with irregular blotches or stripes. Tatia galaxias, endemic to the Orinoco river basin, is distinguished by its large eye and short snout. Tatia gyrina, distributed in the upper and central Amazon basin and in northern Suriname, has a uniquely reduced mesethmoid, slightly protruding lower jaw, second nuchal plate with slightly concave lateral borders, third nuchal plate reduced, small prevomer, low number of ribs, low number of vertebrae and sexual dimorphism regarding intumescent male genital papilla. Tatia intermedia, recorded from central and lower Amazon basin, Tocantins river, and coastal drainages in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and eastern Pará State, Brazil, is distinguished by the short postcleithral process, small eye and long snout. Tatia neivai, from the upper Paraná river , Paraguay river and upper Paraíba do Sul river basin, is distinguished by its unique vertebral count and caudal-fin coloration consisting of transverse dark bars. Tatia strigata, from

  12. 78 FR 35596 - Special Local Regulation; Long Beach Regatta, Powerboat Race, Atlantic Ocean, Long Beach, NY

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-13

    ... 1625-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Long Beach Regatta, Powerboat Race, Atlantic Ocean, Long Beach, NY... temporary special local regulation on the navigable waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Long Beach, NY during... powerboat racing regatta. The event will be held on the Atlantic Ocean off Long Beach, NY and will feature...

  13. Circadian long call distribution in wild orangutans Distribution circadienne des cris longs (long calls chez l’orang-outan en milieu naturel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Geissmann

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available We present first data on circadian long call distribution of wild orangutans in Northwest Borneo. Data were collected during two months in Batang Ai National Park. A total of 151 male long calls were heard, exhibiting a bimodal distribution pattern with peaks at 05:00-06:00 hours and 18:00-19:00 hours. An earlier study found pronounced differences between the calling rates of Bornean orangutans, which showed an almost unimodal call distribution with its peak at mid-morning, and those of Sumatran orangutans, which showed a bimodal call distribution with a distinct calling peak at predawn and a more moderate peak near dusk (MacKinnon 1974. Our findings from Batang Ai resemble more closely the pattern reported for Sumatra than those reported for other Bornean localities and, therefore, contradict earlier reports suggesting a Sumatra-Borneo dichotomy in orangutan call distribution. In addition, orangutans in Batang Ai were heard to regularly emit long calls throughout the night. This behaviour is unusual for a diurnal species.Nous présentons les premières données sur la distribution circadienne des cris longs (long calls chez les mâles orangs-outans vivant en milieu naturel au nord-ouest de Bornéo. Les données ont été récoltées lors d’une étude de terrain de deux mois au Parc National de Batang Ai. Les 151 cris longs entendus montraient une distribution bimodale, caractérisée par des pics à 05:00-06:00 et 18:00-19:00 heures. Une étude précédente avait révélé des différences profondes entre les taux de cris longs des orangs-outans de Bornéo et de Sumatra. Alors que la distribution des cris longs à Bornéo était presque unimodale et montrait un pic en milieu d’avant-midi, la distribution à Sumatra était bimodale et montrait un pic distinct avant l’aube et un second pic plus modéré au crépuscule (MacKinnon 1974. Nos résultats à Batang Ai ressemblent davantage au schéma rapporté précédemment à Sumatra qu

  14. Research on Long Tail Recommendation Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Xuezhi; Zhang, Chuang; Wu, Ming; Zeng, Yang

    2017-10-01

    Most recommendation systems in the major electronic commerce platforms are influenced by the long tail effect more or less. There are sufficient researches of how to assess recommendation effect while no criteria to evaluate long tail recommendation rate. In this study, we first discussed the existing problems of recommending long tail products through specific experiments. Then we proposed a long tail evaluation criteria and compared the performance in long tail recommendation between different models.

  15. Long time series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hisdal, H.; Holmqvist, E.; Hyvärinen, V.

    Awareness that emission of greenhouse gases will raise the global temperature and change the climate has led to studies trying to identify such changes in long-term climate and hydrologic time series. This report, written by the......Awareness that emission of greenhouse gases will raise the global temperature and change the climate has led to studies trying to identify such changes in long-term climate and hydrologic time series. This report, written by the...

  16. Long term stability of power systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kundur, P; Gao, B [Powertech Labs. Inc., Surrey, BC (Canada)

    1994-12-31

    Power system long term stability is still a developing subject. In this paper we provide our perspectives and experiences related to long term stability. The paper begins with the description of the nature of the long term stability problem, followed by the discussion of issues related to the modeling and solution techniques of tools for long term stability analysis. Cases studies are presented to illustrate the voltage stability aspect and plant dynamics aspect of long term stability. (author) 20 refs., 11 figs.

  17. Long Maturity Forward Rates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Charlotte

    2001-01-01

    The paper aims to improve the knowledge of the empirical properties of the long maturity region of the forward rate curve. Firstly, the theoretical negative correlation between the slope at the long end of the forward rate curve and the term structure variance is recovered empirically and found...... to be statistically significant. Secondly, the expectations hypothesis is analyzed for the long maturity region of the forward rate curve using "forward rate" regressions. The expectations hypothesis is numerically close to being accepted but is statistically rejected. The findings provide mixed support...... for the affine term structure model....

  18. Long-range correlated percolation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weinrib, A.

    1984-01-01

    This paper is a study of the percolation problem with long-range correlations in the site or bond occupations. An extension of the Harris criterion for the relevance of the correlations is derived for the case that the correlations decay as x/sup -a/ for large distances x. For a d the correlations are relevant if dν-2<0. Applying this criterion to the behavior that results when the correlations are relevant, we argue that the new behavior will have ν/sub long/ = 2/a. It is shown that the correlated bond percolation problem is equivalent to a q-state Potts model with quenched disorder in the limit q→1. With the use of this result, a renormalization-group study of the problem is presented, expanding in epsilon = 6-d and in delta = 4-a. In addition to the normal percolation fixed point, we find a new long-range fixed point. The crossover to this new fixed point follows the extended Harris criterion, and the fixed point has exponents ν/sub long/ = 2/a (as predicted) and eta/sub long/ = (1/11)(delta-epsilon). Finally, several results on the percolation properties of the Ising model at its critical point are shown to be in agreement with the predictions of this paper

  19. Long-distance calls in Neotropical primates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oliveira Dilmar A.G.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Long-distance calls are widespread among primates. Several studies concentrate on such calls in just one or in few species, while few studies have treated more general trends within the order. The common features that usually characterize these vocalizations are related to long-distance propagation of sounds. The proposed functions of primate long-distance calls can be divided into extragroup and intragroup ones. Extragroup functions relate to mate defense, mate attraction or resource defense, while intragroup functions involve group coordination or alarm. Among Neotropical primates, several species perform long-distance calls that seem more related to intragroup coordination, markedly in atelines. Callitrichids present long-distance calls that are employed both in intragroup coordination and intergroup contests or spacing. Examples of extragroup directed long-distance calls are the duets of titi monkeys and the roars and barks of howler monkeys. Considerable complexity and gradation exist in the long-distance call repertoires of some Neotropical primates, and female long-distance calls are probably more important in non-duetting species than usually thought. Future research must focus on larger trends in the evolution of primate long-distance calls, including the phylogeny of calling repertoires and the relationships between form and function in these signals.

  20. Foraging strategies of the Galapagos Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus Cristatus): adapting behavioral rules to ontogenetic size change

    OpenAIRE

    Wikelski, Martin; Trillmich, Fritz

    1994-01-01

    Ontogenetic development in reptiles entails major changes in size-related foraging options. We studied the changes in foraging behavior of marine iguanas. In this species, size increases about twenty- to hundredfold from hatching to full adult size. The foraging strategy of marine iguanas was studied at Miedo on Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos archipelago During low tide, large marine iguanas (>250 mm snout vent length (SVL)) foraged more in the lower intertidal than small ones (

  1. The tadpole of Hypsiboas leptolineatus (Braun and Braun, 1977), a species in the Hypsiboas polytaenius clade (Anura; Hylidae)

    OpenAIRE

    Both,C.; Kwet,A.; Solé,M.

    2007-01-01

    The larval morphology of Hypsiboas leptolineatus was studied. The tadpole has an ovoid body in lateral view, wider than deep; snout rounded with dorsal reniform nostrils; spiracle sinistral with lateral wall attached to body; anal tube dextral; tail fins convex with acuminate tip; oral disc ventral; labial tooth row formula is 2(2)/3(1); moderately developed beaks with serrated jaw sheaths. These external oral features are compared with those of the known tadpoles in the Hypsiboas polytaenius...

  2. Mechanisms of translation control underlying long-lasting synaptic plasticity and the consolidation of long-term memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santini, Emanuela; Huynh, Thu N; Klann, Eric

    2014-01-01

    The complexity of memory formation and its persistence is a phenomenon that has been studied intensely for centuries. Memory exists in many forms and is stored in various brain regions. Generally speaking, memories are reorganized into broadly distributed cortical networks over time through systems level consolidation. At the cellular level, storage of information is believed to initially occur via altered synaptic strength by processes such as long-term potentiation. New protein synthesis is required for long-lasting synaptic plasticity as well as for the formation of long-term memory. The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a critical regulator of cap-dependent protein synthesis and is required for numerous forms of long-lasting synaptic plasticity and long-term memory. As such, the study of mTORC1 and protein factors that control translation initiation and elongation has enhanced our understanding of how the process of protein synthesis is regulated during memory formation. Herein we discuss the molecular mechanisms that regulate protein synthesis as well as pharmacological and genetic manipulations that demonstrate the requirement for proper translational control in long-lasting synaptic plasticity and long-term memory formation. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. LMFBR Ultra Long Life Cores

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmidt, J.E.; Doncals, R.A.; Porter, C.A.; Gundy, L.M.

    1986-01-01

    The Ultra Long Life Core is an attractive and innovative design approach with several extremely beneficial attributes. Long Life cores are applicable to the full range of LMR plant sizes resulting in lifetimes up to 30 years. Core life is somewhat limited for smaller plant sizes, however significant benefits of this approach still exist for all plant sizes. The union of long life cores and the complementary inherent safety technology offer a means of utilizing the well-proven oxide fuel in a system with unsurpassed safety capability. A further benefit is that the uranium fuel cycle can be used in long life cores, especially for initial LMR plant deployment, thereby eliminating the need for reprocessing prior to starting LMR plant construction in the U.S. Finally the long life core significantly reduces power costs. With inherent safety capability designed into an LMR and with the ULLC fuel cycle, power costs competitive with light water plants are achievable while offering improved operational flexibility derived through extending refueling intervals

  4. Long memory and changing persistence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kruse, Robinson; Sibbertsen, Philipp

    We study the empirical behaviour of semi-parametric log-periodogram estimation for long memory models when the true process exhibits a change in persistence. Simulation results confirm theoretical arguments which suggest that evidence for long memory is likely to be found. A recently proposed test...... by Sibbertsen and Kruse (2009) is shown to exhibit noticeable power to discriminate between long memory and a structural change in autoregressive parameters....

  5. ARE ULTRA-LONG GAMMA-RAY BURSTS DIFFERENT?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boër, M.; Gendre, B. [CNRS-ARTEMIS, Boulevard de l' Observatoire, CS 34229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4 (France); Stratta, G., E-mail: michel.boer@unice.fr [Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, I-61029 Urbino (Italy)

    2015-02-10

    The discovery of a number of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with duration exceeding 1000 s has opened the debate on whether these bursts form a new class of sources, the so-called ultra-long GRBs, or if they are rather the tail of the distribution of the standard long GRB duration. Using the long GRB sample detected by Swift, we investigate the statistical properties of long GRBs and compare them with the ultra-long burst properties. We compute the burst duration of long GRBs using the start epoch of the so-called ''steep decay'' phase detected with Swift/XRT. We discuss also the differences observed in their spectral properties. We find that ultra-long GRBs are statistically different from the standard long GRBs with typical burst duration less than 100-500 s, for which a Wolf-Rayet star progenitor is usually invoked. Together with the presence of a thermal emission component we interpret this result as indication that the usual long GRB progenitor scenario cannot explain the extreme duration of ultra-long GRBs, their energetics, as well as the mass reservoir and size that can feed the central engine for such a long time.

  6. Concept of „long centric"

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martinović Željko

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper was to show the historical perspective of the „long centric" occlusal concept and its importance in the modern dentistry, especially from the gnathological aspect. The „long centric" concept represents therapeutic modality used in modern dentistry and occlusal adjustment in all patients showing differences in strong and weak closure of the lower jaw starting from the position of physiological rest/long centric" concept is applied only for anterior teeth and occlusal movements from rather than toward the center. Whenever the „long centric" parameters are not adequate, occlusal disturbance, resulting from the „wedge" effect during the initial closure of the lower jaw, is present. Different degrees of abrasion or hypermobility of the teeth are often the result of the above-mentioned occlusal disturbances and can potentially trigger bruxism and malfunction. Modus procedendi should be the regular approach of every dentist to any occlusion, because only the built-in „long centric" efficiently contributes to the occlusal stability of the anterior portion of the dentition. All occlusions should be routinely tested regarding their need for „long centric", especially when the extensive therapeutic interventions (conservative, prosthetics of the occlusal complex are required.

  7. Taking a Long View

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ougaard, Morten

    a global perspective which leads to a more positive assessment. I will do this from a historical materialist perspective and therefore I begin with a discussion of the long view in Marx. This leads on to a discussion of Marx’s law of the long term declining rate of profit (LTFRP) and its counteracting...

  8. Long-term urethral catheterisation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Bruce; Dickens, Nicola

    This article discusses long-term urethral catheterisation, focusing on the relevant anatomy and physiology, indications for the procedure, catheter selection and catheter care. It is important that nurses have a good working knowledge of long-term catheterisation as the need for this intervention will increase with the rise in chronic health conditions and the ageing population.

  9. Concept of „long centric"

    OpenAIRE

    Martinović Željko; Obradović-Đuričić Kosovka; Teodorović Nevenka S.; Živković Rade

    2004-01-01

    The objective of this paper was to show the historical perspective of the „long centric" occlusal concept and its importance in the modern dentistry, especially from the gnathological aspect. The „long centric" concept represents therapeutic modality used in modern dentistry and occlusal adjustment in all patients showing differences in strong and weak closure of the lower jaw starting from the position of physiological rest/long centric" concept is applied only for anterior teeth and occlusa...

  10. Morphological evidence uncovers a new species of Goniurosaurus (Squamata: Eublepharidae) from the Hainan Island, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Run-Bang; Wang, Ning; Chen, Bei; Liang, Bin

    2018-01-03

    A new species of the genus Goniurosaurus, G. zhoui sp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from karst areas in Hainan Island, China. Quantitative comparison of morphological traits and egg size with two known endemic species in Hainan Island and other known congeners confirmed the distinctiveness of G. zhoui sp. nov., which has a moderate size with a snout-vent length of 93.4-97.4 mm; light purple-brown dorsal ground color in adults; a posteriorly protracted nuchal loop on nape; four faint, purple-gray body bands bearing dark purple spots between and on them; eight nasal scales surrounding nares; single internasal; 49-62 eyelid fringe scales; 130-140 scales around midbody; 11 granular scales surrounding the dorsal tubercles; 36-38 precloacal pores in males (absent in females); claws sheathed by four scales, two lateral scales long and curved. We provide the first data on the natural history of the new species and an expanded key to Goniurosaurus species on Hainan Island and the adjacent mainland. The discovery of the new species facilitates our understanding of the speciation process on continental islands.

  11. Speed and stamina trade-off in lacertid lizards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanhooydonck, B; Van Damme, R; Aerts, P

    2001-05-01

    Morphological and physiological considerations suggest that sprinting ability and endurance capacity put conflicting demands on the design of an animal's locomotor apparatus and therefore cannot be maximized simultaneously. To test this hypothesis, we correlated size-corrected maximal sprint speed and stamina of 12 species of lacertid lizards. Phylogenetically independent contrasts of sprint speed and stamina showed a significant negative relationship, giving support to the idea of an evolutionary trade-off between the two performance measures. To test the hypothesis that the trade-off is mediated by a conflict in morphological requirements, we correlated both performance traits with snout-vent length, size-corrected estimates of body mass and limb length, and relative hindlimb length (the residuals of the relationship between hind- and forelimb length). Fast-running species had hindlimbs that were long compared to their forelimbs. None of the other size or shape variables showed a significant relationship with speed or endurance. We conclude that the evolution of sprint capacity may be constrained by the need for endurance capacity and vice versa, but the design conflict underlying this trade-off has yet to be identified.

  12. Convergent evolution of jaws between spinosaurid dinosaurs and pike conger eels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romain Vullo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Spinosaurs represent a group of peculiar theropod dinosaurs that have often been described as “crocodile-mimic”, predominantly fish-eating predators, and recently claimed to have been semi-aquatic animals. Here we report a suite of craniodental characters unexpectedly shared by spinosaurs and pike conger eels. Pike conger eels are predatory, mainly piscivorous bottom-dwelling anguilliform fishes that inhabit marine and brackish environments. These two groups of dinosaurs and fishes show a mediolaterally compressed, elongated rostrum, a terminal “rosette” bearing enlarged teeth in both upper and lower jaws, and a notch posterior to the premaxillary “rosette” characterized by the presence of reduced teeth. The morphological convergence observed in the jaws of these two distantly related groups of vertebrates may result from similar feeding behaviours. This typical jaw morphology likely represents an effective biomechanical adaptation for biting and grabbing elusive prey items in low-light aquatic environments. Associated with this specialized snout morphology, numerous integumentary mechanoreceptors involved in prey detection are present in both spinosaurs and pike congers. Our new observations provide an additional convincing argument regarding the decades-long and widely debated lifestyle of spinosaurs.

  13. Morphology-diet relationships in four killifishes (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae, Orestias) from Lake Titicaca.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maldonado, E; Hubert, N; Sagnes, P; De Mérona, B

    2009-02-01

    This study explores the relationship between morphology and diet in four Andean killifishes (Orestias) from Lake Titicaca that are known to differ in habitat use. Species that fed preferentially on amphipods (Orestias albus) or molluscs (Orestias luteus) separated in multivariate space from other species that feed on cladocera and algae (Orestias agassii and Orestias jussiei). Generally, specimens feeding on cladocera were characterized by a short, blunt nose with a small mouth; whereas, specimens feeding on amphipods exhibited a long snout with a large mouth. Specimens including molluscs in their diet tended to have a larger posterior part of the head and the larger opercles than others; while the occurrence of substratum in gut content was generally related to a short but deep head. The present analysis suggests that the littoral O. jussiei has an intermediate phenotype and diet between the pelagic (O. agassii) and benthic (O. albus and O. luteus) species. Results suggest that resource partitioning was occurring and that several morphological traits relate to characteristics of the diet, and it is inferred that the benthic, the pelagic and the littoral zones in the lake host different prey communities constituting distinct adaptive landscapes.

  14. What do long-distance caregivers do? : judgment of propositions and the epistemics of long-distance family relationships

    OpenAIRE

    中川, 敦; Atsushi, NAKAGAWA

    2015-01-01

    This study clarifies what long-distance caregivers do. To this end, I conducted a conversation analysis of video data of a care conference in which a long-distance caregiver participated. When a professional caregiver proposes a care plan to a long-distance caregiver, he/she substitutes technical terms with laymen terms for easy understanding, indicating his/her orientation that a long-distance caregiver is not a professional. However, if the caregiver laughs or averts his/her eyes during the...

  15. Stochastic processes and long range dependence

    CERN Document Server

    Samorodnitsky, Gennady

    2016-01-01

    This monograph is a gateway for researchers and graduate students to explore the profound, yet subtle, world of long-range dependence (also known as long memory). The text is organized around the probabilistic properties of stationary processes that are important for determining the presence or absence of long memory. The first few chapters serve as an overview of the general theory of stochastic processes which gives the reader sufficient background, language, and models for the subsequent discussion of long memory. The later chapters devoted to long memory begin with an introduction to the subject along with a brief history of its development, followed by a presentation of what is currently the best known approach, applicable to stationary processes with a finite second moment. The book concludes with a chapter devoted to the author’s own, less standard, point of view of long memory as a phase transition, and even includes some novel results. Most of the material in the book has not previously been publis...

  16. Evidences for seawater-rock hydrothermal interaction in the serpentinites from Northern Central Indian Ridge

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Ray, Dwijesh; Banerjee, R.; Iyer, S.D.; Mukhopadhyay, S.

    ’ and ‘swell’ structures. Different generations of veins can be deci- phered from their cross-cut relationship. ‘Mesh’ (pseu- domorph after olivine) and ‘bastite’ (pseudomorph after orthopyroxene) are the most common textures within the present serpentinites...) varies significantly (22–30 mm in snout-vent length (SVL)). Analysis of growth rate and determination of age at first reproduction in a group of frogs reared in the outdoor enclosures revealed that rate of increase in SVL differed between small...

  17. Exploring flavor-dependent long-range forces in long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, Sabya Sachi; Dasgupta, Arnab; Agarwalla, Sanjib Kumar

    2015-12-01

    The Standard Model gauge group can be extended with minimal matter content by introducing anomaly free U(1) symmetry, such as L e - L μ or L e - L τ . If the neutral gauge boson corresponding to this abelian symmetry is ultra-light, then it will give rise to flavor-dependent long-range leptonic force, which can have significant impact on neutrino oscillations. For an instance, the electrons inside the Sun can generate a flavor-dependent long-range potential at the Earth surface, which can suppress the ν μ → ν e appearance probability in terrestrial experiments. The sign of this potential is opposite for anti-neutrinos, and affects the oscillations of (anti-)neutrinos in different fashion. This feature invokes fake CP-asymmetry like the SM matter effect and can severely affect the leptonic CP-violation searches in long-baseline experiments. In this paper, we study in detail the possible impacts of these long-range flavor-diagonal neutral current interactions due to L e - L μ symmetry, when (anti-)neutrinos travel from Fermilab to Homestake (1300 km) and CERN to Pyhäsalmi (2290 km) in the context of future high-precision superbeam facilities, DUNE and LBNO respectively. If there is no signal of long-range force, DUNE (LBNO) can place stringent constraint on the effective gauge coupling α eμ < 1.9 × 10-53 (7.8 × 10-54) at 90% C.L., which is almost 30 (70) times better than the existing bound from the Super-Kamiokande experiment. We also observe that if α eμ ≥ 2 × 10-52, the CP-violation discovery reach of these future facilities vanishes completely. The mass hierarchy measurement remains robust in DUNE (LBNO) if α eμ < 5 × 10-52 (10-52).

  18. Contractility Dispersion in Long QT Syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MH Nikoo

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Previous studies, using M mode echocardiography, provided unexpected evidence of a mechanical alteration in patients with long QT syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate entire left ventricular (LV wall motion characteristics in patients with long QT syndrome using tissue Doppler imaging. Methods: We enrolled 17 patients with congenital long QT syndrome [11 female and 6 male], aged 21 to 45 years. 10 subjects without cardiac disease were also selected as a control group. Two-dimensional tissue Doppler imaging (TDI recording of the LV was obtained from the basal and mid-segments from apical four-chamber, two-chamber, and long-axis views. ‘Myocardial Contraction Duration’ [MCD] was defined as the time from start of R wave on ECG to end of S wave on TDI. MCD was measured in the six LV wall positions: septal, anteroseptal, lateral, inferior, posterior and anterior positions.Results: LV contractility dispersion was significantly greater in long QT syndrome patients compared to control group [0.051 ± 0.011 vs. 0.016 ± 0.06; P < 0.001]. Conclusion: Our study evaluated left ventricular dispersion of contractility duration in patients with long QT syndrome. This mechanical dispersion may be a reflection of the inhomogeneity of repolarisation in the long QT syndrome.

  19. A digital long pulse integrator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Broesch, J.D.; Strait, E.J.; Snider, R.T.

    1996-10-01

    A prototype digital integrator with very long integration capabilities has been developed and field tested on an inductive magnetic sensor on the DIII-D Tokamak. The integrator is being developed for use on ITER with a pulse length of 1000 s, and has direct applications for other long pulse Tokamaks. Inductive magnetic sensors are routinely used on existing Tokamaks, are well understood, and are extremely robust, however, they require integration of the signal to determine the magnetic field strength. The next generation of Tokamaks, will have pulse lengths of 1000 s or longer, require integrators with drift and noise characteristics compatible with the very long pulse lengths. This paper will discuss the architecture, algorithms, and programming of the Long Pulse Integrator (LPI). Of particular interest are the noise control and the built-in offset correction techniques used in this application

  20. Industrial Foundations as Long-Term Owners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Steen; Poulsen, Thomas; Børsting, Christa Winther

    Short-termism has become a serious concern for corporate governance, and this has inspired a search for institutional arrangements to promote long-term decision-making. In this paper, we call attention to long-term ownership by industrial foundations, which is common in Northern Europe but little...... known in the rest of the world. We use a unique Danish data set to document that industrial foundations are long-term owners that practice long-term governance. We show that foundation ownership is highly stable compared to other ownership structures. Foundation-owned companies replace managers less...... frequently. They have conservative capital structures with low financial leverage. They score higher on an index of long-termism in finance, investment, and employment. They survive longer. Overall, our paper supports the hypothesis that corporate time horizons are influenced by ownership structures...

  1. Three-dimensionally preserved integument reveals hydrodynamic adaptations in the extinct marine lizard Ectenosaurus (Reptilia, Mosasauridae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johan Lindgren

    Full Text Available The physical properties of water and the environment it presents to its inhabitants provide stringent constraints and selection pressures affecting aquatic adaptation and evolution. Mosasaurs (a group of secondarily aquatic reptiles that occupied a broad array of predatory niches in the Cretaceous marine ecosystems about 98-65 million years ago have traditionally been considered as anguilliform locomotors capable only of generating short bursts of speed during brief ambush pursuits. Here we report on an exceptionally preserved, long-snouted mosasaur (Ectenosaurus clidastoides from the Santonian (Upper Cretaceous part of the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation in western Kansas, USA, that contains phosphatized remains of the integument displaying both depth and structure. The small, ovoid neck and/or anterior trunk scales exhibit a longitudinal central keel, and are obliquely arrayed into an alternating pattern where neighboring scales overlap one another. Supportive sculpturing in the form of two parallel, longitudinal ridges on the inner scale surface and a complex system of multiple, superimposed layers of straight, cross-woven helical fiber bundles in the underlying dermis, may have served to minimize surface deformation and frictional drag during locomotion. Additional parallel fiber bundles oriented at acute angles to the long axis of the animal presumably provided stiffness in the lateral plane. These features suggest that the anterior torso of Ectenosaurus was held somewhat rigid during swimming, thereby limiting propulsive movements to the posterior body and tail.

  2. Long multiplet bootstrap

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cornagliotto, Martina; Lemos, Madalena; Schomerus, Volker [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany). Theory Group

    2017-02-15

    Applications of the bootstrap program to superconformal field theories promise unique new insights into their landscape and could even lead to the discovery of new models. Most existing results of the superconformal bootstrap were obtained form correlation functions of very special fields in short (BPS) representations of the superconformal algebra. Our main goal is to initiate a superconformal bootstrap for long multiplets, one that exploits all constraints from superprimaries and their descendants. To this end, we work out the Casimir equations for four-point correlators of long multiplets of the two-dimensional global N=2 superconformal algebra. After constructing the full set of conformal blocks we discuss two different applications. The first one concerns two-dimensional (2,0) theories. The numerical bootstrap analysis we perform serves a twofold purpose, as a feasibility study of our long multiplet bootstrap and also as an exploration of (2,0) theories. A second line of applications is directed towards four-dimensional N=3 SCFTs. In this context, our results imply a new bound c ≥ (13)/(24) for the central charge of such models. A theory that saturates this bound is not known yet.

  3. Long multiplet bootstrap

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cornagliotto, Martina; Lemos, Madalena; Schomerus, Volker

    2017-02-01

    Applications of the bootstrap program to superconformal field theories promise unique new insights into their landscape and could even lead to the discovery of new models. Most existing results of the superconformal bootstrap were obtained form correlation functions of very special fields in short (BPS) representations of the superconformal algebra. Our main goal is to initiate a superconformal bootstrap for long multiplets, one that exploits all constraints from superprimaries and their descendants. To this end, we work out the Casimir equations for four-point correlators of long multiplets of the two-dimensional global N=2 superconformal algebra. After constructing the full set of conformal blocks we discuss two different applications. The first one concerns two-dimensional (2,0) theories. The numerical bootstrap analysis we perform serves a twofold purpose, as a feasibility study of our long multiplet bootstrap and also as an exploration of (2,0) theories. A second line of applications is directed towards four-dimensional N=3 SCFTs. In this context, our results imply a new bound c ≥ (13)/(24) for the central charge of such models. A theory that saturates this bound is not known yet.

  4. Long multiplet bootstrap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornagliotto, Martina; Lemos, Madalena; Schomerus, Volker

    2017-10-01

    Applications of the bootstrap program to superconformal field theories promise unique new insights into their landscape and could even lead to the discovery of new models. Most existing results of the superconformal bootstrap were obtained form correlation functions of very special fields in short (BPS) representations of the superconformal algebra. Our main goal is to initiate a superconformal bootstrap for long multiplets, one that exploits all constraints from superprimaries and their descendants. To this end, we work out the Casimir equations for four-point correlators of long multiplets of the two-dimensional global N=2 superconformal algebra. After constructing the full set of conformal blocks we discuss two different applications. The first one concerns two-dimensional (2,0) theories. The numerical bootstrap analysis we perform serves a twofold purpose, as a feasibility study of our long multiplet bootstrap and also as an exploration of (2,0) theories. A second line of applications is directed towards four-dimensional N=3 SCFTs. In this context, our results imply a new bound c≥ 13/24 for the central charge of such models, which we argue cannot be saturated by an interacting SCFT.

  5. Development of short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus, L. 1758): osteological and morphological aspects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novelli, B; Otero-Ferrer, F; Socorro, J A; Caballero, M J; Segade-Botella, A; Molina Domínguez, L

    2017-06-01

    Information about early development after male release lags behind studies of juveniles and adult seahorses, and newborn seahorses, similar in shape to adults, are considered juveniles or fry. During early life, Hippocampus hippocampus present behavioural (shift in habitat, from planktonic to benthic) and morphological changes; for this reasons, the aims of this study are to define the stage of development of H. hippocampus after they are expelled from the male brood pouch and to establish direct or indirect development through an osteological analysis. The ossification process was studied in 120 individuals, from their release to 30 days after birth. To analyse the osteological development, Alcian Blue-Alizarin Red double staining technique for bone and cartilage was adapted to this species. At birth, H. hippocampus presents a mainly cartilaginous structure that ossifies in approximately 1 month. The bony armour composed of bony rings and plates develops in 10 days. The caudal fin, a structure absent in juveniles and adult seahorses, is present at birth and progressively disappears with age. The absence of adult osteological structure in newborns, like coronet, bony rings and plates, head spines and components allowing tail prehensile abilities, suggests a metamorphosis before the juvenile stage. During the indirect development, the metamorphic stage started inside brood pouch and followed outside and leads up to reconsider the status of H. hippocampus newborns.

  6. Galaxies with long tails

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweizer, F.

    1978-01-01

    Two types of galaxies with long tails are described. The first occurs in pairs, each individual one having a long tail and the second occurs on its own with two tails. NGC 7252 shows several characteristics which one would expect of a merger: a pair of tidal tails despite the splendid isolation, a single nucleus, tail motions in opposite directions relative to the nucleus, and chaotic motions of a strangely looped main body. (C.F.)

  7. Long-Range WindScanner System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vasiljevic, Nikola; Lea, Guillaume; Courtney, Michael

    2016-01-01

    The technical aspects of a multi-Doppler LiDAR instrument, the long-range WindScanner system, are presented accompanied by an overview of the results from several field campaigns. The long-range WindScanner system consists of three spatially-separated, scanning coherent Doppler LiDARs and a remote......-rangeWindScanner system measures the wind field by emitting and directing three laser beams to intersect, and then scanning the beam intersection over a region of interest. The long-range WindScanner system was developed to tackle the need for high-quality observations of wind fields on scales of modern wind turbine...

  8. Reforming Long-Term Care Funding in Alberta.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crump, R Trafford; Repin, Nadya; Sutherland, Jason M

    2015-01-01

    Like many provinces across Canada, Alberta is facing growing demand for long-term care. Issues with the mixed funding model used to pay long-term care providers had Alberta Health Services concerned that it was not efficiently meeting the demand for long-term care. Consequently, in 2010, Alberta Health Services introduced the patient/care-based funding (PCBF) model. PCBF is similar to activity-based funding in that it directly ties the complexity and care needs of long-term care residents to the payment received by long-term care providers. This review describes PCBF and discusses some of its strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, this review is intended to inform other provinces faced with similar long-term care challenges and contemplating their own funding reforms.

  9. On Long Memory Origins and Forecast Horizons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vera-Valdés, J. Eduardo

    Most long memory forecasting studies assume that the memory is generated by the fractional difference operator. We argue that the most cited theoretical arguments for the presence of long memory do not imply the fractional difference operator, and assess the performance of the autoregressive...... fractionally integrated moving average (ARFIMA) model when forecasting series with long memory generated by nonfractional processes. We find that high-order autoregressive (AR) models produce similar or superior forecast performance than ARFIMA models at short horizons. Nonetheless, as the forecast horizon...... increases, the ARFIMA models tend to dominate in forecast performance. Hence, ARFIMA models are well suited for forecasts of long memory processes regardless of the long memory generating mechanism, particularly for medium and long forecast horizons. Additionally, we analyse the forecasting performance...

  10. Determinants of long-duration commuting and long-duration commuters' perceptions and attitudes toward commuting time: Evidence from Kunming, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingwei He

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Understanding the commuting patterns of long-duration commuters and the possible changes in these patterns can help policymakers adopt the more reasonable land use and transportation policies. With Kunming in China as a case study, the determinants of long-duration commuting trips were identified based on logistic regression model. The results indicated that age, education level, number of workers, presence of retirees, and residential location have a significant impact on the occurrence of long-duration commuting trips. The ideal commuting times and tolerance thresholds of commuting time of long-duration commuters were also investigated. The statistical results revealed the distributions of ideal commuting times and tolerance thresholds of commuting time of both short- and long-duration commuters. The average tolerance threshold of commuting time and the average ideal commuting time of long-duration commuters were greater than those of short-duration commuters. For 97.2% of the long-duration commuters, their actual commuting time was longer than the ideal commuting time; this finding indicates that most long-duration commuters are dissatisfied with their commuting time. The actual commuting time of 40.1% long-duration commuters exceeded their tolerance thresholds; these commuters are eager to reduce their commuting time.

  11. Long distance travel ‘today’

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Linda

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of the Dane’s long distance travel. It is a part of the Drivers and Limits project about long distance travel. Long distance travel is in the project defined as infrequent travel with overnight stay. Danes 15-85 years-old travel in average 5.5 long distance travel...... per year og which a third is for international destinations, a third is for domestic second homes and a third are other domestic trips. However, 87% of the kilometres are for international destinations and only 4% are for domestic second homes. Travel activity is very uneven distributed with only half...... of the population having had a journey during the last three month. At the other hand 60% have travelled internationally during the last year and only 2% have never travelled abroad. The paper presents among other things how the travel activity is distributed on travel purpose and mode and how the mode choice...

  12. Long distance quantum teleportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Xiu-Xiu; Sun, Qi-Chao; Zhang, Qiang; Pan, Jian-Wei

    2018-01-01

    Quantum teleportation is a core protocol in quantum information science. Besides revealing the fascinating feature of quantum entanglement, quantum teleportation provides an ultimate way to distribute quantum state over extremely long distance, which is crucial for global quantum communication and future quantum networks. In this review, we focus on the long distance quantum teleportation experiments, especially those employing photonic qubits. From the viewpoint of real-world application, both the technical advantages and disadvantages of these experiments are discussed.

