Beta-limiting MHD Instabilities in Improved-performance NSTX Spherical Torus Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

J.E. Menard; M.G. Bell; R.E. Bell; E.D. Fredrickson D.A. Gates: S.M. Kaye; B.P. LeBlanc; R. Maingi; D. Mueller; S.A. Sabbagh; D. Stutman; C.E. Bush; D.W. Johnson; R. Kaita; H.W. Kugel; R.J. Maqueda; F. Paoletti; S.F Paul; M. Ono; Y.-K.M. Peng; C.H. Skinner; E.J. Synakowski; the NSTX Research Team

2003-01-01

Global magnetohydrodynamic stability limits in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) have increased significantly recently due to a combination of device and operational improvements. First, more routine H-mode operation with broadened pressure profiles allows access to higher normalized beta and lower internal inductance. Second, the correction of a poloidal field coil induced error-field has largely eliminated locked tearing modes during normal operation and increased the maximum achievable beta. As a result of these improvements, peak beta values have reached (not simultaneously) β t = 35%, β N = 6.4, N > = 4.5, β N /l i = 10, and β P = 1.4. High β P operation with reduced tearing activity has allowed a doubling of discharge pulse-length to just over 1 second with sustained periods of β N ∼ 6 above the ideal no-wall limit and near the with-wall limit. Details of the β limit scalings and β-limiting instabilities in various operating regimes are described

Chiral separation of dansyl amino acids in capillary electrophoresis using mono-(3-methyl-imidazolium)-beta-cyclodextrin chloride as selector.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Weihua; Ong, Teng Teng; Ng, Siu-Choon

2007-06-01

Enantioseparations of fourteen dansyl amino acids were achieved by using a positively-charged single-isomer beta-cyclodextrin, mono-(3-methyl-imidazolium)-beta-cyclodextrin chloride, as a chiral selector. Separation parameters such as buffer pH, selector concentration, separation temperature, and organic modifier were investigated for the enantioseparation in order to achieve the maximum possible resolution. Chiral separation of dansyl amino acids was found to be highly dependent on pH since the degree of protonation of these amino acids can alter the strength of electrostatic interaction and/or inclusion complexation between each enantiomer and chiral selector. In general, the chiral resolution of dansyl amino acids was enhanced at higher pH, which indicates that the carboxylate group on the analytes may interact with the imidazolium group of cationic cyclodextrin. For most analytes, a distinct maximum in enantioresolution was obtained at pH 8.0. Moreover, the chiral separation can be further improved by careful tuning of the separation parameters such as higher selector concentration (e.g. 10 mM), lower temperature, and addition of methanol. Enantioseparation of a standard mixture of these dansyl amino acids was further achieved in a single run within 30 min.

Boosted beta regression.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Schmid

Full Text Available Regression analysis with a bounded outcome is a common problem in applied statistics. Typical examples include regression models for percentage outcomes and the analysis of ratings that are measured on a bounded scale. In this paper, we consider beta regression, which is a generalization of logit models to situations where the response is continuous on the interval (0,1. Consequently, beta regression is a convenient tool for analyzing percentage responses. The classical approach to fit a beta regression model is to use maximum likelihood estimation with subsequent AIC-based variable selection. As an alternative to this established - yet unstable - approach, we propose a new estimation technique called boosted beta regression. With boosted beta regression estimation and variable selection can be carried out simultaneously in a highly efficient way. Additionally, both the mean and the variance of a percentage response can be modeled using flexible nonlinear covariate effects. As a consequence, the new method accounts for common problems such as overdispersion and non-binomial variance structures.

Beta limits for ETF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helton, F.J.; Miller, R.L.

1982-01-01

ETF (Engineering Test Facility) one-dimensional transport simulations indicate that a volume-average beta of 4% is required for ignition. It is therefore important that theoretical beta limits, determined by requiring equilibria to be stable to all ideal modes, exceed 4%. This paper documents an ideal MHD analysis wherein it is shown that, with appropriate plasma cross-sectional shape and current profile optimization, operation near 5% is possible. The critical beta value, however, depends on the functional form used for ff', which suggests that higher critical betas could be achieved by directly optimizing the safety factor profile. (author)

BETA (Bitter Electromagnet Testing Apparatus)

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Evan M.; Birmingham, William J.; Rivera, William F.; Romero-Talamas, Carlos A.

2017-10-01

The Bitter Electromagnet Testing Apparatus (BETA) is a 1-Tesla (T) prototype of the 10-T Adjustable Long Pulse High-Field Apparatus (ALPHA). These water-cooled resistive magnets use high DC currents to produce strong uniform magnetic fields. Presented here is the successful completion of the BETA project and experimental results validating analytical magnet designing methods developed at the Dusty Plasma Laboratory (DPL). BETA's final design specifications will be highlighted which include electromagnetic, thermal and stress analyses. The magnet core design will be explained which include: Bitter Arcs, helix starters, and clamping annuli. The final version of the magnet's vessel and cooling system are also presented, as well as the electrical system of BETA, which is composed of a unique solid-state breaker circuit. Experimental results presented will show the operation of BETA at 1 T. The results are compared to both analytical design methods and finite element analysis calculations. We also explore the steady state maximums and theoretical limits of BETA's design. The completion of BETA validates the design and manufacturing techniques that will be used in the succeeding magnet, ALPHA.

Estimation of maximum credible atmospheric radioactivity concentrations and dose rates from nuclear tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Telegadas, K.

1979-01-01

A simple technique is presented for estimating maximum credible gross beta air concentrations from nuclear detonations in the atmosphere, based on aircraft sampling of radioactivity following each Chinese nuclear test from 1964 to 1976. The calculated concentration is a function of the total yield and fission yield, initial vertical radioactivity distribution, time after detonation, and rate of horizontal spread of the debris with time. calculated maximum credible concentrations are compared with the highest concentrations measured during aircraft sampling. The technique provides a reasonable estimate of maximum air concentrations from 1 to 10 days after a detonation. An estimate of the whole-body external gamma dose rate corresponding to the maximum credible gross beta concentration is also given. (author)

Dynamic returns of beta arbitrage

OpenAIRE

Nascimento, Mafalda

2017-01-01

This thesis studies the patterns of the abnormal returns of the beta strategy. The topic can be helpful for professional investors, who intend to achieve a better performance in their portfolios. Following the methodology of Lou, Polk, & Huang (2016), the COBAR measure is computed in order to determine the levels of beta arbitrage in the market in each point in time. It is argued that beta arbitrage activity can have impact on the returns of the beta strategy. In fact, it is demonstrated that...

Exercise- and cold-induced changes in plasma beta-endorphin and beta-lipotropin in men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, M; Van Dijk, J P; Graham, T E; Bonen, A; George, J C

1987-02-01

The plasma beta-endorphin (beta-EP) and beta-lipotropin (beta-LPH) response of men, eumenorrheic women, and amenorrheic women (n = 6) to 1 h of rest or to a bicycle ergometer test [20 min at 30% maximum O2 uptake (VO2max), 20 min at 60% VO2max, and at 90% VO2max to exhaustion] was studied in both normal (22 degrees C) and cold (5 degrees C) environments. beta-EP and beta-LPH was measured by radioimmunoassay in venous samples collected every 20 min during rest or after each exercise bout. Exhaustive exercise at ambient temperature (Ta) 22 degrees C induced significant increases in plasma beta-EP and beta-LPH in all subjects as did work at 60% VO2max in amenorrheic and eumenorrheic women. During work at Ta 5 degrees C, the relative increase in beta-EP and beta-LPH was suppressed in eumenorrheic women and completely prevented in amenorrheic women. Although significant lowering of beta-EP and beta-LPH was observed in men and eumenorrheic women during rest at 5 degrees C, amenorrheic women maintained precold exposure levels. These findings suggest that plasma beta-EP and beta-LPH may reflect a thermoregulatory response to heat load. There appears to be a sexual dimorphism in exercise- and cold-induced release of beta-EP and beta-LPH and amenorrhea may be accompanied by alterations in these responses.

MetroBeta: Beta Spectrometry with Metallic Magnetic Calorimeters in the Framework of the European Program of Ionizing Radiation Metrology

Science.gov (United States)

Loidl, M.; Beyer, J.; Bockhorn, L.; Enss, C.; Györi, D.; Kempf, S.; Kossert, K.; Mariam, R.; Nähle, O.; Paulsen, M.; Rodrigues, M.; Schmidt, M.

2018-05-01

MetroBeta is a European project aiming at the improvement of the knowledge of the shapes of beta spectra, both in terms of theoretical calculations and measurements. It is part of a common European program of ionizing radiation metrology. Metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) with the beta emitter embedded in the absorber have in the past proven to be among the best beta spectrometers, in particular for low-energy beta transitions. Within this project, new designs of MMCs optimized for five different beta energy ranges were developed. A new detector module with thermal decoupling of MMC and SQUID chips was designed. An important aspect of the research and development concerns the source/absorber preparation techniques. Four beta spectra with maximum energies ranging from 76 to 709 keV will be measured. Improved theoretical calculation methods and complementary measurement techniques complete the project.

Development of beta reference radiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan Zhaoyong; Cai Shanyu; Li Yanbo; Yin Wei; Feng Jiamin; Sun Yuhua; Li Yongqiang

1997-09-01

A system of beta reference radiation has been developed, that is composed of 740 MBq 147 Pm beta source, 74 MBq and 740 MBq 90 Sr + 90 Y β sources, compensation filters, a source handling tool, a source jig, spacing bars, a shutter, a control unit and a beta dose meter calibration stand. For 740 MBq 147 Pm and 74 MBq 90 Sr + 90 Y beta reference radiations with compensation filters and 740 MBq 90 Sr + 90 Y beta reference radiation without compensation filter, at 20 cm, 30 cm and 30 cm distance separately; the residual energy of maximum is 0.14 MeV, 1.98 MeV and 2.18 MeV separately; the absorbed dose to tissue D (0.07) is 1.547 mGy/h (1996-05-20), 5.037 mGy/h (1996-05-10) and 93.57 mGy/h (1996-05-15) separately; the total uncertainty is 3.0%, 1.7% and 1.7% separately. For the first and the second beta reference radiation, the dose rate variability in the area of 18 cm diameter in the plane perpendicular to the beta-ray beam axis is within +-6% and +-3% separately. (3 refs., 2 tabs., 8 figs.)

The Beta Transmuted Weibull Distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manisha Pal

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The paper introduces a beta transmuted Weibull distribution, which contains a number ofdistributions as special cases. The properties of the distribution are discussed and explicit expressions are derived for the mean deviations, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, and reliability. The distribution and moments of order statistics are also studied. Estimation of the model parameters by the method of maximum likelihood is discussed. The log beta transmuted Weibull model is introduced to analyze censored data. Finally, the usefulness of the new distribution in analyzing positive data is illustrated.

Demonstration of real-time control for poloidal beta in KSTAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Hyunsun, E-mail: hyunsun@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of); Hahn, S.H.; Bak, J.G. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of); Hyatt, A.; Johnson, R. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Woo, M.H.; Kim, J.S.; Bae, Y.S. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-15

Highlights: • Real time control system for poloidal beta has been designed in KSTAR. • Poloidal beta has been calculated based on the diamagnetic loop signals. • The neutral beam Injector plays a role as the actuator. • The control system has been validated in the KSTAR experiments. - Abstract: Sustaining the plasma in a stable and a high performance condition is one of the important control issues for future steady state tokamaks. In the 2014 KSTAR campaign, we have developed a real-time poloidal beta (β{sub p}) control technique and carried out preliminary experiments to identify its feasibility. In the control system, the β{sub p} is calculated in real time using the measured diamagnetic loop signal, and compared with the target value leading to the change of the neutral beam (NB) heating power using a feedback PID control algorithm. To match the requested power of NB which is operated with constant voltage, the on-time periods of the intervals were adjusted as the ratio of the required power to the maximum achievable one. This paper will present the overall procedures of the β{sub p} control, the β{sub p} estimation process and NB operation scheme implemented in the plasma control system (PCS), and the analysis on the preliminary experimental results.

Demonstration of real-time control for poloidal beta in KSTAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Hyunsun; Hahn, S.H.; Bak, J.G.; Hyatt, A.; Johnson, R.; Woo, M.H.; Kim, J.S.; Bae, Y.S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Real time control system for poloidal beta has been designed in KSTAR. • Poloidal beta has been calculated based on the diamagnetic loop signals. • The neutral beam Injector plays a role as the actuator. • The control system has been validated in the KSTAR experiments. - Abstract: Sustaining the plasma in a stable and a high performance condition is one of the important control issues for future steady state tokamaks. In the 2014 KSTAR campaign, we have developed a real-time poloidal beta (β p ) control technique and carried out preliminary experiments to identify its feasibility. In the control system, the β p is calculated in real time using the measured diamagnetic loop signal, and compared with the target value leading to the change of the neutral beam (NB) heating power using a feedback PID control algorithm. To match the requested power of NB which is operated with constant voltage, the on-time periods of the intervals were adjusted as the ratio of the required power to the maximum achievable one. This paper will present the overall procedures of the β p control, the β p estimation process and NB operation scheme implemented in the plasma control system (PCS), and the analysis on the preliminary experimental results

Achieving a long-lived high-beta plasma state by energetic beam injection

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, H. Y.; Binderbauer, M. W.; Tajima, T.; Milroy, R. D.; Steinhauer, L. C.; Yang, X.; Garate, E. G.; Gota, H.; Korepanov, S.; Necas, A.; Roche, T.; Smirnov, A.; Trask, E.

2015-04-01

Developing a stable plasma state with high-beta (ratio of plasma to magnetic pressures) is of critical importance for an economic magnetic fusion reactor. At the forefront of this endeavour is the field-reversed configuration. Here we demonstrate the kinetic stabilizing effect of fast ions on a disruptive magneto-hydrodynamic instability, known as a tilt mode, which poses a central obstacle to further field-reversed configuration development, by energetic beam injection. This technique, combined with the synergistic effect of active plasma boundary control, enables a fully stable ultra-high-beta (approaching 100%) plasma with a long lifetime.

Silent ischemia and beta-blockade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Egstrup, K

1991-01-01

and should also be directed at the other coronary artery risk factors of the patients. The effects of beta-blockers, which reduce the duration and frequency of silent ischemic episodes, is well described. The effect is most pronounced in the morning, when the frequency of ischemia is highest......, and the mechanism of action seems mainly mediated through a reduction in myocardial oxygen demand. beta-Blockers have shown effectiveness in both effort-induced angina and mixed angina, and increased anti-ischemic potency may be achieved by combination therapy with a calcium antagonist. Abrupt withdrawal of beta-blockers...

An entropy approach for evaluating the maximum information content achievable by an urban rainfall network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Ridolfi

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Hydrological models are the basis of operational flood-forecasting systems. The accuracy of these models is strongly dependent on the quality and quantity of the input information represented by rainfall height. Finer space-time rainfall resolution results in more accurate hazard forecasting. In this framework, an optimum raingauge network is essential in predicting flood events.

This paper develops an entropy-based approach to evaluate the maximum information content achievable by a rainfall network for different sampling time intervals. The procedure is based on the determination of the coefficients of transferred and nontransferred information and on the relative isoinformation contours.

The nontransferred information value achieved by the whole network is strictly dependent on the sampling time intervals considered. An empirical curve is defined, to assess the objective of the research: the nontransferred information value is plotted versus the associated sampling time on a semi-log scale. The curve has a linear trend.

In this paper, the methodology is applied to the high-density raingauge network of the urban area of Rome.

Advanced low-beta cavity development for proton and ion accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conway, Z. A.; Kelly, M. P.; Ostroumov, P. N.

2015-05-01

Recent developments in designing and processing low-beta superconducting cavities at Argonne National Laboratory are very encouraging for future applications requiring compact proton and ion accelerators. One of the major benefits of these accelerating structures is achieving real-estate accelerating gradients greater than 3 MV/m very efficiently either continuously or for long-duty cycle operation (>1%). The technology has been implemented in low-beta accelerator cryomodules for the Argonne ATLAS heavy-ion linac where the cryomodules are required to have real-estate gradients of more than 3 MV/m. In offline testing low-beta cavities with even higher gradients have already been achieved. This paper will review this work where we have achieved surface fields greater than 166 mT magnetic and 117 MV/m electric in a 72 MHz quarter-wave resonator optimized for beta = 0.077 ions.

MINIMUM VARIANCE BETA ESTIMATION WITH DYNAMIC CONSTRAINTS,

Science.gov (United States)

developed (at AFETR ) and is being used to isolate the primary error sources in the beta estimation task. This computer program is additionally used to...determine what success in beta estimation can be achieved with foreseeable instrumentation accuracies. Results are included that illustrate the effects on

Diabetic beta-cells can achieve self-protection against oxidative stress through an adaptive up-regulation of their antioxidant defenses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grégory Lacraz

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress (OS, through excessive and/or chronic reactive oxygen species (ROS, is a mediator of diabetes-related damages in various tissues including pancreatic beta-cells. Here, we have evaluated islet OS status and beta-cell response to ROS using the GK/Par rat as a model of type 2 diabetes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Localization of OS markers was performed on whole pancreases. Using islets isolated from 7-day-old or 2.5-month-old male GK/Par and Wistar control rats, 1 gene expression was analyzed by qRT-PCR; 2 insulin secretion rate was measured; 3 ROS accumulation and mitochondrial polarization were assessed by fluorescence methods; 4 antioxidant contents were quantified by HPLC. After diabetes onset, OS markers targeted mostly peri-islet vascular and inflammatory areas, and not islet cells. GK/Par islets revealed in fact protected against OS, because they maintained basal ROS accumulation similar or even lower than Wistar islets. Remarkably, GK/Par insulin secretion also exhibited strong resistance to the toxic effect of exogenous H(2O(2 or endogenous ROS exposure. Such adaptation was associated to both high glutathione content and overexpression (mRNA and/or protein levels of a large set of genes encoding antioxidant proteins as well as UCP2. Finally, we showed that such a phenotype was not innate but spontaneously acquired after diabetes onset, as the result of an adaptive response to the diabetic environment. CONCLUSIONS: The GK/Par model illustrates the effectiveness of adaptive response to OS by beta-cells to achieve self-tolerance. It remains to be determined to what extend such islet antioxidant defenses upregulation might contribute to GK/Par beta-cell secretory dysfunction.

Assessing the performance of winter footwear using a new maximum achievable incline method.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Jennifer; Li, Yue; Dutta, Tilak; Fernie, Geoff

2015-09-01

More informative tests of winter footwear performance are required in order to identify footwear that will prevent injurious slips and falls on icy conditions. In this study, eight participants tested four styles of winter boots on smooth wet ice. The surface was progressively tilted to create increasing longitudinal and cross-slopes until participants could no longer continue standing or walking. Maximum achievable incline angles provided consistent measures of footwear slip resistance and demonstrated better resolution than mechanical tests. One footwear outsole material and tread combination outperformed the others on wet ice allowing participants to successfully walk on steep longitudinal slopes of 17.5° ± 1.9° (mean ± SD). By further exploiting the methodology to include additional surfaces and contaminants, such tests could be used to optimize tread designs and materials that are ideal for reducing the risk of slips and falls. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Determination of $\\gamma$ and $-2\\beta_s$ from charmless two-body decays of beauty mesons

CERN Document Server

Aaij, Roel; Adeva, Bernardo; Adinolfi, Marco; Affolder, Anthony; Ajaltouni, Ziad; Akar, Simon; Albrecht, Johannes; Alessio, Federico; Alexander, Michael; Ali, Suvayu; Alkhazov, Georgy; Alvarez Cartelle, Paula; Alves Jr, Antonio Augusto; Amato, Sandra; Amerio, Silvia; Amhis, Yasmine; An, Liupan; Anderlini, Lucio; Anderson, Jonathan; Andreassen, Rolf; Andreotti, Mirco; Andrews, Jason; Appleby, Robert; Aquines Gutierrez, Osvaldo; Archilli, Flavio; Artamonov, Alexander; Artuso, Marina; Aslanides, Elie; Auriemma, Giulio; Baalouch, Marouen; Bachmann, Sebastian; Back, John; Badalov, Alexey; Baesso, Clarissa; Baldini, Wander; Barlow, Roger; Barschel, Colin; Barsuk, Sergey; Barter, William; Batozskaya, Varvara; Battista, Vincenzo; Bay, Aurelio; Beaucourt, Leo; Beddow, John; Bedeschi, Franco; Bediaga, Ignacio; Belogurov, Sergey; Belous, Konstantin; Belyaev, Ivan; Ben-Haim, Eli; Bencivenni, Giovanni; Benson, Sean; Benton, Jack; Berezhnoy, Alexander; Bernet, Roland; Bettler, Marc-Olivier; van Beuzekom, Martinus; Bien, Alexander; Bifani, Simone; Bird, Thomas; Bizzeti, Andrea; Bjørnstad, Pål Marius; Blake, Thomas; Blanc, Frédéric; Blouw, Johan; Blusk, Steven; Bocci, Valerio; Bondar, Alexander; Bondar, Nikolay; Bonivento, Walter; Borghi, Silvia; Borgia, Alessandra; Borsato, Martino; Bowcock, Themistocles; Bowen, Espen Eie; Bozzi, Concezio; Brambach, Tobias; Bressieux, Joël; Brett, David; Britsch, Markward; Britton, Thomas; Brodzicka, Jolanta; Brook, Nicholas; Brown, Henry; Bursche, Albert; Busetto, Giovanni; Buytaert, Jan; Cadeddu, Sandro; Calabrese, Roberto; Calvi, Marta; Calvo Gomez, Miriam; Campana, Pierluigi; Campora Perez, Daniel; Carbone, Angelo; Carboni, Giovanni; Cardinale, Roberta; Cardini, Alessandro; Carson, Laurence; Carvalho Akiba, Kazuyoshi; Casse, Gianluigi; Cassina, Lorenzo; Castillo Garcia, Lucia; Cattaneo, Marco; Cauet, Christophe; Cenci, Riccardo; Charles, Matthew; Charpentier, Philippe; Chefdeville, Maximilien; Chen, Shanzhen; Cheung, Shu-Faye; Chiapolini, Nicola; Chrzaszcz, Marcin; Ciba, Krzystof; Cid Vidal, Xabier; Ciezarek, Gregory; Clarke, Peter; Clemencic, Marco; Cliff, Harry; Closier, Joel; Coco, Victor; Cogan, Julien; Cogneras, Eric; Cojocariu, Lucian; Collins, Paula; Comerma-Montells, Albert; Contu, Andrea; Cook, Andrew; Coombes, Matthew; Coquereau, Samuel; Corti, Gloria; Corvo, Marco; Counts, Ian; Couturier, Benjamin; Cowan, Greig; Craik, Daniel Charles; Cruz Torres, Melissa Maria; Cunliffe, Samuel; Currie, Robert; D'Ambrosio, Carmelo; Dalseno, Jeremy; David, Pascal; David, Pieter; Davis, Adam; De Bruyn, Kristof; De Capua, Stefano; De Cian, Michel; De Miranda, Jussara; De Paula, Leandro; De Silva, Weeraddana; De Simone, Patrizia; Decamp, Daniel; Deckenhoff, Mirko; Del Buono, Luigi; Déléage, Nicolas; Derkach, Denis; Deschamps, Olivier; Dettori, Francesco; Di Canto, Angelo; Dijkstra, Hans; Donleavy, Stephanie; Dordei, Francesca; Dorigo, Mirco; Dosil Suárez, Alvaro; Dossett, David; Dovbnya, Anatoliy; Dreimanis, Karlis; Dujany, Giulio; Dupertuis, Frederic; Durante, Paolo; Dzhelyadin, Rustem; Dziurda, Agnieszka; Dzyuba, Alexey; Easo, Sajan; Egorychev, Victor; Eidelman, Semen; Eisenhardt, Stephan; Eitschberger, Ulrich; Ekelhof, Robert; Eklund, Lars; El Rifai, Ibrahim; Elsasser, Christian; Ely, Scott; Esen, Sevda; Evans, Hannah Mary; Evans, Timothy; Falabella, Antonio; Färber, Christian; Farinelli, Chiara; Farley, Nathanael; Farry, Stephen; Fay, Robert; Ferguson, Dianne; Fernandez Albor, Victor; Ferreira Rodrigues, Fernando; Ferro-Luzzi, Massimiliano; Filippov, Sergey; Fiore, Marco; Fiorini, Massimiliano; Firlej, Miroslaw; Fitzpatrick, Conor; Fiutowski, Tomasz; Fol, Philip; Fontana, Marianna; Fontanelli, Flavio; Forty, Roger; Francisco, Oscar; Frank, Markus; Frei, Christoph; Frosini, Maddalena; Fu, Jinlin; Furfaro, Emiliano; Gallas Torreira, Abraham; Galli, Domenico; Gallorini, Stefano; Gambetta, Silvia; Gandelman, Miriam; Gandini, Paolo; Gao, Yuanning; García Pardiñas, Julián; Garofoli, Justin; Garra Tico, Jordi; Garrido, Lluis; Gaspar, Clara; Gauld, Rhorry; Gavardi, Laura; Gavrilov, Gennadii; Geraci, Angelo; Gersabeck, Evelina; Gersabeck, Marco; Gershon, Timothy; Ghez, Philippe; Gianelle, Alessio; Gianì, Sebastiana; Gibson, Valerie; Giubega, Lavinia-Helena; Gligorov, Vladimir; Göbel, Carla; Golubkov, Dmitry; Golutvin, Andrey; Gomes, Alvaro; Gotti, Claudio; Grabalosa Gándara, Marc; Graciani Diaz, Ricardo; Granado Cardoso, Luis Alberto; Graugés, Eugeni; Graziani, Giacomo; Grecu, Alexandru; Greening, Edward; Gregson, Sam; Griffith, Peter; Grillo, Lucia; Grünberg, Oliver; Gui, Bin; Gushchin, Evgeny; Guz, Yury; Gys, Thierry; Hadjivasiliou, Christos; Haefeli, Guido; Haen, Christophe; Haines, Susan; Hall, Samuel; Hamilton, Brian; Hampson, Thomas; Han, Xiaoxue; Hansmann-Menzemer, Stephanie; Harnew, Neville; Harnew, Samuel; Harrison, Jonathan; He, Jibo; Head, Timothy; Heijne, Veerle; Hennessy, Karol; Henrard, Pierre; Henry, Louis; Hernando Morata, Jose Angel; van Herwijnen, Eric; Heß, Miriam; Hicheur, Adlène; Hill, Donal; Hoballah, Mostafa; Hombach, Christoph; Hulsbergen, Wouter; Hunt, Philip; Hussain, Nazim; Hutchcroft, David; Hynds, Daniel; Idzik, Marek; Ilten, Philip; Jacobsson, Richard; Jaeger, Andreas; Jalocha, Pawel; Jans, Eddy; Jaton, Pierre; Jawahery, Abolhassan; Jing, Fanfan; John, Malcolm; Johnson, Daniel; Jones, Christopher; Joram, Christian; Jost, Beat; Jurik, Nathan; Kaballo, Michael; Kandybei, Sergii; Kanso, Walaa; Karacson, Matthias; Karbach, Moritz; Karodia, Sarah; Kelsey, Matthew; Kenyon, Ian; Ketel, Tjeerd; Khanji, Basem; Khurewathanakul, Chitsanu; Klaver, Suzanne; Klimaszewski, Konrad; Kochebina, Olga; Kolpin, Michael; Komarov, Ilya; Koopman, Rose; Koppenburg, Patrick; Korolev, Mikhail; Kozlinskiy, Alexandr; Kravchuk, Leonid; Kreplin, Katharina; Kreps, Michal; Krocker, Georg; Krokovny, Pavel; Kruse, Florian; Kucewicz, Wojciech; Kucharczyk, Marcin; Kudryavtsev, Vasily; Kurek, Krzysztof; Kvaratskheliya, Tengiz; La Thi, Viet Nga; Lacarrere, Daniel; Lafferty, George; Lai, Adriano; Lambert, Dean; Lambert, Robert W; Lanfranchi, Gaia; Langenbruch, Christoph; Langhans, Benedikt; Latham, Thomas; Lazzeroni, Cristina; Le Gac, Renaud; van Leerdam, Jeroen; Lees, Jean-Pierre; Lefèvre, Regis; Leflat, Alexander; Lefrançois, Jacques; Leo, Sabato; Leroy, Olivier; Lesiak, Tadeusz; Leverington, Blake; Li, Yiming; Likhomanenko, Tatiana; Liles, Myfanwy; Lindner, Rolf; Linn, Christian; Lionetto, Federica; Liu, Bo; Lohn, Stefan; Longstaff, Iain; Lopes, Jose; Lopez-March, Neus; Lowdon, Peter; Lu, Haiting; Lucchesi, Donatella; Luo, Haofei; Lupato, Anna; Luppi, Eleonora; Lupton, Oliver; Machefert, Frederic; Machikhiliyan, Irina V; Maciuc, Florin; Maev, Oleg; Malde, Sneha; Malinin, Alexander; Manca, Giulia; Mancinelli, Giampiero; Mapelli, Alessandro; Maratas, Jan; Marchand, Jean François; Marconi, Umberto; Marin Benito, Carla; Marino, Pietro; Märki, Raphael; Marks, Jörg; Martellotti, Giuseppe; Martens, Aurelien; Martín Sánchez, Alexandra; Martinelli, Maurizio; Martinez Santos, Diego; Martinez Vidal, Fernando; Martins Tostes, Danielle; Massafferri, André; Matev, Rosen; Mathe, Zoltan; Matteuzzi, Clara; Mazurov, Alexander; McCann, Michael; McCarthy, James; McNab, Andrew; McNulty, Ronan; McSkelly, Ben; Meadows, Brian; Meier, Frank; Meissner, Marco; Merk, Marcel; Milanes, Diego Alejandro; Minard, Marie-Noelle; Moggi, Niccolò; Molina Rodriguez, Josue; Monteil, Stephane; Morandin, Mauro; Morawski, Piotr; Mordà, Alessandro; Morello, Michael Joseph; Moron, Jakub; Morris, Adam Benjamin; Mountain, Raymond; Muheim, Franz; Müller, Katharina; Mussini, Manuel; Muster, Bastien; Naik, Paras; Nakada, Tatsuya; Nandakumar, Raja; Nasteva, Irina; Needham, Matthew; Neri, Nicola; Neubert, Sebastian; Neufeld, Niko; Neuner, Max; Nguyen, Anh Duc; Nguyen, Thi-Dung; Nguyen-Mau, Chung; Nicol, Michelle; Niess, Valentin; Niet, Ramon; Nikitin, Nikolay; Nikodem, Thomas; Novoselov, Alexey; O'Hanlon, Daniel Patrick; Oblakowska-Mucha, Agnieszka; Obraztsov, Vladimir; Oggero, Serena; Ogilvy, Stephen; Okhrimenko, Oleksandr; Oldeman, Rudolf; Onderwater, Gerco; Orlandea, Marius; Otalora Goicochea, Juan Martin; Owen, Patrick; Oyanguren, Maria Arantza; Pal, Bilas Kanti; Palano, Antimo; Palombo, Fernando; Palutan, Matteo; Panman, Jacob; Papanestis, Antonios; Pappagallo, Marco; Pappalardo, Luciano; Parkes, Christopher; Parkinson, Christopher John; Passaleva, Giovanni; Patel, Girish; Patel, Mitesh; Patrignani, Claudia; Pazos Alvarez, Antonio; Pearce, Alex; Pellegrino, Antonio; Pepe Altarelli, Monica; Perazzini, Stefano; Perez Trigo, Eliseo; Perret, Pascal; Perrin-Terrin, Mathieu; Pescatore, Luca; Pesen, Erhan; Petridis, Konstantin; Petrolini, Alessandro; Picatoste Olloqui, Eduardo; Pietrzyk, Boleslaw; Pilař, Tomas; Pinci, Davide; Pistone, Alessandro; Playfer, Stephen; Plo Casasus, Maximo; Polci, Francesco; Poluektov, Anton; Polycarpo, Erica; Popov, Alexander; Popov, Dmitry; Popovici, Bogdan; Potterat, Cédric; Price, Eugenia; Price, Joseph David; Prisciandaro, Jessica; Pritchard, Adrian; Prouve, Claire; Pugatch, Valery; Puig Navarro, Albert; Punzi, Giovanni; Qian, Wenbin; Rachwal, Bartolomiej; Rademacker, Jonas; Rakotomiaramanana, Barinjaka; Rama, Matteo; Rangel, Murilo; Raniuk, Iurii; Rauschmayr, Nathalie; Raven, Gerhard; Redi, Federico; Reichert, Stefanie; Reid, Matthew; dos Reis, Alberto; Ricciardi, Stefania; Richards, Sophie; Rihl, Mariana; Rinnert, Kurt; Rives Molina, Vincente; Robbe, Patrick; Rodrigues, Ana Barbara; Rodrigues, Eduardo; Rodriguez Perez, Pablo; Roiser, Stefan; Romanovsky, Vladimir; Romero Vidal, Antonio; Rotondo, Marcello; Rouvinet, Julien; Ruf, Thomas; Ruiz, Hugo; Ruiz Valls, Pablo; Saborido Silva, Juan Jose; Sagidova, Naylya; Sail, Paul; Saitta, Biagio; Salustino Guimaraes, Valdir; Sanchez Mayordomo, Carlos; Sanmartin Sedes, Brais; Santacesaria, Roberta; Santamarina Rios, Cibran; Santovetti, Emanuele; Sarti, Alessio; Satriano, Celestina; Satta, Alessia; Saunders, Daniel Martin; Savrie, Mauro; Savrina, Darya; Schiller, Manuel; Schindler, Heinrich; Schlupp, Maximilian; Schmelling, Michael; Schmidt, Burkhard; Schneider, Olivier; Schopper, Andreas; Schune, Marie Helene; Schwemmer, Rainer; Sciascia, Barbara; Sciubba, Adalberto; Seco, Marcos; Semennikov, Alexander; Sepp, Indrek; Serra, Nicola; Serrano, Justine; Sestini, Lorenzo; Seyfert, Paul; Shapkin, Mikhail; Shapoval, Illya; Shcheglov, Yury; Shears, Tara; Shekhtman, Lev; Shevchenko, Vladimir; Shires, Alexander; Silva Coutinho, Rafael; Simi, Gabriele; Sirendi, Marek; Skidmore, Nicola; Skwarnicki, Tomasz; Smith, Anthony; Smith, Edmund; Smith, Eluned; Smith, Jackson; Smith, Mark; Snoek, Hella; Sokoloff, Michael; Soler, Paul; Soomro, Fatima; Souza, Daniel; Souza De Paula, Bruno; Spaan, Bernhard; Sparkes, Ailsa; Spradlin, Patrick; Sridharan, Srikanth; Stagni, Federico; Stahl, Marian; Stahl, Sascha; Steinkamp, Olaf; Stenyakin, Oleg; Stevenson, Scott; Stoica, Sabin; Stone, Sheldon; Storaci, Barbara; Stracka, Simone; Straticiuc, Mihai; Straumann, Ulrich; Stroili, Roberto; Subbiah, Vijay Kartik; Sun, Liang; Sutcliffe, William; Swientek, Krzysztof; Swientek, Stefan; Syropoulos, Vasileios; Szczekowski, Marek; Szczypka, Paul; Szilard, Daniela; Szumlak, Tomasz; T'Jampens, Stephane; Teklishyn, Maksym; Tellarini, Giulia; Teubert, Frederic; Thomas, Christopher; Thomas, Eric; van Tilburg, Jeroen; Tisserand, Vincent; Tobin, Mark; Tolk, Siim; Tomassetti, Luca; Topp-Joergensen, Stig; Torr, Nicholas; Tournefier, Edwige; Tourneur, Stephane; Tran, Minh Tâm; Tresch, Marco; Tsaregorodtsev, Andrei; Tsopelas, Panagiotis; Tuning, Niels; Ubeda Garcia, Mario; Ukleja, Artur; Ustyuzhanin, Andrey; Uwer, Ulrich; Vacca, Claudia; Vagnoni, Vincenzo; Valenti, Giovanni; Vallier, Alexis; Vazquez Gomez, Ricardo; Vazquez Regueiro, Pablo; Vázquez Sierra, Carlos; Vecchi, Stefania; Velthuis, Jaap; Veltri, Michele; Veneziano, Giovanni; Vesterinen, Mika; Viaud, Benoit; Vieira, Daniel; Vieites Diaz, Maria; Vilasis-Cardona, Xavier; Vollhardt, Achim; Volyanskyy, Dmytro; Voong, David; Vorobyev, Alexey; Vorobyev, Vitaly; Voß, Christian; Voss, Helge; de Vries, Jacco; Waldi, Roland; Wallace, Charlotte; Wallace, Ronan; Walsh, John; Wandernoth, Sebastian; Wang, Jianchun; Ward, David; Watson, Nigel; Websdale, David; Whitehead, Mark; Wicht, Jean; Wiedner, Dirk; Wilkinson, Guy; Williams, Matthew; Williams, Mike; Wilschut, Hans; Wilson, Fergus; Wimberley, Jack; Wishahi, Julian; Wislicki, Wojciech; Witek, Mariusz; Wormser, Guy; Wotton, Stephen; Wright, Simon; Wyllie, Kenneth; Xie, Yuehong; Xing, Zhou; Xu, Zhirui; Yang, Zhenwei; Yuan, Xuhao; Yushchenko, Oleg; Zangoli, Maria; Zavertyaev, Mikhail; Zhang, Liming; Zhang, Wen Chao; Zhang, Yanxi; Zhelezov, Alexey; Zhokhov, Anatoly; Zhong, Liang; Zvyagin, Alexander

2015-01-01

Using the latest LHCb measurements of time-dependent $C\\!P$ violation in the $B^0_s \\to K^+K^-$ decay, a U-spin relation between the decay amplitudes of $B^0_s \\to K^+K^-$ and $B^0\\to \\pi^+\\pi^-$ decay processes allows constraints to be placed on the angle $\\gamma$ of the unitarity triangle and on the $B^0_s$ mixing phase $-2\\beta_s$. Results from an extended approach, which uses additional inputs on $B^0\\to \\pi^0\\pi^0$ and $B^+\\to \\pi^+\\pi^0$ decays from other experiments and exploits isospin symmetry, are also presented. The dependence of the results on the maximum allowed amount of U-spin breaking is studied. At 68% probability, the value $\\gamma = \\left( 63.5^{\\,+\\, 7.2}_{\\,-\\,6.7} \\right)^\\circ~\\mathrm{modulo}~180^\\circ$ is determined. In an alternative analysis, the value $-2\\beta_s = -0.12 ^{\\,+\\,0.14}_{\\,-\\,0.16}\\,\\,\\mathrm{rad}$ is found. In both measurements, the uncertainties due to U-spin breaking effects up to 50% are included.

Determination of $\\gamma$ and $-2\\beta_s$ from charmless two-body decays of beauty mesons

CERN Document Server

Aaij, Roel; Adeva, Bernardo; Adinolfi, Marco; Affolder, Anthony; Ajaltouni, Ziad; Akar, Simon; Albrecht, Johannes; Alessio, Federico; Alexander, Michael; Ali, Suvayu; Alkhazov, Georgy; Alvarez Cartelle, Paula; Alves Jr, Antonio Augusto; Amato, Sandra; Amerio, Silvia; Amhis, Yasmine; An, Liupan; Anderlini, Lucio; Anderson, Jonathan; Andreassen, Rolf; Andreotti, Mirco; Andrews, Jason; Appleby, Robert; Aquines Gutierrez, Osvaldo; Archilli, Flavio; Artamonov, Alexander; Artuso, Marina; Aslanides, Elie; Auriemma, Giulio; Baalouch, Marouen; Bachmann, Sebastian; Back, John; Badalov, Alexey; Baesso, Clarissa; Baldini, Wander; Barlow, Roger; Barschel, Colin; Barsuk, Sergey; Barter, William; Batozskaya, Varvara; Battista, Vincenzo; Bay, Aurelio; Beaucourt, Leo; Beddow, John; Bedeschi, Franco; Bediaga, Ignacio; Belogurov, Sergey; Belous, Konstantin; Belyaev, Ivan; Ben-Haim, Eli; Bencivenni, Giovanni; Benson, Sean; Benton, Jack; Berezhnoy, Alexander; Bernet, Roland; Bettler, Marc-Olivier; van Beuzekom, Martinus; Bien, Alexander; Bifani, Simone; Bird, Thomas; Bizzeti, Andrea; Bjørnstad, Pål Marius; Blake, Thomas; Blanc, Frédéric; Blouw, Johan; Blusk, Steven; Bocci, Valerio; Bondar, Alexander; Bondar, Nikolay; Bonivento, Walter; Borghi, Silvia; Borgia, Alessandra; Borsato, Martino; Bowcock, Themistocles; Bowen, Espen Eie; Bozzi, Concezio; Brambach, Tobias; Bressieux, Joël; Brett, David; Britsch, Markward; Britton, Thomas; Brodzicka, Jolanta; Brook, Nicholas; Brown, Henry; Bursche, Albert; Busetto, Giovanni; Buytaert, Jan; Cadeddu, Sandro; Calabrese, Roberto; Calvi, Marta; Calvo Gomez, Miriam; Campana, Pierluigi; Campora Perez, Daniel; Carbone, Angelo; Carboni, Giovanni; Cardinale, Roberta; Cardini, Alessandro; Carson, Laurence; Carvalho Akiba, Kazuyoshi; Casse, Gianluigi; Cassina, Lorenzo; Castillo Garcia, Lucia; Cattaneo, Marco; Cauet, Christophe; Cenci, Riccardo; Charles, Matthew; Charpentier, Philippe; Chefdeville, Maximilien; Chen, Shanzhen; Cheung, Shu-Faye; Chiapolini, Nicola; Chrzaszcz, Marcin; Ciba, Krzystof; Cid Vidal, Xabier; Ciezarek, Gregory; Clarke, Peter; Clemencic, Marco; Cliff, Harry; Closier, Joel; Coco, Victor; Cogan, Julien; Cogneras, Eric; Cojocariu, Lucian; Collins, Paula; Comerma-Montells, Albert; Contu, Andrea; Cook, Andrew; Coombes, Matthew; Coquereau, Samuel; Corti, Gloria; Corvo, Marco; Counts, Ian; Couturier, Benjamin; Cowan, Greig; Craik, Daniel Charles; Cruz Torres, Melissa Maria; Cunliffe, Samuel; Currie, Robert; D'Ambrosio, Carmelo; Dalseno, Jeremy; David, Pascal; David, Pieter; Davis, Adam; De Bruyn, Kristof; De Capua, Stefano; De Cian, Michel; De Miranda, Jussara; De Paula, Leandro; De Silva, Weeraddana; De Simone, Patrizia; Decamp, Daniel; Deckenhoff, Mirko; Del Buono, Luigi; Déléage, Nicolas; Derkach, Denis; Deschamps, Olivier; Dettori, Francesco; Di Canto, Angelo; Dijkstra, Hans; Donleavy, Stephanie; Dordei, Francesca; Dorigo, Mirco; Dosil Suárez, Alvaro; Dossett, David; Dovbnya, Anatoliy; Dreimanis, Karlis; Dujany, Giulio; Dupertuis, Frederic; Durante, Paolo; Dzhelyadin, Rustem; Dziurda, Agnieszka; Dzyuba, Alexey; Easo, Sajan; Egorychev, Victor; Eidelman, Semen; Eisenhardt, Stephan; Eitschberger, Ulrich; Ekelhof, Robert; Eklund, Lars; El Rifai, Ibrahim; Elsasser, Christian; Ely, Scott; Esen, Sevda; Evans, Hannah Mary; Evans, Timothy; Falabella, Antonio; Färber, Christian; Farinelli, Chiara; Farley, Nathanael; Farry, Stephen; Fay, Robert; Ferguson, Dianne; Fernandez Albor, Victor; Ferreira Rodrigues, Fernando; Ferro-Luzzi, Massimiliano; Filippov, Sergey; Fiore, Marco; Fiorini, Massimiliano; Firlej, Miroslaw; Fitzpatrick, Conor; Fiutowski, Tomasz; Fol, Philip; Fontana, Marianna; Fontanelli, Flavio; Forty, Roger; Francisco, Oscar; Frank, Markus; Frei, Christoph; Frosini, Maddalena; Fu, Jinlin; Furfaro, Emiliano; Gallas Torreira, Abraham; Galli, Domenico; Gallorini, Stefano; Gambetta, Silvia; Gandelman, Miriam; Gandini, Paolo; Gao, Yuanning; García Pardiñas, Julián; Garofoli, Justin; Garra Tico, Jordi; Garrido, Lluis; Gaspar, Clara; Gauld, Rhorry; Gavardi, Laura; Gavrilov, Gennadii; Geraci, Angelo; Gersabeck, Evelina; Gersabeck, Marco; Gershon, Timothy; Ghez, Philippe; Gianelle, Alessio; Gianì, Sebastiana; Gibson, Valerie; Giubega, Lavinia-Helena; Gligorov, V.V.; Göbel, Carla; Golubkov, Dmitry; Golutvin, Andrey; Gomes, Alvaro; Gotti, Claudio; Grabalosa Gándara, Marc; Graciani Diaz, Ricardo; Granado Cardoso, Luis Alberto; Graugés, Eugeni; Graziani, Giacomo; Grecu, Alexandru; Greening, Edward; Gregson, Sam; Griffith, Peter; Grillo, Lucia; Grünberg, Oliver; Gui, Bin; Gushchin, Evgeny; Guz, Yury; Gys, Thierry; Hadjivasiliou, Christos; Haefeli, Guido; Haen, Christophe; Haines, Susan; Hall, Samuel; Hamilton, Brian; Hampson, Thomas; Han, Xiaoxue; Hansmann-Menzemer, Stephanie; Harnew, Neville; Harnew, Samuel; Harrison, Jonathan; He, Jibo; Head, Timothy; Heijne, Veerle; Hennessy, Karol; Henrard, Pierre; Henry, Louis; Hernando Morata, Jose Angel; van Herwijnen, Eric; Heß, Miriam; Hicheur, Adlène; Hill, Donal; Hoballah, Mostafa; Hombach, Christoph; Hulsbergen, Wouter; Hunt, Philip; Hussain, Nazim; Hutchcroft, David; Hynds, Daniel; Idzik, Marek; Ilten, Philip; Jacobsson, Richard; Jaeger, Andreas; Jalocha, Pawel; Jans, Eddy; Jaton, Pierre; Jawahery, Abolhassan; Jing, Fanfan; John, Malcolm; Johnson, Daniel; Jones, Christopher; Joram, Christian; Jost, Beat; Jurik, Nathan; Kaballo, Michael; Kandybei, Sergii; Kanso, Walaa; Karacson, Matthias; Karbach, Moritz; Karodia, Sarah; Kelsey, Matthew; Kenyon, Ian; Ketel, Tjeerd; Khanji, Basem; Khurewathanakul, Chitsanu; Klaver, Suzanne; Klimaszewski, Konrad; Kochebina, Olga; Kolpin, Michael; Komarov, Ilya; Koopman, Rose; Koppenburg, Patrick; Korolev, Mikhail; Kozlinskiy, Alexandr; Kravchuk, Leonid; Kreplin, Katharina; Kreps, Michal; Krocker, Georg; Krokovny, Pavel; Kruse, Florian; Kucewicz, Wojciech; Kucharczyk, Marcin; Kudryavtsev, Vasily; Kurek, Krzysztof; Kvaratskheliya, Tengiz; La Thi, Viet Nga; Lacarrere, Daniel; Lafferty, George; Lai, Adriano; Lambert, Dean; Lambert, Robert W; Lanfranchi, Gaia; Langenbruch, Christoph; Langhans, Benedikt; Latham, Thomas; Lazzeroni, Cristina; Le Gac, Renaud; van Leerdam, Jeroen; Lees, Jean-Pierre; Lefèvre, Regis; Leflat, Alexander; Lefrançois, Jacques; Leo, Sabato; Leroy, Olivier; Lesiak, Tadeusz; Leverington, Blake; Li, Yiming; Likhomanenko, Tatiana; Liles, Myfanwy; Lindner, Rolf; Linn, Christian; Lionetto, Federica; Liu, Bo; Lohn, Stefan; Longstaff, Iain; Lopes, Jose; Lopez-March, Neus; Lowdon, Peter; Lu, Haiting; Lucchesi, Donatella; Luo, Haofei; Lupato, Anna; Luppi, Eleonora; Lupton, Oliver; Machefert, Frederic; Machikhiliyan, Irina V; Maciuc, Florin; Maev, Oleg; Malde, Sneha; Malinin, Alexander; Manca, Giulia; Mancinelli, Giampiero; Mapelli, Alessandro; Maratas, Jan; Marchand, Jean François; Marconi, Umberto; Marin Benito, Carla; Marino, Pietro; Märki, Raphael; Marks, Jörg; Martellotti, Giuseppe; Martens, Aurelien; Martín Sánchez, Alexandra; Martinelli, Maurizio; Martinez Santos, Diego; Martinez Vidal, Fernando; Martins Tostes, Danielle; Massafferri, André; Matev, Rosen; Mathe, Zoltan; Matteuzzi, Clara; Mazurov, Alexander; McCann, Michael; McCarthy, James; McNab, Andrew; McNulty, Ronan; McSkelly, Ben; Meadows, Brian; Meier, Frank; Meissner, Marco; Merk, Marcel; Milanes, Diego Alejandro; Minard, Marie-Noelle; Moggi, Niccolò; Molina Rodriguez, Josue; Monteil, Stephane; Morandin, Mauro; Morawski, Piotr; Mordà, Alessandro; Morello, Michael Joseph; Moron, Jakub; Morris, Adam Benjamin; Mountain, Raymond; Muheim, Franz; Müller, Katharina; Mussini, Manuel; Muster, Bastien; Naik, Paras; Nakada, Tatsuya; Nandakumar, Raja; Nasteva, Irina; Needham, Matthew; Neri, Nicola; Neubert, Sebastian; Neufeld, Niko; Neuner, Max; Nguyen, Anh Duc; Nguyen, Thi-Dung; Nguyen-Mau, Chung; Nicol, Michelle; Niess, Valentin; Niet, Ramon; Nikitin, Nikolay; Nikodem, Thomas; Novoselov, Alexey; O'Hanlon, Daniel Patrick; Oblakowska-Mucha, Agnieszka; Obraztsov, Vladimir; Oggero, Serena; Ogilvy, Stephen; Okhrimenko, Oleksandr; Oldeman, Rudolf; Onderwater, Gerco; Orlandea, Marius; Otalora Goicochea, Juan Martin; Owen, Patrick; Oyanguren, Maria Arantza; Pal, Bilas Kanti; Palano, Antimo; Palombo, Fernando; Palutan, Matteo; Panman, Jacob; Papanestis, Antonios; Pappagallo, Marco; Pappalardo, Luciano; Parkes, Christopher; Parkinson, Christopher John; Passaleva, Giovanni; Patel, Girish; Patel, Mitesh; Patrignani, Claudia; Pazos Alvarez, Antonio; Pearce, Alex; Pellegrino, Antonio; Pepe Altarelli, Monica; Perazzini, Stefano; Perez Trigo, Eliseo; Perret, Pascal; Perrin-Terrin, Mathieu; Pescatore, Luca; Pesen, Erhan; Petridis, Konstantin; Petrolini, Alessandro; Picatoste Olloqui, Eduardo; Pietrzyk, Boleslaw; Pilař, Tomas; Pinci, Davide; Pistone, Alessandro; Playfer, Stephen; Plo Casasus, Maximo; Polci, Francesco; Poluektov, Anton; Polycarpo, Erica; Popov, Alexander; Popov, Dmitry; Popovici, Bogdan; Potterat, Cédric; Price, Eugenia; Price, Joseph David; Prisciandaro, Jessica; Pritchard, Adrian; Prouve, Claire; Pugatch, Valery; Puig Navarro, Albert; Punzi, Giovanni; Qian, Wenbin; Rachwal, Bartolomiej; Rademacker, Jonas; Rakotomiaramanana, Barinjaka; Rama, Matteo; Rangel, Murilo; Raniuk, Iurii; Rauschmayr, Nathalie; Raven, Gerhard; Redi, Federico; Reichert, Stefanie; Reid, Matthew; dos Reis, Alberto; Ricciardi, Stefania; Richards, Sophie; Rihl, Mariana; Rinnert, Kurt; Rives Molina, Vincente; Robbe, Patrick; Rodrigues, Ana Barbara; Rodrigues, Eduardo; Rodriguez Perez, Pablo; Roiser, Stefan; Romanovsky, Vladimir; Romero Vidal, Antonio; Rotondo, Marcello; Rouvinet, Julien; Ruf, Thomas; Ruiz, Hugo; Ruiz Valls, Pablo; Saborido Silva, Juan Jose; Sagidova, Naylya; Sail, Paul; Saitta, Biagio; Salustino Guimaraes, Valdir; Sanchez Mayordomo, Carlos; Sanmartin Sedes, Brais; Santacesaria, Roberta; Santamarina Rios, Cibran; Santovetti, Emanuele; Sarti, Alessio; Satriano, Celestina; Satta, Alessia; Saunders, Daniel Martin; Savrie, Mauro; Savrina, Darya; Schiller, Manuel; Schindler, Heinrich; Schlupp, Maximilian; Schmelling, Michael; Schmidt, Burkhard; Schneider, Olivier; Schopper, Andreas; Schune, Marie Helene; Schwemmer, Rainer; Sciascia, Barbara; Sciubba, Adalberto; Seco, Marcos; Semennikov, Alexander; Sepp, Indrek; Serra, Nicola; Serrano, Justine; Sestini, Lorenzo; Seyfert, Paul; Shapkin, Mikhail; Shapoval, Illya; Shcheglov, Yury; Shears, Tara; Shekhtman, Lev; Shevchenko, Vladimir; Shires, Alexander; Silva Coutinho, Rafael; Simi, Gabriele; Sirendi, Marek; Skidmore, Nicola; Skwarnicki, Tomasz; Smith, Anthony; Smith, Edmund; Smith, Eluned; Smith, Jackson; Smith, Mark; Snoek, Hella; Sokoloff, Michael; Soler, Paul; Soomro, Fatima; Souza, Daniel; Souza De Paula, Bruno; Spaan, Bernhard; Sparkes, Ailsa; Spradlin, Patrick; Sridharan, Srikanth; Stagni, Federico; Stahl, Marian; Stahl, Sascha; Steinkamp, Olaf; Stenyakin, Oleg; Stevenson, Scott; Stoica, Sabin; Stone, Sheldon; Storaci, Barbara; Stracka, Simone; Straticiuc, Mihai; Straumann, Ulrich; Stroili, Roberto; Subbiah, Vijay Kartik; Sun, Liang; Sutcliffe, William; Swientek, Krzysztof; Swientek, Stefan; Syropoulos, Vasileios; Szczekowski, Marek; Szczypka, Paul; Szilard, Daniela; Szumlak, Tomasz; T'Jampens, Stephane; Teklishyn, Maksym; Tellarini, Giulia; Teubert, Frederic; Thomas, Christopher; Thomas, Eric; van Tilburg, Jeroen; Tisserand, Vincent; Tobin, Mark; Tolk, Siim; Tomassetti, Luca; Topp-Joergensen, Stig; Torr, Nicholas; Tournefier, Edwige; Tourneur, Stephane; Tran, Minh Tâm; Tresch, Marco; Tsaregorodtsev, Andrei; Tsopelas, Panagiotis; Tuning, Niels; Ubeda Garcia, Mario; Ukleja, Artur; Ustyuzhanin, Andrey; Uwer, Ulrich; Vacca, Claudia; Vagnoni, Vincenzo; Valenti, Giovanni; Vallier, Alexis; Vazquez Gomez, Ricardo; Vazquez Regueiro, Pablo; Vázquez Sierra, Carlos; Vecchi, Stefania; Velthuis, Jaap; Veltri, Michele; Veneziano, Giovanni; Vesterinen, Mika; Viaud, Benoit; Vieira, Daniel; Vieites Diaz, Maria; Vilasis-Cardona, Xavier; Vollhardt, Achim; Volyanskyy, Dmytro; Voong, David; Vorobyev, Alexey; Vorobyev, Vitaly; Voß, Christian; Voss, Helge; de Vries, Jacco; Waldi, Roland; Wallace, Charlotte; Wallace, Ronan; Walsh, John; Wandernoth, Sebastian; Wang, Jianchun; Ward, David; Watson, Nigel; Websdale, David; Whitehead, Mark; Wicht, Jean; Wiedner, Dirk; Wilkinson, Guy; Williams, Matthew; Williams, Mike; Wilschut, Hans; Wilson, Fergus; Wimberley, Jack; Wishahi, Julian; Wislicki, Wojciech; Witek, Mariusz; Wormser, Guy; Wotton, Stephen; Wright, Simon; Wyllie, Kenneth; Xie, Yuehong; Xing, Zhou; Xu, Zhirui; Yang, Zhenwei; Yuan, Xuhao; Yushchenko, Oleg; Zangoli, Maria; Zavertyaev, Mikhail; Zhang, Liming; Zhang, Wen Chao; Zhang, Yanxi; Zhelezov, Alexey; Zhokhov, Anatoly; Zhong, Liang; Zvyagin, Alexander

2015-02-04

Using the latest LHCb measurements of time-dependent $C\\!P$ violation in the $B^0_s \\to K^+K^-$ decay, a U-spin relation between the decay amplitudes of $B^0_s \\to K^+K^-$ and $B^0\\to \\pi^+\\pi^-$ decay processes allows constraints to be placed on the angle $\\gamma$ of the unitarity triangle and on the $B^0_s$ mixing phase $-2\\beta_s$. Results from an extended approach, which uses additional inputs on $B^0\\to \\pi^0\\pi^0$ and $B^+\\to \\pi^+\\pi^0$ decays from other experiments and exploits isospin symmetry, are also presented. The dependence of the results on the maximum allowed amount of U-spin breaking is studied. At 68% probability, the value $\\gamma = \\left( 63.5^{\\,+\\, 7.2}_{\\,-\\,6.7} \\right)^\\circ~\\mathrm{modulo}~180^\\circ$ is determined. In an alternative analysis, the value $-2\\beta_s = -0.12 ^{\\,+\\,0.14}_{\\,-\\,0.16}\\,\\,\\mathrm{rad}$ is found. In both measurements, the uncertainties due to U-spin breaking effects up to 50% are included.

Beta-Excited Sources of Electromagnetic Radiation; Sources de rayonnements electromagnetiques excites par des particules beta; Vozbuzhdennye beta-chastitsami istochniki ehlektromagnitnogo izlucheniya; Fuentes de radiacion electromagnetica excitadas por particulas beta

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, J F; Rhodes, J R [Physics Group, Isotope Research Division, (AERE), Wantage Research Laboratory, Wantage, Berks (United Kingdom)

1962-01-15

Beta-excited sources of electromagnetic radiation covering the energy region 1-200 keV and suitable for industrial use are described. H{sup 3}, Pm{sup 147}, Kr{sup 85}, Tl{sup 204} and (Sr+Y){sup 90} were chosen as sources of beta particles by the criteria of long half-life, low price, ready availability and high specific activity. The {beta}-excited sources have been designed on the basis of a compromise between practical source construction and the best theoretical efficiency in a given energy region. In their paper, the authors calculate the number of photons produced per beta particle and consider how the results must be corrected for self-absorption of the X-rays. In the calculations account is taken of both bremsstrahlung and characteristic {alpha}-radiation; optimum characteristic X-ray yield is achieved for targets with an atomic number between 40 and 60. ''Sandwich'' targets of 1-2 beta half-value thicknesses are found to give maximum photon-yields in the desired energy region. Al, Ag and Au are suitable from the manufacturing point of view as source coverings. They were also found to give satisfactory bremsstrahlung and X-ray yields and distribution for various energy regions in the range 1-200 keV when correctly combined with the above-mentioned D-emitters. Some energy spectra are given and absorption curves in Al and Fe are shown for the best source-target combinations. The difference between sources constructed of {beta}-emitters sandwiched between target foils and intimate source-target mixtures was found to be small. Tables are given as a guide to the best source to be used for a particular absorber thickness range. (author) [French] Les auteurs decrivent des sources de rayonnements electromagnetiques excites par des particules beta, couvrant une gamme d'energies allant de 1 a 200 keV et convenant aux usages industriels. Comme sources de particules beta on a choisi le tritium, le {sup 147}Pm, le {sup 85}Kr, le {sup 204}Tl et le {sup 90}(Sr+Y), en

Optimal Velocity to Achieve Maximum Power Output – Bench Press for Trained Footballers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Billich

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Optimal Velocity to Achieve Maximum Power Output – Bench Press for Trained Footballers In today’s world of strength training there are many myths surrounding effective exercising with the least possible negative effect on one’s health. In this experiment we focus on the finding of a relationship between maximum output, used load and the velocity with which the exercise is performed. The main objective is to find the optimal speed of the exercise motion which would allow us to reach the maximum mechanic muscle output during a bench press exercise. This information could be beneficial to sporting coaches and recreational sportsmen alike in helping them improve the effectiveness of fast strength training. Fifteen football players of the FK Třinec football club participated in the experiment. The measurements were made with the use of 3D cinematic and dynamic analysis, both experimental methods. The research subjects participated in a strength test, in which the mechanic muscle output of 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, 90% and one repetition maximum (1RM was measured. The acquired result values and other required data were modified using Qualisys Track Manager and Visual 3D software (C-motion, Rockville, MD, USA. During the bench press exercise the maximum mechanic muscle output of the set of research subjects was reached at 75% of maximum exercise motion velocity. Optimální rychlost pohybu pro dosažení maxima výstupního výkonu – bench press u trénovaných fotbalistů Dnešní svět silového tréninku přináší řadu mýtů o tom, jak cvičit efektivně a zároveň s co nejmenším negativním vlivem na zdraví člověka. V tomto experimentu se zabýváme nalezením vztahu mezi maximálním výkonem, použitou zátěží a rychlostí. Hlavním úkolem je nalezení optimální rychlosti pohybu pro dosažení maximálního mechanického svalového výkonu při cvičení bench press, což pomůže nejenom trenérům, ale i rekreačním sportovc

Long-Term Planning for Open Pits for Mining Sulphide-Oxide Ores in Order to Achieve Maximum Profit

Science.gov (United States)

Kržanović, Daniel; Conić, Vesna; Stevanović, Dejan; Kolonja, Božo; Vaduvesković, Jovan

2017-12-01

Profitable exploitation of mineralised material from the earth's crust is a complex and difficult task that depends on a comprehensive planning process. Answering the question of how to plan production depends on the geometry of the deposit, as well as the concentration, distribution, and type of minerals in it. The complex nature of mineral deposits largely determines the method of exploitation and profitability of mining operations. In addition to unit operating costs and metal prices, the optimal recovery of and achievement of maximum profit from deposits of sulphide-oxide ores also depend, to a significant extent, on the level of technological recovery achieved in the ore processing procedure. Therefore, in defining a long-term development strategy for open pits, special attention must be paid to the selection of an optimal procedure for ore processing in order to achieve the main objective: maximising the Net Present Value (NPV). The effect of using two different processes, flotation processing and hydrometallurgical methods (bioleaching acid leaching), on determining the ultimate pit is shown in the case of the Kraku Bugaresku-Cementacija sulphide-oxide ore deposit in eastern Serbia. Analysis shows that the application of hydrometallurgical methods of processing sulphide-oxide ore achieved an increase in NPV of 20.42%.

