Evolving Reliability and Maintainability Allocations for NASA Ground Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz, Gisela; Toon, T.; Toon, J.; Conner, A.; Adams, T.; Miranda, D.

2016-01-01

This paper describes the methodology and value of modifying allocations to reliability and maintainability requirements for the NASA Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) programs subsystems. As systems progressed through their design life cycle and hardware data became available, it became necessary to reexamine the previously derived allocations. This iterative process provided an opportunity for the reliability engineering team to reevaluate allocations as systems moved beyond their conceptual and preliminary design phases. These new allocations are based on updated designs and maintainability characteristics of the components. It was found that trade-offs in reliability and maintainability were essential to ensuring the integrity of the reliability and maintainability analysis. This paper discusses the results of reliability and maintainability reallocations made for the GSDO subsystems as the program nears the end of its design phase.

Developing maintainability for fusion power systems. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zahn, H.S.; Mantz, H.C.; Curtis, C.T.; Buchheit, R.J.; Green, W.M.; Zuckerman, D.S.

1979-11-01

The overall purpose of the study is to identify design features of fusion power reactors which contribute to the achievement of high levels of maintainability. Previous phases evaluated several commercial tokamak reactor design concepts. This final phase compares the maintainability of a tandem mirror reactor (TMR) commercial conceptual design with the most maintainable tokamak concept selected from earlier work. A series of maintainability design guidelines and desirable TMR design features are defined. The effects of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance for most of the reactor subsystems are defined. The comparison of the TMR and tokamak reactor maintenance costs and availabilities show that both reactors have similar costs for scheduled maintenance at 19.4 and 20.8 million dollars annually and similar scheduled downtime availability impacts, achieving approximate availabilities of 79% at optimized maintenance intervals and cost of electricity.

Developing maintainability for fusion power systems. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zahn, H.S.; Mantz, H.C.; Curtis, C.T.; Buchheit, R.J.; Green, W.M.; Zuckerman, D.S.

1979-11-01

The overall purpose of the study is to identify design features of fusion power reactors which contribute to the achievement of high levels of maintainability. Previous phases evaluated several commercial tokamak reactor design concepts. This final phase compares the maintainability of a tandem mirror reactor (TMR) commercial conceptual design with the most maintainable tokamak concept selected from earlier work. A series of maintainability design guidelines and desirable TMR design features are defined. The effects of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance for most of the reactor subsystems are defined. The comparison of the TMR and tokamak reactor maintenance costs and availabilities show that both reactors have similar costs for scheduled maintenance at 19.4 and 20.8 million dollars annually and similar scheduled downtime availability impacts, achieving approximate availabilities of 79% at optimized maintenance intervals and cost of electricity

A cryogenic optical feedthrough using polarization maintaining fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, M J; Collins, C J; Speake, C C

2016-03-01

Polarization maintaining optical fibers can be used to transmit linearly polarized light over long distances but their use in cryogenic environments has been limited by their sensitivity to temperature changes and associated mechanical stress. We investigate experimentally how thermal stresses affect the polarization maintaining fibers and model the observations with Jones matrices. We describe the design, construction, and testing of a feedthrough and fiber termination assembly that uses polarization maintaining fiber to transmit light from a 633 nm HeNe laser at room temperature to a homodyne polarization-based interferometer in a cryogenic vacuum. We report on the efficiency of the polarization maintaining properties of the feedthrough assembly. We also report that, at cryogenic temperatures, the interferometer can achieve a sensitivity of 8 × 10(-10) rad/√Hz at 0.05 Hz using this feedthrough.

Maintaining protein composition in cilia.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephen, Louise A; Elmaghloob, Yasmin; Ismail, Shehab

2017-12-20

The primary cilium is a sensory organelle that is vital in regulating several signalling pathways. Unlike most organelles cilia are open to the rest of the cell, not enclosed by membranes. The distinct protein composition is crucial to the function of cilia and many signalling proteins and receptors are specifically concentrated within distinct compartments. To maintain this composition, a mechanism is required to deliver proteins to the cilium whilst another must counter the entropic tendency of proteins to distribute throughout the cell. The combination of the two mechanisms should result in the concentration of ciliary proteins to the cilium. In this review we will look at different cellular mechanisms that play a role in maintaining the distinct composition of cilia, including regulation of ciliary access and trafficking of ciliary proteins to, from and within the cilium.

Maintainability design guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pack, R.W.

1985-01-01

The Human Factors Design Guide for Maintainability provides guidance for systematically incorporating good human factors techniques into the design of power plants. The guide describes a means of developing a comprehensive program plan to ensure compliance with the human factors approaches specified by the utility. The guide also provides specific recommendations for design practices, with examples, bases, and references. The recommendations are formatted for easy use by nuclear power plant design teams and by utility personnel involved in specification and design review. The guide was developed under EPRI research project RP2166-4 and is currently being published

′Metal to resin′: A comparative evaluation of conventional band and loop space maintainer with the fiber reinforced composite resin space maintainer in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Garg

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Aims: To compare the clinical efficacy of two space maintainers namely, conventional band and loop and Fiber Reinforced Composite Resin (FRCR space maintainers . Subjects and Methods: Thirty healthy children, aged 5 to 8 years were selected having at least two deciduous molars in different quadrants indicated for extraction or lost previously. FRCR space maintainer was placed in one quadrant and in the other quadrant band and loop space maintainer was cemented. All the patients were recalled at 1 st , 3 rd , and 6 th months for evaluation of both types of space maintainer. Patient acceptability, time taken, and clinical efficacy was recorded. Statistical analysis used: The observations thus obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using Chi- square test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Patient acceptability was greater in Group I (FRCR in comparison to Group II (band and loop space maintainer. The time taken by Group I was significantly lower as compared to that of Group II. In Group I, debonding of enamel, composite was the most common complication leading to failure followed by debonding of fiber composite. In Group II, cement loss was the most common complication leading to failure followed by slippage of band and fracture of loop. The success rates of Groups I and Group II weares 63.3% and 36.7%, respectively. Conclusion: The study concluded that FRCRFiber Reinforced Composite Resin (Ribbond space maintainers can be considered as viable alternative to the conventional band and loop space maintainers.

Maintaining patients' dignity during clinical care: a qualitative interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yea-Pyng; Tsai, Yun-Fang

2011-02-01

This article is a report of a study undertaken to understand how nurses maintain patients' dignity in clinical practice. Dignity is a core concept in nursing care and maintaining patients' dignity is critical to their recovery. In Western countries, measures to maintain dignity in patients' care include maintaining privacy of the body, providing spatial privacy, giving sufficient time, treating patients as a whole person and allowing patients to have autonomy. However, this is an under-studied topic in Asian countries. For this qualitative descriptive study, data were collected in Taiwan in 2009 using in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 30 nurses from a teaching hospital in eastern Taiwan. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Nurses' measures to maintain dignity in patient care were captured in five themes: respect, protecting privacy, emotional support, treating all patients alike and maintaining body image. Participants did not mention beneficence, a crucial element achieved through the professional care of nurses that can enhance the recovery of patients. In-service education to help nurses enhance dignity in patient care should emphasize emotional support, maintaining body image and treating all patients alike. Our model for maintaining dignity in patient care could be used to develop a clinical care protocol for nurses to use in clinical practice. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Disturbance maintains alternative biome states.

Science.gov (United States)

Dantas, Vinícius de L; Hirota, Marina; Oliveira, Rafael S; Pausas, Juli G

2016-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms controlling the distribution of biomes remains a challenge. Although tropical biome distribution has traditionally been explained by climate and soil, contrasting vegetation types often occur as mosaics with sharp boundaries under very similar environmental conditions. While evidence suggests that these biomes are alternative states, empirical broad-scale support to this hypothesis is still lacking. Using community-level field data and a novel resource-niche overlap approach, we show that, for a wide range of environmental conditions, fire feedbacks maintain savannas and forests as alternative biome states in both the Neotropics and the Afrotropics. In addition, wooded grasslands and savannas occurred as alternative grassy states in the Afrotropics, depending on the relative importance of fire and herbivory feedbacks. These results are consistent with landscape scale evidence and suggest that disturbance is a general factor driving and maintaining alternative biome states and vegetation mosaics in the tropics. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Improving versus maintaining nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

The concept of improving nuclear safety versus maintaining it has been discussed at a number of nuclear regulators meetings in recent years. National reports have indicated that there are philosophical differences between NEA member countries about whether their regulatory approaches require licensees to continuously improve nuclear safety or to continuously maintain it. It has been concluded that, while the actual level of safety achieved in all member countries is probably much the same, this is difficult to prove in a quantitative way. In practice, all regulatory approaches require improvements to be made to correct deficiencies and when otherwise warranted. Based on contributions from members of the NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA), this publication provides an overview of current nuclear regulatory philosophies and approaches, as well as insights into a selection of public perception issues. This publication's intended audience is primarily nuclear safety regulators, but government authorities, nuclear power plant operators and the general public may also be interested. (author)

A Methodology for Integrating Maintainability Using Software Metrics

OpenAIRE

Lewis, John A.; Henry, Sallie M.

1989-01-01

Maintainability must be integrated into software early in the development process. But for practical use, the techniques used must be as unobtrusive to the existing software development process as possible. This paper defines a methodology for integrating maintainability into large-scale software and describes an experiment which implemented the methodology into a major commercial software development environment.

Maintainability analysis considering time-dependent and time-independent covariates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barabadi, Abbas; Barabady, Javad; Markeset, Tore

2011-01-01

Traditional parametric methods for assessing maintainability most often only consider time to repair (TTR) as a single explanatory variable. However, to predict availability more precisely for high availability systems, a better model is needed to quantify the effect of operational environment on maintainability. The proportional repair model (PRM), which is developed based on proportional hazard model (PHM), may be used to analyze maintainability in the present of covariates. In the PRM, the effect of covariates is considered to be time independent. However this assumption may not be valid for some situations. The aim of this paper is to develop the Cox regression model and its extension in the presence of time-dependent covariates for determining maintainability. A simple case study is used to demonstrate how the model can be applied in a real case.

Marshal: Maintaining Evolving Models, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — SIFT proposes to design and develop the Marshal system, a mixed-initiative tool for maintaining task models over the course of evolving missions. Marshal-enabled...

Mechanical properties of different types of space maintainers

Science.gov (United States)

Beldiman, M.-A.; Mârţu, I.; Leiţoiu, B.; Luchian, I.; Lupescu, O.; Bârcă, E. S.

2015-11-01

Currently, inside the oral cavity, the dental space maintainers are subjected to forces exerted on them when performing various functions; therefore, it is important to know how each of these mechanisms behave and respond to forces that are applied directly to them. The mechanical properties of the materials used in dentistry are defined by a set of characteristics representing the behaviour of their particular working conditions and it is qualitatively expressed by a number of parameters.The study aimed to determine the pressing force that can be taken by four 4 types of space maintainers frequently used in practice - fixed and removable, applied on four samples realized with human teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes. Static tests were carried out on a machine type short WDW-5 EC with a maximum force of 5 kN and a loading speed of 5 mm/min by a special testing machine, with an innovative appliance; data recording was automatically performed, using a computer with a special program that present the specific diagrams. Experimental determinations included the following aspects: to determine the maximum force that can be supported by each sample, and to observe the deformations. The values obtained indicate that the best option in terms of behavior under the conditions specified is the removable appliance, and the less functional version is the fixed space maintainer using brackets. According to tests conducted, the fracture strength was found to be more important for fixed space maintainers (band and loop, for example) so, in practice is using more frequent these types of space maintainers.

Coastal Maintained Channels in US waters

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This layer shows coastal channels and waterways that are maintained and surveyed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). These channels are necessary...

Breeding and maintaining high-quality insects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kim; Kristensen, Torsten Nygård; Heckmann, Lars-Henrik

2017-01-01

Insects have a large potential for sustainably enhancing global food and feed production, and commercial insect production is a rising industry of high economic value. Insects suitable for production typically have fast growth, short generation time, efficient nutrient utilization, high...... reproductive potential, and thrive at high density. Insects may cost-efficiently convert agricultural and industrial food by-products into valuable protein once the technology is finetuned. However, since insect mass production is a new industry, the technology needed to efficiently farm these animals is still...... in a starting phase. Here, we discuss the challenges and precautions that need to be considered when breeding and maintaining high-quality insect populations for food and feed. This involves techniques typically used in domestic animal breeding programs including maintaining genetically healthy populations...

[Maintaining patients' autonomy at home].

Science.gov (United States)

Niang, Bénédicte; Coudre, Jean Pierre

2015-01-01

To maintain the flow of hospital discharges, the patient's return home with support from a home nursing service is important. If any difficulties are identified, there are various programmes or good practices which can be put into place. The future law on adapting society to ageing also comprises a scheme combining home assistance and nursing care.

[Factors influencing the sense of unintegration of thoughts in maintaining anger].

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Hiroko; Yukawa, Shintaro

2013-12-01

Endo and Yukawa (2012) investigated the process of maintaining anger and demonstrated that a sense of unintegration of thoughts maintained anger by promoting recurrent thinking and avoidance behavior. Our present study examined how personality characteristics and situational factors affected the process of maintaining anger. Undergraduates (N=713) wrote about an anger episode, and completed questionnaires assessing their sense of unintegration of thoughts, recurrent thinking, avoidance behaviors, and maintaining anger. The questionnaires also assessed personality characteristics such as difficulty in identifying feelings, and situational factors such as the need for maintaining relationships, anger arousability, and meaning-making for the anger episode. The results of covariance structure analysis indicated that difficulties in identifying feelings and anger arousability contributed to maintaining anger by increasing the sense of unintegration of thoughts just after the episode. However, the need for maintaining relationships directly reduced the sense of unintegration of thoughts just after the episode, and indirectly decreased the present sense of unintegration of thoughts by meaning-making. Moreover, although recurrent thinking promoted the current sense of unintegration of thoughts, it also provided meaning.

Banded versus Single-sided bonded space maintainers: A Comparative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudhir Mittal

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The present study is conducted to evaluate and compare the clinical performance of conventional band and loop space maintainer and fiber reinforced composite resin (FRCR space maintainers. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 extraction sites in the age group of 6–9 years having premature loss of primary molars or indicated for extraction were selected for the study. The patients were randomly divided into three groups as Group I, in which conventional band and loop space maintainer was given, Group II and Group III (FRCR, in which FRCR (everStick CandB and impregnated glass fibers (Interlig space maintainers were given, respectively. Patients were recalled at 3, 6, and 12-month interval for evaluation of all the three types of space maintainer. Results: Overall success rate of Group I was 86.7%, for Group II was 80%, and for Group III was 73.3% at the end of the study. Patient acceptability was significantly higher in Group II and Group III (FRCR as compared to Group I (Conventional band and loop. In Group I, cement loss and fracture of loop, whereas in Group II and Group III, debonding at enamel composite was the most common failure followed by debonding at fiber composite and fiber fracture. FRCR space maintainers were found to be cost-effective as compared to Group I. More linear changes and angular changes were recorded in Group I as compared to Group II and Group III but difference was not significant (P > 0.05. Conclusion: Only single (buccal surface application of FRCR space maintainers showed almost equal clinical efficacy compared to conventional band and loop space maintainer with significantly better patient acceptability, less cost, and time taken.

Reliability and maintainability data acquisition in equipment development tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haire, M.J.; Gift, E.H.

1983-10-01

The need for collection of reliability, maintainability, and availability data adds a new dimension to the data acquisition requirements of equipment development tests. This report describes the reliability and maintainability data that are considered necessary to ensure that sufficient and high quality data exist for a comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of equipment and system availability. These necessary data are presented as a set of data collection forms. Three data acquisition forms are discussed: an inventory and technical data form, which is filed by the design engineer when the design is finished or the equipment is received; an event report form, which is completed by the senior test operator at each shutdown; and a maintainability report, which is a collaborative effort between senior operators and lead engineers and is completed on restart. In addition, elements of a reliability, maintainability evaluation program are described. Emphasis is placed on the role of data, its storage, and use in such a program

Banded vs Bonded Space Maintainers: Finding Better Way Out.

Science.gov (United States)

Setia, Vikas; Kumar Pandit, Inder; Srivastava, Nikhil; Gugnani, Neeraj; Gupta, Monika

2014-05-01

Of this in vivo study was to evaluate various space maintainers in terms of survival rate, gingival health and presence of caries. A total of 60 extraction sites in the age group of 4 to 9 years were divided into four groups and different space maintainers were placed in them viz (conventional band and loop, prefabricated band with custom made loop, Ribbond, Super splint). Prefabricated bands with custom made loop showed maximum success rates (84.6%), while super splint (33.33%) was found to be least successful. In terms of gingival health, prefabricated band with custom made loop reported minimum cases with poor gingival health (27.2%), while maximum cases with poor gingival health (50%) were reported with Super splint. None of the space maintainers developed caries at the end of 9 months. How to cite this article: Setia v, Pandit IK, Srivastava N, Gugnani N, Gupta M. Banded vs Bonded Space Maintainers: Finding Better Way Out. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2014;7(2):97-104.

Challenges of designing fusion reactors for remote maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, L.S.

1981-01-01

One of the major problems faced by the fusion community is the development of the high level of reliability required to assure that fusion will be a viable commercial power source. Much of the responsibility for solving this problem falls directly on the designer in developing concepts that have a high level of maintainability. The problems are both near-term, in developing maintainability for next generation engineering oriented reactors; and long range, in developing full maintainability for the more commercial concepts with their required high level of on-line time. The near-time challenge will include development of unqiue design concepts to perform inspection, maintenance, replacement, and testing under the stringent conditions imposed by the next generation engineering oriented machines. The long range challenge will focus on basic design concepts that will enable the full mainatability required by commerical fusion

Water quality maintaining device of power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Minoru; Inami, Ichiro.

1994-01-01

The device of the present invention reduces the amount of leaching materials of ion exchange resins from a water processing system of a BWR tyep plant, improves the water quality of reactor water to maintain the water at high purity. That is, steams used for power generation are condensated in a condensate system. A condensate filter and a condensate desalter for cleaning the condensates are disposed. A resin storage hopper is disposed for supplying the ion exchange resins to the water processing system. A device for supplying a nitrogen gas or an inert gas is disposed in the hopper. With such a constitution, the ion exchange resins in the water processing system are maintained in a nitrogen gas or inert gas atmosphere or at a low dissolved oxygen level in an operation stage in the power plant. Accordingly, degradation of the ion exchange resins in the water processing system is suppressed and the amount of the leaching material from the resins is reduced. As a result, the amount of the resins leached into the reactor is reduced, so that the reactor water quality can be maintained at high purity. (I.S.)

33 CFR 118.5 - Penalty for failure to maintain.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... States who fails or refuses to maintain such lights and other signals, or to obey any of the lawful rules... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Penalty for failure to maintain. 118.5 Section 118.5 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY...

Seamless service: maintaining momentum.

Science.gov (United States)

Grinstead, N; Timoney, R

1994-01-01

Describes the process used by the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast in 1992-1994 to achieve high quality care (Seamless Service), motivate staff to deliver and measure performance. Aims of the project include focusing the organization on the customer, improving teamwork and motivation at all levels. After comprehensive data collection from GPs, patients and staff management forums developed a full TQM strategy to gain support and maintain momentum including innovative staff events (every staff member was given the opportunity to attend) where multilevel, multidisciplinary workshops enabled staff to design customer care standards, develop teams and lead customer-driven change.

Merging building maintainability and sustainability assessment: A multicriteria decision making approach

Science.gov (United States)

Asmone, A. S.; Chew, M. Y. L.

2018-02-01

Accurately predicting maintainability has been a challenge due to the complex nature of buildings, yet it is an important research area with a rising necessity. This paper explores the use of multicriteria decision making approach for merging maintainability and sustainability elements into building grading systems to attain long-term sustainability in the building industry. The paper conducts a systematic literature review on multicriteria decision analysis approach and builds on the existing knowledge of maintainability to achieve this. A conceptual framework is developed to bridge the gap between building operations and maintenance with green facilities management by forecasting green maintainability at the design stage.

Maintaining Contour Trees of Dynamic Terrains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agarwal, Pankaj K.; Mølhave, Thomas; Revsbæk, Morten

2015-01-01

We study the problem of maintaining the contour tree T of a terrain Sigma, represented as a triangulated xy-monotone surface, as the heights of its vertices vary continuously with time. We characterize the combinatorial changes in T and how they relate to topological changes in Sigma. We present ...

Challenges of designing fusion reactors for remote maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masson, L.S.

1981-01-01

One of the major problems faced by the fusion community is the development of the high level of reliability required to assure that fusion will be a viable commercial power source. Much of the responsibility for solving this problem falls directly on the designer in developing concepts that have a high level of maintainability for the next generation engineering oriented reactors; and long range, in developing full maintainability for the more complicated commercial concepts with their required high level of on-line time. The near-term challenge will include development of unique design concepts to perform inspection, maintenance, replacement, and testing under the stringent conditions imposed by the next generation engineering oriented machines. The long range challenge will focus on basic design concepts that will enable the full maintainability required by commercial fusion. In addition to the purely technical challenges, the fusion community is also faced with the problem of developing programmatic means to assure that reactor maintenance issues are given proper and timely emphasis as the nuclear phase of fusion is approached

The importance of maintainability in maintenance cost management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, R.R.

1996-01-01

This paper provides specific examples and results from ongoing projects at Power Plants, and for offshore oil platforms. The paper describes the vital role maintainability has on plant availability. How the application of equipment maintainability principles, if addressed using state of the art computer tools and advanced business processes can bring annual return on investment results as high as 15 to 1. The maintenance process of today and for the future must provide for high plant availability at the lowest possible cost. The high cost of obtaining equipment reliability levels necessary to meet required availability demands has not proved to be sustainable. Therefore new business decision processes that address equipment failures as part of the maintenance process have been developed. Repair costs require that equipment failures be selective and controlled so that a high level of safety and plant availability is assurance. This can only be accomplished by the use of advanced computer tools in the hands of well trained maintenance-engineering specialist. The relationship between Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), Condition Directed Planned Maintenance (CDPM), and maintainability is also presented

STRATEGIES OF MAINTAINING PROFICIENCY BY TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junaidi Mistar, Alfan Zuhairini

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The objectives of the present study are four-fold: (1 to identify the types of strategies to maintain proficiency used by teachers of English in Indonesia, (2 to know the intensity of use of the obtained strategy types, (3 to measure the inter-correlation in the use of the obtained strategy types, and (4 to investigate the effect of proficiency level on the use of maintaining strategies. The subjects were 93 teachers applying for S2 degree in 2010/2011 at the postgraduate program of the Islamic University of Malang. They were given two sets of instrument, a Likert-scale questionnaire of English proficiency maintaining strategies and a TOEFL test. Then, a factor analysis identified nine strategy categories, including language focusing, metacognitive and affective developing, reading and writing activating, language resource utilizing, cognitive processing, culture learning, social communicating, text analyzing, and radio listening strategies. These strategy types explained 63.84% of variances of maintaining strategies and they were used at high level of intensity. Moreover, the use of the nine strategy types were found to be inter-correlated with one another. Finally, no significant effect of proficiency level on strategy use was found, indicating that teachers with different level of proficiency reported using the same strategies of maintaining their proficiency.

Management of neonatal abstinence syndrome in neonates born to opioid maintained women.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebner, Nina; Rohrmeister, Klaudia; Winklbaur, Bernadette; Baewert, Andjela; Jagsch, Reinhold; Peternell, Alexandra; Thau, Kenneth; Fischer, Gabriele

2007-03-16

Neonates born to opioid-maintained mothers are at risk of developing neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which often requires pharmacological treatment. This study examined the effect of opioid maintenance treatment on the incidence and timing of NAS, and compared two different NAS treatments (phenobarbital versus morphine hydrochloride). Fifty-three neonates born to opioid-maintained mothers were included in this study. The mothers received methadone (n=22), slow-release oral morphine (n=17) or buprenorphine (n=14) throughout pregnancy. Irrespective of maintenance treatment, all neonates showed APGAR scores comparable to infants of non-opioid dependent mothers. No difference was found between the three maintenance groups regarding neonatal weight, length or head circumference. Sixty percent (n=32) of neonates required treatment for NAS [68% in the methadone-maintained group (n=15), 82% in the morphine-maintained group (n=14), and 21% in the buprenorphine-maintained group (n=3)]. The mean duration from birth to requirement of NAS treatment was 33 h for the morphine-maintained group, 34 h for the buprenorphine-maintained group and 58 h for the methadone-maintained group. In neonates requiring NAS treatment, those receiving morphine required a significantly shorter mean duration of treatment (9.9 days) versus those treated with phenobarbital (17.7 days). Results suggest that morphine hydrochloride is preferable for neonates suffering NAS due to opioid withdrawal.

Chewing Maintains Hippocampus-Dependent Cognitive Function.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Huayue; Iinuma, Mitsuo; Onozuka, Minoru; Kubo, Kin-Ya

2015-01-01

Mastication (chewing) is important not only for food intake, but also for preserving and promoting the general health. Recent studies have showed that mastication helps to maintain cognitive functions in the hippocampus, a central nervous system region vital for spatial memory and learning. The purpose of this paper is to review the recent progress of the association between mastication and the hippocampus-dependent cognitive function. There are multiple neural circuits connecting the masticatory organs and the hippocampus. Both animal and human studies indicated that cognitive functioning is influenced by mastication. Masticatory dysfunction is associated with the hippocampal morphological impairments and the hippocampus-dependent spatial memory deficits, especially in elderly. Mastication is an effective behavior for maintaining the hippocampus-dependent cognitive performance, which deteriorates with aging. Therefore, chewing may represent a useful approach in preserving and promoting the hippocampus-dependent cognitive function in older people. We also discussed several possible mechanisms involved in the interaction between mastication and the hippocampal neurogenesis and the future directions for this unique fascinating research.

Maintaining heterokaryosis in pseudo-homothallic fungi.

Science.gov (United States)

Grognet, Pierre; Silar, Philippe

2015-01-01

Among all the strategies displayed by fungi to reproduce and propagate, some species have adopted a peculiar behavior called pseudo-homothallism. Pseudo-homothallic fungi are true heterothallics, i.e., they need 2 genetically-compatible partners to mate, but they produce self-fertile mycelium in which the 2 different nuclei carrying the compatible mating types are present. This lifestyle not only enables the fungus to reproduce without finding a compatible partner, but also to cross with any mate it may encounter. However, to be fully functional, pseudo-homothallism requires maintaining heterokaryosis at every stage of the life cycle. We recently showed that neither the structure of the mating-type locus nor hybrid-enhancing effect due to the presence of the 2 mating types accounts for the maintenance of heterokaryosis in the pseudo-homothallic fungus P. anserina. In this addendum, we summarize the mechanisms creating heterokaryosis in P. anserina and 2 other well-known pseudo-homothallic fungi, Neurospora tetrasperma and Agaricus bisporus. We also discuss mechanisms potentially involved in maintaining heterokaryosis in these 3 species.

Developing and maintaining instructor capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flynn, W.P.; Smith, G.

1985-01-01

The New York Power Authority, after surveying available courses, decided to develop an in-house instructor training program. Following the principles of the Systems Approach to Training the course embodied the results of a job analysis resulting in a program containing instruction in Educational Philosophy, the Systems Approach to Training, Methods and Media, and Testing. The course content is covered through classroom instruction, on-the-job training, instructor evaluations, and assignments. Instructors completing the program continue to maintain skills with inservice training

Maintaining Contour Trees of Dynamic Terrains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agarwal, Pankaj K.; Arge, Lars; Mølhave, Thomas

We consider maintaining the contour tree T of a piecewise-linear triangulation M that is the graph of a time varying height function h:R2→R. We carefully describe the combinatorial change in T that happen as h varies over time and how these changes relate to topological changes in M. We present a...

Gestures maintain spatial imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Wesp, R; Hesse, J; Keutmann, D; Wheaton, K

2001-01-01

Recent theories suggest alternatives to the commonly held belief that the sole role of gestures is to communicate meaning directly to listeners. Evidence suggests that gestures may serve a cognitive function for speakers, possibly acting as lexical primes. We observed that participants gestured more often when describing a picture from memory than when the picture was present and that gestures were not influenced by manipulating eye contact of a listener. We argue that spatial imagery serves a short-term memory function during lexical search and that gestures may help maintain spatial images. When spatial imagery is not necessary, as in conditions of direct visual stimulation, reliance on gestures is reduced or eliminated.

Determination of maintainability for Dacia 1304, 1,9 D utility vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Budiul Berghian, A.; Vasiu, T.; Birtok Baneasa, C.

2018-01-01

The study analyses the ability to be maintained or rehabilitation of Dacia 1304, 1,9D utility vehicle. The paper comprises the determination of its maintainability using the Weibull++8 specialized software.

Compliance evaluation of removable space maintainer or space regainer usage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Revanti Ramadhani

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Premature loss could cause a problem with the tooth arrangement or the dental arch size. A space left by the primary tooth loss could cause migration of the adjacent teeth. As a result, space will be narrowed and undermined the eruption of the permanent teeth. The success of the space maintainer or space regainer usage due to the premature loss marked by space for the replacement of the permanent teeth. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the compliance of children in wearing a space maintainer or space regainer after insertion at Pedodontics Installation of Faculty of Dentistry Universitas Padjadjaran Dental Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia. The research method was descriptive survey technique. The sample consisted of 30 patients selected using the total sampling technique. Data were obtained with a questionnaire and statistically analyzed. The results showed that majority of the children uses the removable space maintainer or the space regainer daily was only about 23,3% overall. Most of the children only use the removable space maintainer or the space regainer for sometimes. The research concluded that the low rate of pedodontic patients compliance at Pedodontics Installation of Faculty of Dentistry Universitas Padjadjaran Dental Hospital in the usage of the removable space maintainer or the space regainer was usually caused by pain or discomfort. This fact was evidence of a low awareness of parents in preventing malocclusion to their children.

Maintaining Respiratory Health in Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MR Modaresi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Cystic fibrosis (CF is an inherited disease that primarily affects the lungs and the digestive system, however, it also affects a number of other organs and systems. More than 90% of mortality of  CF patients is due to lung complications.  Healthy lungs are important for a long life for people with CF, We will discuss two important topics for maintaining respiratory health. Chronic use of drugs for maintaining respiratory health There are a number of drugs available to keep CF lungs healthy. We will discuss the science behind the recommendations for use of: Inhaled antibiotics Dornase alfa Azithromycin Hypertonic saline High-dose ibuprofen Ivacaftor CF Airway Clearance Therapies Airway Clearance therapy is very important to keeping CF lungs healthy. Our discussions cover the following topics such as the: Daily airway clearance Different techniques of airway clearance Effect of aerobic exercise on airway clearance  

Using Vector Projection Method to evaluate maintainability of mechanical system in design review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Lu; Cai Jianguo

2003-01-01

Maintainability of a mechanical system is one of the system design parameters that has a great impact in terms of ease of maintenance. In this article, based on the definition of the terms of maintenance and maintainability, an important tool of Design for Maintenance is developed as a way to improve maintainability through design. A set of standard and organized guidelines is provided and maintainability factors in terms of physical design, logistics support and ergonomics are identified. As a specific application of design review, a methodology so called Vector Projection Method is developed to evaluate the maintainability of the mechanical system. Lastly, an example is discussed

Vestibular feedback maintains reaching accuracy during body movement

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Raymond F.

2016-01-01

Key points Reaching movements can be perturbed by vestibular input, but the function of this response is unclear.Here, we applied galvanic vestibular stimulation concurrently with real body movement while subjects maintained arm position either fixed in space or fixed with respect to their body.During the fixed‐in‐space conditions, galvanic vestibular stimulation caused large changes in arm trajectory consistent with a compensatory response to maintain upper‐limb accuracy in the face of body movement.Galvanic vestibular stimulation responses were absent during the body‐fixed task, demonstrating task dependency in vestibular control of the upper limb.The results suggest that the function of vestibular‐evoked arm movements is to maintain the accuracy of the upper limb during unpredictable body movement, but only when reaching in an earth‐fixed reference frame. Abstract When using our arms to interact with the world, unintended body motion can introduce movement error. A mechanism that could detect and compensate for such motion would be beneficial. Observations of arm movements evoked by vestibular stimulation provide some support for this mechanism. However, the physiological function underlying these artificially evoked movements is unclear from previous research. For such a mechanism to be functional, it should operate only when the arm is being controlled in an earth‐fixed rather than a body‐fixed reference frame. In the latter case, compensation would be unnecessary and even deleterious. To test this hypothesis, subjects were gently rotated in a chair while being asked to maintain their outstretched arm pointing towards either earth‐fixed or body‐fixed memorized targets. Galvanic vestibular stimulation was applied concurrently during rotation to isolate the influence of vestibular input, uncontaminated by inertial factors. During the earth‐fixed task, galvanic vestibular stimulation produced large polarity‐dependent corrections in arm

Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms That Maintain Hematopoietic Stem Cell Function

OpenAIRE

Kosan, Christian; Godmann, Maren

2015-01-01

All hematopoiesis cells develop from multipotent progenitor cells. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) have the ability to develop into all blood lineages but also maintain their stemness. Different molecular mechanisms have been identified that are crucial for regulating quiescence and self-renewal to maintain the stem cell pool and for inducing proliferation and lineage differentiation. The stem cell niche provides the microenvironment to keep HSC in a quiescent state. Furthermore, several trans...

DNMT1 Maintains Progenitor Function in Self-Renewing Somatic Tissue

OpenAIRE

Sen, George L.; Reuter, Jason A.; Webster, Daniel E.; Zhu, Lilly; Khavari, Paul A.

2010-01-01

Progenitor cells maintain self-renewing tissues throughout life by sustaining their capacity for proliferation while suppressing cell cycle exit and terminal differentiation1,2. DNA methylation3,4,5 provides a potential epigenetic mechanism for the cellular memory needed to preserve the somatic progenitor state through repeated cell divisions. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1)6,7 maintains DNA methylation patterns after cellular replication. Although dispensable for embryonic stem cell maintena...

Identifying crucial parameter correlations maintaining bursting activity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca Doloc-Mihu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Recent experimental and computational studies suggest that linearly correlated sets of parameters (intrinsic and synaptic properties of neurons allow central pattern-generating networks to produce and maintain their rhythmic activity regardless of changing internal and external conditions. To determine the role of correlated conductances in the robust maintenance of functional bursting activity, we used our existing database of half-center oscillator (HCO model instances of the leech heartbeat CPG. From the database, we identified functional activity groups of burster (isolated neuron and half-center oscillator model instances and realistic subgroups of each that showed burst characteristics (principally period and spike frequency similar to the animal. To find linear correlations among the conductance parameters maintaining functional leech bursting activity, we applied Principal Component Analysis (PCA to each of these four groups. PCA identified a set of three maximal conductances (leak current, [Formula: see text]Leak; a persistent K current, [Formula: see text]K2; and of a persistent Na+ current, [Formula: see text]P that correlate linearly for the two groups of burster instances but not for the HCO groups. Visualizations of HCO instances in a reduced space suggested that there might be non-linear relationships between these parameters for these instances. Experimental studies have shown that period is a key attribute influenced by modulatory inputs and temperature variations in heart interneurons. Thus, we explored the sensitivity of period to changes in maximal conductances of [Formula: see text]Leak, [Formula: see text]K2, and [Formula: see text]P, and we found that for our realistic bursters the effect of these parameters on period could not be assessed because when varied individually bursting activity was not maintained.

How Do Positive Views Maintain Life Satisfaction?

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chia-Huei; Tsai, Ying-Mei; Chen, Lung Hung

2009-01-01

This study proposes three mediation pathways to explain how the positive views (perceived control, optimism and self-enhancement) proposed by Cummins and Nistico (Journal of Happiness Studies 3:37-69 2002) maintain life satisfaction. The three pathways were enhancing self-esteem, reducing have-want discrepancy and changing importance perceptions.…

A practical method for the maintainability assessment in industrial devices using indicators and specific attributes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreu De Leon, Pedro; González-Prida Díaz, Vicente; Barberá Martínez, Luis; Crespo Márquez, Adolfo

2012-01-01

The objective of this paper is to describe a procedure to obtain maintainability indicators for industrial devices. This analysis can be helpful, among other cases, to compare systems, to achieve a better design regarding maintainability requirements, to improve this maintainability under specific industrial environment and to foresee maintainability problems due to eventual changes in a device operation conditions. This maintainability assessment can be carried out at any stage of the industrial asset life cycle. With this purpose, this work first introduces the notion of maintainability and the implementation of assessment indicators, including some important requirements to perform that. Then, a brief literature review is presented, including the definition of the main concepts, which are later used in the paper. After studying the maintenance levels and the maintainability attributes, both terms are linked, leading all this analysis to the assessment of the maintainability indicators. It follows a discussion about the information obtained through the maintainability assessment process and its computation into several maintainability indicators. The paper includes a case study, which implements the defined assessment into a practical scenario. Finally, the work concludes summarizing the more significant aspects and suggesting future researches.

Sponsored Grant-maintained Schools: Extending the Franchise?

Science.gov (United States)

Walford, Geoffrey

1997-01-01

Discusses the introduction and implementation of the 1988 Education Reform Act for England and Wales. Traces the attempts of several existing private schools to become grant maintained (eligible for various forms of government support). Most private and faith-based schools have not been successful in this endeavor. Discusses the reasons for this.…

Maintainability of manpower system with restricted recruitment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The maintainability of a manpower system is studied under a Markov framework. The classical method of controlling only one factor of flow is extended to highlight the case in which two factors are under control simultaneously. One special case of this extension, where recruitment of units faces partial embargo, is given, ...

399 Maintaining Discipline and Orderliness in Secondary Education ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

2010-10-17

Oct 17, 2010 ... complicated that most teachers find it difficult to maintain and keep their ... gang fighting, drug abuse, unrest, smoking, armed robbery, students/ ... instance, both the principals' and teachers' leadership styles can affect the.

Competence in radiation protection - acquisition, maintaining, extending

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breckow, J.; Geringer, T.; Radiation Protection Academy Seibersdorf; Haug, T.

2007-01-01

A survey is given on current initiatives, supranational in the EU and national in Germany and Switzerland, for education and training in radiation protection with the aim of maintaining and enlarging professional competence. Successively, individual studying possibilities and courses as well as some experiences with guidelines for professional knowledge in Germany are described. (orig.)

Dicer maintains the identity and function of proprioceptive sensory neurons.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Toole, Sean M; Ferrer, Monica M; Mekonnen, Jennifer; Zhang, Haihan; Shima, Yasuyuki; Ladle, David R; Nelson, Sacha B

2017-03-01

Neuronal cell identity is established during development and must be maintained throughout an animal's life (Fishell G, Heintz N. Neuron 80: 602-612, 2013). Transcription factors critical for establishing neuronal identity can be required for maintaining it (Deneris ES, Hobert O. Nat Neurosci 17: 899-907, 2014). Posttranscriptional regulation also plays an important role in neuronal differentiation (Bian S, Sun T. Mol Neurobiol 44: 359-373, 2011), but its role in maintaining cell identity is less established. To better understand how posttranscriptional regulation might contribute to cell identity, we examined the proprioceptive neurons in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), a highly specialized sensory neuron class, with well-established properties that distinguish them from other neurons in the ganglion. By conditionally ablating Dicer in mice, using parvalbumin (Pvalb)-driven Cre recombinase, we impaired posttranscriptional regulation in the proprioceptive sensory neuron population. Knockout (KO) animals display a progressive form of ataxia at the beginning of the fourth postnatal week that is accompanied by a cell death within the DRG. Before cell loss, expression profiling shows a reduction of proprioceptor specific genes and an increased expression of nonproprioceptive genes normally enriched in other ganglion neurons. Furthermore, although central connections of these neurons are intact, the peripheral connections to the muscle are functionally impaired. Posttranscriptional regulation is therefore necessary to retain the transcriptional identity and support functional specialization of the proprioceptive sensory neurons. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We have demonstrated that selectively impairing Dicer in parvalbumin-positive neurons, which include the proprioceptors, triggers behavioral changes, a lack of muscle connectivity, and a loss of transcriptional identity as observed through RNA sequencing. These results suggest that Dicer and, most likely by extension, micro

Prefrontal Neuronal Excitability Maintains Cocaine-Associated Memory During Retrieval

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James M. Otis

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Presentation of drug-associated cues provokes craving and drug seeking, and elimination of these associative memories would facilitate recovery from addiction. Emotionally salient memories are maintained during retrieval, as particular pharmacologic or optogenetic perturbations of memory circuits during retrieval, but not after, can induce long-lasting memory impairments. For example, in rats, inhibition of noradrenergic beta-receptors, which control intrinsic neuronal excitability, in the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex (PL-mPFC can cause long-term memory impairments that prevent subsequent cocaine-induced reinstatement. The physiologic mechanisms that allow noradrenergic signaling to maintain drug-associated memories during retrieval, however, are unclear. Here we combine patch-clamp electrophysiology ex vivo and behavioral neuropharmacology in vivo to evaluate the mechanisms that maintain drug-associated memory during retrieval in rats. Consistent with previous studies, we find that cocaine experience increases the intrinsic excitability of pyramidal neurons in PL-mPFC. In addition, we now find that this intrinsic plasticity positively predicts the retrieval of a cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP memory, suggesting that such plasticity may contribute to drug-associated memory retrieval. In further support of this, we find that pharmacological blockade of a cAMP-dependent signaling cascade, which allows noradrenergic signaling to elevate neuronal excitability, is required for memory maintenance during retrieval. Thus, inhibition of PL-mPFC neuronal excitability during memory retrieval not only leads to long-term deficits in the memory, but this memory deficit provides protection against subsequent cocaine-induced reinstatement. These data reveal that PL-mPFC intrinsic neuronal excitability maintains a cocaine-associated memory during retrieval and suggest a unique mechanism whereby drug-associated memories could be targeted

Improved reliability, maintainability and safety through elastomer upgrading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wensel, R.; Wittich, K.C.

1995-01-01

Equipment in nuclear plants has historically contained whatever elastomer each component supplier traditionally used for corresponding non-nuclear service. The resulting proliferation of elastomer compounds, many of which are far from optimal for the service conditions (e.g., pressure, temperature, radiation, etc.), has multiplied the costs to provide station reliability, maintainability and safety. Cost-effective improvements are being achieved in CANDU plants by upgrading and standardizing on a handful of high performing elastomer compounds. These upgraded materials offer significant gains in service life over the materials they replace (often by factors of 2 or more). This rationalization of elastomer compounds also facilitates the EQ process for safety-related equipment. Detailed test data on aging is currently being generated for these specific elastomers, encompassing the conditions and media (air, water, oil) common in CANDU service. Two key elements characterize this testing. First, each result is specific to the compound used in the test, and second, it is specific to the tested failure mode (e.g., compression set, extrusion, fracture, etc.). Having fewer, but more thoroughly tested compounds, avoids the penalty (associated with poorly characterized materials) of having to replace parts prematurely because of conservatism, while maintaining safe, reliable service. This paper provides an overview of this approach covering: the benefits of compound rationalization; and the how and why of establishing relevant failure criteria; appropriate quality assurance to maintain EQ; procurement, storage and handling guidelines; and monitoring and predicting in-service degradation. (author)

Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your PC All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies

CERN Document Server

Gookin, Dan

2009-01-01

Maintaining a PC is important, and troubleshooting a PC can be a challenge. Dan Gookin is great at explaining how to handle common PC problems, and he's provided a complete, plain-English manual in Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies. Liberally laced with Dan's famous humor and clear instructions, Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies is divided into six minibooks covering hardware, software, laptops, Internet, networking, and maintenance. Each one gives you some background on what causes common problems, to help you understand what's wrong as we

Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms That Maintain Hematopoietic Stem Cell Function

Science.gov (United States)

Kosan, Christian; Godmann, Maren

2016-01-01

All hematopoiesis cells develop from multipotent progenitor cells. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) have the ability to develop into all blood lineages but also maintain their stemness. Different molecular mechanisms have been identified that are crucial for regulating quiescence and self-renewal to maintain the stem cell pool and for inducing proliferation and lineage differentiation. The stem cell niche provides the microenvironment to keep HSC in a quiescent state. Furthermore, several transcription factors and epigenetic modifiers are involved in this process. These create modifications that regulate the cell fate in a more or less reversible and dynamic way and contribute to HSC homeostasis. In addition, HSC respond in a unique way to DNA damage. These mechanisms also contribute to the regulation of HSC function and are essential to ensure viability after DNA damage. How HSC maintain their quiescent stage during the entire life is still matter of ongoing research. Here we will focus on the molecular mechanisms that regulate HSC function. PMID:26798358

Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms That Maintain Hematopoietic Stem Cell Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Kosan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available All hematopoiesis cells develop from multipotent progenitor cells. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC have the ability to develop into all blood lineages but also maintain their stemness. Different molecular mechanisms have been identified that are crucial for regulating quiescence and self-renewal to maintain the stem cell pool and for inducing proliferation and lineage differentiation. The stem cell niche provides the microenvironment to keep HSC in a quiescent state. Furthermore, several transcription factors and epigenetic modifiers are involved in this process. These create modifications that regulate the cell fate in a more or less reversible and dynamic way and contribute to HSC homeostasis. In addition, HSC respond in a unique way to DNA damage. These mechanisms also contribute to the regulation of HSC function and are essential to ensure viability after DNA damage. How HSC maintain their quiescent stage during the entire life is still matter of ongoing research. Here we will focus on the molecular mechanisms that regulate HSC function.

Multi-Voxel Decoding and the Topography of Maintained Information During Visual Working Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sue-Hyun; Baker, Chris I

2016-01-01

The ability to maintain representations in the absence of external sensory stimulation, such as in working memory, is critical for guiding human behavior. Human functional brain imaging studies suggest that visual working memory can recruit a network of brain regions from visual to parietal to prefrontal cortex. In this review, we focus on the maintenance of representations during visual working memory and discuss factors determining the topography of those representations. In particular, we review recent studies employing multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) that demonstrate decoding of the maintained content in visual cortex, providing support for a "sensory recruitment" model of visual working memory. However, there is some evidence that maintained content can also be decoded in areas outside of visual cortex, including parietal and frontal cortex. We suggest that the ability to maintain representations during working memory is a general property of cortex, not restricted to specific areas, and argue that it is important to consider the nature of the information that must be maintained. Such information-content is critically determined by the task and the recruitment of specific regions during visual working memory will be both task- and stimulus-dependent. Thus, the common finding of maintained information in visual, but not parietal or prefrontal, cortex may be more of a reflection of the need to maintain specific types of visual information and not of a privileged role of visual cortex in maintenance.

Multi-voxel decoding and the topography of maintained information during visual working memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sue-Hyun eLee

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The ability to maintain representations in the absence of external sensory stimulation, such as in working memory, is critical for guiding human behavior. Human functional brain imaging studies suggest that visual working memory can recruit a network of brain regions from visual to parietal to prefrontal cortex. In this review, we focus on the maintenance of representations during visual working memory and discuss factors determining the topography of those representations. In particular, we review recent studies employing multi-voxel pattern analysis that demonstrate decoding of the maintained content in visual cortex, providing support for a ‘sensory recruitment’ model of visual working memory. However, there is some evidence that maintained content can also be decoded in areas outside of visual cortex, including parietal and frontal cortex. We suggest that the ability to maintain representations during working memory is a general property of cortex, not restricted to specific areas, and argue that it is important to consider the nature of the information that must be maintained. Such information-content is critically determined by the task and the recruitment of specific regions during visual working memory will be both task- and stimulus-dependent. Thus, the common finding of maintained information in visual, but not parietal or prefrontal, cortex may be more of a reflection of the need to maintain specific types of visual information and not of a privileged role of visual cortex in maintenance.

Multi-Voxel Decoding and the Topography of Maintained Information During Visual Working Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sue-Hyun; Baker, Chris I.

2016-01-01

The ability to maintain representations in the absence of external sensory stimulation, such as in working memory, is critical for guiding human behavior. Human functional brain imaging studies suggest that visual working memory can recruit a network of brain regions from visual to parietal to prefrontal cortex. In this review, we focus on the maintenance of representations during visual working memory and discuss factors determining the topography of those representations. In particular, we review recent studies employing multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) that demonstrate decoding of the maintained content in visual cortex, providing support for a “sensory recruitment” model of visual working memory. However, there is some evidence that maintained content can also be decoded in areas outside of visual cortex, including parietal and frontal cortex. We suggest that the ability to maintain representations during working memory is a general property of cortex, not restricted to specific areas, and argue that it is important to consider the nature of the information that must be maintained. Such information-content is critically determined by the task and the recruitment of specific regions during visual working memory will be both task- and stimulus-dependent. Thus, the common finding of maintained information in visual, but not parietal or prefrontal, cortex may be more of a reflection of the need to maintain specific types of visual information and not of a privileged role of visual cortex in maintenance. PMID:26912997

44 CFR 321.3 - Maintaining the mobilization base.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... base. 321.3 Section 321.3 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PREPAREDNESS MAINTENANCE OF THE MOBILIZATION BASE (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, MARITIME ADMINISTRATION) § 321.3 Maintaining the mobilization base. (a) Facilities...

Summary of EPRI projects for improving power plant maintenance and maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shugars, H.G.; Poole, D.N.; Pack, R.W.

1979-01-01

The Electric Power Research Institute is sponsoring projects to improve power plant maintenance and maintainability. Areas presently being emphasized are improvements in plant design for maintainability, improvements in performing nuclear plant refuelings, and development of on-line monitoring and diagnostic systems for various plant components. The seven projects are reviewed. They are: (1) human factors review of power plant maintainability; (2) refueling outage improvement; (3) on-line monitoring and diagnostics for power plant machinery; (4) acoustic emission and vibrati1on signature analysis of fossil fuel plant components; (5) acoustic monitoring of power plant valves; (6) on-line monitoring and diagnostics for generators; and (7) detection of water induction in steam turbines. Each project contractor and the project manager are listed for reference. 8 references

Reliability and Maintainability model (RAM) user and maintenance manual. Part 2

Science.gov (United States)

Ebeling, Charles E.

1995-01-01

This report documents the procedures for utilizing and maintaining the Reliability and Maintainability Model (RAM) developed by the University of Dayton for the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). The RAM model predicts reliability and maintainability (R&M) parameters for conceptual space vehicles using parametric relationships between vehicle design and performance characteristics and subsystem mean time between maintenance actions (MTBM) and manhours per maintenance action (MH/MA). These parametric relationships were developed using aircraft R&M data from over thirty different military aircraft of all types. This report describes the general methodology used within the model, the execution and computational sequence, the input screens and data, the output displays and reports, and study analyses and procedures. A source listing is provided.

Maintaining Traceability in an Evolving Distributed Computing Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Collier, I.; Wartel, R.

2015-12-01

The management of risk is fundamental to the operation of any distributed computing infrastructure. Identifying the cause of incidents is essential to prevent them from re-occurring. In addition, it is a goal to contain the impact of an incident while keeping services operational. For response to incidents to be acceptable this needs to be commensurate with the scale of the problem. The minimum level of traceability for distributed computing infrastructure usage is to be able to identify the source of all actions (executables, file transfers, pilot jobs, portal jobs, etc.) and the individual who initiated them. In addition, sufficiently fine-grained controls, such as blocking the originating user and monitoring to detect abnormal behaviour, are necessary for keeping services operational. It is essential to be able to understand the cause and to fix any problems before re-enabling access for the user. The aim is to be able to answer the basic questions who, what, where, and when concerning any incident. This requires retaining all relevant information, including timestamps and the digital identity of the user, sufficient to identify, for each service instance, and for every security event including at least the following: connect, authenticate, authorize (including identity changes) and disconnect. In traditional grid infrastructures (WLCG, EGI, OSG etc.) best practices and procedures for gathering and maintaining the information required to maintain traceability are well established. In particular, sites collect and store information required to ensure traceability of events at their sites. With the increased use of virtualisation and private and public clouds for HEP workloads established procedures, which are unable to see 'inside' running virtual machines no longer capture all the information required. Maintaining traceability will at least involve a shift of responsibility from sites to Virtual Organisations (VOs) bringing with it new requirements for their

Creating and maintaining chemical artificial life by robotic symbiosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanczyc, Martin M.; Parrilla, Juan M.; Nicholson, Arwen

2015-01-01

We present a robotic platform based on the open source RepRap 3D printer that can print and maintain chemical artificial life in the form of a dynamic, chemical droplet. The robot uses computer vision, a self-organizing map, and a learning program to automatically categorize the behavior of the d......We present a robotic platform based on the open source RepRap 3D printer that can print and maintain chemical artificial life in the form of a dynamic, chemical droplet. The robot uses computer vision, a self-organizing map, and a learning program to automatically categorize the behavior...... confluence of chemical, artificial intelligence, and robotic approaches to artificial life....