  13. Resonant long-range interactions between polar macromolecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preto, Jordane; Pettini, Marco

    2013-01-01

    Motivated by its prospective biological relevance, the issue of resonant long-range interactions between two molecules displaying oscillating dipole moments is reinvestigated within the framework of classical electrodynamics. In particular, our findings shed new light on Fröhlich's theory of selective long-range interactions between biomolecules. First, terms of a very long-range kind – which have never been reported so far – are found in the interaction potential, due to field retardation. Second, at variance with a long-standing belief, it is shown that sizable resonant long-range interactions may exist only if the interacting system is out of thermal equilibrium.

  14. A study on bacteria associated with the intestinal tract of farmed yellow seahorse, Hippocampus kuda (Bleeker, 1852): Characterization and extracellular enzymes

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Tanu; Deobagkar, D.D.; Khandeparker, R.; Sreepada, R.A.; Sanaye, S.V.; Pawar, H.B.

    the snout to suck their prey and swallow whole animals which later on pass through their primitive digestive system consisting of a simple alimentary canal. Seahorses need to feed continuously as they lack a masticatory organ and a true stomach... activities isolated from seahorses (Hippocampus guttulatus). The Journal of Antibiotics 63, 271−274 Barrington E.J.W. (1957) The alimentary canal and digestion. In: The physiology of fishes Vol. 1, (ed. By Brown M.E.), pp. 109−161. Academic press, New York...

  15. Feeding ecology of the lizard Tropidurus oreadicus Rodrigues 1987 (Tropiduridae) at Serra dos Carajás, Pará state, northern Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Rocha, CFD.; Siqueira, CC.

    2008-01-01

    Tropidurus species commonly prey on arthropods, but they may also feed on vertebrates and plant material. The lizard Tropidurus oreadicus (Tropiduridae) is common in open vegetation habitats and generally has sexual dimorphism. In this study we analyzed the diet of T. oreadicus at Serra dos Carajás, Pará, in the north of Brazil. Snout-vent length (SVL) and jaw width (JW) were taken for 34 lizards. There was a significant difference in SVL and in JW, with males being larger than females. All l...

  16. Relative phase asynchrony and long-range correlation of long-term solar magnetic activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Linhua

    2017-07-01

    Statistical signal processing is one of the most important tasks in a large amount of areas of scientific studies, such as astrophysics, geophysics, and space physics. Phase recurrence analysis and long-range persistence are the two dynamical structures of the underlying processes for the given natural phenomenon. Linear and nonlinear time series analysis approaches (cross-correlation analysis, cross-recurrence plot, wavelet coherent transform, and Hurst analysis) are combined to investigate the relative phase interconnection and long-range correlation between solar activity and geomagnetic activity for the time interval from 1932 January to 2017 January. The following prominent results are found: (1) geomagnetic activity lags behind sunspot numbers with a phase shift of 21 months, and they have a high level of asynchronous behavior; (2) their relative phase interconnections are in phase for the periodic scales during 8-16 years, but have a mixing behavior for the periodic belts below 8 years; (3) both sunspot numbers and geomagnetic activity can not be regarded as a stochastic phenomenon because their dynamical behaviors display a long-term correlation and a fractal nature. We believe that the presented conclusions could provide further information on understanding the dynamical coupling of solar dynamo process with geomagnetic activity variation, and the crucial role of solar and geomagnetic activity in the long-term climate change.

  17. Long-Run Neutrality and Superneutrality in an ARIMA Framework.

    OpenAIRE

    Fisher, Mark E; Seater, John J

    1993-01-01

    The authors formalize long-run neutrality and long-run superneutrality in the context of a bivariate ARIMA model; show how the restrictions implied by long-run neutrality and long-run superneutrality depend on the orders of integration of the variables; apply their analysis to previous work, showing how that work is related to long-run neutrality and long-run superneutrality; and provide some new evidence on long-run neutrality and long-run superneutrality. Copyright 1993 by American Economic...

  18. Scientific Understanding from Long Term Observations: Insights from the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gosz, J.

    2001-12-01

    The network dedicated to Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) in the United States has grown to 24 sites since it was formed in 1980. Long-term research and monitoring are performed on parameters thatare basic to all ecosystems and are required to understand patterns, processes, and relationship to change. Collectively, the sites in the LTER Network provide opportunities to contrast marine, coastal, and continental regions, the full range of climatic gradients existing in North America, and aquatic and terrestrial habitats in a range of ecosystem types. The combination of common core areas and long-term research and monitoring in many habitats have allowed unprecedented abilities to understand and compare complex temporal and spatial dynamics associated with issues like climate change, effects of pollution, biodiversity and landuse. For example, McMurdo Dry Valley in the Antarctic has demonstrated an increase in glacier mass since 1993 which coincides with a period of cooler than normal summers and more than average snowfall. In contrast, the Bonanza Creek and Toolik Lake sites in Alaska have recorded a warming period unprecedented in the past 200 years. Nitrogen deposition effects have been identified through long-term watershed studies on biogeochemical cycles, especially at Coweeta Hydrological Lab, Harvard Forest, and the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. In aquatic systems, such as the Northern Temperate Lakes site, long-term data revealed time lags in effects of invaders and disturbance on lake communities. Biological recovery from an effect such as lake acidification was shown to lag behind chemical recovery. The long-term changes documented over 2 decades have been instrumental in influencing management practices in many of the LTER areas. In Puerto Rico, the Luquillo LTER demonstrated that dams obstruct migrations of fish and freshwater shrimp and water abstraction at low flows can completely obliterate downstream migration of juveniles and damage

  19. Long recovery VLF perturbations associated with lightning discharges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salut, M. M.; Abdullah, M.; Graf, K. L.; Cohen, M. B.; Cotts, B. R. T.; Kumar, Sushil

    2012-08-01

    Long D-region ionospheric recovery perturbations are a recently discovered and poorly understood subcategory of early VLF events, distinguished by exceptionally long ionospheric recovery times of up to 20 min (compared to more typical ˜1 min recovery times). Characteristics and occurrence rates of long ionospheric recovery events on the NWC transmitter signal recorded at Malaysia are presented. 48 long recovery events were observed. The location of the causative lightning discharge for each event is determined from GLD360 and WWLLN data, and each discharge is categorized as being over land or sea. Results provide strong evidence that long recovery events are attributed predominately to lightning discharges occurring over the sea, despite the fact that lightning activity in the region is more prevalent over land. Of the 48 long recovery events, 42 were attributed to lightning activity over water. Analysis of the causative lightning of long recovery events in comparison to all early VLF events reveals that these long recovery events are detectable for lighting discharges at larger distances from the signal path, indicating a different scattering pattern for long recovery events.

  20. Sleep Characteristics of Self-Reported Long Sleepers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Sanjay R.; Blackwell, Terri; Ancoli-Israel, Sonia; Stone, Katie L.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Self-reported long habitual sleep durations (≥ 9 h per night) consistently predict increased mortality. We compared objective sleep parameters of self-reported long versus normal duration sleepers to determine whether long sleepers truly sleep more or have an underlying sleep abnormality. Methods: Older men participating in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) were recruited for a comprehensive sleep assessment, which included wrist actigraphy, overnight polysomnography (PSG), and a question about usual nocturnal sleep duration. Results: Of the 3134 participants (mean age 76.4 ± 5.6; 89.9% Caucasian), 1888 (60.2%) reported sleeping 7-8 h (normal sleepers) and 174 (5.6%) reported ≥ 9 h (long sleepers). On actigraphy, long sleepers spent on average 63.0 min more per night in bed (P sleep stage distribution did not differ. After adjusting for differences in demographics, comorbidities, and medication usage, self-reported long sleepers continued to spend more time in bed and sleep more, based on both actigraphy and PSG. Each additional 30 min in bed or asleep as measured by actigraphy increased the odds of being a self-reported long-sleeper 1.74-fold and 1.33-fold, respectively (P sleep disorders. Citation: Patel SR; Blackwell T; Ancoli-Israel S; Stone KL. Sleep characteristics of self-reported long sleepers. SLEEP 2012;35(5):641-648. PMID:22547890

  1. Long-range spin deformations around quasiparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godfrey, M.; Gunn, M.

    1989-01-01

    The quasi-particle formed by a hole in a Heisenberg antiferromagnet has an associated long-range spin distortion whose amplitude increases with the velocity of the hole. The authors show that the existence and properties of this distortion follow from simple classical arguments based on the long-wavelength equations of motion for the spin system. A similar long-range distortion is found in the quantum-mechanical problem of an electron exchange coupled to a Heisenberg antiferromagnet

  2. Long-term collections

    CERN Multimedia

    Collectes à long terme

    2007-01-01

    The Committee of the Long Term Collections (CLT) asks for your attention for the following message from a young Peruvian scientist, following the earthquake which devastated part of her country a month ago.

  3. Compensation for PKMζ in long-term potentiation and spatial long-term memory in mutant mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsokas, Panayiotis; Hsieh, Changchi; Yao, Yudong; Lesburguères, Edith; Wallace, Emma Jane Claire; Tcherepanov, Andrew; Jothianandan, Desingarao; Hartley, Benjamin Rush; Pan, Ling; Rivard, Bruno; Farese, Robert V; Sajan, Mini P; Bergold, Peter John; Hernández, Alejandro Iván; Cottrell, James E; Shouval, Harel Z; Fenton, André Antonio; Sacktor, Todd Charlton

    2016-05-17

    PKMζ is a persistently active PKC isoform proposed to maintain late-LTP and long-term memory. But late-LTP and memory are maintained without PKMζ in PKMζ-null mice. Two hypotheses can account for these findings. First, PKMζ is unimportant for LTP or memory. Second, PKMζ is essential for late-LTP and long-term memory in wild-type mice, and PKMζ-null mice recruit compensatory mechanisms. We find that whereas PKMζ persistently increases in LTP maintenance in wild-type mice, PKCι/λ, a gene-product closely related to PKMζ, persistently increases in LTP maintenance in PKMζ-null mice. Using a pharmacogenetic approach, we find PKMζ-antisense in hippocampus blocks late-LTP and spatial long-term memory in wild-type mice, but not in PKMζ-null mice without the target mRNA. Conversely, a PKCι/λ-antagonist disrupts late-LTP and spatial memory in PKMζ-null mice but not in wild-type mice. Thus, whereas PKMζ is essential for wild-type LTP and long-term memory, persistent PKCι/λ activation compensates for PKMζ loss in PKMζ-null mice.

  4. Genetic evidence and new morphometric data as essential tools to identify the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus (Pisces, Syngnathidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    González, R; Dinghi, P; Corio, C; Medina, A; Maggioni, M; Storero, L; Gosztonyi, A

    2014-02-01

    A genetic study to support morphometric analyses was used to improve the description and validate the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus (Syngnathidae) on the basis of a large number of specimens collected in the type locality (San Antonio Bay, Patagonia, Argentina). DNA sequence data (from the cytochrome b region of the mitochondrial genome) were used to differentiate this species from its relatives cited for the west Atlantic Ocean. Both phylogenetic and genetic distance analyses supported the hypothesis that H. patagonicus is a species clearly differentiated from others, in agreement with morphometric studies. Hippocampus patagonicus can be distinguished from Hippocampus erectus by the combination of the following morphometric characteristics: (1) in both sexes and all sizes of H. patagonicus, the snout length is always less than the postorbital length, whereas the snout length of H. erectus is not shorter than the postorbital length in the largest specimens; (2) in both sexes of H. patagonicus, the trunk length:total length (LTr :LT ) is lower than in H. erectus (in female H. patagonicus: 0·27-0·39, H. erectus: 0·36-0·40 and in male H. patagonicus: 0·24-0·34, H. erectus: 0·33-0·43) and (3) in both sexes, tail length:total length (LTa :LT ) in H. patagonicus is larger than in H. erectus (0·61-0·78 v. 0·54-0·64). © 2014 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  5. Annual coded wire tag program (Washington) missing production groups : annual report 2000; ANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dammers, Wolf; Mills, Robin D.

    2002-01-01

    The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funds the ''Annual Coded-wire Tag Program - Missing Production Groups for Columbia River Hatcheries'' project. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) all operate salmon and steelhead rearing programs in the Columbia River basin. The intent of the funding is to coded-wire tag at least one production group of each species at each Columbia Basin hatchery to provide a holistic assessment of survival and catch distribution over time and to meet various measures of the Northwest Power Planning Council's (NWPPC) Fish and Wildlife Program. The WDFW project has three main objectives: (1) coded-wire tag at least one production group of each species at each Columbia Basin hatchery to enable evaluation of survival and catch distribution over time, (2) recover coded-wire tags from the snouts of fish tagged under objective 1 and estimate survival, contribution, and stray rates for each group, and (3) report the findings under objective 2 for all broods of chinook, and coho released from WDFW Columbia Basin hatcheries. Objective 1 for FY-00 was met with few modifications to the original FY-00 proposal. Under Objective 2, snouts containing coded-wire tags that were recovered during FY-00 were decoded. Under Objective 3, this report summarizes available recovery information through 2000 and includes detailed information for brood years 1989 to 1994 for chinook and 1995 to 1997 for coho

  6. Una especie nueva del género Creagrutus Guenther del norte de Colombia Una especie nueva del género Creagrutus Guenther del norte de Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dahl George

    1960-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a new species of characid fish, Creagrutus nigrostigmatus, which differs from all earlier known species of the genus in possessing a well-marked black horizontal caudaI bar, as well as in the spacing of the teeth on the premaxillaries and several other characters, such as the laterally compressed head, the dorsal origin almost exactly midway between the snout and the, last caudal vertebra, on a vertical line slightly behind a vertical line through the pelvic insertions.  The new species has hitherto been found only in the creek Pechilin, in the department of Bolívar in northern Colombia. The author states that this creek seems to possess a rather peculiar fish thorough fauna and recomends a investigation. This paper describes a new species of characid fish, Creagrutus nigrostigmatus, which differs from all earlier known species of the genus in possessing a well-marked black horizontal caudaI bar, as well as in the spacing of the teeth on the premaxillaries and several other characters, such as the laterally compressed head, the dorsal origin almost exactly midway between the snout and the, last caudal vertebra, on a vertical line slightly behind a vertical line through the pelvic insertions.  The new species has hitherto been found only in the creek Pechilin, in the department of Bolívar in northern Colombia. The author states that this creek seems to possess a rather peculiar fish thorough fauna and recomends a investigation.

  7. Long-term biodosimetry Redux

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simon, Steven L.; Bouville, Andre

    2016-01-01

    This paper revisits and reiterates the needs, purposes and requirements of bio-dosimetric assays for long-term dose and health risk assessments. While the most crucial need for bio-dosimetric assays is to guide medical response for radiation accidents, the value of such techniques for improving our understanding of radiation health risk by supporting epidemiological (long-term health risk) studies is significant. As new cohorts of exposed persons are identified and new health risk studies are undertaken with the hopes that studying the exposed will result in a deeper understanding of radiation risk, the value of reliable dose reconstruction is underscored. The ultimate application of biodosimetry in long-term health risk studies would be to completely replace model-based dose reconstruction-a complex suite of methods for retrospectively estimating dose that is commonly fraught with large uncertainties due to the absence of important exposure-related information, as well as imperfect models. While biodosimetry could potentially supplant model-based doses, there are numerous limitations of presently available techniques that constrain their widespread application in health risk research, including limited ability to assess doses received far in the past, high cost, great inter-individual variability, invasiveness, higher than preferred detection limits and the inability to assess internal dose (for the most part). These limitations prevent the extensive application of biodosimetry to large cohorts and should be considered a challenge to researchers to develop new and more flexible techniques that meet the demands of long-term health risk research. Events in recent years, e.g. the Fukushima reactor accident and the increased threat of nuclear terrorism, underscore that any event that results in significant radiation exposures of a group of people will also produce a much larger population, exposed at lower levels, but that likewise needs (or demands) an exposure

  8. Investigation of very long jet chambers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burckhart, H J; Va' vra, J; Zankel, K; Dudziak, U; Schaile, D; Schaile, O; Igo-Kemenes, P; Lennert, P

    1986-04-01

    The electrostatic properties and the performances of very long jet chambers have been investigated. Using 100 MHz FADC wave form digitisers, the tracking accuracy, the charge division and the dE/dx performance of two chambers, one with 4.5 m long tungsten wires and one with 4 m long highly resistive ''NiCoTi'' wires have been studied. The geometry of the chambers was chosen to define some of the design parameters of the jet chamber for the OPAL detector for LEP.

  9. Long-time predictions in nonlinear dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szebehely, V.

    1980-01-01

    It is known that nonintegrable dynamical systems do not allow precise predictions concerning their behavior for arbitrary long times. The available series solutions are not uniformly convergent according to Poincare's theorem and numerical integrations lose their meaningfulness after the elapse of arbitrary long times. Two approaches are the use of existing global integrals and statistical methods. This paper presents a generalized method along the first approach. As examples long-time predictions in the classical gravitational satellite and planetary problems are treated.

  10. The Persistence of Long Work Hours

    OpenAIRE

    Robert Drago; David Black; Mark Wooden

    2005-01-01

    Previous research hypothesizes that long working hours are related to consumerism, the ideal worker norm, high levels of human capital, and a high cost-of-job-loss. The authors test these hypotheses using panel data on working hours for an Australian sample of full-time employed workers. Analyses include a static cross-sectional model and a persistence model for long hours over time. The results suggest that long hours (50 or more hours in a usual week) are often persistent, and provide stron...

  11. Life-long diseases need life-long treatment: long-term safety of ciclosporin in canine atopic dermatitis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuttall, Tim; Reece, Douglas; Roberts, Elizabeth

    2014-01-01

    Ciclosporin (Atopica; Novartis Animal Health) has been licensed for canine atopic dermatitis (AD) since 2002. Adverse events (AEs) have been reported in 55 per cent of 759 dogs in 15 clinical trials, but are rare in pharmacovigilance data (71.81 AEs/million capsules sold). Gastrointestinal reactions were most common, but were mild and rarely required intervention. Other AEs were rare (≤1 per cent in clinical trials; metabolism is not clinically significant for normal dogs. Concomitant treatment with most drugs is safe. Effects on cytochrome P450 and MDR1 P-glycoprotein activity may elevate plasma ciclosporin concentrations, but short-term changes are not clinically significant. Monitoring of complete blood counts, urinalysis or ciclosporin levels is not justified except with higher than recommended doses and/or long-term concurrent immunosuppressive drugs. Ciclosporin is not a contraindication for killed (including rabies) vaccines, but the licensed recommendation is that live vaccination is avoided during treatment. In conclusion, ciclosporin has a positive risk-benefit profile for the long-term management of canine AD. PMID:24682696

  12. Sexuality and Physical Intimacy in Long Term Care: Sexuality, long term care, capacity assessment

    OpenAIRE

    Lichtenberg, Peter A.

    2014-01-01

    Sexuality and sexual needs in older adults remains a neglected area of clinical intervention, particularly so in long term care settings. Because older adults in medical rehabilitation and long term care beds present with significant frailties, and often significant neurocognitive disorders it makes it difficult for occupational therapists and other staff to evaluate the capacity of an older adult resident to participate in sexual relationships. The current paper reviews the current literatur...

  13. Investigation of very long jet chambers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burckhart, H J; Va' vra, J; Zankel, K; Dudziak, U; Schaile, D; Schaile, O; Igo-Kemenes, P; Lennert, P

    1986-04-01

    The electrostatic properties and the performances of very long jet chambers have been investigated. Using 100 MHz FADC wave form digitisers, the tracking accuracy, the charge division and the dE/dx performance of two chambers, one with 4.5 m long tungsten wires and one with 4 m long highly resistive ''NiCoTi'' wires have been studied. The geometry of the chambers was chosen to define some of the design parameters of the jet chamber for the OPAL detector for LEP. (orig.).

  14. Evaluation on the Radiation Exposure of Radiation Workers in Proton Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Seung Hyun; Jang, Yo Jong; Kim, Tae Yoon; Jeong, Do Hyung; Choi, Gye Suk

    2012-01-01

    Unlike the existing linear accelerator with photon, proton therapy produces a number of second radiation due to the kinds of nuclide including neutron that is produced from the interaction with matter, and more attention must be paid on the exposure level of radiation workers for this reason. Therefore, thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) that is being widely used to measure radiation was utilized to analyze the exposure level of the radiation workers and propose a basic data about the radiation exposure level during the proton therapy. The subjects were radiation workers who worked at the proton therapy center of National Cancer Center and TLD Badge was used to compare the measured data of exposure level. In order to check the dispersion of exposure dose on body parts from the second radiation coming out surrounding the beam line of proton, TLD (width and length: 3 mm each) was attached to on the body spots (lateral canthi, neck, nipples, umbilicus, back, wrists) and retained them for 8 working hours, and the average data was obtained after measuring them for 80 hours. Moreover, in order to look into the dispersion of spatial exposure in the treatment room, TLD was attached on the snout, PPS (Patient Positioning System), Pendant, block closet, DIPS (Digital Image Positioning System), Console, doors and measured its exposure dose level during the working hours per day. As a result of measuring exposure level of TLD Badge of radiation workers, quarterly average was 0.174 mSv, yearly average was 0.543 mSv, and after measuring the exposure level of body spots, it showed that the highest exposed body spot was neck and the lowest exposed body spot was back (the middle point of a line connecting both scapula superior angles). Investigation into the spatial exposure according to the workers' movement revealed that the exposure level was highest near the snout and as the distance becomes distant, it went lower. Even a small amount of exposure will eventually increase

  15. Very long-term sequelae of craniopharyngioma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijnen, Mark; van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M; Janssen, Joseph A M J L; Catsman-Berrevoets, Coriene E; Michiels, Erna M C; van Veelen-Vincent, Marie-Lise C; Dallenga, Alof H G; van den Berge, J Herbert; van Rij, Carolien M; van der Lely, Aart-Jan; Neggers, Sebastian J C M M

    2017-06-01

    Studies investigating long-term health conditions in patients with craniopharyngioma are limited by short follow-up durations and generally do not compare long-term health effects according to initial craniopharyngioma treatment approach. In addition, studies comparing long-term health conditions between patients with childhood- and adult-onset craniopharyngioma report conflicting results. The objective of this study was to analyse a full spectrum of long-term health effects in patients with craniopharyngioma according to initial treatment approach and age group at craniopharyngioma presentation. Cross-sectional study based on retrospective data. We studied a single-centre cohort of 128 patients with craniopharyngioma treated from 1980 onwards (63 patients with childhood-onset disease). Median follow-up since craniopharyngioma presentation was 13 years (interquartile range: 5-23 years). Initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches included gross total resection ( n  = 25), subtotal resection without radiotherapy ( n  = 44), subtotal resection with radiotherapy ( n  = 25), cyst aspiration without radiotherapy ( n  = 8), and 90 Yttrium brachytherapy ( n  = 21). Pituitary hormone deficiencies (98%), visual disturbances (75%) and obesity (56%) were the most common long-term health conditions observed. Different initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches resulted in similar long-term health effects. Patients with childhood-onset craniopharyngioma experienced significantly more growth hormone deficiency, diabetes insipidus, panhypopituitarism, morbid obesity, epilepsy and psychiatric conditions compared with patients with adult-onset disease. Recurrence-/progression-free survival was significantly lower after initial craniopharyngioma treatment with cyst aspiration compared with other therapeutic approaches. Survival was similar between patients with childhood- and adult-onset craniopharyngioma. Long-term health conditions were comparable after

  16. Long-term prisoner in prison isolation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karolina Grudzińska

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Long-term prisoner belongs to a particular category of people who are imprisoned in prisons. On the one hand in this group are often heavily demoralized people who committed the most serious crimes, on the other hand it is a group of prisoners, who should be well thought out and programmed the impact of rehabilitation. The situation of man trapped for years poses in a complicated situation not only the prisoners, but also the entire prison staff. They have to take care of the fact that the prison isolation did not cause the state in which convicts form itself in learned helplessness and lack of skills for self-planning and decision-making. In addition, planning the rehabilitation impact of long-term prisoners should not be forgotten that these prisoners in the short or the long term will return to the libertarian environment therefore, should prevent any negative effects of long-term imprisonment. This article presents the main issues related to the execution of imprisonment against long-term prisoners. It is an attempt to systematize the knowledge of this category of people living in prison isolation.

  17. Odontesthes mirinensis, sp.n. um novo peixe-rei (Pisces, Atherinidae, Atherinopsinae para o extremo sul do Brasil Odontesthes mirinensis, sp.n. a new silverside (Pisces, Atherinidae, Atherinopsinae from southern Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlise de Azevedo Bemvenuti

    1995-01-01

    Full Text Available Odontesthes mirinensis, a new species of silverside, is described in coastal lagoons system of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from other Odontesthes species by short snout and having 24-29 gill rakers on the lower branch of the first branchial arch. Osteological features (bones of the skull, axial skeleton and girdles are included and discussed. Meristic and morphometric variables were analyzed separately, through multivariate procedures. Principal Component Analysis show that Odontesthes mirinensis, sp.n. does not exhibit significant geographic variation on body shape.

  18. The unexpected discovery of blind snakes (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) in Micronesia: two new species of Ramphotyphlops from the Caroline Islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wynn, Addison H.; Reynolds, Robert P.; Buden, Donald W.; Falanruw, Marjorie; Lynch, Brian

    2012-01-01

    Two new blind snakes in the genus Ramphotyphlops are described from Ulithi (R. hatmaliyeb sp. nov.) and Ant Atoll (R. adocetus sp. nov.) in the Caroline Islands, the first blind snake species known from Micronesia east of Palau (excluding Ramphotyphlops braminus). Both species are unusual in being known only from small, low-lying atolls. They can be distinguished from other Ramphotyphlops by the combination of 22 scale rows over the length of the body; a wedge-shaped snout, without a keratinized keel; and a broad, pyriform (R. adocetus) or ovate (R. hatmaliyeb) rostral scale.

  19. Note on the diet of Ameiva edracantha (Squamata, Teiidae in Cerros de Amotape National Park, Tumbes, Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan C. Jordán

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The diet of Ameiva edracantha Bocourt 1874, a terrestrial diurnal teiid lizard distributed in northwestern Peru and southwestern Ecuador is described for the first time. Stomach contents of fifteen individuals collected from quebrada La Angostura were analyzed. Lepidopteran larvae, coleopterans, orthopterans and spiders were the dominant preys in the lizard’s diet. Snout-vent length and head length, width and height were not correlated to prey length, width and volume. Other parameters such as profitability and prey target selection could be involved in prey selection by A. edracantha.

  20. Long Island Solar Farm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anders, R.

    2013-05-01

    The Long Island Solar Farm (LISF) is a remarkable success story, whereby very different interest groups found a way to capitalize on unusual circumstances to develop a mutually beneficial source of renewable energy. The uniqueness of the circumstances that were necessary to develop the Long Island Solar Farm make it very difficult to replicate. The project is, however, an unparalleled resource for solar energy research, which will greatly inform large-scale PV solar development in the East. Lastly, the LISF is a superb model for the process by which the project developed and the innovation and leadership shown by the different players.

  1. Modeling long-term dynamics of electricity markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsina, Fernando; Garces, Francisco; Haubrich, H.-J.

    2006-01-01

    In the last decade, many countries have restructured their electricity industries by introducing competition in their power generation sectors. Although some restructuring has been regarded as successful, the short experience accumulated with liberalized power markets does not allow making any founded assertion about their long-term behavior. Long-term prices and long-term supply reliability are now center of interest. This concerns firms considering investments in generation capacity and regulatory authorities interested in assuring the long-term supply adequacy and the stability of power markets. In order to gain significant insight into the long-term behavior of liberalized power markets, in this paper, a simulation model based on system dynamics is proposed and the underlying mathematical formulations extensively discussed. Unlike classical market models based on the assumption that market outcomes replicate the results of a centrally made optimization, the approach presented here focuses on replicating the system structure of power markets and the logic of relationships among system components in order to derive its dynamical response. The simulations suggest that there might be serious problems to adjust early enough the generation capacity necessary to maintain stable reserve margins, and consequently, stable long-term price levels. Because of feedback loops embedded in the structure of power markets and the existence of some time lags, the long-term market development might exhibit a quite volatile behavior. By varying some exogenous inputs, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to assess the influence of these factors on the long-run market dynamics

  2. Approaching stationarity: competition between long jumps and long waiting times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dybiec, Bartłomiej

    2010-01-01

    Within the continuous-time random walk (CTRW) scenarios, properties of the overall motion are determined by the waiting time and the jump length distributions. In the decoupled case, with power-law distributed waiting times and jump lengths, the CTRW scenario is asymptotically described by the double (space and time) fractional Fokker–Planck equation. Properties of a system described by such an equation are determined by the subdiffusion parameter and the jump length exponent. Nevertheless, the stationary state is determined solely by the jump length distribution and the potential. The waiting time distribution determines only the rate of convergence to the stationary state. Here, we inspect the competition between long waiting times and long jumps and how this competition is reflected in the way in which a stationary state is reached. In particular, we show that the distance between a time-dependent and a stationary solution changes in time as a double power law

  3. Long-term effects of radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, J.; Smith, T.

    1981-01-01

    It is pointed out that sources of long-term damage from radiation are two-fold. People who have been exposed to doses of radiation from initial early fallout but have recovered from the acute effects may still suffer long-term damage from their exposure. Those who have not been exposed to early fallout may be exposed to delayed fallout, the hazards from which are almost exclusively from ingesting strontium, caesium and carbon isotopes present in food; the damage caused is relatively unimportant compared with that caused by the brief doses from initial radiation and early fallout. A brief discussion is presented of the distribution of delayed long-lived isotope fallout, and an outline is sketched of late biological effects, such as malignant disease, cataracts, retarded development, infertility and genetic effects. (U.K.)

  4. Probing the role of long-range interactions in the dynamics of a long-range Kitaev chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutta, Anirban; Dutta, Amit

    2017-09-01

    We study the role of long-range interactions (more precisely, the long-range superconducting gap term) on the nonequilibrium dynamics considering a long-range p -wave superconducting chain in which the superconducting term decays with distance between two sites in a power-law fashion characterized by an exponent α . We show that the Kibble-Zurek scaling exponent, dictating the power-law decay of the defect density in the final state reached following a slow (in comparison to the time scale associated with the minimum gap in the spectrum of the Hamiltonian) quenching of the chemical potential μ across a quantum critical point, depends nontrivially on the exponent α as long as α 2 , we find that the exponent saturates to the corresponding well-known value of 1 /2 expected for the short-range model. Furthermore, studying the dynamical quantum phase transitions manifested in the nonanalyticities in the rate function of the return possibility I (t ) in subsequent temporal evolution following a sudden change in μ , we show the existence of a new region; in this region, we find three instants of cusp singularities in I (t ) associated with a single sector of Fisher zeros. Notably, the width of this region shrinks as α increases and vanishes in the limit α →2 , indicating that this special region is an artifact of the long-range nature of the Hamiltonian.

  5. [Osteoarthritis from long-distance running?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohmann, E; Wörtler, K; Imhoff, A

    2005-06-01

    Long distance running has become a fashionable recreational activity. This study investigated the effects of external impact loading on bone and cartilage introduced by performing a marathon race. Seven beginners were compared to six experienced recreational long distance runners and two professional athletes. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the hip and knee before and after a marathon run. Coronal T1 weighted and STIR sequences were used. The pre MRI served as a baseline investigation and monitored the training effect. All athletes demonstrated normal findings in the pre run scan. All but one athlete in the beginner group demonstrated joint effusions after the race. The experienced and professional runners failed to demonstrate pathology in the post run scans. Recreational and professional long distance runners tolerate high impact forces well. Beginners demonstrate significant changes on the post run scans. Whether those findings are a result of inadequate training (miles and duration) warrant further studies. We conclude that adequate endurance training results in adaptation mechanisms that allow the athlete to compensate for the stresses introduced by long distance running and do not predispose to the onset of osteoarthritis. Significant malalignment of the lower extremity may cause increased focal loading of joint and cartilage.

  6. Long-Acting Antiretrovirals: Where Are We now?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyaku, Amesika N; Kelly, Sean G; Taiwo, Babafemi O

    2017-04-01

    Current HIV treatment options require daily use of combination antiretroviral drugs. Many persons living with HIV experience treatment fatigue and suboptimal adherence as a result. Long-acting antiretroviral drugs are being developed to expand options for HIV treatment. Here, we review the agents in development, and evaluate data from recent clinical trials. In addition, we anticipate challenges to successful widespread use of long-acting antiretrovirals. Parenteral nanosuspensions of cabotegravir and rilpivirine, and dapivirine vaginal ring are the farthest in clinical development. Long-acting modalities in earlier development stages employ drug-loaded implants, microparticles, or targeted mutagenesis, among other innovations. Long-acting antiretroviral drugs promise new options for HIV prevention and treatment, and ways to address poor adherence and treatment fatigue. Further studies will identify the long-acting agents or combinations that are suitable for routine use. Creative solutions will be needed for anticipated implementation challenges.

  7. Variance-in-Mean Effects of the Long Forward-Rate Slope

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Charlotte

    2005-01-01

    This paper contains an empirical analysis of the dependence of the long forward-rate slope on the long-rate variance. The long forward-rate slope and the long rate are described by a bivariate GARCH-in-mean model. In accordance with theory, a negative long-rate variance-in-mean effect for the long...... forward-rate slope is documented. Thus, the greater the long-rate variance, the steeper the long forward-rate curve slopes downward (the long forward-rate slope is negative). The variance-in-mean effect is both statistically and economically significant....

  8. Long-Term Stewardship Baseline Report and Transition Guidance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kristofferson, Keith

    2001-11-01

    Long-term stewardship consists of those actions necessary to maintain and demonstrate continued protection of human health and the environment after facility cleanup is complete. As the Department of Energy’s (DOE) lead laboratory for environmental management programs, the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) administers DOE’s long-term stewardship science and technology efforts. The INEEL provides DOE with technical, and scientific expertise needed to oversee its long-term environmental management obligations complexwide. Long-term stewardship is administered and overseen by the Environmental Management Office of Science and Technology. The INEEL Long-Term Stewardship Program is currently developing the management structures and plans to complete INEEL-specific, long-term stewardship obligations. This guidance document (1) assists in ensuring that the program leads transition planning for the INEEL with respect to facility and site areas and (2) describes the classes and types of criteria and data required to initiate transition for areas and sites where the facility mission has ended and cleanup is complete. Additionally, this document summarizes current information on INEEL facilities, structures, and release sites likely to enter long-term stewardship at the completion of DOE’s cleanup mission. This document is not intended to function as a discrete checklist or local procedure to determine readiness to transition. It is an overarching document meant as guidance in implementing specific transition procedures. Several documents formed the foundation upon which this guidance was developed. Principal among these documents was the Long-Term Stewardship Draft Technical Baseline; A Report to Congress on Long-Term Stewardship, Volumes I and II; Infrastructure Long-Range Plan; Comprehensive Facility Land Use Plan; INEEL End-State Plan; and INEEL Institutional Plan.

  9. 77 FR 5864 - BluePoint Linux Software Corp., China Bottles Inc., Long-e International, Inc., and Nano...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-06

    ... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] BluePoint Linux Software Corp., China Bottles Inc., Long-e International, Inc., and Nano Superlattice Technology, Inc.; Order of Suspension of... that there is a lack of current and accurate information concerning the securities of Nano Superlattice...

  10. Long-Term Dynamics of Autonomous Fractional Differential Equations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tao; Xu, Wei; Xu, Yong; Han, Qun

    This paper aims to investigate long-term dynamic behaviors of autonomous fractional differential equations with effective numerical method. The long-term dynamic behaviors predict where systems are heading after long-term evolution. We make some modification and transplant cell mapping methods to autonomous fractional differential equations. The mapping time duration of cell mapping is enlarged to deal with the long memory effect. Three illustrative examples, i.e. fractional Lotka-Volterra equation, fractional van der Pol oscillator and fractional Duffing equation, are studied with our revised generalized cell mapping method. We obtain long-term dynamics, such as attractors, basins of attraction, and saddles. Compared with some existing stability and numerical results, the validity of our method is verified. Furthermore, we find that the fractional order has its effect on the long-term dynamics of autonomous fractional differential equations.