Properties of parameter estimation techniques for a beta-binomial failure model. Final technical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shultis, J.K.; Buranapan, W.; Eckhoff, N.D.

1981-12-01

Of considerable importance in the safety analysis of nuclear power plants are methods to estimate the probability of failure-on-demand, p, of a plant component that normally is inactive and that may fail when activated or stressed. Properties of five methods for estimating from failure-on-demand data the parameters of the beta prior distribution in a compound beta-binomial probability model are examined. Simulated failure data generated from a known beta-binomial marginal distribution are used to estimate values of the beta parameters by (1) matching moments of the prior distribution to those of the data, (2) the maximum likelihood method based on the prior distribution, (3) a weighted marginal matching moments method, (4) an unweighted marginal matching moments method, and (5) the maximum likelihood method based on the marginal distribution. For small sample sizes (N = or < 10) with data typical of low failure probability components, it was found that the simple prior matching moments method is often superior (e.g. smallest bias and mean squared error) while for larger sample sizes the marginal maximum likelihood estimators appear to be best

Alpha/beta separation in liquid scintillation gel samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grau Carles, A.; Grau Malonda, A.

1994-01-01

The pulse shape analysis commonly used in liquid scintillation alpha/beta separations is satisfactory for moderate quench levels. However, for gel samples, the alpha particle counting efficiency is never greater than 10%, and an optimum separation of the alpha component cannot be achieved when beta to alpha counting rate ratios are greater than 100. In such cases, it is better to use a spectrum analysis method for alpha/beta separation. ((orig.))

Maximum power point tracking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enslin, J.H.R.

1990-01-01

A well engineered renewable remote energy system, utilizing the principal of Maximum Power Point Tracking can be m ore cost effective, has a higher reliability and can improve the quality of life in remote areas. This paper reports that a high-efficient power electronic converter, for converting the output voltage of a solar panel, or wind generator, to the required DC battery bus voltage has been realized. The converter is controlled to track the maximum power point of the input source under varying input and output parameters. Maximum power point tracking for relative small systems is achieved by maximization of the output current in a battery charging regulator, using an optimized hill-climbing, inexpensive microprocessor based algorithm. Through practical field measurements it is shown that a minimum input source saving of 15% on 3-5 kWh/day systems can easily be achieved. A total cost saving of at least 10-15% on the capital cost of these systems are achievable for relative small rating Remote Area Power Supply systems. The advantages at larger temperature variations and larger power rated systems are much higher. Other advantages include optimal sizing and system monitor and control

Peripheral beta-adrenergic blockade treatment of parkinsonian tremor.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, N L; Newman, R P; LeWitt, P A; Gillespie, M M; Larsen, T A; Chase, T N

1984-10-01

The effect of nadolol, a peripherally acting beta-adrenergic blocker, on resting, postural, and intention tremor was examined in 8 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease whose motor symptoms, other than tremor, were well controlled with conventional medications. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, patients received 80 to 320 mg of nadolol for six weeks while continuing their previous therapeutic regimen. Accelerometer readings showed a 34% reduction (p less than 0.025) in tremor distance, but no change in tremor frequency, during nadolol therapy. Maximum benefit was achieved with a dose of 240 mg, when resting tremor improved 54%, postural tremor 32%, and intention tremor 54%. Physician ratings and patient reports supported the accelerometer results. Nadolol appears to be a safe, effective adjunct to current dopaminergic and anticholinergic therapy for severe tremor in Parkinson's disease.

Beta limit of crescent and bean shaped tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naitou, H.; Yamazaki, K.

1988-01-01

The maximum attainable beta values which can be expected in tokamaks with crescent (BEAN 1) and rounded (BEAN 2) bean shaped cross-sections are obtained numerically by using the linear ideal MHD stability analysis code ERATO. The current profiles are optimized with a fixed pressure profile for high values of beta, keeping Mercier, high-n ballooning and n=1 kink modes stable. The poloidal plasma cross-sections are inscribed in a rectangle with an aspect ratio of three and an ellipticity of two. A confocal wall, the distance of which from the plasma surface is equal to the horizontal minor plasma radius, is present to stabilize against the kink mode. Depending on the shape and triangularity (indentation), a beta value of 10 to 17% is obtained. It is also shown that the coefficient of the Troyon-type beta scaling increases for an indented plasma. In the case of small indentation, the BEAN 1 type tokamaks show higher beta values than the BEAN 2 type. For strong indentation, the BEAN 2 type gives the highest beta value. (author). 29 refs, 15 figs

Beta induced Bremsstrahlung dose rate in concrete shielding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manjunatha, H.C.

2013-01-01

Dosimetric study of beta-induced Bremsstrahlung in concrete is importance in the field of radiation protection. The efficiency, intensity and dose rate of beta induced Bremsstrahlung by 113 pure beta nuclides in concrete shielding is computed. The Bremsstrahlung dosimetric parameters such as the efficiency (yield), Intensity and dose rate of Bremsstrahlung are low for 199 Au and high for 104 Tc in concrete. The efficiency, Intensity and dose rate of Bremsstrahlung increases with maximum energy of beta nuclide (Emax) and modified atomic number (Zmod) of the target. The estimated Bremsstrahlung efficiency, Intensity and dose rate are useful in the calculations photon track-length distributions. These parameters are useful to determine the quality and quantity of the radiation (known as the source term). Precise estimation of this source term is very important in planning of radiation shielding. (author)

An application of Brookhaven National Laboratory's hot particle methodology for determining the most effective beta particle energy in causing skin ulcers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaefer, C.

1994-11-01

The purpose of this project was to compare the effectiveness of hot particles with different energy betas in producing ulcers on skin. The sources were man-made hot particles similar in size and activity to those found in the commercial nuclear power industry. Four different particle types were used. These were thulium (Tm-170) with a 0.97 MeV maximum energy beta, ytterbium (Yb-175) with a maximum beta energy of 0.47 MeV, scandium (Sc-46) with a 0.36 MeV beta, which was used as a surrogate for cobalt-60 (0.31 MeV beta) and uranium (in the carbide form) with an average maximum beta energy of about 2.5 MeV. Since higher energy beta particles penetrate further in skin, they will affect a higher number and different populations of target cells. The experiments were designed as threshold studies such that the dose needed to produce ulcers ten percent of the time (ED 10%) for each particle type could be compared against each other

Beta adrenoreceptors in the rabbit bladder detrusor muscle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, G.F.; Marks, B.H.

1984-02-01

This study examines the beta adrenergic receptors of the rabbit detrusor smooth muscle, employing (/sup 125/I)iodocyanopindolol (ICYP) as a ligand for the binding of beta adrenergic receptors. Saturation binding experiments on the isolated membrane fraction yielded a KD for ICYP of 14.7 pM and a maximum binding of 147.6 fmol/mg of protein. Displacement of labeled ICYP by a series of beta adrenergic agents yielded the following KD values for the combined high and low affinity binding sites: I-propranolol, 0.76 nM; ICI 118,551, 1.7 nM; zinterol, 38.0 nM; metoprolol, 3.5 microM; and practolol, 61.4 microM. When these displacement experimental results were compared to KD values from other reported binding studies with ICYP for beta adrenoreceptors, both the order of potency and the KD values indicated primarily beta-2 adrenergic receptor subtypes. Computer program Scatfit analysis of the displacement curves indicated a single slope and affinity constant for all five beta adrenergic agents. Hofstee plots for zinterol, ICI 118,551 and metoprolol, however, were not linear and indicated that minor populations of beta-1 adrenoreceptors were also present as both high and low affinity binding sites could be defined. It is concluded that the primary receptor population is beta-2 and that this tissue is heterogenous with a small population of beta-1 adrenoreceptors representing approximately 13 to 23% of the total beta adrenoreceptor population.

Beta adrenoreceptors in the rabbit bladder detrusor muscle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, G.F.; Marks, B.H.

1984-01-01

This study examines the beta adrenergic receptors of the rabbit detrusor smooth muscle, employing [ 125 I]iodocyanopindolol (ICYP) as a ligand for the binding of beta adrenergic receptors. Saturation binding experiments on the isolated membrane fraction yielded a KD for ICYP of 14.7 pM and a maximum binding of 147.6 fmol/mg of protein. Displacement of labeled ICYP by a series of beta adrenergic agents yielded the following KD values for the combined high and low affinity binding sites: I-propranolol, 0.76 nM; ICI 118,551, 1.7 nM; zinterol, 38.0 nM; metoprolol, 3.5 microM; and practolol, 61.4 microM. When these displacement experimental results were compared to KD values from other reported binding studies with ICYP for beta adrenoreceptors, both the order of potency and the KD values indicated primarily beta-2 adrenergic receptor subtypes. Computer program Scatfit analysis of the displacement curves indicated a single slope and affinity constant for all five beta adrenergic agents. Hofstee plots for zinterol, ICI 118,551 and metoprolol, however, were not linear and indicated that minor populations of beta-1 adrenoreceptors were also present as both high and low affinity binding sites could be defined. It is concluded that the primary receptor population is beta-2 and that this tissue is heterogenous with a small population of beta-1 adrenoreceptors representing approximately 13 to 23% of the total beta adrenoreceptor population

Static friction of porous bioceramic beta-TCP on intestinal mucus films.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin-Yu; Han, Ying-Chao; Jiang, Xin; Dai, Hong-Lian; Li, Shi-Pu

2006-09-01

The static friction behavior between a porous bioceramic material and an intestinal mucus film was investigated in order to develop a new intestine robotic endoscope. Here, the friction couple is porous beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) and an artificial intestine mucus film. The effect of pore size of the beta-TCP material on the friction behavior is investigated. The results illustrated that in this friction system there is a relatively small normal force upon the intestinal mucus film of the intestine wall during locomotion. The maximum static friction force in this friction couple varies with the pore size of the porous beta-TCP material.

The Fermilab Collider D/Phi/ low BETA system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McInturff, A.D.; Carson, J.; Collins, T.; Koepke, K.; Malamud, E.; Mantsch, P.; Niemann, R.; Riddiford, A.

1988-06-01

A new low BETA system has been designed to serve the detector facility under construction at the D/Phi/ location of the Fermilab Superconducting Collider. The low BETA system consists of 18 special cold iron quadrupoles powered as 11 independent circuits that can adjust the BETA value at the intersection point down to 25 cm. Low beta is achieved with a set of 1.4 T/cm, two shell, high current quadrupoles. Smaller 0.7 T/cm, single shell trim quadrupoles are used to match the low beta insertion to the rest of the accelerator lattice. Gaps have been left in the lattice for electrostatic separators to separate the proton and antiproton beams everywhere except at the desired collision points. 6 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Advanced low-beta cavity development for proton and ion accelerators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conway, Z.A., E-mail: zconway@anl.gov; Kelly, M.P.; Ostroumov, P.N.

2015-05-01

Recent developments in designing and processing low-beta superconducting cavities at Argonne National Laboratory are very encouraging for future applications requiring compact proton and ion accelerators. One of the major benefits of these accelerating structures is achieving real-estate accelerating gradients greater than 3 MV/m very efficiently either continuously or for long-duty cycle operation (>1%). The technology has been implemented in low-beta accelerator cryomodules for the Argonne ATLAS heavy-ion linac where the cryomodules are required to have real-estate gradients of more than 3 MV/m. In offline testing low-beta cavities with even higher gradients have already been achieved. This paper will review this work where we have achieved surface fields greater than 166 mT magnetic and 117 MV/m electric in a 72 MHz quarter-wave resonator optimized for β = 0.077 ions.

Advanced low-beta cavity development for proton and ion accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conway, Z.A.; Kelly, M.P.; Ostroumov, P.N.

2015-01-01

Recent developments in designing and processing low-beta superconducting cavities at Argonne National Laboratory are very encouraging for future applications requiring compact proton and ion accelerators. One of the major benefits of these accelerating structures is achieving real-estate accelerating gradients greater than 3 MV/m very efficiently either continuously or for long-duty cycle operation (>1%). The technology has been implemented in low-beta accelerator cryomodules for the Argonne ATLAS heavy-ion linac where the cryomodules are required to have real-estate gradients of more than 3 MV/m. In offline testing low-beta cavities with even higher gradients have already been achieved. This paper will review this work where we have achieved surface fields greater than 166 mT magnetic and 117 MV/m electric in a 72 MHz quarter-wave resonator optimized for β = 0.077 ions

Transport of beta-aminopropionitrile through intact skin or scar tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibeault, J.D.; Cravens, R.B. Jr.; Chvapil, M.

1989-01-01

A lathyrogen, [ 14 C]aminopropionitrile (beta APN), was administered to 34 rats either in K-Y jelly or saline vehicles onto intact shaven skin or onto a healed splinted deep excision wound. The dynamics of beta APN transport and content in the skin or repair tissue was observed after 2, 5, 8, and 24 hr of topical administration. The repair tissue quickly absorbed the lathyrogen and reached maximum at the 2-hr sampling. The content of beta APN in the repair tissue was twice as high as that in K-Y jelly vehicle and remained high and stable for at least 24 hr only when beta APN was administered through a saline vehicle. The transport of beta APN through intact skin, irrespective of the vehicle tested, was slow and continuously increased. The study showed that almost 20% of the beta APN administered onto the wounded skin area was transported into the repair tissue within 2 hr. We suggest that, due to the absence of epidermal stratum corneum from the repair tissue, drugs, such as beta APN, penetrate quickly into the wound

Relation between the 2{nu}{beta}{beta} and 0{nu}{beta}{beta} nuclear matrix elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogel, Petr [Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Simkovic, Fedor [Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Comenius University, Mlynska dolina F1, SK-84248 Bratislava (Slovakia)

2011-12-16

A formal relation between the GT part of the nuclear matrix elements M{sub GT}{sup 0{nu}} of 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay and the closure matrix elements M{sub cl}{sup 2{nu}} of 2{nu}{beta}{beta} decay is established. This relation is based on the integral representation of these quantities in terms of their dependence on the distance r between the two nucleons undergoing transformation. We also discuss the difficulties in determining the correct values of the closure 2{nu}{beta}{beta} decay matrix elements.

Enhancement of solubility of albendazole by complexation with {beta}-cyclodextrin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriwaki, C.; Costa, G.L.; Ferracini, C.N.; Matioli, G. [Universidade Estadual de Maringa (UEM), PR (Brazil). Dept. de Farmacia e Farmacologia]. E-mail: gmatioli@uem.br; Moraes, F.F. de; Zanin, G.M. [Universidade Estadual de Maringa (UEM), PR (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Quimica; Pineda, E.A.G. [Universidade Estadual de Maringa (UEM), PR (Brazil). Dept. de Quimica

2008-04-15

A high dosage of albendazole (ABZ) is required for treating systemic helminth infections because of its low solubility. Aiming at increasing ABZ solubility, complexation with beta-cyclodextrin ({beta}-CD) using aqueous and acetic acid solutions as ABZ solubiliser was studied. In aqueous {beta}-CD, complexation increased solubility 53.4 times, giving a complex equilibrium constant of 1266 L mol{sup -1} with a maximum ABZ concentration of 276 {mu}mol L{sup -1} for 16.3 mmol L{sup -1} {beta}-CD. For complexation in 1.05 mol L{sup -1} acetic acid, UV absorbance spectra and {sup 1}H-NMR analysis confirmed complex formation. The UV absorbance of ABZ/acid acetic/{beta}-CD solutions was modeled by the formation of two complexes with molar ratios 1:1 and 1:2 ABZ:{beta}-CD. When neutralized with NaOH these solutions did not form precipitates only for the ABZ:{beta}-CD molar ratios of 1:8 and 1:10, showing that ABZ solubility could be increased 306 times. Results show that high {beta}-CD molar ratios hold ABZ in solution by complexation enhanced by the acetate anion. (author)

Elaboration of supports for beta emitting sources (with vyns); Elaboracion de soportes para fuentes emisoras beta (con vyns)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cortes P, A.; Torre O, J. De la; Tejera R, A.; Becerril V, A.; Bribiesca S, L

1990-04-15

The Laboratory of Radioactive patterns account with a 4 {pi}{beta}-{gamma} coincidence system of recent acquisition with which absolute measures of radioactive activity with uncertainties of the order of 0.1% can be made. Since the coincidence method for the activity measure consists on detecting to the particle and the photon corresponding to oneself nuclear disintegration, it is necessary to elaborate special radioactive sources on thin supports, in order to allowing the maximum possible fluence of {beta} particles ({approx} 100%). This work a technique for the elaboration of these sources and for the measure of the thickness of the walls of the support is presented. (Author)

$\\beta$-NMR of copper isotopes in ionic liquids

CERN Multimedia

We propose to test the feasibility of spin-polarization and $\\beta$-NMR studies on several short-lived copper isotopes, $^{58}$ Cu, $^{74}$Cu and $^{75}$Cu in crystals and liquids. The motivation is given by biological studies of Cu with $\\beta$-NMR in liquid samples, since Cu is present in a large number of enzymes involved in electron transfer and activation of oxygen. The technique is based on spin-polarization via optical pumping in the new VITO beamline. We will use the existing lasers, NMR magnet and NMR chambers and we will prepare a new optical pumping system. The studies will be devoted to tests of achieved $\\beta$-asymmetry in solid hosts, the behaviour of asymmetry when increasing vacuum, and finally NMR scans in ionic liquids. The achieved spin polarization will be also relevant for the plans to measure with high precision the magnetic moments of neutron-rich Cu isotopes.

Application of beta transmission for quality assurance of TLD tape dosemeters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagpal, J.S.; Gupta, S.K.; Supe, S.J. (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay (India). Div. of Radiological Protection)

1993-03-01

Transmission of [sup 204]Tl [beta] radiation enables measurement of differences of [+-] 2 mg/cm[sup 2] in thermoluminescent tape dosemeter thickness. This thickness variation gives rise to a maximum variation of [+-] 5% in the TL output per unit area of the dosemeters. Measurements of [beta] transmission on dosemeter samples drawn from several batches of skived tape as well as those prepared by compressing technique have given consistent results. The [beta] transmission method itself can be used for quality assurance and selection of a uniform set of dosemeters over thickness range 30-150 mg/cm[sup 2]. (author).

Twist operators in N=4 beta-deformed theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Leeuw, M.; Łukowski, T.

2010-01-01

In this paper we derive both the leading order finite size corrections for twist-2 and twist-3 operators and the next-to-leading order finite-size correction for twist-2 operators in beta-deformed SYM theory. The obtained results respect the principle of maximum transcendentality as well as

Modification of beta dose evaluation algorithm for better accuracy in personnel monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rakesh, R.B.; Kumar, Munish; Sneha, C.; Ratna, P.; Datta, D.

2016-01-01

Dose due to beta radiations is the main contributor to the skin dose. Assessment of individual dose (whole body, skin, extremity) in India is based on CaSO 4 :Dy based Teflon embedded TLD badge used for personnel monitoring. The design of the dosemeter enables identification of radiation type which, in turn, allows use of radiation specific algorithm for dose evaluation. The difference of response of three discs of the TLD badge to beta radiation in beta/beta-gamma fields is due to the presence of different filters corresponding to the three discs. The response of disc under metal filter (D 1 ) to beta being negligible while that of open disc (D 3 ) is the maximum. The ratio of response of open disc to that under Perspex (D 3 /D 2 ) to beta is highly dependent on its energy and angle of incidence. Therefore estimation of dose due to beta is based on response of open disc corrected for the energy of beta using D 3 /D 2

Dosimetric characterization of BeO samples in alpha, beta and X radiation beams using luminescent techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groppo, Daniela Piai

2013-01-01

In the medical field, the ionizing radiation is used both for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, in a wide range of radiation doses. In order to ensure that the objective is achieved in practice, detailed studies of detectors and devices in different types of radiations beams are necessary. In this work a dosimetric characterization of BeO samples was performed using the techniques of thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) by a comparison of their response for alpha, beta and X radiations and the establishment of an appropriated system for use in monitoring of these radiations beams. The main results are: the high sensitivity to beta radiation for both techniques, good reproducibility of TL and OSL response (coefficients of variation lower than 5%), maximum energy dependence of the X radiation of 28% for the TL technique, and only 7% for the OSL technique, within the studied energy range. The dosimetric characteristics obtained in this work show the possibility of applying BeO samples to dosimetry of alpha, beta and X radiations, considering the studied dose ranges, using the TL and OSL techniques. From the results obtained, the samples of BeO showed their potential use for beam dosimetry in diagnostic radiology and radiotherapy. (author)

The Validation of a Beta-Binomial Model for Overdispersed Binomial Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jongphil; Lee, Ji-Hyun

2017-01-01

The beta-binomial model has been widely used as an analytically tractable alternative that captures the overdispersion of an intra-correlated, binomial random variable, X . However, the model validation for X has been rarely investigated. As a beta-binomial mass function takes on a few different shapes, the model validation is examined for each of the classified shapes in this paper. Further, the mean square error (MSE) is illustrated for each shape by the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) based on a beta-binomial model approach and the method of moments estimator (MME) in order to gauge when and how much the MLE is biased.

Unified description of the softening behavior of beta-metastable and alpha+beta titanium alloys during hot deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poletti, Cecilia; Germain, Lionel; Warchomicka, Fernando; Dikovits, Martina; Mitsche, Stefan

2016-01-01

In this work, we propose a unified description of the softening behavior of a β metastable alloy and Ti6Al4V alloy. In the first part we provide sound evidence that the hot deformation of Ti6Al4V of the beta phase above and below the beta transus temperature takes place solely by dynamic recovery at moderate strains, similarly to the behavior of the Ti5Al5Mo5V3Cr1Zr near-beta alloy. This study was possible due to the combination of the fast cooling rates achieved after controlled hot deformation and the reconstruction of the parent beta phase from electron backscattered diffraction measurements of the frozen alpha phase by using an innovative developed algorithm. The dynamic recovery as a common dynamic restoration behavior for Ti6Al4V and Ti5Al5Mo5V3Cr1Zr is described mathematically with a Derby type relationship of the subgrain size and the stress of the beta phase. A rule of mixture allows the determination of the load partition between the two allotropic phases.

Influence of MoOx interlayer on the maximum achievable open-circuit voltage in organic photovoltaic cells

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Yunlong; Holmes, Russell

2013-03-01

Transition metal oxides including molybdenum oxide (MoOx) are characterized by large work functions and deep energy levels relative to the organic semiconductors used in photovoltaic cells (OPVs). These materials have been used in OPVs as interlayers between the indium-tin-oxide anode and the active layers to increase the open-circuit voltage (VOC) and power conversion efficiency. We examine the role of MoOx in determining the maximum achievable VOC in planar heterojunction OPVs based on the donor-acceptor pairing of boron subphthalocyanine chloride (SubPc) and C60. While causing minor changes in VOC at room temperature, the inclusion of MoOx significantly changes the temperature dependence of VOC. Devices containing no interlayer show a maximum VOC\\ of 1.2 V, while devices containing MoOx show no saturation in VOC, reaching a value of >1.4 V at 110 K. We propose that the MoOx-SubPc interface forms a dissociating Schottky junction that provides an additional contribution to VOC at low temperature. Separate measurements of photoluminescence confirm that excitons in SubPc can be quenched by MoOx. Charge transfer at this interface is by hole extraction from SubPc to MoOx, and this mechanism favors donors with a deep highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level. Consistent with this expectation, the temperature dependence of VOC for devices constructed using a donor with a shallower HOMO level, e.g. copper phthalocyanine, is independent of the presence of MoOx.

Validation of the BetaStar® Advanced for Beta-lactams Test Kit for the Screening of Bulk Tank and Tanker Truck Milks for the Presence of Beta-lactam Drug Residues.

Science.gov (United States)

Denhartigh, Andrew; Reynolds, Lindsay; Palmer, Katherine; Klein, Frank; Rice, Jennifer; Rejman, John J

2018-05-18

A validation study was conducted for an immunochromatographic method (BetaStar ® Advanced for Beta-lactams) for the detection of beta-lactam residues in raw, commingled bovine milk. The assay detected amoxicillin, ampicillin, cloxacillin, penicillin, cephapirin, and ceftiofur below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tolerance levels but above the maximum sensitivity thresholds established by the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments. The results of internal and independent laboratory dose-response studies employing spiked samples were in agreement. The test detected all six drugs at the approximate 90/95% sensitivity levels in milk from cows treated with each drug. Selectivity of the assay was 100%, as no false-positive results were obtained in testing 1148 control milk samples. Testing the estimated 90/95% sensitivity level for amoxicillin (8.5 ppb), ampicillin (6.9 ppb), cloxacillin (8.9 ppb), penicillin (4.2 ppb), and cephapirin (17.6 ppb), and at 100 ppb for each antibiotic, resulted in 94-100% positive tests for each of the beta-lactam drugs. The results of ruggedness experiments established the operating parameter tolerances for the assay. Cross-reactivity testing established that the assay detects other certain beta-lactam drugs, but it does not cross-react with any of 30 drugs belonging to seven different drug classes. Abnormally high bacterial or somatic cell counts in raw milk produced no assay interference.

Effect of long-term transfusion therapy on the glycometabolic status and pancreatic beta cell function in patients with beta Thalassemia major

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamalakshi G Bhat

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major complication of iron overload in patients with beta thalassemia major. Design: This is a descriptive study conducted in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital to analyze beta cell function and insulin resistance, and their relation to iron overload status in beta thalassemia major. Fasting glucose, two-hour post load glucose, fasting insulin, alanine amino transaminase (ALT, and ferritin were used as outcome measures. The homeostatic model assessment (HOMA model was used to calculate the beta cell function and insulin resistance index. Results: Of the 30 cases, 20% had impaired fasting glucose, 3.3% had impaired glucose tolerance, and none had diabetes. Fasting glucose was not significant between the cases and controls (P = 0.113. Fasting insulin (P = 0.001, ferritin (P = 0.001, and ALT (P = 0.001 levels were significantly high in the cases. Insulin resistance index was significantly higher in the cases (P = 0.001 as also the beta cell function (P = 0.001. With increase in age and the number of units transfused there is a decline in beta cell function, fasting insulin, and insulin resistance after attaining the maximum level. This suggests that initial insulin resistance is followed by insulin depletion due to loss of beta cell function, leading to diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT and insulin resistance precede the onset of insulin-dependent diabetes and adequate chelation therapy is essential for delaying the onset or for prevention of diabetes.

Wall stabilization of high beta plasmas in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, T.S.; Strait, E.J.; Lao, L.L.; Turnbull, A.D.; Burrell, K.H.; Chu, M.S.; Ferron, J.R.; Groebner, R.J.; La Haye, R.J.; Mauel, M.

1995-02-01

Detailed analysis of recent high beta discharges in the DIII-D tokamak demonstrates that the resistive vacuum vessel can provide stabilization of low n magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes. The experimental beta values reaching up to β T = 12.6% are more than 30% larger than the maximum stable beta calculated with no wall stabilization. Plasma rotation is essential for stabilization. When the plasma rotation slows sufficiently, unstable modes with the characteristics of the predicted open-quotes resistive wallclose quotes mode are observed. Through slowing of the plasma rotation between the q = 2 and q = 3 surfaces with the application of a non-axisymmetric field, the authors have determined that the rotation at the outer rational surfaces is most important, and that the critical rotation frequency is of the order of Ω/2π = 1 kHz

BETA digital beta radiometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borovikov, N.V.; Kosinov, G.A.; Fedorov, Yu.N.

1989-01-01

Portable transportable digital beta radiometer providing for measuring beta-decay radionuclide specific activity in the range from 5x10 -9 up to 10 -6 Cu/kg (Cu/l) with error of ±25% is designed and introduced into commercial production for determination of volume and specific water and food radioactivity. The device specifications are given. Experience in the BETA radiometer application under conditions of the Chernobyl' NPP 30-km zone has shown that it is convenient for measuring specific activity of the order of 10 -8 Cu/kg, and application of a set of different beta detectors gives an opportunity to use it for surface contamination measurement in wide range of the measured value

Setting the renormalization scale in QCD: The principle of maximum conformality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodsky, S. J.; Di Giustino, L.

2012-01-01

A key problem in making precise perturbative QCD predictions is the uncertainty in determining the renormalization scale mu of the running coupling alpha(s)(mu(2)). The purpose of the running coupling in any gauge theory is to sum all terms involving the beta function; in fact, when the renormali......A key problem in making precise perturbative QCD predictions is the uncertainty in determining the renormalization scale mu of the running coupling alpha(s)(mu(2)). The purpose of the running coupling in any gauge theory is to sum all terms involving the beta function; in fact, when...... the renormalization scale is set properly, all nonconformal beta not equal 0 terms in a perturbative expansion arising from renormalization are summed into the running coupling. The remaining terms in the perturbative series are then identical to that of a conformal theory; i.e., the corresponding theory with beta...... = 0. The resulting scale-fixed predictions using the principle of maximum conformality (PMC) are independent of the choice of renormalization scheme-a key requirement of renormalization group invariance. The results avoid renormalon resummation and agree with QED scale setting in the Abelian limit...

LHCb: $2\\beta_s$ measurement at LHCb

CERN Multimedia

Conti, G

2009-01-01

A measurement of $2\\beta_s$, the phase of the $B_s-\\bar{B_s}$ oscillation amplitude with respect to that of the ${\\rm b} \\rightarrow {\\rm c^{+}}{\\rm W^{-}}$ tree decay amplitude, is one of the key goals of the LHCb experiment with first data. In the Standard Model (SM), $2\\beta_s$ is predicted to be $0.0360^{+0.0020}_{-0.0016} \\rm rad$. The current constraints from the Tevatron are: $2\\beta_{s}\\in[0.32 ; 2.82]$ at 68$\\%$CL from the CDF experiment and $2\\beta_{s}=0.57^{+0.24}_{-0.30}$ from the D$\\oslash$ experiment. Although the statistical uncertainties are large, these results hint at the possible contribution of New Physics in the $B_s-\\bar{B_s}$ box diagram. After one year of data taking at LHCb at an average luminosity of $\\mathcal{L}\\sim2\\cdot10^{32}\\rm cm^{-2} \\rm s^{-1}$ (integrated luminosity $\\mathcal{L}_{\\rm int}\\sim 2 \\rm fb^{-1}$), the expected statistical uncertainty on the measurement is $\\sigma(2\\beta_s)\\simeq 0.03$. This uncertainty is similar to the $2\\beta_s$ value predicted by the SM.

The Rapid Cycling Synchrotron of the EURISOL Beta-Beam facility

CERN Document Server

Lachaize, A

During the last two years, several upgrades of the initial baseline scenario were studied with the aim of increasing the average intensity of ion beams in the accelerator chain of the Beta Beam complex. This is the reason why the Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS) specifications were reconsidered many times.General considerations on the optical design were presented at the Beta Beam Task Meetings held at CERN and at Saclay in 2005 (http://beta-beam.web.cern.ch/beta-beam/). More detailed beam optics studies were performed during the next months. Lattices, RF system parameters, multi-turn injection scheme, fast extraction, closed orbit correction and chromaticity correction systems were proposed for different versions of the RCS.Finally, the RCS specifications have stabilized in November 2006 after the fourth Beta Beam Task Meeting when it was decided to fix the maximum magnetic rigidity of ion beams to 14.47 T.m (3.5 GeV equivalent proton energy) and to adopt a ring physical radius of 40 m in order to facilitat...

Effects of six weeks of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) and HMB/creatine supplementation on strength, power, and anthropometry of highly trained athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Donna M; Crowe, Melissa J

2007-05-01

This study investigated the effects of 6 weeks of dietary supplementation of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) and HMB combined with creatine monohydrate (HMBCr) on the muscular strength and endurance, leg power, and anthropometry of elite male rugby league players. The subjects were divided into a control group (n = 8), a HMB group (n = 11; 3 g.d(-1)) or a HMBCr group (n = 11; 12 g.d(-1) with 3 g HMB, 3 g Cr, 6 g carbohydrates). Three repetition maximum lifts on bench press, deadlifts, prone row, and shoulder press, maximum chin-up repetitions, 10-second maximal cycle test, body mass, girths, and sum of skinfolds were assessed pre- and postsupplementation. Statistical analysis revealed no effect of HMB or HMBCr on any parameter compared with presupplementation measures or the control group. HMB and HMBCr were concluded to have no ergogenic effect on muscular strength and endurance, leg power, or anthropometry when taken orally by highly trained male athletes over 6 weeks.

Beta relaxation of nonpolymeric liquids close to the glass transition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Niels Boye; Christensen, Tage Emil; Dyre, Jeppe

2000-01-01

Dielectric beta relaxation in a pyridine-toluene solution is studied close to the glass transition. Loss peak frequency and maximum loss both exhibit thermal hysteresis. An annealing-state-independent parameter involving loss and loss peak frequency is identified. This parameter has a simple...

Interactions between two beta-sheets. Energetics of beta/beta packing in proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, K C; Némethy, G; Rumsey, S; Tuttle, R W; Scheraga, H A

1986-04-20

The analysis of the interactions between regularly folded segments of the polypeptide chain contributes to an understanding of the energetics of protein folding. Conformational energy-minimization calculations have been carried out to determine the favorable ways of packing two right-twisted beta-sheets. The packing of two five-stranded beta-sheets was investigated, with the strands having the composition CH3CO-(L-Ile)6-NHCH3 in one beta-sheet and CH3CO-(L-Val)6-NHCH3 in the other. Two distinct classes of low-energy packing arrangements were found. In the class with lowest energies, the strands of the two beta-sheets are aligned nearly parallel (or antiparallel) with each other, with a preference for a negative orientation angle, because this arrangement corresponds to the best complementary packing of the two twisted saddle-shaped beta-sheets. In the second class, with higher interaction energies, the strands of the two beta-sheets are oriented nearly perpendicular to each other. While the surfaces of the two beta-sheets are not complementary in this arrangement, there is good packing between the corner of one beta-sheet and the interior part of the surface of the other, resulting in a favorable energy of packing. Both classes correspond to frequently observed orientations of beta-sheets in proteins. In proteins, the second class of packing is usually observed when the two beta-sheets are covalently linked, i.e. when a polypeptide strand passes from one beta-sheet to the other, but we have shown here that a large contribution to the stabilization of this packing arrangement arises from noncovalent interactions.

Interaction with beta-arrestin determines the difference in internalization behavor between beta1- and beta2-adrenergic receptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiina, T; Kawasaki, A; Nagao, T; Kurose, H

2000-09-15

The beta(1)-adrenergic receptor (beta(1)AR) shows the resistance to agonist-induced internalization. As beta-arrestin is important for internalization, we examine the interaction of beta-arrestin with beta(1)AR with three different methods: intracellular trafficking of beta-arrestin, binding of in vitro translated beta-arrestin to intracellular domains of beta(1)- and beta(2)ARs, and inhibition of betaAR-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activities by beta-arrestin. The green fluorescent protein-tagged beta-arrestin 2 translocates to and stays at the plasma membrane by beta(2)AR stimulation. Although green fluorescent protein-tagged beta-arrestin 2 also translocates to the plasma membrane, it returns to the cytoplasm 10-30 min after beta(1)AR stimulation. The binding of in vitro translated beta-arrestin 1 and beta-arrestin 2 to the third intracellular loop and the carboxyl tail of beta(1)AR is lower than that of beta(2)AR. The fusion protein of beta-arrestin 1 with glutathione S-transferase inhibits the beta(1)- and beta(2)AR-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activities, although inhibition of the beta(1)AR-stimulated activity requires a higher concentration of the fusion protein than that of the beta(2)AR-stimulated activity. These results suggest that weak interaction of beta(1)AR with beta-arrestins explains the resistance to agonist-induced internalization. This is further supported by the finding that beta-arrestin can induce internalization of beta(1)AR when beta-arrestin 1 does not dissociate from beta(1)AR by fusing to the carboxyl tail of beta(1)AR.

Plastic scintillators with {beta}-diketone Eu complexes for high ionizing radiation detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adadurov, A.F., E-mail: adadurov@isma.kharkov.ua [Institute for Scintillating Materials, NAN of Ukraine, Lenin Avenue 60, 61001 Kharkov (Ukraine); Zhmurin, P.N.; Lebedev, V.N.; Kovalenko, V.N. [Institute for Scintillating Materials, NAN of Ukraine, Lenin Avenue 60, 61001 Kharkov (Ukraine)

2011-10-15

Luminescent and scintillation properties of polystyrene-based plastic scintillators with {beta}-diketone Eu complexes are investigated. A scintillator with dibenzoylmethane Eu complex containing two phenyl groups demonstrates the maximum scintillating efficiency. It is shown that plastic scintillators efficiency is dramatically decreased if {beta}-diketone derivatives contain no phenyl groups as substituents. This fact can be explained by exciplex mechanism of energy transfer from a matrix to Eu complex. - Highlights: > Fluorescent properties of polystyrene scintillators with {beta}-diketone complexes of Eu were studied. > Scintillating efficiency is increased with the number of phenyl groups in Eu complex. > This is related to exciplex mechanism of energy transfer from a polymer matrix to Eu complex.

Lewis acid tuned facial stereodivergent HDA reactions using beta-substituted N-vinyloxazolidinones.

Science.gov (United States)

Gohier, Frédéric; Bouhadjera, Keltoum; Faye, Djibril; Gaulon, Catherine; Maisonneuve, Vincent; Dujardin, Gilles; Dhal, Robert

2007-01-18

The [4 + 2] acido-catalyzed heterocycloaddition between new beta-substituted N-vinyl-1,3-oxazolidin-2-ones (with R' = Me, Ar, CH2 Ar) and beta,gamma-unsaturated alpha-ketoesters (R = Ar) afforded heteroadducts with high levels of endo and facial selectivities. A complete reversal of facial differentiation was achieved by varying the Lewis acid, leading to the stereoselective formation of either endo-alpha or endo-beta adducts. [reaction: see text].

Fallout total. beta. radioactivity in every rainfall in Aichi prefecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohnuma, Shoko; Chaya, Kunio; Shimizu, Michihiko; Tomita, Ban-ichi; Hamamura, Norikatsu (Aichi Prefectural Inst. of Public Health, Nagoya (Japan))

1983-01-01

Fallout total ..beta.. radioactivity was measured in every rainfall in the period from 1962 to 1981. Maximum value of monthly fallout was 462 mCi/km/sup 2/ at May 1966. Considering changes of monthly fallout, it was assumed that these 20 years were divided to 3 periods and these changes reflected the history of nuclear explosion tests in the world. Maximum value of annual fallout was 1,154 mCi/km/sup 2/ in 1963. Average of annual fallout in 1973 to 1981 was about 1/40 of maximum value. It was confirmed that changes of annual fallout were almost corresponded with changes of annual deposition of /sup 90/Sr and /sup 137/Cs in Tokyo reported by Katsuragi et al. Estimating the staying time of /sup 90/Sr and /sup 137/Cs at Stratosphere by the use of annual fallout of total ..beta.. radioactivity and annual deposition of these radionuclides, /sup 90/Sr was 1.3 years and /sup 137/Cs was 1.5 years. Also, annual correlation between monthly fallout and monthly rainfall was regarded as significant in only 6 years of these 20 years.

Increase in beta limit in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamada, Yutaka

2003-01-01

This paper reviews recent studies of tokamak MHD stability towards the achievement of a high beta steady-state, where the profile control of current, pressure, and rotation, and the optimization of the plasma shape play fundamental roles. The key instabilities include the neoclassical tearing mode, the resistive wall mode, the edge localized mode, etc. In order to demonstrate an economically attractive tokamak reactor, it is necessary to increase the beta value simultaneously with a sufficiently high integrated plasma performance. Towards this goal, studies of stability control in self-regulating plasma systems are essential. (author)

The dispersion of alpha and beta radioactivity to the environmental from spent fuel testing in RMI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuwono, I.; Pudjadi, E.

1996-01-01

The destructive testing of 2 spent fuels in RMI and radioactivity air release monitoring to the environmental have been done. The monitoring equipment used alpha-beta particulate monitor, Berthold LB 150 D type. The calculations using the Gaussian plume model and distributions factor showed there were no radiological effect of alpha and beta radioactivity dispersion and contribution to the environmental. The maximum average construction of alpha and beta radioactivity are 0.002% and 0.05%. (author)

Beta limits in H-modes and VH-modes in JET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smeulders, P; Hender, T C; Huysmans, G; Marcus, F; Ali-Arshad, S; Alper, B; Balet, B; Bures, M; Deliyanakis, N; Esch, H de; Fshpool, G; Jarvis, O N; Jones, T T.C.; Ketner, W; Koenig, R; Lawson, K; Lomas, P; O` Brien, D; Sadler, G; Stok, D; Stubberfield, P; Thomas, P; Thomen, K; Wesson, J [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Nave, M F [Universidade Tecnica, Lisbon (Portugal). Inst. Superior Tecnico

1994-07-01

In Hot-ion H- and VH-modes, the highest achieved beta was about 10% below the Troyon value in the best case of discharge 26087. The operational space of the high beta discharges obtained before March 1992 has been explored as function of the parameters H{sub ITER89P}, {beta}{sub n}, q{sub 95}, I{sub p}. Also, a limiting envelope on the fusion reactivity as a function of the average plasma pressure and beta has been observed with R{sub DD} related to {beta}{sub {phi}}{sup 2}.B{sub {phi}}{sup 4}. MHD stability analysis shows that the JET VH modes at the edge are in the second region for ballooning mode stability. The dependence of ballooning stability and the n=1 external kink on the edge current density is analyzed. (authors). 6 figs., 6 refs.

Parameter estimation of the zero inflated negative binomial beta exponential distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Sirichantra, Chutima; Bodhisuwan, Winai

2017-11-01

The zero inflated negative binomial-beta exponential (ZINB-BE) distribution is developed, it is an alternative distribution for the excessive zero counts with overdispersion. The ZINB-BE distribution is a mixture of two distributions which are Bernoulli and negative binomial-beta exponential distributions. In this work, some characteristics of the proposed distribution are presented, such as, mean and variance. The maximum likelihood estimation is applied to parameter estimation of the proposed distribution. Finally some results of Monte Carlo simulation study, it seems to have high-efficiency when the sample size is large.

Isolation of DNA markers linked to a beet cyst nematode resistamce locus in Beta patellaris and Beta procumbens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salentijn, E.M.J.; Sandal, N.N.; Lange, W.; Bock, de T.S.M.; Krens, F.A.; Marcker, K.A.; Stiekema, W.J.

1992-01-01

In cultivated beet no useful level of resistance of the beet cyst nematode (BCN) Heterodera schachtii Schm. has been found, unlike the situation in wild species of the section Procumbentes. Stable introgression of resistance genes from the wild species into Beta vulgaris has not been achieved, but

Reference beta radiations for calibrating dosemeters and dose ratemeters and for determining their response as a function of beta radiation energy. 1. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

This International Standard specifies the requirements for reference beta radiations produced by radionuclide sources to be used for the calibration of protection level dosemeters and dose ratemeters, and for the determination of their response as a function of beta energy. It gives the characteristics of radionuclides which have been used to produce reference beta radiations, gives examples of suitable source constructions and describes methods for the measurement of the residual maximum beta energy and the absorbed dose rate at a depth of 7 mg·cm -2 in a semi-infinite tissue-equivalent medium. The energy range involved lies between 66 keV and 3.6 MeV and the absorbed dose rates are in the range from about 10 μGy·h -1 (1 mrad·h -1 ) to at least 10 Gy·h -1 (10 3 rad·h -1 ). This International Standard proposes two series of beta reference radiations from which the radiation necessary for determining the characteristics (calibration and energy response) of an instrument shall be selected. Series 1 reference radiations are produced by radionuclide sources used with beam flattening filters designed to give uniform dose rates over a large area at a specific distance. The proposed sources of 90 Sr+ 90 Y, 204 TI and 147 Pm produce maximum dose rates of approximately 5mGy·h -1 (0.5 rad·h -1 ). Series 2 reference radiations are produced without the use of beam flattening filters which allows a range of source-to-calibration plane distances to be used. Close to the sources only relatively small areas of uniform dose rate are produced but this Series has the advantage of extending the energy and dose rate ranges beyond those of Series 1. The radionuclides used are those of Series 1 with the addition of the radionuclides 14 C and 106 Ru+ 106 Rh; these sources produce dose rates of up to 10 Gy·h -1 (10 3 rad·h -1 )

[Effect of sulfonation of polyethersulfone sheets on the adsorption of beta2-microglobulin].

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Liping; Sun, Shudong; Yue, Yilun; Huang, Jia; Mao, Huayi; Liang, Bo

2005-06-01

This study was performed to evaluate the adsorption of beta2-microglobulin(beta2 M) by blood dialysis membrane materials which are polyethersulfone (PES), sulfonated polyethersulfones, (PES-SO3Na-I and PES-SO3Na-I ) in vitro incubated in human serum and radiolabeled beta2M (125I-beta2 M) solution respectively. In these experiments, the materials were incubated in 125I-beta2 M solution and human serum at the appointed time ranging from 15 minutes to four hours at 37 degrees C, and then the amounts of 125I-beta2M and serum beta2M adsorbed by materials were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). In the 125I-beta2 M system, amounts of 125I-beta2M adsorbed by the materials decreased in sequence of PES-SO3 Na-II > PES-SO3Na-I > PES. In the serum system, amounts of beta2M adsorbed reached maximums at 30 minutes and the final adsorptions decreased in sequence of PES-SO3Na-II > PES-SO3Na-I > PES. Sulfonated PES removes beta2M more than PES does and the adsorption of beta2M increases with the increase in the degree of sulfonation. Its ability to remove significant amount of beta2M may result in less beta2M available for incorporation into amyloid. The use of PES-SO3Na membranes lessens the likelihood of dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) development, which remains a major source of morbidity for patients treated with long-term hemodialysis.

Sequence swapping does not result in conformation swapping for the beta4/beta5 and beta8/beta9 beta-hairpin turns in human acidic fibroblast growth factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jaewon; Lee, Jihun; Brych, Stephen R; Logan, Timothy M; Blaber, Michael

2005-02-01

The beta-turn is the most common type of nonrepetitive structure in globular proteins, comprising ~25% of all residues; however, a detailed understanding of effects of specific residues upon beta-turn stability and conformation is lacking. Human acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1) is a member of the beta-trefoil superfold and contains a total of five beta-hairpin structures (antiparallel beta-sheets connected by a reverse turn). beta-Turns related by the characteristic threefold structural symmetry of this superfold exhibit different primary structures, and in some cases, different secondary structures. As such, they represent a useful system with which to study the role that turn sequences play in determining structure, stability, and folding of the protein. Two turns related by the threefold structural symmetry, the beta4/beta5 and beta8/beta9 turns, were subjected to both sequence-swapping and poly-glycine substitution mutations, and the effects upon stability, folding, and structure were investigated. In the wild-type protein these turns are of identical length, but exhibit different conformations. These conformations were observed to be retained during sequence-swapping and glycine substitution mutagenesis. The results indicate that the beta-turn structure at these positions is not determined by the turn sequence. Structural analysis suggests that residues flanking the turn are a primary structural determinant of the conformation within the turn.

Growth and chlorophyll fluorescence under salinity stress in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fadi Abbas

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This study was carried out in the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR, Syria, at Der EzZour Agricultural Research Center, from 2008-2010, to examine the effect of salt conditions on some growth attributes and chlorophyll fluorescence in 10 Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L. genotypes under salinity stress. Sugar beet plants were irrigated with saline water, having electrical conductivity ranged from 8.6-10 dS.m-1during first year and 8.4-10.4 dS.m-1 during second year. A randomized completely block design with three replicates was used. The results showed that all studied growth attributes, leaf area, leaf number, relative growth rate, and net assimilation rate were decreased in salinity stress conditions compared to the controlled state. The findings indicated that salinity caused a decrement of light utilizing through increased values of fluorescence origin (fo, decreased values of fluorescence maximum (fm, and maximum yield of quantum in photosystem-II (fv/fm. Genotypes differed significantly in all studied attributes except in leaf number. Under salt conditions, Brigitta (monogerm achieved an increase in net assimilation rate, while Kawimera (multigerm achieved the lowest decrement in quantum yield in photosystem-II. Further studies are necessary to correlate the yield with yield components under similar conditions to determine the most tolerant genotype.International Journal of Environment Vol.3(1 2014: 1-9 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i1.9937

Beta and current limits in the Doublet III tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strait, E.J.; Chu, M.S.; Jahns, G.L.

1986-04-01

Neutral-beam heated discharges in Doublet III exhibit an operational beta limit, β/sub T/(%) less than or equal to 3.5 I(MA)/a(m)B(T), in good agreement with several theoretical predictions for ideal external kink or ballooning modes. These theories predict that the β limit has no explicit dependence on plasma shape (for nominal dee shapes). This aspect of the theory was confirmed in Doublet III by varying the elongation (kappa) from 1.0 to 1.6 and the triangularity (delta) from -0.1 to 0.9 and finding in all cases the same β limit. The maximum achievable beta thus depends on the minimum achievable value of the safety factor q. In Doublet III, the operational current limit is given by q greater than or equal to 1.7 for limiter-defined discharges and q greater than or equal to 2.7 for separatrix-defined discharges. Operation with q approx.2 was achieved for 1.0 less than or equal to kappa less than or equal to 1.6. Both β and q limits are characterized by major disruptions which usually terminate the discharge. In both cases, the disruptions often have a precursor oscillation with toroidal mode number n = 1, poloidal mode number m = 2 or 3, a frequency of zero to a few kHz, and a growth time on the order of a millisecond. These observations suggest that the proximate cause of these disruptions is a kink or tearing mode, pressure-driven in one case and current-driven in the other. Theoretical analyses of discharges at both limits will be compared. Modes with a high toroidal mode number, 3 less than or equal to n less than or equal to 5, and ballooning character have been observed near the β/sub T/ limit. These modes do not appear to be closely connected with the disruptions. Heating efficiency, ΔW/ΔP, remains constant up to the limiting disruption. Fishbone modes appear to be mainly a feature of high β/sub p/ operation and not connected to the β/sub T/ limit

Expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) receptors and expression of TGF beta 1, TGF beta 2 and TGF beta 3 in human small cell lung cancer cell lines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damstrup, L; Rygaard, K; Spang-Thomsen, M

1993-01-01

A panel of 21 small cell lung cancer cell (SCLC) lines were examined for the presence of Transforming growth factor beta receptors (TGF beta-r) and the expression of TGF beta mRNAs. By the radioreceptor assay we found high affinity receptors to be expressed in six cell lines. scatchard analysis......(r) = 65,000 and 90,000 and the betaglycan (type III) with M(r) = 280,000. Northern blotting showed expression of TGF beta 1 mRNA in ten, TGF beta 2 mRNA in two and TGF beta 3 mRNA in seven cell lines. Our results provide, for the first time, evidence that a large proportion of a broad panel of SCLC cell...... lines express TGF beta-receptors and also produce TGF beta mRNAs....

Developmental changes of beta-adrenergic receptor-linked adenylate cyclase of rat liver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katz, M.S.; Boland, S.R.; Schmidt, S.J.

1985-01-01

beta-Adrenergic agonist-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity and binding of the beta-adrenergic antagonist(-)-[ 125 I]iodopindolol were studied in rat liver during development of male Fischer 344 rats ages 6-60 days. In liver homogenates maximum adenylate cyclase response to beta-adrenergic agonist (10(-5) M isoproterenol or epinephrine) decreased by 73% (P less than 0.01) between 6 and 60 days, with most of the decrease (56%; P less than 0.01) occurring by 20 days. beta-adrenergic receptor density (Bmax) showed a corresponding decrease of 66% (P less than 0.01) by 20 days without subsequent change. Binding characteristics of stereospecificity, pharmacological specificity, saturability with time, and reversibility were unchanged with age. GTP-, fluoride-, forskolin-, and Mn2+-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities also decreased during development, suggesting a decrease of activity of the catalytic component and/or guanine nucleotide regulatory component of adenylate cyclase. These results indicate that the developmental decrease of beta-adrenergic agonist-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity may result from decreased numbers of beta-adrenergic receptors. Developmental alterations of nonreceptor components of the enzyme may also contribute to changes of catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase

Predicting beta-turns and their types using predicted backbone dihedral angles and secondary structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Kountouris, Petros; Hirst, Jonathan D

2010-07-31

Beta-turns are secondary structure elements usually classified as coil. Their prediction is important, because of their role in protein folding and their frequent occurrence in protein chains. We have developed a novel method that predicts beta-turns and their types using information from multiple sequence alignments, predicted secondary structures and, for the first time, predicted dihedral angles. Our method uses support vector machines, a supervised classification technique, and is trained and tested on three established datasets of 426, 547 and 823 protein chains. We achieve a Matthews correlation coefficient of up to 0.49, when predicting the location of beta-turns, the highest reported value to date. Moreover, the additional dihedral information improves the prediction of beta-turn types I, II, IV, VIII and "non-specific", achieving correlation coefficients up to 0.39, 0.33, 0.27, 0.14 and 0.38, respectively. Our results are more accurate than other methods. We have created an accurate predictor of beta-turns and their types. Our method, called DEBT, is available online at http://comp.chem.nottingham.ac.uk/debt/.

Smart Beta Equity Investing Through Calm and Storm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boudt, Kris; Darras, Joakim; Ha Nguyen, Giang; Peeters, Benedict

2015-01-01

Smart beta portfolios typically achieve a superior diversification than the benchmark market capitalization-weighted portfolio, but remain vulnerable to broad market downturns. We examine tactical investment decision rules to switch timely between equity and cash investments based on an underlying

Beta-energy averaging and beta spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stamatelatos, M.G.; England, T.R.

1976-07-01

A simple yet highly accurate method for approximately calculating spectrum-averaged beta energies and beta spectra for radioactive nuclei is presented. This method should prove useful for users who wish to obtain accurate answers without complicated calculations of Fermi functions, complex gamma functions, and time-consuming numerical integrations as required by the more exact theoretical expressions. Therefore, this method should be a good time-saving alternative for investigators who need to make calculations involving large numbers of nuclei (e.g., fission products) as well as for occasional users interested in restricted number of nuclides. The average beta-energy values calculated by this method differ from those calculated by ''exact'' methods by no more than 1 percent for nuclides with atomic numbers in the 20 to 100 range and which emit betas of energies up to approximately 8 MeV. These include all fission products and the actinides. The beta-energy spectra calculated by the present method are also of the same quality

Noradrenergic lesioning with an anti-dopamine beta-hydroxylase immunotoxin

Science.gov (United States)

Picklo, M. J.; Wiley, R. G.; Lappi, D. A.; Robertson, D.

1994-01-01

Sympathectomy has been achieved by a variety of methods but each has its limitations. These include lack of tissue specificity, incomplete lesioning, and the age range of susceptibility to the lesioning. To circumvent these drawbacks, an immunotoxin was constructed using a monoclonal antibody against the noradrenergic specific enzyme dopamine beta-hydroxylase (D beta H) coupled via a disulfide bond to saporin, a ribosomal inactivating protein. Three days after intravenous injection of the anti-D beta H immunotoxin (50 micrograms) into adult Sprague-Dawley rats, 66% of neurons in the superior cervical ganglia were chromatolytic. Superior cervical ganglia neurons were poisoned in 1 day old and 1 week old (86% of neurons) neonatal rats following subcutaneous injection of 3.75 and 15 micrograms, respectively. The anti-D beta H immunotoxin will be a useful tool in the study of the peripheral noradrenergic system in adult and neonatal animals.

Highly effective portable beta spectrometer for precise depth selective electron Moessbauer spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aldiyarov, N.U.; Kadyrzhanov, K.K.; Seytimbetov, A.M.; Zhdanov, V.S.

2007-01-01

Full text: More broad application of the nuclear-physical method of precise Depth Selective Electron Moessbauer Spectroscopy (DS EMS) is limited by insufficient accessibility of highly-effective beta spectrometers with acceptable resolution. It should be mentioned that the method DS EMS is realized at a combined installation that consists of a highly-effective beta spectrometer and a conventional portable nuclear gamma-resonance spectrometer. Yet few available beta spectrometers have sophisticated design and controlling; in most cases they are cumbersome. All the attempts to simplify beta spectrometers resulted in noticeable worsening of depth resolution for the DS EMS method making the measurements non precise. There is currently an obvious need in a highly-effective portable easily controlled beta spectrometer. While developing such portable beta spectrometer, it is more promising to use as basis a simpler spectrometer, which has ratio of sample size to spectrometer size of about five times. The paper presents an equal-arm version of a highly-effective portable beta spectrometer with transverse heterogeneous sector magnetic field that assures double focusing. The spectrometer is equipped with a large-area non-equipotential source (a sample under investigation) and a position-sensitive detector. This portable spectrometer meets all requirements for achievement of the DS EMS depth resolution close to the physical limit and demonstrates the following main characteristics: equilibrium orbit radius ρ 0 = 80 mm, instrumental energy resolution 0.6 % at solid angle 1 % of 4π steradian, area of non-equipotential source ∼ 80 mm 2 , registration by position-sensitive detector of ∼ 10 % of the energy interval. Highly-effective portable beta spectrometer assures obtaining Moessbauer data with depth resolution close to physical limit of the DS EMS method. So in measurements at conversion and Auger electrons with energies of about units of keV and above, the achieved

Thermoluminescence of NaF:Eu{sup 3+} phosphors exposed to beta particle irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia-Haro, A.R.; Cruz-Vazquez, C.; Orante-Barron, V.R. [Polymers and Materials Research Department, University of Sonora (Mexico); Bernal, R. [Physics Research Department, University of Sonora (Mexico); Kitis, G. [Nuclear Physics Laboratory, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece); Castano, V.M. [Applied Physics and Advanced Technology Center, Physics Institute, Autonomous National University of Mexico (Mexico)

2013-02-15

Pellet-shaped NaF:Eu{sup 3+} phosphors were synthesized by sintering. When a 5 K/s heating rate was used, the char-acteristic glow curves of beta particle irradiated samples exhibited two thermoluminescence (TL) maxima located at 401 K and 498 K, being the higher temperature max-imum the most intense. A peak located between 473 and 523 K is considered to have a position very suitable to assure good thermal stability of the stored TL, so this phosphor is attractive for radiation dosimetry. Beta particle irradiated samples displayed a TL response that increases as the radiation dose increased in the 0.08 to 42.5 Gy dose range, with a linear behavior below 10 Gy followed by a sublinear one for higher doses. Under storage after irradiation, the TL maximum at 498 K displayed a remarkable stability, and the TL fading revealed that the maximum at 401 K is not a single peak. (copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Mass measurement project by determination of Q{sub {beta}} for neutron-rich nuclei; Projet de mesure des masses par determination des Q{sub {beta}} pour des noyaux tres riches en neutrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pautrat, M; Lagrange, J M; Petizon, L [Paris-11 Univ., 91 - Orsay (France). Inst. de Physique Nucleaire; Vanhorenbeeck, J; Duhamel, P [Brussels Univ. (Belgium). Inst. d` Astronomie et d` Astrophysique; Binon, F [Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)

1994-12-31

The aim of the project described hereafter is to collect new data on the exotic neutron rich nuclei of the Fe to Zn region, and in particular to determine their masses, for both nuclear physics and astrophysics purposes. These isotopes will be produced through projectile fragmentation at the GANIL facility and selected by the LISE3 spectrometer. Their half-lives will be measured as well as the energy of their main {gamma} rays; {gamma} - {gamma} coincidences will then allow to build a preliminary level scheme. The analysis of {beta} spectra and {beta} - {gamma} coincidences will finally provide the maximum {beta} decay energies of the studied nuclei leading to their masses. The difficulties arising from the low production rates, the {beta} detection, the data handling are discussed together with the solutions proposed to overcome them. (authors). 17 refs.