Creating and Maintaining Chemical Artificial Life by Robotic Symbiosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanczyc, Martin; Parrilla, Juan M.; Nicholson, Arwen

2015-01-01

We present a robotic platform based on the open source RepRap 3D printer that can print and maintain chemical artificial life in the form of a dynamic, chemical droplet. The robot uses computer vision, a self-organizing map, and a learning program to automatically categorize the behavior of the d......We present a robotic platform based on the open source RepRap 3D printer that can print and maintain chemical artificial life in the form of a dynamic, chemical droplet. The robot uses computer vision, a self-organizing map, and a learning program to automatically categorize the behavior...... confluence of chemical, artificial intelligence, and robotic approaches to artificial life....

Maintaining Relationship Based Procurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Davis

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Alliance and relationship projects are increasingin number and represent a large pool of work. Tobe successful relationship style contracts dependon soft-dollar factors, particularly the participants'ability to work together within an agreedframework, generally they are not based on lowbid tendering. Participants should be prepared todo business in an open environment based ontrust and mutually agreed governance. Theresearch evaluates relationship maintenance inthe implementation phase of constructionalliances - a particular derivative of relationshipstyle contracts. To determine the factors thatcontribute to relationship maintenance forty-nineexperienced Australian alliance projectmanagers were interviewed. The main findingswere; the development of relationships early inthe project form building blocks of success fromwhich relationships are maintained and projectvalue added; quality facilitation plays animportant part in relationship maintenance and ahybrid organisation created as a result of alliancedevelopment overcomes destructiveorganisational boundaries. Relationshipmaintenance is integral to alliance project controland failure to formalise it and pay attention toprocess and past outcomes will undermine analliance project's potential for success.

Maintaining families’ well-being in everyday life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristina Ziegert

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to discuss how everyday life changes for the family in the event of chronic illness or disability. It changes physically due to loss of body function and socially due to time and other constraints related to treatment or lack of mobility. Equally important, there is a psychological impact due to the uncertainty of the future. The article will explore how family participation can help to maintain well-being in everyday life. The family should therefore focus on their own needs as much as on the needs of the family members who are ill. In order to maintain well-being in everyday life, it is crucial for the family to create routines and spend time doing things that they enjoy. By doing this, the family will create a rhythm of well-being regardless of the critical family situation. Family members and professional caregivers also need to come together at the beginning and during the illness or disability event to discuss changes that could be made day-to-day for all those involved, thereby making for an easier transition into care giving.

Experience of maintaining laboratory educational website's sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimenstein, Izak B

2016-01-01

Laboratory methodology websites are specialized niche websites. The visibility of a niche website transforms it into an authority site on a particular "niche of knowledge." This article presents some ways in which a laboratory methodology website can maintain its sustainability. The optimal composition of the website includes a basic content, a blog, and an ancillary part. This article discusses experimenting with the search engine optimization query results page. Strategic placement of keywords and even phrases, as well as fragmentation of the post's material, can improve the website's visibility to search engines. Hyperlinks open a chain reaction of additional links and draw attention to the previous posts. Publications in printed periodicals are a substantial part of a niche website presence on the Internet. Although this article explores a laboratory website on the basis of our hands-on expertise maintaining "Grossing Technology in Surgical Pathology" (www.grossing-technology.com) website with a high volume of traffic for more than a decade, the recommendations presented here for developing an authority website can be applied to other professional specialized websites. The authority websites visibility and sustainability are preconditions for aggregating them in a specialized educational laboratory portal.

Combined Non-Self-Maintained Discharge in Air for Generating of Chemically Active Particles

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ardelyan, N. V; Bychkov, V. L; Gordeev, O. A; Klimov, A. I

2003-01-01

Development of plasma technologies for problems of external and internal gas dynamics is impossible without the detailed studies of different discharge types both self maintained and non-self maintained improvement...

Maintaining adequate nutrient supply - Principles, decision-support tools, and best management practices [Chapter 6

Science.gov (United States)

Robert B. Harrison; Douglas A. Maguire; Deborah Page-Dumroese

2011-01-01

Maintaining adequate nutrient supply to maintain or enhance tree vigor and forest growth requires conservation of topsoil and soil organic matter. Sometimes nutrient amendments are also required to supplement inherent nutrient-pool limitations or replenish nutrients removed in harvested material. The goal is to maintain the productive potential of the soil and, when...

The business case: collaborating to help employees maintain their mental well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Sairanen, Sari; Matzanke, Deanna; Smeall, Doug

2011-01-01

There has been a change in the mindset of businesses in recent years. Companies are starting to realize that proactively helping their employees to maintain mental health is beneficial, both for their workers and their business. In this article, we present three different but complementary views - those of an advocate, an employer and a provider - on helping employees maintain mental, and physical, health. In the first section, Sari Sairanen outlines programs and services to manage stress and maintain mental health that have been developed by the Canadian Auto Workers' union and implemented in partnership with employers, wellness providers, service agencies and other community partners. The union focuses on raising awareness and providing education, as well as removing the stigma associated with mental illness. Deanna Matzanke, in her section, discusses the commitment of a company, Scotiabank, to create and maintain an inclusive and accessible workplace for all its employees. It has recently worked with providers to develop and implement integrated services dealing specifically with mental health illness and addiction, which aid not only its current employees but also possible future employees. Finally, Doug Smeall shares his observations as an insurer at Sun Life Financial, who has seen the rates of both short-term and long-term disabilities increase. He elaborates on the collaborative work between insurers and employers to help employees maintain their mental health, and to return to work sooner when issues do occur. Ultimately, this article argues that unions, employers and insurers can work together with partners and employees to promote and maintain employee health because, as Sairanen asserts, "preventing a problem in the first place is the best strategy." Copyright © 2011 Longwoods Publishing.

Guidelines on the use of space maintainers following premature loss of primary teeth.

Science.gov (United States)

Brothwell, D J

1997-11-01

To formulate evidence-based guidelines on the appropriate use of space maintaining appliances to prevent or reduce the severity of malocclusion in the permanent dentition following the premature loss of primary teeth. Placement of lingual arch, palatal arch, band-loop, crown-loop, and intra-alveolar space maintainers. Reduced prevalence or severity of space loss in the primary or mixed dentition, reduced prevalence or severity of malocclusion in the permanent dentition measured as significant changes in: crowding, ectopic eruption, impacted teeth, Angle's class II or III occlusion, crossbite, deep overbite, deep overjet, or midline shift. Articles published from 1966 to 1996, located though Medline searches. Only clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, or large case series were considered. Relevant clinical findings were evaluated and categorized using evidence-based methods and values established by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. A recommendation was developed for the use of space maintainers. The potential benefits of using space maintaining appliances include reduced prevalence or severity of: crowding, ectopic eruption, tooth impaction, crossbite, excessive overbite and overjet, and poor molar relationship. Other advantages include the potential for considerable cost savings by reducing the need for future orthodontic treatment. The potential disadvantages of using space maintaining appliances include soft tissue impingement, interference with eruption of adjacent teeth, pain, plaque accumulation, caries, and broken, dislodged or lost appliances. There is poor evidence to recommend for or against the use of space maintainers to prevent or reduce the severity of malocclusion in the permanent dentition (see Table 1, Recommendation C) Decisions regarding the use of space maintainers must therefore be guided by factors other than scientific evidence.

Maintaining public confidence in UK nuclear safety regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, L.

2001-01-01

The key to maintaining stake holder confidence is competence and having the resources necessary to not only carry out regulatory functions effectively, but also to keep the public informed and respond to their questions. This does not come cheap but it is a price well worth paying. (N.C.)

Maintainability design criteria for packaging of spacecraft replaceable electronic equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kappler, J. R.; Folsom, A. B.

1972-01-01

Maintainability must be designed into long-duration spacecraft and equipment to provide the required high probability of mission success with the least cost and weight. The ability to perform repairs quickly and easily in a space environment can be achieved by imposing specific maintainability design criteria on spacecraft equipment design and installation. A study was funded to investigate and define design criteria for electronic equipment that would permit rapid removal and replacement in a space environment. The results of the study are discussed together with subsequent simulated zero-g demonstration tests of a mockup with new concepts for packaging.

Maintaining experiences of nature as a city grows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica R. Sushinsky

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Experiences of nature contribute to human health and well-being, yet as the world's population continues to concentrate in towns and cities there is mounting concern that these experiences are diminishing. Despite this, little is known about how we can maintain experiences of nature as cities grow. Here, we quantify how people's opportunities to experience nature might change with future urban growth in the city of Brisbane, Australia. We simulated the addition of 84,642 houses under compact and sprawling growth scenarios and modeled changes in people's opportunities to experience nature by estimating changes in backyard size, public green space provision, and bird species richness close to households. We discovered that the form of urban growth could strongly influence people's opportunities to experience nature in a way that is highly nonrandom across the socioeconomic gradient. Under a sprawling pattern of development, with low residential densities and few interstitial green spaces, our models suggest severe declines in access to public green space and bird species richness around people's homes. These declines are predicted to be concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of the city. Compact development leads to greater reductions in backyard size, but smaller declines in access to public green space and bird species richness. Our results point to a difficult trade-off; residential infill will maintain larger green spaces and higher overall bird diversity but reduce backyard sizes, impacting people's opportunities to experience nature in a different way. Careful planning is needed to balance the availability of public and private urban green spaces to ensure that the opportunities for people to experience nature are maintained as urbanization continues.

Desirable factors for maintaining normal BMI of urban affluent women of Delhi.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Anu Taneja; Siddhu, Anupa

2015-01-01

The study aimed to identify desirable social, familial, reproductive, dietary, and lifestyle factors for maintaining normal body mass index (BMI) of urban affluent women (25-45 years) in Delhi, India. A total of 387 urban affluent women with at least one living child participated in this cross-sectional study conducted from March 2008 to April 2010. Women were classified into four BMI categories on the basis of World Health Organization (WHO; 2004) classification for Asians. Significant factors for maintaining normal BMI were: Younger age, less parity, nuclear family, normal weight status of parents, postpartum weight gain between 2 and 3 kg, regularity in taking meals, fixed meal size, self-perceived normal weight, and shorter sitting time and television viewing time. Multivariate regression analysis identified five determining factors for maintaining BMI, which are normal weight of father, self-perceived normal weight, fixed meal size, sitting time less than 6 h/day, and television viewing time less than 1 h/day. By small lifestyle modifications, normal BMI can be maintained.

What older adults find useful for maintaining healthy eating and exercise habits.

Science.gov (United States)

Greaney, Mary L; Lees, Faith D; Greene, Geoffrey W; Clark, Phillip G

2004-01-01

Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 29 adults 60 years of age and older enrolled in the SENIOR Project, a health promotion intervention study designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and exercise among community-dwelling older adults. The focus groups explored the motivations of older adults to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables and/or exercise and the strategies used to adopt or maintain these behaviors. Participants stated that maintaining health, remaining independent, and fearing illness provided the motivation needed to adhere to these behaviors. The strategies or the behavioral processes used to adopt or maintain these behaviors included counterconditioning, helping relationships, stimulus control, and self-liberation.

Maintaining ancient organelles: mitochondrial biogenesis and maturation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vega, Rick B; Horton, Julie L; Kelly, Daniel P

2015-05-22

The ultrastructure of the cardiac myocyte is remarkable for the high density of mitochondria tightly packed between sarcomeres. This structural organization is designed to provide energy in the form of ATP to fuel normal pump function of the heart. A complex system comprised of regulatory factors and energy metabolic machinery, encoded by both mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, is required for the coordinate control of cardiac mitochondrial biogenesis, maturation, and high-capacity function. This process involves the action of a transcriptional regulatory network that builds and maintains the mitochondrial genome and drives the expression of the energy transduction machinery. This finely tuned system is responsive to developmental and physiological cues, as well as changes in fuel substrate availability. Deficiency of components critical for mitochondrial energy production frequently manifests as a cardiomyopathic phenotype, underscoring the requirement to maintain high respiration rates in the heart. Although a precise causative role is not clear, there is increasing evidence that perturbations in this regulatory system occur in the hypertrophied and failing heart. This review summarizes current knowledge and highlights recent advances in our understanding of the transcriptional regulatory factors and signaling networks that serve to regulate mitochondrial biogenesis and function in the mammalian heart. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Store operations to maintain cache coherence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evangelinos, Constantinos; Nair, Ravi; Ohmacht, Martin

2017-08-01

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes encountering a store operation during a compile-time of a program, where the store operation is applicable to a memory line. It is determined, by a computer processor, that no cache coherence action is necessary for the store operation. A store-without-coherence-action instruction is generated for the store operation, responsive to determining that no cache coherence action is necessary. The store-without-coherence-action instruction specifies that the store operation is to be performed without a cache coherence action, and cache coherence is maintained upon execution of the store-without-coherence-action instruction.

Store operations to maintain cache coherence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evangelinos, Constantinos; Nair, Ravi; Ohmacht, Martin

2017-09-12

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes encountering a store operation during a compile-time of a program, where the store operation is applicable to a memory line. It is determined, by a computer processor, that no cache coherence action is necessary for the store operation. A store-without-coherence-action instruction is generated for the store operation, responsive to determining that no cache coherence action is necessary. The store-without-coherence-action instruction specifies that the store operation is to be performed without a cache coherence action, and cache coherence is maintained upon execution of the store-without-coherence-action instruction.

Maintaining the power balance in an "empty network"

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reza, M.; Dominguez, A.O.; Schavemaker, P.H.; Kling, W.L.

2006-01-01

This paper presents the concept of an empty network and shows how the power balance can be maintained in such a system. In this study, an empty network is defined as a power system in which no rotating mass is present; all generators are grid-connected via power electronic interfaces. One generator

The Usher lifestyle survey: maintaining independence: a multi-centre study.

Science.gov (United States)

Damen, Godelieve W J A; Krabbe, Paul F M; Kilsby, M; Mylanus, Emmanuel A M

2005-12-01

Patients with Usher syndrome face a special set of challenges in order to maintain their independence when their sight and hearing worsen. Three different types of Usher (I, II and III) are distinguished by differences in onset, progression and severity of hearing loss, and by the presence or absence of balance problems. In this study 93 Usher patients from seven European countries filled out a questionnaire on maintaining independence (60 patients type I, 25 patients type II, four patients type III and four patients type unknown). Results of Usher type I and II patients are presented. Following the Nordic definition of maintaining independence in deaf-blindness, three domains are investigated: access to information, communication and mobility. Research variables in this study are: age and type of Usher, considered hearing loss- and the number of retinitis pigmentosa-related sight problems. Usher type I patients tend to need more help than Usher type II patients and the amount of help that they need grows when patients get older or when considered hearing loss worsens. No patterns in results were seen for the number of retinitis pigmentosa related sight problems.

Assessment of Geant4 Maintainability with respect to software engineering references

Science.gov (United States)

Ronchieri, Elisabetta; Grazia Pia, Maria; Canaparo, Marco

2017-10-01

Over time computer scientists have been provided metrics to measure software maintainability. In existing literature, a large number of references can be found about this topic; nevertheless, a lack of quantitative assessment of maintainability metrics has been observed. In this paper, we summarize the challenges of adopting code measurements in the context of physics software system. In this pilot study, we have used Geant4 - a twenty-year-old software system - to conduct this research and set the grounds for further discussion.

A Polarization Maintaining Filter based on a Liquid-Crystal-Photonic-Bandgap-Fiber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scolari, Lara; Olausson, Christina Bjarnal Thulin; Turchinovich, Dmitry

2008-01-01

A polarization maintaining filter based on a liquid-crystal-photonic-bandgap-fiber is demonstrated. Its polarization extinction ratio is 14 dB at 1550 nm. Its tunability is 150 nm.......A polarization maintaining filter based on a liquid-crystal-photonic-bandgap-fiber is demonstrated. Its polarization extinction ratio is 14 dB at 1550 nm. Its tunability is 150 nm....

Acoustic waves in M dwarfs: Maintaining a corona

Science.gov (United States)

Mullan, D. J.; Cheng, Q. Q.

1994-01-01

We use a time-dependent hydrodynamics code to follow the propagation of acoustic waves into the corona of an M dwarf star. An important qualitative difference between M dwarfs and stars such as the Sun is that the acoustic spectrum in M dwarfs is expected to peak at periods close to the acoustic cutoff P(sub A): this allows more effective penetration of waves into the corona. In our code, radiative losses in the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona are computed using Rosseland mean opacities, Mg II kappa and Ly alpha emission, and optically thin emissivities respectively. We find that acoustic heating can maintain a corona with a temperature of order 0.7-1 x 10(exp 6) K and a surface X-ray flux as large as 10(exp 5)ergs/sq cm/s. In a recent survey of X-rays from M dwarfs, some (20%-30%) of the stars lie at or below this limiting X-ray flux: we suggest that such stars may be candidates for acoustically maintained coronae.

Maintaining operational excellence: building capability beyond knowledge transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramjist, S.

2013-01-01

This paper describes the issues relating to human resources and maintaining capabilities in an organization. The sustaining elements are: vision and plan for excellence; invest in the plant; invest in human capital; find and fix problems. There is much discussion about knowledge transfer and retention that is mainly focused on technical attributes and proficiency. We are losing more people with the requisite managerial and leadership capability than we can develop and backfill at a Time when our industry is facing increased competition and decreased margins. We are vulnerable because this Increases our dependence on augmented staff for certain key leadership roles. Previous methods for developing people will take too long and does not appeal to current generation. A solution, not the only solution, but the one we have chosen is initial hiring of operators, maintainers and engineers, internal promotion for key roles (FLM, FSOS, Shift Supervisor, Section Manager, ANO) and focus on all three aspects of capability and looking for leadership traits. Look for ambition, drive, initiative and motivation. Identify, separate and stream. Take specific measures to accelerate growth.

Maintaining operational excellence: building capability beyond knowledge transfer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramjist, S. [Ontario Power Generation, Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, Bowmanville, Ontario (Canada)

2013-07-01

This paper describes the issues relating to human resources and maintaining capabilities in an organization. The sustaining elements are: vision and plan for excellence; invest in the plant; invest in human capital; find and fix problems. There is much discussion about knowledge transfer and retention that is mainly focused on technical attributes and proficiency. We are losing more people with the requisite managerial and leadership capability than we can develop and backfill at a Time when our industry is facing increased competition and decreased margins. We are vulnerable because this Increases our dependence on augmented staff for certain key leadership roles. Previous methods for developing people will take too long and does not appeal to current generation. A solution, not the only solution, but the one we have chosen is initial hiring of operators, maintainers and engineers, internal promotion for key roles (FLM, FSOS, Shift Supervisor, Section Manager, ANO) and focus on all three aspects of capability and looking for leadership traits. Look for ambition, drive, initiative and motivation. Identify, separate and stream. Take specific measures to accelerate growth.

7 CFR 4290.600 - General requirement for RBIC to maintain and preserve records.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) All your accounting and other financial records; (2) All minutes of meetings of directors.... (a) Maintaining your accounting records. You must establish and maintain your accounting records.... You must keep the following records at your principal place of business or, in the case of paragraph...

4 CFR 200.11 - Maintaining records of disclosure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). (b) An accounting of each disclosure shall be retained..., whichever is longer. (c) The Board shall make the accounting of disclosure of a record pertaining to an... 4 Accounts 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maintaining records of disclosure. 200.11 Section 200.11...

Maintaining the Identify of Dynamically Embodied Agents

OpenAIRE

Martin, Alan; O'Hare, Gregory; Duffy, Brian; Schoen-Phelan, Bianca; Bradley, John

2005-01-01

Virtual agents are traditionally constrained in their embod- iment, as they are restricted to one form of body. We propose allowing them to change their embodiment in order to expand their capabili- ties. This presents users with a number of di±culties in maintaining the identity of the agents, but these can be overcome by using identity cues, certain features that remain constant across embodiment forms. This pa- per outlines an experiment that examines these identity cues, and shows that th...

The Costs and Benefits of Maintaining the Buy American Act

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hirschman, Keith

1998-01-01

.... The thesis uses accepted economic analysis on the gains from international trade to show that the costs of maintaining such protectionist legislation are potentially high relative to the uncertain...

31 CFR 1.30 - Application to system of records maintained by Government contractors.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Application to system of records maintained by Government contractors. 1.30 Section 1.30 Money and Finance: Treasury Office of the Secretary of the Treasury DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS Privacy Act § 1.30 Application to system of records maintained...

Maintaining a Distinction Between Possible and Impossible Topics of Conversation in the Outpatient Respiratory Medical Clinic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Birgitte Skov Jensen, Lone; Larsen, Kristian; Konradsen, Hanne

2016-01-01

by maintaining a distinction between possible and impossible topics to counseling. Three subcategories explaining the effort that maintain the impossible and possible topics separated were identified: (a) an effort to maintain the diseased lungs as the main task in counseling, (b) navigating interactions...

Balancing selection maintains cryptic colour morphs.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellenreuther, Maren

2017-11-01

Animals display incredibly diverse colour patterns, a testament to evolution's endless innovation in shaping life. In many species, the interplay between males and females in the pursuit of mates has driven the evolution of a myriad of colour forms, from the flashy peacock tail feathers to the tiniest colour markings in damselflies. In others, colour provides crypsis by allowing to blend into the background and to escape the eyes of predators. While the obvious benefits of this dazzling diversity for reproduction and survival seem straightforward, its maintenance is not. Theory predicts that genetic drift and various forms of selection reduce variation over time, making the persistence of colour variants over generations a puzzle. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Lindtke et al. () study the cryptic colour morphs of Timema cristinae walking sticks to shed light on the genetic architecture and mechanisms that allow colour polymorphism maintenance over long timescales. By combining genome-wide data with phenotyping information from natural populations, they were able to map the green and melanistic colour to one genomic region with highly reduced effective recombination rate between two main chromosomal variants, consistent with an inversion polymorphism. These two main chromosomal variants showed geographically widespread heterozygote excess, and genomic signatures consistent with long-term balancing selection. A younger chromosomal variant was detected for the third morph, the green-striped colour morphs, in the same genomic regions as the melanistic and the green-unstriped morphs. Together, these results suggest that the genetic architecture of cryptic T. cristinae morphs is caused by nonrecombining genomic blocks that have been maintained over extended time periods by balancing selection making this study one of the few available empirical examples documenting that balancing selection of various forms may play an important role in maintaining adaptive genetic

Experience of maintaining laboratory educational website′s sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Izak B Dimenstein

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Laboratory methodology websites are specialized niche websites. The visibility of a niche website transforms it into an authority site on a particular "niche of knowledge." This article presents some ways in which a laboratory methodology website can maintain its sustainability. The optimal composition of the website includes a basic content, a blog, and an ancillary part. This article discusses experimenting with the search engine optimization query results page. Strategic placement of keywords and even phrases, as well as fragmentation of the post′s material, can improve the website′s visibility to search engines. Hyperlinks open a chain reaction of additional links and draw attention to the previous posts. Publications in printed periodicals are a substantial part of a niche website presence on the Internet. Although this article explores a laboratory website on the basis of our hands-on expertise maintaining "Grossing Technology in Surgical Pathology" (www.grossing-technology.com website with a high volume of traffic for more than a decade, the recommendations presented here for developing an authority website can be applied to other professional specialized websites. The authority websites visibility and sustainability are preconditions for aggregating them in a specialized educational laboratory portal.

Sister chromosome pairing maintains heterozygosity in parthenogenetic lizards.

Science.gov (United States)

Lutes, Aracely A; Neaves, William B; Baumann, Diana P; Wiegraebe, Winfried; Baumann, Peter

2010-03-11

Although bisexual reproduction has proven to be highly successful, parthenogenetic all-female populations occur frequently in certain taxa, including the whiptail lizards of the genus Aspidoscelis. Allozyme analysis revealed a high degree of fixed heterozygosity in these parthenogenetic species, supporting the view that they originated from hybridization events between related sexual species. It has remained unclear how the meiotic program is altered to produce diploid eggs while maintaining heterozygosity. Here we show that meiosis commences with twice the number of chromosomes in parthenogenetic versus sexual species, a mechanism that provides the basis for generating gametes with unreduced chromosome content without fundamental deviation from the classic meiotic program. Our observation of synaptonemal complexes and chiasmata demonstrate that a typical meiotic program occurs and that heterozygosity is not maintained by bypassing recombination. Instead, fluorescent in situ hybridization probes that distinguish between homologues reveal that bivalents form between sister chromosomes, the genetically identical products of the first of two premeiotic replication cycles. Sister chromosome pairing provides a mechanism for the maintenance of heterozygosity, which is critical for offsetting the reduced fitness associated with the lack of genetic diversity in parthenogenetic species.

Maintaining human productivity during Mars transit

Science.gov (United States)

Statler, Irving C.; Billings, Charles E.

1989-01-01

This paper addresses the special nature of the human-machine relationship during a trip to Mars. In particular, the potential for monotony and boredom during a long-duration space voyage and the effect on motivation and productivity can be important considerations to the health and welfare of the crew. For the voyage to Mars, a design may be considered that will purposefully maintain some level of workload for the crew as a preventive measure for the deterioration of productivity that comes with boredom. This paper speculates on these considerations, on the appropriate level of workload for maximum productivity, and on what might be done during the mission to alleviate the problems caused by monotony and boredom.

NiTi bonded space regainer/maintainer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Negi K

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Early orthodontic interventions are often initiated in the developing dentition to promote favorable developmental changes. Interceptive orthodontic can eliminate or reduce the severity of a developing malocclusion, the complexity of orthodontic treatment, overall treatment time and cost. Premature loss of deciduous tooth or teeth can often destroy the integrity of normal occlusion. There are many space regaining and maintaining devices mentioned in literature. In this article, I present a simple space regaining method by a piece of nickel titanium (NiTi wire bonded between the teeth in active loop form, and the unique shape memory property of NiTi wire will upright or move the teeth and the lost space can be regained easily.

Maintaining of the demineralized water quality in storage tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hochmueller, K.; Wandelt, E.

1981-03-01

Two processes for maintaining the quality of the mineralized water in storage tanks are considered. A slight overpressure of nitrogen can be created above the water, or the air flowing in the tank can be cleaned by passing it through a soda-containing lime filter [fr

19 CFR 115.12 - Records maintained by Certifying Authority.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Records maintained by Certifying Authority. 115.12 Section 115.12 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CARGO CONTAINER AND ROAD VEHICLE CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS...

Maintaining Limited-Range Connectivity Among Second-Order Agents

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-07

we consider ad-hoc networks of robotic agents with double integrator dynamics. For such networks, the connectivity maintenance problems are: (i) do...connectivity-maintaining controls in a distributed fashion? The proposed solution is based on three contributions. First, we define and characterize...hoc networks of mobile autonomous agents. This loose ter- minology refers to groups of robotic agents with limited mobility and communica- tion

Measures geared to maintain the competence of operating personnel at Grohnde nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohr, H.

1986-01-01

Organizational structure of the German power plant 'Gemeinschaftskernkraftwerk Grohnde GmbH'. The plant characteristics of the tasks and duties and definition of competence. Measures to maintain competence. The experience by the realization of training programs to maintain competence. (orig.)

Space Maintenance with an Innovative ?Tube and Loop? Space Maintainer (Nikhil Appliance)

OpenAIRE

Srivastava, Nikhil; Grover, Jyotika; Panthri, Prerna

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Despite the best efforts in prevention, premature loss of primary teeth continues to be a common problem in pediatric dentistry, resulting in disruption of arch integrity and adversely affecting the proper alignment of permanent successors. Space maintainers (SMs) are special appliances used for maintaining space created due to premature loss of primary teeth. Band and loop SM is mostly indicated for the premature loss of single primary molar, but this appliance has a number of limit...

Impact of Agile Software Development Model on Software Maintainability

Science.gov (United States)

Gawali, Ajay R.

2012-01-01

Software maintenance and support costs account for up to 60% of the overall software life cycle cost and often burdens tightly budgeted information technology (IT) organizations. Agile software development approach delivers business value early, but implications on software maintainability are still unknown. The purpose of this quantitative study…

Maintaining excellence in teaching of human anatomy: University of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Measures to address these challenges have resulted in wide disparities in curriculum design teaching methods, number and composition of instructors. Inspite of the challenges, the Department of Human Anatomy of the University of Nairobi (UON) maintained excellence of teaching for over 40yrs. This article describes the ...

36 CFR 1236.26 - What actions must agencies take to maintain electronic information systems?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... take to maintain electronic information systems? 1236.26 Section 1236.26 Parks, Forests, and Public... electronic information systems? (a) Agencies must maintain inventories of electronic information systems and... electronic information systems that is adequate to: (1) Specify all technical characteristics necessary for...

Maintaining consistency in distributed systems

Science.gov (United States)

Birman, Kenneth P.

1991-01-01

In systems designed as assemblies of independently developed components, concurrent access to data or data structures normally arises within individual programs, and is controlled using mutual exclusion constructs, such as semaphores and monitors. Where data is persistent and/or sets of operation are related to one another, transactions or linearizability may be more appropriate. Systems that incorporate cooperative styles of distributed execution often replicate or distribute data within groups of components. In these cases, group oriented consistency properties must be maintained, and tools based on the virtual synchrony execution model greatly simplify the task confronting an application developer. All three styles of distributed computing are likely to be seen in future systems - often, within the same application. This leads us to propose an integrated approach that permits applications that use virtual synchrony with concurrent objects that respect a linearizability constraint, and vice versa. Transactional subsystems are treated as a special case of linearizability.

Femtosecond all-polarization-maintaining fiber laser operating at 1028 nm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsson, R.K.; Andersen, T.V.; Leick, Lasse

2008-01-01

We present an effective solution for an all-polarization-maintaining modelocked femtosecond fiber laser operating at the central wavelength of 1028 nm. The laser is based on an Yb-doped active fiber. Modelocking is enabled by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, and the central wavelength i...... is enforced by a fiber Bragg grating. The laser is self-starting and demonstrates excellent stability gainst Q-switching. Pulse energies reach 13 nJ at 34 MHz repetition rate. External compression leads to near transform-limited pulses of 140 fs.......We present an effective solution for an all-polarization-maintaining modelocked femtosecond fiber laser operating at the central wavelength of 1028 nm. The laser is based on an Yb-doped active fiber. Modelocking is enabled by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, and the central wavelength...

Understanding how to maintain compliance in the current regulatory climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bignell, D.T.; Burns, R.

1995-01-01

High level radioactive waste facilities must maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements, even those requirements that have been promulgated after the facility was placed into operation. Facilities must aggressively pursue compliance because environmental laws often impose strict liability for violations; therefore, an honest mistake is no defense. Radioactive waste management is constantly under the public microscope, particularly those facilities that handle high-level radioactive waste. The Savannah River Site has effectively met the challenges of regulatory compliance in its HLRW facilities and plans are being formulated to meet future regulatory requirements as well. Understanding, aggressively achieving, and clearly demonstrating compliance is essential for the continued operations of radioactive waste management facilities. This paper examines how HLRW facilities are impacted by regulatory requirements and how compliance in this difficult area is achieved and maintained

The importance of university research in maintaining the nuclear option

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruschi, H.J.; Hochreiter, L.E.

1991-01-01

The role of the university in maintaining and revitalizing the nuclear option should have four goals. First, it must attract highly skilled students who have an interest in math and science and help foster their interest in nuclear science and engineering. Next, it must present a state-of-the-art educational program that contains meaningful research to maintain these students. The third goal of nuclear engineering departments is to provide the nontechnical student a fair assessment of benefits and risks associated with commercial nuclear power relative to other sources of electricity. Lastly, it must effectively communicate to all students a compelling vision of nuclear power as a vital energy resource that will grow. The most difficult role for the university is to successfully convey a future for those in the nuclear science and engineering program

Maintaining connections in children's grief narratives in popular film.

Science.gov (United States)

Sedney, Mary Anne

2002-04-01

Children's grief narratives in popular films were examined for their portrayal of connection-maintaining strategies with the deceased. Comparisons were made between strategies found in actual parentally bereaved children and in child characters in films. Implications of these filmed grief narratives for models of grieving and for practice are discussed.

An economic perspective on software licenses--open source, maintainers and user-developers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edwards, Kasper

2005-01-01

This paper presents a model for understanding behaviour of agents using and/or contributing to open source software. The model illustrates behaviour of agents under three licenses regimes: 1) The GPL, The BSD and 3) The Microsoft EULA. The latter license is not an open source license...... licenses induce different incentives and dynamics for maintainer and user-developer and the paper explains, from an economic standpoint, the mechanisms that ensure programs are developed and maintained under the three license regimes....

Developing maintainability for tokamak fusion power systems. Phase II report. Volume II: study results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuller, G.M.; Zahn, H.S.; Mantz, H.C.; Kaletta, G.R.; Waganer, L.M.; Carosella, L.A.; Conlee, J.L.

1978-11-01

In this second phase the impact of unscheduled maintenance, several vacuum wall arrangements, and maintenance of other reactor interfacing subsystems and maintenance equipment are added to the evaluation of the maintainability of the fusion power reactor concepts. Four concepts are normalized to common performance parameters and evaluated for their capability to achieve availability and cost of electricity goals considering both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. The results of this evaluation are used to generate a series of maintainability design guidelines and to select the more desirable features and design options which are used to configure a preliminary reactor concept having improved maintainability

Why practice yoga? Practitioners' motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Crystal L; Riley, Kristen E; Bedesin, Elena; Stewart, V Michelle

2016-06-01

We examined motives for adopting and maintaining yoga practice in a national survey of yoga practitioners (360 yoga students, 156 yoga teachers). Both students and teachers adopted yoga practice primarily for exercise and stress relief, but reported many other reasons, including flexibility, getting into shape, and depression/anxiety relief. Over 62 percent of students and 85 percent of teachers reported having changed their primary reason for practicing or discovering other reasons; for both, the top changed primary reason was spirituality. Findings suggest that most initiate yoga practice for exercise and stress relief, but for many, spirituality becomes their primary reason for maintaining practice. © The Author(s) 2014.

A controlled experiment on the impact of software structure on maintainability

Science.gov (United States)

Rombach, Dieter H.

1987-01-01

The impact of software structure on maintainability aspects including comprehensibility, locality, modifiability, and reusability in a distributed system environment is studied in a controlled maintenance experiment involving six medium-size distributed software systems implemented in LADY (language for distributed systems) and six in an extended version of sequential PASCAL. For all maintenance aspects except reusability, the results were quantitatively given in terms of complexity metrics which could be automated. The results showed LADY to be better suited to the development of maintainable software than the extension of sequential PASCAL. The strong typing combined with high parametrization of units is suggested to improve the reusability of units in LADY.

Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance Records: Maintaining Access to the Knowledge - 13122

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montgomery, John; Gueretta, Jeanie; McKinney, Ruth; Anglim, Cliff

2013-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) is an integral part of DOE's strategy to ensure that legacy liabilities of former nuclear weapons production sites are properly managed following the completion of environmental cleanup activities. In the area of environmental legacy management, records management is crucial to the protection of health, environmental, and legal interests of the Department and the public. LM is responsible for maintaining long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTS and M) records in performance of its mission. Maintaining access to the knowledge contained in these record collections is one of LM's primary responsibilities. To fulfill this responsibility, LM established a consolidated records management facility, the LM Business Center (LMBC), to house physical media records and electronic records. A new electronic record keeping system (ERKS) was needed to replace an obsolete system while helping to ensure LM is able to meet ongoing responsibilities to maintain access to knowledge and control the life cycle management of records. (authors)

The evaluation of kikuyu foggage for maintaining dry ewes

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DeVilliersJ

flow programme to maintain dry ewes during the winter in a system where their lambs were weaned onto .... IVDOM of the combined values of the January and February oesophageal and hand-cut foggage samples and ... The ability of the grazing animal to select material of higher quality than hand-cut samples of the.

Establishing and maintaining international collaborative research teams: an autobiographical insight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T J Carr

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Despite the growing impetus for international collaborative research teams (ICRT, there are relatively few resources available to guide and support researchers through the processes of establishing and maintaining ICRTs. In particular, no articles were found that provided researchers’ firsthand accounts of being a member of such a team. Having access to such personal accounts can help both experienced and novice researchers learn more directly about what to expect, as well as the benefits, challenges, pitfalls, and success strategies for establishing and maintaining ICRTs. The authors used phenomenological autobiographical reflective journaling to capture their experiences as members of ICRTs. In this article we provide an overview of key themes that emerged from the analysis of our reflections as members of ICRTs. These themes include: benefits, challenges, and strategies for success. Our aim is to share our first-hand experiences of what it is like to establish and participate in ICRT. It is not our intention to provide readers with prescriptive guidelines on how to set up and maintain ICRTs. Every ICRT is unique and some of these ideas may or may not apply in every case. Instead, we are describing what worked for us, hoping that others may benefit from our experience. Consequently, we suggest that the focus of ICRT should be on the benefits thereof which promote and encourage interaction between disciplines, transfer of knowledge and techniques and personal and professional development. Keywords: international, collaborative, research, teams, interdisciplinary

DNMT1 maintains progenitor function in self-renewing somatic tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, George L; Reuter, Jason A; Webster, Daniel E; Zhu, Lilly; Khavari, Paul A

2010-01-28

Progenitor cells maintain self-renewing tissues throughout life by sustaining their capacity for proliferation while suppressing cell cycle exit and terminal differentiation. DNA methylation provides a potential epigenetic mechanism for the cellular memory needed to preserve the somatic progenitor state through repeated cell divisions. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) maintains DNA methylation patterns after cellular replication. Although dispensable for embryonic stem cell maintenance, the role for DNMT1 in maintaining the progenitor state in constantly replenished somatic tissues, such as mammalian epidermis, is unclear. Here we show that DNMT1 is essential for epidermal progenitor cell function. DNMT1 protein was found enriched in undifferentiated cells, where it was required to retain proliferative stamina and suppress differentiation. In tissue, DNMT1 depletion led to exit from the progenitor cell compartment, premature differentiation and eventual tissue loss. Genome-wide analysis showed that a significant portion of epidermal differentiation gene promoters were methylated in self-renewing conditions but were subsequently demethylated during differentiation. Furthermore, UHRF1 (refs 9, 10), a component of the DNA methylation machinery that targets DNMT1 to hemi-methylated DNA, is also necessary to suppress premature differentiation and sustain proliferation. In contrast, Gadd45A and B, which promote active DNA demethylation, are required for full epidermal differentiation gene induction. These data demonstrate that proteins involved in the dynamic regulation of DNA methylation patterns are required for progenitor maintenance and self-renewal in mammalian somatic tissue.

Oct-4 expression maintained stem cell properties in prostate cancer ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Erah

Keywords: Prostate cancer, Cancer stem-like cells, Oct-4, CD133, Multi-drug resistance1 (MDR1). Received: 7 ... mechanisms in maintaining the self-renewal and drug resistant ... (platelet-derived growth factor α receptor). This suggests that ...

Recommendations to the NRC on human engineering guidelines for nuclear power plant maintainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badalamente, R.V.; Fecht, B.A.; Blahnik, D.E.; Eklund, J.D.; Hartley, C.S.

1986-03-01

This document contains human engineering guidelines which can enhance the maintainability of nuclear power plants. The guidelines have been derived from general human engineering design principles, criteria, and data. The guidelines may be applied to existing plants as well as to plants under construction. They apply to nuclear power plant systems, equipment and facilities, as well as to maintenance tools and equipment. The guidelines are grouped into seven categories: accessibility and workspace, physical environment, loads and forces, maintenance facilities, maintenance tools and equipment, operating equipment design, and information needs. Each chapter of the document details specific maintainability problems encountered at nuclear power plants, the safety impact of these problems, and the specific maintainability design guidelines whose application can serve to avoid these problems in new or existing plants.

Recommendations to the NRC on human engineering guidelines for nuclear power plant maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badalamente, R.V.; Fecht, B.A.; Blahnik, D.E.; Eklund, J.D.; Hartley, C.S.

1986-03-01

This document contains human engineering guidelines which can enhance the maintainability of nuclear power plants. The guidelines have been derived from general human engineering design principles, criteria, and data. The guidelines may be applied to existing plants as well as to plants under construction. They apply to nuclear power plant systems, equipment and facilities, as well as to maintenance tools and equipment. The guidelines are grouped into seven categories: accessibility and workspace, physical environment, loads and forces, maintenance facilities, maintenance tools and equipment, operating equipment design, and information needs. Each chapter of the document details specific maintainability problems encountered at nuclear power plants, the safety impact of these problems, and the specific maintainability design guidelines whose application can serve to avoid these problems in new or existing plants

Maintaining a Cybersecurity Curriculum: Professional Certifications as Valuable Guidance

Science.gov (United States)

Knapp, Kenneth J.; Maurer, Christopher; Plachkinova, Miloslava

2017-01-01

Much has been published about developing a cybersecurity curriculum for institutes of higher learning (IHL). Now that a growing number of IHLs globally offer such programs, a need exists on how to guide, maintain, and improve the relevancy of existing curricula. Just as cybersecurity professionals must be hone their skills continually to keep with…

Care and management of a stoma: maintaining peristomal skin health.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyles, Anna; Hunt, Sharon

2016-09-22

It is estimated that around one in 500 people in the UK are living with a stoma, with approximately 21 000 operations that result in stoma formation being performed each year ( Colostomy Association, 2016 ). These people face a unique set of challenges in maintaining the integrity of their peristomal skin. This article explores the normal structure and function of skin and how the care and management of a stoma presents challenges for maintaining peristomal skin health. Particular focus is paid to the incidence of skin problems for those living with a stoma, whether it is temporary or permanent, and the factors that contribute to skin breakdown in this population. Wider factors such as the central role of the clinical nurse specialist and the impact of product usage on positive outcomes and health economics are also considered.

Reciprocity and the Tragedies of Maintaining and Providing the Commons.

Science.gov (United States)

Gächter, Simon; Kölle, Felix; Quercia, Simone

2017-09-01

Social cooperation often requires collectively beneficial but individually costly restraint to maintain a public good1-4, or it needs costly generosity to create one1,5. Status quo effects6 predict that maintaining a public good is easier than providing a new one. Here we show experimentally and with simulations that even under identical incentives, low levels of cooperation (the 'tragedy of the commons'2) are systematically more likely in Maintenance than Provision. Across three series of experiments, we find that strong and weak positive reciprocity, known to be fundamental tendencies underpinning human cooperation7-10, are substantially diminished under Maintenance compared to Provision. As we show in a fourth experiment, the opposite holds for negative reciprocity ('punishment'). Our findings suggest that incentives to avoid the 'tragedy of the commons' need to contend with dilemma-specific reciprocity.

Maintaining evolvability.

Science.gov (United States)

Crow, James F

2008-12-01

Although molecular methods, such as QTL mapping, have revealed a number of loci with large effects, it is still likely that the bulk of quantitative variability is due to multiple factors, each with small effect. Typically, these have a large additive component. Conventional wisdom argues that selection, natural or artificial, uses up additive variance and thus depletes its supply. Over time, the variance should be reduced, and at equilibrium be near zero. This is especially expected for fitness and traits highly correlated with it. Yet, populations typically have a great deal of additive variance, and do not seem to run out of genetic variability even after many generations of directional selection. Long-term selection experiments show that populations continue to retain seemingly undiminished additive variance despite large changes in the mean value. I propose that there are several reasons for this. (i) The environment is continually changing so that what was formerly most fit no longer is. (ii) There is an input of genetic variance from mutation, and sometimes from migration. (iii) As intermediate-frequency alleles increase in frequency towards one, producing less variance (as p --> 1, p(1 - p) --> 0), others that were originally near zero become more common and increase the variance. Thus, a roughly constant variance is maintained. (iv) There is always selection for fitness and for characters closely related to it. To the extent that the trait is heritable, later generations inherit a disproportionate number of genes acting additively on the trait, thus increasing genetic variance. For these reasons a selected population retains its ability to evolve. Of course, genes with large effect are also important. Conspicuous examples are the small number of loci that changed teosinte to maize, and major phylogenetic changes in the animal kingdom. The relative importance of these along with duplications, chromosome rearrangements, horizontal transmission and polyploidy

New strategies for maintaining post-seismic operations of lifeline corridors.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-10-01

This project furthered the development of three strategies that could positively impact maintaining post-seismic operations of lifeline corridors. In Year 1, most of the focus : was on the development of the three individual strategies. In Year 2, a ...

A new era of prosperity through power : maintaining BC's competitive advantage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potts, D.

2001-01-01

The availability of abundant low cost electric power has been a driving force behind British Columbia's economic growth. BC's low cost power resources can create a natural competitive economic advantage for the province. Electricity, as a publicly owned resource can offer many competitive advantages for business in British Columbia, if managed correctly. However, it was noted that meaningful economic advantages can only be realized if the existing power resources in the province are operated efficiently and priced at or close to cost. In the 1980s, the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee (JIESC) was formed following the regulation of BC Hydro by BC Utilities Commission. It became clear that maintaining low rates for electricity was a public issue that needed input from other governmental forums if JIESC was to be successful. The major sectors represented by JIESC include pulp and paper, mining, and electrochemicals. This paper listed each member company. In order to turn BC's economy around and re-establish the province as a leading economy in Canada, the following recommendations have been proposed for the short term: (1) maintain an ample supply of low cost power for the future, (2) remove the provincial sales tax on the purchase of electric power used for manufacturing and processing, (3) extend the current rate freeze, (4) initiate a long-term resource acquisition and transmission expansion strategy to assure the availability of ample supplies of low cost power. Recommendations for the long term include: (1) maintain regulated cost based rates, (2) develop ample low cost power, (3) utilize downstream benefits, (4) provide a role for the private sector, (5) maintain adequate transmission facilities, (6) reduce government revenues, and (7) instill customer driven management. 3 figs

Hanford site guide for preparing and maintaining generator group pollution prevention program documentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-12-01

This manual provides the necessary guidance to contractor generator groups for developing and maintaining documentation of their pollution prevention (P2) program activities. Preparation of program documentation will demonstrate compliance with contractor and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requirements, as well as state and federal regulations. Contractor waste generator groups are no longer required to prepare and update facility waste minimization plans. Developing and maintaining program documentation replace this requirement

Maintaining the know-how after opt-out consensus: chances and limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fritz, P.

2003-01-01

Within the next decades, nuclear safety and repository research will continue to be a necessary and integral constituent of the society's provident research. Yet, it is very difficult to maintain this competence in a politically complex environment with the scarce funds available. For its purpose, the Federal Government has appointed an evaluation commission, the chairmanship of which lies with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. In its report of January 2001, the commission emphasised that efforts to adequately maintain competence in nuclear engineering, including industry-independent expert knowledge, will only meet with success, if the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal states contribute to a sufficient and stable financing of non-university research. (orig.) [de

[Maintaining solidarity: is mutuality the solution?].

Science.gov (United States)

Gevers, J K M; Ploem, M C

2013-01-01

Solidarity is essentially the willingness to contribute to the community and its demands, which may even involve contributing more than one is expecting to receive. Another principle is mutuality: this refers to a balance between rights and obligations or between mutual obligations. In its advisory document 'The importance of mutuality......solidarity takes work!', The Dutch Council for Public Health and Health Care underlines the importance of ensuring solidarity within the Dutch health care system, e.g. by encouraging patients to take responsibility for their own health, possibly by introducing elements of mutuality. In our contribution, we comment on the Council's advice. Although we fully agree with the overall conclusion that solidarity should be maintained within the system, we do not see how the introduction of increased mutuality will contribute to this goal.

46 CFR 11.713 - Requirements for maintaining current knowledge of waters to be navigated.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Requirements for maintaining current knowledge of waters to be navigated. 11.713 Section 11.713 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MERCHANT MARINE OFFICERS AND SEAMEN REQUIREMENTS FOR OFFICER ENDORSEMENTS Professional Requirements for Pilots § 11.713 Requirements for maintaining curren...

Mechanism for maintaining homeostasis in the immune system of the intestine.

Science.gov (United States)

Taniguchi, Yoshie; Yoshioka, Noriko; Nakata, Kazue; Nishizawa, Takashi; Inagawa, Hiroyuki; Kohchi, Chie; Soma, Gen-Ichiro

2009-11-01

Every organism possesses a mechanism for maintaining homeostasis. We have focused on the immune system as a system that helps maintain homeostasis of the body, and particularly on the intestine as the largest organ of immunity in the body. We have also focused our research on the mechanism that responds to foreign substances in the intestine, especially the toll-like receptors (TLR). The activation of myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) signal transduction as a response to TLR in the intestine is believed to contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis of the body through the homeostasis of the intestine. Furthermore, significant findings were reported in which signal transduction from TLR4 was essential for the maintenance and regulation of the intestine. These results strongly suggest the possibility that homeostasis in the intestine is maintained by TLR4, and signaling by TLR4 after exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) probably has a role in regulating homeostasis. It is expected that the prevention and treatment of various diseases using TLR4 will continue to develop. As LPS is a substance that enhances the activity of TLR4, it will also attract attention as a valuable substance in its own right.

Male sterility of triticale lines generated through recombination of triticale and rye maintainers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Warzecha

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The Triticum timopheevi cytoplasmic male sterility (cms system in triticale (xTriticosecale Wittmack suffers from a low frequency of maintainers and environmental instability of the male sterility. On the other hand, the Pampa cms system in rye (Secale cereale exhibits strong male sterility and a low frequency of restorers. Here, we report generating hybrids between maintainers of the T. timopheevi cms system in triticale and maintainers of the rye Pampa cms system. Ten hybrids were obtained. Their hybridity was verified by PCR (polymerase chain reaction using ISSR (inter simple sequence repeats primers. The cms maintaining ability of F2 individuals and their progeny was tested. The F2 plants were crossed to male sterile lines of triticale carrying the T. timopheevi cytoplasm. Among 180 G1 offspring of these crosses, 71 (39.4% were completely male sterile. Fourteen F2 individuals (7.8%, as well as their F2S1 and progeny, generated stable male sterility in G1, G1BC1 and G1BC2 generations after the crosses. Our results suggest that it is possible to produce a more stable cms system in triticale based on the T. timopheevi cytoplasm as compared to the existing one.

Sustained levels of FGF2 maintain undifferentiated stem cell cultures with biweekly feeding.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven Lotz

Full Text Available An essential aspect of stem cell culture is the successful maintenance of the undifferentiated state. Many types of stem cells are FGF2 dependent, and pluripotent stem cells are maintained by replacing FGF2-containing media daily, while tissue-specific stem cells are typically fed every 3rd day. Frequent feeding, however, results in significant variation in growth factor levels due to FGF2 instability, which limits effective maintenance due to spontaneous differentiation. We report that stabilization of FGF2 levels using controlled release PLGA microspheres improves expression of stem cell markers, increases stem cell numbers and decreases spontaneous differentiation. The controlled release FGF2 additive reduces the frequency of media changes needed to maintain stem cell cultures, so that human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells can be maintained successfully with biweekly feedings.

An assessment of maintainability of elevator system to improve facilities management knowledge-base

Science.gov (United States)

Siti, N. A.; Asmone, A. S.; Chew, M. Y. L.