  11. A New Megaraptoran Dinosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Megaraptoridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    A skeleton discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Sierra Barrosa Formation (Turonian-Coniacian) of Neuquén Province, Argentina represents a new species of theropod dinosaur related to the long snouted, highly pneumatized Megaraptoridae. The holotype specimen of Murusraptor barrosaensis n.gen et n.sp. (MCF-PVPH-411) includes much of the skull, axial skeleton, pelvis and tibia. Murusraptor is unique in having several diagnostic features that include anterodorsal process of lacrimal longer than height of preorbital process, and a thick, shelf-like thickening on the lateral surface of surangular ventral to the groove between the anterior surangular foramen and the insert for the uppermost intramandibular process of the dentary. Other characteristic features of Murusraptor barrosaensis n.gen. et n. sp.include a large mandibular fenestra, distal ends of caudal neural spines laterally thickened into lateral knob-like processes, short ischia distally flattened and slightly expanded dorsoventrally. Murusraptor belongs to a Patagonian radiation of megaraptorids together with Aerosteon, Megaraptor and Orkoraptor. In spite being immature, it is a larger but more gracile animal than existing specimens of Megaraptor, and is comparable in size with Aerosteon and Orkoraptor. The controversial phylogeny of the Megaraptoridae as members of the Allosauroidea or a clade of Coelurosauria is considered analyzing two alternative data sets. PMID:27439002

  12. Jaw-Dropping: Functional Variation in the Digastric Muscle in Bats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Abigail A; Santana, Sharlene E

    2018-02-01

    Diet and feeding behavior in mammals is strongly linked to the morphology of their feeding apparatus. Cranio-muscular morphology determines how wide, forcefully, and quickly the jaw can be opened or closed, which limits the size and material properties of the foods that a mammal can eat. Most studies of feeding performance in mammals have focused on skull form and jaw muscles involved in generating bite force, but few explore how jaw abduction is related to feeding performance. In this study, we explored how the morphology of the digastric muscle, the primary jaw abducting muscle in mammals, and its jaw lever mechanics are related to diet in morphologically diverse noctilionoid bats. Results showed that insectivorous bats have strong digastric muscles associated with proportionally long jaws, which suggests these species can open their jaws quickly and powerfully during prey capture and chewing. Short snouted frugivorous bats exhibit traits that would enable them to open their jaws proportionally wider to accommodate the large fruits that they commonly feed on. Our results support the hypothesis that digastric muscle and jaw morphology are correlated with diet in bats, and that our results may also apply to other groups of mammals. Anat Rec, 301:279-290, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  13. Diet of southern toads (Bufo terrestris) in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands subject to coarse woody debris manipulations.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moseley, Kurtis R.; Steven B. Castleberry; James L. Hanula; Mark Ford.

    2005-04-01

    ABSTRACT In the southeastern United States, coarse woody debris (CWD) typically harbors high densities of invertebrates. However, its importance as a foraging substrate for southeastern amphibians is relatively unknown. We examined effects of CWD manipulations on diet composition of southern toads (Bufo terrestris) in upland loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Twelve 9.3-ha plots were assigned one of the following treatments: removal- all CWD _10 cm in diameter and _60 cm long removed; downed- five-fold increase in volume of down CWD; and unmanipulated control stands. We collected southern toads _4 cm snout-vent length (SVL) during 14 d sampling periods in June and October 2002, June 2003 and during a 28 d sampling period in April 2003. We collected 80, 36 and 35 southern toads in control, downed and removal treatments, respectively. We found no difference in relative abundance or frequency of invertebrate groups consumed among treatments (P.0.05). Average body weight (g), SVL (cm) and stomach content weight (g wet) of individuals also were similar among treatments (P . 0.05). The role of CWD as a foraging substrate for southern toads in loblolly pine stands of the southeastern Coastal Plain may be negligible, at least in the early stages of decay.

  14. A New Megaraptoran Dinosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Megaraptoridae from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodolfo A Coria

    Full Text Available A skeleton discovered in the Upper Cretaceous Sierra Barrosa Formation (Turonian-Coniacian of Neuquén Province, Argentina represents a new species of theropod dinosaur related to the long snouted, highly pneumatized Megaraptoridae. The holotype specimen of Murusraptor barrosaensis n.gen et n.sp. (MCF-PVPH-411 includes much of the skull, axial skeleton, pelvis and tibia. Murusraptor is unique in having several diagnostic features that include anterodorsal process of lacrimal longer than height of preorbital process, and a thick, shelf-like thickening on the lateral surface of surangular ventral to the groove between the anterior surangular foramen and the insert for the uppermost intramandibular process of the dentary. Other characteristic features of Murusraptor barrosaensis n.gen. et n. sp.include a large mandibular fenestra, distal ends of caudal neural spines laterally thickened into lateral knob-like processes, short ischia distally flattened and slightly expanded dorsoventrally. Murusraptor belongs to a Patagonian radiation of megaraptorids together with Aerosteon, Megaraptor and Orkoraptor. In spite being immature, it is a larger but more gracile animal than existing specimens of Megaraptor, and is comparable in size with Aerosteon and Orkoraptor. The controversial phylogeny of the Megaraptoridae as members of the Allosauroidea or a clade of Coelurosauria is considered analyzing two alternative data sets.

  15. Long-Term Memory Performance in Adult ADHD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skodzik, Timo; Holling, Heinz; Pedersen, Anya

    2017-02-01

    Memory problems are a frequently reported symptom in adult ADHD, and it is well-documented that adults with ADHD perform poorly on long-term memory tests. However, the cause of this effect is still controversial. The present meta-analysis examined underlying mechanisms that may lead to long-term memory impairments in adult ADHD. We performed separate meta-analyses of measures of memory acquisition and long-term memory using both verbal and visual memory tests. In addition, the influence of potential moderator variables was examined. Adults with ADHD performed significantly worse than controls on verbal but not on visual long-term memory and memory acquisition subtests. The long-term memory deficit was strongly statistically related to the memory acquisition deficit. In contrast, no retrieval problems were observable. Our results suggest that memory deficits in adult ADHD reflect a learning deficit induced at the stage of encoding. Implications for clinical and research settings are presented.

  16. Long term liquidity analysis of the firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaroslav Gonos

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Liquidity control is a very difficult and important function. If the business is not liquid in the long term, it is under threatof bankruptcy, and on the other hand surplus of the cash in hand threaten its future efficiency, because the cash in hand is a sourceof only limited profitability. Long term liquidity is related to the ability of the short term and long term liabilities payment. Articleis trying to point out to the monitoring and analyzing of the long term liquidity in the concrete business, in this case the printing industrycompany. Hereby at the end of the article mentioned monitored and analyzed liquidity is evaluated in the five years time period.

  17. Probing neutrino oscillations jointly in long and very long baseline experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Y.F.; Whisnant, K.; Young Binglin; Xiong Zhaohua; Yang Jinmin

    2002-01-01

    We examine the prospects of making a joint analysis of neutrino oscillations at two baselines with neutrino superbeams. Assuming narrow band superbeams and a 100 kiloton water Cherenkov calorimeter, we calculate the event rates and sensitivities to the matter effect, the signs of the neutrino mass differences, the CP phase, and the mixing angle θ 13 . Taking into account all possible experimental errors under general consideration, we explore the optimum cases of a narrow band beam to measure the matter effect and the CP violation effect at all baselines up to 3000 km. We then focus on two specific baselines, a long baseline of 300 km and a very long baseline of 2100 km, and analyze their joint capabilities. We find that the joint analysis can offer extra leverage to resolve some of the ambiguities that are associated with the measurement at a single baseline

  18. A Long-term Plan for Kalk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2017-01-01

    In this case, the author demonstrates together with the owner-manager of KALK A/S, Mr Rasmus Jorgensen, how to use the Family Business Map to frame a constructive discussion about long-term planning. The Family Business Map is a tool for long-term planning in family firms developed by Professor...

  19. Virtual Models of Long-Term Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phenice, Lillian A.; Griffore, Robert J.

    2012-01-01

    Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home-care organizations, use web sites to describe their services to potential consumers. This virtual ethnographic study developed models representing how potential consumers may understand this information using data from web sites of 69 long-term-care providers. The content of long-term-care web…

  20. Long-range correlation and market segmentation in bond market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhongxing; Yan, Yan; Chen, Xiaosong

    2017-09-01

    This paper investigates the long-range auto-correlations and cross-correlations in bond market. Based on Detrended Moving Average (DMA) method, empirical results present a clear evidence of long-range persistence that exists in one year scale. The degree of long-range correlation related to maturities has an upward tendency with a peak in short term. These findings confirm the expectations of fractal market hypothesis (FMH). Furthermore, we have developed a method based on a complex network to study the long-range cross-correlation structure and applied it to our data, and found a clear pattern of market segmentation in the long run. We also detected the nature of long-range correlation in the sub-period 2007-2012 and 2011-2016. The result from our research shows that long-range auto-correlations are decreasing in the recent years while long-range cross-correlations are strengthening.

  1. Long-Term Collections

    CERN Multimedia

    Comité des collectes à long terme

    2011-01-01

    It is the time of the year when our fireman colleagues go around the laboratory for their traditional calendars sale. A part of the money of the sales will be donated in favour of the long-term collections. We hope that you will welcome them warmly.

  2. Tenodesis of the long head of the biceps brachii for chronic bicipital tendinitis. Long-term results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becker, D A; Cofield, R H

    1989-03-01

    Fifty-four shoulders in fifty-one patients were followed for an average of thirteen years (range, two to twenty-three years) after surgical tenodesis of the long head of the biceps brachii for the treatment of chronic tendinitis. At an average of six months postoperatively, in all but three shoulders (forty-eight patients) some benefit was evident. However, after a longer follow-up, a satisfactory result was achieved in only twenty-eight shoulders (approximately 50 per cent). About one-third of the shoulders continued to be pain-free, and in eight shoulders (15 per cent) an additional operation was performed. Tenodesis of the long head of the biceps tendon, therefore, was not an effective treatment for tendinitis over the long term.

  3. Discriminating between fractional integration and spurious long memory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haldrup, Niels; Kruse, Robinson

    are permitted under the null hypothesis. The test is shown to have good size and to be robust against certain types of deviations from Gaussianity. The test is also shown to be consistent against a broad class of processes that are non-fractional but still exhibit (spurious) long memory. In particular, the test......Fractionally integrated processes have become a standard class of models to describe the long memory features of economic and financial time series data. However, it has been demonstrated in numerous studies that structural break processes and non-linear features can often be confused as being long...... memory. The question naturally arises whether it is possible empirically to determine the source of long memory as being genuinely long memory in the form of a fractionally integrated process or whether the long range dependence is of a different nature. In this paper we suggest a testing procedure...

  4. Long Memory in the Greek Stock Market

    OpenAIRE

    John T. Barkoulas; Christopher F. Baum; Nickolaos Travlos

    1996-01-01

    We test for stochastic long memory in the Greek stock market, an emerging capital market. The fractional differencing parameter is estimated using the spectral regression method. Contrary to findings for major capital markets, significant and robust evidence of positive long-term persistence is found in the Greek stock market. As compared to benchmark linear models, the estimated fractional models provide improved out-of-sample forecasting accuracy for the Greek stock returns series over long...

  5. Theories of central engine for long gamma-ray bursts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagataki, Shigehiro

    2018-02-01

    Long GRBs are the most powerful explosions in the universe since the Big Bang. At least, some fraction of long GRBs are born from the death of massive stars. Likewise, only some fraction of massive stars that satisfy additional special conditions explode as long GRBs associated with supernovae/hypernovae. In this paper, we discuss the explosion mechanism of long GRBs associated with hypernovae: ‘the central engine of long GRBs’. The central engine of long GRBs is very different from that of core-collapse supernovae, although the mechanism of the engine is still not firmly established. In this paper, we review theoretical studies of the central engine of long GRBs. First, we discuss possible progenitor stars. Then several promising mechanisms of the central engine—such as black hole and magnetar formation—will be reviewed. We will also mention some more exotic models. Finally, we describe prospects for future studies of the central engine of long GRBs.

  6. Long-chain inulin for stimulating an immune response

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Vos, Paulus; Vogt, Leonie

    2017-01-01

    The invention relates to a long chain inulin for influencing the immune response against a pathogen. The invention also relates to a combination comprising a long chain inulin and a vaccine for influencing the immune response against a pathogen, wherein the long chain inulin is orally administrated.

  7. California's restless giant: the Long Valley Caldera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, David P.; Bailey, Roy A.; Hendley, James W.; Stauffer, Peter H.; Marcaida, Mae

    2014-01-01

    Scientists have monitored geologic unrest in the Long Valley, California, area since 1980. In that year, following a swarm of strong earthquakes, they discovered that the central part of the Long Valley Caldera had begun actively rising. Unrest in the area persists today. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) continues to provide the public and civil authorities with current information on the volcanic hazard at Long Valley and is prepared to give timely warnings of any impending eruption.

  8. Long Baseline Observatory (LBO)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Long Baseline Observatory (LBO) comprises ten radio telescopes spanning 5,351 miles. It's the world's largest, sharpest, dedicated telescope array. With an eye...

  9. Long-Term Prognosis of Plantar Fasciitis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Liselotte; Krogh, Thøger Persson; Ellingsen, Torkell

    2018-01-01

    , exercise-induced symptoms, bilateral heel pain, fascia thickness, and presence of a heel spur) could predict long-term outcomes, (3) to assess the long-term ultrasound (US) development in the fascia, and (4) to assess whether US-guided corticosteroid injections induce atrophy of the heel fat pad. Study....... The risk was significantly greater for women (P heel...... regardless of symptoms and had no impact on prognosis, and neither did the presence of a heel spur. Only 24% of asymptomatic patients had a normal fascia on US at long-term follow-up. A US-guided corticosteroid injection did not cause atrophy of the heel fat pad. Our observational study did not allow us...

  10. Long coherence times for edge spins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Jack; Yao, Norman Y.; Laumann, Christopher R.; Fendley, Paul

    2017-06-01

    We show that in certain one-dimensional spin chains with open boundary conditions, the edge spins retain memory of their initial state for very long times, even at infinite temperature. The long coherence times do not require disorder, only an ordered phase. In the integrable Ising and XYZ chains, the presence of a strong zero mode means the coherence time is infinite. When Ising is perturbed by interactions breaking the integrability, the coherence time remains exponentially long in the perturbing couplings. We show that this is a consequence of an edge ‘almost’ strong zero mode that almost commutes with the Hamiltonian. We compute this operator explicitly, allowing us to estimate accurately the plateau value of edge spin autocorrelator.

  11. Long-term dependence in exchange rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Karytinos

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The extent to which exchange rates of four major currencies against the Greek Drachma exhibit long-term dependence is investigated using a R/S analysis testing framework. We show that both classic R/S analysis and the modified R/S statistic if enhanced by bootstrapping techniques can be proven very reliable tools to this end. Our findings support persistence and long-term dependence with non-periodic cycles for the Deutsche Mark and the French Franc series. In addition a noisy chaos explanation is favored over fractional Brownian motion. On the contrary, the US Dollar and British Pound were found to exhibit a much more random behavior and lack of any long-term structure.

  12. The Womanly World of Long Term Care: The Plight of the Long Term Care Worker. Gray Paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Older Women's League, Washington, DC.

    Long-term care workers (those who are paid to provide custodial care for long-term patients in nursing homes or at home) must care for a growing number of increasingly disabled or dependent persons. They are working for agencies and institutions under growing pressure to increase productivity. They face new training and competency requirements,…

  13. Dredged Material Management in Long Island Sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Information on Western and Central Long Island Sound Dredged Material Disposal Sites including the Dredged Material Management Plan and Regional Dredging Team. Information regarding the Eastern Long Island Sound Selected Site including public meetings.

  14. Long term wet spent nuclear fuel storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-04-01

    The meeting showed that there is continuing confidence in the use of wet storage for spent nuclear fuel and that long-term wet storage of fuel clad in zirconium alloys can be readily achieved. The importance of maintaining good water chemistry has been identified. The long-term wet storage behaviour of sensitized stainless steel clad fuel involves, as yet, some uncertainties. However, great reliance will be placed on long-term wet storage of spent fuel into the future. The following topics were treated to some extent: Oxidation of the external surface of fuel clad, rod consolidation, radiation protection, optimum methods of treating spent fuel storage water, physical radiation effects, and the behaviour of spent fuel assemblies of long-term wet storage conditions. A number of papers on national experience are included

  15. Audit of long-term and short-term liabilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Korinko M.D.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The article determines the importance of long-term and short-term liabilities for the management of financial and material resources of an enterprise. It reviews the aim, objects and information generators for realization of audit of short-term and long-term obligations. The organizing and methodical providing of audit of long-term and short-term liabilities of an enterprise are generalized. The authors distinguish the stages of realization of audit of long-term and short-term liabilities, the aim of audit on each of the presented stages, and recommend methodical techniques. It is fixed that it is necessary to conduct the estimation of the systems of internal control and record-keeping of an enterprise by implementation of public accountant procedures for determination of volume and maintenance of selection realization. After estimating the indicated systems, a public accountant determines the methodology for realization of public accountant verification of long-term and short-term liabilities. The analytical procedures that public accountants are expedient to use for realization of audit of short-term and long-term obligations are determined. The authors suggest the classification of the educed defects on the results of the conducted public accountant verification of short-term and long-term obligations.

  16. A long shortage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jean Marie Wildeboer Schut; Stella Hoff

    2016-01-01

    Original title: Een lang tekort The economic recession of recent years has led to a sharp increase in poverty in the Netherlands. There are also indications that a growing number of people spend at least three years living below the poverty line. This group of long-term poor are the focus of

  17. The Texas horned lizard as model for robust capillary structures for passive directional transport of cooling lubricants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comanns, Philipp; Winands, Kai; Pothen, Mario; Bott, Raya A.; Wagner, Hermann; Baumgartner, Werner

    2016-04-01

    Moisture-harvesting lizards, such as the Texas horned lizard Phrynosoma cornutum, have remarkable adaptations for inhabiting arid regions. Special skin structures, in particular capillary channels in between imbricate overlapping scales, enable the lizard to collect water by capillarity and to transport it to the snout for ingestion. This fluid transport is passive and directional towards the lizard's snout. The directionality is based on geometric principles, namely on a periodic pattern of interconnected half-open capillary channels that narrow and widen. Following a biomimetic approach, these principles were transferred to technical prototype design and manufacturing. Capillary structures, 50 μm to 300 μm wide and approx. 70 μm deep, were realized by use of a pulsed picosecond laser in hot working tool steel, hardened to 52 HRC. In order to achieve highest functionality, strategies were developed to minimize potential structural inaccuracies, which can occur at the bottom of the capillary structures caused by the laser process. Such inaccuracies are in the range of 10 μm to 15 μm and form sub-capillary structures with greater capillary forces than the main channels. Hence, an Acceleration Compensation Algorithm was developed for the laser process to minimize or even avoid these inaccuracies. The capillary design was also identified to have substantial influence; by a hexagonal capillary network of non-parallel capillaries potential influences of sub-capillaries on the functionality were reduced to realize a robust passive directional capillary transport. Such smart surface structures can lead to improvements of technical systems by decreasing energy consumption and increasing the resource efficiency.

  18. Annual coded wire tag program (Washington) missing production groups: annual report for 1997; ANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Byrne, J.; Fuss, H.; Ashbrook, C.

    1998-01-01

    The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funds the ''Annual Coded Wire Tag Program - Missing Production Groups for Columbia River Hatcheries'' project. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) all operate salmon and steelhead rearing programs in the Columbia River basin. The intent of the funding is to coded-wire tag at least one production group of each species at each Columbia Basin hatchery to provide a holistic assessment of survival and catch distribution over time and to meet various measures of the Northwest Power Planning Councils (NWPPC) Fish and Wildlife Program. The WDFW project has three main objectives: (1) coded-wire tag at least one production group of each species at each Columbia Basin hatchery to enable evaluation of survival and catch distribution over time, (2) recover coded-wire tags from the snouts of fish tagged under objective 1 and estimate survival, contribution, and stray rates for each group, and (3) report the findings under objective 2 for all broods of chinook, and coho released from WDFW Columbia Basin hatcheries. Objective 1 for FY-97 was met with few modifications to the original FY-97 proposal. Under Objective 2, snouts containing coded-wire tags that were recovered during FY-97 were decoded. Under Objective 3, survival, contribution and stray rate estimates for the 1991-96 broods of chinook and 1993-96 broods of coho have not been made because recovery data for 1996-97 fisheries and escapement are preliminary. This report summarizes recovery information through 1995

  19. Cyprinid fishes of the genus Neolissochilus in Peninsular Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khaironizam, M Z; Akaria-Ismail, M; Armbruster, Jonathan W

    2015-05-22

    Meristic, morphometric and distributional patterns of cyprinid fishes of the genus Neolissochilus found in Peninsular Malaysia are presented. Based on the current concept of Neolissochilus, only two species are present: N. soroides and N. hendersoni. Neolissochilus hendersoni differs from N. soroides by having lower scale and gill raker counts. Neolissochilus soroides has three mouth types (normal with a rounded snout, snout with a truncate edge, and lobe with a comparatively thick lower lip). A PCA of log-transformed measurements did not reveal significant differences between N. hendersoni and N. soroides, or between any of the morphotypes of N. soroides; however, a CVA of log-transformed measurements successfully classified 87.1% of all specimens. Removing body size by running a CVA on all of the principal components except PC1 (which was correlated with length) only slightly decreased the successful classification rate to 86.1%. Differences in morphometrics were as great between the three morphotypes of N. soroides as between any of the morphotypes and N. hendersoni suggesting that the morphotypes should be examined in greater detail with genetic tools. The PCA of morphometrics revealed separate clouds for N. hendersoni and N. soroides, but no differences between the N. soroides morphotypes. This study revealed that N. hendersoni is recorded for the first time in the mainland area of Peninsular Malaysia. Other nominal species of Neolissochilus reported to occur in the river systems of Peninsular Malaysia are discussed. Lissochilus tweediei Herre in Herre & Myers 1937 and Tor soro Bishop 1973 are synonyms of Neolissochilus soroides.

  20. Near-Infrared Quantum Cutting Long Persistent Luminescence

    OpenAIRE

    Zou, Zehua; Feng, Lin; Cao, Cheng; Zhang, Jiachi; Wang, Yuhua

    2016-01-01

    By combining the unique features of the quantum cutting luminescence and long persistent luminescence, we design a new concept called ?near-infrared quantum cutting long persistent luminescence (NQPL)?, which makes it possible for us to obtain highly efficient (>100%) near-infrared long persistent luminescence in theory. Guided by the NQPL concept, we fabricate the first NQPL phosphor Ca2Ga2GeO7:Pr3+,Yb3+. It reveals that both the two-step energy transfer of model (I) and the one-step energy ...

  1. Long-term skeletal findings in Menkes disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amador, Eva; Domene, Ruth; Fuentes, Cristian; Carreno, Juan-Carlos; Enriquez, Goya

    2010-01-01

    Skeletal findings in infants with Menkes disease, the most characteristic of which are metaphyseal spurs, long-bone fractures and wormian bones, have been widely reported. However, the changes in skeletal features over time are not well known. The long-term findings differ completely from those initially observed and consist of undertubulation and metaphyseal flaring, similar to the findings seen in some types of bone dysplasia. The initial and long-term radiological features in an 8-year-old boy with Menkes disease are illustrated. (orig.)

  2. EFFECTS OF LONG-TIME COMMUTING AND LONG-HOUR WORKING ON LIFESTYLE AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG SCHOOL TEACHERS IN TOKYO, JAPAN.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nomoto, Marino; Hara, Akiko; Kikuchi, Kimiyo

    2015-06-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of long-time commuting and long-hour working on lifestyle including sleeping, physical exercise, breakfast, smoking, alcohol intake and mental health. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 146 school teachers in Tokyo. The binary associations of commuting time and working hours with lifestyle, mental stress measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and stress coping measured by the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scores were examined. The Chi-square test was used for statistical analyses. Our results indicated that the mean commuting time and working hours per week of the respondents were 42.1 (SD 22.5) minutes and 50.4 (SD 8.6) hours, respectively. Longer commuting time was significantly associated with shorter working hours (p = 0.023), less physical exercise (p hours (p = 0.001). Longer working hours were significantly associated with more frequent working on holidays (p = 0.001), higher SOC scores (p = 0.001) and more smoking (p = 0.028). The negative association between GHQ and SOC scores was also significant (p long-time commuters were more likely to sleep less, exercise less and work less long. Long-hour workers were more likely to commute shorter, work on holidays more frequently, smoke more and their stress coping potentials were higher. Some kinds of strategies are required to improve the healthy lifestyle for long-time com- muters or long-hour workers. Key words: stress; stress coping; general health questionnaire; sense of coherence

  3. Retrieval of long and short lists from long term memory: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with human subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zysset, S; Müller, K; Lehmann, C; Thöne-Otto, A I; von Cramon, D Y

    2001-11-13

    Previous studies have shown that reaction time in an item-recognition task with both short and long lists is a quadratic function of list length. This suggests that either different memory retrieval processes are implied for short and long lists or an adaptive process is involved. An event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study with nine subjects and list lengths varying between 3 and 18 words was conducted to identify the underlying neuronal structures of retrieval from long and short lists. For the retrieval and processing of word-lists a single fronto-parietal network, including premotor, left prefrontal, left precuneal and left parietal regions, was activated. With increasing list length, no additional regions became involved in retrieving information from long-term memory, suggesting that not necessarily different, but highly adaptive retrieval processes are involved.

  4. Reducing the likelihood of long tennis matches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnett, Tristan; Alan, Brown; Pollard, Graham

    2006-01-01

    Long matches can cause problems for tournaments. For example, the starting times of subsequent matches can be substantially delayed causing inconvenience to players, spectators, officials and television scheduling. They can even be seen as unfair in the tournament setting when the winner of a very long match, who may have negative aftereffects from such a match, plays the winner of an average or shorter length match in the next round. Long matches can also lead to injuries to the participating players. One factor that can lead to long matches is the use of the advantage set as the fifth set, as in the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. Another factor is long rallies and a greater than average number of points per game. This tends to occur more frequently on the slower surfaces such as at the French Open. The mathematical method of generating functions is used to show that the likelihood of long matches can be substantially reduced by using the tiebreak game in the fifth set, or more effectively by using a new type of game, the 50-40 game, throughout the match. Key PointsThe cumulant generating function has nice properties for calculating the parameters of distributions in a tennis matchA final tiebreaker set reduces the length of matches as currently being used in the US OpenA new 50-40 game reduces the length of matches whilst maintaining comparable probabilities for the better player to win the match.

  5. Long-acting reversible hormonal contraception | Dahan-Farkas ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Long-acting reversible hormonal contraceptives are effective methods of birth control that provide contraception for an extended period without requiring user action. Long-acting reversible hormonal contraceptives include progesterone only injectables, subdermal implants and the levonorgestrel intrauterine system.

  6. Dynamics of long ring Raman fiber laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukhanov, Sergey V.; Melnikov, Leonid A.; Mazhirina, Yulia A.

    2016-04-01

    The numerical model for dynamics of long fiber ring Raman laser is proposed. The model is based on the transport equations and Courant-Isaacson-Rees numerical method. Different regimes of a long ring fiber Raman laser are investigated.

  7. Behavioral Processes in Long-Lag Intervention Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Dale T; Dannals, Jennifer E; Zlatev, Julian J

    2017-05-01

    We argue that psychologists who conduct experiments with long lags between the manipulation and the outcome measure should pay more attention to behavioral processes that intervene between the manipulation and the outcome measure. Neglect of such processes, we contend, stems from psychology's long tradition of short-lag lab experiments where there is little scope for intervening behavioral processes. Studying process in the lab invariably involves studying psychological processes, but in long-lag field experiments it is important to study causally relevant behavioral processes as well as psychological ones. To illustrate the roles that behavioral processes can play in long-lag experiments we examine field experiments motivated by three policy-relevant goals: prejudice reduction, health promotion, and educational achievement. In each of the experiments discussed we identify various behavioral pathways through which the manipulated psychological state could have produced the observed outcome. We argue that if psychologists conducting long-lag interventions posited a theory of change that linked manipulated psychological states to outcomes via behavioral pathways, the result would be richer theory and more practically useful research. Movement in this direction would also permit more opportunities for productive collaborations between psychologists and other social scientists interested in similar social problems.

  8. Study of scenarios of long term management of low-activity long-life wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-01-01

    This document reports the study of scenarios for the management of different low-activity long-life radioactive wastes with reference to different French legal texts. After a presentation of the legal and technical context, the report presents different existing and projected storages (description and safety principles for the Cires and Aube centres and for the Cigeo project of deep geological storage centre). It addresses the various aspects of radiferous and graphite waste management on a long term: inventory, parcel, waste peculiarities, management scenarios, assessment of storage in SCR. It also addresses the case of other wastes such as bituminous coated wastes, those presenting a reinforced natural radioactivity or residues of uranium conversion processing. The last part presents the main orientations for the project

  9. Long-term risks of kidney living donation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Maggiore, Umberto; Budde, Klemens; Heemann, Uwe

    2017-01-01

    Two recent matched cohort studies from the USA and Norway published in 2014 have raised some concerns related to the long-term safety of kidney living donation. Further studies on the long-term risks of living donation have since been published. In this position paper, Developing Education Science...... and Care for Renal Transplantation in European States (DESCARTES) board members critically review the literature in an effort to summarize the current knowledge concerning long-term risks of kidney living donation to help physicians for decision-making purposes and for providing information...... to the prospective live donors. Long-term risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) can be partially foreseen by trying to identify donors at risk of developing ‘de novo’ kidney diseases during life post-donation and by predicting lifetime ESRD risk. However, lifetime risk may be difficult to assess in young donors...

  10. Long-Term Collections

    CERN Multimedia

    Staff Association

    2016-01-01

    45 years helping in developing countries! CERN personnel have been helping the least fortunate people on the planet since 1971. How? With the Long-Term Collections! Dear Colleagues, The Staff Association’s Long-Term Collections (LTC) Committee is delighted to share this important milestone in the life of our Laboratory with you. Indeed, whilst the name of CERN is known worldwide for scientific discoveries, it also shines in the many humanitarian projects which have been supported by the LTC since 1971. Several schools and clinics, far and wide, carry its logo... Over the past 45 years, 74 projects have been supported (9 of which are still ongoing). This all came from a group of colleagues who wanted to share a little of what life offered them here at CERN, in this haven of mutual understanding, peace and security, with those who were less fortunate elsewhere. Thus, the LTC were born... Since then, we have worked as a team to maintain the dream of these visionaries, with the help of regular donat...

  11. Long-Term Collection

    CERN Multimedia

    Staff Association

    2016-01-01

    Dear Colleagues, As previously announced in Echo (No. 254), your delegates took action to draw attention to the projects of the Long-Term Collections (LTC), the humanitarian body of the CERN Staff Association. On Tuesday, 11 October, at noon, small Z-Cards were widely distributed at the entrances of CERN restaurants and we thank you all for your interest. We hope to have achieved an important part of our goal, which was to inform you, convince you and find new supporters among you. We will find out in the next few days! An exhibition of the LTC was also set up in the Main Building for the entire week. The Staff Association wants to celebrate the occasion of the Long-Term Collection’s 45th anniversary at CERN because, ever since 1971, CERN personnel have showed great support in helping the least fortunate people on the planet in a variety of ways according to their needs. On a regular basis, joint fundraising appeals are made with the Directorate to help the victims of natural disasters around th...

  12. When long memory meets the Kalman filter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grassi, Stefano; Santucci de Magistris, Paolo

    2014-01-01

    The finite sample properties of the state space methods applied to long memory time series are analyzed through Monte Carlo simulations. The state space setup allows to introduce a novel modeling approach in the long memory framework, which directly tackles measurement errors and random level...... shifts. Missing values and several alternative sources of misspecification are also considered. It emerges that the state space methodology provides a valuable alternative for the estimation of the long memory models, under different data generating processes, which are common in financial and economic...

  13. Long Memory Models to Generate Synthetic Hydrological Series

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guilherme Armando de Almeida Pereira

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In Brazil, much of the energy production comes from hydroelectric plants whose planning is not trivial due to the strong dependence on rainfall regimes. This planning is accomplished through optimization models that use inputs such as synthetic hydrologic series generated from the statistical model PAR(p (periodic autoregressive. Recently, Brazil began the search for alternative models able to capture the effects that the traditional model PAR(p does not incorporate, such as long memory effects. Long memory in a time series can be defined as a significant dependence between lags separated by a long period of time. Thus, this research develops a study of the effects of long dependence in the series of streamflow natural energy in the South subsystem, in order to estimate a long memory model capable of generating synthetic hydrologic series.

  14. Degeneracy and long-range correlation: A simulation study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marmelat Vivien

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available We present in this paper a simulation study that aimed at evidencing a causal relationship between degeneracy and long-range correlations. Long-range correlations represent a very specific form of fluctuations that have been evidenced in the outcomes time series produced by a number of natural systems. Long-range correlations are supposed to sign the complexity, adaptability and flexibility of the system. Degeneracy is defined as the ability of elements that are structurally different to perform the same function, and is presented as a key feature for explaining the robustness of complex systems. We propose a model able to generate long-range correlated series, and including a parameter that account for degeneracy. Results show that a decrease in degeneracy tends to reduce the strength of long-range correlation in the series produced by the model.

  15. Long term radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lavie, J.M.

    1984-01-01

    In France, waste management, a sensitive issue in term of public opinion, is developing quickly, and due to twenty years of experience, is now reaching maturity. With the launching of the French nuclear programme, the use of radioactive sources in radiotherapy and industry, waste management has become an industrial activity. Waste management is an integrated system dealing with the wastes from their production to the long term disposal, including their identification, sortage, treatment, packaging, collection and transport. This system aims at guaranteing the protection of present and future populations with an available technology. In regard to their long term management, and the design of disposals, radioactive wastes are divided in three categories. This classification takes into account the different radioisotopes contained, their half life and their total activity. Presently short-lived wastes are stored in the shallowland disposal of the ''Centre de la Manche''. Set up within the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the National Agency for waste management (ANDRA) is responsible within the framework of legislative and regulatory provisions for long term waste management in France [fr

  16. Long-Period Variability in o Ceti

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templeton, Matthew R.; Karovska, Margarita

    2009-02-01

    We carried out a new and sensitive search for long-period variability in the prototype of the Mira class of long-period pulsating variables, o Ceti (Mira A), the closest and brightest Mira variable. We conducted this search using an unbroken light curve from 1902 to the present, assembled from the visual data archives of five major variable star observing organizations from around the world. We applied several time-series analysis techniques to search for two specific kinds of variability: long secondary periods (LSPs) longer than the dominant pulsation period of ~333 days, and long-term period variation in the dominant pulsation period itself. The data quality is sufficient to detect coherent periodic variations with photometric amplitudes of 0.05 mag or less. We do not find evidence for coherent LSPs in o Ceti to a limit of 0.1 mag, where the amplitude limit is set by intrinsic, stochastic, low-frequency variability of approximately 0.1 mag. We marginally detect a slight modulation of the pulsation period similar in timescale to that observed in the Miras with meandering periods, but with a much lower period amplitude of ±2 days. However, we do find clear evidence of a low-frequency power-law component in the Fourier spectrum of o Ceti's long-term light curve. The amplitude of this stochastic variability is approximately 0.1 mag at a period of 1000 days, and it exhibits a turnover for periods longer than this. This spectrum is similar to the red noise spectra observed in red supergiants.