Speculative Betas

OpenAIRE

Harrison Hong; David Sraer

2012-01-01

We provide a model for why high beta assets are more prone to speculative overpricing than low beta ones. When investors disagree about the common factor of cash-flows, high beta assets are more sensitive to this macro-disagreement and experience a greater divergence-of-opinion about their payoffs. Short-sales constraints for some investors such as retail mutual funds result in high beta assets being over-priced. When aggregate disagreement is low, expected return increases with beta due to r...

Realisation of a {beta} spectrometer solenoidal and a double {beta} spectrometer at coincidence; Realisation d'un spectrometre {beta} solenoidal et d'un double spectrometre {beta} a coincidence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreau, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1955-06-15

The two spectrometers have been achieved to tackle numerous problems of nuclear spectrometry. They possess different fields of application that complete themselves. The solenoidal spectrometer permits the determination of the energy limits of {beta} spectra and of their shape; it also permits the determination of the coefficients of internal conversion and reports {alpha}{sub K} / {alpha}{sub L} and it is especially efficient for the accurate energy levels of the {gamma} rays by photoelectric effect. The double coincidence spectrometer has been conceived to get a good efficiency in coincidence: indeed, the sum of the solid angles used for the {beta} and {gamma} emission is rather little lower to 4{pi} steradians. To get this efficiency, one should have sacrificed a little the resolution that is lower to the one obtained with the solenoidal spectrometer for a same brightness. Each of the elements of the double spectrometer can also be adapted to the study of angular correlations {beta}{gamma} and e{sup -}{gamma}. In this use, it is superior to the thin magnetic lens used up to here. The double spectrometer also permits the survey of the coincidences e{sup -}e{sup -}, e{sup -}{beta} of a equivalent way to a double lens; it can also be consider some adaptation for the survey of the angular correlations e{sup -}e{sup -}, e{sup -}{beta}. Finally, we applied the methods by simple spectrometry and by coincidence spectrometry, to the study of the radiances of the following radioelements: {sup 76}As (26 h), {sup 122}Sb (2,8 j), {sup 124}Sb (60 j), {sup 125}Sb (2,7 years). (M.B.) [French] Les deux spectrometres qui ont ete realises permettent d'aborder un grand nombre de problemes de spectrometrie nucleaire. Ils possedent des champs d'application tres differents qui se completent. Le spectrometre solenoidal permet la determination des energies limites des spectres {beta} et de leur forme; il permet aussi la determination des coefficients de conversion interne et des rapports

Hanford beta-gamma personnel dosimeter prototypes and evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fix, J.J.; Holbrook, K.L.; Soldat, K.L.

1983-04-01

Upgraded and modified Hanford dosimeter prototypes were evaluated for possible use at Hanford as a primary beta-gamma dosimeter. All prototypes were compatible with the current dosimeter card and holder design, as well as processing with the automated Hanford readers. Shallow- and deep-dose response was determined for selected prototypes using several beta sources, K-fluorescent x rays and filtered x-ray techniques. All prototypes included a neutron sensitive chip. A progressive evaluation of the performance of each of the upgrades to the current dosimeter is described. In general, the performance of the current dosimeter can be upgraded using individual chip sensitivity factors to improve precision and an improved algorithm to minimize bias. The performance of this dosimeter would be adequate to pass all categories of the ANSI N13.11 performance criteria for dosimeter procesors, provided calibration techniques compatible with irradiations adopted in the standard were conducted. The existing neutron capability of the dosimeter could be retained. Better dosimeter performance to beta-gamma radiation can be achieved by modifying the Hanford dosimeter so that four of the five chip positions are devoted to calculating these doses instead of the currently used two chip positions. A neutron sensitive chip was used in the 5th chip position, but all modified dosimeter prototypes would be incapable of discriminating between thermal and epithermal neutrons. An improved low energy beta response can be achieved for the current dosimeter and all prototypes considered by eliminating the security credential. Further improvement can be obtained by incorporating the 15-mil thick TLD-700 chips

A Method Validation for Determination of Gross Alpha and Gross Beta in Water Sample Using Low Background Gross Alpha/ Beta Counting System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zal Uyun Wan Mahmood; Norfaizal Mohamed; Nita Salina Abu Bakar

2016-01-01

Method validation (MV) for the measurement of gross alpha and gross beta activity in water (drinking, mineral and environmental) samples using Low Background Gross Alpha/ Beta Counting System was performed to characterize precision, accuracy and reliable results. The main objective of this assignment is to ensure that both the instrument and method always good performed and resulting accuracy and reliable results. Generally, almost the results of estimated RSD, z-score and U_s_c_o_r_e were reliable which are recorded as ≤30 %, less than 2 and less than 1.5, respectively. Minimum Detected Activity (MDA) was estimated based on the counting time of 100 minutes and present background counting value of gross alpha (0.01 - 0.35 cpm) and gross beta (0.50 - 2.18 cpm). Estimated Detection Limit (DL) was 0.1 Bq/ L for gross alpha and 0.2 Bq/ L for gross beta and expended uncertainty was relatively small of 9.77 % for gross alpha and 10.57 % for gross beta. Align with that, background counting for gross alpha and gross beta was ranged of 0.01 - 0.35 cpm and 0.50 - 2.18 cpm, respectively. While, sample volume was set at minimum of 500 mL and maximum of 2000 mL. These proven the accuracy and precision result that are generated from developed method/ technique is satisfactory and method is recommended to be used. Therefore, it can be concluded that the MV found no doubtful on the ability of the developed method. The test result showed the method is suitable for all types of water samples which are contained several radionuclides and elements as well as any impurities that interfere the measurement analysis of gross alpha and gross beta. (author)

Identify Beta-Hairpin Motifs with Quadratic Discriminant Algorithm Based on the Chemical Shifts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng YongE

Full Text Available Successful prediction of the beta-hairpin motif will be helpful for understanding the of the fold recognition. Some algorithms have been proposed for the prediction of beta-hairpin motifs. However, the parameters used by these methods were primarily based on the amino acid sequences. Here, we proposed a novel model for predicting beta-hairpin structure based on the chemical shift. Firstly, we analyzed the statistical distribution of chemical shifts of six nuclei in not beta-hairpin and beta-hairpin motifs. Secondly, we used these chemical shifts as features combined with three algorithms to predict beta-hairpin structure. Finally, we achieved the best prediction, namely sensitivity of 92%, the specificity of 94% with 0.85 of Mathew's correlation coefficient using quadratic discriminant analysis algorithm, which is clearly superior to the same method for the prediction of beta-hairpin structure from 20 amino acid compositions in the three-fold cross-validation. Our finding showed that the chemical shift is an effective parameter for beta-hairpin prediction, suggesting the quadratic discriminant analysis is a powerful algorithm for the prediction of beta-hairpin.

Labelling of. beta. -endorphin (. beta. -END) and. beta. -lipotropin (. beta. -LPH) by /sup 125/I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deby-Dupont, G.; Joris, J.; Franchimont, P. (Universite de Liege (Belgique)); Reuter, A.M.; Vrindts-Gevaert, Y. (Institut des Radioelements, Fleurus (Belgique))

1983-01-01

5 ..mu..g of human ..beta..-endorphin were labelled with 2 mCi /sup 125/I by the chloramine T technique. After two gel filtrations on Sephadex G-15 and on Sephadex G-50 in phosphate buffer with EDTA, Trasylol and mercapto-ethanol, a pure tracer was obtained with a specific activity about 150 ..mu..Ci/..mu..g.Kept at + 4/sup 0/C, the tracer remained utilizable for 30 days without loss of immunoreactivity. The labelling with lactoperoxydase and the use of another gel filtration method (filtration on Aca 202) gave a /sup 125/I ..beta..-END tracer with the same immunoreactivity. The binding of this tracer to the antibody of an anti-..beta..-END antiserum diluted at 1/8000 was 32% with a non specific binding of 2%. 5 ..mu..g of human ..beta..-lipotropin were labelled with 0.5 mCi /sup 125/I by the lactoperoxydase method. After two gel filtrations on Sephadex G-25 and on Sephadex G-75 in phosphate buffer with EDTA, Trasylol and mercapto-ethanol, a pure tracer with a specific activity of 140 ..mu..Ci/..mu..g was obtained. It remained utilizable for 30 days when kept at + 4/sup 0/C. Gel filtration on Aca 202 did not give good purification, while gel filtration on Aca 54 was good but slower than on Sephadex G-75. The binding to antibody in absence of unlabelled ..beta..-LPH was 32% for an anti-..beta..-LPH antiserum diluted at 1/4000. The non specific binding was 2.5%.

Synthesis of plastic scintillation microspheres: Alpha/beta discrimination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, L.M.; Bagán, H.; Tarancón, A.; Garcia, J.F.

2014-01-01

Plastic scintillation microspheres (PSm) have been developed as an alternative for liquid scintillation cocktails due to their ability to avoid the mixed waste, besides other strengths in which the possibility for alpha/beta discrimination is included. The aim of this work was to evaluate the capability of PSm containing two combinations of fluorescence solutes (PPO/POPOP and pT/Bis-MSB) and variable amounts of a second organic solvent (naphthalene) to enhance the alpha/beta discrimination. Two commercial detectors with different Pulse Shape Discrimination performances (Quantulus and Triathler) were used to evaluate the alpha/beta discrimination. An optimal discrimination of alpha/beta particles was reached, with very low misclassification values (2% for beta particles and 0.5% for alpha particles), when PSm containing PPO/POPOP and between 0.6 and 2.0 g of naphthalene were evaluated using Triathler and the appropriate programme for data processing. - Highlights: • Plastic scintillation microspheres for α/β discrimination have been synthesised. • The energy transfer process in PSm with different compositions has been investigated. • The α/β discrimination capabilities of two commercial detectors have been evaluated. • 2% and 0.5% of misclassifications for β and α radionuclides have been achieved respectively

Impact of maximum TF magnetic field on performance and cost of an advanced physics tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reid, R.L.

1983-01-01

Parametric studies were conducted using the Fusion Engineering Design Center (FEDC) Tokamak Systems Code to investigate the impact of variation in the maximum value of the field at the toroidal field (TF) coils on the performance and cost of a low q/sub psi/, quasi-steady-state tokamak. Marginal ignition, inductive current startup plus 100 s of inductive burn, and a constant value of epsilon (inverse aspect ratio) times beta poloidal were global conditions imposed on this study. A maximum TF field of approximately 10 T was found to be appropriate for this device

Heating properties of merging/reconnection startup of high-beta ST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Yasushi

2005-01-01

The high-power reconnection heating of spherical tokamak (ST) has been studied in the TS-3 experiment by use of axial merging of two STs. In this method, the merging/magnetic reconnection transformed a part of magnetic energy of merging STs into their thermal energy within short reconnection time. Our present low-field merging (0.3-0.5kG, R∼0.2m) attained the maximum heating power of 4-10MW and increased the beta-values of STs by factor 2-3 transiently. The ion heating energy was found to increase inversely with the q-value (B t component) of two STs. The most probable cause for this dependence is fast reconnection speed/ outflow speed due to large anomalous resistivity of current sheet in low-q state. After merging startup, decrease in beta was observed especially in low-q STs, indicating that the final beta value of ST increased with the q-value. (author)

First Trial of Real-time Poloidal Beta Control in KSTAR

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Hyunsun; Hahn, S. H.; Bak, J. G.; Walker, M. L.; Woo, M. H.; Kim, J. S.; Kim, Y. J.; Bae, Y. S.; KSTAR Team

2014-10-01

Sustaining the plasma in a stable and a high performance condition is one of the important control issues for future steady state tokamaks. In the 2014 KSTAR campaign, we have developed a real-time poloidal beta (βp) control technique and carried out preliminary experiments to identify its feasibility. In the control system, the βp is calculated in real time using the measured diamagnetic loop signal (DLM03) with coil pickup corrections, and compared with the target value leading to the change of the neutral beam (NB) heating power using a feedback PID control algorithm. To match the required power of NB which is operated with constant voltage, the duty cycles of the modulation were adjusted as the ratio of the required power to the maximum achievable one. This paper will present the overall procedures of the βp control, the βp estimation process implemented in the plasma control system, and the analysis on the preliminary experimental results. This work is supported by the KSTAR research project funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning of Korea.

Prediction of the location and type of beta-turns in proteins using neural networks.

OpenAIRE

Shepherd, A. J.; Gorse, D.; Thornton, J. M.

1999-01-01

A neural network has been used to predict both the location and the type of beta-turns in a set of 300 nonhomologous protein domains. A substantial improvement in prediction accuracy compared with previous methods has been achieved by incorporating secondary structure information in the input data. The total percentage of residues correctly classified as beta-turn or not-beta-turn is around 75% with predicted secondary structure information. More significantly, the method gives a Matthews cor...

Assessment of affinities of beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, and beta-CIT-FP for monoamine transporters permanently expressed in cell lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, Tomoya; Fujita, Masahiro; Shimada, Shoichi; Sato, Kohji; Schloss, Patrick; Watanabe, Yoshiyuki; Itoh, Yasushi; Tohyama, Masaya; Nishimura, Tsunehiko

1998-01-01

We investigated the effects of three cocaine analogs, beta-CIT (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl)-tropane), beta-CIT-FE (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(2-fluoroethyl)-nortropane), and beta-CIT-FP (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)-nortropane), on the uptake of [ 3 H]dopamine(DA), serotonin(5-HT), and 1-norepinephrine (NE) using cell lines permanently expressing DA, 5-HT, and NE transporters, respectively, to determine their affinities for these three transporters. We generated cell lines stably expressing DA, 5-HT, and NE transporters, respectively, by the Chen-Okayama method, and then tested the abilities of (-)cocaine, beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, beta-CIT-FP, and clomipramine to inhibit the uptake of [ 3 H]DA, 5-HT, and 1-NE. Ki values of beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, and beta-CIT-FP for [ 3 H]DA, 5-HT, 1-NE uptake were 6, 29, and 33 nM, 91, 133, and 130 nM, and 28, 113 and 70 nM, respectively, whereas those of cocaine and clomipramine were 316, 581, and 176 nM and > 10,000, 437, and 851 nM, respectively. Beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, and beta-CIT-FP were shown to be potent DA, 5-HT, and NE uptake inhibitors. Beta-CIT and beta-CIT-FP were highly potent and selective dopamine uptake inhibitors, and therefore might be useful for imaging of DA transporter with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET)

Maximum coherent superposition state achievement using a non-resonant pulse train in non-degenerate three-level atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Li; Niu, Yueping; Jin, Luling; Gong, Shangqing

2010-01-01

The coherent superposition state of the lower two levels in non-degenerate three-level Λ atoms is investigated using the accumulative effects of non-resonant pulse trains when the repetition period is smaller than the decay time of the upper level. First, using a rectangular pulse train, the accumulative effects are re-examined in the non-resonant two-level atoms and the modified constructive accumulation equation is analytically given. The equation shows that the relative phase and the repetition period are important in the accumulative effect. Next, under the modified equation in the non-degenerate three-level Λ atoms, we show that besides the constructive accumulation effect, the use of the partial constructive accumulation effect can also achieve the steady state of the maximum coherent superposition state of the lower two levels and the latter condition is relatively easier to manipulate. The analysis is verified by numerical calculations. The influence of the external levels in such a case is also considered and we find that it can be avoided effectively. The above analysis is also applicable to pulse trains with arbitrary envelopes.

Role of MicroRNAs in Islet Beta-Cell Compensation and Failure during Diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valérie Plaisance

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Pancreatic beta-cell function and mass are markedly adaptive to compensate for the changes in insulin requirement observed during several situations such as pregnancy, obesity, glucocorticoids excess, or administration. This requires a beta-cell compensation which is achieved through a gain of beta-cell mass and function. Elucidating the physiological mechanisms that promote functional beta-cell mass expansion and that protect cells against death, is a key therapeutic target for diabetes. In this respect, several recent studies have emphasized the instrumental role of microRNAs in the control of beta-cell function. MicroRNAs are negative regulators of gene expression, and are pivotal for the control of beta-cell proliferation, function, and survival. On the one hand, changes in specific microRNA levels have been associated with beta-cell compensation and are triggered by hormones or bioactive peptides that promote beta-cell survival and function. Conversely, modifications in the expression of other specific microRNAs contribute to beta-cell dysfunction and death elicited by diabetogenic factors including, cytokines, chronic hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and oxidized LDL. This review underlines the importance of targeting the microRNA network for future innovative therapies aiming at preventing the beta-cell decline in diabetes.

URODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF BETA-ADRENOBLOCKERS: NEBIVOLOL ADVANTAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. P. Savenkov

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To compare urodynamic effects of beta-blockers with different selectivity (propranolol, metoprolol, nebivolol in patients with arterial hypertension (HT and concomitant benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH.Material and methods. 32 patients (aged 67,5 y.o. in average with HT of 1-2 stages were involved in the study. All patients had BPH (prostate volume >40 sm3 , increase of residual urine volume with moderate or severe low urinary tract symptoms (IPSS 8-25 and reduction of maximum urine flow rate to 5-13 ml/s. The urodynamic effect of beta-blockers was estimated by changes of urination frequency and uroflowmetry indices after single taking and 14-day therapy.Results. Propranolol and metoprolol led to aggravation of urination disorders. Nebivolol resulted in soft urodilating and urostimulating effects. It led to urination improvement and reduced a risk of urodynamic disorders.Conclusion. Urodynamic effects of cardiovascular drugs should be considered by practitioners especially in treatment of elderly patients.

Beta response of CaSO4:Dy based TLD badge and its angular dependence studies for personnel monitoring applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Munish; Rakesh, R.B.; Sneha, C.; Ratna, P.; Bakshi, A.K.; Datta, D.

2016-01-01

In India, shallow/skin doses received by radiation workers from beta particles are measured using CaSO 4 :Dy based Teflon embedded TLD badge. The beta particles having maximum energy E max > 0.6 MeV - ≥ 3.54 MeV are monitored. The ratio of the response of discs under open and plastic regions (D Open/ D Perspex ) is used to estimate the energy of the beta source and to apply response correction factor. This is required as the disc dosimeters are thick and exhibit energy dependent response. Due to lack of comprehensive information regarding disc ratios and associated beta multiplication/response correction factors, present study was performed

THE USE OF /cap beta/-SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE STUDY OF ANODIC OXIDATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pringle, J. P.S.; Davies, J. A.

1964-04-15

Anodic oxidation of metal foils can be studied by injectin Xe/sup 125/ atoms into the foils, measuring the beta spectrum, anodi-zing the foils, and measuring the beta spectrum again Calibration of the method was achieved by injecting Xe/sup 125/ into Al and W foils. The method was applied to the anodization of W, Nb, Ta, and Al, and the reasons for the discrepancies are discussed. (D.L.C.)

A Generalized QMRA Beta-Poisson Dose-Response Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Gang; Roiko, Anne; Stratton, Helen; Lemckert, Charles; Dunn, Peter K; Mengersen, Kerrie

2016-10-01

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is widely accepted for characterizing the microbial risks associated with food, water, and wastewater. Single-hit dose-response models are the most commonly used dose-response models in QMRA. Denoting PI(d) as the probability of infection at a given mean dose d, a three-parameter generalized QMRA beta-Poisson dose-response model, PI(d|α,β,r*), is proposed in which the minimum number of organisms required for causing infection, K min , is not fixed, but a random variable following a geometric distribution with parameter 0Poisson model, PI(d|α,β), is a special case of the generalized model with K min = 1 (which implies r*=1). The generalized beta-Poisson model is based on a conceptual model with greater detail in the dose-response mechanism. Since a maximum likelihood solution is not easily available, a likelihood-free approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) algorithm is employed for parameter estimation. By fitting the generalized model to four experimental data sets from the literature, this study reveals that the posterior median r* estimates produced fall short of meeting the required condition of r* = 1 for single-hit assumption. However, three out of four data sets fitted by the generalized models could not achieve an improvement in goodness of fit. These combined results imply that, at least in some cases, a single-hit assumption for characterizing the dose-response process may not be appropriate, but that the more complex models may be difficult to support especially if the sample size is small. The three-parameter generalized model provides a possibility to investigate the mechanism of a dose-response process in greater detail than is possible under a single-hit model. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Synthesis and characterization of human recombinant thyrotropin (rec-hTSH) with a chimeric {beta}-subunit (rec-hTSH{beta}-CTPE hCG{beta}); Sintese e caracterizacao do hormonio tireotrofico humano recombinante (rec-hTSH) contendo uma subunidade {beta} quimerica (rec-hTSH{beta}-CTPE hCG{beta})

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murata, Yoko

1995-12-31

Recombinant hTSH is now successfully being used in clinical studies of thyroid cancer. Because of its therapeutic potential, we have constructed a longer acting analog of hTSH by fusing the carboxy terminal extension peptide (CTEP) of hCG{beta} onto hTSH{beta}. When coexpressed either with {alpha}-subunit complementary DNA or {alpha}-minigene in African green monkey (Cos-7) and human embryonic kidney (293) cells, the chimera was fully bioactive in vitro and exhibited enhanced in vivo potency associated with a prolonged plasma half-life. The addition of 29 amino acids with 4 O-linked oligosaccharide chains did not affect the assembly and secretion of chimeric TSH. Wild type (WT) and chimeric hTSH secreted by Cos-7 and 293 cells displayed wide differences in their plasma half-lives, presumably due to the difference in the terminal sialic acid and sulfate of their oligosaccharide chains. Chimeric and WT hTSH secreted by both cell lines demonstrated similar bioactivity in cAMP production, with some differences in [{sup 3} H]-thymidine incorporation. Chimeric hTSH secreted by Cos-7 appears to be more active than that secreted by 293 cells, as judged by growth assay. Cos-7 produced chimeric hTSH showed the maximum increase in half-life, indicating the importance of sialic acid in prolonging half-life and in vivo potency. Sulfation of both subunits, predominantly {beta} and to a lesser extent {alpha}, appears to be responsible, at least in part, for the increased metabolic clearance of WT and chimeric TSH secreted by 293 cells. Apart from its therapeutic potential, chimeric TSH produced in various cell lines can be used as a tool to delineate the roles of sulfate and sialic acid in the in vivo clearance and, thereby in the in vivo bioactivity. (author). 104 refs., 23 figs., 3 tabs.

Biosynthesis and release of beta-endorphin-, N-acetyl beta-endorphin-, beta-endorphin-(1-27)-, and N-acetyl beta-endorphin-(1-27)-like peptides by rat pituitary neurointermediate lobe: beta-endorphin is not further processed by anterior lobe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liotta, A.S.; Yamaguchi, H.; Krieger, D.T.

1981-01-01

Continuous labeling and pulse-chase techniques were employed to study the synthesis and secretion of multiple forms of immunoreactive beta-endorphin by cultured dispersed rat anterior lobe cells and intact neurointermediate pituitary lobe. Intact neurointermediate lobes incorporated radiolabeled amino acids into four to six forms of immunoreactive beta-endorphin. Four of these forms were physicochemically similar to authentic beta-endorphin, N-acetylated beta-endorphin, beta-endorphin-(1-27), and N-acetylated beta-endorphin-(1-27). Pulse-chase studies indicated that a beta-lipotropin-like molecule served as a metabolic intermediate for a beta-endorphin-like molecule. As beta-endorphin-like material accumulated in the cell, some of it was N-acetylated (approximately 18% at 2 hr chase and approximately 65% at 18 hr chase). At later chase times, beta-endorphin-(1-27)- and N-acetylated beta-endorphin-(1-27)-like peptides were the predominant molecular species detected. All endorphin forms were detected in unlabeled tissue maintained in culture or tissue continuously labeled for 72 hr and were released into the medium under basal, stimulatory (10(-8) M norepinephrine), or inhibitory (10(-7) M dopamine) incubation conditions. In all cases, beta-endorphin-(1-27)-like species were the predominant forms (more than 70% of total) present in the cells and released into the medium. In contrast, approximately 90% of radiolabeled immunoreactive beta-endorphin extracted from anterior lobe cells and medium similarly incubated appeared to represent the authentic beta-endorphin molecule. Continuous labeling (72 hr) revealed the beta-lipotropin/beta-endorphin molar ratio to be approximately 4. We conclude that, in anterior lobe, most of the beta-endorphin is not processed further and is released intact, while in neurointermediate lobe, it serves as a biosynthetic intermediate

Nuclear beta decay induced by intense electromagnetic fields: Forbidden transition examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiss, H.R.

1983-01-01

A formalism developed earlier for the effect on nuclear beta decay of an intense plane-wave electromagnetic field is applied to three examples of forbidden beta transitions. The examples represent cases where the nuclear ''fragment'' contains one, two, and three nucleons; where the nuclear fragment is defined to be that smallest sub-unit of the nucleus containing the nucleon which undergoes beta decay plus any other nucleons directly angular-momentum coupled to it in initial or final states. The single-nucleon-fragment example is 113 Cd, which has a fourth-forbidden transition. The two-nucleon-fragment example is 90 Sr, which is first-forbidden. The three-nucleon-fragment example is 87 Rb, which is third-forbidden. An algebraic closed-form transition probability is found in each case. At low external-field intensity, the transition probability is proportional to z/sup L/, where z is the field intensity parameter and L is the degree of forbiddenness. At intermediate intensities, the transition probability behaves as z/sup L/-(1/2). At higher intensities, the transition probability contains the z/sup L/-(1/2) factor, a declining exponential factor, and an alternating polynomial in z. This high-intensity transition probability possesses a maximum value, which is found for each of the examples. A general rule, z = q 2 (2L-1), where q is the number of particles in the fragment, is found for giving an upper limit on the intensity at which the maximum transition probability occurs. Field-induced beta decay half-lives for all the examples are dramatically reduced from natural half-lives when evaluated at the optimum field intensity. Relative half-life reduction is greater the higher the degree of forbiddenness

PEP-II Beta Beat Fixes with MIA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Y

2004-01-01

We first find a virtual accelerator for the HER or the LER through determination of all quadrupole strengths and sextupole feed-downs as well as all BPM gains and BPM cross-plane couplings by an SVD-enhanced Least-squares fitting of the quantities derivable from a complete set of orbits. These quantities are the phase advances, the Green's functions, and the tilt angles and axis ratios of the coupling eigen ellipses. They are obtained by analyzing turn-by-turn Beam Position Monitor (BPM) data with a high-resolution model-independent analysis (MIA). Once the virtual accelerator is found, we select a limited number of key quadrupoles, for example, the linear trombone quadrupoles and the global skews, for Least-square fitting of their strengths to minimize the beta beat while keeping other optics characters unchanged if not improved. We then dial in these limited number of quadrupole strength changes to the real accelerator (HER or LER) to achieve a better-performance PEP-II. Noticeable achievement by this MIA technique has been that MIA has helped PEP-II achieve its breaking record peak luminosity of 6.5 x 10 33 cm -2 s -1 in 2003 by bringing the LER working tune to near half integer and simultaneously fixing the beta beat, which would, otherwise, be difficult without MIA because of the strong LER coupling effect

Acute effects of beta blockade and exercise on mood and anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Head, A; Kendall, M J; Ferner, R; Eagles, C

1996-09-01

To measure the previously reported beta blocker induced adverse changes in mood state and anxiety measures, and to determine if prolonged aerobic exercise attenuates such mood modifications. After 4 days of drug treatment with comparable doses of propranolol (40 and 80 mg), metoprolol (50 and 100 mg), or placebo, mood (POMS) and anxiety states (STAI) were assessed in healthy volunteers, before and after 1 h of treadmill walking exercise at 50% maximum oxygen uptake. Compared to placebo, resting "tension", "depression", and "total mood disturbance" were significantly higher on propranolol 80 mg, but all were reduced with exercise. "Fatigue" and "confusion" were also higher on propranolol, and were unaffected by exercise. "Fatigue" was also higher than placebo after exercise on metoprolol 100 mg. "Anxiety" was unaffected by drug treatment or exercise. The evidence that beta blockers, and particularly propranolol, have adverse effects on mood was confirmed. It would be preferable to prescribe a beta blocker which does not adversely alter mood states. However, exercise significantly reduced the measures of "tension" and "depression" which were adversely increased by propranolol. Exercise prescription may therefore not only be compatible with beta blockade, but a highly desirable adjuvant therapy.

Climate-simulated raceway pond culturing: quantifying the maximum achievable annual biomass productivity of Chlorella sorokiniana in the contiguous USA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huesemann, M.; Chavis, A.; Edmundson, S.; Rye, D.; Hobbs, S.; Sun, N.; Wigmosta, M.

2017-09-13

Chlorella sorokiniana (DOE 1412) emerged as one of the most promising microalgae strains from the NAABB consortium project, with a remarkable doubling time under optimal conditions of 2.57 hr-1. However, its maximum achievable annual biomass productivity in outdoor ponds in the contiguous United States remained unknown. In order to address this knowledge gap, this alga was cultured in indoor LED-lighted and temperature-controlled raceways in nutrient replete freshwater (BG-11) medium at pH 7 under conditions simulating the daily sunlight intensity and water temperature fluctuations during three seasons in Southern Florida, an optimal outdoor pond culture location for this organism identified by biomass growth modeling. Prior strain characterization indicated that the average maximum specific growth rate (µmax) at 36 ºC declined continuously with pH, with µmax corresponding to 5.92, 5.83, 4.89, and 4.21 day-1 at pH 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively. In addition, the maximum specific growth rate declined nearly linearly with increasing salinity until no growth was observed above 35 g/L NaCl. In the climate-simulated culturing studies, the volumetric ash-free dry weight-based biomass productivities during the linear growth phase were 57, 69, and 97 mg/L-day for 30-year average light and temperature simulations for January (winter), March (spring), and July (summer), respectively, which corresponds to average areal productivities of 11.6, 14.1, and 19.9 g/m2-day at a constant pond depth of 20.5 cm. The photosynthetic efficiencies (PAR) in the three climate-simulated pond culturing experiments ranged from 4.1 to 5.1%. The annual biomass productivity was estimated as ca. 15 g/m2-day, nearly double the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 2015 State of Technology annual cultivation productivity of 8.5 g/m2-day, but this is still significantly below the projected 2022 target of ca. 25 g/m2-day (U.S. DOE, 2016) for economic microalgal biofuel production, indicating the need for

Catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of alpha,beta-unsaturated amides: efficient synthesis of beta-aryl alpha-hydroxy amides using a one-pot tandem catalytic asymmetric epoxidation-Pd-catalyzed epoxide opening process.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemoto, Tetsuhiro; Kakei, Hiroyuki; Gnanadesikan, Vijay; Tosaki, Shin-Ya; Ohshima, Takashi; Shibasaki, Masakatsu

2002-12-11

The catalytic asymmetric epoxidation of alpha,beta-unsaturated amides using Sm-BINOL-Ph3As=O complex was succeeded. Using 5-10 mol % of the asymmetric catalyst, a variety of amides were epoxidized efficiently, yielding the corresponding alpha,beta-epoxy amides in up to 99% yield and in more than 99% ee. Moreover, the novel one-pot tandem process, one-pot tandem catalytic asymmetric epoxidation-Pd-catalyzed epoxide opening process, was developed. This method was successfully utilized for the efficient synthesis of beta-aryl alpha-hydroxy amides, including beta-aryllactyl-leucine methyl esters. Interestingly, it was found that beneficial modifications on the Pd catalyst were achieved by the constituents of the first epoxidation, producing a more suitable catalyst for the Pd-catalyzed epoxide opening reaction in terms of chemoselectivity.

Theoretical study and construction of a multichannel {beta} spectrometer with uniform magnetic field; Etude et realisation d'un spectrometre {beta} multivoies a champ magnetique uniforme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schussler, F [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Grenoble (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1965-09-01

After a brief survey of the interest of a multichannel beta spectrometer for studying decay schemes of short lived nuclides (30 seconds minimum, the theoretically well known characteristics of uniform magnetic field analyser (image of a large source, transmission and resolution) are briefly remembered. In the second part, the apparatus built as a result of these calculations is described. This apparatus allows the determination of beta spectra by simultaneous determination of the beta spectra in coincidence with four gamma rays predetermined in the gamma spectrum of the studied nuclide. Finally, in the last part, the experimental characteristics of the spectrometer (calibration in energy and transmission) and the first measurement of beta spectra ({sup 155}Sm) and of coincidences ({sup 24}Na), are given. (author) [French] Apres avoir brievement souligne l'interet pratique que presente un spectrometre multivoies pour l'etude des schemas de desintegration des corps radioactifs de courtes periodes (30 secondes au maximum), l'auteur effectue un rappel des caracteristiques theoriques bien connues d'un analyseur magnetique a champ uniforme (image d'une source etendue) calcul de la transmission et du pouvoir de resolution. Une deuxieme partie est consacree a la description de l'appareil realise d'apres ces calculs. Cet appareil permet le releve des spectres beta par detection, simultanee de dix groupes d'electrons d'energies differentes; il permet egalement le releve simultane des spectres beta en coincidence avec quatre rayonnements gammas preselectionnes a l'avance dans le spectre gamma du corps etudie. Dans une derniere partie enfin, sont donnees les caracteristiques experimentales du spectrometre (etalonnage en energie et en transmission) ainsi que les premiers resultats des etudes de spectre beta ({sup 155}Sm) et de coincidence ({sup 24}Na). (auteur)

Betting Against Beta

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frazzini, Andrea; Heje Pedersen, Lasse

We present a model with leverage and margin constraints that vary across investors and time. We find evidence consistent with each of the model’s five central predictions: (1) Since constrained investors bid up high-beta assets, high beta is associated with low alpha, as we find empirically for U...... of the BAB factor is low; (4) Increased funding liquidity risk compresses betas toward one; (5) More constrained investors hold riskier assets........S. equities, 20 international equity markets, Treasury bonds, corporate bonds, and futures; (2) A betting-against-beta (BAB) factor, which is long leveraged low beta assets and short high-beta assets, produces significant positive risk-adjusted returns; (3) When funding constraints tighten, the return...

Mass outflow in the nearby proto-planetary system, Beta Pictoris

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruhweiler, F.C.; Grady, C.A.; Kondo, Yoji

1991-01-01

Previous spectral studies of circumstallar dust around the nearby, candidate proto-planetary system, Beta Pictoris, has detected only infalling gas. The lack of detectable mass outflow has been critical in the interpretation of the origin of the circumstellar gas and in our understanding of the evolutionary status of the Beta Pictoris system. IUE high-dispersion spectra are presented which show, in addition to infall, the presence of mass outflow, with a maximum observed outflow velocity of -60 km/s, and a corresponding instantaneous outflow rate of 1.1 x 10 to the -14th solar mass/yr, or 1.1 x 10 to the -11th Jupiter mass/yr. This mass outflow rate and terminal velocity are comparable to the magnitudes of mass infall rates and terminal velocities observed from late 1986 through early 1988. The implications of these observations on our understanding of the mechanisms producing infall from the surrounding circumstellar disk are discussed, as are the implications for our understanding of the evolutionary status of the Beta Pic system. 23 refs

Conversion of beta-methylbutyric acid to beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyric acid by Galactomyces reessii.

OpenAIRE

Lee, I Y; Nissen, S L; Rosazza, J P

1997-01-01

beta-Hydroxy-beta-methylbutyric acid (HMB) has been shown to increase strength and lean mass gains in humans undergoing resistance-exercise training. HMB is currently marketed as a calcium salt of HMB, and thus, environmentally sound and inexpensive methods of manufacture are being sought. This study investigates the microbial conversion of beta-methylbutyric acid (MBA) to HMB by cultures of Galactomyces reessii. Optimal concentrations of MBA were in the range of 5 to 20 g/liter for HMB produ...

Time-temperature dependent variations in beta-carotene contents in carrot using different spectrophotometric techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Ullah, Rahat; Khan, Saranjam; Shah, Attaullah; Ali, Hina; Bilal, Muhammad

2018-05-01

The current study presents time dependent variations in the concentration of beta-carotene in carrot under different storage-temperature conditions using UV–VIS and Raman spectrophotometric techniques. The UV–VIS absorption spectra of beta-carotene extracted from carrot shows three distinct absorption peaks at 442, 467, and 500 nm with maximum absorption at 467 nm. These absorption peaks are very much reproducible and are assigned to β-carotene. Similarly, Raman spectra of carrot samples also confirmed the three main Raman peaks of beta-carotene at shift positions 1003, 1150, and 1515 cm‑1. An overall decrease in beta-carotene content has been observed for time-temperature conditions. These results depict a decrease of about 40% in the content of beta-carotene when carrot samples were stored in a refrigerator (4 °C) for the first 20 d, whereas a decrease of about 25% was observed when carrot samples were stored in a freezer (‑16 °C) for the same period. The objective of this study is to investigate the possible use of Raman spectroscopy and UV–VIS spectroscopy for quick and detailed analysis of changes (degradation) in beta-carotene content associated with time and temperature in storage (frozen foods) in order to promote quality foods for consumers. Future study with a greater focus on the concentration/content of beta-carotene in other fruits/vegetables is also desirable.

Forward-Looking Betas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Jacobs, Kris; Vainberg, Gregory

Few issues are more important for finance practice than the computation of market betas. Existing approaches compute market betas using historical data. While these approaches differ in terms of statistical sophistication and the modeling of the time-variation in the betas, they are all backward......-looking. This paper introduces a radically different approach to estimating market betas. Using the tools in Bakshi and Madan (2000) and Bakshi, Kapadia and Madan (2003) we employ the information embedded in the prices of individual stock options and index options to compute our forward-looking market beta...

Thymosin beta(4 and beta(10 levels in pre-term newborn oral cavity and foetal salivary glands evidence a switch of secretion during foetal development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Nemolato

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Thymosin beta(4, its sulfoxide, and thymosin beta(10 were detected in whole saliva of human pre-term newborns by reversed-phase high performance chromatography coupled to electrospray ion-trap mass spectrometry. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Despite high inter-individual variability, concentration of beta-thymosins increases with an inversely proportional trend to postmenstrual age (PMA: gestational age plus chronological age after birth reaching a value more than twenty times higher than in adult whole saliva at 190 days (27 weeks of PMA (thymosin beta(4 concentration: more than 2.0 micromol/L versus 0.1 micromol/L. On the other hand, the ratio between thymosin beta(4 and thymosin beta(10 exhibits a constant value of about 4 along all the range of PMA (190-550 days of PMA examined. In order to investigate thymosin beta(4 origin and to better establish the trend of its production as a function of gestational age (GA, immunohistochemical analysis of major and minor salivary glands of different pre-term fetuses were carried out, starting from 84 days (12 weeks of gestational age. Reactive granules were seen in all glands with a maximum of expression around 140-150 days of GA, even though with high inter- and intra-individual variability. In infants and adults reactive granules in acinar cells were not observed, but just a diffuse cytoplasmatic staining in ductal cells. SIGNIFICANCE: This study outlines for the first time that salivary glands during foetal life express and secrete peptides such as beta-thymosins probably involved in the development of the oral cavity and its annexes. The secretion increases from about 12 weeks till to about 21 weeks of GA, subsequently it decreases, almost disappearing in the period of expected date of delivery, when the gland switches towards the secretion of adult specific salivary peptides. The switch observed may be an example of further secretion switches involving other exocrine and endocrine

Enantioselective synthesis of the novel chiral sulfoxide derivative as a glycogen synthase kinase 3beta inhibitor.

Science.gov (United States)

Saitoh, Morihisa; Kunitomo, Jun; Kimura, Eiji; Yamano, Toru; Itoh, Fumio; Kori, Masakuni

2010-09-01

Glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3beta) inhibitors are expected to be attractive therapeutic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently we discovered sulfoxides (S)-1 as a novel GSK-3beta inhibitor having in vivo efficacy. We investigated practical asymmetric preparation methods for the scale-up synthesis of (S)-1. The highly enantioselective synthesis of (S)-1 (94% ee) was achieved by titanium-mediated oxidation with D-(-)-diethyl tartrate on gram scale.

The spatial resolution of silicon-based electron detectors in beta-autoradiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabello, Jorge; Wells, Kevin

2010-03-21

Thin tissue autoradiography is an imaging modality where ex-vivo tissue sections are placed in direct contact with autoradiographic film. These tissue sections contain a radiolabelled ligand bound to a specific biomolecule under study. This radioligand emits beta - or beta+ particles ionizing silver halide crystals in the film. High spatial resolution autoradiograms are obtained using low energy radioisotopes, such as (3)H where an intrinsic 0.1-1 microm spatial resolution can be achieved. Several digital alternatives have been presented over the past few years to replace conventional film but their spatial resolution has yet to equal film, although silicon-based imaging technologies have demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to conventional film. It will be shown in this work how pixel size is a critical parameter for achieving high spatial resolution for low energy uncollimated beta imaging. In this work we also examine the confounding factors impeding silicon-based technologies with respect to spatial resolution. The study considers charge diffusion in silicon and detector noise, and this is applied to a range of radioisotopes typically used in autoradiography. Finally an optimal detector geometry to obtain the best possible spatial resolution for a specific technology and a specific radioisotope is suggested.

Enantioselective synthesis of alpha,beta-disubstituted-beta-amino acids.

Science.gov (United States)

Sibi, Mukund P; Prabagaran, Narayanasamy; Ghorpade, Sandeep G; Jasperse, Craig P

2003-10-01

Highly diastereoselective and enantioselective addition of N-benzylhydroxylamine to imides 17 and 20-30 produces alpha,beta-trans-disubstituted N-benzylisoxazolidinones 19 and 31-41. These reactions proceed in 60-96% ee with 93-99% de's using 5 mol % of Mg(NTf2)2 and ligand 18. The product isoxazolidinones can be hydrogenolyzed directly to provide alpha,beta-disubstituted-beta-amino acids.

A model for beta skin dose estimation due to the use of a necklace with uranium depleted bullets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavalle Heibron, P.H.; Pérez Guerrero, J.S.; Oliveira, J.F. de

2015-01-01

Depleted uranium bullets were use as munitions during the Kuwait – Iraq war and the International Atomic Energy Agency sampling expert’s team found fragments in the environment when the war was over. Consequently, there is a possibility that members of the public, especially children, collects DU fragments and use it, for example, to make a necklace. This paper estimates the beta skin dose to a child that uses a necklace made with a depleted uranium bullet. The theoretical model for dose estimation is based on Loevinguer’s equation with a correction factor adjusted for the maximum beta energy in the range between 0.1 and 2.5 MeV calculated taking into account the International Atomic Energy Agency expected doses rates in air at one meter distance of a point source of 37 GBq, function of the maximum beta energy. The dose rate estimated by this work due to the child use of a necklace with one depleted uranium bullet of 300 g was in good agreement with other results founded in literature. (authors)

In-trap decay spectroscopy for {beta}{beta} decays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brunner, Thomas

2011-01-18

The presented work describes the implementation of a new technique to measure electron-capture (EC) branching ratios (BRs) of intermediate nuclei in {beta}{beta} decays. This technique has been developed at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. It facilitates one of TRIUMF's Ion Traps for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN), the Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) that is used as a spectroscopy Penning trap. Radioactive ions, produced at the radioactive isotope facility ISAC, are injected and stored in the spectroscopy Penning trap while their decays are observed. A key feature of this technique is the use of a strong magnetic field, required for trapping. It radially confines electrons from {beta} decays along the trap axis while X-rays, following an EC, are emitted isotropically. This provides spatial separation of X-ray and {beta} detection with almost no {beta}-induced background at the X-ray detector, allowing weak EC branches to be measured. Furthermore, the combination of several traps allows one to isobarically clean the sample prior to the in-trap decay spectroscopy measurement. This technique has been developed to measure ECBRs of transition nuclei in {beta}{beta} decays. Detailed knowledge of these electron capture branches is crucial for a better understanding of the underlying nuclear physics in {beta}{beta} decays. These branches are typically of the order of 10{sup -5} and therefore difficult to measure. Conventional measurements suffer from isobaric contamination and a dominating {beta} background at theX-ray detector. Additionally, X-rays are attenuated by the material where the radioactive sample is implanted. To overcome these limitations, the technique of in-trap decay spectroscopy has been developed. In this work, the EBIT was connected to the TITAN beam line and has been commissioned. Using the developed beam diagnostics, ions were injected into the Penning trap and systematic studies on injection and storage optimization were performed. Furthermore, Ge

Liquid argon as active shielding and coolant for bare germanium detectors. A novel background suppression method for the GERDA 0{nu}{beta}{beta} experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peiffer, J.P.

2007-07-25

Two of the most important open questions in particle physics are whether neutrinos are their own anti-particles (Majorana particles) as required by most extensions of the StandardModel and the absolute values of the neutrino masses. The neutrinoless double beta (0{nu}{beta}{beta}) decay, which can be investigated using {sup 76}Ge (a double beta isotope), is the most sensitive probe for these properties. There is a claim for an evidence for the 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay in the Heidelberg-Moscow (HdM) {sup 76}Ge experiment by a part of the HdM collaboration. The new {sup 76}Ge experiment Gerda aims to check this claim within one year with 15 kg.y of statistics in Phase I at a background level of {<=}10{sup -2} events/(kg.keV.y) and to go to higher sensitivity with 100 kg.y of statistics in Phase II at a background level of {<=}10{sup -3} events/(kg.keV.y). In Gerda bare germanium semiconductor detectors (enriched in {sup 76}Ge) will be operated in liquid argon (LAr). LAr serves as cryogenic coolant and as high purity shielding against external background. To reach the background level for Phase II, new methods are required to suppress the cosmogenic background of the diodes. The background from cosmogenically produced {sup 60}Co is expected to be {proportional_to}2.5.10{sup -3} events/(kg.keV.y). LAr scintillates in UV ({lambda}=128 nm) and a novel concept is to use this scintillation light as anti-coincidence signal for background suppression. In this work the efficiency of such a LAr scintillation veto was investigated for the first time. In a setup with 19 kg active LAr mass a suppression of a factor 3 has been achieved for {sup 60}Co and a factor 17 for {sup 232}Th around Q{sub {beta}}{sub {beta}} = 2039 keV. This suppression will further increase for a one ton active volume (factor O(100) for {sup 232}Th and {sup 60}Co). LAr scintillation can also be used as a powerful tool for background diagnostics. For this purpose a new, very stable and robust wavelength

Maximum allowable load on wheeled mobile manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibnejad Korayem, M.; Ghariblu, H.

2003-01-01

This paper develops a computational technique for finding the maximum allowable load of mobile manipulator during a given trajectory. The maximum allowable loads which can be achieved by a mobile manipulator during a given trajectory are limited by the number of factors; probably the dynamic properties of mobile base and mounted manipulator, their actuator limitations and additional constraints applied to resolving the redundancy are the most important factors. To resolve extra D.O.F introduced by the base mobility, additional constraint functions are proposed directly in the task space of mobile manipulator. Finally, in two numerical examples involving a two-link planar manipulator mounted on a differentially driven mobile base, application of the method to determining maximum allowable load is verified. The simulation results demonstrates the maximum allowable load on a desired trajectory has not a unique value and directly depends on the additional constraint functions which applies to resolve the motion redundancy

Maximum attainable power density and wall load in tokamaks underlying reactor relevant constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borrass, K.; Buende, R.

1979-09-01

The characteristic data of tokamaks optimized with respect to their power density or wall load are determined. Reactor relevant constraints are imposed, such as a fixed plant net power output, a fixed blanket thickness and the dependence of the maximum toroidal field on the geometry and conductor material. The impact of finite burn times is considered. Various scaling laws of the toroidal beta with the aspect ratio are discussed. (orig.) 891 GG/orig. 892 RDG [de

Adsorption, immobilization, and activity of beta-glucosidase on different soil colloids.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Jinlong; Pan, Genxing; Li, Lianqing; Quan, Guixiang; Ding, Cheng; Luo, Ailan

2010-08-15

For a better understanding of enzyme stabilization and the subsequent catalytic process in a soil environment, the adsorption, immobilization, and activity of beta-glucosidase on various soil colloids from a paddy soil were studied. The calculated parameters maximum adsorption capacity (q(0)) for fine soil colloids ranged from 169.6 to 203.7 microg mg(-1), which was higher than coarse soil colloids in the range of 81.0-94.6 microg mg(-1), but the lower adsorption affinity (K(L)) was found on fine soil colloids. The percentages of beta-glucosidase desorbed from external surfaces of the coarse soil colloids (27.6-28.5%) were higher than those from the fine soil colloids (17.5-20.2%). Beta-glucosidase immobilized on the coarse inorganic and organic soil colloids retained 72.4% and 69.8% of activity, respectively, which indicated the facilitated effect of soil organic matter in the inhibition of enzyme activity. The residual activity for the fine soil clay is 79-81%. After 30 days of storage at 40 degrees C the free beta-glucosidase retained 66.2% of its initial activity, whereas the soil colloidal particle-immobilized enzyme retained 77.1-82.4% of its activity. The half-lives of free beta-glucosidase appeared to be 95.9 and 50.4 days at 25 and 40 degrees C. Immobilization of beta-glucosidase on various soil colloids enhanced the thermal stability at all temperatures, and the thermal stability was greatly affected by the affinity between the beta-glucosidase molecules and the surface of soil colloidal particles. Due to the protective effect of supports, soil colloidal particle-immobilized enzymes were less sensitive to pH and temperature changes than free enzymes. Data obtained in this study are helpful for further research on the enzymatic mechanisms in carbon cycling and soil carbon storage. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BetaTPred: prediction of beta-TURNS in a protein using statistical algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Harpreet; Raghava, G P S

2002-03-01

beta-turns play an important role from a structural and functional point of view. beta-turns are the most common type of non-repetitive structures in proteins and comprise on average, 25% of the residues. In the past numerous methods have been developed to predict beta-turns in a protein. Most of these prediction methods are based on statistical approaches. In order to utilize the full potential of these methods, there is a need to develop a web server. This paper describes a web server called BetaTPred, developed for predicting beta-TURNS in a protein from its amino acid sequence. BetaTPred allows the user to predict turns in a protein using existing statistical algorithms. It also allows to predict different types of beta-TURNS e.g. type I, I', II, II', VI, VIII and non-specific. This server assists the users in predicting the consensus beta-TURNS in a protein. The server is accessible from http://imtech.res.in/raghava/betatpred/

Extraction of lithium from neutral salt solutions with fluorinated. beta. -diketones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seeley, F.G.; Baldwin, W.H.

1976-01-01

Lithium was selectively extracted from near-neutral aqueous solutions of alkali metal salts. The mechanism by which this was achieved involves the formation of the trioctylphosphine oxide adduct of a lithium chelate of a fluorinated ..beta..-diketone, which is then readily extractable into an organic diluent. High separation factors were obtained from sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium. The selectivity of the fluorinated ..beta..-diketones for lithium over the alkaline earths was found to be poor. A suggested general flowsheet for the recovery of lithium from a salt brine concentrate is included.

Efficacy of pre-scan beta-blockade and impact of heart rate on image quality in patients undergoing coronary multidetector computed tomography angiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shapiro, Michael D. [Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Pena, Antonio J.; Nichols, John H. [Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Worrell, Stewart [Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Bamberg, Fabian [Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Dannemann, Nina [Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Abbara, Suhny; Cury, Ricardo C.; Brady, Thomas J. [Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Hoffmann, Udo [Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States); Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (United States)], E-mail: uhoffmann@partners.org

2008-04-15

Objective: While beta-blockers are routinely administered to patients prior to coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), their effectiveness is unknown. We therefore assessed the efficacy of beta-blockade with regards to heart rate (HR) control and image quality in an unselected patient cohort. Methods: We studied 150 consecutive patients (104 men/46 female; mean age, 56 {+-} 13 years) referred for coronary CTA. Intravenous metoprolol (5-20 mg) was administered to patients with a HR >65 beats per minute (bpm). The goal HR was defined as an average HR <65 bpm without a single measurement above 68 bpm. Results: Overall, 45% (68/150) of patients met the HR criteria for beta-blocker administration of which 76% (52/68) received metoprolol (mean dose 12 {+-} 10 mg). Of the 52 patients who received beta-blocker versus the 98 who did not, 18 (35%) versus 62 (64%) patients achieved the goal HR, respectively. All patients who achieved the target HR had an evaluable CTA while five patients who did not achieve the target HR had at least one non-evaluable coronary artery due to motion artifact. There was also a significant reduction in any motion artifact among those who achieved the goal HR as compared to those who did not (p = 0.001). Logistic regression revealed an increase in the odds of stair step artifact of 11.6% (95% CI: 2.4% decrease, 27.5% increase) per 1 bpm increase in the standard deviation of scan HR. Conclusion: Overall, efficacy of beta-blocker administration to reach target HR is limited. Improvements in CT scanner temporal resolution are mandatory to achieve consistently high image quality independent of HR and beta-blocker administration.

Efficacy of pre-scan beta-blockade and impact of heart rate on image quality in patients undergoing coronary multidetector computed tomography angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapiro, Michael D.; Pena, Antonio J.; Nichols, John H.; Worrell, Stewart; Bamberg, Fabian; Dannemann, Nina; Abbara, Suhny; Cury, Ricardo C.; Brady, Thomas J.; Hoffmann, Udo

2008-01-01

Objective: While beta-blockers are routinely administered to patients prior to coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), their effectiveness is unknown. We therefore assessed the efficacy of beta-blockade with regards to heart rate (HR) control and image quality in an unselected patient cohort. Methods: We studied 150 consecutive patients (104 men/46 female; mean age, 56 ± 13 years) referred for coronary CTA. Intravenous metoprolol (5-20 mg) was administered to patients with a HR >65 beats per minute (bpm). The goal HR was defined as an average HR <65 bpm without a single measurement above 68 bpm. Results: Overall, 45% (68/150) of patients met the HR criteria for beta-blocker administration of which 76% (52/68) received metoprolol (mean dose 12 ± 10 mg). Of the 52 patients who received beta-blocker versus the 98 who did not, 18 (35%) versus 62 (64%) patients achieved the goal HR, respectively. All patients who achieved the target HR had an evaluable CTA while five patients who did not achieve the target HR had at least one non-evaluable coronary artery due to motion artifact. There was also a significant reduction in any motion artifact among those who achieved the goal HR as compared to those who did not (p = 0.001). Logistic regression revealed an increase in the odds of stair step artifact of 11.6% (95% CI: 2.4% decrease, 27.5% increase) per 1 bpm increase in the standard deviation of scan HR. Conclusion: Overall, efficacy of beta-blocker administration to reach target HR is limited. Improvements in CT scanner temporal resolution are mandatory to achieve consistently high image quality independent of HR and beta-blocker administration

Roughing up Beta

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bollerslev, Tim; Li, Sophia Zhengzi; Todorov, Viktor

-section. An investment strategy that goes long stocks with high jump betas and short stocks with low jump betas produces significant average excess returns. These higher risk premiums for the discontinuous and overnight market betas remain significant after controlling for a long list of other firm characteristics......Motivated by the implications from a stylized equilibrium pricing framework, we investigate empirically how individual equity prices respond to continuous, or \\smooth," and jumpy, or \\rough," market price moves, and how these different market price risks, or betas, are priced in the cross......-section of expected returns. Based on a novel highfrequency dataset of almost one-thousand individual stocks over two decades, we find that the two rough betas associated with intraday discontinuous and overnight returns entail significant risk premiums, while the intraday continuous beta is not priced in the cross...

Microstructural stability and thermomechanical processing of boron modified beta titanium alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Cherukuri, Balakrishna

One of the main objectives during primary processing of titanium alloys is to reduce the prior beta grain size. Producing an ingot with smaller prior beta grain size could potentially eliminate some primary processing steps and thus reduce processing cost. Trace additions of boron have been shown to decrease the as-cast grain size in alpha + beta titanium alloys. The primary focus of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of boron on microstructural stability and thermomechanical processing in beta titanium alloys. Two metastable beta titanium alloys: Ti-15Mo-2.6Nb-3Al-0.2Si (Beta21S) and Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr (Ti5553) with 0.1 wt% B and without boron additions were used in this investigation. Significant grain refinement of the as-cast microstructure and precipitation of TiB whiskers along the grain boundaries was observed with boron additions. Beta21S and Beta21S-0.1B alloys were annealed above the beta transus temperature for different times to investigate the effect of boron on grain size stability. The TiB precipitates were very effective in restricting the beta grain boundary mobility by Zener pinning. A model has been developed to predict the maximum grain size as a function of TiB size, orientation, and volume fraction. Good agreement was obtained between model predictions and experimental results. Beta21S alloys were solution treated and aged for different times at several temperatures below the beta transus to study the kinetics of alpha precipitation. Though the TiB phase did not provide any additional nucleation sites for alpha precipitation, the grain refinement obtained by boron additions resulted in accelerated aging. An investigation of the thermomechanical processing behavior showed different deformation mechanisms above the beta transus temperature. The non-boron containing alloys showed a non-uniform and fine recrystallized necklace structure at grain boundaries whereas uniform intragranular recrystallization was observed in boron containing

Revealing low-energy part of the beta spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selvi, S.; Celiktas, C.

2002-01-01

An effective method is proposed to separate electronic noise from the beta-particle spectra revealing lower energy part of the spectra. The available methods for reducing the noise problem cut the noise along with the low-energy part of the beta spectra by using a discriminator. Our setup eliminates this undesirable effect by shifting the noise toward the lowest energy scale leaving the low-energy part of spectra undisturbed. We achieved this noise-pulse-separation by treating the noise as a pulse so that we can exploit the application of the pulse-shape analyzer equipment used for pulse shape identification of particles and rejection of defective pulses. To the best of our knowledge this method of the noise separation is a novel approach

Influence of food acidulants and antioxidant spices on the bioaccessibility of beta-carotene from selected vegetables.

Science.gov (United States)

Veda, Supriya; Platel, Kalpana; Srinivasan, Krishnapura

2008-09-24

Four common food acidulants--amchur, lime, tamarind, and kokum--and two antioxidant spices--turmeric and onion--were examined for their influence on the bioaccessibility of beta-carotene from two fleshy and two leafy vegetables. Amchur and lime generally enhanced the bioaccessibility of beta-carotene from these test vegetables in many instances. Such an improved bioaccessibility was evident in both raw and heat-processed vegetables. The effect of lime juice was generally more pronounced than that of amchur. Turmeric significantly enhanced the bioaccessibility of beta-carotene from all of the vegetables tested, especially when heat-processed. Onion enhanced the bioaccessibility of beta-carotene from pressure-cooked carrot and amaranth leaf and from open-pan-boiled pumpkin and fenugreek leaf. Lime juice and the antioxidant spices turmeric and onion minimized the loss of beta-carotene during heat processing of the vegetables. In the case of antioxidant spices, improved bioaccessibility of beta-carotene from heat-processed vegetables is attributable to their role in minimizing the loss of this provitamin. Lime juice, which enhanced the bioaccessibility of this provitamin from both raw and heat-processed vegetables, probably exerted this effect by some other mechanism in addition to minimizing the loss of beta-carotene. Thus, the presence of food acidulants (lime juice/amchur) and antioxidant spices (turmeric/onion) proved to be advantageous in the context of deriving maximum beta-carotene from the vegetable sources.

Plasma beta-endorphin, beta-lipotropin and corticotropin in polycystic ovarian disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Laatikainen, T; Salminen, K; Virtanen, T; Apter, D

1987-04-01

In 9 women with polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) and in 11 control subjects at the follicular phase of the normal cycle, blood samples were collected at 15-min intervals during a 2 h period of bed rest for the assay of beta-endorphin, beta-lipotropin, corticotropin, cortisol and prolactin. During the study period, the plasma levels of these hormones decreased more significantly in the PCOD than in the control group, suggesting that the PCOD patients had a more significant stress response to the puncture of the vein than the control subjects. The second hour of the study period was considered to represent resting levels of hormones. The mean resting levels (+/- S.E.) of the hormones between the PCOD and control groups, respectively, were as follows: beta-E, 2.0 +/- 0.4 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.1 pmol/l, p less than 0.05; beta-LPH, 3.4 +/- 0.6 vs. 2.1 +/- 0.5 pmol/l, N.S.; corticotropin, 2.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.5 pmol/l, p less than 0.05; cortisol, 176 +/- 24 vs. 128 +/- 16, N.S.; and prolactin; 3.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 5.6 +/- 1.2 ng/ml, N.S. These results confirm the previous findings on increased circulating levels of beta-E in PCOD. A concomitant increase of the plasma level of corticotropin suggests that the basal secretion of both beta-E and corticotropin from the anterior pituitary gland is increased in women with PCOD.

Overview of the modification to the poloidal divertor experiment (PDX) to produce the Princeton beta experiment (PBX)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knutson, D.

1984-01-01

The Poloidal Divertor Experiment at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory has been recently transformed into the Princeton Beta Experiment. The purpose of the modification is to produce a bean-shaped plasma with beta values in excess of 10%, which is substantially above those achieved with more conventional plasma shapes. (author)

Kinetic Analysis of Hexose Conversion to Methyl Lactate by Sn Beta: Effects of Substrate Masking and of Water

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tosi, Irene; Riisager, Anders; Taarning, Esben

2018-01-01

Simple sugars bear promise as substrates for the formation of fuels and chemicals using heterogeneous catalysts in alcoholic solvents. Sn-Beta is a particularly well suited catalyst for the cleavage, isomerization and dehydration of sugars into more valuable chemicals. In order to understand....... This release is the rate limiting step in the Sn-Beta catalysed methyl lactate process, but can be accelerated by the addition of small amounts of water at the expense of maximum methyl lactate yield....