2018-02-01

Elevator system is a highly specialized machinery that requires technicians that have a wider array of knowledge in maintaining the system to be safe and reliable. While attaining reliable data of elevator malfunction become challenges, this study has filled the gap by gathering the management-maintenance issues and operational defects of elevator system. Forty-three types of operation defects were found and the consequence defects and their possible causes of occurrences were discussed. To respond to the prime challenges of maintaining elevator system provided by the industry players’ perspective, a theoretical framework is established as a recommendation to improve knowledge base of defects in elevator system which comprises good practices, and solutions to rectify each defects found. Hence, this research paper has theoretically improved the knowledge base of maintainability of elevator system and provide meaningful guidelines in practical senses to the industry professionals.

The Experience of Young Women Living in a Prostitution Area in Maintaining Their Reproductive Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Dovis, Vonyca; Setyowati; Kurniawati, Wiwit

Young women face a difficult situation when they live in a prostitution area or red light district. A phenomenological approach was applied to explore the experiences in maintaining reproductive health of 10 young women living in the prostitution area in Lampung, one of the provinces in Sumatra. Thematic content analysis found 7 themes including: (1) The participants' perception of prostitution as a place of naughty women and free sexual activity that can transmit STDs and influence adolescent psychology; (2) The ways the participants kept their reproductive organs healthy were through maintaining friendships, maintaining personal hygiene, avoiding free sexual activity, eating healthy food, and having routine medical checkups; (3) Information support was gained from family, health workers, media, and teachers; (4) Emotional support from family and friends; (5) Barriers to maintaining good health were inaccessible health facilities and an underfunded health service; (6) The needs of the participants were reproductive health services and clean environment; (7) The participants hoped for health education and intensive health services with friendly nurses. The results of this research illustrate that there is a need for socializing intensive ways to maintain reproductive health, especially in a risky environment.

Declarative versus imperative process modeling languages : the issue of maintainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fahland, D.; Mendling, J.; Reijers, H.A.; Weber, B.; Weidlich, M.; Zugal, S.; Rinderle-Ma, S.; Sadiq, S.; Leymann, F.

2010-01-01

The rise of interest in declarative languages for process modeling both justifies and demands empirical investigations into their presumed advantages over more traditional, imperative alternatives. Our concern in this paper is with the ease of maintaining business process models, for example due to

An Approach for Maintaining Models of an E-Commerce Collaboration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodenstaff, L.; Wombacher, Andreas; Reichert, M.U.; Wieringa, Roelf J.

To keep an overview on complex E-Commerce collaborations several models are used to describe them. When models overlap in describing a collaboration, the overlapping information should not contradict. Models are of different nature and maintained by different people. Therefore, keeping model-overlap

Space Maintenance with an Innovative "Tube and Loop" Space Maintainer (Nikhil Appliance).

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, Nikhil; Grover, Jyotika; Panthri, Prerna

2016-01-01

Despite the best efforts in prevention, premature loss of primary teeth continues to be a common problem in pediatric dentistry, resulting in disruption of arch integrity and adversely affecting the proper alignment of permanent successors. Space maintainers (SMs) are special appliances used for maintaining space created due to premature loss of primary teeth. Band and loop SM is mostly indicated for the premature loss of single primary molar, but this appliance has a number of limitations both for operators and for patients. Presented in this article is an innovative "Tube and Loop" SM (Nikhil appliance) which offers several advantages over the conventional band and loop SM. It is not only easy and quick to fabricate but can also be completed in a single sitting and cumbersome steps like impression making and laboratory procedures namely soldering are eliminated. How to cite this article: Srivastava N, Grover J, Panthri P. Space Maintenance with an Innovative "Tube and Loop" Space Maintainer (Nikhil Appliance). Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2016;9(1):86-89.

Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance Records: Maintaining Access to the Knowledge - 13122

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montgomery, John; Gueretta, Jeanie [U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management, 99 Research Park Road Morgantown, WV 26505 (United States); McKinney, Ruth; Anglim, Cliff [Source One Management, Inc. (United States)

2013-07-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) is an integral part of DOE's strategy to ensure that legacy liabilities of former nuclear weapons production sites are properly managed following the completion of environmental cleanup activities. In the area of environmental legacy management, records management is crucial to the protection of health, environmental, and legal interests of the Department and the public. LM is responsible for maintaining long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTS and M) records in performance of its mission. Maintaining access to the knowledge contained in these record collections is one of LM's primary responsibilities. To fulfill this responsibility, LM established a consolidated records management facility, the LM Business Center (LMBC), to house physical media records and electronic records. A new electronic record keeping system (ERKS) was needed to replace an obsolete system while helping to ensure LM is able to meet ongoing responsibilities to maintain access to knowledge and control the life cycle management of records. (authors)

CrxOS maintains the self-renewal capacity of murine embryonic stem cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Ryota; Yamasaki, Tokiwa; Nagai, Yoko; Wu, Jinzhan; Kajiho, Hiroaki; Yokoi, Tadashi; Noda, Eiichiro; Nishina, Sachiko; Niwa, Hitoshi; Azuma, Noriyuki; Katada, Toshiaki; Nishina, Hiroshi

2009-01-01

Embryonic stem (ES) cells maintain pluripotency by self-renewal. Several homeoproteins, including Oct3/4 and Nanog, are known to be key factors in maintaining the self-renewal capacity of ES cells. However, other genes required for the mechanisms underlying this process are still unclear. Here we report the identification by in silico analysis of a homeobox-containing gene, CrxOS, that is specifically expressed in murine ES cells and is essential for their self-renewal. ES cells mainly express the short isoform of endogenous CrxOS. Using a polyoma-based episomal expression system, we demonstrate that overexpression of the CrxOS short isoform is sufficient for maintaining the undifferentiated morphology of ES cells and stimulating their proliferation. Finally, using RNA interference, we show that CrxOS is essential for the self-renewal of ES cells, and provisionally identify foxD3 as a downstream target gene of CrxOS. To our knowledge, ours is the first delineation of the physiological role of CrxOS in ES cells.

The Role of Leptin in Maintaining Plasma Glucose During Starvation.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Rachel J; Shulman, Gerald I

2018-03-01

For 20 years it has been known that concentrations of leptin, a hormone produced by the white adipose tissue (WAT) largely in proportion to body fat, drops precipitously with starvation, particularly in lean humans and animals. The role of leptin to suppress the thyroid and reproductive axes during a prolonged fast has been well defined; however, the impact of leptin on metabolic regulation has been incompletely understood. However emerging evidence suggests that, in starvation, hypoleptinemia increases activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, promoting WAT lipolysis, increasing hepatic acetyl-CoA concentrations, and maintaining euglycemia. In addition, leptin may be largely responsible for mediating a shift from a reliance upon glucose metabolism (absorption and glycogenolysis) to fat metabolism (lipolysis increasing gluconeogenesis) which preserves substrates for the brain, heart, and other critical organs. In this way a leptin-mediated glucose-fatty acid cycle appears to maintain glycemia and permit survival in starvation.

Local neutral networks help maintain inaccurately replicating ribozymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Szilágyi, András; Kun, Ádám; Szathmáry, Eörs

2014-01-01

The error threshold of replication limits the selectively maintainable genome size against recurrent deleterious mutations for most fitness landscapes. In the context of RNA replication a distinction between the genotypic and the phenotypic error threshold has been made; where the latter concerns the maintenance of secondary structure rather than sequence. RNA secondary structure is treated as a proxy for function. The phenotypic error threshold allows higher per digit mutation rates than its genotypic counterpart, and is known to increase with the frequency of neutral mutations in sequence space. Here we show that the degree of neutrality, i.e. the frequency of nearest-neighbour (one-step) neutral mutants is a remarkably accurate proxy for the overall frequency of such mutants in an experimentally verifiable formula for the phenotypic error threshold; this we achieve by the full numerical solution for the concentration of all sequences in mutation-selection balance up to length 16. We reinforce our previous result that currently known ribozymes could be selectively maintained by the accuracy known from the best available polymerase ribozymes. Furthermore, we show that in silico stabilizing selection can increase the mutational robustness of ribozymes due to the fact that they were produced by artificial directional selection in the first place. Our finding offers a better understanding of the error threshold and provides further insight into the plausibility of an ancient RNA world.

Maintaining Students’ Involvement in a Math Lecture Using Countdown Timers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ann Krizzel A. Aban

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Involving students in a lecture is an important but not an easy task that every lecturer must encourage. This task becomes even greater in a math class that is composed of eighty to a hundred sixty students. In 2007, the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB started offering some of its basic math courses in lecture-recitation set-up. This shift and many other factors drove most math instructors of UPLB to widely use presentation software, such as the PowerPoint (PPT, to deliver their lectures. The non-stop use of these softwares, however, seems to have negative effects on the students when it comes to maintaining their involvement in a lecture discussion for they tend to be more passive spectators. On the other hand, adding countdown timers strategically on some parts of the discussion seems to lessen such negative effects. This study determined the effectiveness of using countdown timers in maintaining students’ involvement in a lecture of MATH 27 (Analytic Geometry and Calculus II, a course in UPLB commonly taken by sophomore students. Results show that the effectiveness of countdown timers, as perceived by the students, is independent to students’ genders and degree programs, but is dependent to the colleges where the students belong to. Also, some effects of countdown timers are significantly correlated to various data from students’ profiles. It was concluded in the study that the use of countdown timers is effective in maintaining student’s involvement in MATH 27 lectures and might also be useful in other math lecture classes

Maintaining and troubleshooting your 3D printer

CERN Document Server

Bell, Charles

2014-01-01

Maintaining and Troubleshooting Your 3D Printer by Charles Bell is your guide to keeping your 3D printer running through preventive maintenance, repair, and diagnosing and solving problems in 3D printing. If you've bought or built a 3D printer such as a MakerBot only to be confounded by jagged edges, corner lift, top layers that aren't solid, or any of a myriad of other problems that plague 3D printer enthusiasts, then here is the book to help you get past all that and recapture the joy of creative fabrication. The book also includes valuable tips for builders and those who want to modify the

Genetic and somatic effects in animals maintained on tritiated water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carsten, A.L.; Brooks, A.; Commerford, S.L.; Cronkite, E.P.

1981-01-01

The possible genetic (dominant lethal mutations (DLM) and cytogenetic changes in the regenerating liver) and somatic (hematopoietic stem cell changes, growth and nonspecific life time shortening) effects in mice maintained on tritiated water (HTO) over two generations was investigated. Results to date are summarized

Maintaining Continuity of Knowledge of Spent Fuel Pools: Tool Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benz, Jacob M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Smartt, Heidi A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Tanner, Jennifer E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); MacDougall, Matthew R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-08-30

This report examines supplemental tools that can be used in addition to optical surveillance cameras to maintain CoK in low-to-no light conditions, and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of spent fuel CoK, including item counting and ID verification, in challenging conditions.

A Platform for Developing and Maintaining Competences in PBL Supervision

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gnaur, Dorina; Huttel, Hans

2017-01-01

One of the emerging challenges in academia is that of developing and maintaining teaching qualifications in a setting where teaching staff is often temporary and with diverse backgrounds. At Aalborg University, project-organized problem-based learning is at the heart of all degree programmes...

9 CFR 147.26 - Procedures for establishing isolation and maintaining sanitation and good management practices...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... and maintaining sanitation and good management practices for the control of Salmonella and Mycoplasma... Sanitation Procedures § 147.26 Procedures for establishing isolation and maintaining sanitation and good management practices for the control of Salmonella and Mycoplasma infections. (a) The following procedures...

49 CFR 350.301 - What level of effort must a State maintain to qualify for MCSAP funding?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false What level of effort must a State maintain to... What level of effort must a State maintain to qualify for MCSAP funding? (a) The State must maintain... funds and State matching funds, for CMV safety programs eligible for funding under this part at a level...

Nuclear power generating station operability assurance reliability, availability, and maintainability application for maintenance management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleveland, J.W.; Regenie, T.R.; Wilson, R.J.

1985-01-01

Environmental qualification and equipment warrantee insurance stipulations should be supplemented with a reliable maintainability program structured to identify and control fast failing subcomponents within critical equipment. Anticipation of equipment subcomponent failures can control unnecessary plant off-line occurrences. Incorporation of reliability, availability, and maintainability considerations into plant maintenance policies on power generation and safety related items have positive cost benefit advantages

The Challenges of Maintaining Nuclear Cultures. US and UK Perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brooks, Linton; McKane, Tom

2016-01-01

After the world entered the nuclear age, civilian and military organizations have witnessed the slow emergence of nuclear cultures, defined as the set of values and knowledge, shared among the national security community, about the relative importance of nuclear weapons in the country's defense posture, the distinctive features of nuclear weapons in terms of security, safety and operational requirements, and the workings of deterrence. Nuclear cultures have helped to ensure some level of coherence in policy-making and, most importantly, to maintain safe and effective deterrents. At a national level, however, each nuclear culture is confronted with significant challenges, such as generational change, decreasing levels of understanding or attention among the political and military leadership, insufficient funding or a growing inability to meet manpower requirements in both the nuclear weapons complexes and the armed forces. This paper looks at the United States and United Kingdom's recent efforts to maintain their nuclear culture, and at the key challenges these two countries face while pursuing this aim. (authors)

PERBANDINGAN MAINTAINABILITY, FLEKSIBILITY, TESTABILITY PADA CMS OPEN SOURCE E-COMMERCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rini Anggrainingsih

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Content Management System (CMS open source banyak digunakan dalam website e-commerce. CMS open source e-commerce tumbuh semakin canggih dan lebih kompetitif. Artikel ini berisi perbandingan kualitas software dari top three CMS open sourece e-commerce yaitu Magento, Woocomerce,dan OpenCart. perbandingan dilakukan terhadap kualitas revision software yaitu maintainability, fleksibility, dan testability. Kualitas revison diuji sebab maintenance dan testing merupakan proses yang sangat penting dalam pembuatan sebuah software dan memerlukan banyak resource. Pengukuran dilakukan dengan menggunakan phpmetric untuk menghitung maintainability index, afferent coupling, efferent couping, lack of cohesion method, cyclomatic complexity. Tujuan dari penulisan artikel ini adalah untuk menentukkan open source e-commerce terbaik dalam proses maintenance, adaptasi, dan modifikasi. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa magento memiliki kemampuan terbaik untuk maintenance, testing, dan perubahan kode dibandingkan Woocommerce dan Opencart, dimana nilai maintainaility indenxnya 111,36, afferent coupling 0,826, efferent coupling 1,83, Lack of cohesion method 2,10 dan Cyclomatic Complexity 11,02.

Application of Ultrasonic Waves on Maintaining Freshness of Tilapia Fillet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruddy Suwandi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available ish fillet is one of fisheries products that easily deteriorated; hence handling techniques are needed to maintain the freshness. Ultrasonic wave have been widely applied to some of food products for maintaining freshness through microbial inactivation, however the ultrasonic application to fisheries products has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of ultrasonic wave on fish freshness. The stages of the study were sample preparation, sonication, freshness parameters examination and histology observation. Ultrasonic wave did not affectthe organoleptic value and the TVB, but affected the pH value and the TPC. The sample in which the TPC value was found significantly different, were further observed after 48 and 96 hours storage. The result showed that the TPC value of sonicated sample for 9 minutes was lower to that of without sonication. Histology analysis showed, however, sonication made the structure of muscle fiber less compact and deformation of myomer was found.

Maintaining students’ Speaking Fluency through Exhibition Examination in Sociolinguistic Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khusnul Qhotimah Yuliatuty

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Using exhibition for the final project in Sociolinguistic study is really interesting for Universitas Siswa Bangsa Internasional students, especially for 2011 English Department students. Exhibition becomes interesting because this is the new thing to conduct the final project for English Department students’ cohort 2011 at Universitas Siswa Bangsa Internasional. The lecturer divides the students into pairs and each pairs should master one content or topic in Sociolinguistic study.  The students will do the exhibition about the topic that they get in a pairs. The lecturer also gives the students rubric sheet to fill by the visitors. The exhibition will make the students prepare themselves well because they will face many questions about the content which will be delivered by them. Beside, this exhibition also maintains students’ fluency in speaking English because they will explain and answer the questions from visitors with English. This paper tries to focus on how exhibition examination can maintain students’ fluency in speaking English.

Maintaining Genome Stability: The Role of Helicases and Deaminases

Science.gov (United States)

2008-07-01

Errors in duplicating DNA can result in genomic instability, leading to various human diseases, such as cancer, immune system disorder, muscle dystrophy ...as cancer, immune system disorder, muscle dystrophy , and neurodegenerations. Thus, maintaining genomic integrity is vital to the normal growth of...31–38. Eberharter, A., R. Ferreira and P. Becker , 2005 Dynamic chro- matin: concerted nucleosome remodelling and acetylation. Biol. Chem. 386: 745

Maintaining and Researching Port Safety: A Case Study of the Port of Kaohsiung

OpenAIRE

Tseng, Po-Hsing.; Pilcher, Nick.

2017-01-01

Maintaining port safety in full conformity with IMO standards is a requisite for every port and country. To do this, understanding the challenges and human factors involved is key. To date, much research has shed valuable light on these factors and considered how to address them. One aspect that is often noted is that both maintaining port safety and researching port safety presents numerous challenges. This paper considers both these aspects in the context of a case study of port safety in K...

Recommended techniques for effective maintainability. A continuous improvement initiative of the NASA Reliability and Maintainability Steering Committee

Science.gov (United States)

1994-01-01

This manual presents a series of recommended techniques that can increase overall operational effectiveness of both flight and ground based NASA systems. It provides a set of tools that minimizes risk associated with: (1) restoring failed functions (both ground and flight based); (2) conducting complex and highly visible maintenance operations; and (3) sustaining a technical capability to support the NASA mission using aging equipment or facilities. It considers (1) program management - key elements of an effective maintainability effort; (2) design and development - techniques that have benefited previous programs; (3) analysis and test - quantitative and qualitative analysis processes and testing techniques; and (4) operations and operational design techniques that address NASA field experience. This document is a valuable resource for continuous improvement ideas in executing the systems development process in accordance with the NASA 'better, faster, smaller, and cheaper' goal without compromising safety.

33 CFR 150.705 - What are the requirements for maintaining and inspecting aids to navigation?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... maintaining and inspecting aids to navigation? 150.705 Section 150.705 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) DEEPWATER PORTS DEEPWATER PORTS: OPERATIONS Aids to Navigation § 150.705 What are the requirements for maintaining and inspecting aids to navigation? (a) All...

13 CFR 107.590 - Licensee's requirement to maintain active operations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., repayments, additional capital contributions, or Leverage. (2) It is necessary for you to maintain excess... than 20 percent of your Regulatory Capital; and (ii) You cannot receive additional Leverage, solely... you meet the activity requirements in effect on January 30, 1996. (2) Rule for new Licensees. If you...

The Usher lifestyle survey : maintaining independence: a multi-centre study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damen, Godelieve W J A; Krabbe, Paul F M; Kilsby, M; Mylanus, Emmanuel A M

2005-01-01

Patients with Usher syndrome face a special set of challenges in order to maintain their independence when their sight and hearing worsen. Three different types of Usher (I, II and III) are distinguished by differences in onset, progression and severity of hearing loss, and by the presence or

The Usher lifestyle survey: maintaining independence: a multi-centre study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damen, G.W.J.A.; Krabbe, P.F.M.; Kilsby, M.; Mylanus, E.A.M.

2005-01-01

Patients with Usher syndrome face a special set of challenges in order to maintain their independence when their sight and hearing worsen. Three different types of Usher (I, II and III) are distinguished by differences in onset, progression and severity of hearing loss, and by the presence or

Distinct Neural Substrates for Maintaining Locations and Spatial Relations in Working Memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kara J Blacker

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Previous work has demonstrated a distinction between maintenance of two types of spatial information in working memory (WM: spatial locations and spatial relations. While a body of work has investigated the neural mechanisms of sensory-based information like spatial locations, little is known about how spatial relations are maintained in WM. In two experiments, we used fMRI to investigate the involvement of early visual cortex in the maintenance of spatial relations in WM. In both experiments, we found less quadrant-specific BOLD activity in visual cortex when a single spatial relation, compared to a single spatial location, was held in WM. Also across both experiments, we found a consistent set of brain regions that were differentially activated during maintenance of locations versus relations. Maintaining a location, compared to a relation, was associated with greater activity in typical spatial WM regions like posterior parietal cortex and prefrontal regions. Whereas maintaining a relation, compared to a location, was associated with greater activity in the parahippocampal gyrus and precuneus/retrosplenial cortex. Further, in Experiment 2 we manipulated WM load and included trials where participants had to maintain three spatial locations or relations. Under this high load condition, the regions sensitive to locations versus relations were somewhat different than under low load. We also identified regions that were sensitive to load specifically for location or relation maintenance, as well as overlapping regions sensitive to load more generally. These results suggest that the neural substrates underlying WM maintenance of spatial locations and relations are distinct from one another and that the neural representations of these distinct types of spatial information change with load.

Biodegradation of nickel and chromium from space maintainers: An in vitro study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhaskar V

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Band materials are often used in the practice of pediatric dentistry. Nickel and Chromium are the main ingredients of these materials. The potential health hazards of nickel and chromium and their compounds have been the focus of attention for more than 100 years. It has established that these metals could cause hypersensitivity. The study was undertaken to analyze in vitro biodegradation of space maintainers made out of stainless steel band materials from manufacturers Dentaurum and Unitek. The leaching effect simulating the use of one, two, three, and four space maintainers in clinical practice was studied by keeping the respective number of space maintainers in the artificial saliva incubating at 37°C and analyzing for nickel and chromium release after 1,7,14,21 and 28 days using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Results showed that there was measurable release of both nickel and chromium which reached maximum level at the end of 7 days which was statistically significant (P < 0.05 and was very much below the dietary average intake even for four bands used and was not capable of causing any toxicity.

Professional Development Strategies to Enhance Nurses' Knowledge and Maintain Safe Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Bindon, Susan L

2017-08-01

Maintaining competence is a professional responsibility for nurses. Individual nurses are accountable for their practice, as outlined in the American Nurses Association's Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. Nurses across clinical settings face the sometimes daunting challenge of staying abreast of regulatory mandates, practice changes, equipment updates, and other workplace expectations. In the complex, evolving perioperative setting, professional development is a priority, and the need for ongoing education is critical. However, nurses' efforts to engage in their own development can be hampered by a lack of time, limited access to educational resources, or cost concerns. This article provides an overview of nursing professional development and offers some resources to help individual nurses maintain or enhance their knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Copyright © 2017 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Flying Drosophilamelanogaster maintain arbitrary but stable headings relative to the angle of polarized light.

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Timothy L; Weir, Peter T; Dickinson, Michael H

2018-05-11

Animals must use external cues to maintain a straight course over long distances. In this study, we investigated how the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster selects and maintains a flight heading relative to the axis of linearly polarized light, a visual cue produced by the atmospheric scattering of sunlight. To track flies' headings over extended periods, we used a flight simulator that coupled the angular velocity of dorsally presented polarized light to the stroke amplitude difference of the animals' wings. In the simulator, most flies actively maintained a stable heading relative to the axis of polarized light for the duration of 15 min flights. We found that individuals selected arbitrary, unpredictable headings relative to the polarization axis, which demonstrates that D . melanogaster can perform proportional navigation using a polarized light pattern. When flies flew in two consecutive bouts separated by a 5 min gap, the two flight headings were correlated, suggesting individuals retain a memory of their chosen heading. We found that adding a polarized light pattern to a light intensity gradient enhanced flies' orientation ability, suggesting D . melanogaster use a combination of cues to navigate. For both polarized light and intensity cues, flies' capacity to maintain a stable heading gradually increased over several minutes from the onset of flight. Our findings are consistent with a model in which each individual initially orients haphazardly but then settles on a heading which is maintained via a self-reinforcing process. This may be a general dispersal strategy for animals with no target destination. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Heartwarming memories: Nostalgia maintains physiological comfort.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xinyue; Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine; Chen, Xiaoxi; Vingerhoets, Ad J J M

2012-08-01

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, is a predominantly positive and social emotion. Recent evidence suggests that nostalgia maintains psychological comfort. Here, we propose, and document in five methodologically diverse studies, a broader homeostatic function for nostalgia that also encompasses the maintenance of physiological comfort. We show that nostalgia--an emotion with a strong connotation of warmth--is triggered by coldness. Participants reported stronger nostalgia on colder (vs. warmer) days and in a cold (vs. neutral or warm) room. Nostalgia, in turn, modulates the interoceptive feeling of temperature. Higher levels of music-evoked nostalgia predicted increased physical warmth, and participants who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary autobiographical) event perceived ambient temperature as higher. Finally, and consistent with the close central nervous system integration of temperature and pain sensations, participants who recalled a nostalgic (vs. ordinary autobiographical) event evinced greater tolerance to noxious cold.

The School Budget, Power and Responsibility in Grant-Maintained Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Simon

1992-01-01

Describes Audenshaw High School in Manchester, England, the first school to achieve grant-maintained status under the 1988 Education Reform Act, as an example of future school administration in the United Kingdom. Examines five aspects of budgeting that this change has entailed, highlighting funding problems and opportunities. (10 references) (MLH)

Developing maintainability for tokamak fusion power systems. Phase II report. Volume I: executive summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuller, G.M.; Zahn, H.S.; Mantz, H.C.; Kaletta, G.R.; Waganer, L.M.; Carosella, L.A.; Conlee, J.L.

1978-11-01

The purpose of this report is to identify design features of fusion power reactors which contribute to the achievement of high levels of maintainability. Volume 1, the Executive Summary, presents the progress achieved toward this objective in this phase and includes a comparison with the results of the first phase study efforts. A series of maintainability design guidelines and an improved maintenance system are defined as initial steps in developing the requirements for a maintainable tokamak fusion power system. The principle comparative studies that are summarized include the determination of the benefits of various vacuum wall arrangements, the effect of unscheduled and scheduled maintenance of the first wall/blanket, some initial investigation of maintenance required for subsystems other than the first wall/blanket, and the impact of maintenance equipment failures

Initiating and maintaining recreational walking: a longitudinal study on the influence of neighborhood green space.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugiyama, Takemi; Giles-Corti, Billie; Summers, Jacqui; du Toit, Lorinne; Leslie, Eva; Owen, Neville

2013-09-01

This study examined prospective relationships of green space attributes with adults initiating or maintaining recreational walking. Postal surveys were completed by 1036 adults living in Adelaide, Australia, at baseline (two time points in 2003-04) and follow-up (2007-08). Initiating or maintaining recreational walking was determined using self-reported walking frequency. Green space attributes examined were perceived presence, quality, proximity, and the objectively measured area (total and largest) and number of green spaces within a 1.6 km buffer drawn from the center of each study neighborhood. Multilevel regression analyses examined the odds of initiating or maintaining walking separately for each green space attribute. At baseline, participants were categorized into non-regular (n = 395), regular (n = 286), and irregular walkers (n = 313). Among non-regular walkers, 30% had initiated walking, while 70% of regular walkers had maintained walking at follow-up. No green space attributes were associated with initiating walking. However, positive perceptions of the presence of and proximity to green spaces and the total and largest areas of green space were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of walking maintenance over four years. Neighborhood green spaces may not assist adults to initiate walking, but their presence and proximity may facilitate them to maintain recreational walking over time. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceived parenting style and mother’s behavior in maintaining dental health of children with Down syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Fitria Ulfah

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: The number of children with down syndrome in Surabaya has reached 924 children. Prevalence of gingivitis and dental caries (91% and 93.8%, respectively occurs in children with down syndrome aged 6 to 20 years. Oral and dental health problems are found in children with down syndrome because they have physical and motoric limitation in maintaining oral and dental hygiene, thus require parental care from mother. Perceived parenting style includes responsiveness and demandingness. Perceived parenting is crucial for mother whose children have Down syndrome in order to guide their health behavior, particularly to maintain oral and dental health. Purpose: The study aimed to analyze correlation between perceived parenting style and mother’s behavior in maintaining dental health of children with Down syndrome. Method: This cross sectional analytical study involved 40 mothers of children aged 7-13 years with Down syndrome enrolled in Special Education Elementary Schools Surabaya and Association of Parents of Children with Down syndrome Surabaya. Data of perceived parenting style (responsiveness and demandingness and mother’s behavior in maintaining dental health were obtained by questionnaire. Composition of each item in questionnaire of perceived parenting style and mother’s behavior in maintaining dental health of children with Down syndrome was passed through validity and reliability test. Data analysis was carried out using multiple linear regression correlation test. Result: This present study showed that perceived parenting style is significantly correlated with mother’s behavior in maintaining dental health of children with Down syndrome (R = 0.630, p = 0.000, with perceived parental responsiveness as a strong predictor. Mean score and standard deviation of perceived parental responsiveness and demandingness were 33.00±2.99 and 15.55±1.99, respectively. Conclusion: Perceived maternal parenting style in children with Down

Maintaining Web Cache Coherency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Document coherency is a challenging problem for Web caching. Once the documents are cached throughout the Internet, it is often difficult to keep them coherent with the origin document without generating a new traffic that could increase the traffic on the international backbone and overload the popular servers. Several solutions have been proposed to solve this problem, among them two categories have been widely discussed: the strong document coherency and the weak document coherency. The cost and the efficiency of the two categories are still a controversial issue, while in some studies the strong coherency is far too expensive to be used in the Web context, in other studies it could be maintained at a low cost. The accuracy of these analysis is depending very much on how the document updating process is approximated. In this study, we compare some of the coherence methods proposed for Web caching. Among other points, we study the side effects of these methods on the Internet traffic. The ultimate goal is to study the cache behavior under several conditions, which will cover some of the factors that play an important role in the Web cache performance evaluation and quantify their impact on the simulation accuracy. The results presented in this study show indeed some differences in the outcome of the simulation of a Web cache depending on the workload being used, and the probability distribution used to approximate updates on the cached documents. Each experiment shows two case studies that outline the impact of the considered parameter on the performance of the cache.

Kekuatan Geser dan Pola Patahan Loop Space Maintainer yang Dibuat dengan Teknik Spot Welding Elektrik

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elin Karlina

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research was to study the effect of spot variations on shear strength of spot welds in an electric loop space maintainer. Stainless steel wire of 0.8 mm diameter and nickel chromium crwon for lower second molar of temporary teeth were used. A loop 1 cm wide, made of 3.5 cm stainless steel wire, was welded with 3 dots on the crown using an electric spot welder. Each dot for each group took different spot variations from 1 X – 4 X. A loop space maintainer made with the usual materials and techniques as applied at the IKGA FKG UI Clinic was used as a control, with a torch as heat source. Ten specimens each were prepared for shear testing and three spesimens each for metallography. Universal testing machine was used for shear strength testing at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min, and SEM/EDS was used for metallography and fractography. The data were statistically analyzed with one-way ANOVA at p = 0.05, and Tukey post hoc test. The results show that the shear strength of the welded loop space maintainer was higher than that of a soldered loop space maintainer, although the difference was not statistically significant with spot variation 1 X. SEM/EDS analysis suggests that a new alloy forms at the contact area of welded and soldered loop space maintainer. Fractography of the joints suggests that welds are better than soldered joints, with higher ductility and toughness, as can be seen from the dimpled pattern of the welded joint and cleavage patterns in the control joints. In conclusion, the loop space maintainer is better made by welding than by soldering.

Smoke considerations for using fire in maintaining healthy forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Roger D. Ottmar; Mark D. Schaaf; Ernesto Alvarado

1996-01-01

Fire is the single most important ecological disturbance process throughout the interior Pacific Northwest (Mutch and others 1993; Agee 1994). It is also a natural process that helps maintain a diverse ecological landscape. Fire suppression and timber harvesting have drastically altered this process during the past 50 to 90 years. Natural resource specialists generally...

How to keep punishment to maintain cooperation: Introducing social vaccine

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Hitoshi; Okada, Isamu

2016-02-01

Although there is much support for the punishment system as a sophisticated approach to resolving social dilemmas, more than a few researchers have also pointed out the limitations of such an approach. Second-order free riding is a serious issue facing the punishment system. Various pioneering works have suggested that an anti-social behavior or noise stemming from a mutation may, surprisingly, be helpful for avoiding second-order freeloaders. In this work, we show through mathematical analysis and an agent-based simulation of a model extending the meta-norms game that the coercive introduction of a small number of non-cooperators can maintain a cooperative regime robustly. This paradoxical idea was inspired by the effect of a vaccine, which is a weakened pathogen injected into a human body to create antibodies and ward off infection by that pathogen. Our expectation is that the coercive introduction of a few defectors, i.e., a social vaccine, will help maintain a highly cooperative regime because it will ensure that the punishment system works.

Maintaining Sibling Relationships for Children in Foster and Adoptive Placements.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Sigrid; Monn, Amy R; Palinkas, Lawrence A; Leslie, Laurel K

2008-01-01

To better understand the nature of sibling relationships among children in foster or adoptive placement and the challenges and processes involved in maintaining these relationships, we conducted an exploratory analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews with caregivers of 14 foster and adopted children in San Diego County. We identified three patterns of placement histories and living situations which appeared to impact the degree of contact maintained with siblings: (1) children who had never lived together and were not currently placed together; (2) children who at some point lived with or were placed together with their siblings, but were now separated from them; and (3) children who had lived with their siblings all their life and were placed together with at least some of their siblings at the time of the interview. Children's current living situations and placement histories, caregivers' experiences and perceptions of feasibility and desirability of sibling contact, and the sibling relationship itself are primary determinants in the development and maintenance of contact between siblings. Implications for child welfare policy and practice are discussed.

Human-factors methods for assessing and enhancing power-plant maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seminara, J.L.

1982-05-01

EPRI Final Report NP-1567, dated February 1981, presented the results of a human factors review of plant maintainability at nine power plants (five nuclear and four fossil). This investigation revealed a wide range of plant and equipment design features that can potentially compromise the effectiveness, safety, and productivity of maintenance personnel. The present study is an extension of the earlier work. It provides those utilities that did not participate in the original study with the methodological tools to conduct a review of maintenance provisions, facilities, and practices. This report describes and provides a self-review checklist; a structured interview; a task analysis approach; methods for reviewing maintenance errors or accidents; and recommended survey techniques for evaluating such factors as noise, illumination, and communications. Application of the human factors methods described in this report should reveal avenues for enhancing existing power plants from the maintainability and availability standpoints. This document may also serve a useful purpose for designers or reviewers of new plant designs or near-operational plants presently being constructed

Maintaining Customer Loyalty : Case company: Industrail Securities Ltd (China)

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Wenqing

2010-01-01

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how customer relationship management can be applied in maintaining customer loyalty. The study will assist the case company to find the way to develop a long-term relationship with existing customers. The better relationship with customers, the higher customer loyalty will be obtained. The theoretical background of the thesis begins with general view of customer relationship management, which embodies the concept of managing customer relations...

Maintaining Gamma Spectrometer and its challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazlipah Mohd Ramlan; Ramzah Mohamed; Saipo Bahari Abdul Ratan

2011-01-01

This paper discusses the activities of the Group Maintenance of Instrumentation and Automation Center. Maintenance of group activities is to provide maintenance service on equipment at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. Category of equipment is maintained instrumentation / nuclear electronics, scientific, analytical, security, communications, audio visual and other related. Maintenance services is to support research and development and scientific services at Nuclear Malaysia. Equipment maintenance services including repair service (CM), periodic maintenance (PM), technical testing and calibration of new devices. The objective is to ensure that maintenance activities can be the hope of an equipment, extend the life of the operation of the equipment, reducing 'down time' and reduce maintenance costs. Among the challenges in managing the maintenance of equipment in Nuclear Malaysia is the lack of expertise in specific areas such as nuclear instrumentation, analytical instruments, the problem of the inability of local suppliers to provide after-sales service, lack of spares, maintenance and nothing less emphasis on preventive maintenance schedule is perfect. (author)

Isolated human islets require hyperoxia to maintain islet mass, metabolism, and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Komatsu, Hirotake; Kang, Dongyang; Medrano, Leonard; Barriga, Alyssa; Mendez, Daniel; Rawson, Jeffrey; Omori, Keiko; Ferreri, Kevin; Tai, Yu-Chong; Kandeel, Fouad; Mullen, Yoko

2016-02-12

Pancreatic islet transplantation has been recognized as an effective treatment for Type 1 diabetes; however, there is still plenty of room to improve transplantation efficiency. Because islets are metabolically active they require high oxygen to survive; thus hypoxia after transplant is one of the major causes of graft failure. Knowing the optimal oxygen tension for isolated islets would allow a transplant team to provide the best oxygen environment during pre- and post-transplant periods. To address this issue and begin to establish empirically determined guidelines for islet maintenance, we exposed in vitro cultured islets to different partial oxygen pressures (pO2) and assessed changes in islet volume, viability, metabolism, and function. Human islets were cultured for 7 days in different pO2 media corresponding to hypoxia (90 mmHg), normoxia (160 mmHg), and hyerpoxia (270 or 350 mmHg). Compared to normoxia and hypoxia, hyperoxia alleviated the loss of islet volume, maintaining higher islet viability and metabolism as measured by oxygen consumption and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion responses. We predict that maintaining pre- and post-transplanted islets in a hyperoxic environment will alleviate islet volume loss and maintain islet quality thereby improving transplant outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

JWIG: Yet Another Framework for Maintainable and Secure Web Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Anders; Schwarz, Mathias Romme

2009-01-01

Although numerous frameworks for web application programming have been developed in recent years, writing web applications remains a challenging task. Guided by a collection of classical design principles, we propose yet another framework. It is based on a simple but flexible server-oriented arch...... services.The resulting framework provides a novel foundation for developing maintainable and secure web applications....

Maintaining and restoring sustainable ecosystems in southern Nevada [Chapter 7

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanne C. Chambers; Burton K. Pendleton; Donald W. Sada; Steven M. Ostoja; Matthew L. Brooks

2013-01-01

Managers in southern Nevada are challenged with determining appropriate goals and objectives and developing viable approaches for maintaining and restoring sustainable ecosystems in a time of rapid socio-ecological and environmental change. Sustainable or “healthy” ecosystems supply clean air, water and habitat for a diverse array of plants and animals. As described in...

Contribution of maintainability and maintenance to problems of safety evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adnot, Serge; Meriaux, Pierre.

1977-10-01

A method has been developed for defining the contribution of Maintainability and the Maintenance Studies to Safety evaluation problems. The efficiency of this method is shown and results obtained are given for two theoretical examples approximating reality. For repairable systems, the risk defined according to such given safety criterion, becomes a characteristic of the systems in operation [fr

Managers' duty to maintain good workplace communications skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Timmins, Fiona

2011-06-01

Communication is a fundamental element of care at every level of nursing practice. It is important, therefore, for nurse managers to create environments that promote and encourage good communication, and help nurses to develop their communication skills formally and informally. This article discusses the effects of communication on the quality of care. It examines nurses' professional duty to maintain good communication skills and how managers can help them do this. It also discusses nurse managers' communication skills in the context of leadership style, conflict resolution and self-awareness. Finally, it considers the notion of shared governance as good practice.

Phase noise cancellation in polarisation-maintaining fibre links

Science.gov (United States)

Rauf, B.; Vélez López, M. C.; Thoumany, P.; Pizzocaro, M.; Calonico, D.

2018-03-01

The distribution of ultra-narrow linewidth laser radiation is an integral part of many challenging metrological applications. Changes in the optical pathlength induced by environmental disturbances compromise the stability and accuracy of optical fibre networks distributing the laser light and call for active phase noise cancellation. Here we present a laboratory scale optical (at 578 nm) fibre network featuring all polarisation maintaining fibres in a setup with low optical powers available and tracking voltage-controlled oscillators implemented. The stability and accuracy of this system reach performance levels below 1 × 10-19 after 10 000 s of averaging.

Guide to Operating and Maintaining EnergySmart Schools

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2010-01-01

Through a commitment to high performance, school districts are discovering that smart energy choices can create lasting benefits for students, communities, and the environment. For example, an energy efficient school district with 4,000 students can save as much as $160,000 a year in energy costs. Over 10 years, those savings can reach $1.6 million, translating into the ability to hire more teachers, purchase more textbooks and computers, or invest in additional high performance facilities. Beyond these bottomline benefits, schools can better foster student health, decrease absenteeism, and serve as centers of community life. The U.S. Department of Energy's EnergySmart Schools Program promotes a 30 percent improvement in existing school energy use. It also encourages the building of new schools that exceed code (ASHRAE 90.11999) by 50 percent or more. The program provides resources like this Guide to Operating and Maintaining EnergySmart Schools to assist school decisionmakers in planning, financing, operating, and maintaining energy efficient, high performance schools. It also offers education and training for building industry professionals. Operations and maintenance refer to all scheduled and unscheduled actions for preventing equipment failure or decline with the goal of increasing efficiency, reliability, and safety. A preventative maintenance program is the organized and planned performance of maintenance activities in order to prevent system or production problems or failures from occurring. In contrast, deferred maintenance or reactive maintenance (also called diagnostic or corrective maintenance) is conducted to address an existing problem. This guide is a primary resource for developing and implementing a districtor schoolwide operations and maintenance (O&M) program that focuses on energy efficiency. The EnergySmart Schools Solutions companion CD contains additional supporting information for design, renovation, and retrofit projects. The objective

Meal consumption is ineffective at maintaining or correcting water balance in a desert lizard, Heloderma suspectum.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Christian D; Jackson, Marin L; DeNardo, Dale F

2013-04-15

Many xeric organisms maintain water balance by relying on dietary and metabolic water rather than free water, even when free water may be available. For such organisms, hydric state may influence foraging decisions, since meal consumption is meeting both energy and water demands. To understand foraging decisions it is vital to understand the role of dietary water in maintaining water balance. We investigated whether meal consumption was sufficient to maintain water balance in captive Gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) at varying levels of dehydration. Gila monsters could not maintain water balance over long time scales through meal consumption alone. Animals fed a single meal took no longer to dehydrate than controls when both groups were deprived of free water. Additionally, meal consumption imparts an acute short-term hydric cost regardless of hydration state. Meal consumption typically resulted in a significant elevation in osmolality at 6 h post-feeding, and plasma osmolality never fell below pre-feeding levels despite high water content (~70%) of meals. These results failed to support our hypothesis that dietary water is valuable to Gila monsters during seasonal drought. When considered in conjunction with previous research, these results demonstrate that Gila monsters, unlike many xeric species, are heavily reliant on seasonal rainfall and the resulting free-standing water to maintain water balance.

Stem cell niche-specific Ebf3 maintains the bone marrow cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Seike, Masanari; Omatsu, Yoshiki; Watanabe, Hitomi; Kondoh, Gen; Nagasawa, Takashi

2018-03-01

Bone marrow is the tissue filling the space between bone surfaces. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are maintained by special microenvironments known as niches within bone marrow cavities. Mesenchymal cells, termed CXC chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12)-abundant reticular (CAR) cells or leptin receptor-positive (LepR + ) cells, are a major cellular component of HSC niches that gives rise to osteoblasts in bone marrow. However, it remains unclear how osteogenesis is prevented in most CAR/LepR + cells to maintain HSC niches and marrow cavities. Here, using lineage tracing, we found that the transcription factor early B-cell factor 3 (Ebf3) is preferentially expressed in CAR/LepR + cells and that Ebf3-expressing cells are self-renewing mesenchymal stem cells in adult marrow. When Ebf3 is deleted in CAR/LepR + cells, HSC niche function is severely impaired, and bone marrow is osteosclerotic with increased bone in aged mice. In mice lacking Ebf1 and Ebf3 , CAR/LepR + cells exhibiting a normal morphology are abundantly present, but their niche function is markedly impaired with depleted HSCs in infant marrow. Subsequently, the mutants become progressively more osteosclerotic, leading to the complete occlusion of marrow cavities in early adulthood. CAR/LepR + cells differentiate into bone-producing cells with reduced HSC niche factor expression in the absence of Ebf1/Ebf3 Thus, HSC cellular niches express Ebf3 that is required to create HSC niches, to inhibit their osteoblast differentiation, and to maintain spaces for HSCs. © 2018 Seike et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Evaluation of Design Models of Process Equipment for Use in PRIDE: Remote Operability and Maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ki Ho; Kim, Sung Hyun; Yu, Seung Nam; Lee, Jong Kwang; Park, Byung Suk; Han, Jong Hui; Cho, Il Je; Lee, Han Soo

2012-01-01

Process equipment for pyroprocessing are being developed at KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). Those equipment should be operated and maintained in a fully remote manner in the argon gas filled cell of PRIDE (PyRoprocess Integrated inactive DEmonstration facility) at KAERI because direct human access to the in-cell is not possible during an operation due to the high toxicity of the argon gas. To make such process equipment remotely operable and maintainable, their design developments have been tested and evaluated in a simulator before they are constructed. A simulator as a means of evaluating the remote operability and maintainability of the design models of process equipment for pyroprocessing is described, and results of the design models tested and evaluated in a simulator are presented

Maintaining confidentiality in prospective studies: anonymous repeated measurements via email (ARME) procedure.

Science.gov (United States)

Carli, Vladimir; Hadlaczky, Gergö; Wasserman, Camilla; Stingelin-Giles, Nicola; Reiter-Theil, Stella; Wasserman, Danuta

2012-02-01

Respecting and protecting the confidentiality of data and the privacy of individuals regarding the information that they have given as participants in a research project is a cornerstone of complying with accepted research standards. However, in longitudinal studies, establishing and maintaining privacy is often challenging because of the necessity of repeated contact with participants. A novel internet-based solution is introduced here, which maintains privacy while at the same time ensures linkage of data to individual participants in a repeated measures design. With the use of the anonymous repeated measurements via email (ARME) procedure, two separate one-way communication systems are established through ad hoc email accounts and a secure study website. Strengths and limitations of the approach are discussed.

KB WOT Fisheries 2018: maintaining excellence and innovation in fisheries research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damme, van C.J.G.; Verver, S.W.

2017-01-01

The KB WOT Fisheries programme is developed to maintain and develop expertise needed to carry out the Dutch statutory obligations in fisheries monitoring and advice. The KB WOT Fisheries programme developed for 2018 reflects the scientific and management needs of the WOT fisheries programme. The

Human factors review of power plant maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seminara, J.L.; Parsons, S.O.; Schmidt, W.J.; Gonzalez, W.R.; Dove, L.E.

1980-10-01

Human factors engineering is an interdisciplinary science and technology concerned with shaping the design of machines, facilities, and operational environments to promote safe, efficient, and reliable performance on the part of operators and maintainers of equipment systems. The human factors aspects of five nuclear power plants and four fossil fuel plants were evaluated using such methods as a checklist guided observation system, structured interviews with maintenance personnel, direct observations of maintenance tasks, reviews of procedures, and analyses of maintenance errors or accidents by means of the critical incident technique. The study revealed a wide variety of human factors problem areas, most of which are extensively photodocumented. The study recommends that a more systematic and formal approach be adopted to ensure that future power plants are human engineered to the needs of maintenance personnel

Sociable mobile robots through self-maintained energy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ngo, Trung Dung; Schiøler, Henrik

2006-01-01

society, collecting and sharing are experimentally recognized as the highest property. This paper issues an approach to sociable robots using self-maintained energy in robot society, which is naturally inspired from swarm behavior of honey-bee and ant. Typically, autonomous mobile robots are usually......Research of sociable robots has emphasized interaction and coordination of mobile robots with inspiration from natural behavior of birds, insects, and fish: flocking, foraging, collecting, sharing and so forth. However, the animal behaviors are looking for food towards survival. In an animal...... equipped with a finite energy, thus they can operate in a finite time. To overcome the limitation, we describe practical deployment of a group of mobile robot with the possibility of carrying and exchanging fuel, e.g. battery to other robots. Early implementation that includes modular hardware and control...

12 CFR 617.7315 - What records must the qualified lender maintain on behalf of the CRC?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... on behalf of the CRC? 617.7315 Section 617.7315 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM... must the qualified lender maintain on behalf of the CRC? A qualified lender must maintain a complete file of all requests for CRC reviews, including participation in state mediation programs, the minutes...

Object-Based Dense Matching Method for Maintaining Structure Characteristics of Linear Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Nan; Yan, Yiming; Qiu, Mingjie; Zhao, Chunhui; Wang, Liguo

2018-03-29

In this paper, we proposed a novel object-based dense matching method specially for the high-precision disparity map of building objects in urban areas, which can maintain accurate object structure characteristics. The proposed framework mainly includes three stages. Firstly, an improved edge line extraction method is proposed for the edge segments to fit closely to building outlines. Secondly, a fusion method is proposed for the outlines under the constraint of straight lines, which can maintain the building structural attribute with parallel or vertical edges, which is very useful for the dense matching method. Finally, we proposed an edge constraint and outline compensation (ECAOC) dense matching method to maintain building object structural characteristics in the disparity map. In the proposed method, the improved edge lines are used to optimize matching search scope and matching template window, and the high-precision building outlines are used to compensate the shape feature of building objects. Our method can greatly increase the matching accuracy of building objects in urban areas, especially at building edges. For the outline extraction experiments, our fusion method verifies the superiority and robustness on panchromatic images of different satellites and different resolutions. For the dense matching experiments, our ECOAC method shows great advantages for matching accuracy of building objects in urban areas compared with three other methods.

Object-Based Dense Matching Method for Maintaining Structure Characteristics of Linear Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nan Su

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we proposed a novel object-based dense matching method specially for the high-precision disparity map of building objects in urban areas, which can maintain accurate object structure characteristics. The proposed framework mainly includes three stages. Firstly, an improved edge line extraction method is proposed for the edge segments to fit closely to building outlines. Secondly, a fusion method is proposed for the outlines under the constraint of straight lines, which can maintain the building structural attribute with parallel or vertical edges, which is very useful for the dense matching method. Finally, we proposed an edge constraint and outline compensation (ECAOC dense matching method to maintain building object structural characteristics in the disparity map. In the proposed method, the improved edge lines are used to optimize matching search scope and matching template window, and the high-precision building outlines are used to compensate the shape feature of building objects. Our method can greatly increase the matching accuracy of building objects in urban areas, especially at building edges. For the outline extraction experiments, our fusion method verifies the superiority and robustness on panchromatic images of different satellites and different resolutions. For the dense matching experiments, our ECOAC method shows great advantages for matching accuracy of building objects in urban areas compared with three other methods.

Reptile and amphibian responses to restoration of fire-maintained pine woodlands

Science.gov (United States)

Roger W Perry; D. Craig Rudolph; Ronald E. Thill

2009-01-01

Fire-maintained woodlands and savannas are important ecosystems for vertebrates in many regions of the world. These ecosystems are being restored by forest managers, but little information exists on herpetofaunal responses to this restoration in areas dominated by shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata). We compared habitat characteristics and...

Functional Analysis and Treatment of Aggression Maintained by Preferred Conversational Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Roscoe, Eileen M.; Kindle, Arianne E.; Pence, Sacha T.

2010-01-01

After an initial functional analysis of a participant's aggression showed unclear outcomes, we conducted preference and reinforcer assessments to identify preferred forms of attention that may maintain problem behavior. Next, we conducted an extended functional analysis that included a modified attention condition. Results showed that the…

Effects of Haloperidol on Responding Maintained with Food and Sucrose-Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos F. Aparicio

2010-02-01

Full Text Available The “hedonic” value of reinforcers is mediated by dopamine. Accordingly,haloperidol diminishes the value of reinforcers, by interfering with the emission of operant behaviors. Alternatively, the interference of dopamine transmission does not prevent animals from eating food. Thus, reinforcers remain intact after the administration of haloperidol. We assessed these possibilities with eight Wistar rats and two types of reinforcers, food-pellets and sucrose-water, delivered under multiple reinforcement schedules. Ingeneral, lever presses maintained by food-pellets were higher than those maintained by sucrose-water. Haloperidol produced dose-related decreases in lever presses and obtained reinforcers. Different doses had no effect on the number of lever presses. Subcutaneous administrations of haloperidol produced higher decreases in lever presses than intra-peritoneal administrations. Decreases in lever pressing were not necessarily accompanied by substantial reductions in obtained food-pellets and sucrose-water reinforcers; underthe effects of haloperidol rats continued to produce a considerable number of both types of reinforcers.