  17. Diprosopia in a cat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camón, J; Ruberte, J; Ordóñez, G

    1990-05-01

    A diprosopic cat is described. In the head, two snouts, three eyes and two pinnae were present. The mandible was single and immobile because labial skin of both upper lips and single lower lip was partly fused. Superimposition of upper and lower dental arches was impossible and the mouths remained permanently open. Two incomplete oral cavities were present and the two tongues were joined at their base. The brain was duplicated in part. In the cranium only occipital and temporal bones were normal, the basisphenoid was bifurcated and the remaining bones were duplicated. Embryological mechanisms are discussed.

  18. Annual coded wire tag program, Washington: Missing production groups. Annual report for 1998

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Byrne, J.; Fuss, H.

    1999-01-01

    The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) funds the ''Annual Coded Wire Tag Program--Missing Production Groups for Columbia River Hatcheries'' project. The WDFW project has three main objectives: (1) coded-wire tag at least one production group of each species at each Columbia Basin hatchery to enable evaluation of survival and catch distribution over time, (2) recover coded-wire tags from the snouts of fish tagged under objective 1 and estimate survival, contribution, and stray rates for each group, and (3) report the findings under objective 2 for all broods of chinook, and coho released from WDFW Columbia Basin hatcheries

  19. Advertisement call of Scinax camposseabrai (Bokermann, 1968) (Anura: Hylidae), with comments on the call of three species of the Scinax ruber clade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novaes, Gabriel; Zina, Juliana

    2016-02-25

    Scinax camposseabrai was allocated into the Scinax ruber clade by Caramaschi & Cardoso (2006) by overall similarities as snout not pointed, breeding in open areas, and an advertisement calls with multipulsed notes. This assumption about the call was based solely on an onomatopoeia provided by Bokermann (1968). Herein we provide a formal description of the advertisement call of S. camposseabrai and compare it with described calls of other S. ruber clade species. Additionally, we provide descriptions of the advertisement calls of three sympatric species of the S. ruber clade: S. eurydice (Bokermann), S. pachycrus (Miranda-Ribeiro) and S. cf. x-signatus.

  20. A new species of Scinax Wagler, 1830 (Anura: Hylidae from the middle Amazon river basin, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcelo José Sturaro

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A new species of the hylid genus Scinax is described and illustrated. The new taxon was found in the Amazonian rainforest of northern Brazil, municipalities of Maués and Careiro da Várzea, state of Amazonas. The new species is characterized by its moderate size (male mean snout-vent length 36.3mm; body robust; large, orange, black-bordered axillary and inguinal spots; and bilobate vocal sac. This new species was found in primary and secondary forest on branches of shrubs or trees in, or next to, permanent ponds and flooded areas.

  1. Late Holocene and modern glacier changes in the marginal zone of Sólheimajökull, South Iceland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schomacker, Anders; Benediktsson, Ívar Örn; Ingólfsson, Ólafur

    2012-01-01

    The forefield of the Sólheimajökull outlet glacier, South Iceland, has a variety of glacial landforms and sediments that are products of late Holocene and modern glacier oscillations. Several sets of moraine ridges reflect past ice front positions and river-cut sedimentary sections provide inform...... the last 50 years. The glacier margin thickened 70-100 m from 1960 to 1996 and then thinned 120-150 m between 1996 and 2010. In 2010, the glacier snout was 20-40 m thinner than in 1960. Additionally, the DEM time-series detect areas of erosion and deposition in the forefield....

  2. A new ankylosaurine dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Montana, USA, based on an exceptional skeleton with soft tissue preservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arbour, Victoria M.; Evans, David C.

    2017-05-01

    The terrestrial Judith River Formation of northern Montana was deposited over an approximately 4 Myr interval during the Campanian (Late Cretaceous). Despite having been prospected and collected continuously by palaeontologists for over a century, few relatively complete dinosaur skeletons have been recovered from this unit to date. Here we describe a new genus and species of ankylosaurine dinosaur, Zuul crurivastator, from the Coal Ridge Member of the Judith River Formation, based on an exceptionally complete and well-preserved skeleton (ROM 75860). This is the first ankylosaurin skeleton known with a complete skull and tail club, and it is the most complete ankylosaurid ever found in North America. The presence of abundant soft tissue preservation across the skeleton, including in situ osteoderms, skin impressions and dark films that probably represent preserved keratin, make this exceptional skeleton an important reference for understanding the evolution of dermal and epidermal structures in this clade. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Zuul as an ankylosaurin ankylosaurid within a clade of Dyoplosaurus and Scolosaurus, with Euoplocephalus being more distantly related within Ankylosaurini. The occurrence of Z. crurivastator from the upper Judith River Formation fills a gap in the ankylosaurine stratigraphic and geographical record in North America, and further highlights that Campanian ankylosaurines were undergoing rapid evolution and stratigraphic succession of taxa as observed for Laramidian ceratopsids, hadrosaurids, pachycephalosaurids and tyrannosaurids.

  3. Long-Term Patency of Lymphovenous Anastomoses: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tourani, Saam S; Taylor, G Ian; Ashton, Mark W

    2016-08-01

    With advancements in technology and microsurgical techniques, lymphovenous anastomosis has become a popular reconstructive procedure in the treatment of chronic lymphedema. However, the long-term patency of these anastomoses is not clear in the literature. A systematic review of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases was performed to assess the reported long-term patency of lymphovenous anastomoses. A total of eight studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Pooled data from four similar experiments in normal dogs showed an average long-term (≥5 months) patency of 52 percent. The only experiment in dogs with chronic lymphedema failed to show any long-term patency. The creation of peripheral lymphovenous anastomoses with a moderate long-term patency rate has become technically possible. However, the long-term results in chronic lymphedema are limited.

  4. Long anterior zonules and pigment dispersion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moroi, Sayoko E; Lark, Kurt K; Sieving, Paul A; Nouri-Mahdavi, Kouros; Schlötzer-Schrehardt, Ursula; Katz, Gregory J; Ritch, Robert

    2003-12-01

    To describe pigment dispersion associated with long anterior zonules. Multicenter observational case series. Fifteen patients, seven of whom were treated for glaucoma or ocular hypertension, were identified with long anterior zonules and pigment dispersion. Transmission electron microscopy was performed on one anterior capsule specimen. All patients had anterior zonules that inserted centrally on the lens capsule. Signs of pigment dispersion included corneal endothelial pigmentation, loss of the pupillary ruff, and variable trabecular meshwork pigmentation. Ultrasound biomicroscopy verified the lack of posterior iris insertion and concavity. There was no exfoliation material. Transmission electron microscopy showed zonular lamellae with adherent pigment granules, and no exfoliation material. Long anterior zonules inserted onto the central lens capsule may cause mechanical disruption of the pigment epithelium at the pupillary ruff and central iris leading to pigment dispersion.

  5. Instrumental Variables in the Long Run

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Casey, Gregory; Klemp, Marc Patrick Brag

    2017-01-01

    In the study of long-run economic growth, it is common to use historical or geographical variables as instruments for contemporary endogenous regressors. We study the interpretation of these conventional instrumental variable (IV) regressions in a general, yet simple, framework. Our aim...... quantitative implications for the field of long-run economic growth. We also use our framework to examine related empirical techniques. We find that two prominent regression methodologies - using gravity-based instruments for trade and including ancestry-adjusted variables in linear regression models - have...... is to estimate the long-run causal effect of changes in the endogenous explanatory variable. We find that conventional IV regressions generally cannot recover this parameter of interest. To estimate this parameter, therefore, we develop an augmented IV estimator that combines the conventional regression...

  6. Loss of Sfpq Causes Long-Gene Transcriptopathy in the Brain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akihide Takeuchi

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Genes specifically expressed in neurons contain members with extended long introns. Longer genes present a problem with respect to fulfilment of gene length transcription, and evidence suggests that dysregulation of long genes is a mechanism underlying neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Here, we report the discovery that RNA-binding protein Sfpq is a critical factor for maintaining transcriptional elongation of long genes. We demonstrate that Sfpq co-transcriptionally binds to long introns and is required for sustaining long-gene transcription by RNA polymerase II through mediating the interaction of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 with the elongation complex. Phenotypically, Sfpq disruption caused neuronal apoptosis in developing mouse brains. Expression analysis of Sfpq-regulated genes revealed specific downregulation of developmentally essential neuronal genes longer than 100 kb in Sfpq-disrupted brains; those genes are enriched in associations with neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. The identified molecular machinery yields directions for targeted investigations of the association between long-gene transcriptopathy and neuronal diseases. : It has been a long-standing question how mammalian neuronal cells achieve full gene length transcription of extra-long genes. Takeuchi et al. show that RNA-binding protein Sfpq sustains long-gene transcription through Pol II-CTD activation. Loss of Sfpq caused long-gene transcriptopathy, which could be the cause of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Keywords: RNA-binding protein, transcriptional regulation, RNA polymerase II, cyclin-dependent kinase 9, RBP/transcript-dependent elongation, long-gene transcriptotherapy, neuronal development, neurological and psychiatric diseases, long-gene diseases, long genopathies

  7. Long-term hearing preservation in vestibular schwannoma

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stangerup, Sven-Eric; Thomsen, Jens; Tos, Mirko

    2010-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term hearing during "wait and scan" management of vestibular schwannomas.......The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term hearing during "wait and scan" management of vestibular schwannomas....

  8. Forging Long Shafts On Disks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tilghman, Chris; Askey, William; Hopkins, Steven

    1989-01-01

    Isothermal-forging apparatus produces long shafts integral with disks. Equipment based on modification of conventional isothermal-forging equipment, required stroke cut by more than half. Enables forging of shafts as long as 48 in. (122 cm) on typical modified conventional forging press, otherwise limited to making shafts no longer than 18 in. (46cm). Removable punch, in which forged material cools after plastic deformation, essential novel feature of forging apparatus. Technology used to improve such products as components of gas turbines and turbopumps and of other shaft/disk parts for powerplants, drive trains, or static structures.

  9. Long-term home care scheduling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gamst, Mette; Jensen, Thomas Sejr

    In several countries, home care is provided for certain citizens living at home. The long-term home care scheduling problem is to generate work plans spanning several days such that a high quality of service is maintained and the overall cost is kept as low as possible. A solution to the problem...... provides detailed information on visits and visit times for each employee on each of the covered days. We propose a branch-and-price algorithm for the long-term home care scheduling problem. The pricing problem generates one-day plans for an employee, and the master problem merges the plans with respect...

  10. Nuclear Energy, Long Term Requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knapp, V.

    2006-01-01

    There are serious warnings about depletion of oil and gas and even more serious warnings about dangers of climate change caused by emission of carbon dioxide. Should developed countries be called to replace CO2 emitting energy sources as soon as possible, and the time available may not be longer then few decades, can nuclear energy answer the call and what are the requirements? Assuming optimistic contribution of renewable energy sources, can nuclear energy expand to several times present level in order to replace large part of fossil fuels use? Paper considers intermediate and long-term requirements. Future of nuclear power depends on satisfactory answers on several questions. First group of questions are those important for near and intermediate future. They deal with economics and safety of nuclear power stations in the first place. On the same time scale a generally accepted concept for radioactive waste disposal is also required. All these issues are in the focus of present research and development. Safer and more economical reactors are targets of international efforts in Generation IV and INPRO projects, but aiming further ahead these innovative projects are also addressing issues such as waste reduction and proliferation resistance. However, even assuming successful technical development of these projects, and there is no reason to doubt it, long term and large-scale nuclear power use is thereby not yet secured. If nuclear power is to play an essential role in the long-term future energy production and in reduction of CO2 emission, than several additional questions must be replied. These questions will deal with long-term nuclear fuel sufficiency, with necessary contribution of nuclear power in sectors of transport and industrial processes and with nuclear proliferation safety. This last issue is more political then technical, thus sometimes neglected by nuclear engineers, yet it will have essential role for the long-term prospects of nuclear power. The

  11. Changing incentives for long-term gas contracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohi, D.R.

    1992-01-01

    There is much concern about the absence of long-term gas contracts with fixed price and quantity conditions, which until recent years was the standard way of doing business in the gas industry. These types of contracts performed a valuable service in the development of the gas industry, and there comparative absence today is sometimes thought to be one reason for the current malaise in the industry. One hears the argument that there must be some kind of 'market failure' that prevents buyers and sellers from entering into these long term arrangements, and recent changes in state and federal regulations are often cited as the cause of the problem. The purpose of the author's remarks is to argue that what is taken as a breakdown in the market may be simply a reaction to a decline in economic incentives to enter into long-term contracts with rigid price and quantity terms. This is, in other words, simply one more aspect of change in the gas business that Frank Heintz referred to in his opening remarks this morning. The author starts by giving a brief description of the motives for engaging in long-term contracts, and then describes how incentives to use long-term contracts have declined for both gas buyers and gas sellers. He concludes that the decline in the use of long-term contracts is not cause for regulatory concern, but a result of the continuing transformation of the gas business to one that more closely resembles other commodity markets

  12. Long distance signaling using axionlike particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stancil, Daniel D.

    2007-01-01

    The possible existence of axionlike particles could lead to a new type of long-distance communication. In this work, basic antenna concepts are defined and a Friis-like equation is derived to facilitate long-distance link calculations. An example calculation is presented showing that communication over distances of 1000 km or more may be possible for m a aγγ >5x10 -8 GeV -1

  13. Long-term effects of childbirth in MS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D'hooghe, M.B.; Nagels, G.; Uitdehaag, B.M.J.

    2010-01-01

    Background: The uncertainty about long-term effects of childbirth presents MS patients with dilemmas. Methods: Based on clinical data of 330 female MS patients, the long-term effects of childbirth were analysed, using a cross-sectional study design. Four groups of patients were distinguished: (1)

  14. Benney's long wave equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lebedev, D.R.

    1979-01-01

    Benney's equations of motion of incompressible nonviscous fluid with free surface in the approximation of long waves are analyzed. The connection between the Lie algebra of Hamilton plane vector fields and the Benney's momentum equations is shown

  15. Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure During Spaceflight-Long

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czeisler, Charles A.; Barger, Laura K.; Wright, Kenneth P., Jr.; Ronda, Joseph

    2009-01-01

    Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure During Spaceflight-Long (Sleep-Long) will examine the effects of spaceflight and ambient light exposure on the sleep-wake cycles of the crew members during long-duration stays on the space station.

  16. The hurst exponent and long-time correlation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, G.; Antar, G.; Devynck, P.

    1999-10-01

    The rescaled range statistics (R/S) method is applied to the ion saturation current fluctuations measured by Langmuir probe at edge on Tore Supra to evaluate the Hurst exponent. Data block randomization is carried out to the data sets in order to investigate the relationship between the Hurst exponent and long time correlation. It is observed that h is well above 0.5 in the long time self-similar range. However, it is found that the information which leads to H > 0.5 is totally contained in the short-time correlation and no link to long times is found. (authors)

  17. Long sandwich modules for photon veto detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yershov, N.; Khabibullin, M.; Kudenko, Yu.; Littenberg, L.; Mayatski, V.; Mineev, O.

    2005-01-01

    Long lead-scintillator sandwich modules developed for the BNL experiment KOPIO are described. The individual 4 m long module consists of 15 layers of 7 mm thick extruded scintillator and 15 layers of 1 mm lead absorber. Readout is implemented via WLS fibers glued into grooves in a scintillator with 7 mm spacing and viewed from both ends by the phototubes. Time resolution of 300 ps for cosmic MIPs was obtained. Light output stability monitored for 2 years shows no degradation beyond the measurement errors. A 4 m long C-bent sandwich module was also manufactured and tested

  18. Continuous limit of discrete systems with long-range interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tarasov, Vasily E

    2006-01-01

    Discrete systems with long-range interactions are considered. Continuous medium models as continuous limit of discrete chain system are defined. Long-range interactions of chain elements that give the fractional equations for the medium model are discussed. The chain equations of motion with long-range interaction are mapped into the continuum equation with the Riesz fractional derivative. We formulate the consistent definition of continuous limit for the systems with long-range interactions. In this paper, we consider a wide class of long-range interactions that give fractional medium equations in the continuous limit. The power-law interaction is a special case of this class

  19. A security/safety survey of long term care facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acorn, Jonathan R

    2010-01-01

    What are the major security/safety problems of long term care facilities? What steps are being taken by some facilities to mitigate such problems? Answers to these questions can be found in a survey of IAHSS members involved in long term care security conducted for the IAHSS Long Term Care Security Task Force. The survey, the author points out, focuses primarily on long term care facilities operated by hospitals and health systems. However, he believes, it does accurately reflect the security problems most long term facilities face, and presents valuable information on security systems and practices which should be also considered by independent and chain operated facilities.

  20. Long working hours and alcohol use

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Virtanen, Marianna; Jokela, Markus; Nyberg, Solja T

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To quantify the association between long working hours and alcohol use. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases in April 2014 for published studies......, supplemented with manual searches. Unpublished individual participant data were obtained from 27 additional studies. REVIEW METHODS: The search strategy was designed to retrieve cross sectional and prospective studies of the association between long working hours and alcohol use. Summary estimates were...... countries. The pooled maximum adjusted odds ratio for the association between long working hours and alcohol use was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.18) in the cross sectional analysis of published and unpublished data. Odds ratio of new onset risky alcohol use was 1.12 (1.04 to 1...

  1. [Psychosocial issues of long-term cancer survivors].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weis, J; Faller, H

    2012-04-01

    Although cancer incidence rates are increasing, recent statistical studies suggest that cancer patients are showing higher cure rates as well as improved overall survival rates for most cancer locations. These advances are explained by improved strategies in early diagnoses as well as improved cancer therapies. Therefore, the number of long-term cancer survivors has also increased, but only few studies, especially within the last years, have focused on psychosocial issues of this subgroup. Some studies show that overall quality of life of long-term cancer survivors is quite high and comparable to that of the normal population. Nevertheless, a substantial percentage of former patients shows reduced quality of life and suffers from various sequelae of cancer and its treatment. This review focuses on the most common psychosocial issue of long-term survivors such as reduced psychological wellbeing, neuropsychological deficits and cancer-related fatigue syndrome. Finally, recommendations for problem-oriented interventions as well as improvement of psychosocial care of long-term survivors are given.

  2. Are long-term bisphosphonate users a reality?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abrahamsen, B

    2012-01-01

    The prevalence of long-term bisphosphonate use may be low due to low refill compliance and gaps in treatment. An analysis of the prescription history of 58,674 bisphosphonate users in Denmark found that only 2.8 % had received ten dose years of treatment or above. INTRODUCTION: This study aims...... to describe the demographics of present bisphosphonate (BP) users, to determine the prevalence of long-term BP use, and to establish if long-term use (a 10-year history of osteoporosis treatment) translated to ten dose years of bisphosphonate prescriptions filled, given the propensity for treatment gaps...... more than ten dose years of a BP. For any osteoporosis drug, 3.0 % had received ten dose years or more, while 23.2 % had received between 5 and 10 years of treatment. CONCLUSION: Long-term users with ten dose years or more of a BP are rare due to periods of low compliance and gaps, with a discrepancy...

  3. Hippocampal Focal Knockout of CBP Affects Specific Histone Modifications, Long-Term Potentiation, and Long-Term Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrett, Ruth M; Malvaez, Melissa; Kramar, Eniko; Matheos, Dina P; Arrizon, Abraham; Cabrera, Sara M; Lynch, Gary; Greene, Robert W; Wood, Marcelo A

    2011-01-01

    To identify the role of the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) CREB-binding protein (CBP) in neurons of the CA1 region of the hippocampus during memory formation, we examine the effects of a focal homozygous knockout of CBP on histone modifications, gene expression, synaptic plasticity, and long-term memory. We show that CBP is critical for the in vivo acetylation of lysines on histones H2B, H3, and H4. CBP's homolog p300 was unable to compensate for the loss of CBP. Neurons lacking CBP maintained phosphorylation of the transcription factor CREB, yet failed to activate CREB:CBP-mediated gene expression. Loss of CBP in dorsal CA1 of the hippocampus resulted in selective impairments to long-term potentiation and long-term memory for contextual fear and object recognition. Together, these results suggest a necessary role for specific chromatin modifications, selectively mediated by CBP in the consolidation of memories. PMID:21508930

  4. Long-range correlations from colour confinement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jurkiewicz, J.; Zenczykowski, P.

    1979-01-01

    A class of independent parton emission models is generalized by the introduction of the colour degrees of freedom. In the proposed models colour confinement extorts strong long-range forward-backward correlations, the rise of one-particle inclusive distribution and the KNO scaling. It leads to the analytically calculable definite asymptotic predictions for the D/ ratio which depends only on the choice of the colour group. Multiplicity distribution develops a remarkably long tail. (author)

  5. Sleep facilitates long-term face adaptation

    OpenAIRE

    Ditye, Thomas; Javadi, Amir Homayoun; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Walsh, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Adaptation is an automatic neural mechanism supporting the optimization of visual processing on the basis of previous experiences. While the short-term effects of adaptation on behaviour and physiology have been studied extensively, perceptual long-term changes associated with adaptation are still poorly understood. Here, we show that the integration of adaptation-dependent long-term shifts in neural function is facilitated by sleep. Perceptual shifts induced by adaptation to a distorted imag...

  6. Long Work Hours: Volunteers and Conscripts

    OpenAIRE

    Robert Drago; Mark Wooden; David Black

    2006-01-01

    Panel data from Australia are used to study the prevalence of work hours mismatch among long hours workers and, more importantly, how that mismatch persists and changes over time, and what factors are associated with these changes. Particular attention is paid to the roles played by household debt, ideal worker characteristics and gender. Both static and dynamic multinomial logit models are estimated, with the dependent variable distinguishing long hours workers from other workers, and within...

  7. Accounting of Long-Term Biological Assets

    OpenAIRE

    Valeriy Mossakovskyy; Vasyl Korytnyy

    2015-01-01

    The article is devoted to generalization of experience in valuation of long-term biological assets of plant-growing and animal-breeding, and preparation of suggestions concerning improvement of accounting in this field. Recommendations concerning accounting of such assets are given based on the study of accounting practice at specific agricultural company during long period of time. Authors believe that fair value is applicable only if price level for agricultural products is fixed by the gov...

  8. Managerial Long-Term Responsibility in Family-Controlled Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dietmar Sternad

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Evidence suggests that long-term orientation (LTO as a dominantstrategic logic contributes to the sustainable performance offamily-controlled firms (FCFS. Combining a review of the literatureon lto with stewardship theory and upper echelons theoryreasoning, this article presents a typology of managerial responsibilityand introduces the concept of long-term responsibility as amanagerial characteristic constituting a major driving force behindcreating lto. The antecedents of long-term responsibilityunder family firm-specific conditions (stemming from the familysystem, the governance system, and family-firm managers’ personalcharacteristics are also identified and presented in an integratedmodel. The paper contributes to a more comprehensiveunderstanding of intertemporal choice in fcfs and explains whythey tend to be more long-term oriented than other types of firms.

  9. Sacrococcygeal teratoma: Clinical characteristics and long-term ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background/Purpose : The excision of sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) may be associated with significant long-term morbidity for the child. We reviewed our experience with SCT in a tertiary health care facility in a developing country with particular interest on the long-term sequelae. Methods : Between January 1990 and ...

  10. Long Run Relationship Between Agricultural Production And ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study sought to estimate the impact of agricultural production on the long run economic growth in Nigeria using the Vector Error Correction Methodology. The result shows that long run relationship exists between agricultural production and economic growth in Nigeria. Among the variables in the model, crop production ...

  11. Long Memory of Pathfinding Aesthetics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ron Coleman

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates a new dynamic (i.e., space-time model to measure aesthetic values in pathfinding for videogames. The results we report are important firstly because the artificial intelligence literature has given relatively little attention to aesthetic considerations in pathfinding. Secondly, those investigators who have studied aesthetics in pathfinding have relied largely on anecdotal arguments rather than metrics. Finally, in those cases where metrics have been used in the past, they show only that aesthetic paths are different. They provide no quantitative means to classify aesthetic outcomes. The model we develop here overcomes these deficiencies using rescaled range (R/S analysis to estimate the Hurst exponent, . It measures long-range dependence (i.e., long memory in stochastic processes and provides a novel well-defined mathematical classification for pathfinding. Indeed, the data indicates that aesthetic and control paths have statistically significantly distinct signatures. Aesthetic paths furthermore have more long memory than controls with an effect size that is large, more than three times that of an alternative approach. These conclusions will be of interest to researchers investigating games as well as other forms of entertainment, simulation, and in general nonshortest path motion planning.

  12. A cost of long-term memory in Drosophila

    OpenAIRE

    Mery, Frederic; Kawecki, Tadeusz J.

    2005-01-01

    Two distinct forms of consolidated associative memory are known in Drosophila: long-term memory and so-called anesthesia-resistant memory. Long-term memory is more stable, but unlike anesthesia-resistant memory, its formation requires protein synthesis. We show that flies induced to form long-term memory become more susceptible to extreme stress (such as desiccation). In contrast, induction of anesthesia-resistant memory had no detectable effect on desiccation resistance. This finding may hel...

  13. a Method for the Extraction of Long-Term Deformation Characteristics of Long-Span High-Speed Railway Bridges Using High-Resolution SAR Images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, H. G.; Liu, L. Y.

    2016-06-01

    Natural causes and high-speed train load will result in the structural deformation of long-span bridges, which greatly influence the safety operation of high-speed railway. Hence it is necessary to conduct the deformation monitoring and regular status assessment for long-span bridges. However for some traditional surveying technique, e.g. control-point-based surveying techniques, a lot of human and material resources are needed to perform the long-term monitoring for the whole bridge. In this study we detected the long-term bridge deformation time-series by persistent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar (PSInSAR) technique using the high-resolution SAR images and external digital elevation model. A test area in Nanjing city in China is chosen and TerraSAR-X images and Tandem-X for this area have been used. There is the Dashengguan bridge in high speed railway in this area as study object to evaluate this method. Experiment results indicate that the proposed method can effectively extract the long-term deformation of long-span high-speed railway bridge with higher accuracy.

  14. A METHOD FOR THE EXTRACTION OF LONG-TERM DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF LONG-SPAN HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY BRIDGES USING HIGH-RESOLUTION SAR IMAGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. G. Jia

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Natural causes and high-speed train load will result in the structural deformation of long-span bridges, which greatly influence the safety operation of high-speed railway. Hence it is necessary to conduct the deformation monitoring and regular status assessment for long-span bridges. However for some traditional surveying technique, e.g. control-point-based surveying techniques, a lot of human and material resources are needed to perform the long-term monitoring for the whole bridge. In this study we detected the long-term bridge deformation time-series by persistent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar (PSInSAR technique using the high-resolution SAR images and external digital elevation model. A test area in Nanjing city in China is chosen and TerraSAR-X images and Tandem-X for this area have been used. There is the Dashengguan bridge in high speed railway in this area as study object to evaluate this method. Experiment results indicate that the proposed method can effectively extract the long-term deformation of long-span high-speed railway bridge with higher accuracy.

  15. Flower formation in the short-day plant Kalanchoe by grafting with a long-day and a short-long-day Echeveria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zeevaart, J.A.D.

    1978-01-01

    Flower formation was induced in the short-day plant Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poellnitz under long-day conditions by grafting with flowering shoots of the short-long-day plant Echeveria harmsii (Rose) MacBr. and of the long-day plant Echeveria ''pulvoliver'' (E. pulvinata Rose x E. harmsii). Vegetative shoots from induced Echeveria plants failed to cause a flowering response in Kalanchoe. The presence of flowering and vegetative shoots side by side on induced Echeveria plants provides evidence for physiological chimeras in this genus.

  16. Geographic information system for Long Island: An epidemiologic systems approach to identify environmental breast cancer risks on Long Island. Phase 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barancik, J.I.; Kramer, C.F.; Thode, H.C. Jr.

    1995-12-01

    BNL is developing and implementing the project ``Geographic Information System (GIS) for Long Island`` to address the potential relationship of environmental and occupational exposures to breast cancer etiology on Long Island. The project is divided into two major phases: The four month-feasibility project (Phase 1), and the major development and implementation project (Phase 2). This report summarizes the work completed in the four month Phase 1 Project, ``Feasibility of a Geographic Information System for Long Island.`` It provides the baseline information needed to further define and prioritize the scope of work for subsequent tasks. Phase 2 will build upon this foundation to develop an operational GIS for the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP).

  17. Geographic information system for Long Island: An epidemiologic systems approach to identify environmental breast cancer risks on Long Island. Phase 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barancik, J.I.; Kramer, C.F.; Thode, H.C. Jr.

    1995-01-01

    BNL is developing and implementing the project ''Geographic Information System (GIS) for Long Island'' to address the potential relationship of environmental and occupational exposures to breast cancer etiology on Long Island. The project is divided into two major phases: The four month-feasibility project (Phase 1), and the major development and implementation project (Phase 2). This report summarizes the work completed in the four month Phase 1 Project, ''Feasibility of a Geographic Information System for Long Island.'' It provides the baseline information needed to further define and prioritize the scope of work for subsequent tasks. Phase 2 will build upon this foundation to develop an operational GIS for the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP)

  18. The Long and the Short of It

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-01-01

    Gamma-Ray bursts, the extreme explosions that mark the birth of black holes, come in two flavors, long bursts lasting a few seconds or more, and short bursts lasting for less than a second. The mechanisms giving rise to these two types of bursts were, for a long time, unknown to astronomers. But a series of breakthroughs starting with BeppoSAX, HETE, and Swift gave astronomers some clues and confidence about the nature of long and short bursts. Long bursts mark the collapse of a young, extremely massive star into a black hole; short bursts mark the formation of a black hole by a merger of neutron stars (or perhaps a neutron star with a black hole to form a larger black hole). But a new observation has clouded this clear dichotomy. The picture above is an X-ray image of a gamma-ray burst, GRB 060614, taken by Swift's X-ray Telescope. This burst lasted more than 100 seconds, clearly showing that it's a long burst. But follow-up observations of the burst did not show the tell-tale signatures of a supernova explosion which should be produced by the collapse of a large star. Furthermore this burst occurred in a galaxy which has very few extremely massive stars. Does this hybrid burst represent an entirely new mechanism behind these titanic explosions? The hunt is on.

  19. Long pulse operation on Tore Supra

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Monier-Garbet, P.

    2004-01-01

    This document gathers a series of transparencies dedicated to the long pulse operation on Tore-Supra. The structure of the document is described as follows: the first part is an introduction recalling fusion basis and presenting the different physical and technological phenomenon time scales. The second part is dedicated to the production of long pulses through non-inductive drive and some experimental scenarios illustrate it. The final part is devoted to physics issues like particle retention

  20. Energy in 2010 - 2020. Long term challenges; Energie 2010-2020. Les defis du long terme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dessus, Benjamin [ed.] [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 75 - Paris (France)

    2000-02-02

    This report presents the results of a workshop intending to anticipate the long term challenges, to guide better the short term power options, to understand the available political, economical and technical assumptions for the prospective world situation, to give some strategic hints on the necessary transition. Indeed, the difficult issue which the workshop tried to tackle was how should we prepare to reveal the energetic challenge of the development of the eight to ten billion inhabitants of our Planet in the next century without jeopardizing its existence. The energetic problems, a hardcore of the international preoccupation of both growth and environment, as it was recently evidenced by the climatic conference in Kyoto, have ever been the object of a particular attention on the part of General Commissariat of Plan. Thus, the commission 'Energy in 2010 - 2020' has been instituted in April 1996 in order to update the works done in 1990 - 1991 by the commission 'Energy 2010'. Soon it occurred to this new commission the task of illuminating its works by a long term (2050 - 2100) world prospective analysis of the challenges and problems linked to energy, growth and environment. In conclusion, this document tried to find answers to questions like: - which are the risks the energy consumption augmentation entail? - can we control them by appropriate urbanism and transport policies or technological innovation?. Four options for immediate action are suggested: - the energy efficiency should become a priority objective of policies; -coping with the long term challenges requires acting at present; - building the transition between governmental leadership and market; - taking profit of all the possible synergies between short and long term planning.

  1. Advancing an ethical framework for long-term care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Mary Whelan

    2002-02-01

    This article represents an effort to formulate an ethical framework for long-term care with the explicit purpose of providing a catalyst to promote further discourse and expand consideration of what an ethic of long-term care might entail. Grounding the discussion, an introduction to traditional ethical philosophy is presented, focusing mainly on the fundamentals of deontological and teleological ethical theories. Attention then shifts to a review of the more frequently cited principles found in the long-term care ethics literature, followed by a critique of the current reliance upon principlism to resolve ethical dilemmas in long-term care. In response to this criticism, an agent-driven ethical framework stressing dignity and respect for personhood, drawn from the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, is advanced.

  2. Long-term memory, sleep, and the spacing effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Matthew C; Kawadri, Nader; Simone, Patricia M; Wiseheart, Melody

    2014-01-01

    Many studies have shown that memory is enhanced when study sessions are spaced apart rather than massed. This spacing effect has been shown to have a lasting benefit to long-term memory when the study phase session follows the encoding session by 24 hours. Using a spacing paradigm we examined the impact of sleep and spacing gaps on long-term declarative memory for Swahili-English word pairs by including four spacing delay gaps (massed, 12 hours same-day, 12 hours overnight, and 24 hours). Results showed that a 12-hour spacing gap that includes sleep promotes long-term memory retention similar to the 24-hour gap. The findings support the importance of sleep to the long-term benefit of the spacing effect.

  3. Collectes à long terme

    CERN Multimedia

    Collectes à long terme

    2014-01-01

    En cette fin d’année 2014 qui approche à grands pas, le Comité des Collectes à Long Terme remercie chaleureusement ses fidèles donatrices et donateurs réguliers pour leurs contributions à nos actions en faveur des plus démunis de notre planète. C’est très important, pour notre Comité, de pouvoir compter sur l’appui assidu que vous nous apportez. Depuis plus de 40 ans maintenant, le modèle des CLT est basé principalement sur des actions à long terme (soit une aide pendant 4-5 ans par projet, mais plus parfois selon les circonstances), et sa planification demande une grande régularité de ses soutiens financiers. Grand MERCI à vous ! D’autres dons nous parviennent au cours de l’année, et ils sont aussi les bienvenus. En particulier, nous tenons à remercier...

  4. Long sequence correlation coprocessor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gage, Douglas W.

    1994-09-01

    A long sequence correlation coprocessor (LSCC) accelerates the bitwise correlation of arbitrarily long digital sequences by calculating in parallel the correlation score for 16, for example, adjacent bit alignments between two binary sequences. The LSCC integrated circuit is incorporated into a computer system with memory storage buffers and a separate general purpose computer processor which serves as its controller. Each of the LSCC's set of sequential counters simultaneously tallies a separate correlation coefficient. During each LSCC clock cycle, computer enable logic associated with each counter compares one bit of a first sequence with one bit of a second sequence to increment the counter if the bits are the same. A shift register assures that the same bit of the first sequence is simultaneously compared to different bits of the second sequence to simultaneously calculate the correlation coefficient by the different counters to represent different alignments of the two sequences.

  5. Report of the Long-Range Planning Committee

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-01-01

    This is the final report of the Long-Range Planning Committee of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It describes the make-up, purpose, working assumptions, and activities of the Committee and discusses the work done by the Committee on defense matters, energy, a number of additional topics, and future long-range planning activities

  6. Developmental Dyslexia and Explicit Long-Term Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menghini, Deny; Carlesimo, Giovanni Augusto; Marotta, Luigi; Finzi, Alessandra; Vicari, Stefano

    2010-01-01

    The reduced verbal long-term memory capacities often reported in dyslexics are generally interpreted as a consequence of their deficit in phonological coding. The present study was aimed at evaluating whether the learning deficit exhibited by dyslexics was restricted only to the verbal component of the long-term memory abilities or also involved…

  7. Essays on long-term mortality and interest rate risk

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Kort, J.P.