Properties of native and immobilised preparations of. beta. -D-glucosidase from Aspergillus niger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woodward, J.; Wohlpart, D.L.

1982-01-01

The enzyme ..beta..-D-glucosidase from Aspergillus niger has been immobilised through its carbohydrate moiety on concanavalin A-Sepharose and on cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose after aminoalkylation of the carbohydrate side chains of the enzyme. For comparison, the enzyme was also immobilised on microcrystalline cellulose through its protein moiety. High retention of activity and a decrease in K/sub m/ and V/sub max/ were observed when ..beta..-D-glucosidase was immobilised by these methods. An increase in the thermal stability of the immobilised ..beta..-D-glucosidase preparations over the soluble enzyme was achieved if it was treated with glutaraldehyde before its adsorption on concanavalin A-Sepharose or if the enzyme immobilised on cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose was subsequently treated with glutaralydehyde. Treatment of ..beta..-D-glucosidase immobilised on microcrystalline cellulose with glutaraldehyde hardy increased its thermal stability over the soluble enzyme.

Properties of native and immobilised preparations of beta-d-glucosidase from Aspergillus niger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woodward, J.; Wohlpart, D.L.

1982-04-01

The enzyme beta-glucosidase from Aspergillus niger has been immobilised through its carbohydrate moiety on concanavalin A-Sepharose and on cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose after aminoalkylation of the carbohydrate side chains of the enzyme. For comparison, the enzyme was also immobilised on microcrystalline cellulose through its protein moiety. High retention of activity and a decrease in Km and Vmax were observed when beta-D-glucosidase was immobilised by these methods. An increase in the thermal stability of the immobilized beta-D-glucosidase preparations over the soluble enzyme was achieved if it was treated with glutaraldehyde before its adsorption on concanavalin A-Sepharose or if the enzyme immobilised on cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose was subsequently treated with glutaraldehyde. Treatment of beta-D-glucosidase immobilised on microcrystalline cellulose with glutaraldehyde hardly increased its thermal stability over the soluble enzyme. (Refs. 24).

On Fuzzy {beta}-I-open sets and Fuzzy {beta}-I-continuous functions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keskin, Aynur [Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Arts, Selcuk University, Campus, 42075 Konya (Turkey)], E-mail: akeskin@selcuk.edu.tr

2009-11-15

In this paper, first of all we obtain some properties and characterizations of fuzzy {beta}-I-open sets. After that, we also define the notion of {beta}-I-closed sets and obtain some properties. Lastly, we introduce the notions of fuzzy {beta}-I-continuity with the help of fuzzy {beta}-I-open sets to obtain decomposition of fuzzy continuity.

Clusters of conserved beta cell marker genes for assessment of beta cell phenotype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martens, Geert A; Jiang, Lei; Hellemans, Karine H

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to establish a gene expression blueprint of pancreatic beta cells conserved from rodents to humans and to evaluate its applicability to assess shifts in the beta cell differentiated state. Genome-wide mRNA expression profiles of isolated beta cells were compared to those...... of a large panel of other tissue and cell types, and transcripts with beta cell-abundant and -selective expression were identified. Iteration of this analysis in mouse, rat and human tissues generated a panel of conserved beta cell biomarkers. This panel was then used to compare isolated versus laser capture...... microdissected beta cells, monitor adaptations of the beta cell phenotype to fasting, and retrieve possible conserved transcriptional regulators....

Phosphatidic acid regulates signal output by G protein coupled receptors through direct interaction with phospholipase C-beta(1).

Science.gov (United States)

Litosch, Irene; Pujari, Rajeshree; Lee, Shawn J

2009-09-01

Phosphatidic acid (PA), generated downstream of monomeric Rho GTPases via phospholipase D (PLD) and additionally by diacylglycerol kinases (DGK), both stimulates phospholipase C-beta(1) (PLC-beta(1)) and potentiates stimulation of PLC-beta(1) activity by Galpha(q) in vitro. PA is a potential candidate for integrating signaling by monomeric and heterotrimeric G proteins to regulate signal output by G protein coupled receptors (GPCR), and we have sought to understand the mechanisms involved. We previously identified the region spanning residues 944-957, lying within the PLC-beta(1) C-terminus alphaA helix and flexible loop of the Galpha(q) binding domain, as required for stimulation of lipase activity by PA in vitro. Regulation by PA does not require residues essential for stimulation by Galpha(q) or GTPase activating activity. The present studies evaluated shorter alanine/glycine replacement mutants and finally point mutations to identify Tyr(952) and Ile(955) as key determinants for regulation by PA, assessed by both in vitro enzymatic and cell-based co-transfection assays. Replacement of Tyr(952) and Ile(955), PLC-beta(1) (Y952G/I955G), results in an 85% loss in stimulation by PA relative to WT-PLC-beta(1) in vitro. COS 7 cells co-transfected with PLC-beta(1) (Y952G/I955G) demonstrate a 10-fold increase in the EC(50) for stimulation and a 60% decrease in maximum stimulation by carbachol via Galpha(q) linked m1 muscarinic receptors, relative to cells co-transfected with WT-PLC-beta(1) but otherwise similar conditions. Residues required for regulation by PA are not essential for stimulation by G protein subunits. WT-PLC-beta(1) and PLC-beta(1) (Y952G/I955G) activity is increased comparably by co-transfection with Galpha(q) and neither is markedly affected by co-transfection with Gbeta(1)gamma(2). Inhibiting PLD-generated PA production by 1-butanol has little effect on maximum stimulation, but shifts the EC(50) for agonist stimulation of WT-PLC-beta(1) by 10-fold

Selection of the Maximum Spatial Cluster Size of the Spatial Scan Statistic by Using the Maximum Clustering Set-Proportion Statistic.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yue; Yin, Fei; Zhang, Tao; Zhou, Xiaohua Andrew; Li, Xiaosong

2016-01-01

Spatial scan statistics are widely used in various fields. The performance of these statistics is influenced by parameters, such as maximum spatial cluster size, and can be improved by parameter selection using performance measures. Current performance measures are based on the presence of clusters and are thus inapplicable to data sets without known clusters. In this work, we propose a novel overall performance measure called maximum clustering set-proportion (MCS-P), which is based on the likelihood of the union of detected clusters and the applied dataset. MCS-P was compared with existing performance measures in a simulation study to select the maximum spatial cluster size. Results of other performance measures, such as sensitivity and misclassification, suggest that the spatial scan statistic achieves accurate results in most scenarios with the maximum spatial cluster sizes selected using MCS-P. Given that previously known clusters are not required in the proposed strategy, selection of the optimal maximum cluster size with MCS-P can improve the performance of the scan statistic in applications without identified clusters.

N-Benzylhydroxylamine addition to beta-aryl enoates. Enantioselective synthesis of beta-aryl-beta-amino acid precursors

Science.gov (United States)

Sibi; Liu

2000-10-19

Chiral Lewis acid catalyzed N-benzylhydroxylamine addition to pyrrolidinone-derived enoates afforded beta-aryl-beta-amino acid derivatives in high enantiomeric purity with moderate to very good chemical efficiency.

Curating NASA's Future Extraterrestrial Sample Collections: How Do We Achieve Maximum Proficiency?

Science.gov (United States)

McCubbin, Francis; Evans, Cynthia; Zeigler, Ryan; Allton, Judith; Fries, Marc; Righter, Kevin; Zolensky, Michael

2016-01-01

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (henceforth referred to herein as NASA Curation Office) at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. Under the governing document, NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E "Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials", JSC is charged with "The curation of all extraterrestrial material under NASA control, including future NASA missions." The Directive goes on to define Curation as including "... documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach." Here we describe some of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the future activities of the NASA Curation Office are working towards a state of maximum proficiency.

Evaluation of beta-decay III. The complex gamma function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, D.H.

1993-05-01

Two real, analytical, approximations for the square of the modulus of the complex gamma function as it appears in F(Z, W), the Fermi function for beta-decay, are evaluated; an accuracy bettering 10 -4 % can easily be achieved for all electron energies throughout the periodic table. (author). 3 refs., 1 tab., 7 figs

Search for the Neutrino Less Double Beta Decay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Efremenko, Yuri [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

2016-07-11

During the past few years our understanding of neutrino properties has reached a new level, with experiments such as Super-K, SNO, KamLAND, and others obtaining exciting results. Major questions such as “Do neutrinos have mass?” and “Do neutrinos oscillate?” now have positive answers. However, an extensive program of neutrino research remains. Undoubtedly, the most important of these is the question pointed out by the National Research Council in its February 2002 report “Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos”, specifically: What are the masses of neutrinos and how have they shaped the evolution of the Universe? The MAJORANA collaboration has proposed to build the world’s most sensitive one-ton scale experiment to search for neutrino less double beta decay to answer this question. In its initial stage, the collaboration is building a prototype MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR (MJD) experiment consisting of detectors made out of enriched Ge⁷⁶ with a total sensitive mass of ~30 kg. This will accomplish two goals. First, it will test not yet confirmed claim for observation of neutrino-less double beta decay. Second, it will establish that the selected technology is capable of extension to a one-ton experiment with sufficient sensitivity to measure neutrino mass m_ββ down to 10 meV. To achieve the last goal, collaboration must demonstrate that a background level of 1 count per year per 4 keV per ton of detector is achievable. The University of Tennessee (UT) neutrino group has made a major commitment to the MJD. P.I. accepted the responsibility for one of the major tasks of the experiment, “Materials and Assay Task” which is crucial to the achievement of low background levels required for the experiment. In addition, the UT group is committed to construct, commission, and operate the MJD active veto system. Those activities were supported by NP-DOE via program funding for “Search for the Neutrino Less Double Beta Decay” at the University

Progress toward fully noninductive, high beta conditions in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, M.; Wade, M.R.; Greenfield, C.M.; Luce, T.C.; Ferron, J.R.; St John, H.E.; DeBoo, J.C.; Osborne, T.H.; Petty, C.C.; Politzer, P.A.; Burrell, K.H.; Gohil, P.; Gorelov, I.A.; Groebner, R.J.; Hyatt, A.W.; Kajiwara, K.; La Haye, R.J.; Lao, L.L.; Leonard, A.W.; Lohr, J.

2006-01-01

The DIII-D Advanced Tokamak (AT) program in the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Research, 1986, Vol. I (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), p. 159] is aimed at developing a scientific basis for steady-state, high-performance operation in future devices. This requires simultaneously achieving 100% noninductive operation with high self-driven bootstrap current fraction and toroidal beta. Recent progress in this area includes demonstration of 100% noninductive conditions with toroidal beta, β T =3.6%, normalized beta, β N =3.5, and confinement factor, H 89 =2.4 with the plasma current driven completely by bootstrap, neutral beam current drive, and electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD). The equilibrium reconstructions indicate that the noninductive current profile is well aligned, with little inductively driven current remaining anywhere in the plasma. The current balance calculation improved with beam ion redistribution that was supported by recent fast ion diagnostic measurements. The duration of this state is limited by pressure profile evolution, leading to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities after about 1 s or half of a current relaxation time (τ CR ). Stationary conditions are maintained in similar discharges (∼90% noninductive), limited only by the 2 s duration (1τ CR ) of the present ECCD systems. By discussing parametric scans in a global parameter and profile databases, the need for low density and high beta are identified to achieve full noninductive operation and good current drive alignment. These experiments achieve the necessary fusion performance and bootstrap fraction to extrapolate to the fusion gain, Q=5 steady-state scenario in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) [R. Aymar et al., Fusion Energy Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, Sorrento, Italy (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), paper IAEA-CN-77/OV-1]. The modeling tools that have

Maximum Likelihood and Bayes Estimation in Randomly Censored Geometric Distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hare Krishna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, we study the geometric distribution under randomly censored data. Maximum likelihood estimators and confidence intervals based on Fisher information matrix are derived for the unknown parameters with randomly censored data. Bayes estimators are also developed using beta priors under generalized entropy and LINEX loss functions. Also, Bayesian credible and highest posterior density (HPD credible intervals are obtained for the parameters. Expected time on test and reliability characteristics are also analyzed in this article. To compare various estimates developed in the article, a Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out. Finally, for illustration purpose, a randomly censored real data set is discussed.

Beta Emission and Bremsstrahlung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karpius, Peter Joseph [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-11-13

Bremsstrahlung is continuous radiation produced by beta particles decelerating in matter; different beta emitters have different endpoint energies; high-energy betas interacting with high-Z materials will more likely produce bremsstrahlung; depending on the data, sometimes all you can say is that a beta emitter is present.

Synthesis and in vitro and in vivo characteristics of an iodinated analogue of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist carazolol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dubois, E. A.; van den Bos, J. C.; Doornbos, T.; van Doremalen, P. A.; Somsen, G. A.; Vekemans, J. A.; Janssen, A. G.; Batink, H. D.; Boer, G. J.; Pfaffendorf, M.; van Royen, E. A.; van Zwieten, P. A.

1996-01-01

A new (radio)iodinated, beta-adrenoceptor ligand, (S)-(-)-4-[3-[(1,1-dimethyl-3-iodo-(2E)-propenyl)-amino]-2- hydroxypropoxy]carbazole (CYBL8E, 1), was prepared. 1 is an iodinated analogue of the high-affinity beta-adrenoceptor antagonist carazolol (2). The asymmetric synthesis was achieved in four

Nuclear Matrix Elements for the $\\beta\\beta$ Decay of the $^{76}$Ge

CERN Document Server

Brown, B A; Horoi, M

2015-01-01

The nuclear matrix elements for two-neutrino double-beta (2 n$\\beta\\beta$ ) and zero-neutrino double-beta (0 n$\\beta\\beta$) decay of 76 Ge are evaluated in terms of the configuration interaction (CI), quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) and interacting boson model (IBM) methods. We show that the decomposition of the matrix elements in terms of interemediate states in 74 Ge is dominated by ground state of this nucleus. We consider corrections to the CI results that arise from configurations admixtures involving orbitals out-side of the CI configuration space by using results from QRPA, many-body-perturbation theory, and the connections to related observables. The CI two-neutrino matrix element is reduced due to the inclusion of spin-orbit partners, and to many-body correlations connected with Gamow-Teller beta decay. The CI zero-neutrino matrix element for the heavy neutrino is enhanced due to particle-particle correlations that are connected with the odd-even oscillations in the nuclear masse...

beta-Blockade used in precision sports: effect on pistol shooting performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruse, P; Ladefoged, J; Nielsen, U; Paulev, P E; Sørensen, J P

1986-08-01

In a double-blind cross-over study of 33 marksmen (standard pistol, 25 m) the adrenergic beta 1-receptor blocker, metoprolol, was compared to placebo. Metoprolol obviously improved the pistol shooting performance compared with placebo. Shooting improved by 13.4% of possible improvement (i.e., 600 points minus actual points obtained) as an average (SE = 4%, 2P less than 0.002). The most skilled athletes demonstrated the clearest metoprolol improvement. We found no correlation between the shooting improvement and changes in the cardiovascular variables (i.e., changes of heart rate and systolic blood pressure) and no correlation to the estimated maximum O2 uptake. The shooting improvement is an effect of metoprolol on hand tremor. Emotional increase of heart rate and systolic blood pressure seem to be a beta 1-receptor phenomenon.

NEW EVIDENCE OF MAGNETIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN STARS FROM THREE-DIMENSIONAL DOPPLER TOMOGRAPHY OF ALGOL BINARIES: {beta} PER AND RS VUL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richards, Mercedes T. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Agafonov, Michail I.; Sharova, Olga I., E-mail: mrichards@astro.psu.edu, E-mail: agfn@nirfi.sci-nnov.ru, E-mail: shol@nirfi.sci-nnov.ru [Radiophysical Research Institute (NIRFI), 25/12a, Bolshaya Pecherskaya St., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 (Russian Federation)

2012-11-20

Time-resolved H{alpha} spectra of magnetically active interacting binaries have been used to create three-dimensional (3D) Doppler tomograms by means of the Radioastronomical Approach. This is the first 3D reconstruction of {beta} Per, with RS Vul for comparison. These 3D tomograms have revealed evidence of the mass transfer process (gas stream, circumprimary emission, localized region, absorption zone), as well as loop prominences and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in {beta} Per and RS Vul that could not be discovered from two-dimensional tomograms alone. The gas stream in both binaries may have been deflected beyond the central plane by the donor star's magnetic field. The stream was more elongated along the predicted trajectory in RS Vul than in {beta} Per, but not as pronounced as in U CrB (stream state). The loop prominence reached maximum V{sub z} velocities of {+-}155 km s{sup -1} in RS Vul compared to {+-}120 km s{sup -1} in {beta} Per, while the CME reached a maximum V{sub z} velocity of +150 km s{sup -1} in RS Vul and +100 km s{sup -1} in {beta} Per. The 3D tomograms show that the gas flows are not symmetric relative to the central plane and are not confined to that plane, a result confirmed by recent 15 GHz VLBI radio images of {beta} Per. Both the 3D H{alpha} tomography and the VLBI radio images support an earlier prediction of the superhump phenomenon in {beta} Per: that the gas between the stars is threaded with a magnetic field even though the hot B8V mass-gaining star is not known to have a magnetic field.

Development of biomarker specific of pancreatic beta cells (incretin radiolabelled) for image of beta functional mass in diabetic and obese: study in animal model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Daniele

2017-01-01

Increased prevalence of obesity worldwide, has become a vast concern, stimulating investigations focusing prevention and therapy of this condition. The association of type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance aggravates the prognosis of obesity. Even patients successfully submitted to bariatric or metabolic surgery, may not be cured of diabetes, as improvement of circulating values of glucose and insulin not necessarily reflects recovery of pancreatic beta cell mass. There is no consensus about how to estimate beta cell mass in vivo. Available tools suffer from low sensitivity and specificity, often being as well cumbersome and expensive. Radiolabeled incretins, such as glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogs, seem to be promising options for the measurement of beta cell mass in diabetes and insulinoma. The objective of this study was the development of two conjugates of GLP-1 analog, radiolabeled with 99m Technetium, as a noninvasive imaging method for the estimation of pancreatic beta cell mass, in the presence of obesity. Animal models were selected, including hyperlipidic diet-induced obesity, diet restricted obesity, and as controls, alloxan diabetes. Results indicated that both radiotracers achieved over 97% radiochemical yield. The most successful product was 99m Tc-HYNIC-βAla-Exendin-4. Low beta cell mass uptake occurred in diet-induced obesity. Diet-restricted obesity, with substantial shedding of excess body weight, was followed by remarkable decrease of fasting blood glucose, however beta cell mass uptake was only mildly improved. Future studies are recommended in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dieting, including bariatric and metabolic operations. (author)

Beta-blocker therapy in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and chronic obstructive lung disease in an ambulatory care setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Billups SJ

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate beta blocker persistence six months after beta-blocker initiation or dose titration in heart failure (HF patients with COPD compared to those without COPD. Secondary objectives included comparison of beta-blocker dose achieved, changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF and incidence of hospitalizations or emergency department (ED visits during follow-up.Methods: We conducted a matched, retrospective, cohort study including 86 patients with COPD plus concomitant HF (LVEF ≤40% and 137 patients with HF alone. All patients were followed in an outpatient HF clinic. Eligible patients had a documented LVEF ≤40% and were initiated or titrated on a beta-blocker in the HF clinic. Patients were matched based on LVEF (categorized as ≤ 20% or 21-40%, gender, and age (> or ≤70 years. The primary outcome was beta blocker persistence at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were dose achieved, LVEF, and incidence of hospitalizations or ED visits. Results: There were no differences between the COPD and non-COPD groups in beta-blocker persistence at six-month follow-up (94.2% vs. 93.4% respectively, adjusted p=0.842. The proportion of patients who achieved a daily metoprolol dose equivalent of at least 100 mg was similar between the groups (adjusted p=0.188. The percent of patients with at least one ED visit or hospitalization in the six-month post-titration period was substantial but similar between the groups (53.5% and 48.2% for COPD and non-COPD patients, respectively, adjusted p=0.169. Conclusion: Our results support the use of beta-blockers in the population of heart failure patients with COPD and without reactive airway disease.

Role of beta-adrenoceptors in memory consolidation: beta3-adrenoceptors act on glucose uptake and beta2-adrenoceptors on glycogenolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Marie E; Hutchinson, Dana S; Summers, Roger J

2008-09-01

Noradrenaline, acting via beta(2)- and beta(3)-adrenoceptors (AR), enhances memory formation in single trial-discriminated avoidance learning in day-old chicks by mechanisms involving changes in metabolism of glucose and/or glycogen. Earlier studies of memory consolidation in chicks implicated beta(3)- rather than beta(2)-ARs in enhancement of memory consolidation by glucose, but did not elucidate whether stimulation of glucose uptake or of glycolysis was responsible. This study examines the role of glucose transport in memory formation using central injection of the nonselective facilitative glucose transporter (GLUT) inhibitor cytochalasin B, the endothelial/astrocytic GLUT-1 inhibitor phloretin and the Na(+)/energy-dependent endothelial glucose transporter (SGLT) inhibitor phlorizin. Cytochalasin B inhibited memory when injected into the mesopallium (avian cortex) either close to or between 25 and 45 min after training, whereas phloretin and phlorizin only inhibited memory at 30 min. This suggested that astrocytic/endothelial (GLUT-1) transport is critical at the time of consolidation, whereas a different transporter, probably the neuronal glucose transporter (GLUT-3), is important at the time of training. Inhibition of glucose transport by cytochalasin B, phloretin, or phlorizin also interfered with beta(3)-AR-mediated memory enhancement 20 min posttraining, whereas inhibition of glycogenolysis interfered with beta(2)-AR agonist enhancement of memory. We conclude that in astrocytes (1) activities of both GLUT-1 and SGLT are essential for memory consolidation 30 min posttraining; (2) neuronal GLUT-3 is essential at the time of training; and (3) beta(2)- and beta(3)-ARs consolidate memory by different mechanisms; beta(3)-ARs stimulate central glucose transport, whereas beta(2)-ARs stimulate central glycogenolysis.

Low-beta investment strategies

OpenAIRE

Korn, Olaf; Kuntz, Laura-Chloé

2015-01-01

This paper investigates investment strategies that exploit the low-beta anomaly. Although the notion of buying low-beta stocks and selling high-beta stocks is natural, a choice is necessary with respect to the relative weighting of high-beta stocks and low-beta stocks in the investment portfolio. Our empirical results for US large-cap stocks show that this choice is very important for the risk-return characteristics of the resulting portfolios and their sensitivities to common risk factors. W...

Advanced materials for sodium-beta alumina batteries: Status, challenges and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xiaochuan; Xia, Guanguang; Lemmon, John P.; Yang, Zhenguo

The increasing penetration of renewable energy and the trend toward clean, efficient transportation have spurred growing interests in sodium-beta alumina batteries that store electrical energy via sodium ion transport across a β″-Al 2O 3 solid electrolyte at elevated temperatures (typically 300-350 °C). Currently, the negative electrode or anode is metallic sodium in molten state during battery operation; the positive electrode or cathode can be molten sulfur (Na-S battery) or solid transition metal halides plus a liquid phase secondary electrolyte (e.g., ZEBRA battery). Since the groundbreaking works in the sodium-beta alumina batteries a few decades ago, encouraging progress has been achieved in improving battery performance, along with cost reduction. However, there remain issues that hinder broad applications and market penetration of the technologies. To better the Na-beta alumina technologies require further advancement in materials along with component and system design and engineering. This paper offers a comprehensive review on materials of electrodes and electrolytes for the Na-beta alumina batteries and discusses the challenges ahead for further technology improvement.

Advanced materials for sodium-beta alumina batteries: Status, challenges and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Xiaochuan; Xia, Guanguang; Lemmon, John P.; Yang, Zhenguo

2010-01-01

The increasing penetration of renewable energy and the trend toward clean, efficient transportation have spurred growing interests in sodium-beta alumina batteries that store electrical energy via sodium ion transport across a β''-Al 2 O 3 solid electrolyte at elevated temperatures (typically 300-350 C). Currently, the negative electrode or anode is metallic sodium in molten state during battery operation; the positive electrode or cathode can be molten sulfur (Na-S battery) or solid transition metal halides plus a liquid phase secondary electrolyte (e.g., ZEBRA battery). Since the groundbreaking works in the sodium-beta alumina batteries a few decades ago, encouraging progress has been achieved in improving battery performance, along with cost reduction. However, there remain issues that hinder broad applications and market penetration of the technologies. To better the Na-beta alumina technologies require further advancement in materials along with component and system design and engineering. This paper offers a comprehensive review on materials of electrodes and electrolytes for the Na-beta alumina batteries and discusses the challenges ahead for further technology improvement. (author)

Explosion of optimal high-beta operation regime by magnetic axis swing in the Large Helical Device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakakibara, S.; Ohdachi, S.; Watanabe, K.Y.

2010-11-01

In Large Helical Device (LHD), the volume averaged beta value dia > as high as 5.1% was achieved in FY2007-2008 experiments. High beta operation regime was explorated by the programmed control of magnetic axis position, which characterizes MHD equilibrium, stability and transport. This control became enable by increasing capability of poloidal coil power supply. The experiments made clear the effect of magnetic hill on MHD activities in high-beta plasmas with more than 4%. Also it enabled to access the ideal stability boundary with keeping high-beta state. The strong m/n=2/1 mode leading minor collapse in core plasma appeared with the inward shift of the magnetic axis. (author)

Ellagic acid promotes A{beta}42 fibrillization and inhibits A{beta}42-induced neurotoxicity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Ying [Department of Histology and Embryology, College of Basic Medical Science, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001 (China); Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Yang, Shi-gao; Du, Xue-ting; Zhang, Xi; Sun, Xiao-xia; Zhao, Min [Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Sun, Gui-yuan, E-mail: sungy2004@sohu.com [Department of Histology and Embryology, College of Basic Medical Science, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001 (China); Liu, Rui-tian, E-mail: rtliu@tsinghua.edu.cn [Tsinghua University School of Medicine, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China)

2009-12-25

Smaller, soluble oligomers of {beta}-amyloid (A{beta}) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Selective inhibition of A{beta} oligomer formation provides an optimum target for AD therapy. Some polyphenols have potent anti-amyloidogenic activities and protect against A{beta} neurotoxicity. Here, we tested the effects of ellagic acid (EA), a polyphenolic compound, on A{beta}42 aggregation and neurotoxicity in vitro. EA promoted A{beta} fibril formation and significant oligomer loss, contrary to previous results that polyphenols inhibited A{beta} aggregation. The results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Western blot displayed more fibrils in A{beta}42 samples co-incubated with EA in earlier phases of aggregation. Consistent with the hypothesis that plaque formation may represent a protective mechanism in which the body sequesters toxic A{beta} aggregates to render them harmless, our MTT results showed that EA could significantly reduce A{beta}42-induced neurotoxicity toward SH-SY5Y cells. Taken together, our results suggest that EA, an active ingredient in many fruits and nuts, may have therapeutic potential in AD.

Rapid synthesis of beta zeolites

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Wei; Chang, Chun -Chih; Dornath, Paul; Wang, Zhuopeng

2015-08-18

The invention provides methods for rapidly synthesizing heteroatom containing zeolites including Sn-Beta, Si-Beta, Ti-Beta, Zr-Beta and Fe-Beta. The methods for synthesizing heteroatom zeolites include using well-crystalline zeolite crystals as seeds and using a fluoride-free, caustic medium in a seeded dry-gel conversion method. The Beta zeolite catalysts made by the methods of the invention catalyze both isomerization and dehydration reactions.

Active-site-directed inactivation of Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase with beta-D-galactopyranosylmethyl-p-nitrophenyltriazene.

Science.gov (United States)

Mega, T; Nishijima, T; Ikenaka, T

1990-04-01

beta-D-Galactopyranosylmethyl-p-nitrophenyltriazene (beta-GalMNT), a specific inhibitor of beta-galactosidase, was isolated as crystals by HPLC and its chemical and physicochemical characteristics were examined. Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase was inactivated by the compound. We studied the inhibition mechanism in detail. The inhibitor was hydrolyzed by the enzyme to p-nitroaniline and an active intermediate (beta-galactopyranosylmethyl carbonium or beta-galactopyranosylmethyldiazonium), which inactivated the enzyme. The efficiency of inactivation of the enzyme (the ratio of moles of inactivated enzyme to moles of beta-GalMNT hydrolyzed by the enzyme) was 3%; the efficiency of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase was 49%. In spite of the low efficiency, the rate of inactivation of A. oryzae enzyme was not very different from that of the E. coli enzyme, because the former hydrolyzed beta-GalMNT faster than the latter did. A. oryzae beta-galactosidase was also inactivated by p-chlorophenyl, p-tolyl, and m-nitrophenyl derivatives of beta-galactopyranosylmethyltriazene. However, E. coli beta-galactosidase was not inactivated by these triazene derivatives. The results showed that the inactivation of A. oryzae and E. coli beta-galactosidases by beta-GalMNT was an enzyme-activated and active-site-directed irreversible inactivation. The possibility of inactivation by intermediates produced nonenzymatically was ruled out for E. coli, but not for the A. oryzae enzyme.

Ideal-MHD beta limits: scaling laws and comparison with Doublet III high-beta plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, L.C.; Bhadra, D.K.; Helton, F.J.; Lao, L.L.; Todd, T.N.

1983-06-01

Doublet III (DIII) recently has achieved a value for #betta#, the ratio of volume averaged plasma to magnetic pressure, of 4.5%. This #betta# value is in the range required for an economically attractive tokamak reactor, and also close to the relevant limit predicted by ideal-MHD theory. It is therefore of great interest to assess the validity of the theory by comparison with experiment and thus to have a basis for the prediction of future reactor performance. A large variety of plasma shapes have been obtained in DIII. These shapes can be divided into two classes: (1) limiter discharges, and (2) diverted discharges, which are of great interest because of their good confinement in the H-mode operation. We derive simple scaling laws from the variation of optimized ideal-MHD beta limits (#betta#/sub c/) with plasma shape parameters. The current profile is optimized for fixed plasma shapes, separately for the high-n (ballooning) and the low-n (kink) modes. Results are presented in the form of suitability normalized curves of #betta# versus poloidal beta, #betta#/sub p/, for both ballooning and kink modes in order to simultaneously compare all the DIII experimental data

High beta tokamak operation in DIII-D limited at low density/collisionality by resistive tearing modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

La Haye, R.J.; Lao, L.L.; Strait, E.J.; Taylor, T.S.

1997-01-01

The maximum operational high beta in single-null divertor (SND) long pulse tokamak discharges in the DIII-D tokamak with a cross-sectional shape similar to the proposed International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) device is found to be limited by the onset of resistive instabilities that have the characteristics of neoclassically destabilized tearing modes. There is a soft limit due to the onset of an m/n=3/2 rotating tearing mode that saturates at low amplitude and a hard limit at slightly higher beta due to the onset of an m/n=2/1 rotating tearing mode that grows, slows down and locks. By operating at higher density and thus collisionality, the practical beta limit due to resistive tearing modes approaches the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) limit. (author). 15 refs, 4 figs

Determination of beta radiation doses received by personnel involved in the mitigation of the Chernobyl accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osanov, D.P.; Krjuchkov, V.P.; Shaks, A.I.

1993-01-01

During the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986, and in the post-accident period, workers were exposed to beta and low-energy-photon radiation. This paper describes a method of retrospective estimation of skin doses from these radiations by correlating known doses from gamma radiation. Dose distributions of beta and gamma radiation in tissue-equivalent materials were both calculated and measured using multilayer thermoluminescent dosimeters placed at different site locations. It was determined that the doses to the skin from beta radiation exceeded the maximum doses to the whole-body from gamma radiation by 1 or even 2 orders of magnitude. It is concluded that nuclear power plants should be equipped with multilayer skin dosimeters in order to ensure accurate skin dosimetry. 16 refs., 13 figs., 3 tabs

Response of a multi-element dosimeter to calibrated beta sources with E/sub max/ from 0.23 to 3.5 MeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endres, G.W.R.; Scherpelz, R.I.; Roberson, P.L.

1982-06-01

The responses of several different dosimeter absorber systems were studied to determine their usefulness in beta radiation fields. Exposures to several different beta emitters were conducted at the PNL Calibrations Laboratory. The sources used are: 147 Pm, 85 Kr, U(nat), 90 Sr- 90 Y, and 106 Ru- 106 Rh. The maximum energy of these beta emitters varies from 0.23 to 3.5 MeV. The beta sources are calibrated for absorbed dose to tissue at a depth of 0.007 cm. Measurements of response for 4, 5, and 7 element versions of the dosimeter were made. All data reported were obtained from sets of three TLDs exposed under each absorber and for each of the radiation sources

Maternal plasma concentrations of beta-lipotrophin, beta-endorphin and gamma-lipotrophin throughout pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Browning, A J; Butt, W R; Lynch, S S; Shakespear, R A

1983-12-01

Plasma beta-LPH, beta-EP and gamma-LPH concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay in 10 pregnant women from 12 weeks gestation until term and in nine women in the early follicular phase of the cycle. There was a progressive and significant rise in the concentration of all three peptides throughout pregnancy and by 32 weeks the concentrations of beta-LPH and beta-EP were greater than the corresponding concentrations in the follicular phase: gamma-LPH was greater than in the follicular phase by the end of pregnancy in those women who were delivered after 40 weeks. The ratio of beta-LPH to gamma-LPH did not change significantly throughout pregnancy, but there was a progressive fall in the beta-LPH/beta-EP ratio. The possible presence of a 'big LPH' to explain this finding is discussed.

Study on adsorption of rhodamine B onto Beta zeolites by tuning SiO2/Al2O3 ratio.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhi-Lin; Li, Yan-Xiang; Liu, Zan

2018-02-01

The exploration of the relationship between zeolite composition and adsorption performance favored to facilitate its better application in removal of the hazardous substances from water. The adsorption capacity of rhodamine B (RB) onto Beta zeolite from aqueous solution was reported. The relationship between SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratio and adsorption capacity of Beta zeolite for RB was explored. The structure and physical properties of Beta zeolites with various SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratios were determined by XRD, FTIR, TEM, BET, UV-vis and so on characterizations. The adsorption behavior of rhodamine B onto Beta zeolite matched to Langmuir adsorption isotherm and more suitable description for the adsorption kinetics was a pseudo-second-order reaction model. The maximum adsorption capacity of the as-prepared Beta zeolite with SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 = 18.4 was up to 27.97mg/g. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Beta cell adaptation in pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jens Høiriis

2016-01-01

Pregnancy is associated with a compensatory increase in beta cell mass. It is well established that somatolactogenic hormones contribute to the expansion both indirectly by their insulin antagonistic effects and directly by their mitogenic effects on the beta cells via receptors for prolactin...... and growth hormone expressed in rodent beta cells. However, the beta cell expansion in human pregnancy seems to occur by neogenesis of beta cells from putative progenitor cells rather than by proliferation of existing beta cells. Claes Hellerström has pioneered the research on beta cell growth for decades...... in the expansion of the beta cell mass in human pregnancy, and the relative roles of endocrine factors and nutrients....

Field transportable beta spectrometer. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-12-01

The objective of the Large-Scale Demonstration Project (LSDP) is to select and demonstrate potentially beneficial technologies at the Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL) Chicago Pile-5 Test Reactor (CP-5). The purpose of the LSDP is to demonstrate that by using innovative and improved deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) technologies from various sources, significant benefits can be achieved when compared to baseline D and D technologies. One such capability being addressed by the D and D Focus Area is rapid characterization for facility contaminants. The technology was field demonstrated during the period January 7 through January 9, 1997, and offers several potential benefits, including faster turn-around time, cost reduction, and reduction in secondary waste. This report describes a PC controlled, field-transportable beta counter-spectrometer which uses solid scintillation coincident counting and low-noise photomultiplier tubes to count element-selective filters and other solid media. The dry scintillation counter used in combination with an element-selective technology eliminates the mess and disposal costs of liquid scintillation cocktails. Software in the instrument provides real-time spectral analysis. The instrument can detect and measure Tc-99, Sr-90, and other beta emitters reaching detection limits in the 20 pCi range (with shielding). Full analysis can be achieved in 30 minutes. The potential advantages of a field-portable beta counter-spectrometer include the savings gained from field generated results. The basis for decision-making is provided with a rapid turnaround analysis in the field. This technology would be competitive with the radiometric analysis done in fixed laboratories and the associated chain of custody operations

Determination of the wind power systems load to achieve operation in the maximum energy area

Science.gov (United States)

Chioncel, C. P.; Tirian, G. O.; Spunei, E.; Gillich, N.

2018-01-01

This paper analyses the operation of the wind turbine, WT, in the maximum power point, MPP, by linking the load of the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator, PMSG, with the wind speed value. The load control methods at wind power systems aiming an optimum performance in terms of energy are based on the fact that the energy captured by the wind turbine significantly depends on the mechanical angular speed of the wind turbine. The presented control method consists in determining the optimal mechanical angular speed, ωOPTIM, using an auxiliary low power wind turbine, WTAUX, operating without load, at maximum angular velocity, ωMAX. The method relies on the fact that the ratio ωOPTIM/ωMAX has a constant value for a given wind turbine and does not depend on the time variation of the wind speed values.

Development and Performance of Detectors for the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Experiment with an Increased Sensitivity Based on a Maximum Likelihood Analysis of Beta Contamination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Driscoll, Donald D [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)

2004-05-01

of a beta-eliminating cut based on a maximum-likelihood characterization described above.

Beta limitation of matter-antimatter boundary layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehnert, B.

1987-08-01

A model has earlier been proposed for a boundary layer which separates a cloud of matter from one of antimatter in a magnetized ambiplasma. In this model steady pressure equilibrium ceases to exist when a certain beta limit is exceeded. The latter is defined as the ratio between the ambiplasma and magnetic field pressures which balance each other in the boundary layer. Thus, at an increasing density, the high-energy particles created by annihilation within the layer are 'pumped up' to a pressure which cannot be balanced by a given magnetic field. The boundary layer then 'disrupts'. The critical beta limit thus obtained falls within the observed parameter ranges of galaxies and other large cosmical objects. Provided that the considered matter-antimatter balance holds true, this limit is thus expected to impose certain existence conditions on matter-antimatter boundary layers. Such a limitation may apply to certain cosmical objects and cosmological models. The maximum time scale for the corresponding disruption development has been estimated to be in the range from about 10 -4 to 10 2 seconds for boundary layers at ambiplasma particle densities in the range from 10 4 to 10 -2 m -3 , respectively. (author)

DMPD: Immunoreceptor-like signaling by beta 2 and beta 3 integrins. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 17913496 Immunoreceptor-like signaling by beta 2 and beta 3 integrins. Jakus Z, Fod...) Show Immunoreceptor-like signaling by beta 2 and beta 3 integrins. PubmedID 17913496 Title Immunoreceptor-...like signaling by beta 2 and beta 3 integrins. Authors Jakus Z, Fodor S, Abram CL

Identification of active anti-inflammatory principles of beta- beta ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

chromatography. Components of the extracts were identified by thin layer chromatography (TLC) scanner and UV-visible spectroscopy, using scopoletin as standard. Results: ... basic coumarin skeleton ring structure reduce ... Figure 2: Thin-layer chromatogram: (1) Ethanol extract; (2) Dichloromethane fraction; (3) Beta-beta.

Dimers of beta 2-glycoprotein I mimic the in vitro effects of beta 2-glycoprotein I-anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I antibody complexes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lutters, B. C.; Meijers, J. C.; Derksen, R. H.; Arnout, J.; de Groot, P. G.

2001-01-01

Anti-beta(2)-glycoprotein I antibodies are thought to cause lupus anticoagulant activity by forming bivalent complexes with beta(2)-glycoprotein I (beta(2)GPI). To test this hypothesis, chimeric fusion proteins were constructed of the dimerization domain (apple 4) of factor XI and beta(2)GPI. Both a

Study of MHD stability beta limit in LHD by hierarchy integrated simulation code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, M.; Watanabe, K.Y.; Nakamura, Y.

2008-10-01

The beta limit by the ideal MHD instabilities (so-called 'MHD stability beta limit') for helical plasmas is studied by a hierarchy integrated simulation code. A numerical model for the effect of the MHD instabilities is introduced such that the pressure profile is flattened around the rational surface due to the MHD instabilities. The width of the flattening of the pressure gradient is determined from the width of the eigenmode structure of the MHD instabilities. It is assumed that there is the upper limit of the mode number of the MHD instabilities which directly affect the pressure gradient. The upper limit of the mode number is determined using a recent high beta experiment in the Large Helical Device (LHD). The flattening of the pressure gradient is calculated by the transport module in a hierarchy integrated code. The achievable volume averaged beta value in the LHD is expected to be beyond 6%. (author)

Modeling of combined effects of citral, linalool and beta-pinene used against Saccharomyces cerevisiae in citrus-based beverages subjected to a mild heat treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Belletti, Nicoletta; Kamdem, Sylvain Sado; Tabanelli, Giulia; Lanciotti, Rosalba; Gardini, Fausto

2010-01-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of three terpenes (citral, linalool and beta-pinene), in combination with a mild heat treatment (55 degrees C, 15 min). The study has been carried out on an orange based soft drink inoculated using a wild strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results, expressed as growth/no-growth data, were analyzed with the logistic regression. A model comprising only of significant individual parameters (p < or = 0.05) and describing the relationships between terpene concentrations and the probability of having stable beverages was obtained. When citral and beta-pinene were combined, the citral concentration required to achieve a 50% probability of having stable bottles (P=0.5) dropped from 100.9 microL/L in the absence of beta-pinene to 49.3 microL/L in the presence of 20 microL/L of beta-pinene. The mixture of citral and linalool was less effective, in fact, the same probability (P=0.5) was obtained combining 60 microL/L of linalool with 35.1 microL/L of citral. The addition of 20 microL/L of linalool and beta-pinene reinforced citral bioactivity and the concentration of citral needed to reach P=0.5 fell from 100.9 microL/L in the presence of citral alone to 42.0 microL/L. The presence of both linalool and beta-pinene at a concentration of 40 or 60 microL/L in the absence of citral led to a lower spoilage probability (P=0.58 and P=0.93, respectively). It can be concluded that the antimicrobial potential of the three terpenes alone can be strengthened combining appropriate concentrations of each of them. This study confirmed also the potentiating effect of a mild temperature treatment on the antimicrobial efficacy of the molecules. Neither the thermal treatment alone nor the presence of the terpenes at their maximum concentrations (without thermal treatment) were able to guarantee the microbial stability of the beverages. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of biomarker specific of pancreatic beta cells (incretin radiolabelled) for image of beta functional mass in diabetic and obese: study in animal model; Desenvolvimento de biomarcador específico de células beta pancreáticas (incretina radiomarcada) para imagem da massa beta funcional em diabéticos e obesos: estudo em modelo animal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seo, Daniele

2017-07-01

Increased prevalence of obesity worldwide, has become a vast concern, stimulating investigations focusing prevention and therapy of this condition. The association of type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance aggravates the prognosis of obesity. Even patients successfully submitted to bariatric or metabolic surgery, may not be cured of diabetes, as improvement of circulating values of glucose and insulin not necessarily reflects recovery of pancreatic beta cell mass. There is no consensus about how to estimate beta cell mass in vivo. Available tools suffer from low sensitivity and specificity, often being as well cumbersome and expensive. Radiolabeled incretins, such as glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogs, seem to be promising options for the measurement of beta cell mass in diabetes and insulinoma. The objective of this study was the development of two conjugates of GLP-1 analog, radiolabeled with {sup 99m} Technetium, as a noninvasive imaging method for the estimation of pancreatic beta cell mass, in the presence of obesity. Animal models were selected, including hyperlipidic diet-induced obesity, diet restricted obesity, and as controls, alloxan diabetes. Results indicated that both radiotracers achieved over 97% radiochemical yield. The most successful product was {sup 99m}Tc-HYNIC-βAla-Exendin-4. Low beta cell mass uptake occurred in diet-induced obesity. Diet-restricted obesity, with substantial shedding of excess body weight, was followed by remarkable decrease of fasting blood glucose, however beta cell mass uptake was only mildly improved. Future studies are recommended in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dieting, including bariatric and metabolic operations. (author)

beta-Thalassemia present in cis to a new beta-chain structural variant, Hb Vicksburg [beta 75 (E19)Leu leads to 0].

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, J G; Steinberg, M H; Newman, M V; Morrison, W T; Benz, E J; Iyer, R

1981-01-01

Hemoglobin Vicksburg was discovered in a 6-year-old Black boy who had been anemic since infancy. Examination of his hemolysate revealed 87.5% Hb F, 2.4% Hb A2, and 7.6% Hb Vicksburg, which had the electrophoretic and chromatographic properties of Hb A. Structural analysis of Hb Vicksburg demonstrated a deletion of leucine at beta 75(E19), a new variant. Hb Vicksburg was neither unstable nor subject to posttranslational degradation. The alpha/non-alpha biosynthetic ratio was 2.6. Because the proband appeared to be a mixed heterozygote for Hb Vicksburg and beta 0-thalassemia, Hb Vicksburg should have comprised the major portion of the hemolysate. Thus, Hb Vicksburg was synthesized at a rate considerably lower than would be expected on the basis of gene dosage. There was no reason to suspect abnormal translation of beta Vicksburg mRNA; in individuals with Hb St. Antoine (beta 74 and beta 75 deleted), the abnormal hemoglobin comprised 25% of the hemolysate in the simple heterozygote yet was unstable. Deletion of beta 75, therefore, would not in itself appear to lead to diminished synthesis. There was a profound deficit of beta Vicksburg mRNA when measured by liquid hybridization analysis with beta cDNA. The most plausible explanation for the low output of Hb Vicksburg is that a mutation for beta +-thalassemia is present in cis to the structural mutation.

Clusters of conserved beta cell marker genes for assessment of beta cell phenotype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martens, Geert A; Jiang, Lei; Hellemans, Karine H

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to establish a gene expression blueprint of pancreatic beta cells conserved from rodents to humans and to evaluate its applicability to assess shifts in the beta cell differentiated state. Genome-wide mRNA expression profiles of isolated beta cells were compared to those...... of a large panel of other tissue and cell types, and transcripts with beta cell-abundant and -selective expression were identified. Iteration of this analysis in mouse, rat and human tissues generated a panel of conserved beta cell biomarkers. This panel was then used to compare isolated versus laser capture...

Tissue-specific and pathogen-induced regulation of a Nicotiana plumbaginifolia beta-1,3-glucanase gene.

Science.gov (United States)

Castresana, C; de Carvalho, F; Gheysen, G; Habets, M; Inzé, D; Van Montagu, M

1990-01-01

The Nicotiana plumbaginifolia gn1 gene encoding a beta-1,3-glucanase isoform has been characterized. The gn1 product represents an isoform distinct from the previously identified tobacco beta-1,3-glucanases. By expressing gn1 in Escherichia coli, we have determined directly that the encoded protein does, indeed, correspond to a beta-1,3-glucanase. In N. plumbaginifolia, gn1 was found to be expressed in roots and older leaves. Transgenic tobacco plants containing the 5'-noncoding region of gn1 fused to the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene also showed maximum levels of GUS activity in roots and older leaves. No detectable activity was present in the upper part of the transgenic plants with the exception of stem cells at the bases of emerging shoots. The expression conferred by the gn1 promoter was differentially induced in response to specific plant stress treatments. Studies of three plant-bacteria interactions showed high levels of GUS activity when infection resulted in a hypersensitive reaction. Increased gene expression was confined to cells surrounding the necrotic lesions. The observed expression pattern suggests that the characterized beta-1,3-glucanase plays a role both in plant development and in the defense response against pathogen infection. PMID:2152158

Parametric optimization of thermoelectric elements footprint for maximum power generation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rezania, A.; Rosendahl, Lasse; Yin, Hao

2014-01-01

The development studies in thermoelectric generator (TEG) systems are mostly disconnected to parametric optimization of the module components. In this study, optimum footprint ratio of n- and p-type thermoelectric (TE) elements is explored to achieve maximum power generation, maximum cost......-performance, and variation of efficiency in the uni-couple over a wide range of the heat transfer coefficient on the cold junction. The three-dimensional (3D) governing equations of the thermoelectricity and the heat transfer are solved using the finite element method (FEM) for temperature dependent properties of TE...... materials. The results, which are in good agreement with the previous computational studies, show that the maximum power generation and the maximum cost-performance in the module occur at An/Ap

Beta Thalassemia (For Parents)

Science.gov (United States)

... Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Beta Thalassemia KidsHealth / For Parents / Beta Thalassemia What's in this ... Symptoms Diagnosis Treatment Print en español Beta talasemia Thalassemias Thalassemias are a group of blood disorders that ...

Automatic maximum entropy spectral reconstruction in NMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mobli, Mehdi; Maciejewski, Mark W.; Gryk, Michael R.; Hoch, Jeffrey C.

2007-01-01

Developments in superconducting magnets, cryogenic probes, isotope labeling strategies, and sophisticated pulse sequences together have enabled the application, in principle, of high-resolution NMR spectroscopy to biomolecular systems approaching 1 megadalton. In practice, however, conventional approaches to NMR that utilize the fast Fourier transform, which require data collected at uniform time intervals, result in prohibitively lengthy data collection times in order to achieve the full resolution afforded by high field magnets. A variety of approaches that involve nonuniform sampling have been proposed, each utilizing a non-Fourier method of spectrum analysis. A very general non-Fourier method that is capable of utilizing data collected using any of the proposed nonuniform sampling strategies is maximum entropy reconstruction. A limiting factor in the adoption of maximum entropy reconstruction in NMR has been the need to specify non-intuitive parameters. Here we describe a fully automated system for maximum entropy reconstruction that requires no user-specified parameters. A web-accessible script generator provides the user interface to the system

Fungicidal response of a novel natural photosensitizer (Beta vulgaris) on Candida albicans with low-power laser radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mittal, Subhangi; Srivastava, J N; Roy, Sukhdev

2013-01-01

We report the efficacy of an aqueous extract of Beta vulgaris as a novel, natural photosensitizer for use in photodynamic therapy against Candidiasis disease. This study evaluates the effect of different laser wavelengths (He–Ne: 633 nm, Nd-YAG: 532 nm), power (17, 27 mW) and duration of exposure (5, 10, 15 min) in combination with the Beta vulgaris natural photosensitizer on the viability of Candida albicans causing Candidiasis disease. Although inhibition was observed in all cases, a maximum of 51.91% inhibition takes place with the combination of Beta vulgaris exposed to 532 nm at 27 mW for 15 min by the Agar well diffusion method. The study is important in optimizing different parameters and designing a low-power, compact, non-invasive and portable device for treatment. (paper)

Performance of a Low Activity Beta-Sensitive SR{sup 90} Water Monitor for Fukushima

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zickefoose, J.; Bronson, F.; Ilie, G.; Jaderstrom, H.; Venkataraman, R. [Canberra Industries Inc. (United States)

2015-07-01

There are large volumes of contaminated water from the stabilization efforts at the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants. This water is being processed to remove radioactivity for eventual release to the environment. An on-line continuously operating system to confirm that the clean-up system is working properly, and to provide prompt feedback of the results is required by the system operator. While gamma emitting nuclides allow for the straight forward approach of gamma spectroscopy to identify and quantify radioactivity in water, pure beta emitting nuclides such as Sr{sup 90} pose a challenging problem. The relatively short range of beta radiation in water requires optimization of the measurement geometry in terms of the source-detector distance and source-detector interface while retaining a background sensitivity low enough to meet the Minimum Detectable Concentration (MDC) of 10 Bq/kg in 180 minutes. This issue is complicated by the continuum nature of the beta spectrum which does not allow for simple nuclide identification. The use of the Monte-Carlo code MCNP to estimate system performance before prototyping vastly increases the success of the end product. Various parameters such as detector size and thickness, water chamber size, water chamber construction materials were evaluated to help choose the optimum geometry. The final design was a system consisting of two large-area (16 x 35 cm) and thin (0.15 mm) plastic scintillators placed very close to a sealed a water chamber. The size of the chamber was optimized to obtain the maximum efficiency for the nuclide being measured (Sr/Y{sup 90}) but to minimize the efficiency for possible interferences (Ru/Rh{sup 106}, Cs{sup 137}). A thin carbon fiber window was selected with adequate material and thickness to contain the water under pressure, but also thin enough (0.5 mm) to allow enough beta radiation to pass through to the active detector volume. The entire measurement geometry is then housed in a thick lead

Comparison of iodine-123 labelled 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)tropane and 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)nortropane for imaging of the dopamine transporter in the living human brain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuikka, J.T. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Bergstroem, K.A. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Ahonen, A. [Dept. of Clinical Chemistry, Oulu Univ. Central Hospital (Finland); Hiltunen, J. [MAP Medical Technologies Oy, Tikkakoski (Finland); Haukka, J. [MAP Medical Technologies Oy, Tikkakoski (Finland); Laensimies, E. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Wang Shaoyin [Research Biochemicals International (RBI), Natick, MA (United States); Neumeyer, J.L. [Research Biochemicals International (RBI), Natick, MA (United States)

1995-04-01

Several cocaine congeners are of potential for imaging the dopamine transporter (DAT). Previous studies have shown that iodine-123 labelled 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)tropane ([{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT) is a promising radiotracer for imaging the serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) transporters in the living human brain with single-photon emission tomography (SPET). [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT was found to be not very practical for 1-day DAT imaging protocols since peak DAT uptake occurs later than 8 h. Here we report a pilot comparison of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT and 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)nortropane ([{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP), using SPET imaging in four healthy male subjects. Peak uptake of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP into the basal ganglia occurred earlier (3-4 h after injection of tracer) than that of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT (>8 h). However, the specific DAT binding of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP in the basal ganglia was somewhat less (0.813{+-}0.047) than that of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT (0.922{+-}0.004). Imaging quality is excellent with both tracers and they are potentially of value for brain imaging in various neuropsychiatric disorders. (orig.)

Systematic Risk on Istanbul Stock Exchange: Traditional Beta Coefficient Versus Downside Beta Coefficient

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gülfen TUNA

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to test the validity of Downside Capital Asset Pricing Model (D-CAPM on the ISE. At the same time, the explanatory power of CAPM's traditional beta and D-CAPM's downside beta on the changes in the average return values are examined comparatively. In this context, the monthly data for seventy three stocks that are continuously traded on the ISE for the period 1991-2009 is used. Regression analysis is applied in this study. The research results have shown that D-CAPM is valid on the ISE. In addition, it is obtained that the power of downside beta coefficient is higher than traditional beta coefficient on explaining the return changes. Therefore, it can be said that the downside beta is superior to traditional beta in the ISE for chosen period.

Integrins beta 5, beta 3 and alpha v are apically distributed in endometrial epithelium.

Science.gov (United States)

Aplin, J D; Spanswick, C; Behzad, F; Kimber, S J; Vićovac, L

1996-07-01

Several adhesion molecules have been shown to occur at the surface of endometrial cells. One of these is the integrin alpha v subunit which associates with various beta chains including beta 5. We demonstrate the presence of integrin beta 5 polypeptide in human endometrial epithelial cells throughout the menstrual cycle using immunocytochemistry with monospecific antibodies, and at the mRNA level by thermal amplification from endometrial cDNA. Integrin beta 5 is also found in a population of bone marrow-derived cells. A notable feature of the distribution of the beta 5 subunit in the glandular and luminal epithelium is its apical localization, which may suggest an involvement in implantation. However, no evidence was found for regulated expression of epithelial beta 5. In mouse, the beta 5 subunit is found at both the apical and basal surface of epithelial cells and expression is essentially oestrous cycle-independent. Comparisons are made in both species with the distribution of the alpha v and beta 3 subunits which also localize to the apical epithelium.

Bone regeneration of calvarial defect using marine calcareous-derived beta-tricalcium phosphate macrospheres

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Chou

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine the bone regeneration properties of beta-tricalcium phosphate hydrothermally converted from foraminifera carbonate exoskeleton in the repair of rat calvarial defect. These natural materials possess unique interconnected porous network with uniform pore size distribution, which can be potentially advantageous. In total, 20 adult male Wistar rats received full-thickness calvarial defect with a diameter of 5 mm. The rate of newly formed bone was measured radiologically by X-ray and micro-computed tomography and by histologic examination. After 2 weeks, the beta-tricalcium phosphate group exhibited full closure of the defect site, while control group remained unrestored at the end of the 6-week experimentation. It was observed that the newly regenerated bone thickened over the course of the experiment in the beta-tricalcium phosphate group. No soft tissue reaction was observed around the beta-tricalcium phosphate implant and the rats remained healthy. These results showed that repair of the calvarial defect can be achieved by biomimetic beta-tricalcium phosphate macrospheres, which hold potential for application as bone grafts for bone augmentation surgeries.

ALPHA-BETA SEPARATION PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES FOR ISLAMIC FINANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentyn Khokhlov

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical alpha-beta separation model that can be used to create a core-satellite portfolio management strategy that complies with the principles of Islamic finance. Methodology. Core-satellite portfolio construction methodology is used to implement the alpha-beta separation approach, where the core part of the portfolio is managed using the tracking error minimization strategy, and the satellite part of the portfolio is managed using the mean-variance optimization strategy. Results of the portfolio dynamics clearly show that a significant amount of value was created by alpha-beta separation. The typical alpha ranges from 4% to 5.7%. The most aggressive portfolio strategies that allow short positions in the satellite portfolio work best with frequent rebalancing and benefit from the active bets. Smoothing technique that was introduced to decrease the portfolio turnover and stabilize its composition works better when active bets are less efficient, particularly with less frequent rebalancing. The best risk-return combinations are achieved with modest (3% to 10% allocation of the total portfolio to the satellite, and the remaining part (90% to 97% being managed in order to minimize the tracking error. Practical implications. The alpha-beta separation framework suggested in this paper can be used to enhance the portfolio management techniques for the hedge funds that operate under tight restrictions, particularly under the Islamic finance principles. The mathematical models developed in this paper allow practical implementation of the alphabeta separation concept. Originality/value. While the idea of alpha-beta separation existed in hedge fund management before, there was no comprehensive mathematical model under it, so its implementation was based on the ad hoc approach. This paper introduces such a mathematical model and demonstrates how portfolio managers can create value for their clients using it.

Acute systemic effects of inhaled salbutamol in asthmatic subjects expressing common homozygous beta2-adrenoceptor haplotypes at positions 16 and 27.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Daniel K C; Bates, Caroline E; Lipworth, Brian J

2004-01-01

The relationship between beta2-adrenoceptor polymorphisms at positions 16 and 27, and the acute systemic beta2-adrenoceptor effects of inhaled salbutamol is unclear. We therefore elected to evaluate the influence of common homozygous beta2-adrenoceptor haplotypes on the acute systemic beta2-adrenoceptor effects following inhaled salbutamol in asthmatic subjects. An initial database search of 531 asthmatic subjects identified the two commonest homozygous haplotypes at positions 16 and 27 to be Arg16-Gln27 (12%) and Gly16-Glu27 (19%). After a 1-week washout period where all beta2-adrenoceptor agonists were withdrawn, 16 Caucasian subjects (Arg16-Gln27: n = 8 and Gly16-Glu27: n = 8) were given a single dose of inhaled salbutamol (1200 microg), followed by serial blood sampling for serum potassium, along with measurements of diastolic blood pressure and heart rate, at 5-min intervals for 20 min. The two groups were well matched for age, sex, FEV1, and inhaled corticosteroid dose. Baseline values for serum potassium, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were not significantly different comparing Arg16-Gln27 vs Gly16-Glu27. The mean +/- SEM maximum serum potassium change from baseline over 20 min was significantly greater (P = 0.04) for Arg16-Gln27: -0.37 +/- 0.05 mmol l(-1) vs Gly16-Glu27: -0.23 +/- 0.04 mmol l(-1); 95% CI for difference: -0.01 to -0.28 mmol l(-1). The maximum diastolic blood pressure change from baseline over 20 min was significantly greater (P = 0.0008) for Arg16-Gln27: -13 +/- 1 mmHg vs Gly16-Glu27: -4 +/- 2 mmHg; 95% CI for difference: -5, 14 mmHg. There was no significant difference comparing the maximum heart rate change from baseline for Arg16-Gln27: 10 +/- 3 beats min(-1) vs Gly16-Glu27: 10 +/- 3 beats min(-1). Caucasian asthmatic subjects with the Arg16-Gln27 haplotype exhibited a greater systemic response to inhaled salbutamol, compared with those with the Gly16-Glu27 haplotype. The attenuated beta2-adrenoceptor response in the Gly16-Glu27

Regulation of glycogen synthase kinase-3{beta} (GSK-3{beta}) after ionizing radiation; Regulation der Glykogen Synthase Kinase-3{beta} (GSK-3{beta}) nach ionisierender Strahlung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boehme, K.A.