New model for assessing dose and dose rate sensitivity of Gamma ray radiation loss in polarization maintaining optical fibers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Hongchen; Liu Hai; Qiao Wenqiang; Xue Huijie; He Shiyu

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Building a new phenomenological theory model to investigate the relation about the irradiation induced loss with irradiation dose and dose rate. ► The Gamma ray irradiation induced loss of the “Capsule” type and “Panda” type polarization maintaining optical fibers at 1310 nm wavelength are investigated. ► The anti irradiation performance of the “Panda” type polarization maintaining optical fiber is better than that of the “Capsule” type polarization maintaining optical fiber, the reason is that the stress region doped by GeO 2 . - Abstract: The Gamma ray irradiation induced loss of the “Capsule” type and “Panda” type polarization maintaining optical fibers at 1310 nm wavelength are investigated. A phenomenological theory model is introduced and the influence of irradiation dose and dose rate on the irradiation induced loss is discussed. The phenomenological theoretical results are consistent with the experimental results of the irradiation induced loss for the two types of polarization maintaining optical fibers. The anti irradiation performance of the “Panda” type polarization maintaining optical fiber is better than that of the “Capsule” type polarization maintaining optical fiber, the reason is that the stress region dope with GeO 2 . Meanwhile, both of the polarization maintaining optical fiber irradiation induced loss increase with increasing the irradiation dose. In the case of same dose, the high dose rate Gamma ray irradiation induced optical fiber losses are higher than that of the low dose rate.

47 CFR 32.103 - Balance sheet accounts for other than regulated-fixed assets to be maintained.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Balance sheet accounts for other than regulated... for Balance Sheet Accounts § 32.103 Balance sheet accounts for other than regulated-fixed assets to be maintained. Balance sheet accounts to be maintained by Class A and Class B telephone companies for other than...

Awakening: a qualitative study on maintaining weight loss after bariatric surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Liebl, Lori; Barnason, Susan; Brage Hudson, Diane

2016-04-01

To describe the experiences of adults who were successful in maintaining weight loss after bariatric surgery. The majority of studies examine a homogenous demographic group of postbariatric surgical patients who have gone through initial weight loss, which occurs within the first 12-24 months post surgery. Maintenance of weight loss begins 24 months after bariatric surgery; however, there is a paucity of research examining experiences during this period. The lack of conclusive research related to interactions between intrapersonal, behavioural and environmental influences suggests a need to develop a better understanding of patients' experiences related to weight loss maintenance post bariatric surgery. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory provided the framework for the semi-structured interviews for this qualitative descriptive study. In-person interviews with n = 14 participants who were able to maintain weight loss at least 24 months after a bariatric surgery. Participants experienced an awakening and gained a new perspective on their life. They identified negative attitudes, influences and behaviours and modified their environment to support their desired healthy behaviour. To maintain weight loss, an individual must seek out and be surrounded by positive family and peer support influences. Positive support may provide the opportunity for an individual to place personal health needs as a priority. Therapeutic education and counselling for individuals, couples and families should occur during all phases of bariatric surgery. Communication techniques may empower clients to deflect negative comments and influences in a constructive manner. Support groups should accommodate the various phases of bariatric surgery. Clients should be prepared for how to work through emotions associated with weight fluctuations. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Research Trends on Benefits of Implementing Constructability, Operability, and Maintainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kordestani Ghaleenoe, N.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Despite allocating huge budgets to civil engineering projects, detailed planning, and employing human resources, project managers still face time, cost, and quality constraints. Most of these challenges are due to a lack of integration of different project phases and the limitations of the presence of construction and maintenance contractors in the initial stages of the project. Considering the benefits of applying constructability, operability, and maintainability (COM concepts, many problems caused by lack of coordination, or duplications and weakness in management, and also time and extra costs due to lack of presence of construction and maintenance contractors in the early stages of the project are resolvable. In this regard, various studies have investigated the benefits of applying these concepts; however, there has been no comprehensive analysis of the benefits of COM. As a result of focus on the benefits of implementation of these concepts and evaluating the effect of each of these strategies and benefits, from different perspectives during various time periods, managers can increase project efficiency and productivity, and improve their performance, through using concepts and strategies of their implementation. This research aims to evaluate the trend of studies on the benefits of implementing constructability, operability, and maintainability in the construction industry. For that, the in-depth literature review method is applied. For qualitative analysis of the obtained information, descriptive analysis has been used. Then, the data was coded, and classified using Excel Software for quantitative data analysis. Finally, the charts presented were evaluated according to the classified fields of study. The necessity of performing such a study is significant because of the fact that a large share of a project’s problems, such as lack of plans’ integration and weakness of administrative system, and increasing time and cost, are due to

Patient perspectives of maintaining dignity in Indonesian clinical care settings: A qualitative descriptive study.

Science.gov (United States)

Asmaningrum, Nurfika; Tsai, Yun-Fang

2018-03-01

To gain an understanding towards the perspectives of hospitalized inpatients in Indonesia regarding maintaining dignity during clinical care. Dignity is a basic human right that is crucial for an individual's well-being. Respect for a person as a valuable human is a concept that is comparable to treating a person with dignity. Maintaining patient's dignity is an ethical goal of nursing care. Nevertheless, the concept is highly dependent on cultural context. This issue has not been well studied in Indonesia. This study used a qualitative descriptive design. Thirty-five participants were recruited by purposive sampling from medical to surgical wards of six public hospitals in Eastern Java, Indonesia. Data were collected in 2016 through individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Inductive content analysis was applied to the data. Four major categories which described qualities of nursing care essential for maintaining a patient's dignity in clinical care settings were revealed: (1) responsiveness; (2) respectful nurse-patient relationships; (3) caring characteristics and (4) personalized service. Our findings provide a cultural viewpoint of dignity for care recipients in Indonesia. The findings provide empirical support for linking dignified care and person-centred care principles with regards to cultural sensitivity. Nurses must not only be clinically competent but also culturally competent. The ability to provide culturally competent care is important for nurses as a strategy to maintain patient dignity during hospitalized care. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Building and maintaining media contacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenton, Bob

2000-01-01

This presentation is answering the question: 'how does British Energy build and maintain its relationships with journalists in so many areas', not only the basic industrial correspondents that you would expect to have to deal with an industry British Energy, but those dealing with science and technology, the environment, personnel and training, city and financial, political, and on and on, and that is just the national press. Then add the local and regional media around power station sites - literally hundreds of contacts and you start to get an idea about the size of our media contact database. But it is managed it rather well. Every six months British Energy takes part in a survey run by one of the UK's leading market research companies who conducts a poll among journalists and then rate each company's performance. In the last three years British Energy has not been outside the top five in most categories, and in the top two in several. The answer is a lot of work over a long period of time. You cannot expect to build trusting relationships with a journalist overnight. At British Energy the key is being open and honest, and always available. Of course good media relations is not a one-way street, and there has to be some element of compromise if you are to achieve a relationship based on mutual trust

ADAS Update and Maintainability

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Leela R.

2010-01-01

Since 2000, both the National Weather Service Melbourne (NWS MLB) and the Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) have used a local data integration system (LOIS) as part of their forecast and warning operations. The original LOIS was developed by the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) in 1998 (Manobianco and Case 1998) and has undergone subsequent improvements. Each has benefited from three-dimensional (3-D) analyses that are delivered to forecasters every 15 minutes across the peninsula of Florida. The intent is to generate products that enhance short-range weather forecasts issued in support of NWS MLB and SMG operational requirements within East Central Florida. The current LDIS uses the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) Data Analysis System (AD AS) package as its core, which integrates a wide variety of national, regional, and local observational data sets. It assimilates all available real-time data within its domain and is run at a finer spatial and temporal resolution than current national or regional-scale analysis packages. As such, it provides local forecasters with a more comprehensive understanding of evolving fine-scale weather features. Over the years, the LDIS has become problematic to maintain since it depends on AMU-developed shell scripts that were written for an earlier version of the ADAS software. The goals of this task were to update the NWS MLB/SMG LDIS with the latest version of ADAS, incorporate new sources of observational data, and upgrade and modify the AMU-developed shell scripts written to govern the system. In addition, the previously developed ADAS graphical user interface (GUI) was updated. Operationally, these upgrades will result in more accurate depictions of the current local environment to help with short-range weather forecasting applications, while also offering an improved initialization for local versions of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model used by both groups.

Reliability and Maintainability Engineering - A Major Driver for Safety and Affordability

Science.gov (United States)

Safie, Fayssal M.

2011-01-01

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is in the midst of an effort to design and build a safe and affordable heavy lift vehicle to go to the moon and beyond. To achieve that, NASA is seeking more innovative and efficient approaches to reduce cost while maintaining an acceptable level of safety and mission success. One area that has the potential to contribute significantly to achieving NASA safety and affordability goals is Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) engineering. Inadequate reliability or failure of critical safety items may directly jeopardize the safety of the user(s) and result in a loss of life. Inadequate reliability of equipment may directly jeopardize mission success. Systems designed to be more reliable (fewer failures) and maintainable (fewer resources needed) can lower the total life cycle cost. The Department of Defense (DOD) and industry experience has shown that optimized and adequate levels of R&M are critical for achieving a high level of safety and mission success, and low sustainment cost. Also, lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program clearly demonstrated the importance of R&M engineering in designing and operating safe and affordable launch systems. The Challenger and Columbia accidents are examples of the severe impact of design unreliability and process induced failures on system safety and mission success. These accidents demonstrated the criticality of reliability engineering in understanding component failure mechanisms and integrated system failures across the system elements interfaces. Experience from the shuttle program also shows that insufficient Reliability, Maintainability, and Supportability (RMS) engineering analyses upfront in the design phase can significantly increase the sustainment cost and, thereby, the total life cycle cost. Emphasis on RMS during the design phase is critical for identifying the design features and characteristics needed for time efficient processing

Tunable polarisation-maintaining filter based on liquid crystal photonic bandgap fibre

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scolari, Lara; Olausson, Christina Bjarnal Thulin; Weirich, Johannes

2008-01-01

A tunable and polarisation-maintaining all-in-fibre filter based on a liquid crystal photonic bandgap fibre is demonstrated. Its polarisation extinction ratio reaches 14 dB at 1550 nm wavelength. Its spectral tunability range spans over 250 nm in the temperature range 30–70°C. The measured...

Developmental Improvement in Strategies to Maintain Verbal Information in Working Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Oftinger, Anne-Laure; Camos, Valérie

2018-01-01

Although it has been proposed that maintenance of verbal information in adults' working memory relies on two strategies, articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing, little is known about the interplay of these strategies in children. To examine strategy changes around the age of seven, children were asked to maintain digits during a…

Metabolic and hemodynamic effects of saline infusion to maintain volemia on temporary abdominal aortic occlusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fábio Ferreira Amorim

2002-10-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To analyze hemodynamic and metabolic effects of saline solution infusion in the maintenance of blood volume in ischemia-reperfusion syndrome during temporary abdominal aortic occlusion in dogs. METHODS: We studied 20 dogs divided into 2 groups: the ischemia-reperfusion group (IRG, n=10 and the ischemia-reperfusion group with saline solution infusion aiming at maintaining mean pulmonary arterial wedge pressure between 10 and 20 mmHg (IRG-SS, n=10. All animals were anesthetized with sodium thiopental and maintained on spontaneous ventilation. Occlusion of the supraceliac aorta was obtained with inflation of a Fogarty catheter inserted through the femoral artery. After 60 minutes of ischemia, the balloon was deflated, and the animals were observed for another 60 minutes of reperfusion. RESULTS: IRG-SS dogs did not have hemodynamic instability after aortic unclamping, and the mean systemic blood pressure and heart rate were maintained. However, acidosis worsened, which was documented by a greater reduction of arterial pH that occurred especially due to the absence of a respiratory response to metabolic acidosis that was greater with the adoption of this procedure. CONCLUSION: Saline solution infusion to maintain blood volume avoided hemodynamic instability after aortic unclamping. This procedure, however, caused worsening in metabolic acidosis in this experimental model.

What distinguishes weight loss maintainers of the German Weight Control Registry from the general population?

Science.gov (United States)

Feller, Silke; Müller, Astrid; Mayr, Andreas; Engeli, Stefan; Hilbert, Anja; de Zwaan, Martina

2015-05-01

Differences between successful long-term weight loss maintainers and the general population with regard to eating and weighing habits, non-normative eating behaviors, and eating-related and general psychopathological parameters are unknown. Self-identified weight loss maintainers from the German Weight Control Registry (GWCR, n = 494) were compared with a representative sample of the general German population (n = 2,129). The samples did not differ in current BMI. Using the same assessment instruments in both cohorts, a variety of eating-related and psychological variables were determined. The GWCR participants reported more self-weighing and higher eating frequency but less hot meal consumption and more eating-out-of-home. Binge eating, compensatory behaviors, and concerns about shape and weight were reported more often by successful weight loss maintainers. Scores of depression and worrying about health were slightly higher whereas severity of somatic symptoms was less pronounced in the GWCR participants. Overall, our data suggest that successful weight loss maintainers are characterized by more concerns about shape and weight, greater binge eating frequency, and higher use of compensatory behaviors. The latter suggests that weight loss maintenance might not only be achieved by healthy strategies but also by non-normative behaviors which might increase the vulnerability for weight regain. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

A new era of prosperity through power : maintaining BC's competitive advantage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Potts, D. [BC Council of Forest Industries, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

2001-08-17

The availability of abundant low cost electric power has been a driving force behind British Columbia's economic growth. BC's low cost power resources can create a natural competitive economic advantage for the province. Electricity, as a publicly owned resource can offer many competitive advantages for business in British Columbia, if managed correctly. However, it was noted that meaningful economic advantages can only be realized if the existing power resources in the province are operated efficiently and priced at or close to cost. In the 1980s, the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee (JIESC) was formed following the regulation of BC Hydro by BC Utilities Commission. It became clear that maintaining low rates for electricity was a public issue that needed input from other governmental forums if JIESC was to be successful. The major sectors represented by JIESC include pulp and paper, mining, and electrochemicals. This paper listed each member company. In order to turn BC's economy around and re-establish the province as a leading economy in Canada, the following recommendations have been proposed for the short term: (1) maintain an ample supply of low cost power for the future, (2) remove the provincial sales tax on the purchase of electric power used for manufacturing and processing, (3) extend the current rate freeze, (4) initiate a long-term resource acquisition and transmission expansion strategy to assure the availability of ample supplies of low cost power. Recommendations for the long term include: (1) maintain regulated cost based rates, (2) develop ample low cost power, (3) utilize downstream benefits, (4) provide a role for the private sector, (5) maintain adequate transmission facilities, (6) reduce government revenues, and (7) instill customer driven management. 3 figs.

29 CFR 2520.104-26 - Limited exemption for certain unfunded dues financed welfare plans maintained by employee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... welfare plans maintained by employee organizations. 2520.104-26 Section 2520.104-26 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REPORTING AND... exemption for certain unfunded dues financed welfare plans maintained by employee organizations. (a) Scope...

Interferometric sensor based on the polarization-maintaining fibers

Science.gov (United States)

Cubik, Jakub; Kepak, Stanislav; Doricak, Jan; Vašinek, Vladimir; Liner, Andrej; Papes, Martin

2012-01-01

The interferometers composed of optical fibers are due to its high sensitivity capable of to measure various influences affecting the fiber. These influences may be bending or different sorts of fiber deformations, vibration, temperature, etc. In this case the vibration is the measured quantity, which is evaluated by analyzing the interference fringes representing changes in the fiber. Was used a Mach-Zehnder interferometer composed of the polarization maintaining elements. The polarization maintaining elements were used because of high sensitivity to polarization state inside the interferometer. The light was splitted into the two optical paths, where the first one is the reference fiber and it is separated from the actual phenomenon, and the second one is measuring fiber, which is directly exposed to vibration transmission from the underlying surface. The light source was narrowband DFB laser serating at a wavelength of 1550nm and as a detector an InGaAs PIN photodiode were used in this measurement. The electrical signal from the photodiode was amplified and fed into the measuring card. On the incoming signal the FFT was applied, which performs the transformation into the frequency domain and the results were further evaluated by software. We were evaluating the characteristic frequencies and their amplitude ratios. The frequency responses are unique for a given phenomenon, thus it is possible to identify recurring events by the characteristic frequencies and their amplitude ratios. The frequency range was limited by the properties of the used speaker, by the frequency characteristics of the filter in the amplifier and used resonant element. For the experiment evaluation the repeated impact of the various spherical objects on the surface board was performed and measured. The stability of amplitude and frequency and also the frequency range was verified in this measurement.

Cost-effective solutions to maintaining smart grid reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Qiu

As the aging power systems are increasingly working closer to the capacity and thermal limits, maintaining an sufficient reliability has been of great concern to the government agency, utility companies and users. This dissertation focuses on improving the reliability of transmission and distribution systems. Based on the wide area measurements, multiple model algorithms are developed to diagnose transmission line three-phase short to ground faults in the presence of protection misoperations. The multiple model algorithms utilize the electric network dynamics to provide prompt and reliable diagnosis outcomes. Computational complexity of the diagnosis algorithm is reduced by using a two-step heuristic. The multiple model algorithm is incorporated into a hybrid simulation framework, which consist of both continuous state simulation and discrete event simulation, to study the operation of transmission systems. With hybrid simulation, line switching strategy for enhancing the tolerance to protection misoperations is studied based on the concept of security index, which involves the faulted mode probability and stability coverage. Local measurements are used to track the generator state and faulty mode probabilities are calculated in the multiple model algorithms. FACTS devices are considered as controllers for the transmission system. The placement of FACTS devices into power systems is investigated with a criterion of maintaining a prescribed level of control reconfigurability. Control reconfigurability measures the small signal combined controllability and observability of a power system with an additional requirement on fault tolerance. For the distribution systems, a hierarchical framework, including a high level recloser allocation scheme and a low level recloser placement scheme, is presented. The impacts of recloser placement on the reliability indices is analyzed. Evaluation of reliability indices in the placement process is carried out via discrete event

The Real Transformation: Building and Maintaining Long-Term Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

TERM COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE LTC EDWARD C. CARDON, USA A TRANFORMATION PAPER FOR THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF SEMINAR...SUBTITLE The Real Transformation: Building and Maintaining Long-Term Competitive Advantage 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...long-term military competitive advantage in comparison to the rest of the world.4 This approach suggests a model that places competition as the

PETROCHINA TO MAINTAIN TWO-DIGITAL GROWTH OF ITS GAS PRODUCTION

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2005-01-01

@@ Based on the information made available from the recent conference on natural gas development held in Chengdu, the capital of the natural gasenriched Sichuan Province, PetroChina will maintain a 14 percent growth for its natural gas production during the 1 lth Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010), owing to acceleration of the market development and pipeline construction in the downstream sector and rapid progress in the natural gas exploration.

Maintaining Oversight of Licensee Safety Culture. CSNI/WGHOF Survey Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

In preparation for this workshop, a survey was sent to members of the WGHOF in Autumn 2006. Purpose of the Survey was to explore and share the methods and approaches used to maintain oversight of licensee safety culture. 13 countries responded to the survey. The responses were used in the development of discussion topics and themes for this workshop. This presentation (slides) summarizes the results of the survey

Work-Life Balance: Strategies for Attaining and Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Science.gov (United States)

Winkler, Josette Chinchiolo

2010-01-01

Purpose: It was the purpose of this study (a) to identify and describe the elements of balance that elementary principals perceive as most important to their personal and professional lives; (b) to identify the strategies elementary principals perceive as most important to maintain balance in their personal and professional lives; (c) to determine…

Hale and Hearty Policies: How Psychological Science Can Create and Maintain Healthy Habits.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothman, Alexander J; Gollwitzer, Peter M; Grant, Adam M; Neal, David T; Sheeran, Paschal; Wood, Wendy

2015-11-01

Strategies are needed to ensure that the U.S. Government meets its goals for improving the health of the nation (e.g., Healthy People 2020). To date, progress toward these goals has been undermined by a set of discernible challenges: People lack sufficient motivation, they frequently fail to translate healthy intentions into action, their efforts are undermined by the persistence of prior unhealthy habits, and they have considerable difficulty maintaining new healthy patterns of behavior. Guided by advances in psychological science, we provide innovative, evidence-based policies that address each of these challenges and, if implemented, will enhance people's ability to create and maintain healthy behavioral practices. © The Author(s) 2015.

Antihypertrophic Effects of Small Molecules that Maintain Mitochondrial ATP Levels Under Hypoxia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroaki Nagai

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Since impaired mitochondrial ATP production in cardiomyocytes is thought to lead to heart failure, a drug that protects mitochondria and improves ATP production under disease conditions would be an attractive treatment option. In this study, we identified small-molecule drugs, including the anti-parasitic agent, ivermectin, that maintain mitochondrial ATP levels under hypoxia in cardiomyocytes. Mechanistically, transcriptomic analysis and gene silencing experiments revealed that ivermectin increased mitochondrial ATP production by inducing Cox6a2, a subunit of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Furthermore, ivermectin inhibited the hypertrophic response of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Pharmacological inhibition of importin β, one of the targets of ivermectin, exhibited protection against mitochondrial ATP decline and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. These findings indicate that maintaining mitochondrial ATP under hypoxia may prevent hypertrophy and improve cardiac function, providing therapeutic options for mitochondrial dysfunction.

The complexity of self-regulating food intake in weight loss maintenance. A qualitative study among short- and long-term weight loss maintainers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Susanne; Sniethotta, Falko F.; Sainsbury, Kirby

2018-01-01

Rationale Whether self-regulation of food intake in weight loss maintenance (WLM) differs between being a short-term maintainer (having maintained without regaining less than 12 months) and a long-term maintainer (having maintained without regaining at least 12 months) is under-researched. Object......Rationale Whether self-regulation of food intake in weight loss maintenance (WLM) differs between being a short-term maintainer (having maintained without regaining less than 12 months) and a long-term maintainer (having maintained without regaining at least 12 months) is under......-researched. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the self-regulatory strategies and self-efficacy beliefs applied by short- and long-term maintainers to the complex set of behaviours comprising food intake in WLM, and to obtain a better understanding of their challenges in the various food-intake processes...... in WLM. Method Individual interviews (14 female/4 male) were conducted with nine Danish short- and nine long-term weight loss maintainers. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) was applied post-hoc to organise data and support analyses, since the approach focuses on both the cognitions (e.g., self...

Project Management Plan to Maintain Safe and Compliant Conditions at the Plutonium Finishing Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

COX, G.J.

1999-01-01

This Project Management Plan presents the overall plan, description, mission, and workscope for the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) maintain safe and compliant conditions project at PFP. This plan presents the overall description, mission, work scope, and planning for the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) Maintain Safe and Compliant Conditions Project at PFP. This project includes all tasks required to maintain the safety boundary for the PFP Complex, except for the 2736-2 Vault Complex and the 234-52 vaults and vault-type rooms. The intent of this plan is to describe how this project will be managed and integrated with the stabilization, and deactivation activities. This plan supplements the overall integrated plan presented in the Plutonium Finishing Plant Integrated Project Management Plan (IPMP), HNF-3617, Rev. 0. This is the top-level definitive project management document that specifies the technical (work scope), schedule, and cost baselines that will manage the execution of this project. It describes the organizational approach and roles/responsibilities implemented to execute the project. This plan is under configuration management and any deviations must be authorized by appropriate change control action

Self-guided Change: The most common form of long-term, maintained health behavior change

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, F Michler

2018-01-01

Millions of people change risky, health-related behaviors and maintain those changes. However, they often take years to change, and their unhealthy behaviors may harm themselves and others and constitute a significant cost to society. A review—similar in nature to a scoping review—was done of the literature related to long-term health behavior change in six areas: alcohol, cocaine and heroin misuse, gambling, smoking, and overeating. Based on the limited research available, reasons for change and strategies for changing and for maintaining change were also reviewed. Fifty years of research clearly indicate that as people age, in the case of alcohol, heroin and cocaine misuse, smoking, and gambling, 80–90 percent moderate or stop their unhealthy behaviors. The one exception is overeating; only 20 percent maintain their weight loss. Most of these changes, when they occur, appear to be the result of self-guided change. More ways to accelerate self-guided, health-related behavior change need to be developed and disseminated. PMID:29375888

Application of CAD-CAM for Fabrication of Metal-Free Band and Loop Space Maintainer.

Science.gov (United States)

Soni, Harleen Kaur

2017-02-01

An ideal occlusion with proper tooth alignment and fully functional teeth is the ultimate goal of all dental treatments. Premature extraction of deciduous teeth is a common sequeale of untreated dental caries in teeth in which the damage is far beyond repair. Premature extraction might lead to loss of space for the successor tooth, drifting of teeth and loss of arch integrity leading to malocclusion in the permanent teeth. To prevent the space loss, space maintainers are designed and delivered at the time of extraction to allow for development of proper functional occlusion in children till the eruption of the succedaneous permanent tooth. A six-year-old female patient with chronic intra-radicular abscess in upper right first primary molar was treated with extraction followed by the placement of BruxZir zirconia space maintainer. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed at one and six months. At the end of six months, the patient was completely asymptomatic and there were no visible signs of gingival inflammation and tissue irritation at the site of the space maintainer.

PTM Along Track Algorithm to Maintain Spacing During Same Direction Pair-Wise Trajectory Management Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Carreno, Victor A.

2015-01-01

Pair-wise Trajectory Management (PTM) is a cockpit based delegated responsibility separation standard. When an air traffic service provider gives a PTM clearance to an aircraft and the flight crew accepts the clearance, the flight crew will maintain spacing and separation from a designated aircraft. A PTM along track algorithm will receive state information from the designated aircraft and from the own ship to produce speed guidance for the flight crew to maintain spacing and separation

A Co-Word Analysis of Organizational Constraints for Maintaining Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daoyan Guo

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A good understanding of organizational constraints is vital to facilitate organizational development as the sustainable development of organizations can be constrained by the organization itself. In this study, bibliometric methods were adopted to investigate the research status and trends of organizational constraints. The findings showed that there were 1138 articles and reviews, and 52 high-frequency keywords related to organizational constraints during the period 1980–2016. The research cores were “constraints”, “learning”, “institution”, and “behavior” in the co-occurrence network, and “constraints” played the most significant role. The 52 high-frequency keywords were classified into six clusters: “change and decision-making”, “supply chain and sustainability”, “human system and performance”, “culture and relations”, “entrepreneur and resource”, and “learning and innovation”. Furthermore, the indicators of organizational development (e.g., innovation, supply chain, decision-making, performance, sustainability, and employee behavior were found to be significantly related to the organizational constraints. Based on these findings, future trends were proposed to maintain the sustainability of organizations. This study investigated the state of the art in terms of organizational constraints and provided valuable references for maintaining the sustainable development of organizations.

Astrocytic glycogen-derived lactate fuels the brain during exhaustive exercise to maintain endurance capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsui, Takashi; Omuro, Hideki; Liu, Yu-Fan; Soya, Mariko; Shima, Takeru; McEwen, Bruce S; Soya, Hideaki

2017-06-13

Brain glycogen stored in astrocytes provides lactate as an energy source to neurons through monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) to maintain neuronal functions such as hippocampus-regulated memory formation. Although prolonged exhaustive exercise decreases brain glycogen, the role of this decrease and lactate transport in the exercising brain remains less clear. Because muscle glycogen fuels exercising muscles, we hypothesized that astrocytic glycogen plays an energetic role in the prolonged-exercising brain to maintain endurance capacity through lactate transport. To test this hypothesis, we used a rat model of exhaustive exercise and capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to observe comprehensive energetics of the brain (cortex and hippocampus) and muscle (plantaris). At exhaustion, muscle glycogen was depleted but brain glycogen was only decreased. The levels of MCT2, which takes up lactate in neurons, increased in the brain, as did muscle MCTs. Metabolomics revealed that brain, but not muscle, ATP was maintained with lactate and other glycogenolytic/glycolytic sources. Intracerebroventricular injection of the glycogen phosphorylase inhibitor 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-d-arabinitol did not affect peripheral glycemic conditions but suppressed brain lactate production and decreased hippocampal ATP levels at exhaustion. An MCT2 inhibitor, α-cyano-4-hydroxy-cinnamate, triggered a similar response that resulted in lower endurance capacity. These findings provide direct evidence for the energetic role of astrocytic glycogen-derived lactate in the exhaustive-exercising brain, implicating the significance of brain glycogen level in endurance capacity. Glycogen-maintained ATP in the brain is a possible defense mechanism for neurons in the exhausted brain.

Maintaining Privacy in Pervasive Computing - Enabling Acceptance of Sensor-based Services

Science.gov (United States)

Soppera, A.; Burbridge, T.

During the 1980s, Mark Weiser [1] predicted a world in which computing was so pervasive that devices embedded in the environment could sense their relationship to us and to each other. These tiny ubiquitous devices would continually feed information from the physical world into the information world. Twenty years ago, this vision was the exclusive territory of academic computer scientists and science fiction writers. Today this subject has become of interest to business, government, and society. Governmental authorities exercise their power through the networked environment. Credit card databases maintain our credit history and decide whether we are allowed to rent a house or obtain a loan. Mobile telephones can locate us in real time so that we do not miss calls. Within another 10 years, all sorts of devices will be connected through the network. Our fridge, our food, together with our health information, may all be networked for the purpose of maintaining diet and well-being. The Internet will move from being an infrastructure to connect computers, to being an infrastructure to connect everything [2, 3].

Identifying Regional Key Eco-Space to Maintain Ecological Security Using GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hualin Xie

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Ecological security and environmental sustainability are the foundations of sustainable development. With the acceleration of urbanization, increasing human activities have promoted greater impacts on the eco-spaces that maintain ecological security. Regional key eco-space has become the primary need to maintain environmental sustainability and can offer society with continued ecosystem services. In this paper, considering the security of water resources, biodiversity conservation, disaster avoidance and protection and natural recreation, an integrated index of eco-space importance was established and a method for identifying key eco-space was created using GIS, with Lanzhou City, China as a case study. The results show that the area of core eco-space in the Lanzhou City is approximately 50,908.7 hm2, accounting for 40% of the region’s total area. These areas mainly consist of geological hazard protection zones and the core zones of regional river systems, wetlands, nature reserves, forest parks and scenic spots. The results of this study provide some guidance for the management of ecological security, ecological restoration and environmental sustainability.

Academic Practices to Gain and Maintain Student-Teacher Connectedness and Classroom Behavioral Management, Related to Educator Demographics

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, Leslie Threadgill

2015-01-01

Connectedness and classroom management has been defined as the ability to relate to students and keep order and maintain successful relationships with individuals. This qualitative study utilized surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and observations to examine the best practices implemented by educators to develop and maintain connections with…

Licensee programs for maintaining occupational exposure to radiation as low as is reasonably achievable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munson, L.H.

1983-06-01

This report defines the concept of maintaining occupational exposures to radiation as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA) and describes the elements necessary for specific licensees to implement, operate, and evaluate an effective ALARA program. Examples of cost-effectiveness analysis and optimization are provided. The rationale for providing more detailed guidance to specific licensees stems from the current recommendations provided by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, as well as from the increased regulatory emphasis on maintaining occupational exposures ALARA. The objective of this work is to provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with a basis for updating Regulatory Guide 8.10

Incisional abdominal hernia repair with concomitant abdominoplasty: Maintaining umbilical viability

OpenAIRE

Robert Phan; Elan Kaplan; Jemma K. Porrett; Yik-Hong Ho; Warren M. Rozen

2018-01-01

Introduction: Abdominoplasty and abdominal hernia repair are often carried out in two-stage procedures, and those describing single-stage surgery require careful dissection to preserve often only partial blood supply to the umbilicus to maintain its viability. This paper aims to describe the surgical method of laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair in association with abdominoplasty. Case presentation: A patient presents with an incisional hernia at a previous periumbilical port site of size 14...

Creating and Maintaining Student Diversity: Strategies and Challenges for School Leaders

Science.gov (United States)

Villavicencio, Adriana

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to explore how school leaders can create and maintain student diversity in charter schools. Based on a case study of two racially balanced schools in New York City, this study identifies three strategies that the schools' leaders took to create more student diversity: (1) develop curriculum-centred missions, (2)…

Maintaining Vitality: Pharmacists' Continuing Professional Education Decision-Making in the Upper Midwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Henkel, Paul Jacob; Marvanova, Marketa

2018-02-01

Continuing professional education (CPE) plays an important role in continuing professional development of pharmacists for providing quality pharmaceutical care but also to maintain professional and organizational vitality and meet changing community/population needs. The study objective was to describe and understand factors of importance in selection of CPE credit hours among Upper Midwest pharmacists. A cross-sectional study of licensed pharmacists ( n = 1239) in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota included completion of a questionnaire on demographics and CPE decision-making. Factor analysis, t -test, and multivariate analyses were performed using Stata 10.1. Pharmacists placed greatest importance on maintaining licensure (mean = 2.72/3.00), personal interest (mean = 2.57), and self-improvement (mean = 2.42). Community/population need (mean = 1.83) was rated as slightly more important ( p market, but more importantly to ensure continued provision of quality pharmaceutical care and patient education.

Role of phytoplankton in maintaining endemicity and seasonality of cholera in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, M Sirajul; Islam, M Shafiqul; Mahmud, Zahid H; Cairncross, Sandy; Clemens, John D; Collins, Andrew E

2015-09-01

In Bangladesh, cholera is endemic and maintains a regular seasonal pattern. The role of phytoplankton in maintaining endemicity and seasonality of cholera was monitored in Matlab, Bangladesh. Phytoplankton and water samples were collected from two ponds bi-weekly for 1 year. The association of Vibrio cholerae O1 with phytoplankton was studied by culture and direct fluorescent antibody techniques. The bio-physicochemical parameters of water were measured and data for cases of cholera were collected from the records of Matlab hospital. The correlation of cholera cases with levels of phytoplankton, V. cholerae and bio-physicochemical parameters of water was carried out using Pearson's correlation coefficients. V. cholerae O1 survived for 48 days in association with Anabaena variabilis in a culturable state, but survived for a year in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. V. cholerae survived for 12 and 32 days in a culturable state in control water (without algae) and water with algae, respectively. There was a significant correlation between changing levels of cholera cases in the community and the blue green algae and total phytoplankton in the aquatic environment. A significant correlation was also found between the cholera cases and chlorophyll-a and VBNC V. cholerae O1 in the aquatic environment. This study demonstrated the role of phytoplankton in maintaining endemicity and seasonality of cholera in Bangladesh. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Entrepreneurs' self-reported health, social life, and strategies for maintaining good health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunnarsson, Kristina; Josephson, Malin

2011-01-01

This study investigated the association between self-reported good health and self-valued good social life. An additional aim was to examine entrepreneur's strategies for maintaining good health. The study design included a two-wave questionnaire, with five years between the surveys (2001 and 2006), and qualitative interviews. The study group consisted of 246 entrepreneurs from the central region of Sweden and represented ten different trades. Entrepreneurs reporting good health in both 2001 and 2006 were compared with entrepreneurs reporting poor health on both occasions or with inconsistent answers. Six of the entrepreneurs were strategically chosen for the interview study. Consistent good health was reported by 56% of the entrepreneurs. Good social life in 2001 was associated with an increased odds ratio (OR) for consistent good health when the analyses were adjusted for physical work conditions and job satisfaction (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.07-4.17). Findings for good leisure time, weekly moderate physical exercise, and a rating of work being less or equally important as other life areas, were similar but not statistically significant when job satisfaction was considered in the analyses. Strategies for maintaining good health included good planning and control over work, flexibility at work, good social contact with family, friends and other entrepreneurs, and regular physical exercise. This study demonstrated an association between self-reported good health and good social life for entrepreneurs in small-scale enterprises. In addition, the entrepreneurs emphasised strategies such as planning and control over work and physical exercise are important for maintaining good health.

Human sclera maintains common characteristics with cartilage throughout evolution.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuko Seko

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The sclera maintains and protects the eye ball, which receives visual inputs. Although the sclera does not contribute significantly to visual perception, scleral diseases such as refractory scleritis, scleral perforation and pathological myopia are considered incurable or difficult to cure. The aim of this study is to identify characteristics of the human sclera as one of the connective tissues derived from the neural crest and mesoderm. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have demonstrated microarray data of cultured human infant scleral cells. Hierarchical clustering was performed to group scleral cells and other mesenchymal cells into subcategories. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed similarity between scleral cells and auricular cartilage-derived cells. Cultured micromasses of scleral cells exposed to TGF-betas and BMP2 produced an abundant matrix. The expression of cartilage-associated genes, such as Indian hedge hog, type X collagen, and MMP13, was up-regulated within 3 weeks in vitro. These results suggest that human 'sclera'-derived cells can be considered chondrocytes when cultured ex vivo. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our present study shows a chondrogenic potential of human sclera. Interestingly, the sclera of certain vertebrates, such as birds and fish, is composed of hyaline cartilage. Although the human sclera is not a cartilaginous tissue, the human sclera maintains chondrogenic potential throughout evolution. In addition, our findings directly explain an enigma that the sclera and the joint cartilage are common targets of inflammatory cells in rheumatic arthritis. The present global gene expression database will contribute to the clarification of the pathogenesis of developmental diseases such as high myopia.

Ispitivanje pogodnosti za održavanje elektronskih uređaja / Demonstration and verification of the maintainability of electronic devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragan Ćosović

2003-11-01

Full Text Available Ispitivanje pogodnosti za održavanje, u toku razvoja uređaja, sastavni je deo Programa i plana pogodnosti za održavanje. U toku ispitivanja proveravaju se kvantitativni i kvalitativni parametri pogodnosti za održavanje. Ispitivanje kvantitativnih parametara vrši se primenom određenih statističkih metoda. U radu je dat primer primene statističkih metoda za ispitivanje pogodnosti za korektivno održavanje jednog elektronskog uređaja i analizirani su rezultati ispitivanja. / The demonstration and verification of maintainability during the development of a device is an integral part of the Maintainability Plan and Programme. During the demonstration and verification, the quantitative and qualitative parameters of maintainability are checked. The demonstration and verification of the maintainability parameters are done by applying certain statistical methods. An example of applying a statistical methods for testing the maintainability of corrective maintenance of radio is given in the work and the results of the demonstration and verification are analyzed.

An Approach for Maintaining Models of an E-Commerce Collaboration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodenstaff, L.; Wombacher, Andreas; Reichert, M.U.; Wieringa, Roelf J.

To keep an overview on complex E-Commerce collaborations several models are used to describe them. When models overlap in describing a collaboration, the overlapping information should not contradict. Models are of different nature and maintained by different people. Therefore, keeping model-overlap

Social Pharmacy Research in Copenhagen—Maintaining a Broad Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofia Kälvemark Sporrong

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Social Pharmacy (SP is a multidisciplinary field to promote the adequate use of medicine. The field of SP is increasingly important due to a numbers of new trends all posing challenges to society. The SP group at the University of Copenhagen has for several years used a broad approach to SP teaching and research, often illustrated by the four levels: individual, group, organizational, and societal. In this paper the relevance of maintaining a broad approach to SP research is argued for and examples of the importance of such type of research is presented.

14 CFR 119.47 - Maintaining a principal base of operations, main operations base, and main maintenance base...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maintaining a principal base of operations, main operations base, and main maintenance base; change of address. 119.47 Section 119.47 Aeronautics... Under Part 121 or Part 135 of This Chapter § 119.47 Maintaining a principal base of operations, main...

Attaining and Maintaining a Continuity of Knowledge to Draw Safeguards Conclusions with Confidence.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bean, Robert [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Blair, Dianna S. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Pickett, Chris [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2014-11-01

As the 21st century progresses, new nuclear facilities and the expansion of nuclear activities into new countries will require the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to place a higher reliance on attaining and maintaining a Continuity of Knowledge (CoK) of its safeguards information than is currently practiced. Additionally, a conceptual view of where and how CoK can be applied will need to evolve to support improved efficiency and efficacy of drawing a safeguards conclusion for each Member State. The ability to draw a safeguards conclusion for a Member State will be predicated on the confidence that CoK has been attained and subsequently maintained with respect to the data and information streams used by the IAEA. This confidence can be described as a function of factors such as elapsed time since the measurement, surveillance of attributes, authentication of information, historic knowledge of potential system failures, and the number and type of data collections. A set of general scenarios are further described for determining what is required to attain CoK and whether CoK has been maintained. A high-level analysis of example scenarios is presented to identify failures or gaps that could cause a loss of CoK. Potential areas for technological research and development are discussed for the next generation of CoK tools.

Coupled Proliferation and Apoptosis Maintain the Rapid Turnover of Microglia in the Adult Brain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharine Askew

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Summary: Microglia play key roles in brain development, homeostasis, and function, and it is widely assumed that the adult population is long lived and maintained by self-renewal. However, the precise temporal and spatial dynamics of the microglial population are unknown. We show in mice and humans that the turnover of microglia is remarkably fast, allowing the whole population to be renewed several times during a lifetime. The number of microglial cells remains steady from late postnatal stages until aging and is maintained by the spatial and temporal coupling of proliferation and apoptosis, as shown by pulse-chase studies, chronic in vivo imaging of microglia, and the use of mouse models of dysregulated apoptosis. Our results reveal that the microglial population is constantly and rapidly remodeled, expanding our understanding of its role in the maintenance of brain homeostasis. : The mechanism or mechanisms underlying microglial homeostasis are unknown. Askew et al. show that microglia self-renewal is maintained by coupled proliferation and apoptosis, resulting in a stable microglia number over a mouse or human lifetime. Keywords: self-renewal, BrdU, CSF1R, CX3CR1, Macgreen, Vav-Bcl2, RNA-seq

The Effects of Aging on the Costs of Operating and Maintaining Military Equipment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kiley, Gregory

2001-01-01

.... According to one interpretation, decisions in the 199Os to reduce purchases of new equipment left the military with aging fleets of ships, aircraft, and armored vehicles that are increasingly expensive to maintain...

The Politics of Maintaining Professional Values in the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

Charles, John M.

2016-01-01

Looking ahead, it seems clear that organizing together the values we espouse as a profession could help us to live and work in a global kinesiology community in the best possible way. It is politic, in that it seems sensible and judicious to act on this principle, to organize and maintain a coherent framework of professional values. In which case,…

Reliability and Maintainability Model (RAM): User and Maintenance Manual. Part 2; Improved Supportability Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ebeling, Charles E.

1996-01-01

This report documents the procedures for utilizing and maintaining the Reliability & Maintainability Model (RAM) developed by the University of Dayton for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC). The purpose of the grant is to provide support to NASA in establishing operational and support parameters and costs of proposed space systems. As part of this research objective, the model described here was developed. This Manual updates and supersedes the 1995 RAM User and Maintenance Manual. Changes and enhancements from the 1995 version of the model are primarily a result of the addition of more recent aircraft and shuttle R&M data.

Maintaining Pedagogical Integrity of a Computer Mediated Course Delivery in Social Foundations

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Shelley; Cobb-Roberts, Deirdre; Shircliffe, Barbara J.

2013-01-01

Transforming a face to face course to a computer mediated format in social foundations (interdisciplinary field in education), while maintaining pedagogical integrity, involves strategic collaboration between instructional technologists and content area experts. This type of planned partnership requires open dialogue and a mutual respect for prior…

Dental disorders in brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) maintained in captivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias Neto, Ramiro das Neves; Fecchio, Roberto Silva; Rahal, Sheila Canevese; Teixeira, Carlos Roberto; Gioso, Marco Antônio; Pereira, Camila Trevisan; Santos, Maria Augusta Adami Pereira Dos; Milanelo, Liliane

2016-04-01

The aim of this study was to investigate dental disorders of brown howler monkeys maintained in captivity. The hypothesis is that the identification and diagnosis of the lesions may contribute to control and prevention. Sixteen intact brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans), eight females and eight males, weighing from 3.9 to 6.8 kg, were studied. Under general anesthesia, the teeth were evaluated by visual inspection, probing, palpation, and intra-oral radiographic exam. The findings were registered on a dental chart specific for primates. Of the 16 monkeys evaluated in the present study, 94% (n = 15) had some type of dental disorder. The lesions observed were dental calculus (88%), dental wear (81%), missing teeth (38%), gingivitis (19%), gingival recession (6%), dental fracture (19%), pulp exposure (19%), and dental staining (25%). Alouatta guariba clamitans maintained in captivity have a high rate of dental problems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

REM sleep selectively prunes and maintains new synapses in development and learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Ma, Lei; Yang, Guang; Gan, Wen-Biao

2017-03-01

The functions and underlying mechanisms of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep remain unclear. Here we show that REM sleep prunes newly formed postsynaptic dendritic spines of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the mouse motor cortex during development and motor learning. This REM sleep-dependent elimination of new spines facilitates subsequent spine formation during development and when a new motor task is learned, indicating a role for REM sleep in pruning to balance the number of new spines formed over time. Moreover, REM sleep also strengthens and maintains newly formed spines, which are critical for neuronal circuit development and behavioral improvement after learning. We further show that dendritic calcium spikes arising during REM sleep are important for pruning and strengthening new spines. Together, these findings indicate that REM sleep has multifaceted functions in brain development, learning and memory consolidation by selectively eliminating and maintaining newly formed synapses via dendritic calcium spike-dependent mechanisms.

Factors of importance for maintaining work as perceived by men with arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Österholm, Johannes Hjalmarsson; Björk, Mathilda; Håkansson, Carita

2013-01-01

Employment rates are significantly lower among individuals with arthritis compared to a general population. There is, however, limited research about how men with arthritis perceive their ability to maintain working. The aim of this study was thus to explore their perception of this. Nine employed men with arthritis were purposively sampled. Interviews were performed and were informed by the central concepts of the Model of Human Occupation. The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method was modified and used to analyze and interpret collected data. The findings showed that men with arthritis perceived a desire to work, adjusted their activity pattern, were aware of their own capabilities, had good work conditions, had environmental support and used effective medication to maintain their ability to work. The findings suggest that health care professionals can help men with arthritis to find strategies and a balance between recreation and work. Ultimately, this knowledge could guide health care professionals to target men needing interventions to prevent sick leave.

Phosphorylation of CPAP by Aurora-A Maintains Spindle Pole Integrity during Mitosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

En-Ju Chou

2016-03-01

Full Text Available CPAP is required for centriole elongation during S/G2 phase, but the role of CPAP in mitosis is incompletely understood. Here, we show that CPAP maintains spindle pole integrity through its phosphorylation by Aurora-A during mitosis. Depletion of CPAP induced a prolonged delay in mitosis, pericentriolar material (PCM dispersion, and multiple mitotic abnormalities. Further studies demonstrated that CPAP directly interacts with and is phosphorylated by Aurora-A at serine 467 during mitosis. Interestingly, the dispersal of the PCM was effectively rescued by ectopic expression of wild-type CPAP or a phospho-mimic CPAP-S467D mutant, but not a non-phosphorylated CPAP-S467A mutant. Finally, we found that CPAP-S467D has a low affinity for microtubule binding but a high affinity for PCM proteins. Together, our results support a model wherein CPAP is required for proper mitotic progression, and phosphorylation of CPAP by Aurora-A is essential for maintaining spindle pole integrity.

Estimating the financial savings from maintaining the level of acute services with fewer hospital beds.

Science.gov (United States)

Beech, R; Larkinson, J

1990-01-01

All district health authorities are obliged to use resources most efficiently. One approach to increasing efficiency is to identify measures which allow service levels, in terms of patients treated and standards of care, to be maintained at a lower cost. This could be achieved by maintaining service levels with fewer hospital beds. Reducing lengths of stay by removing organizational delays and expansions of day-case care, are policies which can increase patient caseload per bed. This paper puts forward an approach for estimating the resources released by such policies and assesses the savings achieved by realizing efficiency gains identified in a previous study by Beech et al. (1987). That study identified significant potential for maintaining services with fewer beds, with the expansion of day-case care being a key mechanism. However this paper concludes that when services are maintained with fewer beds, the vast majority of hospital costs remain fixed. It also reaches the alarming conclusion that as a vehicle for reducing costs, day-case care is much less effective than previous studies have implied. However, increasing hospital throughput per bed does release capacity to treat more patients. The proposed reforms of the NHS (Secretaries of State, 1989) envisage an internal market for health care, allowing hospitals to enter into contracts with purchasers of health care. The approach to costing described in this paper is applicable to assessing the increased costs associated with such developments. These extra costs can then be compared with expected income.

Multiple Relationships : Maintaining Professional Identity in Rural Social Work Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith Brownlee

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Working in a rural community locates the professional in a wider social network as community members often expect more from their professionals; not only as service providers, but also as engaged members of the community. This can result in the rural social worker being highly visible both personally and professionally and it can also lead to overlapping relationships. These higher expectations can place stress on the worker in terms of maintaining accepted professional roles and a sense of professional identity. This qualitative study explores the first-hand experiences of a cross-section of service providers in more than a dozen communities within northwestern Ontario and northern Manitoba, Canada. The responses of the participants provide some insight into how rural practitioners maintain their professional identity when working within the unique demands of the rural and remote context. Recurring themes from the interviews suggest that these professionals craft their own informal decision-making processes to address intersecting roles, community gossip, and personal isolation, even while, in some cases, practicing in their home community. The findings provide greater understanding of the pressures and realities of working in small remote towns and the challenges of responding to the expectations and realities of relationships including the expectation of working with friends and family members of friends or colleagues: issues that have not been adequately studied in the literature to date.

Hamilton's inclusive fitness maintains heritable altruism polymorphism through rb = c.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Changcao; Lu, Xin

2018-02-20

How can altruism evolve or be maintained in a selfish world? Hamilton's rule shows that the former process will occur when rb > c -the benefits to the recipients of an altruistic act b , weighted by the relatedness between the social partners r , exceed the costs to the altruists c -drives altruistic genotypes spreading against nonaltruistic ones. From this rule, we infer that altruistic genotypes will persist in a population by forming a stable heritable polymorphism with nonaltruistic genotypes if rb = c makes inclusive fitness of the two morphs equal. We test this prediction using the data of 12 years of study on a cooperatively breeding bird, the Tibetan ground tit Pseudopodoces humilis , where helping is performed by males only and kin-directed. Individual variation in ever acting as a helper was heritable ( h 2 = 0.47), and the resultant altruism polymorphism remained stable as indicated by low-level annual fluctuation of the percentage of helpers among all adult males (24-28%). Helpers' indirect fitness gains from increased lifetime reproductive success of related breeders statistically fully compensated for their lifetime direct fitness losses, suggesting that rb = c holds. While our work provides a fundamental support for Hamilton's idea, it highlights the equivalent inclusive fitness returns to altruists and nonaltruists mediated by rb = c as a theoretically and realistically important mechanism to maintain social polymorphism.

Maintaining semen quality by improving cold chain equipment used in cattle artificial insemination.

Science.gov (United States)

Lieberman, Daniel; McClure, Elizabeth; Harston, Stephen; Madan, Damian

2016-06-17

Artificial insemination of dairy cattle is a common practice in the developing world that can improve farmer incomes and food security. Maintaining the fertilizing potential of frozen semen as it is manipulated, transported and stored is crucial to the success of this process. Here we describe simple technological improvements to protect semen from inadvertent thermal fluctuations that occur when users mishandle semen using standard equipment. We show that when frozen semen is mishandled, characteristics of semen biology associated with fertility are negatively affected. We describe several design modifications and results from thermal performance tests of several improved prototypes. Finally, we compare semen that has been mishandled in standard and improved equipment. The data suggest that our canister improvements can better maintain characteristics of semen biology that correlate with fertility when it is mishandled.