    2017-01-01

    This dissertation comprises a study of long-term risks which play a major role in actuarial science. In Part I we analyse long-term mortality risk and its impact on consumption and investment decisions of economic agents, while Part II focuses on the mathematical modelling of long-term interest

  8. What Legislators Need to Know about Long-Term Care Insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landes, David

    This booklet discusses the potential importance to states of long-term care insurance, describes general policy characteristics, and summarizes state actions to both regulate and promote long-term care insurance. It is intended as a resource for legislators and others involved in long-term care financing and public policy formulation. Long-term…

  9. Long working hours and sickness absence-a fixed effects design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernstrøm, Vilde Hoff

    2018-05-02

    While long working hours seem to lead to impaired health, several studies have also shown that long working hours are related to lower levels of sickness absence. Previous studies on the relationship between long working hours and sickness absence have compared those who work long hours to those who do not, looking only at between-individual correlations. Those results might therefore reflect relatively stable differences between employees who typically work long hours and employees who typically do not. The aim of the present study is to examine within-individual correlations between long working hours and sickness absence. Records from the Human Resources department in a large Norwegian hospital from 2012 to 2015 provided objective data on both working hours and sickness absence. Two analyses were performed: a prospective cohort analysis to replicate the results from previous between-individual analyses and a second analysis of within-individual correlations using a fixed effect design. In line with existing research, both between-individual and within-individual analyses showed a negative relationship between long working hours (> 48 h/week) and short-term sickness absence (1-8 days) and no significant difference in incidence of long-term sickness absence (> 8 days). The results indicate that the negative relationship between long working hours and sickness absence is not due only to relatively stable individual differences between those who typically work long hours and those who do not. The results from both analyses therefore still contrast with previous research showing a negative relationship between long working hours and other health indicators.

  10. The Bevalac long flattop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Celata, C.M.; Abbott, S.; Bennett, M.; Bordua, M.; Calvert, J.; Dwinell, R.; Howard, D.; Hunt, D.; Feinberg, B.; Force, R.; Frias, R.; Kalnins, J.; Lewis, S.; Nyman, M.; Shalz, L.; Solomons, S.R.; Tekawa, M.

    1992-10-01

    Until July of 1992, the maximum length of the Bevalac flattop was 2 seconds, limiting the beam spill to 1.5 seconds. The normal running condition was a 1.5 second flattop, with a 1.0 second beam spill. If we define the duty factor as the spill length (in time) divided by the synchrotron pulse length, that is, the percentage of time the Bevalac can deliver beam to experiments, the duty factor for the 1.5 second flattop ranged from 17% (at full field, i.e., 12575 G) to 25% (low field). The purpose of the Long Flattop Project was to increase the length of the flattop, thus increasing the duty factor of the machine, and its efficiency for experiments. This has been done, with resultant increase in the duty factor and experimental data rate. It is now possible to run with duty factor of about 80% for low fields, falling to about 60% at 10 kG, and 34% at full field. This report documents what was done, and its limitations. It should be noted that increasing the length of the beam spill is only possible if the source can produce more beam per pulse than is usable by the experimenter. Experimenters running at full intensity with a short flattop (1.5 seconds) cannot benefit from a longer flattop. This paper describe the changes that have been made to Bevalac systems to make the long flattop possible, the limits put on the length of the flattop by existing hardware, and the procedure for tuning for the long flattop

  11. Long Noncoding RNAs in Lung Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Anna; Diederichs, Sven

    2016-01-01

    Despite great progress in research and treatment options, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Oncogenic driver mutations in protein-encoding genes were defined and allow for personalized therapies based on genetic diagnoses. Nonetheless, diagnosis of lung cancer mostly occurs at late stages, and chronic treatment is followed by a fast onset of chemoresistance. Hence, there is an urgent need for reliable biomarkers and alternative treatment options. With the era of whole genome and transcriptome sequencing technologies, long noncoding RNAs emerged as a novel class of versatile, functional RNA molecules. Although for most of them the mechanism of action remains to be defined, accumulating evidence confirms their involvement in various aspects of lung tumorigenesis. They are functional on the epigenetic, transcriptional, and posttranscriptional level and are regulators of pathophysiological key pathways including cell growth, apoptosis, and metastasis. Long noncoding RNAs are gaining increasing attention as potential biomarkers and a novel class of druggable molecules. It has become clear that we are only beginning to understand the complexity of tumorigenic processes. The clinical integration of long noncoding RNAs in terms of prognostic and predictive biomarker signatures and additional cancer targets could provide a chance to increase the therapeutic benefit. Here, we review the current knowledge about the expression, regulation, biological function, and clinical relevance of long noncoding RNAs in lung cancer.

  12. Physics Potential of Long-Baseline Experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanjib Kumar Agarwalla

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The discovery of neutrino mixing and oscillations over the past decade provides firm evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Recently, θ13 has been determined to be moderately large, quite close to its previous upper bound. This represents a significant milestone in establishing the three-flavor oscillation picture of neutrinos. It has opened up exciting prospects for current and future long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments towards addressing the remaining fundamental questions, in particular the type of the neutrino mass hierarchy and the possible presence of a CP-violating phase. Another recent and crucial development is the indication of non-maximal 2-3 mixing angle, causing the octant ambiguity of θ23. In this paper, I will review the phenomenology of long-baseline neutrino oscillations with a special emphasis on sub-leading three-flavor effects, which will play a crucial role in resolving these unknowns. First, I will give a brief description of neutrino oscillation phenomenon. Then, I will discuss our present global understanding of the neutrino mass-mixing parameters and will identify the major unknowns in this sector. After that, I will present the physics reach of current generation long-baseline experiments. Finally, I will conclude with a discussion on the physics capabilities of accelerator-driven possible future long-baseline precision oscillation facilities.

  13. ERDA's long-term waste management goals and programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perge, A.F.; Trice, V.G. Jr.; Walton, R.D. Jr.

    1976-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of the ERDA's major program for the long-term waste management of radioactive waste and provides a perspective for symposium participants with regard to the interrelationship of specific components of the program that are discussed in detail in other ERDA-sponsored papers. Needs, goals, and plans are reviewed for ERDA's management of the commercially generated wastes which are expected to be delivered to ERDA in accordance with Federal regulations. At present, ERDA responsibilities include long-term management of commercial-level wastes. Possible future regulations may give ERDA responsibility for the long-term management of commercial low-level solid wastes contaminated with transuranic nuclides. Primary planning goals and programs for the development of terminal storage facilities and waste processing technology to produce acceptable waste forms for long-term management are reviewed for each of the waste types identified above. The status of development programs for the long-term management of airborne radionuclides, which may be required at some time in the future, is also reviewed. (author)

  14. Long-Term Clock Behavior of GPS IIR Satellites

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Epstein, Marvin; Dass, Todd; Rajan, John; Gilmour, Paul

    2007-01-01

    .... Rubidium clocks, as opposed to cesium clocks, have significant long-term drift. The current literature describes an initial model of drift aging for rubidium atomic clocks followed by a long-term characteristic...

  15. Long-Wavelength Phonon Scattering in Nonpolar Semiconductors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lawætz, Peter

    1969-01-01

    The long-wavelength acoustic- and optical-phonon scattering of carriers in nonpolar semiconductors is considered from a general point of view. The deformation-potential approximation is defined and it is shown that long-range electrostatic forces give a nontrivial correction to the scattering...... of the very-short-range nature of interactions in a covalent semiconductor....

  16. Eruptive prominences and long-delay geomagnetic storms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wright, C.S.

    1983-01-01

    The relationship between disappearing solar fragments and geomagnetic disturbances was investigated. It is shown that long-delay storms are associated with filaments well removed from the disc centre, and particularly in the case of large filaments and prominences, the proportion of events that produce long-delay storms increases with angular distance from the centre

  17. Long-term properties of bituminized waste products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Snellman, M.; Valkiainen, M.

    1985-10-01

    This study is a survey of the factors of importance for the long term behaviour of bituminized ion exchange resins. Phenomena occurring in bituminized waste products affected by the treatment, storage and disposal are identified. Test methods have been developed for characterizing product properties, which are important for the long-term behaviour. The long-term properties of bituminized ion-exchange resins are studied in a repository environment with access of water equilibrated with concrete. In these circumstances the most important properties are related to the interactions of bituminized waste with the surrounding barriers. The most important phenomena are water uptake due to rehydration of the resins and subsequent swelling of the product

  18. Long-term properties of bituminized waste products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Snellman, M.; Valkiainen, M.

    1985-10-01

    This study is a survey of the factors of importance for long term behaviour of bituminized ion exchange resins. Phenomena occurring in bituminized waste products affected by the treatment, storage and disposal are identified. Test methods have been developed for characterizing product properties, which are important for the long-term behaviour. The long-term properties of bituminized ion-exchange resins are studied in a repository environment with access of water equilibrated with concrete. In these circumstances the most important properties are ralated to the interactions of bituminized waste with the surrounding barriers. The most important phenomena are water uptake due to rehydration of the resins and subsequent swelling of the product. (author)

  19. Space ventures and society long-term perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, W. M.

    1985-01-01

    A futuristic evaluation of mankind's potential long term future in space is presented. Progress in space will not be inhibited by shortages of the Earth's physical resources, since long term economic growth will be focused on ways to constrain industrial productivity by changing social values, management styles, or government competence. Future technological progress is likely to accelerate with an emphasis on international cooperation, making possible such large joint projects as lunar colonies or space stations on Mars. The long term future in space looks exceedingly bright even in relatively pessimistic scenarios. The principal driving forces will be technological progress, commercial and public-oriented satellites, space industrialization, space travel, and eventually space colonization.

  20. The existence and persistence of long work hours

    OpenAIRE

    Drago, Robert William; Black, David; Wooden, Mark

    2005-01-01

    Previous research hypothesizes that long working hours are related to consumerism, the ideal worker norm, high levels of human capital, and a high cost-of-job-loss. The authors test these hypotheses using panel data on working hours for an Australian sample of full-time employed workers. Analyses include a static cross-sectional model and a persistence model for long hours over time. The results suggest that long hours (50 or more hours in a usual week) are often persistent, and provide stron...

  1. Designing indicators of long-term energy supply security

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jansen, J.C.; Van Arkel, W.G.; Boots, M.G.

    2004-01-01

    To our knowledge, so far amazingly little research work has been undertaken to construct meaningful indicators of long-run energy supply security for a particular nation or region. Currently, in addressing energy supply security, policy makers tend to emphasise short-term supply disruptions. In contrast, this pre-study accords with the broader Sustainability Outlook in considering the long-term perspective. This report starts with taking stock, in a concise way, of the official EU energy outlook and issues related to the opportunities to administer changes in the energy mix at the level of major energy use categories. Then a brief survey of relevant literature is made on long-term strategies to ensure survival of systems - be it biological, social, etc. - in an environment largely characterised by high uncertainty and a lot of unchartered territory. We found the work of Andrew Stirling very inspiring in this context. Based on his work and considering the limitations of the present research activity, we retained the Shannon index as the best 'simple' indicator of diversity. In the core of the report, the Shannon index is elaborated into four indicators of long-term energy supply security. Stepwise, additional aspects of long-term energy supply security are introduced. These aspects are: Diversification of energy sources in energy supply; Diversification of imports with respect to imported energy sources; Long-term political stability in regions of origin; The resource base in regions of origin, including the home region/country itself. After small adjustments to allow for data availability, these indicators were applied to the reference year 2030 of four long-term scenarios with data of base year 1995 and projections for underlying variables provided by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP). Preliminary interpretation of the results suggests the usefulness of the indicators presented in this report. A second activity undertaken in this report was

  2. Heart rate, multiple body temperature, long-range and long-life telemetry system for free-ranging animals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lund, G. F.; Westbrook, R. M.; Fryer, T. B.

    1980-01-01

    The design details and rationale for a versatile, long-range, long-life telemetry data acquisition system for heart rates and body temperatures at multiple locations from free-ranging animals are presented. The design comprises an implantable transmitter for short to medium range transmission, a receiver retransmitter collar to be worn for long-range transmission, and a signal conditioner interface circuit to assist in signal discrimination and demodulation of receiver or tape-recorded audio outputs. Implanted electrodes are used to obtain an ECG, from which R-wave characteristics are selected to trigger a short RF pulse. Pulses carrying heart rate information are interrupted periodically by a series of pulse interval modulated RF pulses conveying temperature information sensed at desired locations by thermistors. Pulse duration and pulse sequencing are used to discriminate between heart rate and temperature pulses as well as radio frequency interference. The implanted transmitter may be used alone for medium and short-range tracking, or with a receiver-transmitter collar that employs commercial tracking equipment for transmissions of up to 12 km. A system prototype has been tested on a dog.

  3. Institutionalization and Organizational Long-term Success

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise L. Fleck

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Institutionalization processes have an ambivalent effect on organizational long-term success. Even though they foster organizational stability and permanence, they also bring about rigidity and resistance to change. As a result, successful organizations are likely to lose their competitive advantage over time. The paper addresses this issue through the investigation of the institutionalization processes of two long-lived companies: General Electric, a firm that has been a long-term success and its rival, Westinghouse, which was broken up after eleven decades of existence. The longitudinal, multilevel analysis of firms and industry has identified two different modes of organizational institutionalization. The reactive mode gives rise to rigidity and change resistance, much like institutional theory predicts; the proactive mode, on the other hand, neutralizes those negative effects of institutionalization processes. In the reactive mode, structure predominates. In the proactive mode, agency plays a major role in organizational institutionalization, and in managing the organization’s relations with the environment, clearly contributing to environmental institutionalization.

  4. Long working hours and depressive symptoms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Virtanen, Marianna; Jokela, Markus; Madsen, Ida Eh

    2018-01-01

    Objectives This systematic review and meta-analysis combined published study-level data and unpublished individual-participant data with the aim of quantifying the relation between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms. Methods We searched PubMed and Embase for published....... In the majority of cohorts, long working hours was defined as working ≥55 hours per week. In multivariable-adjusted meta-analyses of 189 729 participants from 35 countries [96 275 men, 93 454 women, follow-up ranging from 1-5 years, 21 747 new-onset cases), there was an overall association of 1.14 (95% confidence...... interval (CI) 1.03-1.25] between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms, with significant evidence of heterogeneity (I 2=45.1%, P=0.004). A moderate association between working hours and depressive symptoms was found in Asian countries (1.50, 95% CI 1.13-2.01), a weaker association...

  5. Long working hours and depressive symptoms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Virtanen, Marianna; Jokela, Markus; Madsen, Ida Eh

    2018-01-01

    . In the majority of cohorts, long working hours was defined as working ≥55 hours per week. In multivariable-adjusted meta-analyses of 189 729 participants from 35 countries [96 275 men, 93 454 women, follow-up ranging from 1-5 years, 21 747 new-onset cases), there was an overall association of 1.14 (95% confidence......Objectives This systematic review and meta-analysis combined published study-level data and unpublished individual-participant data with the aim of quantifying the relation between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms. Methods We searched PubMed and Embase for published...... interval (CI) 1.03-1.25] between long working hours and the onset of depressive symptoms, with significant evidence of heterogeneity (I 2=45.1%, P=0.004). A moderate association between working hours and depressive symptoms was found in Asian countries (1.50, 95% CI 1.13-2.01), a weaker association...

  6. Mouse models of long QT syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salama, Guy; London, Barry

    2007-01-01

    Congenital long QT syndrome is a rare inherited condition characterized by prolongation of action potential duration (APD) in cardiac myocytes, prolongation of the QT interval on the surface electrocardiogram (ECG), and an increased risk of syncope and sudden death due to ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Mutations of cardiac ion channel genes that affect repolarization cause the majority of the congenital cases. Despite detailed characterizations of the mutated ion channels at the molecular level, a complete understanding of the mechanisms by which individual mutations may lead to arrhythmias and sudden death requires study of the intact heart and its modulation by the autonomic nervous system. Here, we will review studies of molecularly engineered mice with mutations in the genes (a) known to cause long QT syndrome in humans and (b) specific to cardiac repolarization in the mouse. Our goal is to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of mouse models with long QT syndrome and to emphasize the advantages and limitations of these models. PMID:17038432

  7. Biomolecular tracing using long-lived isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vogel, J.S.; Turteltaub, K.W.; Frantz, C.E.; Keating, G.; Felton, J.S.; Southon, J.R.; Roberts, M.R.; Gledhill, B.L.

    1992-01-01

    Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was developed over the past 15 years as an essential tool for detecting long-lived, cosmogenic radio-isotopes in the earth and space sciences. We apply this technology to the measurement of chemical kinetics, primarily in biomedical systems, which had heretofore employed short-lived isotopes and/or long counting times to quantify radio-isotopic labels. AMS provides detection efficiencies of ∼ 1%, 10 3 to 10 6 better than decay-counting. Long-lived isotopes are used and detected with AMS at concentrations which reduce sample size, chemical dose, radiation safety hazards and radiolysis. We measure 3 H, 7,1O Be, 14 C, 26 Al, 36 CI, 41 Ca and 129 I, but most of our current program uses 14 C. Initial experiments involved research on the genotoxicity of mutagens in cooked foods and reversible binding of compounds to antibodies. Through collaborations, we apply AMS detection to research in carcinogenesis, pharmacokinetics of toxins, elemental metabolism, distribution of topical medications and nutrition

  8. Searches with long-lived or unusual signatures

    CERN Document Server

    Haug, S; The ATLAS collaboration

    2013-01-01

    We present recent ATLAS and CMS results from searches with long-lived and unusual signatures. They are based on analysis of LHC proton-proton collisions at center of mass energies at 7 and 8 TeV. Long-lived and heavy particles may cause peculiar signatures in the detectors, but are in several Standard Model extensions well motivated.

  9. Experimental Researches on Long-Term Strength of Granite Gneiss

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Liu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available It is important to confirm the long-term strength of rock materials for the purpose of evaluating the long-term stability of rock engineering. In this study, a series of triaxial creep tests were conducted on granite gneiss under different pore pressures. Based on the test data, we proposed two new quantitative methods, tangent method and intersection method, to confirm the long-term strength of rock. Meanwhile, the isochronous stress-strain curve method was adopted to make sure of the accuracy and operability of the two new methods. It is concluded that the new methods are suitable for the study of the long-term strength of rock. The effect of pore pressure on the long-term strength of rock in triaxial creep tests is also discussed.

  10. The Palatal Interpterygoid Vacuities of Temnospondyls and the Implications for the Associated Eye- and Jaw Musculature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witzmann, Florian; Werneburg, Ingmar

    2017-07-01

    A diagnostic feature of temnospondyls is the presence of an open palate with large interpterygoid vacuities, unlike the closed palate of most other early tetrapods, in which the vacuities are either slit-like or completely absent. Attachment sites on neurocranium and palatal bones in temnospondyls allow the reconstruction of a powerful m. retractor bulbi and a large, sheet-like m. levator bulbi that formed the elastic floor of the orbit. This muscle arrangement indicates that temnospondyls were able to retract the eyeballs through the interpterygoid vacuities into the buccal cavity, like extant frogs and salamanders. In contrast, attachment sites on palate and neurocranium suggest a rather sauropsid-like arrangement of these muscles in stem-tetrapods and stem-amniotes. However, the anteriorly enlarged, huge interpterygoid vacuities of long-snouted stereospondyls suggest that eye retraction was not the only function of the vacuities here, since the eye-muscles filled only the posterior part of the vacuities. We propose an association of the vacuities in temnospondyls with a long, preorbital part of the m. adductor mandibulae internus (AMIa). The trochlea-like, anterior edge of the adductor chamber suggests that a tendon of the AMIa was redirected in an anteromedial direction in the preorbital skull and dorsal to the pterygoids. This tendon then unfolded into a wide aponeurosis bearing the flattened AMIa that filled almost the complete interpterygoid vacuities anterior to the orbits. Our muscle reconstructions permit comprehensive insights to the comparative soft tissue anatomy of early tetrapods and provide the basis for a biomechanic analysis of biting performances in the future. Anat Rec, 300:1240-1269, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. [Participation as Target of Social Medicine and Nursing Care: - Legal Definition of Long-Term Care Dependency - Strategies to Prevent Long-Term Care Dependency].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nüchtern, Elisabeth; Gansweid, Barbara; Gerber, Hans; von Mittelstaedt, Gert

    2017-01-01

    Objective: By the "Second Bill to Strengthen Long-Term Care", a new concept of long-term care dependency will be introduced, valid from 2017. Long-term care dependency according to Social Code XI will be defined covering more aspects than today. Therefore, the working group "Nursing Care" of the division "Social Medicine in Practice and Rehabilitation" in the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention presents their results after working on the social medicine perspective of the definition and prevention of long-term care dependency. Methods: Both the definition and strategies to prevent long-term care dependency are systematically taken into consideration from the point of view of social medicine on the basis of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), as long-term care dependency means a defined condition of disability. Results: Both the current and the new concept of long-term care dependency focus activity limitations. The perspective of social medicine considers the interactions of health condition, its effects on daily activities and personal as well as environmental factors. From this point of view approaches for social benefits concerning prevention and rehabilitation can be identified systematically so as to work against the development and progression of long-term care dependency. The reference to the ICF can facilitate the communication between different professions. The new "graduation" of long-term care dependency would allow an international "translation" referring to the ICF. Conclusion: Experts from the field of social medicine as well as those of nursing care, care-givers and nursing researchers have in common the objective that persons in need of nursing care can participate in as many aspects of life of importance to them in an autonomous and self-determined way. The point of view of social medicine on long-term care dependency is fundamental for all occupational groups that are involved and for their

  12. Understanding Long-distance Traveler Behavior : Supporting a Long-distance Passenger Travel Demand Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Long-distance trips in the United States can take 2 days or 2 weeks and may involve cars, buses, planes, or all three. Whether for business, to see family, or visit a national park, such a variety of trip characteristics requires a detailed understan...

  13. Loss models for long Josephson junctions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, O. H.; Samuelsen, Mogens Rugholm

    1984-01-01

    A general model for loss mechanisms in long Josephson junctions is presented. An expression for the zero-field step is found for a junction of overlap type by means of a perturbation method. Comparison between analytic solution and perturbation result shows good agreement.......A general model for loss mechanisms in long Josephson junctions is presented. An expression for the zero-field step is found for a junction of overlap type by means of a perturbation method. Comparison between analytic solution and perturbation result shows good agreement....

  14. Music Learning with Long Short Term Memory Networks

    OpenAIRE

    Colombo, Florian François

    2015-01-01

    Humans are able to learn and compose complex, yet beautiful, pieces of music as seen in e.g. the highly complicated works of J.S. Bach. However, how our brain is able to store and produce these very long temporal sequences is still an open question. Long short-term memory (LSTM) artificial neural networks have been shown to be efficient in sequence learning tasks thanks to their inherent ability to bridge long time lags between input events and their target signals. Here, I investigate the po...

  15. Changes in Foot Shape after Long-Distance Running

    OpenAIRE

    Fukano, Mako; Iso, Shigeo

    2015-01-01

    Changes in foot shape during long-distance running may lead to alteration in shoe fit. However, little information is available on changes in foot shape following long-distance running. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in foot shape in experienced runners after a single long-distance run. Data from the right feet of 21 subjects were obtained using a foot scanner before and after running 35 km on an asphalt road. After the run, the dorsal height, navicular height, and arch heigh...

  16. Treatment-completion rates with olanzapine long-acting injection versus risperidone long-acting injection in a 12-month, open-label treatment of schizophrenia: indirect, exploratory comparisons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ascher-Svanum H

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Haya Ascher-Svanum1, William S Montgomery2, David P McDonnell3, Kristina A Coleman4, Peter D Feldman11Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA; 2Eli Lilly Australia Pty Ltd, West Ryde, New South Wales, Australia; 3Eli Lilly and Company, Cork, Ireland; 4OptumInsight, Lilyfield, New South Wales, AustraliaBackground: Little is known about the comparative effectiveness of atypical antipsychotics in long-acting injection formulation. Due to the absence of head-to-head studies comparing olanzapine long-acting injection and risperidone long-acting injection, this study was intended to make exploratory, indirect, cross-study comparisons between the long-acting formulations of these two atypical antipsychotics in their effectiveness in treating patients with schizophrenia.Methods: Indirect, cross-study comparisons between olanzapine long-acting injection and risperidone long-acting injection used 12-month treatment-completion rates, because discontinuation of an antipsychotic for any cause is a recognized proxy measure of the medication's effectiveness in treating schizophrenia. Following a systematic review of the literature, two indirect comparisons were conducted using open-label, single-cohort studies in which subjects were stabilized on an antipsychotic medication before depot initiation. The first analysis compared olanzapine long-acting injection (one study with pooled data from nine identified risperidone long-acting injection studies. The second analysis was a “sensitivity analysis,” using only the most similar studies, one for olanzapine long-acting injection and one for risperidone long-acting injection, which shared near-identical study designs and involved study cohorts with near-identical patient characteristics. Pearson Chi-square tests assessed group differences on treatment-completion rates.Results: Comparison of olanzapine long-acting injection data (931 patients with the pooled data from the nine

  17. Towards long-distance quantum communication: new techniques and tools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lukin, M.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: We will describe our efforts to develop new techniques and tools for long-distance quantum communication. Specifically we will discuss recent experimental work towards developing elements for long-distance quantum communication using atomic ensembles. In addition, we will describe a novel approach to long-distance quantum communication that is based on solid-state single photon emitters. (author)

  18. Extremely long aromatics: diastereomerically pure [19]helicene

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Nejedlý, Jindřich; Rybáček, Jiří; Stará, Irena G.; Starý, Ivo

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 2 (2016), s. 78-79 ISSN 2336-7202. [Mezioborové setkání mladých biologů, biochemiků a chemiků /16./. 10.05.2016-13.05.2016, Milovy] R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-08294S Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : long helicene * long aromatics * chiral molecules Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry

  19. A new image for long-term care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wager, Richard; Creelman, William

    2004-04-01

    To counter widely held negative images of long-term care, managers in the industry should implement quality-improvement initiatives that include six key strategies: Manage the expectations of residents and their families. Address customers' concerns early. Build long-term customer satisfaction. Allocate resources to achieve exceptional outcomes in key areas. Respond to adverse events with compassion. Reinforce the facility's credibility.

  20. Long-range interactions in lattice field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rabin, J.M.

    1981-06-01

    Lattice quantum field theories containing fermions can be formulated in a chirally invariant way provided long-range interactions are introduced. It is established that in weak-coupling perturbation theory such a lattice theory is renormalizable when the corresponding continuum theory is, and that the continuum theory is indeed recovered in the perturbative continuum limit. In the strong-coupling limit of these theories one is led to study an effective Hamiltonian describing a Heisenberg antiferromagnet with long-range interactions. Block-spin renormalization group methods are used to find a critical rate of falloff of the interactions, approximately as inverse distance squared, which separates a nearest-neighbor-antiferromagnetic phase from a phase displaying identifiable long-range effects. A duality-type symmetry is present in some block-spin calculations

  1. Long-range interactions in lattice field theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rabin, J.M.

    1981-06-01

    Lattice quantum field theories containing fermions can be formulated in a chirally invariant way provided long-range interactions are introduced. It is established that in weak-coupling perturbation theory such a lattice theory is renormalizable when the corresponding continuum theory is, and that the continuum theory is indeed recovered in the perturbative continuum limit. In the strong-coupling limit of these theories one is led to study an effective Hamiltonian describing a Heisenberg antiferromagnet with long-range interactions. Block-spin renormalization group methods are used to find a critical rate of falloff of the interactions, approximately as inverse distance squared, which separates a nearest-neighbor-antiferromagnetic phase from a phase displaying identifiable long-range effects. A duality-type symmetry is present in some block-spin calculations.

  2. Long-Short Fund Performance Evaluation in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fábio Augusto Reis Gomes

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Long-Short Funds should be able to provide positive returns, above the opportunity cost and independent of market conditions, once they can have both long and short positions. For this reason, this study aims to evaluate the Long-Short funds in Brazil, assessing whether customers of these products are buying just market returns (Beta, or if there is excess return (alpha independent of the stock market. Analyzing a sample of 76 funds from January 2, 2001 to March 31, 2008, using daily and monthly data, we found evidence that a small number of funds are able to generate excess return. Besides, this excess does not exhibit persistence. Finally, there is little or no evidence for market timing.

  3. Long-term multipactor discharge in multicarrier systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anza, S.; Vicente, C.; Gimeno, B.; Boria, V. E.; Armendariz, J.

    2007-01-01

    A new mechanism of long-term multipactor in multicarrier systems is studied employing both analytical and numerical methods. In particular, the investigation is focused on the impact that a realistic secondary emission yield at low energies produces on the development of long term multipactor. A novel analytical model for this interperiod charge accumulation is presented using the traditional multipactor theory for parallel plates, and approximating the multicarrier signal as a single-carrier signal modulated by a pulsed signal envelope. The analytical predictions are verified by numerical simulations for a typical rectangular waveguide. The analytical and numerical results demonstrate that the susceptibility of the system to develop a long-term multipactor discharge increases with higher values of low-energy secondary emission yield

  4. In search of the elusive long-term price

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Connor, M.J.; Combs, J.

    1989-01-01

    The Uranium Institute, WNFM, and past USCEA sessions described and compared existing price reporting systems. The McGraw-Hill conference led to a rather heated discussion as to the propriety of spot prices having the influence they do on amounts paid in long-term contracts. The Ux representative proposed a future's market as a way that producers could hedge against some of the uncertainty of volatile spot market. In discussing the search for the elusive long-term price, there are two interrelated issues. The first is obvious-the search for a starting or initializing price that is representative of recently-signed or pending long-term contracts. The second is less obvious, but perhaps more important-the search for a successful mechanism for determining later delivery values in long-term contracts. This paper addresses the question of pricing mechanisms first

  5. miR-191 and miR-135 are required for long-lasting spine remodelling associated with synaptic long-term depression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Zhonghua; Yu, Danni; Gu, Qin-Hua; Yang, Yanqin; Tu, Kang; Zhu, Jun; Li, Zheng

    2014-02-01

    Activity-dependent modification of dendritic spines, subcellular compartments accommodating postsynaptic specializations in the brain, is an important cellular mechanism for brain development, cognition and synaptic pathology of brain disorders. NMDA receptor-dependent long-term depression (NMDAR-LTD), a prototypic form of synaptic plasticity, is accompanied by prolonged remodelling of spines. The mechanisms underlying long-lasting spine remodelling in NMDAR-LTD, however, are largely unclear. Here we show that LTD induction causes global changes in miRNA transcriptomes affecting many cellular activities. Specifically, we show that expression changes of miR-191 and miR-135 are required for maintenance but not induction of spine restructuring. Moreover, we find that actin depolymerization and AMPA receptor exocytosis are regulated for extended periods of time by miRNAs to support long-lasting spine plasticity. These findings reveal a miRNA-mediated mechanism and a role for AMPA receptor exocytosis in long-lasting spine plasticity, and identify a number of candidate miRNAs involved in LTD.

  6. Long Memory, Fractional Integration, and Cross-Sectional Aggregation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haldrup, Niels; Vera-Valdés, Eduardo

    under certain conditions and that the aggregated series will have an autocorrelation function that exhibits hyperbolic decay. In this paper, we further analyze this phenomenon. We demonstrate that the aggregation argument leading to long memory is consistent with a wide range of definitions of long...... memory. In a simulation study we seek to quantify Granger's result and find that indeed both the time series and cross-sectional dimensions have to be rather significant to reflect the theoretical asymptotic results. Long memory can result even for moderate T,N dimensions but can vary considerably from...

  7. Search for Long-lived particles with the ATLAS detector

    CERN Document Server

    Saito, Masahiko; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    Several supersymmetric models predict the production of massive long-lived supersymmetric particles. Such particles, if charged, may be detected through abnormal specific energy loss or long time-of-flight to the calorimeters. The poster presents recent results from searches of long-lived supersymmetric charged particles using proton-proton collisions at a centre of mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector.

  8. CANDU senior regulators 2005 annual report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calvo, Jorge C.; Navarro, Norberto R.

    2006-01-01

    On June 8th, 2005, Embalse nuclear power plant was operating normally at full power after the fuelling machine (F/M) 'A' was replaced, and while it was being prepared to operate again, a heavy water spilling within the reactor building occurred. The actuation of the safety system was not demanded and Embalse nuclear power plant did not run out of service. The maintenance activities performed to prepare the F/M 'A' included, among others, its calibration, functions check, and heavy water level restitution. When the F/M calibration was concluded, the snout plug was stored in the magazine and the D 2 O supply pumps were stopped. Under this condition the involved maintenance personnel required to normalize the F/M 'A'. Finally, the F/M 'A' was coupled to the new fuel port, the snout plug restored and it was filled up with heavy water again. When this operation had been performed the operator opened the F/M 'A' discharge valve (35230 MV37) without lifting the drainage port, and so, when the D 2 O supply pumps started, a D 2 O spilling into room R 104 occurred. The main actions taken to control the incidental situation were: to stop the D 2 O supply pumps and close both the D 2 O feed valves and the corresponding discharge valve. Besides, it was foreseen to improve the operational procedure by giving more relevance to automatic operation. The incident was attributed to a human error during F/M 'A' operation that enabled the spilling of 113 kg of D 2 O to the R104 room floor. (author)

  9. Morphological and molecular characterizations of psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans from New York bats with White Nose Syndrome (WNS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaturvedi, Vishnu; Springer, Deborah J; Behr, Melissa J; Ramani, Rama; Li, Xiaojiang; Peck, Marcia K; Ren, Ping; Bopp, Dianna J; Wood, Britta; Samsonoff, William A; Butchkoski, Calvin M; Hicks, Alan C; Stone, Ward B; Rudd, Robert J; Chaturvedi, Sudha

    2010-05-24

    Massive die-offs of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have been occurring since 2006 in hibernation sites around Albany, New York, and this problem has spread to other States in the Northeastern United States. White cottony fungal growth is seen on the snouts of affected animals, a prominent sign of White Nose Syndrome (WNS). A previous report described the involvement of the fungus Geomyces destructans in WNS, but an identical fungus was recently isolated in France from a bat that was evidently healthy. The fungus has been recovered sparsely despite plentiful availability of afflicted animals. We have investigated 100 bat and environmental samples from eight affected sites in 2008. Our findings provide strong evidence for an etiologic role of G. destructans in bat WNS. (i) Direct smears from bat snouts, Periodic Acid Schiff-stained tissue sections from infected tissues, and scanning electron micrographs of bat tissues all showed fungal structures similar to those of G. destructans. (ii) G. destructans DNA was directly amplified from infected bat tissues, (iii) Isolations of G. destructans in cultures from infected bat tissues showed 100% DNA match with the fungus present in positive tissue samples. (iv) RAPD patterns for all G. destructans cultures isolated from two sites were indistinguishable. (v) The fungal isolates showed psychrophilic growth. (vi) We identified in vitro proteolytic activities suggestive of known fungal pathogenic traits in G. destructans. Further studies are needed to understand whether G. destructans WNS is a symptom or a trigger for bat mass mortality. The availability of well-characterized G. destructans strains should promote an understanding of bat-fungus relationships, and should aid in the screening of biological and chemical control agents.

  10. Exposure of xenopus laevis tadpoles to cadmium reveals concentration-dependent bimodal effects on growth and monotonic effects on development and thyroid gland activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Bibek; Patino, R.