2006-12-15

Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3{beta} (GSK-3{beta}) phosphorylates the Mdm2 protein in the central domain. This phosphorylation is absolutely required for p53 degradation. Ionizing radiation inactivates GSK-3{beta} by phosphorylation at serine 9 and in consequence prevents Mdm2 mediated p53 degradation. During the work for my PhD I identified Akt/PKB as the kinase that phosphorylates GSK-3{beta} at serine 9 after ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation leads to phosphorylation of Akt/PKB at threonine 308 and serine 473. The PI3 Kinase inhibitor LY294002 completely abolished Akt/PKB serine 473 phosphorylation and prevented the induction of GSK-3{beta} serine 9 phosphorylation after ionizing radiation. Interestingly, the most significant activation of Akt/PKB after ionizing radiation occurred in the nucleus while cytoplasmic Akt/PKB was only weakly activated after radiation. By using siRNA, I showed that Akt1/PKBa, but not Akt2/PKB{beta}, is required for phosphorylation of GSK- 3{beta} at serine 9 after ionizing radiation. Phosphorylation and activation of Akt/PKB after ionizing radiation depends on the DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), a member of the PI3 Kinase family, that is activated by free DNA ends. Both, in cells from SCID mice and after knockdown of the catalytic subunit of DNA-PK by siRNA in osteosarcoma cells, phosphorylation of Akt/PKB at serine 473 and of GSK-3{beta} at serine 9 was completely abolished. Consistent with the principle that phosphorylation of GSK-3 at serine 9 contributes to p53 stabilization after radiation, the accumulation of p53 in response to ionizing radiation was largely prevented by downregulation of DNA-PK. From these results I conclude, that ionizing radiation induces a signaling cascade that leads to Akt1/PKBa activation mediated by DNA-PK dependent phosphorylation of serine 473. After activation Akt1/PKBa phosphorylates and inhibits GSK-3{beta} in the nucleus. The resulting hypophosphorylated form of Mdm2 protein is no longer

High beta experiments in CHS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okamura, S.; Matsuoka, K.; Nishimura, K.

1994-09-01

High beta experiments were performed in the low-aspect-ratio helical device CHS with the volume-averaged equilibrium beta up to 2.1 %. These values (highest for helical systems) are obtained for high density plasmas in low magnetic field heated with two tangential neutral beams. Confinement improvement given by means of turning off gas puffing helped significantly to make high betas. Magnetic fluctuations increased with increasing beta, but finally stopped to increase in the beta range > 1 %. The coherent modes appearing in the magnetic hill region showed strong dependence on the beta values. The dynamic poloidal field control was applied to suppress the outward plasma movement with the plasma pressure. Such an operation gave fixed boundary operations of high beta plasmas in helical systems. (author)

Conformation, molecular packing and field effect mobility of regioregular beta,beta'-dihexylsexithiophiophene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiriy, N.; Kiriy, A.; Bocharova, V.

2004-01-01

by the pulse-radiolysis time-resolved microwave conductivity (PR-TRMC) technique was found to be Sigmamu(min) = 3.9 x 10(-3) cm(2) V-1 s(-1), which is comparable with the PR-TRMC mobility found for alpha,omega-DH6T. The field-effect mobility (FEM) of beta,beta'-DH6T was found to be on the order of 10(-5) cm(2......) V-1 s(-1), which is considerably less than the FEM of alpha,omega-DH6T. To understand the reason for such poor macroscopic electrical properties, the conformation and the molecular packing of beta,beta'-DH6T were systematically studied by means of UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy...... less dense crystalline packing than alpha,omega-DH6T. In contrast to the almost upright orientation of alpha,omega-DH6T molecules against the substrate (tilt angle about 68), the long axis of beta,beta'-DH6T molecules and the surface plane form an angle of similar to20degrees. Thus, the crystalline...

Increasing Doses of Inhaled Corticosteroids Compared to Adding Long-Acting Inhaled beta(2)-Agonists in Achieving Asthma Control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O'Byrne, Paul M.; Naya, Ian P.; Kallen, Anders; Postma, Dirkje S.; Barnes, Peter J.

2008-01-01

Background: Combination therapy with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) and long-acting beta(2)-agonists (LABAs), or treatment with high doses of ICSs alone improves asthma control when therapy with low-dose ICSs is not sufficient. However, it is not known which of these treatment options is more

Slip resistance of winter footwear on snow and ice measured using maximum achievable incline.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Jennifer; Shaw, Robert; Novak, Alison; Li, Yue; Ormerod, Marcus; Newton, Rita; Dutta, Tilak; Fernie, Geoff

2016-05-01

Protective footwear is necessary for preventing injurious slips and falls in winter conditions. Valid methods for assessing footwear slip resistance on winter surfaces are needed in order to evaluate footwear and outsole designs. The purpose of this study was to utilise a method of testing winter footwear that was ecologically valid in terms of involving actual human testers walking on realistic winter surfaces to produce objective measures of slip resistance. During the experiment, eight participants tested six styles of footwear on wet ice, on dry ice, and on dry ice after walking over soft snow. Slip resistance was measured by determining the maximum incline angles participants were able to walk up and down in each footwear-surface combination. The results indicated that testing on a variety of surfaces is necessary for establishing winter footwear performance and that standard mechanical bench tests for footwear slip resistance do not adequately reflect actual performance. Practitioner Summary: Existing standardised methods for measuring footwear slip resistance lack validation on winter surfaces. By determining the maximum inclines participants could walk up and down slopes of wet ice, dry ice, and ice with snow, in a range of footwear, an ecologically valid test for measuring winter footwear performance was established.

Investigation of Asphaltene Adsorption onto Zeolite Beta Nanoparticles to Reduce Asphaltene Deposition in a Silica Sand Pack

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kashefi Sepideh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Zeolite beta nanoparticles were used as a new asphaltene adsorbent for reducing asphaltene deposition during fluid injection into a silica sand pack. At first, the asphaltene adsorption efficiency and capacity of zeolite beta nanoparticles were determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. It was found that the proper concentration of nanoparticles for asphaltene adsorption was 10 g/L and the maximum asphaltene adsorption onto zeolite beta was 1.98 mg/m2. Second, two dynamic experiments including co-injection of crude oil and n-heptane (as an asphaltene precipitant with and without use of zeolite beta nanoparticles in the sand pack was carried out. The results showed that the use of zeolite beta nanoparticles increased the permeability ratio and outlet fluid's asphaltene content about 22% and 40% compared to without use of nanoparticles, respectively. Moreover, a model based on monolayer asphaltene adsorption onto nanoparticles and asphaltene deposition mechanisms including surface deposition, entrainment and pore throat plugging was developed to determine formation damage during co-injection of crude oil and n-heptane into the sand pack. The proposed model presented good prediction of permeability and porosity ratios with AAD% of 1.07 and 0.07, respectively.

SIMULATION OF NEW SIMPLE FUZZY LOGIC MAXIMUM POWER ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2010-06-30

Jun 30, 2010 ... Basic structure photovoltaic system Solar array mathematic ... The equivalent circuit model of a solar cell consists of a current generator and a diode .... control of boost converter (tracker) such that maximum power is achieved at the output of the solar panel. Fig.11. The membership function of input. Fig.12.

The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR: A Search for Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay of Germanium-76

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schubert, Alexis G.; Aguayo, Estanislao; Avignone, F. T.; Zhang, C.; Back, Henning O.; Barabash, Alexander S.; Bergevin, M.; Bertrand, F.; Boswell, M.; Brudanin, V.; Busch, Matthew; Chan, Yuen-Dat; Christofferson, Cabot-Ann; Collar, J. I.; Combs, Dustin C.; Cooper, R. J.; Detwiler, Jason A.; Leon, Jonathan D.; Doe, Peter J.; Efremenko, Yuri; Egorov, Viatcheslav; Ejiri, H.; Elliott, S. R.; Esterline, James H.; Fast, James E.; Fields, N.; Finnerty, P.; Fraenkle, Florian; Gehman, Victor M.; Giovanetti, G. K.; Green, M.; Guiseppe, Vincente; Gusey, K.; Hallin, A. L.; Hazama, R.; Henning, Reyco; Hime, Andrew; Hoppe, Eric W.; Horton, Mark; Howard, Stanley; Howe, Mark; Johnson, R. A.; Keeter, K.; Keillor, Martin E.; Keller, C.; Kephart, Jeremy D.; Kidd, M. F.; Knecht, A.; Kochetov, Oleg; Konovalov, S.; Kouzes, Richard T.; LaFerriere, Brian D.; LaRoque, B. H.; Leviner, L.; Loach, J. C.; MacMullin, S.; Marino, Michael G.; Martin, R. D.; Mei, Dong-Ming; Merriman, Jason H.; Miller, M. L.; Mizouni, Leila; Nomachi, Masaharu; Orrell, John L.; Overman, Nicole R.; Phillips, D.; Poon, Alan; Perumpilly, Gopakumar; Prior, Gersende; Radford, D. C.; Rielage, Keith; Robertson, R. G. H.; Ronquest, M. C.; Shima, T.; Shirchenko, M.; Snavely, Kyle J.; Sobolev, V.; Steele, David; Strain, J.; Thomas, K.; Timkin, V.; Tornow, Werner; Vanyushin, I.; Varner, R. L.; Vetter, Kai; Vorren, Kris R.; Wilkerson, J. F.; Wolfe, B. A.; Yakushev, E.; Young, A.; Yu, Chang-Hong; Yumatov, Vladimir

2012-09-28

The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay would determine whether the neutrino is a Majorana particle and provide information on the absolute scale of neutrino mass. The MAJORANA Collaboration is constructing the DEMONSTRATOR, an array of germanium detectors, to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 76Ge. The DEMONSTRATOR will contain 40 kg of germanium; up to 30 kg will be enriched to 86% in 76Ge. The DEMONSTRATOR will be deployed deep underground in an ultra-low-background shielded environment. Operation of the DEMONSTRATOR aims to determine whether a future tonne-scale germanium experiment can achieve a background goal of one count per tonne-year in a 4-keV region of interest around the 76Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay Q-value of 2039 keV.

Levered and unlevered Beta

OpenAIRE

Fernandez, Pablo

2003-01-01

We prove that in a world without leverage cost the relationship between the levered beta ( L) and the unlevered beta ( u) is the No-costs-of-leverage formula: L = u + ( u - d) D (1 - T) / E. We also analyze 6 alternative valuation theories proposed in the literature to estimate the relationship between the levered beta and the unlevered beta (Harris and Pringle (1985), Modigliani and Miller (1963), Damodaran (1994), Myers (1974), Miles and Ezzell (1980), and practitioners) and prove that all ...

Beta-alanine supplementation improves jumping power and affects severe-intensity performance in professional alpine skiers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Micah; Bieri, Kathrin; Hoppeler, Hans; Norman, Barbara; Vogt, Michael

2014-12-01

Supplementation with beta-alanine may have positive effects on severe-intensity, intermittent, and isometric strength-endurance performance. These could be advantageous for competitive alpine skiers, whose races last 45 to 150 s, require metabolic power above the aerobic maximum, and involve isometric muscle work. Further, beta-alanine supplementation affects the muscle force-frequency relationship, which could influence explosiveness. We explored the effects of beta-alanine on explosive jump performance, severe exercise energy metabolism, and severe-intensity ski-like performance. Nine male elite alpine skiers consumed 4.8 g/d beta-alanine or placebo for 5 weeks in a double-blind fashion. Before and after, they performed countermovement jumps (CMJ), a 90-s cycling bout at 110% VO2max (CLT), and a maximal 90-s box jump test (BJ90). Beta-alanine improved maximal (+7 ± 3%, d = 0.9) and mean CMJ power (+7 ± 2%, d = 0.7), tended to reduce oxygen deficit (-3 ± 8%, p = .06) and lactate accumulation (-12 ± 31%) and enhance aerobic energy contribution (+1.3 ± 2.9%, p = .07) in the CLT, and improved performance in the last third of BJ90 (+7 ± 4%, p = .02). These effects were not observed with placebo. Beta-alanine supplementation improved explosive and repeated jump performance in elite alpine skiers. Enhanced muscle contractility could possibly explain improved explosive and repeated jump performance. Increased aerobic energy production could possibly help explain repeated jump performance as well.

Regulation of beta cell replication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lee, Ying C; Nielsen, Jens Høiriis

2008-01-01

Beta cell mass, at any given time, is governed by cell differentiation, neogenesis, increased or decreased cell size (cell hypertrophy or atrophy), cell death (apoptosis), and beta cell proliferation. Nutrients, hormones and growth factors coupled with their signalling intermediates have been...... suggested to play a role in beta cell mass regulation. In addition, genetic mouse model studies have indicated that cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases that determine cell cycle progression are involved in beta cell replication, and more recently, menin in association with cyclin-dependent kinase...... inhibitors has been demonstrated to be important in beta cell growth. In this review, we consider and highlight some aspects of cell cycle regulation in relation to beta cell replication. The role of cell cycle regulation in beta cell replication is mostly from studies in rodent models, but whether...

Complement activation by the amyloid proteins A beta peptide and beta 2-microglobulin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nybo, Mads; Nielsen, E H; Svehag, S E

1999-01-01

component nor heparan sulfate did significantly alter the A beta-induced CA. The results indicate that not only fibrillar A beta but also oligomers of, in particular, beta 2M from patients with dialysis-associated amyloidosis are capable of inducing CA at supra-physiological concentrations....

Ultraviolet photometry of the Cepheid beta Doradus from the ANS satellite

CERN Document Server

Lub, J; Pel, J W; Wesselius, P R

1979-01-01

Extensive satellite (ANS) and ground-based (VBLUW-system) photometry is presented for the Cepheid. These data cover the wavelength range 5500-1800 AA. The ANS photometry does not confirm the evidence for shock waves as found by Hutchinson et al. from OAO-2 ultraviolet photometry of beta Doradus. A comparison of the theoretical fluxes of Kurucz with the observed energy distributions of beta Doradus gives very good agreement in the wavelength range 5500-3300 AA. In the ultraviolet the agreement is still satisfactory around maximum light, but towards lower temperatures there appear discrepancies, particularly shortly after light minimum. The difference in these discrepancies on the rising and on the falling branches of the lightcurve indicates that the observed excess ultraviolet flux is probably partly due to that the observed excess ultraviolet flux is probably partly due to dynamical effects in the moving atmosphere of the Cepheid. (25 refs).

Maximum power point tracking: a cost saving necessity in solar energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enslin, J H.R. [Stellenbosch Univ. (South Africa). Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

1992-12-01

A well engineered renewable remote energy system, utilizing the principal of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) can improve cost effectiveness, has a higher reliability and can improve the quality of life in remote areas. A high-efficient power electronic converter, for converting the output voltage of a solar panel, or wind generator, to the required DC battery bus voltage has been realized. The converter is controlled to track the maximum power point of the input source under varying input and output parameters. Maximum power point tracking for relative small systems is achieved by maximization of the output current in a battery charging regulator, using an optimized hill-climbing, inexpensive microprocessor based algorithm. Through practical field measurements it is shown that a minimum input source saving of between 15 and 25% on 3-5 kWh/day systems can easily be achieved. A total cost saving of at least 10-15% on the capital cost of these systems are achievable for relative small rating Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems. The advantages at large temperature variations and high power rated systems are much higher. Other advantages include optimal sizing and system monitor and control. (author).

Improved limits on beta(-) and beta(-) decays of Ca-48

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bakalyarov, A.; Balysh, A.; Barabash, AS.; Beneš, P.; Briancon, C.; Brudanin, V. B.; Čermák, P.; Egorov, V.; Hubert, F.; Hubert, P.; Korolev, NA.; Kosjakov, VN.; Kovalík, Alojz; Lebedev, NA.; Novgorodov, A. F.; Rukhadze, NI.; Štekl, NI.; Timkin, VV.; Veleshko, IE.; Vylov, T.; Umatov, VI.

2002-01-01

Roč. 76, č. 9 (2002), s. 545-547 ISSN 0021-3640 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1048901 Keywords : beta decay * double beta decay * Ca-48 Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders Impact factor: 1.483, year: 2002

Studies on the interactions between bovine {beta}-lactoglobulin and chitosan at the solid-liquid interface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Campina, Jose M., E-mail: jpina@fc.up.p [Centro de Investigacao em Quimica (CIQ), Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4169-007 Porto (Portugal); Souza, Hileia K.S., E-mail: hsouza@fe.up.p [REQUIMTE, Departamento de Engenharia Quimica, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto (Portugal); Borges, Joao, E-mail: jborges@fc.up.p [Centro de Investigacao em Quimica (CIQ), Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4169-007 Porto (Portugal); Martins, Ana, E-mail: amartins@fc.up.p [Centro de Investigacao em Quimica (CIQ), Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4169-007 Porto (Portugal); Goncalves, Maria Pilar, E-mail: pilarg@fe.up.p [REQUIMTE, Departamento de Engenharia Quimica, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto (Portugal); Silva, Fernando, E-mail: afssilva@fc.up.p [Centro de Investigacao em Quimica (CIQ), Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, 4169-007 Porto (Portugal)

2010-12-01

Chitosan ultrathin films have been formed on polycrystalline Au substrates using the LbL technique with the purpose of studying its interaction with bovine {beta}-lactoglobulin ({beta}-LG) at the solid-liquid interface. The immobilization of chitosan was followed by Quartz Crystal Microbalance with energy dissipation (QCM-D), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The behavior of the chitosan films in the presence of {beta}-LG solutions with different bulk concentrations ([{beta}-LG]), ionic strength (I), and pH has been investigated using the same techniques plus Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The results showed that for pHs lower than protein's pI, weak intermolecular forces (H bonding, Van der Waals, hydrophobic, etc.) are established between {beta}-LG and chitosan (especially close to the pI) leading to low coverage nonspecific adsorption. On the contrary when pH > pI, strong ionic bonding through attractive electrostatic interactions lead to high coverage adsorbed phases composed of large {beta}-LG aggregates. The adsorption process was shown to consist of a relatively fast step (in which these interactions are predominant) which is followed, once the {beta}-LG monolayer is exceeded, by the slow formation of thicker and increasingly viscoelastic films through {beta}-LG self-aggregation. QCM-D and AFM experiments unveiled the role of [{beta}-LG] and I on the formation of these aggregates. The adsorption isotherm built from impedance data in the medium-low [{beta}-LG] range (0.001-0.3 mg mL{sup -1}), showed good fitting to the Langmuir model confirming that the formation of one {beta}-LG monolayer is achieved in this concentration range.

Adrenocorticotropin, beta-endorphin, and beta-lipotropin in normal thyroid and lung: possible implications for ectopic hormone secretion.

Science.gov (United States)

Clements, J A; Funder, J W; Tracy, K; Morgan, F J; Campbell, D J; Lewis, P; Hearn, M T

1982-12-01

The expression of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene by normal lung and thyroid was examined by measurement of the content of ACTH, beta-lipotropin (beta LPH), and beta-endorphin (beta EP) in porcine lung and thyroid tissue. Acid extracts of normal porcine lung and thyroid tissue each contained appreciable amounts of immunoreactive (ir) ACTH, ir-beta LPH, and ir-beta EP. The content of ir-beta LPH in both tissues exceeded by severalfold, on a molar basis, the content of ir-ACTH and ir-beta EP, suggesting that the common precursor POMC was processed predominantly to peptides other than ir-ACTH and ir-beta EP. A porcine thyroid extract (Calcitare, porcine calcitonin, Armour) showed equivalent levels of beta EP-like immunoreactivity and bioactivity, measured by opiate radioreceptor assay; in contrast, ACTH-like bioactivity, measured by rat zona fasciculata steroidogenesis, was only 4% of ACTH-like immunoreactivity. On reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography, Calcitare showed multiple peaks of ACTH-like immunoreactivity, one of which coeluted with porcine ACTH-(1-39), and two much smaller peaks of beta EP-like immunoreactivity, of which the smaller coeluted with porcine beta EP. These data suggest that both lung and thyroid gland synthesize POMC, which in normal tissue is usually predominantly processed to species other than ACTH and beta EP. Ectopic secretion of ACTH and beta EP by lung and thyroid neoplasms may thus represent the loss of a system(s) normally responsible for processing the precursor beyond ACTH and beta EP.

Silencing of beta-carotene hydroxylase increases total carotenoid and beta-carotene levels in potato tubers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pizzichini Daniele

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Beta-carotene is the main dietary precursor of vitamin A. Potato tubers contain low levels of carotenoids, composed mainly of the xanthophylls lutein (in the beta-epsilon branch and violaxanthin (in the beta-beta branch. None of these carotenoids have provitamin A activity. We have previously shown that tuber-specific silencing of the first step in the epsilon-beta branch, LCY-e, redirects metabolic flux towards beta-beta carotenoids, increases total carotenoids up to 2.5-fold and beta-carotene up to 14-fold. Results In this work, we silenced the non-heme beta-carotene hydroxylases CHY1 and CHY2 in the tuber. Real Time RT-PCR measurements confirmed the tuber-specific silencing of both genes . CHY silenced tubers showed more dramatic changes in carotenoid content than LCY-e silenced tubers, with beta-carotene increasing up to 38-fold and total carotenoids up to 4.5-fold. These changes were accompanied by a decrease in the immediate product of beta-carotene hydroxylation, zeaxanthin, but not of the downstream xanthophylls, viola- and neoxanthin. Changes in endogenous gene expression were extensive and partially overlapping with those of LCY-e silenced tubers: CrtISO, LCY-b and ZEP were induced in both cases, indicating that they may respond to the balance between individual carotenoid species. Conclusion Together with epsilon-cyclization of lycopene, beta-carotene hydroxylation is another regulatory step in potato tuber carotenogenesis. The data are consistent with a prevalent role of CHY2, which is highly expressed in tubers, in the control of this step. Combination of different engineering strategies holds good promise for the manipulation of tuber carotenoid content.

Weakest solar wind of the space age and the current 'MINI' solar maximum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McComas, D. J.; Angold, N.; Elliott, H. A.; Livadiotis, G.; Schwadron, N. A.; Smith, C. W.; Skoug, R. M.

2013-01-01

The last solar minimum, which extended into 2009, was especially deep and prolonged. Since then, sunspot activity has gone through a very small peak while the heliospheric current sheet achieved large tilt angles similar to prior solar maxima. The solar wind fluid properties and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) have declined through the prolonged solar minimum and continued to be low through the current mini solar maximum. Compared to values typically observed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, the following proton parameters are lower on average from 2009 through day 79 of 2013: solar wind speed and beta (∼11%), temperature (∼40%), thermal pressure (∼55%), mass flux (∼34%), momentum flux or dynamic pressure (∼41%), energy flux (∼48%), IMF magnitude (∼31%), and radial component of the IMF (∼38%). These results have important implications for the solar wind's interaction with planetary magnetospheres and the heliosphere's interaction with the local interstellar medium, with the proton dynamic pressure remaining near the lowest values observed in the space age: ∼1.4 nPa, compared to ∼2.4 nPa typically observed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. The combination of lower magnetic flux emergence from the Sun (carried out in the solar wind as the IMF) and associated low power in the solar wind points to the causal relationship between them. Our results indicate that the low solar wind output is driven by an internal trend in the Sun that is longer than the ∼11 yr solar cycle, and they suggest that this current weak solar maximum is driven by the same trend.

High beta, Long Pulse, Bootstrap Sustained Scenarios on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gates, D.A.

2003-01-01

Long-pulse, high-beta scenarios have been established on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Beta(sub)t(always equal to 2μ(sub)0· /B 2 (sub)t0) ∼ 35% has been achieved during transient discharges. The machine improvements that lead to these results, including error field reduction and high-temperature bakeout of plasma-facing components are described. The highest Beta(sub)t plasmas have high triangularity (delta = 0.8) and elongation (k = 2.0) at low-aspect ratio A always equal to R/a = 1.4. The strong shaping permits large values of normalized current, I(sub)N(always equal to I(sub)p /(aB(sub)t0)) approximately equal to 6 while maintaining moderate values of q(sub)95 = 4. Long-pulse discharges up to 1 sec in duration have been achieved with substantial bootstrap current. The total noninductive current drive can be as high as 60%, comprised of 50% bootstrap current and ∼10% neutral-beam current drive. The confinement enhancement factor H89P is in excess of 2.7. Beta(sub)N * H(sub)89P approximately or greater than 15 has been maintained for 8 * tau(sub)E ∼ 1.6 * tau(sub)CR, where tau(sub)CR is the relaxation time of the first radial moment of the toroidal current density. The ion temperature for these plasmas is significantly higher than that predicted by neoclassical theory

Stability of high-beta tokamak equilibria and transport in Belt-Pinch IIa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, G; Gruber, O; Krause, H; Mast, F; Wilhelm, R [Association Euratom-Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany, F.R.)

1978-01-01

In Belt-Pinch IIa, highly elongated equilibria with poloidal beta values up to the aspect ratio have been achieved. In these tokamak-like configurations, no fast-growing MHD instabilities such as external kink and ballooning modes have been observed. Rigid displacement instabilities have been stabilized by an appropriate poloidal magnetic field configuration and by a conducting shell. By comparing simulation experiments using the Garching high-beta transport code with measurements, it has been found that in the collision-dominated plasma no anomalously enhanced transport occurs. Transport theory in the Pfirsch-Schlueter regime, which includes elongation and high-beta effects, has been confirmed by the experiment. In particular, it has been shown that the perpendicular electrical conductivity is also classical. Detailed investigations of oxygen and carbon impurity losses demonstrated that the impurity subprograms commonly used for tokamaks underestimate the radiation losses in the range Tsub(e)=10 to 30 eV.

Subtleties in the beta-function calculation of N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cherchiglia, A.L. [ICEx, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Fisica, P.O. Box 702, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Universidad de Granada, Departamento de Fisica Teorica y del Cosmos and CAFPE, Granada (Spain); Sampaio, Marcos [ICEx, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Fisica, P.O. Box 702, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Hiller, B. [CFisUC, Universidade de Coimbra, Departamento de Fisica, Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Coimbra (Portugal); Scarpelli, A.P.B. [Setor Tecnico-Cientifico, Departamento de Policia Federal, Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2016-02-15

We investigate some peculiarities in the calculation of the two-loop beta function of N = 1 supersymmetric models which are intimately related to the so-called ''anomaly puzzle''. There is an apparent paradox when the computation is performed in the framework of the covariant derivative background field method. In this formalism, there is obtained a finite two-loop effective action, although a non-null coefficient for the beta function is achieved by means of the renormalized two-point function in the background field. We show that if the standard background field method is used, this two-point function has a divergent part which allows for the calculation of the beta function via the renormalization constants, as usual. Therefore, we conjecture that this paradox has its origin in the covariant supergraph formalism itself, possibly being an artifact of the rescaling anomaly. (orig.)

Subtleties in the beta-function calculation of N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherchiglia, A.L.; Sampaio, Marcos; Hiller, B.; Scarpelli, A.P.B.

2016-01-01

We investigate some peculiarities in the calculation of the two-loop beta function of N = 1 supersymmetric models which are intimately related to the so-called ''anomaly puzzle''. There is an apparent paradox when the computation is performed in the framework of the covariant derivative background field method. In this formalism, there is obtained a finite two-loop effective action, although a non-null coefficient for the beta function is achieved by means of the renormalized two-point function in the background field. We show that if the standard background field method is used, this two-point function has a divergent part which allows for the calculation of the beta function via the renormalization constants, as usual. Therefore, we conjecture that this paradox has its origin in the covariant supergraph formalism itself, possibly being an artifact of the rescaling anomaly. (orig.)

Determinants of RNA polymerase alpha subunit for interaction with beta, beta', and sigma subunits: hydroxyl-radical protein footprinting.

OpenAIRE

Heyduk, T; Heyduk, E; Severinov, K; Tang, H; Ebright, R H

1996-01-01

Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAP) alpha subunit serves as the initiator for RNAP assembly, which proceeds according to the pathway 2 alpha-->alpha 2-->alpha 2 beta-->alpha 2 beta beta'-->alpha 2 beta beta' sigma. In this work, we have used hydroxyl-radical protein footprinting to define determinants of alpha for interaction with beta, beta', and sigma. Our results indicate that amino acids 30-75 of alpha are protected from hydroxyl-radical-mediated proteolysis upon interaction with beta ...

Beta blockers and chronic heart failure patients: prognostic impact of a dose targeted beta blocker therapy vs. heart rate targeted strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Corletto, Anna; Fröhlich, Hanna; Täger, Tobias; Hochadel, Matthias; Zahn, Ralf; Kilkowski, Caroline; Winkler, Ralph; Senges, Jochen; Katus, Hugo A; Frankenstein, Lutz

2018-05-17

Beta blockers improve survival in patients with chronic systolic heart failure (CHF). Whether physicians should aim for target dose, target heart rate (HR), or both is still under debate. We identified 1,669 patients with systolic CHF due to ischemic heart disease or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy from the University Hospital Heidelberg and the Clinic of Ludwigshafen, Germany. All patients were treated with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker and had a history of CHF known for at least 6 months. Target dose was defined as treatment with ≥ 95% of the respective published guideline-recommended dose. Target HR was defined as 51-69 bpm. All-cause mortality during the median follow-up of 42.8 months was analysed with respect to beta blocker dosing and resting HR. 201 (12%) patients met the dose target (group A), 285 (17.1%) met the HR target (group B), 627 (37.6%) met no target (group C), and 556 (33.3%) did not receive beta blockers (Group D). 5-year mortality was 23.7, 22.7, 37.6, and 55.6% for group A, B, C, and D, respectively (p <  0.001). Survival for group A patients with a HR ≥ 70 bpm was 28.8% but 14.8% if HR was 50-70 bpm (p = 0.054). Achieving guidelines recommended beta blocker dose or to HR control has a similar positive impact on survival. When on target dose, supplemental HR control additionally improves survival.

{beta} - amyloid imaging probes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Jae Min [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-04-15

Imaging distribution of {beta} - amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease is very important for early and accurate diagnosis. Early trial of the {beta} -amyloid plaques includes using radiolabeled peptides which can be only applied for peripheral {beta} - amyloid plaques due to limited penetration through the blood brain barrier (BBB). Congo red or Chrysamine G derivatives were labeled with Tc-99m for imaging {beta} - amyloid plaques of Alzheimer patient's brain without success due to problem with BBB penetration. Thioflavin T derivatives gave breakthrough for {beta} - amyloid imaging in vivo, and a benzothiazole derivative [C-11]6-OH-BTA-1 brought a great success. Many other benzothiazole, benzoxazole, benzofuran, imidazopyridine, and styrylbenzene derivatives have been labeled with F-18 and I-123 to improve the imaging quality. However, [C-11]6-OH-BTA-1 still remains as the best. However, short half-life of C-11 is a limitation of wide distribution of this agent. So, it is still required to develop an Tc-99m, F-18 or I-123 labeled agent for {beta} - amyloid imaging agent.

Isotope Effects in the Bonds of beta-CrOOH and beta-CrOOD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørlund Christensen, A.; Hansen, P.; Lehmann, M. S.

1976-01-01

Samples of orthorhombic chromium oxide hydroxide, beta -CrOOH, and the deuterated compound, beta -CrOOD, were prepared hydrothermally. The crystal structures were determined by powder profile refinement technique using neutron diffraction data. Unit cells are: beta -CrOOH: a equals 4. 862(2) A, b...... equals 4. 298(a) A, c equals 2. 995(1) A; beta -CrOOD: a equals 4. 873(5) A, b equals 4. 332(7) A, c equals 2. 963(2) A, with Z equals 2. The space group is P2//1nm or Pnnm....

Antibodies against chromosomal beta-lactamase

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giwercman, B; Rasmussen, J W; Ciofu, Oana

1994-01-01

A murine monoclonal anti-chromosomal beta-lactamase antibody was developed and an immunoblotting technique was used to study the presence of serum and sputum antibodies against Pseudomonas aeruginosa chromosomal group 1 beta-lactamase in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The serum antibody...... 1 cephalosporinase. We found a wide range of chromosomal beta-lactamase activity in the sputum samples, with no correlation with basal or induced activity of beta-lactamase expression. The presence of anti-beta-lactamase antibodies in endobronchial sputum could be an important factor in the defense...

Metalo-beta-lactamases Metallo-beta-lactamases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Elisandro Mendes

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Nos últimos anos tem sido observada maior incidência de bacilos Gram-negativos resistentes a cefalosporinas de espectro ampliado no ambiente hospitalar, ocasionando, assim, maior uso de betalactâmicos mais potentes, como os carbapenens. A utilização de carbapenens exerce maior pressão seletiva sobre a microbiota hospitalar, o que pode ocasionar aumento da resistência a esses agentes. Entre os mecanismos de resistência a carbapenens mais comumente identificados estão a produção de betalactamases, como, por exemplo, as pertencentes à classe D de Ambler e as que pertencem à classe B de Ambler, ou metalo-beta-lactamases (MbetaL. Essas últimas hidrolisam todos betalactâmicos comercialmente disponíveis, sendo a única exceção o monobactam aztreonam. Desde o início da década de 1990, novos genes que codificam MbetaLs têm sido descritos em microrganismos clinicamente importantes, como Pseudomonas spp., Acinetobacter spp. e membros da família Enterobacteriaceae. O encontro desses microrganismos não-sensíveis a carbapenens pode ser submetido a metodologias fenotípicas para detecção da produção de MbetaL com o intuito de auxiliar a Comissão de Controle de Infecção Hospitalar (CCIH e prevenir a disseminação desses determinantes de resistência, uma vez que genes que codificam MbetaLs estão contidos em estruturas genéticas que propiciam sua mobilidade de forma muito efetiva, sendo então facilmente disseminados.Increase isolation of Gram-negative bacilli resistant to broad-spectrum cephalosporin has been observed during the last few years, thus determining the use of more potent beta-lactams, such as carbapenems. The use of these antimicrobial agents may lead to the emergence of carbapenem resistant Gram-negative bacilli in the nosocomial environment. Carbapenem resistance may be due to the production of Ambler class D beta-lactamase or Ambler class B beta-lactamase, also called metallo-beta-lactamase (MbetaL. Apart from

Transport of the alpha-amino-mono-carboxylic acid L-alanine by the beta-alanine carrier of the rabbit ileum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Vibeke; Munck, B G

1987-01-01

The proposal that the beta-alanine carrier of the rabbit ileum is a high affinity carrier of the neutral amino acids was examined by means of measurements of influx across the brush border membrane of the intact epithelium using L-alanine as a representative of the neutral amino acids. Confirming...... the proposal, evidence was provided for mutual competitive inhibition between beta-alanine and L-alanine; and it was also demonstrated that a process contributes to the influx of L-alanine, which is characterized by a maximum rate of transport equal to that of beta-alanine and a Kt, which is equal to the Ki...... of L-alanine against the influx of beta-alanine. In the concentration range 0.01 to 0.125 mM the influx of L-alanine was found to be linearly related to the concentration indicating a significant unstirred layer influence on present and previous estimates of the Kt values for influx of amino acids...

Derivatives of the Incomplete Beta Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J. Boik

1998-03-01

Full Text Available The incomplete beta function is defined as where Beta(p, q is the beta function. Dutka (1981 gave a history of the development and numerical evaluation of this function. In this article, an algorithm for computing first and second derivatives of Ix,p,q with respect to p and q is described. The algorithm is useful, for example, when fitting parameters to a censored beta, truncated beta, or a truncated beta-binomial model.

BetaShape: A new code for improved analytical calculations of beta spectra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mougeot Xavier

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The new code BetaShape has been developed in order to improve the nuclear data related to beta decays. An analytical model was considered, except for the relativistic electron wave functions, for ensuring fast calculations. Output quantities are mean energies, log ft values and beta and neutrino spectra for single and multiple transitions. The uncertainties from the input parameters, read from an ENSDF file, are propagated. A database of experimental shape factors is included. A comparison over the entire ENSDF database with the standard code currently used in nuclear data evaluations shows consistent results for the vast majority of the transitions and highlights the improvements that can be expected with the use of BetaShape.

Preventive Effects of Beta-Hydroxy-Beta-Methyl Butyrate

OpenAIRE

N. Ravanbakhsh; N. Torabi; M. Foadoddini

2016-01-01

Aims: One of the major factors in sudden cardiac arrest is the initiation and continuation of deadly arrhythmias during ischemia. It is known that beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) has useful effects such as anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis effects in the skeletal muscles. The aim of this study was to investigate the preventive effects of HMB on the ventricular arrhythmias due to the ischemia. Materials & Methods: In the experimental study, 30 Wistar male rats were randomly div...

Beta-thalassemia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Origa Raffaella

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Beta-thalassemias are a group of hereditary blood disorders characterized by anomalies in the synthesis of the beta chains of hemoglobin resulting in variable phenotypes ranging from severe anemia to clinically asymptomatic individuals. The total annual incidence of symptomatic individuals is estimated at 1 in 100,000 throughout the world and 1 in 10,000 people in the European Union. Three main forms have been described: thalassemia major, thalassemia intermedia and thalassemia minor. Individuals with thalassemia major usually present within the first two years of life with severe anemia, requiring regular red blood cell (RBC transfusions. Findings in untreated or poorly transfused individuals with thalassemia major, as seen in some developing countries, are growth retardation, pallor, jaundice, poor musculature, hepatosplenomegaly, leg ulcers, development of masses from extramedullary hematopoiesis, and skeletal changes that result from expansion of the bone marrow. Regular transfusion therapy leads to iron overload-related complications including endocrine complication (growth retardation, failure of sexual maturation, diabetes mellitus, and insufficiency of the parathyroid, thyroid, pituitary, and less commonly, adrenal glands, dilated myocardiopathy, liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Patients with thalassemia intermedia present later in life with moderate anemia and do not require regular transfusions. Main clinical features in these patients are hypertrophy of erythroid marrow with medullary and extramedullary hematopoiesis and its complications (osteoporosis, masses of erythropoietic tissue that primarily affect the spleen, liver, lymph nodes, chest and spine, and bone deformities and typical facial changes, gallstones, painful leg ulcers and increased predisposition to thrombosis. Thalassemia minor is clinically asymptomatic but some subjects may have moderate anemia. Beta-thalassemias are caused by point mutations or, more rarely

Study of critical beta non-circular tokamak equilibria sustained in steady state by beam driven currents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okano, K.; Ogawa, Y.; Naitou, H.

1988-07-01

A new MHD-equilibrium/current-drive analysis code was developed to analyse the high beta tokamak equilibria consistent with the beam driven current profiles. In this new code, the critical beta equilibrium, which is stable against the ballooning mode, the kink mode and the Mercier mode, is determined first using MHD equilibrium and stability analysis codes (EQLAUS/ERATO). Then, the current drive parameters and the plasma parameters, required to sustain this critical beta equilibrium, are determined by iterative calculations. The beam driven current profiles are evaluated by the Fokker-Planck calculations on individual flux surfaces, where the toroidal effects on the beam ion and plasma electron trajectories are considered. The pressure calculation takes into account the beam ion and fast alpha components. A peculiarity of our new method is that the obtained solution is not only consistent with the MHD equilibrium but also consistent with the critical beta limit conditions, in the current profile and the pressure profile. Using this new method, β ∼ 21 % bean and β ∼ 6 % D-type critical beta equilibria were scanned for various parameters; the major radius, magnetic field, temperature, injection energy, etc. It was found that the achievable Q value for the bean type was always about 30 % larger than for the D-type cases, where Q = fusion power/beam power. With strong beanness, Q ∼ 6 for DEMO type tokamaks (∼500 MWth) and Q ∼ 20 for power reactor size (4.5 GWth) are achievable. On the other hand, the Q value would not exceed sixteen for the D-type machines. (author)

17Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17beta-HSD) in scleractinian corals and zooxanthellae.

Science.gov (United States)

Blomquist, Charles H; Lima, P H; Tarrant, A M; Atkinson, M J; Atkinson, S

2006-04-01

Steroid metabolism studies have yielded evidence of 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17beta-HSD) activity in corals. This project was undertaken to clarify whether there are multiple isoforms of 17beta-HSD, whether activity levels vary seasonally, and if zooxanthellae contribute to activity. 17Beta-HSD activity was characterized in zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate coral fragments collected in summer and winter and in zooxanthellae cultured from Montipora capitata. More specifically, 17beta-HSD activity was characterized with regard to steroid substrate and inhibitor specificity, coenzyme specificity, and Michaelis constants for estradiol (E2) and NADP+. Six samples each of M. capitata and Tubastrea coccinea (three summers, three winters) were assayed with E2 and NADP+. Specific activity levels (pmol/mg protein) varied 10-fold among M. capitata samples and 6-fold among T. coccinea samples. There was overlap of activity levels between summer and winter samples. NADP+/NAD+ activity ratios varied from 1.6 to 22.2 for M. capatita, 2.3 to 3.8 for T. coccinea and 0.7 to 1.1 for zooxanthellae. Coumestrol was the most inhibitory of the steroids and phytoestrogens tested. Our data confirm that corals and zooxanthellae contain 17beta-HSD and are consistent with the presence of more than one isoform of the enzyme.

The 76Ge Program to Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay

Science.gov (United States)

Guiseppe, Vincente

2017-09-01

Neutrinoless double-beta decay searches play a major role in determining the nature of neutrinos, the existence of a lepton violating process, and the effective Majorana neutrino mass. The Majorana and Gerda Collaborations are operating arrays of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge. The Majorana Demonstrator is operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota while the Gerda experiment is operating at LNGS in Italy. The Gerda and Majorana Demonstrator experiments have achieved the lowest backgrounds in the neutrinoless double-beta decay region of interest. These results, coupled with the superior energy resolution (0.1%) of Ge detectors demonstrate that 76Ge is an ideal isotope for a large next generation experiment. The LEGEND collaboration, with 220 members from 47 institutions around the world, has been formed to pursue a ton scale 76Ge experiment. Building on the successes of Gerda and Majorana, the LEGEND collaboration aims to develop a phased neutrinoless double-beta decay experimental program with discovery potential at a half-life significantly longer than 1027 years. This talk will present the initial results from the Majorana Demonstrator and Gerda experiments and the plan for the LEGEND program.

Human APC sequesters beta-catenin even in the absence of GSK-3beta in a Drosophila model.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, P R; Makhijani, K; Shashidhara, L S

2008-04-10

There have been conflicting reports on the requirement of GSK-3beta-mediated phosphorylation of the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) vis-à-vis its ability to bind and degrade beta-catenin. Using a unique combination of loss of function for Shaggy/GSK-3beta and a gain of function for human APC in Drosophila, we show that misexpressed human APC (hAPC) can still sequester Armadillo/beta-catenin. In addition, human APC could suppress gain of Wnt/Wingless phenotypes associated with loss of Shaggy/GSK-3beta activity, suggesting that sequestered Armadillo/beta-catenin is non-functional. Based on these studies, we propose that binding per se of beta-catenin by APC does not require phosphorylation by GSK-3beta.

Genetics Home Reference: beta thalassemia

Science.gov (United States)

... Facebook Twitter Home Health Conditions Beta thalassemia Beta thalassemia Printable PDF Open All Close All Enable Javascript to view the expand/collapse boxes. Description Beta thalassemia is a blood disorder that reduces the production ...

The effects of beta-carotene and vitamin E on erythrocytes lipid peroxidation in beta-thalassemia patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soleiman Mahjoub

2007-12-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Thalassemia is the most common hereditary disease in the world. Thalassemic erythrocytes are exposed to higher oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of beta-carotene and vitamin E on erythrocytes lipid peroxidation in beta-thalassemia patients.
METHODS: A prospective double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effect of beta-carotene and vitamin E on lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes membranes was performed on 120 beta-thalassemia major patients in four groups. The patients were supplemented for 4 weeks as follows: group 1 with beta-carotene (13 mg/day, group 2 with vitamin E (550 mg/day, group 3 with beta-carotene plus vitamin E and group 4 with placebo. We prepared all capsules for 4 roups in the same shape and color. Measurements of serum beta-carotene and vitamin E were performed by high performance
liquid chromatography. After preparation of ghost cells from blood specimens, malondialdehyde (MDA was determined as index of lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes membranes before and after treatment. RESULTS: The levels of serum beta-carotene and vitamin E were significantly lower and MDA concentrations in erythrocytes membranes were significantly higher in beta-thalassemia patients compared to controls (P<0.001. In groups that treated with vitamin supplements for 4-weeks, lipid peroxidation rates were significantly reduced after treatment (P<0.001, but in placebo group there was not significant difference (P>0.05.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide evidence that an oral treatment with beta-carotene and vitamin E can significantly reduce lipid peroxidation of erythrocytes membranes and could be useful in management of beta-thalassemia major patients. KEYWORDS: Beta-thalassemia major, beta-carotene, vitamin E, malondialdehyde, lipid peroxidation.

Tumor-produced, active Interleukin-1 {beta} regulates gene expression in carcinoma-associated fibroblasts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dudas, Jozsef, E-mail: Jozsef.Dudas@i-med.ac.at [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Fullar, Alexandra, E-mail: fullarsz@gmail.com [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); 1st Institute of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Ulloei ut 26, H-1085 Budapest (Hungary); Bitsche, Mario, E-mail: Mario.Bitsche@i-med.ac.at [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Schartinger, Volker, E-mail: Volker.Schartinger@i-med.ac.at [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Kovalszky, Ilona, E-mail: koval@korb1.sote.hu [1st Institute of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Ulloei ut 26, H-1085 Budapest (Hungary); Sprinzl, Georg Mathias, E-mail: Georg.Sprinzl@i-med.ac.at [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Riechelmann, Herbert, E-mail: Herbert.Riechelmann@i-med.ac.at [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University Innsbruck, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria)

2011-09-10

Recently we described a co-culture model of periodontal ligament (PDL) fibroblasts and SCC-25 lingual squamous carcinoma cells, which resulted in conversion of normal fibroblasts into carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of SCC-25 cells. We have found a constitutive high interleukin-1{beta} (IL1-{beta}) expression in SCC-25 cells in normal and in co-cultured conditions. In our hypothesis a constitutive IL1-{beta} expression in SCC-25 regulates gene expression in fibroblasts during co-culture. Co-cultures were performed between PDL fibroblasts and SCC-25 cells with and without dexamethasone (DEX) treatment; IL1-{beta} processing was investigated in SCC-25 cells, tumor cells and PDL fibroblasts were treated with IL1-{beta}. IL1-{beta} signaling was investigated by western blot and immunocytochemistry. IL1-{beta}-regulated genes were analyzed by real-time qPCR. SCC-25 cells produced 16 kD active IL1-{beta}, its receptor was upregulated in PDL fibroblasts during co-culture, which induced phosphorylation of interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase-1 (IRAK-1), and nuclear translocalization of NF{kappa}B{alpha}. Several genes, including interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX-2) were induced in CAFs during co-culture. The most enhanced induction was found for IL-6 and COX-2. Treatment of PDL fibroblasts with IL1-{beta} reproduced a time- and dose-dependent upregulation of IL1-receptor, IL-6 and COX-2. A further proof was achieved by DEX inhibition for IL1-{beta}-stimulated IL-6 and COX-2 gene expression. Constitutive expression of IL1-{beta} in the tumor cells leads to IL1-{beta}-stimulated gene expression changes in tumor-associated fibroblasts, which are involved in tumor progression. -- Graphical abstract: SCC-25 cells produce active, processed IL1-{beta}. PDL fibroblasts possess receptor for IL1-{beta}, and its expression is increased 4.56-times in the

A Novel Dimeric Inhibitor Targeting Beta2GPI in Beta2GPI/Antibody Complexes Implicated in Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A Kolyada; C Lee; A De Biasio; N Beglova

2011-12-31

{beta}2GPI is a major antigen for autoantibodies associated with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), an autoimmune disease characterized by thrombosis and recurrent pregnancy loss. Only the dimeric form of {beta}2GPI generated by anti-{beta}2GPI antibodies is pathologically important, in contrast to monomeric {beta}2GPI which is abundant in plasma. We created a dimeric inhibitor, A1-A1, to selectively target {beta}2GPI in {beta}2GPI/antibody complexes. To make this inhibitor, we isolated the first ligand-binding module from ApoER2 (A1) and connected two A1 modules with a flexible linker. A1-A1 interferes with two pathologically important interactions in APS, the binding of {beta}2GPI/antibody complexes with anionic phospholipids and ApoER2. We compared the efficiency of A1-A1 to monomeric A1 for inhibition of the binding of {beta}2GPI/antibody complexes to anionic phospholipids. We tested the inhibition of {beta}2GPI present in human serum, {beta}2GPI purified from human plasma and the individual domain V of {beta}2GPI. We demonstrated that when {beta}2GPI/antibody complexes are formed, A1-A1 is much more effective than A1 in inhibition of the binding of {beta}2GPI to cardiolipin, regardless of the source of {beta}2GPI. Similarly, A1-A1 strongly inhibits the binding of dimerized domain V of {beta}2GPI to cardiolipin compared to the monomeric A1 inhibitor. In the absence of anti-{beta}2GPI antibodies, both A1-A1 and A1 only weakly inhibit the binding of pathologically inactive monomeric {beta}2GPI to cardiolipin. Our results suggest that the approach of using a dimeric inhibitor to block {beta}2GPI in the pathological multivalent {beta}2GPI/antibody complexes holds significant promise. The novel inhibitor A1-A1 may be a starting point in the development of an effective therapeutic for antiphospholipid syndrome.

Hand Monitor for Simultaneous Measurements of Alpha and Beta Contamination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersson, I Oe; Braun, J; Soederlund, B

1960-11-15

An instrument is described which measures {alpha} and {beta} contamination of the hands simultaneously. This has been achieved by using as detectors 8 flow counters paired in 4 units of two chambers, one unit for each side of the hand. The inner chamber of every unit (adjacent to the hands) delivers {alpha}-pulses, the outer chambers deliver {beta}-pulses. When two finger contacts are pushed the detectors are closing around the hands and the measurement is started. Audible and visual warnings operate when the MPL is exceeded. Similar warnings ope.rate if hands are removed before the end of the counting period. The activity levels are logarithmically indicated on four pointer instruments, which are automatically zeroed when the next measurement is started. The instrument is now commercially available.

Microbial flora analysis for the degradation of beta-cypermethrin.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Zhang; Wei, Zhang

2017-03-01

In the Xinjiang region of Eurasia, sustained long-term and continuous cropping of cotton over a wide expanse of land is practiced, which requires application of high levels of pyrethroid and other classes of pesticides-resulting in high levels of pesticide residues in the soil. In this study, soil samples were collected from areas of long-term continuous cotton crops with the aim of obtaining microbial resources applicable for remediation of pyrethroid pesticide contamination suitable for the soil type and climate of that area. Soil samples were first used to culture microbial flora capable of degrading beta-cypermethrin using an enrichment culture method. Structural changes and ultimate microbial floral composition during enrichment were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing. Four strains capable of degrading beta-cypermethrin were isolated and preliminarily classified. Finally, comparative rates and speeds of degradation of beta-cypermethrin between relevant microbial flora and single strains were determined. After continuous subculture for 3 weeks, soil sample microbial flora formed a new type of microbial flora by rapid succession, which showed stable growth by utilizing beta-cypermethrin as the sole carbon source (GXzq). This microbial flora mainly consisted of Pseudomonas, Hyphomicrobium, Dokdonella, and Methyloversatilis. Analysis of the microbial flora also permitted separation of four additional strains; i.e., GXZQ4, GXZQ6, GXZQ7, and GXZQ13 that, respectively, belonged to Streptomyces, Enterobacter, Streptomyces, and Pseudomonas. Under culture conditions of 37 °C and 180 rpm, the degradation rate of beta-cypermethrin by GXzq was as high as 89.84% within 96 h, which exceeded that achieved by the single strains GXZQ4, GXZQ6, GXZQ7, and GXZQ13 and their derived microbial flora GXh.

Palladium-Catalyzed Anti-Markovnikov Oxidation of Allylic Amides to Protected beta-Amino Aldehydes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dong, Jiajia; Harvey, Emma C.; Fananas-Mastral, Martin; Browne, Wesley R.; Feringa, Bernard

2014-01-01

A general method for the preparation of N-protected beta-amino aldehydes from allylic amines or linear allylic alcohols is described. Here the Pd(II)-catalyzed oxidation of N-protected allylic amines with benzoquinone is achieved in tBuOH under ambient conditions with excellent selectivity toward

Evaluation of partial beta-adrenoceptor agonist activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipworth, B J; Grove, A

1997-01-01

A partial beta-adrenoceptor (beta-AR) agonist will exhibit opposite agonist and antagonist activity depending on the prevailing degree of adrenergic tone or the presence of a beta-AR agonist with higher intrinsic activity. In vivo partial beta-AR agonist activity will be evident at rest with low endogenous adrenergic tone, as for example with chronotropicity (beta 1/beta 2), inotropicity (beta 1) or peripheral vasodilatation and finger tremor (beta 2). beta-AR blocking drugs which have partial agonist activity may exhibit a better therapeutic profile when used for hypertension because of maintained cardiac output without increased systemic vascular resistance, along with an improved lipid profile. In the presence of raised endogenous adrenergic tone such as exercise or an exogenous full agonist, beta-AR subtype antagonist activity will become evident in terms of effects on exercise induced heart rate (beta 1) and potassium (beta 2) responses. Reduction of exercise heart rate will occur to a lesser degree in the case of a beta-adrenoceptor blocker with partial beta 1-AR agonist activity compared with a beta-adrenoceptor blocker devoid of partial agonist activity. This may result in reduced therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of angina on effort when using beta-AR blocking drugs with partial beta 1-AR agonist activity. Effects on exercise hyperkalaemia are determined by the balance between beta 2-AR partial agonist activity and endogenous adrenergic activity. For predominantly beta 2-AR agonist such as salmeterol and salbutamol, potentiation of exercise hyperkalaemia occurs. For predominantly beta 2-AR antagonists such as carteolol, either potentiation or attenuation of exercise hyperkalaemia occurs at low and high doses respectively. beta 2-AR partial agonist activity may also be expressed as antagonism in the presence of an exogenous full agonist, as for example attenuation of fenoterol induced responses by salmeterol. Studies are required to investigate whether

Beta2- and beta3-adrenoceptors activate glucose uptake in chick astrocytes by distinct mechanisms: a mechanism for memory enhancement?

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchinson, Dana S; Summers, Roger J; Gibbs, Marie E

2007-11-01

Isoprenaline, acting at beta-adrenoceptors (ARs), enhances memory formation in single trial discriminated avoidance learning in day-old chicks by mechanisms involving alterations in glucose and glycogen metabolism. Earlier studies of memory consolidation in chicks indicated that beta3-ARs enhanced memory by increasing glucose uptake, whereas beta2-ARs enhance memory by increasing glycogenolysis. This study examines the ability of beta-ARs to increase glucose uptake in chick forebrain astrocytes. The beta-AR agonist isoprenaline increased glucose uptake in a concentration-dependent manner, as did insulin. Glucose uptake was increased by the beta2-AR agonist zinterol and the beta3-AR agonist CL316243, but not by the beta1-AR agonist RO363. In chick astrocytes, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction studies showed that beta1-, beta2-, and beta3-AR mRNA were present, whereas radioligand-binding studies showed the presence of only beta2- and beta3-ARs. beta-AR or insulin-mediated glucose uptake was inhibited by phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase and protein kinase C inhibitors, suggesting a possible interaction between the beta-AR and insulin pathways. However beta2- and beta3-ARs increase glucose uptake by two different mechanisms: beta2-ARs via a Gs-cAMP-protein kinase A-dependent pathway, while beta3-ARs via interactions with Gi. These results indicate that activation of beta2- and beta3-ARs causes glucose uptake in chick astrocytes by distinct mechanisms, which may be relevant for memory enhancement.

Modelling of hand phantoms and optimisation of dose measurements in inhomogeneous beta-photon radiation fields using the MCNP code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Frank; Blunck, Christoph; Hegenbart, Lars; Heide, Bernd; Leone, Debora; Nagels, Sven; Schimmelpfeng, Jutta; Urban, Manfred

2008-01-01

Inhomogeneous beta-photon radiation fields make a reliable dose difficult to determine. Routine monitoring with dosemeters does not guarantee any accurate determination of the local skin dose. In general, correction factors are used to correct for the measured dose and the maximum exposure. However, strong underestimations of the maximum exposure are possible, depending on the individual handling and the reliability of dose measurements. Simulations provide the possibility to track the points of highest exposure and the origin of the highest dose. In this connection, simulations are performed with MCNPX. In order to investigate the local skin dose, two hand phantoms are used, a model based on geometrical elements and a voxel hand. A typical case of radio synoviorthesis, handling of a syringe filled with 90 Y, is simulated. Another simulation focuses on the selective internal radio therapy, revealing the origin of the main dose component in the mixed beta-photon radiation field of a 90 Y vial in an opened transport container. (author)

Combined effects of moderately elevated blood glucose and locally produced TGF-beta1 on glomerular morphology and renal collagen production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krag, Søren; Nyengaard, Jens R; Wogensen, Lise

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: There is a correlation between renal graft rejection and blood glucose (BG) levels. Furthermore, diabetic patients may develop non-diabetic renal diseases, which in some circumstances progress rapidly. Since transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta) levels are elevated in many renal...... diseases, the accelerated progression may be due to interactions between glucose and locally produced TGF-beta1. Therefore, we investigated the effect of mild hyperglycaemia on glomerular morphology and collagen production in TGF-beta1 transgenic mice. METHODS: To achieve BG concentrations of approximately...... 15 mmol/l in TGF-beta1 transgenic and non-transgenic mice, we used multiple streptozotocin (STZ) injections, and after 8 weeks, we measured the changes in glomerular morphology and total collagen content. We also analysed extracellular matrix (ECM) and protease mRNA levels using real-time polymerase...

Accurate Maximum Power Tracking in Photovoltaic Systems Affected by Partial Shading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierluigi Guerriero

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A maximum power tracking algorithm exploiting operating point information gained on individual solar panels is presented. The proposed algorithm recognizes the presence of multiple local maxima in the power voltage curve of a shaded solar field and evaluates the coordinated of the absolute maximum. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evidenced by means of circuit level simulation and experimental results. Experiments evidenced that, in comparison with a standard perturb and observe algorithm, we achieve faster convergence in normal operating conditions (when the solar field is uniformly illuminated and we accurately locate the absolute maximum power point in partial shading conditions, thus avoiding the convergence on local maxima.

Prevalence of Co-Inheritance of Alpha-Thalassemia with Beta-Thalassemia and Beta-Hemoglobinopathy in Ahvaz City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Najmaddin Saki

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Co-inheritance of hemoglobin gene defects is a rare important status that can lead to double heterozygote or homozygote with significant clinical manifestations. Such conditions can be observed in co-inheritance of alpha-thalassemia with beta-thalassemia or hemoglobinopathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of alpha-thalassemia with beta-thalassemia and hemoglobinopathy co-inheritance in a considerable number of Iranian.   Methods: This descriptive study was performed on patients with abnormal hematological findings in favor of alpha-thalassemia, beta-thalassemia or beta-hemoglobinopathies. Patients with low MCV and MCH levels and high HbA2 (>3.5 and those with low MCV and MCH and normal or low HbA2 were candidate for molecular analysis for beta and alpha thalassemia respectively. Abnormal Hb electrophoresis was diagnostic criteria for molecular analysis of beta-hemoglobinopathies.   Results: Study revealed that more than half of the patients with alpha-thalassemia affected simultaneously by beta-thalassemia and about thirty percent inherited beta-hemoglobinopathies. Among patients with beta-thalassemia, HbSCd6 (A-T was the most common mutation and in alpha-thalassemic patients α 3.7 was the commonest mutation.   Conclusion: Relatively high prevalence of co-inheritance of alfa-thalassemia with beta-thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies reflect the necessity of genetic consulting and molecular analysis in diagnosis of such conditions.

High-level transfer and long-term expression of the human beta-globin gene in a mouse transplant model.

Science.gov (United States)

Raftopoulos, H; Ward, M; Bank, A

1998-06-30

Insertion of a normally functioning human beta-globin gene into the hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) of patients with beta-thalassemia may be an effective approach to the therapy of this disorder. Safe, efficient gene transfer and long-term, high-level expression of the transferred human beta-globin gene in animal models are prerequisites for HSC somatic gene therapy. We have recently shown for the first time that, using a modified beta-globin retroviral vector in a mouse transplant model, long-term, high-level expression of a transferred human beta-globin gene is possible. The human beta-globin gene continues to be detected up to eight months post-transplantation of beta-globin-transduced hematopoietic cells into lethally irradiated mice. The transferred human beta-globin gene is detected in three of five mice surviving long-term (> 4 months) transplanted with bone marrow cells transduced with high-titer virus. The unrearranged 5.1 kb human beta-globin gene-containing provirus is seen by Southern blotting in two of these mice. More importantly, long-term expression of the transferred gene is seen in two mice at levels of 5% and 20% that of endogenous murine beta-globin. We document stem cell transduction by showing continued high-level expression of the human beta-globin gene in secondarily transplanted recipient mice. These results provide evidence of HSC transduction with a human beta-globin gene in animals and demonstrate that retroviral-mediated unrearranged human beta-globin gene transfer leads to a high level of human beta-globin gene expression in the long term for the first time. A gene therapy strategy may be a feasible therapeutic approach to the beta-thalassemias if consistent human beta-globin gene transfer and expression into HSC can be achieved.

Betting against Beta

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frazzini, Andrea; Heje Pedersen, Lasse

2014-01-01

We present a model with leverage and margin constraints that vary across investors and time. We find evidence consistent with each of the model's five central predictions: (1) Because constrained investors bid up high-beta assets, high beta is associated with low alpha, as we find empirically...

Activity of beta-lactam beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations against extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing enterobacteriaceae in urinary isolates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iqbal, F.I.; Farooqi, B.J.