How individuals with dementia in nursing homes maintain their dignity through life storytelling - a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Heggestad, Anne Kari Tolo; Slettebø, Åshild

2015-08-01

The aim of this article was to present and discuss findings on what individuals with dementia do by themselves to maintain or promote their dignity of identity when they live in a nursing home. The majority of residents living in Norwegian nursing homes suffer from dementia. Individuals who suffer from dementia are particularly vulnerable, and their dignity of identity is at risk. It is therefore of great importance to explore how we can maintain their dignity of identity. The study builds on a phenomenological and hermeneutic design. The article reports three cases or life stories based on participant observation in two different nursing homes and interviews with five residents with dementia living in these nursing homes. Fifteen residents with dementia from these nursing home wards were included in the overall study. Individuals with dementia living in nursing homes may use life storytelling or narratives to manage chaos and to find safety in their lives. Storytelling is also used as a way to present and maintain identity. We can see this as a way of maintaining dignity of identity or social dignity. Life storytelling can be seen as an important way of preserving dignity for people with dementia. It is of great importance that health care professionals are open to and listen to the life stories people with dementia tell. As nurses we have an obligation to ensure that dignity is enhanced in care for people with dementia. Knowledge about how residents with dementia use life storytelling as a way to maintain dignity is therefore of great importance to health care workers in nursing homes. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Maintaining homeostasis by decision-making.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph W Korn

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Living organisms need to maintain energetic homeostasis. For many species, this implies taking actions with delayed consequences. For example, humans may have to decide between foraging for high-calorie but hard-to-get, and low-calorie but easy-to-get food, under threat of starvation. Homeostatic principles prescribe decisions that maximize the probability of sustaining appropriate energy levels across the entire foraging trajectory. Here, predictions from biological principles contrast with predictions from economic decision-making models based on maximizing the utility of the endpoint outcome of a choice. To empirically arbitrate between the predictions of biological and economic models for individual human decision-making, we devised a virtual foraging task in which players chose repeatedly between two foraging environments, lost energy by the passage of time, and gained energy probabilistically according to the statistics of the environment they chose. Reaching zero energy was framed as starvation. We used the mathematics of random walks to derive endpoint outcome distributions of the choices. This also furnished equivalent lotteries, presented in a purely economic, casino-like frame, in which starvation corresponded to winning nothing. Bayesian model comparison showed that--in both the foraging and the casino frames--participants' choices depended jointly on the probability of starvation and the expected endpoint value of the outcome, but could not be explained by economic models based on combinations of statistical moments or on rank-dependent utility. This implies that under precisely defined constraints biological principles are better suited to explain human decision-making than economic models based on endpoint utility maximization.

Maintaining a Distinction Between Possible and Impossible Topics of Conversation in the Outpatient Respiratory Medical Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Lone Birgitte Skov; Larsen, Kristian; Konradsen, Hanne

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to generate a grounded theory explaining patterns of behavior among health care professionals (HCPs) during interactions with patients in outpatient respiratory medical clinics. The findings suggest that the HCPs managed contradictory expectations to the interaction by maintaining a distinction between possible and impossible topics to counseling. Three subcategories explaining the effort that maintain the impossible and possible topics separated were identified: (a) an effort to maintain the diseased lungs as the main task in counseling, (b) navigating interactions to avoid strong emotions of suffering in patients to reveal, (c) avoiding the appearance of the non-alterable life circumstances of the patients. The HCPs' attitudes toward what patients could be offered generated a distance and a difficulty during counseling and created further suffering in the patients but likewise a discomfort and frustration among the HCPs.

Performance-based contracting for maintaining transportation assets with emphasis on bridges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alsharqawi Mohammed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With a large number of aging transportation infrastructure assets in North America and the growing problem of deterioration across the globe, managing these assets have been the subject of ongoing research. There is an overwhelming amount of maintenance and rehabilitation works to be done and selecting a suitable maintenance, repair or replacement (MRR strategy is one of the most challenging tasks for decision makers. Limited budget and resources are even making the decision making process more challenging. Maintaining infrastructure to the highest possible condition while investing the minimal amount of money has promoted innovative contracting approaches. Transportation agencies have increased private sector involvement through long term performance-based maintenance contracts or what is called Performance-Based Contracting. PBC is a type of contract that pays a contractor based on the results achieved, not on the methods for performing the maintenance work. By looking into the literature, it is observed that agencies are expanding the amount of contracting they do in order to maintain and achieve a better standard of infrastructure facilities. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to study and review performance-based contracting for transportation infrastructure with emphasis on bridge assets.

Ballast system for maintaining constant pressure in a glove box

Science.gov (United States)

Shlichta, Paul J.

1989-09-01

A ballast system is disclosed for a glove box including a fixed platform on which is mounted an inflatable bag on top of which resides a cover and a weight. The variable gas volume of the inflatable bag communicates with that of the glove box via a valved tube. The weight and the gas volume are selected to maintain a relatively constant pressure in the glove box despite variations in the glove box volume while avoiding the use of complicated valving apparatus.

37 CFR 10.22 - Maintaining integrity and competence of the legal profession.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maintaining integrity and competence of the legal profession. 10.22 Section 10.22 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights UNITED STATES... integrity and competence of the legal profession. (a) A practitioner is subject to discipline if the...

78 FR 7314 - Shared Responsibility Payment for Not Maintaining Minimum Essential Coverage

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-01

... employee welfare benefit plan (as defined in section 3(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of... defines employee welfare benefit plan as any plan, fund, or program established or maintained by an... and ERISA, group health plans and employee welfare benefit plans, respectively, include plans offered...

Effects of Signaled Positive Reinforcement on Problem Behavior Maintained by Negative Reinforcement

Science.gov (United States)

Schieltz, Kelly M.; Wacker, David P.; Romani, Patrick W.

2017-01-01

We evaluated the effects of providing positive reinforcement for task completion, signaled via the presence of a tangible item, on escape-maintained problem behavior displayed by three typically developing children during one-time 90-min outpatient evaluations. Brief functional analyses of problem behavior, conducted within a multielement design,…

41 CFR 102-75.275 - Who determines whether the proposed disposal would create or maintain a situation inconsistent...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... the proposed disposal would create or maintain a situation inconsistent with antitrust laws? 102-75... Real Property Disposal Applicability of Antitrust Laws § 102-75.275 Who determines whether the proposed disposal would create or maintain a situation inconsistent with antitrust laws? The Attorney General...

Sociable Robots Through Self-Maintained Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trung Dung Ngo

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Research of autonomous mobile robots has mostly emphasized interaction and coordination that are natually inspired from biological behavior of birds, insects, and fish: flocking, foraging, collecting, and sharing. However, most research has been only focused on autonomous behaviors in order to perform robots like animals, whereas it is lacked of determinant to those behaviours: energy. Approaching to clusted amimal and the higher, collective and sharing food among individuals are major activity to keep society being. This paper issues an approach to sociable robots using self-maintained energy in cooperative mobile robots, which is dominantly inspired from swarm behavior of collecting and sharing food of honey-bee and ant. Autonomous mobile robots are usually equipped with a finite energy, thus they can operate in a finite time. To overcome the finitude, we describe practical deployment of mobile robots that are capable of carrying and exchanging fuel to other robots. Mechanism implementation including modular hardware and control architecture to demonstrate the capabicities of the approach is presented. Subsequently, the battery exchange algorithm basically based on probabilistic modeling of total energy on each robot located in its local vicinity is described. The paper is concluded with challenging works of chain of mobile robots, rescue, repair, and relation of heterogeneous robots.

Sociable Robots through Self-maintained Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrik Schioler

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Research of autonomous mobile robots has mostly emphasized interaction and coordination that are natually inspired from biological behavior of birds, insects, and fish: flocking, foraging, collecting, and sharing. However, most research has been only focused on autonomous behaviors in order to perform robots like animals, whereas it is lacked of determinant to those behaviours: energy. Approaching to clusted amimal and the higher, collective and sharing food among individuals are major activity to keep society being. This paper issues an approach to sociable robots using self-maintained energy in cooperative mobile robots, which is dominantly inspired from swarm behavior of collecting and sharing food of honey-bee and ant. Autonomous mobile robots are usually equipped with a finite energy, thus they can operate in a finite time. To overcome the finitude, we describe practical deployment of mobile robots that are capable of carrying and exchanging fuel to other robots. Mechanism implementation including modular hardware and control architecture to demonstrate the capabicities of the approach is presented. Subsequently, the battery exchange algorithm basically based on probabilistic modeling of total energy on each robot located in its local vicinity is described. The paper is concluded with challenging works of chain of mobile robots, rescue, repair, and relation of heterogeneous robots.

Microbiota-stimulated immune mechanisms to maintain gut homeostasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Hachung; Kasper, Dennis Lee

2010-08-01

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest to identify microbial inhabitants of human and understand their beneficial role in health. In the gut, a symbiotic host-microbial interaction has coevolved as bacteria make essential contributions to human metabolism and bacteria in turn benefits from the nutrient-rich niche in the intestine. To maintain host-microbe coexistence, the host must protect itself against microbial invasion, injury, and overreactions to foreign food antigens, and gut microbes need protection against competing microbes and the host immune system. Perturbation of this homeostatic coexistence has been strongly associated with human disease. This review discusses how gut bacteria regulate host innate and adaptive immunity, with emphasis on how this regulation contributes to host-microbe homeostasis in the gut. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maintaining Arc Consistency in Non-Binary Dynamic CSPs using Simple Tabular Reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Queva, Matthieu Stéphane Benoit; Probst, Christian W.; Ricci, Laurent

2010-01-01

CSPs use filtering techniques such as arc consistency, which also have been adapted to handle DCSPs with binary constraints. However, there exists only one algorithm targeting non-binary DCSPs (DnGAC4). In this paper we present a new algorithm DnSTR for maintaining arc consistency in DCSPs with non-binary...

Maintaining a Culture of Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities in an Evolving Institution.

Science.gov (United States)

Cope, Glen Hahn; Leatherwood, Marya L.

2001-01-01

Discusses the challenges of maintaining a university culture that embraces engaged scholarship as readily as it does traditional research, using the example of the University of Illinois at Springfield. Explores the difficulties of, and opportunities for, fostering a scholarship of engagement within the context of changes brought on by the…

Assessing Bioenergy Harvest Risks: Geospatially Explicit Tools for Maintaining Soil Productivity in Western US Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah Page-Dumroese

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Biomass harvesting for energy production and forest health can impact the soil resource by altering inherent chemical, physical and biological properties. These impacts raise concern about damaging sensitive forest soils, even with the prospect of maintaining vigorous forest growth through biomass harvesting operations. Current forest biomass harvesting research concurs that harvest impacts to the soil resource are region- and site-specific, although generalized knowledge from decades of research can be incorporated into management activities. Based upon the most current forest harvesting research, we compiled information on harvest activities that decrease, maintain or increase soil-site productivity. We then developed a soil chemical and physical property risk assessment within a geographic information system for a timber producing region within the Northern Rocky Mountain ecoregion. Digital soil and geology databases were used to construct geospatially explicit best management practices to maintain or enhance soil-site productivity. The proposed risk assessments could aid in identifying resilient soils for forest land managers considering biomass operations, policy makers contemplating expansion of biomass harvesting and investors deliberating where to locate bioenergy conversion facilities.

Experience with managing, operating and maintaining gas turbine powerplants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wadman, B.

1994-01-01

Stewart ampersand Stevenson, a major supplier of gas turbine powered cogeneration systems to worldwide markets, established plant management, operations and maintenance capabilities in 1985 in order to provide complete service capability to the customer. As of the fall of 1993, twenty-two individual cogeneration facilities are now being operated and maintained by this company with a total capacity of 1100+ MW. More than 300 plant management and operating personnel are employed in this operation. To date, activities have been concentrated in North and South America. Negotiations are in process in a number of other areas including the Pacific Rim, China, and several Middle East countries. 7 figs

"Maintaining connections but wanting more": the continuity of familial relationships among assisted-living residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Tompkins, Catherine J; Ihara, Emily S; Cusick, Alison; Park, Nan Sook

2012-01-01

Social support is a key component of well-being for older adults, particularly for those who have moved from independent living to assisted living involving a transformation of roles, relationships, and responsibilities. Twenty-nine assisted-living facility residents were interviewed to understand the perceived continuity of relationships with family and friends. An inductive approach to thematic analysis revealed 1 main theme and 3 subthemes. The main theme that emerged was: maintaining connections but wanting more. Residents appreciated maintaining connections with family and friends, but often expressed feelings of discontentment with the continuity of former relationships. The subthemes included: appreciating family and friends, waiting for more, and losing control. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Analysis of Critical Factors and Difficulties in Maintaining Historical Building - A Current Implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baharuddin M.N.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Historic buildingis one of the highly valuable assets to the country especially in a way to shows its history for the next generation instead to make a profit through the excellent promotion in tourism purpose.The Malaysian Government has allocated a huge of financial support in order to conserve and preserve the historic building. However, the majority of the historic building is still in ‘poor’ condition without any improvement regarding to the pro-active approach.This paper presents part of this research which investigates the key components consists of issues and difficulties in term of critical factors. The findings reveal that there are several difficulties in maintaining a historic building. The identification of key components will facilitate the stakeholders to focus on the variable and resources to make the success in maintaining and managing the historic building.

Return to work helps maintain treatment gains in the rehabilitation of whiplash injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Michael; Adams, Heather; Thibault, Pascal; Moore, Emily; Carriere, Junie S; Larivière, Christian

2017-05-01

This study examined the relation between return to work and the maintenance of treatment gains made over the course of a rehabilitation intervention. The study sample consisted of 110 individuals who had sustained whiplash injuries in rear collision motor vehicle accidents and were work-disabled at the time of enrolment in the study. Participants completed pre- and post-treatment measures of pain severity, disability, cervical range of motion, depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and catastrophizing. Pain severity was assessed again at 1-year follow-up. At 1-year follow-up, 73 participants had returned to work and 37 remained work-disabled. Analyses revealed that participants who returned to work were more likely to maintain treatment gains (77.5%) than participants who remained work-disabled (48%), χ = 6.3, P whiplash injury are maintained. Clinical implications of the findings are also addressed.

29 CFR 2520.104-27 - Alternative method of compliance for certain unfunded dues financed pension plans maintained by...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... financed pension plans maintained by employee organizations. 2520.104-27 Section 2520.104-27 Labor... Alternative method of compliance for certain unfunded dues financed pension plans maintained by employee organizations. (a) Scope. Under the authority of section 110 of the Act, a pension benefit plan that meets the...

12 CFR 551.50 - What records must I maintain for securities transactions?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... ticket) of each order or any other instruction given or received for the purchase or sale of securities.... You must maintain an itemized daily record of each purchase and sale of securities in chronological... and amount of the securities; (3) The unit and aggregate purchase or sale price; (4) The trade date...

Discriminant analysis of maintaining a vertical position in the water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bratuša Zoran

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Water polo is the only sports game that takes place in the water. During the outplay, a vertical body position with the two basic mechanisms of the leg work - a breaststroke leg kick and an eggbeater leg kick, prevails. Starting from the significance of a vertical position during the game play, the methods of assessing physical preparedness of the athletes of all the categories also include the evaluation of maintaining a vertical position and consequently the load of the leg muscles. The measurements are performed during the maintenance of a vertical position (swimming in place through one of the specified mechanisms of leg work, i.e. a vertical position technique. The aim of this paper was to determine the application of different mechanisms of the leg kicks in maintaining a vertical position with young water polo players in relation to their position. The study included 29 selected junior water polo players (age_15.8 ± 0.8 years; BH_185.2 ± 5.3cm and BW_81.7 ± 7.7kg. The measurements were performed during the tests of swimming in place at the maximum intensity lasting 10 seconds, by the breaststroke and eggbeater leg kicks. The isometric tensiometry tests were used for the measurements. The results were analysed by the application of descriptive statistics, and the kinetic selection characteristic was defined by the application of discriminant analysis. Higher average values were achieved with the breaststroke leg kick technique Fmax, ImpF and RFD (avgFmaxLEGGBK =157.46±19.93N; avgImpF_LEGGBK =45.43±10.64Ns; avgRFD_LEGGBK=337.85±80.73N/s; avgFmaxLBKICK=227.18±49.17N; avgImpF_LBKICK=55.99±14.59Ns; avgRFD_LBKICK=545.47±159.15N/s. After discriminant analysis, the results have shown that the eggbeater leg kick is a selection technique, whereas the force - Fmax is a kinetic selection variable. Based on the obtained results and the analyses performed it may be concluded that a training factor dominant for maintaining a vertical position by

Maintaining Space Situational Awareness and Taking it to the Next Level

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-01

Power Journal | 52 Baird The Importance of Maintaining Space Situational Awareness and Taking It to the Next Level FeatureSpace Focus junction ...Communications (BMC3) infrastructure. We must build a new space superiority enterprise around SSA sensors that utilize com- mon data models to...vehicle, a modified version of China’s DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile, and launcher system en- gaged the satellite at a closing velocity of

Testosterone replacement maintains smooth muscle content in the corpus cavernosum of orchiectomized rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graziele Halmenschlager

2017-10-01

Conclusion: Normal testosterone levels maintain CC smooth muscle content and do not influence elastic fibers, collagen content and apoptotic index. Further studies should be performed in order to investigate the mechanisms by which androgen mediates its effects on CC structure.

Maintaining and restoring sustainable ecosystems in southern Nevada [Chapter 7] (Executive Summary)

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanne C. Chambers; Burton K. Pendleton; Donald W. Sada; Steven M. Ostoja; Matthew L.. Brooks

2013-01-01

Resource managers in southern Nevada are faced with the challenge of determining appropriate goals and objectives and developing viable approaches for maintaining and restoring sustainable ecosystems in the face of rapid socio-ecological and environmental change. Many of southern Nevada’s ecosystems are being subjected to anthropogenic stressors that span global,...

The Challenge of Maintaining a Healthy Microbiome during Long-Duration Space Missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voorhies, Alexander A.; Lorenzi, Hernan A.

2016-01-01

Astronauts will face a host of challenges on long-duration space missions like a human expedition to Mars, including the difficulty of maintaining a balanced and healthy microbiome. The human microbiome is the collection of all microorganisms residing in and on a human host, and it plays an essential role in keeping humans healthy. However, imbalances in the microbiome have also been linked to many human diseases. Space travel has been shown to alter the microbiome of astronauts in ways that are not yet completely understood. Here we review past and current microbiology and microbiome research with the aim of determining the extent of change to the human microbiome caused by space travel and implications for astronaut health. We also address several challenges that will need to be overcome in order to facilitate long-duration human exploration missions. These challenges include maintaining environmental conditions that favor healthy microbiomes, controlling the microbial organisms astronauts are exposed to, the impact of galactic cosmic radiation on the microbiome, and medical interventions that can potentially damage the microbiome.

Are Physical Activity and Benefits Maintained After Long-Term Telerehabilitation in COPD?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanne Hoaas

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigated whether physical activity levels and other outcomes were maintained at 1-year from completion of a 2-year telerehabilitation intervention in COPD. During the post-intervention year, nine patients with COPD (FEV1 % of pred. 42.4±19.8%; age 58.1±6 years were encouraged to exercise on a treadmill at home and monitor daily symptoms and training sessions on a webpage as during the intervention. Participants were not provided supervision or motivational support. Physical activity levels decreased from 3,806 steps/day to 2,817 steps/day (p= 0.039. There was a decline in time spent on light physical activity (p=0.009, but not on moderate-to-vigorous activity (p=0.053. Adherence to registration of symptoms and training sessions decreased significantly. Other outcomes including health status, quality of life, anxiety and depression, self-efficacy, and healthcare utilization did not change significantly. In conclusion, provision of equipment for self-management and unsupervised home exercise might not be enough to maintain physical activity levels.

Phosphorylation of CPAP by Aurora-A Maintains Spindle Pole Integrity during Mitosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, En-Ju; Hung, Liang-Yi; Tang, Chieh-Ju C; Hsu, Wen-Bin; Wu, Hsin-Yi; Liao, Pao-Chi; Tang, Tang K

2016-03-29

CPAP is required for centriole elongation during S/G2 phase, but the role of CPAP in mitosis is incompletely understood. Here, we show that CPAP maintains spindle pole integrity through its phosphorylation by Aurora-A during mitosis. Depletion of CPAP induced a prolonged delay in mitosis, pericentriolar material (PCM) dispersion, and multiple mitotic abnormalities. Further studies demonstrated that CPAP directly interacts with and is phosphorylated by Aurora-A at serine 467 during mitosis. Interestingly, the dispersal of the PCM was effectively rescued by ectopic expression of wild-type CPAP or a phospho-mimic CPAP-S467D mutant, but not a non-phosphorylated CPAP-S467A mutant. Finally, we found that CPAP-S467D has a low affinity for microtubule binding but a high affinity for PCM proteins. Together, our results support a model wherein CPAP is required for proper mitotic progression, and phosphorylation of CPAP by Aurora-A is essential for maintaining spindle pole integrity. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Challenge of Maintaining a Healthy Microbiome during Long-Duration Space Missions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Voorhies, Alexander A.; Lorenzi, Hernan A., E-mail: hlorenzi@jcvi.org [Department of Infectious Disease, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD (United States)

2016-07-22

Astronauts will face a host of challenges on long-duration space missions like a human expedition to Mars, including the difficulty of maintaining a balanced and healthy microbiome. The human microbiome is the collection of all microorganisms residing in and on a human host, and it plays an essential role in keeping humans healthy. However, imbalances in the microbiome have also been linked to many human diseases. Space travel has been shown to alter the microbiome of astronauts in ways that are not yet completely understood. Here we review past and current microbiology and microbiome research with the aim of determining the extent of change to the human microbiome caused by space travel and implications for astronaut health. We also address several challenges that will need to be overcome in order to facilitate long-duration human exploration missions. These challenges include maintaining environmental conditions that favor healthy microbiomes, controlling the microbial organisms astronauts are exposed to, the impact of galactic cosmic radiation on the microbiome, and medical interventions that can potentially damage the microbiome.

Activation of Basal Gluconeogenesis by Coactivator p300 Maintains Hepatic Glycogen Storage

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Jia; Meng, Shumei; Ma, Anlin; Radovick, Sally; Wondisford, Fredric E.

2013-01-01

Because hepatic glycogenolysis maintains euglycemia during early fasting, proper hepatic glycogen synthesis in the fed/postprandial states is critical. It has been known for decades that gluconeogenesis is essential for hepatic glycogen synthesis; however, the molecular mechanism remains unknown. In this report, we show that depletion of hepatic p300 reduces glycogen synthesis, decreases hepatic glycogen storage, and leads to relative hypoglycemia. We previously reported that insulin suppressed gluconeogenesis by phosphorylating cAMP response element binding protein-binding protein (CBP) at S436 and disassembling the cAMP response element-binding protein-CBP complex. However, p300, which is closely related to CBP, lacks the corresponding S436 phosphorylation site found on CBP. In a phosphorylation-competent p300G422S knock-in mouse model, we found that mutant mice exhibited reduced hepatic glycogen content and produced significantly less glycogen in a tracer incorporation assay in the postprandial state. Our study demonstrates the important and unique role of p300 in glycogen synthesis through maintaining basal gluconeogenesis. PMID:23770612

The Challenge of Maintaining a Healthy Microbiome During Long-Duration Space Missions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Arnot Voorhies

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Astronauts will face a host of challenges on long-duration space missions like a human expedition to Mars, including the difficulty of maintaining a balanced and healthy microbiome. The human microbiome is the collection of all microorganisms residing in and on a human host, and it plays an essential role in keeping humans healthy. However, imbalances in the microbiome have also been linked to many human diseases. Space travel has been shown to alter the microbiome of astronauts in ways that are not yet completely understood. Here we review past and current microbiology and microbiome research with the aim of determining the extent of change to the human microbiome caused by space travel and implications for astronaut health. We also address several challenges that will need to be overcome in order to facilitate long-duration human exploration missions. These challenges include maintaining environmental conditions that favor healthy microbiomes, controlling the microbial organisms astronauts are exposed to, the impact of galactic cosmic radiation on the microbiome, and medical interventions that can potentially damage the microbiome.

Physical mechanism for biopolymers to aggregate and maintain in non-equilibrium states.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Wen-Jong; Hu, Chin-Kun

2017-06-08

Many human or animal diseases are related to aggregation of proteins. A viable biological organism should maintain in non-equilibrium states. How protein aggregate and why biological organisms can maintain in non-equilibrium states are not well understood. As a first step to understand such complex systems problems, we consider simple model systems containing polymer chains and solvent particles. The strength of the spring to connect two neighboring monomers in a polymer chain is controlled by a parameter s with s → ∞ for rigid-bond. The strengths of bending and torsion angle dependent interactions are controlled by a parameter s A with s A  → -∞ corresponding to no bending and torsion angle dependent interactions. We find that for very small s A , polymer chains tend to aggregate spontaneously and the trend is independent of the strength of spring. For strong springs, the speed distribution of monomers in the parallel (along the direction of the spring to connect two neighboring monomers) and perpendicular directions have different effective temperatures and such systems are in non-equilibrium states.

Cellular degradation activity is maintained during aging in long-living queen bees.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Chin-Yuan; Qiu, Jiantai Timothy; Chan, Yu-Pei

2016-11-01

Queen honeybees (Apis mellifera) have a much longer lifespan than worker bees. Whether cellular degradation activity is involved in the longevity of queen bees is unknown. In the present study, cellular degradation activity was evaluated in the trophocytes and oenocytes of young and old queen bees. The results indicated that (i) 20S proteasome activity and the size of autophagic vacuoles decreased with aging, and (ii) there were no significant differences between young and old queen bees with regard to 20S proteasome expression or efficiency, polyubiquitin aggregate expression, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II) expression, 70 kDa heat shock cognate protein (Hsc70) expression, the density of autophagic vacuoles, p62/SQSTM1 expression, the activity or density of lysosomes, or molecular target of rapamycin expression. These results indicate that cellular degradation activity maintains a youthful status in the trophocytes and oenocytes of queen bees during aging and that cellular degradation activity is involved in maintaining the longevity of queen bees.

Predicting Cost/Reliability/Maintainability of Advanced General Aviation Avionics Equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, M. R.; Kamins, M.; Mooz, W. E.

1978-01-01

A methodology is provided for assisting NASA in estimating the cost, reliability, and maintenance (CRM) requirements for general avionics equipment operating in the 1980's. Practical problems of predicting these factors are examined. The usefulness and short comings of different approaches for modeling coast and reliability estimates are discussed together with special problems caused by the lack of historical data on the cost of maintaining general aviation avionics. Suggestions are offered on how NASA might proceed in assessing cost reliability CRM implications in the absence of reliable generalized predictive models.

AMP-18 Targets p21 to Maintain Epithelial Homeostasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Peili; Li, Yan Chun; Toback, F Gary

2015-01-01

Dysregulated homeostasis of epithelial cells resulting in disruption of mucosal barrier function is an important pathogenic mechanism in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). We have characterized a novel gastric protein, Antrum Mucosal Protein (AMP)-18, that has pleiotropic properties; it is mitogenic, anti-apoptotic and can stimulate formation of tight junctions. A 21-mer synthetic peptide derived from AMP-18 exhibits the same biological functions as the full-length protein and is an effective therapeutic agent in mouse models of IBD. In this study we set out to characterize therapeutic mechanisms and identify molecular targets by which AMP-18 maintains and restores disrupted epithelial homeostasis in cultured intestinal epithelial cells and a mouse model of IBD. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine known to mediate gastrointestinal (GI) mucosal injury in IBD, was used to induce intestinal epithelial cell injury, and study the effects of AMP-18 on apoptosis and the cell cycle. An apoptosis array used to search for targets of AMP-18 in cells exposed to TNF-α identified the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 WAF1/CIP1. Treatment with AMP-18 blunted increases in p21 expression and apoptosis, while reversing disturbed cell cycle kinetics induced by TNF-α. AMP-18 appears to act through PI3K/AKT pathways to increase p21 phosphorylation, thereby reducing its nuclear accumulation to overcome the antiproliferative effects of TNF-α. In vitamin D receptor-deficient mice with TNBS-induced IBD, the observed increase in p21 expression in colonic epithelial cells was suppressed by treatment with AMP peptide. The results indicate that AMP-18 can maintain and/or restore the homeostatic balance between proliferation and apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells to protect and repair mucosal barrier homeostasis and function, suggesting a therapeutic role in IBD.

AMP-18 Targets p21 to Maintain Epithelial Homeostasis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peili Chen

Full Text Available Dysregulated homeostasis of epithelial cells resulting in disruption of mucosal barrier function is an important pathogenic mechanism in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD. We have characterized a novel gastric protein, Antrum Mucosal Protein (AMP-18, that has pleiotropic properties; it is mitogenic, anti-apoptotic and can stimulate formation of tight junctions. A 21-mer synthetic peptide derived from AMP-18 exhibits the same biological functions as the full-length protein and is an effective therapeutic agent in mouse models of IBD. In this study we set out to characterize therapeutic mechanisms and identify molecular targets by which AMP-18 maintains and restores disrupted epithelial homeostasis in cultured intestinal epithelial cells and a mouse model of IBD. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine known to mediate gastrointestinal (GI mucosal injury in IBD, was used to induce intestinal epithelial cell injury, and study the effects of AMP-18 on apoptosis and the cell cycle. An apoptosis array used to search for targets of AMP-18 in cells exposed to TNF-α identified the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 WAF1/CIP1. Treatment with AMP-18 blunted increases in p21 expression and apoptosis, while reversing disturbed cell cycle kinetics induced by TNF-α. AMP-18 appears to act through PI3K/AKT pathways to increase p21 phosphorylation, thereby reducing its nuclear accumulation to overcome the antiproliferative effects of TNF-α. In vitamin D receptor-deficient mice with TNBS-induced IBD, the observed increase in p21 expression in colonic epithelial cells was suppressed by treatment with AMP peptide. The results indicate that AMP-18 can maintain and/or restore the homeostatic balance between proliferation and apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells to protect and repair mucosal barrier homeostasis and function, suggesting a therapeutic role in IBD.

Glycerin levels while maintaining the electrolyte balance in finishing pig diets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafaeli Gonçalves Leite

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate performance and carcass and meat characteristics of finishing pigs fed diets with different levels of glycerin, while maintaining the electrolyte balance. Forty barrows with an initial weight of 97.76±13.44 kg were distributed, in a randomized block design, into four treatments with five replicates. Treatments consisted of diets containing 0, 5, 10, and 15% glycerin. Inclusions of salt and sodium bicarbonate were adjusted to balance the sodium content and maintain the same electrolyte balance of the diets as a function of glycerin inclusions. In vivo backfat thickness, daily feed intake, daily weight gain, and feed conversion were measured. After the animals were slaughtered, pH and temperature were measured 45 min and 24 h postmortem, and backfat thickness, loin-eye area, drip loss, and colorimetry were determined. Glycerin inclusion levels did not influence the performance of barrows. Hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, and lightness had higher values when pigs were fed diets containing 2.32, 2.43, and 2.61% glycerin, respectively. The other carcass and meat characteristics were not influenced. Glycerin can be used in finishing pig diets without compromising results of performance or carcass and meat characteristics up to the inclusion level of 15%.

CREBH Maintains Circadian Glucose Homeostasis by Regulating Hepatic Glycogenolysis and Gluconeogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyunbae; Zheng, Ze; Walker, Paul D; Kapatos, Gregory; Zhang, Kezhong

2017-07-15

Cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein, hepatocyte specific (CREBH), is a liver-enriched, endoplasmic reticulum-tethered transcription factor known to regulate the hepatic acute-phase response and lipid homeostasis. In this study, we demonstrate that CREBH functions as a circadian transcriptional regulator that plays major roles in maintaining glucose homeostasis. The proteolytic cleavage and posttranslational acetylation modification of CREBH are regulated by the circadian clock. Functionally, CREBH is required in order to maintain circadian homeostasis of hepatic glycogen storage and blood glucose levels. CREBH regulates the rhythmic expression of the genes encoding the rate-limiting enzymes for glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, including liver glycogen phosphorylase (PYGL), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1), and the glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit (G6PC). CREBH interacts with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) to synergize its transcriptional activities in hepatic gluconeogenesis. The acetylation of CREBH at lysine residue 294 controls CREBH-PPARα interaction and synergy in regulating hepatic glucose metabolism in mice. CREBH deficiency leads to reduced blood glucose levels but increases hepatic glycogen levels during the daytime or upon fasting. In summary, our studies revealed that CREBH functions as a key metabolic regulator that controls glucose homeostasis across the circadian cycle or under metabolic stress. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Maintaining knowledge, training and infrastructure for research and development in nuclear safety. A note by the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group

2001-01-01

The purpose of this INSAG Note is to emphasize the importance of maintaining capabilities for nuclear research and education, especially with regard to safety aspects, so that nuclear safety may be maintained in IAEA Member States, and to alert Member States to the potential for significant harm if the infrastructure for research, development and education is not maintained

Mesenchymal stem cells maintain TGF-beta-mediated chondrogenic phenotype in alginate bead culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mehlhorn, A T; Schmal, H; Kaiser, S

2006-01-01

cultured in osteogenic medium after TGF-beta-mediated chondroinduction. Gene expression of col2a1, aggrecan, COMP, alkaline phosphatase (AP), and correlating protein synthesis was analyzed. After short-term stimulation with TGF-beta, MSCs maintained a chondrogenic phenotype. Chondrogenic gene expression...

Building and maintaining media relations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oesterberg, Anders

2000-01-01

Full text: In my opinion good media relations are among the most valuable investments regarding the communications and Public Relations operations within an Organisation. This means, that all the work you put up in building and maintaining media relations, is worth all the efforts. It can mean the difference between success or failure. Although a reporter never would admit that he or she is easily influenced, the fact is that you would get better press in an emergency case if you have a positive personal relation to the reporter. So, in my opinion there is nothing more important, in building and maintaining media relations, than the face-to-face-contact. My experience of good personal relations to reporters is also that you're not only getting better press in emergency cases. You are more successful in getting published when you have something positive to say, too. Honesty and openness are two key-words in this context. I have never tried to manipulate and delude a reporter, since that definitely would ruin the relationship. I always try to be as straight forward as possible and underline what I can say and what I can't. That instead of presenting some forced lies. For me, it is also very important to create some kind of mid-field ground, where the reporter and I can meet unprejudiced. Sense of humour and distance, both to yourself and your organisation, are two main characteristics that are invaluable in order to create a good personal relationship with a reporter. But, I'm very accurate in emphasizing when I enter my role as a company representative. All in order to be regarded as correct, yet obliging. To be quick when it comes to returning calls is another vital component that gives the reporter a feeling that he or she is important enough to be contacted as soon as possible. This service-minded attitude is of course good for the relationship. Besides the more personal relation it's important to have a business-like relation, where you show a great deal of

Hepatobiliary scanning in cardiac transplant patients maintained on cyclosporine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dhekne, R.D.; Long, S.E.; Moore, W.H.; Frazier, O.H.

1987-01-01

Many patients receiving cyclosporine (CSA) develop hepatic dysfunction or pancreatitis. The authors reviewed 106 records of cardiac transplant patients maintained on CSA. Eleven patients underwent 16 hepatobiliary scans (HBSs) for abdominal pain and/or abnormal liver function. Of 16 HBSs, ten demonstrated normal gallbladder visualization. Follow-up in all cases confirmed scan findings. Five patients had no gallbladder visualization; confirmation of acute cholecystitis was obtained by surgery in two and by autopsy in three. One patient had previous cholecystectomy. The authors found HPS useful for evaluating acute cholecystitis in patients receiving CSA with or without associated drug-related pancreatitis and hepatic insufficiency and suggest that HBS can assist in the selection of patients for CSA dose adjustment

Study on eliminating fire dampers to maintain process confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walling, R.C.; Patel, J.B.; Strunk, A.J.

1991-01-01

The DOE General Design Criteria for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Westinghouse Savannah River Site (WSRS) requires the NFPA National Fire Codes to be incorporated into the design and simultaneously maintain process confinement integrity to prevent the release of radioactivity. Although the NFPA Standard for the Installation of Air Conditioning and Ventilation Systems, NFPA 90, requires fire dampers (FD) in HVAC duct penetrations of two hour rated fire barriers, closure of fire dampers at DWPF may compromise the integrity of the process confinement system. This leads to the need for an overall risk assessment to determine the value of 39 fire dampers that are identified later in the study as capable of a confinement system upset

[Cytogenetical comparison of restorers TP-4 and D minghui63 and maintainer D46B of autotetraploid rice].

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Wen-Bo; Luan, Li; Wang, Xing; Liu, Yu-Hua; Tu, Sheng-Bin; Kong, Fan-Lun; He, Tao

2007-04-01

Cytogenetical comparison was made between high seed set restorers TP-4 and D minghui63 and eminent maintainer line D46B of autotetraploid rice. The meiosis observation demonstrated the genomes of our autotetraploid materials were all 2n = 48, the same as those in mitosis observation. Low percentages of univalent and trivalent in metaphase I (MI) of restorers TP-4 and D minghui63 and in metaphase I (MI) of maintainer line D46B of autotetraploid rice were observed. And the percentages of chromosome pairing were all over 99%, showing eminent cytological character. The frequency of TP-4 and D minghui63 in metaphase I (MI) was 2.00/PMC and 2.26/PMC, respectively. However the frequency of D46B was 6.00/PMC, significantly higher than those of TP-4 and D minghui63. It indicated that the maintainer D46B has better chromosome pairing capability in metaphase I (MI). While, the frequency of lagging chromosomes of the maintainer D46B in anaphase I (AI) was 10.62%, significantly lower than that of TP-4 (19.44%) or D minghui63 (23.14%), and it was close to the level of diploid control (7.30%). In telophase I (TI), maintainer D46B exhibited a lower frequency of microkernel, and in telophase II (TII) the frequency of normal quartered microspore of maintainer D46B was not only higher than that of TP-4 or D minghui63 but also than that of diploid control. The percentage of the cell observed chromosome lagging in A1 and the percentage of abnormal cell in TI showed a greatly significant positive correlation. That may demonstrate chromo some separation in anaphase I (AI) and microkernel formation in telophase I (TI) are controlled by the same dominant single gene or the major gene of QTL.

Nrf2 is required to maintain the self-renewal of glioma stem cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Jianhong; Wang, Handong; Sun, Qing; Ji, Xiangjun; Zhu, Lin; Cong, Zixiang; Zhou, Yuan; Liu, Huandong; Zhou, Mengliang

2013-01-01

Glioblastomas are deadly cancers that display a functional cellular hierarchy maintained by self-renewing glioma stem cells (GSCs). Self-renewal is a complex biological process necessary for maintaining the glioma stem cells. Nuclear factor rythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2) plays a significant role in protecting cells from endogenous and exogenous stresses. Nrf2 is a key nuclear transcription factor that regulates antioxidant response element (ARE)-containing genes. Previous studies have demonstrated the significant role of Nrf2 in the proliferation of glioblastoma, and in their resistance to radioactive therapies. We examined the effect of knocking down Nrf2 in GSCs. Nrf2 expression was down-regulated by shRNA transinfected with lentivirus. Expression levels of Nestin, Nrf2, BMI-1, Sox2 and Cyclin E were assessed by western blotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry analysis. The capacity for self-renewal in vitro was assessed by genesis of colonies. The capacity for self-renewal in vivo was analyzed by tumor genesis of xenografts in nude mice. Knockdown of Nrf2 inhibited the proliferation of GSCs, and significantly reduced the expression of BMI-1, Sox2 and CyclinE. Knocking down of Nrf2 changed the cell cycle distribution of GSCs by causing an uncharacteristic increase in the proportion of cells in the G2 phase and a decrease in the proportion of cells in the S phase of the cell cycle. Nrf2 is required to maintain the self-renewal of GSCs, and its down-regulation can attenuate the self-renewal of GSCs significantly

Maintaining nuclear competence and expertise in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Y.

2004-01-01

The fundamental law of atomic energy, which strictly restricts the application of atomic energy to the peaceful use, was established in 1955 in Japan. Since then, during the past five decades, great efforts were made to develop atomic energy. So far 52 units of light water reactors, 29 BWRs and 23 PWRs, have been built and in operation, 5 units are under construction and 6 units are planed to be built. Total capacity of presently operated NPPs amounts to 45.7 Gwe and the nuclear energy shares 30 % of the total electricity generation in Japan. During the past 10 years, several accidents occur in the nuclear facilities of electric power companies, and JNC ( previously PNC ). In spite of these accidents, including the accident of Kansai Electric Power Co. this year, the important role of nuclear energy to sustain the lives of people in Japan is intact. In the nuclear energy projection, the construction of NPPs continues till 2010. Thereafter reconstructions of NPPs are foreseen in the decade 2030's for the replacement of present NPPs in operation after 60 years services. Attention has been directed to the technology preservation: how competence and expertise of nuclear engineering can be maintained till the next period of replacement construction, in particular, the period between years 2010 and 2030. The present paper reviews the status of nuclear engineering programs in universities in Japan. The nuclear education programs started in graduate schools in 1957 and expanded to undergraduate schools of major national universities. Presently nine universities are providing systematic nuclear education programs in their graduate schools, although the corresponding department have been changed their names from 'nuclear' to more broaden terms of 'quantum', 'energy' and 'system' in several universities. Under the conditions of shrinking nuclear industries, how to maintain the present education system is seriously concerned matter in the universities. The present paper

Maintaining Curriculum Consistency of Technical and Vocational Educational Programs through Teacher Design Teams

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albashiry, Nabeel; Voogt, Joke; Pieters, Julius Marie

2016-01-01

Maintaining the quality and relevance of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curricula is a great challenge for TVET institutions in developing countries. One major challenge lies in the lack of curriculum design expertise of TVET academics. The purpose of this multiplecase study is

Factors Associated with Young Children's Opportunities for Maintaining Family Relationships during Maternal Incarceration

Science.gov (United States)

Poehlmann, Julie; Shlafer, Rebecca J.; Maes, Elizabeth; Hanneman, Ashley

2008-01-01

Children affected by maternal incarceration experience challenges maintaining continuous family relationships because of changes in caregivers, separation from siblings, and limited contact with mothers. In this mixed-method study, we investigated maternal and contextual factors associated with continuity in family relationships of children living…

Na(+) /H(+) exchanger 1 (NHE1) function is necessary for maintaining mammary tissue architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Edmund C; Debnath, Shawon; Varriano, Sophia; Gundry, Stephen; Fata, Jimmie E

2014-02-01

The mammary gland is an ideal model to study the link between form and function in normal tissue. Perhaps as interesting as the cues necessary to generate this structure are the signals required to maintain its branched architecture over the lifetime of the organism, since likely these pathways are de-regulated in malignancies. Previously, we have shown that the Na(+) /H(+) exchanger 1 (NHE1), a critical regulator of intracellular pH, was necessary for mammary branching morphogenesis. Here we provide strong evidence that NHE1 function is also necessary for maintaining mammary branched architecture. Inhibition of NHE1 with 5-N-Methy-N-isobutyl amiloride (MIA) on branched structures resulted in a rapid (within 24 hr) and reversible loss of branched architecture that was not accompanied by any overt changes in cell proliferation or cell death. NHE1 inhibition led to a significant acidification of intracellular pH in the branched end buds that preceded a number of events, including altered tissue polarity of myoepithelial cells, loss of NHE1 basal polarity, F-actin rearrangements, and decreased E-cadherin expression. Our results implicate NHE1 function and intracellular pH homeostasis as key factors that maintain mammary tissue architecture, thus, indirectly allowing for mammary function as a milk-providing (form) and -producing (function) gland. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Professionals with hearing loss: maintaining that competitive edge.

Science.gov (United States)

Tye-Murray, Nancy; Spry, Jacqueline L; Mauzé, Elizabeth

2009-08-01

The goals of this investigation were to gauge how hearing loss affects the self-perceived job performance and psycho-emotional status of professionals in the workforce and to develop a profile of their aural rehabilitation needs. Forty-eight participants who had at least a high school education and who hold salaried positions participated in one of seven focus groups. Participants first answered questions about a hypothetical executive who had hearing loss and considered how she might react to various communication issues. They then addressed questions about their own work-related predicaments. The sessions were audiovideo recorded and later transcribed for analysis. Unlike workers who have occupational hearing loss, the professionals in this investigation seem not to experience an inordinate degree of stigmatization in their workplaces, although most believe that hearing loss has negatively affected their job performance. Some of the participants believe that they have lost their "competitive edge," and some believe that they have been denied promotions because of hearing loss. However, most report that they have overcome their hearing-related difficulties by various means, and many have developed a determination and stamina to remain active in the workforce. The majority of the participants seemed to be unfamiliar with the Americans with Disability Act, Public Law 101-336. The overriding theme to emerge is that professionals desire to maintain their competency to perform their jobs and will do what they have to do to "get the job done." The situations of professionals who have hearing loss can be modeled, with a central theme of maintaining job competency or a competitive edge. It is hypothesized that five factors affect professionals' abilities to continue their optimal work performance in the face of hearing loss: (a) self-concept and sense of internal locus of control, (b) use of hearing assistive technology, (c) supervisor's and co-workers' perceptions and

Optimal design of a maintainable cold-standby system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu Haiyang [Universite de technologie de Troyes, ISTIT, Rue Marie Curie, BP 2060, 10010 TROYES (France)]. E-mail: Haiyang.YU@utt.fr; Yalaoui, Farouk [Universite de technologie de Troyes, ISTIT, Rue Marie Curie, BP 2060, 10010 TROYES (France); Chatelet, Eric [Universite de technologie de Troyes, ISTIT, Rue Marie Curie, BP 2060, 10010 TROYES (France); Chu Chengbin [Universite de technologie de Troyes, ISTIT, Rue Marie Curie, BP 2060, 10010 TROYES (France); Management School, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei (China)

2007-01-15

This paper considers a framework to optimally design a maintainable cold-standby system. Not only the maintenance policy is to be determined, but also the reliability character of the components will be taken into account. Hence, the mean time to failure of the components and the policy time of good-as-new maintenances are proposed as decision variables. Following probability analyses, the system cost rate and the system availability are formulated as the optimization object and the constraint, respectively. Then, this optimization problem is directly resolved by recognizing its underlying properties. Moreover, the resolving procedure is found to be independent of the failure distributions of the components and the forms of the system cost, which is illustrated through a numerical example. As a conclusion, an exact method is successfully established to minimize the cost rate of a cold-standby system with the given maintenance facility.

Optimal design of a maintainable cold-standby system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Haiyang; Yalaoui, Farouk; Chatelet, Eric; Chu Chengbin

2007-01-01

This paper considers a framework to optimally design a maintainable cold-standby system. Not only the maintenance policy is to be determined, but also the reliability character of the components will be taken into account. Hence, the mean time to failure of the components and the policy time of good-as-new maintenances are proposed as decision variables. Following probability analyses, the system cost rate and the system availability are formulated as the optimization object and the constraint, respectively. Then, this optimization problem is directly resolved by recognizing its underlying properties. Moreover, the resolving procedure is found to be independent of the failure distributions of the components and the forms of the system cost, which is illustrated through a numerical example. As a conclusion, an exact method is successfully established to minimize the cost rate of a cold-standby system with the given maintenance facility

Evaluation of a web-based lifestyle coach designed to maintain a healthy bodyweight

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kelders, Saskia Marion; van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E.W.C.; Werkman, Andrea; Seydel, E.R.

2010-01-01

We evaluated a web-based intervention, the Healthy Weight Assistant (HWA), which was designed to help people with a healthy bodyweight, or those who are slightly overweight, to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Four evaluation methods were used: (1) pre- and post-test questionnaires; (2) real

The human brain maintains contradictory and redundant auditory sensory predictions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marika Pieszek

Full Text Available Computational and experimental research has revealed that auditory sensory predictions are derived from regularities of the current environment by using internal generative models. However, so far, what has not been addressed is how the auditory system handles situations giving rise to redundant or even contradictory predictions derived from different sources of information. To this end, we measured error signals in the event-related brain potentials (ERPs in response to violations of auditory predictions. Sounds could be predicted on the basis of overall probability, i.e., one sound was presented frequently and another sound rarely. Furthermore, each sound was predicted by an informative visual cue. Participants' task was to use the cue and to discriminate the two sounds as fast as possible. Violations of the probability based prediction (i.e., a rare sound as well as violations of the visual-auditory prediction (i.e., an incongruent sound elicited error signals in the ERPs (Mismatch Negativity [MMN] and Incongruency Response [IR]. Particular error signals were observed even in case the overall probability and the visual symbol predicted different sounds. That is, the auditory system concurrently maintains and tests contradictory predictions. Moreover, if the same sound was predicted, we observed an additive error signal (scalp potential and primary current density equaling the sum of the specific error signals. Thus, the auditory system maintains and tolerates functionally independently represented redundant and contradictory predictions. We argue that the auditory system exploits all currently active regularities in order to optimally prepare for future events.

Neural stem cells achieve and maintain pluripotency without feeder cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyun Woo Choi

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Differentiated cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotency by transduction of four defined transcription factors. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells are expected to be useful for regenerative medicine as well as basic research. Recently, the report showed that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF cells are not essential for reprogramming. However, in using fibroblasts as donor cells for reprogramming, individual fibroblasts that had failed to reprogram could function as feeder cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: Here, we show that adult mouse neural stem cells (NSCs, which are not functional feeder cells, can be reprogrammed into iPS cells using defined four factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc under feeder-free conditions. The iPS cells, generated from NSCs expressing the Oct4-GFP reporter gene, could proliferate for more than two months (passage 20. Generated and maintained without feeder cells, these iPS cells expressed pluripotency markers (Oct4 and Nanog, the promoter regions of Oct4 and Nanog were hypomethylated, could differentiated into to all three germ layers in vitro, and formed a germline chimera. These data indicate that NSCs can achieve and maintain pluripotency under feeder-free conditions. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study suggested that factors secreted by feeder cells are not essential in the initial/early stages of reprogramming and for pluripotency maintenance. This technology might be useful for a human system, as a feeder-free reprogramming system may help generate iPS cells of a clinical grade for tissue or organ regeneration.

Academic portfolio in the digital era: organizing and maintaining a portfolio using reference managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhargava, Puneet; Patel, Vatsal B; Iyer, Ramesh S; Moshiri, Mariam; Robinson, Tracy J; Lall, Chandana; Heller, Matthew T

2015-02-01

The academic portfolio has become an integral part of the promotions process. Creating and maintaining an academic portfolio in paper-based or web-based formats can be a cumbersome and time-consuming task. In this article, we describe an alternative way to efficiently organize an academic portfolio using a reference manager software, and discuss some of the afforded advantages. The reference manager software Papers (Mekentosj, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) was used to create an academic portfolio. The article outlines the key steps in creating and maintaining a digital academic portfolio. Using reference manager software (Papers), we created an academic portfolio that allows the user to digitally organize clinical, teaching, and research accomplishments in an indexed library enabling efficient updating, rapid retrieval, and easy sharing. To our knowledge, this is the first digital portfolio of its kind.

Chimaerin suppresses Rac1 activation at the apical membrane to maintain the cyst structure.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shunsuke Yagi

Full Text Available Epithelial organs are made of a well-polarized monolayer of epithelial cells, and their morphology is maintained strictly for their proper functions. Previously, we showed that Rac1 activation is suppressed at the apical membrane in the mature organoid, and that such spatially biased Rac1 activity is required for the polarity maintenance. Here we identify Chimaerin, a GTPase activating protein for Rac1, as a suppressor of Rac1 activity at the apical membrane. Depletion of Chimaerin causes over-activation of Rac1 at the apical membrane in the presence of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF, followed by luminal cell accumulation. Importantly, Chimaerin depletion did not inhibit extension formation at the basal membrane. These observations suggest that Chimaerin functions as the apical-specific Rac1 GAP to maintain epithelial morphology.

The role of international atomic energy agency in maintaining nuclear safety competence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aro, I.; Mazour, T.