    2008-01-01

    Xenopus laevis were exposed to 0-855 ??g cadmium (Cd)/l (measured concentrations) in FETAX medium from fertilization to 47 days postfertilization. Measurements included embryonic survival and, at 47 days, tadpole survival, snout-vent length, tail length, total length, hindlimb length, weight, Nieuwkoop-Faber (NF) stage of development, initiation of metamorphic climax (??? NF 58), and thyroid follicle cell height. Embryonic and larval survival were unaffected by Cd. Relative to control tadpoles, reduced tail and total length were observed at 0.1- 8 and at 855 ??g Cd/l; and reduced snout-vent length, hindlimb length, and weight were observed at 0.1-1 and at 855 ??g Cd/l. Mean stage of development and rate of initiation of climax were unaffected by Cd at 0-84 ??g/l; however, none of the tadpoles exposed to 855 ??g Cd/l progressed beyond mid-premetamorphosis (NF 51). Thyroid glands with fully formed follicles were observed in all tadpoles ??? NF 49 examined. Follicle cell height was unaffected by Cd at 0-84 ??g/l but it was reduced at 855 ??g/l; in the latter, cell height was reduced even when compared with NF 49-51 tadpoles pooled from the 0 to 84 ??g Cd/l groups. In conclusion, (1) Cd affected tadpole growth in a bimodal pattern with the first and second inhibitory modes at concentrations below and above 84 ??g Cd/l, respectively; (2) exposure to high Cd concentrations (855 ??g/l) reduced thyroid activity and arrested tadpole development at mid-premetamorphosis; and (3) unlike its effect on growth, Cd inhibited tadpole development and thyroid function in a seemingly monotonic pattern.

  11. Impact of dose engine algorithm in pencil beam scanning proton therapy for breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tommasino, Francesco; Fellin, Francesco; Lorentini, Stefano; Farace, Paolo

    2018-06-01

    Proton therapy for the treatment of breast cancer is acquiring increasing interest, due to the potential reduction of radiation-induced side effects such as cardiac and pulmonary toxicity. While several in silico studies demonstrated the gain in plan quality offered by pencil beam scanning (PBS) compared to passive scattering techniques, the related dosimetric uncertainties have been poorly investigated so far. Five breast cancer patients were planned with Raystation 6 analytical pencil beam (APB) and Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation algorithms. Plans were optimized with APB and then MC was used to recalculate dose distribution. Movable snout and beam splitting techniques (i.e. using two sub-fields for the same beam entrance, one with and the other without the use of a range shifter) were considered. PTV dose statistics were recorded. The same planning configurations were adopted for the experimental benchmark. Dose distributions were measured with a 2D array of ionization chambers and compared to APB and MC calculated ones by means of a γ analysis (agreement criteria 3%, 3 mm). Our results indicate that, when using proton PBS for breast cancer treatment, the Raystation 6 APB algorithm does not allow obtaining sufficient accuracy, especially with large air gaps. On the contrary, the MC algorithm resulted into much higher accuracy in all beam configurations tested and has to be recommended. Centers where a MC algorithm is not yet available should consider a careful use of APB, possibly combined with a movable snout system or in any case with strategies aimed at minimizing air gaps. Copyright © 2018 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Comparative Morphology and Histology of the Nasal Fossa in Four Mammals: Gray Squirrel, Bobcat, Coyote, and White-Tailed Deer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yee, Karen K; Craven, Brent A; Wysocki, Charles J; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire

    2016-07-01

    Although the anatomy of the nasal fossa is broadly similar among terrestrial mammals, differences are evident in the intricacies of nasal turbinal architecture, which varies from simple scroll-like to complex branching forms, and in the extent of nonsensory and olfactory epithelium covering the turbinals. In this study, detailed morphological and immunohistochemical examinations and quantitative measurements of the turbinals and epithelial lining of the nasal fossa were conducted in an array of species that include the gray squirrel, bobcat, coyote, and white-tailed deer. Results show that much more of the nose is lined with olfactory epithelium in the smallest species (gray squirrel) than in the larger species. In two species with similar body masses, bobcat and coyote, the foreshortened felid snout influences turbinal size and results in a decrease of olfactory epithelium on the ethmoturbinals relative to the longer canine snout. Ethmoturbinal surface area exceeds that of the maxilloturbinals in all four sampled animals, except the white-tailed deer, in which the two are similar in size. Combining our results with published data from a broader array of mammalian noses, it is apparent that olfactory epithelial surface area is influenced by body mass, but is also affected by aspects of life history, such as diet and habitat, as well as skull morphology, itself a product of multiple compromises between various functions, such as feeding, vision, and cognition. The results of this study warrant further examination of other mammalian noses to broaden our evolutionary understanding of nasal fossa anatomy. Anat Rec, 299:840-852, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  13. Long-term characteristics of nuclear emulsion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naganawa, N; Kuwabara, K

    2010-01-01

    Long-term characteristics of the nuclear emulsion so called 'OPERA film' used in the neutrino oscillation experiment, OPERA, has been studied for 8 years since its production or refreshing after it. In the results, it turned out to be excellent in sensitivity, amount of random noise, and refreshing characteristics. The retention capacity of latent image of tracks was also studied. The result will open the way to the recycling of 7,000,000 emulsion films which will remain not developed after 5 years of OPERA's run, and other long-term experiments with emulsion.

  14. Long-term characteristics of nuclear emulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naganawa, N.; Kuwabara, K.

    2010-02-01

    Long-term characteristics of the nuclear emulsion so called ``OPERA film'' used in the neutrino oscillation experiment, OPERA, has been studied for 8 years since its production or refreshing after it. In the results, it turned out to be excellent in sensitivity, amount of random noise, and refreshing characteristics. The retention capacity of latent image of tracks was also studied. The result will open the way to the recycling of 7,000,000 emulsion films which will remain not developed after 5 years of OPERA's run, and other long-term experiments with emulsion.

  15. From reactors to long pulse sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mezei, F.

    1995-01-01

    We will show, that by using an adapted instrumentation concept, the performance of a continuous source can be emulated by one switch on in long pulses for only about 10% of the total time. This 10 fold gain in neutron economy opens up the way for building reactor like sources with an order of magnitude higher flux than the present technological limits. Linac accelerator driven spallation lends itself favorably for the realization of this kind of long pulse sources, which will be complementary to short pulse spallation sources, the same way continuous reactor sources are

  16. Passive long range acousto-optic sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Dan

    2006-08-01

    Alexander Graham Bell's photophone of 1880 was a simple free space optical communication device that used the sun to illuminate a reflective acoustic diaphragm. A selenium photocell located 213 m (700 ft) away converted the acoustically modulated light beam back into sound. A variation of the photophone is presented here that uses naturally formed free space acousto-optic communications links to provide passive multichannel long range acoustic sensing. This system, called RAS (remote acoustic sensor), functions as a long range microphone with a demonstrated range in excess of 40 km (25 miles).

  17. Long range correlations in condensed matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bochicchio, R.C.

    1990-01-01

    Off diagonal long range order (ODLRO) correlations are strongly related with the generalized Bose-Einstein condensation. Under certain boundary conditions, one implies the other. These phenomena are of great importance in the description of quantum situations with a macroscopic manifestation (superfluidity, superconductivity, etc.). Since ion pairs are not bosons, the definition of ODLRO is modified. The information contained with the 2-particle propagator (electron pairs) and the consequences that lead to pairs statistics are shown in this presentation. The analogy between long range correlations and fluids is also analyzed. (Author). 17 refs

  18. Terrestrial propagation of long electromagnetic waves

    CERN Document Server

    Galejs, Janis; Fock, V A

    2013-01-01

    Terrestrial Propagation of Long Electromagnetic Waves deals with the propagation of long electromagnetic waves confined principally to the shell between the earth and the ionosphere, known as the terrestrial waveguide. The discussion is limited to steady-state solutions in a waveguide that is uniform in the direction of propagation. Wave propagation is characterized almost exclusively by mode theory. The mathematics are developed only for sources at the ground surface or within the waveguide, including artificial sources as well as lightning discharges. This volume is comprised of nine chapte

  19. Determinants of long acting and permanent contraceptive methods ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Introduction: In Ethiopia information on the level of utilization of the long term and ... determinant factors of long acting and permanent contraceptive methods use ... number of live children (AOR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.46- 4.02), joint fertility related ...

  20. Marketing in the long-term care continuum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurence, J Nathan; Kash, Bita A

    2010-04-01

    Today, long-term care facilities are composed of independent, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities along with many variations of those themes in between. The clientele for these various types of facilities differ because of the level of care the facility provides as well as the amenities long-term care consumers are looking for. However, there many similarities and common approaches to how reaching the target audience through effective marketing activities. Knowing who the target audience is, how to reach them, and how to communicate with them will serve any facility well in this competitive market. Developing marketing strategies for long-term care settings is as important as understanding what elements of care can be marketed individually as a niche market. Determining the market base for a facility is equally crucial since the target populations differ among the three types of facilities. By reviewing current marketing articles and applying marketing practices, we have crafted some general principles for which each facility type can learn from. Finally, we will discuss the types of marketing and how they related to the spectrum of long-term care facilities.

  1. Characteristics of asthma attack with long-term management for bronchial asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawahara, Noriko; Hasegawa, Shunji; Hashimoto, Kunio; Matsubara, Tomoyo; Ichiyama, Takashi; Furukawa, Susumu

    2009-10-01

    There have been no reports on the evaluation of the usefulness of long-term asthma management based on the Japanese Pediatric Guideline for the Treatment and Management of Bronchial Asthma 2005 (JPGL 2005). The purpose of the present study was to retrospectively investigate the records of 350 patients admitted to Yamaguchi University Hospital who had asthma attacks from January 2006 to June 2008. There were 149 patients who were treated for more than 3 months in accordance with the guideline (long-term management group) and 201 who were not (non-long-term management group). The patients were divided into three age groups: 100 infants, 159 toddlers, and 91 schoolchildren. The onset age of asthma in the long-term management group was earlier than that in the non-long-term management group in toddlers and schoolchildren. The white blood cell counts and C-reactive protein levels were higher in the non-long-term management group in schoolchildren, suggesting the complication of some infections. The severity of asthma in the long-term management group was greater than that in the non-long-term management group among all three age groups. There were no significant differences, however, in the severity of asthma attack at admission between the long-term and non-long-term management groups in the three age groups. Patients who had severe asthma tended to be treated with long-term management, which suggests that long-term asthma management according to JPGL 2005 may reduce the severity of asthma attack at that admission, because the severity of asthma in patients undergoing long-term management correlates with the severity of asthma attack.

  2. Long-acting reversible hormonal contraception

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract. Long-acting reversible hormonal contraceptives are effective methods of birth control that provide contraception for an extended ... The World Health Organization (WHO) has online tools available .... trials and marketing experience.

  3. The Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire: conceptual framework and item development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, Michele; Potter, Caroline M; Kelly, Laura; Hunter, Cheryl; Gibbons, Elizabeth; Jenkinson, Crispin; Coulter, Angela; Forder, Julien; Towers, Ann-Marie; A'Court, Christine; Fitzpatrick, Ray

    2016-01-01

    To identify the main issues of importance when living with long-term conditions to refine a conceptual framework for informing the item development of a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions. Semi-structured qualitative interviews (n=48) were conducted with people living with at least one long-term condition. Participants were recruited through primary care. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by thematic analysis. The analysis served to refine the conceptual framework, based on reviews of the literature and stakeholder consultations, for developing candidate items for a new measure for long-term conditions. Three main organizing concepts were identified: impact of long-term conditions, experience of services and support, and self-care. The findings helped to refine a conceptual framework, leading to the development of 23 items that represent issues of importance in long-term conditions. The 23 candidate items formed the first draft of the measure, currently named the Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire. The aim of this study was to refine the conceptual framework and develop items for a patient-reported outcome measure for long-term conditions, including single and multiple morbidities and physical and mental health conditions. Qualitative interviews identified the key themes for assessing outcomes in long-term conditions, and these underpinned the development of the initial draft of the measure. These initial items will undergo cognitive testing to refine the items prior to further validation in a survey.

  4. FMLRC: Hybrid long read error correction using an FM-index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jeremy R; Holt, James; McMillan, Leonard; Jones, Corbin D

    2018-02-09

    Long read sequencing is changing the landscape of genomic research, especially de novo assembly. Despite the high error rate inherent to long read technologies, increased read lengths dramatically improve the continuity and accuracy of genome assemblies. However, the cost and throughput of these technologies limits their application to complex genomes. One solution is to decrease the cost and time to assemble novel genomes by leveraging "hybrid" assemblies that use long reads for scaffolding and short reads for accuracy. We describe a novel method leveraging a multi-string Burrows-Wheeler Transform with auxiliary FM-index to correct errors in long read sequences using a set of complementary short reads. We demonstrate that our method efficiently produces significantly more high quality corrected sequence than existing hybrid error-correction methods. We also show that our method produces more contiguous assemblies, in many cases, than existing state-of-the-art hybrid and long-read only de novo assembly methods. Our method accurately corrects long read sequence data using complementary short reads. We demonstrate higher total throughput of corrected long reads and a corresponding increase in contiguity of the resulting de novo assemblies. Improved throughput and computational efficiency than existing methods will help better economically utilize emerging long read sequencing technologies.

  5. Long-range eye tracking: A feasibility study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jayaweera, S.K.; Lu, Shin-yee

    1994-08-24

    The design considerations for a long-range Purkinje effects based video tracking system using current technology is presented. Past work, current experiments, and future directions are thoroughly discussed, with an emphasis on digital signal processing techniques and obstacles. It has been determined that while a robust, efficient, long-range, and non-invasive eye tracking system will be difficult to develop, such as a project is indeed feasible.

  6. Private long-term care insurance and state tax incentives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, David G; Frank, Richard G; Tau, Jocelyn

    2009-01-01

    To increase the role of private insurance in financing long-term care, tax incentives for long-term care insurance have been implemented at both the federal and state levels. To date, there has been surprisingly little study of these initiatives. Using a panel of national data, we find that market take-up for long-term care insurance increased over the last decade, but state tax incentives were responsible for only a small portion of this growth. Ultimately, the modest ability of state tax incentives to lower premiums implies that they should be viewed as a small piece of the long-term care financing puzzle.

  7. Long Noncoding RNA Identification: Comparing Machine Learning Based Tools for Long Noncoding Transcripts Discrimination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siyu Han

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA is a kind of noncoding RNA with length more than 200 nucleotides, which aroused interest of people in recent years. Lots of studies have confirmed that human genome contains many thousands of lncRNAs which exert great influence over some critical regulators of cellular process. With the advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies, a great quantity of sequences is waiting for exploitation. Thus, many programs are developed to distinguish differences between coding and long noncoding transcripts. Different programs are generally designed to be utilised under different circumstances and it is sensible and practical to select an appropriate method according to a certain situation. In this review, several popular methods and their advantages, disadvantages, and application scopes are summarised to assist people in employing a suitable method and obtaining a more reliable result.

  8. Determinants of long acting and permanent contraceptive methods ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Introduction: in Ethiopia information on the level of utilization of the long-term and ... determinant factors of long-acting and permanent contraceptive methods use ... 95% CI: 1.46- 4.02), joint fertility related decision (AOR = 6.11, 95% CI: 2.29- ...

  9. Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring Program, Amchitka Island, Alaska

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-01-01

    The purpose of the Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring Program for Amchitka Island, Alaska, is to obtain data that will assure the public safety, inform the public, the news media, and the scientific community relative to radiological contamination, and to document compliance with federal, state, and local antipollution requirements. Amchitka's geographical setting, climate, geology, hydrology, and ecology are described. Site history including event information for LONG SHOT in 1965, MILROW in 1969, and CANNIKIN in 1971 is described. Event related contamination has been observed only at the LONG SHOT site. At this site, tritium in concentrations below the drinking water standards has been observed in mud pits and wells in the area adjacent to surface ground zero. The Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring Program for Amchitka is described. No radioactive venting, significant radioactive leakage, or bioenvironmental damage resulted from any of the nuclear tests on Amchitka

  10. Heteronuclear Long-Range Correlation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Ole W.

    The lecture will cover heteronuclear long-range correlation techniques like HMBC, H2BC, and HAT HMBC with the emphasis on determining the number of covalent bonds between two spins being correlated. H2BC and HMBC spectra are quite complementary as a peak can be strong in one of the two spectra...

  11. Search for long-lived particles at LHC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giagu Stefano

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Several scenarios beyond the Standard Model predict long-lived particles resulting in a wide variety of detector signatures depending on the nature of the particles and the decay lengths. Signals from long-lived particles are investigated by the ATLAS and CMS experiments exploiting different signatures, ranging from abnormal energy losses, to appearing or disappearing tracks, displaced vertices, lepton-jet signatures, long time-of-flight or late calorimetric energy deposits. This contribution summarizes the most recent results of the searches performed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC with the ATLAS and CMS detectors during the Run-1 data taking campaign. No evidence of any new physics is observed so far in any analysis, and the results are used to set stringent constraint on supersymmetric or hidden sector models.

  12. Long-term care financing: lessons from France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doty, Pamela; Nadash, Pamela; Racco, Nathalie

    2015-06-01

    POLICY POINTS: France's model of third-party coverage for long-term services and supports (LTSS) combines a steeply income-adjusted universal public program for people 60 or older with voluntary supplemental private insurance. French and US policies differ: the former pay cash; premiums are lower; and take-up rates are higher, in part because employer sponsorship, with and without subsidization, is more common-but also because coverage targets higher levels of need and pays a smaller proportion of costs. Such inexpensive, bare-bones private coverage, especially if marketed as a supplement to a limited public benefit, would be more affordable to those Americans currently most at risk of "spending down" to Medicaid. An aging population leads to a growing demand for long-term services and supports (LTSS). In 2002, France introduced universal, income-adjusted, public long-term care coverage for adults 60 and older, whereas the United States funds means-tested benefits only. Both countries have private long-term care insurance (LTCI) markets: American policies create alternatives to out-of-pocket spending and protect purchasers from relying on Medicaid. Sales, however, have stagnated, and the market's viability is uncertain. In France, private LTCI supplements public coverage, and sales are growing, although its potential to alleviate the long-term care financing problem is unclear. We explore whether France's very different approach to structuring public and private financing for long-term care could inform the United States' long-term care financing reform efforts. We consulted insurance experts and conducted a detailed review of public reports, academic studies, and other documents to understand the public and private LTCI systems in France, their advantages and disadvantages, and the factors affecting their development. France provides universal public coverage for paid assistance with functional dependency for people 60 and older. Benefits are steeply income

  13. SIGNATURES OF LONG-LIVED SPIRAL PATTERNS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martínez-García, Eric E.; González-Lópezlira, Rosa A.

    2013-01-01

    Azimuthal age/color gradients across spiral arms are a signature of long-lived spirals. From a sample of 19 normal (or weakly barred) spirals where we have previously found azimuthal age/color gradient candidates, 13 objects were further selected if a two-armed grand-design pattern survived in a surface density stellar mass map. Mass maps were obtained from optical and near-infrared imaging, by comparison with a Monte Carlo library of stellar population synthesis models that allowed us to obtain the mass-to-light ratio in the J band, (M/L) J , as a function of (g – i) versus (i – J) color. The selected spirals were analyzed with Fourier methods in search of other signatures of long-lived modes related to the gradients, such as the gradient divergence toward corotation, and the behavior of the phase angle of the two-armed spiral in different wavebands, as expected from theory. The results show additional signatures of long-lived spirals in at least 50% of the objects.

  14. Long-lived coherence in carotenoids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davis, J A; Cannon, E; Van Dao, L; Hannaford, P [ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science, Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria 3122 (Australia); Quiney, H M; Nugent, K A, E-mail: jdavis@swin.edu.a [ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science, School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia)

    2010-08-15

    We use two-colour vibronic coherence spectroscopy to observe long-lived vibrational coherences in the ground electronic state of carotenoid molecules, with decoherence times in excess of 1 ps. Lycopene and spheroidene were studied isolated in solution, and within the LH2 light-harvesting complex extracted from purple bacteria. The vibrational coherence time is shown to increase significantly for the carotenoid in the complex, providing further support to previous assertions that long-lived electronic coherences in light-harvesting complexes are facilitated by in-phase motion of the chromophores and surrounding proteins. Using this technique, we are also able to follow the evolution of excited state coherences and find that for carotenoids in the light-harvesting complex the (S{sub 2}|S{sub 0}) superposition remains coherent for more than 70 fs. In addition to the implications of this long electronic decoherence time, the extended coherence allows us to observe the evolution of the excited state wavepacket. These experiments reveal an enhancement of the vibronic coupling to the first vibrational level of the C-C stretching mode and/or methyl-rocking mode in the ground electronic state 70 fs after the initial excitation. These observations open the door to future experiments and modelling that may be able to resolve the relaxation dynamics of carotenoids in solution and in natural light-harvesting systems.

  15. Long-lived coherence in carotenoids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davis, J A; Cannon, E; Van Dao, L; Hannaford, P; Quiney, H M; Nugent, K A

    2010-01-01

    We use two-colour vibronic coherence spectroscopy to observe long-lived vibrational coherences in the ground electronic state of carotenoid molecules, with decoherence times in excess of 1 ps. Lycopene and spheroidene were studied isolated in solution, and within the LH2 light-harvesting complex extracted from purple bacteria. The vibrational coherence time is shown to increase significantly for the carotenoid in the complex, providing further support to previous assertions that long-lived electronic coherences in light-harvesting complexes are facilitated by in-phase motion of the chromophores and surrounding proteins. Using this technique, we are also able to follow the evolution of excited state coherences and find that for carotenoids in the light-harvesting complex the (S 2 |S 0 ) superposition remains coherent for more than 70 fs. In addition to the implications of this long electronic decoherence time, the extended coherence allows us to observe the evolution of the excited state wavepacket. These experiments reveal an enhancement of the vibronic coupling to the first vibrational level of the C-C stretching mode and/or methyl-rocking mode in the ground electronic state 70 fs after the initial excitation. These observations open the door to future experiments and modelling that may be able to resolve the relaxation dynamics of carotenoids in solution and in natural light-harvesting systems.

  16. A METHOD FOR THE EXTRACTION OF LONG-TERM DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF LONG-SPAN HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY BRIDGES USING HIGH-RESOLUTION SAR IMAGES

    OpenAIRE

    Jia, H. G.; Liu, L. Y.

    2016-01-01

    Natural causes and high-speed train load will result in the structural deformation of long-span bridges, which greatly influence the safety operation of high-speed railway. Hence it is necessary to conduct the deformation monitoring and regular status assessment for long-span bridges. However for some traditional surveying technique, e.g. control-point-based surveying techniques, a lot of human and material resources are needed to perform the long-term monitoring for the whole bridge. In this...

  17. Computer simulations of long-time tails: what's new?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoef, van der M.A.; Frenkel, D.

    1995-01-01

    Twenty five years ago Alder and Wainwright discovered, by simulation, the 'long-time tails' in the velocity autocorrelation function of a single particle in fluid [1]. Since then, few qualitatively new results on long-time tails have been obtained by computer simulations. However, within the

  18. Quantification of long term emission potential from landfills

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heimovaara, T.J.

    2011-01-01

    Novel approaches for the after-care of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills are based on technological measures to reduce the long term emission potential in a short time period. Biological degradation in landfills is a means to significantly reduce the long term emission potential. Leachate

  19. The high level and long lived radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    This report presents the main conclusions of 15 years of researches managed by the CEA. This report is the preliminary version of the 2005 final report. It presents the main conclusions of the actions on the axis 1 and 3 of the law of the 30 December 1991. The synthesis report on the axis 1 concerns results obtained on the long lived radionuclides separation and transmutation in high level and long lived radioactive wastes. the synthesis report on the axis 3 presents results obtained by the processes of conditioning and of ground and underground long term storage. (A.L.B.)

  20. INTEGRAL monitoring of unusually long X-ray bursts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chenevez, Jérôme; Falanga, M.; Kuulkers, E.

    2008-01-01

    of exceptional burst events lasting more than ~10 minutes. Half of the dozen so-called intermediate long bursts registered so far have been observed by INTEGRAL. The goal is to derive a comprehensive picture of the relationship between the nuclear ignition processes and the accretion states of the system leading...... up to such long bursts. Depending on the composition of the accreted material, these bursts may be explained by either the unstable burning of a large pile of mixed hydrogen and helium, or the ignition of a thick pure helium layer. Intermediate long bursts are particularly expected to occur at very...

  1. Long-term care financing through Federal tax incentives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, D W; Weingart, J M

    1988-12-01

    Congress and the Administration are currently exploring various methods of promoting access to long-term care. In this article, an inventory of recent legislative proposals for using the Federal tax code to expand access to long-term care services is provided. Proposals are arrayed along a functional typology that includes tax mechanisms to encourage accumulation of funds, promote purchase of long-term care insurance, or induce the diversion of funds accumulated for another purpose (such as individual retirement accounts). The proposals are evaluated against the public policy objective of encouraging risk pooling to minimize social cost.

  2. Spectral long-range interaction of temporal incoherent solitons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Gang; Garnier, Josselin; Picozzi, Antonio

    2014-02-01

    We study the interaction of temporal incoherent solitons sustained by a highly noninstantaneous (Raman-like) nonlinear response. The incoherent solitons exhibit a nonmutual interaction, which can be either attractive or repulsive depending on their relative initial distance. The analysis reveals that incoherent solitons exhibit a long-range interaction in frequency space, which is in contrast with the expected spectral short-range interaction described by the usual approach based on the Raman-like spectral gain curve. Both phenomena of anomalous interaction and spectral long-range behavior of incoherent solitons are described in detail by a long-range Vlasov equation.

  3. Evaluation of long term leaching of borosilicate glasses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lanza, F.; Parnisari, E.

    1978-01-01

    For the evaluation of long term hazard of glass, data on long term glass leaching are needed. Moreover for long term leaching a model of homogeneous dissolution seems reasonable and ask for confirmation. Tests were performed at 30 0 , 80 0 , 100 0 , using an apparatus of the Soxhlet type, to 3.600 hours. Results were obtained as a weight loss and analysed following a relation with time composed by a parabolic and a linear part. Analysis of the surface layer using energy dispersion X ray spectrometry were performed. A critical analysis of the results and of the apparatus is presented

  4. Telerobotic operation of structurally flexible, long-reach manipulators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, D.S.; Hwang, D.H.; Babcock, S.M.

    1994-01-01

    As a part of the Department of Energy's Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program, long-reach manipulators are being considered for the retrieval of waste from large storage tanks. Long-reach manipulators may have characteristics significantly different from those of typical industrial robots because of the flexibility of long links needed to cover the large workspace. To avoid structural vibrations during operation, control algorithms employing various types of shaping filters were investigated. A new approach that uses embedded simulation was developed and compared with others. In the new approach, generation of joint trajectories considering link flexibility was also investigated

  5. A new species of seahorse (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) from the South China Sea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yan-Hong; Qin, Geng; Wang, Xin; Lin, Qiang

    2016-09-23

    A new species of seahorse, Hippocampus casscsio sp. nov. was collected over shallow seagrass beds in Beibu Bay, China. This species is diagnosed from all other seahorse species by morphological characters, including the lower number of tail rings (35); 15 pectoral-fin rays; 16 dorsal-fin rays; a rounded nuchal plate without a raised coronet; a snout length 30% head length; two cheek spines and a dark brown coloration. In addition, molecular analysis showed all individuals of the new species clustering together suggesting a monophyletic lineage. This combined analysis supports the distinctness of H. casscsio sp. nov. as a new species, which is described herein.

  6. A new species of the genus Triplophysa (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae, Triplophysa daochengensis, from Sichuan Province, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Yi WU

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Triplophysa daochengensis sp. nov. is described from the Daocheng River, a northern tributary of the Jinsha River in Sichuan Province, China. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: body smooth and scales absent; lateral line complete; caudal peduncle compressed, depth unchanging; head length equal to caudal-peduncle length; lower jaw shovel-shaped; dorsal-fin origin anterior to pelvic-fin origin and closer to the tip of the snout than to the caudal-fin base, last unbranched ray hard; pelvic-fin tip not reaching anus; posterior chamber of gas bladder absent; intestine of spiral type with three winding coils.

  7. A new Gephyromantis (Phylacomantis frog species from the pinnacle karst of Bemaraha, western Madagascar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angelica Crottini

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available We describe a new mantellid frog of the subfamily Mantellinae from the karstic Bemaraha Plateau, western Madagascar. The new species belongs to the genus Gephyromantis, subgenus Phylacomantis, which previously included G. azzurrae, G. corvus and G. pseudoasper. Gephyromantis atsingy sp. n. has a snout-vent length of 35–43 mm and is a scansorial frog living among the Tsingy de Bemaraha pinnacles and inside the caves present in the area. A morphological analysis and biomolecular comparison revealed the degree of differentiation between these four species of the Phylacomantis subgenus. The new species seems to be endemic to Tsingy de Bemaraha.

  8. Identification key to species of the flying lizard genus Draco Linnaeus, 1758 (Squamata: Agamidae in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nattawut Srichairat

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available A species identification key of flying lizards in the genus Draco from Thailand was constructed based on 521 preserved specimens from collections during 1967–2012 in the Natural History Museum (THNHM, National Science Museum, Technopolis, Pathum Thani, Thailand. Regardless of sexual characters, four characters were used to identify Draco spp. lizards: 1 nostril direction; 2 type of tympanum; 3 pattern of patagium; and 4 snout with or without a series of scales forming a Y-shaped figure. The specimens were identified into nine species—Draco blanfordii, Draco fimbriatus, Draco maculatus, Draco maximus, Draco melanopogon, Draco obscurus, Draco quinquefasciatus, Draco taeniopterus and Draco volans.

  9. A new grenadier of the genus Hymenocephalus from Tosa Bay, southern Japan (Actinopterygii: Gadiformes: Macrouridae)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nakayama, Naohide; Endo, Hiromitsu; Schwarzhans, Werner

    2015-01-01

    Hymenocephalus yamasakiorum, a new species of grenadier fishes, is described from a single specimen collected from Tosa Bay off Aki, Kochi, Japan, at a depth of 320–400 m. The species is distinguished from its 26 known congeners in having the following combination of features: pelvic-fin rays nine......; pectoral-fin rays i16–i17; first dorsal-fin rays II, 10; chin barbel 55 % of head length (HL), its tip extending beyond the hind margin of orbit when laid back; snout moderately high, not depressed, length 28 % HL; orbit diameter 33 % HL; interorbital width 24 % HL; gill rakers on first arch (outer...

  10. Long-Term Stewardship Program Science and Technology Requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joan McDonald

    2002-09-01

    Many of the United States’ hazardous and radioactively contaminated waste sites will not be sufficiently remediated to allow unrestricted land use because funding and technology limitations preclude cleanup to pristine conditions. This means that after cleanup is completed, the Department of Energy will have long-term stewardship responsibilities to monitor and safeguard more than 100 sites that still contain residual contamination. Long-term stewardship encompasses all physical and institutional controls, institutions, information, and other mechanisms required to protect human health and the environment from the hazards remaining. The Department of Energy Long-Term Stewardship National Program is in the early stages of development, so considerable planning is still required to identify all the specific roles and responsibilities, policies, and activities needed over the next few years to support the program’s mission. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory was tasked with leading the development of Science and Technology within the Long-Term Stewardship National Program. As part of that role, a task was undertaken to identify the existing science and technology related requirements, identify gaps and conflicts that exist, and make recommendations to the Department of Energy for future requirements related to science and technology requirements for long-term stewardship. This work is summarized in this document.

  11. Long-term psychosocial consequences of surgical congenital malformations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diseth, Trond H; Emblem, Ragnhild

    2017-10-01

    Surgical congenital malformations often represent years of treatment, large number of hospital stays, treatment procedures, and long-term functional sequels affecting patients' psychosocial functioning. Both functional defects and psychosocial difficulties that occur commonly in childhood may pass through adolescence on to adulthood. This overview presents reports published over the past 3 decades to elucidate the long-term psychosocial consequences of surgical congenital malformations. Literature searches conducted on PubMed database revealed that less than 1% of all the records of surgical congenital malformations described long-term psychosocial consequences, but with diverse findings. This inconsistency may be due to methodological differences or deficiencies; especially in study design, patient sampling, and methods. Most of the studies revealed that the functional deficits may have great impact on patients' mental health, psychosocial functioning, and QoL; both short- and long-term negative consequences. Factors other than functional problems, e.g., repeated anesthesia, multiple hospitalization, traumatic treatment procedures, and parental dysfunctioning, may also predict long-term mental health and psychosocial functioning. Through multidisciplinary approach, pediatric surgeons should also be aware of deficits in emotional and psychosocial functioning. To achieve overall optimal psychosocial functioning, the challenge is to find a compromise between physically optimal treatment procedures and procedures that are not psychologically detrimental. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. General characteristics of long waves around the South African Coast

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Rossouw, M

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Long-period waves are almost invisible waves due to the long wave-lengths of several hundreds of metres and heights of only decimetres. The effect of these long waves can, however, be devastating in the form of harbour basin oscillations...

  13. Political Mechanisms for Long-Range Survival and Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, W.

    As the first species aware of extinction and capable of proactively ensuring our long-term survival and development, it is striking that we do not do so with the rigor, formality, and foresight it requires. Only from a reactive posture have we responded to the challenges of global warfare, human rights, environmental concerns, and sustainable development. Despite our awareness of the possibility for extinction and apocalyptic set-backs to our evolution, and despite the existence of long-range studies-which must still be dramatically increased-proactive global policy implementation regarding our long-term survival and development is arguably non-existent. This lack of long-term policy making can be attributed in part to the lack of formal political mechanisms to facilitate longer-range policy making that extends 30 years or more into the future. Political mechanisms for infusing long-range thinking, research, and strategic planning into the policy-making process can help correct this shortcoming and provide the motivation needed to adequately address long-term challenges with the political rigor required to effectively establish and implement long-term policies. There are some efforts that attempt to address longer-range issues, but those efforts often do not connect to the political process, do not extend 30 or more years into the future, are not well-funded, and are not sufficiently systemic. Political mechanisms for long-range survival and prosperity could correct these inadequacies by raising awareness, providing funding, and most importantly, leveraging political rigor to establish and enforce long-range strategic planning and policies. The feasibility of such mechanisms should first be rigorously studied and assessed in a feasibility study, which could then inform implementation. This paper will present the case for such a study and suggest some possible political mechanisms that should be investigated further in the proposed study. This work is being further

  14. Long-term course of opioid addiction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hser, Yih-Ing; Evans, Elizabeth; Grella, Christine; Ling, Walter; Anglin, Douglas

    2015-01-01

    Opioid addiction is associated with excess mortality, morbidities, and other adverse conditions. Guided by a life-course framework, we review the literature on the long-term course of opioid addiction in terms of use trajectories, transitions, and turning points, as well as other factors that facilitate recovery from addiction. Most long-term follow-up studies are based on heroin addicts recruited from treatment settings (mostly methadone maintenance treatment), many of whom are referred by the criminal justice system. Cumulative evidence indicates that opioid addiction is a chronic disorder with frequent relapses. Longer treatment retention is associated with a greater likelihood of abstinence, whereas incarceration is negatively related to subsequent abstinence. Over the long term, the mortality rate of opioid addicts (overdose being the most common cause) is about 6 to 20 times greater than that of the general population; among those who remain alive, the prevalence of stable abstinence from opioid use is low (less than 30% after 10-30 years of observation), and many continue to use alcohol and other drugs after ceasing to use opioids. Histories of sexual or physical abuse and comorbid mental disorders are associated with the persistence of opioid use, whereas family and social support, as well as employment, facilitates recovery. Maintaining opioid abstinence for at least five years substantially increases the likelihood of future stable abstinence. Recent advances in pharmacological treatment options (buprenorphine and naltrexone) include depot formulations offering longer duration of medication; their impact on the long-term course of opioid addiction remains to be assessed.