2012-01-01

Objective: To determine the susceptibility pattern of beta-lactam beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations against extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae in urinary isolates. Study Design: Observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi, from February to October 2008. Methodology: A total of 190 consecutive non-duplicate isolates of ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae from urine samples of in-patients were included in the study. Urinary samples from out-patients, repeat samples and non-ESBL producing isolates were excluded. Detection of ESBL was carried out by double disk diffusion technique. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using modified Kirby Bauer's disk diffusion method according to CLSI guidelines. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 10. Results: Of the 190 ESBL isolates tested, 88 cases (46.31%) were sensitive and 6 cases (3.15%) were resistant to all three combinations, the rest 96 cases (50.52%) were resistant to at least one of the combinations. Susceptibility pattern of cefoperazone/sulbactam, piperacillin/tazobactam, and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid was 95.26, 92.10, and 44.31 percent respectively. Conclusion: Cefoperazone/sulbactam exhibited the best activity against ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae followed by piperacillin/tazobactam. Hospital antibiotic policies should be reviewed periodically to reduce the usage of extended spectrum cephalosporins and replace them with beta-lactam beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations agent for treating urinary tract infections. (author)

Tables of double beta decay data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tretyak, V.I. [AN Ukrainskoj SSR, Kiev (Ukraine)]|[Strasbourg-1 Univ., 67 (France). Centre de Recherches Nucleaires; Zdesenko, Y.G. [AN Ukrainskoj SSR, Kiev (Ukraine)

1995-12-31

A compilation of experimental data on double beta decay is presented. The tables contain the most stringent known experimental limits or positive results of 2{beta} transitions of 69 natural nuclides to ground and excited states of daughter nuclei for different channels (2{beta}{sup -}; 2{beta}{sup +}; {epsilon}{beta}{sup +}; 2{epsilon}) and modes (0{nu}; 2{nu}; 0{nu}M) of decay. (authors). 189 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs.

A comparison of estimation methods for fitting Weibull, Johnson's SB and beta functions to Pinus pinaster, Pinus radiata and Pinus sylvestris stands in northwest Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorgoseo, J. J.; Rojo, A.; Camara-Obregon, A.; Dieguez-Aranda, U.

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of the Weibull, Johnson's SB and beta distributions, fitted with some of the most usual methods and with different fixed values for the location parameters, for describing diameter distributions in even-aged stands of Pinus pinaster, Pinus radiata and Pinus sylvestris in northwest Spain. A total of 155 permanent plots in Pinus sylvestris stands throughout Galicia, 183 plots in Pinus pinaster stands throughout Galicia and Asturias and 325 plots in Pinus radiata stands in both regions were measured to describe the diameter distributions. Parameters of the Weibull function were estimated by Moments and Maximum Likelihood approaches, those of Johnson's SB function by Conditional Maximum Likelihood and by Knoebel and Burkhart's method, and those of the beta function with the method based on the moments of the distribution. The beta and the Johnson's SB functions were slightly superior to Weibull function for Pinus pinaster stands; the Johnson's SB and beta functions were more accurate in the best fits for Pinus radiata stands, and the best results of the Weibull and the Johnson's SB functions were slightly superior to beta function for Pinus sylvestris stands. However, the three functions are suitable for this stands with an appropriate value of the location parameter and estimation of parameters method. (Author) 44 refs.

Neutrophil beta-2 microglobulin: an inflammatory mediator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerrum, O W; Nissen, Mogens Holst; Borregaard, N

1990-01-01

Beta-2 microglobulin (beta 2m) constitutes the light invariant chain of HLA class I antigen, and is a constituent of mobilizable compartments of neutrophils. Two forms of beta 2m exist: native beta 2m and proteolytically modified beta 2m (Des-Lys58-beta 2m), which shows alpha mobility in crossed ...

Beta-decay rate and beta-delayed neutron emission probability of improved gross theory

Science.gov (United States)

Koura, Hiroyuki

2014-09-01

A theoretical study has been carried out on beta-decay rate and beta-delayed neutron emission probability. The gross theory of the beta decay is based on an idea of the sum rule of the beta-decay strength function, and has succeeded in describing beta-decay half-lives of nuclei overall nuclear mass region. The gross theory includes not only the allowed transition as the Fermi and the Gamow-Teller, but also the first-forbidden transition. In this work, some improvements are introduced as the nuclear shell correction on nuclear level densities and the nuclear deformation for nuclear strength functions, those effects were not included in the original gross theory. The shell energy and the nuclear deformation for unmeasured nuclei are adopted from the KTUY nuclear mass formula, which is based on the spherical-basis method. Considering the properties of the integrated Fermi function, we can roughly categorized energy region of excited-state of a daughter nucleus into three regions: a highly-excited energy region, which fully affect a delayed neutron probability, a middle energy region, which is estimated to contribute the decay heat, and a region neighboring the ground-state, which determines the beta-decay rate. Some results will be given in the presentation. A theoretical study has been carried out on beta-decay rate and beta-delayed neutron emission probability. The gross theory of the beta decay is based on an idea of the sum rule of the beta-decay strength function, and has succeeded in describing beta-decay half-lives of nuclei overall nuclear mass region. The gross theory includes not only the allowed transition as the Fermi and the Gamow-Teller, but also the first-forbidden transition. In this work, some improvements are introduced as the nuclear shell correction on nuclear level densities and the nuclear deformation for nuclear strength functions, those effects were not included in the original gross theory. The shell energy and the nuclear deformation for

Beta measurement evaluation and upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swinth, K.L.; Rathbun, L.A.; Roberson, P.L.; Endres, G.W.R.

1986-01-01

This program focuses on the resolution of problems associated with the field measurement of the beta dose component at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. The change in DOE programs, including increased efforts in improved waste management and decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) of facilities, coupled with beta measurement problems identified at Three Mile Island has increased the need to improve beta measurements. In FY 1982, work was initiated to provide a continuing effort to identify problems associated with beta dose assessment at DOE facilities. The problems identified resulted in the development of this program. The investigation includes (1) an assessment of measurement systems now in use, (2) development of improved calibration systems and procedures, (3) application of innovative beta dosimetry concepts, (4) investigation of new instruments or concepts for monitoring and spectroscopy, and (5) development of recommendations to assure an adequate beta measurement program within DOE facilities

Health behavior and academic achievement among adolescents: the relative contribution of dietary habits, physical activity, body mass index, and self-esteem.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristjánsson, Alfgeir Logi; Sigfúsdóttir, Inga Dóra; Allegrante, John P

2010-02-01

This study tested a structural equation model to estimate the relationship between health behaviors, body mass index (BMI), and self-esteem and the academic achievement of adolescents. The authors analyzed survey data from the 2000 study of Youth in Iceland , a population-based, cross-sectional sample of 6,346 adolescents in Iceland. The model demonstrated good fit with chi-square of 2685 (n = 5,810, df = 180), p Comparative Fit Index value of .94, and a root mean square error of approximation of .049. Lower BMI, physical activity, and good dietary habits were all associated with higher academic achievement; however, health behavior was positively and robustly associated with greater self-esteem. Self-esteem was positively influenced both through physical activity (beta = .16) and the consumption of fruits and vegetables (beta = .14). In contrast, poor dietary habits negatively influenced self-esteem and academic achievement, and self-esteem was negatively influenced by increasing levels of BMI (beta = -.05).

Interactions between an alpha-helix and a beta-sheet. Energetics of alpha/beta packing in proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, K C; Némethy, G; Rumsey, S; Tuttle, R W; Scheraga, H A

1985-12-05

Conformational energy computations have been carried out to determine the favorable ways of packing a right-handed alpha-helix on a right-twisted antiparallel or parallel beta-sheet. Co-ordinate transformations have been developed to relate the position and orientation of the alpha-helix to the beta-sheet. The packing was investigated for a CH3CO-(L-Ala)16-NHCH3 alpha-helix interacting with five-stranded beta-sheets composed of CH3CO-(L-Val)6-NHCH3 chains. All internal and external variables for both the alpha-helix and the beta-sheet were allowed to change during energy minimization. Four distinct classes of low-energy packing arrangements were found for the alpha-helix interacting with both the parallel and the anti-parallel beta-sheet. The classes differ in the orientation of the axis of the alpha-helix relative to the direction of the strands of the right-twisted beta-sheet. In the class with the most favorable arrangement, the alpha-helix is oriented along the strands of the beta-sheet, as a result of attractive non-bonded side-chain-side-chain interactions along the entire length of the alpha-helix. A class with nearly perpendicular orientation of the helix axis to the strands is also of low energy, because it allows similarly extensive attractive interactions. In the other two classes, the helix is oriented diagonally relative to the strands of the beta-sheet. In one of them, it interacts with the convex surface near the middle of the saddle-shaped twisted beta-sheet. In the other, it is oriented along the concave diagonal of the beta-sheet and, therefore, it interacts only with the corner regions of the sheet, so that this packing is energetically less favorable. The packing arrangements involving an antiparallel and a parallel beta-sheet are generally similar, although the antiparallel beta-sheet has been found to be more flexible. The major features of 163 observed alpha/beta packing arrangements in 37 proteins are accounted for in terms of the computed

Kinematic shifts of beta -delayed particles as a probe of beta - nu angular correlations

CERN Document Server

Clifford, E T H; Evans, H C; Fästermann, T; Hagberg, E; Hardy, J C; Jackson, K P; Koslowsky, V T; Schmeing, H; Schrewe, U J

1981-01-01

Beta-delayed particles undergo a kinematic shift in energy due to recoil motion of the daughter nucleus following beta decay. A careful measurement of this energy shift can be used to establish the ratio of vector to axial vector components in beta transitions. Alpha-beta coincidence data for the beta-delayed alpha decay of /sup 20/Na have been obtained. Component ratios for 6 transitions including the superallowed branch are found. Limits on charge dependent mixing with the analogue state are deduced for 5 states in /sup 20/Ne*. For the superallowed branch the axial vector component is found; the polar vector component is deduced and establishes a value for the vector weak coupling constant of G/sub V/=(1.355+or-0.036)*10/sup -49/ erg cm /sup 3/. (13 refs).

RESEARCH OF BETA AS ADEQUATE RISK MEASURE-IS BETA STILL ALIVE?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ante Perković

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The capital asset pricing model (CAPM is one of the most important models in financial economics and it has a long history of theoretical and empirical investigations. The main underlying concept of the CAPM model is that assets with a high risk (high beta should earn a higher return than assets with a low risk (low beta and vice versa. The implication which can be drawn out of this is that all assets with a beta above zero bear some risk and therefore their expected return is above the return of the risk-free rate. In this research observation on monthly stock prices on Croatian stock market from January 1st 2005 until December 31st 2009 is used to form our sample. CROBEX index is used as proxy of the market portfolio. The results demonstrate that beta can not be trusted in making investment decisions and rejects the validity of the whole CAPM model on Croatian stock market.

[Molecular characterization of heterozygous beta-thalassemia in Lanzarote, Spain].

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo-Villas, José Manuel; de la Iglesia Iñigo, Silvia; Ropero Gradilla, Paloma; Zapata Ramos, María Francisca; Cuesta Tovar, Jorge; Sicilia Guillén, Francisco

2008-04-05

The aim of this study was to determine the molecular defects of heterozygous beta thalassaemia and to ascertain their distribution in Lanzarote. Molecular characterization was achieved by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR LightCycler, Roche), PCR-ARMS (PCR-amplification reaction mutations system) and DNA sequencing on an automated DNA sequencer. Two hundred forty-three heterozygous beta thalassaemia carriers were included between July 1991 and February 2007. RT-PCR detected the molecular defect in 81% of the beta thalassaemia chromosomes analyzed [113 codon CD 39 (C --> T); 41 IVS-1-nt-110 (G --> A), 25 IVS 1-nt-1 (G --> A) and 19 IVS 1-nt-6 (T --> C)]. The remaining 12 molecular defects included the deletion 619 bp (7.8%) and the mutations -28 (A --> G), IVS1-nt-2 (T --> G), CD 41/42 (-TTCT), CD 8/9 (+G), CD 51 (-C), CD 22 (G --> T) and CD 24 (T --> A), CD 67 (-TG) and the novel mutation CD 20/21-TGGA. The distribution of the mutations is similar to that found in the Mediterranean area. The increasing migratory flow received in the Canary Islands may explain the emergence of new mutations not reported before in our area.

The MAJORANA experiment: an ultra-low background search for neutrinoless double-beta decay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phillips, D.; Aguayo Navarrete, Estanislao; Avignone, Frank T.; Back, Henning O.; Barabash, Alexander S.; Bergevin, M.; Bertrand, F.; Boswell, M.; Brudanin, V.; Busch, Matthew; Chan, Yuen-Dat; Christofferson, Cabot-Ann; Collar, J. I.; Combs, Dustin C.; Cooper, R. J.; Detwiler, Jason A.; Doe, Peter J.; Efremenko, Yuri; Egorov, Viatcheslav; Ejiri, H.; Elliott, Steven R.; Esterline, James H.; Fast, James E.; Fields, N.; Finnerty, P.; Fraenkle, Florian; Gehman, Victor; Giovanetti, G. K.; Green, Matthew P.; Guiseppe, Vincente; Gusey, K.; Hallin, A. L.; Hazama, R.; Henning, Reyco; Hime, Andrew; Hoppe, Eric W.; Horton, Mark; Howard, Stanley; Howe, M. A.; Johnson, R. A.; Keeter, K.; Keller, C.; Kidd, Mary; Knecht, A.; Kochetov, Oleg; Konovalov, S.; Kouzes, Richard T.; LaFerriere, Brian D.; LaRoque, B. H.; Leon, Jonathan D.; Leviner, L.; Loach, J. C.; MacMullin, S.; Marino, Michael G.; Martin, R. D.; Mei, Dong-Ming; Merriman, Jason H.; Miller, M. L.; Mizouni, Leila; Nomachi, Masaharu; Orrell, John L.; Overman, Nicole R.; Poon, Alan; Perumpilly, Gopakumar; Prior, Gersende; Radford, D. C.; Rielage, Keith; Robertson, R. G. H.; Ronquest, M. C.; Schubert, Alexis G.; Shima, T.; Shirchenko, M.; Snavely, Kyle J.; Steele, David; Strain, J.; Thomas, K.; Timkin, V.; Tornow, W.; Vanyushin, I.; Varner, R. L.; Vetter, Kai; Vorren, Kris R.; Wilkerson, J. F.; Wolfe, B. A.; Yakushev, E.; Young, A.; Yu, Chang-Hong; Yumatov, Vladimir; Zhang, C.

2012-12-01

The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay would resolve the Majorana nature of the neutrino and could provide information on the absolute scale of the neutrino mass. The initial phase of the Majorana Experiment, known as the Demonstrator, will house 40 kg of Ge in an ultra-low background shielded environment at the 4850' level of the Sanford Underground Laboratory in Lead, SD. The objective of the Demonstrator is to validate whether a future 1-tonne experiment can achieve a background goal of one count per tonne-year in a narrow region of interest around the 76Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay peak.

Super agonist actions of clothianidin and related compounds on the SAD beta 2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ihara, Makoto; Matsuda, Kazuhiko; Shimomura, Masaru; Sattelle, David B; Komai, Koichiro

2004-03-01

To compare the actions of clothianidin, a neonicotinoid acting on insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, and related compounds with that of imidacloprid, the compounds were tested on the Drosophila SAD-chicken beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes using two-electrode voltage-clamp electrophysiology. The maximum response of the SAD beta 2 nicotinic receptor to clothianidin was larger than that observed for acetylcholine. Ring breakage of the imidazolidine ring of imidacloprid resulting in the generation of a guanidine group was critical for this super agonist action.

Regulation of the friction coefficient of articular cartilage by TGF-beta1 and IL-1beta.

Science.gov (United States)

DuRaine, Grayson; Neu, Corey P; Chan, Stephanie M T; Komvopoulos, Kyriakos; June, Ronald K; Reddi, A Hari

2009-02-01

Articular cartilage functions to provide a low-friction surface for joint movement for many decades of life. Superficial zone protein (SZP) is a glycoprotein secreted by chondrocytes in the superficial layer of articular cartilage that contributes to effective boundary lubrication. In both cell and explant cultures, TGF-beta1 and IL-1beta have been demonstrated to, respectively, upregulate and downregulate SZP protein levels. It was hypothesized that the friction coefficient of articular cartilage could also be modulated by these cytokines through SZP regulation. The friction coefficient between cartilage explants (both untreated and treated with TGF-beta1 or IL-1beta) and a smooth glass surface due to sliding in the boundary lubrication regime was measured with a pin-on-disk tribometer. SZP was quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay and localized by immunohistochemistry. Both TGF-beta1 and IL-1beta treatments resulted in the decrease of the friction coefficient of articular cartilage in a location- and time-dependent manner. Changes in the friction coefficient due to the TGF-beta1 treatment corresponded to increased depth of SZP staining within the superficial zone, while friction coefficient changes due to the IL-1beta treatment were independent of SZP depth of staining. However, the changes induced by the IL-1beta treatment corresponded to changes in surface roughness, determined from the analysis of surface images obtained with an atomic force microscope. These findings demonstrate that the low friction of articular cartilage can be modified by TGF-beta1 and IL-1beta treatment and that the friction coefficient depends on multiple factors, including SZP localization and surface roughness.

32-element beta detector developed at the Institute of Electron Technology (ITE)

Science.gov (United States)

Wegrzecki, Maciej; Yakushev, Alexander; Bar, Jan; Budzyński, Tadeusz; Grabiec, Piotr; Kłos, Helena; Panas, Andrzej; Słysz, Wojciech; Stolarski, Maciej; Szmigiel, Dariusz; Wegrzecka, Iwona; Zaborowski, Michał

2014-08-01

The paper presents the design, technology and parameters of a new .silicon detector for detection of electrons (below named as beta detector) developed at the Institute of Electron Technology (ITE). The detector will be used for research on transactinide elements at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt (GSI). The detector consists of a monolithic 32-element array with an active area diameter of 90 mm and a thickness of 0.9 mm. The starting material is a high-resistivity ν silicon wafer (5 kΩcm resistivity). 32 planar p+-ν junctions are formed by boron diffusion on the top side of the wafer. On the bottom side, an n+ region, which forms a common cathode, is formed on the entire surface by phosphorus diffusion. The array is mounted on a special epoxy-glass laminate substrate, copper-clad on both sides. Two model detectors have been fabricated and studied. Very good electrical parameters have been achieved. For the first array, with supply voltage VR = 20 V, the minimum dark current was 8 nA, the maximum dark current 97.1 nA, and the average dark current 25.1 nA. For the second array, it was 11.5 nA, 378.8 nA and 40.0 nA respectively.

Precision measurements in nuclear {beta}-decay with LPCTrap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ban, Gilles; Durand, Dominique; Flechard, Xavier; Lienard, Etienne [LPC Caen, ENSICAEN, Universite de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3, Caen (France); Naviliat-Cuncic, Oscar [NSCL and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East-Lansing, MI (United States)

2013-09-15

The experimental achievements and the current program with the LPCTrap device installed at the LIRAT beam line of the SPIRAL1-GANIL facility are presented. The device is dedicated to the study of the weak interaction at low energy by means of precise measurements of the {beta}-{nu} angular correlation parameter. Technical aspects as well as the main results are reviewed. The future program with new available beams is briefly discussed. (copyright 2013 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

A semiconductor beta ray spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bom, V.R.

1987-01-01

Measurement of energy spectra of beta particles emitted from nuclei in beta-decay processes provides information concerning the mass difference of these nuclei between initial and final state. Moreover, experimental beta spectra yield information on the feeding of the levels in the daughter nucleus. Such data are valuable in the construction and checking of the level schemes. This thesis describes the design, construction, testing and usage of a detector for the accurate measurement of the mentioned spectra. In ch. 2 the design and construction of the beta spectrometer, which uses a hyper-pure germanium crystal for energy determination, is described. A simple wire chamber is used to discriminate beta particles from gamma radiation. Disadvantages arise from the large amounts of scattered beta particles deforming the continua. A method is described to minimize the scattering. In ch. 3 some theoretical aspects of data analysis are described and the results of Monte-Carlo simulations of the summation of annihilation radiation are compared with experiments. Ch. 4 comprises the results of the measurements of the beta decay energies of 103-108 In. 87 refs.; 34 figs.; 7 tabs

Development of a gas-ionization {beta}-spectrometer; Etude et realisation d'un spectrometre {beta} a ionisation gazeuse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Du, R [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Bruyeres-le-Chatel (France). Centre d' Etudes

1968-05-15

We intend to develop in our laboratory a {beta}-spectrometer. This apparatus will have two main objectives: 1 - the determination of the nature and the degree of purity of certain {beta}-emitting radioactive substances; 2 - the study of an activity calibration process for {beta}-emitting radioactive sources. (author) [French] Nous nous proposons d'etudier et de realiser dans notre laboratoire un spectrometre {beta}. Cet appareil aura deux buts principaux: 1 - determiner la nature et le degre de purete de certains corps radioactifs emetteurs {beta}; 2 - permettre l'etude d'un procede d'etalonnage en activite de sources radioactives emetteurs {beta}. (auteur)

Synthesis of the {beta}-phenethyl-mercaptan ({sup 35}S); Synthese du {beta}-phenethylmercaptan ({sup 35}S)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolff, R [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1957-07-01

{beta}-phenethyl-mercaptan ({sup 35}S) has been synthesized by action of elementary radioactive sulphur ({sup 35}S) on {beta}-phenethyl-magnesium-bromide, with a 90 per cent yield. (author) [French] Le {beta}-phenethylmercaptan ({sup 35}S) a ete synthetise par action du soufre radioactif elementaire ({sup 35}S) sur le bromure de {beta}-phenethylmagnesium, avec un rendement de 90 pour cent. (auteur)

Beta Instability and Stochastic Market Weights

OpenAIRE

David H. Goldenberg

1985-01-01

An argument is given for individual firm beta instability based upon the stochastic character of the market weights defining the market portfolio and the constancy of its beta. This argument is generalized to market weighted portfolios and the form of the stochastic process generating betas is linked to that of the market return process. The implications of this analysis for adequacy of models of beta nonstationarity and estimation of betas are considered in light of the available empirical e...

The effects of lower than conventional doses of oral nadolol on relative beta 1/beta 2-adrenoceptor blockade.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeldon, N M; McDevitt, D G; Lipworth, B J

1994-08-01

1. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relative beta 1/beta 2 antagonist selectivity of the beta-adrenoceptor blocker nadolol, in lower than conventional clinical doses. 2. Eight normal volunteers received single oral doses of either placebo (PL), nadolol 5 mg (N5), 20 mg (N20) or 80 mg (N80) in a single-blind, randomised crossover design. beta 1-adrenoceptor antagonism was assessed by attenuation of exercise tachycardia, and beta 2-adrenoceptor blockade by effects on salbutamol-induced chronotropic, hypokalaemic and finger tremor responses. The relative percentage attenuation of beta 2 and beta 1-mediated responses was calculated and expressed as beta 2:beta 1 selectivity ratios. 3. Nadolol produced dose-related reductions in exercise tachycardia in keeping with increasing beta 1-adrenoceptor blockade; mean % reduction (95% CI) compared with placebo: N5 10.7 (6.6 to 14.8), N20 21.4 (17.3 to 25.4), N80 38.9 (34.8 to 42.9). However, even the lowest dose of nadolol (5 mg) produced almost complete blunting of beta 2-mediated effects and significantly increase exercise hyperkalaemia; peak exercise hyperkalaemia (mmol l-1) (means and 95% CI): PL 4.88 (4.68 to 5.07), N5 5.36 (5.17 to 5.55), N20 5.48 (5.28 to 5.67), N80 5.42 (5.22 to 5.61). beta 2:beta 1 selectivity ratios significantly increased as the dose of nadolol was reduced. 4. These data suggest that whereas in the clinical dose range nadolol behaves as a non-selective beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, as the dose is reduced this drug demonstrates an increasing degree of selectivity for the beta 2-adrenoceptor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Simultaneous intake of beta-glucan and plant stanol esters affects lipid metabolism in slightly hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Theuwissen, Elke; Mensink, Ronald P

2007-03-01

Intake of food products rich in water-soluble fiber beta-glucan and products enriched with plant stanol esters lower serum cholesterol. Combining 2 functional food ingredients into one food product may achieve additional reductions of serum cholesterol. Our objective was to investigate the effects of a simultaneous intake of beta-glucan plus plant stanol esters on lipid metabolism in mildly hypercholesterolemic volunteers. In a randomized, controlled, 3-period crossover study, 40 mildly hypercholesterolemic men and women received muesli in random order twice a day for 4 wk, which provided, in total, 5 g control fiber from wheat (control muesli), 5 g oat beta-glucan (beta-glucan muesli), or 5 g oat beta-glucan plus 1.5 g plant stanols (combination muesli). beta-Glucan muesli decreased serum LDL cholesterol by 5.0% compared with control muesli (P = 0.013). Combination muesli reduced LDL cholesterol by 9.6% compared with control muesli (P < 0.001), and by 4.4% compared with beta-glucan muesli (P = 0.036). Serum HDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations did not differ after the 3 treatments. Compared with control muesli, beta-glucan muesli increased bile acid synthesis (P = 0.043) and decreased cholesterol absorption (P = 0.011). Addition of plant stanols did not influence bile acid synthesis but decreased cholesterol absorption (P < 0.001) and raised cholesterol synthesis (P = 0.016) compared with control muesli, and the plant stanols decreased cholesterol absorption compared with beta-glucan muesli (P = 0.004). The combination muesli decreased serum concentrations of sitostanol compared with control muesli (P = 0.010). Plasma concentrations of lipid-soluble antioxidants did not differ after the 3 treatments. beta-Glucan muesli effectively lowered serum LDL cholesterol concentrations. The addition of plant stanol esters to beta-glucan-enriched muesli further lowered serum LDL cholesterol, although effects were slightly less than predicted.

Atualizações sobre beta-hidroxi-beta-metilbutirato: suplementação e efeitos sobre o catabolismo de proteínas New findings on beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyirate: supplementation and effects on the protein catabolism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Everson Araújo Nunes

2008-04-01

Full Text Available O beta-hidroxi-beta-metilbutirato, metabólito do aminoácido leucina, vem sendo utilizado como suplemento alimentar, em situações específicas, com o intuito de aumentar ou manter a massa isenta de gordura. Os relatos dos efeitos do beta-hidroxi-beta-metilbutirato em estudos recentes fizeram crescer as expectativas sobre sua utilização em casos patológicos. Também foram demonstrados melhores resultados, quando da sua ingestão, no treinamento de força em indivíduos iniciantes e em idosos. Em humanos o beta-hidroxi-beta-metilbutirato tem sido usado como agente anti-catabólico, e em modelos animais foi demonstrado ser eficaz em inibir a atividade de vias proteolíticas em células musculares de indivíduos caquéticos in vitro e in vivo. Os mecanismos participantes desses processos envolvem: a inibição da atividade do sistema ubiquitina proteossoma ATP-dependente, a inibição de vias de sinalização com participação da proteína quinase C-alfa e a diminuição da concentração citoplasmática do fator nuclear - kappa B livre, eventos relacionados ao decréscimo da proteólise em células musculares.The leucine metabolite beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate has been used as a nutritional supplement in specific situations to prevent losing or to increase lean mass. Recent studies showed interesting results of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate supplementation in certain disease states. Better results have also been demonstrated when it is taken by starters or old individuals doing strength training. In humans, beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate has been used as an anticatabolic agent and in animal models it has been demonstrated to be effective in inhibiting the activity of the proteolytic pathways in muscle cells of extremely weak individuals in vivo and in vitro. The mechanisms that participate in this process involve: inhibition of the ATP-ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, inhibition of the signalization pathways involving protein kinase C

High beta tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dory, R.A.; Berger, D.P.; Charlton, L.A.; Hogan, J.T.; Munro, J.K.; Nelson, D.B.; Peng, Y.K.M.; Sigmar, D.J.; Strickler, D.J.

1978-01-01

MHD equilibrium, stability, and transport calculations are made to study the accessibility and behavior of ''high beta'' tokamak plasmas in the range β approximately 5 to 15 percent. For next generation devices, beta values of at least 8 percent appear to be accessible and stable if there is a conducting surface nearby

Characterization of a beta-glycosidase highly active on disaccharides and of a beta-galactosidase from Tenebrio molitor midgut lumen.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Alexandre H P; Terra, Walter R; Ferreira, Clélia

2003-02-01

The midgut of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) larvae has four beta-glycosidases. The properties of two of these enzymes (betaGly1 and betaGly2) have been described elsewhere. In this paper, the characterization of the other two glycosidases (betaGly3 and betaGly4) is described. BetaGly3 has one active site, hydrolyzes disaccharides, cellodextrins, synthetic substrates and beta-glucosides produced by plants. The enzyme is inhibited by amygdalin, cellotriose, cellotetraose and cellopentaose in high concentrations, probably due to transglycosylation. betaGly3 hydrolyzes beta 1,4-glycosidic linkages with a catalytic rate independent of the substrate polymerization degree (k(int)) of 11.9 s(-1). Its active site is formed by four subsites, where subsites +1 and -1 bind glucose residues with higher affinity than subsite +2. The main role of betaGly3 seems to be disaccharide hydrolysis. BetaGly4 is a beta-galactosidase, since it has highest activity against beta-galactosides. It can also hydrolyze fucosides, but not glucosides, and has Triton X-100 as a non-essential activator (K(a)=15 microM, pH 4.5). betaGly4 has two active sites that can hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl beta-galactoside (NPbetaGal). The one hydrolyzing NPbetaGal with more efficiency is also active against methylumbellipheryl beta-D-galactoside and lactose. The other active site hydrolyzes NPbetaFucoside and binds NPbetaGal weakly. BetaGly4 hydrolyzes hydrophobic substrates with high catalytical efficiency and is able to bind octyl-beta-thiogalactoside in its active site with high affinity. The betaGly4 physiological role is supposed to be the hydrolysis of galactolipids that are found in membranes from vegetal tissues. As the enzyme has a hydrophobic site where Triton X-100 can bind, it might be activated by membrane lipids, thus becoming fully active only at the surface of cell membranes.

Recent advancement in research and planning toward high beta steady state operation in KSTAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hyeon Keo; Hong, S.; Humphreys, D.

2015-01-01

The goal of Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) research is to explore stable improved confinement regimes and technical challenge for superconducting tokamak operation and thus, to establish the basis for predictable high beta steady state tokamak plasma operation. To fulfil the goal, the current KSTAR research program is composed of three elements: 1) Exploration of anticipated engineering and technology for a stable long pulse operation of high beta plasmas including Edge Localized Mode (ELM) control with the low n (=1, 2) Resonant Magnetic Perturbation (RMP) using in-vessel control coils and innovative non-inductive current drives. The achieved long pulse operation up to ∼50s and fully non-inductive current drive will be combined in the future. Study of efficient heat exhaust will be combined with an innovative divertor design/operation. 2) Exploration of the operation boundary through establishment of true stability limits of the harmful MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) instabilities and confinement of the tokamak plasmas in KSTAR, making use of the lowest error field and magnetic ripple simultaneously achieved among all tokamaks ever built. The intrinsic machine error field has a long history of research as the source of MHD instabilities and magnetic ripple is known to be a cause of energy loss in the plasma. The achieved high beta discharges at β N ∼4 and stable discharges at q 95 (∼2) will be further improved. 3) Validation of theoretical modeling of MHD instabilities and turbulence toward predictive capability of stable high beta plasmas. In support of these research goals, the state of the art diagnostic systems, such as Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) system in addition to accurate profile diagnostics, are deployed not only to provide precise 2D/3D information of the MHD instabilities and turbulence but also to challenge unresolved physics problems such as the nature of ELMs, ELM-crash dynamics and the role of the core

Production of galacto-oligosaccharides from lactose by Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase immobilized on cotton cloth.

Science.gov (United States)

Albayrak, Nedim; Yang, Shang-Tian

2002-01-05

The production of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) from lactose by A. oryzae beta-galactosidase immobilized on cotton cloth was studied. The total amounts and types of GOS produced were mainly affected by the initial lactose concentration in the reaction media. In general, more and larger GOS can be produced with higher initial lactose concentrations. A maximum GOS production of 27% (w/w) of initial lactose was achieved at 50% lactose conversion with 500 g/L of initial lactose concentration. Tri-saccharides were the major types of GOS formed, accounting for more than 70% of the total GOS produced in the reactions. Temperature and pH affected the reaction rate, but did not result in any changes in GOS formation. The presence of galactose and glucose at the concentrations encountered near maximum GOS greatly inhibited the reactions and reduced GOS yield by as much as 15%. The cotton cloth as the support matrix for enzyme immobilization did not affect the GOS formation characteristics of the enzyme, suggesting no diffusion limitation in the enzyme carrier. The thermal stability of the enzyme increased approximately 25-fold upon immobilization on cotton cloth. The half-life for the immobilized enzyme on cotton cloth was more than 1 year at 40 degrees C and 48 days at 50 degrees C. Stable, continuous operation in a plugflow reactor was demonstrated for 2 weeks without any apparent problem. A maximum GOS production of 21 and 26% (w/w) of total sugars was attained with a feed solution containing 200 and 400 g/L of lactose, respectively, at pH 4.5 and 40 degrees C. The corresponding reactor productivities were 80 and 106 g/L/h, respectively, which are at least several-fold higher than those previously reported. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The challenge of analyzing beta-blocker drugs in sludge and wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheurer, Marco; Ramil, Maria; Metcalfe, Chris D; Groh, Stefanie; Ternes, Thomas A

2010-01-01

In this study, different approaches were used to assess and overcome the severe effects of interference from the sample matrix from different types of sludges and wastewater on the analysis of nine beta-blockers and the beta sympathomimetic clenbuterol. The partitioning of the target compounds into sludge was investigated in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in both Canada and Germany to evaluate whether this is an important mechanism for removal from sewage. Due to ion suppression in the electro spray interface, absolute recoveries were for certain compounds even lower than 20%. By using surrogate standards, acceptable relative recoveries of >75% were achieved for WWTP influents and effluents and for sludges. These matrix effects underline the need to use appropriate surrogate standards to aid in analyte quantitation. Using the developed methods, beta-blockers were detected at concentrations up to 2 microg/L in WWTP effluents, with metoprolol, sotalol, and atenolol present as the dominant compounds. Removal rates within WWTPs were highly inconsistent and ranged from 1-69%. Propranolol showed the greatest degree of partitioning into sludge with solid/water partition coefficients of one order of magnitude higher than those for all other compounds. However, even for propranolol, sorption did not contribute significantly to the overall elimination in WWTPs. It is likely that the removal of beta-blockers during waste water treatment can be attributed primarily to microbial biodegradation.

Equine endometrial fibrosis correlates with 11beta-HSD2, TGF-beta1 and ACE activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganjam, V K; Evans, T J

2006-03-27

Endometrial periglandular fibrosis (EPF) contributes to embryonic and fetal loss in mares. Equine EPF correlates inversely with conception and successful gestation. In the modified Kenney endometrial biopsy classification system, EPF categories I, IIA, IIB, and III correspond to minimal, mild, moderate, and severe fibrosis (+/-inflammation), respectively. Paraffin sections of biopsy specimens were stained with H&E, and picrosirius red (specific for fibrillar collagens types I and III), to determine %EPCVF. Endometrial ACE-binding activity, TGF-beta1 and 11beta-HSD2 activities were also measured. Ultrastructural changes in EPF categories IIB and III endometria strongly suggested myofibroblastic transformation. ACE-binding activity was highest in EPF category IIB; however, endometrial TGF-beta1 and 11beta-HSD2 activities were significantly correlated to the severity of EPF (P<0.05). We conclude that, locally generated angiotensin II initiates the expression of TGF-beta1 resulting in myofibroblastic transformation. 11Beta-HSD2 in concert appears to modulate the severity of endometrial fibrosis.

sup. alpha. N-acetyl derivatives of. beta. -endorphin-(1-31) and -(1-27) regulate the supraspinal antinociceptive activity of different opioids in mice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garzon, J.; Sanchez-Blazquez, P. (Cajal Institute, Madrid (Spain))

1991-01-01

{sup {alpha}}N-acetyl human {beta}-endorphin(1-31) injected icv to mice antagonized the analgesic activity of {beta}-endorphin-(1-31) and morphine whereas the analgesia evoked by DADLE and DAGO was enhanced by this treatment. The modulatory activity of {sup {alpha}}N-acetyl {beta}-endorphin-(1-31) was exhibited at remarkable low doses (fmols) reaching a maximum that persisted even though the dose was increased 100,000 times. The regulatory effect of a single dose of the acetylated neuropeptide lasted for 24h. The activity of {sup {alpha}}N-acetyl human {beta}-endorphin(1-31) was partially retained by the shorter peptide {sup {alpha}}N-acetyl human {beta}-endorphin-(1-27) and to a lesser extent by {beta}-endorphin-(1-27), {beta}-endorphin-(1-31) lacked this regulatory activity on opioid analgesia. Acetylated {beta}-endorphin-(1-31) displayed a biphasic curve when competing with 5 pM ({sup 125}I)-Tyr{sup 27} human {beta}-endorphin-(1-31) specific binding, the first step was abolished with an apparent IC{sub 50} of 0.35 nM, and the rest with an IC{sub 50} of 200 nM. It is suggested that {sup {alpha}}N-acetyl {beta}-endorphin-(1-31) changed the efficiency of the opioid analgesics by acting upon a specific substrate that is functionally coupled to the opioid receptor, presumably the guanine nucleotide binding regulatory proteins G{sub i}/G{sub 0}.

Simultaneous and separate, low background counting of beta rays and gamma rays using the phoswich principle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayhugh, M.R.; Utts, B.K.; Shoffner, B.M.

1978-01-01

A phoswich constructed using thin calcium fluoride optically coupled to a thicker sodium iodide crystal and operated with pulse shape analysis equipment can be used as an efficient low background counting assembly. Low background in the beta ray counting channel is achieved by judicious choice of pure materials in the assembly and by operating the analysis equipment so as to reject background events which occur simultaneously in the sodium iodide crystal. Careful survey of construction materials and methods has resulted in reducing beta ray counting background to 0.6 c/min for a 2-inch diameter assembly. The radioactivity of typical building materials will be discussed. A pulse shape analyzer has been constructed which provides separately adjusted time windows and separate output information for the beta ray and gamma ray channels. The dual channel capability combined with the low beta ray background reduces the sample counting time significantly for typical laboratory samples. (author)

Development of intelligent MPPT (maximum power point tracking) control for a grid-connected hybrid power generation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Chih-Ming; Ou, Ting-Chia; Lu, Kai-Hung

2013-01-01

A hybrid power control system is proposed in the paper, consisting of solar power, wind power, and a diesel-engine. To achieve a fast and stable response for the real power control, an intelligent controller was proposed, which consists of the Wilcoxon (radial basis function network) RBFN and the improved (Elman neural network) ENN for (maximum power point tracking) MPPT. The pitch angle control of wind power uses improved ENN controller, and the output is fed to the wind turbine to achieve the MPPT. The solar array is integrated with an RBFN control algorithm to track the maximum power. MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory)/Simulink was used to build the dynamic model and simulate the solar and diesel-wind hybrid power system. - Highlights: ► To achieve a fast and stable response for the real power control. ► The pitch control of wind power uses improved ENN (Elman neural network) controller to achieve the MPPT (maximum power point tracking). ► The RBFN (radial basis function network) can quickly and accurately track the maximum power output for PV (photovoltaic) array. ► MATLAB was used to build the dynamic model and simulate the hybrid power system. ► This method can reach the desired performance even under different load conditions

[{sup 125}I]{beta}-CIT-FE and [{sup 125}I]{beta}-CIT-FP are superior to [{sup 125}I]{beta}-CIT for dopamine transporter visualization: Autoradiographic evaluation in the human brain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guenther, Ilonka; Hall, Haakan; Halldin, Christer; Swahn, Carl-Gunnar; Farde, Lars; Sedvall, Goeran

1997-10-01

The binding of the three dopamine transporter radioligands ([{sup 125}I]{beta}-CIT, [{sup 125}I]{beta}-CIT-FE, and [{sup 125}I]{beta}-CIT-FP) was studied using whole-hemisphere autoradiography on postmortem human brains. The autoradiograms revealed an intense and homogeneous labeling of the nucleus caudatus and putamen but also to varying extent to serotonergic and noradrenergic transporters of neocortex and thalamus. The order of specificity estimated (striatum over neocortex ratios) was {beta}-CIT-FP > {beta}-CIT-FE >> {beta}-CIT, suggesting that {beta}-CIT-FE and {beta}-CIT-FP should be preferred for in vivo studies of the dopamine transporter in the human brain.

A comparison of heart function and arrhythmia in clinically asymptomatic patients with beta thalassemia intermedia and beta thalassemia major.

Science.gov (United States)

Amoozgar, Hamid; Zeighami, Samaneh; Haghpanah, Sezaneh; Karimi, Mehran

2017-01-01

The goal of this study was to compare heart function and arrhythmia in clinically asymptomatic patients with beta thalassemia intermedia and beta thalassemia major. In this cross-sectional study, 60 patients with beta thalassemia major and 60 patients with beta thalassemia intermedia who had clinically no symptoms of arrhythmia and clinically normal heart function were evaluated using 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring and echocardiography. For data analysis SPSS ver.20 software was used. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean age of the beta thalassemia intermedia patients was 24.18 ± 7.9 years and the mean age in beta thalassemia major was 24.38 ± 7.7 years (P>0.05). Premature atrial contractions (PACs) were observed in 14 (23.3%) patients with beta thalassemia intermedia and in 22 (36.6%) beta thalassemia major patients. Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) were detected in 8 (13.3%) patients in the beta thalassemia intermediate group and 16 (26.6) patients in the beta thalassemia major group, respectively. The left ventricular diastolic dimension, end-diastolic volume, and stroke volume were significantly higher in beta thalassemia intermedia group (Pintermedia group. Both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias were more common in the beta thalassemia major group. Higher end-diastolic volume and stroke volume were detected in the beta thalassemia intermedia group. Pulmonary acceleration time was lower in the beta thalassemia intermedia group, which can be an indicator of higher pulmonary pressure.

Integration of BETA with Eclipse

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Peter; Madsen, Ole Lehrmann; Enevoldsen, Mads Brøgger

2004-01-01

This paper presents language interoperability issues appearing in order to implement support for the BETA language in the Java-based Eclipse integrated development environment. One of the challenges is to implement plug-ins in BETA and be able to load them in Eclipse. In order to do this, some fo...... it is possible to implement plug-ins in BETA and even inherit from Java classes. In the paper the two approaches are described together with part of the mapping from BETA to Java class files. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/15710661...

Thymosin beta 4 and thymosin beta 10 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Theunissen

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4 and thymosin beta 10 (Tβ10 are two members of the beta-thymosin family involved in many cellular processes such as cellular motility, angiogenesis, inflammation, cell survival and wound healing. Recently, a role for beta-thymosins has been proposed in the process of carcinogenesis as both peptides were detected in several types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression pattern of Tβ4 and Tβ10 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC. To this end, the expression pattern of both peptides was analyzed in liver samples obtained from 23 subjects diagnosed with HCC. Routinely formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded liver samples were immunostained by indirect immunohistochemistry with polyclonal antibodies to Tβ4 and Tβ10. Immunoreactivity for Tβ4 and Tβ10 was detected in the liver parenchyma of the surrounding tumor area. Both peptides showed an increase in granular reactivity from the periportal to the periterminal hepatocytes. Regarding HCC, Tβ4 reactivity was detected in 7/23 cases (30% and Tβ10 reactivity in 22/23 (97% cases analyzed, adding HCC to human cancers that express these beta-thymosins. Intriguing finding was seen looking at the reactivity of both peptides in tumor cells infiltrating the surrounding liver. Where Tβ10 showed a strong homogeneous expression, was Tβ4 completely absent in cells undergoing stromal invasion. The current study shows expression of both beta-thymosins in HCC with marked differences in their degree of expression and frequency of immunoreactivity. The higher incidence of Tβ10 expression and its higher reactivity in tumor cells involved in stromal invasion indicate a possible major role for Tβ10 in HCC progression.

In vitro effects of beta-lactams combined with beta-lactamase inhibitors against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, S; Arai, S; Hayashi, S; Sakaguchi, T

1989-01-01

The effects of combinations of beta-lactams with two beta-lactamase inhibitors, sulbactam and clavulanic acid, were determined in vitro against 22 clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Combinations of cefpirome, cefotaxime, and cefazolin with sulbactam (10 micrograms/ml) showed synergistic effects against more than 70% of the strains. Combinations of methicillin and penicillin G with sulbactam also showed synergistic effects against 50 and 68% of the strains, respectively, while cefotiam, moxalactam, flomoxef, and cefmetazole in combination with sulbactam showed such effects against only 40% or fewer. Clavulanic acid was synergistic only when combined with penicillin G, the effect probably being due to the beta-lactamase inhibition by the inhibitor. Sulbactam did not improve the antimicrobial activities of the beta-lactams against methicillin-susceptible S. aureus strains. At 42 degrees C the MICs of cefotaxime, methicillin, and flomoxef alone were markedly decreased from the values at 35 degrees C, and no synergy between these beta-lactams and sulbactam appeared. The resistance to penicillin G was not inhibited by incubation at 42 degrees C, and combinations of penicillin G with sulbactam and clavulanic acid showed synergy. The amounts of beta-lactamase produced were not related to the decreases in the MICs of the beta-lactams, except for penicillin G combined with sulbactam. Clavulanic acid showed slightly stronger beta-lactamase-inhibiting activity than sulbactam did. These results suggest that the synergy between sulbactam and the beta-lactams, except for penicillin G, may not be due to beta-lactamase inhibition but to suppression of the methicillin-resistant S. aureus-specific resistance based on other factors. PMID:2786369

Alpha and beta detection and spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saro, S.

1984-01-01

The theory of alpha and beta radioactive decay, the interaction of alpha and beta particles with matter, and their detection and spectrometry are dealt with in seven chapters: 1. Alpha transformation of atomic nuclei; 2. Basic properties of detectors and statistics of detection; 3. Alpha detectors and spectrometers; 4. Applications of alpha detection and spectrometry; 5. Beta transformation of atomic nuclei; 6. Beta particle detectors and spectrometers; 7. Detection of low energy beta particles. Chapter 8 is devoted to sampling and preparation of samples for radiometry. (E.F.)

Development of a portable triple silicon detector telescope for beta spectroscopy and skin dosimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Helt-Hansen, J

2000-11-01

It is now recognized that beta radiation can be a significant radiation problem for exposure of the skin. There is thus a need for a portable and rugged active beta dosemeter-spectrometer to carry out immediate measurements of doses and energies of beta particles even in the presence of photon radiation. The main objective of this report is to describe the development of such an instrument. A beta-spectrometer has been developed consisting of three silicon surface barrier detectors with the thickness: 50{mu}m/150{mu}m/7000{mu}m covered by a 2 {mu}m thick titanium window. The spectrometer is capable of measuring electron energies from 50 keV to 3.5 MeV. The spectrometer is characterized by a compact low weight design, achieved by digital signal processing beginning at an early stage in the signal chain. 255 channels are available for each of the three detectors. The spectrometer is controlled by a laptop computer, which also handles all subsequent data analysis. By use of coincidence/anti-coincidence considerations of the absorbed energy in the three detector elements, counts caused by electrons are separated from those originating from photons. The electron energy distribution is multiplied by a set of conversion coefficients to obtain the dose at 0.07 mm tissue. Monte Carlo calculations has been used to derive the conversion coefficients and to investigate the influence of noise and the design of detector assembly on the performance of the spectrometer. This report describes the development of the spectrometer and its mode of operation, followed by a description of the Monte Carlo calculations carried out to obtain the conversion coefficients. Finally is the capability of the telescope spectrometer to measure beta and photon spectra as well as beta dose rates in pure beta and mixed beta/photon radiation fields described. (au)

Development of a portable triple silicon detector telescope for beta spectroscopy and skin dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helt-Hansen, J.

2000-11-01

It is now recognized that beta radiation can be a significant radiation problem for exposure of the skin. There is thus a need for a portable and rugged active beta dosemeter-spectrometer to carry out immediate measurements of doses and energies of beta particles even in the presence of photon radiation. The main objective of this report is to describe the development of such an instrument. A beta-spectrometer has been developed consisting of three silicon surface barrier detectors with the thickness: 50μm/150μm/7000μm covered by a 2 μm thick titanium window. The spectrometer is capable of measuring electron energies from 50 keV to 3.5 MeV. The spectrometer is characterized by a compact low weight design, achieved by digital signal processing beginning at an early stage in the signal chain. 255 channels are available for each of the three detectors. The spectrometer is controlled by a laptop computer, which also handles all subsequent data analysis. By use of coincidence/anti-coincidence considerations of the absorbed energy in the three detector elements, counts caused by electrons are separated from those originating from photons. The electron energy distribution is multiplied by a set of conversion coefficients to obtain the dose at 0.07 mm tissue. Monte Carlo calculations has been used to derive the conversion coefficients and to investigate the influence of noise and the design of detector assembly on the performance of the spectrometer. This report describes the development of the spectrometer and its mode of operation, followed by a description of the Monte Carlo calculations carried out to obtain the conversion coefficients. Finally is the capability of the telescope spectrometer to measure beta and photon spectra as well as beta dose rates in pure beta and mixed beta/photon radiation fields described. (au)

The interaction of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) with mouse class I major histocompatibility antigens and its ability to support peptide binding. A comparison of human and mouse beta 2m

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, L O; Stryhn, A; Holter, T L

1995-01-01

of class I molecules are involved in peptide binding, whereas most of class I molecules are involved in beta 2m binding. We propose that mouse beta 2m interacts with the minor peptide binding (i.e. the "empty") fraction with a lower affinity than human beta 2m does, whereas mouse and human beta 2m interact......The function of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules is to sample peptides derived from intracellular proteins and to present these peptides to CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In this paper, biochemical assays addressing MHC class I binding of both peptide and beta 2-microglobulin...... (beta 2m) have been used to examine the assembly of the trimolecular MHC class I/beta 2m/peptide complex. Recombinant human beta 2m and mouse beta 2ma have been generated to compare the binding of the two beta 2m to mouse class I. It is frequently assumed that human beta 2m binds to mouse class I heavy...

Misleading Betas: An Educational Example

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, James; Halcoussis, Dennis; Phillips, G. Michael

2012-01-01

The dual-beta model is a generalization of the CAPM model. In the dual-beta model, separate beta estimates are provided for up-market and down-market days. This paper uses the historical "Anscombe quartet" results which illustrated how very different datasets can produce the same regression coefficients to motivate a discussion of the…

$^{31}$Mg $\\beta$-NMR applied in chemistry and biochemistry

CERN Multimedia

Magnesium ions, Mg$^{2+}$, are essential in biological systems, taking part in practically all phosphate chemistry, in photosynthesis as an integral component of chlorophyll, and they are regulated via transport through selective membrane proteins. Nonetheless, the function of magnesium ions in biochemistry is difficult to characterize, as it is practically invisible to current experimental techniques. With this proposal we aim to advance the use of $^{31}$Mg $\\beta$-NMR to liquid samples, building on the experience from the successful Letter of Intent INTC-I-088 “$\\beta$-NMR as a novel technique for biological applications”. Initially a series of experiments will be conducted aiming to characterize the coordination chemistry of Mg$^{2+}$ in ionic liquids (ILs), demonstrating that it is possible within the lifetime of the radioisotope to achieve binding of Mg$^{2+}$ to a molecule dissolved in the IL. ILs are chosen as they display a very low vapor pressure, and are thus straightforwardly compatible with t...

Beta-glucosidase variants and polynucleotides encoding same

Science.gov (United States)

Wogulis, Mark; Harris, Paul; Osborn, David

2017-06-27

The present invention relates to beta-glucosidase variants, e.g. beta-glucosidase variants of a parent Family GH3A beta-glucosidase from Aspergillus fumigatus. The present invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding the beta-glucosidase variants; nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides; and methods of using the beta-glucosidase variants.

Characterization of the inclusion complex ropivacaine: {beta}-cyclodextrin; Caracterizacao do complexo de inclusso ropivacaina: {beta}-ciclodextrina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fraceto, Leonardo Fernandes [Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho, Sorocaba, SP (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Ambiental]. E-mail: leonardo@sorocaba.unesp.br; Goncalves, Marcos Moises [Universidade de Sorocaba, SP (Brazil); Moraes, Carolina Morales; Araujo, Daniele Ribeiro de; Zanella, Luciana; Paula, Eneida de [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Biologia. Dept. de Bioquimica; Pertinhez, Thelma de Aguiar [Universidade de Parma (Italy). Dept. de Medicina Experimental

2007-09-15

Ropivacaine (RVC) is a widely used local anesthetic. The complexation of RVC with {beta}-cyclodextrin ({beta}-CD) is of great interest for the development of more efficient local anesthetic formulations. The present work focuses on the characterization of the RVC:{beta}-CD complex by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The stoichiometry of the complex is 1:2 RVC:{beta}-CD. DOSY-NMR shows that the association constant is 55.5 M{sup -1}. Longitudinal relaxation time results show that RVC changes its mobility in the presence of {beta}-CD. This study is focused on the physicochemical characterization of inclusion complexes that are potentials options for pain treatment. (author)

Activities of beta-lactam antibiotics against Escherichia coli strains producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacoby, G A; Carreras, I

1990-01-01

Seven extended-spectrum beta-lactamases related to TEM and four enzymes derived from SHV-1 were transferred to a common Escherichia coli host so that the activity of a variety of beta-lactams could be tested in a uniform genetic environment. For most derivatives, penicillinase activity was 10% or less than that of strains making TEM-1, TEM-2, or SHV-1 beta-lactamase, suggesting that reduced catalytic efficiency accompanied the broader substrate spectrum. Despite this deficit, resistance to aztreonam, carumonam, cefdinir, cefepime, cefixime, cefmenoxime, cefotaxime, cefotiam, cefpirome, cefpodoxime, ceftazidime, ceftibuten, ceftizoxime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, and E1040 was enhanced. For strains producing TEM-type enzymes, however, MICs of carumonam, cefepime, cefmenoxime, cefotiam, cefpirome, and ceftibuten were 8 micrograms/ml or less. Susceptibilities of cefmetazole, cefotetan, cefoxitin, flomoxef, imipenem, meropenem, moxalactam, temocillin, FCE 22101, and Sch 34343 were unaffected. FCE 22101, imipenem, meropenem, and Sch 34343 were inhibitory for all strains at 1 microgram/ml or less. In E. coli an OmpF- porin mutation in combination with an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase enhanced resistance to many of these agents, but generally by only fourfold. Hyperproduction of chromosomal AmpC beta-lactamase increased resistance to 7-alpha-methoxy beta-lactams but not that to temocillin. When tested at 8 micrograms/ml, clavulanate was more potent than sulbactam or tazobactam in overcoming resistance to ampicillin, while cefoperazone-sulbactam was more active than ticarcillin-clavulanate or piperacillin-tazobactam, especially against TEM-type extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. PMID:2193623

Beta aerosols beacon, a truly portable continuous air monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prince, R.P.; Garber, F.W.

1987-01-01

The Beta Aerosols Beacon (BAB) is a portable (57 lbs) continuous air monitor designed to detect airborne radiation. Utilizing solid state detectors has eliminated the use of lead shielding usually necessary for achieving accurate readings in high background areas, making the monitor lightweight as well as portable. The size of a small suitcase, it can be carried into confined work areas, eliminating the requirement for workers to wear respirators for many maintenance tasks. This paper describes the operation and applications of the BAB

TGF-{beta}-stimulated aberrant expression of class III {beta}-tubulin via the ERK signaling pathway in cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Eun Jee [Department of Ophthalmology, National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of); Chun, Ji Na; Jung, Sun-Ah [Konyang University Myunggok Medical Research Institute, Kim' s Eye Hospital, Konyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Jin Won [Department of Biology, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Joon H., E-mail: joonhlee@konyang.ac.kr [Konyang University Myunggok Medical Research Institute, Kim' s Eye Hospital, Konyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2011-11-18

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer TGF-{beta} induces aberrant expression of {beta}III in RPE cells via the ERK pathway. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer TGF-{beta} increases O-GlcNAc modification of {beta}III in RPE cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mature RPE cells have the capacity to express a neuron-associated gene by TGF-{beta}. -- Abstract: The class III {beta}-tubulin isotype ({beta}{sub III}) is expressed exclusively by neurons within the normal human retina and is not present in normal retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in situ or in the early phase of primary cultures. However, aberrant expression of class III {beta}-tubulin has been observed in passaged RPE cells and RPE cells with dedifferentiated morphology in pathologic epiretinal membranes from idiopathic macular pucker, proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Transforming growth factor-{beta} (TGF-{beta}) has been implicated in dedifferentiation of RPE cells and has a critical role in the development of proliferative vitreoretinal diseases. Here, we investigated the potential effects of TGF-{beta} on the aberrant expression of class III {beta}-tubulin and the intracellular signaling pathway mediating these changes. TGF-{beta}-induced aberrant expression and O-linked-{beta}-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNac) modification of class III {beta}-tubulin in cultured RPE cells as determined using Western blotting, RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. TGF-{beta} also stimulated phosphorylation of ERK. TGF-{beta}-induced aberrant expression of class III {beta}-tubulin was significantly reduced by pretreatment with U0126, an inhibitor of ERK phosphorylation. Our findings indicate that TGF-{beta} stimulated aberrant expression of class III {beta}-tubulin via activation of the ERK signaling pathway. These data demonstrate that mature RPE cells have the capacity to express a neuron-associated gene in response to TGF-{beta} stimulation and provide useful information

Design and characteristics of beta-excited X-ray sources; Caracteristiques des sources de rayons X excitees par des particules beta; Konstruktsiya i kharakteristiki beta-vozbuzhdennykh istochnikov rentgenovskikh luchej; Diseno y caracteristicas de las fuentes de rayos X excitadas por particulas beta

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filosofo, I; Reiffel, L; Stone, C A; Voyvodic, L [Physics Division, Armour Research Foundation, Chicago, IL (United States)

1962-01-15

The paper reports on recent work on beta-excited X-ray sources. Results of detailed experimental investigation on the X-rays produced by the fission products Pm{sup 147}, Kr{sup 85} and Sr{sup 90} are described. X-ray yields and spectral distributions have been studied for target materials ranging from copper to uranium and in a variety of source-target geometries (transmission target, reflection target, sandwich target, intimate source-target mixtures). To interpret the experimental results, an analytical treatment of the processes involved in X-ray production by beta particles has been developed and is outlined. By taking into account bremsstrahlung, K-shell ionization, and fluorescent X-ray excitation, a convenient mathematical formulation may be derived for photon spectra and yields as functions of maximum {beta}-energy, target thickness and source configuration. The agreement between calculated and experimentally determined yields is excellent and confirms the merit of the analysis. It thus becomes possible to optimize the design of isotopic X-ray sources for specific applications. Kr{sup 85} and Pm{sup 147} prototype sources have been designed and 'their performance in thickness and composition-analysis measurements is discussed. A high level Pm{sup 147} source for industrial radiography has also been designed and its performance, along with the utility of image intensifiers to extend its applicability, is considered. Finally, a general review of potentialities, advantages and limitations of isotopic X-ray sources is given. (author) [French] Le memoire rend compte des recents travaux sur les sources de rayons X excitees par des particules beta. Il donne les resultats d'une etude experimentale detaillee sur les rayons X emis par les produits de fission {sup 147}Pm, {sup 85}Kr et {sup 90}Sr. Les auteurs ont etudie l'emission et la distribution spectrale des rayons X pour des cibles allant du cuivre a l'uranium, et ce dans plusieurs geometries source

Milk Intolerance, Beta-Casein and Lactose.

Science.gov (United States)

Pal, Sebely; Woodford, Keith; Kukuljan, Sonja; Ho, Suleen

2015-08-31

True lactose intolerance (symptoms stemming from lactose malabsorption) is less common than is widely perceived, and should be viewed as just one potential cause of cows' milk intolerance. There is increasing evidence that A1 beta-casein, a protein produced by a major proportion of European-origin cattle but not purebred Asian or African cattle, is also associated with cows' milk intolerance. In humans, digestion of bovine A1 beta-casein, but not the alternative A2 beta-casein, releases beta-casomorphin-7, which activates μ-opioid receptors expressed throughout the gastrointestinal tract and body. Studies in rodents show that milk containing A1 beta-casein significantly increases gastrointestinal transit time, production of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and the inflammatory marker myeloperoxidase compared with milk containing A2 beta-casein. Co-administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone blocks the myeloperoxidase and gastrointestinal motility effects, indicating opioid signaling pathway involvement. In humans, a double-blind, randomized cross-over study showed that participants consuming A1 beta-casein type cows' milk experienced statistically significantly higher Bristol stool values compared with those receiving A2 beta-casein milk. Additionally, a statistically significant positive association between abdominal pain and stool consistency was observed when participants consumed the A1 but not the A2 diet. Further studies of the role of A1 beta-casein in milk intolerance are needed.