2000-01-01

This paper provides information how International Atomic Energy Agency can assist Member States in maintaining and developing nuclear safety competence. The topics covered include the development of safety standards, organisation of nuclear safety related conferences, provision of safety reviews, organisation of training courses and topical workshops and publication of training related documents. Usefulness of these activities for competence development is discussed. (author)

Evaluation of a web-based lifestyle coach designed to maintain a healthy bodyweight.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelders, Saskia M; van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E W C; Werkman, Andrea; Seydel, Erwin R

2010-01-01

We evaluated a web-based intervention, the Healthy Weight Assistant (HWA), which was designed to help people with a healthy bodyweight, or those who are slightly overweight, to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Four evaluation methods were used: (1) pre- and post-test questionnaires; (2) real time usability-tests; (3) log-file analysis; (4) qualitative analysis of forum posts, email messages and free-text responses in the questionnaires. A total of 703 respondents received access to the HWA. Six weeks after receiving access, 431 respondents completed a second questionnaire. The enthusiastic responses showed that many people were interested in using an interactive online application to support achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. The preliminary results suggest that improvements with respect to motivation may lead to large effects, yet require only small changes in the design of the HWA. Sending automatic tailored reminders may enhance motivation to keep using the application. Motivation to change behaviour may be enhanced by emphasizing goal setting and visualizing progress.

Deflation versus maintained inflation of gastric band in pregnancy: A national cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jefferys, Amanda; Lenguerrand, Erik; Cornthwaite, Katie; Johnson, Andrew; Lynch, Mary; Hyde, Judith; Draycott, Tim; Siassakos, Dimitrios

2017-06-01

With no evidence to guide management of the gastric band in pregnancy, we aim to compare outcomes according to band management. Data were collected on all women pregnant (November 2011-October 2012) following gastric banding, using the UK Obstetric Surveillance System surveillance system. We compared outcomes between band management groups and with national data. Band management was variable; deflation 43.4%, inflation maintained 56.6%. The deflation group had lower risk of small for gestational age infants (no cases vs. 11.3%; risk ratio = 0.14, p  = 0.05). There was greater gestational weight gain (deflation 15.4 kg, inflation 7.6 kg; adjusted p  = 0.05), and perhaps higher risk of gestational hypertension (deflation 10.5%, inflation no cases; p  = 0.08) in the deflation group. Other maternal outcomes were similar between management groups but overall worse than national data. Deflation is associated with better outcomes for babies but worse outcomes for mothers than maintained inflation.

Prepare to protect: Operating and maintaining a tornado safe room.

Science.gov (United States)

Herseth, Andrew; Goldsmith-Grinspoon, Jennifer; Scott, Pataya

2017-06-01

Operating and maintaining a tornado safe room can be critical to the effective continuity of business operations because a firm's most valuable asset is its people. This paper describes aspects of operations and maintenance (O&M) for existing tornado safe rooms as well as a few planning and design aspects that affect the ultimate operation of a safe room for situations where a safe room is planned, but not yet constructed. The information is based on several Federal Emergency Management Agency safe room publications that provide guidance on emergency management and operations, as well as the design and construction of tornado safe rooms.

JWIG: Yet Another Framework for Maintainable and Secure Web Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Anders; Schwarz, Mathias Romme

2009-01-01

Although numerous frameworks for web application programming have been developed in recent years, writing web applications remains a challenging task. Guided by a collection of classical design principles, we propose yet another framework. It is based on a simple but flexible server......-oriented architecture that coherently supports general aspects of modern web applications, including dynamic XML construction, session management, data persistence, caching, and authentication, but it also simplifies programming of server-push communication and integration of XHTML-based applications and XML-based web...... services.The resulting framework provides a novel foundation for developing maintainable and secure web applications....

Presenting the Self: An Interactive Approach to Teaching Interpersonal Awareness and Maintaining Face

Science.gov (United States)

George, Ashley Joiner

2013-01-01

This article describes an activity whose objective is for students to gain self-awareness related to the ways in which humans (consciously or not) alter their self-presentation depending upon the context, thereby maintaining different "faces." Also, this activity aims to highlight effectiveness related to different modes of nonverbal…

Optimal fit of chairside-fabricated distal shoe space maintainer.

Science.gov (United States)

Nouri, M R; Kennedy, D B

2013-10-01

Premature loss of a primary second molar may lead to space loss in the dental arch. This space loss tends to be more severe in unfavourable malocclusions. The distal shoe space maintainer (DSSM) may be beneficial in controlling the path of eruption of an unerupted permanent first molar from the primary into the early mixed dentition. This article describes the technique for achieving optimal fit of a chairside-fabricated band and DSSM in a single visit by contouring the distal shoe blade, and by extending it to the mesial surface of the permanent first molar. Upon the eruption of the permanent first molar DSSM may be modified to a reverse band-and-loop, or replaced by a lingual holding arch.

Culture on fibrin matrices maintains the colony-forming capacity and osteoblastic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colley, Helen; McArthur, Sally L; Stolzing, Alexandra; Scutt, Andy

2012-01-01

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are multipotent cells capable of differentiating into a number of mesenchymal tissues including bone, cartilage, and tendon. Low numbers in vivo means exponential growth is needed in culture to enable therapeutic applications. MSC can expand rapidly in culture but usually lose their extensive capacity for differentiation that makes them therapeutically attractive. To try and maintain their capacity for differentiation and expansion in vitro, we cultured MSC on fibrin gels of different concentrations to create more physiological growth conditions for the cells. The cells were then re-plated onto tissue culture plastic and analysed. The cells that had been pre-cultured for seven days on fibrin, proliferated and maintained their differential potential to the osteogenic lineage better than tissue culture plastic expanded MSC. A concentration relationship between colony number and fibrin concentration was seen with decreasing numbers as fibrin concentration increased. These data support the concept that substrate signals significantly influence MSC growth and differentiation and that growth on a fibrin matrix could be used to maintain a stem cell phenotype during MSC expansion. (paper)

Improving metabolic monitoring in patients maintained on antipsychotics in Penang, Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hor, Esther Sl; Subramaniam, Sivasangari; Koay, Jun Min; Bharathy, Arokiamary; Vasudevan, Umadevi; Panickulam, Joseph J; Ng, InnTiong; Arif, Nor Hayati; Russell, Vincent

2016-02-01

To evaluate the monitoring of metabolic parameters among outpatients maintained on antipsychotic medications in a general hospital setting in Malaysia and to assess the impact of a local monitoring protocol. By performing a baseline audit of files from a random sample of 300 patients prescribed antipsychotic medications for at least 1 year; we determined the frequency of metabolic monitoring. The findings informed the design of a new local protocol, on which clinical staff was briefed. We re-evaluated metabolic monitoring immediately after implementation, in a small sample of new referrals and current patients. We explored staff perceptions of the initiative with a follow-up focus group, 6 months post-implementation. The baseline audit revealed a sub-optimal frequency of metabolic parameter recording. Re-audit, following implementation of the new protocol, revealed improved monitoring but persisting deficits. Dialogue with the clinical staff led to further protocol modification, clearer definition of staff roles and use of a standard recording template. Focus group findings revealed positive perceptions of the initiative, but persisting implementation barriers, including cultural issues surrounding waist circumference measurement. Responding to challenges in achieving improved routine metabolic monitoring of patients maintained on antipsychotics required on-going dialogue with the clinical staff, in order to address both service pressures and cultural concerns. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Maintaining scale as a realiable computational system for criticality safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowmann, S.M.; Parks, C.V.; Martin, S.K.

1995-01-01

Accurate and reliable computational methods are essential for nuclear criticality safety analyses. The SCALE (Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation) computer code system was originally developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to enable users to easily set up and perform criticality safety analyses, as well as shielding, depletion, and heat transfer analyses. Over the fifteen-year life of SCALE, the mainstay of the system has been the criticality safety analysis sequences that have featured the KENO-IV and KENO-V.A Monte Carlo codes and the XSDRNPM one-dimensional discrete-ordinates code. The criticality safety analysis sequences provide automated material and problem-dependent resonance processing for each criticality calculation. This report details configuration management which is essential because SCALE consists of more than 25 computer codes (referred to as modules) that share libraries of commonly used subroutines. Changes to a single subroutine in some cases affect almost every module in SCALE exclamation point Controlled access to program source and executables and accurate documentation of modifications are essential to maintaining SCALE as a reliable code system. The modules and subroutine libraries in SCALE are programmed by a staff of approximately ten Code Managers. The SCALE Software Coordinator maintains the SCALE system and is the only person who modifies the production source, executables, and data libraries. All modifications must be authorized by the SCALE Project Leader prior to implementation

Dreaming and electroencephalographic changes during anesthesia maintained with propofol or desflurane.

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Kate; Sleigh, Jamie; Paech, Michael J; Voss, Logan; Lim, Chiew Woon; Sleigh, Callum

2009-09-01

Dream recall is reportedly more common after propofol than after volatile anesthesia, but this may be due to delayed emergence or more amnesia after longer-acting volatiles. The electroencephalographic signs of dreaming during anesthesia and the differences between propofol and desflurane also are unknown. The authors therefore compared dream recall after propofol- or desflurane-maintained anesthesia and analyzed electroencephalographic patterns in dreamers and nondreamers and in propofol and desflurane patients for similarities to rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep. Three hundred patients presenting for noncardiac surgery were randomized to receive propofol- or desflurane-maintained anesthesia. The raw electroencephalogram was recorded from induction until patients were interviewed about dreaming when they became first oriented postoperatively. Using spectral and ordinal methods, the authors quantified the amount of sleep spindle-like activity and high-frequency power in the electroencephalogram. The incidence of dream recall was similar for propofol (27%) and desflurane (28%) patients. Times to interview were similar (median 20 [range 4-114] vs. 17 [7-86] min; P = 0.1029), but bispectral index values at interview were lower (85 [69-98] vs. 92 [40-98]; P dreamers showed fewer spindles and more high-frequency power than in nondreamers in the 5 min before interview (P < 0.05). Anesthetic-related dreaming seems to occur just before awakening and is associated with a rapid eye movement-like electroencephalographic pattern.

The Lyophilization Process Maintains the Chemical and Biological Characteristics of Royal Jelly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andresa Piacezzi Nascimento

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The alternative use of natural products, like royal jelly (RJ, may be an important tool for the treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. RJ presents a large number of bioactive substances, including antimicrobial compounds. In this study, we carried out the chemical characterization of fresh and lyophilized RJ and investigated their antibacterial effects with the purpose of evaluating if the lyophilization process maintains the chemical and antibacterial properties of RJ. Furthermore, we evaluated the antibacterial efficacy of the main fatty acid found in RJ, the 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10H2DA. Chromatographic profile of the RJ samples showed similar fingerprints and the presence of 10H2DA in both samples. Furthermore, fresh and lyophilized RJ were effective against all bacteria evaluated; that is, the lyophilization process maintains the antibacterial activity of RJ and the chemical field of 10H2DA. The fatty acid 10H2DA exhibited a good antibacterial activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Therefore, it may be used as an alternative and complementary treatment for infections caused by antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae.

Sub-100 fs pulses from an all-polarization maintaining Yb-fiber oscillator with an anomalous dispersion higher-order-mode fiber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verhoef, A.J.; Zhu, L.; Israelsen, Stine Møller

2015-01-01

, was investigated for different settings of the intracavity dispersion. When the cavity is operated with close to zero net dispersion, highly stable 0.5-nJ pulses externally compressed to sub-100-fs are generated. These are to our knowledge the shortest pulses generated from an all-polarization-maintaining Yb-fiber......We present an Yb-fiber oscillator with an all-polarization-maintaining cavity with a higher-order-mode fiber for dispersion compensation. The polarization maintaining higher order mode fiber introduces not only negative second order dispersion but also negative third order dispersion in the cavity......, in contrast to dispersion compensation schemes used in previous demonstrations of all-polarization maintaining Yb-fiber oscillators. The performance of the saturable absorber mirror modelocked oscillator, that employs a free space scheme for coupling onto the saturable absorber mirror and output coupling...

Young Children with a Positive Reputation to Maintain Are Less Likely to Cheat

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Genyue; Heyman, Gail D.; Qian, Miao; Guo, Tengfei; Lee, Kang

2016-01-01

The present study examined whether having a positive reputation to maintain makes young children less likely to cheat. Cheating was assessed through a temptation resistance paradigm in which participants were instructed not to cheat in a guessing game. Across three studies (total N = 361), preschool-aged participants were randomly assigned to…

Education in radiation protection. How to maintain competence and build up trust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vahlbruch, J.W.

2016-01-01

Education and Training in Radiation Protection is the most important key to maintain the competence necessary to handle radioactive material or to use ionizing radiation. This article gives a short overview of new developments concerning E and T in RP for different fields of applications in Germany and provides some ideas how competence can support the development of trust between stakeholders in order to ensure RP.

Methods and devices for maintaining a resonant wavelength of a photonic microresonator

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Adam; Zortman, William A.

2015-07-14

A photonic microresonator incorporates a localized heater element within a section of an optical bus waveguide that is in proximity to the resonator structure. The application of an adjustable control voltage to the heater element provides a localized change in the refractive index value of the bus waveguide, compensating for temperature-induced wavelength drift and maintaining a stabilized value of the microresonator's resonant wavelength.

Maintaining consistency between planning hierarchies: Techniques and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zoch, David R.

1987-01-01

In many planning and scheduling environments, it is desirable to be able to view and manipulate plans at different levels of abstraction, allowing the users the option of viewing and manipulating either a very detailed representation of the plan or a high-level more abstract version of the plan. Generating a detailed plan from a more abstract plan requires domain-specific planning/scheduling knowledge; the reverse process of generating a high-level plan from a detailed plan Reverse Plan Maintenance, or RPM) requires having the system remember the actions it took based on its domain-specific knowledge and its reasons for taking those actions. This reverse plan maintenance process is described as implemented in a specific planning and scheduling tool, The Mission Operations Planning Assistant (MOPA), as well as the applications of RPM to other planning and scheduling problems; emphasizing the knowledge that is needed to maintain the correspondence between the different hierarchical planning levels.

Lipoprotein Lipase Maintains Microglial Innate Immunity in Obesity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanqing Gao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Consumption of a hypercaloric diet upregulates microglial innate immune reactivity along with a higher expression of lipoprotein lipase (Lpl within the reactive microglia in the mouse brain. Here, we show that knockdown of the Lpl gene specifically in microglia resulted in deficient microglial uptake of lipid, mitochondrial fuel utilization shifting to glutamine, and significantly decreased immune reactivity. Mice with knockdown of the Lpl gene in microglia gained more body weight than control mice on a high-carbohydrate high-fat (HCHF diet. In these mice, microglial reactivity was significantly decreased in the mediobasal hypothalamus, accompanied by downregulation of phagocytic capacity and increased mitochondrial dysmorphologies. Furthermore, HCHF-diet-induced POMC neuronal loss was accelerated. These results show that LPL-governed microglial immunometabolism is essential to maintain microglial function upon exposure to an HCHF diet. In a hypercaloric environment, lack of such an adaptive immunometabolic response has detrimental effects on CNS regulation of energy metabolism.

Health for smokers with schizophrenia - a struggle to maintain a dignified life.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundgren, Elisabet; Hallqvist, Johan; Fredriksson, Lennart

2016-01-01

To investigate the health and lifestyle habits of smokers with schizophrenia and describe their experience of smoking in relation to health. Semi-structured interviews with 10 smokers with schizophrenia were conducted in Sweden from May to October 2013. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to describe and interpret respondents' experiences. Good health for a person with schizophrenia was defined as accepting their mental illness, having strategies to gain control over psychotic symptoms, and engaging in activities and good relationships. Lifestyle habits were described as structures in the respondents' daily life: arising in the morning, taking a cigarette, reading the newspaper, eating breakfast and doing the things planned for the day. The meaning of health for smokers with schizophrenia is not the same as being well or ill. Rather, health is an experience of a struggle to maintain a dignified life, including self-acceptance of the mental illness and control over the psychotic symptoms. People with schizophrenia have high willingness but low motivation to stop smoking because they fear that cigarette withdrawal will increase their psychotic symptoms. Therefore, they find it difficult to stop smoking. To succeed with health care intervention, health care providers must understand the life style habits and experiences specific to smokers with schizophrenia and the unique experience of health and life style habits that people with schizophrenia experience. Smokers with schizophrenia experience health as a struggle to maintain a dignified life and to maintain control over their psychotic symptoms. In smoking cessation programmes, health care providers must pay attention to the fear that people with schizophrenia have of losing control over their psychotic symptoms, if they stop smoking, and support them to find activities to replace smoking. This study suggests that to provide good support in health prevention for people with schizophrenia, it is vital

Involvement of extracellular factors in maintaining self-renewal of neural stem cell by nestin.

Science.gov (United States)

Di, Chun Guang; Xiang, Andy Peng; Jia, Lei; Liu, Jun Feng; Lahn, Bruce T; Ma, Bao Feng

2014-07-09

Nestin knockout leads to embryonic lethality and self-renewal deficiency in neural stem cells (NSCs). However, how nestin maintains self-renewal remains uncertain. Here, we used the dosage effect of nestin in heterozygous mice (Nes+/-) to study self-renewal of NSCs. With existing extracellular signaling in vivo or in vitro, nestin levels do not affect proliferation ability or apoptosis when compared between Nes+/- and Nes+/+ NSCs. However, self-renewal ability of Nes+/- NSCs is impaired when plated at a low cell density and completely lost at a clonal density. This deficiency in self-renewal at a clonal density is rescued using a medium conditioned by Nes+/+ NSCs. In addition, the Akt signaling pathway is altered at low density and reversed by conditioned medium. Our data show that secreted factors contribute toward maintaining self-renewal of NSCs by nestin, potentially through Akt signaling.

The complexity of self-regulating food intake in weight loss maintenance. A qualitative exploration among short- and long-term weight loss maintainers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Susanne; Sniethotta, Falko; Sainsbury, Kirby

Objective: The aim of this study was to better understand whether self-regulation of food intake in WLM differs in the challenging transition from being a short-term maintainer (having maintained without regaining less than 12 months) to a long-term maintainer (having maintained without regaining....../storing, preparing/cooking, eating, and general barriers and resources in WLM. Post-hoc coding was applied based on self-regulation strategies and self-efficacy beliefs, and thematic analysis was also applied to identify additional themes. A content analysis approach using NVivo 11 highlighted the differences...... describe and understand the self-regulatory strategies related to food intake in WLM. Methods: Individual interviews (14 female/5 male) were conducted with 9 Danish short- and 10 long-term weight loss maintainers. Initial codes were based on five themes related to food intake: planning, shopping...

Teacher collaborative curriculum design in technical vocational colleges: a strategy for maintaining curriculum consistency?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Albashiry, N.M.; Voogt, J.M.; Pieters, J.M.

2015-01-01

The Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum requires continuous renewal and constant involvement of stakeholders in the redesign process. Due to a lack of curriculum design expertise, TVET institutions in developing contexts encounter challenges maintaining and advancing the

Cutting edge: CD95 maintains effector T cell homeostasis in chronic immune activation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arens, Ramon; Baars, Paul A.; Jak, Margot; Tesselaar, Kiki; van der Valk, Martin; van Oers, Marinus H. J.; van Lier, René A. W.

2005-01-01

The elimination of activated T cells is important to maintain homeostasis and avoid immunopathology. CD95 (Fas/APO-1) has been identified as a death mediator for activated T cells in vitro but the function of CD95 in death of mature T cells in vivo is still controversial. Here we show that

Effects of Multisensory Environments on Stereotyped Behaviours Assessed as Maintained by Automatic Reinforcement

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Lindsay; Trusler, Karen; Furniss, Frederick; Lancioni, Giulio

2012-01-01

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the sensory equipment provided in a multi-sensory environment (MSE) and the level of social contact provided on levels of stereotyped behaviours assessed as being maintained by automatic reinforcement. Method: Stereotyped and engaged behaviours of two young people with severe…

Reliability And Maintainability Issues for the Next Linear Collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, Zane J.; Gold, Saul L.; Koontz, Ron F.; Lavine, Ted L.

2011-01-01

Large accelerators for high energy physics research traditionally have been designed using informal best design, engineering, and management practices to achieve acceptable levels of operational availability. However, the Next Linear Collider(NLC) project presents a particular challenge for operational availability due to the unprecedented size and complexity of the accelerator systems required to achieve the physics goals of high center-of-mass energy and high luminosity. Formal reliability and maintainability analysis, design, and implementation will be required to achieve acceptable operational availability for the high energy physics research program. This paper introduces some of the basic concepts of reliability analysis and applies them to the 2.6-cm microwave power system of the two 10-km-long, 250-GeV linacs that are currently proposed for the NLC design.

Human factors review of power plant maintainability. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seminara, J.L.; Parsons, S.O.

1981-02-01

Human factors engineering is an interdisciplinary science and technology concerned with shaping the design of machines, facilities, and operational environments to promote safe, efficient, and reliable performance on the part of operators and maintainers of equipment systems. The human factors aspects of five nuclear power plants and four fossil fuel plants were evaluated using such methods as a check list guided observation system, structured interviews with maintenance personnel, direct observation of maintenance tasks, reviews of procedures, and analyses of maintenance errors or accidents by means of the critical incident technique. The study revealed a wide variety of human factors problem areas, most of which are extensively photodocumented. The study recommends that a more systematic and formal approach to ensure that future power plants are human engineered to the needs of maintenance personnel

Rewarding peer reviewers: maintaining the integrity of science communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Gerasimov, Alexey N; Voronov, Alexander A; Kitas, George D

2015-04-01

This article overviews currently available options for rewarding peer reviewers. Rewards and incentives may help maintain the quality and integrity of scholarly publications. Publishers around the world implemented a variety of financial and nonfinancial mechanisms for incentivizing their best reviewers. None of these is proved effective on its own. A strategy of combined rewards and credits for the reviewers1 creative contributions seems a workable solution. Opening access to reviews and assigning publication credits to the best reviews is one of the latest achievements of digitization. Reviews, posted on academic networking platforms, such as Publons, add to the transparency of the whole system of peer review. Reviewer credits, properly counted and displayed on individual digital profiles, help distinguish the best contributors, invite them to review and offer responsible editorial posts.

Effects of Polarization–Maintaining Fibre Degrading on Precision of Fibre Optic Gyroscopes in Radiation Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Xiao; De-Wen, Liu; Yang, Liu; Xiao-Su, Yi; Lin, Cong

2008-01-01

In the space environment, the precision of fibre optic gyroscopes (FOGs) degrades because of space radiation. Photonic components of FOGs are affected by radiation, especially the polarization-maintaining (PM) fibre coil. In relation to the space radiation environment characteristic, we have carried out a series of radiation experiments on a PM fibre coil with 60 Co radiation source at different dose rates. Based on the experimental results, the formula between the PM-fibre loss and radiation dose rate is built, and the relation between the precision of FOG and radiation dose is obtained accordingly. The results strongly show that the precision of our FOG degrades owing to the attenuation of the polarization-maintaining fibre, which provides theoretical foundation for the radiation-resistant design of the FOG

4-twist helix snake to maintain polarization in multi-GeV proton rings

Science.gov (United States)

Antoulinakis, F.; Chen, Y.; Dutton, A.; Rossi De La Fuente, E.; Haupert, S.; Ljungman, E. A.; Myers, P. D.; Thompson, J. K.; Tai, A.; Aidala, C. A.; Courant, E. D.; Krisch, A. D.; Leonova, M. A.; Lorenzon, W.; Raymond, R. S.; Sivers, D. W.; Wong, V. K.; Yang, T.; Derbenev, Y. S.; Morozov, V. S.; Kondratenko, A. M.

2017-09-01

Solenoid Siberian snakes have successfully maintained polarization in particle rings below 1 GeV, but never in multi-GeV rings, because the spin rotation by a solenoid is inversely proportional to the beam momentum. High energy rings, such as Brookhaven's 255 GeV Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), use only odd multiples of pairs of transverse B-field Siberian snakes directly opposite each other. When it became impractical to use a pair of Siberian Snakes in Fermilab's 120 GeV /c Main Injector, we searched for a new type of single Siberian snake that could overcome all depolarizing resonances in the 8.9 - 120 GeV /c range. We found that a snake made of one 4-twist helix and 2 dipoles could maintain the polarization. This snake design could solve the long-standing problem of significant polarization loss during acceleration of polarized protons from a few GeV to tens of GeV, such as in the AGS, before injecting them into multi-hundred GeV rings, such as RHIC.

4-twist helix snake to maintain polarization in multi-GeV proton rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antoulinakis, F.; Chen, Y.; Dutton, A.; Rossi De La Fuente, E.; Haupert, S.

2017-01-01

Solenoid Siberian snakes have successfully maintained polarization in particle rings below 1 GeV, but never in multi-GeV rings, because the spin rotation by a solenoid is inversely proportional to the beam momentum. High energy rings, such as Brookhaven’s 255 GeV Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), use only odd multiples of pairs of transverse B-field Siberian snakes directly opposite each other. When it became impractical to use a pair of Siberian Snakes in Fermilab’s 120 GeV/c Main Injector, we searched for a new type of single Siberian snake that could overcome all depolarizing resonances in the 8.9–120 GeV/c range. We found that a snake made of one 4-twist helix and 2 dipoles could maintain the polarization. Here, this snake design could solve the long-standing problem of significant polarization loss during acceleration of polarized protons from a few GeV to tens of GeV, such as in the AGS, before injecting them into multi-hundred GeV rings, such as RHIC.

Maintaining professionalism in today's business environment: ethical challenges for the pain medicine specialist.

Science.gov (United States)

Lebovits, Allen

2012-09-01

There are many external influences in today's market force that impair the relationship between the pain medicine specialist and the patient, and ultimately prevent optimal quality of care. This article explores the ethical challenges facing the pain medicine specialist in today's increasingly "business" environment and will offer solutions for maintaining the professionalism of pain medicine. Four commonly encountered bioethical principles in the practice of pain medicine are reviewed: beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and autonomy. The following ethical challenges of the pain medicine specialist are reviewed: practicing outside ones specialty area, practice characteristics, the consultant role, the economic lure of aggressive intervention, not evaluating for and treating comorbid psychopathology, reimbursement pressures, workers' compensation, and use of unproven methods. Solutions offered include collegial associations, social responsibility, legislative initiatives, pain education, interdisciplinary evaluation and treatment, improved relationships with third-party payers, reduced racial disparities, and ethics education. Ethics is the "roadmap" that enables the pain medicine specialist to navigate the increasingly murky waters of practicing pain management today by maintaining the professionalism necessary to combat today's "business" pressures. Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Maintaining Unity - Relatives in older patient's fast-track treatment programmes. A Grounded theory study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berthelsen, Connie Bøttcher; Lindhardt, Tove; Frederiksen, Kirsten

2014-01-01

over 70 years of age participated. The constant comparative method was the guiding principle for simultaneous data collection, data analysis and coding, while theoretically sampling and writing memos. FINDINGS: Maintaining Unity emerged as the relatives' pattern of behaviour through which they resolved...

Determinants of attaining and maintaining a low cardiovascular risk profile-the Doetinchem Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulsegge, Gerben; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Daviglus, Martha L; Smit, Henriëtte A; Verschuren, W M Monique

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: While maintenance of a low cardiovascular risk profile is essential for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, few people maintain a low CVD risk profile throughout their life. We studied the association of demographic, lifestyle, psychological factors and family history of CVD with

Coating dental implant abutment screws with diamondlike carbon doped with diamond nanoparticles: the effect on maintaining torque after mechanical cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Lepesqueur, Laura Soares; de Figueiredo, Viviane Maria Gonçalves; Ferreira, Leandro Lameirão; Sobrinho, Argemiro Soares da Silva; Massi, Marcos; Bottino, Marco Antônio; Nogueira Junior, Lafayette

2015-01-01

To determine the effect of maintaining torque after mechanical cycling of abutment screws that are coated with diamondlike carbon and coated with diamondlike carbon doped with diamond nanoparticles, with external and internal hex connections. Sixty implants were divided into six groups according to the type of connection (external or internal hex) and the type of abutment screw (uncoated, coated with diamondlike carbon, and coated with diamondlike carbon doped with diamond nanoparticles). The implants were inserted into polyurethane resin and crowns of nickel chrome were cemented on the implants. The crowns had a hole for access to the screw. The initial torque and the torque after mechanical cycling were measured. The torque values maintained (in percentages) were evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and the Tukey test, with a significance level of 5%. The largest torque value was maintained in uncoated screws with external hex connections, a finding that was statistically significant (P = .0001). No statistically significant differences were seen between the groups with and without coating in maintaining torque for screws with internal hex connections (P = .5476). After mechanical cycling, the diamondlike carbon with and without diamond doping on the abutment screws showed no improvement in maintaining torque in external and internal hex connections.

How to maintain hundreds of computers offering different functionalities with only 2 system administrators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krempaska, R.; Bertrand, A.; Higgs, C.; Kapeller, R.; Lutz, H.; Provenzano, M.

2012-01-01

At the Paul Scherrer Institute, the control systems of our large research facilities are maintained by the Controls section. These facilities include two proton accelerators, (HIPA and PROSCAN), two electron accelerators, (SLS and the Injector Test Facility of the future SwissFEL) as well as the control systems of all their related beamlines and test facilities. The control system configuration and applications for each facility is stored on independent NFS file servers. The total number of Linux computers and servers is about 500. Since only two system administrators are responsible for their installation, configuration and maintenance, we have adopted a well defined solution that relies on 3 ideas: -) Virtualization, -) Unified operating system installation and update mechanism, and -) Automatic configuration by a common tool (puppet). This paper describes methods and tools which are used to develop and maintain the challenging computing infrastructure deployed by the Controls section

Maintained LTP and Memory Are Lost by Zn2+ Influx into Dentate Granule Cells, but Not Ca2+ Influx.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Atsushi; Tamano, Haruna; Hisatsune, Marie; Murakami, Taku; Nakada, Hiroyuki; Fujii, Hiroaki

2018-02-01

The idea that maintained LTP and memory are lost by either increase in intracellular Zn 2+ in dentate granule cells or increase in intracellular Ca 2+ was examined to clarify significance of the increases induced by excess synapse excitation. Both maintained LTP and space memory were impaired by injection of high K + into the dentate gyrus, but rescued by co-injection of CaEDTA, which blocked high K + -induced increase in intracellular Zn 2+ but not high K + -induced increase in intracellular Ca 2+ . High K + -induced disturbances of LTP and intracellular Zn 2+ are rescued by co-injection of 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxakine-2,3-dione, an α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) receptor antagonist, but not by co-injection of blockers of NMDA receptors, metabotropic glutamate receptors, and voltage-dependent calcium channels. Furthermore, AMPA impaired maintained LTP and the impairment was also rescued by co-injection of CaEDTA, which blocked increase in intracellular Zn 2+ , but not increase in intracellular Ca 2+ . NMDA and glucocorticoid, which induced Zn 2+ release from the internal stores, did not impair maintained LTP. The present study indicates that increase in Zn 2+ influx into dentate granule cells through AMPA receptors loses maintained LTP and memory. Regulation of Zn 2+ influx into dentate granule cells is more critical for not only memory acquisition but also memory retention than that of Ca 2+ influx.

Isolated tumor endothelial cells maintain specific character during long-term culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Kohei; Ohga, Noritaka; Hida, Yasuhiro; Muraki, Chikara; Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Kurosu, Takuro; Akino, Tomoshige; Shih, Shou-Ching

2010-01-01

Tumor angiogenesis is necessary for solid tumor progression and metastasis. Increasing evidence indicates that tumor endothelial cells (TECs) are more relevant to the study of tumor angiogenesis than normal endothelial cells (NECs) because their morphologies and gene expression are different from NECs. However, it is challenging to isolate and culture large numbers of pure ECs from tumor tissue since the percentage of ECs is only about 1-2% and tumor cells and fibroblasts easily overgrow them. In addition, there has been concern that isolated TECs may lose their special phenotype once they are dissociated from tumor cells. In this study, we have successfully purified murine TECs from four different human tumor xenografts and NECs from murine dermal tissue. Isolated ECs expressed endothelial markers, such as CD31, VE-cadherin (CD144), and endoglin (CD105), for more than 3 months after isolation. TECs maintained tumor endothelial-specific markers, such as tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) and aminopeptidase N (APN), as in tumor blood vessels in vivo. In addition, TECs were more proliferative and motile than NECs. TECs showed a higher response to VEGF and higher expression of VEGF receptors-1 and -2 than NECs did. Stem cell antigen-1 was up-regulated in all four TECs, suggesting that they have a kind of stemness. Cultured TECs maintain distinct biological differences from NECs as in vivo. In conclusion, it was suggested that TECs are relevant material for tumor angiogenesis research.

Remifentanil maintains lower initial delayed nonmatching-to-sample accuracy compared to food pellets in male rhesus monkeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutsell, Blake A; Banks, Matthew L

2017-12-01

Emerging human laboratory and preclinical drug self-administration data suggest that a history of contingent abused drug exposure impairs performance in operant discrimination procedures, such as delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNMTS), that are hypothesized to assess components of executive function. However, these preclinical discrimination studies have exclusively used food as the reinforcer and the effects of drugs as reinforcers in these operant procedures are unknown. The present study determined effects of contingent intravenous remifentanil injections on DNMTS performance hypothesized to assess 1 aspect of executive function, working memory. Daily behavioral sessions consisted of 2 components with sequential intravenous remifentanil (0, 0.01-1.0 μg/kg/injection) or food (0, 1-10 pellets) availability in nonopioid dependent male rhesus monkeys (n = 3). Remifentanil functioned as a reinforcer in the DNMTS procedure. Similar delay-dependent DNMTS accuracy was observed under both remifentanil- and food-maintained components, such that higher accuracies were maintained at shorter (0.1-1.0 s) delays and lower accuracies approaching chance performance were maintained at longer (10-32 s) delays. Remifentanil maintained significantly lower initial DNMTS accuracy compared to food. Reinforcer magnitude was not an important determinant of DNMTS accuracy for either remifentanil or food. These results extend the range of experimental procedures under which drugs function as reinforcers. Furthermore, the selective remifentanil-induced decrease in initial DNMTS accuracy is consistent with a selective impairment of attentional, but not memorial, processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Orthostatic stress is necessary to maintain the dynamic range of cardiovascular control in space

Science.gov (United States)

Baisch, J. F.; Wolfram, G.; Beck, L.; Drummer, C.; Stormer, I.; Buckey, J.; Blomqvist, G.

2000-01-01

In the upright position, gravity fills the low-pressure systems of human circulation with blood and interstitial fluid in the sections below the diaphragm. Without gravity one pressure component in the vessels disappears and the relationship between hydrostatic pressure and oncotic pressure, which regulates fluid passage across the capillary endothelium in the terminal vascular bed, shifts constantly. The visible consequences of this are a puffy face and "bird" legs. The plasma volume shrinks in space and the range of cardiovascular control is reduced. When they stand up for the first time after landing, 30-50% of astronauts suffer from orthostatic intolerance. It remains unclear whether microgravity impairs cardiovascular reflexes, or whether it is the altered volume status that causes the cardiovascular instability following space flight. Lower body negative pressure was used in several space missions to stimulate the cardiovascular reflexes before, during and after a space flight. The results show that cardiovascular reflexes are maintained in microgravity. However, the astronauts' volume status changed in space, towards a volume-retracted state, as measurements of fluid-regulating hormones have shown. It can be hypothesized that the control of circulation and body fluid homeostasis in humans is adapted to their upright posture in the Earth's gravitational field. Autonomic control regulates fluid distribution to maintain the blood pressure in that posture, which most of us have to cope with for two-thirds of the day. A determined amount of interstitial volume is necessary to maintain the dynamic range of cardiovascular control in the upright posture; otherwise orthostatic intolerance may occur more often.

Gossip Versus Punishment: The Efficiency of Reputation to Promote and Maintain Cooperation

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Junhui; Balliet, Daniel; Van Lange, Paul A. M.

2016-01-01

Prior theory suggests that reputation spreading (e.g., gossip) and punishment are two key mechanisms to promote cooperation in groups, but no behavioral research has yet examined their relative effectiveness and efficiency in promoting and maintaining cooperation. To examine these issues, we observed participants interacting in a four-round public goods game (PGG) with or without gossip and punishment options, and a subsequent two-round trust game (TG). We manipulated gossip as the option to send notes about other group members to these members’ future partners, and punishment as the option to assign deduction points to reduce other group members’ outcomes with a fee-to-fine ratio of 1:3. Findings revealed that in the four-round PGG, the option to gossip increased both cooperation and individual earnings, whereas the option to punish had no overall effect on cooperation (but a positive effect on cooperation in the last two rounds of the PGG) and significantly decreased individual earnings. Importantly, the initial option to gossip made people more trusting and trustworthy in the subsequent TG when gossip was no longer possible, compared to the no-gossip condition. Thus, we provide some initial evidence that gossip may be more effective and efficient than punishment to promote and maintain cooperation. PMID:27039896

Gossip Versus Punishment: The Efficiency of Reputation to Promote and Maintain Cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Junhui; Balliet, Daniel; Van Lange, Paul A M

2016-04-04

Prior theory suggests that reputation spreading (e.g., gossip) and punishment are two key mechanisms to promote cooperation in groups, but no behavioral research has yet examined their relative effectiveness and efficiency in promoting and maintaining cooperation. To examine these issues, we observed participants interacting in a four-round public goods game (PGG) with or without gossip and punishment options, and a subsequent two-round trust game (TG). We manipulated gossip as the option to send notes about other group members to these members' future partners, and punishment as the option to assign deduction points to reduce other group members' outcomes with a fee-to-fine ratio of 1:3. Findings revealed that in the four-round PGG, the option to gossip increased both cooperation and individual earnings, whereas the option to punish had no overall effect on cooperation (but a positive effect on cooperation in the last two rounds of the PGG) and significantly decreased individual earnings. Importantly, the initial option to gossip made people more trusting and trustworthy in the subsequent TG when gossip was no longer possible, compared to the no-gossip condition. Thus, we provide some initial evidence that gossip may be more effective and efficient than punishment to promote and maintain cooperation.

Scientific method by argumentation design: learning process for maintaining student’s retention

Science.gov (United States)

Siswanto; Yusiran; Asriyadin; Gumilar, S.; Subali, B.

2018-03-01

The purpose of this research describes the effect of scientific methods designed by argumentation in maintaining retention of pre-service physics teachers (students) in mechanical concept. This learning consists of five stages including the first two stages namely observing and questioning. While the next three stages of reasoning, trying, and communicating are made of argumentation design. To know the effectiveness of treatment, students are given pre-test and post-test in one time. On the other hand, students were given advanced post-test to know the durability of retention as many as four times in four months. The results show that there was mean difference between pre-test and post-test based on the Wilcoxon test (z = -3.4, p=0.001). While the effectiveness of treatment is in the high category based on normalized gain values ( = 0.86). Meanwhile, mean difference of all post-test is significantly different based on Analysis of Varian (F = 365.63, p = 0.00). However, in the fourth month, students retention rates began to stabilize based on Tuckey’s HSD (p=0.074) for comparison of mean difference between fourth and fifth post-test. Overall, learning designed can maintain students retention within 4 months after the learning finish.

The AskA Starter Kit: How To Build and Maintain Digital Reference Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Lankes, R. David; Kasowitz, Abby S.

This Starter Kit is designed to help organizations and individuals who wish to offer human-mediated information services via the Internet to users in the K-12 community. A six-step process is proposed for organizations to follow in creating an "AskA" service. This process addresses all aspects involved in building and maintaining an AskA…

Establishing and Maintaining High Expectations for Deaf/Blind Students Using a Team Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Mockler, Kimberly

2014-01-01

As a teacher of the deaf as well as the classroom teacher, Kimberly Mockler works very closely with the teacher of the visually impaired. This involves sharing ideas, resources, and lesson plans for the deaf/blind students. Their lessons and goals are very similar and overlap in several areas. A major challenge for both of them is maintaining high…

Rabbit chondrocytes maintained in serum-free medium. I. Synthesis and secretion of hydrodynamically-small proteoglycans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malemud, C.J.; Papay, R.S.

1986-01-01

The biosynthesis of sulfated proteoglycan in vitro by rabbit articular chondrocytes in first passage monolayer culture maintained in fetal bovine serum (FBS) or in serum-free conditions was compared. Neosynthesized proteoglycan in the culture medium in the most dense fraction of an associative CsCl density gradient (fraction dAl) declined with increasing time under serum-free conditions, but not when cells were maintained in the presence of serum. After one day, the major peak of incorporated 35 SO 4 in medium fraction dAl eluted as a retarded peak on Sepharose CL-2B, whether cells were maintained under serum-free or serum-containing conditions. The hydrodynamic size of proteoglycan monomer fraction dAlDl obtained after one day of exposure to serum-free culture media was smaller than dAlDl from serum-containing cultures. The hydrodynamic size of dAlDl obtained from serum-free culture media became even progressively smaller after 2 and 3 days' exposure to these conditions. Hydrodynamically small sulfated proteoglycans were identified in the cell-associated dAlDl fraction as early as one day after switching chondrocytes from serum-containing to serum-free medium. Proteoglycan monomer from serum-containing medium reaggregated more efficiently under both conditions. No change in the size of glycosaminoglycan chains was seen in the smaller proteoglycan subpopulations, nor was there any indication of marked changes in the glycosaminoglycan types

34 CFR 377.30 - What information must a grantee maintain and provide to the Secretary?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO INCREASE CLIENT CHOICE PROGRAM What Post-Award Conditions Must Be Met by a Grantee... maintain the records that the Secretary requires to conduct an evaluation of projects funded under this...

Maintainability considerations for the central cell in WITAMIR-I, a conceptual design of a tandem mirror fusion power reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sviatoslavsky, I.N.

1980-10-01

The concepts for maintaining the central cell reactor components for WITAMIR-I are described. WITAMIR-I is a conceptual tandem mirror fusion power reactor utilizing thermal barriers designed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Unique solutions to the difficult problems of routine blanket replacement and maintenance are proposed. Solutions are also proposed for maintaining the central cell coils and the shield

Complete human serum maintains viability and chondrogenic potential of human synovial stem cells: suitable conditions for transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizuno, Mitsuru; Katano, Hisako; Otabe, Koji; Komori, Keiichiro; Kohno, Yuji; Fujii, Shizuka; Ozeki, Nobutake; Horie, Masafumi; Tsuji, Kunikazu; Koga, Hideyuki; Muneta, Takeshi; Sekiya, Ichiro

2017-06-13

In our clinical practice, we perform transplantations of autologous synovial mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cartilage and meniscus regenerative medicine. One of the most important issues to ensuring clinical efficacy involves the transport of synovial MSCs from the processing facility to the clinic. Complete human serum (100% human serum) is an attractive candidate material in which to suspend synovial MSCs for their preservation during transport. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether complete human serum maintained MSC viability and chondrogenic potential and to examine the optimal temperature conditions for the preservation of human synovial MSCs. Human synovium was harvested from the knees of 14 donors with osteoarthritis during total knee arthroplasty. Passage 2 synovial MSCs were suspended at 2 million cells/100 μL in Ringer's solution or complete human serum at 4, 13, and 37 °C for 48 h. These cells were analyzed for live cell rates, cell surface marker expression, metabolic activity, proliferation, and adipogenic, calcification, and chondrogenic differentiation potentials before and after preservation. After preservation, synovial MSCs maintained higher live cell rates in human serum than in Ringer's solution at 4 and 13 °C. Synovial MSCs preserved in human serum at 4 and 13 °C also maintained high ratios of propidium iodide - and annexin V - cells. MSC surface marker expression was not altered in cells preserved at 4 and 13 °C. The metabolic activities of cells preserved in human serum at 4 and 13 °C was maintained, while significantly reduced in other conditions. Replated MSCs retained their proliferation ability when preserved in human serum at 4 and 13 °C. Adipogenesis and calcification potential could be observed in cells preserved in each condition, whereas chondrogenic potential was retained only in cells preserved in human serum at 4 and 13 °C. The viability and chondrogenic potential of synovial MSCs were

Factors of importance for maintaining work as perceived by men with arthritis

OpenAIRE

Hjalmarsson Österholm, Johannes; Björk, Mathilda; Håkansson, Carita

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Employment rates are significantly lower among individuals with arthritis compared to a general population. There is, however, limited research about how men with arthritis perceive their ability to maintain working. The aim of this study was thus to explore their perception of this. PARTICIPANTS: Nine employed men with arthritis were purposively sampled. METHODS: Interviews were performed and were informed by the central concepts of the Model of Human Occupation. The Empirical Phe...

Polymorphism at a mimicry supergene maintained by opposing frequency-dependent selection pressures

OpenAIRE

Chouteau, Mathieu; Llaurens, Violaine; Piron-Prunier, Florence; Joron, Mathieu

2017-01-01

Although biological diversity is being lost at an alarming rate, a mimetic butterfly from the Amazon reveals a selective mechanism that can lead to rich adaptive diversity. In these toxic and vividly colored butterflies, several forms are maintained within populations, accurately mimicking distinct local butterflies, and controlled by differentiated alleles of a supergene. Such diversity is not expected because selection by predators promotes the fixation of a single morph. We show that the m...

Phosphorylation of CPAP by Aurora-A Maintains Spindle Pole Integrity during Mitosis

OpenAIRE

En-Ju Chou; Liang-Yi Hung; Chieh-Ju C. Tang; Wen-Bin Hsu; Hsin-Yi Wu; Pao-Chi Liao; Tang K. Tang

2016-01-01

CPAP is required for centriole elongation during S/G2 phase, but the role of CPAP in mitosis is incompletely understood. Here, we show that CPAP maintains spindle pole integrity through its phosphorylation by Aurora-A during mitosis. Depletion of CPAP induced a prolonged delay in mitosis, pericentriolar material (PCM) dispersion, and multiple mitotic abnormalities. Further studies demonstrated that CPAP directly interacts with and is phosphorylated by Aurora-A at serine 467 during mitosis. In...

Cash Accountability in DOD Imprest Funds Maintained by the Office of the Inspector General, DOD

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rau, Russell

1995-01-01

We are providing this report for your information and use. The audit was made at your request to examine the imprest funds maintained within the Office of the Inspector General, DoD, Arlington, Virginia...

Variability of Plyometric and Ballistic Exercise Technique Maintains Jump Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandler, Phillip T; Greig, Matthew; Comfort, Paul; McMahon, John J

2018-06-01

Chandler, PT, Greig, M, Comfort, P, and McMahon, JJ. Variability of plyometric and ballistic exercise technique maintains jump performance. J Strength Cond Res 32(6): 1571-1582, 2018-The aim of this study was to investigate changes in vertical jump technique over the course of a training session. Twelve plyometric and ballistic exercise-trained male athletes (age = 23.4 ± 4.6 years, body mass = 78.7 ± 18.8 kg, height = 177.1 ± 9.0 cm) performed 3 sets of 10 repetitions of drop jump (DJ), rebound jump (RJ) and squat jump (SJ). Each exercise was analyzed from touchdown to peak joint flexion and peak joint flexion to take-off. Squat jump was analyzed from peak joint flexion to take-off only. Jump height, flexion and extension time and range of motion, and instantaneous angles of the ankle, knee, and hip joints were measured. Separate 1-way repeated analyses of variance compared vertical jump technique across exercise sets and repetitions. Exercise set analysis found that SJ had lower results than DJ and RJ for the angle at peak joint flexion for the hip, knee, and ankle joints and take-off angle of the hip joint. Exercise repetition analysis found that the ankle joint had variable differences for the angle at take-off, flexion, and extension time for RJ. The knee joint had variable differences for flexion time for DJ and angle at take-off and touchdown for RJ. There was no difference in jump height. Variation in measured parameters across repetitions highlights variable technique across plyometric and ballistic exercises. This did not affect jump performance, but likely maintained jump performance by overcoming constraints (e.g., level of rate coding).

Standard methods for maintaining adult Apis mellifera in cages under in vitro laboratory conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Williams, G.R.; Alaux, C.; Costa, C.; Csaki, C.; Steen, van der J.J.M.

2013-01-01

Adult honey bees are maintained in vitro in laboratory cages for a variety of purposes. For example, researchers may wish to perform experiments on honey bees caged individually or in groups to study aspects of parasitology, toxicology, or physiology under highly controlled conditions, or they may

Influence of Motivating Operations and Discriminative Stimuli on Challenging Behavior Maintained by Positive Reinforcement

Science.gov (United States)

Edrisinha, Chaturi; O'Reilly, Mark; Sigafoos, Jeff; Lancioni, Giulio; Choi, Ha Young

2011-01-01

We examined the effects of an establishing operation (EO) and abolishing operation (AO) on stimulus control of challenging behavior. Two participants with developmental disabilities and challenging behavior participated. In Phase I, a functional analysis was conducted to identify the consequences maintaining challenging behavior. In Phase II, a…

Coconut milk and probiotic milk as storage media to maintain periodontal ligament cell viability: an in vitro study.

Science.gov (United States)

Saini, Divya; Gadicherla, Prahlad; Chandra, Prakash; Anandakrishna, Latha

2017-06-01

The viability of periodontal ligament (PDL) cells is a significant determinant of the long-term prognosis of replanted avulsed teeth. A storage medium is often required to maintain the viability of these cells during the extra-alveolar period. Many studies have been carried out to search for the most suitable storage medium for avulsed teeth, but an ideal solution has not yet been found. The purpose of the study was to compare and analyze the ability of coconut milk and probiotic milk to maintain PDL cell viability. In an in vitro setting, 69 caries free human premolars with normal periodontium that had been extracted for orthodontic purposes were randomly divided into two experimental groups on the basis of storage media used (i.e., coconut milk or probiotic milk) and a Hanks' balanced salt solution (HBSS) control group (23 samples per group). Immediately after extraction, the teeth were stored dry for 20 min and then immersed for 30 min in one of the storage media. The teeth were then subjected to collagenase-dispase assay and labeled with 0.5% trypan blue staining solution for determination of cell viability. The number of viable cells was counted under a light microscope and statistically analyzed using anova and post hoc Tukey test (P ≤ 0.05). Statistical analysis demonstrated there was a significant difference (P coconut milk and probiotic milk as well as HBSS in maintaining cell viability. However, there was no significant difference between probiotic milk and HBSS in ability to maintain PDL cell viability (P > 0.05). Coconut milk may not be suitable as an interim transport media due to poor maintenance of cell viability. However, probiotic milk was able to maintain PDL cell viability as well as HBSS. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ecuador to withdraw from OPEC; group to maintain present flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which has agreed to maintain its present combined production of 24.2 million b/d of oil in the fourth quarter, will soon see the first pullout of a member. The 13 member group will shrink to 12, probably in November, when Ecuador withdraws. Ecuador President Sixto Duran Ballen issued notice of the pullout Sept. 17, a little more than 1 month after he took office. Ecuador, strapped for cash, wants to save OPEC membership dues reported to be $2-3 million/year. It plans to remain an associate member, although it wasn't immediately clear what that means. No other countries are regarded as associate members

Dangerous animals capture and maintain attention in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Yorzinski, Jessica L; Penkunas, Michael J; Platt, Michael L; Coss, Richard G

2014-05-28

Predation is a major source of natural selection on primates and may have shaped attentional processes that allow primates to rapidly detect dangerous animals. Because ancestral humans were subjected to predation, a process that continues at very low frequencies, we examined the visual processes by which men and women detect dangerous animals (snakes and lions). We recorded the eye movements of participants as they detected images of a dangerous animal (target) among arrays of nondangerous animals (distractors) as well as detected images of a nondangerous animal (target) among arrays of dangerous animals (distractors). We found that participants were quicker to locate targets when the targets were dangerous animals compared with nondangerous animals, even when spatial frequency and luminance were controlled. The participants were slower to locate nondangerous targets because they spent more time looking at dangerous distractors, a process known as delayed disengagement, and looked at a larger number of dangerous distractors. These results indicate that dangerous animals capture and maintain attention in humans, suggesting that historical predation has shaped some facets of visual orienting and its underlying neural architecture in modern humans.

Maintaining the proper connection between the centrioles and the pericentriolar matrix requires Drosophila centrosomin.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Eliana P; Raff, Jordan W

2007-08-27

Centrosomes consist of two centrioles surrounded by an amorphous pericentriolar matrix (PCM), but it is unknown how centrioles and PCM are connected. We show that the centrioles in Drosophila embryos that lack the centrosomal protein Centrosomin (Cnn) can recruit PCM components but cannot maintain a proper attachment to the PCM. As a result, the centrioles "rocket" around in the embryo and often lose their connection to the nucleus in interphase and to the spindle poles in mitosis. This leads to severe mitotic defects in embryos and to errors in centriole segregation in somatic cells. The Cnn-related protein CDK5RAP2 is linked to microcephaly in humans, but cnn mutant brains are of normal size, and we observe only subtle defects in the asymmetric divisions of mutant neuroblasts. We conclude that Cnn maintains the proper connection between the centrioles and the PCM; this connection is required for accurate centriole segregation in somatic cells but is not essential for the asymmetric division of neuroblasts.