  15. Long working hours and physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angrave, David; Charlwood, Andy; Wooden, Mark

    2015-08-01

    It is widely believed that persons employed in jobs demanding long working hours are at greater risk of physical inactivity than other workers, primarily because they have less leisure time available to undertake physical activity. The aim of this study was to test this hypothesis using prospective data obtained from a nationally representative sample of employed persons. Longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (93,367 observations from 17,893 individuals) were used to estimate conditional fixed effects logistic regression models of the likelihood of moderate or vigorous physical exercise for at least 30 min, at least four times a week. No significant associations between long working hours and the incidence of healthy levels of physical activity were uncovered once other exogenous influences on activity levels were controlled for. The odds of men or women who usually work 60 or more hours per week exercising at healthy levels were 6% and 11% less, respectively, than those of comparable persons working a more standard 35-40 h/week; however, neither estimate was significantly different from 0 at 95% CI. The findings suggest that there is no trade-off between long working hours and physical activity in Australia. It is argued that these findings are broadly consistent with previous research studies from Anglo-Saxon countries (where long working hours are pervasive) that employed large nationally representative samples. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  16. Calculation of trajectory parameters of long pass in basketball.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charikova K.M.

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Values of a ball's flight trajectory parameters depending on a distance of long pass, a corner of a ball's start and height of a throwing point are submitted in article. Coordinates of reference points installation for training to long pass with an optimum trajectory of a ball's flight are designed. Requirements to simulators design are determined. Corners of ball's long pass performance in various game situations are recommended.

  17. Analysing long term discursive processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Horsbøl, Anders

    which extend beyond the single interaction, for instance negotiations or planning processes, seems to have played a less important role, with studies such as Iedema 2001 and Wodak 2000 as exceptions. These long term processes, however, are central to the constitution and workings of organizations......What do timescales - the notion that processes take place or can be viewed within a shorter or longer temporal range (Lemke 2005) - mean for the analysis of discourse? What are the methodological consequences of analyzing discourse at different timescales? It may be argued that discourse analysis...... in general has favored either the analysis of short term processes such as interviews, discussions, and lessons, or the analysis of non-processual entities such as (multimodal) texts, arguments, discursive repertoires, and discourses (in a Foucaultian sense). In contrast, analysis of long term processes...

  18. The impact of inter-annual variability of annual cycle on long-term persistence of surface air temperature in long historical records

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Qimin; Nian, Da; Fu, Zuntao

    2018-02-01

    Previous studies in the literature show that the annual cycle of surface air temperature (SAT) is changing in both amplitude and phase, and the SAT departures from the annual cycle are long-term correlated. However, the classical definition of temperature anomalies is based on the assumption that the annual cycle is constant, which contradicts the fact of changing annual cycle. How to quantify the impact of the changing annual cycle on the long-term correlation of temperature anomaly variability still remains open. In this paper, a recently developed data adaptive analysis tool, the nonlinear mode decomposition (NMD), is used to extract and remove time-varying annual cycle to reach the new defined temperature anomalies in which time-dependent amplitude of annual cycle has been considered. By means of detrended fluctuation analysis, the impact induced by inter-annual variability from the time-dependent amplitude of annual cycle has been quantified on the estimation of long-term correlation of long historical temperature anomalies in Europe. The results show that the classical climatology annual cycle is supposed to lack inter-annual fluctuation which will lead to a maximum artificial deviation centering around 600 days. This maximum artificial deviation is crucial to defining the scaling range and estimating the long-term persistence exponent accurately. Selecting different scaling range could lead to an overestimation or underestimation of the long-term persistence exponent. By using NMD method to extract the inter-annual fluctuations of annual cycle, this artificial crossover can be weakened to extend a wider scaling range with fewer uncertainties.

  19. Exotic Long-lived Particles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Morten Dam

    A search for hadronising long-lived massive particles at the Large Hadron Collider is conducted with the ATLAS detector. No excess events are found. Based on statistical analysis, upper limits on the production cross section are observed to be between 0.01 pb and 0.006 pb for colour octet particles...... (gluinos) with masses ranging from 300 GeV/c2 to 1400 GeV/c2, and 0.01 pb to 0.004 pb for colour triplet particles (stops and sbottoms) with masses ranging from 200 GeV/c2 to 900 GeV/c2. In the context of Supersymmetry with decoupled sfermion and sboson sectors (Split-SUSY), this gives a lower limit...... on the gluino mass of 989 GeV/c2, and 683 GeV/c2 for the stop mass and 618 GeV/c2 for the sbottom mass. In addition, a new method is presented that improves the speed (b ) estimation for long-lived particles in the ATLAS tile calorimeter with a factor of 7 improvement in resolution at low-b and a factor of 2...

  20. How long is long-term? reflections based on over 20 years of post-Chernobyl management in Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liland, Astrid; Lochard, Jacques; Skuterud, Lavrans

    2009-01-01

    The radiation protection community has only recently started the important work of preparedness for long-term post-accidental management of radioactively contaminated areas, like for instance the EC projects STRATEGY, FARMING and EURANOS and the French authorities' CODIRPA and PAREX programmes. There are, however, different views concerning how long a long-term management might last. Based on the Norwegian and former Soviet Union experience after the Chernobyl accident, it is clear that a nuclear accident can entail decades of necessary management and rehabilitation of living conditions. The time period is dependent on a number of factors, e.g. amount of fallout, type of radionuclides, land use of contaminated area, number and density of people affected and available techniques and resources for implementing countermeasures. This paper discusses the management strategy implemented in Norway after the Chernobyl accident, the need for changing strategy over time and the important involvement of affected groups. Careful planning and reflections should be undertaken before actions are taken in the recovery phase, keeping in mind the possibility of decades with problems.

  1. How long is long-term? reflections based on over 20 years of post-Chernobyl management in Norway

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liland, Astrid [Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, P.O. Box 55, 1332 Osteras (Norway)], E-mail: astrid.liland@nrpa.no; Lochard, Jacques [CEPN - Nuclear Protection Evaluation Centre, 28 rue de la Redoute, 92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses (France); Skuterud, Lavrans [Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, P.O. Box 55, 1332 Osteras (Norway); Norwegian Reindeer Husbandry Authority, P.O. Box 121, 7361 Roros (Norway)

    2009-07-15

    The radiation protection community has only recently started the important work of preparedness for long-term post-accidental management of radioactively contaminated areas, like for instance the EC projects STRATEGY, FARMING and EURANOS and the French authorities' CODIRPA and PAREX programmes. There are, however, different views concerning how long a long-term management might last. Based on the Norwegian and former Soviet Union experience after the Chernobyl accident, it is clear that a nuclear accident can entail decades of necessary management and rehabilitation of living conditions. The time period is dependent on a number of factors, e.g. amount of fallout, type of radionuclides, land use of contaminated area, number and density of people affected and available techniques and resources for implementing countermeasures. This paper discusses the management strategy implemented in Norway after the Chernobyl accident, the need for changing strategy over time and the important involvement of affected groups. Careful planning and reflections should be undertaken before actions are taken in the recovery phase, keeping in mind the possibility of decades with problems.

  2. Modeling Wettability Variation during Long-Term Water Flooding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renyi Cao

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Surface property of rock affects oil recovery during water flooding. Oil-wet polar substances adsorbed on the surface of the rock will gradually be desorbed during water flooding, and original reservoir wettability will change towards water-wet, and the change will reduce the residual oil saturation and improve the oil displacement efficiency. However there is a lack of an accurate description of wettability alternation model during long-term water flooding and it will lead to difficulties in history match and unreliable forecasts using reservoir simulators. This paper summarizes the mechanism of wettability variation and characterizes the adsorption of polar substance during long-term water flooding from injecting water or aquifer and relates the residual oil saturation and relative permeability to the polar substance adsorbed on clay and pore volumes of flooding water. A mathematical model is presented to simulate the long-term water flooding and the model is validated with experimental results. The simulation results of long-term water flooding are also discussed.

  3. Memory and long-range correlations in chess games

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaigorodsky, Ana L.; Perotti, Juan I.; Billoni, Orlando V.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we report the existence of long-range memory in the opening moves of a chronologically ordered set of chess games using an extensive chess database. We used two mapping rules to build discrete time series and analyzed them using two methods for detecting long-range correlations; rescaled range analysis and detrended fluctuation analysis. We found that long-range memory is related to the level of the players. When the database is filtered according to player levels we found differences in the persistence of the different subsets. For high level players, correlations are stronger at long time scales; whereas in intermediate and low level players they reach the maximum value at shorter time scales. This can be interpreted as a signature of the different strategies used by players with different levels of expertise. These results are robust against the assignation rules and the method employed in the analysis of the time series.

  4. Disrupted Bone Metabolism in Long-Term Bedridden Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eimori, Keiko; Endo, Naoto; Uchiyama, Seiji; Takahashi, Yoshinori; Kawashima, Hiroyuki; Watanabe, Kei

    2016-01-01

    Bedridden patients are at risk of osteoporosis and fractures, although the long-term bone metabolic processes in these patients are poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to determine how long-term bed confinement affects bone metabolism. This study included 36 patients who had been bedridden from birth due to severe immobility. Bone mineral density and bone metabolism markers were compared to the bedridden period in all study patients. Changes in the bone metabolism markers during a follow-up of 12 years were studied in 17 patients aged bedridden period. During the follow-up, osteocalcin and parathyroid hormone were decreased, and the 25(OH) vitamin D was increased. NTX at baseline was negatively associated with bone mineral density after 12 years. Unique bone metabolic abnormalities were found in patients who had been bedridden for long periods, and these metabolic abnormalities were altered by further bed confinement. Appropriate treatment based on the unique bone metabolic changes may be important in long-term bedridden patients.

  5. Error reduction techniques for measuring long synchrotron mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irick, S.

    1998-07-01

    Many instruments and techniques are used for measuring long mirror surfaces. A Fizeau interferometer may be used to measure mirrors much longer than the interferometer aperture size by using grazing incidence at the mirror surface and analyzing the light reflected from a flat end mirror. Advantages of this technique are data acquisition speed and use of a common instrument. Disadvantages are reduced sampling interval, uncertainty of tangential position, and sagittal/tangential aspect ratio other than unity. Also, deep aspheric surfaces cannot be measured on a Fizeau interferometer without a specially made fringe nulling holographic plate. Other scanning instruments have been developed for measuring height, slope, or curvature profiles of the surface, but lack accuracy for very long scans required for X-ray synchrotron mirrors. The Long Trace Profiler (LTP) was developed specifically for long x-ray mirror measurement, and still outperforms other instruments, especially for aspheres. Thus, this paper focuses on error reduction techniques for the LTP

  6. Adverse event reporting in Czech long-term care facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hěib, Zdenřk; Vychytil, Pavel; Marx, David

    2013-04-01

    To describe adverse event reporting processes in long-term care facilities in the Czech Republic. Prospective cohort study involving a written questionnaire followed by in-person structured interviews with selected respondents. Long-term care facilities located in the Czech Republic. Staff of 111 long-term care facilities (87% of long-term care facilities in the Czech Republic). None. Sixty-three percent of long-term health-care facilities in the Czech Republic have adverse event-reporting processes already established, but these were frequently very immature programs sometimes consisting only of paper recording of incidents. Compared to questionnaire responses, in-person interview responses only partially tended to confirm the results of the written survey. Twenty-one facilities (33%) had at most 1 unconfirmed response, 31 facilities (49%) had 2 or 3 unconfirmed responses and the remaining 11 facilities (17%) had 4 or more unconfirmed responses. In-person interviews suggest that use of a written questionnaire to assess the adverse event-reporting process may have limited validity. Staff of the facilities we studied expressed an understanding of the importance of adverse event reporting and prevention, but interviews also suggested a lack of knowledge necessary for establishing a good institutional reporting system in long-term care.

  7. Kondratiev cycles and so-called long waves. The early research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Tinbergen (Jan)

    1981-01-01

    textabstractThis paper recalls some early work of the Dutch pioneers of long-wave research which anticipated many of the contemporary debates. Various explanations which have been advanced for the existence of long waves are reviewed, and the applicability of long-wave theories in a number of

  8. Catharsis – Philosophical and Spiritual Aspects of Long-Distance Running

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nemec Marcel

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze the occurrence of cathartic states in a sample of long-distance runners. Data collected via questionnaires were used to evaluate quantitative variables complemented by heuristics while aiming at qualitatively categorize the areas of cathartic states in the context of philosophical and spiritual aspects of long-distance running. The study findings objectify philosophical and spiritual aspects affecting personalities of long-distance runners. The study findings have shown that catharsis represents a relevant philosophical and spiritual aspect affecting long-distance running. We assume that authentic experience of catharsis and its effects motivates runners to perform regular physical activity. The analysis of philosophical and spiritual aspects of long-distance running has revealed a multi-spectral holistic relevance based on the transfer affecting a specific way of life, spectrum of values, ethical personality traits, and also the quality of long-distance runners’ lives.

  9. The LongPen--the world's first original remote signing device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruger, Diane M

    2010-05-01

    The LongPen is a remote-controlled pen and videoconferencing device conceived by Canadian author Margaret Atwood in 2004 and initially intended to bring "live" author signings to far away locations. The LongPen allows for individually inscribed long distance signatures and writing while maintaining an original record, written with pen and ink. LongPen specimens were compared with control specimens using different speeds, pen pressures, and types of pens. Preliminary indications are that LongPen inscriptions can be identified or associated with their author. Size and form are maintained and artifacts are subtle. Some limitations with respect to the capture of long tapered strokes, delicate connecting strokes, and differences in line width were noted. Factors which may impact forensic handwriting examinations include limited amounts of writing, light pen pressure, date of the writing, type of writing instrument, dimensions of the writing, and failure to consider that the device has been used.

  10. Pediatric polytrauma : Short-term and long-term outcomes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    vanderSluis, CK; Kingma, J; Eisma, WH; tenDuis, HJ

    Objective: To assess the short-term and long-term outcomes of pediatric polytrauma patients and to analyze the extent to which short-term outcomes can predict long-term outcomes. Materials and Methods: Ail pediatric polytrauma patients (Injury Severity Score of greater than or equal to 16, less than

  11. Consolidation of long-term memory: Evidence and alternatives.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meeter, M.; Murre, J.M.J.

    2004-01-01

    Memory loss in retrograde amnesia has long been held to be larger for recent periods than for remote periods, a pattern usually referred to as the Ribot gradient. One explanation for this gradient is consolidation of long-term memories. Several computational models of such a process have shown how

  12. Assessing the market for long-term care services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, J A; Taylor, S

    1984-02-01

    Traditionally, long-term care services have been used by a diverse marketplace. The chronically ill, developmentally disabled, mentally ill and aging population has looked to long-term care support services as a means of physical and emotional support. Much of the time these services were housed together for the sake of efficiency. The enormous burden these services are creating on the economy, and the growing aging population, have forced the recognition that long-term care service delivery systems must change. Alternate programming for long-term care services that reach out into the community and into individual homes is becoming an attractive approach to meeting the growing demands of the marketplace. Home health, specialized housing and creative funding mechanisms such as HMOs, are examples of initiatives undertaken by healthcare organizations that view diversification as a vehicle for survival. Market research techniques that have been used in other industries are being adapted to the healthcare industry to ensure the proper mix of services that are demanded by older, more knowledgeable consumers. The programs of the future will be market driven, with the ability of the individual to pay for such services playing a significant role. The healthcare provider of today is in a position to serve the community in new ways. By becoming an integral link in the long-term care system and by developing new programs, the organization can serve as a catalyst for change. It is up to the governing bodies and managers of these facilities to become visionaries and to accept responsibility for assessing the market for long-term care services and to guide their organization into the future.

  13. Long distance triathlon: demands, preparation and performance

    OpenAIRE

    Laursen, Paul B.

    2011-01-01

    The rise in worldwide popularity of long distance triathlon racing comes with it an increased interest into how to train and prepare optimally for such an event. This paper examines the physiologic and bioenergetic demands of long distance triathlon racing, including energy requirements, muscle damage consequences, thermoregulatory demands and water turnover rates. In response to these physiological challenges, the second part of the paper describes the training goals and race practices that ...

  14. Trastuzumab use during pregnancy: long-term survival after locally advanced breast cancer and long-term infant follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrade, Jurandyr M de; Brito, Luiz G O; Moises, Elaine C D; Amorim, Andréa C; Rapatoni, Liane; Carrara, Hélio H A; Tiezzi, Daniel G

    2016-04-01

    Here, we describe the case of a patient diagnosed with locally advanced breast cancer 8 years ago. Her treatment course was neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by mastectomy and then adjuvant radiotherapy and trastuzumab (TTZ). During the use of adjuvant targeted therapy, an incidental pregnancy was diagnosed. Four years later, she developed bone and cerebral metastases, and since then, she has received courses of TTZ, capecitabine, lapatinib, and radiotherapy with intermittent control of the disease. Her 7-year-old son presents a normal physical and long-term neurological developmental curve according to specialized evaluation. This case is unique for several reasons: the patient received the highest dose of TTZ yet described during pregnancy (4400 mg); there has been a long period of disease-free survival after treatment for locally advanced breast cancer and long overall survival despite successive disease progressions during the metastatic phase of the disease (97 months), and there was a monitored pediatric follow-up period (7 years).

  15. Group long-term care insurance: decision-making factors and implications for financing long-term care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stum, Marlene S

    2008-01-01

    This study proposes and tests a systemic family decision-making framework to understand group long-term care insurance (LTCI) enrollment decisions. A random sample of public employees who were offered group LTCI as a workplace benefit were examined. Findings reveal very good predictive efficacy for the overall conceptual framework with a pseudo R2 value of .687, and reinforced the contributions of factors within the family system. Enrollees were more likely to have discussed the decision with others, used information sources, and had prior experience when compared to non-enrollees. Perceived health status, financial knowledge, attitudes regarding the role of private insurance, risk taking, and coverage features were additional factors related to enrollment decisions. The findings help to inform policymakers about the potential of LTCI as one strategy for financing long-term care.

  16. Williamsport Area Community College Long Range Planning: The Long Range Plan, Update 1987.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamsport Area Community Coll., PA.

    This update to Williamsport Area Community College's (WACC's) 1984-89 long-range plan offers a status report on each of the plan's 78 objectives, reassigns responsibility for specific objectives to make the plan responsive to the current organizational structure of the college, and offers 11 new objectives for the 1986-87 academic year. After…

  17. Macro-Finance Determinants of the Long-Run Stock-Bond Correlation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asgharian, Hossein; Christiansen, Charlotte; Hou, Ai Jun

    itself. Macro-finance variables and the lagged realized correlation are simultaneously significant in forecasting the long-run stock-bond correlation. The behavior of the long-run stock-bond correlation is very different when estimated taking the macro-finance variables into account. Supporting......We investigate the long-run stock-bond correlation using a novel model that combines the dynamic conditional correlation model with the mixed-data sampling approach. The long-run correlation is affected by both macro-finance variables (historical and forecasts) and the lagged realized correlation...

  18. Stress corrosion crack preventive method for long housing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugano, Maki.

    1992-01-01

    If a neutron flux monitoring housing or a control rod driving mechanism (CRD) housing, as a long housing, is welded to reactor container, a portion of the long housing put under the effect of heat upon welding is converted to a sensitized austenite stainless steel, to cause stress corrosion cracks (SCC). Then, the inner surface of the a region of the long housing put under the effect of heat by welding is melted by a relatively low amount of heat input so that δ-ferrite tissues are caused to deposit in this region. With such procedures, crack sensitivity can be lowered, thereby enabling to improve SCC resistance. (T.M.)

  19. Long range implantation by MEVVA metal ion source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Tonghe; Wu Yuguang; Ma Furong; Liang Hong

    2001-01-01

    Metal vapor vacuum arc (MEVVA) source ion implantation is a new technology used for achieving long range ion implantation. It is very important for research and application of the ion beam modification of materials. The results show that the implanted atom diffusion coefficient increases in Mo implanted Al with high ion flux and high dose. The implanted depth is 311.6 times greater than that of the corresponding ion range. The ion species, doses and ion fluxes play an important part in the long-range implantation. Especially, thermal atom chemistry have specific effect on the long-range implantation during high ion flux implantation at transient high target temperature

  20. Dynamic Measurement of Extra Long Stroke Cylinder in the Pneumatic System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang Ho; Lan Chouwei; Chen, L-C

    2006-01-01

    This paper sets up the measure and control system of the dynamic characteristics of the extra long stroke cylinder. In the different types of the control conditions (e.g. different control law, operating pressure and direct control valves), using the measure and control system to measure the relation between the pressure and the velocity of the motion of the long stroke cylinder and to observe the stick slip phenomenon of the motion of the long stroke cylinder. In the innovate measurement system, two pressure sensors are set on the long stroke cylinder to measure the difference of the pressure between the inlet and the exhaust of the long stroke cylinder. In additions, a draw line encoder is set on the system to measure the position and the velocity of the motion of the long stroke cylinder. The measuring data of the measure system is transferred to the computer via A/D interface card and counter card, and Home-made program of Haptic Interface Device is used to control the system, saving the data of the motion of the long stroke cylinder. The system uses different types of direction control valve to control the motion of the long stroke cylinder and compares the difference of the motion of the long stroke cylinder. The results show that the motion of the cylinder that pauses in the middle of the cylinder stroke and causes the stick slip phenomenon is more violent than the stick slip phenomenon in other position. When the length of the pause time reaches the some range, the acceleration of the motion of the cylinder will be rised substantially. This paper not only focuses on the testing method of the dynamic characteristics of the motion of the long stroke cylinder, but also includes the analysis of the dynamic characteristics of the motion of the long stroke cylinder. It provides the data of the dynamic characteristics of the motion of the long stroke cylinder to improve and design the pneumatic system of the long stroke cylinder

  1. Primary tendinitis of the long head of the biceps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Post, M; Benca, P

    1989-09-01

    Seventeen patients with chronic painful shoulders who showed evidence of isolated bicipital tendinitis involving only the extracapsular, intertubercular portion of the long head of the biceps were chosen for surgical treatment when conservative treatment failed. The patients were thought to have primary bicipital tendinitis. The latter condition is secondary to other shoulder pathologies. Thirteen patients had tenodeses and four patients had transfer of the long head of the biceps to the origin of the conjoined tendon. Overall, excellent and good results were noted in 94% of both groups of patients when the long head of the biceps was tenodesed or transferred. Whether or not the long head of the biceps is a significant depressor of the humeral head requires further investigation.

  2. Storage options for Long Length Contaminated Equipment (LLCE) items

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hodgson, R.D.

    1994-11-01

    A review of the Washington state requirements for the storage of long equipment items removed from tanks indicate that if the contaminated materials on the long equipment items are analyzed and determined to be DW, and not EHW, the containers can be stored on an uncovered, RCRA approved, storage pad. Long equipment items contaminated with reportable levels of EHW, or suspected of being contaminated with EHW, must be protected from the elements by means of a building or other protective covering that otherwise allows adequate inspection of the containers. Storage of the long equipment item containers on an uncovered storage pad is recommended and will reduce construction costs for new storage by an estimated 60 percent when compared to construction costs for enclosed storage

  3. Long-Range Piping Inspection by Ultrasonic Guided Waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joo, Young Sang; Lim, Sa Hoe; Eom, Heung Seop; Kim, Jae Hee

    2005-01-01

    The ultrasonic guided waves are very promising for the long-range inspection of large structures because they can propagate a long distance along the structures such as plates, shells and pipes. The guided wave inspection could be utilized for an on-line monitoring technique when the transmitting and receiving transducers are positioned at a remote point on the structure. The received signal has the information about the integrity of the monitoring area between the transmitting and receiving transducers. On-line monitoring of a pipe line using an ultrasonic guided wave can detect flaws such as corrosion, erosion and fatigue cracking at an early stage and collect useful information on the flaws. However the guided wave inspection is complicated by the dispersive characteristics for guided waves. The phase and group velocities are a function of the frequency-thickness product. Therefore, the different frequency components of the guided waves will travel at different speeds and the shape of the received signal will changed as it propagates along the pipe. In this study, we analyze the propagation characteristics of guided wave modes in a small diameter pipe of nuclear power plant and select the suitable mode for a long-range inspection. And experiments will be carried out for the practical application of a long-range inspection in a 26m long pipe by using a high-power ultrasonic inspection system

  4. The Flooding of Long Island Sound

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, E.; Varekamp, J. C.; Lewis, R. S.

    2007-12-01

    Between the Last Glacial Maximum (22-19 ka) and the Holocene (10 ka) regions marginal to the Laurentide Ice Sheets saw complex environmental changes from moraines to lake basins to dry land to estuaries and marginal ocean basins, as a result of the interplay between the topography of moraines formed at the maximum extent and during stages of the retreat of the ice sheet, regional glacial rebound, and global eustatic sea level rise. In New England, the history of deglaciation and relative sea level rise has been studied extensively, and the sequence of events has been documented in detail. The Laurentide Ice Sheet reached its maximum extent (Long Island) at 21.3-20.4 ka according to radiocarbon dating (calibrated ages), 19.0-18.4 ka according to radionuclide dating. Periglacial Lake Connecticut formed behind the moraines in what is now the Long Island Sound Basin. The lake drained through the moraine at its eastern end. Seismic records show that a fluvial system was cut into the exposed lake beds, and a wave-cut unconformity was produced during the marine flooding, which has been inferred to have occurred at about 15.5 ka (Melt Water Pulse 1A) through correlation with dated events on land. Vibracores from eastern Long Island Sound penetrate the unconformity and contain red, varved lake beds overlain by marine grey sands and silts with a dense concentration of oysters in life position above the erosional contact. The marine sediments consist of intertidal to shallow subtidal deposits with oysters, shallow-water foraminifera and litoral diatoms, overlain by somewhat laminated sandy silts, in turn overlain by coarser-grained, sandy to silty sediments with reworked foraminifera and bivalve fragments. The latter may have been deposited in a sand-wave environment as present today at the core locations. We provide direct age control of the transgression with 30 radiocarbon dates on oysters, and compared the ages with those obtained on macrophytes and bulk organic carbon in

  5. Long-term EEG in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montavont, A; Kaminska, A; Soufflet, C; Taussig, D

    2015-03-01

    Long-term video-EEG corresponds to a recording ranging from 1 to 24 h or even longer. It is indicated in the following situations: diagnosis of epileptic syndromes or unclassified epilepsy, pre-surgical evaluation for drug-resistant epilepsy, follow-up of epilepsy or in cases of paroxysmal symptoms whose etiology remains uncertain. There are some specificities related to paediatric care: a dedicated pediatric unit; continuous monitoring covering at least a full 24-hour period, especially in the context of pre-surgical evaluation; the requirement of presence by the parents, technician or nurse; and stronger attachment of electrodes (cup electrodes), the number of which is adapted to the age of the child. The chosen duration of the monitoring also depends on the frequency of seizures or paroxysmal events. The polygraphy must be adapted to the type and topography of movements. It is essential to have at least an electrocardiography (ECG) channel, respiratory sensor and electromyography (EMG) on both deltoids. There is no age limit for performing long-term video-EEG even in newborns and infants; nevertheless because of scalp fragility, strict surveillance of the baby's skin condition is required. In the specific context of pre-surgical evaluation, long-term video-EEG must record all types of seizures observed in the child. This monitoring is essential in order to develop hypotheses regarding the seizure onset zone, based on electroclinical correlations, which should be adapted to the child's age and the psychomotor development. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier SAS.

  6. Long term complications of diabetes

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000327.htm Long-term complications of diabetes To use the sharing features on this page, ... other tests. All these may help you keep complications of diabetes away. You will need to check your blood ...

  7. Game-Based Life-Long Learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kelle, Sebastian; Sigurðarson, Steinn; Westera, Wim; Specht, Marcus

    2010-01-01

    Kelle, S., Sigurðarson, S., Westera, W., & Specht, M. (2011). Game-Based Life-Long Learning. In G. D. Magoulas (Ed.), E-Infrastructures and Technologies for Lifelong Learning: Next Generation Environments (pp. 337-349). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

  8. Long-Term Persistency of Abnormal Heart Rate Variability following Long NICU Stay and Surgery at Birth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mélanie Morin

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Preterm birth is associated with painful procedures during the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU stay. Full-term newborns can also experience pain, following surgery. These procedures can have long-lasting consequences. It has been shown that children born preterm show pain responses and cardiac alterations. This study aimed to explore the heart rate reactivity to pain in 107 subjects born either preterm or full-term who were between 7 and 25 years old at testing. We also evaluated the effect of pain experienced at birth, as represented by a longer NICU stay, time under ventilation, and surgery at birth. Participants were asked to immerse their right forearm in 10°C water for 2 minutes. Electrocardiograms were recorded at baseline and during the immersion procedure. Full-term subjects showed a stable increase in heart rate throughout the procedure, whereas preterm ones showed a strong increase at the beginning, which decreased over time. Also, preterm and full-term subjects who experienced pain at birth showed higher resting heart rate, stronger sympathetic activity, and lower cardiac vagal activity. Our study demonstrated a long-term impact of a long NICU stay and surgery at birth on cardiac autonomic activity. This could lead to impaired reactions to pain or stress in later life.

  9. Long Time Coming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schaub Jr, Gary John; Kristensen, Kristian Søby; Pradhan-Blach, Flemming

    aerial vehicles (UAVs) represents the next step in modern airpower’s long-range reconnaissance/precision strike complex and has transformed ground operations. They were not demanded until their worth was proven in recent operations—after 60 years of development. The experiences of the United States......, United Kingdom, France, and Denmark demonstrate why. UAVs have been difficult to develop, employ, maintain, and integrate into modern militaries and have only recently become effective. Such challenges should temper expectations that they represent an inexpensive alternative to all types of modern...

  10. Near-Term Actions to Address Long-Term Climate Risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lempert, R. J.

    2014-12-01

    Addressing climate change requires effective long-term policy making, which occurs when reflecting on potential events decades or more in the future causes policy makers to choose near-term actions different than those they would otherwise pursue. Contrary to some expectations, policy makers do sometimes make such long-term decisions, but not as commonly and successfully as climate change may require. In recent years however, the new capabilities of analytic decision support tools, combined with improved understanding of cognitive and organizational behaviors, has significantly improved the methods available for organizations to manage longer-term climate risks. In particular, these tools allow decision makers to understand what near-term actions consistently contribute to achieving both short- and long-term societal goals, even in the face of deep uncertainty regarding the long-term future. This talk will describe applications of these approaches for infrastructure, water, and flood risk management planning, as well as studies of how near-term choices about policy architectures can affect long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction pathways.

  11. General conditions for the generation of long-distance entanglement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuwahara, Tomotaka

    2012-01-01

    We generally investigate necessary conditions for the generation of long-distance entanglement. We consider a quantum system in which a system mediates the indirect interaction between two spins, which we refer to as probe spins. Firstly, we weaken the coupling between each probe spin and the mediator system to the infinitesimal strength in order to generate the long-distance entanglement. We give two necessary conditions for the mediator system to generate the long-distance entanglement. We prove that indirect interaction cannot generate the entanglement if it is ‘classical’. We also give a necessary condition for the effective fields on the probe spins to satisfy. Secondly, we generate the long-distance entanglement by the use of only external fields. We show that external fields on the adjacent spins to the probes are necessary in addition to external fields on the probe spins. Finally, we consider the cases where the coupling strength between each probe spin and the mediator system is finite. In particular, we show two examples where the external fields on the mediator system highly enhance the long-distance entanglement. (paper)

  12. Macro-Finance Determinants of the Long-Run Stock-Bond Correlation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asgharian, Hossein; Christiansen, Charlotte; Hou, Ai Jun

    2016-01-01

    We investigate long-run stock–bond correlation using a model that combines the dynamic conditional correlation model with the mixed-data sampling approach and allows long-run correlation to be affected by macro-finance factors (historical and forecasts). We use macro-finance factors related...... to inflation and interest rates, illiquidity, state of the economy, and market uncertainty. Macro-finance factors, particularly their forecasts, are good at forecasting long-run stock–bond correlation. Supporting the flight-to-quality phenomenon, long-run correlation tends to be small and negative when...

  13. Appendix BB: long coring facility (LCF)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Driscoll, A.H.; Silva, A.J.

    1981-01-01

    During the 1979 performance period the Engineering Design of the Long Coring Facility has addressed a variety of tasks relating to the establishment of a series of operating parameters for a conceptual 50 meter long coring system. The results of these efforts have indicated that an operational system capable of the recovery of 50 meter long cores, from oceanic depths in sediments of 400 gm cm 2 is wholly possible given existing technology. Specific tasks included in the 1979 Engineering Design are as follows: (1) Hydrodynamic Stability; (2) Corer Structural Stability; (3) Corer Penetration Mechanics; (4) Anticipated Corer Pullout forces; (5) LCF Cable Dynamics; and (6) Core Head Instrumentation. Within the realm of Subseabed Disposal Programs Master Plan the LCF, as a part of the Instrumentation Development activity, is currently on schedule. Delays in receiving funding during 1979 have reduced, some what, the latitude enjoyed by the LCF project and have limited our progress to a point where any future delay can result in the LCF's falling behind the program schedule. However, at this time the LCF is considered to be on schedule, but lacking in flexibility to respond to any major contingency that may arise in the future

  14. Down the Road...Long Range Planning for Automation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Texas State Library, Austin. Dept. of Library Development.

    The materials in this manual/workbook were prepared to assist participants in a workshop on long-range planning for library automation. Chapters cover the following topics: (1) "What Is Long-Range Planning?" (2) "Why Plan?" (3) "Who Needs to Participate?" (4) "Planning to Plan"; (5) "Determining Needs"; (6) "Description and Introduction"; (7)…

  15. Long-Run Impact of Increased Wage Pressure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Claus Thustrup

    1999-01-01

    An unanticipated permanent increase in wage pressure is analyzed in a dynamic general-equilibrium model combining standard theory of capital accumulation and monopolistic wage setting. The long-run (steady-state) implications are identical percentage reduction in employment, consumption, and capi......An unanticipated permanent increase in wage pressure is analyzed in a dynamic general-equilibrium model combining standard theory of capital accumulation and monopolistic wage setting. The long-run (steady-state) implications are identical percentage reduction in employment, consumption...

  16. (Non-)Arguments in Long-Distance Extractions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyvad, Anne Mette; Kizach, Johannes; Christensen, Ken Ramshøj

    2015-10-01

    Previous research has shown that in fully grammatical sentences, response time increases and acceptability decreases when the filler in a long-distance extraction is incompatible with the matrix verb. This effect could potentially be due to a difference between argument and adjunct extraction. In this paper we investigate the effect of long extraction of arguments and adjuncts where incompatibility is kept constant. Based on the results from two offline surveys and an online experiment, we argue that the argument/adjunct asymmetry in terms of acceptability is due to differences in processing difficulty, but that both types of extraction involve the same intermediate attachment sites in the online processing.

  17. Long-term visual associations affect attentional guidance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olivers, Christian N L

    2011-06-01

    When observers perform a visual search task, they are assumed to adopt an attentional set for what they are looking for. The present experiment investigates the influence of long-term visual memory associations on this attentional set. On each trial, observers were asked to search a display for a grayscale version of a known traffic sign. On each trial, a distractor sign was drawn in full color. This color could either be related or unrelated to the target sign. Distractors interfered more with search when their color was related (e.g. red when the target was a stop sign), implying that long-term color associations resulted in inadvertent attentional guidance, even though color was irrelevant to the task. The results add to the growing body of evidence that long-term memory representations automatically affect attentional orienting. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Development of long operating cycle simplified BWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heki, H.; Nakamaru, M.; Maruya, T.; Hiraiwa, K.; Arai, K.; Narabayash, T.; Aritomi, M.