Milk Intolerance, Beta-Casein and Lactose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebely Pal

2015-08-01

Full Text Available True lactose intolerance (symptoms stemming from lactose malabsorption is less common than is widely perceived, and should be viewed as just one potential cause of cows’ milk intolerance. There is increasing evidence that A1 beta-casein, a protein produced by a major proportion of European-origin cattle but not purebred Asian or African cattle, is also associated with cows’ milk intolerance. In humans, digestion of bovine A1 beta-casein, but not the alternative A2 beta-casein, releases beta-casomorphin-7, which activates μ-opioid receptors expressed throughout the gastrointestinal tract and body. Studies in rodents show that milk containing A1 beta-casein significantly increases gastrointestinal transit time, production of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and the inflammatory marker myeloperoxidase compared with milk containing A2 beta-casein. Co-administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone blocks the myeloperoxidase and gastrointestinal motility effects, indicating opioid signaling pathway involvement. In humans, a double-blind, randomized cross-over study showed that participants consuming A1 beta-casein type cows’ milk experienced statistically significantly higher Bristol stool values compared with those receiving A2 beta-casein milk. Additionally, a statistically significant positive association between abdominal pain and stool consistency was observed when participants consumed the A1 but not the A2 diet. Further studies of the role of A1 beta-casein in milk intolerance are needed.

11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 expression in the newly formed Leydig cells after ethane dimethanesulphonate treatment of adult rats.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katerina Georgieva

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The enzyme 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSD catalyzes the reversible conversion of physiologically active corticosterone to the biologically inert 11beta-dehydrocorticosterone in rat testis and protect the Leydig cells (LCs against the suppressive effect of glucocorticoids. The developmental pathway of the adult LCs population is accompanied with an increase in the 11beta-HDS activity. Thus, 11beta-HDS together with its role in controlling the toxicological effect of glucocorticoids on LCs can be used as a marker for their functional maturity. Ethane 1,2-dimethanesulphonate (EDS treatment of adult rats become unique appropriate model, which enable to answer many questions related to the differentiation of adult LCs in the prepubertal rat testis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the specific changes in the 11beta-HDS type 2 immunoreactivity in tandem with the expression of androgen receptor (AR during renewal of LCs population after EDS treatment. In the present study, we observed the first appearance of immunostaining for 11beta-HSD2 in new LCs population on day 14 after EDS administration when the progenitor LCs were detected. Our immunohistochemical analysis revealed progressive increases in the 11beta-HSD2 reaction intensity on 21 days after EDS treatment and reached a maximum on day 35. AR immunoexpression was found in new LCs on day 14 and 21 after EDS injection with an increasing curve of intensity. The most prominent AR immunostaining in new population LCs was evident by 35 days after EDS and that coincided with the increased number of LCs and restoration of adult LCs population. Our results demonstrated similar pattern of immunoreactivity for 11beta-HSD2 and AR in new LCs population after EDS treatment and suggested that the changes in 11beta-HSD2 expression can be used for evaluation of adult LCs differentiation in rat testis.

Cross-class resistance to non-beta-lactam antimicrobials in extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Science.gov (United States)

Procop, Gary W; Tuohy, Marion J; Wilson, Deborah A; Williams, Delisa; Hadziyannis, Emilia; Hall, Gerri S

2003-08-01

Extended spectrum beta-lactamases are modified beta-lactamase enzymes that impart resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and make all beta-lactam antibiotics and cephalosporins useless for therapy. We compared the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and non-ESBL-producing isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The ESBL producers had significantly diminished susceptibility compared with the non-ESBL producers for gentamicin (P < .001), tobramycin (P < .001), amikacin (P < .005), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (P < .01), ciprofloxacin (P < .001), and nitrofurantoin (P < .001). All isolates were susceptible to imipenem. ESBL-producing K pneumoniae may also be resistant to non-beta-lactam antibiotics. Therefore, susceptibility testing of these isolates is critical for guiding therapy.

Dosimetry of {beta} extensive sources; Dosimetria de fuentes {beta} extensas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rojas C, E.L.; Lallena R, A.M. [Departamento de Fisica Moderna, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada (Spain)

2002-07-01

In this work, we have been studied, making use of the Penelope Monte Carlo simulation code, the dosimetry of {beta} extensive sources in situations of spherical geometry including interfaces. These configurations are of interest in the treatment of the called cranealfaringyomes of some synovia leisure of knee and other problems of interest in medical physics. Therefore, its application can be extended toward problems of another areas with similar geometric situation and beta sources. (Author)

Beta-1-Selective Beta-Blockers and Cognitive Functions in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Burkauskas, Julius; Noreikaite, Aurelija; Bunevicius, Adomas; Brozaitiene, Julija; Neverauskas, Julius; Mickuviene, Narseta; Bunevicius, Robertas

2016-01-01

The association between current beta-1-selective beta-blocker use and cognitive function was evaluated in 722 patients with coronary artery disease without dementia. Beta-1-selective beta-blocker use was associated with worse incidental learning independently of sociodemographic characteristics, clinical coronary artery disease severity, and depression/anxiety.

MAXIMUM PRINCIPLE FOR SUBSONIC FLOW WITH VARIABLE ENTROPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Sizykh Grigory

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Maximum principle for subsonic flow is fair for stationary irrotational subsonic gas flows. According to this prin- ciple, if the value of the velocity is not constant everywhere, then its maximum is achieved on the boundary and only on the boundary of the considered domain. This property is used when designing form of an aircraft with a maximum critical val- ue of the Mach number: it is believed that if the local Mach number is less than unit in the incoming flow and on the body surface, then the Mach number is less then unit in all points of flow. The known proof of maximum principle for subsonic flow is based on the assumption that in the whole considered area of the flow the pressure is a function of density. For the ideal and perfect gas (the role of diffusion is negligible, and the Mendeleev-Clapeyron law is fulfilled, the pressure is a function of density if entropy is constant in the entire considered area of the flow. Shows an example of a stationary sub- sonic irrotational flow, in which the entropy has different values on different stream lines, and the pressure is not a function of density. The application of the maximum principle for subsonic flow with respect to such a flow would be unreasonable. This example shows the relevance of the question about the place of the points of maximum value of the velocity, if the entropy is not a constant. To clarify the regularities of the location of these points, was performed the analysis of the com- plete Euler equations (without any simplifying assumptions in 3-D case. The new proof of the maximum principle for sub- sonic flow was proposed. This proof does not rely on the assumption that the pressure is a function of density. Thus, it is shown that the maximum principle for subsonic flow is true for stationary subsonic irrotational flows of ideal perfect gas with variable entropy.

Gallium Arsenide detectors for X-ray and electron (beta particle) spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lioliou, G.; Barnett, A.M.

2016-11-11

Results characterizing GaAs p{sup +}-i-n{sup +} mesa photodiodes with a 10 µm i layer for their spectral response under illumination of X-rays and beta particles are presented. A total of 22 devices, having diameters of 200 µm and 400 µm, were electrically characterized at room temperature. All devices showed comparable characteristics with a measured leakage current ranging from 4 nA/cm{sup 2} to 67 nA/cm{sup 2} at an internal electric field of 50 kV/cm. Their unintentionally doped i layers were found to be almost fully depleted at 0 V due to their low doping density. {sup 55}Fe X-ray spectra were obtained using one 200 µm diameter device and one 400 µm diameter device. The best energy resolution (FWHM at 5.9 keV) achieved was 625 eV using the 200 µm and 740 eV using the 400 µm diameter device, respectively. Noise analysis showed that the limiting factor for the energy resolution of the system was the dielectric noise; if this noise was eliminated by better design of the front end of the readout electronics, the achievable resolution would be 250 eV. {sup 63}Ni beta particle spectra obtained using the 200 µm diameter device showed the potential utility of these detectors for electron and beta particle detection. The development of semiconductor electron spectrometers is important particularly for space plasma physics; such devices may find use in future space missions to study the plasma environment of Jupiter and Europa and the predicted electron impact excitation of water vapor plumes from Europa hypothesized as a result of recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV observations.

Superconducting tests of beta = 0.1 and beta = 0.2 resonators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storm, D.W.; Amsbaugh, J.F.; Corcoran, D.T.; Howe, M.A.

1985-01-01

Several low beta (0.10) and two high beta (0.21) lead plated copper quarter wave resonators were cooled down, multipactor conditioned, tested, helium conditioned, and retested. The choice of the quarter wave resonator and of the lead plated copper technology is discussed. The fabrication is described and techniques for conditioning the resonators are presented. Performances are presented. 5 refs., 4 figs

20F beta spectrum shape and weak interaction tests

Science.gov (United States)

Voytas, Paul; George, Elizabeth; Chuna, Thomas; Naviliat-Cuncic, Oscar; Hughes, Max; Huyan, Xueying; Minamisono, Kei; Paulauskas, Stanley

2016-09-01

Precision measurements of the shape of beta spectra can test our understanding of the weak interaction. We are carrying out a measurement of the shape of the energy spectrum of β particles from 20F decay. The primary motivation is to test the so-called strong form of the conserved vector current (CVC) hypothesis. The measurement should also enable us to place competitive limits on the contributions of exotic tensor couplings in beta decay. We aim to achieve a relative precision better than 3% on the linear contribution to the shape. This represents an order of magnitude improvement compared to previous experiments in 20F. In order to control systematic effects, we are using a technique that takes advantage of high energy radioactive beams at the NSCL to implant the decaying nuclei in scintillation detectors deeply enough that the emitted beta particles cannot escape. The β-particle energy is measured with the implantation detector after switching off the implantation beam. Ancillary detectors are used to identify the 1.633-MeV γ-rays following the 20F β decay for coincidence measurements in order to tag the transition of interest and to reduce backgrounds. We report on the status of the analysis. Supported in part with Awards from the NSCL PAC and the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-1506084.

Post-extraction application of beta-tricalcium phosphate in alveolar socket

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Muñoz-Corcuera

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Aim The objective of this study was to assess the capacity of beta-tricalcium phosphate to facilitate bone formation in the socket and prevent post-extraction alveolar resorption. Materials and methods After premolar extraction in 16 patients, the sockets were filled with beta-tricalcium phosphate. Six months later, during the implant placement surgery, a trephine was used to harvest the bone samples which were processed for histological and histomorphometrical analyses. Data were gathered on patient, clinical, histological and histomorphometric variables at the extraction and implant placement sessions, using data collection forms and pathological reports. Results Clinical outcomes were satisfactory, the biomaterial was radio-opaque on X-ray. Histological study showed: partial filling with alveolar bone of appropriate maturation and mineralization for the healing time, osteoblastic activity and bone lacunae containing osteocytes. The biomaterial was not completely resorbed at six months. Conclusion Beta-tricalcium phosphate is a material capable of achieving preservation of the alveolar bone when it is positioned in the immediate post-extraction socket followed by suture; it also helps the formation of new bone in the socket. Further studies are needed comparing this technique with other available biomaterials, with growth factors and with sites where no alveolar preservation techniques are performed.

Design and dosimetry of a novel 90y beta source to prevent restenosis after angioplasty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueck, Konrad; Schmidt, Werner; Wexberg, Paul; Goerz, Walter; Maurer, Gerald; Gottsauner-Wolf, Michael

2000-01-01

Purpose: Post-dilatation irradiation of the vessel wall is currently under investigation for prevention of restenosis after balloon dilatation. For the irradiation, special sources were designed for animal experiments which would give equivalent irradiation conditions and doses to the vessel wall that would later be employed for human application. Methods and Materials: For the planned irradiations, a specially designed yttrium-wire of 0.45-mm diameter coated with a thin shrink tube to prevent contamination was deployed. Several leakage tests applied before and after application proved that the irradiation source was leakproof. Dosimetry was performed by using 0.1-mm-thick thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-100) calibrated against a primary standard. A shielding transport and application container was designed to facilitate the handling of the source during use, while reducing exposure of the medical personnel. Results: The designed source proves to be flexible for the insertion into proximal coronary vessels, and positioning at the site of stenosis. It provides an optimum protection of the animal and requires little radiation protection efforts on behalf of the medical staff. Dosimetric calculations and measurements showed that a centering of the source inside the vessel could be achieved with a maximum deviation of 50% between maximum and average dose levels. Conclusion: A yttrium-90 beta brachytherapy source was designed which provides high flexibility within proximal coronary arteries, ensures an adequate centering inside the artery, and provides irradiation conditions to the vessel wall of the experimental animal comparable to the application inside a human artery

Absorbed dose from a beta source as shown by thermoluminescence dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wintle, A.G.; Aitken, M.J.

1977-01-01

The depth-dose curve was obtained for a 90 Sr- 90 Y beta source using a fine grain TL phosphor to measure the observed dose, aluminium absorbers being interposed between the source and the detector; the curve went through a maximum at an absorber thickness of about 40 mg cm -2 . This curve was then used to predict the average dose rate to various thicknesses of calcium fluoride which has a similar absorption characteristic to aluminium; these values were compared with experimentally determined dose rates. This work was done in connection with thermoluminescence dating of flint and calcite in archaeology and geology. (author)

BETA SPECTRA. I. Negatrons spectra; ESPECTROS BETA. I. Espectros simples de negatrones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grau Malonda, A; Garcia-Torano, E

1978-07-01

Using the Fermi theory of beta decay, the beta spectra for 62 negatrons emitters have been computed introducing a correction factor for unique forbidden transitions. These spectra are plotted vs. energy, once normal i sed, and tabulated with the related Fermi functions. The average and median energies are calculated. (Author)

Simultaneous beta and gamma spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Farsoni, Abdollah T.; Hamby, David M.

2010-03-23

A phoswich radiation detector for simultaneous spectroscopy of beta rays and gamma rays includes three scintillators with different decay time characteristics. Two of the three scintillators are used for beta detection and the third scintillator is used for gamma detection. A pulse induced by an interaction of radiation with the detector is digitally analyzed to classify the type of event as beta, gamma, or unknown. A pulse is classified as a beta event if the pulse originated from just the first scintillator alone or from just the first and the second scintillator. A pulse from just the third scintillator is recorded as gamma event. Other pulses are rejected as unknown events.

In vitro proliferation of adult human beta-cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine Rutti

Full Text Available A decrease in functional beta-cell mass is a key feature of type 2 diabetes. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1 analogues induce proliferation of rodent beta-cells. However, the proliferative capacity of human beta-cells and its modulation by GLP-1 analogues remain to be fully investigated. We therefore sought to quantify adult human beta-cell proliferation in vitro and whether this is affected by the GLP-1 analogue liraglutide.Human islets from 7 adult cadaveric organ donors were dispersed into single cells. Beta-cells were purified by FACS. Non-sorted cells and the beta-cell enriched ("beta-cells" population were plated on extracellular matrix from rat (804G and human bladder carcinoma cells (HTB9 or bovine corneal endothelial ECM (BCEC. Cells were maintained in culture+/-liraglutide for 4 days in the presence of BrdU.Rare human beta-cell proliferation could be observed either in the purified beta-cell population (0.051±0.020%; 22 beta-cells proliferating out of 84'283 beta-cells counted or in the non-sorted cell population (0.055±0.011%; 104 proliferating beta-cells out of 232'826 beta-cells counted, independently of the matrix or the culture conditions. Liraglutide increased human beta-cell proliferation on BCEC in the non-sorted cell population (0.082±0.034% proliferating beta-cells vs. 0.017±0.008% in control, p<0.05.These results indicate that adult human beta-cell proliferation can occur in vitro but remains an extremely rare event with these donors and particular culture conditions. Liraglutide increases beta-cell proliferation only in the non-sorted cell population and only on BCEC. However, it cannot be excluded that human beta-cells may proliferate to a greater extent in situ in response to natural stimuli.

$\\beta$ decay of $^{47}$Ar

CERN Document Server

Weissman, L; Bergmann, U C; Brown, B A; Catherall, R; Cederkäll, J; Dillmann, I; Hallmann, O; Fraile-Prieto, L M; Franchoo, S; Gaudefroy, L; Köster, U; Kratz, K L; Pfeiffer, B; Sorlin, O; 10.1103/PhysRevC.70.024304

2004-01-01

Information on beta -decay properties of neutron-rich /sup 47/Ar was obtained at the ISOLDE facility at CERN using isobaric selectivity. This was achieved by a combination of a plasma-ion source with a cooled transfer line and subsequent mass separation. A doubly charged beam was used in order to improve the signal-to-background ratio associated with multi-charged noble gas fission products. The identification of the /sup 47/Ar gamma -ray transitions was performed by comparing the spectra obtained from direct proton bombardment of the target and of the neutron converter. New excited levels in the daughter /sup 47/K nucleus corresponding to the negative-parity states were observed. The obtained data are compared to the result of large-scale shell model calculations and quasiparticle random-phase approximation predictions. (29 refs).

maximum neutron flux at thermal nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strugar, P.

1968-10-01

Since actual research reactors are technically complicated and expensive facilities it is important to achieve savings by appropriate reactor lattice configurations. There is a number of papers, and practical examples of reactors with central reflector, dealing with spatial distribution of fuel elements which would result in higher neutron flux. Common disadvantage of all the solutions is that the choice of best solution is done starting from the anticipated spatial distributions of fuel elements. The weakness of these approaches is lack of defined optimization criteria. Direct approach is defined as follows: determine the spatial distribution of fuel concentration starting from the condition of maximum neutron flux by fulfilling the thermal constraints. Thus the problem of determining the maximum neutron flux is solving a variational problem which is beyond the possibilities of classical variational calculation. This variational problem has been successfully solved by applying the maximum principle of Pontrjagin. Optimum distribution of fuel concentration was obtained in explicit analytical form. Thus, spatial distribution of the neutron flux and critical dimensions of quite complex reactor system are calculated in a relatively simple way. In addition to the fact that the results are innovative this approach is interesting because of the optimization procedure itself [sr

Beta-Catenin Stability in Breast Cancer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Baswaran, Vijay

1999-01-01

.... beta-catenin also binds the adenomatous polyposis coli protein (APC). The tumor suppressor function of APC is suggested to depend in part on its ability to bind beta-catenin and to facilitate beta-catenin degradation by an unknown mechanism...

[Solubilization Specificities Interferon beta-1b from Inclusion Bodies].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuravko, A S; Kononova, N V; Bobruskin, A I

2015-01-01

A new solubilization method of recombinant interferon beta-1b (IFNβ-1b) from the inclusion bodies was developed. This method allows to extract the target protein selectively in the solutions of different alcohols, such as ethanol, propanol and isopropanol. It was shown that the more effective IFNβ-1b solubilization was achieved in the 55% propanol solution. This method allowed to extract the target protein from inclusion bodies around 85-90%, and significantly reduced Escherichia coli content in the solubilizate, in comparison with standard methods.

Improving metabolic efficiency of the reverse beta-oxidation cycle by balancing redox cofactor requirement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Junjun; Zhang, Xia; Zhou, Peng; Huang, Jiaying; Xia, Xiudong; Li, Wei; Zhou, Ziyu; Chen, Yue; Liu, Yinghao; Dong, Mingsheng

2017-11-01

Previous studies have made many exciting achievements on pushing the functional reversal of beta-oxidation cycle (r-BOX) to more widespread adoption for synthesis of a wide variety of fuels and chemicals. However, the redox cofactor requirement for the efficient operation of r-BOX remains unclear. In this work, the metabolic efficiency of r-BOX for medium-chain fatty acid (C 6 -C 10 , MCFA) production was optimized by redox cofactor engineering. Stoichiometric analysis of the r-BOX pathway and further experimental examination identified NADH as a crucial determinant of r-BOX process yield. Furthermore, the introduction of formate dehydrogenase from Candida boidinii using fermentative inhibitor byproduct formate as a redox NADH sink improved MCFA titer from initial 1.2g/L to 3.1g/L. Moreover, coupling of increasing the supply of acetyl-CoA with NADH to achieve fermentative redox balance enabled product synthesis at maximum titers. To this end, the acetate re-assimilation pathway was further optimized to increase acetyl-CoA availability associated with the new supply of NADH. It was found that the acetyl-CoA synthetase activity and intracellular ATP levels constrained the activity of acetate re-assimilation pathway, and 4.7g/L of MCFA titer was finally achieved after alleviating these two limiting factors. To the best of our knowledge, this represented the highest titer reported to date. These results demonstrated that the key constraint of r-BOX was redox imbalance and redox engineering could further unleash the lipogenic potential of this cycle. The redox engineering strategies could be applied to acetyl-CoA-derived products or other bio-products requiring multiple redox cofactors for biosynthesis. Copyright © 2017 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characteristic tests of ionization chamber and GM counter survey meters for beta-rays, (2)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suga, Shin-ichi; Bingo, Kazuyoshi; Kajimoto, Yoichi

1979-03-01

To estimate a beta-ray absorbed dose rate of contaminated skin, measurements were done twice by a survey meter without and with a filter, keeping the distance from the contaminated skin surface to the survey meter at 10 mm. The absorbed dose rate was obtained multiplying a net reading (equals a reading of survey meter's indicator measured without the filter minus that measured with the filter) by a multiplying factor. Calibrations were made with reference plane sources of natural uranium, 198 Au and 204 Tl, varying their area. The five types of ionization chamber survey meters had nearly same multiplying factors when the diameter of source was larger than the diameter of the chamber cylinder. Estimation of the absorbed doses due to beta-emitting nuclides was possible when the measured value without filter was larger by 20% or more than that of with filter. In the case of small sources, the multiplying factor varied significantly with area of the source. The multiplying factors agreed within +-30% in the respective types i.e. manufacturers and in maximum beta-ray energies from 0.7 up to 2.5 MeV. In the source to detector distance of 1 cm +-0.2 cm, the multiplying factor varied within +-20%. The multiplying factor of a GM counter survey meter varied with beta-ray energy, the multiplying factor for uranium was 1/3 that of 204 Tl. (author)

Improvement of maximum power point tracking perturb and observe algorithm for a standalone solar photovoltaic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awan, M.M.A.; Awan, F.G.

2017-01-01

Extraction of maximum power from PV (Photovoltaic) cell is necessary to make the PV system efficient. Maximum power can be achieved by operating the system at MPP (Maximum Power Point) (taking the operating point of PV panel to MPP) and for this purpose MPPT (Maximum Power Point Trackers) are used. There are many tracking algorithms/methods used by these trackers which includes incremental conductance, constant voltage method, constant current method, short circuit current method, PAO (Perturb and Observe) method, and open circuit voltage method but PAO is the mostly used algorithm because it is simple and easy to implement. PAO algorithm has some drawbacks, one is low tracking speed under rapid changing weather conditions and second is oscillations of PV systems operating point around MPP. Little improvement is achieved in past papers regarding these issues. In this paper, a new method named 'Decrease and Fix' method is successfully introduced as improvement in PAO algorithm to overcome these issues of tracking speed and oscillations. Decrease and fix method is the first successful attempt with PAO algorithm for stability achievement and speeding up of tracking process in photovoltaic system. Complete standalone photovoltaic system's model with improved perturb and observe algorithm is simulated in MATLAB Simulink. (author)

Transgenic overexpression of active calcineurin in beta-cells results in decreased beta-cell mass and hyperglycemia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Glucose modulates beta-cell mass and function through an initial depolarization and Ca(2+ influx, which then triggers a number of growth regulating signaling pathways. One of the most important downstream effectors in Ca(2+ signaling is the calcium/Calmodulin activated serine threonine phosphatase, calcineurin. Recent evidence suggests that calcineurin/NFAT is essential for beta-cell proliferation, and that in its absence loss of beta-cells results in diabetes. We hypothesized that in contrast, activation of calcineurin might result in expansion of beta-cell mass and resistance to diabetes.To determine the role of activation of calcineurin signaling in the regulation of pancreatic beta-cell mass and proliferation, we created mice that expressed a constitutively active form of calcineurin under the insulin gene promoter (caCn(RIP. To our surprise, these mice exhibited glucose intolerance. In vitro studies demonstrated that while the second phase of Insulin secretion is enhanced, the overall insulin secretory response was conserved. Islet morphometric studies demonstrated decreased beta-cell mass suggesting that this was a major component responsible for altered Insulin secretion and glucose intolerance in caCn(RIP mice. The reduced beta-cell mass was accompanied by decreased proliferation and enhanced apoptosis.Our studies identify calcineurin as an important factor in controlling glucose homeostasis and indicate that chronic depolarization leading to increased calcineurin activity may contribute, along with other genetic and environmental factors, to beta-cell dysfunction and diabetes.

Pengaruh Downside Beta, Upside Beta, Dan Beta Terhadap Expected Return (Studi Pada Saham Yang Termasuk Dalam 50 Leading Market Capitalization Di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2012-2015)

OpenAIRE

Sinaga, Maria Goretty; Sulasmiyati, Sri

2017-01-01

Return or return on an investment is required by the investor. Most investors currently prefer shares in emerging markets. Return in the emerging market is not always symmetrical, it shows return in the emerging market is not normally distributed. The purposive of this research want to learn, compare, and explain about some model of stock risk. On this research downside risk expressed with beta downside. The models used in this research among others, dowside beta, upside beta, and beta. The k...

Signal and background studies for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay in GERDA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agostini, Matteo

2013-04-24

The GERDA experiment searches for the neutrinoless double beta decay in Ge-76, by operating bare HPGe detectors in ultra-pure liquid Ar. This dissertation presents a first decomposition of the background measured in the current data-taking phase. The background at the energy of interest was found to be dominated by {sup 214}Bi, {sup 208}Tl and {sup 42}K gamma-rays, with secondary contributions from {sup 42}K and {sup 214}Bi beta-rays, and {sup 210}Po alpha-rays. For the forthcoming upgrade of the apparatus, a new HPGe detector design (BEGe) has been studied, with focus on its capability of suppressing the identified backgrounds through pulse shape analysis. This included the development of a comprehensive modeling of the detectors and the experimental characterization of their response to surface interactions. The achieved results show that GERDA can improve the present limit on the neutrinoless double beta decay half-life by an order of magnitude.

Signal and background studies for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay in GERDA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agostini, Matteo

2013-01-01

The GERDA experiment searches for the neutrinoless double beta decay in Ge-76, by operating bare HPGe detectors in ultra-pure liquid Ar. This dissertation presents a first decomposition of the background measured in the current data-taking phase. The background at the energy of interest was found to be dominated by 214 Bi, 208 Tl and 42 K gamma-rays, with secondary contributions from 42 K and 214 Bi beta-rays, and 210 Po alpha-rays. For the forthcoming upgrade of the apparatus, a new HPGe detector design (BEGe) has been studied, with focus on its capability of suppressing the identified backgrounds through pulse shape analysis. This included the development of a comprehensive modeling of the detectors and the experimental characterization of their response to surface interactions. The achieved results show that GERDA can improve the present limit on the neutrinoless double beta decay half-life by an order of magnitude.

The Determination of Gross Alpha And Beta Activity of Drinking Water in Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dilaver, A.T.; Cifter, C.; Altay, T.

2002-01-01

Man and his environment must be protected from the adverse effects of pesticides, radiation, noise and other forms of pollutions. Radioactive materials occur naturally in the environment (for example uranium, thorium and potassium). Same radioactive compounds arise from human activities (for example from medical or industrial uses of radioactivity). Drinking water should be safe to use and aesthetically pleasing. World Health Organisation (WHO) and Turkish Standards (TSE) have established maximum contaminant levels for gross alpha and gross beta. The purpose of these study is to determine the level of gross alpha and gross beta activities of samples collected from the different Regional Directories of The State Hydraulic Works (DSI)). After that compare the results versus permissible values of World Health Organisation and Turkish Standards. Collected samples from 14 Regional Directories of The State Hydraulic Works (DSI), have completed. All the analyses results suitable for WHO and TSE. We will give all the research our final report after completed the other Regional Directories' s analyses

Noise and physical limits to maximum resolution of PET images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herraiz, J.L.; Espana, S. [Dpto. Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Complutense s/n, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Vicente, E.; Vaquero, J.J.; Desco, M. [Unidad de Medicina y Cirugia Experimental, Hospital GU ' Gregorio Maranon' , E-28007 Madrid (Spain); Udias, J.M. [Dpto. Fisica Atomica, Molecular y Nuclear, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Complutense s/n, E-28040 Madrid (Spain)], E-mail: jose@nuc2.fis.ucm.es

2007-10-01

In this work we show that there is a limit for the maximum resolution achievable with a high resolution PET scanner, as well as for the best signal-to-noise ratio, which are ultimately related to the physical effects involved in the emission and detection of the radiation and thus they cannot be overcome with any particular reconstruction method. These effects prevent the spatial high frequency components of the imaged structures to be recorded by the scanner. Therefore, the information encoded in these high frequencies cannot be recovered by any reconstruction technique. Within this framework, we have determined the maximum resolution achievable for a given acquisition as a function of data statistics and scanner parameters, like the size of the crystals or the inter-crystal scatter. In particular, the noise level in the data as a limitation factor to yield high-resolution images in tomographs with small crystal sizes is outlined. These results have implications regarding how to decide the optimal number of voxels of the reconstructed image or how to design better PET scanners.

Noise and physical limits to maximum resolution of PET images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herraiz, J.L.; Espana, S.; Vicente, E.; Vaquero, J.J.; Desco, M.; Udias, J.M.

2007-01-01

In this work we show that there is a limit for the maximum resolution achievable with a high resolution PET scanner, as well as for the best signal-to-noise ratio, which are ultimately related to the physical effects involved in the emission and detection of the radiation and thus they cannot be overcome with any particular reconstruction method. These effects prevent the spatial high frequency components of the imaged structures to be recorded by the scanner. Therefore, the information encoded in these high frequencies cannot be recovered by any reconstruction technique. Within this framework, we have determined the maximum resolution achievable for a given acquisition as a function of data statistics and scanner parameters, like the size of the crystals or the inter-crystal scatter. In particular, the noise level in the data as a limitation factor to yield high-resolution images in tomographs with small crystal sizes is outlined. These results have implications regarding how to decide the optimal number of voxels of the reconstructed image or how to design better PET scanners

Two approaches to the reactor-relevant high-beta plasmas with profile control in the Large Helical Device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohdachi, S.; Watanabe, K.Y.; Sakakibara, S.

2008-10-01

From detailed optimization of configuration, volume averaged beta ∼ 5% has been achieved in the Large Helical Device(LHD). While the heating efficiency was the main point to be optimized in this approach, to form a more peaked pressure profile is another promising approach towards the high beta regime. A higher electron density profile with a steeper pressure gradient has been formed by pellet injection. From the MHD stability analysis, this peaked pressure profile is stable against the ideal MHD modes. By both approaches, the central plasma β 0 reaches about 10%. (author)

Selectivity of beta-adrenergic stimulating and blocking agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Löfdahl, C G; Svedmyr, N

1984-01-01

Studies have been performed to answer two questions: whether there are subgroups of beta 2-receptors separating effects in bronchial and skeletal muscle and whether beta 1-receptors in asthmatic airways mediate bronchoconstriction. Asthmatic patients have been studied in randomised cross-over trials. Effects on FEV1, heart rate and skeletal muscle tremor have been monitored. In some experimental studies, two new compounds, D2343 and QH-25, have shown a selectivity for beta 2-receptors in bronchial muscle compared to skeletal muscle. Studies in asthmatics did not confirm this. Thus, the beta 2-receptors in the two organs appear to be identical. The clinical effect of beta 1-receptors in the the airways was studied by giving selective beta 1-receptor blocking agents. It was shown that pafenolol , a beta-blocker more beta 1-selective than metoprolol, had less effect on FEV1 than metoprolol given in equipotent beta 1-blocking doses. Beta 1-receptor stimulation with a new selective beta 1-stimulating agent, prenalterol, did not give bronchodilation in doses which gave a significant increase of heart rate. Thus, beta 1-receptors do not contribute to bronchodilation in asthmatic patients.

Sorting out Downside Beta

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.T. Post (Thierry); P. van Vliet (Pim); S.D. Lansdorp (Simon)

2009-01-01

textabstractDownside risk, when properly defined and estimated, helps to explain the cross-section of US stock returns. Sorting stocks by a proper estimate of downside market beta leads to a substantially larger cross-sectional spread in average returns than sorting on regular market beta. This

The best-beta CAPM

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zou, L.

2006-01-01

The issue of 'best-beta' arises as soon as potential errors in the Sharpe-Lintner-Black capital asset pricing model (CAPM) are acknowledged. By incorporating a target variable into the investor preferences, this study derives a best-beta CAPM (BCAPM) that maintains the CAPM's theoretical appeal and

Beta genus papillomaviruses and skin cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Howley, Peter M; Pfister, Herbert J

2015-05-01

A role for the beta genus HPVs in keratinocyte carcinoma (KC) remains to be established. In this article we examine the potential role of the beta HPVs in cancer revealed by the epidemiology associating these viruses with KC and supported by oncogenic properties of the beta HPV proteins. Unlike the cancer associated alpha genus HPVs, in which transcriptionally active viral genomes are invariably found associated with the cancers, that is not the case for the beta genus HPVs and keratinocyte carcinomas. Thus a role for the beta HPVs in KC would necessarily be in the carcinogenesis initiation and not in the maintenance of the tumor. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Beta thalassemia - a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R Jha

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Thalassemia is a globin gene disorder that results in a diminished rate of synthesis of one or more of the globin chains. About 1.5% of the global population (80 to 90 million people are carriers of beta Thalassemia. More than 200 mutations are described in beta thalassemia. However not all mutations are common in different ethnic groups. The only effective way to reduce burden of thalassemia is to prevent birth of homozygotes. Diagnosis of beta thalassemia can be done by fetal DNA analysis for molecular defects of beta thalassemia or by fetal blood analysis. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only available curative approach for Thalassemia. Many patients with thalassemia in underdeveloped nations die in childhood or adolescence. Programs that provide acceptable care, including transfusion of safe blood and supportive therapy including chelation must be established.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jpn.v4i8.11609 Journal of Pathology of Nepal; Vol.4,No. 8 (2014 663-671

The changes in beta-adrenoceptor-mediated cardiac function in experimental hypothyroidism: the possible contribution of cardiac beta3-adrenoceptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Arioglu, E; Guner, S; Ozakca, I; Altan, V M; Ozcelikay, A T

2010-02-01

Thyroid hormone deficiency has been reported to decrease expression and function of both beta(1)- and beta(2)-adrenoceptor in different tissues including heart. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible contribution of beta(3)-adrenoceptors to cardiac dysfunction in hypothyroidism. In addition, effect of this pathology on beta(1)- and beta(2)-adrenoceptor was investigated. Hypothyroidism was induced by adding methimazole (300 mg/l) to drinking water of rats for 8 weeks. Cardiac hemodynamic parameters were measured in anesthetised rats in vivo. Responses to beta-adrenoceptor agonists were examined in rat papillary muscle in vitro. We also studied the effect of hypotyroidism on mRNA expression of beta-adrenoceptors, Gialpha, GRK, and eNOS in rat heart. All of the hemodynamic parameters (systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure, left ventricular pressure, heart rate, +dp/dt, and -dp/dt) were significantly reduced by the methimazole treatment. The negative inotropic effect elicited by BRL 37344 (a beta(3)-adrenoceptor preferential agonist) and positive inotropic effects produced by isoprenaline and noradrenaline, respectively, were significantly decreased in papillary muscle of hypothyroid rats as compared to those of controls. On the other hand, hypothyroidism resulted in increased cardiac beta(2)- and beta(3)-adrenoceptor, Gialpha(2), Gialpha(3), GRK3, and eNOS mRNA expressions. However, beta(1)-adrenoceptor and GRK2 mRNA expressions were not changed significantly in this pathology. These results show that mRNA expression of beta(3)-adrenoceptors as well as the signalling pathway components mediated through beta(3)-adrenoceptors are significantly increased in hypothyroid rat heart. Since we could not correlate these alternates with the decreased negative inotropic response mediated by this receptor subtype, it is not clear whether these changes are important for hypothyroid induced reduction in cardiac function.

Standardization of low energy beta and beta-gamma complex emitters by the tracer and the efficiency extrapolation methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahagia, M.

1978-01-01

The absolute standardization of radioactive solutions of low energy beta emitters and beta-gamma emitters with a high probability of disintegration to the ground state is described; the tracer and the efficiency extrapolation methods were used. Both types of radionuclides were mathematically and physically treated in an unified manner. The theoretical relations between different beta spectra were calculated according to Williams' model and experimentally verified for: 35 S + 60 Co, 35 S + 95 Nb, 147 Pm + 60 Co, 14 C + 95 Nb and two beta branches of 99 Mo. The optimum range of beta efficiency variation was indicated. The basic supposition that all beta efficieny tend to unity in the same time was experimentally verified, using two 192 Ir beta branches. Four computer programs, written in the FORTRAN IV language, were elaborated, for the adequate processing of the experimental data. Good precision coefficients according to international standards were obtained in the absolute standardization of 35 S, 147 Pm, 99 Mo solutions. (author)

Transversals and independence in linear hypergraphs with maximum degree two

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henning, Michael A.; Yeo, Anders

2017-01-01

, k-uniform hypergraphs with maximum degree 2. It is known [European J. Combin. 36 (2014), 231–236] that if H ∈ Hk, then (k + 1)τ (H) 6 ≤ n + m, and there are only two hypergraphs that achieve equality in the bound. In this paper, we prove a much more powerful result, and establish tight upper bounds...

Beta-lactamases in Enterobacteriaceae in broilers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dierikx, C.M.

2013-01-01

Resistance to cephalosprins due to the production of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) or plasmid mediated AmpC beta-lactamases is increasingly found in infections in humans outside the hospital. The genes encoding for these beta-lactamases are located on mobile DNA (plasmids), which can be

Maximum entropy deconvolution of low count nuclear medicine images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGrath, D.M.

1998-12-01

obtained than those achieved by a Wiener pre-filtering approach and a scatter-subtracted attenuation corrected filtered back projection method. Maximum entropy optimised for low counts holds promise for nuclear medicine applications where counts are necessarily low, and may facilitate reduction of the administered activity for other applications. The algorithm was in fact deemed advantageous for the processing of low count Poisson data in general. (author)

Simultaneous determination of F-beta-alanine and beta-alanine in plasma and urine with dual-column reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kuilenburg, A. B.; Stroomer, A. E.; Peters, G. J.; van Gennip, A. H.

2001-01-01

F-beta-Alanine and beta-alanine were detected in plasma and urine samples with fluorescence detection of orthophthaldialdehyde derivatives of F-beta-alanine and beta-alanine after separation with dual-column reversed-phase HPLC. The detection limits of F-beta-alanine and beta-alanine in the HPLC

Rat beta-LPH, gamma-LPH and beta-endorphin biosynthesized by isolated cells of pars intermedia and pars distalis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gianoulakis, C.; Seidah, N.G.; Routhier, R.; Chretien, M.

1980-01-01

Rats pars intermedia cells were incubated for 3 h with the following amino-acids: a) 35 S-methionine and 3 H-phenylalamine; b) 3 H-valine; and c) 3 H-valine and 3 H-lysine. Radioactive gamma-lipotropin, beta-lipotropin and beta-endorphin were purified on carboxy- methyl-cellulose and characterized by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis af pH 4.5, molecular weight estimation and microsequencing. Rat gamma-lipotropin was shown to differ slightly from ovine gamma-lipotropin in its NH 2 -terminal amino acid sequence, in containing no methionine and having phenylalanine at position 6, valine at positions 13 and 27, and lysine at position 20. The same variations were observed in the sequence of rat beta-lipotropin, while rat beta-endorphin was shown to be identical to the ovine beta-endorphin. Following a 3-h pulse of rat pars distalis, the cells were extracted with care to avoid beta-lipotropin degradation by proteolytic enzymes. A peptide was purified and identified to be rat beta-endorphin, thus demonstrating that beta-endorphin is biosynthesized in pars distalis and is not an extraction artifact. (author)

El factor de crecimiento transformante beta como blanco terapéutico Transforming growth factor-beta as a therapeutic target

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Javier Gálvez-Gastélum

2004-08-01

Full Text Available El factor de crecimiento transformante beta (TGF-beta es una familia de proteínas que incluye al TGF-beta, activinas y a la proteína morfogénica de hueso (BMP, por sus siglas en inglés, citocinas que son secretadas y se relacionan estructuralmente en diferentes especies de metazoarios. Los miembros de la familia del TGF-beta regulan diferentes funciones celulares como proliferación, apoptosis, diferenciación, migración, y tienen un papel clave en el desarrollo del organismo. El TGF-beta está implicado en varias patologías humanas, incluyendo desórdenes autoinmunes y vasculares, así como enfermedades fibróticas y cáncer. La activación del receptor del TGF-beta propicia su fosforilación en residuos de serina/treonina y dispara la fosforilación de proteínas efectoras intracelulares (smad, que una vez activas se translocan al núcleo para inducir la transcripción de genes blanco, y así regular procesos y funciones celulares. Se están desarrollando novedosas estrategias terapéuticas encaminadas a corregir las alteraciones presentes en patologías que involucran al TGF-beta como actor principal.Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta family members include TGF-beta, activins, and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP. These proteins are structurally related cytokines secreted in diverse Metazoans. TGF-beta family members regulate cellular functions such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and migration, and play an important role in organism development. Deregulated TGF-beta family signaling participates in various human pathologies including auto-immune diseases, vascular disorders, fibrotic disease, and cancer. Ligand-induced activation of TGF-beta family receptors with intrinsic serine/threonine kinase activity, triggers phosphorylation of the intracellular effectors of TGF-beta signaling, the Smads proteins. Once these proteins are activated they translocate into the nucleus, where they induce transcription of target

Neutrinoless double beta decay with 82SeF6 and direct ion imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Nygren, D. R.; Jones, B. J. P.; López-March, N.; Mei, Y.; Psihas, F.; Renner, J.

2018-03-01

We present a new neutrinoless double beta decay concept: the high pressure selenium hexafluoride gas time projection chamber. A promising new detection technique is outlined which combines techniques pioneered in high pressure xenon gas, such as topological discrimination, with the high Q-value afforded by the double beta decay isotope 82Se. The lack of free electrons in SeF6 mandates the use of an ion TPC. The microphysics of ion production and drift, which have many nuances, are explored. Background estimates are presented, suggesting that such a detector may achieve background indices of better than 1 count per ton per year in the region of interest at the 100 kg scale, and still better at the ton-scale.

Supplementation with beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) and alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (KIC) reduces signs and symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage in man.

Science.gov (United States)

van Someren, Ken A; Edwards, Adam J; Howatson, Glyn

2005-08-01

This study examined the effects of beta-hydroxyl-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) and alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (KIC) supplementation on signs and symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage following a single bout of eccentrically biased resistance exercise. Six non-resistance trained male subjects performed an exercise protocol designed to induce muscle damage on two separate occasions, performed on the dominant or non-dominant arm in a counter-balanced crossover design. Subjects were assigned to an HMB/KIC (3 g HMB and 0.3 g alpha-ketoisocaproic acid, daily) or placebo treatment for 14 d prior to exercise in the counter-balanced crossover design. One repetition maximum (1RM), plasma creatine kinase activity (CK), delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), limb girth, and range of motion (ROM) were determined pre-exercise, at 1h, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h post-exercise. DOMS and the percentage changes in 1RM, limb girth, and ROM all changed over the 72 h period (P HMB//IC supplementation attenuated the CK response, the percentage decrement in 1RM, and the percentage increase in limb girth (P HMB/KIC treatment. In conclusion, 14 d of HMB and KIC supplementation reduced signs and symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage in non-resistance trained males following a single bout of eccentrically biased resistance exercise.

Beta particle measurement fundamentals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez, J.L.

1986-01-01

The necessary concepts for understanding beta particle behavior are stopping power, range, and scattering. Dose as a consequence of beta particle interaction with tissue can be derived and explained by these concepts. Any calculations of dose, however, assume or require detailed knowledge of the beta spectrum at the tissue depth of calculation. A rudimentary knowledge of the incident spectrum can be of use in estimating dose, interpretating dose measuring devices and designing protection. The stopping power and range based on the csda will give a conservative estimate in cases of protection design, as scattering will reduce the range. Estimates of dose may be low because scattering effects were neglected

100% noninductive operation at high beta using off-axis ECCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, M.; Greenfield, C.M.; Wade, M.R.

2005-01-01

The Advanced Tokamak (AT) program on DIII-D is developing the scientific basis for steady-state, high-performance operation in future devices. The key element of the program is to demonstrate sustainment of 100% noninductive current for several seconds at high beta. Guided by integrated modeling, recent experiments using up to 2.5 MW of off-axis electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) and up to 15 MW neutral beam injection (NBI) with q 95 ∼ 5 have sustained ∼ 100% of the plasma current noninductively for 1 s at high beta (β ∼ 3.6%, β N ∼ 3.4, above the no-wall limit) with q min ≥ 1.5 and good confinement (H 89 ∼ 2.3). Integrated modeling using both empirical and theory-based models is used to design experiments and to interpret their results. These experiments have achieved the parameters required for the ITER Q=5 steady-state scenario, and the same modeling tools are applied to ITER AT scenario development. (author)

100% NONINDUCTIVE OPERATION AT HIGH BETA USING OFF-AXIS ECCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MURAKAMI, M.; GREENFIELD, C.M.; WADE, M.R.; LUCE, T.C.; FERRON, J.R.; ST JOHN, H.E.; MAKOWSKI, M.A.; AUSTIN, M.E.; ALLEN, S.L.; BRENNAN, D.P.; BURRELL, K.H.; CASPER, T.A.; DeBOO, J.C.; DOYLE, E.J.; GAROFALO, A.M.; GOHIL, P.; GORELOV, I.A.; GOEBNER, R.J.; HOBIRK, J.; HYATT, A.W.; JAYAKUMAR, R.J.; KAJIWARA, K.; KESSEL, C.E.; KINSEY, J.E.; LA HAYE, R.J.; KIM, J.Y.; LAO, L.L.; LOHR, J.; MENARD, J.E.; PETTY, C.C.; PETRIE, T.W.; PINSKER, R.I.; POLITZER, P.A.; PRATER, R.; RHODES, T.L.; SIPS, A.C.C.; STAEBLER, G.M.; TAYLOR, T.S.; WANG, G.; WEST, W.P.; ZENG, L.

2004-01-01

The Advanced Tokamak (AT) program on DIII-D is developing the scientific basis for steady-state, high-performance operation in future devices. The key element of the program is to demonstrate sustainment of 100% noninductive current for several seconds at high beta. Guided by integrated modeling, recent experiments using up to 2.5 MW of off-axis electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) and up to 15 MW neutral beam injection (NBI) with q 95 ∼ 5 have sustained ∼ 100% of the plasma current noninductively for 1 s at high beta (β ∼ 3.6%, β N ∼ 3.4, above the no-wall limit) with q min (ge) 1.5 and good confinement (H 89 ∼ 2.3). Integrated modeling using both empirical and theory-based models is used to design experiments and to interpret their results. These experiments have achieved the parameters required for the ITER Q=5 steady-state scenario, and the same modeling tools are applied to ITER AT scenario development

Generating Low Beta Regions with Quadrupoles for Final Muon Cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Acosta, J. G. [Mississippi U.; Cremaldi, L. M. [Mississippi U.; Hart, T. L. [Mississippi U.; Oliveros, S. J. [Mississippi U.; Summers, D. J. [Mississippi U.; Neuffer, D. V. [Fermilab

2017-05-01

Muon beams and colliders are rich sources of new physics, if muons can be cooled. A normalized rms transverse muon emittance of 280 microns has been achieved in simulation with short solenoids and a betatron function of 3 cm. Here we use ICOOL, G4beamline, and MAD-X to explore using a 400 MeV/c muon beam and strong focusing quadrupoles to approach a normalized transverse emittance of 100 microns and finish 6D muon cooling. The low beta regions produced by the quadrupoles are occupied by dense, low Z absorbers, such as lithium hydride or beryllium, that cool the beam. Equilibrium transverse emittance is linearly proportional to the beta function. Reverse emittance exchange with septa and/or wedges is then used to decrease transverse emittance from 100 to 25 microns at the expense of longitudinal emittance for a high energy lepton collider. Work remains to be done on chromaticity correction.

Direct ethanol production from barley beta-glucan by sake yeast displaying Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase and endoglucanase.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotaka, Atsushi; Bando, Hiroki; Kaya, Masahiko; Kato-Murai, Michiko; Kuroda, Kouichi; Sahara, Hiroshi; Hata, Yoji; Kondo, Akihiko; Ueda, Mitsuyoshi

2008-06-01

Three beta-glucosidase- and two endoglucanase-encoding genes were cloned from Aspergillus oryzae, and their gene products were displayed on the cell surface of the sake yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae GRI-117-UK. GRI-117-UK/pUDB7 displaying beta-glucosidase AO090009000356 showed the highest activity against various substrates and efficiently produced ethanol from cellobiose. On the other hand, GRI-117-UK/pUDCB displaying endoglucanase AO090010000314 efficiently degraded barley beta-glucan to glucose and smaller cellooligosaccharides. GRI-117-UK/pUDB7CB codisplaying both beta-glucosidase AO090009000356 and endoglucanase AO090010000314 was constructed. When direct ethanol fermentation from 20 g/l barley beta-glucan as a model substrate was performed with the codisplaying strain, the ethanol concentration reached 7.94 g/l after 24 h of fermentation. The conversion ratio of ethanol from beta-glucan was 69.6% of the theoretical ethanol concentration produced from 20 g/l barley beta-glucan. These results showed that sake yeast displaying A. oryzae cellulolytic enzymes can be used to produce ethanol from cellulosic materials. Our constructs have higher ethanol production potential than the laboratory constructs previously reported.

Approximate maximum parsimony and ancestral maximum likelihood.

Science.gov (United States)

Alon, Noga; Chor, Benny; Pardi, Fabio; Rapoport, Anat

2010-01-01

We explore the maximum parsimony (MP) and ancestral maximum likelihood (AML) criteria in phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Both problems are NP-hard, so we seek approximate solutions. We formulate the two problems as Steiner tree problems under appropriate distances. The gist of our approach is the succinct characterization of Steiner trees for a small number of leaves for the two distances. This enables the use of known Steiner tree approximation algorithms. The approach leads to a 16/9 approximation ratio for AML and asymptotically to a 1.55 approximation ratio for MP.

Analysis of interleukin (IL)-1 beta and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta-induced signal transduction pathways in IL-2 and TGF-beta secretion and proliferation in the thymoma cell line EL4.NOB-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Siese, A; Jaros, P P; Willig, A

1999-02-01

In the present study we investigated the interleukin (IL)-1beta and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)-mediated proliferation, and production of IL-2 and TGF-beta, in the murine T-cell line, EL4.NOB-1. This cell line is resistant to TGF-beta concerning growth arrest but not autoinduction or suppression of IL-1-induced IL-2 production. When cocultured with IL-1beta, TGF-beta showed growth-promoting activity that could be antagonized by adding the phosphatidyl choline-dependent phospholipase C (PC-PLC) inhibitor, D609. Using specific enzyme inhibitors of protein kinases (PK) C and A, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), phosphatidylinositol-dependent (PI)-PLC and PC-PLC, we showed that IL-1beta-induced IL-2 synthesis was dependent on all investigated kinases and phospholipases, except PC-PLC. TGF-beta1 was able to inhibit IL-2 synthesis by the activation of PKA and MAPK. The same kinases are involved in TGF-beta autoinduction that is accompanied by a secretion of the active but not the latent growth factor and is antagonized by IL-1beta. Addition of the PI-PLC inhibitor, ET 18OCH3, or the PLA2 inhibitor (quinacrine) alone, resulted in secretion of latent TGF-beta and, in the case of ET 18OCH3, active TGF-beta. These data implicate a role for PI-PLC and PLA2 in the control of latency and secretion. Analysis of specific tyrosine activity and c-Fos expression showed synergistic but no antagonistic effects. These events are therefore not involved in IL- and TGF-beta-regulated IL-2 and TGF-beta production, but might participate in IL-1/TGF-beta-induced growth promotion.

Monitor for alpha beta contamination of hands; Moniteur de contamination alpha beta des mains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guitton, J

1958-07-01

The following specifications of hands alpha beta contamination monitor are presented: the position of the hands, the detection and separation of alpha and beta, the information processing, the programming, the results presentation and general characteristics. (A.L.B.)

Radiosynthesis of F-18 labeled cytidine analog 2'-fluoro-5-iodo-l-{beta}-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine ([{sup 18}F]FIAC)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, C.-Y.; Chan, P.-C.; Chang, W.-T. [Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, 155, Li-Nong Street, Sector 2, Bei-tou, Taipei 112, Taiwan (China); Liu, R.-S. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan (China); Department of Nuclear Medicine and National PET/Cyclotron Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan (China); Alauddin, Mian M. [Department of Experimental Diagnostic Imagiing, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas (United States); Wang, H-E. [Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, 155, Li-Nong Street, Sector 2, Bei-tou, Taipei 112, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: hewang@ym.edu.tw

2009-07-15

We reported the synthesis of 2'-deoxy-2'-[{sup 18}F]fluoro-5-iodo-1-{beta}-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-iodo-cytosine ([{sup 18}F]FIAC) with 15-20% radiochemical yield (decay corrected) in 3.5 h. 2-deoxy-2-[{sup 18}F]fluoro-1,3,5-tri-O-benzoyl-{alpha}-D-arabinofuranose was prepared following literature procedures with some modifications (yield>70%). The {sup 18}F-fluorosugar was converted to 1-bromo-{sup 18}F-fluorosugar, and then coupled with 5-iodocytocine silyl ether. A mixture of acetonitrile (ACN) and 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) were employed to achieve optimum radiochemical yield and acceptable {beta}-anomer selectivity ({alpha}/{beta}=1/3). After hydrolyzed with sodium methoxide, the crude product was purified using HPLC to afford the {beta}-[{sup 18}F]FIAC with high radiochemical purity ({>=}98%)

Gallium Arsenide detectors for X-ray and electron (beta particle) spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Lioliou, G.; Barnett, A. M.

2016-11-01

Results characterizing GaAs p+-i-n+ mesa photodiodes with a 10 μm i layer for their spectral response under illumination of X-rays and beta particles are presented. A total of 22 devices, having diameters of 200 μm and 400 μm, were electrically characterized at room temperature. All devices showed comparable characteristics with a measured leakage current ranging from 4 nA/cm2 to 67 nA/cm2 at an internal electric field of 50 kV/cm. Their unintentionally doped i layers were found to be almost fully depleted at 0 V due to their low doping density. 55Fe X-ray spectra were obtained using one 200 μm diameter device and one 400 μm diameter device. The best energy resolution (FWHM at 5.9 keV) achieved was 625 eV using the 200 μm and 740 eV using the 400 μm diameter device, respectively. Noise analysis showed that the limiting factor for the energy resolution of the system was the dielectric noise; if this noise was eliminated by better design of the front end of the readout electronics, the achievable resolution would be 250 eV. 63Ni beta particle spectra obtained using the 200 μm diameter device showed the potential utility of these detectors for electron and beta particle detection. The development of semiconductor electron spectrometers is important particularly for space plasma physics; such devices may find use in future space missions to study the plasma environment of Jupiter and Europa and the predicted electron impact excitation of water vapor plumes from Europa hypothesized as a result of recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV observations.

Beta-structures in fibrous proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Kajava, Andrey V; Squire, John M; Parry, David A D

2006-01-01

The beta-form of protein folding, one of the earliest protein structures to be defined, was originally observed in studies of silks. It was then seen in early studies of synthetic polypeptides and, of course, is now known to be present in a variety of guises as an essential component of globular protein structures. However, in the last decade or so it has become clear that the beta-conformation of chains is present not only in many of the amyloid structures associated with, for example, Alzheimer's Disease, but also in the prion structures associated with the spongiform encephalopathies. Furthermore, X-ray crystallography studies have revealed the high incidence of the beta-fibrous proteins among virulence factors of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Here we describe the basic forms of the beta-fold, summarize the many different new forms of beta-structural fibrous arrangements that have been discovered, and review advances in structural studies of amyloid and prion fibrils. These and other issues are described in detail in later chapters.

Thermoluminescence characterization of CVD diamond film exposed to UV and beta radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barboza-Flores, M.; Melendrez, R.; Gastelum, S.; Chernov, V.; Bernal, R.; Cruz-Vazquez, C.; Brown, F.; Pedroza-Montero, M.; Gan, B.; Ahn, J.; Zhang, Q.; Yoon, S.F.

2003-01-01

Thermoluminescence (TL) properties of diamond films grown by microwave and hot filament CVD techniques were studied. The main purpose of the present work was to characterize the thermoluminescence response of diamond films to ultraviolet and beta radiation. The thermoluminescence excitation spectrum exhibits maximum TL efficiency around 210-215 nm. All samples presented a glow curve composed of at least one TL peak and showed regions of linear as well as supralinear behavior as a function or irradiation dose. The linear dose dependence was found for up to sixteen minutes of monochromatic UV irradiation and 300 Gy for beta irradiated samples. The activation energy and the frequency factor were determined and found in the range of 0.33-1.7 eV and 5.44 x 10 2 -5.67 x 10 16 s -1 , respectively. The observed TL performance is reasonable appropriate to justify further investigation of diamond films as radiation dosimeters keeping in mind that diamond is an ideal TL dosemeter since it is tissue-equivalent and biological compatible. (copyright 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Partitioning diversity into independent alpha and beta components.

Science.gov (United States)

Jost, Lou

2007-10-01

Existing general definitions of beta diversity often produce a beta with a hidden dependence on alpha. Such a beta cannot be used to compare regions that differ in alpha diversity. To avoid misinterpretation, existing definitions of alpha and beta must be replaced by a definition that partitions diversity into independent alpha and beta components. Such a unique definition is derived here. When these new alpha and beta components are transformed into their numbers equivalents (effective numbers of elements), Whittaker's multiplicative law (alpha x beta = gamma) is necessarily true for all indices. The new beta gives the effective number of distinct communities. The most popular similarity and overlap measures of ecology (Jaccard, Sorensen, Horn, and Morisita-Horn indices) are monotonic transformations of the new beta diversity. Shannon measures follow deductively from this formalism and do not need to be borrowed from information theory; they are shown to be the only standard diversity measures which can be decomposed into meaningful independent alpha and beta components when community weights are unequal.

Formation of hydrogen fluoride by gamma and beta sterilisation in medical devices containing perfluoroheptane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuendorf, Josef; Kremer, Stefan; Grueger, Thomas

2008-01-01

Infusion of hexadecafluoroheptane, a liquid perfluorocarbon released from repaired Althane dialysers was found to be the most probable reason for the deaths of 53 dialysis patients reported in the year 2001. This study focuses on toxic decomposition products generated due to gamma and beta sterilisation of hexadecafluoroheptane. The responsible dialysers were sterilised with a maximum dose of 45 kGy gamma irradiation. We investigated the influence of both 20-500 kGy gamma and beta irradiation on perfluoroheptane. Analysis of the irradiated samples verified the decomposition of perfluoroheptane in dependence on the dose of irradiation. Beta irradiation resulted in a higher degree of decomposition than the same dose of gamma irradiation. As decomposition products, hydrogen fluoride, CO 2 , and one saturated fluorinated hydrocarbon which could not be analysed exactly were identified. Even at 20 kGy gamma irradiation hydrogen fluoride was detectable. Our results provide evidence that hydrogen fluoride is generated as a highly toxic decomposition product when perfluoroheptane is sterilised with gamma irradiation as it was applied on the affected dialysers. There is no evidence of other toxic degradation products especially perfluoroisobutylene. Therefore, hydrogen fluoride or the dissociated fluoride ions might act as a toxic agent when medical devices containing liquid perfluorocarbons are sterilised by irradiation

Review of present beta dosimetry problems in radiation protection; to day's answers and future trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fracas, P.

1986-01-01

The large use of pure beta radionuclides needs to be develop beta dosimetry methods for radiation protection. The different types of present dosimetry assessments are reviewed. In all the cases the quantity to take into account is the absorbed dose rate in human tissus and more particularly in skin. In the case of point sources of known nature and activity this quantity can be worked out. This calculation is achieved either by incident beta spectrum analysis or theoretical considerations based on Kernel point. The absorbed dose rate can also be measured by extrapolation ionization chamber which characteristics and working are detailed here. All present survey meter were not initially planned for such a beta dosimetry, as this performed with the extrapolation ionization chamber which is taken here as a reference. So responses of usual dosimeters compared to this reference need to be estimated. Responses of personal film badges used in CEA, portable ionization chambers as babyline, pocket dosimeters SEQ7 and the thermoluminescent dosimeters TLD700 are exposed here. Results show that all these survey meters are not completely suitable for routine beta dosimetry. Consequently other operational dosimetry techniques have to be pursued. In particular some thermoluminescence dosimeters for instance boron diffused in surface layer and multi-elements, and furthermore Thermally Stimulated Exoelectron Emission (TSEE) and surface barrier detectors are described [fr

Maximum Power Point Tracking of Photovoltaic System for Traffic Light Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riza Muhida

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Photovoltaic traffic light system is a significant application of renewable energy source. The development of the system is an alternative effort of local authority to reduce expenditure for paying fees to power supplier which the power comes from conventional energy source. Since photovoltaic (PV modules still have relatively low conversion efficiency, an alternative control of maximum power point tracking (MPPT method is applied to the traffic light system. MPPT is intended to catch up the maximum power at daytime in order to charge the battery at the maximum rate in which the power from the battery is intended to be used at night time or cloudy day. MPPT is actually a DC-DC converter that can step up or down voltage in order to achieve the maximum power using Pulse Width Modulation (PWM control. From experiment, we obtained the voltage of operation using MPPT is at 16.454 V, this value has error of 2.6%, if we compared with maximum power point voltage of PV module that is 16.9 V. Based on this result it can be said that this MPPT control works successfully to deliver the power from PV module to battery maximally.