Dll1 maintains quiescence of adult neural stem cells and segregates asymmetrically during mitosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawaguchi, Daichi; Furutachi, Shohei; Kawai, Hiroki; Hozumi, Katsuto; Gotoh, Yukiko

2013-01-01

Stem cells often divide asymmetrically to produce one stem cell and one differentiating cell, thus maintaining the stem cell pool. Although neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult mouse subventricular zone have been suggested to divide asymmetrically, intrinsic cell fate determinants for asymmetric NSC division are largely unknown. Stem cell niches are important for stem cell maintenance, but the niche for the maintenance of adult quiescent NSCs has remained obscure. Here we show that the Notch ligand Delta-like 1 (Dll1) is required to maintain quiescent NSCs in the adult mouse subventricular zone. Dll1 protein is induced in activated NSCs and segregates to one daughter cell during mitosis. Dll1-expressing cells reside in close proximity to quiescent NSCs, suggesting a feedback signal for NSC maintenance by their sister cells and progeny. Our data suggest a model in which NSCs produce their own niche cells for their maintenance through asymmetric Dll1 inheritance at mitosis.

TIPE2, a negative regulator of innate and adaptive immunity that maintains immune homeostasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Honghong; Gong, Shunyou; Carmody, Ruaidhri J; Hilliard, Anja; Li, Li; Sun, Jing; Kong, Li; Xu, Lingyun; Hilliard, Brendan; Hu, Shimin; Shen, Hao; Yang, Xiaolu; Chen, Youhai H

2008-05-02

Immune homeostasis is essential for the normal functioning of the immune system, and its breakdown leads to fatal inflammatory diseases. We report here the identification of a member of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein-8 (TNFAIP8) family, designated TIPE2, that is required for maintaining immune homeostasis. TIPE2 is preferentially expressed in lymphoid tissues, and its deletion in mice leads to multiorgan inflammation, splenomegaly, and premature death. TIPE2-deficient animals are hypersensitive to septic shock, and TIPE2-deficient cells are hyper-responsive to Toll-like receptor (TLR) and T cell receptor (TCR) activation. Importantly, TIPE2 binds to caspase-8 and inhibits activating protein-1 and nuclear factor-kappaB activation while promoting Fas-induced apoptosis. Inhibiting caspase-8 significantly blocks the hyper-responsiveness of TIPE2-deficient cells. These results establish that TIPE2 is an essential negative regulator of TLR and TCR function, and its selective expression in the immune system prevents hyperresponsiveness and maintains immune homeostasis.

Robo4 maintains vessel integrity and inhibits angiogenesis by interacting with UNC5B.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Alexander W; Mathivet, Thomas; Larrivée, Bruno; Tong, Raymond K; Kowalski, Joe; Pibouin-Fragner, Laurence; Bouvrée, Karine; Stawicki, Scott; Nicholes, Katrina; Rathore, Nisha; Scales, Suzie J; Luis, Elizabeth; del Toro, Raquel; Freitas, Catarina; Bréant, Christiane; Michaud, Annie; Corvol, Pierre; Thomas, Jean-Léon; Wu, Yan; Peale, Franklin; Watts, Ryan J; Tessier-Lavigne, Marc; Bagri, Anil; Eichmann, Anne

2011-01-18

Robo4 is an endothelial cell-specific member of the Roundabout axon guidance receptor family. To identify Robo4 binding partners, we performed a protein-protein interaction screen with the Robo4 extracellular domain. We find that Robo4 specifically binds to UNC5B, a vascular Netrin receptor, revealing unexpected interactions between two endothelial guidance receptors. We show that Robo4 maintains vessel integrity by activating UNC5B, which inhibits signaling downstream of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Function-blocking monoclonal antibodies against Robo4 and UNC5B increase angiogenesis and disrupt vessel integrity. Soluble Robo4 protein inhibits VEGF-induced vessel permeability and rescues barrier defects in Robo4(-/-) mice, but not in mice treated with anti-UNC5B. Thus, Robo4-UNC5B signaling maintains vascular integrity by counteracting VEGF signaling in endothelial cells, identifying a novel function of guidance receptor interactions in the vasculature. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A comparison of categorization criteria used to define successful weight loss maintainers and regainers in the Look AHEAD and DPP trials

Science.gov (United States)

Introduction: While a variety of lifestyle interventions have resulted in successful weight loss, effective strategies to maintain weight loss are lacking, with many interventions reporting high rates of regain. Identifying characteristics of individuals who successfully maintained their weight afte...

25 CFR 900.53 - What kind of records shall the property management system maintain?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What kind of records shall the property management system... EDUCATION ASSISTANCE ACT Standards for Tribal or Tribal Organization Management Systems Property Management System Standards § 900.53 What kind of records shall the property management system maintain? The...

Desirable factors for maintaining normal BMI of urban affluent women of Delhi

OpenAIRE

Anu Taneja Gupta; Anupa Siddhu

2015-01-01

The study aimed to identify desirable social, familial, reproductive, dietary, and lifestyle factors for maintaining normal body mass index (BMI) of urban affluent women (25-45 years) in Delhi, India. A total of 387 urban affluent women with at least one living child participated in this cross-sectional study conducted from March 2008 to April 2010. Women were classified into four BMI categories on the basis of World Health Organization (WHO; 2004) classification for Asians. Significant facto...

Naked mole-rats maintain healthy skeletal muscle and Complex IV mitochondrial enzyme function into old age.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoll, Elizabeth A; Karapavlovic, Nevena; Rosa, Hannah; Woodmass, Michael; Rygiel, Karolina; White, Kathryn; Turnbull, Douglass M; Faulkes, Chris G

2016-12-19

The naked mole-rat (NMR) Heterocephalus glaber is an exceptionally long-lived rodent, living up to 32 years in captivity. This extended lifespan is accompanied by a phenotype of negligible senescence, a phenomenon of very slow changes in the expected physiological characteristics with age. One of the many consequences of normal aging in mammals is the devastating and progressive loss of skeletal muscle, termed sarcopenia, caused in part by respiratory enzyme dysfunction within the mitochondria of skeletal muscle fibers. Here we report that NMRs avoid sarcopenia for decades. Muscle fiber integrity and mitochondrial ultrastructure are largely maintained in aged animals. While mitochondrial Complex IV expression and activity remains stable, Complex I expression is significantly decreased. We show that aged naked mole-rat skeletal muscle tissue contains some mitochondrial DNA rearrangements, although the common mitochondrial DNA deletions associated with aging in human and other rodent skeletal muscles are not present. Interestingly, NMR skeletal muscle fibers demonstrate a significant increase in mitochondrial DNA copy number. These results have intriguing implications for the role of mitochondria in aging, suggesting Complex IV, but not Complex I, function is maintained in the long-lived naked mole rat, where sarcopenia is avoided and healthy muscle function is maintained for decades.

Re-emergence of rabies virus maintained by canid populations in Paraguay.

Science.gov (United States)

Amarilla, A C F; Pompei, J C A; Araujo, D B; Vázquez, F A; Galeano, R R; Delgado, L M; Bogado, G; Colman, M; Sanabria, L; Iamamoto, K; Garcia, R; Assis, D; Recalde, R; Martorelli, L F; Quiñones, E; Cabello, A; Martini, M; Cosivi, O; Durigon, E L; Favoretto, S R

2018-02-01

Paraguay has registered no human cases of rabies since 2004, and the last case in dogs, reported in 2009, was due to a variant maintained in the common vampire bat "Desmodus rotundus". In 2014, a dog was diagnosed as positive for rabies with aggression towards a boy and all required measures of control were successfully adopted. Epidemiological investigation revealed that the dog was not vaccinated and had been attacked by a crab-eating fox, "zorro" (Cerdocyon thous). The sample was diagnosed by the Official Veterinary Service of the Country and sent to the Center on Rabies Research from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, for antigenic and genetic characterization. A second sample from a dog positive for rabies in the same region in 2015 and 11 samples from a rabies outbreak from Asuncion in 1996 were also characterized. The antigenic profile of the samples, AgV2, was compatible with one of the variants maintained by dogs in Latin America. In genetic characterization, the samples segregated in the canine (domestic and wild species)-related group in an independent subgroup that also included samples from Argentina. These results and the epidemiology of the case indicate that even with the control of rabies in domestic animals, the virus can still circulate in wildlife and may be transmitted to domestic animals and humans, demonstrating the importance of continuous and improved surveillance and control of rabies, including in wild species, to prevent outbreaks in controlled areas. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

CYTOLOGY PULMONARY IN HORSES (EQUUS CABALLUS MAINTAINED THE FIELD OR STABLED

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. F. Fortes Júnior

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Tracheobronchial secretion was collected by endoscopy (Welch-AllynÒ, 200cm long and 9mm diameter, from equines with different ages, races and sex, for posterior cytological analysis. Thirty-six equines were divided into two groups (Group I = stabled, n = 18; Group II = field regimen, n = 18. Animals of Group I (age = 3.5 years were lodged in the Tarumã´s Jockey Club in Curitiba, Parana State. The equines of Group II always were maintained at field condition (never were stabled, in the farm located in Jacarezinho, Paraná State. Following endoscopic exams, tracheobronchial secretion smears were stained by Pappenhein´s method and submitted to cytological analysis. Group I had higher frequency of tracheal discharge than Group II. The cytological analysis showed more presence of macrophages (58.8%, foamy cells (2.3%, body giant cells (0.2%, neutrophils (4.57%, eosinophils (0.7% and Curshmann´s spirals (0.04% on 3 of the 18 animals. The cytological analysis of Group II showed higher frequency of ciliated epithelial cells than Group I, and no Curshmann´s spirals were observed. In conclusion, data showed that horses stabled had more cytological alterations than the animals maintained at field, therefore more tracheobronchial complications. Thus, the care of place where horse are stabled have influence on development of respiratory diseases, may predispose to affections as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage, as well athletic horses may be never reach their full respiratory potential.

Application of ELJ to create and maintain side channels in a dynamic gravel bed river

Science.gov (United States)

Crabbe, E.; Crowe Curran, J.; Ockelford, A.

2017-12-01

Braided and anastomosing rivers create and maintain a large amount of side channel habitat. Unfortunately, many rivers that were once multi-channel rivers have been constrained to single thread channels as a consequence of land use changes that occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries or earlier. An increasingly common management goal today is the re-creation of self-maintaining side and tributary habitat through as natural means as possible. This work examines the geomorphic history of one such channel and the success of recent rehabilitation efforts. Our case study comes from the South Fork Nooksack River in the Cascades Range in Washington State. The Nooksack River is a gravel and sand bed channel with a snowmelt dominated hydrograph. Engineered log jams (ELJ) have been employed to direct flow into side and chute channels with the larger goals of increasing overall channel complexity and salmon spawning opportunities. ELJs have been constructed on the channel since the 2000s, and the ELJs in the study reaches range in age up to 10 years. The size and design of individual jams within the reach vary, enabling a comparison between jam types. ELJs are evaluated for their ability to maintain gravel bar locations and open tributary channels through the snowmelt season over the reach scale. Additional goals of trapping wood onto the jams and existing bars, stabilizing channel banks, and allowing for the growth of bar vegetation are also examined.

4-twist helix snake to maintain polarization in multi-GeV proton rings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Antoulinakis

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Solenoid Siberian snakes have successfully maintained polarization in particle rings below 1 GeV, but never in multi-GeV rings, because the spin rotation by a solenoid is inversely proportional to the beam momentum. High energy rings, such as Brookhaven’s 255 GeV Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC, use only odd multiples of pairs of transverse B-field Siberian snakes directly opposite each other. When it became impractical to use a pair of Siberian Snakes in Fermilab’s 120  GeV/c Main Injector, we searched for a new type of single Siberian snake that could overcome all depolarizing resonances in the 8.9–120  GeV/c range. We found that a snake made of one 4-twist helix and 2 dipoles could maintain the polarization. This snake design could solve the long-standing problem of significant polarization loss during acceleration of polarized protons from a few GeV to tens of GeV, such as in the AGS, before injecting them into multi-hundred GeV rings, such as RHIC.

Maintaining Sexual Desire in Long-Term Relationships: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Mark, Kristen P; Lasslo, Julie A

The most universally experienced sexual response is sexual desire. Though research on this topic has increased in recent years, low and high desire are still problematized in clinical settings and the broader culture. However, despite knowledge that sexual desire ebbs and flows both within and between individuals, and that problems with sexual desire are strongly linked to problems with relationships, there is a critical gap in understanding the factors that contribute to maintaining sexual desire in the context of relationships. This article offers a systematic review of the literature to provide researchers, educators, clinicians, and the broader public with an overview and a conceptual model of nonclinical sexual desire in long-term relationships. First, we systematically identified peer-reviewed, English-language articles that focused on the maintenance of sexual desire in the context of nonclinical romantic relationships. Second, we reviewed a total of 64 articles that met inclusion criteria and synthesized them into factors using a socioecological framework categorized as individual, interpersonal, and societal in nature. These findings are used to build a conceptual model of maintaining sexual desire in long-term relationships. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the existing research and suggest clear directions for future research.

State Maintained Highways in Louisiana, UTM Zone 15 NAD83, LDOTD (2007) [state_highways_ldotd_2007

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This dataset represents the state maintained road network of Louisiana. The dataset includes Interstates, US highways, and Louisiana State Highways. This dataset was...

Gypsy endogenous retrovirus maintains potential infectivity in several species of Drosophilids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de Frutos Rosa

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sequences homologous to the gypsy retroelement from Drosophila melanogaster are widely distributed among drosophilids. The structure of gypsy includes an open reading frame resembling the retroviral gene env, which is responsible for the infectious properties of retroviruses. Results In this study we report molecular and phylogeny analysis of the complete env gene from ten species of the obscura group of the genus Drosophila and one species from the genus Scaptomyza. Conclusion The results indicate that in most cases env sequences could produce a functional Env protein and therefore maintain the infectious capability of gypsy in these species.

Jaw1/LRMP has a role in maintaining nuclear shape via interaction with SUN proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozono, Takuma; Tadahira, Kazuko; Okumura, Wataru; Itai, Nao; Tamura-Nakano, Miwa; Dohi, Taeko; Tonozuka, Takashi; Nishikawa, Atsushi

2018-06-06

Jaw1/LRMP is characterized as a type II integral membrane protein that is localized to endoplasmic reticulum (ER), however, its physiological functions have been poorly understood. An alignment of amino acid sequence of Jaw1 with KASH proteins, outer nuclear membrane proteins, revealed that Jaw1 has a partial homology to the KASH domain. Here, we show that the function of Jaw1 is to maintain nuclear shape in mouse melanoma cell line. The siRNA-mediated knockdown of Jaw1 caused a severe defect in nuclear shape, and the defect was rescued by ectopic expression of siRNA-resistant Jaw1. Since co-immunoprecipitation assay indicates that Jaw1 interacts with SUN proteins that are inner nuclear proteins and microtubules, this study suggests that Jaw1 has a role in maintaining nuclear shape via interactions with SUN proteins and microtubules.

30 CFR 250.109 - What documents must I prepare and maintain related to welding?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... related to welding? 250.109 Section 250.109 Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... Performance Standards § 250.109 What documents must I prepare and maintain related to welding? (a) You must submit a Welding Plan to the District Manager before you begin drilling or production activities on a...

Setting apart the amateur from the professional: maintaining the value of standardised representational photography.

Science.gov (United States)

Banks, Debbie

2014-10-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of standard representational photography in clinical photography and its aid in maintaining the gold standard in the medical illustration profession. it is important that professionals are aware of potential threats to good practice with many areas identified in the article.

Successful weight maintainers among young adults-A ten-year prospective population study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kärkkäinen, Ulla; Mustelin, Linda; Raevuori, Anu; Kaprio, Jaakko; Keski-Rahkonen, Anna

2018-03-07

To assess factors associated with successful weight maintenance over ten years in a prospective general population sample of young adults. Our study comprised 2452 women and 2227 men born in 1975-1979 (mean age at baseline 24 years, attrition 27.1%). Weight maintenance was defined as weight maintained within ±5% of baseline body mass index (BMI). We examined the role of various sociodemographic and lifestyle factors in successful weight maintenance. Relatively few young adults were able to maintain their weight over ten years (28.6% of women vs. 23.0% of men); net weight loss was uncommon (7.5% and 3.8%). Most participants gained weight (mean annual weight gain was 0.9 kg in women and 1.0 kg in men). Among women, exercise was associated with successful weight maintenance, but having two or more children, frequent use of sweet drinks, irregular eating, history of dieting (intentional weight loss) and low life satisfaction were associated with weight gain. Among men, higher baseline BMI and higher education were associated with successful weight maintenance, whereas irregular eating, history of dieting and smoking were associated with weight gain. Only about a quarter of young adults were able to resist weight gain. Regular eating and having no history of dieting were associated with successful weight maintenance in young women and men. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of irradiation on Babesia maintained in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irvin, A.D.; Young, E.R.; Adams, P.J.V.

1979-01-01

Blood infected with Babesia rodhaini, B major or B divergens was irradiated to different absorbed doses between 0 and 120 krad, and then maintained in vitro in the presence of 3 H hypoxanthine for 24 h. The effects of irradiation were measured by the ability of the parasites to incorporate 3 H hypoxanthine and, in the case of B rodhaini, by the ability of the parasite to infect mice. B major and B divergens were slightly more radioresistant than B rodhaini, but all showed a progressive fall in ability to incorporate 3 H hypoxanthine with increasing does of irradiation when there was increased uptake of 3 H hypoxanthine. In the case of B rodhaini there was close correlation between the ability of the parasites to incorporate 3 H hypoxanthine and their infectivity for mice. Both types of activity were abolished at doses of 40 krad and above. (author)

Lifelong physical activity in maintaining bone strength in older men and women of the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rianon, N J; Lang, T F; Sigurdsson, G; Eiriksdottir, G; Sigurdsson, S; Garcia, M; Pajala, S; Koster, A; Yu, B; Selwyn, B J; Taylor, W C; Kapadia, A S; Gudnason, V; Launer, L J; Harris, T B

2012-09-01

We examined if lifelong physical activity is important for maintaining bone strength in the elderly. Associations of quantitative computerized tomography-acquired bone measures (vertebral and femoral) and self-reported physical activity in mid-life (mean age, 50 years), in old age (≥65 years), and throughout life (recalled during old age) were investigated in 2,110 men and 2,682 women in the AGES-Reykjavik Study. Results conclude lifelong physical activity with continuation into old age (≥65 years) best maintains better bone health later in life. Skeletal loading is thought to modulate the loss of bone in later life, and physical activity is a chief means of affecting bone strength by skeletal loading. Despite much discussion regarding lifelong versus early adulthood physical activity for preventing bone loss later in life, inconsistency still exists regarding how to maintain bone mass later in life (≥65 years). We examined if lifelong physical activity is important for maintaining bone strength in the elderly. The associations of quantitative computerized tomography-acquired vertebral and femoral bone measures and self-reported physical activity in mid-life (mean age, 50 years), in old age (≥65 years), and throughout life (recalled during old age) were investigated in 2,110 men and 2,682 women in the AGES-Reykjavik Study. Our findings conclude that lifelong physical activity with continuation into old age (≥65 years) best maintains better bone health in the elderly.

How to Do More with Less: Handling an Increased Workload While Maintaining Human Capital Level

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Doerr, Jr., James C; Glazman, Emily

2008-01-01

...) and local situation with regard to "human capital." The DoD is particularly concerned with the issue of maintaining its knowledge base in the face of large numbers of workers retiring and with an ever-increasing and increasingly complex workload...

Phosphoproteome profiling reveals critical role of JAK-STAT signaling in maintaining chemoresistance in breast cancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nascimento, A.S. (Augusto S.); Peres, L.L. (Luisa L.); Faria, A.V.S. (Alessandra V.S.); R. Milani (Renato); R.A. Fraga-Silva (Rodrigo); Fernandes, C.C. (Celio da Costa); M.P. Peppelenbosch (Maikel); Ferreira-Halder, C.V. (Carmen V.); W.F. Zambuzzi (Willian)

2017-01-01

textabstractBreast cancer is responsible for 25% of cancer cases and 15% of cancer death among women. Treatment is usually prolonged and hampered by the development of chemoresistance. The molecular mechanisms maintaining the chemoresistant phenotype remains, however, largely obscure. As kinase

Maintaining K+ balance on the low-Na+, high-K+ diet

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelius, Ryan J.; Wang, Bangchen; Wang-France, Jun

2016-01-01

A low-Na+, high-K+ diet (LNaHK) is considered a healthier alternative to the “Western” high-Na+ diet. Because the mechanism for K+ secretion involves Na+ reabsorptive exchange for secreted K+ in the distal nephron, it is not understood how K+ is eliminated with such low Na+ intake. Animals on a LNaHK diet produce an alkaline load, high urinary flows, and markedly elevated plasma ANG II and aldosterone levels to maintain their K+ balance. Recent studies have revealed a potential mechanism involving the actions of alkalosis, urinary flow, elevated ANG II, and aldosterone on two types of K+ channels, renal outer medullary K+ and large-conductance K+ channels, located in principal and intercalated cells. Here, we review these recent advances. PMID:26739887

The role of lactobacilli and probiotics in maintaining vaginal health.

Science.gov (United States)

Borges, Sandra; Silva, Joana; Teixeira, Paula

2014-03-01

The vaginal microbiota of healthy women consists typically of a diversity of anaerobic and aerobic microorganisms. Lactobacilli are the most prevalent and often numerically dominant microorganisms and are relevant as a barrier to infection. The capacity of lactobacilli to adhere and compete for adhesion sites in the vaginal epithelium and the capacity to produce antimicrobial compounds (hydrogen peroxide, lactic acid, bacteriocin-like substances), are important in the impairment of colonization by pathogens. This review summarizes the role of lactic acid bacteria in preventing illness of the host, including bacterial vaginosis, yeast vaginitis, urinary tract infection and sexually transmitted diseases. The administration of probiotics that colonize the vaginal tract can be important in maintaining a normal urogenital health and also to prevent or treat infections.

Beaver dams maintain fish biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity throughout a low-gradient stream network

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Joseph M.; Mather, Martha E.

2013-01-01

Understanding the relationship between heterogeneity and biodiversity is an active focus of ecological research. Although habitat heterogeneity is conceptually linked to biodiversity, the amount and configuration of heterogeneity that maintains biodiversity within ecosystems is not well understood, especially for an entire stream network.

Interventions for maintaining nasogastric feeding after stroke: An integrative review of effectiveness and acceptability.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahoney, Catherine; Veitch, Linda

2018-02-01

To investigate the effectiveness and acceptability of interventions for maintaining nasogastric tubes in adult stroke patients. Internationally, incidence of cerebral vascular disease continues to increase and stroke is the largest cause of complex disability in adults. Dysphagia is common following a stroke which necessitates feeding via a nasogastric tube. Nasogastric tubes are not well tolerated by stroke patients and may be frequently dislodged. Hence, interventions such as tape, the nasal bridle/loop or hand mittens may be used to maintain nasogastric tube position. However, evidence around the effectiveness and acceptability of these interventions has not been reviewed and synthesised. Integrative literature review. Database searches in MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane and EMBASE; manual reference list searches. Seven studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Evidence for the effectiveness of nasal bridle/loop and hand mittens to maintain nasogastric tube position in patients after a stroke is spare and methodologically poor, and especially limited around hand mittens use. There is insufficient evidence about the acceptability of both nasal bridle/loop and hand mittens among stroke patients. Current clinical practice is underpinned by assumptions around the acceptability of nasal bridle/loop and hand mittens to secure nasogastric tubes. This results in reliance on consensual judgement between professional, patients and their families to guide their use among individuals with dysphagia after stroke. Further research is required to assess the effectiveness of hand mittens and acceptability of both nasal bridle/loop and hand mittens among stroke patients to inform guideline development. Given the lack of evidence on the acceptability of hand mittens and nasal bridle/loop among stroke patients to inform evidence-based guidelines and protocols, healthcare professionals should reach consensus on their use by exercising clinical

Maintaining Parental Involvement in Their Children's Education: Examining Parent and Teacher Perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Ailia S.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of teachers and parents and factors that developed and maintained parental involvement among middle and high school parents. The research included eight teachers (four middle school teachers and four high school teachers) and eight parents (four whose children were in middle school and four…

Maintaining Work: The Influence of Child Care Subsidies on Child Care-Related Work Disruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Forry, Nicole D.; Hofferth, Sandra L.

2011-01-01

With the passage of welfare reform, support for low-income parents to not only obtain but also maintain work has become imperative. The role of child care subsidies in supporting parents' job tenure has received little attention in the literature. This article examines the association between receiving a child care subsidy and experiencing a child…

Extension of supercontinuum spectrum, generated in polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber, using chirped femtosecond pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Vengelis, Julius; Jarutis, Vygandas; Sirutkaitis, Valdas

2018-01-01

We present results of experimental and numerical investigation of supercontinuum (SC) generation in polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PCF) using chirped femtosecond pulses. The initial unchirped pump pulse source was a mode-locked Yb:KGW laser generating 52-nJ energy, 110-fs duration pulses at 1030 nm with a 76-MHz repetition rate. The nonlinear medium was a 32-cm-long polarization-maintaining PCF manufactured by NKT Photonics A/S. We demonstrated the influence of pump pulse chirp on spectral characteristics of a SC. We showed that by chirping pump pulses positively or negatively one can obtain a broader SC spectrum than in the case of unchirped pump pulses at the same peak power. Moreover, the extension can be controlled by changing the amount of pump pulse chirp. Numerical simulation results also indicated that pump pulse chirp yields an extension of SC spectrum.

Minimum recommended physical activity, and perceived barriers and benefits of exercise in methadone maintained persons.

Science.gov (United States)

Caviness, Celeste M; Bird, Jessica L; Anderson, Bradley J; Abrantes, Ana M; Stein, Michael D

2013-04-01

Methadone-maintained persons are at increased risk for many physical and mental health disorders compared to the general population. Increased physical activity could offset these risks. We assessed physical activity level, and perceived benefits and barriers to exercise in a group of 305 methadone-maintained smokers. Mean participant age was 39.9 years, 50.2% were male, 79.7% were non-Hispanic White, and mean body mass index was 29.8. Nearly 45% endorsed fair or poor physical health. Although participants perceived many benefits of exercise and few barriers, only 38% of participants met weekly recommendations for physical activity, and nearly 25% reported no physical activity. Those who met recommended guidelines were significantly more likely to endorse relapse prevention as a benefit of exercise. Motivating MMT patients to increase physical activity could have important physical, mental health, and drug treatment benefits. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Strategies for maintaining emotional stability: The case of nurses in private health care industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pushpika Subhashinie Mullakanda

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study examines the emotional intelligence (EI of nurses by differentiating inter-personal and intra-personal dimensions, and explores the measures taken by them to maintain emotional stability. Further, it investigates the relationship of demographic factors (age, gender and year of experience of nurses with their emotional stability. The case organization is a well performing private hospital located closer to the metropolitan city. Study collects data through both quantitative (survey and qualitative means (discussion, observation, and interviews using a sample of 40 nurses selected conveniently from different ranks. The study finds that the level of EI of nurses in case hospital is slightly high, and their inter-personal skills are higher than intra-personal skills. They maintain emotional stability by means of emotion gaps, emotional shifts and sharing. Findings suggest that both inter-personal and intra-personal dimensions of EI will not be equally important for nurses in dealing with patients, and the level of EI required in the job is not equal among different ranks of nurses.

Patterns of Expression of Vaginal T-Cell Activation Markers during Estrogen-Maintained Vaginal Candidiasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al-Sadeq Ameera

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The immunosuppressive activity of estrogen was further investigated by assessing the pattern of expression of CD25, CD28, CD69, and CD152 on vaginal T cells during estrogen-maintained vaginal candidiasis. A precipitous and significant decrease in vaginal fungal burden toward the end of week 3 postinfection was concurrent with a significant increase in vaginal lymphocyte numbers. During this period, the percentage of CD3+, CD3+CD4+, CD152+, and CD28+ vaginal T cells gradually and significantly increased. The percentage of CD3+ and CD3+CD4+ cells increased from 43% and 15% at day 0 to 77% and 40% at day 28 postinfection. Compared with 29% CD152+ vaginal T cells in naive mice, > 70% of vaginal T cells were CD152+ at day 28 postinfection. In conclusion, estrogen-maintained vaginal candidiasis results in postinfection time-dependent changes in the pattern of expression of CD152, CD28, and other T-cell markers, suggesting that T cells are subject to mixed suppression and activation signals.

In Vitro Culture Conditions for Maintaining a Complex Population of Human Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiota

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bong-Soo Kim

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A stable intestinal microbiota is important in maintaining human physiology and health. Although there have been a number of studies using in vitro and in vivo approaches to determine the impact of diet and xenobiotics on intestinal microbiota, there is no consensus for the best in vitro culture conditions for growth of the human gastrointestinal microbiota. To investigate the dynamics and activities of intestinal microbiota, it is important for the culture conditions to support the growth of a wide range of intestinal bacteria and maintain a complex microbial community representative of the human gastrointestinal tract. Here, we compared the bacterial community in three culture media: brain heart infusion broth and high- and low-carbohydrate medium with different growth supplements. The bacterial community was analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE, pyrosequencing and real-time PCR. Based on the molecular analysis, this study indicated that the 3% fecal inoculum in low-concentration carbohydrate medium with 1% autoclaved fecal supernatant provided enhanced growth conditions to conduct in vitro studies representative of the human intestinal microbiota.

GABA-independent GABAA Receptor Openings Maintain Tonic Currents

Science.gov (United States)

Wlodarczyk, Agnieszka I.; Sylantyev, Sergiy; Herd, Murray B.; Kersanté, Flavie; Lambert, Jeremy J.; Rusakov, Dmitri A.; Linthorst, Astrid C.E.; Semyanov, Alexey; Belelli, Delia; Pavlov, Ivan; Walker, Matthew C.

2013-01-01

Activation of GABAA receptors (GABAARs) produces two forms of inhibition: ‘phasic’ inhibition generated by the rapid, transient activation of synaptic GABAARs by presynaptic GABA release, and tonic inhibition generated by the persistent activation of peri- or extrasynaptic GABAARs which can detect extracellular GABA. Such tonic GABAAR-mediated currents are particularly evident in dentate granule cells in which they play a major role in regulating cell excitability. Here we show that in rat dentate granule cells in ex-vivo hippocampal slices, tonic currents are predominantly generated by GABA-independent GABAA receptor openings. This tonic GABAAR conductance is resistant to the competitive GABAAR antagonist SR95531, which at high concentrations acts as a partial agonist, but can be blocked by an open channel blocker picrotoxin. When slices are perfused with 200 nM GABA, a concentration that is comparable to cerebrospinal fluid concentrations but is twice that measured by us in the hippocampus in vivo using zero-net-flux microdialysis, negligible GABA is detected by dentate granule cells. Spontaneously opening GABAARs, therefore, maintain dentate granule cell tonic currents in the face of low extracellular GABA concentrations. PMID:23447601

Strategies to maintain health in the Third World.

Science.gov (United States)

Korte, R; Rehle, T; Merkle, A

1991-12-01

International cooperation with Third World countries aims at reducing the high morbidity and mortality of the population to a tolerable level. The main health problems are caused by poverty. Thus, the range of diseases in tropical countries can be explained more readily by the socio-economic situation than solely by the climate. Health services, in Africa in particular, have had to reduce drastically their budgets in the last ten years and now have only approximately 1/1000th of the funds usually available in industrialised countries. High population growth reduces the resources available per head, increases infection potential and worsens living conditions. Control strategies must take account of these circumstances in order to achieve the required sustained effect within the framework of primary health care. The example of the control of several infectious diseases, such as schistosomiasis, pneumonia, malaria and AIDS, is used to show that control programmes can be effective but, in the current conditions, can hardly be maintained without outside support. In the future, diseases caused by environmental problems and new life styles as a result of industrialization, urbanization and slum growth will move dramatically into the foreground.

Dangerous Animals Capture and Maintain Attention in Humans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica L. Yorzinski

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Predation is a major source of natural selection on primates and may have shaped attentional processes that allow primates to rapidly detect dangerous animals. Because ancestral humans were subjected to predation, a process that continues at very low frequencies, we examined the visual processes by which men and women detect dangerous animals (snakes and lions. We recorded the eye movements of participants as they detected images of a dangerous animal (target among arrays of nondangerous animals (distractors as well as detected images of a nondangerous animal (target among arrays of dangerous animals (distractors. We found that participants were quicker to locate targets when the targets were dangerous animals compared with nondangerous animals, even when spatial frequency and luminance were controlled. The participants were slower to locate nondangerous targets because they spent more time looking at dangerous distractors, a process known as delayed disengagement, and looked at a larger number of dangerous distractors. These results indicate that dangerous animals capture and maintain attention in humans, suggesting that historical predation has shaped some facets of visual orienting and its underlying neural architecture in modern humans.

Operating philosophy for maintaining occupational radiation exposures as low as is reasonably achievable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-09-01

Both this guide and Regulatory Guide 8.8, ''Information Relevant to Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposure as Low as is Reasonably Achievable (Nuclear Power Reactors),'' deal with the concept of ''as low as is reasonably achievable'' occupational exposures to radiation. This guide describes an operating philosophy that the NRC staff believes all specific licensees should follow to keep occupational exposures to radiation as low as is reasonably achievable. (auth)

Modernizing and Maintaining Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naser, Joseph; Torok, Raymond; Shankar, Ramesh

2003-01-01

Deregulation of the electric utilities has made a major impact on nuclear power plants. To be competitive, more emphasis is being put on cost-effective production of electricity with a more critical look at whether a system should be modernized due to obsolescence, reliability, or productivity concerns. Instrumentation and control (I and C) systems play an important role in reducing the cost of producing electricity while maintaining or enhancing safety. Systems that are well designed, reliable, enhance productivity, and are cost-effective to operate and maintain can reduce the overall costs. Modern technology with its ability to better provide and use real-time information offers an effective platform for modernizing systems. At the same time, new technology brings new challenges and issues, especially for safety systems in nuclear power plants. To increase competitiveness, it is important to take advantage of the opportunities offered by modern technology and to address the new challenges and issues in a cost-effective manner. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and its member utilities have been working together with other members of the nuclear industry since 1990 to address I and C modernization and maintenance issues. The EPRI I and C Program has developed a life-cycle management approach for I and C systems that involves the optimization of maintenance, monitoring, and capital resources to sustain safety and performance throughout the plant life. Strategic planning methodologies and implementation guidelines addressing digital I and C issues in nuclear power plants have been developed. Work is ongoing in diverse areas to support the design, implementation, and operation of new digital systems. Technology transfer is an integral part of this I and C program

On the theory of non-self-maintained low voltage arc discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shcherbinin, P.P.; Cherednichenko, Yu.G.

1980-01-01

In the approximation of constant temperature of plasma electrons for two emitter temperatures 1440 and 1830 K calculated are the volt-ampere characteristics and components of the voltage internal drop in a thermionic converter in the cases of self-maintained discharge in cesium and with an external source of atom ionization and electron heating. It is obtained, that using an external ionization source the decrease of voltage drop in the interelectrode gap with account of ionization energy constitutes about 0.1 V. Electron heating is not effective. For further reduction of voltage losses it is necessary to search for ways for decreasing electron Coulomb scattering on ions

Advanced digital technology - improving nuclear power plant performance through maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, J.L.; Senechal, R.R.; Altenhein, G.D.; Harvey, R.P.

1998-01-01

In today's energy sector there is ever increasing pressure on utilities to operate power plants at high capacity factors. To ensure nuclear power is competitive into the next century, it is imperative that strategic design improvements be made to enhance the performance of nuclear power plants. There are a number of factors that affect a nuclear power plant's performance; lifetime maintenance is one of the major contributors. The maturing of digital technology has afforded ABB the opportunity to make significant design improvements in the area of maintainability. In keeping with ABB's evolutionary advanced nuclear plant design approach, digital technology has systematically been incorporated into the control and protection systems of the most recent Korean nuclear units in operation and under construction. One example of this was the multi-functional design team approach that was utilized for the development of ABB's Digital Plant Protection System (DPPS). The design team consisted of engineers, maintenance technicians, procurement specialists and manufacturing personnel in order to provide a complete perspective on all facets of the design. The governing design goals of increased reliability and safety, simplicity of design, use of off-the-shelf products and reduced need for periodic surveillance testing were met with the selection of proven ABB-Advant Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) as the heart of the DPPS. The application of digital PLC technology allows operation for extended periods without requiring routine maintenance or re-calibration. A well documented commercial dedication program approved by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) as part of the System 80+ TM Advanced Light Water Reactor Design Certification Program, allowed the use of off-the shelf products in the design of the safety protection system. In addition, a number of mechanical and electrical improvements were made which support maintainability. The result is a DPPS

Pacific Northwest Laboratory plan to maintain radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higby, D.P.; Denovan, J.T.

1982-12-01

This document describes the radiation safety program at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). The practices and administrative policies of this program support the principles of ALARA (to maintain radiation exposure as low as reasonably achievable). This document also describes a program to establish safety goals at PNL to help ensure that operations are conducted according to ALARA principles

Development of new ultrafiltration techniques maintaining in-situ hydrochemical conditions for colloidal study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aosai, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Yuhei; Mizuno, Takashi

2011-01-01

Chemical state of elements in groundwater is one of the most important information for understanding behavior of elements in underground environment. Chemical state of elements controlled mainly by groundwater physico-chemical parameters. Because the change of physico-chemical parameters of groundwater, due to pressure release and oxidation during sampling, causes changes in chemical state of elements, systematic methodologies for understanding in situ chemical state is required. In this study, in order to understand chemical state of elements in groundwater, an ultrafiltration instrument for maintaining in-situ pressure and anaerobic conditions was developed. The instrument developed in this study for ultrafiltration made of passivated Stainless Used Steel (SUS) materials, was designed to keep groundwater samples maintaining in-situ pressure/anaerobic conditions. Ultrafiltration of groundwater was conducted at a borehole drilled from the 200 mbGL (meters below ground level) Sub-stage at a depth of 200 m at the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory. Chemical analyses of groundwater were also conducted using samples filtered under both pressurized/anaerobic and atmospheric conditions and passivated SUS materials with different elapsed times after passivation. The results indicate that our ultrafiltration method is suitable for collection of filtered groundwater and passivation is an essential treatment before ultrafiltration. (author)

Seniors' self-preservation by maintaining established self and defying deterioration - A grounded theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, Jeanette Källstrand; Hildingh, Cathrine; Buer, Nina; Thulesius, Hans

2016-01-01

The purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to understand how seniors who are living independently resolve issues influenced by visual impairment and high fall risk. We interviewed and observed 13 seniors with visual impairment in their homes. We also interviewed six visual instructors with experience from many hundreds of relevant incidents from the same group of seniors. We found that the seniors are resolving their main concern of "remaining themselves as who they used to be" by self-preservation. Within this category, the strategies maintaining the established self and defying deterioration emerged as the most prominent in our data. The theme maintaining the established self is mostly guided by change inertia and includes living the past (retaining past activities, reminiscing, and keeping the home intact) and facading (hiding impairment, leading to avoidance of becoming a burden and to risk juggling). Defying deterioration is a proactive scheme and involves moving (by exercising, adapting activities, using walking aids, driving), adapting (by finding new ways), and networking by sustaining old support networks or finding new networks. Self-preservation is generic human behavior and modifying this theory to other fields may therefore be worthwhile. In addition, health care providers may have use for the theory in fall preventive planning.

Studies of Growth Rate of Limousine Calves Maintained on Pasture and Free Stabulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Parvu

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The aim was to monitor the growth process from birth to weaning (six months old of the females and males Limousine calves maintained on pasture or free stabulation. The research was performed in a private farm situated in Covasna County. In this farm, the rearing of the calves was done without there being a technological guide. The calves had been grown along with the mother cows. The introduction of vegetal food into the calves ration is done at 3 weeks old. In the first period (one month old, all calves were housed in stabulation, having free access to the paddock. The daily gain was 666.7 g at females and 800 g at males. In the second period (from one month old until weaning, a group was maintained on pasture, and the other group in free stabulation. The daily gain was 1120 g at females and 1200 g at males on pasture; 1067 g and respectively 1140 g in stabulation. The stress of weaning was present only to the young females; for ten days, these were restlessness, having the desire for sucking and the appetite for food has decreased. Their bodyweight has decreased with 12%, the differences being significant (p≤0.05.

Guided bone augmentation using ceramic space-maintaining devices: the impact of chemistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anderud J

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Jonas Anderud,1,2 Peter Abrahamsson,2 Ryo Jimbo,1 Sten Isaksson,2 Erik Adolfsson,3 Johan Malmström,2 Yoshihito Naito,4 Ann Wennerberg1 1Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden; 2Maxillofacial Unit Halmstad, Region Halland, Halmstad, Sweden; 3Swedish Ceramic Institute, IVF, Mölndal, Sweden; 4Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Prosthodontics and Oral Implantology, Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan Abstract: The purpose of the study was to evaluate histologically, whether vertical bone augmentation can be achieved using a hollow ceramic space maintaining device in a rabbit calvaria model. Furthermore, the chemistry of microporous hydroxyapatite and zirconia were tested to determine which of these two ceramics are most suitable for guided bone generation. 24 hollow domes in two different ceramic materials were placed subperiosteal on rabbit skull bone. The rabbits were sacrificed after 12 weeks and the histology results were analyzed regarding bone-to-material contact and volume of newly formed bone. The results suggest that the effect of the microporous structure of hydroxyapatite seems to facilitate for the bone cells to adhere to the material and that zirconia enhance a slightly larger volume of newly formed bone. In conclusion, the results of the current study demonstrated that ceramic space maintaining devices permits new bone formation and osteoconduction within the dome. Keywords: hydroxyapatite, zirconia, guided bone regeneration, GBR, histology, membrane

Stable Dual-Wavelength Fibre Laser with Bragg Gratings Fabricated in a Polarization-Maintaining Erbium-Doped Fibre

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Wang; Feng-Ping, Yan; Xiang-Qiao, Mao; Shui-Sheng, Jian

2008-01-01

A new polarization-independent dual-wavelength fibre laser by fabricating a uniform FBG and a chirped FBG in a polarization-maintaining erbium-doped fibre (PM-EDF) is proposed and demonstrated. The wavelength spacing is 0.18nm and the optical signal-to-noise ratio is greater than 50dB with pump power of 246mW. Chirped FBG is used to make the reflectivity wavelengths of two PM-FBGs match easier. Since both EDF and FBGs are polarization-maintaining without splices and the two wavelengths are polarization-independent, the maximum amplitude variation and wavelength shifts for both lasing wavelength with 3-min intervals over a period of six hours are less than 0.2 dB and 0.005 nm, respectively, which shows stable dual-wavelength output

Making and maintaining lifestyle changes after participating in group based type 2 diabetes self-management educations: a qualitative study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marit B Rise

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Disease management is crucial in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes self-management education aims to provide the knowledge necessary to make and maintain lifestyle changes. However, few studies have investigated the processes after such courses. The aim of this study was to investigate how participants make and maintain lifestyle changes after participating in group-based type 2 diabetes self-management education. METHODS: Data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews with 23 patients who attended educational group programs in Central Norway. The participants were asked how they had used the advice given and what they had changed after the course. RESULTS: Knowledge was essential for making lifestyle changes following education. Three factors affected whether lifestyle changes were implemented: obtaining new knowledge, taking responsibility, and receiving confirmation of an already healthy lifestyle. Four factors motivated individuals to maintain changes: support from others, experiencing an effect, fear of complications, and the formation of new habits. CONCLUSION: Knowledge was used to make and maintain changes in diet, medication and physical activity. Knowledge also acted as confirmation of an already adequate lifestyle. Knowledge led to no changes if diabetes appeared "not that scary" or if changes appeared too time consuming. Those involved in diabetes education need to be aware of the challenges in convincing asymptomatic patients about the benefits of adherence to self-management behaviour.

Blockade of intracellular Zn2+ signaling in the dentate gyrus erases recognition memory via impairment of maintained LTP.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamano, Haruna; Minamino, Tatsuya; Fujii, Hiroaki; Takada, Shunsuke; Nakamura, Masatoshi; Ando, Masaki; Takeda, Atsushi

2015-08-01

There is no evidence on the precise role of synaptic Zn2+ signaling on the retention and recall of recognition memory. On the basis of the findings that intracellular Zn2+ signaling in the dentate gyrus is required for object recognition, short-term memory, the present study deals with the effect of spatiotemporally blocking Zn2+ signaling in the dentate gyrus after LTP induction and learning. Three-day-maintained LTP was impaired 1 day after injection of clioquinol into the dentate gyrus, which transiently reduced intracellular Zn2+ signaling in the dentate gyrus. The irreversible impairment was rescued not only by co-injection of ZnCl2 , which ameliorated the loss of Zn2+ signaling, but also by pre-injection of Jasplakinolide, a stabilizer of F-actin, prior to clioquinol injection. Simultaneously, 3-day-old space recognition memory was impaired 1 day after injection of clioquinol into the dentate gyrus, but not by pre-injection of Jasplakinolide. Jasplakinolide also rescued both impairments of 3-day-maintained LTP and 3-day-old memory after injection of ZnAF-2DA into the dentate gyrus, which blocked intracellular Zn2+ signaling in the dentate gyrus. The present paper indicates that the blockade and/or loss of intracellular Zn2+ signaling in the dentate gyrus coincidently impair maintained LTP and recognition memory. The mechanism maintaining LTP via intracellular Zn2+ signaling in dentate granule cells, which may be involved in the formation of F-actin, may retain space recognition memory. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Human factors design guidelines for maintainability of Department of Energy nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bongarra, J.P. Jr.; VanCott, H.P.; Pain, R.F.; Peterson, L.R.; Wallace, R.I.

1985-06-18

Intent of these guidelines is to provide design and design review teams of DOE nuclear facilities with human factors principles to enhance the design and aid in the inspection of DOE nuclear facilities, systems, and equipment. These guidelines are concerned with design features of DOE nuclear facilities which can potentially affect preventive and corrective maintenance of systems within DOE nuclear facilities. Maintenance includes inspecting, checking, troubleshooting, adjusting, replacing, repairing, and servicing activities. Other factors which influence maintainability such as repair and maintenance suport facilities, maintenance information, and various aspects of the environment are also addressed.

Human factors design guidelines for maintainability of Department of Energy nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bongarra, J.P. Jr.; VanCott, H.P.; Pain, R.F.; Peterson, L.R.; Wallace, R.I.

1985-01-01

Intent of these guidelines is to provide design and design review teams of DOE nuclear facilities with human factors principles to enhance the design and aid in the inspection of DOE nuclear facilities, systems, and equipment. These guidelines are concerned with design features of DOE nuclear facilities which can potentially affect preventive and corrective maintenance of systems within DOE nuclear facilities. Maintenance includes inspecting, checking, troubleshooting, adjusting, replacing, repairing, and servicing activities. Other factors which influence maintainability such as repair and maintenance suport facilities, maintenance information, and various aspects of the environment are also addressed

Embedding Knowledge Processes to Maintain Service Levels and Efficiency in a Growing Software Service Firm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oostdam, M.; Verburg, R.M.; Lobbezoo, M.

2013-01-01

Software service firms are challenged to maintain high service levels and to innovate at the same time. Therefore, valuable human resources need often to be balanced between innovation and operations related activities. In this paper we describe how such as a firm deals with these issues by

76 FR 51041 - Hemoglobin Standards and Maintaining Adequate Iron Stores in Blood Donors; Public Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-17

...] Hemoglobin Standards and Maintaining Adequate Iron Stores in Blood Donors; Public Workshop AGENCY: Food and... Donors.'' The purpose of this public workshop is to discuss blood donor hemoglobin and hematocrit qualification standards in the United States, its impact on donor safety and blood availability, and potential...

Codes maintained by the LAACG [Los Alamos Accelerator Code Group] at the NMFECC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallace, R.; Barts, T.

1990-01-01

The Los Alamos Accelerator Code Group (LAACG) maintains two groups of design codes at the National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computing Center (NMFECC). These codes, principally electromagnetic field solvers, are used for the analysis and design of electromagnetic components for accelerators, e.g., magnets, rf structures, pickups, etc. In this paper, the status and future of the installed codes will be discussed with emphasis on an experimental version of one set of codes, POISSON/SUPERFISH

Ergothioneine Maintains Redox and Bioenergetic Homeostasis Essential for Drug Susceptibility and Virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vikram Saini

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The mechanisms by which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb maintains metabolic equilibrium to survive during infection and upon exposure to antimycobacterial drugs are poorly characterized. Ergothioneine (EGT and mycothiol (MSH are the major redox buffers present in Mtb, but the contribution of EGT to Mtb redox homeostasis and virulence remains unknown. We report that Mtb WhiB3, a 4Fe-4S redox sensor protein, regulates EGT production and maintains bioenergetic homeostasis. We show that central carbon metabolism and lipid precursors regulate EGT production and that EGT modulates drug sensitivity. Notably, EGT and MSH are both essential for redox and bioenergetic homeostasis. Transcriptomic analyses of EGT and MSH mutants indicate overlapping but distinct functions of EGT and MSH. Last, we show that EGT is critical for Mtb survival in both macrophages and mice. This study has uncovered a dynamic balance between Mtb redox and bioenergetic homeostasis, which critically influences Mtb drug susceptibility and pathogenicity.

Maintaining knife sharpness in industrial meat cutting: A matter of knife or meat cutter ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Karltun, J; Vogel, K; Bergstrand, M; Eklund, J

2016-09-01

Knife sharpness is imperative in meat cutting. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of knife blade steel quality with meat cutters' individual ability to maintain the cutting edge sharp in an industrial production setting. Twelve meat cutters in two different companies using three different knives during normal production were studied in this quasi-experimental study. Methods included were measuring knife cutting force before and after knife use, time knives were used, ratings of sharpness and discomfort and interviews. Results showed that the meat cutters' skill of maintaining sharpness during work had a much larger effect on knife sharpness during work than the knife steel differences. The ability was also related to feelings of discomfort and to physical exertion. It was found that meat cutters using more knives were more likely to suffer from discomfort in the upper limbs, which is a risk for developing MSD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Immunoprotective capability of somatic hybrid cells in comparison with parental tumor cells maintained in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizushima, Yutaka; Cohen, E.P.

1985-01-01

The immunogenicity of X-irradiated hybrid cells derived from fusion of ASL-1 leukemia (A origin) and LM (TK - ) fibroblasts (C3H origin) was compared to X-irradiated parental ASL-1 leukemia cells maintained in vivo (V-ASL-1) and to X-irradiated ASL-1 leukemia cells maintained in vitro (C-ASL-1). Immunization with hybrid cells induced transplantation resistance against tumor rechallenge with V-ASL-1 more effectively than did immunization with V-ASL-1 tumor cells. Immunization with X-irradiated C-ASL-1 cells produced the same, or slightly stronger level of transplantation resistance than that with X-irradiated hybrid cells. These findings were observed both in A/J and in (C3H/HeJxA/J) F 1 mice. These results raise a question about whether the apparent increased immunogenicity of hybrid cells is due to a result of cell fusion or a result of their growth in vitro. (author)

Complementary effect of natural and sexual selection against immigrants maintains differentiation between locally adapted fish

Science.gov (United States)

Plath, Martin; Riesch, Rüdiger; Oranth, Alexandra; Dzienko, Justina; Karau, Nora; Schießl, Angela; Stadler, Stefan; Wigh, Adriana; Zimmer, Claudia; Arias-Rodriguez, Lenin; Schlupp, Ingo; Tobler, Michael

2010-08-01

Adaptation to ecologically heterogeneous environments can drive speciation. But what mechanisms maintain reproductive isolation among locally adapted populations? Using poeciliid fishes in a system with naturally occurring toxic hydrogen sulfide, we show that (a) fish from non-sulfidic sites ( Poecilia mexicana) show high mortality (95 %) after 24 h when exposed to the toxicant, while locally adapted fish from sulfidic sites ( Poecilia sulphuraria) experience low mortality (13 %) when transferred to non-sulfidic water. (b) Mate choice tests revealed that P. mexicana females exhibit a preference for conspecific males in non-sulfidic water, but not in sulfidic water, whereas P. sulphuraria females never showed a preference. Increased costs of mate choice in sulfidic, hypoxic water, and the lack of selection for reinforcement due to the low survival of P. mexicana may explain the absence of a preference in P. sulphuraria females. Taken together, our study may be the first to demonstrate independent—but complementary—effects of natural and sexual selection against immigrants maintaining differentiation between locally adapted fish populations.