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes an innovative plant concept for long operating cycle simplified BWR (LSBWR) In this plant concept, 1) Long operating cycle ( 3 to 15 years), 2) Simplified systems and building, 3) Factory fabrication in module are discussed. Designing long operating core is based on medium enriched U-235 with burnable poison. Simplified systems and building are realized by using natural circulation with bottom located core, internal CRD and PCV with passive system and an integrated reactor and turbine building. This LSBWR concept will have make high degree of safety by IVR (In Vessel Retention) capability, large water inventory above the core region and no PCV vent to the environment due to PCCS (Passive Containment Cooling System) and internal vent tank. Integrated building concept could realize highly modular arrangement in hull structure (ship frame structure), ease of seismic isolation capability and high applicability of standardization and factory fabrication. (authors)

  19. PSA modeling of long-term accident sequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georgescu, Gabriel; Corenwinder, Francois; Lanore, Jeanne-Marie

    2014-01-01

    In the context of the extension of PSA scope to include external hazards, in France, both operator (EDF) and IRSN work for the improvement of methods to better take into account in the PSA the accident sequences induced by initiators which affect a whole site containing several nuclear units (reactors, fuel pools,...). These methodological improvements represent an essential prerequisite for the development of external hazards PSA. However, it has to be noted that in French PSA, even before Fukushima, long term accident sequences were taken into account: many insight were therefore used, as complementary information, to enhance the safety level of the plants. IRSN proposed an external events PSA development program. One of the first steps of the program is the development of methods to model in the PSA the long term accident sequences, based on the experience gained. At short term IRSN intends to enhance the modeling of the 'long term' accident sequences induced by the loss of the heat sink or/and the loss of external power supply. The experience gained by IRSN and EDF from the development of several probabilistic studies treating long term accident sequences shows that the simple extension of the mission time of the mitigation systems from 24 hours to longer times is not sufficient to realistically quantify the risk and to obtain a correct ranking of the risk contributions and that treatment of recoveries is also necessary. IRSN intends to develop a generic study which can be used as a general methodology for the assessment of the long term accident sequences, mainly generated by external hazards and their combinations. This first attempt to develop this generic study allowed identifying some aspects, which may be hazard (or combinations of hazards) or related to initial boundary conditions, which should be taken into account for further developments. (authors)

  20. Long memory analysis by using maximal overlapping discrete wavelet transform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafie, Nur Amalina binti; Ismail, Mohd Tahir; Isa, Zaidi

    2015-05-01

    Long memory process is the asymptotic decay of the autocorrelation or spectral density around zero. The main objective of this paper is to do a long memory analysis by using the Maximal Overlapping Discrete Wavelet Transform (MODWT) based on wavelet variance. In doing so, stock market of Malaysia, China, Singapore, Japan and United States of America are used. The risk of long term and short term investment are also being looked into. MODWT can be analyzed with time domain and frequency domain simultaneously and decomposing wavelet variance to different scales without loss any information. All countries under studied show that they have long memory. Subprime mortgage crisis in 2007 is occurred in the United States of America are possible affect to the major trading countries. Short term investment is more risky than long term investment.

  1. Long-term outcomes of children undergoing video-assisted gastrostomy

    OpenAIRE

    Sal?, Martin; Santimano, Ana; Helmroth, Sofia; Stenstr?m, Pernilla; Arnbjornsson, Einar ?lafur

    2016-01-01

    Purpose The aims of this study were to assess the short- and long-term complication rates after video-assisted gastrostomy (VAG), the effects of age and gender on long-term complications and the effect of duration of gastrostomy tube retention on the need for gastroraphy when the gastrostomy device was removed. Methods This was a retrospective study of children undergoing VAG at a single institution. Children who died or moved from the area were excluded. The rates of short- and long-term com...

  2. Testing for long memory in volatility in the Indian Forex market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kumar Anoop S.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This article attempts to verify the presence of long memory in volatility in the Indian foreign exchange market using daily bilateral returns of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar from 17/02/1994 to 08/11/2013. In the first part of the analysis the presence of long-term dependence is confirmed in the return series as well as in two measures of unconditional volatility (absolute returns and squared returns by employing three measures of long memory. Next, the presence of long memory in conditional volatility is tested using ARMA-FIGARCH and ARMA-FIAPARCH models under various distributional assumptions. The results confirm the presence of long memory in conditional variance for two models. In the last part, the presence of long memory in conditional mean and conditional variance is verified using ARFIMA-FIGARCH and ARFIMA-FIAPARCH models. It is also found that long-memory models fare well compared to short-memory models in sample forecast performance.

  3. Long-range contributions to double beta decay revisited

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Helo, J.C. [Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Centro-Científico-Tecnológico de Valparaíso,Casilla 110-V, Valparaíso (Chile); Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La Serena, Avenida Cisternas 1200, La Serena (Chile); Hirsch, M. [HEP Group, Instituto de Física Corpuscular,C.S.I.C./Universitat de València Edificio Institutos de Investigacion,Parc Cientific de Paterna, Apartado 22085, E-46071 València (Spain); Ota, T. [Department of Physics, Saitama University,Shimo-Okubo 255, 338-8570 Saitama-Sakura (Japan)

    2016-06-01

    We discuss the systematic decomposition of all dimension-7 (d=7) lepton number violating operators. These d=7 operators produce momentum enhanced contributions to the long-range part of the 0νββ decay amplitude and thus are severely constrained by existing half-live limits. In our list of possible models one can find contributions to the long-range amplitude discussed previously in the literature, such as the left-right symmetric model or scalar leptoquarks, as well as some new models not considered before. The d=7 operators generate Majorana neutrino mass terms either at tree-level, 1-loop or 2-loop level. We systematically compare constraints derived from the mass mechanism to those derived from the long-range 0νββ decay amplitude and classify our list of models accordingly. We also study one particular example decomposition, which produces neutrino masses at 2-loop level, can fit oscillation data and yields a large contribution to the long-range 0νββ decay amplitude, in some detail.

  4. Long-read sequencing data analysis for yeasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Jia-Xing; Liti, Gianni

    2018-06-01

    Long-read sequencing technologies have become increasingly popular due to their strengths in resolving complex genomic regions. As a leading model organism with small genome size and great biotechnological importance, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has many isolates currently being sequenced with long reads. However, analyzing long-read sequencing data to produce high-quality genome assembly and annotation remains challenging. Here, we present a modular computational framework named long-read sequencing data analysis for yeasts (LRSDAY), the first one-stop solution that streamlines this process. Starting from the raw sequencing reads, LRSDAY can produce chromosome-level genome assembly and comprehensive genome annotation in a highly automated manner with minimal manual intervention, which is not possible using any alternative tool available to date. The annotated genomic features include centromeres, protein-coding genes, tRNAs, transposable elements (TEs), and telomere-associated elements. Although tailored for S. cerevisiae, we designed LRSDAY to be highly modular and customizable, making it adaptable to virtually any eukaryotic organism. When applying LRSDAY to an S. cerevisiae strain, it takes ∼41 h to generate a complete and well-annotated genome from ∼100× Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) running the basic workflow with four threads. Basic experience working within the Linux command-line environment is recommended for carrying out the analysis using LRSDAY.

  5. Long-term complications in Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilickap, Saadettin; Barista, Ibrahim; Ulger, Sukran; Celik, Ismail; Selek, Ugur; Güllü, Ibrahim; Yildiz, Ferah; Kars, Ayse; Ozisik, Yavuz; Tekuzman, Gülten

    2012-01-01

    Background. Although patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) achieve prolonged survival, long-term complications are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among long-term survivors of HL. Methods. We retrospectively evaluated long-term complications in 336 HL survivors treated between January 1990 and January 2006 at the Department of Medical Oncology of the Hacettepe University Institute of Oncology who were >16 years old at presentation. All patients were regularly followed up every 3 months for the first 2 years after complete response, biannually for 3 years, and annually after 5 years. Results. Median follow-up was 8.5 years. The mean age (±SD) of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 35.7 ± 13.1 years. The male to female ratio was 61%/39%. During follow-up, 29 second malignancies (8.6%) were diagnosed in 28 patients with HL; 22 were solid tumors and 7 were hematological malignancies. Forty-seven (14.0%) of all patients with HL were found to have thyroid abnormalities. During follow-up, 54 (16.1%) patients developed cardiovascular complications. Overall, 29 (8.6%) patients developed late pulmonary toxicities. The cumulative number of chronic viral infections was 13 (3.9%). Conclusions. Long-term survivors of HL need to be properly followed up not only for disease control but also for evaluation of possible late morbidities to minimize the consequences.

  6. Long-term memory and volatility clustering in high-frequency price changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    oh, Gabjin; Kim, Seunghwan; Eom, Cheoljun

    2008-02-01

    We studied the long-term memory in diverse stock market indices and foreign exchange rates using Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA). For all high-frequency market data studied, no significant long-term memory property was detected in the return series, while a strong long-term memory property was found in the volatility time series. The possible causes of the long-term memory property were investigated using the return data filtered by the AR(1) model, reflecting the short-term memory property, the GARCH(1,1) model, reflecting the volatility clustering property, and the FIGARCH model, reflecting the long-term memory property of the volatility time series. The memory effect in the AR(1) filtered return and volatility time series remained unchanged, while the long-term memory property diminished significantly in the volatility series of the GARCH(1,1) filtered data. Notably, there is no long-term memory property, when we eliminate the long-term memory property of volatility by the FIGARCH model. For all data used, although the Hurst exponents of the volatility time series changed considerably over time, those of the time series with the volatility clustering effect removed diminish significantly. Our results imply that the long-term memory property of the volatility time series can be attributed to the volatility clustering observed in the financial time series.

  7. Desire, longing and vanity: emotions behind successful return to work for women on long-term sick leave.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahrberg, Y; Landstad, B J; Bergroth, A; Ekholm, J

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to identify situations and phenomena that have simplified returning to work for women on long-term sick leave. Seven women who were exposed to a relatively large number of risk factors that normally are associated with difficulties in returning to work. In-depth interviews with qualitative content analysis. The analysis indicated four main categories of factors: The Individual, Interactions, Surrounding Resources, and Situations. In each of the main categories structural factors exist and it appears that these have been of significant importance to the women in their return to work. These are presented as Key Factors and they are: clarification of--and the need for--support in the personal process of change; desire, longing, and vanity; respectful interactions between the individual and people in her surroundings; the structure and content of the rehabilitation clinic; the importance of the perceived reality; and the individual's sense of control during the work related rehabilitation process. The results mostly revealed phenomena that have been indicated and described in earlier research studies. However, emotions such as desire, longing and vanity as motivation and driving forces behind a return to work have not been earlier described.

  8. Observation of long term potentiation in papain-based memory devices

    KAUST Repository

    Bag, A.; Hota, Mrinal Kanti; Mallik, Sandipan B.; Maì ti, Chinmay Kumar

    2014-01-01

    Biological synaptic behavior in terms of long term potentiation has been observed in papain-based (plant protein) memory devices (memristors) for the first time. Improvement in long term potentiation depends on pulse amplitude and width (duration). Continuous/repetitive dc voltage sweep leads to an increase in memristor conductivity leading to a long term memory in the 'learning' processes.

  9. Observation of long term potentiation in papain-based memory devices

    KAUST Repository

    Bag, A.

    2014-06-01

    Biological synaptic behavior in terms of long term potentiation has been observed in papain-based (plant protein) memory devices (memristors) for the first time. Improvement in long term potentiation depends on pulse amplitude and width (duration). Continuous/repetitive dc voltage sweep leads to an increase in memristor conductivity leading to a long term memory in the \\'learning\\' processes.

  10. Long QT syndrome

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Contreras Z, Eduardo; Gomez M, Juan E; Zuluaga M, Sandra X.

    2008-01-01

    Long QT syndrome is a disease characterized by the electrocardiographic alteration in ventricular repolarization manifested by prolonged QT interval, secondary to prolonged ventricular repolarization. This makes these patients more vulnerable to very fast ventricular arrhythmias such as torsade des pointes or ventricular fibrillation. This syndrome is generally observed in young people and is associated with sudden death. It may appear as part of congenital LQTS (Jervell and Lange-Nielsen and Romano- Ward), or may be secondarily acquired due to metabolic or toxic alterations or to other pathophysiologic factors.

  11. Bronchodilator treatment of stable COPD: long-acting anticholinergics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Vincken

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Since airflow obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is to some extent reversible, bronchodilators play an important role in the maintenance treatment of COPD the more they reduce hyperinflation and, as a result, improve dyspnoea and exercise capacity. Since parasympathetic activity is the dominant reversible component of airflow obstruction in COPD, inhaled short-acting anticholinergic agents (SAAC, in particular ipratropium, became an efficient and safe first-line treatment, especially when combined with a short-acting beta2-adrenergic receptor agonist. Even better results were obtained when combining the SAAC ipratropium to a long-acting beta2-adrenergic receptor agonist (LABA, once they became available. Recently, tiotropium bromide, the first of a new class of selective and long-acting anticholinergic agents was introduced for once-daily maintenance treatment of COPD patients. Several large long-term randomised clinical trials comparing tiotropium to placebo as well as to the SAAC ipratropium and the LABA salmeterol, have confirmed the long-acting and superior bronchodilator effect of tiotropium without any evidence of drug tolerance developing. These studies also have clearly demonstrated that tiotropium positively affects several other important health outcomes, such as dyspnoea sensation, exercise capacity, utilisation of rescue bronchodilators, health-related quality of life, COPD exacerbations and hospitalisations because of exacerbations. The improvement in these real-life outcomes appears related to the reduction in both static and dynamic hyperinflation. In all these studies, tiotropium was well tolerated and safe; the only relevant side-effect encountered being dry mouth, usually mild and often transitory. Finally, it has been shown that the combination of tiotropium with a LABA affords superior bronchodilatation than both agents alone, indicating that both classes of long-acting bronchodilators should be

  12. Long-term creep test with finite elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Argyris, J.H.; Szimmat, J.; Willam, K.J.

    1975-01-01

    Following a presentation of concrete creep, a brief summary of the direct and incremental calculation methods for long-term creep behaviour is given. In addition, a survey on the methods of the inner state variables is given which, on the one hand, gives a uniform framework for the various formulations of concrete creep, and on the other hand leads to a computable calculation method. Two examples on long-term creep behaviour illustrate the application field of the calculation method. (orig./LH) [de

  13. Microscopic tunneling theory of long Josephson junctions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grønbech-Jensen, N.; Hattel, Søren A.; Samuelsen, Mogens Rugholm

    1992-01-01

    We present a numerical scheme for solving a nonlinear partial integro-differential equation with nonlocal time dependence. The equation describes the dynamics in a long Josephson junction modeled by use of the microscopic theory for tunneling between superconductors. We demonstrate that the detai......We present a numerical scheme for solving a nonlinear partial integro-differential equation with nonlocal time dependence. The equation describes the dynamics in a long Josephson junction modeled by use of the microscopic theory for tunneling between superconductors. We demonstrate...

  14. Long - Memory Persistence in African Stock Markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emmanuel Numapau Gyamfi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Emerging stock markets are said to become efficient with time. This study seeks to investigate this assertion by analyzing long - memory persistence in 8 African stock markets covering the period from 28 August 2000 to 28 August 2015. The Hurst exponent is used as our efficiency measure which is evaluated by the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA. Our findings show strong evidence of long - memory persistence in the markets studied therefore violating the weak - form Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH.

  15. Economic Analysis of Long Working Hours (Japanese)

    OpenAIRE

    OHTAKE Fumio; OKUDAIRA Hiroko

    2008-01-01

    In this paper we set out the economic grounds for restrictions on long working hours and conduct an empirical analysis using surveys from the perspective of behavioral economics. The results of the analysis indicate that, on a year-on-year basis, if state of health improves, the probability of working more than 60 hours per week increases significantly, but that even when state of health deteriorates there is no decrease in the probability of working long hours. Moreover, among male managemen...

  16. 长时程增强与长时程抑制的研究%Advances in long - term potentiation and long - term depression

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    张敬军; 夏作理

    2000-01-01

    The impairment of learning and memory function in the central nervous system(CNS)is one of the main features of aging and Alzheimer' s disease (AD). Many experimental results have showed that long- term memory(LTM) is related to long- term potentiation(LTP) and long- term depression (LTD). They intluenee each other. The relationship between LTP and LTD is complex. Therefore, it is important to study the learning and memory mechanism from LTP、LTD and gene expression in the CNS.

  17. Exotic Long - Lived Particles

    CERN Document Server

    Jørgensen, Morten Dam

    A search for hadronising long-lived massive particles at the Large Hadron Collider is conducted with the ATLAS detector. No excess events are found. Based on statistical analysis, upper limits on the production cross section are observed to be between $0.01$ pb and $0.006$ pb for colour octet particles (gluinos) with masses ranging from $300 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$ to $1400 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$, and $0.01$ pb to $0.004$ pb for colour triplet particles (stops and sbottoms) with masses ranging from $200 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$ to $900 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$. In the context of Supersymmetry with decoupled sfermion and sboson sectors (Split-SUSY), this gives a lower limit on the gluino mass of $989 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$, and $683 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$ for the stop mass and $618 \\ \\mathrm{GeV/c}^2$ for the sbottom mass. In addition, a new method is presented that improves the speed ($\\beta$) estimation for long-lived particles in the ATLAS tile calorimeter with a factor of $7$ improvement in resolution at low-$\\beta$ and ...

  18. Detection of multiple tumor markers using ultra-long carbon nanotube devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    So, Hye-Mi; Park, Dong-Won; Kim, Beom Soo; Kong, Ki-Jeong; Buh, Gyoung-Ho; Chang, Hyunju; Lee, Jeong-O.; Kong, Jing

    2008-03-01

    For the simultaneous detection of multiple tumor markers, we have fabricated ultra-long carbon nanotube sensors that can detect carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and prostate specific antigen (PSA), simultaneously. Ultra-long carbon nanotubes, several millimeters long, were grown by ethanol CVD, and fabricated as FET sensors by using conventional photolithography. To functionalize each segment of a single ultra-long nanotube device with multiple-tumor markers, we first functionalize the entire device with CDI-Tween 20 linking molecules, and then immobilized CEA and PSA antibodies using the microfluidic channel. The electrical conductance from CEA-antibody functionalized and PSA-antibody functionalized segment of a ultra-long carbon nanotube device was monitored simultaneously with Ag/AgCl reference electrode as a liquid gate. We will discuss the advantages of long-nanotube device in detail.

  19. A stakeless yard long bean cultivar derived from an interspecific cross between cowpea Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp) and yard long bean Vigna sesquipedalis L. (Verdc.)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luadthong, Sanit

    1990-01-01

    Full text: 'Yard long bean' is an important vegetable in the Thai diet, particularly in Northeast Thailand. However, growing 'yard long beans' requires stakes for supporting the twining stems and keeping the pod from touching the ground. Staking costs money, takes time and needs labour. An ideal cultivar would be a 'yard long bean' with erect plant type and under 80 cm in height that produces typical long bean pods and allows convenient picking during the harvest time. An attempt to breed such a cultivar was made by crossing cowpea Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp.) with' yard long bean' Vigna sesquipedalis L. (Verdc.) in 1984. This resulted in a new cultivar 'KKU 25'. This cultivar, having erect plant type, requires no staking for supporting the stem and produces long fresh pods with acceptable taste which can be harvested within 43 days. The average pod length is 48 cm, and pod diameter 1.43 cm. In a preliminary yield trial, an average fresh pod yield of 16 t/ha was obtained. (author)

  20. Cellular buckling in long structures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hunt, G.W.; Peletier, M.A.; Champneys, A.R.; Woods, P.D.; Wadee, M.A.; Budd, C.J.; Lord, G.J.

    2000-01-01

    A long structural system with an unstable (subcritical)post-buckling response that subsequently restabilizes typically deformsin a cellular manner, with localized buckles first forming and thenlocking up in sequence. As buckling continues over a growing number ofcells, the response can be described

  1. Risk assessment for long-term post-accident sequences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ellia-Hervy, A.; Ducamp, F.

    1987-11-01

    Probabilistic risk analysis, currently conducted by the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission) for the French replicate series of 900 MWe power plants, has identified accident sequences requiring long-term operation of some systems after the initiating event. They have been named long-term sequences. Quantification of probabilities of such sequences cannot rely exclusively on equipment failure-on-demand data: it must also take into account operating failures, the probability of which increase with time. Specific studies have therefore been conducted for a number of plant systems actuated during these long-term sequences. This has required: - Definition of the most realistic equipment utilization strategies based on existing emergency procedures for 900 MWe French plants. - Evaluation of the potential to repair failed equipment, given accessibility, repair time, and specific radiation conditions for the given sequence. - Definition of the event bringing the long-term sequence to an end. - Establishment of an appropriate quantification method, capable of taking into account the evolution of assumptions concerning equipment utilization strategies or repair conditions over time. The accident sequence quantification method based on realistic scenarios has been used in the risk assessment of the initiating event loss of reactor coolant accident occurring at power and at shutdown. Compared with the results obtained from conventional methods, this method redistributes the relative weight of accident sequences and also demonstrates that the long term can be a significant contribution to the probability of core melt

  2. Psychosocial issues in long-term space flight: overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palinkas, L. A.

    2001-01-01

    Anecdotal evidence of the individual and interpersonal problems that occurred during the Shuttle-Mir Space Program (SMSP) and other long-duration Russian/Soviet missions, and studies of personnel in other isolated and confined extreme (ICE) environments suggest that psychosocial elements of behavior and performance are likely to have a significant impact on the outcome of long-duration missions in space. This impact may range from individual decrements in performance, health and well being, to catastrophic mission failure. This paper reviews our current understanding of the psychosocial issues related to long duration space missions according to three different domains of behavior: the individual domain, the interpersonal domain and the organizational domain. Individual issues include: personality characteristics that predict successful performance, stress due to isolation and confinement and its effect on emotions and cognitive performance, adaptive and maladaptive coping styles and strategies, and requirements for the psychological support of astronauts and their families during the mission. Interpersonal issues include: impact of crew diversity and leadership styles on small group dynamics, adaptive and maladaptive features of ground-crew interactions, and processes of crew cohesion, tension and conflict. Organizational issues include: the influence of organizational culture and mission duration on individual and group performance, and managerial requirements for long duration missions. Improved screening and selection of astronaut candidates, leadership, coping and interpersonal skills training of personnel, and organizational change are key elements in the prevention of performance decrements on long-duration missions.

  3. Mass spectrometry of long-lived radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Becker, Johanna Sabine.

    2003-01-01

    The capability of determining element concentrations at the trace and ultratrace level and isotope ratios is a main feature of inorganic mass spectrometry. The precise and accurate determination of isotope ratios of long-lived natural and artificial radionuclides is required, e.g. for their environmental monitoring and health control, for studying radionuclide migration, for age dating, for determining isotope ratios of radiogenic elements in the nuclear industry, for quality assurance and determination of the burn-up of fuel material in a nuclear power plant, for reprocessing plants, nuclear material accounting and radioactive waste control. Inorganic mass spectrometry, especially inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) as the most important inorganic mass spectrometric technique today, possesses excellent sensitivity, precision and good accuracy for isotope ratio measurements and practically no restriction with respect to the ionization potential of the element investigated--therefore, thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), which has been used as the dominant analytical technique for precise isotope ratio measurements of long-lived radionuclides for many decades, is being replaced increasingly by ICP-MS. In the last few years instrumental progress in improving figures of merit for the determination of isotope ratio measurements of long-lived radionuclides in ICP-MS has been achieved by the application of a multiple ion collector device (MC-ICP-MS) and the introduction of the collision cell interface in order to dissociate disturbing argon-based molecular ions, to reduce the kinetic energy of ions and neutralize the disturbing noble gas ions (e.g. of 129 Xe + for the determination of 129 I). The review describes the state of the art and the progress of different inorganic mass spectrometric techniques such as ICP-MS, laser ablation ICP-MS vs. TIMS, glow discharge mass spectrometry, secondary ion mass spectrometry, resonance ionization mass

  4. Presentation of preliminary studies relative to the long duration disposal of medium level and long lived (MLLL) wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leroy, C.; Moreau, A.; Fayette, L.; Bellon, M.; Templier, J.C.; Macias, R.M.; Porcher, J.B.; Rey, F.; Hollender, F.; Girard, J.P.

    2002-01-01

    In the contract of objectives signed in 2001 with the government, the French atomic energy commission (CEA) committed itself to supply reports of preliminary studies about long duration disposal concepts for medium level and long lived radioactive wastes. This document makes the synthesis of the preliminary studies carried out in 2001 and 2002 by exploring simultaneously the surface and subsurface disposal concepts. The studies deal with the design of a facility with a long service life. Four hypotheses have been retained for the preliminary studies: a secular lifetime (typically 100 to 300 years), a single and new site for all waste packages (no existing facility available), two confinement barriers, an envelope-type site with specific characteristics (seismicity, climate conditions, airplane crash..). These preliminary studies show the existence of solutions for each option: with and without storage containers in both type (surface and subsurface) of facilities. They outline the necessity of studying more thoroughly some technical points. This instruction will be performed for the concepts retained after a multi-criteria analysis. (J.S.)

  5. Long-term governance for sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martell, M.

    2007-01-01

    Meritxell Martell spoke of the long-term aspects of radioactive waste management. She pointed out that decision-making processes need to be framed within the context of sustainability, which means that a balance should be sought between scientific considerations, economic aspects and structural conditions. Focusing on structural aspects, Working Group 3 of COWAM-Spain came to the conclusion that the activity of the regulator is a key factor of long-term management. Another finding is that from a sustainability perspective multi-level governance is more effective for coping with the challenges of radioactive waste management than one tier of government-making decisions. The working group also felt that the current Local Information Committees need to evolve towards more institutionalized and legitimized mechanisms for long-term involvement. Ms. Martell introduced a study comparing the efficiency of economic instruments to advance sustainable development in nuclear communities vs. municipalities in mining areas. The study found that funds transferred to nuclear zones had become a means to facilitate local acceptance of nuclear facilities rather than a means to promote socio-economic development. Another finding is that economic instruments are not sufficient guarantees of sustainable development by themselves; additional preconditions include leadership, vision and entrepreneur-ship on the part of community leaders, private or public investments, among others. Finally, Ms. Martell summarised the challenges faced by the Spanish radioactive waste management programme, which include the need for strategic thinking, designing the future in a participatory fashion, and working with local and regional governments and citizens to devise mechanisms for social learning, economic development and environmental protection. (author)

  6. Long-term deconditioning of gas-filled surge arresters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanković, Koviljka; Brajović, Dragan; Alimpijević, Mališa; Lončar, Boris

    2016-07-01

    The aim of this paper is to identify parameters that influence the long-term deconditioning effect of gas-filled surge arrester (GFSA) and to provide practical recommendations for mitigating this effect. Namely, after some period of time, on order of hours or days, during which there is no activation due to overvoltage, the deconditioning of GFSA occurs. This effect was observed experimentally within the paper. The observed parameters that could influence the long-term deconditioning effect were the following: shape of voltage load, gas type, gas pressure, interelectrode distance, electrode material, electrode surface topography as well as GFSA design such as two- or three-electrode configuration. According to the results obtained, it has been shown that the occurrence of long-term deconditioning in an insulating system, insulated by a noble gas at a subpressure and with small interelectrode distances, is a phenomenon that always occurs when the insulating system is at rest for about an hour. It has been found that the type of noble gas does not influence the long-term deconditioning. Analysis of such insulating systems' parameters, with a prospect of being used as GFSAs, has demonstrated that this phenomenon is less pronounced at higher pressures (for the same value of the pressure (p) and interelectrode distance (d) product) and for electrodes with microscopically embossed surfaces. According to the results that were obtained by noble gases and their mixtures, as well as the results that were obtained by mixtures of SF6 gas with noble gasses, it can be claimed with confidence that the effect of the long-term deconditioning is an electrode effect. It has also been established that the deconditioning effect does not depend on the electrode material except in the case of electrodes made out of noble metals, which reduce the effect. Based on these results, it can be recommended that the working point of GFSAs be set (according to the DC breakdown voltage value) at a

  7. Strategies to meet the need for long-term data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalmers, John; Woodward, Mark; Borghi, Claudio; Manolis, Athanasios; Mancia, Giuseppe

    2016-08-01

    Chronic diseases afflict patients for many years, often to the end of life, and there is increasing need for estimating lifelong risk and for evaluating the effects of treatment in the long term. Yet recommendations for lifelong treatment are most frequently based on findings from randomized clinical trials lasting only a few years. There is therefore a clear need for much longer term data, and here we present the advantages and disadvantages of many strategies, including the use of long-term posttrial follow-up, of long-term prospective cohort studies, registry databases, and of administrative databases. We also emphasize the need for long-term cost-effectiveness studies. One of the most promising strategies comes from linkage of data gathered through the ever-expanding pool of administrative databases worldwide with data from other sources, including randomized trials and the many forms of observational study.

  8. Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Field Sampling Plan for 2007

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    T. Haney R. VanHorn

    2007-01-01

    This field sampling plan describes the field investigations planned for the Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site in 2007. This plan and the Quality Assurance Project Plan for Waste Area Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and Removal Actions constitute the sampling and analysis plan supporting long-term ecological monitoring sampling in 2007. The data collected under this plan will become part of the long-term ecological monitoring data set that is being collected annually. The data will be used to determine the requirements for the subsequent long-term ecological monitoring. This plan guides the 2007 investigations, including sampling, quality assurance, quality control, analytical procedures, and data management. As such, this plan will help to ensure that the resulting monitoring data will be scientifically valid, defensible, and of known and acceptable quality

  9. Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Field Sampling Plan for 2007

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    T. Haney

    2007-07-31

    This field sampling plan describes the field investigations planned for the Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site in 2007. This plan and the Quality Assurance Project Plan for Waste Area Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and Removal Actions constitute the sampling and analysis plan supporting long-term ecological monitoring sampling in 2007. The data collected under this plan will become part of the long-term ecological monitoring data set that is being collected annually. The data will be used t determine the requirements for the subsequent long-term ecological monitoring. This plan guides the 2007 investigations, including sampling, quality assurance, quality control, analytical procedures, and data management. As such, this plan will help to ensure that the resulting monitoring data will be scientifically valid, defensible, and of known and acceptable quality.

  10. Long-lived staus from cosmic rays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahlers, M.; Illana, J.I.; Masip, M.

    2007-05-01

    The collision of a high energy cosmic ray with a nucleon in the upper atmosphere could produce long-lived heavy particles. Such particles would be very penetrating, since the energy loss in matter scales as the inverse mass, and could reach a neutrino telescope like IceCube from large zenith angles. Here we study this possibility and focus on the long-lived stau of SUSY models with a gravitino LSP. The signal would be a pair of muon-like parallel tracks separated by 50 meters along the detector. We evaluate the background of muon pairs and show that any events from zenith angles above 80. could be explained by the production of these heavy particles by cosmic rays. (orig.)

  11. Long-lived staus from cosmic rays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ahlers, M. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Illana, J.I.; Masip, M. [Granada Univ. (Spain). CAFPE y Dept. de Fisica Teorica y del Cosmos; Meloni, D. [Univ. degli Studi di Roma La Spienza (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; INFN, Roma (Italy)

    2007-05-15

    The collision of a high energy cosmic ray with a nucleon in the upper atmosphere could produce long-lived heavy particles. Such particles would be very penetrating, since the energy loss in matter scales as the inverse mass, and could reach a neutrino telescope like IceCube from large zenith angles. Here we study this possibility and focus on the long-lived stau of SUSY models with a gravitino LSP. The signal would be a pair of muon-like parallel tracks separated by 50 meters along the detector. We evaluate the background of muon pairs and show that any events from zenith angles above 80. could be explained by the production of these heavy particles by cosmic rays. (orig.)

  12. Hydrodynamics of long-scale-length plasmas. Summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Craxton, R.S.

    1984-01-01

    A summary is given relating to the importance of long-scale-length plasmas to laser fusion. Some experiments are listed in which long-scale-length plasmas have been produced and studied. This talk presents SAGE simulations of most of these experiments with the emphasis being placed on understanding the hydrodynamic conditions rather than the parametric/plasma-physics processes themselves which are not modeled by SAGE. However, interpretation of the experiments can often depend on a good understanding of the hydrodynamics, including optical ray tracing

  13. Long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallagher, H.

    2006-01-01

    In this paper I will review briefly the experimental results which established the existence of neutrino mixing, the current generation of long baseline accelerator experiments, and the prospects for the future. In particular I will focus on the recent analysis of the MINOS experiment. (author)

  14. Long-Lived In-Situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kremic, Tibor; Hunter, Gary; Rock, Jennifer

    2017-01-01

    This presentation provides an update on development of the Long-Lived In-situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE). LLISSE is a small probe being developed to provide long-term measurements of simple but important scientific parameters from the surface of Venus. High level summary of recent activities and progress is provided. LLISSE is a small and completely independent probe for Venus surface applications

  15. Setting the stage for long-term reproductive health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Craig A; Vander Ley, Brian; Poock, Scott E

    2013-11-01

    This article discusses some of the aspects of heifer development that contribute to long-term health and productivity, such as disease prevention and control. Nutrition is also an important component of long-term health, and body condition score is discussed as a way to determine whether the nutrient demands of heifers are being met. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Particle Astrophysics in NASA's Long Duration Balloon Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gorham, Peter W.

    2013-01-01

    A century after Viktor Hess' discovery of cosmic rays, balloon flights still play a central role in the investigation of cosmic rays over nearly their entire spectrum. We report on the current status of NASA balloon program for particle astrophysics, with particular emphasis on the very successful Antarctic long-duration balloon program, and new developments in the progress toward ultra-long duration balloons

  17. Modelling Changes in the Unconditional Variance of Long Stock Return Series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amado, Cristina; Teräsvirta, Timo

    In this paper we develop a testing and modelling procedure for describing the long-term volatility movements over very long return series. For the purpose, we assume that volatility is multiplicatively decomposed into a conditional and an unconditional component as in Amado and Teräsvirta (2011...... show that the long-memory property in volatility may be explained by ignored changes in the unconditional variance of the long series. Finally, based on a formal statistical test we find evidence of the superiority of volatility forecast accuracy of the new model over the GJR-GARCH model at all...... horizons for a subset of the long return series....

  18. Modelling changes in the unconditional variance of long stock return series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amado, Cristina; Teräsvirta, Timo

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we develop a testing and modelling procedure for describing the long-term volatility movements over very long daily return series. For this purpose we assume that volatility is multiplicatively decomposed into a conditional and an unconditional component as in Amado and Teräsvirta...... that the apparent long memory property in volatility may be interpreted as changes in the unconditional variance of the long series. Finally, based on a formal statistical test we find evidence of the superiority of volatility forecasting accuracy of the new model over the GJR-GARCH model at all horizons for eight...... subsets of the long return series....

  19. Sexuality and physical intimacy in long-term care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichtenberg, Peter A

    2014-01-01

    Sexuality and sexual needs in older adults remains a neglected area of clinical intervention, particularly so in long-term care settings. Because older adults in medical rehabilitation and long-term care beds present with significant frailties, and often significant neurocognitive disorders, it makes it difficult for occupational therapists and other staff to evaluate the capacity of an older adult resident to participate in sexual relationships. The current paper reviews the current literature on sexuality and aging, examines some of the clinical practices and guidelines regarding sexual expression in long-term care, and presents two case examples. A semistructured interview and decision tree is presented to assist therapists in making careful and informed decisions and thereby balancing the needs for protection with the needs for autonomy.

  20. Long-term uranium supply-demand analyses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-12-01

    It is the intention of this study to investigate the long-term uranium supply demand situation using a number of supply and demand related assumptions. For supply, these assumptions as used in the Resources and Production Projection (RAPP) model include country economic development status, and consequent lead times for exploration and development, uranium development status, country infrastructure, and uranium resources including the Reasonably Assured (RAR), Estimated Additional, Categories I and II, (EAR-I and II) and Speculative Resource categories. The demand assumptions were based on the ''pure'' reactor strategies developed by the NEA Working Party on Nuclear Fuel Cycle Requirements for the 1986 OECD (NEA)/IAEA reports ''Nuclear Energy and its Fuel Cycle: Prospects to 2025''. In addition for this study, a mixed strategy case was computed using the averages of the Plutonium (Pu) burning LWR high, and the improved LWR low cases. It is understandable that such a long-term analysis cannot present hard facts, but it can show which variables may in fact influence the long-term supply-demand situation. It is hoped that results of this study will provide valuable information for planners in the uranium supply and demand fields. Periodical re-analyses with updated data bases will be needed from time to time