Surgical management of macular holes: results using gas tamponade alone, or in combination with autologous platelet concentrate, or transforming growth factor beta 2.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Minihan, M

2012-02-03

BACKGROUND: Vitrectomy and gas tamponade has become a recognised technique for the treatment of macular holes. In an attempt to improve the anatomic and visual success of the procedure, various adjunctive therapies--cytokines, serum, and platelets--have been employed. A consecutive series of 85 eyes which underwent macular hole surgery using gas tamponade alone, or gas tamponade with either the cytokine transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF-beta 2) or autologous platelet concentrate is reported. METHODS: Twenty eyes had vitrectomy and 20% SF6 gas tamponade; 15 had vitrectomy, 20% SF6 gas, and TGF-beta 2; 50 had vitrectomy, 16% C3F8 gas tamponade, and 0.1 ml of autologous platelet concentrate prepared during the procedure. RESULTS: Anatomic success occurred in 86% of eyes, with 96% of the platelet treated group achieving closure of the macular hole. Visual acuity improved by two lines or more in 65% of the SF6 only group, 33% of those treated with TGF-beta 2 and in 74% of the platelet treated group. In the platelet treated group 40% achieved 6\\/12 or better and 62% achieved 6\\/18 or better. The best visual results were obtained in stage 2 holes. CONCLUSION: Vitrectomy for macular holes is often of benefit and patients may recover good visual acuity, especially early in the disease process. The procedure has a number of serious complications, and the postoperative posturing requirement is difficult. Patients need to be informed of such concerns before surgery.

Conditional Betas and Investor Uncertainty

OpenAIRE

Fernando D. Chague

2013-01-01

We derive theoretical expressions for market betas from a rational expectation equilibrium model where the representative investor does not observe if the economy is in a recession or an expansion. Market betas in this economy are time-varying and related to investor uncertainty about the state of the economy. The dynamics of betas will also vary across assets according to the assets' cash-flow structure. In a calibration exercise, we show that value and growth firms have cash-flow structures...

[{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP is superior to [{sup 11}C]{beta}-CIT-FP for quantitation of the dopamine transporter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lundkvist, Camilla; Halldin, Christer; Ginovart, Nathalie; Swahn, Carl-Gunnar; Farde, Lars

1997-10-01

{beta}-CIT-FP [N-(3-fluoropropyl)-2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane] is a cocaine analogue with high affinity for the dopamine transporter. Positron emission tomography (PET) studies with [O-methyl-{sup 11}C]{beta}-CIT-FP ([{sup 11}C]{beta}-CIT-FP) has shown that equilibrium conditions were approached but, however, not reached at the end of measurement. Moreover, metabolite studies of [{sup 11}C]{beta}-CIT-FP in monkey plasma demonstrated a lipophilic-labelled metabolite that may enter the brain. We therefore labelled {beta}-CIT-FP with fluorine-18 in a position that may avoid the formation of labelled lipophilic metabolites. The more long-lived radionuclide ({sup 18}F) was used to allow for measurements over longer time. [N-fluoropropyl-{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP ([{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP) was prepared by N-alkylation of nor-{beta}-CIT with [{sup 18}F]fluoropropyl bromide. PET studies were performed in cynomolgus monkeys. [{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP entered the brain rapidly. There was a high concentration of radioactivity in the striatum and much lower in the thalamus, neocortex, and cerebellum. The striatum-to-cerebellum ratio was about 5 at time of transient equilibrium, which occurred after 60 to 100 min. After pretreatment with GBR 12909, radioactivity in the striatum was markedly reduced, thus indicating specific [{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP binding to the dopamine transporter. The fraction of unchanged [{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP determined by HPLC was 10-15% after 140 min. No lipophilic labelled metabolites were detected. The absence of measurable lipophilic labelled metabolites and the occurrence of transient equilibrium within the time of the PET measurement indicate that [{sup 18}F]{beta}-CIT-FP is superior to [{sup 11}C]{beta}-CIT-FP as a PET radioligand for quantification of the dopamine transporter in the human brain.

Reduced beta-adrenergic receptor activation decreases G-protein expression and beta-adrenergic receptor kinase activity in porcine heart.

OpenAIRE

Ping, P; Gelzer-Bell, R; Roth, D A; Kiel, D; Insel, P A; Hammond, H K

1995-01-01

To determine whether beta-adrenergic receptor agonist activation influences guanosine 5'-triphosphate-binding protein (G-protein) expression and beta-adrenergic receptor kinase activity in the heart, we examined the effects of chronic beta 1-adrenergic receptor antagonist treatment (bisoprolol, 0.2 mg/kg per d i.v., 35 d) on components of the myocardial beta-adrenergic receptor-G-protein-adenylyl cyclase pathway in porcine myocardium. Three novel alterations in cardiac adrenergic signaling as...

The {beta}-decay Paul trap: A radiofrequency-quadrupole ion trap for precision {beta}-decay studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scielzo, N.D., E-mail: scielzo1@llnl.gov [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Li, G. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T8 (Canada); Sternberg, M.G.; Savard, G. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States); Bertone, P.F. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Buchinger, F. [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T8 (Canada); Caldwell, S. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States); Clark, J.A. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Crawford, J. [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T8 (Canada); Deibel, C.M. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 (United States); Fallis, J. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2 (Canada); Greene, J.P. [Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); and others

2012-07-21

The {beta}-decay Paul trap is a linear radiofrequency-quadrupole ion trap that has been developed for precision {beta}-decay studies. The design of the trap electrodes allows a variety of radiation detectors to surround the cloud of trapped ions. The momentum of the low-energy recoiling daughter nuclei following {beta} decay is negligibly perturbed by scattering and is available for study. This advantageous property of traps allows the kinematics of particles that are difficult or even impossible to directly detect to be precisely reconstructed using conservation of energy and momentum. An ion-trap system offers several advantages over atom traps, such as higher trapping efficiencies and element-independent capabilities. The first precision experiment using this system is a measurement of {beta}-decay angular correlations in the decay of {sup 8}Li performed by inferring the momentum of the neutrino from the kinematic shifts imparted to the breakup {alpha} particles. Many other {beta}-decay studies that would benefit from a determination of the nuclear recoil can be performed with this system.

Verification of a simple method to achieve alpha/beta separation in LSC for the case of urine samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oestergren, Inger; Norrlid, Lilian; Wallberg, Lena

2008-01-01

Full text: As a part of the national Swedish network of laboratories in emergency response and preparedness, the radio-analytical laboratory of the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI) should provide with fast and reliable measurements. To this purpose, Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) offers the advantages of reduced time for sample preparation, zero sample self-absorption, simultaneously measurement of alpha and beta emitters and high efficiency. The LSC detection system at SSI is a Quantulus 1220, which is a system permitting pulses produced by alpha and beta radiation to be discriminated when adjusting the software parameter Pulse Shape Analysis (PSA). Previously, different authors have found that the dependency of the optimum PSA on scintillation/vial combination is negligible in front of the strong influence of the sample quenching. Also the optimum PSA parameter is found according to each sample quench level, so as the composition of a standard and a real sample should be as close as possible. When handling samples of variable quenching levels, like for example urine, two possibilities have been suggested: 1) To determine the degree of quench in a short count of the samples and then use individual optimum PSA for each sample counting protocol; or 2) To have alpha and beta standards equivalent in quenching to the least quenched sample, determine PSA and quench the standards progressively. Then the percent of total interference is obtained as a function of the quench parameter for a single PSA setting, which permits the samples to be counted with the same protocol and a correction for interference can be applied afterwards. The case of urine is interesting since it is 95 % water but it may contain traces of amino acids and varying amounts of electrolytes, depending upon dietary intake. In this paper we applied number 2. The standards have been quenched to simulate human urine quench levels. The aim is to obtain the look-up table for the percent of

Adverse CNS-effects of beta-adrenoceptor blockers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gleiter, C H; Deckert, J

1996-11-01

In 1962 propranolol, the first beta adrenoceptor antagonist (beta blocker), was brought on to the market. There is now a host of different beta blockers available, and these compounds are among the most commonly prescribed groups of drugs. The efficacy of beta blockers has been proven predominantly for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Beta blockers are also used for certain types of CNS disorders, such as anxiety disorders, essential tremor and migraine. While low toxicity means that they have a favorable risk-benefit ratio, given the high intensity of use, it is essential to have a comprehensive knowledge of adverse events. Adverse events of beta blockers that can be related to the CNS are quite often neglected, even in textbooks of clinical pharmacology or review articles, and thus often misdiagnosed. The following article, therefore, after summarizing the use of beta blockers for CNS indications, critically reviews the literature on centrally mediated adverse events. General pharmacological features of beta blockers and their molecular basis of action will briefly be addressed to the extent that they are or may become relevant for central nervous pharmacotherapy and side-effects.

Determining the Surfactant Consistent with Concrete in order to Achieve the Maximum Possible Dispersion of Multi walled Carbon Nano tubes in Keeping the Plain Concrete Properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adresi, M.; Hassani, A.; Javadian, S.; Tulliani, J. M.

2016-01-01

A new surfactant combination compatible with concrete formulation is proposed to avoid unwanted air bubbles created during mixing process in the absence of a defoamer and to achieve the uniform and the maximum possible dispersion of multi walled carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs) in water and subsequently in concrete. To achieve this goal, three steps have been defined: (1) concrete was made with different types and amount of surfactants containing a constant amount of MWCNTs (0.05 wt%) and the air bubbles were eliminated with a proper defoamer. (2) Finding a compatible surfactant with concrete compositions and eliminating unwanted air bubbles in the absence of a common defoamer are of fundamental importance to significantly increase concrete mechanical properties. In this step, the results showed that the poly carboxylate super plasticizer (SP-C) (as a compatible surfactant) dispersed MWCNTs worse than SDS/DTAB but unwanted air bubbles were removed, so the defoamer can be omitted in the mixing process. (3) To solve the problem, a new compatible surfactant composition was developed and different ratios of surfactants were tested and evaluated by means of performance criteria mentioned above. The results showed that the new surfactant composition (SDS and SP-C) can disperse MWCNTs around 24% more efficiently than the other surfactant compositions.

Analysis of alloys and salt solutions by 'beta'-ray back-scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bahadur, A; Maji, K D; Kumar, R [National Metallurgical Lab., Jamshedpur (India)

1975-07-01

This investigation reports the results of a study undertaken to assess the suitability of using the GM counter for measuring the intensity of ..beta..-backscattered radiation to determine the chemical composition of binary solid alloys, and aqueous salt solutions containing a metallic radical. The results indicate that the technique is not suitable for the determination of the composition of binary alloys since the error is in the range of 1.2 to 2.3 wt-% metal. The technique can be conveniently adapted for aqueous salt solutions where the maximum error is approximately 0.2 wt-% metal for metallic elements with atomic number greater than 20.

Interactions between beta subunits of the KCNMB family and Slo3: beta4 selectively modulates Slo3 expression and function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Tao Yang

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The pH and voltage-regulated Slo3 K(+ channel, a homologue of the Ca(2+- and voltage-regulated Slo1 K(+ channel, is thought to be primarily expressed in sperm, but the properties of Slo3 studied in heterologous systems differ somewhat from the native sperm KSper pH-regulated current. There is the possibility that critical partners that regulate Slo3 function remain unidentified. The extensive amino acid identity between Slo3 and Slo1 suggests that auxiliary beta subunits regulating Slo1 channels might coassemble with and modulate Slo3 channels. Four distinct beta subunits composing the KCNMB family are known to regulate the function and expression of Slo1 Channels.To examine the ability of the KCNMB family of auxiliary beta subunits to regulate Slo3 function, we co-expressed Slo3 and each beta subunit in heterologous expression systems and investigated the functional consequences by electrophysiological and biochemical analyses. The beta4 subunit produced an 8-10 fold enhancement of Slo3 current expression in Xenopus oocytes and a similar enhancement of Slo3 surface expression as monitored by YFP-tagged Slo3 or biotin labeled Slo3. Neither beta1, beta2, nor beta3 mimicked the ability of beta4 to increase surface expression, although biochemical tests suggested that all four beta subunits are competent to coassemble with Slo3. Fluorescence microscopy from beta4 KO mice, in which an eGFP tag replaced the deleted exon, revealed that beta4 gene promoter is active in spermatocytes. Furthermore, quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that beta4 and Slo3 exhibit comparable mRNA abundance in both testes and sperm.These results argue that, for native mouse Slo3 channels, the beta4 subunit must be considered as a potential interaction partner and, furthermore, that KCNMB subunits may have functions unrelated to regulation of the Slo1 alpha subunit.

Kinetics of beta2-microglobulin and phosphate during hemodialysis: effects of treatment frequency and duration.

Science.gov (United States)

Leypoldt, John K

2005-01-01

Current understanding of beta2-microglobulin (beta2M) and phosphate (or inorganic phosphorus) kinetics during hemodialysis is reviewed. The postdialysis:predialysis concentration ratio for beta2M is determined by dialyzer clearance for beta2M, treatment time, patient body size (specifically, extracellular fluid volume), and total ultrafiltration volume during the treatment. Evaluation of these treatment parameters can be used to calculate dialyzer clearance for beta2M; however, such calculated values are only approximations, since they neglect intradialytic generation, nonrenal (nondialyzer) clearance, and postdialysis rebound of beta2M. The detailed kinetics of beta2M during hemodialysis are best described using a two-compartment model. Theoretical predictions from such two-compartment models suggest that the product of dialyzer clearance for beta2M and weekly treatment duration, independent of treatment frequency, is the main determinant of plasma beta2M concentrations. The kinetics of phosphate removal during hemodialysis are incompletely understood. Phosphate is removed from both extracellular and intracellular compartments during hemodialysis; the plasma phosphate concentration levels off after the first 1 or 2 hours of treatment and plasma concentrations can rebound even before therapy is complete. Increases in dialyzer clearance of phosphate have been previously achieved only by increasing dialysis membrane surface area or by the use of hemodiafiltration. A four-compartment model of phosphate kinetics proposed recently by Spalding et al. suggests that the major barrier to phosphate removal is limited transfer of phosphate between the intracellular and extracellular compartments, although other complex factors also play important roles. Theoretical predictions using the model of Spalding et al. suggest that increasing either treatment frequency or treatment duration can increase phosphate removal. The kinetics of beta2M are representative of middle molecules

CISH has no non-redundant functions in glucose homeostasis or beta cell proliferation during pregnancy in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, Yang; Rieck, Sebastian; Le Lay, John; Kaestner, Klaus H

2013-11-01

Increased beta cell proliferation during pregnancy is mediated by the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (JAK2/STAT5) signalling pathway in response to increased lactogen levels. Activation of the pathway leads to transcriptional upregulation of Cish (encoding cytokine-inducible SH2 domain-containing protein), a member of the suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) family of genes, forming a negative-feedback loop. Here, we examined whether conditional gene ablation of Cish in the pancreas improves beta cell proliferation and beta cell function during pregnancy in mice. We derived mice with a novel, conditional loxP allele for Cish. Pancreas-specific ablation of Cish was achieved by crossing Cish (loxP/loxP) mice with Pdx1-Cre (Early) mice. Beta cell proliferation was quantified by BrdU labelling. Glucose homeostasis was examined with glucose tolerance tests and determination of plasma insulin levels. The expression of other Socs genes and target genes of p-STAT5 related to beta cell function and beta cell proliferation was determined by quantitative PCR. There was no difference in beta cell proliferation or glucose homeostasis between the Cish mutant group and the control group. The p-STAT5 protein level was the same in Cish mutant and control mice. Socs2 gene expression was higher in Cish mutant than control mice at pregnancy day 9.5. The expression of other Socs genes was the same between control and mutant mice. Our results show that CISH has no non-redundant functions in beta cell proliferation or glucose homeostasis during pregnancy in mice. Socs2 might compensate for the loss of Cish during pregnancy.

In vitro digestibility of beta-casein and beta-lactoglobulin under simulated human gastric and duodenal conditions: A multi-laboratory evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mandalari, G.; Adel-Patient, K.; Barkholt, Vibeke

2009-01-01

Initially the resistance to digestion of two cow's milk allergens, beta-casein, and beta-lactoglobulin (beta-Lg), was compared using a "high-protease assay" and a "low-protease assay" in a single laboratory. The low-protease assay represents an alternative standardised protocol mimicking conditions...... found in the gastrointestinal tract. For the high-protease assay, both proteins were incubated with either pepsin or pancreatin and digestion monitored by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography. The low-protease assay involved...... gastroduodenal digestion in the presence or absence of phosphatidylcholine (PC). Both beta-casein and beta-Lg were susceptible to hydrolysis by pepsin and pancreatin in the high-protease assay. In contrast, the kinetics of beta-casein digestion in the low-protease assay were slower, beta-Lg being pepsin...

Murrayafoline A attenuates the Wnt/{beta}-catenin pathway by promoting the degradation of intracellular {beta}-catenin proteins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Hyuk; Gwak, Jungsug; Cho, Munju; Ryu, Min-Jung [PharmacoGenomics Research Center, Inje University, Busan 614-735 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jee-Hyun; Kim, Sang Kyum; Kim, Young Ho [College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Gye Won [Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Konyang University, Nonsan 320-711 (Korea, Republic of); Yun, Mi-Young [Department of Beauty Health Care, Daejeon University, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of); Cuong, Nguyen Manh [Institute of Natural Products Chemistry, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Shin, Jae-Gook [PharmacoGenomics Research Center, Inje University, Busan 614-735 (Korea, Republic of); Song, Gyu-Yong, E-mail: gysong@cnu.ac.kr [College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Sangtaek, E-mail: ohsa@inje.ac.kr [PharmacoGenomics Research Center, Inje University, Busan 614-735 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-01-01

Molecular lesions in Wnt/{beta}-catenin signaling and subsequent up-regulation of {beta}-catenin response transcription (CRT) occur frequently during the development of colon cancer. To identify small molecules that suppress CRT, we screened natural compounds in a cell-based assay for detection of TOPFalsh reporter activity. Murrayafoline A, a carbazole alkaloid isolated from Glycosmis stenocarpa, antagonized CRT that was stimulated by Wnt3a-conditioned medium (Wnt3a-CM) or LiCl, an inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3{beta} (GSK-3{beta}), and promoted the degradation of intracellular {beta}-catenin without altering its N-terminal phosphorylation at the Ser33/37 residues, marking it for proteasomal degradation, or the expression of Siah-1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Murrayafoline A repressed the expression of cyclin D1 and c-myc, which is known {beta}-catenin/T cell factor (TCF)-dependent genes and thus inhibited the proliferation of various colon cancer cells. These findings indicate that murrayafoline A may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for use in the treatment of colon cancer.

Coexistence of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors in the rabbit heart: quantitative analysis of the regional distribution by (-)-/sup 3/H-dihydroalprenolol binding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brodde, O.E.; Leifert, F.J.; Krehl, H.J.

1982-01-01

We determined the amount of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors in right and left atria and ventricles of rabbits. For this purpose inhibition of specific (-)-/sup 3/H-dihydroalprenolol ((-)-/sup 3/H-DHA) binding (5 nM) by beta 1-selective (practolol, metoprolol) and beta 2-selective (zinterol, IPS 339) adrenergic drugs was determined and analyzed by pseudo-Scatchard (Hofstee) plots. For both atria, inhibition of binding by the four selective beta-adrenergic drugs resulted in non-linear Hofstee plots, suggesting the coexistence of both beta-adrenoceptor subtypes. From these plots we calculated a beta 1:beta 2-adrenoceptor ratio of 72:28 for the right atrium and of 82:18 for the left. In contrast, only a very small amount of beta 2-adrenoceptors (approximately 5-7% of the total beta-adrenoceptor population) could be detected in the ventricles. For comparison we analyzed the inhibition of specific (-)-/sup 3/H-DHA binding in tissues with homogeneous population of beta-adrenoceptors (beta 1:guinea pig left ventricle; beta 2: cerebellum of mature rats). For both tissues the four selective beta-adrenergic drugs showed linear Hofstee plots, demonstrating that in tissues with homogeneous beta-receptor population interaction of each drug with the receptor followed simple mass-action kinetics. We conclude that beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors coexist in rabbit atria while the ventricles are predominantly endowed the beta 1-adrenoceptors.

Development and applications of beta and near beta titanium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takemura, A.; Ohyama, H.; Nishimura, T.; Abumiya, T.

1993-01-01

In this report the authors introduced application of beta and near beta titanium alloys also development and processing of these alloys at Kobe Steel LTD. Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al is an alloy developed by Kobe Steel which has been applied for variety of sporting goods, also used as an erosion shield of steam turbine blades. Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al high strength wire for valve springs is under development. New beta alloys(Ti-V-Nb-Sn-Al) are under development which have lower flow stress at room temperature than Ti 15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al, expected to improve productivity of cold forging. NNS forging and thermo mechanical treatment of Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al were studied. Ti-10V-2Fe3Al steam turbine blades and structural parts for aircraft were developed. Fine grain cold strips of Ti 15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al are produced by annealing and pickling process. These cold strips are used for parts of a fishing rod

Beta lactam antibiotics residues in cow's milk: comparison of efficacy of three screening tests used in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Science.gov (United States)

Fejzic, Nihad; Begagic, Muris; Šerić-Haračić, Sabina; Smajlovic, Muhamed

2014-08-27

Beta lactam antibiotics are widely used in therapy of cattle, particularly for the treatment of mastitis.  Over 95% of residue testing in dairies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is for Beta lactams. The aim of this paper is to compare the efficacy of three most common screening tests for Beta lactam residues in cow's milk in our country. The tests used in the study are SNAP β Lactam test (Idexx), Rosa Charm β Lactam test and Inhibition MRL test. Study samples included: standardized concentrations of penicillin solution (0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ppb). In addition we tested milk samples from three equal size study groups (not receiving any antibiotic therapy, treated with Beta lactams for mastitis and treated with Beta lactams for diseases other than mastitis). Sensitivity and specificity were determined for each test, using standard penicillin concentrations with threshold value set at concentration of 4 ppb (Maximum residue level - MLR). Additionally we determined proportions of presumably false negative and false positive results for each test using results of filed samples testing. Agreement of test results for each test pair was assessed through Kappa coefficients interpreted by Landis-Koch scale. Detection level of all tests was shown to be well below MRL. This alongside with effects of natural inhibitors in milk contributed to finding of positive results in untreated and treated animals after the withholding period. Screening tests for beta lactam residues are important tools for ensuring that milk for human consumption is free from antibiotics residues.

Beta lactam antibiotics residues in cow's milk: comparison of efficacy of three screening tests used in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nihad Fejzic

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Beta lactam antibiotics are widely used in therapy of cattle, particularly for the treatment of mastitis.  Over 95% of residue testing in dairies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is for Beta lactams. The aim of this paper is to compare the efficacy of three most common screening tests for Beta lactam residues in cow’s milk in our country. The tests used in the study are SNAP β Lactam test (Idexx, Rosa Charm β Lactam test and Inhibition MRL test. Study samples included: standardized concentrations of penicillin solution (0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ppb. In addition we tested milk samples from three equal size study groups (not receiving any antibiotic therapy, treated with Beta lactams for mastitis and treated with Beta lactams for diseases other than mastitis. Sensitivity and specificity were determined for each test, using standard penicillin concentrations with threshold value set at concentration of 4 ppb (Maximum residue level – MLR. Additionally we determined proportions of presumably false negative and false positive results for each test using results of filed samples testing. Agreement of test results for each test pair was assessed through Kappa coefficients interpreted by Landis-Koch scale. Detection level of all tests was shown to be well below MRL. This alongside with effects of natural inhibitors in milk contributed to finding of positive results in untreated and treated animals after the withholding period. Screening tests for beta lactam residues are important tools for ensuring that milk for human consumption is free from antibiotics residues.

BETASCAN: probable beta-amyloids identified by pairwise probabilistic analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allen W Bryan

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Amyloids and prion proteins are clinically and biologically important beta-structures, whose supersecondary structures are difficult to determine by standard experimental or computational means. In addition, significant conformational heterogeneity is known or suspected to exist in many amyloid fibrils. Recent work has indicated the utility of pairwise probabilistic statistics in beta-structure prediction. We develop here a new strategy for beta-structure prediction, emphasizing the determination of beta-strands and pairs of beta-strands as fundamental units of beta-structure. Our program, BETASCAN, calculates likelihood scores for potential beta-strands and strand-pairs based on correlations observed in parallel beta-sheets. The program then determines the strands and pairs with the greatest local likelihood for all of the sequence's potential beta-structures. BETASCAN suggests multiple alternate folding patterns and assigns relative a priori probabilities based solely on amino acid sequence, probability tables, and pre-chosen parameters. The algorithm compares favorably with the results of previous algorithms (BETAPRO, PASTA, SALSA, TANGO, and Zyggregator in beta-structure prediction and amyloid propensity prediction. Accurate prediction is demonstrated for experimentally determined amyloid beta-structures, for a set of known beta-aggregates, and for the parallel beta-strands of beta-helices, amyloid-like globular proteins. BETASCAN is able both to detect beta-strands with higher sensitivity and to detect the edges of beta-strands in a richly beta-like sequence. For two proteins (Abeta and Het-s, there exist multiple sets of experimental data implying contradictory structures; BETASCAN is able to detect each competing structure as a potential structure variant. The ability to correlate multiple alternate beta-structures to experiment opens the possibility of computational investigation of prion strains and structural heterogeneity of amyloid

Specific radioimmunoassay of human. beta. -endorphin in unextracted plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiedemann, E. (Univ. of California, Berkeley); Saito, T.; Linfoot, J.A.; Li, C.H.

1979-09-01

With an antiserum against human ..beta..-endorphin (..beta..-EP) crossreacting <2% with human ..beta..-lipotropin (..beta..-LPH) by weight we have developed a radioimmunoassay that can detect 1 pg ..beta..-EP in diluted raw plasma. In a.m. fasting plasma of 14 normal subjects ..beta..-EP ranged from <5 to 45 pg/ml. ..beta..-EP was elevated in untreated, but normal in successfully treated Cushing's disease; undetectable in a patient with adrenal adenoma; extremely high in Nelson's syndrome; and elevated in a patient with bronchogenic carcinoma before, but undetectable after tumor resection. In subjects with intact hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, ..beta..-EP was undectectable after dexamethasone and increased after metyrapone administration and insulin-induced hypoglycemia. ..beta..-EP concentration was considerably lower in serum than in simultaneously collected plasma, but increased in serum left unfrozen for several hours after clot removal. Thus, ..beta..-EP behaves like a hormone responding to the same stimuli as ACTH and ..beta..-LPH and blood appears to contain enzymes both generating and destroying immunoreactive ..beta..-EP.

The potential role of SOCS-3 in the interleukin-1beta-induced desensitization of insulin signaling in pancreatic beta-cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Emanuelli, Brice; Glondu, Murielle; Filloux, Chantal

2004-01-01

insulin signaling is required for the optimal beta-cell function, we assessed the effect of IL-1beta on the insulin pathway in a rat pancreatic beta-cell line. We show that IL-1beta decreases insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS...

Molecular analysis of the beta-thalassemia phenotype associated with inheritance of hemoglobin E (alpha 2 beta2(26)Glu leads to Lys).

OpenAIRE

Benz, E J; Berman, B W; Tonkonow, B L; Coupal, E; Coates, T; Boxer, L A; Altman, A; Adams, J G

1981-01-01

Inheritance of the gene for betaE-globin is associated with hypochromia and microcytosis, reminiscent of typical heterozygous beta-thalassemia. Patients with hemoglobin (Hb)E-beta-thalassemia exhibit clinical phenotypes of severe beta-thalassemia, a circumstance not encountered in other compound heterozygous states for structural beta-chain mutations and beta-thalassemia. We have analyzed the kinetics of globin synthesis and the levels of globin messenger (m) RNA accumulation in patients with...

Automation of electrostatic and magnetic beta-spectrometers; Avtomatizatsiya ehlektrostaticheskogo i magnitnogo {beta}-spektrometra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sidorov, V T; Petev, P A

1996-12-31

Paper describes control units of voltage and current NM respectively, for electrostatic and magnetic beta-spectrometers. These units may be designed on the basis of either SPELMAN company voltage devider ensuring 0.5 accuracy or using a computer modification of feedback. Software for automated electrostatic beta-spectrometer made according to CAMAC standards is considered. 5 figs.

High beta radiation exposure of medical staff measures for optimisation of radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barth, I.; Rimpler, A.

2006-01-01

Full text of publication follows: New therapies applying beta radionuclides have been introduced in medicine in recent years, especially in nuclear medicine, e. g. radio-synoviorthesis, radioimmunotherapy and palliative pain therapy. The preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, their dispensary as well as injection require the handling of vials and syringes with high activities of beta emitters at small distances to the skin. Thus the medical staff may be exposed to a high level of beta radiation. Hence the local skin dose, Hp(0,07), was measured at these workplaces with thin-layer thermoluminescent dosemeters TLD (LiF:Mg,P,Cu) fixed to the tip of the fingers at both hands of the personnel. In addition, official beta/photon ring dosemeters were worn at the first knuckle of the index finger. Very high local skin doses were measured at the tip of index finger and thumb. The findings indicate that the exposure of the staff can exceed the annual dose limit for skin of 500 mSv when working at a low protection standard. By the use of appropriate shieldings and tools (e.g. tweezers or forceps) the exposure was reduced of more than one order of magnitude. The German dosimetry services provide official beta/photon ring dosemeters for routine monitoring of the extremity exposure of occupationally exposed persons. But even monitoring with these official dosemeters does not provide suitable results to control compliance with the dose limit in the majority of cases because they can mostly not be worn at the spot of highest beta exposure (finger tip). Therefore, a study was performed to identify the difference of readings of official ring dosemeters and the maximum local skin dose at the finger tips. At workplaces of radio-synoviorthesis a correction factor of 3 was determined provided that the staff worked at high radiation protection standard and the ring dosemeters were worn at the first knuckle of the index finger. The correction factor increases significantly when the radiation

Experiments on double beta decay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Busto, J [Neuchatel Univ. (Switzerland). Inst. de Physique

1996-11-01

The Double Beta Decay, and especially ({beta}{beta}){sub 0{nu}} mode, is an excellent test of Standard Model as well as of neutrino physics. From experimental point of view, a very large number of different techniques are or have been used increasing the sensitivity of this experiments quite a lot (the factor of 10{sup 4} in the last 20 years). In future, in spite of several difficulties, the sensitivity would be increased further, keeping the interest of this very important process. (author) 4 figs., 5 tabs., 21 refs.

Maternal and cord plasma concentrations of beta-lipotrophin, beta-endorphin and gamma-lipotrophin at delivery; effect of analgesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Browning, A J; Butt, W R; Lynch, S S; Shakespear, R A; Crawford, J S

1983-12-01

Maternal venous plasma concentrations of beta-LPH, beta-EP and gamma-LPH were compared in (i) patients undergoing vaginal delivery, 11 with an epidural block and 13 with pethidine and nitrous oxide or no analgesics; (ii) patients delivered by caesarean section, 7 under epidural block and 8 under general anaesthesia. Patients delivered by either method under epidural block had significantly lower levels of all three peptides than those receiving no epidural. There were significant negative correlations between umbilical vein beta-LPH, beta-EP and gamma-LPH concentrations and umbilical artery pH and positive correlations between beta-LPH and beta-EP but not gamma-LPH and cord PCO2 in 29 patients. There was no relation between cord levels of any of the three peptides and the method of analgesia or the route of delivery. Although concentrations of all three peptides were closely correlated to one another in either maternal or cord plasma, there was no relationship between maternal and fetal levels.

Abstraction Mechanisms in the BETA Programming Language

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Bent Bruun; Madsen, Ole Lehrmann; Møller-Pedersen, Birger

1983-01-01

. It is then necessary that the abstraction mechanisms are powerful in order to define more specialized constructs. BETA is an object oriented language like SIMULA 67 ([SIMULA]) and SMALLTALK ([SMALLTALK]). By this is meant that a construct like the SIMULA class/subclass mechanism is fundamental in BETA. In contrast......]) --- covering both data, procedural and control abstractions, substituting constructs like class, procedure, function and type. Correspondingly objects, procedure activation records and variables are all regarded as special cases of the basic building block of program executions: the entity. A pattern thus......The BETA programming language is developed as part of the BETA project. The purpose of this project is to develop concepts, constructs and tools in the field of programming and programming languages. BETA has been developed from 1975 on and the various stages of the language are documented in [BETA...

Prediction of beta-turns with learning machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yu-Dong; Liu, Xiao-Jun; Li, Yi-Xue; Xu, Xue-biao; Chou, Kuo-Chen

2003-05-01

The support vector machine approach was introduced to predict the beta-turns in proteins. The overall self-consistency rate by the re-substitution test for the training or learning dataset reached 100%. Both the training dataset and independent testing dataset were taken from Chou [J. Pept. Res. 49 (1997) 120]. The success prediction rates by the jackknife test for the beta-turn subset of 455 tetrapeptides and non-beta-turn subset of 3807 tetrapeptides in the training dataset were 58.1 and 98.4%, respectively. The success rates with the independent dataset test for the beta-turn subset of 110 tetrapeptides and non-beta-turn subset of 30,231 tetrapeptides were 69.1 and 97.3%, respectively. The results obtained from this study support the conclusion that the residue-coupled effect along a tetrapeptide is important for the formation of a beta-turn.

Absolute measurement of {beta} emitters with a 4 {pi} counter; Mesure absolue des emetteurs {beta} au compteur 4 {pi}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Gallic, Y [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1959-06-15

The object of this work is to investigate the conditions under which the activity of {beta}-emitting radionuclides may be measured with a maximum of precision, and as a result to study the relevant corrections. The various problems relating to activity measurements with a 4 {pi} counter have been examined successively: - comparison of 4 {pi}, GM and proportional counters; - study of the preparation of sources; - corrections on the counting of sources; - self-absorption; - correction for absorption. The precision obtained on these measurements varies from 1.2 to 3 per cent, with the result that the 4 {pi} counter can be considered a very satisfactory calibration instrument. (author) [French] Le but de ce travail est de rechercher les conditions permettant d'obtenir avec le maximum de precision, la mesure de l'activite des radionuclides se desintegrant par emission et par consequent d'etudier les corrections qui s'y rapportent. Nous avons examine successivement les differents problemes se rapportant aux mesures d'activite au compteur 4 {pi}: - Comparaison des compteurs 4 {pi}, GM et proportionnel; - etude de la preparation des sources; - corrections sur la numeration des sources; - auto-absorption; - correction d'absorption. La precision obtenue dans ces mesures, variant de 1,2 a 3 pour cent, on peut donc considerer le compteur 4 {pi} comme un instrument d'etalonnage tres satisfaisant. (auteur)

Absolute measurement of {beta} emitters with a 4 {pi} counter; Mesure absolue des emetteurs {beta} au compteur 4 {pi}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Gallic, Y. [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1959-06-15

The object of this work is to investigate the conditions under which the activity of {beta}-emitting radionuclides may be measured with a maximum of precision, and as a result to study the relevant corrections. The various problems relating to activity measurements with a 4 {pi} counter have been examined successively: - comparison of 4 {pi}, GM and proportional counters; - study of the preparation of sources; - corrections on the counting of sources; - self-absorption; - correction for absorption. The precision obtained on these measurements varies from 1.2 to 3 per cent, with the result that the 4 {pi} counter can be considered a very satisfactory calibration instrument. (author) [French] Le but de ce travail est de rechercher les conditions permettant d'obtenir avec le maximum de precision, la mesure de l'activite des radionuclides se desintegrant par emission et par consequent d'etudier les corrections qui s'y rapportent. Nous avons examine successivement les differents problemes se rapportant aux mesures d'activite au compteur 4 {pi}: - Comparaison des compteurs 4 {pi}, GM et proportionnel; - etude de la preparation des sources; - corrections sur la numeration des sources; - auto-absorption; - correction d'absorption. La precision obtenue dans ces mesures, variant de 1,2 a 3 pour cent, on peut donc considerer le compteur 4 {pi} comme un instrument d'etalonnage tres satisfaisant. (auteur)

Active Transforming Growth Factor-beta2 in the Aqueous Humor of Posterior Polymorphous Corneal Dystrophy Patients

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Stádníková, A.; Ďuďáková, L.; Skalická, P.; Valenta, Zdeněk; Filipec, M.; Jirsová, K.

2017-01-01

Roč. 12, č. 4 (2017), č. článku e0175509. E-ISSN 1932-6203 Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GA17-12355S; GA MŠk(CZ) 7F14156 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : transforming growth factor-beta2 * posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy * corneal endothelial cells * general linear mixed-effect modelling * restricted maximum likelihood estimation Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research OBOR OECD: Statistics and probability Impact factor: 2.806, year: 2016

Ranking beta sheet topologies of proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fonseca, Rasmus; Helles, Glennie; Winter, Pawel

2010-01-01

One of the challenges of protein structure prediction is to identify long-range interactions between amino acids. To reliably predict such interactions, we enumerate, score and rank all beta-topologies (partitions of beta-strands into sheets, orderings of strands within sheets and orientations...... of paired strands) of a given protein. We show that the beta-topology corresponding to the native structure is, with high probability, among the top-ranked. Since full enumeration is very time-consuming, we also suggest a method to deal with proteins with many beta-strands. The results reported...... in this paper are highly relevant for ab initio protein structure prediction methods based on decoy generation. The top-ranked beta-topologies can be used to find initial conformations from which conformational searches can be started. They can also be used to filter decoys by removing those with poorly...

Strain-dependent differences in sensitivity of rat beta-cells to interleukin 1 beta in vitro and in vivo

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reimers, J I; Andersen, H U; Mauricio, D

1996-01-01

/kg) or vehicle for 5 days. All the strains investigated were susceptible to IL-1 beta-induced changes in body weight, food intake, temperature, and plasma glucagon and corticosterone. However, IL-1 beta induced hyperglycemia and impairment of beta-cell glucose responsiveness in WK/Mol and LS/Mol rats...

Three-dimensional immobilization of beta-galactosidase on a silicon surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Betancor, Lorena; Luckarift, Heather R; Seo, Jae H; Brand, Oliver; Spain, Jim C

2008-02-01

Many alternative strategies to immobilize and stabilize enzymes have been investigated in recent years for applications in biosensors. The entrapment of enzymes within silica-based nanospheres formed through silicification reactions provides high loading capacities for enzyme immobilization, resulting in high volumetric activity and enhanced mechanical stability. Here we report a strategy for chemically associating silica nanospheres containing entrapped enzyme to a silicon support. beta-galactosidase from E. coli was used as a model enzyme due to its versatility as a biosensor for lactose. The immobilization strategy resulted in a three-dimensional network of silica attached directly at the silicon surface, providing a significant increase in surface area and a corresponding 3.5-fold increase in enzyme loading compared to enzyme attached directly at the surface. The maximum activity recovered for a silicon square sample of 0.5 x 0.5 cm was 0.045 IU using the direct attachment of the enzyme through glutaraldehyde and 0.16 IU when using silica nanospheres. The immobilized beta-galactosidase prepared by silica deposition was stable and retained more than 80% of its initial activity after 10 days at 24 degrees C. The ability to generate three-dimensional structures with enhanced loading capacity for biosensing molecules offers the potential to substantially amplify biosensor sensitivity. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prenatal programming of skeletal development in the offspring: effects of maternal treatment with beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) on femur properties in pigs at slaughter age.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatara, Marcin R; Sliwa, Ewa; Krupski, Witold

2007-06-01

Alteration in fetal growth and development in response to prenatal environmental conditions such as nutrition has long-term or permanent effects during postnatal life. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) treatment of sows during the last 2 weeks of pregnancy on programming of skeletal development in the offspring. The study was performed on 141 pigs born by 12 sows of Polish Landrace breed. Two weeks before delivery, pregnant sows were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of control sows (N=6) that were treated with placebo. Sows that were orally treated with beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (N=6) at the dosage of 0.05 g/kg of body weight per day belonged to the second group. Newborn piglets were weighed and subjected to blood collection for determination of serum levels of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), insulin, leptin, glucose and bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) activity and lipid profile. At the age of 6 months, the piglets were slaughtered, their femur was isolated for analysis and assessment of lean meat content of carcasses was performed. The effects of maternal administration with HMB on skeletal properties in the offspring were evaluated in relation to bone mineral density and geometrical and mechanical properties. Maternal treatment with HMB increased serum levels of GH, IGF-1 and BAP activity in the newborns by 38.0%, 20.0% and 26.0%, respectively (PHMB administration significantly increased volumetric bone mineral density of the trabecular and cortical bone of femur in the offspring at the age of 6 months (PHMB treatment (PHMB induced higher values of maximum elastic strength and ultimate strength of femur (PHMB-treated sows (PHMB has positive long-term effects on bone tissue and improves volumetric bone mineral density, geometrical and mechanical properties of femur in the offspring. These effects were connected with increased level of GH and IGF-1 in the

Maximum Hours Legislation and Female Employment in the 1920s: A Reasse ssment

OpenAIRE

Claudia Goldin

1986-01-01

The causes and consequences of state maximum hours laws for female workers, passed from the mid-1800s to the 1920s, are explored and are found to differ from a recent reinterpretation. Although maximum hours legislation reduced scheduled hours in 1920, the impact was minimal and it operated equally for men. Legislation affecting only women was symptomatic of a general desire by labor for lower hours, and these lower hours were achieved in the tight, and otherwise special, World War I labor ma...

Selective inhibition of sheep kidney 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase isoform 2 activity by 5 alpha-reduced (but not 5 beta) derivatives of adrenocorticosteroids.

Science.gov (United States)

Latif, S A; Sheff, M F; Ribeiro, C E; Morris, D J

1997-02-01

We have previously reported that 5 alpha and 5 beta pathways of steroid metabolism are controlled in vivo by dietary Na+ and glycyrrhetinic acid, see Gorsline et al. 1988; Latif et al. 1990. The present investigations provide evidence supporting the suggestion that endogenous substances may regulate the glucocorticoid inactivating isoenzymes, 11 beta-HSD (hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase) 1 (liver) and 11 beta-HSD2 (kidney). The activity of 11 beta-HSD is impaired in essential hypertension, following licorice ingestion, and in patients with apparent mineralocorticoid excess where 11 beta-HSD2 is particularly affected. In all three conditions, excretion of the less common 5 alpha metabolites is elevated in urine. We now report on the differential abilities of a series of Ring A reduced (5 alpha and 5 beta) adrenocorticosteroid and progesterone metabolites to inhibit these isoenzymes. Using liver microsomes with NADP+ as co-factor (11 beta-HSD1), and sheep kidney microsomes with NAD+ as co-factor (11 beta-HSD2), we have systematically investigated the abilities of a number of adrenocorticosteroids and their derivatives to inhibit the individual isoforms of 11 beta-HSD. A striking feature is the differential sensitivity of the two isoenzymes to inhibition by 5 alpha and 5 beta derivatives. 11 beta-HSD1 is inhibited by both 5 alpha and certain 5 beta derivatives. 11 beta-HSD-2 was selectively inhibited only by 5 alpha derivatives: 5 beta derivatives were without inhibitory activity toward this isoform of 11 beta-HSD. These results indicate the importance of the structural conformation of the A and B Rings in conferring specific inhibitory properties on these compounds. In addition, we discuss the effects of additions or substitutions of other functional groups on the inhibitory potency of these steroid molecules against 11 beta-HSD1 and 11 beta-HSD2.

The continuous monitoring of the artificial beta aerosol activity by measuring the alpha and beta activity in aerosol simultaneously

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, Hironobu; Oonishi, Masaki; Matsuura, Hiroyuki

1990-01-01

We have constructed the system to monitor the artificial beta aerosol activity around the nuclear power plants continuously in real time. The smaller releases of artificial radionuclides from the nuclear power plants can be lost in the fluctuations of the natural background of the beta aerosol activity, when only the beta activity of the aerosol is measured. This method to discriminate the artificial and the natural beta activity of the aerosol is based on the fact that the ratio of the natural alpha and beta activities of the aerosol is almost constant. The detection limit of this system is below 3 Bq/m 3 . (author)

Spatio-temporal observations of the tertiary ozone maximum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. F. Sofieva

2009-07-01

Full Text Available We present spatio-temporal distributions of the tertiary ozone maximum (TOM, based on GOMOS (Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars ozone measurements in 2002–2006. The tertiary ozone maximum is typically observed in the high-latitude winter mesosphere at an altitude of ~72 km. Although the explanation for this phenomenon has been found recently – low concentrations of odd-hydrogen cause the subsequent decrease in odd-oxygen losses – models have had significant deviations from existing observations until recently. Good coverage of polar night regions by GOMOS data has allowed for the first time to obtain spatial and temporal observational distributions of night-time ozone mixing ratio in the mesosphere.

The distributions obtained from GOMOS data have specific features, which are variable from year to year. In particular, due to a long lifetime of ozone in polar night conditions, the downward transport of polar air by the meridional circulation is clearly observed in the tertiary ozone maximum time series. Although the maximum tertiary ozone mixing ratio is achieved close to the polar night terminator (as predicted by the theory, TOM can be observed also at very high latitudes, not only in the beginning and at the end, but also in the middle of winter. We have compared the observational spatio-temporal distributions of the tertiary ozone maximum with that obtained using WACCM (Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model and found that the specific features are reproduced satisfactorily by the model.

Since ozone in the mesosphere is very sensitive to HO_x concentrations, energetic particle precipitation can significantly modify the shape of the ozone profiles. In particular, GOMOS observations have shown that the tertiary ozone maximum was temporarily destroyed during the January 2005 and December 2006 solar proton events as a result of the HO_x enhancement from the increased ionization.

Abrupt withdrawal of beta-blocking agents in patients with arterial hypertension. Effect on blood pressure, heart rate and plasma catecholamines and prolactin.

Science.gov (United States)

Lederballe Pedersen, O; Mikkelsen, E; Lanng Nielsen, J; Christensen, N J

1979-04-17

Chronic treatment with beta-blockers was interrupted abruptly in six patients with arterial hypertension. Three patients, who had experienced symptoms during a previous withdrawal, again complained of transient palpitations, tremor, sweating, headache and general malaise. A significant increase in standing blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) was noted after 24 h. The standing HR reached a maximum after 48 h and had decreased significantly on the 7th day (p less than 0.005). There was a strong tendency to greater increase in standing BP and HR in the patients who experienced symptoms than in those who did not. Plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, adrenaline and prolactin did not change significantly. Thus, beta-blocker withdrawal symptoms are reproducible and are indicative of a transient sympathetic hyperresponse. The increased activity is not likely to be caused by increased production of circulating catecholamines, but rather by increased sensitivity of the beta-receptor.

Beta-lactamases of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium kansasii.

Science.gov (United States)

Segura, C; Salvadó, M

1997-09-01

Re-emergence of infectious diseases caused by mycobacteria as well as the emergence of multiresistant strains of Mycobacterium has promoted the research on the use of beta-lactames in the treatment of such diseases. Mycobacteria produce beta-lactamases: M. tuberculosis produces a wide-spectrum beta-lactamase whose behaviour mimicks those of Gram-negative bacteria. M. kansasii produces also beta-lactamase which can be inhibited by clavulanic acid. An overview on beta-lactamases from both species is reported.

Alpha and beta-adrenoceptors in hypertension. I. Cardiac and renal alpha 1-, beta 1-, and beta 2-adrenoceptors in rat models of acquired hypertension

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michel, M. C.; Kanczik, R.; Khamssi, M.; Knorr, A.; Siegl, H.; Beckeringh, J. J.; Brodde, O. E.

1989-01-01

To determine whether adrenoceptor changes in genetic hypertension occur primary or secondary to blood pressure elevation, we measured cardiac and renal alpha 1- (by [125I]Be 2254 binding) and beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors (by (-)-[125I]iodocyanopindolol binding) densities in various rat models of

Imaging of alpha(v)beta(3) expression by a bifunctional chimeric RGD peptide not cross-reacting with alpha(v)beta(5).

Science.gov (United States)

Zannetti, Antonella; Del Vecchio, Silvana; Iommelli, Francesca; Del Gatto, Annarita; De Luca, Stefania; Zaccaro, Laura; Papaccioli, Angela; Sommella, Jvana; Panico, Mariarosaria; Speranza, Antonio; Grieco, Paolo; Novellino, Ettore; Saviano, Michele; Pedone, Carlo; Salvatore, Marco

2009-08-15

To test whether a novel bifunctional chimeric peptide comprising a cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp pentapeptide covalently bound to an echistatin domain can discriminate alpha(v)beta(3) from alpha(v)beta(5) integrin, thus allowing the in vivo selective visualization of alpha(v)beta(3) expression by single-photon and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The chimeric peptide was preliminarily tested for inhibition of alpha(v)beta(3)-dependent cell adhesion and competition of 125I-echistatin binding to membrane of stably transfected K562 cells expressing alpha(v)beta(3) (Kalpha(v)beta(3)) or alpha(v)beta(5) (Kalpha(v)beta(5)) integrin. The chimeric peptide was then conjugated with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid and labeled with 111In for single-photon imaging, whereas a one-step procedure was used for labeling the full-length peptide and a truncated derivative, lacking the last five C-terminal amino acids, with 18F for PET imaging. Nude mice bearing tumors from Kalpha(v)beta(3), Kalpha(v)beta(5), U87MG human glioblastoma, and A431 human epidermoid cells were subjected to single-photon and PET imaging. Adhesion and competitive binding assays showed that the novel chimeric peptide selectively binds to alpha(v)beta(3) integrin and does not cross-react with alpha(v)beta(5). In agreement with in vitro findings, single-photon and PET imaging studies showed that the radiolabeled chimeric peptide selectively localizes in tumor xenografts expressing alphavbeta3 and fails to accumulate in those expressing alpha(v)beta(5) integrin. When 18F-labeled truncated derivative was used for PET imaging, alphavbeta3- and alpha(v)beta(5)-expressing tumors were visualized, indicating that the five C-terminal amino acids are required to differentially bind the two integrins. Our findings indicate that the novel chimeric Arg-Gly-Asp peptide, having no cross-reaction with alphavbeta5 integrin, allows highly selective alphavbeta3 expression imaging and monitoring.

Two-Agent Scheduling to Minimize the Maximum Cost with Position-Dependent Jobs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Long Wan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates a single-machine two-agent scheduling problem to minimize the maximum costs with position-dependent jobs. There are two agents, each with a set of independent jobs, competing to perform their jobs on a common machine. In our scheduling setting, the actual position-dependent processing time of one job is characterized by variable function dependent on the position of the job in the sequence. Each agent wants to fulfil the objective of minimizing the maximum cost of its own jobs. We develop a feasible method to achieve all the Pareto optimal points in polynomial time.

Pathway decision-making strategies for generating pancreatic beta-cells: systems biology or hit and miss?

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Jan

2007-08-01

Method selection strategies to achieve beta-cell differentiation from human embryonic stem cells are reviewed. Expectations are high for an embryonic stem cell derived cellular replacement method to cure diabetes, and recent observations indicate that mature beta-cells can be derived from human embryonic stem cells. In terms of the translational setting, however, we are not there yet; conversion of embryonic stem cells to fully mature beta-cells is not effective and does not provide an exclusive beta-cell population as the end-product. Studies emphasize that expecting development of a 'magic media bullet' that promotes endocrine fate is rather optimistic; consecutive administration of signaling inducers, carefully provided to mimic normal development, is more likely to succeed. To accomplish this task we need better understanding of the extracellular signaling pathways that drive progressive endodermal fate choices throughout development. Knowledge of cell-intrinsic control of fate assignments in pancreas is growing rapidly. Nevertheless, insufficient information regarding morphogen codes that operate in endoderm and pancreas is hindering development of better, directed differentiation schema of uncommitted embryonic stem cells toward endodermal, pancreatic, and subsequent endocrine specific fates. A systematic approach to defining morphogen codes in developing endoderm and pancreas appears timely and justified.

Beta lactam antibiotics residues in cow’s milk: comparison of efficacy of three screening tests used in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Science.gov (United States)

Fejzić, Nihad; Begagić, Muris; Šerić-Haračić, Sabina; Smajlović, Muhamed

2014-01-01

Beta lactam antibiotics are widely used in therapy of cattle, particularly for the treatment of mastitis. Over 95% of residue testing in dairies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is for Beta lactams. The aim of this paper is to compare the efficacy of three most common screening tests for Beta lactam residues in cow’s milk in our country. The tests used in the study are SNAP β Lactam test (Idexx), Rosa Charm β Lactam test (Charm Sciences) and Inhibition MRL test (A&M). Study samples included: standardized concentrations of penicillin solution (0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 ppb). In addition we tested milk samples from three equal size study groups (not receiving any antibiotic therapy, treated with Beta lactams for mastitis and treated with Beta lactams for diseases other than mastitis). Sensitivity and specificity were determined for each test, using standard penicillin concentrations with threshold value set at concentration of 4 ppb (Maximum residue level – MLR). Additionally we determined proportions of presumably false negative and false positive results for each test using results of filed samples testing. Agreement of test results for each test pair was assessed through Kappa coefficients interpreted by Landis-Koch scale. Detection level of all tests was shown to be well below MRL. This alongside with effects of natural inhibitors in milk contributed to finding of positive results in untreated and treated animals after the withholding period. Screening tests for beta lactam residues are important tools for ensuring that milk for human consumption is free from antibiotics residues. PMID:25172975

Towards Alzheimer's beta-amyloid vaccination.

Science.gov (United States)

Frenkel, D; Solomon, B

2001-01-01

Beta-amyloid pathology, the main hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been linked to its conformational status and aggregation. We recently showed that site-directed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) towards the N-terminal region of the human beta-amyloid peptide bind to preformed beta-amyloid fibrils (Abeta), leading to disaggregation and inhibition of their neurotoxic effect. Here we report the development of a novel immunization procedure to raise effective anti-aggregating amyloid beta-protein (AbetaP) antibodies, using as antigen filamentous phages displaying the only EFRH peptide found to be the epitope of these antibodies. Due to the high antigenicity of the phage no adjuvant is required to obtain high affinity anti-aggregating IgG antibodies in animals model, that exhibit identity to human AbetaP. Such antibodies are able to sequester peripheral AbetaP, thus avoiding passage through the blood brain barrier (BBB) and, as recently shown in a transgenic mouse model, to cross the BBB and dissolve already formed beta-amyloid plaques. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to use as a vaccine a self-anti-aggregating epitope displayed on a phage, and this may pave the way to treat abnormal accumulation-peptide diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease or other amyloidogenic diseases. Copyright 2001 The International Association for Biologicals.

Hydrolyses of alpha-naphthyl acetate, beta-naphthyl acetate, and acetyl-DL-phenylalanine beta-naphthyl ester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkeby, S; Moe, D

1983-01-01

Using simultaneous coupling azo dye techniques kidney enzymes active against alpha-naphthyl acetate, beta-naphthyl acetate, and acetyl-DL-phenylalanine beta-naphthyl ester are characterized. The enzymes show identical distribution in the section. The banding patterns in zymograms are the same after...

Cloning and characterization of human liver cytosolic beta-glycosidase

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Graaf, M; Van Veen, IC; Van Der Meulen-Muileman, IH; Gerritsen, WR; Pinedo, HM; Haisma, HJ

2001-01-01

Cytosolic beta -glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21) from mammalian liver is a member of the family 1 glycoside hydrolases and is known for its ability to hydrolyse a range of beta -D-glycosides. including beta -D-glucoside acid beta -D-galactoside. We therefore refer to this enzyme as cytosolic beta

High beta-Lactamase Levels Change the Pharmacodynamics of beta-Lactam Antibiotics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Hengzhuang; Ciofu, Oana; Yang, Liang

2013-01-01

the role of beta-lactamase in the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of ceftazidime and imipenem on P. aeruginosa biofilms. P. aeruginosa PAO1 and its corresponding beta-lactamase-overproducing mutant, PA Delta DDh2Dh3, were used in this study. Biofilms of these two strains in flow chambers......, microtiter plates, and on alginate beads were treated with different concentrations of ceftazidime and imipenem. The kinetics of antibiotics on the biofilms was investigated in vitro by time-kill methods. Time-dependent killing of ceftazidime was observed in PAO1 biofilms, but concentration-dependent killing...... activity of ceftazidime was observed for beta-lactamase-overproducing biofilms of P. aeruginosa in all three models. Ceftazidime showed time-dependent killing on planktonic PAO1 and PA Delta DDh2Dh3. This difference is probably due to the special distribution and accumulation in the biofilm matrix of beta...

Characterization of a Full-Length Endogenous Beta-Retrovirus, EqERV-Beta1, in the Genome of the Horse (Equus caballus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antoinette C. van der Kuyl

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Information on endogenous retroviruses fixed in the horse (Equus caballus genome is scarce. The recent availability of a draft sequence of the horse genome enables the detection of such integrated viruses by similarity search. Using translated nucleotide fragments from gamma-, beta-, and delta-retroviral genera for initial searches, a full-length beta-retrovirus genome was retrieved from a horse chromosome 5 contig. The provirus, tentatively named EqERV-beta1 (for the first equine endogenous beta-retrovirus, was 10434 nucleotide (nt in length with the usual retroviral genome structure of 5’LTR-gag-pro-pol-env-3’LTR. The LTRs were 1361 nt long, and differed approximately 1% from each other, suggestive of a relatively recent integration. Coding sequences for gag, pro and pol were present in three different reading-frames, as common for beta-retroviruses, and the reading frames were completely open, except that the env gene was interrupted by a single stopcodon. No reading frame was apparent downstream of the env gene, suggesting that EqERV-beta1 does not encode a superantigen like mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV. A second proviral genome of EqERV-beta1, with no stopcodon in env, is additionally integrated on chromosome 5 downstream of the first virus. Single EqERV-beta1 LTRs were abundantly present on all chromosomes except chromosome 24. Phylogenetically, EqERV-beta1 most closely resembles an unclassified retroviral sequence from cattle (Bos taurus, and the murine beta-retrovirus MMTV.

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB)

OpenAIRE

Wilson, Jacob M; Fitschen, Peter J; Campbell, Bill; Wilson, Gabriel J; Zanchi, Nelo; Taylor, Lem; Wilborn, Colin; Kalman, Douglas S; Stout, Jeffrey R; Hoffman, Jay R; Ziegenfuss, Tim N; Lopez, Hector L; Kreider, Richard B; Smith-Ryan, Abbie E; Antonio, Jose

2013-01-01

Abstract Position Statement: The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) bases the following position stand on a critical analysis of the literature on the use of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) as a nutritional supplement. The ISSN has concluded the following. 1. HMB can be used to enhance recovery by attenuating exercise induced skeletal muscle damage in trained and untrained populations. 2. If consuming HMB, an athlete will benefit from consuming the supplement in close pro...

Structure of beta-diketiminates and beta-aminoketones made from anisidines or chloroanilines: tin and lithium complexes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Olejník, R.; Padělková, Z.; Horáček, Michal; Růžička, A.

2012-01-01

Roč. 35, 1-2 (2012), s. 13-27 ISSN 0334-7575 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : beta-diketimines * beta-enaminones * lithium Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.207, year: 2011

Topical beta-blockers and mortality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Müskens, Rogier P. H. M.; Wolfs, Roger C. W.; Witteman, Jacqueline C. M.; Hofman, Albert; de Jong, Paulus T. V. M.; Stricker, Bruno H. C.; Jansonius, Nomdo M.

2008-01-01

To study the associations between long-term and short-term use of topical beta-blockers and mortality. Prospective population-based cohort study. To examine long-term effects, 3842 participants aged 55 years and older were recruited. To examine short-term effects, 484 incident beta-blocker users and

Appraisal of beta-Phellandrene in Callus Cultures of Momordica charantia L. Cultivars, Jaunpuri and Jhalri

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, S.; Tariq, A.; Ajaib, M.

2015-01-01

Secondary metabolite beta-phellandrene was analyze in callus cultures of two varieties of Momordica charantia L. i.e. Jaunpuri and Jhalri. Conditions for seed germination and callus induction were optimized. Seedlings grown under aseptic conditions served as explant sources. 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) supplemented in Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium were scrutinized as the most suitable combination of plant growth regulators with different concentrations for callus induction in both the varieties. Cotyledon explant of (cultivars) cv. Jaunpuri revealed maximum callus induction with 1.0 mgl/sup -1/ BAP and 1.5 mgl/sup -1/ 2,4-D in eight days as compared to internode, apical bud and leaf. Cotyledon and leaf explants of cv. Jhalri responded to 1.5 mgl/sup -1/ BAP and 1.0 mgl/sup -1/ 2,4-D in nine days for callus and internode and apical bud with 1.0 mgl-l BAP and 1.5 mgl-l 2,4-D. Best grown calli from different explants were analyzed through GC-MS for production of secondary metabolites. Along with other secondary metabolites beta-phellandrene was the most prominent secondary metabolites found in in vitro grown callus cultures of both the varieties. The callus cultures of cv. Jaunpuri produced substantial amount of beta-phellandrene i.e. up to 30 percent of the total secondary metabolites as compared to calli from cv. Jhalri explants. The callus cultures of M. charantia can prove the best alternative, rapid and uninterrupted source for natural beta-phellandrene production. (author)

Maximum permissible dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1979-01-01

This chapter presents a historic overview of the establishment of radiation guidelines by various national and international agencies. The use of maximum permissible dose and maximum permissible body burden limits to derive working standards is discussed

Predicting Bond Betas using Macro-Finance Variables

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)