Maintaining an outward image: a Korean immigrant's life with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Pistulka, Gina M; Winch, Peter J; Park, Hyunjeong; Han, Hae-Ra; Kim, Miyong T

2012-06-01

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) disproportionately affect minority populations in the United States, including Korean American immigrants (KAI). We conducted qualitative interviews with middle-aged KAI in Maryland living with DM and HTN to examine the illness experience to inform future intervention strategies. Study results show that participants utilized strategies to maintain respect and Korean identity, including an image of being healthy and in control of their behavior in the public arena. These strategies included the lack of disclosure of their illness, even to family members, and avoiding outside assistance when engaging in problem solving. Maintaining an outward image of health was a common goal that affected the self-care of KAI in this study, a finding that might prove significant in the management of other chronic illnesses affecting this population. The study findings demonstrate the importance of in-depth understanding of specific populations when treating chronic illness, and caretakers' sensitivity to each population's unique cultural issues regarding identity, image, and disclosure.

Physical objects as vehicles of cultural transmission: maintaining harmony and uniqueness through colored geometric patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishii, Keiko; Miyamoto, Yuri; Rule, Nicholas O; Toriyama, Rie

2014-02-01

We examined how cultural values of harmony and uniqueness are represented and maintained through physical media (i.e., colorings of geometric patterns) and how individuals play an active role in selecting and maintaining such cultural values. We found that colorings produced by European American adults and children were judged as more unique, whereas colorings produced by Japanese adults and children were judged as more harmonious, reflecting cultural differences in values. Harmony undergirded Japanese participants' preferences for colorings, whereas uniqueness undergirded European American participants' preferences for colorings. These cultural differences led participants to prefer own-culture colorings over other-culture colorings. Moreover, bicultural participants' preferences acculturated according to their identification with their host culture. Furthermore, child rearers in Japan and Canada gave feedback about the children's colorings that were consistent with their culture's values. These findings suggest that simple geometric patterns can embody cultural values that are socialized and reinforced from an early age.

Maintaining quality in blood banking.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, E; Hewison, C; Nevalainen, D E; Lloyd, H L

1995-03-01

component will warrant redress. The degree of fault attributed to the producer will in part depend on whether they have met the best available standards at all stages in the preparation of the product. If a Transfusion Service can show that it's operation has external accreditation, particularly to an internationally recognised standard such as ISO 9000 and they can show that staff have been properly trained, that equipment is properly supplied and maintained and that the facility is appropriate to the work being carried out, then the liability that exists when something goes wrong will be reduced.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Comparison of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and pregnanolone with existing pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse on ethanol- and food-maintained responding in male rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulin, Mary W; Lawrence, Michelle N; Amato, Russell J; Weed, Peter F; Winsauer, Peter J

2015-03-01

The present study compared two putative pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse and dependence, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and pregnanolone, with two Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmacotherapies, naltrexone and acamprosate. Experiment 1 assessed the effects of different doses of DHEA, pregnanolone, naltrexone, and acamprosate on both ethanol- and food-maintained responding under a multiple fixed-ratio (FR)-10 FR-20 schedule, respectively. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of different mean intervals of food presentation on responding for ethanol under a FR-10 variable-interval (VI) schedule, whereas Experiment 3 assessed the effects of a single dose of each drug under a FR-10 VI-80 schedule. In Experiment 1, all four drugs dose-dependently decreased response rate for both food and ethanol, although differences in the rate-decreasing effects were apparent among the drugs. DHEA and pregnanolone decreased ethanol-maintained responding more potently than food-maintained responding, whereas the reverse was true for naltrexone. Acamprosate decreased responding for both reinforcers with equal potency. In Experiment 2, different mean intervals of food presentation significantly affected the number of food reinforcers obtained per session; however, changes in the number of food reinforcements did not significantly affect responding for ethanol. Under the FR-10 VI-80 schedule in Experiment 3, only naltrexone significantly decreased both the dose of alcohol presented and blood ethanol concentration (BEC). Acamprosate and pregnanolone had no significant effects on any of the dependent measures, whereas DHEA significantly decreased BEC, but did not significantly decrease response rate or the dose presented. In summary, DHEA and pregnanolone decreased ethanol-maintained responding more potently than food-maintained responding under a multiple FR-10 FR-20 schedule, and were more selective for decreasing ethanol self-administration than either naltrexone or

Novel porous fiber based on dual-asymmetry for low-loss polarization maintaining THz wave guidance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Islam, Raonaqul; Habib, Selim; Hasanuzzaman, G.K.M.

2016-01-01

In this Letter, we suggest a novel kind of porous-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) (to the best of our knowledge) for efficient transportation of polarization maintaining (PM) terahertz (THz) waves. We introduce an asymmetry in both the porous-core and the porous-cladding of the structure to ach...

Selection of maintaining, method for keeping of biologial purity, patternship and health, regarding viruses infection of distinguished potato breeding lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiza MIKE

2008-05-01

Full Text Available A large number of potato varieties and distinguished breeding lines disappeared as an effect of nonfavourable climatically conditions and especially by viruses diseases, as well as other biological and viruses degeneration. To avoid the negative effect of degeneration on potato varieties and distinguished breeding lines, the method of selection for maintaining and multiplication of potato is applying in Romania in the frame of National Center for Maintaining of potato varieties and distinguished breeding lines Apa Rosie, Covasna County, which belong to the Station for Research and Development of Potato, Targu Secuiesc, Covasna County.In this center are maintained and multiplied all distinguished varieties and breeding centers from Romania (National Institute for research and Development of Potato and Sugar beet Brasov, Research and Development Station for Agriculture Suceava, Research and Development Station for Potato Targu Secuiesc, Research and development Station for Potato Miercurea Ciuc.Using the method of selection for maintaining it is possible an early identification of somatic mutations, disease (especially viruses infection by visual elimination or by serological testing.The viruses’ infection of potato leads to disturbed the metabolism of plants and produces anatomical – morphological alters as: mosaic, crinkle, rolling, browning of leaves and plants deformation.The disturbing of plant metabolism has as negative effect the reduction of vegetation period, decreasing the yield capacity, depreciation of physical and chemical quality of tubers.The genetically complex structure of cultivated potato (2n = 4x = 48 and strong segregation of long – expected characters in the obtained future progeny by sexual hybridization, complicated many times by nonfavourable linkage, are the backgrounds for initiation of maintain selection.

Reduced reactivation from dormancy but maintained lineage choice of human mesenchymal stem cells with donor age.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verena Dexheimer

Full Text Available UNLABELLED: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC are promising for cell-based regeneration therapies but up to date it is still controversial whether their function is maintained throughout ageing. Aim of this study was to address whether frequency, activation in vitro, replicative function, and in vitro lineage choice of MSC is maintained throughout ageing to answer the question whether MSC-based regeneration strategies should be restricted to younger individuals. MSC from bone marrow aspirates of 28 donors (5-80 years were characterized regarding colony-forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F numbers, single cell cloning efficiency (SSCE, osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation capacity in vitro. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP activity, mineralization, Oil Red O content, proteoglycan- and collagen type II deposition were quantified. While CFU-F frequency was maintained, SSCE and early proliferation rate decreased significantly with advanced donor age. MSC with higher proliferation rate before start of induction showed stronger osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation. MSC with high osteogenic capacity underwent better chondrogenesis and showed a trend to better adipogenesis. Lineage choice was, however, unaltered with age. CONCLUSION: Ageing influenced activation from dormancy and replicative function of MSC in a way that it may be more demanding to mobilize MSC to fast cell growth at advanced age. Since fast proliferation came along with high multilineage capacity, the proliferation status of expanded MSC rather than donor age may provide an argument to restrict MSC-based therapies to certain individuals.

Sub-100 fs pulses from an all-polarization maintaining Yb-fiber oscillator with an anomalous dispersion higher-order-mode fiber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verhoef, A. J.; Zhu, L.; Israelsen, Stine Møller

2015-01-01

, was investigated for different settings of the intracavity dispersion. When the cavity is operated with close to zero net dispersion, highly stable 0.5-nJ pulses externally compressed to sub-100-fs are generated. These are to our knowledge the shortest pulses generated from an all-polarization-maintaining Yb-fiber......We present an Yb-fiber oscillator with an all-polarizationmaintaining cavity with a higher-order-mode fiber for dispersion compensation. The polarization maintaining higher order mode fiber introduces not only negative second order dispersion but also negative third order dispersion in the cavity......, in contrast to dispersion compensation schemes used in previous demonstrations of all-polarization maintaining Yb-fiber oscillators. The performance of the saturable absorber mirror modelocked oscillator, that employs a free space scheme for coupling onto the saturable absorber mirror and output coupling...

Avoiding a Pilot Retention Death Spiral: The Pilot Shortage and DOD’s Challenge to Maintain an Effective Fighting Force

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-09

public oversight.”79 His comments apply equally well to the Air Force or the Navy. Anecdotal evidence provided by an anonymous survey on social media ...Master’s Thesis 31 July 2017- 09 APRIL 2018 Avoiding a Pilot Retention Death Spiral: The Pilot Shortage and DOD’s Challenge to Maintain an Effective ...DOD’S CHALLENGE TO MAINTAIN AN EFFECTIVE FIGHTING FORCE by Nathan Thompson Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force

Determinants of preferences for lifestyle changes versus medication and beliefs in ability to maintain lifestyle changes. A population-based survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorte Ejg Jarbøl

2017-06-01

For conclusion we found a pervasive preference for lifestyle changes over medical treatment when individuals were promised the same benefits. Lifestyle risk factors and socioeconomic characteristics were associated with preference for lifestyle changes as well as belief in ability to maintain lifestyle changes. For health professionals risk communication should not only focus on patient preferences but also on patients' beliefs in their own ability to initiate lifestyle changes and possible barriers against maintaining changes.

Method for rudder roll stabilization control by maintaining ship speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Zhiquan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A ship navigating on the surface of the water may experience greater resistance, adversely affect-ing its speed and leading to energy loss. The added resistance of surface ships in both still water and waves are investigated, and the computation method of total speed loss is presented. An autopilot system is intro-duced to constrain the speed loss, and course keeping and rudder roll stabilization sliding mode control laws are proposed according to a compact control strategy. The two working conditions of "heading" and "heading plus anti-roll" are discussed, including roll stabilization, heading error, speed maintenance and rudder abrasion. The results show that the speed can be effectively maintained using this method, and from a commercial point of view, the fin-rudder roll stabilization control is not recommended for vessels equipped with both fins and rudders.

Refractive index retrieving of polarization maintaining optical fibers

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, W. A.; Wahba, H. H.; Shams El-Din, M. A.; Abd El-Sadek, I. G.

2018-01-01

In this paper, the cross-section images, of two different types of polarization maintaining (PM) optical fibers, are employed to estimate the optical phase variation due to transverse optical rays passing through these optical fibers. An adaptive algorithm is proposed to recognize the different areas constituting the PM optical fibers cross-sections. These areas are scanned by a transverse beam to calculate the optical paths for given values of refractive indices. Consequently, the optical phases across the PM optical fibers could be recovered. PM optical fiber is immersed in a matching fluid and set in the object arm of Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The produced interferograms are analyzed to extract the optical phases caused by the PM optical fibers. The estimated optical phases could be optimized to be in good coincidence with experimentally extracted ones. This has been achieved through changing of the PM optical fibers refractive indices to retrieve the correct values. The correct refractive indices values are confirmed by getting the best fit between the estimated and the extracted optical phases. The presented approach is a promising one because it provides a quite direct and accurate information about refractive index, birefringence and beat length of PM optical fibers comparing with different techniques handle the same task.

Treatment of Escape-Maintained Behavior with Positive Reinforcement: The Role of Reinforcement Contingency and Density

Science.gov (United States)

Ingvarsson, Einar T.; Hanley, Gregory P.; Welter, Katherine M.

2009-01-01

Functional analyses suggested that the disruptive behavior of three preschool children was maintained by escape from demands. While keeping the escape contingency intact, we conducted (a) a density analysis in which the children earned preferred items for task completion according to two schedules that varied in reinforcement density, and (b) a…

Glucose is necessary to maintain neurotransmitter homeostasis during synaptic activity in cultured glutamatergic neurons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bak, Lasse K; Schousboe, Arne; Sonnewald, Ursula

2006-01-01

Glucose is the primary energy substrate for the adult mammalian brain. However, lactate produced within the brain might be able to serve this purpose in neurons. In the present study, the relative significance of glucose and lactate as substrates to maintain neurotransmitter homeostasis was inves......Glucose is the primary energy substrate for the adult mammalian brain. However, lactate produced within the brain might be able to serve this purpose in neurons. In the present study, the relative significance of glucose and lactate as substrates to maintain neurotransmitter homeostasis...... was investigated. Cultured cerebellar (primarily glutamatergic) neurons were superfused in medium containing [U-13C]glucose (2.5 mmol/L) and lactate (1 or 5 mmol/L) or glucose (2.5 mmol/L) and [U-13C]lactate (1 mmol/L), and exposed to pulses of N-methyl-D-aspartate (300 micromol/L), leading to synaptic activity...... significantly during induced depolarization. In contrast, at both concentrations of extracellular lactate, the metabolism of [U-13C]glucose was increased during neuronal depolarization. The role of glucose and lactate as energy substrates during vesicular release as well as transporter-mediated influx...

MiR-637 maintains the balance between adipocytes and osteoblasts by directly targeting Osterix.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jin-fang; Fu, Wei-ming; He, Ming-liang; Wang, Hua; Wang, Wei-mao; Yu, Shi-cang; Bian, Xiu-Wu; Zhou, Jin; Lin, Marie C M; Lu, Gang; Poon, Wai-sang; Kung, Hsiang-fu

2011-11-01

Bone development is dynamically regulated by homeostasis, in which a balance between adipocytes and osteoblasts is maintained. Disruption of this differentiation balance leads to various bone-related metabolic diseases, including osteoporosis. In the present study, a primate-specific microRNA (miR-637) was found to be involved in the differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Our preliminary data indicated that miR-637 suppressed the growth of hMSCs and induced S-phase arrest. Expression of miR-637 was increased during adipocyte differentiation (AD), whereas it was decreased during osteoblast differentiation (OS), which suggests miR-637 could act as a mediator of adipoosteogenic differentiation. Osterix (Osx), a significant transcription factor of osteoblasts, was shown to be a direct target of miR-637, which significantly enhanced AD and suppressed OS in hMSCs through direct suppression of Osx expression. Furthermore, miR-637 also significantly enhanced de novo adipogenesis in nude mice. In conclusion, our data indicated that the expression of miR-637 was indispensable for maintaining the balance of adipocytes and osteoblasts. Disruption of miR-637 expression patterns leads to irreversible damage to the balance of differentiation in bone marrow.

Increasing the reliability, availability, and maintainability of the AP600 by design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trombola, D.; Meyer, C.

1993-01-01

The AP600 design is based on providing a safe, simple, standardized, and economically competitive design with a high degree of operability and ease of maintenance. Design features such as component selection, layout, and standardization increase the probability that targeted repair times are achieved. Design requirements from the utility industry and industry design practices have established criteria for: layout, changeout and replacement of parts and components; access for major pieces of equipment; and vehicle passage. These features coupled with a solid reliability assurance and maintenance program will help the AP600 meet its objectives for operation and maintenance. The AP600 draws on the operating experience and lessons learned from the utility community through design workshops and design review interaction, as well as operating plant data from sources several sources. Internally, the AP600 program incorporates the resources of Westinghouse NSD (Nuclear Service Division), which for decades has provided refueling, steam generator, reactor coolant pump, and other operating plant services. Since the early phases of the design process, the AP600 Program has executed a comprehensive reliability, availability, and maintainability program (RAM) which dealt primarily with assessing and improving plant availability. In conjunction with this program a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) was performed and submitted to the NRC with the Standard Safety Analysis Report (SSAR) in June 1992. This paper describes how AP600 ensures that the plant has design features to enhance reliability, availability, and maintainability. The RAM program that brings the plant through the design certification phase is described

All-polarization maintaining erbium fiber laser based on carbon nanowalls saturable absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Kurata, Shintaro; Izawa, Jun; Kawaguchi, Norihito

2018-02-01

We report a soliton mode locked femtosecond oscillation with all-polarization maintaining erbuim doped fiber laser based on Carbon Nanowalls saturable absorber (CNWs SA). To improve the stability and the capability of the oscillator, the all-polarization maintaining(all-PM) fiber is generally used since PM fiber is tolerant of stretches and bends. The saturable absorber is an optical device that placed in a laser cavity to suppress continuous wave operation to promote cooperation between many modes to sustain ultrashort pulse operation. We apply CNWs for the material of SAs in our oscillator. CNWs are one of the nanocarbon materials, which are a high-aspect-ratio structure in the cross-section, where, although their width and height range in a few micrometers, the thickness is as small as ten nanometers or so. A sheet of CNWs is made up of nano-size graphite grain aggregates. Then CNWs structure is expected to have a high absorption to the incident light and large modulation depth due to a small number of carbon layers as well as CNT and Graphene. With this all-PM fiber laser oscillator based on CNWs SA, the soliton mode-locked laser oscillated with 66.3MHz repetition frequency and its spectrum width is 5.6nm in FWHM. Average output power is 8.1mW with 122.5mW laser diode pump power. In addition, the laser amplification system with erbium-doped fiber is constructed and amplifies the femtosecond pulse laser into 268.2mW and 3000mW pumping power.

Autoradiographic study of transcription during early germination of Zea mays embryos maintained in situ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deltour, Roger

1979-01-01

Recovery of RNA synthesis was studied by autoradiography in primary root of Zea mays embryos germinating at 16 0 C. [H 3 ] uridine was provided to embryos maintained in situ. During the first 4hrs of germination the cell radioactivity is located almost exclusively in the extranucleolar chromatin. These observations agree well with previous results obtained when [H 3 ] uridine was provided to isolated embryos [fr

Little and often? Maintaining continued performance in an automated T-maze for mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaskill, Brianna N; Lucas, Jeffrey R; Pajor, Edmond A; Garner, Joseph P

2011-02-01

Operant and maze tasks in mice are limited by the small number of trials possible in a session before mice lose motivation. We hypothesized that by manipulating reward size and session length, motivation, and hence performance, would be maintained in an automated T-maze. We predicted that larger rewards and shorter sessions would improve acquisition; and smaller rewards and shorter sessions would maintain higher and less variable performance. Eighteen C57BL/6J mice (9 per sex) acquired (criterion 8/10 correct) and performed a spatial discrimination, with one of 3 reward sizes (.02, .04, or .08 g) and one of 3 session schedules (15, 30, or 45 min sessions). Each mouse had a total of 360 min of access to the maze per night, for two nights, and averaged 190 trials. Analysis used split-plot GLM with contrasts testing for linear effects. Acquisition of the discrimination was unaffected by reward size or session length/interval. After-criterion average performance improved as reward size decreased. After-criterion variability in performance was also affected. Variability increased as reward size increased. Session length/interval did not affect any outcome. We conclude that an automated maze, with suitable reward sizes, can sustain performance with low variability, at 5-10 times faster than traditional methods. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tai Chi and Kung-Fu practice maintains physical performance but not vascular health in young versus old participants.

Science.gov (United States)

McAnulty, Steven; McAnulty, Lisa; Collier, Scott; Souza-Junior, Tacito P; McBride, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Kung-Fu and Tai Chi along with other martial arts are gaining popularity but studies examining the benefits of martial arts on physical fitness, vascular health, nutrition, and psychological wellness are limited. Aging is associated with declines in these health components. The objectives of this study were to examine whether Tai Chi and Kung-Fu training would maintain physical fitness, vascular health, and psychological wellness components on older versus younger practitioners. Seventeen subjects were recruited and divided into Young (age Kung-Fu maintains physical fitness in older compared to younger practitioners. However, age associated changes in cardiovascular stiffness, systolic blood pressure, and pain were not prevented.

How nurses restore and maintain mobility in hospitalised older people: An integrative literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Constantin, Stephanie; Dahlke, Sherry

2018-05-17

The aim of this integrative review of the literature was to evaluate and summarise current research about how nurses maintain and improve hospitalised older peoples' mobility levels. Older persons make up the majority of healthcare recipients, and they are at risk to experience significant decline in their mobility once hospitalised. This can result in longer hospitalisations or nursing home admissions. Currently, it is not well understood how nurses maintain and restore mobility of hospitalised older persons. An integrative literature review using key concepts related to hospitalised older people, mobility and nursing care was conducted. Whittemore and Khalf's five-stage methodological framework for integrative reviews was utilised. Two reviewers screened 1640 resources from four computerised databases published in English during 2000-2017. Reviewers used the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and CASP quality appraisal tools to assess the thirteen included articles. The findings of this review reveal that little is known about how frequently nurses are mobilising, that many nurses perceive mobilising older patients to be physiotherapy's responsibility and that education about mobilisation can improve nurses' willingness to mobilise people. By investing in education and training programmes targeted for nurses, nurses can feel empowered in their ability to mobilise patients and are encouraged to take ownership of their patient's functional needs. In order to facilitate mobility, adequate staffing levels are necessary for transferring and ambulation, mobility assistive devices such as walkers and canes and environments with adequate space to mobilise. More research is needed to better understand and overcome barriers that nurses face in mobilised older people in acute care. The nursing team can work together to prioritise mobilisation to assist in restoring and maintaining the function of hospitalised older people. Educators could review their mobility programmes

Sea Hare Aplysia punctata (Mollusca: Gastropoda) Can Maintain Shell Calcification under Extreme Ocean Acidification.

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Nicholas; Dupont, Sam; Sigwart, Julia D

2016-10-01

Ocean acidification is expected to cause energetic constraints upon marine calcifying organisms such as molluscs and echinoderms, because of the increased costs of building or maintaining shell material in lower pH. We examined metabolic rate, shell morphometry, and calcification in the sea hare Aplysia punctata under short-term exposure (19 days) to an extreme ocean acidification scenario (pH 7.3, ∼2800 μatm pCO 2 ), along with a group held in control conditions (pH 8.1, ∼344 μatm pCO 2 ). This gastropod and its congeners are broadly distributed and locally abundant grazers, and have an internal shell that protects the internal organs. Specimens were examined for metabolic rate via closed-chamber respirometry, followed by removal and examination of the shell under confocal microscopy. Staining using calcein determined the amount of new calcification that occurred over 6 days at the end of the acclimation period. The width of new, pre-calcified shell on the distal shell margin was also quantified as a proxy for overall shell growth. Aplysia punctata showed a 30% reduction in metabolic rate under low pH, but calcification was not affected. This species is apparently able to maintain calcification rate even under extreme low pH, and even when under the energetic constraints of lower metabolism. This finding adds to the evidence that calcification is a largely autonomous process of crystallization that occurs as long as suitable haeomocoel conditions are preserved. There was, however, evidence that the accretion of new, noncalcified shell material may have been reduced, which would lead to overall reduced shell growth under longer-term exposures to low pH independent of calcification. Our findings highlight that the chief impact of ocean acidification upon the ability of marine invertebrates to maintain their shell under low pH may be energetic constraints that hinder growth of supporting structure, rather than maintenance of calcification.

21 CFR 212.110 - How must I maintain records of my production of PET drugs?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How must I maintain records of my production of PET drugs? 212.110 Section 212.110 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH... those not stored at the inspected establishment, must be legible, stored to prevent deterioration or...

[Reduce Energy Costs While Maintaining Healthy IAQ.] "Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools" Update #17

Science.gov (United States)

US Environmental Protection Agency, 2009

2009-01-01

This issue of "Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools" Update ("IAQ TfS" Update) contains the following items: (1) News and Events; (2) Feature Article: Reduce Energy Costs while Maintaining Healthy IAQ; (3) Insight into Excellence: North East Independent School District ; (4) School Building Week 2009; and (5) Have Your Questions Answered!

Maintaining the stability of nonlinear differential equations by the enhancement of HPM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosein Nia, S.H.; Ranjbar, A.N.; Ganji, D.D.; Soltani, H.; Ghasemi, J.

2008-01-01

Homotopy perturbation method is an effective method to find a solution of a nonlinear differential equation. In this method, a nonlinear complex differential equation is transformed to a series of linear and nonlinear parts, almost simpler differential equations. These sets of equations are then solved iteratively. Finally, a linear series of the solutions completes the answer if the convergence is maintained. In this Letter, the need for stability verification is shown through some examples. Consequently, HPM is enhanced by a preliminary assumption. The idea is to keep the inherent stability of nonlinear dynamic, even the selected linear part is not

­The Geospatial Metadata Manager’s Toolbox: Three Techniques for Maintaining Records

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruce Godfrey

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Managing geospatial metadata records requires a range of techniques. At the University of Idaho Library, we have tens of thousands of records which need to be maintained as well as the addition of new records which need to be normalized and added to the collections. We show a graphical user interface (GUI tool that was developed to make simple modifications, a simple XSLT that operates on complex metadata, and a Python script with enables parallel processing to make maintenance tasks more efficient. Throughout, we compare these techniques and discuss when they may be useful.

Selective methods for the maintainability and standardization of the engineering of a research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rico, N.

1999-01-01

the same function in each specialty. These diversities bring about conflicts and confusion between the maintenance and operation crew, besides modifying dangerously the fail rate and thus the overall reliability of the reactor. The maintainability is the capacity of being maintained an equipment/system has, serving as a design parameter. A system must be designed in a way in which it is maintained without a great investment of time and with low costs, minimum environmental impact and the least resources possible. Standardization is the action of normalizing the engineering of all systems/equipments of the reactor from its design, in all the disciplines, (mechanical, electrical, electronic, chemical, etc.) taking into consideration the facility of its maintenance and conserving or increasing the reliability of the system. The intention of this Program of Maintainability and Standardization in Research Reactors is based on procedures and calculations to improve the reliability of the equipments/systems according to pre-established criterion. (author)

Perceived Benefits and Factors that Influence the Ability to Establish and Maintain Patient Support Groups in Rare Diseases: A Scoping Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Delisle, Vanessa C; Gumuchian, Stephanie T; Rice, Danielle B; Levis, Alexander W; Kloda, Lorie A; Körner, Annett; Thombs, Brett D

2017-06-01

Support groups are an important resource for many people living with rare diseases. The perceived benefits of participating in support groups for people with rare diseases and factors that may influence the ability to successfully establish and maintain these groups are not well understood. Thus, the objective of this scoping review was to provide a mapping of the available evidence on the (1) benefits or perceived benefits of participating in rare disease support groups and (2) barriers and facilitators of establishing and maintaining these groups. CINAHL and PubMed were searched from January 2000 to August 2015, with no language restrictions. Publications that described the benefits or perceived benefits of participating in rare disease support groups or the barriers and facilitators of establishing and maintaining them were eligible for inclusion. Two investigators independently evaluated titles/abstracts and full-text publications for eligibility, and extracted data from each included publication. Ten publications were included in the scoping review. There was no trial evidence on support group benefits. All ten publications reported on the perceived benefits of participating in rare disease support groups. Three reported on barriers and facilitators of establishing and maintaining them. Overall, seven different perceived benefits of participating in rare disease support groups were identified: (1) meeting and befriending other people with the same rare disease and similar experiences; (2) learning about the disease and related treatments; (3) giving and receiving emotional support; (4) having a place to speak openly about the disease and one's feelings; (5) learning coping skills; (6) feeling empowered and hopeful; and (7) advocating to improve healthcare for other rare disease patients. Several facilitators (e.g., meeting via teleconference) and barriers (e.g., getting patients and/or family members to lead the group) of establishing and maintaining these

Scaffold-free 3D bio-printed human liver tissue stably maintains metabolic functions useful for drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Kizawa, Hideki; Nagao, Eri; Shimamura, Mitsuru; Zhang, Guangyuan; Torii, Hitoshi

2017-07-01

The liver plays a central role in metabolism. Although many studies have described in vitro liver models for drug discovery, to date, no model has been described that can stably maintain liver function. Here, we used a unique, scaffold-free 3D bio-printing technology to construct a small portion of liver tissue that could stably maintain drug, glucose, and lipid metabolism, in addition to bile acid secretion. This bio-printed normal human liver tissue maintained expression of several kinds of hepatic drug transporters and metabolic enzymes that functioned for several weeks. The bio-printed liver tissue displayed glucose production via cAMP/protein kinase A signaling, which could be suppressed with insulin. Bile acid secretion was also observed from the printed liver tissue, and it accumulated in the culture medium over time. We observed both bile duct and sinusoid-like structures in the bio-printed liver tissue, which suggested that bile acid secretion occurred via a sinusoid-hepatocyte-bile duct route. These results demonstrated that our bio-printed liver tissue was unique, because it exerted diverse liver metabolic functions for several weeks. In future, we expect our bio-printed liver tissue to be applied to developing new models that can be used to improve preclinical predictions of long-term toxicity in humans, generate novel targets for metabolic liver disease, and evaluate biliary excretion in drug development.

Normalization as a Strategy for Maintaining Quality of Life While Coping with Infertility in a Pronatalist Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Benyamini, Yael; Gozlan, Miri; Weissman, Ariel

2017-12-01

Infertility could be highly stressful, particularly in a pronatalist culture. We aimed to develop the concept and a measure of normalization (maintaining normal life routines and feeling "normal") as a strategy that could enable women with infertility maintain their quality of life (QoL) while coping with this condition. We tested its associations with women's well-being, distress and QoL in Israel, where being childless is socially unacceptable and highly stigmatized. One-hundred and eighty Israeli women undergoing infertility treatment at a fertility community clinic filled in questionnaires assessing normalization-related coping strategies, QoL, and psychological adjustment (distress, wellbeing). Eight months later, 55 women conceived; 55 women who had not conceived completed a second questionnaire. At baseline, normalization was related to higher QoL and better adjustment. Structural equation modeling showed that QoL was impaired mainly among women who felt different than others, compared, and blamed themselves. Over time, normalization was overall unrelated to conception or to changes in adjustment yet was protective against decrease in well-being among women who already had a child. Infertility is highly stressful in a pronatalist culture like Israel. It requires treatment yet is not disabling. Patients who manage to maintain normal routines and not feel different than other people their age may experience better QoL and psychological adjustment.

Primordial dwarfism gene maintains Lin28 expression to safeguard embryonic stem cells from premature differentiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Qian; Luan, Guangxin; Deng, Li; Lei, Tingjun; Kang, Han; Song, Xu; Zhang, Yujun; Xiao, Zhi-Xiong; Li, Qintong

2014-05-08

Primordial dwarfism (PD) is characterized by global growth failure, both during embryogenesis and postnatally. Loss-of-function germline mutations in La ribonucleoprotein domain family, member 7 (LAPR7) have recently been linked to PD. Paradoxically, LARP7 deficiency was previously assumed to be associated with increased cell growth and proliferation via activation of positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb). Here, we show that Larp7 deficiency likely does not significantly increase P-TEFb activity. We further discover that Larp7 knockdown does not affect pluripotency but instead primes embryonic stem cells (ESCs) for differentiation via downregulation of Lin28, a positive regulator of organismal growth. Mechanistically, we show that Larp7 interacts with a poly(A) polymerase Star-PAP to maintain Lin28 mRNA stability. We propose that proper regulation of Lin28 and PTEFb is essential for embryonic cells to achieve a sufficient number of cell divisions prior to differentiation and ultimately to maintain proper organismal size. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The association between detected drug resistance mutations and CD4(+) T-cell decline in HIV-positive individuals maintained on a failing treatment regimen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultze, Anna; Paredes, Roger; Sabin, Caroline

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: To analyse the effect of drug resistance mutations (DRM) on CD4 cell trends in HIV-positive people maintained on virologically failing antiretroviral therapy (ART). METHODS: Individuals from two large cohorts experiencing virological failure (VF) while maintained on ART with >1 CD4...

Gamma radiation combined with cinnamon oil to maintain fish quality

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Fei; Zhang, Jing; Wei, Qianqian; Gao, Fei; Ding, Yuting; Liu, Shulai

2017-12-01

Effects of gamma radiation combined with cinnamon oil on quality of Northern Snakehead fish fillets were observed during storage at 4 °C. Fish fillets were treated with 1-5 kGy gamma radiation, 0.05-0.5% cinnamon oil or the combination of radiation and cinnamon oil. The antimicrobial activity increased with radiation dose and cinnamon oil concentration. During storage, the combination of 1 kGy radiation and 0.5% cinnamon oil displayed better inhibiting activities on aerobic plate counts, total volatile basic nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid reaction substances than 1 kGy radiation or 0.5% cinnamon oil used alone. Moreover, the combination could arrive at the similar inhibiting activities of cinnamon oil with higher concentration of 0.5% or radiation with higher dose of 5 kGy. Thus, the combination could decrease the radiation dose and cinnamon oil concentration without decreasing the effect of them on maintaining fish quality.

Methods of achieving and maintaining an appropriate caesarean section rate.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Robson, Michael

2013-04-01

Caesarean section rates continue to increase worldwide. The appropriate caesarean section rate remains a topic of debate among women and professionals. Evidence-based medicine has not provided an answer and depends on interpretation of the literature. Overall caesarean section rates are unhelpful, and caesarean section rates should not be judged in isolation from other outcomes and epidemiological characteristics. Better understanding of caesarean section rates, their consequences and their benefits will improve care, and enable learning between delivery units nationally and internationally. To achieve and maintain an appropriate caesarean section rate requires a Multidisciplinary Quality Assurance Programme in each delivery unit, recognising caesarean section rates as one of many factors that determine quality. Women will always choose the type of delivery that seems safest to them and their babies. Professionals need to monitor the quality of their practice continuously in a standardised way to ensure that women can make the right choice.

Intensity-demodulated torsion sensor based on thin-core polarization-maintaining fiber.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Xuexue; Zhang, Weigang; Zhang, Yanxin; Yang, Jiang; Chen, Lei; Kong, Lingxin; Zhang, Yunshan; Yu, Lin; Yan, Tieyi; Geng, Pengcheng

2018-05-01

An intensity-demodulated torsion sensor is designed and realized, which consists of a polarization ring as the sensing part and a section of thin-core polarization-maintaining fiber as the demodulation part. An intensity map of a sinusoidal change can be obtained at some specific wavelengths, and the experimental results correspond to the theoretical analysis well. The maximum sensitivity is about 0.29 dB/deg at the wavelength of 1584.6 nm, and the minimum sensitivity is about 0.10 dB/deg at the wavelength of 1510.2 nm. Meanwhile, the temperature characteristic is measured in the experiment. More broadly, the proposed structure can be used in an integrated smart device for loose-screw detection in devices in aeronautics and astronautics.

Using miniature osmotic infusion pumps to maintain tritiated thymidine exposure to cells in culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neely, J.E.; Hake, D.A.

1982-01-01

To provide a constant level of tracer doses of tritiated thymidine to cultured cells during continuous infusion, miniature osmotic infusion pumps were used to provide replacement thymidine. By determining the loss of isotope from the media during nonreplacement, the rate of constant infusion replacement to maintain thymidine levels was calculated. The replacement rates were similar for the three cell lines examined and allowed a standard osmotic pump infusion

Twice-monthly administration of a lower dose of epoetin beta pegol can maintain adequate hemoglobin levels in hemodialysis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Morikami, Yuki; Fujimori, Akira; Okada, Shioko; Kumei, Mai; Mizobuchi, Noriko; Sakai, Makoto

2015-04-01

Epoetin beta pegol is a continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) with a long half-life. Although CERA has been shown to maintain adequate hemoglobin (Hb) levels at prolonged dosing intervals, the optimal dosing schedule remains unclear. We therefore compared the efficacy of maintaining hemoglobin levels with administration of twice-monthly CERA (TWICE) versus once-monthly CERA (ONCE). Twenty hemodialysis patients receiving epoetin beta (EPO) were enrolled in this crossover study. Patients were assigned to either the TWICE or the ONCE group based on matching Hb levels and EPO doses. After 6 months of treatment, the CERA dosage was interchanged between the groups and the study was continued for an additional 6 months. The effect of the different regimens on iron metabolism was also assessed during the first 6 months of the study. Hb levels significantly increased in the TWICE group, allowing for a reduction in CERA dosage, while the dose of CERA required to maintain Hb levels in the ONCE group remained unchanged. After the interchange, a decrease in Hb levels with incremental increase in CERA dosage was observed in the TWICE→ONCE group, with the opposite effect observed in the ONCE→TWICE group. Although increases in ferritin and hepcidin-25 levels in the ONCE group were noted at one month, they disappeared at 6 months. Although Hb levels were maintained in both the ONCE and TWICE groups, a twice-monthly administration was advantageous, as it required a lower dose of CERA. © 2014 The Authors. Therapeutic Apheresis and Dialysis © 2014 International Society for Apheresis.

Functional Independence in Late-Life: Maintaining Physical Functioning in Older Adulthood Predicts Daily Life Function after Age 80.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughan, Leslie; Leng, Xiaoyan; La Monte, Michael J; Tindle, Hilary A; Cochrane, Barbara B; Shumaker, Sally A

2016-03-01

We examined physical functioning (PF) trajectories (maintaining, slowly declining, and rapidly declining) spanning 15 years in older women aged 65-80 and protective factors that predicted better current levels and less decline in functional independence outcomes after age 80. Women's Health Initiative extension participants who met criteria (enrolled in either the clinical trial or observational study cohort, >80 years at the data release cutoff, PF survey data from initial enrollment to age 80, and functional independence survey data after age 80) were included in these analyses (mean [SD] age = 84.0 [1.4] years; N = 10,478). PF was measured with the SF-36 (mean = 4.9 occasions). Functional independence was measured by self-reported level of dependence in basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs and IADLs) (mean = 3.4 and 3.3 occasions). Maintaining consistent PF in older adulthood extends functional independence in ADL and IADL in late-life. Protective factors shared by ADL and IADL include maintaining PF over time, self-reported excellent or very good health, no history of hip fracture after age 55, and no history of cardiovascular disease. Better IADL function is uniquely predicted by a body mass index less than 25 and no depression. Less ADL and IADL decline is predicted by better self-reported health, and less IADL decline is uniquely predicted by having no history of hip fracture after age 55. Maintaining or improving PF and preventing injury and disease in older adulthood (ages 65-80) has far-reaching implications for improving late-life (after age 80) functional independence. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Maintaining and improving of the training program on the analysis software in CMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malik, S; Hoehle, F; Lassila-Perini, K; Hinzmann, A; Wolf, R; Shipsey, I

2012-01-01

Since 2009, the CMS experiment at LHC has provided intensive training on the use of Physics Analysis Tools (PAT), a collection of common analysis tools designed to share expertise and maximize productivity in the physics analysis. More than ten one-week courses preceded by prerequisite studies have been organized and the feedback from the participants has been carefully analyzed. This note describes how the training team designs, maintains and improves the course contents based on the feedback, the evolving analysis practices and the software development.

Creatine maintains intestinal homeostasis and protects against colitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Turer, Emre; McAlpine, William; Wang, Kuan-Wen; Lu, Tianshi; Li, Xiaohong; Tang, Miao; Zhan, Xiaoming; Wang, Tao; Zhan, Xiaowei; Bu, Chun-Hui; Murray, Anne R; Beutler, Bruce

2017-02-14

Creatine, a nitrogenous organic acid, replenishes cytoplasmic ATP at the expense of mitochondrial ATP via the phosphocreatine shuttle. Creatine levels are maintained by diet and endogenous synthesis from arginine and glycine. Glycine amidinotransferase (GATM) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of creatine biosynthesis: the transfer of an amidino group from arginine to glycine to form ornithine and guanidinoacetate. We screened 36,530 third-generation germline mutant mice derived from N -ethyl- N -nitrosourea-mutagenized grandsires for intestinal homeostasis abnormalities after oral administration of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). Among 27 colitis susceptibility phenotypes identified and mapped, one was strongly correlated with a missense mutation in Gatm in a recessive model of inheritance, and causation was confirmed by CRISPR/Cas9 gene targeting. Supplementation of homozygous Gatm mutants with exogenous creatine ameliorated the colitis phenotype. CRISPR/Cas9-targeted ( Gatm c/c ) mice displayed a normal peripheral immune response and immune cell homeostasis. However, the intestinal epithelium of the Gatm c/c mice displayed increased cell death and decreased proliferation during DSS treatment. In addition, Gatm c/c colonocytes showed increased metabolic stress in response to DSS with higher levels of phospho-AMPK and lower levels of phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (phospho-mTOR). These findings establish an in vivo requirement for rapid replenishment of cytoplasmic ATP within colonic epithelial cells in the maintenance of the mucosal barrier after injury.

The Effects of Noncontingent Delivery of High- and Low-Preference Stimuli on Attention-Maintained Destructive Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Wayne W.; O'Connor, Julia T.; Kurtz, Patricia F.; DeLeon, Iser G.; Gotjen, Deidre L.

2000-01-01

An adolescent with severe mental retardation and cerebral palsy who displayed attention-maintained destructive behavior was exposed to noncontingent reinforcer delivery (NCR) with a high-preference or a low-preference stimulus while reinforcement for destructive behavior with attention remained in effect. NCR without extinction was effective only…

Quantified carbon input for maintaining existing soil organic carbon stocks in global wheat systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, G.

2017-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in croplands is a crucial component of global carbon (C) cycle. Depending on local environmental conditions and management practices, typical C input is generally required to reduce or reverse C loss in agricultural soils. No studies have quantified the critical C input for maintaining SOC at global scale with high resolution. Such information will provide a baseline map for assessing soil C dynamics under potential changes in management practices and climate, and thus enable development of management strategies to reduce C footprint from farm to regional scales. We used the soil C model RothC to simulate the critical C input rates needed to maintain existing soil C level at 0.1°× 0.1° resolution in global wheat systems. On average, the critical C input was estimated to be 2.0 Mg C ha-1 yr-1, with large spatial variability depending on local soil and climatic conditions. Higher C inputs are required in wheat system of central United States and western Europe, mainly due to the higher current soil C stocks present in these regions. The critical C input could be effectively estimated using a summary model driven by current SOC level, mean annual temperature, precipitation, and soil clay content.

Seniors’ self-preservation by maintaining established self and defying deterioration – A grounded theory

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, Jeanette Källstrand; Hildingh, Cathrine; Buer, Nina; Thulesius, Hans

2016-01-01

The purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to understand how seniors who are living independently resolve issues influenced by visual impairment and high fall risk. We interviewed and observed 13 seniors with visual impairment in their homes. We also interviewed six visual instructors with experience from many hundreds of relevant incidents from the same group of seniors. We found that the seniors are resolving their main concern of “remaining themselves as who they used to be” by self-preservation. Within this category, the strategies maintaining the established self and defying deterioration emerged as the most prominent in our data. The theme maintaining the established self is mostly guided by change inertia and includes living the past (retaining past activities, reminiscing, and keeping the home intact) and facading (hiding impairment, leading to avoidance of becoming a burden and to risk juggling). Defying deterioration is a proactive scheme and involves moving (by exercising, adapting activities, using walking aids, driving), adapting (by finding new ways), and networking by sustaining old support networks or finding new networks. Self-preservation is generic human behavior and modifying this theory to other fields may therefore be worthwhile. In addition, health care providers may have use for the theory in fall preventive planning. PMID:27172511

Prefoldin Promotes Proteasomal Degradation of Cytosolic Proteins with Missense Mutations by Maintaining Substrate Solubility.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie A Comyn

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Misfolded proteins challenge the ability of cells to maintain protein homeostasis and can accumulate into toxic protein aggregates. As a consequence, cells have adopted a number of protein quality control pathways to prevent protein aggregation, promote protein folding, and target terminally misfolded proteins for degradation. In this study, we employed a thermosensitive allele of the yeast Guk1 guanylate kinase as a model misfolded protein to investigate degradative protein quality control pathways. We performed a flow cytometry based screen to identify factors that promote proteasomal degradation of proteins misfolded as the result of missense mutations. In addition to the E3 ubiquitin ligase Ubr1, we identified the prefoldin chaperone subunit Gim3 as an important quality control factor. Whereas the absence of GIM3 did not impair proteasomal function or the ubiquitination of the model substrate, it led to the accumulation of the poorly soluble model substrate in cellular inclusions that was accompanied by delayed degradation. We found that Gim3 interacted with the Guk1 mutant allele and propose that prefoldin promotes the degradation of the unstable model substrate by maintaining the solubility of the misfolded protein. We also demonstrated that in addition to the Guk1 mutant, prefoldin can stabilize other misfolded cytosolic proteins containing missense mutations.

Cell Identity Switching Regulated by Retinoic Acid Signaling Maintains Homogeneous Segments in the Hindbrain.

Science.gov (United States)

Addison, Megan; Xu, Qiling; Cayuso, Jordi; Wilkinson, David G

2018-06-04

The patterning of tissues to form subdivisions with distinct and homogeneous regional identity is potentially disrupted by cell intermingling. Transplantation studies suggest that homogeneous segmental identity in the hindbrain is maintained by identity switching of cells that intermingle into another segment. We show that switching occurs during normal development and is mediated by feedback between segment identity and the retinoic acid degrading enzymes, cyp26b1 and cyp26c1. egr2, which specifies the segmental identity of rhombomeres r3 and r5, underlies the lower expression level of cyp26b1 and cyp26c1 in r3 and r5 compared with r2, r4, and r6. Consequently, r3 or r5 cells that intermingle into adjacent segments encounter cells with higher cyp26b1/c1 expression, which we find is required for downregulation of egr2b expression. Furthermore, egr2b expression is regulated in r2, r4, and r6 by non-autonomous mechanisms that depend upon the number of neighbors that express egr2b. These findings reveal that a community regulation of retinoid signaling maintains homogeneous segmental identity. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hypnosis control based on the minimum concentration of anesthetic drug for maintaining appropriate hypnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Furutani, Eiko; Nishigaki, Yuki; Kanda, Chiaki; Takeda, Toshihiro; Shirakami, Gotaro

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a novel hypnosis control method using Auditory Evoked Potential Index (aepEX) as a hypnosis index. In order to avoid side effects of an anesthetic drug, it is desirable to reduce the amount of an anesthetic drug during surgery. For this purpose many studies of hypnosis control systems have been done. Most of them use Bispectral Index (BIS), another hypnosis index, but it has problems of dependence on anesthetic drugs and nonsmooth change near some particular values. On the other hand, aepEX has an ability of clear distinction between patient consciousness and unconsciousness and independence of anesthetic drugs. The control method proposed in this paper consists of two elements: estimating the minimum effect-site concentration for maintaining appropriate hypnosis and adjusting infusion rate of an anesthetic drug, propofol, using model predictive control. The minimum effect-site concentration is estimated utilizing the property of aepEX pharmacodynamics. The infusion rate of propofol is adjusted so that effect-site concentration of propofol may be kept near and always above the minimum effect-site concentration. Simulation results of hypnosis control using the proposed method show that the minimum concentration can be estimated appropriately and that the proposed control method can maintain hypnosis adequately and reduce the total infusion amount of propofol.

Seniors’ self-preservation by maintaining established self and defying deterioration – A grounded theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeanette Källstrand Eriksson

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this classic grounded theory study was to understand how seniors who are living independently resolve issues influenced by visual impairment and high fall risk. We interviewed and observed 13 seniors with visual impairment in their homes. We also interviewed six visual instructors with experience from many hundreds of relevant incidents from the same group of seniors. We found that the seniors are resolving their main concern of “remaining themselves as who they used to be” by self-preservation. Within this category, the strategies maintaining the established self and defying deterioration emerged as the most prominent in our data. The theme maintaining the established self is mostly guided by change inertia and includes living the past (retaining past activities, reminiscing, and keeping the home intact and facading (hiding impairment, leading to avoidance of becoming a burden and to risk juggling. Defying deterioration is a proactive scheme and involves moving (by exercising, adapting activities, using walking aids, driving, adapting (by finding new ways, and networking by sustaining old support networks or finding new networks. Self-preservation is generic human behavior and modifying this theory to other fields may therefore be worthwhile. In addition, health care providers may have use for the theory in fall preventive planning.

Critical carbon input to maintain current soil organic carbon stocks in global wheat systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Guocheng; Luo, Zhongkui; Han, Pengfei; Chen, Huansheng; Xu, Jingjing

2016-01-13

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in croplands is a crucial component of global carbon (C) cycle. Depending on local environmental conditions and management practices, typical C input is generally required to reduce or reverse C loss in agricultural soils. No studies have quantified the critical C input for maintaining SOC at global scale with high resolution. Such information will provide a baseline map for assessing soil C dynamics under potential changes in management practices and climate, and thus enable development of management strategies to reduce C footprint from farm to regional scales. We used the soil C model RothC to simulate the critical C input rates needed to maintain existing soil C level at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution in global wheat systems. On average, the critical C input was estimated to be 2.0 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1), with large spatial variability depending on local soil and climatic conditions. Higher C inputs are required in wheat system of central United States and western Europe, mainly due to the higher current soil C stocks present in these regions. The critical C input could be effectively estimated using a summary model driven by current SOC level, mean annual temperature, precipitation, and soil clay content.

Essential to increase the use of generics in Europe to maintain comprehensive health care?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Godman

2012-12-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Reforms have been introduced across Europe to increase prescribing efficiency with existing drugs. These include measures to lower prices of generics as well as increase their prescribing versus originators and patented products in a class or related class. This is essential to maintain comprehensive health care in Europe given continued pressures. The alternative is insufficient funds for new innovative drugs and increasing drug volumes with ageing populations. OBJECTIVE: To review the influence of measures and initiatives to increase the prescribing and dispensing of generics at low prices on ambulatory care prescribing efficiency. In view of this, provide guidance as authorities strive to introduce further reforms to meet their goals. METHODOLOGY: A narrative review of published papers combined with case histories. RESULTS: The different supply- and demand-side measures have reduced generic prices to as low as 2% to 3% of pre-patent loss prices in some cases as well as appreciably enhanced their utilisation. As a result, prescribing efficiency has increased without compromising care. In some cases, the reforms have led to expenditure actually falling despite appreciably increased volumes. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing use of generics at low prices will help maintain the European ideals of comprehensive and equitable health care. However, countries will continually need to learn from each other.

Anoxia Treatment for Delaying Skin Browning, Inhibiting Disease Development and Maintaining the Quality of Litchi Fruit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yueming Jiang

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Litchi fruit has a very short shelf life after harvest, so marketers and consumers alike desire longer periods of storage, transportation and distribution. To extend shelf life, anoxia treatments were used for the fruit. Litchi fruit were exposed to pure N2 for 0, 3, 6, 12 or 24 h. They were then kept individually in closed but vented containers for 6 days in the dark at 20 °C and 95–100 % relative humidity. Exposure of litchi fruit to N2 for 3 or 6 h markedly delayed skin browning, reduced rot development and maintained higher concentrations of total soluble solids, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid after 6 days of storage. Anoxia treatment for 24 h reduced browning index, but it accelerated disease development, compared to the control. Thus, a pre-storage pure N2 treatment for 3 or 6 h can be an effective means of reducing rotting while maintaining the physical quality of the fruit.